Snowman pancakes (an Annabel Karmel moment!)

Clown snowman juggling

Stickmen yoga!

Bread animals and the cafe.

Bread snakes, hedgehogs and mice, made to dip in delicious veggie soup!

Cat in a wooden cooker!

The cafe, anyone want coffy?

Went on an interesting road trip around East Kent this morning and saw some green parrots in a tree next to the river Stour in Sandwich. Ian didn't believe me and Tigerlily thought they were fairies! We then went to St Margarets bay to look in some rockpools. Spiderman is getting very strong and was throwing small boulders into the sea! The hermit crabs thought the sea was a bit cold today and wanted to stay in their shells! I think we will leave rockpooling for the spring!

This Week's Masterpieces

Beach by Spiderman
Sunset by Tigerlily

Spot the difference!

A book review! - Herb the vegetarian dragon

Spiderman's favourite book at the moment is Herb the vegetarian dragon.

The story goes like this, in the land of Nogard there is a castle, some meat eating dragons and Herb a vegetarian dragon who has an allotment and likes making soup. The King is fed up with his people being eaten and wants to capture the dragons, however the wrong dragon, Herb gets caught. Then Meathook, leader of the meat eating dragons also gets caught. The king then gives the dragons the choice to change their eating habits, realising the death of these dragons would result in a war. At this point the story changes from a story about food to a story about how we shouldn't go to war because it doesn't solve problems, it just results in people (or dragons) dying. It is a great book for children but also for world leaders!

Puss in Boots visits allotment

Pippi is a confused cat who was probably a dog in a previous life. We went to the allotment yesterday and she decides to join us. This is OK on the way there, but not on the way back when a spaniel, a labrador and 2 pointers are walking around the field. On the way back I am carrying a bag of potatoes and a spade and trying to time the walk across the field when there are no dogs nearby. The man with the Spaniel throws a ball towards us using one of the those sticks things that throws the ball twice as far. The cat retreats to the brambles while the man says good thing my dog didn't see that cat. I said that cat is my cat, the man looks at me strangely! Then Spiderman suggests putting the cat in the bag with the potatoes but the cat is not impressed with this idea. The only option is to grab the cat and run across the field leaving the spade, bag of potatoes and spiderman, drop the cat in the back garden and run back!

What did we trap in the bug box?

We caught some sleepy ladybirds! Although they did wake up pretty quickly when put under the magnifying glass.

Sunshine and warmer weather today and signs that spring is on it's way (see picture of shoots top left.)

Top right shows a great tree for a camp, both Spiderman and Tigerlily were disappointed to leave (no we can't take it home!)

Fluffy white dressing gowns and wellie socks

Fluffy white dressing gowns

Cold rain today, too cold for the wellies so we went swimming. Spiderman and Tigerlily decided to race each other up and down the steps much to the disgust of the week-end spa break ladies. It is amazing how fast a 3 year old can move through the water, like an eel, just as a lady (trying to keep her hair dry and make up intact!) steps into the pool. There is no point going swimming and not getting wet.

Wellie socks

We have tried different wellie socks this winter to keep our toes warm! Tigerlily has a pair from http://www.muddypuddles.com They are made of fleece and quite thin so easy to fit into wellies but not very warm. Spiderman has tried some fleecy socks (lilac!) from tesco and more recently ski socks from Asda. The ski socks are quite thick but will fit into wider wellies. He stayed out in the snow for almost 3 hours last Saturday with no complaints. I have also tried the same fluffy socks as Spiderman and the ski tubes are definitely the warmest. Ian tried wearing leaky boots on Sunday and got very cold feet! Puss in Boots finds that jumping quickly across the snow and then hiding under the table (where there is no snow) is the best way to avoid cold paws.

New feature - Playdough we want to keep!

"Ball" by Spiderman and "Flower" by Tigerlily.

Coming soon lego models we want to keep and junk art we want to keep!

Puss in Boots

"When he had given the cat what he had asked for, Puss pulled on his boots, put some lettuces in his bag, flung it over his shoulder, and off he went."

What to do in the snow?

We have been.......

Sledging on the hills

Bobsleighing (Sledging on the ice on the backtrack)

Making snowcastles (like sandcastles but with snow!)

Making an igloo around the climbing frame

Playing ice hockey on the deck (large lump of ice, football goal and croquet mallets!)

Snow ball fights

Making giant snow balls

Drinking coffee!

We love the snow!

Quote from "A house is built for Eeyore"

"Christopher Robin didn't stop to wonder. He was already back in his house, putting on his waterproof hat, his waterproof boots, and his waterproof macintosh as fast as he could."
A.A. Milne

snowman with pink wellies

First post!

After buying yet another pair of wellies that haven't been grown out of I decided that wellies should be the subject of my blog. In the last 2 weeks we have split 2 pairs of wellies so they are clearly used frequently and to a high level!

For this blog I have used pseudonyms as it is really the wellies that have the adventures and not the owners. Spiderman is the greatest lover of the wellie boot; being 3 means only one thing, mud and puddles. Tigerlily (6) appreciates the value of the Wellington boot as long as her school friends don't see. Croc (34) has realised that the only suitable footwear to be worn when keeping up with Spiderman is the wellie. Slipper (36) has feet that are too big for most wellies so we are still working on him! Puss in boots looks like she wears white fur wellies and would only consider wellies in the snow when her paws are too cold!

The challenge now is to find a pair of wellies that do not split. Croc is trying the croc wellie, Spiderman a "jelly shoe" type of wellie and Tigerlily a second hand pair off ebay. Which wellie will last the longest? What to do with the split wellies, landfill or an interesting plant pot?!