Water games

When the temperature stayed above 25 degrees four weeks in a row, the only thing to do on the island is swimming and water games. We had five small kids and almost ten big ‘kids’ at the house and all escaped down to the beach, and the water was also warmer than ever, 24-26 degrees.

JD bought a new toy for the bigger kids, a plastic vessel to be pulled by the boat. Sam and Emma could also try with their parents. I was pulling little Ollie from the jetty, he is 4 years old and couldn’t take the ride with the boat.

 

Unlucky and lucky dudes

It is always sad to see the bad luck of animals. Last week we saw a dead woodpecker, seagull’s broken or damaged egg, and an old common toad who couldn’t move and had dug itself a whole under the rhubarb leave.

We also saw some very lucky animals: one evening when we were all having dinner on the patio, Rob saw three deer eating raw apples in our garden. They are already so used to people that our dinner didn’t bother them. Only when I walked closer to take a photo did they run away. So I didn't catch the moment. Another huge miss was when I saw a large bird, probably sea eagle, flying just above my head with a pike in its claws.

Hanna’s herbarium

Hanna, 12 years, had a task from school to collect a herbarium of 20 plants during the summer. One day we collected altogether 30 plants, which she pressed under newspapers and dried. I found an old herbarium with nice green covers at the Fiskars Antique Market for her.

Once the plants were dry, she attached one plant on a sheet a white paper and made small name labels for each plants.

Easy seafood

Tanned and tired after the day at the seaside, we grilled tiger shrimps (imported and bought frozen). That was fast and easy. They were simply served with rice and ready-made chili sauce. And strawberries for dessert, naturally.