garden – Mediocre Mum

Who needs Marriage Counselling?

How to survive summer holidays

Not suggesting we do, but I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. We both work from home and it does get fractious at times. Being school holidays, I’ve done as predicted and chucked money at it, not because I have a surplus of cash but with an only-child and a tiny garden, I’m always looking for things to entertain my five year old during the school holidays.

I don’t want to give the impression that it’s expensive. It cost me £20 and worth every penny.

Growing up I never played Swing Ball, I have no idea of its origins but guessing it didn’t make it across the Atlantic, but I could be wrong. We played a similar game called Tetherball but it didn’t have paddles, players used their hands and it was a hard plastic ball, more football sized.

After a few goes with our daughter, we decided to play each other…. is it just me or does it look like he’s trying to kill me?

So, if you’re looking for something to save your marriage or to have a right laugh with your kids this summer in limited space then this is the answer. Great family fun!

Gotta love traditional games!

Hubby reckons we should try it after a few beers. Can someone warn A & E?

I bought mine from Cuthberts Toys.

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Once a teacher always a teacher?

Not sure what possessed me, whether it’s because I won’t let her have a dog or she doesn’t have any siblings, but at Christmas I bought her a Live Butterfly Garden. In the box, you get the net, all the instructions plus a certificate to order your baby caterpillars when you’re ready.

They arrived a couple of days after we ordered them. They come in a small pot with everything they need for the first couple of weeks.

We were amazed how quickly they grew. They then make their way to the top of the pot, hang upside down and weave themselves into a cocoon.

Once they all turn into cocoons, you transfer them to the net.

Then a week to two weeks later, they turn black and will most likely emerge that day.

We came home last night to find four Painted Butterflies. Can you see all of them?

Sadly, we can’t keep them forever so we released them tonight, but no tears just a lot of excitement and she learned loads. However, it did take them a lot of persuasion to come out.

Unfortunately, just after they emerged, one got stuck on its back to the bottom of the net, in the red liquid (Meconium) that they eject after they leave the chrysalis. I tried to rescue it but think one of its wings may have been damaged.

But on the positive side, there seems to be a baby caterpillar left behind so we can do it all again!

Next year we may try stick insects or an ant farm.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Covent Garden

We were invited to Build-A-Bear Workshop in Covent Garden for a tour on Friday. We’d heard good things about it. The night before Madame and I spent some time on YouTube checking it out and to say the least we were both very excited!

We were warmly greeted by Jimmy at the store. He was brilliant with Madame, speaking to her the whole time at her level. He was very knowledgeable about all the bears and the process, even though he’s only been at the store for a couple of months. He guided her through the entire process from choosing a bear, to filling it, to inserting a beating heart, choosing clothes, dressing the bear and creating the Birth Certificate.

Madame normally has the attention span of a goldfish, like most other 3 year olds, but she was absolutely captivated the whole time. See for yourself!

Thanks to everyone, especially Jimmy, at Build A Bear for a brilliant experience.

Ridiculous Mummy Purchases…

One of my neighbours is going to pop soon. I’ve offered her a load of Madame’s old stuff from car seats, Bumbos, baby swings, etc as my loft is bulging with baby stuff but she hasn’t taken me up on the offer but I totally understand why. When Madame was born I, too, bought everything new and in retrospect I wouldn’t do it again, I’d buy more second hand things.

It made me think about some of the things that I purchased and the most ridiculous item had to be the Explore Garden Gym. It was basically a Lazy Susan for babies; it was supposed to encourage her to spend more time on her front. As a new mum, I unnecessarily worried about such things and being a sucker for gadgets it seemed perfect. The woman in the shop even assured me that it wasn’t gimmicky! Silly me! I think we only ever tried it a couple of times and with most things in time she naturally started to spend time on her front. Doh!

It’s still in my loft if anyone wants it??? I won’t be putting it on e-bay, as I couldn’t with a good conscience take anyone’s money for it.

What was the most ridiculous thing that you purchased?

Butterfly World

We went to Butterfly World this morning near St. Albans as they were having an Open House and it was free! Frankly, we’ve never been before because when it opened last year I felt that the prices were extortionate. In fact, I emailed them about it but sadly never received a response:

Dear sir/madam,

My family was planning on coming to Future Gardens this weekend as we were excited about the gardens and wanted to support a local project. Sadly, we were put off by the price (£12.50 per adult), especially in the current climate. I don’t normally contact companies about such things but felt you may appreciate the feedback. Hopefully, if you have a family or open day with reduced prices we may get a chance to come and enjoy the gardens.

When we arrived today we were greeted by a lovely, personable lady who was obviously passionate about the site. She showed us a video and gave us some bumf about memberships etc. I noticed a drastic drop in prices and asked her about it. She said that since it was privately funded (£10.5 million), they used consultants to help them with the pricing. Being new to it all they trusted them and in her words ‘last year was a disaster’. She is now backpedalling trying to get people in. They are now only charging £6 and under 3s are free, which I think is perfectly acceptable.

As it is winter, we had no expectation of seeing butterflies and if you could look past the barren flower beds and the construction site it’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait to go back in the spring! They have individual gardens, Very Hungry Caterpillar feature Garden, pond dipping and a Play Zone.

We did only see one butterfly but it was rather impressive!