Hero of the month: Margaret Mahy

when Bebe was born mum brought Bug a collection of Margaret Mahy's stories, and most of the stories rekindled childhood memories. 

Mahy wrote so many fantastic stories: "Bubble trouble", "The Lion in the Meadow", "Down the Back of the Chair", the list could go on and on. and indeed it does, Margaret was prolific writer producing over 120 books for children and young adults. My absolute favourite is the YA collection of short stories "The Door in the Air". I searched everywhere for a copy last month, and as it is sadly out of print I ended my search on eBay buying a used copy from the UK. It was totally worth it. The story's are as beautiful, and fantastical as I remember. I can credit Margret fully for my love of fantasy. 

 

So it was surprise to learn she found recognition in America first, rather serendipitously, after being rejected by Kiwi  publishers for not reflecting New Zealand enough in her stories. But eventually Mahy got the acclaim she deserved winning several of the worlds major prizes in childrens literature, including the Carnegie medal and the Hans Christian Anderson award.   Despite this Margaret remained humble, friendly and approachable. I remember her visiting our small 80 kid primary school some 20 odd years ago, (ekk I'm getting old) to read to us. Pretty impressive as it was a wee country school that didn't get much in the way of internationally acclaimed visitors! 

 

While Mahy sadly passed away in 2012, she is perfect example if perseverance, creativity and remaining true to yourself and your craft. Which I think makes her a pretty good hero for July.

This week

This Week We

Baked: Magic Custard cake via. rasberri cupcake. It's my sisters birthday on Monday so we had early birthday dinner Friday night and this was the cake I made. Yummy, creamy, but not too sweet, and definitely different. Delicious with berry's and icing sugar. There's also a version with berries baked into it, which looks amazing as well, but I'm yet to try it. 

 

In return my Sis made blueberry lime and mint cake (did I mention we're twins) . Are you a mojito lover? This is a mojito in cake form minus the rum (although you could add that to the drizzle if you were feeling footloose and fancy free)! Mmm.

We ate: breakfast at Rococo's in Acland street, St Kilda. Rococo's is our official go to cafe for St Kilda brunch dates. While a bit noisy, the tables are spacious you can fit a pram in, and best of all, the food is consistently excellent. We have a theory that if your paying for food it should be better than what you would make at home, and Rococo's has yet to disappoint. The down side (if you can call it that) is all the amazing bakeries you pass on the way down Acland st. I came home with chocolate cannelloni and cream brûlée, a sugar laden end to the week! 

We made: salt free, sensitive skin friendly Play dough. Containing honey, cornflour, oats, coconut oil and water, the Dough is soft and lovely to play with. It's great for kids who shove everything in there mouths and for younger babies to have some sensory fun, as well as sufferers of eczema and other skin sensitivities, but it's quite pricey to make in comparison to regular play dough, (coconut oil isn't the cheapest option), but is probably still cheaper than brought stuff. If left out it gets a crusty skin on it but it goes really hard if stored in the fridge due to the coconut oil, and needs to be hand warmed to become pliable again. I'm still experimenting with storage and shelf life. 

And I began a sourdough starter. I'm at day 5 and making bread with it tonight. I'll go into more detail when I get it to the maintenance stage, (about 5-10 days) and try a few more recipes. 

I read: (yup I read a whole book! thanks  to mum and her Bug wrangling, and the enforced sofa bound time early bfing brings)Jody Picoults 'The Storyteller'. I cried, BWB even teared up when I explained why I was crying. It is brilliant, thought provoking and heart breaking. Highly recommended.

Said good bye to my mum. Arg! We will miss her terribly! Next week could be a rough one without that extra set of hands juggling minis and washing and music class and supermarket runs! And Bebe's in the midst if her first wonder week (I have the app) which will not help! But we'll get there... I hope... 

Have a great week *K*