A Walk in the Woods

It won't come as any surprise to those that know me that I do enjoy a nice trip to the woods, so with the weather really rather fine on Sunday (and finding ourselves with a rare window in the diary) we trotted off to reconnect with some trees.

Now, this particular piece of woodland is high on a hill with fantastic views for miles and miles. It's open and airy with mostly deciduous trees like beech, hazel and ash, but sadly not an oak tree to be found (my personal favourite........maybe). The ground slopes VERY steeply down to the one side of the path - glad no one slipped!

It's amazing what you spot in the woods - I wonder who might live in a house like this.......

I love to find little gateways like this one......

I was really taken by the textures of the ivy on this tree......

and the roots on the path......

And finally, if anyone knows what sort of fungi this is then I'd be very grateful not to have to look it up (pretty please).............

Thanks for reading - now that Little Miss is back at school and Small Boy has started in reception (sob) I'm enjoying getting back to the work shop - pics of this week's creations to follow very soon!

Baaaaaa - trials of the sheepdogs

Of course I've seen One Man and his Dog - years ago, is it still on? As far as I recall, it probably isn't quite 'reality tv' enough for today....maybe if they brought in a public phone vote to choose the winning dog and a panel of 'experts' who may or may not have once owned a dog of some kind, perhaps even a sheepdog.

Anyway, I digress......

Today I went to watch the English National Sheepdog Trials and had a great day out with children and grandparents. I've never seen sheepdog trials before and found it quite fascinating!

I won't pretend to have the slightest clue as to how it's scored or what makes a good run - I just spent my time willing the sheep into the pen and marvelling at how the dogs did exactly what the whistle told them to. The children spent the day standing on tiptoes on a hay bale looking through binoculars trying to be the first to spot the sheep coming over the hill.

Note to self: I wonder if whistles work as well on children, perhaps that's my mistake!

Was this a holiday or a history lesson?

Well, actually it was both! I have always loved history and archaeology and never let it be said that I am one to miss the opportunity to impart wonderful historical knowledge to my children, even if they're not in the slightest bit interested (which fortunately for me and the sake of our holiday on this occasion they were). My eldest has been doing Iron Age and Roman Britain as her topic this term so when we found ourselves near Castell Henllys it was the perfect place to visit to show her what iron age life was really all about.

If you get the chance to visit then I thoroughly recommend it for a day out with the family - reasonable entrance price and plenty to see and do. Castell Henllys is an iron age hill fort which has been partially reconstructed for visitors. The round houses you see on site are built on the exact place that there were once real round houses all those years ago (based on the location of the post holes). It was a great experience to go inside a round house and see how the smoke from the fire didn't choke us and rose up into the roof space without setting fire to the thatch - a concept demonstrated by the costumed guide by making sparks fly up from the hearth! How does this work? Well, the answer is that there was no smoke hole at all as it would have added air and caused the sparks to ignite the thatch. (I tried to explain this when we built our own mini round house for her Easter project but this visit explained it much better!)

Our wonky attempt at a round house!

We learnt how to make fire using flint, about making bread and about weapons and warrior face paint too. The costumed guides did all they could to really make it come alive for the visitors.

If you'd like to know more you can here: www.castellhenllys.pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk   

Homemade Potions

Today I've been experimenting with potions! Not in the hubble-bubble toil and trouble way, but with this lavender and chamomile salve.

I've never tried making anything like this before but I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out so far.

This is how I made it:

I gently heated 1 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup dried chamomile until warm then left it to infuse for 20 mins. Then I took the chamomile out and squeezed out the oil. I added 2 tbsp beeswax pellets and heated the bowl over hot water until the wax melted, then stirred in some lavender essential oil (12 drops) and some tea tree oil (6 drops). I poured it straight away into my cleaned pots and left it too cool.

I'm looking forward to using it and can't wait to experiment with more! I love the smell and the simplicity of the ingredients - no chemical nasties here :)

Scissors and Sentimentality

I recently found this old pair of scissors. They don't look much, but I love them. I'd forgotten all about them and found them in a drawer.

They are old, but they're still surprisingly sharp and just right for certain little jobs. They used to belong to my Gran - she kept them in a glass pot on the mantlepiece ready for use, where everyone knew where to find them. I particularly remember using these scissors while she taught me to knit - a skill I'll always be grateful for.

Gran's not here anymore to see all the new things I've learnt with silver  and although the scissors are no longer shiny, I'm glad I still have them.