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.

Frilly Pink Knickers

 

 

 

 

I heard two pieces of sad news today. Firstly, I found out that a couple we know well are separating and then the window cleaner told me his partner (who's only 36) has got a really aggressive form of breast cancer.
Such sudden and shocking bad news makes me thankful for small pleasures like this bunch of beautiful peonies which came from the garden my friend Alex looks after. I can't stop looking at them and The Little Girl can't stop touching them..perhaps because, like Alan Titchmarsh says, they look like a drawer full of pink frilly knickers! She suggested I put some Lady's Mantle with them and the billowing acid green really does look stunning against the barbie pink blooms.
The other pictures are of The Big Boy's radishes which we harvested today. We've never grown them before and they were ridiculously easy. We sliced them with one of Alex's cucumbers and some snippings of The Big Boy's Wild Rocket but I was the only one who ate it as it packed quite a punch! Incidentally if you are thinking of growing rocket make sure that it's 'wild' as other varieties tend to bolt instantly. You can keep cutting wild rocket and it will grow well all summer and for £1.50 for a pack it's great value. Other small pleasures today include picking raspberries and strawberries, watching the Little Girl and her friend play beautifully without shouting at each other, watching Springwatch with the Big Girl, smelling the Big Girl's special homemade rose petal perfume (an annual event), feeding another Blackbird family, making flapjacks with the Little Girl... and then being able to sit and relax.

 

This is one of a few examples of cut lettering which live in my garden.

Unlike the other pieces, which are drawn and cut by hand, this one was drawn by hand but machine cut. It is one of the pieces which I will be selling on notonthehighstreet.com...eventually!

I've had quite a few pieces in my garden over the winter and they seem to have made the baron winter garden even more so...in a captivating sort of way. As things have starting sprouting, and now fully in bloom, the pieces have added a different dynamic to the flower beds which gives me so much pleasure. My life is so busy at the moment that there is little time just to 'be' but when I do I like to sit on the bench next to this piece and watch the sun go down.

In and Out of the Dusty Bluebells

 

We love going to the Arboretum in Westonbirt. We especially love going with Alex who knows what everything is and is also mildly obsessed with lichen...which I think is fantastic!
She also does silly things with plants which the two little ones thought was great. We made little mouse ears with Magnolia petals and bound the childrens legs with Sticky Jack, we found flowers which looked like fairy cups and probably reseeded all the dandelions for next year. The Little Ones made houses under dripping Hollies and 'hid' behind sticks, delighting in our complete inablity to find them!!

It was quiet and sunny and so beautiful. Under the trees were carpets of bluebells and billowing cow parsley. We saw little blue butterflies and were deafened by birdsong.

My friend Sarah joined us, feeling a bit harrassed, and left us feeling full of the joys of spring. What a lovely day!