Outdoor play

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I really enjoy being outdoors and I try to encourage my children outside with me as much as possible.
Stephanie has been complaining of a sore throat this week, I thought it's just a bit of a cold told her to get on with it (evil mother!). On Wednesday night she cried a little as it was sore, so I gave her calpol and put her to bed thinking that she would be ok by morning. Then about 3 in the morning she came in and woke me, she had a sore throat and it was hurting her to drink and stopping her sleeping. In she climbs with me for a cuddle which miraculously made it all better and she slept until morning. I resolved to having Thrusday off of work to get her a doc's appointment. One quick peek in her mouth by a doctor and she has puss-y tonsils aka contagious tonsillitis. So pop to the chemist for antibiotics and phoned work- I needed Friday off as well as she isn't allowed to return to school until 24 hours after antibiotics are started.

I have resolved to doing some work which I am able to do from home (it's report season don'tcha know!) I have also interspersed this with some gardening. My garden shed roof leaked last time we had a thunder storm so yesterday I started to cut back the plant which is growing across it so that I can see what is going on. It's a tough job- the plant grows from my neighbours side and is v. large,

This is almost half the shed roof cleared. We are do flash flooding tonight so ideally I wanted to get the plant down and see an easy fix. no such luck! I cannot reach to clear half the plant. I will need to get a ladder and see what I can do tomorrow and hope the rain isn't as bad as forecast. Although, it has already started and is so far showing no sign of letting up!

Whilst I was clearng the plant Stephanie was eyeing up a set of bamboo canes I had, mum do you think we could make me a camp? The plant I was clearing looked perfect, it was long, thin and bendy. So we set up the canes and began weaving.

You can see at the bottom where the plant is weaved in and out. We ran out of long suitable bits to finish weaving. That didn't stop them, soon there were blankets finishing the job, blankets on the ground and cushions galore in there with a book and some teddies too. 

Watching this got me thinking, we had wanted to buy a hammock on payday, but i've had to put two new tyres on the car, and have had some other news which means my tiny income is slashed some more. So we are saving money even more importantly now. I remembered some fabric the children's nan gave me to make curtains for the house. I have to confess it's not to my taste for this so it has been sat in the cupboard while I think of a use. Today I found that use;

The poorly girl loves it! It is even strong enough to take my weight. All I used was a couple of metres of fabric and two skipping ropes.

Stephanie was feeling much better by this afternoon, in case you haven't guessed. She has kept me very busy so I haven't had a chance to do much more work so I will be having a few late nights to catch up, But what a lovely afternoon we have had. I'm just glad that she is feeling better.