Bike Lights in the Fruit Bowl

Vegful feasts: pimp your meatballs

I promised at the end of our veggie month to start a series of posts of vegful feasts - great meals that are either vegetarian, or have loads of extra veg tucked inside to make the meat go further, without sacrifising on taste.  So here's my first one.   And it's a corker (even if I do say so myself).  

One of my favourite recipes of all time is Nigel Slater's lamb and beetroot meatballs.  Coming from someone that only started eating meat and beetroot - both slightly reluctantly - a couple of years ago that's a pretty big compliment!  They're one of the most flavourful, succulent things I've ever tasted.  Along with the lamb and beetroot they contain a good garlic punch, fresh dill and parsley, and bulgar wheat (and a few other store cupboard bits and bobs too). When cooked it's amazing - the additional ingredients seem to enhance the flavour of the meat rather than dilute it.  Having grown up on a traditional meat and two veg diet this truly inspired way of cooking meat that is a revelation to me.

Another current favourite along similar lines are the amazing turkey, courgette and cumin mini-burgers in one of my favourite cookbooks, Jeruselum by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  They're a delicious mixture of minced turkey, grated courgette, fresh herbs, cumin, spring onions with some cayenne pepper and an egg to bind them together.  The recipe suggests using fresh corriander and mint.  I've actually tried them with various combinations of parsley, corriander and mint and they've all tasted great. I actually added some bulgar wheat to these once too as we had guests coming and the recipe portions are a bit stingy - still lovely.

I'm not including the full recipe here - partly because I don't want to fall foul of copyright law - but mainly because the beauty of this idea is that, following a pretty basic approach you can add whatever amazing veg and flavours you fancy.  

You can pretty much see the basic process in the pictures above:

1. Put your minced meat, grated veg, herbs, cooked carbs (e.g. bulgar wheat or couscous) and spices in a bowl, add an egg (or just some leftover egg white if you have some that needs using up). For 400g to 500g of meat it seems like you can add 200g to 250g of grated veg and around 75g (dried weight) of carbs.

2. Squish everything together with your hands and shape into small patties.

3. Fry the patties until browned on all sides and then finish of in a medium hot oven until cooked through - 10 to 20 mins depending on the size.

4. Serve with a tangy yoghurty dressing of some sort - the turkey burgers below have a zesty sauce with added sumac.

The two combinations I mention are definitely worth seeking out.  They're going to stay on our menu as firm favourites.  Little M is a particular fan (although we've toned the garlic down a bit for her) and even the fussy little M has braved the lamb ones.  I'm also looking forward to experimenting a bit.  Top tips for new combos welcome!

My garden is a bit lacking in herbs at the moment so I usually have to buy big buches from the shops for recipes like these.  Fresh pesto is a great way to use up the leftovers.  I tried out a new recipe for coriander pesto that I discovered in The Simple Things magazine (well worth a read) after making the turkey patties.  Very zingy and morish - it didn't last long!

I really do have enough great cookbooks but I'm quite tempted by this one - a whole host more meatball inspiration!

 

Child-friendly, sustainable hotel...next to a beach...by train.

"Look! The sea's waving!" said little M, as we sped down to Cornwall via the beautiful coastal train line last March.  It was so cute that I was almost in tears in the middle of the carriage - I'll blame pregnancy hormones and lost sleep because of an offspring-breathing-difficulties-hospital-drama a couple of days prior.  To say I was looking forward to a few days at Bedruthan Hotel & Spa, a child-friendly, sustainable, luxury (in my view!) hotel, five minutes walk from a beach  - a treat for my first week of maternity leave before little L arrived - was an understatement.  And seeing little M start to get excited about a change of scene was the icing on the cake.  I wasn't disappointed and have been plotting a return trip ever since.  My birthday weekend, the bank holiday weekend just gone, seemed like a great excuse!

I have to admit our return visit didn't start off well.  Fretting about negotiating rush hour public transport with children and luggage to catch our 10am train, we opted for a taxi to Paddington station...and missed our train.  It was a HUGE relief when I realised our tickets, booked a couple of months earlier and promptly erased from my memory, were flexible (valuable lessons in there somewhere!).  We caught a later train, still feeling chuffed that we hadn't had to buy new tickets, and things started looking up after that.  

Bedruthan is in an amazing location on the North Cornish coast, with beautiful sea views and steps winding directly down to lovely sandy beach.  It's a great place to escape to for fresh air, good food, fun for the kids and some rare quality time together for mum and dad too.  When we first visited, I was almost 8 months pregnant and really wanted the easy option - maximum holiday fun with minimum effort.  Swimming pool, indoor adventure playground, lots of outdoor play areas, a spa, free childrens club, and a baby-monitor service so you can enjoy a leisurely child-free dinner in one of the hotel's two restaurants - no brainer really.  I was slightly lighter on my feet this time but still appreciated having all the ingredients of a great holiday a stone's throw away - a great car-free family break.

We started our holiday, after a quick family swim and kids tea-time, with an adults only dinner in the hotel's Herring restaurant whilst relaxing to the sound of a very talented accoustic guitar player and watching a beautiful sunset over the sea. I had some great sustainably sourced scallops, and pan-fried monkfish (I think - although I might be getting confused with the following night, which was also lovely) with unsual and very tasty fennel and licorice aacompaniments.  Despite a couple of trips downstairs to check on activity from little L the evening seemed to drift by gently - not something I've experienced for a while. We ate in the Wild Cafe other nights and had some very tasty food and sunset views there too, if not quite the repeat of the ambience of the first night.

On the Saturday we booked the children into The Beehive, the onsite children's club, for a couple of hours (free of charge!).  We knew little M would love it - she kept asking to go back last time - but surprisingly, little L who had take quite a while to relax properly at nursery, also took to it like a duck to water - a testement to the staff and a sign that little L is growing up!  I used the break to indulge in a birthday treat massage and facial - bliss - and Martin relaxed in the spa.     

The rest of our time was spent pinging between the beach, the swimming pool, the outdoor and indoor play areas.  The beach was a massive highlight since we were blessed with gorgeous weather.  Little L had her first paddle in the sea, we all had a go at flying our kite, and it was great to see little M meandering around the beach enjoying a vastly different horizon to her usual city streets.  The girls both loved the ball pools in the indoor play area - I thought little L would be a bit young for most of the equipment just a few weeks after her first birthday but she loved it, and pretty much shunned the separate baby area full of soft things to climb on in favour of the big girls toys!  

We stayed in a 'standard villa' - an ensuite room with a childrens' sleeping area divided off by a cupboard and a blind.  The best feature was the sea view and the patio opening on the main childrens' play area.  While little L napped, Martin and I sat in the sun watching little M hanging with her crew of older girls in the playground.  There was a slightly amusing moment when the boys were playing football and the girls all sat on the grass verge watching!! A reminder of how strong social norms can be even at age 3! We also had a tiny kitchen with microwave, handy for heating up milk, just a few meters down the corridor.

I didn't do much detective work on the hotel's sustainability credentials whilst I was there - I was too busy holidaying.  There's info on their website here.  Lots of things they do are clear to see - plenty of local, seasonal food and sustainable fish on all the hotel menus, the standard hotel policies on waiting to replace towels etc. until asked, and more unique touches like the organic, locally made, shampoo bars (as in bar of soap) they provide for guests.  And a treat if you turn up without a car - ten percent off our first night last time and a bottle of prosecco this time (well almost - we ended up with the price of the bottle discounted after a bit of confusion - still a lovely touch though).  The hotel is still run by the daughters of the original owners and I'm pretty sure they genuinely care about doing the right thing.  The whole place has a lovely vibe.  The staff are also very friendly and very...err...human, you know - not like they've had to be trained to be hospitable.    

There were one or two minor quibbles - an under-whelming, custard-like "bitter chocolate" desert, one or two incandenscent light bulbs spotted in the cafe, slightly slow service in the cafe on one occasion, and internet that was pretty patchy in our room - the last one on the corridor. But like I said - they're minor and didn't detract from a great holiday.

I was wondering if Cornwall was too far for a long weekend.   We had such a lovely time that I won't have doubts again - I'm thinking of making it an annual birthday treat.  We all felt properly refreshed by our break - amazing given little L's monkey business at night, which was worse than usual on account of a new tooth on the way (only 13 more to go:-( ).   The train journeys there and back seemed to whizz by - the lovely views definitely help.  Little M keeps asking "When can we go back to the hotel?" and excitedly blurting out "swimming pool", "ball pool" "hotel" to friends she's bumped into since the weekend.  I feel like we've discovered a little gem that we'll return to for a little pick-me up once a year at least (budget permitting!).

The transport low down: We travelled from London Paddington to Bodmin Parkway which took approx 3 hrs 45mins and cost around £150 for the whole family (two adult and one child tickets with a family rail card). A taxi from Bodmin Parkway to the hotel is around £40.  The hotel booked a local biotaxi for us.

P.S. We paid for our holiday at Bedruthan - I don't do sponsored reviews (although I might have made an exception to go here!) on my blog.

Mummy, can I feed the worms?

Finally, a  few frost free weeks!  I am really, really enjoying the sunshine.  It's much, much more relaxing spending time outdoors with the girls when it's not freezing cold or tipping it down with rain.   And so we've finally started thinking about growing things again.  Our estate is modest - a large raised bed around the edge of our patio garden and a small (about the size of a single bed) plot in the grounds of a local climbing centre - but I intend to make the most of our tiny taste of rural life in the city!

Through the long winter our resident worms remind us that, one day the sun will shine and we'll be able to get growing, whiling away the hours with dirt between our fingers.  We invested in a wormery a couple of years ago.  It seemed ridiculous to be sending our vegetable scraps off to be composted by the local council, only to then find it a big hassle to find, and transport, the bags of peat-free compost we wanted for growing a few veggies.  Making our own compost makes a lot of sense practically and is a great environmental education tool.  I had no idea it would be such a hit with little M.  She loves it.  

Little M often asks "Mummy, can I feed the worms" please.  We bought a 'Worm Cafe' kit complete with some 'worm treat' to keep the worms healthy.  It really captured her imagination and she has developed a near obsession for dishing out the worm treat.  She'll happily sit tearing up egg boxes for them and always reminds me to save some scraps for the worms when we're cooking together.  The first time a nursery pal came around for a play-date she was proudly taken outside to help feed the worms.  Let's not dwell so much on the time that little M threatened to feed Dee Dee Dragon, little L's favourite toy, to the worms in a moment of  sibbling jealously!

Despite little M's enthusiam, our worms have been a tiny bit neglected, hidden behind kitchen remnants and builders rubble during our refurbishment work last autumn and then just on the receiving end the horribly long winter we've just had.  But quite a lot of them are still working away so we had a lovely crop of compost ready to harvest to give the veggies we've been planting this week a good start.  Little M was delighted to dig out a carrier bag full to take up to the mini-plot, pretty pleased with the results of all her months of feeding the worms.

The girls and I spent a lovely day this week pottering around the garden and (after a slightly fraught trip to the garden centre) finally getting a few things planted in our mini-plot.  It felt idyllic.  We shared a picnic in the sunshine and had fun spotting tadpoles in the wildlife pond that's tucked away in a hidden corner.  Two over-excited small children and a pond left no hands free for snapping a picture - little L really wanted to dive in and was wrigglier than the tadpoles - but I have a picture etched in my mind of four tiny hands reaching to touch the tadpoles with the sun glinting on the water.

The only things left living in the plot were a couple of strawberry plants and a few forgotten onions.  One onion provide a welcome decoy for an enthusiastic little L who spent long enough dipping it in and out of the watering can for little M and I to get a few plants and seeds into their new homes. We've got plenty of seeds left to get going at home - great entertainment for a spare half hour on a weekday.  Little L wants to be outside all the time.  I don't blame her - you can see in her face how excited she is by her first ever experiences of independent exploring in the sunshine.  I think we'll be spending lots of time in our very modest 'garden' this summer.  Kids instinctively know what the good things in life are!

Real nappies at nursery

It's Real Nappy Week - time for a nappy update!  I've used real nappies for quite a while - a nappy laundry service to start with for little M and more recently washing little L's myself at home.  We'll be using them for the next year or so (unless little L's slightly unnerving attempts to potty train herself this week continue).  Little L, who has just turned 1, now goes to a day nursery 3 days a week as I'm back at work.  Seems like a good time to share my experiences of using real nappies when your little one is at nursery.

We actually have a pretty simple system. We take enough nappies for the day into the nursery each morning in a small wet-bag.  We tend to leave them a few extra inserts (the absorbent bits that go inside a coloured, waterproof cover) and a roll of liners to make up extra nappies if they need to and one or two disposables as back-up.  The carers happily use the nappies and then give us the wet bag back at the end of the day full of dirty nappies.   It seems to work fine.  You could easily take a bigger batch in at the start of the week - nurseries are usually acustomed to storing big packs of disposables.  We find it more manageable to take small amounts each day as we're travelling by bike (post coming soon on this!)

I've found some differences to using nappies at home.  At home I would rinse a nappy cover that had only had a tiny bit of wee on it and use it once or twice more throughout the day.  The nursery staff don't do this as they have nowhere handy to dry them.  I tend to make up the nappies for the day and they just use them as they would a pile of disposables.  This does mean it's handy to have a few extra covers as by the end of the day, even if they have only been used once, the covers are not really in a fit state to rinse and re-use.

I guess the first step we took was to ask the nursery if they're happy to use the nappies.  Ours was completely fine with it, as were others we visited when we were first choosing which one to send little M to.  Our nursery actually had the large nappy bin from the laundry service on site for a while when one family found it more convenient to have the nappy collection from the nursery rather than their home.  Whilst it feels polite to ask the nursery staff...really there's very little for them to get stressed about.  The system we use means that little L has a nice neat basket of nappies, wipes, cream etc. just the same as all the other children.  Modern washable nappies are pretty easy to use.  AND nurseries pay to get rid of your kid's dirty nappies - if more parents use real nappies, they might be able to trim down their waste collection bills.  I think, you should assume it's fine - it's a completely reasonable thing to expect that you can continue using real nappies at nursery. 

Fancy trying out some nappies for yourself?  Have a potter around cyber-space as there are few competitions on the go at the moment - try this Real Nappy Week Facebook page or the 'Go Real' site.  Or if you're lucky enough to live in one of the eight London Borough's taking part, you can grab yourself a Real Nappies for London completely free voucher that you can use to buy yourself some nappies or sample a laundry / home delivery service.

I wrote about getting back on the real nappy wagon for my first green challenge when I started this blog - you can find the posts here.  And about night-time real nappy success here.

Probably about time I stopped rambling on about nappies now!

 

Little L is one!

This time last year we were just settling into life as a family of 4 with our new arrival, little L.  Like so many significant life events it seems so recent that I can hardly believe it was her first birthday earlier this week, and at the same time the day she was born feels like an age ago.   I certainly feel like I've known her forever.   I love the tradition of marking birthdays with a letter.  This is my first proper attempt so I'm going to make it short and sweet.  

Dear Lovely Little L,

I love you no matter what you do, and always will, but there are so many things you do that make it so very easy.  

I love your let-me-at-it attitude.  So keen to join in your sister's games, so keen to explore, to try new things.  You dive straight into everything.  Not like a bumbling fool, but like you know, even at your tender age, that life should be lived to the full.  You're often a step ahead of me - you got yourself some old shoes out the cupboard just before you started walking a few weeks ago.  I particularly love it when you rock-out with a little wriggle-jig if you like some music, or anything else that's happening.  Keep on climbing!

I love that you tell it like it is.  You're often quite a handful , very vocal when something's not right which - with troublesome teeth, a very healthy appetite and a big sister who can be over enthusiastically cuddling you one minute then stealing your toys in a fit of jealously the next - can be quite often.  Then when everything's hunky dory you're so delightfully straightforward - you play with toys in the way they supposed to be played with, then experiment a bit with new combinations pleasing yourself with your new discoveries. Keep on being demanding of life.

It is hard not to find your love of food endearing.   You've eaten pretty much anything you can get your hands on since the moment we let you near food (except mushy peas - you have some taste!).  The serious but contented expression on your face as you tuck into your food always makes me smile.  It broke my heart to see you subdued and still when you had a serious stomach bug and fever a few weeks ago.  You so wanted to eat, but your tummy AND your teeth hurt so much. Miserable for most people but I fear it was like torture for you.  Once on the mend you looked so happy after each meal and ate almost every hour to regain lost ground!  Keep on enjoying one of life's greatest pleasures.

I love your determination.  You started walking a few weeks ago and I'm sure it won't be long before you're racing across the park with little M.  Your determination to walk further each day and the grin on you face when you manage a few extra steps is amazing.  Your own excitement is usually the only thing that makes you wobble!  Always keep on trying.

I love your sense of humour.  You started teasing us when you seemed implausibly young, offering us a little of your precious food only to whisk it out of reach with amazing comedy timing.  You find humour in things that should require understanding beyond your years. Keep on pulling our legs!

I love your timing.  After giving us a tougher year that we could have ever imagined in the sleep department, you pulled it out the bag last week, the week I returned to work, and have finally shown us you can sleep through the night.  I really hope it's something you'll grow to love - you'll be rewarded by more frequent appearances of your dad and my sense of humour.  Watch out, before long we'll be teasing you back! 

And I'm so amused that the first clear words you say regularly are "poo poo"!   And you say it so cutely.  There's a story behind this but I'm trying to keep this short...

I constantly fight the urge to compare you to your sister.  It should be no surprise that you're uniquely you.  And whilst you are so very different to little M, you're also so similar.  You'd be the best playmates if we didn't have to constantly supervise to make sure no one gets hurts by your shared exuberance.  I can't wait to see what mischief you both get up as you grow stronger, wiser, and no doubt funnier together.

Gosh - it was hard to keep that short.  You bring so much sunshine into our family, and to other people you meet.  I'm really looking forward to chatting, laughing, eating and exploring with you lots more this year. 

Love

Your mum (Fiona) 

Taming our TV tyranny

Little M absolutely loves TV.  I think most of the programmes on Cbeebies are great and quite like a spot of Holly, Ben et al myself.  But...despite the good programmes, I wasn't feeling great about our TV viewing habits a while ago.  Various illnesses and some very disturbed nights meant that some days both me and little M were both a bit too keen on her screen time.  

However much TV viewing you think is appropriate, I'm sure you'll be with me when I say I get soooo sick of having to fend off little M's enthusiastic pestering to watch TV.  The effect of the pestering on our conversations seems worse than her watching too much TV!  There are hundreds of other things I'd rather talk to her about. 

We successfully tamed the TV tyranny using a very simple trick - I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.  We set specific times throughout the day when little M is allowed to watch 1 programme.  The programme could be from the catch-up menu we get through our cable TV package, from BBCiplayer on our computer or an episode from the handful of DVDs we have.  We stuck a sign in front of the TV with pictures for little M and words to remind Martin and myself of what they mean.

I'm sure some people set time limits.  I've never tried this because turning a programme off before it (and its full theme tune) has ended sends little M in complete meltdown.  The pick-a-programme approach means I don't have to hover around waiting for precisely the right moment to press the off switch.  I find manageable short bursts of TV at strategically useful times throughout the day a really useful.  Little L, thankfully, has learnt to settle herself to sleep now but trying to get her to sleep with little M rattling around the flat, occasionally popping in to say hello and ask all manner of random questions or requests, was virutally impossible at times.  TV is the only thing that would buy me a 10-15 minute window.  We occasionally swap a time.  For example there's usually a programme while I make dinner but sometimes, if little M has helped or been playing in the kitchen with me, she'll watch a programme after dinner instead.

The last month has been blighted with ill health - little M' had her worst wheezy episode since her first almost exactly a year ago.  Poor little L had a miserable week with the Norovirus. And I had hardly any sleep.  Needless to say the TV viewing (and surprise, surprise, the pestering too) has crept up.  But this week we're all feeling about 90 per cent better so we've been back on the pick-a-programme bandwagon and feeling better for it.  It has taken a few days for the pestering to die down but it always seems to eventually.  A bit of negotiation is fun - constant pestering is not.

The debate about how much TV our kids should or shouldn't be watching is quite heated (interesting new research here).  I don't want to wade too far into that debate but it doesn't take a top child psychologist to work out that life's full of loads of interesting and useful things that small people need to experience, learn and practice. Keeping TV viewing in check is the only way to find time for all this other great stuff too. But I'm pretty sure a good dose of the Octonauts won't do too much harm!

 

Thrifty organic baby oil

I'm quite cautious about what I put on my own and the girls' skin.  We have eczema in the family (me for a start!) and I've spent too much time reading about what effects the cocktail of chemicals in many everyday toiletries can potentially have on our health.  I now view anything other than the simplest products with suspicion!  We got great advice from the hospital doctors when both our girls were born.  Both doctors stressed that most 'baby' lotions and potions in the shops were unnecessary and not great for little ones' skin.  They suggested the simplest products of all were best: water for bathing (after the first week or two), and a little oil occasionally, in bath water or directly massaged into skin, to prevent dryness.  Little M's doctor recommended olive oil.  By the time little L arrived sunflower oil was in favour.  The particular balance of fatty acids in olive oil can occasionally inflame sensitive skin apparently, sunflower oil much less so.

You can buy lovely organic oils for babies, including sunflower oil blends.  Basic organic sunflower is a great, thrifty alternative.  I've just bought a 500ml bottle for less than £3 in my local slightly-over-priced-fancy-organic-stuff shop.  I'm sure it can be found even more cheaply elsewhere.  

I came over a bit bathroom proud and decided to decant mine into something a bit nicer looking - a bottle I was given, filled with tasty elderflower cordial, as a wedding favour last summer.  Any old glass bottle, cleaned and with the label removed would also work.  Little M was saying how lovely this smelt tonight at bathtime so no need to buy the fancy smelling ones on her account!

Fancy treating your own little ones to something a bit special, or want a lovely gift for a new baby?  I can recommend this.  I'd never have thought of describing a baby oil as snuggly but this certainly justifies the name. I was given some of this as a gift once and loved it.  And it's reasonably priced too...as fancy organic baby oils go!

P.S. We do have bubbles in the bath sometimes - life wouldn't be much fun without bubbles would it!

Slow travel with small children

We had our first holiday of the year a couple of weekends ago (before the crapness of wheezy hospital trips, the Noro virus and a mini ice-age descended upon us) - a lovely long weekend in a cosy cottage just outside Axminster.  Whilst happily digesting the fruits of Martin’s cooking course at the local foodie haven (a strategic Christmas present and the reason for the holiday) I reflected on what it takes to make a success of car-free travel with kids.  It’s pretty simple to get to places without a car, particularly if you’re prepared to be pragmatic and take a taxi for the last few miles to that off-the-beaten-track beauty spot you’ve discovered.  But finding somewhere you can both get to and get around during your stay can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.  Particularly when you’re from a big city and so crave fresh air and countryside views.  Add in a couple of children that are too young to get very far (or anywhere at all!) under their own steam and it’s easy to see why many people think car-free holidays are a ridiculous idea.  I don't agree.  With a little planning and a spot of lateral thinking you can satisfy your countryside cravings without a car.  

On our recent trip to Axminster we managed - just - to cram in something to keep everyone happy.  A bike ride through quiet country lanes and off-road cycle tracks, the best cafe breakfast we’ve ever had, a pit stop at a country pub, animal park action for the kids, a traffic free stroll with huge muddy puddles and loads of snowdrops, and a home cooked Sunday roast whilst the cold wind blew in the first snow flakes.  And all without the expense and hassle of the long drive out of London (when you don’t own a car the car-hire can easily double to cost of a weekend away and the drive takes waaay too long).  

But it wasn't all a smooth ride.  Here are some tips for car-free travel with kids from our experiences. From both our good experiences and from our "with hind-sight..." moments!

Tip 1: Talk to local people.  

They know stuff that the internet doesn't!  We all, especially little M, had a hankering to go cycling.  No amount of internet trawling could locate a cycle hire near enough to be of use (let alone with kiddy-carrying extras).  Bum.  So, not liking to give up, I mentioned our hankering to the owners of our holiday cottage.  They put some feelers out and hey presto!  Lovely Richard, a local bike mechanic, just starting out as a bicycle hire outfit comes up with the goods.  I think he actually acquired the trailer just for us!  It wasn't a top of the range trailer you might get from a well established hire firm but it worked and we were able to make the most of a beautiful sunny Saturday before the cold weather set in. 

After dragging his bike trailer up one too many hills I’m wishing we’d asked Richard about cycling routes too.  When he dropped the kit off (free delivery!) in the midst of a bedtime showdown with the girls it wasn’t really at the forefront of our minds!  Local people also know really helpful stuff like, is it vaguely safe to walk from where you're staying to the nearest pub, town, attraction etc. You can't tell from a map if there's a buggy friendly footpath, what the traffic is like.

Tip 2: Take pleasure in the journey.

We were reminded this weekend that it’s often better to not put pressure on yourself to get to ‘somewhere’ if you’re walking or cycling with children.  Distances completely warp when small people are involved!  You may think your legs are up to pulling that bike trailer for 10km but the kids may have other ideas - rumbling tummies, toilet and nappy-change stops, shrieking for playgrounds, sheep viewings and all manner of (mostly great) things to spend your time doing, that aren’t going from A to B.  Packing a good picnic is essential. We had a sunny picnic lunch with extra crisps and shandy outside a pub whilst out on our bikes as the weather surpassed even our optimistic expectations.  

On the Sunday our plans to walk the 2-3km to a nearby animal park almost unravelled because the weather turned much colder. Faced with a 1.5km walk home, a 3 yr old shouting "I want to watch telly!", and a baby threatening to wake up from a well-timed nap and demand to escape from the warmth of her pushchair full of blankets we almost bolted into a nearby supermarket to buy a joint of meat to roast and call a taxi home. We didn't (although we did stop to shop to break the journey home!).  I walked VERY briskley onwards to the animal park, big-upping the prospects of hot chocolate and meerkats all the way there and frantically pointing out anything interesting  to distract little M.  Later, little M said the hot chocolate and animal park was a highlight of her holiday, so I reckon we made the right call to push ahead.  We'd plan a shorter route, or one with more bolt holes on a cold day in future, and perhaps be able to enjoy the journey more!

Tip 3:  Do your research. 

A bit of planning can help you make the most of any holiday...when you have no car, and small children, it's essential!  Pick accommodation that has all the kit you want - cot, high-chair, stair gates, toys...so you can travel light.  Check what your transport options are - in rural locations it could be a reliable hourly service to connect you to all manner of interesting activities...or a weekly bus on market days, leaving you immobile for the rest of the week.  This might be fine if your cupboards and creativity are well stocked!  Find out things like...can you access nice walking paths and countryside straight from your accomodation?  Is there some ‘entertainment’ or a beach within walking distance? Can you actually hire a bike for a day if you want to?  How will you get provisions?  We bought provisions at a supermarket near the train station before being taken by taxi with our shopping and luggage to our cottage.  Other times we've had groceries delivered.  Given unpredictability of the British weather, planning everything in advance will be a frustrating business.  I prefer to do some research before hand to know that we have enough options to make for a good holiday.  I then rely on wifi, smart-phones or good old maps (and talking to people) for final decisions once we're there. 

Planning resources that are worth a look...

Sustrans interactive map of UK cycle routes - all the existing and planned route in the National Cycle Network.  Worth checking with locals for the latest info - a new off-road section of a proposed route had opened across the road from our cottage only a few weeks before we arrived.

Car-free walking routes Loads of walking routes - anything from a post sunday lunch stroll to a week long expedition - all accessible by public transport.  Includes descriptions, maps, accomodation and food along the route and a search option for pushchair / family friendly routes (although this doesn't always bring up appropriate routes).  A good place to get some inspiration.

Cycle Hire in the UK  A easy way to search for cycle-hire in your chosen holiday spot.  The search options for trailers and child-seats aren't 100% accurate on here either but it's great place to start.

And the tourist info websites for most regions have helpful info on getting around - I found the interactive bus map that I discovered via the Visit Devon website was really helpful.

Tip 4: Take time to smell the roses...and pig shit. 

Rethinking what ‘activities’ make a great holiday pay's off.  But it can be a tricky skill to learn.  I find it's so easy to get lost in the mass of information about childrens' 'attractions'.  Pick any three of...animals, miniature railways, face-painting, story-telling, playgrounds, rocks, olden days anything, TV characters, and sandpits...and you've got yourself a sell-out holiday attraction!  The kids will love them...for a while.  And you'll enjoy seeing them enjoying them...for while.  At just 3 I'm pretty sure little M's interest in randomly themed attractions with a few animals thrown in is waning a bit. Mine too!  The bike ride was actually her favourite part of this holiday despite getting soaked when a downpour leaked through the bike trailer roof just before we arrived home (Richard's on the case waterproofing it for next time!).  That and spotting snowdrops.  I think little L's favourite things were the cafe breakfast and crawling around the cottage with no stair gates to interupt her (we have a LOT of stairs throughout our flat on London).  

I'm still learning how to 'plan' to make the most of our precious holiday time and resisting the urge to go to a different attraction each day.   The thing is, picnic sites aren't usually for profit and woodland walks don't make much wonga.  And so you don't find so many leaflets about them (although I did once find a great picnic site leaflet sponsored by a biscuit company!) or about having time to talk, time to notice things that are different to home - "what's that smell" - and to take in the views.  But the more I look the more inspiration I find.  There's a great list of organisations and websites here to help people get outdoors and some top tips for fun activities here that I'm looking forward to exploring more as the weather warms up.

One thing I'm sure of - taking time to choose your holiday location with care, and once you're there, pausing to smell the roses and create fun on your doorstep, means that you don't miss having a car at your disposal.  It's often the adventures we get up to when we take a break from the 'attractions' that we remember most fondly.

Slow down, enjoy the ride and you'll probably find your kids do too!

 

Sweet 16...and living with the legacy of government inaction on air pollution?

I've beening speaking to journalists over the last week or so about air pollution, something I've got a bit of a bee in my bonnet about.  More precisely, I spoke to them about an important Supreme Court case.  A charity, Client Earth, are taking the UK Government to court because they're trying to wriggle out of implementing EU legislation on air pollution.  I guess it's my role to provide the human interest angle to the story - angry mother of wheezy child wants cleaner air etc.   I'm happy with this arrangement if it helps get the message out there that this is a real issue that affects real people.

I wasn't very concise when I spoke to the journalists.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I rambled.  One or two of my comments have been used.   Hopefully some more will be tomorrow. But what's the point having a blog if you can't write what you really wanted to say?  So here's my take on what's being dubbed the most important supreme court case of the century, and what it means to my family.

Little M is 3.  Being a child, she is particularly vulnerable to having her health damaged by air pollution.  I've known for a long time that air pollution is linked to health problems but this year I took more interest that usual.  Little M has had a lot of fairly serious wheezy episodes. Somewhere amongst the trips to hospital, visits to the doctors, and one very scary ambulance ride a doctor made a casual comment.  They said they'd seen a lot of wheezing children recently, as they often did when the weather conditions caused the air quality to decline (just like is happening with all the lovely spring sunshine this week).  Since then I've started to pay more attention to our air quality.

I've discovered that London's air is amongst the most polluted in Europe, with higher levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is linked to childhood asthma, than any other capital city. I get tweets to warn me of bad air pollution now.  I can't honestly say that everytime the air pollution gets bad, little M has had a wheezy episode.  That would make a great human interest angle but real life is more complicated than that.  And really, if we look at the proper evidence like...err...government statistics for example, rather than my anecdotes, the situation we're in is shocking enough.  In London alone, 4,300 people die prematurely each year because of air pollution.  Air pollution can trigger wheezing episodes in asthmatic children, and evidence is emerging to show that high levels of air pollution stunts childrens' lung development.  That means they grow up with lower lung capacity and probably die earlier than they would do if their lungs had developed normally. Anyone want to rent our lovely family-sized flat.  No?

You could argue I'm scare mongering.  If I told you that the Mayor's office advise schools to keep some children inside when air pollution is bad, would you still think I was scare mongering?

Our government doesn't want to reduce air pollution to safe levels suggested by the European Union right now.  It wants a few more years to get it's act together.  In London, rather than reducing nitrogen dioxide pollution to safe levels by 2010, the Government and the Mayor think 2025 might be more convenient.  Perhaps they're being sensible.  We've had 4 serious pollution incidents this year in London already - it's clearly not an easy issue to tackle.  The thing is, little M will be 16 years old by 2025.  Yes, you've read that right - she'll almost be an adult.  For her, and all the other children in London of a similar age, the difference between the 2010 deadline and the 2025 extended deadline that the government wants is their whole childhood.  

Not only are this generation likely to have poorer health because of air pollution. They'll also have to put up with an NHS that is even more overstretched than ever because it is picking up the bill for treating people, both young and old , that are ill because of air pollution.  Whether or not their health is directly affected they'll get a pretty crap deal.

If you want to read more there's a great article here about impacts of air pollution on children and newspaper articles about Thursday's court case here and here.

Media coverage of the supreme court case next week may well focus, as some has already, on the whole Europe vs the UK Government angle.  For me, this isn't about Europe.  This is about the UK government failing to look out for its citizens and failing to create policies that are appropriate given the evidence of links between air pollution and serious health problems.  This is about a charity being driven to pretty extreme lengths because, lets face it, air pollution isn't a particularly hot topic in most households.  With few people aware of this issue, it's hardly a vote decider, and so it would be swept under the carpet if it weren't for campaigning organisations kicking up a fuss on our behalf.

Whatever happens on Thursday it is within the government's power to take bolder action to tackle this issue.  I'd like to see the government putting more effort into making policies on timescales that relate to people's lives, rather than timescale that are convenient for the policy-making 'system'.   I'd like to see it spending more time figuring out solutions that will make parents proud to be bringing up their families in London and less time fighting to expose a whole generation of Londoners to air pollution that is likely to damage their health. 

There.  I think that's everything I wanted to say! 

If you can feel a bee starting to buzz in your bonnet too sign up the the Healthy Air UK Campaign for free to show your support.  They've also got some great tips on staying healthy while the government sorts it's act out.

 

 

Feeling lighter on our feet (and wheels)

Spring is in the air, little M has a spring in her step and we've got new wheels.  Suddenly, getting out and about with the family seems a whole lot easier.  It feels like the city is our oyster and bigger adventures are around the corner.  

Me and the girls had a great trip to the Natural History Museum on Friday to see the obligatory dinosaurs and catch the amazing Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition before it finished.  With just a sling for little L and a small bag of essentials we hopped on the bus, skipped down to the tube and whizzed across town in what seemed like a strangley simple journey.  It's the first time I've braved a day trip into town with two children and no wheels!  Little M - who is almost 3 and a half - has always been reluctant to walk far unless there's something really exciting happening to keep her interest.  And even then she's prone to stopping and moaning that she's tired.  The stalemate that is a small person refusing to walk but unwilling to be carried can be funny...but mostly it's not so we've rarely gone far without our trusty buggy and buggy board-seat combo.  Until the last few weeks!

I had tried a few tactics to get little M walking more.  Like occasionally "forgetting" to take the buggy board-seat when I collected her from nursery.  A cunning ploy that did backfire spectacularly on the odd occasion - it once took me 45 minutes to cajol and carry her (kicking and screaming) the 10 minute walk home.  I  also suggested walking to nursery on mornings when the mood was good hoping that fresh legs would increase our odds of a stress-free journey (that and bribery).  And we did a few times.  We even popped to a playground on the way there one sunny morning.  And did an impromptu alphabet scavenger hunt another.  But leaving the house without wheels for little M still mostly felt like a big gamble.  Then this week, sensing she was on good form and full of energy, I didn't ask whether she wanted to walk.  I just put the buggy board-seat away.  I didn't mention it.  And we left without it for nursery everyday.  Not a stale-mate in sight!  And even more amazingly, when I pushed my luck with our museum trip, we made it all the way to the museum, around it, and home with only one or two minor wobbles.  Woohoo!

It feels so good to finally be able to go out walking with little M by my side. On Sunday she came trotting along to the local park, sneakily grabbing a handful of rosemary from a neighbour's garden and sprinkling it as fairy dust all the way to the park. "Is this a daffodil" she kept asking, helpfully spotting signs of spring to make me feel even more happy that winter seems to be finally waning.  And little L is enjoying being snug in her new sling and part of the action.  She looks out the bus window with amazement and does a cute little wriggle-jig to show how pleased she is with her new improved view - much better than being stuck in the pushchair looking at the backs of people's legs.

I'd like to think it was my cunning tactics that made the difference to get little M walking. Actually, she's growing, she's getting bigger and stronger and she's in better health than she has been for ages.  Looking back, I think we perhaps underestimated how much impact repeated bouts of wheezing illness, since just before little L was born, had on her energy levels.  I had often been too tired to relish the prospect of carrying little L in a sling too.  Fingers crossed things will keep looking rosy.  

Our other good news is that we got a bike trailer that can carry both girls this week.  Getting set up for our first trip with it was a bit of a faff and, unless it gets a lots quicker to set up, it's probably not going to be the nursery run solution we need.  I'm really excited about the prospect of peddaling around the backstreets and parks of London this summer with the girls and a picnic towing behind me.  I've already discovered a new partly off-road cycle route. 

And little L is becoming a bit more independent.  It seems like a small thing, but being more confident in leaving her with Martin, has made it possible to have some rare one on one time with little M.  The two of us nipped up to the indoor adventure playground and to check the state of our slightly neglected mini-allotment on Sunday morning.  We went by bike, with our trusty old bike seat (not the new trailer) that has barely been used since little L arrived on the scene.  Wow!  I'd forgotten how quick that journey can be when you're not pushing two children up hill!  Perhaps the veggies will get a bit more attention this year.

This week it feels like lots of options have opened up.  There will always be some faffing, and some paraphernalia that goes with little children.  But I feel like we've taken a step forwards and am hoping we'll keep a spring our steps right through the summer and beyond.