Sometimes a physical change of scenery can help you clear your head and see things clearly and that's exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with a handful of other bloggers, to visit Yeo Valley - home of yummy yoghurt and some equally yummy farmers (well, so says their TV adverts!) - to find out more about the company behind all the yumminess and their way of doing things. When I recently wrote here about wanting to use my blog to find out more about the people and things that make me smile this trip was exactly the sort of ... read more
The Great British Walking Challenge
"There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing" That's a statement that's been used an awful lot over the last month in our house. The weather has been awful and wet for most of April, but that's not deterred Little Miss C and I from heading out on foot and exploring the local parks and other outdoor spaces. I was therefore completely delighted when I received an invitation to take part in a guided walk as part of Living Streets' The Great British Walking Challenge. If you're someone who travels by foot then you may ... read more
Fifty things to do before you’re 11 3/4!
After my recent post about how we should be allowing our children to explore the outdoors more to help them to connect with nature I was delighted to hear on the radio news this morning about the National Trust's new Fifty things to do before you're 11 3/4 campaign. If you're not seen this on today's news then let me tell you a little about the campaign. The idea is to encourage children to put down their computer games and step away from their TV sets and instead embrace the great outdoors. They have come up with a list of fifty activities for children to try with ... read more
If you go down in the woods today…
... it'll probably be quite quiet - well it is chucking it down with rain as is typical for a Bank Holiday Monday! Luckily that wasn't the case on Saturday though when The Wick was full of children all running around as part of an Easter Hunt in aid of the Woodland Trust. Instead of having to find eggs, children instead had to collect five differently coloured tokens that were distributed across the site and then they could trade them in for a chocolate treat - all for the fantastic sum of just 50p per child. As expected Little Miss C and her trusty rabbit took the ... read more
Damson gin – the finished product
It's nearly six months now since I started telling you about our efforts with our first batch of damson gin, but now that I'm seeing this year's blossom on the damson trees in our garden it's got me thinking about how we can use this year's harvest and I'm already hoping it's a good one. Back to the gin though... We made two batches in the end and thought that we'd bottle up the first one in time for Christmas - both for us to sample some and also to make some homemade Christmas presents. This bathc must have had about four months in the kilner jar, so not as mature as it could have ... read more
Set our children free!
You frequently hear people talking about how children of today don't play outside enough. Older generations often use the "in my day" phrases when telling of children only bothering to come home when they knew a meal would be on the table and then spending the rest of their time climbing trees and exploring for miles around where they lived. The reality is that a lot has changed since "those days". Neary every home now has a TV set and many childrens have one in the bedroom too. There are also games consoles and handheld games which children like to spend time on too. ... read more
Is it really October?
I mean really? Is my calendar wrong? Is it not July, or maybe August? Both today and yesterday we've eaten lunch in the garden, worn summer clothes and had to apply sun cream to Little Miss C. But, to top it all, this is what I found when I looked at our strawberry patch yesterday! A red strawberry, nearly ready to pick, in October! Seasonal madness! ... read more
Kiddiwalks
Mr C and I have lived in St Albans for nearly seven years now so I thought it fair to say that I know the place and surrounding area reasonably well. However, over the last few months I've realised that I actually don't at all! My knowledge is lacking somewhat when it comes to places to go with kids. I can do all the very obvious ones like the zoo and local children's farm, but when we just want to go out for a walk somewhere I kept coming back to the same places and I was soon getting quite bored with them. A friend then told me about Kiddiwalks in Hertfordshire which ... read more
Reason for not blogging #649
Lightening strke taking out wifi. With things being so busy at home I'd been saving up posts that I wanted to write until a planned trip up north to stay with my parents. Sadly it was not to be though as on this visit there was a distinct lack of wifi internet access. The cause: a lightening strike two weeks ago which hit this tree in their garden (details from a nature viewpoint here on Mr C's UK Nature Blog) and also took out their phone line, wireless router, TV aerial amplifier and DECT phone. It just goes to show how powerful nature can be! ... read more
Bing Your Britain Photography Day
I was fortunate enough to recently be invited along to a photography day in London organised as part of Bing's Your Britain photography competition. The day kicked off with coffee, cupcakes and a workshop with the wonderful Jackie KIng. I've always wanted to be a better photographer and Mr C has been trying to teach me things for a while, but it's rare that I get the chance to concentrate on it for a whole day, but luckily that's exactly what I was able to do on Saturday. Jackie's tips at the start of the day helped me to focus on what I should be ... read more