How to make a home for a hedgehog

Wondering what to do with the kids through the holiday? How about encouraging wildlife into your garden by making homes for hedgehogs. 

Spring is springing, nature is waking; now’s the time to make our hedgehog friends homes.

All you need is a cardboard box with an entrance hole cut out of it. (No bigger than 15 cms wide). Line it with straw and paper and put it next to a fence or hedge. Protect it from rain by covering it with a plastic bag - a bin liner is best - remembering to keep the entrance clear. 

Children will love to add camouflage such as stones, twigs, grass and other garden finds to keep it hidden. Hopefully your nest will prove a welcome home for Mrs Hedgehog to settle into now - just in time for her to have her babies in the Summer.

For more tips on how to encourage hedgehogs into your garden read this post

The ballet - A joy for ALL to behold

MY first ballet happened to be the Christmas classic The Nutcracker. I took Esme Grace - my delighted 7YO - with me. Rather wonderfully, both of us were totally unaware of the magic we were letting ourselves in for.

Easter with HEMA

Thank you @Hema.UK for sending LIFE AS IT IS the great kiddie cake stand. Looks so bright and colourful. After Easter, the children plan to use it in their play kitchen - as well as bringing it out for parties evermore!

Hema stores can be found in Kingston, Bromley, London Victoria, Birmingham and London Stansted Airport.

Emma Oliver and the GraceFaith girls received goodies from HEMA in exchange for a review on the parenting/lifestyle blog LIFE AS IT IS.

For DISCLOSURE & DISCLAIMER, please view my page on LEGAL STUFF

13/52 The GraceFaith year long art project...

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year...

FRAMED

Foot musings of a 7YO

M: You alright my love?
E: Yes mummy, fine. Just fishing in my feet for toe jam.

The Zoingo Boingo Pogo - A review

When I was approached to review the new Zoingo Boingo Pogo from Flair PLC, I jumped at it (no pun intended). You see the Zoingo Boingo is a flexible freestyle pogo outdoor toy, and I've lost count of how many years Esme has asked me for a pogo stick. The Zoingo is slightly different to what one immediately thinks of as a pogo stick; frankly this one lets you freestyle! 

12/52 The GraceFaith year long art project...

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year...

Parenting is...

... sighing deeply (and/or muttering swear words under your breath) as you realise your 7yo has forgotten to flush her poo yet again.

11/52 The GraceFaith year long art project...

...Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year

Mr Sandman, bring me a dream...

HUNTING SEASON - Alternative Easter Egg finds...

Now we all know there's plenty of chocolate around at Easter, often too much it would seem, so for those parents hunting for some great alternative Easter gift ideas, here are my top five... (collaborating with publishing house Laurence King).

Annual Easter Egg Hunt at West Dean Gardens - Easter with the kids

All children big and small love Easter Egg hunts and the idea of being rewarded with a small handmade chocolate treat, don't they? Well let the family join in the fun at the simply beautiful West Dean Gardens in West Sussex daily over the Easter, for they are offering Easter Egg trails from the 25th to the 28th of March from 9am – 5.00pm (last entry 4.00pm). 

INFO
Normal Adult gardens’ entry applies. 
Children’s entry to the gardens FREE although there is a small additional charge of £2.50 per child for the Easter Egg Trail, including two children’s activities and a small, handmade chocolate treat for completing the trail.

Free parking
Fancy a spot of afternoon tea? There's a shop and restaurant on site
Dogs welcome, on leads

10/52 The GraceFaith year long art project

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year...

What a happy Mother's Day! How I love this bowl Esme has made for me and how I will cherish eating my breakfast from it every single day! Thanks gorgeous girl. x

World Book Day today...

...and this year Esme's school is not participating in costume wearing - although Esme is for it also happens to be her assembly and she will be dressed as Pippi Longstocking later on this afternoon. Rather wonderfully, they are embracing the World Book Day theme. (Thought to self... goodness knows if the coat hanger wire in her hair will work?) I think perhaps the blog point I'm trying to make here is this... never mind dressing up, World Book Day is an annual reminder to read to our children, to encourage a love and lifetime of enjoying books, to support our local libraries, and overall, to express how interacting with the printed word can be every bit as good (indeed better) than a screen. Happy World Book Day one and all.

Julia Donaldson and Esme on stage, act out Julia's fabulous book 'A Squash and A Squeeze'

FRAMED - the busy day Fia had

LIFE AS IT IS This week in... Feb 2016 - Tummy Troubles (3)

Don't assume a woman is pregnant - even if she looks six months gone...

Looking down at my abdomen and again in profile - the bloating has become more severe of late. I wake in the morning and my tummy is normal. I drink a glass of water, and oh yeah up she rises. I'm wondering if an ulcer alone could possibly be responsible for this reaction? To help combat it - together with the wonder drug Omeprazole which heals the stomach lining - I started a probiotic, but rather wonderfully, all that brought me was a commonal garden bird. FFS. Oh, and I had to dig the nit comb out - although that itch was more than likely due to a new hair product: Some mousse I bought in a bid to inflate my lack lustre locks. Perhaps I'm allergic to that? While I'm on the subject of hair, last week I took the scissors to mine and I'm feeling quite lopsided now, wearing a rather unsteady base line chop which I'm viewing positively by calling it texture. Funny thing is, I go to the hairdresser, no one says a word, I do it myself and I've had a plethora of praise. Are people being kind do you think? So as my LIFE AS IT IS bumbles along, I do have one positive to mention about the fact that I'm looking very pregnant these days... I'm getting offered a seat on the underground every time. Chivalry appears to be very much alive and kicking - unlike the baby within.

9/52 The GraceFaith year long art project...

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year

Struggling to give up the booze - A poem - Tummy Troubles (2)

Don't ask me how it's going - it's only been one week.
Truth is, it's bloody hard and I'm feeling very weak.
Friday night was hardest but even Monday wasn't great,
And now that it's the weekend, I'm thinking of my mate.

Not the one dressed to the nines and heading to the Ritz,
Who'll later neck Dom Perignon and get right off her titz.
Nor the one that's laden down with Cristal, Cru and Boli,
White wine, red wine, and rose, sitting in her trolley.

8/52 The GraceFaith year long art project...

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year...

Esme and Mummy flying together

Coeliac V Stomach ulcer - Tummy Troubles (1)

So they go in looking for coeliac disease, and they come out finding a stomach ulcer.

Good job that I gave up coffee. Not so good that I left it so long.

I'm convinced it's the sheer amount of coffee I consumed year after year that led to an ulcer.

Oh and stress of course. For motherhood and my Life As It Is has certainly been stressful at times. Goodness, you only have to read this or this to see how manic it has been. And what did I nearly always turn to on these occasions? A good glass bottle of wine. Mmm. Like a lot of us do. Alas, no more for me I'm afraid. Doctor's orders.

Tonight will be my last hurrah for a while. Out to a joint 40th to enjoy letting my hair down before I stop drinking booze for 6 weeks. The thought itself is enough to finish me off. I've never been up for a dry January - let alone a dry part Feb, March, and part April. Feck!

A parting thought... and a sobering one at that... endoscopes are not pleasant.