grass head

We made this fab grass head at the recent Pestival at the South Bank Centre, and after 2 weeks of care it is starting to sport quite a head of hair. It's such a simple project that I thought I would share with you how to make your own;

You will need;
clean pair of old tights
scissors
sawdust
grass seed
wobbly eyes
marker pen

First cut one of the feet off of the pair of tights, and fill with sawdust. Sprinkle some grass seed on top of the sawdust - try to place the seed down one side of the tights so that it sits at the 'top' of the head. Tie a knot in the end of the tights so that you have a contained ball of sawdust and grass seed. Stick some eyes and draw a mouth on your head, then place on a saucer and water. Keep your grass head in a sunny spot, like a window sill, water regularly and the 'hair' should start appearing in about a week.

We've called ours Dib!

on yer bike

We're all keen cyclists in our family, and we try and squeeze in at least one bike ride each weekend. Charlie has been cycling without stabilisers for a few years now, and Stella is just starting out on his old wooden LIKEaBIKE. Today I had her on the back of my bike though, and we all set off on an adventure along the Regents Canal.

We went and had a look at the Olympic Stadium to see how it is developing, and the whole site is really coming along. There are lots of cranes in action and new structures popping up. You can cycle along the Greenway in Hackney Wick to get a really good view.

Off to get an ice-cream in Victoria Park on the way home.

happy camping

We've just had a fantastic time camping in Dorset. The kids spent a week running around outside; climbing hay stacks, exploring, making friends, staying up late and eating sticky marshmallows.

The small organic farm site we stayed at is called Eweleaze Farm, and is great for families. We stayed there a few years ago when Charlie had just turned 3 yrs and I was pregnant with Stella, and it has grown in size and popularity since then. It still felt safe enough to just let the kids run free, and they really enjoyed the independence.

The site has good green credentials, with solar powered showers, compost toilets and recycling points in each field, and there is a pebbly beach that you can access from one of the fields, where we found some fossils and enjoyed a paddle in the cold sea. Another great thing about the site is that you are allowed campfires, and it was bliss to relax by a fire in the evenings watching the shooting stars with a glass of wine.

Eweleaze Farm

Straw fun!

We found a toad under our tent.

You can't beat a campfire on a summer evening.

little blog awards

Hooray! This blog has been nominated for a Dorset Cereals Little Blog Award. Please do vote for it by clicking on the link above and then on the vote button. The blog with the most votes at the end of the month will win a highly coveted egg cup!

kids' room

We've lived in our little terraced house for six years and the walls, with their rising tide line of grubby hand prints, are a visual history showing the growth of two children. The time has definitely come to re-decorate! I started off in the kids' room, and here are a few images of the revamp.

The wallpaper was left over from some art & craft workshops I have run, and is by Farrow & Ball. They very generously donate their mis-printed and surplus paper, and the quality is fantastic. In workshops it has been recycled into hats, sandcastles, birds and snowmen! It also makes the best drawing paper. In the bedroom I have hung a couple of strips by each of the kids beds; a lovely floral paper for Stella and an excellent bumblebee design for Charlie.

The Lloyd Loom chair is an eBay purchase, and the 1970's curtains are from a charity shop. The cushions throughout the room are made from fabric off-cuts I've collected over the years, and the painting on the wall is by my friend Jane, from when we were at art college together.

dolls' house

I had some time with Stella yesterday, so we took a walk over to the Museum of Childhood. We go there quite often when the weather isn't that great. Not only is there a fantastic collection of toys on display, but there is also just the right amount of interactive opportunities to entertain a two-year-old for a couple of hours. She loves the rocking horses and the dressing up, but most of all she loves the dolls' house.

The Museum's dolls' house collection is the largest British collection not in private hands, and is amazing. The oldest house, the Nuremberg House of 1673, is one of the Museum's greatest treasures. Some were made by carpenters whilst others, such as the house given to the Museum in 1921 by Queen Mary, have royal connections.

My favourite is the Kaleidoscope House from 2002, designed by Peter Wheelwright and Laurie Simmons.

check out our beans!

I just wanted to post a quick update on how our veg growing experiments are getting on:

So far, the French beans have been a huge success. I'm still amazed at how easy they were to grow, we literally just plonked three seeds in the ground, and supported the plants with bamboo canes as they grew. This morning we picked 25 beans, which we will eat for tea tonight. How cool is that?!

As for the other veg we planted; one of the potatoes produced a very small crop, the strawberry plants worked well in pots, but not so well in the ground as the slugs ate them there. The tomato plants are going great guns; we've got five plants in hanging baskets and two massive ones in the mini greenhouse. The tomato plants all have lots of flowers on, so I'll think we'll be inundated with fruit in a month or so. The cucumber plant is also growing tall with lots of flowers. It's in the greenhouse with the tomatoes, and a small-but-healthy-looking pepper plant. The only seeds that didn't work for us were the carrots, I'm not sure why, but considering we are complete novices I'm really impressed with our harvest so far.

It has been great for the kids to see the results of their planting, to learn how things grow, and of course to eat the fruits of their labour!