Butterfly lore

With some butterflies in decline we decided to be part of the butterfly lore release programme, so we purchased some baby caterpillars online from the butterfly lore people, and very quickly we were sent 2 tubs of 10 baby caterpillars with their own nutrients to much on which they duly got tucked into.  

Day 1 small caterpillars get munching 

Rice crispy stars

Well i say stars they are more like splogies but the sentiment was there.  However they were really scrummy and the girls had loads of fun making them and i don't think they made it to the end of the day after they set.

Lavender and Honey ice cream and other ideas

I like this unusual ice cream and use it as  amuse bouche and love to watch the faces of my friends and family as they try and guess the flavour.

Ingredients
600 ml full milk
10 lavender heads
4 egg yolks
284ml double cream
180g honey

• heat the milk untill it starts to bubble around the edges. add the lavender sprigs , and remove from the heat to infuse for 30 mins  or longer.
• Whisk the egg yolks and honey into a bowl until thick. Strain the milk into a bowl and mix well 
• Pour the mix back into the pan and over a gentle heat stir to make a smooth custard which coats the back of the wooden spoon. strain in a bowl and cool 
• Whip the cream and fold it into the cool custard.  Put into the freezer and ever 30 mins give the bowl and whisk to break the ice crystals do this for 4 times till the ice cream freezes to an almost ice cream state and then place your mix into a box and leave to freeze overnight 

If you have lots of lavender you could always make a cushion and then pick a good big handful of lavender and dry this in the oven and stuff it inside the cushion to aid restful sleeping

Or maybe some make some cold press lavender soap the possibility's are endless

Sophie's reward chart

Sophie will be 2 in a few weeks and she can be a helpful little thing but she can also be a wrecking ball of mess as well, the fast i tidy the faster she deverstates the house no corner untouched by her destruction, how can something so small cause so much mess.  Ali and i have been talking about getting her a reward chart for some time to help her learn responsibility and to get her into practice at being conscientious and working together being part of the family.  I saw some charts in WH Smiths but they were £5 and i could of made one but my time is already stacked pretty high at the moment.  Luckily Ali came back from town with 2 free laminated charts from a children's group that were showcasing in town, what luck and good timing.

Sunflowers, hedghogs and carrots

We grow sunflowers ever year, i do love them they are big and happy flowers and the bumble bees love them too.  This year we did a sunflower race with Sophie's friend William and they both grew 5 each here is Sophie's winning Sunflower which grew to 71inches.

Rose petal syrup

We are lucky to have an abundance of roses in our garden some of them at the top of our garden that cant be seen, so i had to  have a think about how else to put them to good use and thought i would try some Rose petal syrup as all rose petals can be eaten.

Craft fair at Fairford lyes

I make soap for my family at home and for gifts for relatives, i have also given soap out to friends one of these my lovely friend Tamar, persuaded me that i really should try selling my soap at a craft fair.  So today i gathered up all the soap i have ever made and a couple of new batches i made specially and headed out to a craft fair with Tamar and her mum where they also sell crafts they create or find together.

Recycling furniture

I have this Wot not which was used to put washing equipment in days before people had sinks and taps.  I bought it for £5 at an auction house, BARGIN  in my eyes and decided to give it a revamp.

Blueberry muffin girls

Nevaeh came to visit today and Sophie couldn't wait for her little friend to come round so they could play in the garden and show off her new bouncy trampoline, which both girls got on right away and did synchronised bouncing.  After a good old bounce the mums had a cup of tea but fancied some cake to go with the tea so  set the girls to work making the mums cake mmmmm lucky mummies.

Garden print painting

Sophie loves painting, so just to make things a little different today we went for a walk round the garden to see what we could find to paint with or make prints from.  We found a small apple which made great circles, a stick for scratchy lines, a stone for blobs, a feathery flower for whisp prints and a poppy seed head which was our favourite as it made a pretty patterned stamp.