#30dayswild Day 1: growing indoors

This month we are taking part in #30DaysWild, an initiative by The Wildlife Trusts designed to encourage families to get out and about more and to incorporate nature into their lives. The aim of #30DaysWild is to do a little something each day involving nature in some way. If you sign up to take part you will receive a #30DaysWild inspirational pack, containing Random Acts of Wildness cards – bitesize bits of wild inspiration, a beautiful badge and funky stickers to accompany a gorgeous wallchart.

However, I feel with G's leg this year may be more of a challenge than ever!!! Plus we are not getting off to a great start with the weather - rain rain and more rain!

 Today we began to grow carrot tops and an avocado stone.

Review of our May to do list

On the May to do list was:

• Enjoy the May Bank holidays

We really did. For the first one, we all went to Audley End house and enjoyed their Grand Victorian Travelling Show.

 

For the second one, the husband and I went to the Lake District without the girls and they went to see Cats with their Grandparents!

• Celebrate I being 14!!!!!!

She had a chocolate making party for some friends run by Chocolat Chocolat where they made truffles!

 

She enjoyed her presents - she got various things like clothes, stationary and a polariod camera.

• Enjoy some day trips for half-term

This sadly is on hold as G managed to break her leg using a friend's Heelies - we will manage a trip to the hospital's out patients department!!!  Never mind :).

• Do some spring crafts

I have been rubbish at this - I will put on next month and see if we do better!

A picnic and a walk round Fowlmere

Today we had a lovely walk round the reserve where we saw damsel flies, birds, brown trout and the highlight - a water vole!  The girls enjoyed a hunt looking for things on the reserve and the husband and I enjoyed the beautifully clear streams!

A walk up to the roman road, through wandlebury and back home!

Shepreth Wildlife Park

Today we spent the morning at Shepreth wildlife park - it is not huge and has plenty of space and play areas to keep everyone happy! Overall the park is clean and the animal enclosures clean and adequate for the animals (except the cats) . All the animals appeared to be in good physical health, however we did see a few of them pacing around their cages which I always take as a sign of stress for the animal. Talking to several of the zoo keepers they were knowledgeable and friendly The girls loved the otters and I loved the tigers - but it was such a hot day most of the animals were hiding from the heat!

Later the husband tool the older 2 to see Goodnight Mr Tom at the Arts theatre.

Grand Victorian Travelling Show

Today we went to the Grand Victorian Travelling Show at Audley End. Again they had various entertainers - although not as many as last year!  We enjoyed learning about the differences between Western riding, side-saddle and English riding, watching the wild west horse display (although not quite as impressive as last year!), listening to some traditional folk music and enjoying Victorian garden games and a swing boat!

Hatfield Forest

On a sunny May day we went for a walk to Hatfield Forest which is very close to Stansted and the M11. It really is beautiful and away from the carpark and cafe you can find areas where there is no body else! I loved seeing deer and the girls loved tree climbing. It is a very old woodland - William I had an interest in the forest and that the King Henry 1st used it for hunting, but it's likely that the forest had been in existence for much longer than that. It contains all elements of the old hunting forests namely - deer, cattle, pollards, coppiced woodland, scrubland, mature timber trees, grazing land and wetland.