Beacon Fell

We were looking after  two of our grandchildren for a couple of days during the Spring Bank Holiday week. I know they would have been quite happy to stay in and play on their ipads or watch TV but I like to get them outside for fresh air, exercise and something  a bit different to do or see. Besides which I don't like staying in and it's a good excuse for me to have a day or two out somewhere.

We decided to go to Beacon Fell Country Park, where we could have a walk, a picnic and look at the visitor centre. We hadn't been there since our daughters were young and that's a long time ago. When we arrived at the visitor centre car park, the first thing we spotted was a falconry and owl display. The children are always fascinated by these birds so we spent some time watching them.

We then headed off to the visitor centre which was quite small but had plenty of interesting wildlife information and activity tables where the children could get involved. There were word searches, colouring in sheets and an origami frog to make. We took the word searches and colouring sheets home, but our granddaughter managed to make several frogs before we dragged her away.

After a picnic lunch we set off walking along one of the trails. The children spotted some things to climb on in the woods so we took a detour. It was lovely in the woods.  There were lots of tree branches lying around, loads of pine cones and other bits of nature things. Fortunately I had remembered to bring a couple of carrier bags to collect 'nature treasures'. There were big tree trunks lying on the ground which were great for climbing on and we found a tree trunk snake which was one of several sculptures to spot around the park.

Throughout the woods there were dens made out of tree branches. These had been made to show people how to make a den or tipee. Visitors were allowed to have a go at making their own den with all the woody material lying around. We watched a family making their own den, we didn't make one ourselves because we have made one at the allotment and know how to do it.  But it would be a good fun activity.

 

We walked back onto the trail path and walked up to the summit where we had beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.  Then we headed back down through the woods again, stopping to look at one or two ponds on the way.

 

We timed our walk well as we got back to the car park just as it started to rain. I had a carrier bag full of twigs, branches and interesting things which the children had collected. We had great plans to make things with them when we got home. I wasn't sure if we were allowed to take things home with us, but when I saw other families loading tree branches and such stuff into their cars I decided it must be ok. What are we going to do with these things you might ask.  Well that might be a subject for another blog post.

Autumn treasures

When our children were young I always used to take a polythene bag out with us when we went on walks.  This was to collect treasures.  You know the sort of thing, shells and pebbles if we were going to the beach, pine cones, leaves, conkers, etc on country walks. Our children have grown up now and probably outgrown that habit of collecting things. But I don't seem to have, because I still collect things when out walking.  On the other hand maybe it was me all the time who wanted to do the collecting.

I love everything about autumn, the colours, the falling leaves, the spider's webs in the hedges, shiny conkers, walking on crunchy beech nut shells, the seed heads of  summer flowers, berries in the hedgerows. And so I am often to be seen at this time of year, whether it is just strolling back from taking the grandchildren to school, on longer walks, or down at the allotment, clutching a handful of brightly coloured leaves, a bag of conkers, seed heads, rose hips, hawthorne berries.  In fact just about anything which catches my eye and looks interesting.

I press the leaves to preserve them, they can then be used for craft activities with the grandchildren. This year I have decided  to make some Christmas pot pourri so I will have plenty of natural ingredients to hand.  I might spray some of them gold.

They look good also left as they are and simply arranged in a bowl  next to a vase of berried branches for an autumn display. I have a table in the front porch where most of these 'treasures' are displayed. It's like a nature table and it changes with the seasons.

Woodland den

On the day of the teachers' strike this week we were looking after our two grandchildren.  When I suggested going to the allotment I got the usual response--"oh yes!" from our grandson who loves going and "oh nooo" from our granddaughter who doesn't.  At my next suggestion, to make a woodland den at  the top of the allotment, all eyes lit up--yes this was much more interesting.

At the top end of plot8 is a slope with a big sycamore tree and some bushes, an elder and a holly.  It's not possible to use the space for growing vegetables or fruit.  The grandchildren always enjoy playing up there, it's a good place to hide and run around, but there are lots of weeds and rubbish- nettles, brambles, glass and plastic.  It wasn't a very safe area for children.  So I've had a plan in mind to make it into a safe area where the children could play and have their own space.

Armed with strong gloves, rubbish bags and secateurs, the children and I set to work clearing the area and cutting back branches.  My 9 year old granddaughter normally has no interest in the allotment, preferring to stay at home and read a book.  So it was good to see her full of enthusiasm for the project and to have her say that it was the best day she had ever spent on the allotment.  I had to admit that I was quite enjoying myself too. 

We managed to clear the nettles, cut back the brambles, trim the holly and clear up most of the rubbish. Under my granddaughter's supervision I cut back overhanging branches to her height and made an archway of branches at the entrance to the woodland, a soft curtain of leaves in the middle to provide a hiding place and a pathway all the way through. As we worked away we thought about what we could do to make the woodland area into a good den.

We got rained off later and after adjourning to the shed for our lunch we went home to make plans.  I got them to think about what they would like to have in their woodland den.

So we now have a list of ideas:

• Make seats out of some of the bricks and planks of wood lying around on the allotment
• Bird feeders in the trees
• Make a bug house
• Make a shelf to put interesting nature finds/treasures
• Make things like mobiles or sculptures out of twigs, stones, pebbles, leaves etc
• Have a rope ladder so they can climb the big tree (Hmm, well maybe granddad can fix something up)
• Have a camouflage awning (this could cost money)
• Make a hideout from long branches like a teepee (we could collect branches from the woods across the lane)

I have to say that I'm quite excited about this project myself, but I'm wondering if adults might not be allowed in there once it's finished. I'll keep you up to date with our progress.

Autumn projects

As soon as autumn  arrives I start to think about  projects.  Crafty projects like knitting, sewing, and baking. They are all rather cosy, domesticated activities but I tend to think of autumn as a cosy season; a time to stay indoors when the weather is too bad to go out gardening.

I'm always full of ideas for Christmas presents or decorations to make, nature projects to do with the grandchildren and much more. Although I have to say that thinking about what I would like to do is often as far as I get. 

Well we're into October now and  I'm doing quite well so far. I'm already knitting myself a sweater, and have plans for other things to knit like sweaters for the grandchildren or wrist warmers for when I'm out gardening.  I've also got some blackberry, raspberry and rhubarb gins started for drinking at Christmas. I won't post the recipe on here, if you want to know how to make it click on the link above to read my last year's blog. The rhubarb gin is a new flavour this year, but it's made in the same way. I added lemon zest and ginger. Ginger goes really well with rhubarb.

I'm feeling quite pleased with my latest nature craft project too, it's an autumn wreath. I got the idea from an article in the Sept/Oct issue of Land Love magazine.   Some of the things in the article I didn't have so I adapted it to use other plant material which was readily available from the garden or nearby hedgerows.

I used a soaked oasis ring because I find the mossy or wire wreaths a bit fiddly to use and I was short of time. It's much easier to stick twigs into oasis than wire them onto a mossy ring.  I used hydrangea heads and astilbe seed heads from the garden, rose hips, hawthorn berries and ivy berries from the hedgerow down near the allotment. I also cut some small sprigs of oak from our tree in the garden to fill it out.  I was surprised how colourful the finished result was. It should keep for a few weeks, but I can probably replace anything which goes over from time to time before the oasis finally falls to pieces.

I wasn't sure where  to hang the wreath once I'd finished it, my Christmas wreaths are always hung on the front and back doors, but I wanted this one to go somewhere in the garden.  I thought about hanging it on one of the garden gates, but finally decided on the shed. The shed is one of my favourite places and I can also see the wreath from the house.

I'm used to making Christmas wreaths so the idea of doing an autumn one was quite appealing and a little bit different.  It's a lovely way to enjoy the fruits and colours of autumn.