Geocaching

I went Geocaching last week!!! Geocaching is finding a box or a bottle or a tube that someone has hidden outside, like a big treasure hunt. You can find a cache near you by going to the official Geocaching website. It will tell you everything you need to know about geocaches like finding the right difficulty for you – and where they are of course. Then just go and look for one with your GPS! When you get close to it you can look at the tips that other people have left to help, or the hint given by the person who made the cache.

When you find it you write your name and date on the logbook inside and put it back were you found it. Some geocaches have small things inside them that you can swap for other small objects of equal or lesser value. I found some stickers and left a badge.

Here are some photos from my first three Geocaching expeditions. You can click on the photos to make them bigger if you want.

 

We saw some cows on the way there

Looking for the geocache

It was hiding from me…

… but I found it!

I wrote my name and the date in the logbook and hid the cache again.

River was so happy he did a dance.

 

After the first expedition we found a couple more:

 

LPS Popular

Here’s my absolute favourite video and it’s made with Littlest Pet Shop animals which are my absolute favourite toys!

How To Train Your Dragon.

  How To Train Your Dragon was originally a book by Cressida Cowell. Dreamworks made it into a film in 2010, but there are a number of differences between the film and the book. Here are a few that I’ve noticed.

• In the film Hiccup’s dragon Toothless is big enough to ride, but in the book Toothless can fit under Hiccup’s helmet.
• In the film Hiccup’s girlfriend is called Astrid, but in the book she’s called Kamikaze.
• In the film there’s one tribe and that’s it, but in the book there’s loads: the Hooligans, the Bogburglars, the Berserks and others.
• In the film Hiccup can’t speak Dragonese, but in the book he can.
• In the film Hiccup starts the Dragon School but in the book it’s been going for 100s and 1000s of years.

Dad asked me which I like best, but I can’t decide. I like the book because it’s the original story and it’s longer so you get more story, and the film because it’s more exciting as you can actually see what’s going on and Hiccup gets to ride Toothless. Which do you like best? Leave a comment and let me know!

Barmbrack: Tasty Irish Tea Cake

Barmbrack is a tasty Irish tea cake which is easy to make. It’s quite a big cake so there’s plenty to share. It is sometimes made with yeast but for my recipe I used self raising flour because it’s quicker and easier!

Ingredients:

• 350g mixed dry fruit – I used currants, sultanas, raisins, chopped dates, mixed peel
• 1 mug very hot black tea
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 4 tsp orange marmalade
• 200g caster sugar
• 275g self-raising flour

Here’s what you do:

1. Place the dried fruit in a bowl

2. Make a nice cup of tea.

3. Cover with the hot tea and let soak overnight.

4. The next day, preheat the oven to 160ºC, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Egg:

Mixed spice:

 

Marmalade:

 

In the bowl it goes!

 

Sugar:

 

Flour next:

 

Mixing time!

 

 

5.  Grease a 7″ square pan.

 

6. Pour in the batter.

7.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Check it now and then and if it looks like it might burn put some foil on top.

8. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack then slice and serve, buttered, with tea.

 

Tasty. (yum yum) 🙂

Watercolour: My first proper watercolour painting

 

A Mountain Scene

I did this by following these brilliant videos:

Beginner’s Watercolour part 1

Beginner’s Watercolour part 2

I did it a while ago actually but I thought you might like to see it.

What do you think?

Trees are wondrous things

I went to the playground and I wondered what the trees were. So I brought some leaves home to check out in my new tree book, Usborne Nature Trail: Trees by Laura Howell that I got for my birthday from my lovely Aunty Suzanne and Uncle Greg.

Here’s what they were:

Horse Chestnut:

• Flowers in May;
• Prickly fruits with conkers inside;
• The tree grows up to 38m tall.

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Beech:

• Smooth grey bark;
• Young leaves are light green and get darker as they get older;
• Fruit has a woody husk which is spit into four;
• Tree grows up to 36m tall.

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Hawthorn:

• Thorny twigs;
• Pinkish brown bark;
• Cracks in  oblongs;
• Small, white flowers in May;
• Berries in Autumn;
• Tree grows up to 10m tall.

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Sycamore: 

• Smooth bark that flakes off in big pieces;
• Winged fruits, called ‘keys, in pairs;
• Green flowers;
• Tree grows up to 35m tall.

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London Plane????

I’m not 100% sure about this one!

• Flakey bark;
• No petals on flowers;
• Spiky, round fruits;
• Tree grows up to 45m tall.

I will have to go back to the playground and check! 🙂