World’s biggest wildlife survey

The rspb’s big garden birdwatch (30-31 January 2010)

Around half a million people are expected to be watching the garden birds this weekend (30-31 January) for the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

So, you want to take part in Big Garden Birdwatch 2010? Excellent news, as it’s simple and fun, and your results will help us to understand more about the UK’s garden birds.

That’s ‘simple’ covered, then!

What about the ‘fun’? Well, that starts when you settle down for your hour watching and recording the highest number of each bird species seen in your garden, or local park (not flying over) at any one time, on either Saturday 30 or Sunday 31 January 2010.

NB – The RSPB site seems to be down (probably inundated!), so try the Google Cached Version here.

As Britain has endured its harshest winter since the launch of Big Garden Birdwatch over 30 years ago, The RSPB is particularly keen to know how the wintry conditions have affected garden bird numbers and whether people see any unusual visitors. There has been huge interest in garden birds during the snowy weather, with RSPB switchboards and website being inundated with people looking for advice on feeding hungry garden birds and help identifying unusual visitors. Big Garden Birdwatch should help us understand the effects of the prolonged cold weather.

The extraordinarily harsh weather is particularly bad for birds with small bodies like robins, long tailed-tits and wrens. Says Dr Avery, “ It’s unlikely the long tailed tit, which famously flew into tenth place in 2009, will remain in the top ten this year. Sadly, we may even see the nation’s favourite garden bird, the robin, also fall out of the top ten in 2010. If this is the case, it’ll be the first time the robin hasn’t featured in the top ten since the start of the survey.”

The RSPB is also keen to identify any regional variations that occur as birds fly to milder regions in search of areas less affected by the weather or where natural food is still readily available.

Sarah Kelly, the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch co-ordinator, said: “Big Garden Birdwatch is a fun, easy activity that anyone can do. All you need is a pen, some paper and just one hour of your time over the weekend 30-31^st January. Record the highest number of each species seen at any one time and send us your results. It’s that simple!”

Visit the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch for more information and to submit your results online.

Simples.

So, there I was, finally getting round to becoming a fan of Baby Bean on facebook, and I got a quick message back to say I was actually the 100th fan, and so had managed to win a PaperPod!
Well, as regular readers will know I already have a PaperPod, so didn’t think I ought to take another one. But – I was fairly sure that someone out there would be bowled over by one of these amazing things. The lovely Victoria from Baby Bean and I put our heads together, and decided we’d come over all charitable, and offer it not to just yet another competition winner, but to a great cause instead. So – here y’go. Your chance to NOT win a PaperPod of your own. But your local Mums n Tots/playgroup/childrens ward/reception class just might be oh so very grateful indeed…

Click HERE to win. Do It For Them.

Yes, yes, I know, it seems like only a few days ago we had a birthday in this house. That’s because we did. No.1 and Pink’s birthdays are 7 days apart (and Jolly is just before Christmas. Fine planning, indeed).

So – No.1 is eleven today. ELEVEN! It just seems so big. I know we say that every year, but this one feels like the closing of an era – I see him changing right in front of me, morphing from my darling toddler boy into the wonderful man I know he will become. This is the year he heads off to High School, and really the babyhood is behind him.

His tenth year has been a tough one for my biggest boy – he has been very ill, missed two terms of school, had doctors looking VERY hard for leukaemia, but finally diagnosed with M.E. However since the summer (the restorative powers of days and days spent with his brothers was a joy to watch) he has steadily improved, far quicker than his doctors or therapy team expected, and he’s now finally back in school most days.

So in honour of this seemingly momentous occasion (and not in any way because I did it for Pink and would be in Big Trouble if I didn’t), I’ve done another little montage of my bright, funny, silly, talks-too-much boy.

PS – do keep your eyes peeled for a small yellow Lion called.. er.. Lionel. He pops up quite regularly…

The image for Laura's daughters birth day in 2007. Beautiful, no?

Holding onto time, tightly, and attempting to slow its relentless progress is a quiet occupation of us parents. Taking photos, video clips, carefully packing away baby clothes and glorious first works of art are all part of it. Is there something we’ve forgotten to preserve? Is there another way we haven’t yet thought of to help us sustain and protect our memories?

Well, ‘The Day That…’ and their wonderfully unique idea give us parents (and grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends and everything inbetween) another opportunity to capture, hold and treasure a moment in time.

The crack team of photographers at ‘The Day That…’ are early birds who love the dawn chorus. They take themselves and their cameras to the coast every single morning to capture dawn in all it’s glory (*shudder* – that means 3am at the height of Summer!). In amongst their rapidly growing collection of glorious images could be the very day that something wonderful and truly special happened in your life. The birth of a child, the day of your wedding, an important anniversary… any day at all that, to you, is worth celebrating.

The good folk at  ‘That Day That…’ asked me to review one of their images. I had a think, a scratch of the head, and a ponder of what date would be good to have captured, framed and hung on our wall. It would need to be a date that means something to all four of us, something significant to us as a family. Then it dawned on me (pardon the pun);  just over a year ago we moved house and it has been, hands down, one of the best things we’ve ever done for all four of us. The reasons are many and personal and well worth celebrating. So, we now have, sitting proudly on a wall in our lounge, a beautiful photograph of the day we moved. Underneath the image in perfect handwritten script it says “Moving Day” and the date. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat still, with a mug o’ tea in hand and stared at this beautiful coastal image and allowed my thoughts to wonder about life, our life now, how it might be in the future, wondering if our best laid plans, ambitions, hopes and dreams all work out…. sigh.

Since the image was put up we’ve also had lots of lovely conversations with guests; friends and family, who’ve noticed the picture, remarked on how beautiful it is, asked about the inscription and chatted about moments in their lives they would love to have captured.

Whatever the day, special event or significant occasion there is for you, having a framed image of dawn on THAT day is truly wonderful. Such a perfect gift idea and one that will, without doubt, put an enormous smile on the face of the receiver when they unwrap it and for many days forever more. Keeping our happy memories safe and alive is a wonderful part of life.

I am one of those kinda Mums who has TONS of stuff in her suitcase-like-bag. Now the boys are older it’s less of the nappies & wipes and more of the essentials to entertain (little colouring books, crayons, diddy cars etc..) and snacks… lots and lots of snacks. Healthy ones, of course. The usual fare is raisins, dried mango pieces, crackers, cereal bars etc.. stored in little plastic pots with lids that often fall off and forever getting lost. Yes, the bottom of my bag looks like the inside of a zoo-keepers wellie….

What I need in my bag and my life is some of these fabulous little bags by Itzy Ritzy and to be found at Coochie Coo! Not just for the kid’s stuff but some for my stuff that I want to keep seperate from the kid’s stuff. Fabulous!

They also do big ones too, called Itzy Ritzy Wet Happened?

Genius, eh!?

Looking for a loud, garish, all-singing-all-dancing mobile? Then this is not for you.

But if you, like me, love wooden, beautifully crafted mobiles? Then you will love the HABA Buzz Buzz mobile.

And your little one will too.

Honest.

As soon as I opened the box I was in love. It’s just so cute!

We tossed our other mobile aside (also a little wooden one) and put this one up, and my little one was very impressed. First she stared, then she smiled, then she did full on giggling and leg kicking. Most amusing.

It came perfectly packaged and was really easy to hang. It comes with a ceiling screw, but we have a Stokke Sleepi, so attached it directly to the canopy. I did think at first it was all a little wonky, but that was easily rectified by sliding the middle  beads along. If I had actually, you know, read the instructions I would have realised that… Duh.

My little one loves watching the colorful bees and their airy dance, and to be honest, so do I.

I had not heard of HABA before I had this mobile, now I’m getting quite addicted to their wooden toy collection. Top marks from us.

£29 from Funky Moose

Reviewed by Goddess Claire who usually lives over at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

G2SE4G5PSP5J (Technorati code, temporary home, so move along, nothing to see here…)

This review was written by our lovely new reviewer Rachel – who’s second baby is due this very week! It’s not been a terribly popular thing – the pad was seen, not loved and unused by one reviewer, so Rachel offered to give it a go herself (we’re nothing if not fair, giving every product a proper chance). Here’s what she thinks of it now, near then end of her pregnancy:

I loved the look of the Dodo Book of the Big Bump when it arrived, and was excited about using it.  Unfortunately, due to its rather large size I found it impossible to carry about, so ended up using my regular diary for all my pregnancy related organising.

The planner contains 12 dividers, each with a useful pouch on the rear, 100 sheets of square lined paper and a ‘month to a page’ pregnancy planner.
I found several of the sections were not really relevant if like me you already have a child, and don’t have Big Essentials to buy or products to contrast and compare.  However I can see that it would appeal to an organised first time mum, with lots of time to read pregnancy magazines, plan her dream nursery and collate tips for those early days of motherhood!

I would have found special pouches to hold scan pictures and pregnancy photos useful, a daily rather than weekly diary layout, and would prefer a smaller version for portability.

At £17.95 it’s not something I would have bought for myself even first time round, but it would make a nice gift for the organised first time mummy-to-be.

The thing about being the fourth child is that the big milestones seem.. well, a little less big. For No.1′s third birthday the grandparents came to stay, and we all took off to the zoo for the day. For Pink? Well, about 9.30 Wednesday night I had a quick rummage in a drawer and then debated with C about whether it was worth going out to get some balloons…

But I was a good parent, and I did go. And then I wrapped the small pile of presents (see? No.1 got a BIG pile. Now I just think “ah, she was swamped at Christmas, she really doesn’t need anything else”), blew up the balloons, posted them around the house, and put up the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ banner in it’s expected slot. All whilst feeling a little wistful that my baby was so big now. Doing a lot of “oh, just think. Three years ago today…”-ing, and smiling sweetly at the memories.

So the morning dawns. Actually, scratch that…

It was still dark – around 4 in the morning when I was awoken by serious screeching and wailing. Staggering in, I find Pink standing up in her cot, hair on end, gibbering in terror.

Ah. Snakes in the bed again.

Being quite keen on getting a little more sleep, I did the only sensible thing – hauled her quick-smart back into bed with us.

So when the day started with the usual scary sudden blurping of the alarm clock, I not only shot up myself, but small pink person threw her hands up in terror also and whacked Daddy (who can always sleep through the alarm) on the head with Fig (ever-present long limbed pink rabbit). Happy Birthday!

On descending the stairs, Pink is surprised and thrilled at all the ba-yoons, but quietly confident it’s MY birthday, not hers. Jolly arrives to join the contented pile on the sofa – Happy birthday Pink!’ he exclaims happily. Grumpily she mutters “No, s’not my birthday. Is Jollys birthday. Ssshhhh.”
She’s not really a morning person.

No.1 is next to arrive, also with excited birthday greetings.

Small pink head is raised in a growing temper now “NO! is NOT my birthday! Is Jolly’s birthday!”

Boy quietly squeezed in next to her – and his own whispered birthday greeting was rewarded with a whack of Fig round the head and a fishwife-like “NO!”.

In the next thirty minutes she proceeded to declare the birthday breakfast crumpets as yuk, screech at the boys for daring to sing happy birthday to her, rage in fury at the prospect of wearing a RED skirt (oh the horror) – and I do mean full on raging; greet her really very poorly Daddy who had dragged himself from his bed to see her open her presents with a “NOOOO! NOT birthday! Go AWAY!” and then as the grand finale she ran off to her hiding place behind the armchair, and point blank refused to come out without LOTS of physical resistance, and a lot more screeching and flailing and crying.

At which point we gave it up as a bad job – the boys got themselves ready for school, C went gratefully back to bed and we did the school run in baffled and dampened spirits. The boys asked for us to wait till they get home before we do the presents, so she had nothing all day. The grandparents rang – she of course refused to speak to them… and to top it all off nicely, we spent an hour of the morning in the doctors surgery waiting for the nurse to take some of my blood. With no toys, no magazines, and the heater on too high. I gave it up as a bad job an hour after our appointment was supposed to be and came home with all  my blood intact.

Still, she was actually very very sweet for the rest of the day, and it WAS her birthday. So here – this is my girl and her first three years… (and yes, I know there are typos, and no I’m not going back to correct them)…

So – here we are at that back-to-normal mid-January Flump. Work is muttering from the sidelines as I sit here (meandering around blogosphere) valiantly ignoring its rumbling discontent.

Instead, I’m thinking about all that ‘stuff’ we had for Christmas. and what was really, truly, the best bits.

For No.1 son we did good this year. the most successful of his loot was the lego – his ultimate passion – which he has endlessly constructed, destroyed and reconstructed, and books – his favourite Antony Horowitz latest, which were devoured rapidly.

No.2 , a Nintendo DS – loved so very much that it has actually spent more time on my shelf in Banned Corner for after-hours usage than he has actually been able to play it.  And also books – Hiccup the Viking has changed the face of the bedtime story, with the whole family casually placing themselves within earshot to hear the latest chapter.

No.3 got playmobil – loved, played with, and will continue to be so for a long long time. And actually, also his books. He’s not a keen reader (though very able), but Mr Gum has made him almost eager for bedtime, and for the first time ever has requested more chapters ple-e-ease? Just-one-more? PLE-E-E-ASE???

For the girl it was definitely the simple things. Her Maileg mouse in a matchbox have barely been left alone (and named Mimi and Mustafa. Of course), a set of fairy wings/wand/headset and tutu have been endlessly put on and twirled and danced in (wellies optional), and a Sylvanian Family of Rabbits have moved in to the Pink Princess Palace from last year.

In fact, I think our only fail this year was the lego set purchased for No.2 son. His older brother assisted construction, and he has not really touched it since. On consideration he actually only wanted the figures, and he has never had the lego passion that his older brother has, so maybe we should have known. But his only other Christmas Wish was for a puppy.

And that wasn’t happening!

How about you – what Wins or Fails did you manage this year?

so, by popular request, I have been voted to do some more personal blogging on here (it’s a tough job, I know, but someone had to volunteer…). So, for those who don’t know us, here’s a quick recap on who ‘we’ are…

Me – 35. married since I was *just* 18 to the same man. Four children. Run LittleStuff with the oh-so-fabulous Katy, and also assist husband with his business. Love to read, love to write, love tea, and daisies, and duvets, and animals, and to walk and talk and laugh. Love Life.

C – husband; amazing photographer, bestest friend and personal comedian. Love him.

No.1 – 10 year old son, diagnosed with ME (or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) last year. Amazing, bright boy (no, really, officially Gifted and Talented, they tell me), unbelievably clever at lego modelling and creating stop motions – and equally unbelievable talent at talking non-stop for very long periods of time on Very Dull Things. Typical eldest-child head full of guilt and responsibility, no matter how much we try and fix that. Wicked streak of silliness too, and a laugh that makes the sun smile.

Boy – middle son, aged 8, a long string bean, never stops moving, loves to run, dance, sing, jump and be happy. Clown of the family, utterly passionate in all he does, wears his heart on his sleeve, life is lived at headlong pace, moral compass is physically attached to Magnetic North, our very own Enid Blyton 1940′s boy.He just makes the world a better place.

Jolly – youngest son, 7 – soft, sensitive, loud, liquid giggle, likes nothing more than cars, soldiers, playmobil knights and his family. Lives in a cloud; inside the daydreams is a very sharp brain, we are told. But difficult to know for sure through the fluffiness. Contented like a cat whenever he is held, but one of life’s worriers.

Pink – The Girl, 2 – headstrong, willful, opinionated and believes she IS the princess of the family. Totally charms all who meet her, very very bright, sparky, meltingly beautiful when she smiles… and utterly adored. She’s probably right about the princess thing…

So. There you are. That’s ‘us’.

**UPDATE: The current total (at 11.30 Wed 20th) stands at £3560!**

We’re doing no Blog Love this week.

Instead, I’m going to repost a message from the lovely Englishmum, who has been using the amazing power of Blogsville to really do something special, and important.

We’re all thinking about the nightmare that has happened in Haiti, watching in creeping horror at the scenes on the news, and holding our children a little tighter, kissing them a little more, watching them as they sleep, holding on to our loved ones hugs just that bit longer, picking up the phone and ringing parents and sisters and brothers… and offering up a small, guilty ‘thank you’ to whatever powers there are in the great starry universe that it’s not us, not our family, not our children.

But Englishmum has done something more, and set up a Bloggers for Haiti Just Giving page here. Please. Go, visit, and give. Help. In any small way you can manage.

“…seeing as you’re here, I’d like a favour. With several of my blogging friends, I’ve created a JustGiving page for the Haiti disaster. I’d really, really like to be able to collect enough money to send one of these amazing ShelterBoxes. They cost around £500. That means that if just 50 of you give a tenner (and what’s a tenner? A bottle of wine? – or two if you drink crappy ones like me), we’ll be able to pay for a whole one just on our own. Multiply that by all the amazing bloggers dotted across the globe, and we could really make a difference.

**UPDATE: The current total (at 09.15 Sunday morning) stands at £1180!**

ShelterBox is such a unique organisation, because what they provide is an entire rescue kit in a box. Each box contains:

* A ten-person tent with privacy partitions that allow its occupants to divide the space as they see fit
* A range of other survival equipment including thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets, essential in areas where temperatures plummet at nightfall
* Life-saving means of water purification. Water supplies often become contaminated after a major disaster, as infrastructure and sanitation systems are destroyed, this presents a secondary but no less dangerous threat to survivors than the initial disaster itself.
* A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters. These items enable people to improve their immediate environment, by chopping firewood or digging a latrine, for example. Then, when it is possible, to start repairing or rebuilding the home they were forced to leave.
* A wood burning or multi-fuel stove that can burn anything from diesel to old paint. This provides the heart of the new home where water is boiled, food is cooked and families congregate. In addition, there are pans, utensils, bowls, mugs and water storage containers.
* Each box can be adapted to the individual needs of the disaster area, for example, following the Javanese earthquake in 2006, when some resources were available locally or could be salvaged from one storey buildings, the overwhelming need was for shelter – so ShelterBox just sent tents, packing two in each box. The box itself is lightweight and waterproof and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past – from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby.
* And lastly, but I think just as importantly, each box contains a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. For children who have lost most, if not all, of their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.

So a small donation, then? That’s all I ask. Please visit the Bloggers for Haiti Just Giving page. And then I’ll feel like I’ve really achieved something out of blogging. Even if it doesn’t make me rich. Thanks xx”

If you’re a blogger, please join us in promoting Bloggers for Haiti.

Thank you for reading.

We’re having our annual re-think here in LittleStuff House, and there are Grand Changes Afoot. But before we go changing things, we want to know what you think. So – here’s your Important Question for the day:

What do you think of the blog? Do we make it interesting? Do you visit regularly? Could we better at stuff? Do you wish we did something different? Now’s the chance to tell us what you think. Vote, and comment freely. We’ll take it on the chin, even if you’re mean. We promise to not cry. Much.

Though we’ll love you much more if you’re nice to us of course… ;)

Isn’t this just the best way to keep baby warm during this freeeezing cold weather? No more frantic tucking of blankets around all sides and oh, baby’s kicked and blankets are untucked again. Pah!

It’s made of super soft microfibre suede that has windbreaking qualities yet breathes too. Perfect for an infant car seat, the pram etc..

The head part forms a hood to keep baby warm and protected. It also has double zippers that run the length of each side for easy temperature control and a removable top.

Comes in a range of gorgeous colours and can be found here at Happy Tiny Baby.

We do love to feed the birds in the garden, and have been going the extra mile the last month or two with all this freezing weather and snow. We have two practically-tame pied wagtails who get quite irate of the mealworms aren’t out fast enough in the mornings, and the boys are often to be found sitting very still watching the feeders through the french doors, muttering ‘blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, blue tit, sparrow, blue tit, robin, blackbird, blue tit, blackbird…’

So when at the weekend we had a rogue visitor in the garden there was much consternation.

“whats that one Mummy? But what is it? It’s a bit like a blackbird. But its speckly. It’s a bit like  thrush. But it’s not.”

In true and proper contemporary parenting style, I did the only thing a responsible parent could do. Headed for Mr Google. Nightmare. How do you find a bird, when you don’t know what it is to start with? To make matters worse, the bird was VERY uncooperative, and flew off every time it got a sniff someone was looking at it, so we had to employ stealth tactics. And Daddy’s posh binoculars.

Then I tried the RSPB website. Bingo! Right on the home page, there it was - ‘Bird identifier’. That sounded the ticket! A few clicks later, and we had it – just like that! We had a… (are you excited?)… Fieldfare! Not terribly rare or exciting, but new to us – and oh so satisfying to know what it is!

So thank you RSPB, for providing a handy little tool which was so ace at doing its job. And lovely to see the Fieldfare has become a frequent visitor. But still doesn’t like us much.

One of my biggest worries in life is that there is never enough time in the day to be the parent I want to be. I have four children, so I’m already on a back foot for undivided time. But our family days are increasingly crammed with ‘stuff’, and before I know it the day has dribbled away and we have yet to play monopoly/build a cornflake box base for the soldiers/baked brownies.
The only thing we do find time for without fail is watching films. All of us piled in a comfy heap on the floor and the sofa, curtains drawn, equipped with cushions and rugs and the odd morsel of popcorn, it’s something we all love to do.
But I want to do more of the other stuff too. We DO do baking, we DO play games, we do lots of fun stuff together. But I rarely get time to just ‘be’ with one of my children. One-to-one activities where they get my sole attention – and I get theirs.
I was one of four too, and I clearly remember the times alone in the kitchen with my Mum as some of the special ones – having her just to myself was a treat not to be wasted.
This article in the Guardian yesterday caught my eye – this paragraph in particular

“The process of listening to someone and responding in speech is the most ordinary everyday task – and the most demanding of social skills. How we read facial expressions, body language and speech to interpret what has been said, and how that expresses relationships, is an immensely complex process. Listening is a huge, much underrated skill, requiring personal preoccupations to be set aside, if only momentarily, in order to be attentive to another.”

Now my boys are older, I already have to fight for their undivided attention (nothing gets Mummy crosser than keeping one eye on the TV/Lego Indiana Wii game whilst she’s talking) – but equally, how often do they get mine?

We’re good as a family at getting out and doing outdoors stuff, but when we’re home, how often we get bogged down in the mire of emails/laundry/adult coffee breaks/bejeweled blitz (curses) and they’re left to their own devices. Now I am happy this is often no bad thing, as they’re very good at using their imagination to create their own games, and it’s good they know how to occupy themselves. but there is a middle ground, and we just don’t meet it often enough at home.

We’re giving a huuuge, warm-as-just-popped-toast “WELCOME ABOARD” to the first new company to join us in 2010; The Day That…

In case you haven’t heard of them already we’ve just GOT to tell you about ‘em – they have one of the most breath-taking gift ideas out there. Let me give you their own words as I couldn’t describe it better;

“Each morning we take stunning photographs at dawn.  This means you can own or give a photograph of how the world looked on the day a child was born.

The photographs are mounted and framed in a choice of frames and come in four sizes.  Each photograph is hand personalised with the child’s name and birth date.

These make wonderful birth or christening gifts, so if you are looking for a unique way to commemorate the arrival of a baby, this is the most inspirational way to mark such a momentous day.”

I’ve got to add that the day a baby was born is not the only occasion worthy of such a keepsake – wedding days, first-day-of-school days, anniversary days, significant birthdays to name but a few….

Go, browse their site, it’s just wonderful…

Congratulations to Carole Maciver in Scotland for winning our The Day That… keepsake photograph competition.

Hip Hip Hooray!

C’mon, tell us ’cause we’re nosey, nosey…

What did Santa bring you?

What was good?

What did you LOVE?

What was a bit ‘meh‘?

I was grinning from ear to ear on Christmas morning when I unwrapped a mysterious, large, tube-shaped gift that was hiding these perfect-for-me posters for the kitchen from HunkyDoryHome (and I’m proud to boast that I already have them framed and hanging!!).

Love them love them love them!