Category Archives: Nature

An Autumn of Fun for Free in your Local Area

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Autumn is such a beautiful time of the year, and it should be enjoyed by people of all ages and of all abilities too. But as the cost of living goes up again with our need for heating on and more food, not to mention the loom of Christmas… most people will vote to stay in, worrying they cannot afford to go out.

Well I’m in the same boat as all of you again this season, knowing that money will be tight but I also want to make the most of weekends I have my son. School takes up so many hours of the week, and the majority of children don’t really want to be stuck inside (unless the weather is gale force and torrential rain!). So it’s important to come up with some cheap ideas that will suit everyone and that can be fun of course, so here’s what I do.

See what can you do for free in your local area. Where do you begin to look?

Start off by writing down on a piece of paper the people in your household, their ages and abilities.

Do you need toilets frequently, baby changing facilities or access for a pram or wheelchair?

Once you have established the type of place you need to find you can look up on an online map what is available for free in your area.

Check local free magazines in supermarkets, check out social media by searching in events local to you by so many miles radius.

Some of these things can include;

Public Footpaths.
Canal Routes or Designated Walkways.
Parks and Gardens.
Local Heritage Sites.
Castles or Stately Homes.
Farms with Free Entry to look at Pumpkins, Flowers or do Maize Mazes.
Nature Reserves with free car parking so you can do a Nature Walk to collect leaves.
National Trust (some people will already be members, sometimes they have reduced entry fees).

What Can You Do While Out?

Enjoy a walk together as a family, don’t forget to take some photograph’s!
Gather items to take home and make art and craft pieces another day.
Go for a Nature Walk and talk about what you can see and hear (great for young children).
Nature Bingo where you make a list before you go and then tick off the items as you find them.
Discuss the life cycle of trees with older children and the importance of renewal each year.

(If you don’t mind spending a little money)
Pumpkin Patch Picking
Maize Maze or Woodland Trails
Local Trust Properties or Heritage Sites

Sabrina’s Top Tip: Take a picnic or packed lunch with you, and drinks for everyone too which will save you money, even if you have to eat it in the car then it won’t matter because it’s still family time.

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Thank you for reading this blog post today, I do hope that I have given you some good ideas.

Have a great day and lots of fun if you take on board any of my tips!

✩ Sabrina ✩

March 2022 Treatbox UK Reveal and Review

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Hello! It’s time for the March 2022 Treatbox UK unboxing, Reveal and Review!


March is my Birthday month, and it is of course when we welcome Spring and everything about new life! I was excited when I opened the box and the theme inside was “Daisy” as in the flowers! I wonder what treats await me…


I decided to video record my unboxing for this Treatbox, it has been years since I did one but I felt like the time was right to bring the video aspect back! You can see it on my Facebook page or my Instagram account if you would prefer to watch the video. If not please keep reading as I unbox this amazing March box from TreatboxUK.


What is Inside the March 2022 Box?

Treatbox UK March 2022 Calendar Print
Daily Mood Colouring Page
Treatbox Original Notepad with Daisy’s
Oxeye Daisy Seeds for us to Plant
Silver Plated Daisy Earrings
Clipper Chamomile Tea x 2 Bags
Daisy Pin Badge “You are one of a kind so be Kind to yourself”
Daisy Chain Coaster “You’re so beautiful when you bloom your own way”
Yellow Daisy Pen

What is my Honest Opinion on this Box?

I LOVED IT!

Okay so I have had A LOT of Treat boxes over the years, and this March 2022 box is right up there with some of the greats. I loved the Daisy theme, and I loved how the theme was apparent across everything in the box, from the bought items through to the Treatbox Originals.

I loved every item, but if I had to pick three favourites they would be… The Earrings, The Daisy Pin Badge and the Coaster. But closely followed by the Notepad and the Colouring sheet. I think these unique colouring pages are an excellent calming aspect of the boxes and I would love to keep seeing them included in the Treat boxes to come.

Overall a wonderful box that has left me with very high expectations for April! (Oops!)
I loved that we had items to do and to use and to make, rather than them all just be items to sit around gathering dust. PLUS I thought that no face / eye masks this month was a great thing too! It’s wonderful to have new things that we have not seen in Treatbox yet. I now have so many coasters that are all so unique I am just going to start collecting Coasters now, it’s my new thing 😀


A TOP TOP TOP BOX!
Thanks Zoe and the Team for creating this extra special box this month!

Thank you for reading this Unboxing Reveal today, I hope you have enjoyed it.

Please pop by in early April to see the next Reveal and Review of Treatbox UK! OR Check out my social media for the unboxing video which will be going live once I receive the box!

Have a lovely month of March and I hope to see you back again soon.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Fun Ways to Spend Quality Time with your Children both Indoors and Outdoors this Easter

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Sometimes we are all guilty of spending too much time on technology, and now that the weather is improving we should all be putting down our TV remotes and phones and getting outside! (I know that you’re thinking about doing that now, as you read this blog post on a piece of tech, but please bare with me as I have some great activities you’ll want to be inspired by I’m sure!)

So where to begin! If you’re not naturally adventurous for the great outdoors it can seem a bit overwhelming! So how about we just start small! I have come up with a range of things to suit everyone, outdoorsy types and not so much! All you need to do is choose one of these to do each day during the school break or even at the Easter weekend and voila you have some outdoor fun, nature related or outdoor activity to enjoy!

Here are my 15 “Things We Can Do” of Fun Ideas to do Indoors and Outdoors… Weather Dependent!

🥚 Use Nature in a Painting – Use sticks or leaves to paint with!

🥚 Spot a Bird of Prey – Look up and see what is flying above your head!

🥚 Find Some Minibeasts and Draw Them from Memory – Bugs can be colourful and interesting!

🥚 Take a Walk in 4 Different Types of Weather – No matter what the weather it can be fun to take a walk!

🥚 Go For a Walk and Find Some Puddles to Jump in – Who doesn’t like jumping in a puddle! Wear wellies!

🥚 Have a Musical Morning, Listening or Playing – Music can help you relax!

🥚 Do Some Finger Painting – Draw the trunk of a tree and make the leaves with your fingers!

🥚 Play Eye-Spy on a Family Walk – Eye Spy is great for a range of ages!

🥚 Do a Jigsaw on a Rainy Day – Jigsaws can be a fun family activity on a rainy day or a board game!

🥚 Build a Den or Fort Together – Who doesn’t love building a den! Cushions and Throws work well!

🥚 Draw and then Colour in something you’ve seen in Nature on your Walk, a Rainbow, Tree, Flower etc

🥚 Design your own Dream Car or Dream House (for older children to imagine)

🥚 Create Post for a Loved One and Walk to a Post Box to Send it – Draw a Picture or Write a Letter

🥚 Have an Afternoon of MESS with Messy Play or Fun with Paint or Food items – Paint and Rice Crispies…

🥚 Read More! Read as a Family, decide on what your Favourite Book is and why – Books help you learn!

🥚 Nature Hunter Gatherers – Collect some things from in your local area to look at when you get home such as leaves and pinecones, things that have fallen from trees and bushes. Don’t deliberately destroy nature though! Fallen Leaves are great, discover what tree they come from by looking at the shape!

The image above is from when my son and I did a day of Nature Hunter Gatherers. It was a lovely warm day and we spent six hours outside having fun, games and walking. This activity is great for learning about where things come from such as pinecones and feathers. Make sure you do this on a dry day. We took a long walk through our village and picked up things that we found on the ground. Leave them somewhere cool and dry for a few days to dry out and make sure there are no creatures living in them before you handle them again!

I highly recommend getting some coloured trays like these, they were only £3 for a pack of 3 from
The Works. Perfect for both Art and Craft and collecting things too!

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Picking Up Litter

If your children are a little older than mine you might want to pop gloves on when you go on your walk, take a plastic bag with you, and do a litter picking up hour in your local village or town. This helps the environment and the animals and birds in your area from getting injured.

🥚 Easter Ideas 🥚

You could also do Easter themed Drawings, Colouring In and Games such as an Easter Egg Hunt in your house or garden this weekend.

Check out my previous Easter blog posts for Art and Craft ideas and Baking fun… Here…

Thank you for reading this blog post today! I hope that I have inspired you to do at least one of these activities with your own family. Let me know in the comments section or on my social media if you get up to anything fun in the next few weeks!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Introducing Children to Nature with Fun and Games

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There are many ways to introduce toddlers and young children to nature. No matter where you live there will always be something to see. So here are my top tips on how you can start showing off the nature where you live, to your children. It’s never too early to start learning!

And I am sure that David Attenborough would agree with me when I say that “You’re never too young or too old to learn about the world around you”.

By making things fun children are more likely to learn and remember the information you are portraying. You can still stay safe at home but enjoy nature around where you live by keeping to social distancing guidelines.

Here are my Top 5 things to do at Home but Outside! Be it in your Garden or if you don’t have one you could just go on a Walk around your village or town or park. It may be lockdown but that doesn’t stop you walking socially distanced from other families.

Children are more likely to learn and listen if you turn things into fun and a game. So why not make your own games up, or take a look at my ideas below.

1. Bird Spotting
2. Bug Finding
3. Pick a Creature – Try To Find It
4. What Is That I See? What Is Around My Home
5. Eye Spy Lockdown Edition

1. Bird Spotting is easy enough to do, take a notepad and pen with you and write everyone’s names at the top. Make columns down the page and write down every different sort of bird that you spot. The person who spots the most species of birds is the winner!

2. Bug Finding is great fun in a small space, depending on how old your children are you could just spot basic bugs and say things like “Beetle” or “Spider” or you can go into what type of bug you are looking at such as “Stag Beetle” etc. You could even ask little ones to draw what they saw on the walk from their memory when you get back home.

3. Pick a Creature is a great game to play with children who already know what certain animals are. Take a walk and get everyone to pick something, one person might count Crows, the other Cats, another Pigeons, but whatever it is they have to keep score of their creature until you get home.

4. What is that I see? Use your knowledge of things around where you live and discuss things with your children like the seasons, if there are evergreen trees, what colour the flowers are you can find, any buildings and their purpose etc.

5. Eye Spy Lockdown Edition is literally eye spy but your children are only allowed to pick one type of thing during your walk. You could say just birds, or just objects, whatever is best for your children’s age.

Books I Recommend

I recently invested in several books for my son who is two and a half. He is interested in matching things up lately so I thought books with pictures of things to spot when we go out for a walk are ideal. I also have a number of nature books I have collected over my lifetime, anything with large pictures and easy to see nature depicting scenes are engaging for most children.

“Usborne Minis” are Great little books ideal to carry with you on a walk, and they have a range so you could pick which is most relevant to you and where you live, for example Birds, Trees or Bugs. There are always National Trust books and also RSPB for birds. Another great book I own is the DK Pocket Nature Wildlife of Britain book, it’s a few years old now but has excellent photography and information about British wildlife.

Of course you can always use a search engine on your phone to find out what you’ve seen, but the joy of these sorts of books is being able to mark things off when you have spotted them. The Usborne Mini book set have stickers for you to place on a grid inside the book in order to tick them off. This is great because you also have to identify the sticker as well as the creature or tree for example. Simple but it’s still learning at its best.

Thank you for reading this post today, I hope I have inspired you to get out and about in your area with your children (or just your other half). I have many more lockdown friendly ideas coming up over the next few weeks, so please check back another time if you enjoyed this post.

Have a lovely week!

✩ Sabrina ✩

3 Reasons To Keep Your Supermarket Rose Plants

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Today on my blog I am talking about those gorgeous mini rose bush plants you can buy them in your local supermarket. You can usually get one for around £3-£5 for a plant, sometimes they come in a pretty little pot as well. When choosing one, go for one with a nice thick and healthy main stem and with buds that are still yet to open and flower.

The Supermarket Rose is a beautiful gift for someone who just to brighten up your windowsill. I have had two yellow roses and a pink rose in the last two years. You can often find them in Red, Peach and even a pale White shade of Rose petals. Supermarkets usually stock a wide range of colours, I like Yellow as I feel it brightens up a room.

So many people toss their little Rose bushes into the bin when they finish flowering. One reason for this is because they see the label which often reads “Guaranteed to Flower for 14 days” and they presume that after this flowering rose is finished blooming then the plant is now obsolete, and that is so wrong! Did you know that with a little love and care you can make your little Rose last for months or even years? And they will flower again!

Well in this blog post I am going to tell you just how and why you should keep them. Here are my main 3 Reasons…

Reason 1. They can survive inside or outside! I will go into how you would care for each in a moment.

Reason 2. You sometimes get extra growth of the original plant after a couple of months, and some plants can be re-potted into more than one Rose bush. Then you could keep one for yourself and gift away the other if you like!

Reason 3. Looking after plants during difficult and uncertain times can help your mental health by giving you something to care for and focus on. It will also produce flowers several times a year to brighten up your home.

Just after I had separated the Rose Stems off and then set them back onto my windowsill.
They soon grew and grew and grew… and flowered again!

Keeping Your Rose Inside or Outside

Inside
A nice regular sized pot and a windowsill with half sun and half shade, your Rose bush should thrive here. Water it every day, keeping the soil damp and remove dead leaves and dead flowers to prolong its growth. Leave it inside the pot it comes in until all the flowers have finished, and then you can re-pot it into something prettier if you’d like, pop a few stones at the base to allow for drainage and if you’re increasing the pot size to allow for growth use some moisture controlling compost.

Check the plant if and when you re-pot it. You may find it has two separate stems and roots systems, if that is the case you can do as I did above (image) and pot in two pots and then you’ll end up with two plants.

Outside
A pot of any size because the bush will grow into it. But in order to be liveable outside and to survive the Winter you must do two things. One, is to line the pot with a sheet of bubble wrap plastic, this is to keep the roots safe from any frost. And two, you also need to put a few stones in the base and place the plant into some moisture controlling compost, which will retain water so as to keep the plant nourished. You must water it regularly in warm weather and do not let the pot dry out.

So far my Pink Outdoor Supermarket Rose is coming up to its third year in a pot outside. I got lots of flowers on it in June, I also gave it some flower food once the flowers began to show their buds. As you can see I had some rich new green leaves grow this summer. I may need to re-pot it into a larger pot next summer if it grows again.

The image below is of my Yellow Rose Plants, they were separated in the Spring and now it is September, they have more than doubled in size. They are now flowering for the fourth time this year. They are getting quite big now for my kitchen, I am contemplating potting them outside on a sunny day in the Autumn, I have some left over bubble wrap from my recent move ready to wrap around them to keep the roots warm and protected from any frost we might have. They have loved their new position in my new home, since July they have been on that kitchen window, and it gets lots of light.

I have treated myself to a new little rose now too, to start this process off all over again. I got this cute little plant from Aldi for just £1.79! Bargain!
Gorgeous Pink colour!

My plan is to grow this Rose to the same size as my yellow ones while indoors, then plant outdoors next late Spring time. Hopefully it can reach a similar size.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post, please let me know if you’d like to see more like this, such as gardening related or tips on making the most of supermarket purchases.

Thanks for visiting Severn Wishes today.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Review and Unboxing of the July Box from The Lifestyle Box Co

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Hello and Welcome to a brand new Unboxing and Review with me, Sabrina.

Today I have the pleasure of bringing you the Reveal of the July box from The Lifestyle Box Co. I’m excited to be bringing you this brand new collaboration on Severn Wishes.

I have been approached by the lovely ladies at the company to unbox this Lifestyle orientated subscription box on my blog, and explain what the box and the company are all about.

The Lifestyle Box Co is fast becoming a number one subscription box for women in the United Kingdom. If you love all things Lifestyle, you want high quality items and all while supporting an independent British company, then this is definitely the box for you!

Inside this monthly subscription box you can find 4 treat items, these tend to be from the following category types. There’s Stationary, Homeware, Fragrance, Confectionery, Beauty and Jewellery.

Whether you’re into treats for you or for your home, The Lifestyle Box Co has a little of everything to brighten up your month, all delivered direct to your door.

The overall look of the subscription box is excellent, a professional logo sits centrally and the first thing I notice after that is its strong box to transport the items that are inside. The box is also reusable due to its fold over lid, because I have seen how durable it is I will certainly be reusing it for something.

I’ve been sent the July box which has a theme of “Secret Garden”. I’m intrigued as to what items may fall under this theme and category, there are plenty of flowers available at this time of year to make products out of… so without further ado! This is what I found inside the box…

The Secret Garden Box – July 2018

The Treat Kitchen – Mojito Gummies
A jar of delicious sweets in Mojito flavour designed to sit inside their very own cardboard beach hut.
Family Run Business Based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom
The Treat Kitchen Website

Kabloom – Seedbom – Pollinator BeeBom – Throw it Grow it!
A Starch Based Biodegradable Shell that is Filled with Organic Compost and Wild Seeds to help the “Bom Thrower” Save The Bees! This mix is ideal for Honey Bees and Bumblebees!
Kabloom Website


Potters Crouch (since 1986) Passionate about Fragrance
This Candle which smells of Daffodil and Narcissus (No11) is beautifully presented in a silver and black tin. Handmade in St Albans in Hertfordshire using Fine Fragrances and Superior Ingredients.
Candle can be burned inside or outside and has a unique floral smell.
Potters Crouch Website


The Salt Parlour – Lime and Avocado Energise Scrub 60g
A Vegan and Naturally Cruelty Free product that is ideal for the summer with people wanting to make sure their skin is in top condition for the sunshine.
Treating your skin to a Natural and Earth Friendly product that smells divine! This salt and sulphur scrub comes as the mini tin with its own wooden spoon to help you get exactly the right amount of product out for each use. A zesty lime scent infused with the oil of avocado to leave your skin feeling amazingly nourished and glowing. Made in the United Kingdom.
The Salt Parlour Website

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My Overall Opinion

My overall thoughts about this subscription box are that the quality of its items out weighs many that are available on the market. I was impressed with how the box is put together. Not only was the theme well considered but the products inside are made to a high standard, those that state they are made in the UK is a bonus in my eyes. We are supporting business within our country and I would rather be doing that these days. I’m also impressed with how the theme goes throughout the products but nothing is duplicated. So one if for enjoying in a scented capacity, one is to consume, one is to use on the body and the other is for us to distribute and see what grows from it. The box has an overall great mixture of items, and I’m sure many people would appreciate a little bit of everything, including things we can do ourselves.

My Favourite Item

There were two treats that I liked the most and I couldn’t choose between them. I am a huge fan of nature and grew up in rural countryside, so the “Seed Bom” resonated deeply for me with memories of fields of wild flowers, and I’m up for anything that helps with our Bees too! The other item has to be the Candle, what a gorgeously presented product, that not only is created to a high standard but it’s also handmade in the United Kingdom, I believe that effort can be seen and smelt in its quality.

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More About The Lifestyle Box Co

 

The Lifestyle Box Co are based in Cheshire and is an independent company ran by two inspiring women Marie & Melanie. The aim of the Lifestyle box is to be a treat for women who enjoy the more luxurious of lifestyle items. Melanie and Marie believe people should be able to treat themselves and feel guilt free when it comes to self care and self love. Hard working women should be able to enjoy a treat without any worry, and all the better if the products are supporting small businesses and strong UK brands.

Every month there is a different theme, and the ladies work hard to research high quality brands and products for their boxes. This month for July was of course “Secret Garden” but there have been many other themes in recent months, all of which have been received by customers with great success! The boxes also have a colour to coincide with the theme…

I asked Marie to tell me a few more things about The Lifestyle Box Co. and this is what she said…

“Melanie & I started the Lifestyle Box co for a number of reasons…..we are VERY alike, we love to shop and we have keen eye for hunting out beautiful items. Melanie is the ex head buyer at boohoo so brings a wealth of experience there too.

We are big lovers of mindset, positivity, spirituality and ultimately self care. With the Lifestyle Box we saw that busy women were often putting themselves last on their long list of priorities so we love to embrace this as their guilt free moment in the month where they treat themselves for a job well done!

We wanted to be more than just a beauty box….we adore beauty and pamper products, but then we equally adore gorgeous chocolate truffles, or a trinket for the Home, or a beautiful bit of stationary….
Our boxes have a monthly theme. Each theme has a colour and we build each box around that theme, carefully selecting four items that compliment each other beautifully.

Our July box is our Secret Garden Box. It’s been a huge success and another sell out box 💚 We’ve also been featured in Cheshire Life Magazine this month and you can read our full story there too! It’s been a fab month.”

The subscription to The Lifestyle Box starts from £20 and you can subscribe from one month up to 6 on a prepay plan. It is a rolling monthly bill that has a renewal date of the 20th of each month, with the boxes themselves being dispatched on the 10th of each month. You can cancel your subscription at any time, and the boxes will always contain four items.So have you been convinced to look more into this incredible company owned by two passionate and independent women? If so then I will now leave some links below to their website and social media so that you may follow the brand at your own leisure.

The Lifestyle Box Co. Website
The Lifestyle Box Co. Instagram
The Lifestyle Box Co. Facebook

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Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I really hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this post as much as I have enjoyed reviewing the items. I would like to thank Marie and Melanie for approaching me to review this box, it has been a privilege to unbox such a gorgeous array of treats.

Come back soon for more Reviews and Lifestyle!

✩ Sabrina ✩