January – Camping and glass painting.

We’re on to this year now….nearly caught up with the here and now! So in January we made…..

…..painted jars! We went camping with The McDowells (as in The McDowells) ….the weather was great, so was the campsite…and the company! I took a few crafty things to do (making paper, making kites, pencils, pens etc…) This was one of the activities for “craft hour”. I put a few jars through the dishwasher, and peeled the labels off. In the UK I used to use sticky stuff remover to get the last bits of glue off  the jars, but I haven’t found it on the shelf here in Australia. I can get it online, but haven’t got round to it yet. Anyway, I made do with Aeroguard which got most of the glue off! I have proper paints for glass painting, from peebo. But for the younger children, I have found that permanent markers are easier to use and more satisfying for them. So we had a mixture of ages, and a mixture of techniques. It was great lighting them up in the evening – they looked fab!

In January, I also revived my 6 month old sour dough starter, and made this.....

 

.....my best sourdough loaf yet! I used this sourdough method (I've tried a few, but I think this is the best!) I don't have a cloche to cover the bread in the oven, so I use an upturned pyrex casserole dish - works brilliantly and gives the bread a proper crispy crust. I think I'll make some more tomorrow!