Exploring Headley Heath

Headley Heath is a designated Site of Specific Interest with a mix of open heathland, shady woods and steep chalk grassland valleys. Managed by the National Trust, it covers some 300 hectares of the North Downs in Surrey.

Having realised we were a day too early for a miltary history open day (Mummy’s fault!), we headed for the Lizard Trail. This is a 3km walk covering Dean Wood Heath, The Pyramids, Aspen Pond, Purley Plain, Bellamoss Pond and the Brown Pond. The weather wasn’t on our side but in true British style we headed off anyway!

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What’s The Story? | 2nd June 2014

Hello everyone, welcome to What’s The Story? for w/c 2nd June 2014. Seems incredible to think we’re in the sixth month of the year already! I hope those of you that have been off these past days have had an enjoyable time.

If you’re new to What’s The Story? it’s a photography based Linky which enables you to share the stories behind your photographs. To join in all you have to do is share a photograph and the story behind it. You can write as little or much as you like and your photo/s can be from any time. You can link up a old post if it’s relevant.

Feel free to use the What’s The Story? badge or include a link to PODcast in your post – I’m happy to share it in return. Please do take the time to comment on some of your fellow bloggers posts when you can. It’s always worthwhile checking back later in the week too. What’s The Story? is open every Monday through to the following Sunday.

There’s a #whatsthestory community on Google Plus so do pop over if you haven’t already. You can find me at Charly Dove or PODcast.

Have a lovely week #whatsthestory.




Jiggly Giraffe by Little Learners

Last year we reviewed the Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack which came with a puppy blankie. POD loved it and although she’s three now she can often be seen hunting for it in her toy bag.

She was thrilled when Jiggly Giraffe arrived, also from the Little Learners range, and she really took to the giraffe rattle. Jiggly (or Jiggy as he’s sometimes called!) is a great size for little hands so he’s been on many an adventure with us.

The board book is beautifully illustrated and the rhyming approach (Giraffe likes to shake, Giraffe likes to giggle) makes for an easy read. Jiggly is a great accompaniment although he does give POD the occasional armpit tickle too!

POD likes to learn stories now so she can re-tell them to her dollies, it’s wonderful to hear her reading through the monitor. I may burst when she can read for herself!

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The Little Learners Jiggly Giraffe set is suitable for babies and toddlers, currently priced £6.69 from Amazon.

Disclaimer: We received the Jiggly Giraffe book and soft toy for the purposes of this review. All opinions are our own. 

Project 365: Week #22

It’s been quite a week. We saw dancing sheep at the Surrey County Show, I found out what’s wrong with my pelvis after over 3 years and an Aussie friend we’d not seen for 4 years came to visit.  POD has refused to sleep until 10pm this week though so we’re rather jaded!

Welcome to Project 365: week #22

Day 146 

Great to get a dry day so we spent much of it in the garden. This is POD pausing for a moment at the top of her slide seemingly looking at the camera! Peppa is paying her hair a visit.

PODcast Sun

Day 147 

On Bank Holiday Monday we had tickets for Surrey County Show. The monsoon like rain didn’t let up and it was super muddy but the dancing sheep were brilliant. Not sure the birds of prey enjoyed themselves though!

PODcast - Bank Hol Mon

Day 148 

This pretty flower has appeared in our front garden. A challenge to photograph but lovely all the same.

PODcast - Tues

Day 149 

When POD was born on Christmas Day 2010 my pelvis took a beating during the 47 hour labour. Today was the day I finally found out what is wrong. The diagnosis is that I have an overly scared Tendonopothy where the muscle meets the pelvic bone and pubic synthesis woes came from my chiropractor. The hospital had me booked in for another nerve block this week so it was swiftly cancelled.

PODcast Thurs

Day 150

I noticed some rather large daisies when I was out today. Quite pretty close-up with the green background.

PODcast Wed

Day 151 

This isn’t the greatest of photos but I love how that rain droplet is just hanging in there.

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Day 152 

This is POD doing a star jump in the air! She insisted an Aussie friend of ours who is visiting from Beijing threw her skywards. We’ve not seen him since he left the UK 4 years ago, he and Daddy met in Australia in the 90’s. After the garden shenanigans, the boys headed for Twickenham while POD and I paid Birdworld a visit.

PODcast - Sat

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Alphabet Project | C is for candid

Thank you to everyone that joined the Alphabet Photography Project last week. It was great to see what you’d chosen for your letter B.

This photograph was taken with a 250mm lens, POD didn’t know I was there. She’d run over to a bench in the woods where she just had an impromptu lie down. Perhaps she felt a renewed sense of freedom given it was the first time this year she wasn’t in layers. Whatever the reason it was a wonderful moment captured. This week C is for Candid.

How to join in 

The Alphabet Photography Project runs every Wednesday. A Linky is open from 6am that day until the following Tuesday if you’d like to share a short post (or a link up an image). There’s currently no badge but if you include a link back to PODcast I’ll share your post on Twitter and in the #alphabetphoto Google+ community.

You can share your photo in the Pinterest and Facebook groups or on Instagram (PODcast is here) too. The hashtag to use is #alphabetphoto.

Ideas for letter C

The #alphabetphoto theme can be interpreted in any way your choose. The letter C might be a photograph of a child for example, an object that resembles the letter C or a photograph of the letter C using props. It could also be an adjective. Have a look at the letter C hints in last week’s post.

Inspiration for letter D 

Here are a few ideas to get us thinking about letter D:

Daddy, dogs, diaries, diamonds, discs, daisies, doors, droplets, decorations, demonic, devilish, digital, documentary, dogs, dominating, doors, dots/dashes/diagonals, duplicates, daffodils, dandelions, different, delicate, dark, distinct.

There are also lots of inspirational photographs on the #alphabetphoto Pinterest board:

Follow PODcast grappling with a box of frogs’s board Photography: The Alphabet Photography Project on Pinterest.



Design your own Love Heart

The sweet shop I visited as a child always seemed so large. I imagined it was owned by Willy Wonka but run by his Father. You’d always be on your best behaviour only stepping forward when you knew what you wanted from the jars lining the walls above.

While your sweets were being weighed and the corners of your little white bag twisted, you’d scan the shelves looking for what you could spend your remaining 10p on. It was usually a choice between Love Hearts, a Refresher or a Drumstick. Love Hearts were often the preferred choice as they could be shared.

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As you’d expect a lot has changed since the Eighties. Though the well-known sweets remain, the range includes brand extensions such as Refresher Squashies, Drumstick Squashies, Double Lollies Squashies and Love Hearts Squashies.

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These are jelly-like variations of the favourites and taste just as good. In our house the Refresher Squashies were first to go, closely followed by the Love Hearts and the Drumsticks. Some things never change!

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Swizzels Matlow, the company that makes these iconic British sweets, are celebrating 60 years of Love Hearts and recently launched a competition to mark the occasion.

It is offering fans the opportunity to design their own Love Heart. Ten lucky winners will get the chance to visit the factory and see their own Love Heart being made ahead of its inclusion in packs across the UK.

Head over to the Love Hearts website or Facebook page to enter the competition.

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Disclaimer: We received product samples for the purpose of this post. Opinions are our own. 

 

 

A Sunny Day

It was the first day of the year that warranted a swimming costume, oodles of sun cream and a paddling pool of water. Not to mention the wonderful hat we fell in love with last Summer.

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Seeing a paddling pool full of water pleased POD greatly. She enjoyed watching the reflections although it wasn’t long before it was cluttered with watering cans, a bucket and a few flowers.

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It was unbelievable to see this long-legged person tower over a pool that was perfect a year ago. POD’s recently shot up gaining a couple of inches in the last two months alone. The plait she requested made her look even older.

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Having decided against going in the pool straightaway, POD got comfortable on a chair filling various implements with water. It’s amazing how long you can busy yourself for when tipping one bucket of water into another! POD had not wanted hot water added to her pool but quickly realised it was cold without! She wanted to give the feet a dip though.

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After laughing at her “yellow bucket shoes” she emptied a sandpit of water onto the grass to create a muddy puddle. She  jumped up and down with glee at her creation

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before heading back to the pool to wash her muddy feet and do it all again.

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With the paddling pool full of garden toys and emptied of half its water, forward rolls were on the agenda. POD even requested a photograph be taken while she was upside down.

Swingball became the focus once she’d tired of water play – as you’d expect a racket was not required! This approach was short-lived though after she toppled over.

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Swingball did become part of a magic show after that – the ball turning into a rabbit that leapt from her hat.

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After practicing her jumping skills and asking if she could have a unicorn, POD took to the swing. She rocked to and fro occasionally running to increase her speed. It wasn’t a day for running around too much although we did a bit of that as well as the obligatory jumping on Daddy.

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The bubbles made an appearance a little later. It took POD a while to realise you don’t need to blow really hard but she did crack it. She learnt a valuable lesson in not licking your fingers afterwards – as did I!

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Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast.

 

What’s The Story? | 26th May 2014

Hello everyone, welcome to What’s The Story? for w/c 26th May 2014. It’s hard to believe we’re only two months away from celebrating a year of this Linky!

If you’re new to What’s The Story? it’s a photography based Linky which enables you to share the stories behind your photographs. To join in all you have to do is share a photograph and the story behind it. You can write as little or much as you like and your photo/s can be from any time. You can link up a old post if it’s relevant.

Feel free to use the What’s The Story? badge or include a link to PODcast in your post – I’m happy to share it in return. Please do take the time to comment on some of your fellow bloggers posts when you can. It’s always worthwhile checking back later in the week too. What’s The Story? is open every Monday through to the following Sunday.

There’s a #whatsthestory community on Google Plus so do pop over if you haven’t already. You can find me at Charly Dove or PODcast.

Have a great week #whatsthestory.




Around the World We Go

What we love about being a Parragon Book Buddy is the variety of books. We recently reviewed Everybody Loves Butterflies and Bunny Loves to Play, this time we’ve been singing, dancing and playing with children of other cultures.

POD got to experience being abroad when we visited Bruges in December. In a restaurant she said “Bonjour” to the people next to us several times over – thankfully they found it endearing! This experience was a great point of reference for the book.

Written by Margaret Wise Brown, best known for classics such as Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny, and illustrated by Christine Tappin, Around the World We Go focuses on learning what we don’t know about other cultures.

It first looks at different continents such as North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. This provides a great opportunity to talk about where we live and the countries Mummy and Daddy visited before POD arrived.

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POD knows how to shake hands so it’s been good to show her how people introduce themselves. For the time being she’s happy just saying hello and greeting everyone she meets with a huge smile. She’s only three though so she has plenty of time!

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POD doesn’t remember the last aeroplane she was on but we do spot them regularly. She was on a train recently though. These experiences have been good when discussing how people travel to other countries – whether by boat, train or plane.

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We’ve also chatted about the differences between countries and their sights such as camels, pyramids and mountains.

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In the jungle, it’s about the different animals you find and how elephants wash themselves. This will often include an obligatory elephant impression. We briefly talked about Mummy and Daddy’s trip to the Venezuelan jungle too!

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POD enjoys the part of the book where you can learn to say hello and how are you in different languages. She’s been doing very well too and always asks what each word says.

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Around the World We Go is great for teaching how children from different cultures sing and have fun together; whether flying a kite, having a go on a swing or cycling.

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POD thoroughly enjoys this book and its a brilliant way to teach children about other cultures. It’s easy to read with its rhyming sentences and beautifully illustrated with lots to talk about on each page. Around The World We Go is available from Amazon currently priced £4.99.

Disclaimer: As a Parragon Book Buddy, we were sent a copy of Around the World We Go! for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own.