Thinly Spread - Parenting From Tots To Teens

Posted by Chris on May 20, 2013

Meeting Old Hushwing – Sharing Nature with Children

Bonus Boy and I had a brilliant time yesterday, it was one of those perfect ‘sharing nature with children’ days! A fabulous group of local people organised a wildlife roadshow and we escaped the pressures of AS Level revision and DIY, happening in the same house at the same time, for a wander along the riverbank in the sunshine. We carefully wrapped up the skull we had found on Chesil Beach...

Posted by Chris on May 15, 2013

A Day In The Life of Marie Curie – Garden Therapy

I visited a brand new hospice last week and it was wonderful. I expected to go in all hush hush and tiptoe and I was a bit nervous but I needn’t have been at all. The new Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull is bright, inviting and bustling with people doing stuff – stuff to help people who are dying, to live. I was there to meet the volunteer garden team but couldn’t help but be...

Posted by Chris on May 5, 2013

Blogging is a Minefield

I don’t often write about blogging, preferring instead to blog, but this week has seen a shift for me. When you have been blogging for a while, as I have, your inbox fills with the flotsam and jetsam of the corporate PR world and the tempting possibility of making money from blogging becomes a reality. Some of the approaches are interesting, most are not and some look too good to be true. It is this...

Posted by Chris on May 1, 2013

How to Make Pond Jelly – Cooking with Kids!

Bonus Boy and I indulged ourselves a bit yesterday and made some pond jelly! It’s very easy to make and, if you like jelly, delicious to eat. I loathe the stuff personally but he loves it! To Make Pond Jelly You Will Need A small to medium glass bowl One packet of vegetarian jelly crystals (we used tropical here but lemon would do just as well) Dried apricots Tinned apricot or peach halves A handful...

Posted by Chris on Apr 29, 2013

Tibits at Home – Stylish Vegetarian Cuisine, Reviewed and Tested!

Tibits, the vegetarian restaurant just off Regent Street in the heart of London, have published a stylish book full of their favourite dishes to mark their 10th anniversary in the UK and I got my hands on a copy! I thought it would be fun to share the recipes with you, the photos taken from Tibits at Home and my photos of the results I achieved so you can clearly see that these delicious dishes are,...

Posted by Chris on Apr 19, 2013

Learning to be a Shepherd

I have a lovely friend, a friend who runs a wool shop, who used to be a vet and who keeps sheep. Today she took Bonus Boy to see the lambs and my heart nearly burst. Two little babies were born 6 days ago I love the way this little one hasn’t quite grown into his skin yet and look at my boy’s face! He wore this coat on purpose because he thought it would ‘be softer for the lambs if I get...

Posted by Chris on Apr 19, 2013

Spinach and Wild Garlic Pie and a Review of The Yeo Valley Cookbook

I spent a lovely evening sipping tea, sampling cakes and savouries at the Yeo Valley cookbook launch last week. I love visiting Yeo Valley, of all the brands I have worked with over the last three years they are my absolute favourite and, if memory serves me right, this will be the first time that I recommend a book which is not vegetarian! Written by Sarah Mayor, daughter of Roger and Mary Mead who...

Posted by Chris on Apr 15, 2013

How to Plant A Pizza – Gardening with Kids

Bonus Boy and I were set a task this week. We had to come up with a gardening project, go to Homebase and buy the stuff required, come home and make it – as you can imagine, we jumped for joy! We decided that we would plant a pizza. This is a fun project for children and ideal for beginner gardeners so it fits right in with our ongoing mission to get kids gardening. Our trip to Homebase was no...