Lego Milestones

 Lichtenstein's 'Crying Girl' recreated by Bright Bricks

After the initial no school  euphoria has quickly worn off this is how we usually feel at the start of the holidays;  the adults after counting   the pennies and the children as they all settle down and get used to being with each other at home.  This year we bought a culture all passport which after the initial cost means we can have lots of fun days out for free (or only the cost of  a few of the children as we are always exceed a "family" ticket).  Determined to make the most of the April offer of extra children free we have already made good use of the card,  yesterday we visited the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke, the town of many roundabouts.  At the moment  it has gone Lego crazy with lots of lego inspired activities and creations interwoven with the already superb historical street and exhibitions.

Our two lego loving boys were very excited and even wore their favourite lego t - shirts, they were not disappointed and had such a fun time.  They loved hunting for the little lego men amid the historical artefacts, discovering the hidden easter message and being rewarded by little mini eggs.  Little man was the quietest he has ever been as he sat enthralled by the big screen lego film.  

There were lots of fantastic extra touches, really adding   to the lego experience.

can you see the lego men?

 

It was very little lively boy friendly as there was lots to see, touch and talk about.

We all enjoyed walking through the old streets, looking at the beautiful old cars and bikes and going in the charming old fashioned shops. It was fun discovering new things in the exhibitions, although finding your old toys in a museum makes you feel very old!

Oldest girl who adore anything 'vintage' enjoyed seeing the rooms through the decades on display, and selecting her favourite wedding dress from those displayed.  Middle girl thought it was pretty fantastic to actually be able to buy real sweets at the shop and see them weighed in front of you.  Littlest lady would have loved playing in the pre school post office but we were dragged away to see the lego wall art. The history teacher dad thought it was all amazing but seemed to be particularly drawn to the pub!  I am saving all the fabulous photos of sewing machines and scary looking hair drying appliances for another day, they were far too special to be lost amidst the lego!

If you live nearish I would definitely recommend a visit,  lots of space for a picnic (inside and outside)  and far cheaper than legoland with a lot less queueing!

Do you remember any of these toys from childhood?

Chitting Potatoes

I have this Felicity Kendall inspired desire to pop out to my  neat and tidy vegetable garden and pull  up a few glorious organically grown items to lovingly prepare for my angelic children.  They will of course be very thankful for  my hard work, tireless effort and all offer to tend the land so we can grow yet more edible delights.

Heading firmly back to reality I know these things do not happen without  preparation.  We are still working hard on the angelic children, surely it must be easier to get the vegetable patch planted and growing?  We had a small patch last year and grew yummy runner beans which I thought were very bad at producing until I saw the  little lovelies helping themselves to them when in the garden.  I was not sure whether to be cross or really pleased! We had amazing success with Raspberry bushes,  ignored them all summer and they thanked us with an bumper crop.  The tomatoes were not as grateful and gave us a dismal response to our labour, although   the football which kept knocking the stakes down may have had something to do with that.  We planted a few potatoes last year and hope to continue in greater numbers this summer.

They have been chitting away for a few weeks now and we will be persuading the oldest teen to help dig their new resting place next week.  Such a funny word which has obviously caused a lot of amusement to our not so angelic tribe!  Any experts reading,  do they look "chitted" enough?  

Sitting next to them on the kitchen windowsill is a hanging basket planted with Strawberries, I hoped the delicious fruit would be safe from stray footballs and hungry children hanging high.  There is also another basket of herbs  growing next to it.  This is probably going to be my best hope of realising the opening the door and picking the produce dream.

In case all fails I am sure   Mr Cress Man will keep us smiling all summer.

What are you planting at the moment?

Testing Tunes

There has been much practice and playing of scales  in the oldpolicehouse of late. The two oldest girls are just about to take their Grade 2 and 4 in piano.  They have both worked really hard and deserve to pass well.  We have all listened very well but have just about had enough! Little man is going round the house singing  his "da da da du de dum......." version and is completely accurate in tone and rhythm reminding me yet again    how much little ears pick up from the rest of us.  At least this time I am not going to be ashamed if he repeats it at school.

The grades are taken in a house a few miles up the road, this is the sweet cottage next door,

right by the post box.






With some very pretty flowers growing by the pavements, they are probably  weeds but they certainly brightened the way.

It looks picturesque but the photos hide the really busy road about a metre away!

We found our destination and   entered with a rather  grumpy small girl in tow,  the house was not really  bored toddler friendly  but such is the life of a youngest child and she usually adapts well.   However  after handing me some matches, finding several chocolate eggs to steal and depositing iced gems all over the floor  I was  slightly desperate for a distraction.  Thankfully the above photos worked  for a very short while before she announced her intention to leave, very loudly!

How did you spend this lovely sunny

 afternoon?

(hopefully it was without a noisy attachment!)

fabulous felt key rings

This weeks crafty make for the school fete was felt key rings.  We met last night, sat around my kitchen table chatting, chocolate biscuit  munching and crafting away. The evening and chilled time with friends was almost as fabulous as these sweet key rings.

I made two in the time  and could have probably squeezed another one in if I hadn't had a few child and dog interruptions!  These were my makes; a cute little flower with a gingham contrast and a heart  with a pretty Cath Kidston flower on the front.

Last night we made,

Owls

birds

and hearts.

They are very simple to make, do not cost much and are a great way of using up scraps of fabric which are far too beautiful to part with.  If you feel inspired here's how to make your own:

1. You need to cut out  two of  the shape you want in felt (easiest to cut them out at the same time), they could be a heart, flower, owl, bird etc.

2. Decorate one side (or both)  of the shape, this is the fun part as you can be as creative as you like maybe sew beads or buttons on or appliqué a scrap of fabric.  

3. Sew a piece of ribbon using small running stitches to the top, joining both pieces of the felt.

4.  Blanket stitch using embroidery thread around the shape, leaving a gap of about two centimetres.

5. Stuff the shape with toy stuffing. 

6. Finish the blanket stick and loose the thread in the middle of the key ring.

7.  Attach a key ring to the ribbon at the top.

Which one is your favourite?

graffiti knitting

As we were walking to school this morning my smallest boy ran back to tell me with much excitement that "there was sewing by the dentist".  I wasn't really sure what he meant but soon realised he had got sewing and knitting muddled up  when I saw  the cause of his excitement.

Apart from the time we saw an old lady drive into a walled  front garden, this probably is the most exciting things that has happened on our  daily way to and from school.  In fact it could be one of the most  happening things to happen in our little part of the world.  It  even gets better,

 as there were three!

In the back of my mind   I vaguely remembered reading something about this and  after a quick internet search,  I remembered reading this  article with the dramatic headline

The graffiti knitting epidemic

A bunch of 'graffiti knitters' are on the loose in the UK – hellbent on liberating us from the forces of drabness.....

There are a lot of older people who live in our area and it has made me smile all morning imagining some of the sweet old ladies creeping out at night with their knitting to "liberate" the area!  

I have no idea who did this or really why you would want to choose this particular place to liberate, but whoever you are, thank you for making my school run much easier this morning.

Has anyone seen any of this graffiti knitting anywhere else?

Have you daringly done it?

Tell all....

Perspective

This was the sight as I looked down when walking home from school earlier, the  mix of colours, patterns and textures were glorious.   I realised that despite having maybe thousands of photos of my children I didn't have any of them from this view point,  which is perhaps the way I have seen them the most especially when they were small.  

She was fast asleep so I took the opportunity to find the camera and get my picture, her little hand looked so sweet with the contrasting patterns behind.  Two years and one month and still not sleeping very well at night, "Cuggle Wuby Mummy" was very cute the first time we heard it at half past five in the morning but not so much now  lovely girl!

Two years and one month

I was in our front garden with a sleeping babe safe in the buggy and camera in hand and starting thinking more about perspective, the way in which we look at things, in particular the point of view we take.  Here are a few pictures of the same thing but from a different perspective:

Perspective makes a difference.

The tree which I have been told is a cherry blossom still looks amazing, although the sky was not as brilliant at nine today.

and a different perspective

In an attempt to keep it real  I will now shatter the illusion of a perfect front garden: the hyacinths were randomly shoved in the ground last year to see what would happen, the daffodils are actually my neighbours, we have a lot of work to do to tidy the garden after a tree was taken down, of course there is are several little boy piles of sticks as well as a scooter flung somewhere.

But who wants to dwell on things like that when there is such beauty  to gaze at? It is all about choosing the right perspective  and as I have thought about it all day I have been reminded of  a verse from the bible:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
Isaiah 55 v 8

A little voice is reminding me about my perspective:  although circumstances and situations stay the same and can be out of my control to change, I need to check I am  looking at things in the  right way.   Making sure I am investing my life in important things, the things that really matter.  Remembering the whole picture and not getting caught up in a tiny part.



Gaining the right perspective changes everything.


Anything you need to change perspective on today?

missed matisse

Totally enhanced with flowers!

I popped into the local library today,  now known as the discovery centre which while I think is a fantastic name, I  cannot get out of the habit of calling it the library.  I was hoping for one last look around the Matisse exhibition in the gallery there, however I was too late and have missed it by a few days.  Middle boy visited it with school and took great  pleasure in telling me all the pictures he recognised from our house there.

I really love Matisse especially his later work using cut outs; his use of bright bold simple colour always makes me smile.  I so love the idea that while he was ill at the end of his life he still wanted to be creative and learnt to "paint with scissors"  using cut out paper as in the Blue Nude above.  I have used this idea in teaching art with children over the years, they are always really enthusiastic about this concept and are  amazingly creative with a pair of scissors and coloured paper.  

We have a pair of blue nudes in the hallway of our house,  it was only a few weeks after we moved here I realised they were created in the same year our house was built, 1952, it seemed fitting to hang them in the hallway. I think they are enhanced with the reflection of colourful Cath Kidston curtains  hanging at the front door, not very sure if Mr Matisse would agree!

We have a large copy of the Snail, another of his  colourful cut outs hanging in the kitchen.  In our previous house we had a teeny, tiny kitchen and it looked amazing dominating the white wall at one end , our kitchen is bigger now and the impact is not as great, I still love it though.  The children have all stood in front of it when they were learning to read and hunted for the word "the", it  seems a long time ago my gcse boy did that!  I bought it from the Tate years ago on a rare and fabulous mummy friend trip to London, such a fantastic reminder of a beautiful escape for a day.

 So as the Easter holidays are approaching I am attempting to be organised and plan some fun and inspiring Art gallery trips for the children, we may even brave it to London.  

Which artist inspires you at the moment?