bunting

We have made the bunting over several different sessions, and I have already posted about the first batch (the fabric crayons/drawings). However, as I'm doing a catch up, I thought it made most sense to group the rest of the bunting sessions into one post.

Here is Tess up to her elbows in dye, doing tie dye .......

Tess & Brodie painting with the fabric dyes ......

The cling-film wrapped tie-dye and painted flags, waiting for the dye to sink into the fabric .....

The tie-dye batch (done by Tess & Carole - it was quite hard to identify which flags were done by whom after they had been unrolled, but I think the top row were mine and the rest, Tess's) ....

The painted flags (Carole's 2 on the left, Brodie's at the bottom middle & top right, and Tess's at the top middle & bottom right...... I think!!!) .....

No pictures of the technique for the last 2 batches, but first up, African Paste Resist Dye (Carole's on the left, Tess's on the right - Brodie didn't want to do this or the batik). These flags were made by 'piping' flour and water paste onto the fabric, waiting for it to dry and then painting indigo dye (or multi-coloured dye for one of Tess's flags) onto the rest of the fabric ....

.... and the batik section : Carole's at the top, Tess's at the bottom; Brodie didn't want to do any on the day, but did choose a very complicated pirate ship to be included on 1 flag, top right (you may have to click to enlarge the pic to see it!). These were made by dripping melted wax onto the fabric, and then dipping the flag into dye, or painting the dye on, once the wax had set .......

And finally, the finished bunting in all its glory .......

what we're reading

Here are some of the books we've been reading over the last 2 or 3 weeks. I was going to list them individually, but there's rather a lot, so I won't! Mostly, they speak for themselves (and a couple speak twice, where I have accidentally included them in more than 1 photo!!) ....

Obviously, we are getting through a lot of books as they are mostly fairly short and easy to read. Tess is choosing longer books at the library, but often we end up reading a few pages of each as she wants to read them all, rather than sticking with one to the end - so I've only included those that we are actually getting through in the images. The following book is the longest book we have read (and at 270 pages/52 chapters, it is certainly quite chunky!). We are nearly at the end of it, and have really enjoyed it.....

On a recent trip to the library, we were looking in the children's reference section, and Tess decided she wanted to learn more about Romans, so chose the following book on Julius Caesar ....

Tess & Brodie have also recently got into audio books, and we have been listening to these in the car and campervan. This is turning out to be a real bonus, as we're listening to some quite lengthy stories (Tom's Midnight Garden is nearly 4 hours long, and Dog Friday, which we listened to last month was a similar length!) and some great books, which would be beyond us if we were simply reading the books at home (saves my voice too!!). The only problem is that if we have an adult passenger in the front, they want to talk to me, but I'm trying to listen to the story too!!! Here are the ones we've been listening to this month ........

bursledon brickworks

Rob took Tess & Brodie to a family fun day at Bursledon Brickworks which is just a few miles away from Titchfield. This steam driven brickworks was established in 1897 and at its height, produced 20 million bricks a year and provided employment for around 180 local people. The brickworks remained open until 1974, when the decline in the quality of the clay, problems with its extraction, increased labour & running costs and interruption caused by the construction of the M27 meant the works were no longer viable. In 1994, the brickworks were given listed status and sold to Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust and restoration began (and is ongoing).

The brickworks now offers a museum, family fun days and educational activities, as well as being home to the Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society.

Inside the brickworks museum .....

There were some matchstick models on display; they are hoping to get this oil rig into the Guinness Book of Records .....

Brodie of course enjoyed all the steam engines on display ....

..... and took a ride in this wagon .....

Tess & Brodie enjoying some craft activities on offer at the family day ....

Tess making a brick ......

Carving her name into the brick .......

the finished item (2nd from right, bottom row) .....

a card for Caroline

Tess made a card for our friends Caroline & Lily, as Caroline's father/Lily's grandfather recently died.

As well as some beautiful flowers on the front ......

.... she also decided to draw a cartoon character, Tommy Zoom, on the inside (obviously a comforting character???!) .......

She drew him freehand and from memory, but he is a very good likeness for the real thing......

quest seekers reading challenge completed

Having another catch-up session for the last couple of weeks ...... Tess & Brodie completed the Quest Seekers reading challenge run by the local library.

Brodie finished his 6 books with The World Came to My Place Today, about where food & other products come from ........

..... and The Worry Monster, about how not telling the truth can gnaw away at you ......

Tess's choice for her last 2 books were Buster, about a dog abandoned by its owners when he became too much trouble (Mummy just about managed to get to the end of the book through sobs to find that he was happily adopted by a nice new owner) .....

....... and Bluebeard's Cat, about a cat who is kidnapped by Captain Bluebeard .......

Both got a certificate and a medal for completing the Challenge .....

... though Brodie managed to leave his medal at the library, so we had to reclaim it on our next visit! .....