September, the start to new things: new school year, season change (meteorological Autumn) and warmer clothes! And this year, the month seems to have whizzed by. No sooner was I ironing uniform, (actually, who am I kidding? I never iron anything, but it was all washed, clean and ready!) buying new water bottles and remembering routines, than we were celebrating mum’s birthday on the 30th and looking ahead to mine in October. Fortunately, everyone seems to have settled well back into school, nursery and work life, although I still long for the lazy summer mornings where we don’t have to get dressed if we don’t want to!
Meet…
At Marsh Farm. Having lived so close for so long, but never having been, we ventured down on the last day of the summer holidays for their Bubble ‘n’ Pop Kids Festival, and had a great time. We booked online for around £10 per person and spent all day there, with everything for free, even taking a picnic: The weather held and we had a great day. Both my 8yo and my 3yo were catered for…they both enjoyed the radio Essex Bubble and Glow disco and the music workshop, despite being a 10-15 minute queue. As soon as organisers saw this, they put another show on straight after the first to ensure people who had waited would get a place. Clever thinking and common sense applied…tick!
The free roundabouts, digging for gems, and glitter face paints as we entered were particular highlights. Trying to get them off the adventure playground was a struggle (we didn’t even go inside the play barn) but they were soon wooed with the aviary and birds to see next door. We didn’t really visit many other animals, which was a shame as, as the name suggests, it started off as a small farm with animals to ‘pet’ and feed, but with so many other activities to keep us busy, they sort of got a bit forgotten. The bouncy castle zone was brilliant fun for both ages and small enough to keep an eye on them both. My eldest loved the foam, the little one not so much and neither were that keen on the ‘pool and beach’ area…the water being cold and dirty (as it would be at the end of a summer-long kids festival). But it didn’t matter as there were so many other options to pursue!
We had a fantastic day out and left filled with fun and exhaustion! I’d definitely recommend these themed weeks from Marsh Farm, but have yet to go to an ‘event’ such as the Halloween or Christmas Experiences. I’ve heard they’re amazing but would like to see for ourselves sometime soon!
Make…
A seasonal display. I’ve been looking at ideas for these for ages, but the wooden ‘celebration rings’ and stands are so expensive, and you have to buy the figures to add to them, that I decided we’d have more fun making our own version. After seeing a lovely idea to make a ‘stick frame’ and hang found nature objects from the top stick to create a nature picture, I though we could use a similar idea as the focus of our display. Except I wanted it to be seen in the round and to be able to stand independently, so decided upon a tripod shape. We bound three sticks tightly at the top and splayed their ‘legs’, then wrapped twine around the top part only to act as a weaving frame for our found objects. F used her hand drills and conker clamp to bore holes through the horse chestnuts, then we threaded these on. Feathers, other seeds and skeleton leaves were also wound through the structure.
We used the Autumn colours of our Grimms semi-circles to create a base, a couple of pieces of the large Fire for stands and height and the small inner part for a central bonfire, and a silk scarf with autumnal colours to add a different texture. F then filled the bases with colourful leaves, acorns and hazelnuts. We added a few home-painted ‘amies’ (friend people), the Conker clamp as it’s a mushroom shape, and one gorgeous Ambrosuis figure…a boy with a hazelnut. As the season develops, I hope to change items around and update it, for example, adding spookier figures nearer the end of October and different seed pods. I also found a gorgeous little book, Around the Year by Elsa Beskow, which has poems and ideas about each month so we can read and turn the pages as the year progresses. I’m really hoping this will be a feature that stays and grows as the seasons change and the year continues. It’s been such fun doing it with F.
Munch…
On Herman! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed growing our German Friendship Cake, Herman, that F brought home a pot of from school. I’ve done one before, many years ago, but F hasn’t so it was a great chance to talk about yeast, starters, living things, etc and see how it grows and changes. She already knew about how the yeast uses the sugar and how it’s similar to the brewing process in alcohol! We’ve transferred a little to a small bottle and put a balloon over the top to watch it inflate with the gasses given off over the next few days too. Science in action!
We’re still ‘feeding’ Herman at the moment though, then F hopes to make him into a chocolatey version of the cake in a few more days’ time. If you can’t wait that long, have a look here to read my previous efforts with Herman!
With the months whizzing by, I’m looking forward to an Autumnal October.
The Chimney House 