Anna's First Swim

Yup, her arms are in there somewhere

Groovy Gill's Beer Bread

Not only is Ben’s Godmother Gill the Queen of cool gifts, she also seems to be bordering on Domestic Goddess…

Just made her beer bread – stunning and easy peasy:

2-3 cups self-raising flour (depending on size of loaf tin)
Add beer to the flour until it has a sticky dough consistency.
Bake in a greased tin in a preheated oven at 180 C for 40 min (longer for a larger loaf).
Serve with oodles of creamy churned butter.

Jamie Oliver, eat your heart out!

And now for something completely different...

I’m of the “you’ve gotta try it” school: paella in Spain, haggis in Scotland, snails and frogs’ legs in France.

That’s why I sprinted into the shop when I saw this sign. "The Garlic Farm" is famous (well on the Isle of Wight, anyway). It has even had the surprising honour of exporting its garlic to our snarling neighbours across the channel.

After grabbing a tub of the stuff and a few more items (who could resist organic garlic mayonnaise and “vampire” relish?), I headed for the oh-so-British queue.
The ice cream was a strange infusion of apricot, ginger and well, garlic.
Did it indeed "taste great"?
I think our discerning toddler summed it up best: “Yucky”.

Trying it doesn’t mean you've gotta like it.
Um… and now for a cup of that Twinings pineapple rooibos tea I discovered at Tesco’s.

Congrats Abi!

Lucky you, Abi: a new baby brother! Congratulations to Cathy (nee Wootton)and Mike Burbridge on the birth of their son last night. Thinking of you during these first frenetic days...

Abi and Ben enjoying the rain a few weeks ago

Anna's Dedication

We had a dedication service for Anna at church on Sunday. It was great to have our UK friends and family there when we said, "Thanks God for our sweet little girl"! Thanks to all who made the trip to Eastbourne and to Howard and all our church friends for a very memorable day .

With our church leader, Howard.

The service

Anna with her aunt-to-be, Fiona

Anne, Daniel, Kim and Josh after the service

Camping again...

We've had a "corker" week: lovely sunny days and clear blue "African" skies. We couldn't resist another camping trip before Philip heads back to school on Monday and spent a couple of nights in the East Sussex/Kent area. We've joined the National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) and visited some beautiful properties in the area (see pics below).

Ben checking out Batemans, the home of Rudyard Kipling

The family at Bodiam, a late medieval moated castle

Ben getting to grips with his giant snakes and ladders!

Amber's Picnic Party

Happy first birthday to Amber Field! We had a great birthday picnic last Saturday in Nonsuch Park, Cheam.

With Gill and Dave at Amber's picnic

Lovely to meet Josh Carr (seen here with his mom, Kim)

Anna @ 4 Months