Outdoor Hour Challenge No. 14

Our pressed flowers

We've struggled a little to keep up with our nature study challenges while we've been back in the UK. I know British people moan a lot about the weather, but it REALLY has been particularly awful this year. I think officially it's been the wettest April - June period on record, and as I write this there is heavy rain and floods all over the country (I'm also wearing my fur-lined Russian boots today and considering putting the heating on - and it's JULY!) Consequently we've not been able to get outside as much as we would have liked.

Anyway, we did go ahead and make the flower press as Barb suggested in the Outdoor Hour Challenge No. 14. We walked around the garden with Grandma, and Sophie chose 8 different flowers from the plants growing there. We placed them in the flower press and wrote down the names that Grandma told us.

Unfortunately, it's been too wet to sit outside and sketch any of the garden flowers. I think we might have to abandon the Challenge for now and resume once we're back in Russia in August.

Although they're not garden flower seeds, Sophie did plant a little cress seed box, and has been so involved with watering them every day that she even had to phone the Grandparents up to remind them to do it when we were away!

The mixed flowers seeds we planted

The pansies we planted from seed

We're only on Challenge No. 14, but I am really enjoying these challenges and am already seeing results. Whenever we're out and about the girls have such keen eyes and point out all sorts of things - slugs, snails, bugs, pretty flowers. The Grandparents commented on how observant they were, and Hubbie immediately replied that I had trained them that way, which I felt really chuffed about. I sometimes wonder if Sophie is a little too observant - she's made a habit out of spotting rubber bands on the pavement that the postman has thrown away and we now have rather a large collection 'rescued elastic bands' in our house!

Abide in Him!