The Eccentric American Mama in Cumbria

Cyril's birthday spread! My desire to knit came from my younger brother's wife Ami. I met her on the Eve of my older brother's wedding at our parent's farm. We were sitting in the living room enjoying a glass of our favourite local beer when my dad came in to turn on the TV. For those of you who don't know I'm not a fan of watching TV so I was somewhat irritated that our socialisation had come to a close. However, as I sat there, Ami looked so content knitting away unfazed by what was going on in the background. I then realised that if I had something to work on I wouldn't see TV watching as such a waste of time. I immediately asked her for recommendations and when I arrived back in the UK I scoured the website for local knitting groups and yarn shops. My first project was nothing to write home about and since it was just practice it wasn't particularly motivating. However, Josh and I soon found out we were expecting and I began my first real projec

As I began the arduous process of making Cyril's birthday cake Friday night it dawned on me that despite considering myself a baker, I haven't actually made a cake since I was 5 years old, and I'm not talking a box cake, I'm talking a full on homemade extravaganza. Once I came to this realisation, I quickly poured myself a glass of wine and got ready to tuck into the task that lay ahead. This process was made somewhat more challenging because I decided to make an all-natural cake with no butter, sugar, or nasty colourings whatsoever.  Everything was going great, in fact it was probably going too well, then I flipped the cake over to cool and the middle fell out, several curse words later, I picked up the middle (now on the counter) put it back in the cake tin and let it cook for a further 10 minutes. To my relief it had congealed back together. Two more layers baked and 5 hours later the cake was cool and ready for frosting. I planned to do an ombre effect with

“Through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way I did - that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that - a parent's heart bared, beating forever outside its chest.”  ―  Debra Ginsberg Dear Cyril, You were born fat with black hair to a fearful father with  brown eyes and a mother who didn't know what to do despite the plethora of books she read whilst she was pregnant. You fought as hard as you could to stay inside  and screamed for 10 hours when you finally emerged. Your father and I were relieved you were breathing but petrified by the shrillness in your voice. At one point we simultaneously turned to one another and asked,  “What have we done?”

                            BLW (baby led weaning) or spoon feeding, it really doesn't matter, I'm here to give you my top tips for avoiding battles at the dinner table regardless of your method. *All opinions are my own and are based solely on my experiences with Cyril. Every baby is different so as always use your judgement and as my friends always tell me Calm The F*** Down (CTFD) 1. Give your baby 4 food choices, including dessert/pudding at the same time. Cyril's pudding is fruit or yogurt and I always put it down with his savoury food. Nine times out of ten he eats all the fruit first and that's ok because fruit is good for him and it is teaching him that all foods are created equal. I never say you can't have your fruit until you finish your main course and guess what after he's finished his fruit he usually starts right into his main without any fussing. 2. Let the baby control their appetite. If they're turning or shaking their h