I always knew that once people started talking about drought restrictions, we would be in for a spell of rain, so I'm not complaining. Rather I am trying not to. What you really don't need for the last week of the Easter holidays is the kind of rain that keeps you indoors. Fortunately for us, the rain held off long enough on Sunday that we could visit our Cherry Tree and enjoy a delicious Hog Roast. Part of our Rent-a-Cherry-Tree package is a … [Read more...]
St George’s Shield for Girl Knights
LBG made a very interesting point recently whilst watching one of her favourite CBeebies programmes, Mike the Knight. "Girls can be knights too, can't they?" "Of course they can, darling" was my lightning-fast response. Which got me thinking about children's programmes in general and CBeebies more specifically, since that is the channel that we watch almost exclusively. There seems to be quite a strong leaning towards the more traditional … [Read more...]
Introducing Art to pre-schoolers: Damien Hirst
When Maggy at Red Ted Art recently mentioned her idea for a linky to encourage the introduction of Art-with-a-capital-A to children, I got a little bit excited. I don't remember Art Galleries or Museums so much when I was a child, which is more a reflection of my life overseas and my generation than a judgement on my upbringing. I remember going all the way from school in Yorkshire down to London for the day to see 'proper' Art as part of my GCSE … [Read more...]
An Essential Kitchen Tool
Reduce, reuse, recycle: Earth Day cotton bud painting
It is but a few short days until Earth Day 2012, which has existed in America since 1970 and is gaining recognition across the globe as people become increasingly concerned about the environment. LBG and I were talking this weekend about the concept of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, as espoused by Bob The Builder on a daily basis, according to the CBeebies schedule. Recycling, as a concept, is quite an easy one to demonstrate, as it is part of our … [Read more...]
Project 366 Week Fifteen
Who doesn't love a holiday? Even in Britain, where the weather can be unpredictable? And we have been having a ball in rain and shine this week in Suffolk. Last year, Easter weekend at Potash Barns was absurdly warm: I think we had to do laundry every day because I hadn't packed many summery clothes for The Girls. This week I found myself begging DH if I could step into Joules and buy myself a sweater (OK, I just wanted a new Joules sweater, but … [Read more...]
Easter Egg
We're enjoying a week of mixed weather in Suffolk. That hasn't stopped my Little Misses feeding lambs, feeding horses, feeding ducks (you get the idea) and generally relishing the sense of freedom they get by being at Potash Barns. The weekend was dominated by a bright dry day for an Easter Egg hunt: we are still slowly working our way through the stash of chocolate eggs, chicks, hens and bunnies. What we don't have is a goose. But the farm does. … [Read more...]
