A Day Out At Alice Holt Forest

  
My friend and I took a rainy trip to Alice Holt Forest. Loaded with two boys each and after a rather bumpy start to the day we set off on our nature adventure! All the way there the weather held out and then as soon as we parked up down came the rain! Being the warrior eco Mums that we are, my friend and I were still determined to have a great day out with the kids.
The beauty of Alice Holt is it is perfect rain or shine, the trails are interesting, the length of the walks are just about right for everyone and not forgetting to mention it is free!
Situated in Hampshire it is a national forestry commission that has gone fun crazy! With an abundance of activities, there is also a range of wide open spaces for gatherings and a café for convenience food and beverages, there are trails for walking and also cycle trails for the keen rider, bring your own bike or borrow one of the parks. There is the Go Ape adventure trail using harnesses and ropes to cross zip lines on high above ground trails for the older children and adults.

There is beauty in nature to observe the whole way around the forest with many picnic areas and every so often along the walks there is an activity for the children to explore.

Nature focused, Alice Holt gives parents the opportunity to teach their children about nature and the relation we have with it as well as the impact we have on it.
Along the habitat trail there are sign posted activities for the children, magical bridges to cross and waterfalls to amaze all, there are many things to play on and exciting things climb. Climbing to the top of the great towers enables the children to get a birds eye view over where they are exploring, this is a great way to get a different perspective on forest life and the kids love it.

Growing up in that part of the country, Alice Holt was only a few miles away and I frequently visited there for an adventurous day out with family and friends. Upon moving to another place in the country the joys available there became distant in my mind until my friend from the home-education community suggested we should take a trip over as the usual group we attend each week had been cancelled. I was more than happy to accept her offer and I am so glad I did. Alice Holt is enclosed with forest as far as the eye can see so the little ones can roam free getting to know about woodland areas. There is also a large park a short while after entering the park with a huge pirate ship drawing the attention of the children which is a blast for the young ones to discover and they will want to spend all day there so be sure to tell them of the wonderful things that the trails hold.
All the boys had a wonderful time and loved all the climbing, getting wet and muddy exploring the forest! At the time of our visit Alice Holt had a Gruffalo trail with activities along the way and it is still there now so if you love the Gruffalo be sure to check it out.

I highly recommend this day out to all. It is great fun for all the family. 

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‘Photo of the Week’ – New Feature – Blogging 101

For my new feature I have created a new page called ‘Photo of the Week’.

I love taking photographs and if I was to upload them all I think my WP would crash so I have decided to do a ‘Photo of the Week’ where I will feature the photograph that captivated me the most from that week with a short description as to why it has been chosen.

I would be more than happy to have suggestions from my readers / followers, if there is a particular photo you love from a post, let me know and I will feature it for that week.
Photos will be updated every Friday starting today 📷

Here is this weeks chosen photograph:

I have chosen this Woodland shot as I almost got lost gazing into these Woods. The thin but bunched trees in abundance captivated me and held me for a dreamy moment in stillness, in wonder. Part of me beckoned to run into and through the forest, to forget the hustle and to embrace the calm. The hidden treasures of these woods called me to discover them…and how lovely that idea was but alas it was only to remain an idea for the other side of the photograph was a busy road and me waiting at a bus stop with the kids in a buggy that would never make it through the forest in a peaceful enough way to live out that moments vision! I enjoyed getting lost in the wind of the trees for that moment and definitely need to go on another woodland adventure with my babies soon!

Day 20 – Triumph – Photography 101

The last day! I am sad the course is over but I am happy to have made it this far even though some days I didn’t manage to post! Nevertheless, what fun!

My photo for today regards my personal triumph. This is always a hard time of the moon for me so I feel massively triumphant to be on my second day of no tobacco! Yay! I am sure someone has been praying for me as yesterday morning I felt much more than my usual self to say the least! Whatever has happened I feel majorly blessed to have stopped and although last night was majorly challenging to say no, my will, my strength, my determination and senses pulled me through. Thank You to all of those that are supporting me, thank you so much for all your help, truly, thank you!! In 3 months time I am going to feel like Super Mum! 😉

Another triumph for the week is discovering a way to save quite a bit of money by walking a little further to the next bus stop, on top of that apart from the week the boys were horribly ill we have not missed the kids club bus or been late once…now that is a triumph for me!

And after an abysmal week with moderation last week I feel this week has been much better, a few times I could have been stronger with the food but overall I am not hugely disappointed in myself which is also a triumph!!

For my triumph photo today I used a photograph of the roll up I made yesterday and didn’t smoke. I used ‘contrastpunch’ from Adobe Photoshop Express on my mobile to edit the original contrast.

I loved taking part in this challenge and wish it would start all over again! Thanks to The Daily Post. Love. Peace

Posted at 5.05

Landscape – Photography 101

Woah talk about better late than never and I really should be in bed right now but I finally got my shot for the Landscape assignment and amazingly it was taken on a moving bus 😀 I have already done the blogging 101 assignment for this week so I want to get this one done before I drift off.

It is not often I get to appreciate such open scale land as this so when the green caught my eye (moving bus or not) determination was determined the get this shot, albeit a little blurry. I still got one I feel is worthy! Ahh how I would of loved to of got off the bus and just wandered to the gathering of trees in the distance, you know maybe I will another time.

After a little help from the amazing WP team I worked out the cropping situation and sniped out the distracting white stuff from the photo.
I much prefer it now.

🙂

Thankful Thursday – An Awoken Life

This Thursday I am particularly grateful for the way I awoke this morning, not at the time I had planned admittedly but the feeling of pure happiness and joy I felt when I finally got up was indescribable and felt absolutely amazing. I am grateful for the strength I have felt today in regards to my usual struggles. I am thankful to feel balanced and organised.

Today at Kids Club I felt very blessed and thankful to be awake to home education and I am very grateful for the variety of views on life discussed.

I am feeling thankful for the blessings in nature I was able to capture with my sight today. Pure beauty. It’s everywhere.

I am most thankful for God’s love, My family and friends, all of our abilities, the nutrients we have and the home we live in.

Double – Photography 101

I am so happy with my shot for today! Upon first reading the assignment I was rattling my brain as to what I would be able to capture on the little mission planned for the day and then I saw …

‘Writer’s Quote Wednesday’ – Blog Event – Blogging 101

I don’t know about You but I love a well-written and meaningful quote!
It has been fun exploring the events on The Daily Post and for today’s assignment. I have chosen to create a ‘Writer’s Quote Wednesday’ post as I often come across such heart warming and inspiring quotes that I can really really relate to and thought it would be a wonderful idea to share my thoughts with you.

My chosen quote is by an artist called Sdyw Uml he is a beautiful Spanish poet, the kind of man the World needs to lead us as a nation in this destructive age. A true gentleman. Uml’s insights to the truth of life are astounding. At the tender age of just 25 his knowledge is that of which seems to have spanned many many years.

“If you don’t understand my silence, how will you understand my words” – Sdyw Uml 2014

What a quote right?
To me this awakens a key and vital reminder of the real love that binds a relationship between two souls. Wouldn’t you agree that your true partner should be one that can fully sense you, read your mind and be able to connect to you without any words uttered? I have always felt and believed in telepathy and have always felt it to be true that the person created for you knows you like they know their favourite everything! I mean he would know what dress to pick (better than you would), he would understand your emotions on a deeper level than even you do, he just knows exactly everything that makes your heart sing. I do believe it is important to understand your life partner (Husband / Wife) on a spiritual level and until this connection is fully established words will only get in the way to be stumbled upon, no matter how hard it is. I believe you must be able to feel your partner wherever in the World they are for it to be true love.
Many people I am surrounded by and past experiences of my own show couples argue a ridiculous amount of time, never really resolving the issue, their sex is gimmick like and bland and is often pre-discussed with them only really indulging in the temporary joy of joint masturbation (or in some very unlucky circumstances, singular masturbation) as apposed to the true sacredness of the hierurgy of making love. They feel deep down that this is wrong or that’s not how I imagined my dream lover, these are tell tell signs that things aren’t meant to be. Too many are too scared to talk the truth as they will possibly discover they are not meant to be and that would ruin their cosy little lives. Some people will knowingly be in the wrong relationship boldly using their partner, waiting for their true love to appear as faking it is better than being alone. If it feels in the slightest wrong when you really think about it then it is. You already know your true love.
In my eyes the boldness to approach life alone, for the rest of your life, will bring your twin flame straight to you. Whether you can reach them or not depends on your state of self respect and the dedication to following your intuition.
Only pure truth brings pure happiness no matter how much you kid yourself or play ‘cover it up dandy’.
To these lovers, telepathy is dead and often a total joke – unluckily for them!
To be lucky enough to find such a connection opens doorways in the mind that only one person has the keys too.
Wow, it is so beautiful as you yourself don’t even have a set of keys so you get to enjoy yourself on another level bringing waves of joy. Until you find this you may not have a clue what I am going on about, if you do then you will understand that when you find the one, you truly know that you have actually found them. You just know. No matter how messy the situation, everything makes sense when they are around and at times, although you coped before they arrived, it will seem as if they are the air you breathe.

Peace

Edge – Photography 101

Firstly let me say…where have I been all my life with these amazing editing tools?? My my how things have changed since the last time I used a photo editor!

For todays task I needed to straighten up my morning shot! It was not as easy as it seemed, my eye for level somewhat deceives me!

To edit this shot I used the free (don’t ya know;) mobile app of Adobe Photoshop Express. The tool I used was a straighten tool in the crop section.
At first I could not decide on which edge to straighten as they all gave different angles, in the end I chose the middle line. It appears the app edited the colour itself.

I chose to shoot this particular image as above and in between the edges of the fence were glimmering spider webs filled with this morning’s dew. They looked so magical, they had to be captured.

I hope you like it.

What do you think about Chocolate?

After hearing a few peoples views it has made me curious to hear mass opinions. Please give your thoughts and answer the poll 🙂 http://polldaddy.com/poll/8477619/ Thank You

Glass – Photography 101

This is my unexpected capture of glass for today’s task.

Not all glass can be looked straight through to give a clear view of the other side. Sometimes we have to bend a bit to get the results we want.