Another thing that Little Miss C and I got up to whilst we were stuck at home was a spot of gardening. LMC always wants to help in the garden, but children want to see results very quickly so it can be hard to keep their enthusiasm when things don't grow as fast as they would like. Growing cress from seed is quite good though as you can see a day by day difference, but at the same time it also makes children realise that things don't grow instantly and they need to have a bit of patience. It was with great pride and determination that she filled some old yoghurt pots (thank you again ... read more
Queen for a day…
... or in reality just a few minutes. If you're in the UK then you really can't have escaped the Jubilee fever that seems to have taken over. Go to any town centre or village green and you'd be forgiven for thinking that there's been an explosion in a nearby bunting factory. If you have children of school age then there have been numerous tea parties, concerts and picnics to celebrate. I freely admit to being a bit of a royalist. I love the royal family and what they do for the country and think the Queen should be celebrated after so many years serving the country. Whatever ... read more
Calvin Can’t Fly – Jennifer Berne
Calvin Can't Fly really is the perfect book for any little bookworm. Calvin is a starling. One with three brothers, four sisters and sixty-seven thousand four hundred and thirty-two cousins. What sets Calvin apart though is that fact that he's not interested in learning to fly like the rest of them are. Instead he spends all his time in the library with his nose beak inside a book. In exactly the same way as any book loving child does, he discovers a world that contains so much more than just flying and catching insects. The other starlings don't understand ... read more
Topsy and Tim – a complete list?
Since I first wrote about Topsy and Tim books on here I've been amazed at how many people have found my blog post through search engines whilst trying to find out more about Topsy and Tim books. The search terms used suggest that people are looking for a list of all the books published and to find out more about the old ones that they remember from their childhood. It's been a bit of an ongoing project of mine to try to find out more and to also compile a list - so here's a summary of where I've got to so far! In short I've struggled to find a complete list ... read more
Sponsored Video: Mastercard – The Big Lunch
Do you know who lives next door to you? Would you recognise them if you saw them somewhere out of context? Do you know their names and anything else about them? I'm always amazed when I hear how many people would not be able these questions positively. In years gone by everyone did know everyone else that lived near them and knew most of their business too. There was a real sense of community that some areas just don't have these days. With people working longer hours and both parents working during the daytime you can see how some neighbours might only very rarely bump into each other, but ... read more
Why?
Little Miss C asked her first "why?" question the other day and I have to admit that she's got me stumped: "Why don't sausage rolls have chocolate in them?" I was expecting a bit of a softer start on the questions, but it looks like I'm going to have my work cut out! It's therefore quite appropriate timing to been tagged by the lovely DorkyMum with an opportunity to turn the tables and ask our children a few "why?" questions, so here goes: Dearest Little Miss C... Why is it that some mornings you decide to ... read more
Sponsored Video: What’s that?
Any parent of a toddler will instantly identify with this lovely video from Organix Mighty Meals. What ever we do with Little Miss C at the moment she's always asking "what's that?" or more specifically "what's that noise?" Whilst the constant questioning can be a bit wearing, it's also lovely to see her taking an interest in what's going on around her. The same has to be true of the young boy in this video and it is very much a natural stage in a toddler's development - being inquisitive about absolutely everything around them. I'm sure the "why?" stage will follow, but I'm already ... read more
Tea Smoked Trout (and yoghurt sauce)
I'm still amazed at just how much inspiration I took away from my day at Yeo Valley earlier in the month. One thing that I really wasn't expecting was quite so much kitchen based inspiration. I know that they make yoghurts and other dairy products, but as I've said before them I hadn't thought much about cooking with yoghurt before. Their site in Blagdon is right next to Blagdon Lake and in their efforts to ensure that food miles were kept to an absolute minimum our lunch that day was trout from the lake. But, just bunging some trout in the oven is far too boring for those people at Yeo ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Yeo Valley Fish Tank
Full credit for this children's craft project has to go to Knitty Mummy who I met when we both went to Yeo Valley for the day. There was quite a bit of discussion whilst there about how to use all the empty yoghurt pots that we have and she went away determined to come up with some projects - and boy has she delivered the goods! What I used for making this is quite simple: one Yeo Valley Top Notch pot and lid, some blue card, yellow and green tissue paper, glue and some fish stickers. The method is relatively simple. I cut the blue card so that ... read more