Backyard Fairy Homes

I can take absolutely no credit for these whatsoever. They are completely 100% a project that was initiated by the kids, worked on by them for hours and across days. There was so much focus and co operation with these that I couldn't bare to drag them inside to do book work. Isn't that the stuff childhood is made of!

No one came inside to ask for bits and bobs, they simply found random items in the backyard and the nature strip behind our place. 

So without further adore I invite you to explore our backyard Fairy Village.

This is Little Surfer Dudes, he's recently turned 5. He chose a small bush to build his home against so the fairy would have more space to explore.

His offerings, a small rock table covered with moss and a gorgeous mini fairy bowl, that I believe his big brother assisted him with. This looks like the perfect fairy gathering place to sit around together and enjoy a meal.

On a slightly larger scale is Fairy Princess' (9) home. This home has two distinct areas, the open outdoors retreat offers a comfy place to relax with an abundance of flowers,leaves and mossy carpet. The fairies even have delicious cherry tomatoes, picked fresh from the garden, to feast upon.

The second area of the home has a solar insulated roof to ensure those little fairy bodies are kept warm at night. But get this, they even have a swimming pool, yes a swimming pool, purely for their leisure. We just won't discuss the fact that it is one of my tuppeware containers now will we ;-)

This is Lego Lover's creation, his includes a small side cave with an incredibly steep slide. Oh what fun the fairies must have on that each night!

This home has quite a high drop off, so he has made sure to fence the edge so no one falls over. Once again plenty of offerings for the wee fairies.

These creations all happened on a regular school day. In fact I was inside getting organised for the day ahead, whilst they were all outside building and creating. I simply could not tear them away from their dedication of the task, they literally spent hours out there creating, making modifications, adding bits and pieces.

A day well spent in the life of a child!

Swan Nesting

This is such an exciting piece of nature study for us!

Seriously I have never seen anything quite like it. We are so blessed, not only have we been able to witness the nesting of a pair of Black Swans, we've also met a lovely new to homeschooling family to study them with! And even better still their children are nearly the same ages as our younger two, don't you love that :-)

Anyway, back to the swans. Here they in full public view having built their nest at the far side of a large pond situated at the back of a park and playground area. So it certainly isn't a quiet spot for them that's for sure!

Everyone was mesmerized for quite some time just watching the swan protecting those eggs like her life depended on it. We were all quite surprised as to how close we were allowed to get to the nest. And the size of the nest, did you see it, it's huge!

They appear to have ripped up several clumping grass/reeds, as you can see in the background of this image and used those to build up the nest. Adding pieces of newspaper and other odds and ends as they find them no doubt.

On this particular day we only caught a very brief glimpse of the eggs, but just the other day our friends saw them in all their glory and there are a total of six. Let's hope that all six hatch and thrive.

We will be checking on these gorgeous creatures regularly and are itching to see some babies, hopefully very soon.

Crazy Clown Day ~ A Just For Fun Wordless Wednesday

Community Gardens

I've been trying to make a conscious effort to get out and about and explore what our amazing community has to offer. Many of things available have been around for awhile, but we've just never made it along to them.

Our local Community Gardens is one such place. I have watched this area transform over the past few years and every time we drive past I make a mental note to stop by there and have a look.

It took meeting a new homeschooling mum that attends the garden activities regularly to give me that nudge I needed :-) 

The volunteers that participate here have been really putting in huge amounts of effort over the years. The gardens are flourishing and brimming with a wide variety of produce.

When we visited, the regular kids fun time was happening. This week, they helped to transplant seedlings to be sold at an upcoming community fair, they mulched a newly planted garden bed and helped to dig out another new garden bed.

They even got the opportunity to do a little harvesting and tasting. This Kohlrabi, new to all of us, was most definitely enjoyed though. For me it's a cross between an apple and a radish.

We are all looking forward to our next visit to the Community Gardens. If you are nearby, stop by and have a look!

Do you participate in your local community garden area? Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear more about it.