P..Pick up a...P...Pick up a Pumpkin

I love this time of year not for clocks going back and making it clear that winter is almost upon us, not for the constant rain that seems to have beset us, not even for the halloween stuff (which is really not my cup of tea) but for the wonderful pumpkin. What a travesty that every year the humble pumpkin grows itself to a good old size only to be dug out, poked holes in and set alight!
On Saturday Amos and I went with friends to a Pumpkin Day at Riverford Organic Farm where this fabulous orange beast had been treated with serious respect. Yes there was an area where you could carve out your own pumpkin but you were also encouraged to take the insides home with you. There was some delicious pumpkin soup being served up, pumpkin pictures to paint and even pumpkin face painting. Amos and his lovely friend Dulcie wanted their faces painted so after an hour waiting in the queue Amos watched Dulcie having hers done and decided he didn't want it after all!!!  There was a tractor ride around the farm which the children really enjoyed despite the dubious weather, all in all it was a brilliant day out. Pumpkins weren't the only stars, there was also apple pressing, chilli threading and some fantastic food and wine tasting.
Please think again after you've shovelled out the innards of your pumpkin, you could make soup, a pie or I've even had some great pumpkin jam!

Busy, busy

As the real Autumn weather starts to set in I am reminded of the trip Amos and I took to Looe beach just a few days ago. The sun beamed down on us as we took off our shoes and socks and headed for the sea. Amos had an amazing time running into the water. We had been commissioned to collect shells for a friend's party the next day - it's brilliant to have a task to do especially where a toddler is involved, we had a fantastic, really busy time searching the tide line for as many shells as we could carry.
It was a real bonus summer's day..... wonderful.
Nb.  We ate our picnic in the playground well away from the psychotic Looe seagulls!

fun, fun, fun - we went home wetter than planned!

Garr - the pirate of Looe beach

Lunch - far from the madding seagulls

On the Riviera?

Last week Amos and I had a little trip into our local town of Saltash to get some shopping, it was a beautiful day so we went down to the waterfront where the town meets the Tamar river. What a great time we had, the sun shone as we searched for the most famous inhabitants of the area - the swan family. As I looked out at the river reflecting the deep blue of the sky, boats gently bobbing up and down on the calm water, the warmth of the sun on my skin,  I felt like I could have easily been on the French Riviera.
Then Amos had his treat of the day... a council cleaning truck started cleaning the boat slipway, this was about a half an hour of free entertainment, Amos was in his element but I must say I was quite fascinated myself - although not quite the stuff French Riviera dreams are made of!

Aah the swan family

Not quite riviera but interesting nonetheless

Success in the Soil!

Green fingers are something I've never been accused of having, in fact when it comes to the garden I haven't a clue but Amos and I have had somewhat of a soil success!
Earlier in the year my husband gave me a spot in the garden to have a potato patch. I was a bit nervous but Amos help me to weed the soil and prepare it for planting, Amos loved digging in and burying the seed potatoes....... and the results are now in - bingo we've had a bumper harvest. It was so exciting, we couldn't believe how many potatoes were coming out of the ground, whenever we thought we'd reached the end up popped another potato.....and look at the size of them!!!

A potato mountain!

A day at the America's

Last week was a diary moment for Plymouth as the city hosted 'The Americas Cup' - the much coveted sailing trophy. I don't know anything about sailing but on Friday (our 'life's a picnic' day) Amos and I took ourselves up to the Hoe in Plymouth, an area overlooking the expanse of water called the Plymouth Sound. Suddenly at 2pm everything sparked into life with commentators coming over the loudspeakers and incredible sailing yachts appearing on the water in front of us. It was fascinating,the experts on the speaker system told us exactly what the sailors had to do and it was so exciting to watch. Well probably more exciting for me as Amos didn't quite understand the proceedings on the water but fortunately there were two helicopters constantly flying over recording the races and these captured Amos' attention. That was of course until the recently potty-trained Amos wanted to go to the toilet. The toilets were, of course, portaloos with a lever to flush and the special disappearing antibacterial wash. These became the new highlight of the day as Amos became mysteriously full of liquid that had to be constantly dispensed with in the portaloo.
Ten out of ten Plymouth for doing such a good job the America's Cup was brilliant - but for Amos the toilets were off the scale!!




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Amos on the big wheel (more about this later) with the Plymouth Sound behind



Roaring into Year 3 - the present!

Every little boy's dream! Daddy built this amazing beast of a trike for Amos' birthday gift, the little tool box at the rear holds whatever treasures Amos would like to transport plus a little battery with a switch so that Amos can turn his lights on - wow....even I'd like one!

Roaring into Year 3 - the party!

I can't believe it's so long since I blogged. Obviously Amos and I have spent the year having so much fun that I haven't had time!!!
Amos has just had his 3rd birthday - where did those years go? We had a great party.  It was a racing car party.....as he is a big fan of Roary the Racing Car, although I'm sure it could have been a party based on any form of transport and he would have been into it - boys and wheels!

All the little guests had to make box racing cars with their mums and dads, the children then strapped on the car and we had a race with little trophies for everyone. This was followed by food for refuelling and two racing car cakes....which were eaten in record time.


Work in progress

 It was a very cheap and cheerful party idea, with banana boxes from the supermarket, paint, scraps and a bit of imagination. There were some brilliant cars made.... sadly I didn't get a photo of them all but it was certainly a line up that would make a Silverstone enthusiast groan with envy.

Mummy's cake creations