This and that and everything else

I'd better write this before I put it off again and it all becomes irrelevant.

So, what's been going on around here?

One of our cows had a calf.  One of our sheep had twin lambs (yes, another set of twins).  My daphne is flowering and smells glorious.

After I foolishly wrote a post about A's sleep, it all went seriously haywire and now she sleeps in our bed.  Every nap.  And every night.  I kind of care, in that I'd prefer to have the bed to myself and B, but mostly I don't care.  It won't be forever.  I hope.

We're considering putting her and J in a room together as I've heard that sharing a room can quite often resolve whatever abandonment issues are keeping them from sleeping alone.  Anyone done this?  Tell me your tales!

Look at those big fatties! The sheep I'm talking about.  Those are the original twin lambs, Emily and Jack.  They're so big and cute and fat.  And pushy.

My health and fitness regime is going well.  I'm now into Week 5 of the program and it's nice to not be DYING halfway through the warm up anymore. 

I'm also eating nutritious food at least 80% of the time.  This is no thanks to the recipes provided with the program, which I've finally come to the conclusion are useless.  At first I thought it was just me cooking with unfamiliar ingredients (coconut oil, oat flour, etc), but seeing the feedback from everyone else doing the program we're all having the same trouble.  The recipes are rubbish, which is a bit disappointing.  I'm back to cooking my own creations and just keeping track of the nutrients.

Honestly, so far I don't feel much different - no more energy or better sleep or anything like that - but I do feel good about making good choices.  I enjoy my treats now without fretting about what I should or shouldn't have eaten.  If I have a really indulgent meal or even whole day (weekends are my downfall every time), I just start again the next day with the good choices.  That's a huge change of mindset for me, whereas previously I would have used a blowout as an excuse to give up: "I've failed now anyway..."

I finally made a decent loaf of sourdough!  Now this is exciting.  After those first few attempts, I just kind of gave up and put the starter in the fridge.  The loaves weren't turning out very nice, the kids wouldn't eat it, so I didn't feed my starter or even touch it for weeks. 

Then last week B urged me to have another go, selling me on the idea we could have it for breakfast on the weekend.  I got the starter out first thing Friday morning, poured some off and fed it.  To begin with it was very thin and lifeless but sure enough by Friday evening it was active and fragrant and ready.

I baked the loaf on Saturday and it was as good as any you would buy, if I do say so myself.  Sour, chewy, so good!  Even J rolled about three slices for her lunch.  So apparently neglect is the key to good sourdough.  Who knew?

In craft news, which I know fascinates everyone no end, I'm doggedly working my way through the last of my works-in-progress - that bloody Sauvie vest, and A's baby blanket which considering she's turning two this month is AHEM somewhat overdue.  After that, J has made several very specific requests for garments for her dolls and she likes to check back in with me about them several times a week so I'd better get cracking.

And that brings us pretty well up-to-date.

Don't forget to tell me your experiences of kids sharing bedrooms!  Or, for that matter, any other zero-effort zero-crying ways to get an extremely stubborn kid out of your bed...