The Big Sister has been back at kindy for two whole days now. Normally you could count on me to pen a post about how I wept tears of relief when we arrived at the kindy gate fifteen minutes early on Tuesday morning. Not this term.
You see, this holidays I’ve realised that there are parents doing it much tougher than me. Parents whose children are incessantly demanding. Parents of children who can’t or won’t feed themselves. Parents of grown children who will not leave home despite appearing to be functioning individuals.
Yes folks, our resident Willy Wagtail family are going through a rough patch. Mum looks constantly frazzled and things are so bad, even Dad is pitching in. Baby Willy, now ¾ the size of his* parents, has two perfectly functioning wings, but prefers to sit on the fence all day demanding moth deliveries. While his folks spend their days in a flap attending to his every buggy desire, Baby Willy is being a professional pain in the arse. He reminds me of a forty-year old man living at home with his parents rent-free because his mum still does his washing.
When I watch Baby Willy’s Mummy flitting all over the farm, I want to smooth her ruffled feathers, offer her a cup of tea and a good lie down. If she ate people food I’d offer her an adults-only nut bar. There’s nothing R-rated about them – they’re sugar free – I just think sometimes it’s nice to not have to share everything with the little blighters.
sugar free nut bars
½ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
½ cup almond meal
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup pistachio
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup linseeds
125g butter
½ cup rice malt syrup
¼ cup stevia
Or she could be looking for more bugs. Whatever.
I, for one, hope Baby Willy lives long enough to build a mud nest with his own beak and produce a brood of his own because karma’s a bitch, Baby Willy.
how did the holidays treat you?
do you know a human who refuses to fly the nest?
*truth be told, I’m not certain of Baby Willy’s gender,
it’s an assumption I’m making based on personal experience.
ooooh love these little bars!!!!
and karam is indeed a bitch mr bird!
Would love to try these bars any chance of converting them to Thermomix recipe
I love the sound of those. I don’t think my human kids will feed themselves – or if they do, they leave plates in rooms that no eating should occur. Lose-lose in this house!
My daughter has been haranguing me to make museli bars, and I fail every time! I am going to try this. x
He he, karma is a bitch! I love it. Sounds like a great recipe too, I’ll be looking out for rice malt syrup at my health food shop, so I can give this one a go. Thanks for the post. xx
Oh “a cup of tea and a good lie down” guaranteed to fix whatever ails you. The nutbars sound yummy and mummy wagtail has my sympathy.
Oh yum! These bar look sensational!
As for Little Willy, time to get off your butt bird!
Yum Amanda, these look gooood! Poor mummy Wagtail, we have a magpie family the same here. And yes, they’re obviously boys 😉
How cool are those wily wagtails. How cool is the name Willy Wagtail!
Yummmmm – those muesli bars are definitely going on my must make list! They look delicious!
Yum, they look lovely – the bars that is. And the birds. How gorgeous!
Thos bars do look incredibly tempting and I can imagine myself feeling very virtuous after baking them and packing them in the kids lunchboxes. Oh OK I am going to do it – TODAY! 🙂 xx
What a great imagination you have lovely! I do feel sorry for the mumma bird though 🙁 Willy wagtails are my fav bird over here, I love the way they sway!! xx
That is so funny with your baby bird. I’m going to have to make those bars for my girls they look delicious.
Hope your girls like them. They’re a hit here!
These nut bars look terrific, and such a lovely story and observation on these birds. I feel I’v just sucked in a great big lungful of country air here in the Sydney suburbs. Ta!
You wouldn’t have wanted a lungful of what we were breathing here last week Seana! 🙂
Sugar free is such a great way to cook – it really encourages creativity, to get that delicious flavour from some other ingredient. These look great.
I agree Sarah. I’m in LOVE with rice malt syrup now I’ve discovered it. 🙂