A Laid Back Day

This is what I love about school holidays. No rushing around first thing in the morning (a HUGE plus), being able to be outside together during the best part of the day - mid-morning, and being able to (this is youngest's best thing) wear what the heck you like!! And she works it!!

I've decided to omit the photo of me in my fairy costume....oh, okay - hands up, I don't really have one. But if I did...!

No crafting and stitching for me today, I suspect. Woodcutter man is wending his way to Somerset to supply poles for and erect a tipi, so the three of us are going to indulge ourselves with a quiet cosy day, filled with making bead pictures, lots of drawing, catching butterflies (although eldest usually ends up catching her sister's head), maybe a film, and plenty of reading...punctuated, naturally, by the yells and tears of the many arguments these two continue to have. My kitchen cupboards are very poorly stocked, and we have decided to 'make do and mend' for the day, ie: no-one wants to partake of a trip to the shops, so we'll make do with whatever we can retrieve from the depths of the cupboards! That'll be onion soup with a jar of peanut butter then! The challenge is on...

(The lower photograph was edited using flickr toys)

Wildlife-o-rama

No, this isn't going into one of my shops...I just wanted to share with you the lovely little surprise eldest made for me at the weekend. A wonderfully unusual ring, made of cotton and felt scraps, and sweet little butterfly beads - and the most important feature, the letter 'C'...just for me, as it stands for 'Charlotte'...me! How lucky am I?!
I wonder if there's a market for them?!

Now, then...there was a lot of excitement in our garden today...thanks to a neighbours' cat! Yes, it obviously loves us, because it presented us with a, how can I say, 'lovely' (?) gift!! Take a look at the photos, below - I think you get the picture!

After much squealing, and lots of pleading with us to keep it as a pet (I think not), my two girls paid this dear grass snake a lot of attention. It was very stunned when it was dropped at our feet (I think I would be, too, if I'd been marauded by a feline with sharp teeth), and spent a good ten minutes hardly moving. This gave us ample opportunity to look it up in the 'Wildlife Field Guide', to assure ourselves that yes, it is a grass snake, and not some deadly python or other, let loose here in the forest...one does like to be sure!! The children listened intently to various details gleaned from the information in the book, so I'm left feeling mildly smug that they've learned a few things this holiday..and it's only the first day!