Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Once again another month is screeching into the distance before I have had a chance to gather my thoughts for anything more than family updates.  So this is just a quick one: six things I'm thankful for this month.  1. More writing contacts made, through volunteering to write about FIGMENT Derby - an art festival with the emphasis on participation.  I wrote a post about it for Love Derby , and another one for the Silk Mill Museum (not up yet but hopefully will be soon).  It was pretty interesting writing about the same event twice, for different audiences. Adding to the beanstalk at FIGMENT 2. Runner beans from the garden.  This is the closest I have come yet to my ambition to have a glut; we are not quite overwhelmed but certainly have a steady supply! 3. Theo growing up.  He is now basically out of nappies (not 100% potty trained but I'll spare you the details) and has graduated to a big bed.  Or at least he will do as soon as the ma...

As I mentioned in my last post, we visited Stowe Gardens for the second time this month.  We remembered that we'd taken a particular photo of Toby on our last visit, so we recreated it this time.  Scrolling through our photo archives, I discovered that the original was taken almost a year ago, in September 2015.  Are you ready for this? Last year This year Who stretched Toby?  I knew he was growing, of course - after all, I've been the one who had to keep buying him new school uniform - but it really brings it home to see the evidence like this. His first year at school has stretched him out in so many other ways, too.  He has made his first close friends and gained in lots of confidence.  It's been wonderful to see him stepping into new situations, asking new questions, and acquiring new skills.  He still gets scared when he has to try something for the first time, but he's gained the courage to admit it and do it anyway - and then he's s...

I was always of the opinion that a staycation was when you actually stayed at home, but made it more fun by doing day trips to the kind of places you'd go on holiday.  Recently the term seems to be used to mean staying in the UK rather than going abroad - which surely is just a regular vacation? Our recent summer holiday was a cross between the two, so we can count it as a semi-staycation at least.  My parents kindly hosted us for several days, which almost counts as staying at home, but with an exciting new array of day trips to do.  And the added bonus of two extra adults to wrangle small boys! Yes, they are lovely really. The first day out was to The Lookout , a science centre set amongst miles of trees.  We had been to the vast playground before - on a much colder day - but this time we went inside as well.  Unusually, we have no photographs; probably because we were having too much fun.  There are activities ranging from water play to logic puz...