A Child's Garden in May

Many works of arts and literature have been inspired by beholding the enchantment in the eyes of a young child set free in a lush and colourful garden. That beautiful sight of the soft and gentle skin rubbing against the blossoming flowers along the footpath is always sure to spark the imagination and bring delight to any lucky observer. 

Last Sunday, on our weekend walk to the park, we went inside the Walled Garden in Hillsborough, a lush oasis that is one of the city's best kept secrets. The late spring flowers are bursting with life, splashing vibrant colours against the mid-morning sun looking like an artist's landscape in canvas. I know very few flowers by their first names, but that does not stop me from being in awe. And the little one, he was in paradise. 

Cherry Blossom Walk

The fleeting days of the cherry blossoms are coming to an end. In Hillsborough Park where some of them lined up the paths, the wicked wind has blown its kiss of death and scattered a trail of pink petals along the way. The delicate flowers left on the branches, clinging on for dear life, won't be there for long as the vibrant green leaves have begun to sprout. 

So with time running out and bright and clear days few and far in between to capture this magical time of the year, I insisted to take a few snaps on our walk this morning when the sun was out. Not his daddy's idea of a relaxing walk but my young man looked like he enjoyed his walk!






Note: The last photo was taken just two weeks ago when all the blooms were still out, now the pink flowers are barely visible. 

The Great Sheffield Duck Race

On Easter Monday after the dark looming clouds that started the day cleared off to welcome the cheerful sun, around 2,500 rubber ducks raced along the River Porter for the annual Great Sheffield Duck Race at Endcliffe Park. This charity event is organised by Friends of Porter Valley to raise money for the restoration of the Forge Dam and on its 6th year has attracted a record number of 4,000 spectators cheering on the floating ducks by the riverside while children paddled in the water in their shirts and slippers, helping racers who were lagging behind. 

We arrived late, the event started at 2pm and it was already halfway through when we arrived but we still had plenty of fun following the course of the race towards the rocky end where the eventful winner was joyfully proclaimed. When the crowd turned towards the stalls surrounding the fields, so did we, passing by a long queue forming at the sole ice cream van strategically positioned in front of the playgrounds. 

Everything was packed, including the grounds but we were still lucky to find a space to gobble our sandwiches and watch other families who are sat around their barbecues cheering on little Olivers playing football, tiny Eleanors pushing their mini prams and lively terriers chasing after their treasured twigs. It was certainly the epitome of a British public gathering in the city's middle class heartland. But with a charitable cause and cultural preservation at the centre of this event, it was worth taking part in!

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Sheffield Botanical Gardens: One Fine April Day

Dancing daffodils. Blossoming magnolias. Sprouting tulips. Scampering squirrel. And plenty of mummy and baby selfies. Our trip to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens on a warm and sunny April Friday has been rather stimulating! 

Out on a Walk

It's April in Hillsborough and the park has come alive. At the back of the library, there were no more signs of the crocuses that once carpeted the grounds only to be replaced by white and yellow daffodils making their annual dance. The trees were no longer bare, leaves with a vibrant shade of green have started to come out and the lovely cherry blossoms are flowering. Elsewhere amongst the carefully maintained flower patches, the brightly coloured tulips were ready to capture our hearts. 

Every year, spring seems to take longer to arrive but it always makes the long wait worth it. Especially when the sun is out and the temperature reaches double figures (14 degrees Celsius is decent!). Yesterday was one such day and on our afternoon walk, we took some photos, listened to the birds singing and smelled the flowers!

Kino Bambino: Of Screaming Babies and Cosmopolitan Mummies

Since I came to live in Britain, I could only count the number of times I have been to the cinema and it was mostly with friends. Paying for TV licence and having a BBC iPlayer on our telly meant we have a good selection of TV films, documentaries and drama series that we even struggle to find time to watch. On the rare occasion that John would take me out on a movie date, we would head off to Sheffield's 'arty' cinema, the Showroom, located in cultural heart of the city, opposite the train station. 

When our little boy was a few weeks old, we watched a British-Filipino film, Metro Manila, with my mother there. He slept through most of the film and only had to be taken out once when he woke up for a feed, so we managed to enjoy the movie without disturbing the rest of the audience. But at seven months, I would be lucky to get him to sleep during the day for an hour thus taking him to the cinema would be rather rude. So finding out that the Showroom has a special screening for parents with babies under one year old was rather useful. Called Kino Bambino, the latest films are screened with lower sound levels and the room is brighter than normal. 

A friend from a baby group has told me about it, she regularly goes on Monday mornings. This week, when a movie I wanted to watch was being shown, we went out to see it. 

We were amongst the first to take our seats and for awhile there were only less than ten of us inside but by the time the lights dimmed, nearly fifty parents have turned up with either a sleeping or screaming baby. Before I became a mother, any whimper from a child in a public place would have got on my nerves, but after months of living with a seldom quiet child, one certainly learns how to block off the noises. And so despite a congregation of whining infants, I have truly enjoyed watching the film. 

But not only that, I have also met other mothers who have become weekly faces at the cinema and realised how cosmopolitan Sheffield truly is. In our table, I've had interesting conversations with a mother whose husband is from Argentina and a mummy who is a native of Spain, and it wasn't just about our babies! 

Although I'm certainly not going to be a weekly cinema-goer, I'm still looking forward to the next time we would be watching a film. 

Image from web. 

Spring has Sprung!

As soon as the thick white fog that was hovering over the hills cleared up, we went out for our mid-morning walk today. During the weekend, the temperatures have started to reach double digits and the forecast for the rest of the week is looking bright. Spring has finally arrived! 

And there is no better proof of this than the host of golden daffodils starting to turn up all over the park, fluttering beneath the trees, to bring a smile to passers-by. We had to take photos of course but the little one wasn't very impressed when he heard the usual 'Smile' to the camera while he was busy looking around.