Caterpillar update!

Our caterpillars have grown mighty big now, everyday you can really see the difference and we have been showing them to everyone that comes to our house! Yesterday they started to eat the top of the cup so they are geading in the right direction as we are waiting for them to hang and start to chrysalis so we can transplant them across to the big net thing!

They are however freaking me out slightly. i am not very good with creepy crawlies but these ones are in the name of education so i dont mind quite so much!!! Also we dont have any other pets so i do feel a little responsible for them!!

In terms of art, Emily has done the usual symetrical butterfly painting,

And then we used some of our windmill flour to make a butterfly cake!!

mmmm, cinammon and choc chip!!

Yes Lucy did like the playdough!

When she finally woke up (she is teething at the moment so last night was not great and she slept for 3 hours today!) we let her lose on the playdough and she loved it. It never seems to amaze me how quickly she learns things. She was watching me rolling a sausage shape, and she did the same. then this lovely photo of her pushing as hard as her little hands would go to press the cutter into the playdough.

I have had a lovely day today. Much needed time spent at home with my girls. Rubarb ramekins for pudding.Treated my self to some ramekins at the boot fair on sat. 4 for 20p!

Also got these Dora rollerskates for £1!

Caterpillar project.

Today we have started our caterpillar project properly. Emily helped me make green playdough - which is the first time i have done this in a very long time. so easy though!

She made colourful caterpillars! Using the book to help her decide what they look like. And a fluttering butterfly! I am sure Lucy will like to play with the playdough when she wakes up!

We have started our caterpillar table which just has books from the library and home on it at the moment. Once we have made things then we can add them to this place. I am not putting the real caterpillars on here as i fear they may get hurt!!

And here are the said caterpillars. Aren't they getting big! and hairy!!

Caterpillar diary and helping hands

Our caterpillars arrived on wednesday and i intend on keeping a diary of their progress and eventual release.


Basically i have borrowed this butterfly pavillion from the school science cupboard as a kind of project through the holidays. It is a pop up thing, much like a laundry basket thea the butterflies will eventually hatch out into. So i have sent off for the caterpillars and they arrived on wednesday in the post. Definatly the weirdest thing i have ever had in the post! They are (or at least they were) really tiny. five little things crawling around in this gue that is their food, at the bottom of a cup with a lid. Emily is so excited and tells everyone we see that they have come and we are watching them grow. I am just as excited as her and i do the same!!

So this is what they looked like on wed

Over the next few days they will fatten up - alot , and then form chrysalis in the top of the cup. We can then remove them from the cup lid (there is  a paper disc on the lid) and put it into the basket with some flowers that have had butterfly food put on them - sugar water. When they have hatched we can keep them in the basket for a day or two then we can release them.
I can't wait!!
I am also going to do a mini project with the girls of photos/ diary, art, reading caterpillar and butterfly books, butterfly baking etc. And i shall let you know how it all progresses over the next few weeks.

Helping hands

Emily helped me hoover this morning! She had her tongue out the whole time, just like my dad when he is concentrating on something. Yes we do have athunping great big t.v, no it is not mine and notice how it is off!! Daddy is asleep!!

We also made these frozen-orange-cups yesterday too from this beautiful blog. basically you cut an orange in half, juice it amd then pour the juice back in, freeze them and eat them as lollies. I thought these would be easy for Lucy to eat too. They are yummy!

summer sun!

The last few days have been mixed in feelings, a little surreal in places and a lot of hanging in limbo. My Grandad is very poorly and i have been visiting him in the evenings as i cant take the girls to see him anymore. It is all very sad and one i wont dwell on now, another post, another time.

One thing that has remained constant is my beautiful girls and the never ending chuckles.

Enjoying an ice lolly by Grandad simon's river. And there really is nothing better than dipping your feet into the cold flowing water of the Stour on a sticky hot day. Even Lucy loved running her fingers throught the water.

Although watching the world go by is a good thing to do too.

Then all of a sudden a family of swans came drifting by.And Lucy said "ducks" hope wonderful, that has to be one her first words, along with mum, dad and ta! She is really changing now, almost walking too. She is on the verge and does about 5 steps which she thinks is hilarious!

Today has been mad, not stopping and visiting/ being visited by people and this afternoon Emily's friend came to visit. this photo reminded me of the phrase "ladies who do lunch"!!

Paddling pool splashing is much more fun than a spa any day!

Ice lollies are so much nicer when mummy makes them and she does not mind me getting covered in it.

Lucy loves coming up to me and walking round and round my legs but today when she did it she had a suprise as she got lost in the mew dress i was wearing! it was so funny as when Emily came in she could not find lucy! This quickly turned into a game and you can just see Emily's dress poking out from under mine.

And a head shapped buldge!

Life is a funny mixture of highs and lows.

cherry jam and home grown potatoes

This week i was given some cherries by someone at school. We have been trying to gather gluts of fruit and veg to sell to the children and parents at the end of the day then the money can go back into our school garden.

So anyway no one else wanted the cherries so i took the lot home to make jam with. It is delicious!

I was really lazy and did not destone them before i cooked them. As some one said on GP, life is too short! so instead i scooped it out.

Hmm, so in the end it made 9 jars of jam, some were little, made in baby food jars i have been saving!

Yesterday Emily and i emptied out our potatoe sack to harvest our little jems. And here is our bowl full of tatoes, grown all by our selves. Emily loved this process! getting all muddy and finding the little round potatoes in the mud. We ate them for tea! "cant get fresher than that" said Ian

Windy miller

Emily has been busting to go to a windmill for weeks now. We were going to go just before she got chicken pox and then with work and things on at the weekend we just didnt. So today we decided to go. You should have seen her face. She was genuinely interested in how it all worked, what each part of the machinery was for. It was lovely, she really took it all in.

Here is the stones that grind the grain.

And here is where the flour comes out.

She even went right up to the top, 4 flights of really steep ladder like stairs and she did not care! I was very weary as i was carrying Lucy in her sling. Emily was just so enthused by it all.

peep po!!

Of course we bought some flour and tomorrow we will be making yummy cakes with it.

Village fair updated

Yesterday i as at the village fair  for most of the day. The girls were both with their dad for the day which is the first time ever. they had a great time going to visit people and then on to the seaside.

overall the day was good, i sold a couple of nappy cakes and a couple of tshirts, plus a pretty bag for a lovely little girl. Could have done with selling more but couldnt we always!!

Anyway i sat in the shade and tried to finish Lucy,s birth sampler cross stitch (very ashamed of how long it has taken me) and all round it was a really relaxing day.

Village fair

This Saturday i will be selling some of the things i have made at a local village fair. I am really nervous about it all and i am convinced i wont sell anything. I thought i would show you some photos of the things i have made. The prices were decided by a few friends of mine so hopefully they are the right price if you know what i mean. This is another reason why i have not posted for a while!!

The crayon rolls are going to be £4, the taggies are £3 and the little booties are £5. I am also selling my nappy Cakes which i will add photos of later. they are £20. I sell my Nappy cakes to friends and family all the time. think i have sold over 100 in the last 2 and a half years. Im not sure if they will sell at this fair but you never know. Anyway anyone got any thoughts on my little creations? Well wishes would be gratefully recieved! I will let you know how i get on!