Skip to main content

Theme: Wild Animals

Well, this week didn't work out quite so well.  We were a bit busier and didn't do any of our themed activities until Thursday.  As I sit here blogging on Sunday afternoon there is still one craft we haven't got to, although if Toby's feeling creative when he wakes up I may give it a go.  Also, I ordered one of those bug viewing boxes for Toby, with the magnifying glass in the top.  It was returned to the sorting office on Monday because I wasn't in to take delivery.  Graham finally picked it up for me on Friday, we excitedly unpacked it, and... the viewer was hopelessly blurry.  So much for that bright idea.

Anyway, enough of the stuff we didn't do.  On Thursday we made birdfeed cakes.  This was one of the reasons I needed those 16 yoghurt pots!  I punched a small hole in the bottom, poked a piece of string through and tied a nice chunky knot.



Then Toby helped me measure out 2 pots of breadcrumbs and 4 pots of birdseed.  I melted a 250g block of lard (although I believe suet is recommended), poured it in and we stirred it all up.  I guess the breadcrumbs compressed, because it actually only filled 5 yoghurt pots in the end.



They've been in the fridge for the past few days and I just got one out to check that it would actually come out of the pot!  A few snips in the base and a shove, and it came out quite easily - and almost all in one piece.



The RSPB do a nice children's bird book with a "guess who?" format.  Toby has enjoyed reading it even though it's a little advanced for him, so hopefully once we get some visitors to our birdseed we can use it to find out who they are.


Our outing was a trip to Attenborough Nature Centre, over towards Nottingham.  It's a network of lakes formed from old gravel workings, bordered by the River Trent.  Graham wasn't working that day so was able to join us, and we had a pleasant walk round.  We investigated a variety of insects, even without the bug box.

Damselfly?

Looking at a snail

Scarlet lily beetle

One of those flies that wants to be a wasp

There were lots of water birds with their babies, from the ubiquitous mallards to swans, Canada geese, coots, and something I've tentatively identified as an Egyptian Goose.

Coot with babies

Egyptian goose

Look! Ducklings!


Teenage mallards
Finally, there was a kids' section inside with beautiful pokerwork wooden blocks and puzzles, lift-the-flap questions, and colouring sheets.





The last craft is set up and ready to go, so I'll update you with how that goes!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Language

For some reason baby equipment is an area in which American English differs markedly from British English. As well as learning how to care for a baby, we had to learn a whole new vocabulary! Fortunately we are now fluently bilingual, and I have compiled a handy US-UK baby dictionary for you. Diaper n. Nappy Mom says if you can read this change my diaper. The first time you change one of these you will be all thumbs and stick the little adhesive tabs to yourself, the baby and probably the changing mat before you get them where they ought to go. A few years later you will be able to lasso a running toddler and change them before they even know what's happened (yes, I have seen it done). You will also get through more diapers than you ever thought possible, creating scary amounts of expense and waste. Hence we are now mostly using: Cloth diaper n. Reusable nappy Cool baby. No longer those terry squares, the main drawback is that there are now so many types it can be qu
5 comments
Read more

our new apartment

Moving was a slightly surreal experience given that our new place looks almost exactly the same as the old one, except for being a different layout. That's what you get for living in a throw-'em-up-and-pack-'em-in apartment complex I guess - albeit a very nice one. So, entering apartment 433: To your right is the master bedroom: with en-suite bathroom: and looking back, from your left, that's a walk-in closet, door to the hallway and door to the bathroom: Following the layout so far? OK, go back to the hallway and put your back to the front door again, and this time walk straight forwards into the sitting room: As you can see, ahead of you is the door to the balcony: for which I have grand plans for a herb garden and other plants. Leading off the living room is the dining area: and if you walk through that and round to your right you reach the kitchen: Go back through the living room again: and if you turn right (
3 comments
Read more

Speedy Steamed Pudding

One of the highlights of being in catered halls for a couple of years at university was the sponge puddings. Great big sheets of chocolate or vanilla sponge, carved into hefty blocks and doused with thick custard. The main courses were edible at best, but those puddings would fill you up for a week. Good solid puddings, whether baked, steamed or boiled, have been a mainstay of English cooking for centuries. Something about the cold, damp, dark winters inspired British cooks to endless variations on suet, jam, currants, custard and other comforting ingredients. Once I left the nurturing environs of my parents' house and university halls, pudding stopped being an everyday affair and became a more haphazard, if-I-feel-like-making-any event. And steamed puddings especially, with their two hours over simmering water, don't really lend themselves to spur of the moment dessert-making. However, technology has moved on since those first days of puddings. I'd been vaguely
5 comments
Read more