Tadpole Update!

We now have quite a few eggs that have hatched.....if they all grow into frogs, Papa will have about 300 jumping around his garden!




You can see the eye of the eggs start to lengthen here.















Just a day later, tadpoles have come out of their egg sacks and are feeding on the jelly.

It will be six weeks before they have legs. By then, these ones will be swimming freely again in Papa's stream.

London!

We spent a couple of days in London last week. Actually the G20 days which turned out to be the perfect time, as all the tourist spots were empty!

Daniel and Eve were excited to go to The City for the first time, on the train too, so no more car sickness driving along the windy English roads!

Daniel's favorite London 'ride', the Tube!

Some local 'Bobbies' (policemen). They dont carry guns in England, just truncheons.

A Police Smart Car. Perfect kid size!

Our first stop was the Tower of London. We took a boatride on the Thames which gave us a great view!

View from within the castle walls.

The famous White Tower in the centre of the Tower of London. King Henry VIII's armoury is kept here now. We also saw the Crown Jewels, with the largest clear and cut diamond in the world. It looked a little heavy!

The official guards at the Tower of London are the Beefeaters. Behind the Beefeater are theRoyal lodgings, should the Queen choose to stay at the Tower.






Below is an archer, the chainmail he wears under his tunic protects him from incoming fire! Again, very heavy !

As we left the Tower of London, London Bridge was opening for a sailboat to pass through on the Thames. Its rare to see this, it only happens a couple of times a week, so we were very lucky!

The next morning we got up bright and early to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.

The Palace gates were impressive.

We then moved on to the London Eye - we couldnt believe the weather! A clear view.

Next stop, the top of the world!

Wow! This is last year's wasp nest we found in Papa' s attic. Its larger than a soccer ball! Its paper thin though so it would crumble if we moved it.

Thankfully, no-one's home!

Our apologies for the big gap - we have been keeping busy exploring other parts of England. We have blogged parts you might like to share with us.

We travelled to Oxfordshire (central England) for a few days visiting family, and then went onto Dorset, which is an area on the South Coast of England.

We took at day trip to Kimmeridge Bay, on the Jurassic Coastline.

The beach floor (rocks) at the Bay were once the floor of a deep tropical sea, rich in pre-historic life. The rock formations were amazing and there were some very cool fossils to be found.

Eve, fossil hunting!

This fossil was as large as Daniel's face!

Day 2 - The afternoon.

Kenilworth Castle is one of the great historical sites of the United Kingdom. It was built in 1120, almost 400 years before Columbus discovered America! The castle has played host to King Edward I, King Henry V, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. In 1963 the castle was given to Sir Robert Dudley by Queen Elizabeth I to show him her great admiration. He completed a beautiful garden on the side of the castle for her royal visit in 1575. This garden is being re-created today and will be complete this May. The castle was reduced to ruins in 1650 during the civil war.

Below is a model of the castle in its prime! It was partly surrounded by a great lake, which served as protection against invaders. There is now only a small stream that runs through the castle grounds surrounded by English countryside.

Here you can see part of the old castle wall, and in the distance, the Gatehouse, which was the only part of the castle that survived the destruction. It was initially the main entrance to the castle.

The castle was built with sandstone, which over the years has been worn away by the weather.

Daniel inside one of the few remaining stairwells.

The Gatehouse. Reconstructed into a residential building after 1650. It has recently been opened to the public. Would you like to see inside?

This was one of the bedrooms. The wall panels, floor, ceiling and furniture was all made in solid wood.....beautifully carved. The four poster bed was only about 5ft 6inches long. Adults were a lot shorter in those days!









Recognise this fireplace? See the picture below, its still there!

Many of the features in the Gatehouse were taken from the ruins of the castle, ie, the wood panelling, the fireplace mantels, etc.

The Gatehouse's garden was in formal Elizabethan style.

Also within the castle walls, and newly restored, are the livery stables. These days, a great place for an English Cream Tea!

Day 2 - Saturday 21st March

Eve discovered some frogsporn in the stream at the bottom of Nana and Papa's garden and so we decided to collect some and see if we could get some tadpoles before the vacation is over!

We collected some garden water with algae and other edible pond life in it for the future tadpoles.

Eve went fishing!

FROGSPORN!

WATCH FOR THE TADPOLE UPDATE!

Day1 - the afternoon.

After the Hatton Locks, we went to the Hatton Craft Fair and Farm.

It had a guinea pig village which was very cool. We could handle them.

Eve had a difficult time choosing which one to hold!

Some 'down time'!

The falconry exhibition was fascinating, although at times a little too close for comfort!