Back in the Saddle

Well, It has been over a month since my last post, not exactly what I was thinking of when I said I would post more often, but of course there was the trip 'across the pond' in there. Things are finally getting back to a relatively normal mode around here, whatever that means.
What it means is: DANCING for two little girls who love to dance, and even me and Gus sometimes. Yesterday, they put on a CD, and had a different dance for each of the songs on it, and sometimes different costumes, too.
Also, PLAYMOBIL, Gus and Ella have recently spent saved up birthday or gift money on new sets of the mini plastic folks. For Gus, pirates, of course, and for Ella a Mom and Baby and Dad/kid and baby set. The thing they seem to do most often is 'wrong play' which seems to mean that they switch everyone's hair and clothes around, and they think it's totally hilarious. After at least a week and a half of 'nothing to do' and lots of squabbles over nothing much when Ella and I got back from England, they finally found something they can do together, and it seems to be 'wrong play.' Thank goodness. It was exhausting to have everyone either fighting or bored and wanting me to fix it for that long. I knew that it was just transitioning, but it seemed to last forever.
Yesterday, normal included BAKING. The girls helped me finish some biga barley bread, which turned out 'like storebought', according to Robert. I'm not sure if that's a compliment. But, it was soft and squishy and sandwichable, so maybe that's what he meant. We also made some not so good molasses cookies, which my Papa would definitely described as 'somewhere between a chamois and a sponge.' I'll have to use my Grandma's recipe next time.
Today, normal was LESSONS back to cello lessons. Gus has been playing his cello a lot, even outdoors at sunset last night, which seems like an excellent match for the deep tones of the cello. We also had violin lessons last week for the first time in a while. It's time to get back into the groove of playing our fiddles each night. I always feel like Pa Ingalls when I get mine out of its box after dinner. It is certainly a nice way to say goodnight to the day. I have a bunch of new photos to use, but that reminded me of this fun day last fall playing Ma, Pa, and baby Carrie. 'Night y'all.