19th and 20th December 2013- End of the year

Last one for 2013 and I was hoping to fit in a trip to the woods but following some serious rain and with the threat of some strong winds we stuck with the garden instead. The morning started by making more fruity soda bread…

And then headed out accompanied by older brothers and sisters who had already started their Christmas holidays.

George, king of puddles in action

When we got to the garden we realised we’d have to be a bit more careful about sticking to the paths

Because of the crocus shoots poking up in the meadow

There’s still lots to see in the garden… hips

A den in the exotic garden and a fiery dogwood by the lower moat

No newts to be spotted in the pond though

On Thursday we stopped for a little retail therapy in the shop

Where we also saw a beautiful newly laid hedge

Climbed a mountain

And did more puddle jumping

On Friday we were whizzed round the garden more than once (and losing a few of the little ones) by the older brothers and sisters

And then we all returned back for a story- Owl babies by Martin Waddell some soda bread and to make some willow magic wands- idea stolen from here where she’s been doing an advent of stuff made from sticks, and a bit of string painting for the younger ones.

And that was that! Bit of a break now until the 2nd. Hope you all had a great Christmas, looking forward to seeing you in the New Year.

 

12th and 13th December 2013- Wreath making

With Christmas fast approaching I thought it might be fun to test out our floristry skills with a spot of wreath making. Admittedly not the easiest of tasks for the under 3s but I figured the adults might enjoy a bit of creativity and I could entertain the troops with a bit of a sing song for the assembly part. The morning started with my cutting some long lengths of willow from the tree by the dipping pond, to make into the base for the wreaths, meanwhile the cooks put together the mixture for a lemon drizzle cake.

Cakes in oven it was off to the garden- on Thursday out into the frost, and Friday, the drizzle.

We made a visit to the hedgerow to collect some rosehips and ivy for our wreaths

 

Bay is pretty too

 

And then we dumped our treasures to collect later and headed for a quick jaunt round the garden.

Misty scenes on Thursday

 

 

We spotted Miscanthus the dachshund in the fruit cage on Thursday

 

Scaled the compost heap

 

And the turf pile on the way back.

 

On Friday we climbed the bench instead

 

There were some very fetching waterproofs on display

 

And then it was cake and story time- after we’d drizzled the lemon that is!

 

And finally time to have a go at weaving the willow to make wreaths, accompanied by a tune on the ukulele to distract the wreckers!!

 

5th and 6th December 2013- Daffodils

Another garden week, because of a windy Thursday, and I decided it would be sweet to plant some daffs in pots for everyone to take home. As usual the morning started with a spot of cooking, this week plain sodabread.

Before heading out into the garden for a bit of fresh air…

We scrunched our way through the leaves

Looked at the cotoneasters shining in the sun with their red berries and leaves

George and I scaled the compost heap for a bird’s eye view of the high garden.

Admired the seed heads and grasses

Ran up the hill and stood on top of the reservoir, and enjoyed the views from the top.

Found a sunny bench to sit on

Spotted the first snowdrops

And Yannick up a tall ladder cutting a hedge

Before heading back for some nice warm bread and a story

Finally we planted some daffodils in pots to take home, the lovely 2 headed Narcissus ‘Tete-a-tete’, mixing up the soil components and putting a layer of horticultural grit on top, and had a bit of a song.

 

And some of us held a presentation..