Ginger Banana Cake

We love baking in our home, specially with natural ingredients. I like to experiment with different ingredients as I find baking is a easy way to get good stuff into Fantail. Baking with vegies is also yum. Baking never lasts long in our home.

Here is the recipe I use for our ginger banana cake :)

2 bananas

90g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup or honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup of whole-meal flour

1/2 cup of self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

2 teaspoons of ginger ginger

1 tablespoon of milk

cream butter, golden syrup, and brown sugar in a small bowl, until light & fluffy. Add egg, beat until combined, then beat in banana. Transfer mixture to large bowl, stir in sifted dry ingredients & milk.

Pour mixture into cake mould/tin place in moderate oven for 45 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before frosting.

Lemon Frosting

1 1/2 cups of icing sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Optionally to add 1/4 cup chopped glace ginger.

YUM

Have a lovely day

Song x

Exploring Nature in Our Neigborhood

After reading about nature journalling I decided it was something I would love to do with Fantail. He has shown interests in nature and the planet. We went for a walk around our neighborhood & I asked him to photograph all the things that caught his eye. He also brought along his bucket, binoculars and robot hand (which i ended up all carrying while he took pictures) 

Ready to explore. 

Dandelion  

Falling colored leaves 

Flax, Fern and Punga. 

Moss 

Rain drops on leaves.

We brought home a few leaves, flower petals and berries which we done crayon rubbings and pressing to put in our nature journals. I am looking forward to explore more locations with Fantail and i am decided to also do my own nature journal. You should have ago too :)

Song x

Nga Manu Nature Reserve

Sunboy & Fantail surround by hungry ducks.

Fantail feeding ducks from his hand.

Franz feeding ducks. 

Takahe 

kea 

Fantail standing in front of Hut 

Swinging from tree. 

Looking for frogs. 

Our friend duck. 

Eel feeding. 

yum yum.

A few months back we went of a family day out with my parents & family friend in waikanae at Nga Manu Nature Reserve. My mum had been doing lots of nature bush walks lately and asked if we would like to come along. I really is awesome place, many many birds, also spiders & eels. First off we spent a good few minutes feed ducks from our hands, explored the kea house, was amazing to be close to one in its home. There is a amazing kiwi house where you see kiwis up close feeding and sleeping in the caves. I had some fun playing with the owls. Went for a walk around bush and made friends with a friend duck who followed us the whole way around the track. Had a lovely lunch before watching a eel demonstration and eel feeding, $2 to feed the eels a dead chick from a stick. Fantail was very keen to have a go.. the eels were crazy.. what am experience.

I highly recommend exploring Nga Manu as a family or alone one with nature. I look forward to going again.

Check out the website for more details :D

http://www.ngamanu.co.nz/index.php

Song x

Remember to Explore

Explore is so easy to do just go outside, try look in your street/neighbor hood, local park, car-park, gardens, lake, beach, river, woods/forest. As a family we have always explored our natural environments, rock pools, trees, and going to sanctuary to explore animals up close although we don't agree on caged animals. 
While your exploring you can collect memories of your finding, through photographs, taking home cutting of leaves & flowers for pressing, rub printing, or putting on display on your nature table.
The great thing about the natural world is that it never stops. 
There's always something to do and explore.
You don't have to leave your house to explore nature. First try exploring your backyard; climb a tree,  listen to songbirds at dawn, watch caterpillars change into butterflies, growing your own fruit and veggies or even just sit watch and listen to the natural world (best to do this somewhere quite) . There's are only a few thing you can do to explore your backyard. Just go outside and have fun.


Song x

Childhood Memories

Song

It felt like summer never ended in my childhood, I was always outdoors; riding my bike, climbing trees, finding snails(i called them snonails) living in the bbq & having snail races, popping tar bubbling in the melting heat, clap squashing late flies in the twilight skies. Many days spent at the school with my friends(who we all lived just doors down from each other) making nests in the freshly mowed grass, making up dances to my dads record collection in the garage, eating fruit straight off the trees and making lemonade. Swimming and playing mermaids. Endless days spent at the beach with family making huts and again climbing trees. I was  that child with bruised knees and dirty feet. 

Family camping trips, smelly long drops which I was thought I would fall down, rabbit whole hunting, stuffing our blow up bed with grass after it sprung a leak, stone collecting I would take a container home filled with such pretty stones and shells.. my favorite were these white ones with one flat side with a spiral. Our dads coming back from fishing with crabs, I remember crying because I didn't like them near me. The older cousins floating us younger cousin on lilo beds.

These memories I treasure, I miss those days. As a child it was so easy to be carefree and wild. As we got older everyone changes to try and fit in somewhere.. I lost myself for awhile but since I have Jackson in my life I get to enjoy all those little things again, even if its not through those little eyes. Now I just want to create memories like these for him. This blog is mine & Tama's journey to a simpler kinder lifestyle.

Come back to read Sunboy childhood memories :)

Song x