Just Hangin' Out at Nana's

It's one of those days!  Cold and shiver-to-the-bone damp.  The sun is shining somewhere else today!  It's a cloudy, grey, 'try not to look out the window' kind of a day, with not enough snow on the ground to go tobogganing...so what to do?
I know!  Let's go to Nana's house!

Maybe we can have some hot chocolate and cookies...

Or maybe popcorn and popsicles...

Or maybe I'll just hang out with my momma, and snuggle on the couch!

Winter's not so bad, after all!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

...but that doesn't stop the little love of my life from wanting a popsicle upon arriving for a visit at Nana's house today!

It's soooo cold, Nana...

It began to snow late morning, just when the kids where getting out of school for lunch, and of course Aidan's first request was to 'go wee' down the hill on his toboggan...but it was just too frightful outside for that!  So, he was happy to settle for a trip to Nana's house for a popsicle.

...but soooo yummy!

 I thought today would be a good 'craft' day, so once the popsicle was done, out came the toasted 'O's and pipe cleaners.  This project is something I found in my travels on an amazing website called Pinterest  (If you haven't yet heard of it, check it out...it's quite addictive!)  It's a site where people can 'pin' links to all the things they love, be it crafts, recipes, travel, etc.

I found the instructions for making these 'bird feeders' on a blog called Under the Table and Dreaming and thought they would be a great afternoon project to do with Aidan.

This is very serious work!

  He had a great time stringing the 'O's onto the pipe cleaners, while Nana tied off the ends and shaped them into hearts.  Aidan also took upon himself the task of 'quality control inspector' and managed to find a good supply of defective 'O's...and promptly disposed of them into his tummy!

Look, Nana...I did it!

 Fortunately there were enough 'O's that did pass the 'quality inspection', and we were able to make a chain of four heart-shaped feeders.  The next thing we had to do was go outside in the frightfully snowy weather and hang the chain of 'O's up for the birds to enjoy.

Now all we need are the birds!

 Papa arrived home from work, and he and Aidan worked hard shoveling the snow that was piling up in the driveway.  While I had a few minutes to just breath...and enjoy the beauty of the fallen snow in my little garden.





I guess it's not so 'frightful' after all!

 

Well, well...a 'Wee Well'!

My happiest childhood memories are of my summer holidays spent in Ireland with my grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.  There wasn't a lot of money, but there was always plenty of good food cooking in my granny's kitchen.
There were lots of great meals, some recipes of which I have attempted to duplicate, with mixed success!  One meal was always a treat because it was such fun to eat!

Aidan's first 'Wee Well'

 My granny called it a 'wee well'...mashed potatoes (of course!) shaped into a circle on the plate, then pulled away from the centre to form a 'well' of sorts, into which was poured a knob of Irish butter and warm milk.  The fun part was eating away at the mashed potatoes (first dipped into the buttery milk, of course) without breaking the 'moat' and releasing the milk in the middle.  Great fun, and delicious too!

Can I eat it now, Nana?

 Aidan had his first 'wee well' today.  He loves potatoes served in any way (it's the Irish in him!) and even though he wasn't sure what it was all about, he had a good time loading his fork with potato and dipping it into the 'well'.  To be sure there'll be more 'wee wells' to come!
Thanks to Aidan's great-great granny...great nana, and Nana for passing down a fun tradition!