Our nature adventure

We went to the nature reserve today. At home, mummy told us to write down the things we found interesting, the things we liked and some questions.

These are my questions:

1. What do female and male ducks look like?

A: I found out that they were Mallard ducks (I used Jacob's birds book). The answer that's easiest
is that ducks have different coloured faces. The male ones have green faces. The female mallard ducks have an orange bill and mottled brown feathers.

2. How agressive can ducks be?

A: Very aggressive!  I found out that in winter the males can be aggressive against other ducks when they defend their territory.

3. What squirrels have a red face and a grey body?

A: Eastern grey squirrels.  I found out on wikipedia.

Here are the things I liked:

1. Seeing the puddleducks looking for their clothes that they borrowed from the kittens! (I read about this in The Tale of Tom Kitten.

2. Seeing a rook.

3. Seeing snow drops (a type of flower).

4. Seeing sheep.

Here is one of my videos of the walk:

At the Botanic Gardens

At the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens we went to the greenhouses.

One of the greenhouses was super hot bcause it was a tropical one. There was also a mountain greenhouse. The plants in the tropical one were very green and had big leaves. The mountain greenhouse had lots of rocks and little flowers.

There was also a desert greenhouse. It had lots of cactuses. Cactuses can save water by not using it that much. The reason why they don't have to use it that much is because they don't have leaves and leaves in other trees and plants let the water out. Another reason is because they have spikes and it protects them from animals eating them. They also store water inside them.

We also saw a fountain. It had ice in the outer part of the fountain. We had a lot of fun playing with the ice. Jacob found some ice with a pinecone stuck in it.

We played at the rockery there. It was a bit like a kids botanic garden playground. We played kings and queens. I was the queen, Rebecca was a princess and Calvin (my friend) was a prince. I also saw a mouse. The mouse was scuttering through the rocks.

On the way home we saw a squirrel really close!

Mummy's birthday with history - not to be missed!

Yesterday was Mummy's birthday. She had really good ideas to go to, mostly Shakespeare's birthplace. We also visited Kenilworth Castle. One of the amazing things that I really like about it is that the person who built some of it and used to live there was Queen Elizabeth I's boyfriend. He loved her so much that he built some of it to impress her.

Kenilworth Castle

Mummy, Jacob and me outside the gates

Daddy and Lydia on the causeway of the castle. The cause is a kind of built-up road across the moat.

We went for a walk around the walls, through the snow.

The snow made it look very beautiful.

By the way, we had lunch at a cafe called 'The Food of Love'. The name of the cafe came from one of Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare's father made gloves for his job. The lady who was looking after that room in Shakespeare's birthplace let us try them on.

Here's a picture of me looking after Lydia inside the house...

...and one of Daddy looking after her outside, while we saw some more things.

Rebecca, Jacob and me outside the front door.

This is a Tudor knot garden, like the ones that they used to make in Shakespeare's time.

 Here is Mummy and the cake Rebecca and I helped Dad to make for her birthday.

Travel guide to Ancient Rome

We've been learning a bit about Ancient Rome this week. My brother and sister and I wrote this travel guide together. I hope you enjoy it (if you ever master the art of time travel!). 

The puddleducks with the three kittens

I am reading some Beatrix Potter books. While we're in England I'm watching out for the animals that she wrote about. So far, I have seen:

- ducks (Jemima Puddleduck)
- cats (Tom Kitten)
- fox prints (Jemima Puddleduck)
- rabbits (Peter Rabbit)
- frog (Mr Jeremy Fisher)
- squirrel (Squirrel Nutkin).

One of my favourite Beatrix Potter books is Tom Kitten.

The picture below is of the puddleducks with Tom Kitten, Mocket and Moppet.

In The Graveyard

On Sunday we went to a graveyard.

The graveyard is in a village called West Wratting. We knew one of our ancestors that went St Andrew's church (where the graveyard was). We decided to find a grave belonging to Edward and Susan Starling. They were my great, great, great, great grandparents. We found it in a bush.

We also found a grave that we didn't know about. It belonged to Anna Starling. She was my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother. She died in 1723. She was married to William Starling and they are the oldest people we know of in the Starling family tree with the surname Starling.

Our neighbourhood

In our neighbourhood we have things such as:

Our butchers...

our telephone box...

our park...

our post office (which is also a deli) ...

our local pub...

and much more things! Here is our street and our front door: