Wordless Wednesday

Felting

Thanks to a course Martin has recently been on, we now own , felting stuff! Nothing as grand as a needle but a mat , some mesh, some wool , and most importantly some felting know how ( and just incase we forget a set of instructions)
Martin experimented with making some bits on his course ( he's an art teacher) , mainly felt balls and sort of dreadlock type things. Everything he has made so far has been cut in half to see what the inside looked like ( so thats were Jamie gets it from) This lovely felt type dreadie was made into a real dreadie when i sewed it into my hair, you can't really tell on the pic but it adds a nice bit of colour. The process seems very similar to dreading, trying to get the fibres to lock together, rolling away.

This was one of the aforementioned balls. It was too beautiful just to be left so i sliced one of the halves again and sewed some hair grips to the back of them.

Matching Mummy and Maya hair slides.

I think Maya manages to pull the look off a bit more successfully!

A bike ride and some building

I can't believe how lovely and warm it is still for the time of year, this is rather helpful when your children have an aversion to coats.

A quick stop to make some notes, ( being detectives apparently!)

and another stop to feed imaginary cows in the empty field..

and then there's no stopping them....

Luckily we all make it back in time for a spot of building( dinosaur houses) and tea ( fish pie)

Big Wheel

There is a Big Wheel up in the city centre at the minute ( not sure what for, but you can't miss it ) It's a bit like the London eye but on a smaller scale but still rather large.

On a trip into the town centre today we saw the wheel up close and Martin asked if anyone fancied a go. Maya and Sonny really wanted to but Jamie definately didn't thanks very much!
We decided that whilst the others were on the wheel me and Jamie would go for a drink in the cafe of an arts centre nearby. All was going smoothly , we had our drinks and were chatting about the big wheel when a women in a long dress clutching a bunch a plastic flowers wandered into the cafe . She stood a couple of inches away from our table and began singing and sobbing whilst wringing the flowers in her hands. I was a little bewildered at first ( and secretly wondered if she had 'issues' )but quickly realised that she was part of a ' production' they were doing at the centre and they seemed to be acting out part of it in the cafe.
Jamie looked horrified , (he hates anything involving audience participation, lol) and quickly and quietly began packing his toys away. ' Its not real' I whispered.
He looked unconvinced.
He was further confused when a man in period costume stood up and announced ' I am William Shakespeare and this is Ophelia' ' I thought Shakespere was dead!' Jamie replied rather loudly. ' they're only acting ' i hiss at him again under my breath. She began to sing loudly ( i didn't know whether to laugh or cry, i rather like the theatre but i'm not keen on the element of surprise!)
Luckily this part of the act came to a swift conclusion when 'Ophelia ' ran outside ( along with half of the cafe )to continue the rest of her performance outside.
'That was wierd wasn't it Mum!' he said once they had gone only for the old lady at the table next to us to remark ' its not like any Shakespere i've ever seen'
That makes two of us then!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a productive day, yesterday was one of those days where if someone asked you what you'd done you could reel off a whole list of things. Yesterday was one of those days where at points you think ' God todays going smoothly , what a wonderful day, oh the children do get on with each other so well!' and then much later you think ' aaarrrggghh please stop shouting , please don't touch that, why is this happening?!' Yesterday was a day when the washing up seemed to need doing EVERY five minutes, yesterday was a day when lots of helping was done , yesterday was a day where you don't have a minutes peace and you are used as a climbing frame but actually you really love it . Yesterday I had a really lovely day.

Singing and dancing in the rain

Today we have been to the park with some other lovely mama's (and dada's) and their little lovlies, and what a good time we have had. It has been really nice to be with other people who don't run screaming for shelter at the first spot of rain, but just enjoyed the cool fresh air, the faint breeze, the rustle of ( slightly soggy) leaves and the damp rosy cheeks of happy exhilarated children. We looked for insects...

marvelled at the colours...

poked some fungus ( or should that be fungi?).....

did some swinging....

crunched through leaves.....

braved life and limb to feed the ducks .....

went faster, faster, FASTER!.......

put our hoods up....

and pondered on whether a mouse might live in that hole?.......

Becoming veggie

It has only been within the last couple of months that i have begun the journey of ' not eating meat' . I would say vegetarian but being as how i'm still eating fish that wouldn't be strictly acurate! As a child i was the fussiest eater, there wasn't much i did eat and what i did certainly didn't involve ANY fruit or veg. You could say rather a lot of progress has been made as now all of my meals consist of nothing but.
Its a decision i am much happier with, i think its better for my health, better for the planet , better for the animals and better for my conscience.

And how can i be sad when this is my lunch?!

A day in the garden

It has been another gorgeous day today . We have spent it outside. We have been, digging, raking, sawing, climbing, running, creating, eating, drinking and laughing.

Following on from the sucess of the wands and fuelled by the excitement of finishing the third Harry Potter book yesterday, Maya Jamie and Sonny decided that they wanted to make some broomsticks. Luckily a couple of our trees have been over enthusiastically 'trimmed' by a kind neighbour so we have a surplus of wood at the minute.

Jamie and Sonny's secret den lurks behind those branches...sssshhh.

Mushrooms in the grass ..oops.

Trimmed tree.

The library and the bmx track

A bike ride involving a trip to one of Maya's favourite places and then one of Jamie's was always going to be a winner! They must pester us daily about the need to go to their favourite places ' right now!' So yesterday we did both. It was a really nice day and everybody enjoyed it, even Sonny who went round the BMX track on the back of Martin's bike, jiggling along in his little bike seat with biggest grin on his face . Brilliant!

Sugar free brownies

I cannot claim all the credit for these little beauties, the recipe was from this lovely website http://sugarfreerecipesforkids.blogspot.com/ . After watching everyone tucking into biscuits my sweet tooth could take it no longer and I went in search of sugar free goodies! They were lovely! More cakey than a regular brownie but they definately hit the spot.
I'm still finding the sugar free aspect the hardest of the challenge but i'm already feeling a difference , definately less mood swings and more energy.