Cherry Picking

Little Owl has her own Cherry Tree!  Well nearly... as a baptism gift, her Grandma rents one from a nearby farm.  We get regular emails throughout the year, telling us how things are progressing.  In the spring we are invited to the Blossom weekend where we get to see all the trees full of blossom, as well as enjoying a hog roast!  The newsletters become more frequent in the summer as the different varieties of trees are ready to be picked.  We were given a 10 day window in which to pick our cherries, but warned that heavy rain might mean the cherries split, in which case we should go as early as possible within that slot.  

We arrived at the orchard, gave Little Owl's name and were taken to our tree.  They hooked up the net next to our tree and we were left to gather our crop!  Little Owl had a great time picking the cherries she could reach, emptying our pots into a larger box and giving them back to us.  Although cherry trees aren't very tall, it was a good job we had Grandmadad with us to reach the top ones!

We got a bumper crop this year so will be freezing most of them, but not until we have made our cherry brandy ready for the bonfire season to start!

Cross Monday Week 18

 

Week 18.  Progress but not much.  Am thinking I'm going to really struggle to get this section done by mid-September, which means this whole project could take much longer than the 18 months I predicted!  In the hope of getting things back on track, I'm going to attempt to stitch a whole thread every day for the next week - so be sure to pop back next week to see the progress!

Silent Sunday

Owlfit of the Week

Little Owl has been out and about enjoying the sun this week and this playsuit from Monsoon has been perfect!  I don't know how, but I have only just discovered the fantastic children's clothes in Monsoon's range.  I think I always thought they only did posh frocks and that maybe they were a bit pricey but this gorgeous playsuit was only £18.  I'm also really impressed with the quality.  The playsuit does up under the legs which makes it easy for changing nappies or toilet visits.  The poppers feel very sturdy and they are also discreetly hidden behind a fold in the fabric.

The sunnies are also from Monsoon and Little Owl really loves them (and so do I!).  And just in case you aren't a regular reader of Owlfit of the Week, her gorgeous sandals are from Livie and Luca.

Water Painting

Little Owl loves to paint.

But its messy.

She doesn't care what she paints.

But she loves to dip the brush in the paint.

And then use up the paint on the brush.

And start all over again.

She mixes the colours.

And gets paint everywhere!

This is why I have only let her paint at home a couple of times.

Mainly I wait until she is at a group

Such as the adventure playground

Where someone else can help clear up.

Then a friend of mine shared this ingenious idea!

Water painting!

Outdoors in the sunshine!

Its brilliant.

Little Owl loves it.

She can paint as much as she likes.

We don't run out of water.

And the sunshine dries it off so she can't paint things again and again!

Little Owl loved doing hand prints

And foot prints too!

It doesn't even matter if she paints her face!

Water painting is our new favourite thing to do!

Cross Monday Week 17

Progress is slow but steady at the moment.  Papa Owl has been away which usually gives me extra time to stitch, but the world cup has meant a lack of decent telly to watch which essential to stitching!  The plant I am working on at the moment has three flowers on, you can see I have completed the first.  Unlike the bottom section, where I worked from the outside in, this time I am stitching from left to right.  This does pose the risk that I might get bored once I have passed half way, however  I am still hoping to finish this section before my target date of 15th September!

The good news is that I have finished exam marking so hopefully I can get my head back into blogging - been struggling to compose just one sentence some evenings!

Silent Sunday

Owlfit of the Week

I like to think of this Owlfit as Little Owl's surfette beach outfit!  Its a bit of a mis-mash but I love it!  The hat you have seen before and is from H&M as are the shorts - although really they are trousers aged 12 months!  

The t-shirt is from Me&i and features different coloured peace buses.  I really love this t-shirt - I'm a fan of yellow anyway but with the retro buses (which look remarkably similar to a certain popular campervan) and the brown trim round the neck this is just super cool.  However, I have noticed that if I don't pair it up with something obviously girly, then people do mistake Little Owl for a boy!  Hence the pink hoody which was a hand-me-down.  It isn't something I would have bought but actually I think it compliments this outfit beautifully.

And then we have the Livie and Luca sandals! 

With the recent hot weather, Little Owl has been living in these.  As well as looking beautiful, they are super practical too.  They are sturdy enough for Little Owl to go on the beach, or to climb up muddy banks, and although I was a little precious about them when I first got them, they really can handle getting dirty or even wet without showing any signs of wear!  If you haven't already tried Livie and Luca then do so - although I warn you - once you have bought a pair - there's no going back!

Cross Monday Week 16

I'm really pleased with progress this week.  I've had a couple of evenings this week where I closed the laptop and just watched telly and stitched.  It was lovely and it means that I have completed a whole tree that was rather complicated (it has 4 colours in it).

I have also made the effort to use up the threads that I had hanging loose.  Some were used on the tree but this has also meant that the red chain on the left hand side has filled out a bit, the vine that makes the top of this section has begun to grow too, as well as a plant beginning to sprout out of one of the central pots.  I've actually really enjoyed working like this and so will continue for at least the time being.  

Papa Owl is away for a couple of nights this week so I hope to have some good progress to show next week too!

Silent Sunday