Wild Place Project 5k fun run

Wild Place Project is a subsidiary of the Bristol Zoological Gardens and opened its doors to the public in 2013.  With a particular stress on preserving endangered habitats, there are several species to see from wolves to okapi, and lots of playgrounds dotted along the way for younger children.  It also boasts themed walks, climbing walls and other outdoor activities.
Wild Place Project isn't as well known as the zoo, but it's worth a visit especially as it's just half the price of the latter.

Wild Place Project is currently raising funds to build a new enclosure so they can house giraffes.  To this end, this year they hosted their first 5k run.  I signed up as it's not often you get an opportunity to go for a run around a zoo!  Registering for the run included entry for 3 guests, so my parents came up and enjoyed the attraction too.

I haven't run a race since before I had Rowan, so I thought 5k would be a nice return to running (especially since I don't get time to train - I think I've been running twice in the last month).
The start of the run took us past the wolves.  They were running up and down the length of their enclosure watching the runners with interest.  Wolves are my favourite animal, so this was undoubtedly the best bit of the run for me!  The wolves were probably responding to a predatory instinct, but it was still exciting to see them up close.
The route then took us down a muddy track as the gradient dropped.  Downhill is a good thing when running, but only on the return journey!  I remember thinking that facing the uphill section would really bite when we reached it, and I wasn't wrong!  I ended up walking a few sections as the terrain was so muddy I think I would have ended up sprawled over the ground if I ran it (plus, I was tired at that point).

It was a tough run, more cross-country than I was expecting.  But there was a nice sense of comradery among the runners.

This was a nice if misleadingly hard run.  I would definitely do it again though.

 At the finishing line

Whilst I was running Rowan spent his time obsessively on the bouncy castle.  Gareth did get a couple of photos of him, but they are bit blurry:

Boing!

After the run we had a pleasant walk around some of the site.  The meerkats were particularly endearing, and seemed very curious when people were around their enclosure.  Rowan seemed quite taken with them too, as you could get right up close to them.

Contented meerkats

There were lots of points of interest throughout the site, which was marvelous for maintaining an easily distracted toddler's attention.

Rowan loved this zebra jeep. He wasn't as impressed with

the real zebras. The zoologist in me weeps a little. 

 

 Terrifying driving - he's not even

watching the road!

 

 Big game

Mum and Dad mid-stroll

Project #8

I made Rowan another pair of trousers based on the Burda 9822 pattern.  However, I made a couple of changes as I wasn't happy with the fit of the previous pair.  I replaced the cord tie with an elasticated waist, raised the pockets as I thought they looked a bit low (I guess the pattern reflects the fashion of the times - wasn't the 90's an era of pockets dragging along the floor?), and folded the base of the pocket flap to hide the raw edges before stitching- when I followed the pattern the raw edges weren't suitably hidden and it's irked me since.

I also attempted contrast topstitching.  It would have been easier with a twin needle, hence some of the quirky lines.  It isn't until you try to topstitch in a contrasting colour that you notice your stitching isn't as straight as you thought.

The completed trouser

My - ahem - super straight topstitching

I had a few disagreements with my sewing machine with this project.  I handcut a motif to embelish on of the pockets (hurrah for Bondaweb!) and wanted to zigzag stitch it in place.  My sewing machine, in a fit of thread tension related anger, decided to only place the stitch on the wrong side of the fabric; the right side was a weird mess.  I ended up threading, re-threading, swearing, phoning my Mum for advice and swearing some more before finally taking the needle plate off and giving the machine an overdue clean.  That fixed it!
I wanted the zigzig stitch to be much smaller around the motif, but after the issues I had with thread tension I wasn't going to risk changing any settings so went with it.  It looks very amateur, but it's all practice and learning!

The troublesome motif

Sleeping like a baby

Rowan's latest hobby is removing his mattress from his bed and rearranging his bedding.  Most nights he calls Gareth or me upstairs to remake the bed, but this night I guess he was too tired and fell asleep mid-demolition.  He is tucked up inside the zip insert of the mattress like a sleeping bag. Surprisingly, the wooden slats from the bed are still on the bed - he uses them as a ladder propped against the wall sometimes.

Small acts

There are some days with parenting that leave you feeling unqualified, isolated and judged.  Today was one of those.  The day consisted of trying to herd a bolting toddler in the dentist's busy waiting room; making futile attempts to intercept limitless tantrums, and unsuccessfully trying to convince a toddler that taking a nap is not a form of tortuous punishment (seriously, I wish someone would tell me to go to sleep in the middle of the day with no hidden agenda!)
I took Rowan to the park after visiting the dentist as he was a bit apprehensive during his appointment.  I'm  not sure if I was looking particularly dejected, but another mum just struck up a conversation with me whilst we pushed our respective sons on the swings.  It was only idle small talk but somehow it rallied me for the rest of the day.  When Rowan later slid right off the slide and heavily onto his bottom (it was raining and the slide was very wet), and I was feeling guilty about not having the foresight to have prevented it, the same mum casually said that she was surprised how slippery the slide was and the same thing would have happened to her.

When you have days where you feel you don't know what you're doing, and it seems everyone else is finding it breeze, it is reassuring and encouraging when someone takes the time to support you.  Sometimes all it takes is a chat about the weather with a stranger to bolster self-belief.

Project #7

This duvet cover and pillow slip set has been sitting around unfinished since I made project #1, my first duvet cover.  I only had the poppers to sew on but it's taken 8 months to finally get around to completing it.
The material was from a stash given to me, and I was unsure what to use it for.  Initially I thought about making some curtains for the office, but it is a fairly thin fabric, and to be honest it didn't really match the room.  Despite the feminine pattern, I decided to make it into another duvet cover for Rowan.  This has proved a good move as lately his night-time pull-ups have been leaking!

The duvet cover really needed a lot more poppers than the 3 I sewed on, but that's what was left in my sewing box so it'll do for now.  The combination of delicate embroidery and heavy handed toddler probably means it won't have much longevity anyway.

Extra bedding for a leaky toddler.

I don't iron. 

Close-up of the embroidery. Not the most

boyish of fabrics but it fairly muted

Creativity

Rowan recently figured out how to open the high cupboard in his room.  I had my suspicions this was going to happen soon, but since the cupboard is fairly high up and has a stiff handle (and I'm knackered) I didn't preemptively child-proof it.
One evening, after a particularly troublesome bedtime routine where Rowan was hyper-tired and wouldn't settle, Gareth and I went up to check on him and found this:

Looking pleased with his masterpiece

Rowan had managed to open his cupboard and completely empty its contents (including the actual shelves).  Now, this shouldn't be a problem except that we kept all the nappy changing stuff in there including Sudocrem.  It was everywhere. The carpet; the walls; the toddler; furniture; toys...  Fortunately, the bulk of his 'painting' was confined to the drawers which was easy to wipe clean.  Overall, it could have been a lot worse (and it got worse - more on that below*). Although we now have to find somewhere for all the stuff that used to be kept in his cupboard..
In the photo above you'll notice an absence of curtains and accompanying rail.  Rowan pulled it out of the wall (including wall-plugs) a few days previously and we thought it safest to remove it completely.  The blackout blind is regularly pulled down, but at least we don't have to worry about random screws getting lost.

*Not long after this Rowan decided to try painting with... well, how to put this delicately? Poop. He painted with his poop. If you've never had to clean poop out of an electric socket, cable jack or Duplo bricks then I envy you! The walls, carpet, and toddler were relatively easy to clean by comparison. I didn't take any photos of that discovery.  I doubt anyone would've appreciated the photographic evidence.

The hungriest caterpillar

I found this not-so-little guy in our garden a couple of days ago.  He was huge!  Even the dog kept his distance.

 Who ate all the peonies?

I put the dandelion here for context... Caterpillar did not

look unhappy about it.

 

 Interesting patterning

 

The closest Tangent would get after an initial sniff

Project #6

I haven't sewed in over 4 months for to various reasons (decorating (so much decorating) and life being a little poop frankly) but I finally got around to digging out my sewing machine and making Rowan a new pair of trousers.  Since he's been potty trained it's difficult finding trousers that actually stay up - it's surprising how much bulk a nappy provides! Making your own mean you can adjust where necessary to fit.

I used Burda 9822 (view D).  Rowan measured perfectly for the smallest size, so I didn't need to adapt the pattern. Always a happy bonus!  Despite sewing the correct seam allowance etc. they still ended up too big which has annoyed me, but at least he'll have something to grow into.

Burda 9822. Very quick and easy to sew

The fabric I used was from an abundance of free material given to me, and although it is nice enough and easy to work with, I'll be glad when I've used it up and can go out and buy some fabric I've chosen! It's a slightly stretchy denim so should be hard wearing.  Rowan picked out a ladybird motif to decorate the pocket.

 

Rowan's 'say cheese' face.

 Drawstring waist, and big pockets.

Perfect for a toddler!

 The motif Rowan picked out.  I re-enforced

it with zigzag stitch so hopefully it'll last

I really should have cropped some of these photos but haven't figured out all the editing tools on my software.  If I waited to work that out too, it might have taken another four months before I posted anything.

Project #5

I'm very much a beginner knitter, so when I get the urge to knit something I try to keep it straightforward.  Rowan was getting desperate for some new jumpers and since I had a (major) surplus of cream 8ply wool, I thought it was a good opportunity to knit him up something.
I found a free pattern courtesy of the knit and crochet community site Ravelry. I liked the shoulder button opening as it wouldn't matter then if I made the neckband too small for Rowan's head.  It was an easy pattern done in stocking stitch throughout so didn't require much concentration.  However, there was a mistake in the pattern - the original photo of the completed sweater clearly showed four buttonholes, but the pattern itself only had 3.  This meant that there was a bit of a flap where the neckband should join. I managed to bodge an amateur loop stitch and create a fourth button fastening to mitigate the flap, but it isn't in line with the rest of the buttons (hence why that button is an unassuming white).