January 5: sunday

Today was the first pancake Sunday of the year. We have a family tradition of pancakes (or their ilk) for brunch on Sunday mornings. We've been doing it for years, in various forms.....crepe-style pancakes, Bill Granger hotcakes (the berry and ricotta version or the banana version), and occasionally french toast. A few months ago something made me hunt for a recipe for fluffy pancakes. You know the ones, the McDonalds style hotcakes. It took a few experiments, but I finally found the closest to perfect recipe so far, at Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice. The batter was a little runny for my liking, so I use a little less milk, but the same egg to flour ratio. The kids have an incredible appetite for these things, so I make roughly a double and a half batch, which usually leaves a few over for quick kids' snacks for the following day. Except not today. Today every last scrap was eaten!

I offer a variety of toppings, berries and yoghurt, maple syrup and butter (in a stack of course), lemon and sugar and today there's rhubarb as well. What a feast! On these gorgeous summer mornings we take it all outside and enjoy the fresh air. It's the best way to start a lazy Sunday.

It was nearly midday by the time we were all done and tidied up so it wasn't too long before Pascal had to get herself ready to head out to her friend's birthday party. We selected L's present from our (IMO very cool) present stash and Pascal wrote the card while I wrapped the present. She wore the gorgeous dress Auntie Maur sent her for Christmas. So pretty (though I failed to snap a pic). At the party, Pascal enjoyed catching up with some of her school friends, and worked off plenty of energy bouncing and running and dressing up and climbing. I was disappointed to have settled down with my knitting while chatting to another mum only to find a broken needle. I'm hardly surprised, though, because that knitting bag has been thrown all around the back of the car (read: abused) through the Christmas season. 

The afternoon saw plenty of rain, which was a pity since we were hoping to have a BBQ and eat outside. We did still have our BBQ but since it was still rainy and cold (brrrr), inside to eat it was. Not how I'd planned it, since I'd made a couscous salad, thinking all the scattered bits of couscous would just be cleaned up by the birds later on....... 

Luke and I enjoyed the last of the quick-time express Test cricket after the kids shuffled off to bed. I'd seen the ABC news website and accidentally found out that it was all over that afternoon (with two days still available to play), but even with that knowledge, it was hard to comprehend England's second innings collapse! 

To bed and I'm finally awake enough in the evenings (maybe it's more that I'm in bed early enough) to read a little of my novel. I've been slowly reading The Casual Vacancy (JK Rowling). I've been really enjoying it but haven't been able to keep my eyes open long enough most nights to read more than a page or two. I have plenty to go on with once I finish this book. Luke bought me Bill Bryson's At Home for my birthday, as well as The Cuckoo's Calling (JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith) and a book called Sovereign (the author's name escapes me at present) for Christmas. At my pre-Christmas rate of page-turning, these should see me through to 2016! 

And so one of my not-a-resolution resolutions is to make more time to read, in particular, alongside the children. I want to encourage Pascal to embrace independent reading, and I have fond memories of reading at the same time as my mother, who would pick up a book every afternoon, without fail, either sitting up at the table or in her armchair. I'm absolutely certain that contributed to my love of books today.

We return to early starts tomorrow. Luke is back to work, and I have an act to get together!