Tea Bag Rockets

In a continued attempt to draw The Big Boy away from a screen, we embarked on some science experiments over the weekend. This one was quite interesting. You need a few of those tea bags which have tags attached (we choose some disgusting licorice ones from the back of our cupboard). Open the bag out, get rid of the tag and string then empty the contents. Open it out into a tube shape, standup on a tin tray and set fire to the top. It burns down quickly then the ghostly ember flys up into the air much to the fasination of the children. The Big Boy, who's a bit good a science, tells me it all to do with convection currents, or something like that, but it's all too much for my little arty brain.

Autumness

There's that lovely whiff of autumn in the air. A damp, golden chilliness which is so beautiful until it turns muddy and wet (incidentally the muddy wetness ends up being dragged across our kitchen floor when a child crosses the threshold).
This half term we fully intend to mark it with pumpkin soup, spooky cakes, kite flying and general chaos.
So far we have enjoyed visiting the Arboretum at Westonbirt and collected acorns and pinecones and bags full of leaves. The children have been digging up lost potaoes and carrots in the veg patch and cooking them on homemade campfires.

Only Words Exhibition

I was really inspired by the lovely exhibition on at the New Brewery Arts in Cirencester at the moment. I always like wordy art as words really add another dimension to a piece and are given weight by the way the are presented. I especially like these lovely pieces made with pins and thread and a gorgeous snippet of handwriting that looks almost like ribbon.

Pictures from Italy

Dissecting Owl Pellets...Yuch!!!

Now here is something seriously disgusting to do over the summer! The dissection of compacted owl vomit is sure to lure any child away from their Nintendo DS (or in The Big Girl's case, an addiction to repeated episodes of 'Friends'). It really is an activity which will fasinate anybody from toddlers to Great Grannies and can be performed inside or out.

It's a regular activity in our house and so popular that The Big Boy has requested an Owl Pellet Party for his birthday! We are lucky to have an owl box in an ancient oak tree a few fields away so that we can collect a ready supply whenever we want, however, they are easier to find in the summer months. Anyone who lives rurally, after a bit of investigation, will be able to find a source...woodland, farm buildings and barns are prime locations but if you can't find or live in more of a built up area then you can buy them for about 30p from the Barn Owl Trust or from Amazon (is there anything you CAN'T buy on Amazon?).

Owl pellets are basically the undigested parts of animals which the bird has consumed (fur and bones) so by dissecting them you can get a good idea of the diet of your local owl. This mainly consists of mouse, vole and shrew bones but, if you're lucky, you may find the bones of birds, rats or frogs. The pellets are dry and look a bit like sausages and can be easily stored if you find a ready supply (in your freezer..in bags..if you can face it!)

Apart from the pellet, you will also need the following:

A pair of old tweezers (cheap ones from Wilko are good)
A few cocktail/lolly sticks (for poking)
A piece of A4 (to put the bones on)
Newspaper (for covering your table)
A shallow tray with some water in (chinese takeway trays are good or an old ice cream tub)

It's also really interesting to print out a bone chart. There is an excellent info sheet and bone chart on the RSPB website here

1. It's simple. Fill the tray with about 2-3cm of water and put the pellet in it.

2. It will rapidly absorb the water and start to dispurse...a bit of poking from a small child is always helpful to aid dispursion!

3. Tweezer out some of the fur then get your child to pull out the bones and identify on the bone chart.
This will keep your child amused for a good hour and because of the gross factor is a useful activity to keep under your belt if you have a particularly protective parent coming round...the kids will love it!

4. After dissection make sure everyone washes their hands.

Our Garden in June

 

 

 

 

I 've taken mases of pictures of our garden... because its so wild and wonderful. There are areas of planting and areas overgrown with weeds and brambles and I love it because of this. The children are equally drawn to the raspberries as they are to the neglected patches which is interestng because as adults we would tend to overlook the wild places. The Big Boy's fasination with these wild places is, I think, because he feels he owns them more so than the tended areas. He has full rein on the creatures which he discovers there. They hold promise as potential BMX ramp building areas or perhaps and area where a den/swing/gun/fort/hide could be constructed.

I take lots of pictures of our garden in June and July because I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be at this time of year. I have little time to potter but when I do I brim with complete happiness. When I sit on the bench at the front of our house my back is warmed by the sun's heat which has been absorbed by the house walls and my nose is bombarded by the fennel and lavender surrounding me. It's bliss...just what I need after a busy day.. perfect after Big Girl's leavers' assembly which was emotional and I can't believe she is off to Big School. However the summer holds lots of promise.

We plan to:

Master the art of cake decoration
Build an insect hotel
Have a photo taken in a photo booth
Create some first prize canival costumes
Celebrate multiple birthdays!
Catch more than 160 crabs in one crabbing session
Light loads of outside fires
Go on loads of bike rides
Learn how to take lavender cuttings
Learn how to play Canasta

Watch this space for July garden picture update.

Pond Dipping

 

 

 

One of the Big Boy's favourite things to do is fishing for Bullheads and Crayfish in any stretch of stream or babbling brook. Much of our summer is spent in a river and we never fail to find something interest. Sometimes we see things and we don't know what they are and the children love looking it up in our identification book.

Some fishing expeditions are spent in the pouring rain with few catches and a pot noodle, however this weekend was a wonderful assault to the senses. Our back were warmed by the July sunshine, our feet cooled (frozen) by the stream and our noses bombarded by the sent of the limes along the wall.

The Big Boy had his friend, Alf, with him. They lit fires, cooked pancakes, set fire to things and had a thoroughly lovely time.