Snow Glow, snow experiments and stuff

Amidst the snow flurries yesterday we heard a strange repeated knocking on our patio doors. It was this little fellow.




We didn't know what it was but a friend who knows a top twitcher has had it identified for us. It's a woodcock! Hermione and Miles decided they didn't really like it because it didn't look like the other birds we see and therefore is scary. This prompted much talk of how 'different' doesn't equate to wrong or scary.


I was awoken at 3.35am today by what sounded almost like riffle fire at the windows. Hail. Big hail. We don't have as much as a lot of the country but it's enough *grin*


'Honest mummy, I wasn't eating the snow....'








Would you believe her?


This prompted a quick experiment to try to demonstrate that all that's white is not clean. We filled a big pan with water, melted it over a low heat and strained it through a clean white handkerchief. 'Take care ' I said, 'Don't hold the pan handle too close to the pan,' at which point I interfered, got hold of the handle much too close to the hot end and had to dash into the garden to plunge my throbbing finger into the snow. Goodness, did it throb!


This is what we found in the snow.






Now I wouldn't fancy eating it having seen this but Hermione was completely undeterred and has continued to have the odd snaffle while out playing. In short I burnt my finger for nothing!



We also did an experiment to illustrate how a mass of water can expand when it changes it's form to a solid. We filled a plastic drinks bottle to the very top and put it in the freezer this morning. By this evening it was frozen solid. The ridges in the bottle were pushed out and in one place it had split.





Tonight we went out in the dark to make a snow glow lamp. It is actually very pretty and effective but has not photographed well at all. Basically we made a hollow mound of snow, decorated it with food colouring and put some candles inside. The light shines through and makes it look really pretty.









Confined to home, engagements cancelled, I've been busy with this and that. I've made some fragrance sachets for the bathroom. I filled them with capoc (not sure how to spell that) with geranium and lemon grass oils on them - something which is zingy fresh but also reputedly balances hormones too.






I also took an old baby sleeping bag which was badly stained and therefore not fit to pass on, and turned it into pyjama bottoms for Miles. I think they're excellent and confess to basking in a very rare 'uber mama moment' until Miles announced, 'I not wearing them mama, they very horrid'. A long conversation followed in which I tried to point out how warm/comfy/funky/practical etc they are - but to no avail. Hmmmph.