In April we lived the book, Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. The month began with patches of snow and now the daffodils are nearly in bloom, there's a light green haze on the trees and in the grass.
From the kitchen: I conquered my fear of gluten free baking and made not one but three recipes for our table. Guided by the incredible website, The Loopy Whisk, I made pretzels during Holy Week as part of our study. Years ago, during another study we made pretzels and I've wanted to make them again but they seemed so daunting to make gluten free. This year I tackled them and not only were they delicious but I also made them with two of my kids which was super fun. I also made hot cross buns for a brunch on Holy Saturday, they weren't amazing but they were the best gluten free hot cross buns I've made.
From the schoolroom: We've reached the point in our school where I start thinking about all the changes I want to make for next year, what has worked this year and not worked well for us. Those are my key review questions to pretty much everything. But the school year isn't over yet and I'd like to finish strong. In polling my children they said they love the combination of food and school. Obviously. So we are getting back to our geography meals and incorporating food when we can into our history studies. When we came to Henry the Navigator in our history book, I knew we had to make pastel de nata which was our favourite treat from Portugal. These were so good and fun (if a bit complicated) to make and brought back memories from our trip as well as making the chapter of the history come alive. When we were there, we saw Vasco de Gama's grave and the port where all the explorers set out from, that definitely also helped history come alive! Our house is full of piano and violin as the children get ready for their recital and they are all counting down the days till their math books are done for the year!
Bits and bobs: I hopped back on Instagram after a straight, four month break simply to see all the coronation of King Charles bustle and coverage. There's much to say about my time off insta but that's another post. I'm loving the lead up, seeing the preparations and pictures of London in spring (which is pure magic). I am not hosting a watch party or even watching the coronation on the day of due to previous plans but we will be watching the highlights with a side of scones and jam. My favourite accounts to follow right now are obviously the official ones, a royal photographer, a journalist and two commenters, one American and one British.
I hope your April was also a delightful transition into spring and that your May is full of lovely things to celebrate even if it's not a coronation or the ending of school!