Tuesday 25 March 2014

Wombles, Lego and a bit of other stuff

Wandering round the house this morning after I left the boys at school it struck me how some of the things they've been enjoying are the same ones that I liked when I was little.


Remember the Wombles?  Orinoco and Bungo and Madame Cholet.  I like to call out, "Coo-ee, Wumbles" sometimes, just like she does when tea's ready.  The book was published in 1973 and cost the grand sum of 35p.  Those were the days.  The Womble philosophy is more popular than ever now, although "making good use of the things that they find, the things that the everyday folk leave behind" has fancier names now, repurposing, recycling, upcycling and the like.  I found this book on the sofa, the middle boy is reading it, and I'm happy that he likes the gentler stories, as well as some of the more action-packed stuff he also reads.

Upstairs there's Lego.  A while back, in a frenzy of decluttering, I nearly got rid of the tin of old Lego from my childhood.  I've no idea what I was thinking.  It's a biscuit tin full of the pieces I played with over and over again when I was little, making houses and a little milk float, complete with blue milk bottles.


And check out those biscuits!  Oh life was good.


I must have made this house twenty times or more.  I think I wanted to live in a house like this one day.  I loved it.  Thank goodness I didn't give it all away.  It's a tin full of memories.


The middle boy is a huge Lego fan, but this week all of them have been happily building things.  I love to see their happy imaginings.


Also up there is another tin ("Biscuits for Cheese" this time), filled with my old plastic Mecchano.  More classic stuff that they still love today.


I remember making all of the different models from the instructions.   So nice that they're still intact.  And that my little people, especially the middle boy, love to make these things too.


Downstairs I've been enjoying this lovely book, that I was lucky enough to win in a giveaway done by Karen at The Garden Smallholder, one of my favourite blogs.


It's a really beautiful book, full of information about growing flowers for cutting, and the photographs are stunning.



It's going to be really useful, as this year me and the boys are going to be trying to grow some flowers, for cutting and also for insects.  It's written by Louise Curley, who blogs at Wellywoman.

Outside the frogspawn has turned rapidly into tadpoles.  I don't know if it's faster than normal, but it does seem like it was.  Last year was cold, and I'm sure we waited ages to see tadpoles.  This year they've been wiggling around all week, and basking on the top of this waterlily leaf.


Inside things are a little calmer than they were last week.  Sometimes the boys get tired and cross and then every day is full of noise and arguments and fighting.  This week (well, except for Monday) it's going much better.


Tomorrow there's a teacher's strike.  The middle boy's teacher and the littlest boy's teacher are both striking.  The biggest boy's teacher isn't striking so he'll be going to school.  The littlest boy has volunteered to walk to school with us so that he can wave goodbye.  What a lovely little brother he is.  I'm looking forward to a happy day full of Lego and imaginary games.  The two littlest boys do play nicely together when it's just the two of them, and they love their inventive playing.  I love to listen to their conversations. It should be a good day.

28 comments:

  1. How cute they can play chess :) And those tadpoles are so cool! I've been thinking about getting a fish or something for my daughter to experience. She's only 2 so that's about as far as I can comfortably go right now haha

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  2. I love the television antenna on top of the house. I'm guessing most kids don't know what that is for. I still remember the day we got ours! Dad was up on the roof for hours getting it set up just right. LOL

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    1. oh my goodness, ha! you are so right about the antenna!

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  3. I LOVE the Biscuits for Cheese tin. Seriously, how fantastic is that? I loved seeing the old lego bits and instructions as well. Yes, the love remains. I'm so glad you kept them. Sounds like a lovely day to be had with the two youngest. Enjoy it :)

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  4. Goodness, that's vintage Lego! I remember those tins. Your tadpoles are fast developers - our frogspawn is still just that (spawn) - have you been hot housing them?! Enjoy your day tomorrow. X

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  5. I didn't have any of the toys or the book. I've only heard of Lego in this post, actually. My children love Lego and play with it a lot. I would have loved it too. I really like seeing the old tins, how cool. I wish I had toys from my childhood but I don't have many because my parents threw them away. I don't know why they did that, but I came back from my first year of college and it was all gone. I wish they'd asked me first. I do still have my Barbies but I'm not sure if I even want my daughter to play with those and I don't think she's ready yet anyway, she still adores her baby dolls. I'm glad your week with the boys is going well. Hope the teachers' strike is over soon.

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  6. Oh!!! We had a lego set just like that! I am telling you that your shot above of that lego house brought back so many memories of my brothers and sisters and I building with legos! Sweet sweet memories! And that book about the cutting garden looks fantastic! I will have to check that one out! I love that you all have tadpoles happily swimming about! That too is one of my favorite things! I often bring the beans to the Arboretum to wade in the pond and look for tadpoles! I do hope the strike doesn't last very long and that the boys are back in school soon! But until then enjoy your down days with them! Lovely happenings here friend! Hope you are well! Nicole xoxo

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  7. What a lovely journey down memory lane, thank you. A lovely happy post, enjoy your day with your boys........

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  8. Lovely post, reminds me of the time my three boys were still little and also played the whole day with lego.They're grown men now but still very close. Although sometimes I do miss the time they were little I enjoy to see how strong their bond is now.Thanks for sharing and have a lovely week with your boys! Anita xx

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  9. A lovely post which bought back a few, faded memories of my metal Meccano set.
    Well done on winning a copy of Louise's excellent book.
    I hope that today is a good day for you. xx

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  10. I wish my boys were a little more gentle in their reading and playing! I'm afraid so many toys end up broken that its a point of upset for me....my middle boy likes Lego, but the biggest one isn't very good at spending time with one thing for any length of time. Some things that have survived thirty years Have been broken in minutes once my boys have got to them....so upsetting. My middle and small get on well too, but the dynamics totally çhañg3 whichever you remove from the group. Middle is going on a three day school trip, so everything will be different, oh, and quieter!

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  11. Are you sure the little one won't be gloating?

    I was a Bette Bilda girl and loved creating my dream houses too,

    Luck you re the book - I covet it!

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  12. I was lucky enough to find a lego table with the storage drawer full of boxes, complete with instructions for £5, my granddaughters were 2 and 3 at the time that was nearly 20 years ago. They still have the desk and lego ready for their children. As for the teachers strike I find it amazing that school heads insist that if you take your children out of school for a holiday you will be prosecuted, then the teachers strike and you can not send the children to school. My frogspawn is still that, but my hedgehog is up and about.

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  13. How lovely to have so many of your own childhood toys still, I think my mum must have given all mine away, none of them have survived other than a couple of teddy bears. Hope today is going well, our school has closed because of the strike too.

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  14. The little lego house is just the sort of house that I dreamed of living in when I grew up!!! Somehow I never got to play lego and meccano as they were boys toys which I didn't get to use, but I wish that I had! xx

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  15. I've never heard of Wombles - must be a British thing. But I really like their motto! Seeing the tadpoles develop is really cool. And you really have the luck - winning all of these give-a-ways! You should go hit the casino!

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  16. Now the wombles song is in my head!
    I love old toys, and I fully intend to save toys from my kids now so that we can look back on them when the grandkids are around!
    I hope you're having a great week,
    Much love,
    Tammy

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  17. Yes isn't it just wonderful how history repeats itself and yes I so remember the wombles, I loved them!!! I was also a massive LEGO fan and so is my little boy. I must say that book you won looks wonderful and I also shared a strike today, I can't say that it was all peaceful and wonderful, but in some way it was just nice to spend a little time together. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week xoxo

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  18. lego was the toy of my childhood and is now the centre of my son's life. I love that. x

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  19. Yes, the wombles were the first recyclers weren't they and so nice they have brought them back. Also lego, so addictive, you don't notice just how much you take over from what the children are making! My two had different ends of the spectrum today with the strike, one going in and one having to stay at home - HUGE arguments this morning on why my eldest had to go in when he was saying that they should stage a walk out themselves. Oh the joys of parenthood :-)

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  20. I read your post in the morning but didn't have time to comment. I have been humming the Wombles theme song ever since, so uplifting! Thank you.
    My mum kept lots of our old toys and we all play with them whenever we visit. Isn't it just wonderful how our toys are still popular and haven't fallen to bits? I hope you had a lovely day today. Cx

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  21. How lovely that your boys are enjoying reading and playing with favourites from your childhood. In this day and age of computers, iPods and nintendos, it is good to hear. What an old fogey that makes me! I too made sure my daughter had plenty of good old fashioned entertainment now, and today she still loves a good book above the laptop ( I think!).
    Gill xx

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  22. I love that your boys play with the same toys you used to play with and read the same books you read as a girl. That's just so nice and comforting that things continue and can be enjoyed for generations to come. I just brought a large box of toys I had when I was little over from my parents' house to store in our basement. I hope that they will find new life some day, too. Hope tomorrow is wonderful. I'm sure listening to their conversations is entertaining:)

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  23. A lovely post. I think that many old books and toys simply don't need replacing with the newest thing. Your old toys and books show that - they are just as magical for children now as then, even if their condition isn't perfect.
    That's interesting about the tadpoles. Given the largely mild spring, I imagine the tadpoles are developing earlier. Hope the school-free day was fun!

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  24. I remember metal meccano very well (I think my brother must have had some) but my son wasn't really into meccano - he was a Lego chap so I have tons of the stuff stored in boxes now that he's 19. Well done for resisting the urge to chuck toys out, they really will be valued in years to come! My parents chucked out all my old toys as we moved every few years, my Dad being in the armed forces. Such a shame as I remember all sorts of lovely toys that would now be vintage!!

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  25. My son's both loved Lego's, I remember the very expensive Star Wars ones, they were the best! We have big bins of all the remaining legos' stored for the future.
    Hugs,
    Mredith

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  26. I have very few of my childhood toys now, I wasn't a great lego girl (although I love playing with it now with my girls). My Dad travelled a lot with his job and always brought me back a doll in National costume which sat on top of my wardrobe (and collected dust...it's only now I think of my poor Mum trying to clean them!!) I know they're safely packed away in their loft waiting for me to take them!

    Only the other day I was singing the womble song to my daughter and now you're posting here about them. She loves to see Bagpuss and Mr Benn on youtube as the programmes from my childhood!

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  27. Hello, thanks for your comment on my blog. So glad to have found yours now! Your photos are lovely. My mom-in-law kept all my husband's lego from when he was a boy and it is so lovely to see my oldest playing with his dad's old toys :-)

    Col x

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