Playdough, and writing and snow update

I made playdough!  First of all I got out the playdough that had been hanging around in the back of the toy cupboard at Toddlers, and to my delight Little C played with it without trying to eat it - result!

Here's the recipe I used.  I mixed 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup salt, 2 tbsp vegetable oil and 2tbsp cream of tartare, and quite a bit of green food colouring (I just kept adding and stirring until it looked ok).  I put them all into a saucepan over a medium heat and stirred until it stopped being liquid and started to form into a dryish doughy mix, which scraped off the pan into a ball.

At the moment Little C enjoys playing with it, but we need a smaller rolling pin, and he soon gets bored.  I need some plastic cookie/dough cutters (they all seem to come with dough!) as well so that he has a bit more variety.  We've started with green, but once he starts playing with it a bit more we'll add in some other colours too.

Snow update
We still have a lot of snow just here at the moment, but they have cleared the road, so at least we can get the cars out.  It was a huge relief to go to the supermarket on Friday morning, not because I was desperate to do the shopping - we were well stocked up in the freezer department, and I'm forever wishing I could be more consistent with avoiding the supermarket and shopping more locally.  It was just a relief to get out of the street and see that there was still life out there, even if that life has a cheesy Christmas melody as a backing track and several aisles full of must-have Christmas excess.

Going out walking with Little C and the waggy-tailed one is still a bit of a no-no.  Firstly, it's very cold, and I don't think he'd manage for an hour-long walk.  Secondly, he can't walk much in the snow, he doesn't have enough stability, and with his cold-weather gear on he can't get himself back up once he's fallen, so it doesn't take long before he's needing to be carried.  I'm now very close to 6 months pregnant, and am beginning to struggle to carry him far, even with the backpack, and without the worry of slipping on the ice!  He's desperate for a bit of fresh air though, and each day he comes to me with mittens, hat or wellies in hand in a vague bid for freedom.  It takes at least ten minutes to get him kitted out, we make it to the garden, he falls over, and then he wants to go back in again!

Writing update

It's been a busy week of communications with The Scout Association too.  First I had the draft copy of a resource I had written to support the Campers Badge back for amendment, and then I had the 1st draft of the Sainsbury's Active Kids resource for the Scouts back with three different sets of comments to amend.  I felt very proud of myself, because I got everything turned around within 24 hours of receiving it, so am giving myself a gold star -

Now I just have to get on and spend a little time working on my myriad of half finished writing projects and get them finished, tidied up and sent off to the publishers where they belong, instead of here on my computer in limbo land!