PLAY IT BY EAR: New blog

Its been a while since I hopped on the good foot and did the blog thing however writing is not something we can force right? Well we could but it would be pretty bland and full of useless facts about boring stuff. I intend to drop in regularly to keep you abreast of the Stone & Sprocket travels and all things early childhood, families, life and I may even throw in a few recipes because I love to cook with kids.

So the blog is called 'Play it by ear' and that is exactly how we will roll. I will decide when I write and you can decide when you read m'kay? It is also a play on the word 'play' so there is a conglomeration of anti-oxy-morons going on up in here. Play is everything that matters to me. I have been playing for nearly 40 years and over half of that I have worked as a play ninja aka Early Childhood Teacher. Play is another one of those four letter words that is genuinely (and at times frustratingly) hard to define.

Onward we trudge together however. Never tiring of saying why we simply must let our kids play in their own way as much as possible and why this needs to happen well in to formal schooling years. I have been busy re-kindling my love/hate relationship with NESA approval and other applications I put on hold knowing I didn't have the admin infrastructure to back the result of being approved. This year has been 'one of those'. I haven't had many of 'those' years in my life but we held space for it all to simply be what is was and now there is a light. The feeling of holding space and saying 'no' is also a double-edged sword for a visionary.

If you follow the Facebook page and Instagram page you will see what we have been up to over the past 12 months and I can tell you for the remainder of November 2019 we have some wonderful work coming up including a Sustainability in Early Childhood workshop with a team on the Central Coast we have have been working with. THEN I get to go and visit my wonderful friends Children First Training in Blacktown to talk Schema followed by a car karaoke trip to Canberra to see my comrade and fellow consultant Molly Rhodin from Down to Earth Practical Solutions. I will also squeeze in a chat with Dr John Irvine on ABC Central Coast Radio on Friday November 22nd so make sure you are tuned in, we will be talking screens and kids.

Everyone is madly booking in their last PD sessions or first ones for next year so make sure you don't miss out and secure your date. Drop in at info@stoneandsprocket.com

I will leave you with the never fail Creamy Bacon Gnocchi dinner I cooked for my cherubs last night. Tonight we are going to have Jamie Olivers Fish Fingers and salad as we are home late.

Creamy Bacon Gnocchi

6 middle bacon rashers diced (I used the kitchen scissor to cut it over the pan so I didn't dirty the board)

1 challot sliced (It was looking very sad and lonely)

1 handful of baby spinach from the bag (I forgot to rinse it)

1 tub Bulla cooking cream (bloody love this stuff)

1 splosh minced garlic (because I couldn't find the spoon)

I packet Gnocchi

Fry off bacon and garlic

Throw in challot and spinach and fry off then turn down heat

Throw in a dash of vegeta (cheaters flavour) and water to deglaze

Medium heat add in cream (sometimes whole thing sometimes not)

Bring back to boil

Seperately dump gnocci in water in saucepan and bring to boil

Pour out once floating (yes they look like little poo's)

Rinse in cool water

Throw in to creamy bacon mixture or serve in bowl and spoon mixture over it

I added mushrooms to half the mixture for me and my husband. The kids eat mushrooms but they didn't want them tonight and I had nothing left for that argument!

Catch up soon and play it by ear :)