Thimbleina

A jumbled post

 

Amongst all the weeds and against all the odds I have something to show you that actually came out of our veg patch. So if anyone is starting off growing veg, take it from me these onions and carrots grow without any care, attention and watering and survive stamping from small people and it doesn't matter if the older small person scatters the carrot seeds afar they still grow!!

 

I had a tidy up and clear out of our junk box. I put things that we can use for junk modelling in here before the recycling bin as alot of junk modelling goes on in this house and you can always find something useful in this box to fashion a van, lighthouse, digger, pencil holder, stilts, scoop, telescope, rain measure etc, etc (just a few of the things that have been made so far). I would highly recommend a junk box if you have children and you haven't already got one as it totally fires the imagination along with a dressing up box of old clothes, shoes and hats and other things that you have collected along the way as kids that come to play always seem to like diving into our dressing up box as there is so many variations of what you can do with a scarf and an adults silky skirt and sometimes I put things in there thinking I'm not going to wear them anymore and then pull them out again at a later date to wear as they are just what I am looking for.

 

Last but not least of this jumbled post a little science experiment that Lady A did from a book that she has got from the library'Kitchen Science'. It uses mainly ingredients that you will find in your kitchen. The above experiment was putting a third of the jar filled with golden syrup, then fill a third with vegetable oil, then another third with water containing food colouring. You will notice that the oil will settle as the top layer as it is the lightest liquid, then you drop in a cork, a grape(this settled in the coloured water layer) and a metal screw/bolt. This is to show the density of the items and get the child to guess where each item will float. There are plenty of other great experiments for us to be going on with now. 

Inspiring green fingers

 

I went on a veg growing course yesterday here. Steve and Paula who run the place, ran the course, they were so knowledgeable about everything to do with growing your own fruit and veg. Although I have already started planting up my veg patch and have been growing veg for a few years with varied success with different things I needed to know what I had been doing wrong with some things and what I could do better or differently to make things easier.

Well I learnt that the reason my peas aren't doing well, I have been doing it wrong altogether, so I have to replant those this weekend. I also never really considered using fleece on the garden and how beneficial it can be, especially at this time of year to get things going. Fleece to those who don't already know can apparently warm up to 2 degrees more under and keep things cooler when the sun gets too hot and it also keeps alot of bugs and birds off from eating your crop. They had made like little poly tunnels with the fleece using the plastic piping that runs around new houses to feed water to your sinks etc to make the arches to drape the fleece over so the plants could grow happily inside. I also know now why I have no success with cabbages - Lime or lack of in the soil. Also I need to leave the roots of the peas and beans in to feed the soil for 2 months when the plants die back. Oh so much learnt, I now need to find some time to implement all that I have found out.

We had a lovely lunch of red pepper and sweet tomato soup, smoked salmon sandwiches and egg sandwiches and elderflower cordial followed by millionaire's shortbread all homemade. We also got to sort through a trug of seeds to take some home and to plant up a container with Rocket and Spinach to put outside the back door.

All in all a great inspirational day. I think I might be going back nearer Christmas for one of their courses on making willow wreaths.

This was the couple's dog which weaved in and out of people's legs as  a talk was taking place then rolled all over the new seedlings in the veg patch as we were being shown how to plant things up.

Gone in a flash!

 

Not quite all the chocolate the kids have had for Easter, but quite a bit (they didn't really have mounds of it anyway) is gone and so is Easter. We have had meals with family and friends, lots of laughter, lots of walks in local woods so that the kids could do some spotting of signs of Spring as they have been made members by Nan-nan and Grandad of the Woodland Trust's Nature Detectives club. Check out the link as there are some great downloads for those that aren't members such as 'Mini Beast - Top Trumps'  They get given a challenge each Friday by email which when completed they put a sticker on the chart along with lots of other activities which really get them involved - a great gift for kids for Birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Lady A is totally imersed in it.

 

They had lots to do with new paints, stained glass colouring and new books. So the paintings were produced and I'm sure there will be more to come over the next few days

 

Today apart from more Nature detective work and planting out Sunflowers and Sweet peas and putting in tomato and pepper seeds we have watched an old classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Hope you all had a great Easter.  

Garden goodness

A beautiful peacock butterfly on the buddleia bush in my garden. It was full of butterflies and big fat bumble bees collecting nectar - this certainly is summer and nature at its best.

I think nature has been very kind to give me anything out of my vegetable patch at all as I don't deserve I have neglected it. These little carrots according to Lady A are very tasty, she couldn't wait to wash and eat one.

My first cartwheel

'Mummy watch, I can do a cartwheel'. Lady A shows me her first cartwheel. 'Can you do gymnastics mummy?' Me:'I'll try to do a handstand against the wall' -creak, groan 'I don't think that would be a good idea, I might get stuck like that for a long time' Gosh I felt old!!

This one, Mister T has the digging bug (daddy will not be impressed as these slate bits are all over the grass and the lawnmower will not like it). The pot is another victim of the tractor driver in the garden (Mister T)

As good as it gets

Yes this is about as goog as it gets in my veg patch. This is one of the cucumber plants, which looks strong and is producing more leaves, but weather it gets to producing flowers and actually growing cucumbers is yet to be seen and I think it should be further on than this at this stage in the game. Other things are either not growing or they are growing very slowly, not sure what is happening. This patch hasn't had any veg growing in it for two years and before that it was very productive for about 3 years running in which I did practice crop rotation so that the soil didn't become infertile. I think one reason for some plants not growing is a certain little elf with large red shoes that keeps climbing in and doing a little rain dance on the plants (Mister T) every time I turn my back he is in there. He really is a budding farmer as we spent about 15mins in near the magazine shelf in the shop this morning as he wanted to read the tractor magazine and the farmer's monthly (I think I'm going to have to buy him a copy for the busy bag for those moments when he needs something to keep him still longer than 5 seconds).

Hope you have a great weekend. I shall be fighting the weeds in the garden.

Postie package goodness and weeds

Just look at all that goodness that the postman has just brought. This is a swap for a package that I sent to dottycookie. I didn't expect to get all this, she is very kind. I now have to find an extra special knitting project for the exquisite little stitch markers that she sent (in the middle next to the hairclips). Lady A is going to be delighted when she comes home from school with the headband and the clips and I suppose the needle felted brooch, but I might not show her the brooch as I really think that ought to be mine (although I think once I wear it she will see it and no doubt covet it for herself ). There is a lovely cherub button which I have never seen anything like that before and lots of other lovely goodies that the kids and I will have to get crafting with.

I have been out in the garden in between the rain showers and because we have had lots of rain the weeds are taking over (that's my excuse for the fact I haven't been able to do any weeding). Just a few pictures of my attempts at vegetable growing:

I think these are cucumber plants, bound to die on me before ever producing any flowers let alone cucumbers

 

These are french beans, look at all those weeds it is a wonder that anything has grown!

In amongst there, there is a carrot fighting for it's life - honestly!

Do we know what it is yet?

I have two seedlings in my mini greenhouse and they could be one of two things (seeing as they both look similar I think they both might be the same thing). I planted tomatoes in three of the pots and cucumbers in the other three, but which way around I put them I don't know and also my smallest of helpers helped a little too much the other day and I found him in the veg patch sorting the pots out, so they could be cucumbers or they could be tomatoes. I was so desperate to get something planted and out there growing that I omitted to put labels in them (I shall learn for next time!!). So today one task was to label the things in the ground(although that it is a little harder to for the small magician to move around so I have to guess what is where). So only time will tell what is in here. I took a bigger picture of the patch, but there are way too many weeds in it, I am slightly too embarrased to show it (these weeds seem to pop up faster than the veg seedlings) so next week I shall attempt to get the weeds under better control and take another picture.

I also baked some Golden Syrup Biscuits today as, as predicted the custard hearts didn't last 24 hours. I actually think biscuits evaporate somehow at this house they really do disappear without me seeing anyone eat them.