Sunday 29 May 2016

Ant world - my very own little ant - arium

Over the last week I've been looking after ants, from set up to watching these little black dots running around in their own little area is oddly relaxing.  Unlike fish tanks or small and furry's these make no noise and best of all allergy free. 

The ant world ranges from £14.99 to £20, depending where its brought. I got mine through http://www.interplayuk.com/my-living-world/ant-world . On this website there is more information about the type of ants and links to an ant community ( for the ant lovers in the world).
The ants don't come with the ant world but do cost £3 to get them delivered to you. ( plus they come with a magnifying container).

It's arrived!!
Whats in the box is very basic but it actually makes the perfect size cage/ ant-arium/ holding pen? for these majestic little hymenoptera (ants). Putting the little world together was very easy also. Although having TJ sat next to me asking to put it together was quite funny. I was nice and let him put the sticker on the background. 
That was fair, right?

Everything needed to create my own little world.

Once completed the ants new home should look similar to this, minus the midget in the background.
It was so easy to set up and the instructions are easy to read which made this so much fun ....... for me.


As you can see by the look on TJ's face he didn't agree.
Once I double checked that everything was put together correctly, I opened up the white padded envelope which contained my new pets. I think I'll call them 'antilla ' 1 - 35.

The transportation pod for the ants.
 When looking closely at the tub I realised that there wasn't just live ants in the little glass tub there was also some eggs or larvae ( which ever you'd like to call them).


Currently I have seen them moving to larvae around the set up but not taken them into the actual tank area yet. I've had it set up for 1 week so far and the ants I guess feel most comfortable in the tube between the two area's as this is where they spend their time mostly.

The larvae's inside the tube surrounded by the protection of their soon to be fellow ants. 
I have fed them on smal bits of fruit with high water content although i do think I have fed them a little to much after I've put it in to the area's. I have yet to master how to put food in the tub instead of the area they are digging in as I'm still worried about them escaping all over my desk top. 

I have moved them away from the window now as the set up was getting steamy and I didn't think it was fair on the little fellows.

10 days on and my little rebellious pets have not moved out of the tube yet although I have noticed a few ants are in the tank area moving the dirt around and making a few tunnels on the surface. Hopefully this is the start of the new tunnel system where the ants will soon move to.


Tuesday 24 May 2016

The play area in the garden..

Cutting the grass in my house is always left to me and lately it seems to be the only place I can get peace and quiet.

The Grass grows very quickly in my garden which it seems like we've been putting miracle grow on as yesterdays length was ridiculous and up to my knees in two weeks.

Once the grass was cut and tidied up the next task was to move TJ's play equipment so it could hidden by this amazing camouflage net.



TJ requested for the slide to be facing the fort, instead we had to face it in the opposite direction towards the back fence.



We then attached the rope with steps to the middle of the climbing frame so TJ could climb up and down the middle as well as swing around the inside of the frame.


From the side of the climbing frame TJ can climb on to the front deck of the fort without touching the floor. 
The next step in preparing his area in the garden is to add a basket ball post and a few paving slabs possibly 3x3 and a fence to keep the dogs out of his area.
As this happens I will post up and review but as I've been such a busy bee lately I'm sure it will be step by step.





Thursday 12 May 2016

I guess I'm the person that loves to take pictures of nature in the family....Why not?!

I love taking photos when I'm on a dog walk and I guess now that its spring weather I'm loving the plants more.
The plants in the pictures below are ones I've taken either in my back garden or along the woodland walk with my galaxy s7 which in my opinion takes fantastic pictures. 



Wednesday 11 May 2016

Bathing my son has just got easier


The turtlemeter has gone down a treat my 8 year old can now successfully draw his own bath and now I don't have to worry about him burning himself as much as I did before.


The turtle comes from Amazon at a cost of just under £10.50. 
Batteries are included and are already in place on arrival, just take it out the packet and the turtlemometer is ready for use. The size dimensions are 15.2 x 5.1 x 12.7 cm.

To activate the turtle just put it in the water, there are no buttons or switches as it's activated by the water on sensors underneath.

Blue = To cold 
Green = Perfect temperature 



When the blue display is lit up the bath is to cold, green is perfect and red well we all know red means danger so be warned.
The centre of the dial reads the temperature in Fahrenheit, reads every second to ensure that it is up to date during the whole bath.






Our turtlemeter generally gets played with whilst TJ is in the tub, it is fully subversive and floats on the top of the water creating TJ and the nephews to giggle out loud when it spirals around the under the running taps and gets pushed off into the walls.

It's easy to use for any age and so far has been found to be very robust. 

I've been given the 2 thumbs up from TJ and a cheeky grin from the youngest nephew when asked if he likes it, so I'll take that as a yes.

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Relaxing in the sun near the river spending family time

Last Sunday anyone that lives in Dorset would agree the weather was fantastic, the sun was shining the tide was steady. For me the company couldn't of been any better.

The day started with the children's water activities on the Quay. This is between 9:30 am and 10:30 am. Whilst the children are on the water the adults can either sit and watch or pop across to the opposite side of the bridge and grab a hot drink or milkshake from the cafe/ ice cream parlor in the corner. The prices are reasonable and the staff are so friendly, its like we've known them for years.

TJ and one of the instructors Ellie 

For those children who just like to mooch around or aren't quite comfortable in the water yet, then the instructors on the water are at hand to help. During the whole session there are always two instructors that are happy to have another rower on board.

Next was lunch at The Quay Inn, which is where the car park is on the water front.
There are benches out the front and out the back. 
Dogs are allowed indoors also as there is two separate areas to eat.
The side we sat on had a rather large party which blocked the majority of the tables behind it, which were the only ones that were free. 
As we squeezed our way past the party, dogs in toe.


Bonnie had to make her own space behind the seats while we choose our meals. 


The meals were served and honestly, for what we had the prices were pretty good. We ordered the hot rock steak ( where you cook it yourself to you on preference ) and TJ had pizza. 
TJ can be very fussy when it comes to his food but the food was eaten and not a single complaint left his lips.



 For pudding for myself I ordered a spiced syrup sponge with custard and a side order of creme brulee ice cream.



 TJ obviously wanted to have his own ice cream so he waited till I finished eating and asked to go to the ice cream parlor next door.


 TJ choose the ice cream Sunday which comes to just under £5 and for the size its a good price for what he had. Three scoops of ice cream in various flavors (of your choice), toppings (of your choice) the fan wafers and the chocolate whirls.
It took quite a while for him to eat this ice cream and we had to ask for a take away tub as time was getting on. If ordering this I would recommend to share it with someone.

If you can't tell we enjoy spending time in the Purbecks, not only for the sights but also for the food.

I would love to try a few more restaurants around there so any recommendations please let me know.





Monday 2 May 2016

Wareham kids canoe club

As the weather slowly gets better, I'm determined to get out more and once ore visit local groups and support the local community.
Today's trip has taken us to Wareham in Dorset, which is a 15 minute drive from Poole.
With the beautiful scenery and birds chirping in the background this morning is becoming one of my must do on a Sunday morning. The sun is beating down on me with a little bit of a breeze and I can honestly say I love living in Dorset for these small but essential country life loves.


I'm currently sat watching TJ in a canoe by himself playing water football with 12  other children. It's highly amusing and not a single child has fallen in the water.
I have watched the children switch boats on the whilst being linked together in the water. One even jumped up and down several times to prove how strong the link was between the boats - a lot of trust going there between the canoe community. 
Tj switched from a single manned canoe to this wooden canoe for up to 4 people. I was amazed at how easily they made it look.


The two people that run the club are lovely and no matter how silly the question they are always willing to answer with a smile.
The club which TJ is attending runs between 9:30 and 10:30 and cost £4.50 per child. Within minutes the club owners have remembered every child's name, given the newbies help and are constantly at hand.

Coconut oil for dogs ... are you mad?


I recently ordered this product from amazon two weeks ago for various reasons.
The main reason for the purchase was because my Labrador has been scratching and chewing her feet more and more over several months.


I've been applying the coconut oil to her feet every other day and putting the suggested amount in her food. The benefits in just a week are fantastic! Not only does her breathe not smell any more, the annoying chewing and scratching has slowed down and almost stopped.

The aroma that hits the senses from the second you open the jar is lovely and fresh. 


Bonnie's coat was starting to look dull and not very nice, but now it looks and feels a lot healthier and is nice and glossy, compared to a few weeks ago.

This natural and organic product is great, so great that both my dogs can agree on it and will often try and lick it out of the jar if given half the chance.