Working out things you can play in a small front garden. Using chalk to trace the shadows of the plants. Picking the leaves off the beech hedge.
332 – Chalking the plant shadows
Monday 3 February. Sunny. 9°C.
It’s another lovely sunny afternoon with really long shadows everywhere. Inspired by the Friday before (see challenge 335 – School yard shadows) I’m determined to do something in the very sunny but very small front garden. I grab some chalk and leave it on the doorstep.
When B and I come back we’re already having fun with our looooooong shadows as we walk down the road towards the house.
B spots the chalk: “What’s that for?”
Me: “Well you can do anything you like with it, but how about drawing over the plant shadows for today’s challenge?”
On the wall by the front door is the shadow of a few plants. B gets it straightaway and dives for the chalk, alternating colours as she goes. I pick up another colour and start from the other side. In no time we’ve completed our own front of house artwork (which I reckon will last about 24 hours, as the rain is coming tomorrow.)
< Beach combing in winter with kids (333)
349 – Picking the leaves off the beech hedge.
Friday 17 January. Cloudy. 3°C.
We need something quick and easy today with clubs back on after school. B is all for wandering off to see what we can see but I reckon we have about fifteen minutes at most and am not confident we’re going to find anything. Then I remember the beech hedge at the front of our house. It’s covered in brown leaves which have died but are holding on tightly till the new ones come out in spring. We sprayed a lot of them gold for Christmas.
Me: Do you want to pull the leaves off or make the 349?
B: Pull the leaves off!
She goes for speed over precision, pulling huge handfuls and throwing them down. I request some whole leaves which she gets but prefers the first method. It’s definitely messy but lots of fun. It’s time for school and she’s sad to leave it.
B: Can we continue when I get home?
Me: Of course you can.
We didn’t of course. She came home and headed straight for the tablet and the sofa. There’s definitely something about these things being hard to start but then also tough to stop.
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