Easter Monday.

Another cold day but the children still wanted to be out somewhere so we decided to visit Caerleon which is the site of a Roman legionary fortress and only 5 or 6 miles from where I live.  First we visited the ruins of the amphitheatre.  These spectacular ruins date to about 90AD.

                           

  Jasmine explored with her mum

 whilst the boys were running round imagining that they were Roman soldiers. 

 We thought the structure below might be an oven but the red brick arch above was not covered in soot like I would have expected it to be if there had been a fire below it. 

Next we went over the stile to the ruins of the Roman barracks where, according to the boys, the soldiers were stored.  

 

Below Jasmine is exploring the communal latrines at the barracks.  We learned that the soldiers cleaned themselves with sponges that were soaked in vinegar, which the children found very amusing. 

The adults were feeling very cold by now so we decided a visit to the

Museum was next on the agenda. Lots of Roman relics from the archeological sites we had visited and also from other sites nearby. These included a part skeleton in a stone coffin which had been dug up by a man with a JCB whilst he was working on the nearby college extension in the 1990s. Must have been a shock to him finding that.  

The boys enjoyed dressing up in Roman armour in the museum.

The shield was rather large .

Next we had lunch and then visited the Ffwrwm Arts & Crafts centre.  The children were pleased to find that there was an egg hunt going on there.  

  

Stuart relaxing

 Egg find on the dragon, Jakob looks like he is ready for a sleep. 

 Jasmine found the one by the otter

But didn't have a good view of this one.

They all had a prize of chocolate or eggs, as if they didn't have enough already.  Then we went home and I think they had all enjoyed their day. 

Easter Sunday.

Very cold weekend but children were getting a bit bored indoors so we went to the boating lake playground which has recently been extended with the addition of new attractions.  

Jasmine likes to climb.  

 She found this new climbing apparatus a bit difficult though and went on to her old favourite

She also tried out the new zip wire but Jakob declined as it was rather low and he was worried about scraping his rear end on the ground

The new swing was very popular

But Jasmine didn't like going too fast so left Jakob to try it alone. He thought that was great fun and didn't even feel dizzy when he got off it. 

Easter Saturday

Busy this weekend with grandchildren all visiting.  Saturday morning Stuart was showing Zach how to play football.  He was a quick learner. 

Zach also enjoyed playing with the duplo and constructed a zoo for his animals

Poppy the Squirrel

I think Poppy was a bit mixed up today.  Having fun chasing round the garden she decided to go climbing  a tree.  She must have been more than 20 feet up.  Maybe she has been watching the squirrels and thought she would join them.  (or could she have been after the birds).  She didn't have any trouble climbing down, think she might have done it before.

Mother's Day 10th March 2013

This was the first Mother's day I had spent with all my children together since they left home one after the other to go away to university what seems like many years ago now.   Also the first time we all got together for maybe more than a year as daughter Sophie went on holiday over Christmas so she was missing from our get together at that time. 

We see the boys together quite often as they all live near each other in Birmingham.  Last Friday Sophie was also in Birmingham for work so stayed there for the weekend.  

We drove up for the day and all went out for lunch to Al Faisals in Birmingham.  

Not too sure about the sign they had up for Mother's Day.  Thoughts turned to Oedipus. 

We started with the papadoms while the waiters took our order. Rather a large one as there were 13 of us with the children

Jakob was soon tucking into his tandoori fish and chips while the rest of us had to wait longer

We didn't have to wait too long until all our lovely food arrived, and very tasty it was too. 

Jasmine came round and interviewed us all asking what we had for our lunch.  

Here she is entertaining her cousin Safeya.

 Me with son Imran and my two granddaughters

Jakob with his friend Polo who is his constant companion

Grandson Zachariah concentrating on his chips and a big jug of mango lassi.

 Signs hanging on the restaurant ceiling by somebody with a sense of humour I think

Safeya wrapped up ready to go out again in the cold. Doesn't she look cute?

Preparing for Spring

That time of the year again to put up the bird nesting boxes (well maybe I am a bit later than usual but hope not too late).  Washed out the old boxes with hot soapy water and rinsed them well.  I found that the nests from last year were full of fleas so I had sprayed them with flea spray a couple of weeks so.  No sign of any today.

I also have three new boxes.  I received one as a free gift for joining the RSPB and I bought a robin/wren box and also a bug box which is apparently good for attracting solitary bees and also for ladybirds to hibernate in.

Stuart helped me by screwing the old boxes closed again after cleaning and held the bug box in place while I tightened the screw.  We have placed it on the fence behind the pond and close to a bush.

We placed the robin box on the fence behind the cotoneaster and winter flowering Jasmine because they like to be hidden from predators which is important as they like an open front box.  It will be sheltered from wind and rain there too and also there will be plenty of insects visiting the bushes in the summer so lots of food for them.

The other 3 boxes need to go higher up in the trees so I will wait for the gardener to come and place those for me in a couple of weeks.

Signs of Spring in the garden:

Snowdrops by the pond

Buds on daffodils should hopefully be open for St David's Day

Crocuses