This summer the children have been helping us make mini pond habitats around the garden. Our tadpoles have turned into amazing frogs and we keep finding them hopping around the garden in various places trying to get away from our cats.
We decided to make four mini hiding pools for them between the two main ponds. Hopefully they will use them to jump in and hide while going from one pond to the other to see their friends and family.
Back in early spring the Wonderful Wanderers sowed some pumpkin seeds, which they collected from last year’s crop. The winner of the first to grow goes to Martha, who’s pumpkin is now the size of an egg.
We are looking forward to a bumper crop so that in October we can carve them for Halloween. Tracie will try and persuade everyone to taste a homemade pumpkin pie.
Watch this space to see how we do and find out if anyone was brave enough to try the pie!
On our walk around the garden, Leo and Jacey couldn’t pass the Strawberries without having their fill! We found lots of purple flowers. We found Sweet Peas, Foxglove, Alliums and Ice Plant, they were all very fragrant.
The yellow flowers all shone out like the sunshine. Tracie told us all about the different ways to use flowers. Tracie told us some go into medicine like St Johns Wort, some keep bugs away from our tomatoes like Marigolds and Field Mustard can be used in cooking. But we were warned we can only eat plants and flowers given to us by adults as some are poisonous like the foxglove.
In the front garden we found two delicious looking Cherries. Tracie said it’s good they where way up high on the tree as it would stop us picking them before she could have a taste! Look who we found hiding in the ferns! Our jolly gnome, Rainbow!
The pond is thriving at the moment with wildlife and flowers. The flowers like Hot Poker and Foxgloves attract mini beasts and bees to collect pollen to make us honey and pollenate other plants. Can you spot the Plant sign we made in March?
We are having such lovely weather at the moment, however it is making the children very hot and bothered. Emma suggested we do an activity in the water to cool them down.
Martha and Ivor used the hand puppets to wash each other down to cool themselves. Alfred kept putting the toys into the pool and Bramble took them out for Alfred to put back in.
Martha asked if she could put the slide into the pool and slide into the water. By the time Emma put the baby down, Martha had moved the slide herself! Everyone watched her then joined in taking turns.
Yesterday, Tracie went to cut a watermelon into wedges for snack time but it rolled off the surface and smashed up. Everyone gasped, then started laughing!
Tracie decided to take the hard skin and pips out of the watermelon and use it to make lolly ices instead! We put the fleshy fruit into a bowl and mashed it up, then we put the watermelon slush into lolly molds and put it in the freezer.
Today, it was a very hot, sunny day and Ivor asked if he could have his lolly ice.
All the children loved them. Ivor asked if we could make them again, Martha suggested not to let it fall again though!
All the children have been working hard making crafts and signs to thank all of the Key Workers for the hard jobs they are doing to protect our families.
Poppy painted a rainbow on our front room window asking everyone to stay safe.
All the children within the setting painted wooden letters to make the front garden sign for everyone to see as they pass the house.
We have been busy making banners, cards, rainbows, paintings and stood on the front step at 8pm to clap for the NHS workers.
We have been looking on the internet for labels for our plants. We didn’t like the ones we saw so Tracie decided to make some. First she asked her brother, Jonathan to slice up a big log. Then Tracie sanded them all smooth so they wouldn’t give anyone splinters, and so she could paint on them.
Once they were ready for painting, we all sat around the table and decided which ones we needed making first.
Ivor wanted the tomato one, Martha the Cucumber, Fearne wanted Lavender, Poppy the Garlic and Tracie thought a salad bowl would be good for the raised bed that has everything we love eating as a salad.
As soon as the paint had dried Tracie took them outside and sprayed them all with varnish to protect them from rain. They all looked very good and we cant wait to make more.
On our walk around the garden today we found lots of treasures. We picked some lovely large Lilies, Hydrangeas, Sweet Peas, Sunflowers, Lavender and Nasturtiums for a flower arrangement.
We looked at all out the fruit and vegetables that are growing in our beds and picked Cucumbers, Beans, Beetroots and Baby Cauliflowers which we will make into a vegetable soup.
We made some amazing sugar-free waffles for our breakfast! Everyone took it in turns to whisk the eggs until they were light and fluffy. Then we added the wet ingredients into the dry. We used the hand mixer to make the ingredients into a thick batter. Tracie then poured the batter into the waffle maker and cooked until golden brown.
The waffles were absolutely delicious and got a thumbs up from everyone!
Tracie, Hannah, Poppy, Jack and Chloe went on a Christmas holiday trip to the Trafford Centre in Manchester. We had so much fun in Laser Quest being the blue team and Zapping the red team. We had to hide and sneak around to find them and try hard not to get zapped ourselves.
After our fun in Laser Quest, the children had fun on the interactive climbing wall! Tracie was too worn out to have a go.
Tracie's Treasures 