What's in a Name?

I am regularly asked where did your name come from? So here's the story....

I'd been thinking about starting up a toy shop specialising in traditional wooden toys and needed a name pretty quickly to get the ball rolling as I was due to go out to the biggest Toy Fair in Europe at Nuremberg in a few weeks time!

One sunny winter morning lying in bed reading it all came together....

My son had always loved the Beatrix Potter books, and we knew many of them by heart! One of his favourites which we had just finished reading was Jeremy Fisher who had a friend Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise....

I had also recently read about the oldest Tortoise in the world - who was called "Harriet" and I took this to be a sign that Ptolemy Toys could be the name for my new venture!

It was also around the time in 2006 of the massively popular Restoration BBC series presented by Griff Rhys Jones and Ptolemy Dean - so many people had heard the name Ptolemy in their living rooms, and had started to be expert at pronouncing this unusual name....

The decision was made Ptolemy pronounced with a silent "P" .....tolemy toys sounded good to me....

Further research showed us that Ptolemy also had a wonderful link to education and learning, Claudius Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer and poet who lived in AD90 - AD168. This tied into our love of traditional wooden educational toys that encourage children to explore and learn for themselves. Our name was well and truly born!


My lovely neighbour helped with the logo - have you seen how cleverly she designed P T into the tortoise shell? We've had fun with him too, he looks great in his little Santa hat for Christmas! Thankfully Christmas gifts from Ptolemy are not sent via Tortoise Delivery!

Ptolemy Toys is a wonderful business we love seeing little childrens' - well some parents and grandparents too if the truth be told - eyes light up as they walk into our magical shop in Brackley South Northamptonshire ...

Of course we also have lots of customers who come to us because they have called their sons Ptolemy -well it's almost too good to be true to have a toy shop named after you!

Check us out online or come and visit us in Brackley.

Wooden Toy Swords and Shields

Surely one of the first play toys ever the wooden sword is as popular as ever!

We started buying swords from Germany then a few years ago we stumbled upon a wonderful passionate toymaker from Wiltshire producing a range of fantastic swords and shields as well as other similar traditional toys.

A boy will naturally pick up a sword and start to play fight - it must be genetic programming! But it's not all fighting play.... wooden swords and shields also promote role play - "ok you're the king and I'm in your army - we're off to fight the outlaws!"

Weather it be Kings and Princes or Knights and Maidens or Robin Hood and his merry men this traditional play is kept alive because it is simple imaginative fun from an early age right up to pre-teens. Boys of 9 and 10 still come into our shop and want to buy swords! So much for DS and Wii we think this shows that the joy of real play beats a virtual world on the screen - at least for some of the time! And the good news is that these toys are a great price too!

Check our website for our range including Bow and Arrow Sets and Shields to Decorate yourself
www.ptolemytoys.co.uk

Ptolemy Toys trip to Giffords Circus 2011

Just browsing through our photos and came across a set from our favourite summertime treat - the wonderful Giffords Circus!


We have been inspired by our visits to Giffords to seek out circus toys and love our range of circus animals and sets for little ones.

If you have never been then definitely look out for the next Giffords production - you enter a magical world, full of song, music, awe, costume and fun.

Bringing in the Bread...no knead method!

If I could earn my crust doing something other than Ptolemy Toys, I'd love to rise to the challenge of being a baker.... I know sorry about the puns!

In my browsings on-line I just came across a recipe for no knead bread - back in 2006 it was published in the New York Times and caused a sensation - everybody was doing it and shops were selling out of Le Creuset and instant yeast!

I never remember to do the right thing with bread or I end up creeping down stairs at midnight to take a loaf out of the oven I have been preparing kneading on and off all day!! This looks like even I can get it right...

I'm not sure about no kneading - this part of the process can be quite therapeutic and in my view the secret of good bread is getting the glutens stretched to perfection with just the right amount of kneading! But what is does offer is a "no hassle" way to make a potentially lovely loaf - most of the time you can be sleeping too!

Go on have a go see what you can do...then post a photo and we can compare! It should be an image of deliciousness as per the photo below;

There are two options the quick (only 9 hours rising) or the slow method (20+ hours!) - but during this time you do nothing so it's really all about when you want it to be ready....

I'm going to try the slow method first - as follows

Around teatime follow step 1.... say at 6pm

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, (it may be helpful to know that 1/8th cup = two tablespoons) and stir until blended; dough will be wet, shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

So around 8am the next morning you are ready to complete steps 2 and 3...

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton tea towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough folded seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

Now it should be about 10.30 in the morning....

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 235 degrees C. Put a large heavy covered pot (cast iron is best) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

The bread should be out of the oven cooling around 11.30 - and will be perfect for a lovely lunch with friends!

The loaf will no more stick to the pan than it would a normal baking stone or tray so don't worry!

This should make a good family sized loaf! Eat and Enjoy with lashings of lovely butter!!

Adjust start times to fit your schedule.... or if you are out most of the day try the quick method below;

(difference being the amount of yeast used as this has less time to naturally rise)

3 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon dried yeast (not instant)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water

Mix all the ingredients in the morning before you go to work or before breakfast when the children are still upstairs!

This should take about 3 minutes and leave you with a thick, slightly gloopy wet dough, it's been called shaggy!

Cover with a towel (dusted in a bit of flour to prevent sticking) or some plastic wrap (wiped with oil) and leave it in the warmest spot in your kitchen. It should get a 6 to 8-hour rise.

When you come home from work lightly oil the worktop counter or baking sheet with spray oil and turn dough out on it - you may need to pour it out. Shape it roughly into a ball, mist with oil again, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let proof for about an hour, or however long you have.

Heat the oven to 235°c. Put your le creuset or other cast iron pan in the oven to heat. When the dough has doubled in size, put it in the pan. Again you may have to pour it, pry it off the baking sheet, or just roll it in - the dough is very wet. Don't worry if it looks a mess. Cover the pot with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes to let it brown.

This should be ready for a delicious supper for you and your loved one!

Kathe Kruse Life Size It's Me Waldorf Dolls

Life-size dolls from Kathe Kruse - the "It's me" Waldorf range dolls are handmade and stand 85cm tall and can be dressed in toddler clothes!

It's me brown wears a pretty pink and black gingham smock top and shorts. She wears flowers in her hair, which match her shoes!

She is absolutely gorgeous and is the doll all your little girls friends will want to play with!

It's me Blonde wears a cute sailor dress with matching red shoes and she has her hair in plaits.

Playing with a life size doll is really fun -Waldorf recommended this style of doll from 3 years and up but in our view it's never too early, and these dolls look great in the nursery! These dolls will give you many years of fun with your new dolly best friend! She can sit and read with you, play mummies and daddies and lots of fun games of role play - great as a dancing partner!

These dolls are special - something your daughter will love for many years and pass down the generations if they can eventually be parted!

There are three dolls in the It's me range - we currently have limited stocks of It's Me Blonde and It's Me Brown and we can order in It's me Red - all dolls are handmade in Germany.

Kathe Kruse waldorf dolls are made just like they were 100 years ago, individually handmade of natural materials. Wool cotton colour and especially the loving handwork bring the doll to life.

Children develop creativity and imagination by playing with dolls, Waldorf dolls give natural impressions that stimulate imagination and fantasy. Through the neutral features of the Waldorf dolls help to develop the child's imagination to see the doll laughing, crying, sleeping and being happy or sad. This way the child gives the doll its soul and she comes to life in her imagination.

Visit our website to buy one of these dolls or add them to your wish list!

Fashion Designers

Dressing up is something that is incorporated in so many different types of playing. Whether it’s getting dressed up for fashion shows or plays, or dressing up dolls or action figures. To some extent it’s all about acting: putting on a costume to pretend to be someone else or playing mummy and getting a doll dressed, but dressing up is also about the excitement of wearing something so out of the ordinary.
There’s a definite thrill in swirling a long floaty skirt around and an edge of glitz and glamour seeing yourself in such very different, albeit sometimes bizarre, outfits. When my niece tried on an old bridesmaid dress of mine she was so enchanted by seeing herself in the big skirt and silky material that she was shocked into an awed silence. The romance of a fairytale princess style dress is certainly something that captivates all little girls (and grown up girls too actually).

With our Djeco paperdolls range children can dress up the dolls with outfits from the sticker sheets.The clothes are certainly worthy of any fairy tale princess: a beautiful pink swathed gown straight from a Jane Austen novel, a glamorous floor length slim fitting dress with embroidered swallows darting across the waist, and the show stopping full skirted gold frock which glints and sparkles with jewels are to name but a few, and there are also chic hats, shoes and other accessories included. For older or more ambitious fashion designers, the Djeco ‘atelier de mode’ provides a perfect outlet for artistic drive. These clothes have a more modern look than the paper dolls and the aspiring designer can use the pens or pattern stickers to create chic and trendy outfits. The sticker sheets provided were designed by a genuine artist (http://www.tinoulejolysenoville.com/index.html) so the clothes are cool and fashionable, and background knowledge of fashion and design can really be appreciated from the materials provided. A birthday gift for girls that will bring hours of quiet play - ideal activity that a child can do without help.

For those who prefer more masculine fashion designs, the Djeco ‘Dessiner des Super Héros’ is a perfect choice. The superhero kit is similar to the atelier in that stickers and pens are provided but the models are in far more exciting situations, think jumping off buildings or being faced by a robot army. As with all of this Djeco range, the super heroes are also designed by a professional artist. We think this is so great and it’s a factor which can really be appreciated in the quality of the final product. With everything you need included within the Djeco art kits, these are great for a rainy day!