Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow

Sometime I must ask Ann just why they call the Toddler Group "Little Acorns" I mentioned yesterday that the lady at the Fete from the local council had been very interested in our group. She gave me a nylon zip bag and two plastic folders and hoped they would prove useful.When I got home, I unpacked them in the kitchen

Would you believe this amazing hoard?

The contents were: five quality books*, thirteen activity cards, two booklets (songs and games)  one finger puppet, one headband, one  set of "feelings" cards,  one Orchard Toys boxed game, a safety mirror, a wooden pig and a cow, a stress ball, a pot of bubbles, one-minute timer, chiffon cloth, foil blanket, biro, box of crayons, and two Norfolk Council information sheets. 

I reckon at least £40 worth of materials. The activities cards related to the books too, so you could plan a morning's activities round the stories. Ann was really astounded at church on Sunday to receive this bag of goodies. She asked if the lady was giving them away to lots of people - I said that nobody else came up in the whole time I was near the council display. Which is a real shame. [* including a proper Julia Donaldson lift-the-flap one]

Thank you Louise, from Broadland Council for your generosity!

Are you involved in any sort of Toddler Group or activities with Preschoolers? 
Have you come across any positive support for young families in your area?

How You Have Grown!

 

This is the Costessey Fete in 2018, Rosie was two and we were looking after her for 24 hours. Now she has grown up so much, and, like her Grandad, she still likes ice creams. And the Fete has grown too - back then it was held on a large field, and the tea and coffee served in the adjacent community centre. Now it is a massive affair, held at the Royal Norfolk Showground. Then entrance was free, parking £2 - on Saturday entrance was £3 for age 5+, but parking was free[with blue badge spaces near the entrance] So in 8 years it went up from £2 to £6. Not bad!

Some things still there- the Norfolk Star Wars Group, the Owls, and lots of Norfolk community groups and charities. We had a lovely time in the sunshine.

Jess wore her twirly sparkly dress and rode on the carousel shouting "I'm a princess" as her pink coach whirled round. What you cannot see, as she poses so demurely, is the blue lollipop in her hand given to her by one cheerful stall holder.

Jess went back and thanked the lady and poked her tongue out - and was promptly rewarded with another lolly

There were moving dinosaurs and a Medieval Group

We met so many interesting people. There was a South Norfolk Council table again - without the big deckchair - but joined this time by a table from from Broadland Council. They are due to merge in the next round of council re-organisations.

I drifted across [there was nobody at either table apart from the two staff members in their lanyards] 

"Do you live in our area?"

"No, I come under Breckland Council - but the nearby village, where my church is, is in Broadland" 

"Does your church do anything for preschoolers?"

I told the lady about the excellent Toddler Group which meets every Tuesday. She asked about their programme, and I filled her in on all the stuff planned by my friends who run the group. "Could you take some of our material for them?" I said I was happy to do that and would deliver it at Church on Sunday. She gave me a bundle of stuff.
Then I met up with the rest of the family and we had lunch [ pizza and burgers, and chicken and chips...] Leaving Liz and family to continue their fun in the sun, Bob and I drifted home. 

It was a truly superb day - and well organised. A proper event for all the family, with affordable pitches for the charities and community groups, and a good variety of refreshments. 
The weather was obviously an important factor - but my thanks go to all those who made the day special. There was such a positive atmosphere, and something for everyone. This event gets bigger, and better each year!

Keep On Keeping On

The picture on my calendar for May. I am reminded of two quotes from the late great Dr Martin Luther King 

You don't get to the Promised Land without going through the Wilderness. You don't get there without crossing over hills and mountains, but if you keep on keeping on, you can't help but reach it

...If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, keep moving.

A lot of my friends are in really tough places right now. There are no easy answers, and sometimes words seem empty. But know that you are special, you are loved, and it may seem like a very long tunnel, but there is light at the end...

I Am Biased

I have been much involved with sleeves recently. I've taken the 'cuffs' off my blue summer dress, it's much more comfortable over my 'bingo wings'. I simply hand stitched some navy bias binding, and turned it to the inside.

The other challenge was my friend's shirt. She said it was a favourite shirt, but too tight on her upper arms. Like me, I don't believe she ever plays Bingo, so I don't know why we both have the 'wings'! The shirt had already started to rip.

I removed the sleeves. It was a fairly loose weave fabric and frayed badly. I trimmed the armholes., and then machine stitched some white bias binding all round. 

It is amazing what can be achieved with a bit of bias! Two more bits of restoration

Where did Napoleon keep his armies?

Up his sleevies!

Apologies for the joke, which I learned when I was about seven [Along with "Where is Felixstowe?" "At the end of Felix' foot"] 
I really must see if Rosie knows these.

Of Mice And Museum

 These were the mice I made two years ago for our local Museum

This year the theme is Sport In  Dereham, so the mice are all wearing hats and scarves in support of Dereham Football Club, aka The Magpies. 

Katie has planned a new trail and more mousey mayhem for the summer. Bishop Bonner's Cottage Museum opens today for the summer season.

Well done to all the team at Dereham Heritage Trust. 

In other news, our next door neighbours have discovered mice in their loft. Cornerstones is semi detached. I'm hoping these little creatures don't get through into our space! I do not want them nibbling through my new wallpaper books!

🐭 🐁 🐭 🐁 🐭 🐁 🐭

Bonnie The Mouse even got a mention on the BBC Radio Norfolk breakfast show on Wednesday! 

Salad Days

Shakespeare coined the term, in 'Antony and Cleopatra' when the Queen uses it to describe her time of carefree youthful pleasure. Nowadays it is often used to mean someone's heyday, or prime. 

For me the phrase Salad Days conjures up thoughts of sunny weather, impromptu picnics, or meals at the table in the garden. Those lovely salad ingredients - Cool cucumber slices, fresh leaves, sweet juicy tomatoes, crisp radishes, crimson beetroot, grated carrot, red onions, peppers in jewel colours, grated red and white cabbage

And extra pops of flavour - olives, cooked potatoes, cornichons, sweetcorn, beans, snippets of spring onion or crispy bacon bits

Sprinkles of nuts, seeds, juniper berries, sumac powder, chopped herbs, crispy croutons, grains, cress

Unexpected fruit - strawberry, kiwi, blueberry, avocado, apple. 

Drizzles of oils, vinegars, pomegranate molasses, balsamic glaze, vinaigrettes 

Creamy mayo, yogurt, creme fraiche, houmous, tahini. 

There are so many possibilities out there, an infinite number of combinations of veg, toppings and dressings. So why do some eateries offer 'with side salad' on the menu and then fail to deliver? A sad little heap of cucumber slices, wedges of woolly tomatoes, and an eye wateringly sharp slice of red onion, balanced on a limp lettuce leaf, accompanied by a plastic sachet of mayo does not count imho.

And I haven't even started on the accompanying carbs

[potatoes, rice, pastas, breads] and proteins [meat, fish, eggs, cheese...]

Salads have been on the English menu for centuries. This one is over 600 years old. Tradition has it that at medieval banquets, the woman with the most beautiful hands was invited to mix and toss the ingredients in the great salad bowl.

Whether everything is combined beforehand, or diners assemble their own bowl from an assortment of ingredients, I think salads are wonderful things.

Do you have a favourite salad ingredient?

Do you make your own dressings?

In The Pink

Back in the 80s my friend invited me to go with her on a shopping trip to Bromley. Having dropped our daughters off at Primary School, we went in her car for what she described as a day of Retail Therapy. By lunchtime she had a few carrier bags, and I'd bought some new pants for the children. 

"You must get yourself something, Ang" she insisted. So we went into Laura Ashley, and at her suggestion I spent £5 on a lacy pink knitted scarf. She assured me I'd wear it a lot. 

Every so often I pull it out to finish off an outfit, perhaps half a dozen times a year. As I did a couple of weeks ago. Then I decided it should have a wash, so I put in a bowl of warm soapy water and swished it about a bit. I couldn't believe how much colour came out in the water! I felt like Macbeth with "the multitudinous seas incarnadine" I was so glad I'd not put it in the general wash inside a 'lingerie' bag. 

It dried quickly in the warm sunshine. Back in the day, I was quite unsure about the purchase, it seemed rather frivolous on our limited income . But when I look back and think about it in terms of cost-per-wear, at about tuppence a time, I have definitely had my money's worth. I see they are currently being advertised online at £25+. Good gracious!!