Railways and Rabbits

We've had some cracking weather this week, so the sandpit has been uncovered so Tom's had his first taste of sand (literally...). Last Sunday we went to the Rainsbrook Valley miniature railway, which is just a few miles from us. It's run by enthusiasts and there are a couple of little tracks with mini steam engines and carriages. We went with Gillian, Duncan, Imogen and Cameron. Ella had a great time.. Tom was so overcome with excitement that he fell asleep in the sling on my back during one of the rides..

Wednesday, Ella tried out Play Gym, which is a soft play area with trampolines, rope swings, padded climbing frames etc. She went with her friend Eddie, and enjoyed it hugely. We're going to make it a regular thing.

Thursday we went to the garden centre to get some herb plants. While we were there, I noticed they had outdoor play things, so I said we'd have a quick look if they had a bat (meaning a tennis racquet). They didn't have any so we wandered around, got some herbs, then went to see the pets (they had rabbits, guinea pigs etc). After careful consideration Ella said "are rabbits night creatures ?". I said "No". She said "but if they don't have bats, we could have a rabbit, couldn't we ? They are more cuddly" ??!! Bless. I hadn't appreciated she was looking for a real bat ! It also transpires that if she had a rabbit, she'd call it Bonnet Mitre. Eh ??!

We also got a little wheelbarrow for Ella and Tom. I tried to construct it when we got home, but by the time I'd sorted out all the nuts and bolts and found a screwdriver, Tom had eaten the instructions, so I had to make it up. It looks ok and it hasn't fallen apart so far..

Today Karl and Ella transported some bricks from the drive to the shed and Ella was wheeling all over the place trying to keep up with Karl. It was hilarious to watch.

Tomorrow we plan to go to the Quaker Meeting House to do some gardening with Libby (4) and Tilly (2).

Pirates, Pheasants and Pansies...

Both kiddies are back to full health, so we've been out and about a bit this week. We went to the park in Leamington Spa on Wednesday and Ella and Tom played together in the sand pit and on the pirate ship. Ella had enormous fun chasing the pigeons on the way home.

It's been a busy week at the bird feeders - Mrs Pheasant has been visiting regularly. The blue tits have started filling the nest box with the coir lining from the hanging baskets. No activity at the robin box though..

Today we went to visit Ella's friend Imogen. She was hosting a tea and bun shop to raise money for one of the RSPB sites.

One of our neighbours has kindly let us monitor the frog spawn in their pond, so we have been visiting daily. We saw a few tadpoles yesterday.

Ella continues to amuse us with her funny sayings and made up words. She asked me the other day what kind of flowers we'd seen and I told her they were winter pansies. She said "Have we got winter pansies or chimpanzees in our garden ?" !!

Sneezing and Snowmen

We woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow ! So Ella and Karl got up, put their warm clothes on and went to check the quality of the snow. Too powdery was the verdict, but they did take some lovely photographs...

Later this morning they went back out again, and did a fabulous snow sculpture of Mr Hen from Bolton..
We haven't been far for the last couple of weeks as Ella and Tom both had a nasty viral infection. They are both pretty much over it now, but Tom came off worse - he was admitted to hospital for observation. He was discharged the same day, however.

Karl had a meeting in Leamington this week so we went with him for lunch and a play in the park.


This week we'll see what the weather brings us before making plans. We have some seeds to plant - salad leaves, cucumber, courgettes, cress, herbs and carrots, so that will keep us busy. We planted our seed potatoes last week too.