Clent

 How can we have lived in the West Midands for the whole of our lives, and never visited the Clent Hills? We've known about them, driven past them, but never visited. We have really been missing out! Stuart came home from work yesterday, after his half day of work on a Friday. The sun was shining, there was a warm breeze, and he suggested we went to invesigate the hills. What a fantastic idea. I will let the pictures tell the rest, needless to say, we will be going back there many times in the future.

 The boys found a good sliding slope!

 The views were breathtaking.

 The colours were beautiful, and a glimpse at what it will be like once autumn arrives.

 Luke used Sophie's pushchair to go down inclines big and small.  We found him at the bottom of hills having used it as a go-kart!

 The highest spot.

 We reckon the green field on the hillside would be perfect for our hobbit hole!

We will be back!

Woodland days

Meeting up with friends at a local woods, personally my favourite woods, which are so quiet even on the most summery of days.  Walking up a hill to a nearby church we spotted a rather impressive looking caterpillar.  He was a very big chap, probably about 6 or 7 cm long.  Research, when we got home, suggests it is a drinker moth caterpillar, apparently named as they like to drink dew drops.

 We reached the top, admired the views, investigated the church, and decided we'd retreat from all these very strange, black flies that were everywhere, to go and have a picnic in the wood.

 Some impressive bark.  Easily pleased, me!

 Some recent woodland management left a wonderful playground for the children.  Sophie spent a while playing with the sawdust.  Others were walking along felled trees, and we also looked at the rings of the tree, but it wan't clear enough for us to tell how old it was.

 Some bracket type fungi adorned this tree stump.  I showed Sophie and asked her if the fairies lived there, her reply was "why not?"

 This wood, in the past, has had loads of dens made from fallen branches.  Many of the dens were not there anymore, but we found one, which the boys added to, and then Luke went off to build his own den, with the help of younger friends.

 Sophie reckoned it was the little piggies house from the three little pigs, here she is taking Stuart along to look. 

 A wonderful afternoon passed, with the adults sat on a mossy bank, watching the children playing to their hearts content in such a natural setting. 

This evening, Ethan said that today had been as good as legoland.  So it sounds like it was the perfect way to finish our Easter break.

A brief glimpse of life

They say the kitchen is the hub of the house, and whilst stirring the porridge this morning, I glanced around and saw this scene, which I thought neatly summed up recent activity! Books, there are always books strewn around, usually by Sophie! A pile of fruit that is awaiting juicing, or other fates. Black bananas tend to end up in a banana cake, or at least the freezer awaiting enough other black bananas to warrant a banana cake! A pot of glue, and some glitter from some recent crafting, Abel and Cole leaflets from the recent veg box, and my bag thrown down as I was probably in the middle of doing something else (as is the way recently!) So there we have it, a quick glimpse at the story a kitchen worksurface can tell you!
Today there were some very tired people about. Ethan was struggling to hold things together, I was feeling tired despite a relatively good night, and Alec was doing his best to get a reaction out of the tired Ethan. So off we went to the park, after a false start as Ethan melted down yet again!

It was all a bit much at the playground. Too many people out and about in the Spring sunshine. So we headed off the beaten track. Found some trees to climb, generally chilled out, and then with sticks accumulated (there always has to be sticks, and for Ethan the bigger the better!) they spontaneously started beating out a rhythm on a gate. I wish I had a video camera with me, it was really good, something you could really dance to. But alas, a stills camera is all I had.

The fresh air did it's trick, well until low blood sugars kicked in, and the bad tempers returned. But the lull was a very welcome relief.

Making the most of time

Half term is a time for home for these home birds of mine. It is lovely to see Luke reading, despite his love of writing, he doesn't really do much in the way of reading, but has enjoyed reading the autobiography of Steve Martin. Of course, there has been lego played with too.

We've had friends over for a meal, who brought these gorgeous flowers with them that they had hand-tied themselves.

I had to include this picture, Sophie knew there was some ice-cream in the freezer, and had the most cheekiest look on her face!

We did venture out on the warm, dry day of Thursday. Picking up a friends little girl, and romping through the woods, as well as feeding animals at a childrens farm.

There have been many moments of just sheer enjoyment. Sitting with Sophie whilst she did doodle after doodle on the mega-sketcher. Drawing a picture of a water slide for fish to go down!

Tidying rooms, Alec was relieved that I helped him with his room, as it had got to the state where you just didn't know where to start. Late nights, watching films together. And to top it off, a sleep-over tonight for Luke and his friends, with the other boys going up the road to a friends for pizza and a film.

I love the natural pace that school holidays bring.

Summery days #2

What to do on a balmy May day? The thought of joining with the masses of people in parks nearby did not appeal, but a walk in a wood, that always goes down well. Unfortuantely we couldn't get to the wood we wanted to go to due to lack of carparking. But we went on a bit of an adventure. Found a footpath sign, found a layby, and started walking! We came across the most enormous field, the boys enjoyed a good run around!

After generally missing the cow pats in another field (Luke was the first to find one with his foot!) we came across some more animals sheltering from the heat of the day.

The boys were concerned we would never find our way back again, so there were squeals of delight when we rounded a corner and found our little layby and car. So we settled down for the picnic in the shady knoll by the car.

And luck should have it, we found a pub on our way home, so stopped for further refreshments! This was the first time we actually saw any other people, so a wonderful, peaceful, natural, summery day out.

Spring cleaning and woods

A spot of spring cleaning in the garden over the weekend, it's amazing how dirty everything gets, but it was made all the more easier, and pleasant with some willing helpers.

And following a very stressful trip to a certain horrible toy shop (how I wish I could have convinced them to spend their money at somewhere like Myriad!) We called in on some woods on the way back, where we discovered muddy puddles for throwing stones in...

...fences to climb...

...and sticks to traverse the mud with, whilst Luke tries to knock them off! Big brothers hey?!

We also heard a woodpecker, but unfortunately did not catch a glimpse of it, but at the end of the walk we discovered that the wood is home to all three varieties of woodpecker, I wonder which one it was?

An active Saturday

Lots of things happening again, all in the course of a day! My kitchen cupboard raided for bicarbonate of soda and vinegar, to try to make a fountain. Half a bottle of vinegar and bicarb later, this is what we got. Then other combinations were tried, coke and bicarb doesn't work, neither does coke and refreshers!

I had been feeling rather down first thing, so we went for a walk to lift my spirits, and get us all a bit of fresh air. We had a play in the playground.

Where a certain young lady scaled up an eight foot slide, all by herself, and then made Mummy panic once she got to the top. Luckily Luke was on hand to guide her safely back down!

Two brothers helped with the swing.

We walked through the woods, where we found some trees with moss growing at the base. I thought they looked like they were wearing grass skirts, so Luke decided if they were doing the "hula" they needed to be decorated with "hula hoops" which he just happened to have to hand! The photo isn't that great, but can you see the hula hoop on the branch?

And of course if you go through woods, you can guarantee that a certain young man will be up a tree! It took him a while, but he got there! Nothing like bringing a smile to your face when an 11 year old runs across a clearing yelling "tree, tree!" when he has seen a suitable climbing tree!

To top the day off there was a game of cricket in the backgarden, with the chickens joining in! Some trampolining, sowing of onion seeds, and then Earth Hour brought a game of Shadows in the Woods!

So after starting off feeling low, we had a lovely day, and hope Spring will bring us more days like this.

Woodland walk

Children disappearing off into the distance, in the search of dens and adventure.

Dens discovered

Beauty amidst the cold and mud (and there was alot of mud!)

The start of a den, architects Luke and George. To be finished at a later date due to cold little fingers, and increasing sleet that eventually turned to lots of snow!

Thank you Jo and boys for a lovely day.