One of the things we soon learn however is that beaches, mountains and parks dont cost. We also find places where we pay an annual subscription and use them loads – RSPB, springs to mind on this, CADWA, and National Trust. Museums are nearly all Free to enter as well.

Since last year I have thought of a few ideas to make life a bit simpler and less expensive.

Any child old enough to carry there own packed lunch has there own small ruck sack / bag to carry it in!   Unless were going to somewhere where its ride based. / or at the beach.  We have used a Little life backpack for Asha since she was two.

As a mum, i make sure my bag can carry all the small bags, if need be. (I use a couple of climbing clips for this But that isnt the plan! If I know the little one wont want to eat once were at the place, we make sure we have a extra bit to eat before we leave home (crumpets or toast and butter spring to mind)

Every child has there own water bottle, which the child fills with water before they go out.  I find the sports bottles the best for this, purely because they dont spill as much and sand dosnt get into them the same. Before we leave the car we always have a drink of water, and before i drive off, for the drive home. (parents may have to check this before each child gets into car though)

Packed lunch ideas : rice, with sweetcorn, tuna, majonaise.  either in individual or large bowls to dish out. Wraps, make an easy alternative to bread on occasion, i tend to purchase these when reduced and freeze!

BEFORE we leave the house in the morning, we know what were going to have for tea. The slow cooker is our friend.. as is our chest freezer!

apples, pears, grapes, oranges, bananas, melons, pineapples, are all great fruits for when out and about.. the last two you need to either slice before you leave, or take a knife and a chopping board with you to dish out.

Bread.. and peanut butter, sliced cooked meats, eggs, cheese, cold fish, mixed with tuna, cucumber, lettuce, basil, humus, all make easy lunch items.  If your going to use tinned items, remember a tin opener, and a surface to slice them on! (we have actually got a knife, cutting board and tin opener which used to live in the car.. I must put them back on it!)We used to put all the sandwiches in boxes, but i have found that plastic sandwich bags work best, in a small cold bag, or just in a ruck sack for Asha.. This stops us carrying extra bulk around with us.

We also take cooked sausages, chicken legs, sliced peices of pork and steak have gone with us as well, and cold jacket spuds, make a long day, work a bit easier.  (espeically if cut into 1/4  or 1/6 before we leave home, and just shared out for the picnic)

A small bar peice of chocolate can help keep a child from tears just before your heading home. to keep the hunger at bay on the way home.. dried fruits and nuts will also help this period. We have used sweets here, but i find the sugar hit from sweets counter productive.  Also  toilet and thirst check before we get in the car helps!

It is worth taking a flask with hot water / hot chocolate in it. I have found this especially useful on days to the beach.. for me, not for Asha.. she has hot Ribena for when she is back in the car, in her own flask, but before we head home.   If i am going to be with a group, i normally put an extra flask of hot water in, and some extra tea bags.

Every child needs to have a complete spare set of clothes, and a wooly jumper on the car. a couple of spare dry towels can also save a lot of wet cold children on the way home!

Ice creams.. we try not to buy them when were out just as a family, but keep bought ice creams in the freezer for when we get home. If were out with a group, it depends on the day. But were happy just having ice cream at home..

Plastic containers from home make great buckets for at the beach.. you can get a selection of cheaper large spades from the likes of B&Q which are great for the pre-teens  / teens who want to do more than dig small castles..

Well there my thoughts.. oh and the MUST have item? A first aid kit with RESCUE Remedy in it and TEA TREE oil…

and half the front garden, the pretty bit with the pond in..

I noticed tonight some of the honesysuckle is out.. so i just need to get some more pics tomorrow..

After CLASS we went to Beddgert for Fish and Chips.

We had planned on an evening on the beach, but the wind was cold, so we headed off to the warmth of the valley. We went for a slow stroll to the grave of Beddgellrt after our food, and Asha and I looked at the lichen on the trees. All the photos in this post are thanks to Paula…

And eventually home for mummys birthday cake.. very late and very very tired!

My thanks go to Paula for all the pictures in this post, as i hadn’t my camera with me!

Asha is covered in mud head to toe, as she has been in the garden, the do room is covered in bits of paper, the kitchen looks like we are in the middle of a market garden, and we have half a pig to deal with..

I smile.. look around, and move the half eaten cake of the one “clean” surface and suggest he puts the large box down there..Offer the man some money.. and realise that may be we ought to have cleaned the kitchen this morning.. not cut some of the large bushes down in the garden, but the sun was out, and we would like some of it to get into the back this year.

Anyway, its now 10 pm, and were waiting for the salt and sugar to cool down, so we can pop the meat into it to cure it… We will then cook it and freeze it..

Wonderful..

After a trip to the drs, Asha and I sat and watched a 1995 version of Little Women on video. Asha seems to have understood much of it, but got confused over the characters a bit.. the older girls did look rather similar to her!.

We had shepards pie for dinner, and home made rice pudding for pudding.

Asha listened to “The Little Prince” published in 1943, is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s most famous novel.

We have not covered “The Little Prince” before, so hopefully it will be something new for her to talk to us about for a few days. Normally with audio books, we have read the book, prior to introducing the audio book but I am interested to find out how much she listens to from the audio book on its own.

After bed tonight, steve and i cut out some material to make me some new clothes.. We just need to get some cotton now, to sew the bits together!!

I was going to write a new status up on facebook when the skye boat song, popped into my head.. so i have put it here instead!

The Skye Boat Song

(Chorus)
Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
Onward the sailors cry
Carry the lad that’s born to be king
Over the sea to Skye

Loud the wind howls, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air
Baffled our foes, stand by the shore
Follow they will not dare

Chorus

Many’s the lad fought on that day
Well the claymore did wield
When the night came, silently lain
Dead on Culloden field

Chorus

Though the waves heave, soft will ye sleep
Ocean’s a royal bed
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head

Chorus

Burned are our homes, exile and death
Scatter the loyal men
Yet e’er the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.

Chorus

mix together, heat pan up and put a spoonfull of mix on pan.. YUMMY

Thanks to Pippa for this..

I know some of you will be familiar with this, for others you may not be aware
of what parliament is about to do in your name. Codex Alimentairus is a law
designed to hand over the control of natural remedies to the pharmaceutical
giants. One more attempt to regulate us – with potentially dire consequences.
Unless we take this last opportunity and act now we will not be able to buy
vitamins or health/nutritional supplements without a doctor’s prescription -
they will be banned from 31st December 2009.

You may think this can’t happen, you may think why haven’t I heard about this
before. The reason is that there are vested interests, giant multinational
pharmaceutical companies, and it’s not in their interest that you know about and
oppose this. They and our lawmakers in Europe are banking on public apathy.
Despite considerable pressure already exerted our government is still planning
to implement this law – UNLESS THERE IS MASSIVE OPPOSITION IT WILL GO AHEAD.

Like many health and safety matters this was started with good intentions, in
1962 by the United Nations, to establish international free trade foods but has
become a major threat to our civil liberties and freedom of choice.

As the song says: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT TILL IT’S GONE

Please, sign the petition to the Prime Minister . . It takes 10 seconds! This
is for our health, and well-being and the health and well-being of our
children. Please copy and paste the link below …”

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/vitamins/

Even earlier than this, entries in the household accounts of the ‘Welsh’ Tudor Kings of England, record payments for leeks worn by the household guards on St. David’s Day.

Earlier still in the fourteenth century, it is known that the feared Welsh archers adopted the green and white colours of the leek for their uniforms, perhaps at the Battle of Crecy.

Earlier than this however, myth and legend begin to intertwine. According to one legend recorded by the English poet Michael Drayton in the early 1600’s, the leek was associated with St. David the Patron Saint of Wales who died in 589 AD. It is possible that the poet made up the story; however it tells how St. David ordered his soldiers to wear the leek on their helmets in a battle against the hated pagan Saxon invaders of Britain. The battle itself is also said to have taken place in a field full of leeks.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Wales-History/TheLeek.htm

Each ginger species has a different culinary usage; for example, myoga is valued for the stem and flowers.

Myoga ginger

Garden ginger’s rhizome is the classic spice “ginger”, and may be used whole,

candied (known commonly as crystallized ginger), or dried and powdered. Other popular gingers used in cooking include cardamom and turmeric, though neither of these examples is a “true ginger” – they belong to different genera in the Zingiberaceae family.

More ….

Concentration!

The back door.

It took time, but it was worth the effort mummy… Do you like it?

I love it, especially the concentration, and enjoyment..

And the finished product, complete and done… Wonderful!