mamaUK

Royal Wedding

 
   ~A fairy tale love story~

There's wedding fever in our home this morning as we wait for the Royal Wedding to begin. K and little L are so excited at seeing a real life fairy tale unfold in front of their eyes, as Kate Middleton marries the heir to the British throne, Prince William of Wales.

Allotment

 

 

 
 

On the news this morning it was reported that the weather we have been experiencing here in the UK is possibly going to be the warmest on record for the month of April. It truly has been beautiful. We took the girls to their grandparent's allotment at the weekend to plant potatoes and gather dandelions to make wine. K carried an armful of rhubarb home for us. It was a lovely way to round up the Easter holiday before both the girls head back to school.

Did you see that I wrote 'both'? It is Little L's first day at pre-school today so it's been an anxious time for the two of us but I'm hoping that the transition will become smoother as we both find new routines.

Paradise

 
 
 

 

(Stourhead, National Trust)

On a family day out to Stourhead, the children ran through the 18th century landscape, into the darkness and cool  of mystical grottoes and around and around classical temples. They looked at their reflections in the magnificent lake and ate strawberry icecream in the sunshine.

Bluebells

 
 
 

 

 
 
(Ancient hazel coppice woodland, Garston Wood,RSPB)

We wound our way carefully along the deer tracks so as not to tread on any bluebells. Occasionally our feet brusied some wild garlic and fragranced the air as we passed. As we walked along the wider woodland paths, we spotted orchids amongst the carpet of bluebells.

Golden fields

 

 

 
 
 
The rapeseed is flowering in our neck of the woods at the moment. The surrounding countryside is flecked with these golden fields. A yellow so intense that we had to stop the car as we drove by this afternoon so I could capture this saturation of colour with my camera.

National Trust: Llanerchaeron

 

 

 

~A self-sufficient 18th century Welsh minor gentry estate. Also a working organic farm with rare Welsh pigs, Welsh Black cattle and Llanwenog sheep~

Just a few moments from our day:  K walking through a dark doorway into the brightness outside...Little L watching Spring lambs with their mama...crispy red apples eaten under the dappled light of a tree... carrying home bundles of organic rhubarb destined for a fruit crumble.

Early morning beach

 

 
We got to the beach early and found it almost empty, the children ran to the water's edge only to to run away from the lapping waves.  They searched for shells and sea glass and drew in the sand. They came away with damp dresses and sand in their boots, tired but happy.

Spring cleaning the greenhouse

 

 
 

 

Brilliant Sunshine seems to have chased away the April showers here in the UK this week. It really has been beautiful and unusually warm for this time of year. Wanting to make the most of the sunny weather, we decided to busy ourselves outdoors. I took little L up the garden to wash the greenhouse, a job we have been meaning to do for some time to help control pests and diseases and optimise the light getting in so we can give our little seedlings and plants the best start possible. Years worth of moss and algae had built up both inside and out. Little L enjoyed playing with the cloths in the bucket of soapy water and sloshing them over the glass to remove the grime. She seemed to enjoy how purposeful her task was, hard at work helping her mama.

April showers

 

 

 

The sky looked leaden overhead while we were at the top of our garden planting the  potato patch late on Sunday afternoon. We hurried to dig the trenches before the children carefully placed the tubers into the ground and put their 'blanket' of dark soil back on top. The heavens opened and there was a quick, heavy April shower which sent the children scurrying back down the garden and back into the dry. As muddy boots were being pulled off and discarded in the garden room, K said, 'April really is here, it's raining!'

 We planted some 'earlies','second earlies' and 'main crop' potatoes so we can have home grown throughout the  summer and some will be stored in large paper sacks for the winter. As well as planting them in the ground, we are also using two Burgon & Ball Rectangular Potato Bags. 

My day

 

Right now I am...

• reading the final two chapters of Hold on to Your Kids:Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. This book has taught me so much about attachment parenting and the importance of keeping hold of that connection as your child grows. This is one of my top parenting books I have ever read, along side Simplicity Parenting and Heaven on Earth.
• thinking about making a herb cheese scone to go with our lentil soup tonight, after being inspired by my sister who made some for her fifteen month old and watching her enjoy it so much for her lunch. I will need to stop by the local shop this afternoon on the school walk home as I am out of dried herbs!
• seeing all the pretty flowers springing up and wanting to capture them all with my camera.
• feeling a little sad at seeing the blossom falling from the trees already, but loving the 'pink carpet' they make on the ground. This week K has been saying 'It's snowing mama' as we watch it falling in the spring breeze.