Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 577
The Dustbin Lid
Hello Everyone
At this time of year, we are just itching to get out into the fresh air the minute the weather is warm enough, aren’t we?
This is what happened to Emily last week; when she saw the weather was quite mild, she went out into the back garden of Periwinkle Cottage and took her tennis ball out with her to play with.
Bill and Bob had gone to the park to play football with Henry, but Emily did not want to go with them.
Playing sport is a good way to give your brain a rest from everyday worries. Your brain is concentrating on playing a game and that is all it is focussed on.
You will find the same thing happen if you are rock climbing or even just watching where to put your feet on a muddy path when you are trying hard not to slip over.
Or you could do some doodling or cooking or handicrafts or flower arranging if you are not a sporty outdoors type because keeping your hands busy is good for your brain. lt is like giving it a little holiday.
Otherwise, watching clouds moving in a blue sky or sea waves rolling onto a beach is very relaxing too.
Anyway, back to my story…
Emily went into her back garden to play by herself.
She was bouncing her ball about and throwing it into the air and catching it.
Then suddenly she had the idea of throwing it really, really high into the air.
Oh, dear!
lt went out of control and fell down some way away from her – and landed behind the shed!
She went to have look and couldn’t even see it.
Dad to the rescue!
He poked about with a long stick and soon managed to pull Emily’s ball out.
While he was looking behind the shed, beside the ball he found some flower pots – useful! And he also found an old, metal dustbin lid.
“That isn’t so useful,” said Emily. “We don’t have an old, metal dustbin to put it on.”
But her dad had had an idea.
“We could repurpose it though,” he told Emily.
She was eager to find out what he had in mind.
So Emily’s dad showed her what he had thought of doing with the dustbin lid.
First, it needed a clean.
Then he dug a shallow pit in the corner of the garden.
He turned the lid upside-down and fitted it into the pit.
He put some pebbles in the bottom and he and Emily filled it with water.
They carried it from the kitchen in a couple of buckets.
Emily’s bucket wasn’t very big. She used the one she played with on the beach; but water is surprisingly heavy to carry and that is all she could manage.
Her Dad was pleased with the results.
They had made a bird bath. The birds could drink the water and wash themselves in the water as well.
There was a deeper pool of water around the outside and a mound of pebbles in the centre to create shallower water for smaller birds.
There were pebbles above the water line in the middle of the water too so that birds could perch on them – or on the rim of the lid in order to get at the water and have a drink.
Also, very importantly, bees could land on the pebbles and walk down to the surface of the water. They can easy drown in deep water so being able to walk around on the pebbles was a really good idea for them.
And because the pool was at ground level, hedgehogs could access it.
And of course taller animals like foxes and badgers could drink from it too.
lt is important to provide clean drinking water to wildlife all year round if you want to help animals. They need water to drink in the winter just as much in the summer.
Sometimes it is easier for them to find food than water; especially in the summer when it is hot.
And of course you don’t have to use an old dustbin lid. You can use any old shallow container you have to hand.
ln no time at all, the local wildlife had found the new water pool and Emily spent a long time watching to see who would visit next.
There was a robin and a blackbird and several hedge sparrows.
Then bees started to fly in. They are coming out to forage for early spring flowers around this time of year – as soon as they feel it getting a bit warmer.
Sometimes, watching bees or birds or looking up at the trees can be very good for your brain – it gives it a little rest from everyday worries.
Nature can heal and restore.
And Emily forgot all about playing with her ball.
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: How do you know when there’s been an elephant in the fridge?
Bob: l don’t know
Bill: There are footprints in the cheesecake.
Bob: We don’t have any cheesecake.
Bill: That’s the part you don’t buy?
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
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THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
When Bill and Bob came back from playing football in the park, they found their dad outside their cottage washing the family car.
Their dad asked them if they wanted to help squirt all the sudsy water off with his pressure washer.
They said they would help, if he let them drive the car back into the garage.
He said on no account!
They asked why they could not drive the car and their dad told them they were far too young.
They asked him if he would change his mind, and he said that was written in stone.
They told him that I had taught them about the sea and what all the parts of a boat were called. They knew how to moor a boat and understand about tides.
They knew lots of things about boats when they were too young to pilot one.
Their dad had a think, and when they had all finished washing the car, he said he would teach them just a few things about a car.
It was a good way to get started in learning to drive – although their first actual driving lesson was a long way off yet.
Bill and Bob are already good at recognizing road signs and what they mean.
They watch out for them on journeys and test their knowledge as a kind of game to play that helps pass the time.
So their dad showed them what all the dials and gauges on the car dashboard were for and also the pedals on the floor.
He also showed them the correct positioning of their hands on the steering wheel.
And then he let them work the windscreen wipers to help dry the windscreen off.
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Quick Quiz
Do you know what these words and phrases mean?
- a rolling stone gathers no moss
- to be stony-faced
- to have one’s nose to the grindstone
- to hit one’s head against a brick wall
- to be hard-hearted
- to be someone’s rock
- to be written in stone
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A HANGlNG VEGETABLE GARDEN
Did you know that you can select a variety of tomato plant to grow in a hanging basket?
This means you can grow a crop of tomatoes in a very small space.
So if you don’t have a good-sized garden, and only a courtyard to grow crops in – you could go upwards instead of sideways and outwards!
Your hanging baskets could be hung along a fence or wall or on a bar or taught line fixed between a house and outside wall.
If you have a balcony that you can walk onto, you may be able to fix containers up the side walls. Check to see if you need permission and if the balcony can take the weight of what you are putting on it.
You can also grow strawberries in hanging baskets.
When they throw out runners, tie a little square of fleece around them and they will grow roots in mid-air!
Once the roots have grown to about 5cm, take the fleece off and you will have a new plant to grow.
Another crop that you can grow in hanging baskets is herbs.
You could put a selection in a large basket to make it look pretty or one crop in each basket. Herbs like: parsley, sage and chives have really pretty leaves.
Then you can snip just a few leaves off at a time to flavour your dishes.
You can also grow salad leaves, chilies, radishes, spring onions and tiny carrots.
The good thing about growing crops in baskets is that they suffer less from attack from pests.
However, you will need to pay careful attention to watering and putting jelly crystals in the compost when you plant your crops will help stop the compost dry out too quickly.
If you want cheaper containers, you can use strips of guttering or the bottom parts of plastic bottles – milk containers can give you quite big pots. Don’t use tins because they can have sharp rims.
You will need an adult to help you with all the fixings and cutting required.
Or you could grow crops in narrow troughs against the fence. This is a good idea if you have no ground to plant into.
Don’t forget that if you grow crops in a small trough like this, the compost will need extra food put into it from the middle of the growing season onwards.
You won’t be able to grow crops like pumpkins because they need a lot of room, but there is still a good selection of plants that you could grow.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- a rolling stone gathers no moss – a person who is always on the move in life doesn’t usually make a good living
- to be stony-faced – not showing any emotion
- to have one’s nose to the grindstone – to be working hard
- to hit one’s head against a brick wall – to be making no progress, no matter how hard you are trying
- to be hard-hearted – to be unfeeling and unsympathetic
- to be someone’s rock – to be a solid emotional support
- to be written in stone – a rule that cannot be broken or something fixed that cannot be moved
