The raspberry pi

Some of you will have heard of the raspberry pi, but many of you will not.  Ours recently arrived, and is already making its presence felt.

It is a tiny little computer, about the size of a credit card, that comes with no peripherals (such as keyboard, mouse, cables or monitor).  It doesn't even come with a case - it is just the green circuit board with various ports attached.  Because it is so small and basic it is very cheap - just £25 - and the idea is that pretty much any family will be able to buy one, and children (and adults, if they wish) can use it to learn how computers, and programming, really work.




Our raspberry pi - we bought a plastic case to protect ours, but the pi itself is just the green circuit board

The designers of the raspberry pi wanted to see a resurgence in programming skills in the UK, which they felt was something that had been lost over the last twenty years.  Children at school today are very familiar with IT, but more and more as users and consumers rather than as programmers or designers.  The IT syllabus focuses a great deal on being able to use Powerpoint or Excel and evaluate the design of web pages but not so much on how these tools came about. The raspberry pi hopes to rekindle people's understanding and enthusiasm for programming and help them understand how the computers that we now all take for granted, actually operate.

We bought a plastic case to protect our raspberry pi, and have been able to add things like a keyboard, cables and mouse from leftover bits of computer we had lying around at home.  For a screen, we use the TV or the Xbox monitor.



Cam, with the pi plugged into the TV



In the picture above you can see Cam with the pi on the floor in front of him, a keyboard plugged in to the pi and the pi itself plugged in to the TV.

You might look at this little green circuit board and think "where on earth would I start?", but that's okay - there is, of course, a wealth of information out there about how to get to know your raspberry pi and what you can do with it.  We bought two books to help us out - one a user guide to the pi and one on a simple programming language, Python.

The raspberry pi website has a quick-start guide, and there are a plethora of Twitter accounts and online forums to help you too.

Cam had learnt about the Scratch programming tool at school, and now uses it on the pi at home.  It's a fun and quick way to start that doesn't seem to techy for somebody new to programming, but actually requires you to think about things in the minute steps that programming requires.

I love the fact that the pi is all about learning and not about consuming.  At thirteen, Cam is already a 'gamer', and would spend his every waking moment on the Xbox if we let him (we don't).  But I don't mind his enthusiasm for computer games so much if there is a core of knowledge behind it, and he has an understanding of how games work and an ability to create his own if he wishes.

We all know knowledge is power, and the raspberry pi aims to give the knowledge of how computers really work back to anyone who wants it.

Felt lavender toys

The bag of felt monsters that I made for one of my baby nephews for Christmas was a hit.  He loved taking them all out of the bag, and then posting them back in.  He could happily squish and chew them too.  Since then, I've been thinking about making something similar for my Etsy shop, but with some lavender stuffing.  Everybody who saw the monsters asked if they were filled with lavender, and each time I explained that they weren't, I thought to myself what a good idea.

So after much thinking and a few experiments, I made these felt lavender toys at the weekend.

Their bodies are filled with toy stuffing, and the fabric circles on their tummies are filled with lavender.  The children are enchanted with them, but I'm not so sure.

I find their faces a little creepy - embroidered faces are difficult to get exactly the way I had imagined. I'd planned to leave the edge of the fabric circle raw and unfinished, but when I finished them, I thought it looked a bit messy.

This purple one had a different mouth to the other two.  I prefer this big smiley mouth, but the children said it looked wrong.

The combination of toy stuffing and lavender stuffing is good though.  They smell strong, because the fabric containing the lavender is just thin cotton; but they are still soft and squishy to hold.  C and O love them, and have put them in bed, next to their pillows.  That's a pretty good recommendation.

I think I'm nearly there - perhaps just a few more experiments with embroidered faces are required.

Splash of colour - December

We've finally caught up with the rest of the country and had some snow here.  But not very much at all - just enough to dust the pavements, sprinkle the roads and leave us with unexpected patches of ice.

Walking with the children to school this morning I thought how there had been just enough snow to suck the colour away from the world, and leave everything with an air of monochrome.

Watching where I walked and stepping carefully along the icy pavements, I found the pattern of everyone else's footprints rather hypnotic after a while.

But even with the sun not-quite-properly risen, all the colour had not completely vanished.  There were still C's neon yellow running gloves - paler than usual under a snowy crust, but still bright.

And O's mad, pink, puffy coat and pink wellies.

Looking warily sideways, as her brother saw the opportunity to approach with two (neon yellow) fistfuls of snow.

And at home there are more vibrant splashes of colour.  I've been sewing Christmas presents for my family all week, and my absolute favourite thing I've made, is this bag of felt monsters for one of my small nephews.

I didn't use a pattern for any of this, just rummaged around on Flickr for some felt monster inspiration and dived right in.  There are so many good felt monsters out there!  I particularly love this sweet one and these small felt monster wallets.  The felt I've used is pure wool felt from Myriad, and it is by far the nicest felt I have ever bought or worked with.  So soft and thick, and doesn't set my teeth on edge in the way that squeaky acrylic-blend felt does.

The monster case is a simple, lined, zipped bag, made with my very last piece of Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric.  You can still find this fabric online if you rummage around.  The spotty end pages of the book were always my favourite when I was small.

You can see other people's splashes of colour in the Flickr group here.  I'm off to get warm with a cup of rose-scented tea, and finish off my pile of hand-sewing.

Overheard

Whilst tidying up O's bedroom this morning....


"Dear God! That fairy's blind drunk again! Who mixed the punch? Was it you Merlin?"


Sylvanian Mouse whispers to Sylvanian Squirrel:
"This is the most embarrassing wedding reception I've ever been to. The groom is chatting up that tarty blonde in the orange dress and the bride's done her back in again. I just don't know where to look!"


"Yes, this recession is biting hard. I've had to turn the ice cream parlour into a bookshop and we've got a teenage runaway sleeping rough on the floor. I'm hoping the re-vamped garden will bring more customers in."


"EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!! Daddy! There's a great big dinosaur on the balcony!"

"I do wish this child would tidy her room more often. It would give her Mum more time to lounge about knitting."

Yellowness and a new toy

I was lying in bed early this morning, enjoying the fact that for once I was awake earlier than G, and pondering whether I could slide out of bed without waking him. After a few minutes he rather unnervingly popped open one eye and said "You're wondering whether you can get downstairs without waking me so that you can go and gaze at your new mixer, aren't you?".

Such is the deep connection between us after over 11 years together. He can now read my mind.

A few days ago, after dithering for the past two and a half years, I finally bought myself a KitchenAid mixer. It is a thing of great, great beauty and I love it. After G woke up I did go downstairs ("Would you like a cup of tea in bed, darling?") and stroke the mixer.




For the mixer's inaugural cake I wanted to find a recipe that would ordinarily involve lots of beating, mixing and aching arms, just so that I could really appreciate the mixer's brilliance. I also wanted something light, bright, yellow and spring-like - suitable for St David's Day and the abundance of daffodils. I eventually settled on one of Nigella's recipes from How To Be A Domestic Goddess: Damp Lemon and Almond Cake.




Like Nigella I have a bit of a thing for almonds. Especially in cakes. Last summer when we were visiting my Grandmother in the far corner of the North Yorkshire Dales, she served us the nicest Bakewell Tart I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a few in my time because I LOVE Bakewell Tart). She had bought it at the local bakery. Since then I have been experimenting with different jams, pastries and quantities of almonds and almond essence to re-create that Bakewell Tart, but still haven't quite managed it.


This lemon and almond cake of Nigella's is a sort of Italian influenced Bakewell Tart. Yum.

Nigella Lawson's Damp Lemon and Almond Cake

• 225g soft unsalted butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 50g plain flour
• 225g ground almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons

Preheat the oven to Gas 4 and butter and line a 21cm Springform cake tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a quarter of the flour after each addition. Stir in the ground almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice and almond essence.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for about 1 hour (Nigella says approx. 1 hour but it only took 45 mins in my oven so I suggest you start checking after about 40 mins). The cake is ready when the top is firmish and a cocktail stick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs stuck to it. Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.

It tastes wonderful all by itself, but with the addition of a few raspberries and a dollop of creme fraiche it would enter another league altogether. I do love Nigella's recipes.

PS You don't need a mixer to make this cake - and indeed it so delicious that it would be worth having slightly achy arms after making it!

Creativity

I have never thought of myself as a creative person. At school, the creative people were the ones who could draw or paint; I never moved beyond stick men. The creative people were the ones who didn't follow the rules but made up their own, better ones. I on the other hand was really good at languages because if you learn & follow the rules of grammar it all works; that was much more my style.

But over the past few months a couple of people have described me as creative, and after initially scoffing at the compliment I thought again. When a friend described me as creative I protested that I was not (she didn't know I can still only draw stick men I reasoned - she was just wrong). But in reply she pointed out that I bake, write, garden and do the occasional bit of sewing which are all creative things.

Jane Brocket's gorgeous new book The Gentle Art of Domesticity makes a very articulate case for creativity in the home. She argues that creativity need not be just the output of a best selling artist or a top fashion designer. Creativity can be making a batch of madly decorated fairy cakes or photographing back-yard flowers in the sunshine.

So I am starting to redefine my idea of creativity. Here is my list of recent creations around the home.

Quilt

Last night I finished a little hand stitched quilt that I had made for O's dolls' bed. And it is one of the things I have created that I am most proud of. Mainly because I finished it.

I fell in love with quilts when I was at college in America for a year.

I was in awe of the beautiful, old quilts that students brought with them to college. When I asked them where they got them from I couldn't believe they had been stitched by their grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Beautiful family heirlooms being taken to college - how cool!

I bought a quilting book and spent many afternoons wandering around the quilt shop in Roanoke stroking fabrics and admiring the quilts on display. When I returned to the UK I bought fabric to make a huge king-sized quilt and started cutting and stitching. Very soon I was completely overwhelmed with the size of the task I had undertaken and I packed the partly made quilt away in fear.

But I've always wanted to make a quilt, so when I found myself with more time on my hands last month I thought I would have another go. But this time I sensibly picked a more manageable size.

I am so proud of it! Particularly the binding around the edge which I was not confident about, but which turned out to be easier than it looked.

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Strawberry

To celebrate the end of the quilt I stitched a strawberry from Sew Pretty Homestyle last night. It needs more stuffing, the leaves aren't quite right, and I have no idea what to do with it, but its done. And it only took an hour while I was watching tele!





Hama beads

Aren't these gorgeous?



O got the beads for her birthday and the children and I have all been completely absorbed by them this week. You put the beads on a peg board to make your design, then when it is finished fuse the beads together with an iron and a piece of waxed paper and remove from the board. They're so colourful and I particularly like the randomness of the star and the circle.


Applique

C needed some more jumpers and said he wanted a Star Wars one. I didn't have the energy to hunt around the shops for one, so told him I would make one instead.

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I used a £2 sweatshirt from Matalan, scraps of fabric and embroidery thread plus a Jedi font from the internet. C told me I needed to use purple, turquoise, green and orange as those are Jedi colours. I wouldn't have chosen this combination myself, but as I am not a control freak I did as I was asked.

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Birthday cakes

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Two birthdays this past weekend meant two birthday cakes - yum!
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A summer of playing

The school holidays started today and I am as excited as the children at the idea of them being off school and having adventures. Getting muddy, chilling out on the sofa, riding bikes, building forts, making a mess, reading books, colouring, going out, visiting Grandparents - its all good.


As I was tidying their rooms this morning, I realised that I definitely have favourites amongst their toys. Some toys are so fantastic that I never mind playing with them, or even tidying them up. Other toys though are just plain annoying: noisy, too many bits that get lost, breakable and boring.


My list today is in celebration of great toys - ones that you buy for your child or open at Christmas and think "I'm really going to enjoy playing with that!"

Lego - possibly the best toy ever. I love how you can start with a box of random bricks and end up with a space ship, killer ice driller machine or a princess's cave. The only downside is standing on a forgotten brick when you dash into your child's room in the middle of the night.

Something that I didn't have as a child, but will surely become a classic for future generations is Geomag. This wins points from me for being very simple - just magnetic sticks and steel balls. It is very tactile and pleasing to play with. The balls click nicely as they join onto the sticks. You can aimlessly put bits together to make a messy looking spiderweb or go down the more mathematical route and create shapes that have names ending in -oid. No prizes for guessing what we do in our family....

A toy that I did have as a child, and played with endlessly is Playmobil. G bought me this fabulous Playmobil chicken coop set for Christmas, and I share it with the children. As far as I know there isn't a Playmobil eglu, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't one someday. These hens even have the same markings as our hens in the garden!

O's favourite toy at the moment is Sylvanian Families. Sometimes the animals from Sylvania join in with the fun in Playmobil land....

But as far as I'm concerned, the best thing to do with a long summer holiday - whatever your age - is settle down in the sunshine with a big pile of books.