South Stack coastal walk Anglesey

A seascape grey and icy blue, rain out on the horizon, lashing into waves and the swell tumbles and crashes onto the rocky island and up the ravine around South Stack on the western side of Anglesey. Irish Sea, cold and raging, dangerous conditions, a point taken forth by Captain Hugh Evans the harbour master at Holyhead when he campaigned for the now 197ft high white lighthouse so desperately needed on this shipping route in 1807. A feat of engineering with materials transported down 400 steps cut into the rockface and moved across by rope and basket to the island until a suspension bridge was eventually built. 

Cliffs surround and are home to colonies of seabirds with various screeches and cries, the Guillemots and the Kittiwakes nesting in the pre-Cambrian mineral rocks - perfect for viewing from the small white folly that is now an RSPB bird hide. Look out for dolphins or porpoise and keep an eye out for the chough, a shy relative of the crow, red billed and clawed, wheeling against brisk coastal breezes. Further up is a mass of maritime heathland like the waves carried on rolling and plunged into a floral sea of plum purples and sunshine yellows of heather and gorse. 

Carry on inland half a mile and the prehistoric homes are a special point of interest on this island which is so rich in archaeological finds. The low walled remains of round dwellings from an ancient settlement, the passage of time on a coastal walk.

Back to homeschool

After our summer break it's back to the home school schedule......of sorts. Our time is flexible and we can choose to learn about whatever we feel like on a day-to-day basis. if the weather is nice, it's off out on a day trip to a park, farm, forest or seaside and if it rains, well it's puddle splashing or a day at the table with books and crayons.

Little Bird changes his interests and I can change what we learn about to suit - one week it might be dinosaurs and the next it might be space. When Ocean Finance got in touch for their back to school without worrying about finances scheme, I had £50 to purchase what we would need. With no school uniform to worry about, we spent our money on some useful items for home education life:

For day trips a new brightly patterned dinosaur lunchbox and an extra shark adorned water bottle - all the exploring is thirsty work. Some lovely gel pens for scribbling with, we all love gel pens right?

At home with all our work sheets and resources, we have to me really really organised - after all the home is also our classroom so manilla folders for paperwork, index tabs to help me mark pages we are going to learn from and a sparkly diary (for me!) to keep track of home ed activities, meet ups and workshops. Home educating is a very busy social life.

I just adore the project book where we can keep all our learning notes organised and for when we need to write an annual report or look back upon all the topics we have learnt about over the year. All items from Sainsburys. 


Little Bird is an outdoor loving boy, no matter the weather it's rambles across the countryside collecting nature items for our little display and tramping through mud or stomping around the woodland looking for bugs and fungus so......a new warm coat was required.... I purchased this snuggly fleecy lined coat from Matalan that will see LB through the colder months. 

Hopefully we have a great home educating year ahead filled with exciting things that I will tell you about. Soon it is holiday time, quiet as most other children are back in the classroom but we will be on the south coast :) 

*Collaboration with Ocean Finance

Beer52 Boxes of Brew

 Craft beers have become really popular, the uniqueness and the character of each beer and the supportive nature on a smaller scale of local breweries who can experiment and provide a drink that is different from mainstream beers. This is what captured the interest of Beer52 founder James Brown whilst on a road trip on the back of a Harley Davidson - stopping off at pubs and brewhouses along the way trying out original beers. Hence the idea of setting up Beer52 and providing exclusive small batch beers, sourced from all over for fellow beer enthusiasts and those that love to try a new drink.

We were lucky to receive a Beer52 box and this month the beers were from Scotland. Arriving well packaged, we set out discovering some great craft beers, 8 of them to try.

Jack Hammer by BrewDog
BrewDog have really come to the front as an industry leader despite only being 10 years in existence and BrewDog bars are now being seen popping up in cities across the United Kingdom. Famed for their unique and quirky beer names this India Pale Ale gives you a hint of what's to come with the title of Jack Hammer! It's a heavy hitting ale at 7.2% and the hops and bitterness are strongly present throughout despite the attempts of the citrus and spices to divert your taste buds elsewhere.

Brewgooder have really gone the extra mile here with their Clean Water Lager, the name is so given as 100% of profits are going to Clean Water projects in the African country of Malawi. The lager itself is golden in colour and it's fruity and sweet combination of banana and lemon work really well to give a crisp taste.

Jarl is produced by Fyne Ales in Argyll which is an area steeped with great Viking history so the name of the beer is taken from the Viking word for Earl. It was a lovely summer's evening when I drank this so being a light session ale this was a great choice. The Citrus scent and flavour really came out and made this so refreshing - would definitely go for it again.

Radical Road is a triple-hopped India Pale Ale made by the Stewart Brewing company who are based on the outskirts of Scotland's capital city and are well-know for their excellent customer service approach. This IPA is obviously a very hoppy beer but the addition of the pine, citrus and grapefruit added to the mix make a great tasting dark-Golden ale.
Edinburgh Beer Factory are fairly new to this game with the company only being born in the Capital City in 2014. Paolozzi is a lager and it's interesting name comes from Eduardo Paolozzi, a local hero and the founding father of Pop Art. The drink was very smooth and the blend of sweet fruits alongside the perfect measure of bitterness really combined to make this a stunning taste.
This month's Import Beer comes all the way from the Rothhamer Brewery in Chile. This company was founded by two men who were fed up of drinking fizzy, uninspiring, mass-produced lagers so decided to make their own! Brave Red is an Amber Ale which does indeed look quite red in colour. The strong malt, grapefruit and citrus presences give the ale a really sweet edge which is tempered slightly by the spices and hops the brewers like to use in large quantities.

Black Isle Brewery are famed for being Scotland's only organic brewery and they grow their organic barley on a 125 acre farm North of Inverness. Blonde is listed as a Lager but with it's hoppy and malty content and golden colour could just as easily be classed as a Pale Ale. The hint of honey neutralises the otherwise dry and biting taste to good affect.

Lerwick Brewery is located on the remote Shetland Isles and they like to reflect this uniqueness in their beers. Their self-titled Lerwick IPA is very hoppy and dark in colour but despite this the ale is very smooth and fairly sweet tasting thanks to the good balance with the fruits.


Thoughts from the main sampler:

I thought Beer52 was a really good idea, it gave you the chance to sample beers that you wouldn't otherwise be able to through your local supermarket - it was like having a mini Beer Festival being brought into your own home! The fact that you don't know what beer you're receiving each month makes it exciting so examining each beer when you first open the box is a real moment to savour. I love the idea of snacks and other gifts appearing in the box and the option to expand the amount of beer you receive is obviously a good move by the company too! The monthly magazine gives a really good insight into the featured Ales (and their Brewers!) and also interesting and relevant stories from that Month's chosen Country too. A subscription to this would make a really good gift for a friend or family member as a Christmas or Birthday present so go ahead and give it a try, I loved it!

Each month Beer52 select 8 themed small batch craft beers to send to you along with Ferment magazine and a snack - we received some tasty pitta chips. The Discovery boxes cost £24 a month and you can collect rewards for subscribing for over 3 months.

If you would like to try for yourself, I have a special offer of receiving £10 off your first Beer52 craft beer box using the code HOMEBIRD10

Degustabox August - curries, refreshment and snacks

 As always really excited to receive the latest Degustabox and this month was a real treat of curry sauces and items to create new meals with which is always really useful and injects a bit of excitement into weekday meals.

Firstly, Tabasco Sauce Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce and Marinade £1.99 Rich with the flavour of chipotle and ideal for with meat from pulled pork to burgers. I used it to marinate sausages in before adding to a casserole and it added a great taste. Over the last couple of weeks it's also been added to the humble baked bean for a jazzing up of something with toast. Highly recommend this. 
 There were a few Geeta's products this month. The Premium Mango Chutney £2.09 was amazing! Huge dollop with a curry or with anything savoury. I also used it to fruit up a vegetable stew. Beware the whole cloves of garlic - you will be breathing pure garlic for days. Beautiful. 
Two pouches of Geeta's Curry Pastes were in the selection too. Medium Tikka and a medium Rogan Josh 2 x £1  Using a special blend of spices these created a delicious curry and great when your short of time as you can rustle up a superb curry in no time at all. It's quite a strong paste too so you can make a large curry out of it for a couple of days worth of meals. I'll be buying these, gorgeous taste.

I like the drinks that Degustabox send each month and I enjoyed the offering this time. Firstly was Get More Multivitamins £1.45. Made with spring water and natural flavours, this drink has no added sugar and is a great way to top up your daily vitamins. Tasted very refreshing and would pop a bottle of this in my bag when off out for the day to stay hydrated.

I love Fentimans drinks, even the bottles are lovely so it was great to try their Sparkling Lime and Jasmine £1.35  Sophisticated, refreshing and made with white jasmine flowers - perfect for a late summer evening. I keep the bottle afterwards for a posy of flowers on the windowsill. 
Willy Chase's Fit Corn Salted Honey flavour £2.19, made on a Herefordshire farm the corn is harvested, air-popped and seasoned using local ingredients. We all loved this, the saltyness and the honey was perfect.,j

Dorset Cereals Bircher Muesli £3.49  Creamy and delicious, muesli that is soaked in juice and yoghurt with grated fruit - soak for less than 30 minutes and this is divine.  Nutripot Aromatic Thai Noodles and Moroccan Couscous 2 x £2.49, just add boiled water for a filling small meal. No nasty additives and quick and easy to prepare. I used the couscous as an evening meal added homegrown courgettes and beans to the mix.  Rakusen's Snackers Plain and Gluten Free £1.29, £1.49. With only 7 calories in each cracker they are a mini treat. Add cream cheese or cottage cheese, sprinkle some herbs or use with dips. Lovely evening snack without feeling too bad. 

Clipper Green Tea £1.59, light and clear and sourced from southern Indian leaves to give a subtle taste. I didn't mind this at all and I'm not a lover of green tea but I would drink this knowing its health benefits. 

Capsicana Chilli and Honey Mexican Cook Sauce £1.99, mildly spicy and lovely. This was split, some for chicken and some for my quorn. 

Olaves Olives £1, a cute little pouch of olives seasoned with chilli, garlic and oregano. There's no stone in them so hooray as I love olives and always worry about accidentally cracking a tooth. Only 50 calories and since trying them I have been on the biggest olive binge ever :) 
Mahou Cinco Estrellas £1.20, a lager from Madrid for 126 years.Produced using the finest hops and yeast. A mellow golden colour and refreshing taste. 

Degustabox is a monthly subscription box, for £12.99 including delivery but you can try for a reduced rate with the discount code BLDEG15 for £7 off.

This month was a good month and I feel as though the subscription box is very varied now and has made some good product choices. 

*I received a Degustabox for the purpose of the review, words are my own honest opinion.

A boat, a nude ogre and buzzy things

It was a lovely afternoon where we found a garden just up the road that was like stepping into a little wonderland......guarded by stone men and into a floral folly of tiger lilies, hydrangeas and passiflora climbing a sun drenched wall.   A gravel path meandered around a pool filled with water lilies and dragonflies darted by fern fronds. A Wind in the Willows style boat was moored up, drifting in and out in a warm breeze. Ripples of insects hitting the waters, who knows what lies beneath?   The garden is quite shaded being in a woodland glade and a wooden boardwalk takes you through a lush green area known as the 'Everglades' as it is flanked by water and bog plants. There are look out points for watching the bird life and at the end of one path is a wonderful chicken coop. Perennials with great flower heads buzzed with bees and other insects.  Dense planting with structural pom poms of echinops and rich red acers border a clearing. Around the corner a bridge crosses the pond and you have to look carefully for some ethereal beings hiding beneath alder trees, purple astilbe and a tickling of ground cover and glossy leaved hostas. Such a rich garden for the senses, tested by my son who played and ran his hands through the foliage but keep a tight grip on kids here as there is a lot of water around.   The gardens have a plant nursery and a tea room making it a lovely visit; go home after a slice of cake and purchasing something new for your garden back home. 

Stonycroft gardens are open from March to October are found near Delamere Forest in Cheshire. 

Cheeky!

Joining in with Mammasaurus for How does your garden grow?