A stroll in the Autumn breeze

Things have been so busy lately that both the Boy and I just needed a really simply and fuss free stroll in the park so once we got back to Cardiff after action packed morning in Bristol with friends, we headed for Roath park where we knew we could see some swans, stroll around the lake and enjoy the rose garden and play park, nothing fussy just simple outdoor fun. We collected some beautiful leaves to make leaf crowns and also came across some feathers to add to our nature table. We both love this time of the year and it's hard to see it slowly change from Autumn to Winter which is why these mild afternoons are a sacred time as well as a chance to get away from the madness that is the build up to Christmas. It was lovely to spend a few hours of calm in the fresh air and it's something we are doing at every chance we have at the moment, even if it's only for 30 mins I feel like I get itchy feet if we don't spend at least a little bit of time ou......

28/10/2014

Puddles, spotter sheets and autumn inspiration

So since Mr A is learning at home we try to keep things as flexible as possible - we love being outdoors and autumn is the perfect time for seeing the changes of the season first hand as well as spotting different leaves, berries and wildlife. There seems to be so much change going on and it's always wonderful to get out into the fresh air and see it for yourself. Luckliy it was quite mild as Mr A seems to get warm very quickly, even though I remind him constantly to keep his jacket on he has hit that age were he is adamant to make certain decisions and one of those being what he wears. At least he is finally wearing socks again, after our trip to the South of France he refused to wear socks for a month, so that is some improvement. We collected a lot of fallen Autumn leaves and I have been putting together a few ideas on what to do with them and how to bring more Autumn inspired nature into the home...don't you love these simple crafts? I love......

11/10/2014

Simple Autumn pleasures

Oh how I do love Autumn - it really is such a lovely time of the year, especially for exploring the outdoors. With so many changes in the air its a very exciting time, fallen leaves, making wild art and of course looking for conkers. We have a lovely secret conker tree that no one else seems to know about - we have found some amazing ones there this year. Also puddle jumping is a huge favourite in Autumn and something both I and the little man indulge in (who can resist jumping in a lovely fresh puddle!) Mr A has also learnt how to use his scooter he got last month for his birthday and it's pretty much not left his side since then. These are all wonderful simple pleasures and a great way to have fun outdoors. ...

07/12/2013

Forest fun and Winter Wonderland

As a break from the house move I promised the little man we would have a fun day out and take him to the winter wonderland in town. We always spend at least an hour outdoors each day anyway so it's great that Cardiff also has a large park and green space called Bute Park, which is huge and has many dimensions to it, it's a very natural space with wooden sculptures and no plastic play park area. We really enjoyed rolling around in all the leaves, finding sticks, pretending to be pirates and spotting squirrels. There really is something wonderful about a sea and of fallen autumn leaves, I love how they crunch under my feet and besides summer is one of my favourite parts of the year, there is so much change in natural and it's wonderful to share it with the little man. After we had a really good run around in the park we made out way to Winter Wonderland, I was not sure what would be suitable for the little man but if anything we would at least have a nice h......

24/11/2013

Cold won't keep us in

Mr A hard at work raking the leaves So since wednesday the little man has come down with a horrible head cold, which having recently started kindergarten and the change in weather is was almost to be expected, so we have all been eating lots of healthy vegetable soups of late. Even so, if we didn't spend a little bit of time outdoors, even just 10 min we would have some serious cabin fever going on. I devised a few short and simple things for us to still to enjoy the fresh air, one was sweeping up all the leaves outside our current house, something the little man loves to do and really lifted his spirits. Mr A exploring our new garden With the excitement of moving and getting the keys to our "new door" as my little man likes to call it we have had some fun exploring our small but perfectly formed garden, that to much delight of Mr A came with a wheelbarrow and wooden castle with swing. I have big plans for this little garden and we plan to grow lots of veg nex......

21/10/2013

Conkers and a Slow worm

I never grew up with conkers and to my memory I don't recall ever seeing a conker tree in South Africa and with the little man really coming into his own now he is three we have had a lot of excitement over finding our own secret conker tree, which has yielded an abundance of amazing conkers of which no other child has seemed to have discovered, leaving us with the pick of the bunch. Last Autumn we were living in another village that had a huge school and although we knew where all the conker trees were we never actually even found one as all the school kids got to them first. As I have said the conker tree has been pretty much untouched - it actually makes me wonder how many local kids actually explore this pretty field which lies next to a river, a place we visit regularly, anyway back to the point we had found a few conker still in there spiky shell and have had a lot of fun getting them out. We have also been collecting leaves and acorns for our natural table ......

18/11/2012