Rollercoaster Mum: May 2014

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Saturday 31 May 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 22

It's been an adventurous week according to Little Miss's declaration in the car yesterday. I guess she's right up to a point - it has certainly been a busy half term. We went to stay at Grandma's for a couple of days, explored Winnie the Pooh country, visited Rollercoaster Dad at work, went to see the Lego Movie, the girls did cooking with Daddy and decoupage with Mummy, built a dam and tried our hand at orienteering and there is more busyness planned before they return to school. We even squeezed in a barbecue today. I have a multitude of photos so here are just a few:

macro Allium flower
Ubiquitous flower from Grandma's garden. Actually quite tough to choose as took loads of pictures as unlike us she actually has some flowers! 
Fun with the garden trolley
The girls spent hours pulling each other and their teddies around Grandma's garden on her garden trolley - and when they got bored of that there was the bikes !
view from the secret cave, Lake Wood, Woodland Trust
Dog walks at Grandma's are the best when you go somewhere this exciting - caves, boathouses, tunnels and rocks to climb.
the tunnel, Lake Wood, Woodland Trust
Heading into one of the 'secret' tunnels!
Winnie the Pooh's Enchanted Place, Ashdown Forest
Winnie the Pooh's 'Enchanted Place' on Ashdown Forest - one of my favourite ever places.
building a dam, #50things, Waggoner's Wells, National Trust
Ticking off another of our #50things - building a dam across a stream. We visited our new favourite place - Waggoner's Wells again for a spot of dam building.
decoupage project of Ikea Knuff Magazine Rack, Ikea Hack
The girls and I had lots of fun decoupaging these Knuff IkeaMagazine racks - our first go at decoupage and it was really easy! 
Sheltering under the Gunnera leaves, The Vyne, National Trust
Using Bigger Miss's voucher from the National Trust that she got last year for completing 25 of her #50things we revisited the Vyne and spent most of the time having a go at orienteering in the very muddy woods (another #50things ticked off) but I didn't get any pics of them doing it but they did have fun admiring the size of the Gunnera leaves.
For lots more half term fun head on over to The Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Friday 30 May 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - C is for ....

I hope you like flowers. I take a lot of pictures of flowers! In this case I have gone for these and so this weeks #alphabetphoto C is for:

Clematis

We have had these two Clematis plants for quite a few years now and every year I think that they may not survive. They are planted in two, not particularly big, pots either side of the shed door. Clematis are supposed to want deep roots and the pots don't really provide that which makes it doubly amazing that they produce these beautiful flowers year after year.

Purple and white Clematis flower

pink and purple Clematis flower


Linking up with the lovely Charly over at PODcast on her Alphabet Photography Project. 

Tuesday 27 May 2014

What's your pets name?

Why do I ask? Well according to this fun UK pet facts video infographic from Petplan the most common dog's name is Alfie (I know an Archie and several Bonnie's but no Alfies), with cats and horses Charlie comes out on top and for rabbits it's Daisy. Now I wonder what it is for chickens or fish? All our chickens have been named after curries (yes really - guess whose idea that was!) and the fish, I have to admit, have not all been named. It also transpires that most pet owners seem to be called Sarah except if you have a dog and then you are very likely to be called David!!

There are all sorts of other fascinating facts in the video - bet you can't guess the age of the oldest horse they insure?! It's really quite fun and of course it reminds you that it really is worth remembering to insure those most important members of the family - there's no NHS for pets!



Disclosure: sponsored video on behalf of Petplan

Sunday 25 May 2014

Silent Sunday #MySundayPhoto

walled garden, Petersfield Physic Garden


Saturday 24 May 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 21

After last week's school fair it was a chill out day on Sunday, making the most of that gorgeous sunny weather which lasted long enough for an after school garden picnic on Monday. By the time Tuesday came and I had to spend ALL day wandering around a local town while Rollercoaster Dad's car was being fixed the sun had unfortunately disappeared. However I still enjoyed whiling away an hour or so of it wandering around the small Physic garden and taking a tonne of pictures. Other than that pictures have been hard to come by this week as the rain returned, although we did manage to walk to school every day in Walk to School Week. Enough waffle on with the pics:

picnic in the garden
First of the year snacky tea picnic in the garden after school - wish the weather was still like this! 

secret door,  Petersfield Physic Garden
Secret garden doors - love them! 

pretty blue and purple flower,  Petersfield Physic Garden
Ubiquitous flower shot taken at the Physic garden - I took so many photos there I will have to do a separate post on it. 

hairy caterpillars, grow your own
The hairy caterpillars the girls made at the Royal School Grow For It event a couple of weeks ago - they are like hairy carpet caterpillars - amazing! 

Robin red breast
And lastly we have been enjoying watching a family of robins in the garden. I think they have a nest in our hedge and it is so lovely to see them bobbing around the garden. 

To see if the rain has returned for the rest of the gang head on over to the Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Friday 23 May 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - B is for ....

I am catching up with the fab new #alphabetphoto project organised by the lovely PODcast - by C I might be publishing on the right day with everyone else! In the meantime back to B which could be for many things but in this case and this week B is for:

Books

I may have mentioned before that we like a good book in the Rollercoaster household although currently Little Miss is quite definitely the chief bookworm. She devours books almost as voraciously as chocolate and she was thrilled to move up another level in reading at school this week - so close to free readers now! The pictures come from a trip to the bookshop to spend Bigger Miss's birthday gift card. I adore bookshops and could easily spend hours in one and so it seems could Little Miss.

mini bookworm in bookshop, bookshelves

bookshelves and bookshops

Linking up with The Alphabet Photography Project over at PODcast - posting a new photograph (or two) with the next letter of the alphabet.

Thursday 22 May 2014

Draw with Me - Under the Sea

We have been meaning to join in with the lovely This Mummy Loves and her daughter Boo's  'Draw with Me' competition and linky for a while now and this month we have actually managed to finish our pictures before the deadline - just! They have a £20 Amazon voucher up for grabs this month and all your kids have to do is draw a picture with this month's theme of 'Under the Sea'. You have one more day to join in!

I am so glad I managed to get the girls to join in with this one as it has encouraged them to look at books for ideas and investigate 'under the sea' stuff and as an added bonus it has meant they have hardly watched any telly for 2 whole days after school. Now that's a miracle!

First up it is Bigger Miss. She worked very hard on this, especially trying to get things like the dolpin, seahorse and wray, correct as far as possible. It is a picture taken at sunset or sunrise as you can see from the sun rising out of the sea. Can you see the Wray on the bottom? And in case you were wondering there are different types of coral at the bottom and that purple and green seaweed.

creatures under the Sea

Secondly is Little Miss's picture which again she has worked very hard on. I especially like her stripy fish and colourful rocks - and these definitely are rocks as she told me she wanted them to be colourful when she was colouring it in! 

coulourful Under the Sea drawing

Joining in with 'This Mummy Loves' Draw with Me linky:

This Mummy Loves...

Tuesday 20 May 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - A is for ....

I appear to have fallen for another photo project (I will never learn). I didn't have much chance to think about A as as usual I'm a little late to the #alphabetphoto party but I promise that the other 25 letters will have a bit more thought. I have gone for a slightly different spin on the classic -so A, in this case is for:

Apple Tree 

During a mostly very frustrating day of having to wait for the car to be fixed I spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around the small Physic Garden in the centre of the town, a visit I will mainly share with you another time. Part of the garden is a small orchard which, amongst the more unusual walnut, quince and medlar trees has of course some Apple trees. These are all beautiful old trees and one even has bunches of mistletoe hanging off it. So I had found my A.

Mistletoe growing on apple tree

Ancient apple tree - Malus domestica Gladstone

Ancient apple tree - Malus domestica Keswick Codlin

I am joining on with the lovely PODcast's new linky - The Alphabet Photography Project - where every week we will post a photograph with the theme of the letter of the alphabet in order.

Sunday 18 May 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 20

Big dose of can't be arsed this week - not so much with the taking of photos but just blogging. I'm sure it will pass - it usually does and in the meantime the 365 kicks my arse every week and ensures I at least blog something! It has been work and school this week including a school trip that I helped out on which was utterly exhausting - like herding cats - but a great opportunity for some photos. What with that and then the school Spring Fair yesterday time has been a little lacking so lets get on with the photos:

Alice, Thames sailing barge, Southsea
First up are some pictures from Little Miss's school trip to Southsea. The trip itself was mainly a walk around Southsea but there was a chance for a few photos.  

benches by the sea, seaside colours
Colourful seaside benches (with rain brewing over the Isle of Wight!)

Southsea to Isle of Wight hovercraft
We saw (and heard) the hovercraft several times and I think it was the highlight of the trip for the boys - shame we couldn't go on it!
sunshine on the Solent, from Southsea
Sunshine glinting off the sea 


pale purple Lady's Smock or cuckoo flowers
With the sunshine finally arriving we stopped at the playground one day after school, where I promptly abandoned the kids and went for a wander around the nearby fields to take a few photos (don't worry - they are quite old enough now to be left for 10 minutes!) There was loads of pretty wildflowers including the lovely Lady's Smock. 
wild rabbit hiding
There was also a lot of rabbits - tricky to capture but I managed it! 

Roe deer retreating
I even saw a deer which was even more tricky to capture but I managed it! 
pretty star like Greater Stitchwort flowers, Stellaria holostea
More pretty wildflowers - this one is Greater Stitchwort or Stellaria holostea, also known as Daddy's shirtbuttons and Star of Bethlehem.


pretty blue Speedwell flowers
There were clouds of pretty blue Speedwell's too.

School summer fait
And lastly some pictures of the school summer fair yesterday - a lovely sunny day and hopefully we made lots of money. I didn't take as many pics as I meant too though!

For some more doses of sunshine head on over to the Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky


Silent Sunday #MySundayPhoto

Isle of Wight from Southsea



Sunday 11 May 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 19

After last week's long, chilled out weekend it was back to routine with the usual rude awakening. It was at least sunny for the first couple of days and Little Miss and I enjoyed a slow, chatty walk home from school one day whilst Bigger Miss was at an after school club. We admired the wild flowers and had fun blowing the dandelion clocks.

The next day Bigger Miss had her Hostess Badge to do at Brownies which entailed a certain amount of running around looking for teapots, sugar bowl and milk jugs. The flowers however were easy, we just picked a few on the way home from school and a few from our garden, put them in a glass and there, we had a pretty posy. We have also had team colour day at school to raise some hamper stuff for the Spring Fair and Little Miss was very proud to win the poster competition for her class - gaining 10 whole housepoints in the process. Which along with 4 housepoints for writing a 4 page fantasy story has to be a school record for the most housepoints in a day I reckon!

picking a dandelion clock
Picking dandelion clocks on the way home from school.
rain clouds and sunshine
Playing about with my camera settings on the school run, taking a picture of  the view and the clouds, love living in the countryside


Telling the time from a dandelion clock
What time is it? 

pretty wildflower posy for Brownie Hostess badge
Bigger Miss's posy for her Brownie Hostess Badge - think we should pick flowers like this more often.

Stunning white lily flower
I came home one afternoon to find our neighbour had left a bunch of lilies on the doorstep, she had been given a bouquet of flowers and is allergic to liles so she thought I might like them and very beautiful they were too.
Go Yellow - team colour day
Little Miss's hair accessorised with yellow for Team Colour day at school when she also won the poster competition for her class and got 10 team points - yay! 
Alan Titchmarsh helping plant strawberry plants at the Royal School's Grow For It
On Saturday we went to a free annual event for the under 11's called Grow For It and organised by the Royal School in Hindhead and featuring Alan Titchmarsh. This is the second year we have been and there is loads to do - a really good free afternoon of entertainment which I will try and do a proper post on later in the week. Here is Alan Titchmarsh himself helping Little Miss plant a strawberry plant.
what's at the end of the rainbow?
And finally I have captured a rainbow on film - not a whole one but it is a rainbow! 
For lots more fun and photos head on over to the Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
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