Beach Trip

The weather predicted rain for a couple of weeks so we decided to make the most of a really sunny day last week and get to the beach. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight.

The children spent quite some time playing on the sand and in the dunes before deciding to do some paddling and beach combing.

We ended up walking quite a long way along the beach at the shore line and found many things of interest to look at and discuss.

We found lots of sea gooseberries that had washed up with the last tide, these are not technically jellyfish they are a marine invertebrate. They tend to only live a few months and die after spawning but just in case any were washed up by accident and were still alive the children decided to return them to the sea.

Finds like this usually inspire the children to learn what they can about the life cycle and this link leads to a wonderful website called Arkive where you can find out more about this creature and see photos of it in the water if you choose to.

My daughter also found a fish head and some dog whelk shells which were slightly worn away to reveal the beautiful inner spiral.

Our disappointing find of the day was some rubbish and lots of old fishing line and hooks which we decided to collect and take to the nearest rubbish bin as we were a little concerned that someone or one of the beach combing sea birds could have been injured. It is important to keep our wild spaces rubbish free and safe for all, it only takes a second.

Vintage and an Important Birthday

It's been a while since I shared some of our vintage finds but trust me there have been enough for a few posts. I'll start with just a couple of small but beautiful finds.

I have needed a new tea strainer for a very long time, it was the one item I forgot every time I went shopping, but walking home the other day I spotted this in a charity shop. It didn't actually look like this when I found it lurking at the bottom of a basket, it was so tarnished and appeared quite black. I fell in love with the shape and paid the 50p asking price and hoped we could bring back it's beauty.

My husband managed to get it really very shiny, much brighter than it looks in the photos and we found some marks on the back dating it to the early 1920's. So not only have I finally replaced my broken, modern tea strainer I have managed to do it in vintage style.

Another recent purchase is this little French perfume bottle, it still has an old, faded Parisian label on the bottom. I paid just over a pound for this but it is very pretty and makes me smile when my youngest daughter spends time in front of the dressing table putting on her beads and tiara before squirting the atomiser... she is just too cute.

Next I would like to introduce you to a wonderful lady, who inspires my love of vintage and my thriftiness...my grandmother...who celebrated a very special birthday last month and got a letter from the Queen. Happy 100th Birthday Nan.

Nature Reserve

We are lucky enough to live close to a nature reserve which makes for some beautiful walks. This time of year we love to observe some of the babies that have just hatched and it turned out our timing was perfect.

These are the Egyptian geese, they are a personal favourite of mine, along with five goslings.

A close up of an Egyptian gosling... the children love these too as the little ones make a distinctive peep peep noise which is very cute. The photo below shows the family on the water.

We saw a few ducks with ducklings but did not really get close enough to get some pictures. We also saw Canadian geese with four goslings.

The goslings are huddled together in between the parent birds if you look closely. The other type of goose we spotted was the Greylag, they very very busy with ten goslings.

From the photo above we thought they had nine goslings but when they took to the water ten goslings can clearly be seen.

The children love to watch the babies and we usually go back and visit quite a few times to see how they grow and if they all survive.

This beautiful swan seemed to follow us along the bank, posing for many photos. A lovely day was made even better when we got to watch pike swimming in the nearby river for what seemed like a very long time.

A Trip to the Castle

Last week we went to see the Roman Empire exhibition just before it moved on to another museum. The children had a really interesting time revisiting this historical subject and examining all the artifacts but unfortunately photography was forbidden in the exhibition itself so all photos are from the rest of the museum.

We collected the pamphlets above to remind us of some the things we had seen and for further investigations into the subject.

The children spent some time riding in the replica Iceni chariot in the Boudicca gallery and examining some of the treasures that have been dug up in and around our local area.

Had a go at building stone arches and traced the route of the stone used to build the castle from it's origins. My son had a go at firing the medieval siege engine whilst my daughter examined all the types of food eaten at the banquets held in the great hall.

I think we explored all the narrow stone corridors and what felt like the longest winding staircase ever. We love exploring our museums and try to go as often as possible. My daughter recently went on an art master class day held at the museum with our local home education group and we all went on a special RSPB open day, where the children got to dissect owl pellets for the first time and join in with many bird related activities.

New Year and a Return

We are just returning from our Christmas break and hope you have all had a good start to the year. Every year we try to hand make a few extra stocking fillers for the children and I thought I would share some of the things we made here quickly. Last year I made little monsters, this year my crochet took a slightly different turn.

My daughter is a huge fan of the Despicable me films so I decided to crochet a minion, she was absolutely thrilled on Christmas morning.

I also had a go at making a replica of Edith's hat. Edith is one of the little girls from the film. My son is more interested in games so a Boo was made from the Mario games.

The children love these little extras, my husband also hand made some extra stocking fillers that were amazing. He made a beautiful wooden ring toss game I have put links in if you would like to take a look. A lovely tower of hanoi puzzle and large wooden dice, he also cut out all the parts for a bird house and wrapped them with instructions for the children to make for themselves, which made a good alternative craft present to be put up in our nature garden.

We also made some catnip mice for new our kittens, can't forget presents for them. I would like to introduce our newest members here at lightly enchanted Crow and Tesla.

This was a photograph from when they first arrived, they are a little larger now. Crow was named after two things, the bird is a spiritual messenger and also a character from my husbands favourite series in which a crow was the nickname for a member of the nights watch. Tesla is named after one of our favourite genius inventors, Nikola Tesla, the master of lightning. They have both been exploring the garden a lot lately and are learning how to get along with the chickens.

Wool Wrapped Wire Reindeer

Yesterday I wrote about the wool wrapped wire snowflakes we made... Today I'm bringing you something much cuter, Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, made in the same way as the snowflakes.

We started in a similar way to the snowflakes, my husband began by drilling small holes into some left over dowel and inserting the wire to make a reindeer shape as seen in the photo below. My daughter also made one with an old cork and some wooden skewers as you will see in the last photo.

After getting the basic shape I then wrapped the entire reindeer in brown wool until every last piece was covered. I managed to use one continuous piece of wool again as this is easier to fasten off the end with a spot of glue.

To finish I toyed with the idea of a small, shiny red button or bead for his nose but in the end we opted for a little red pom pom and a quick spray of glitter.

 

He makes a very cute addition to our festive decorations this year, my daughter absolutely loves him and has made one of her own. She decided to paint her reindeer instead of wrapping him in wool.

 And then there were two...

Wool Wrapped Wire Snowflakes

Every year we try to make some new decorations for our tree, this year we have been so busy I'm only just getting around to posting them here. One of my favourite things were the wool wrapped wire snowflakes... so simple but they look so lovely on the tree.

First I made the basic shape of a snowflake with wire, any wire will do as it will be covered, I've just used cheap garden wire. My husband soldered three lengths of wire in the middle to hold them together but it is possible just to wind the wire to get the basic shape. The smaller pieces of wire on each arm are just wrapped around the larger wire, once the wool is added they will fix better in place.

Then it's time to wrap the entire wire snowflake in wool, I used white for snow. I did this in one continuous piece starting from the centre and going down each arm in turn then back to the centre so that it is covered with two layers of wool, before going down the next arm. This made it easier to fix the end of the wool when the snowflake is completely covered with just one spot of glue.

When the wool wrapping is finished your snowflake will look like the photograph above. I decided to add a tiny pearl bead to the end of each wire like a little stopper, adding a spot of glue to hold it on. This not only looks pretty it also covers the wire ends in case it is a little scratchy and helps to hold all the wool in place.

Here is the finished snowflake after a quick spray with glitter spray, ready to have a loop added to hang on the tree. These look gorgeous hanging on the tree, are very simple and quick to make and we think they look quite stylish too.

We would like to take the chance to wish you all a Merry Yule / Christmas from all of us here.