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Sunshine makes it all better

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Forgive me for being typically British and discussing the weather but how lucky have we been in the past few weeks? The sun has certainly got his hat on and while we can never guarantee in the UK that it is here to stay or even plan BBQ’s more than a few days ahead – it’s been wonderful.

The sun has made my generally pretty happy child beam with pleasure, giggle with glee and just enjoy being outdoors a lot more which can only ever be a good thing.

We have spent the last fortnight mostly in the garden, me resting and Izzy running around like a crazy child. Picking herbs..holding them up to her nose and saying mmmm nice… Running in and out of her new playhouse ( passed on from my sister) opening and closing windows.. Splashing in her water pit and just having lots and lots of fun.

The list of benefits to the sun is pretty long but in my mind the main ones are:

VITAMIN D! So important and the sun is natural source for us.

AND even more importantly 😉 children get a lot more tired when they play outside. We have had better naps, better nighttime sleep and a fabulous appetite.

Just wanted to a share a few photos of our early summer days:

SPLASH:

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STACKING:

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DRAMA QUEEN:

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COOL:

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AL FRESCO DINING:

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FIRST FLIP FLOPS:

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RESULT:

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The Sun has got his hat on.. Get in the garden :-)

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I don’t remember the last time we spent time in the garden in t shirts. Today may have been the first day since last Summer when I was quite happy letting Izzy run around with no coat, hat or cardigan. She loved it. I’m trying to get her interested in the garden.. At the moment she loves pulling up grass, trying to eat stones and chasing bubbles. In the last week or so we have been planting herbs, lettuce and trying to clear clutter.

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Our aim before summer begins is to sort out our patio and make the garden a child friendly place to be.

We also planted sunflowers this week.. They are my favourite flowers and I’m eager to see how tall they grow 🙂

I found some fab sunflower tips amongst others for planting seeds with children here

My happiest memories growing up involved being outdoors and playing in the garden whether it be building dens, planting potatoes with my Dad and playing in the paddling pool. I want my children to have that – good, clean (possibly muddy) natural fun. It’s not all about the iPads, Cbeebies and interactive toys. It’s so important to get your children interested in the great outdoors while they are still young enough to have some influence.

I used to love eating fresh peas straight after picking them with my mum sitting on the back steps and visiting our friends garden and running around stealing raspberries – the freshest juiciest raspberries I can ever remember tasting. I think a lot of my happiness came from spending time having fun with my parents around me – not stopping my fun but knowing they were there.

What are your musts for a garden for young children? What plants would be fun for them to watch grow?

She’s a good little worker!

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Hey Mam, I think I deserve a snack after all that work…

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With my compost..arium there is no place I’d rather be

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I don’t know about you but I can’t think of the word compost without singing the theme tune to Mr Blooms nursery. I guess if you don’t have a child of Cbeebies age you may not have a clue what I’m talking about. Mr Bloom is a character from a Cbeebies TV show who has as many mum fans as toddler fans…I don’t really know why…ahem.

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Anyway this post is not about Mr Bloom. Every year I think ah I want to get my garden in order but this year I actually am planning to. I love the idea of being able to get all my salad and herbs from my own vegetable patch. I already grow a lot of herbs.. Mint, oregano, parsley, lavender, tarragon, rosemary, thyme and sage to name a few and we have just planted rocket and basil and starting to think of what else we can have – any suggestions? I am not even remotely green fingered so I need a lot of tips. Next job is to make a compost heap or compost bin. I’ve scoured the web for some tips and here are the more useful ones I’ve found:

What can you compost:

grass cuttings
soft prunings
annual plant and weed remains before they have set seed
fruit and vegetable scraps
old cut flowers
tea bags and coffee grounds
Cardboard
Newspaper
Scrunched up paper
Straw

Do not compost:

diseased plants
meat and fish
dairy
cooked food
coal ash
cat and dog waste
disposable nappies
perennial weeds eg bindweed

Plenty more useful tips here

Apparently the best time to start your compost heap is Spring but I think I’ll be starting mine sometime one the next month.

If having a compost heap encourages my daughter to recycle and helps to stop our family adding more than is needed to landfill it can only be a bonus 😉

Any tips for me with regards to composting or what to plant at this time of year would be greatly appreciated!

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