Ice mobiles, umbrellas and Sod's law

We hold these truths to be self evident; if you carry an umbrella, it will not rain, if a clean nappy and wipes are in your handbag, none will be required, and apparently, if you try to make ice mobiles, the weather will suddenly warm up.

Yes, that's right, we are currently enjoying a sub-tropical heatwave of 2 degrees celsius.  Not exactly time to break out Bermuda shorts, but warm enough to foil my well laid plans of ice-based tree decorations.

Thankfully, I have a freezer so the children's foraging efforts did not go to waste and dangling from our cherry tree is a triple ice mobile with rose hips preserved in frozen form (oh, and some glitter, because there's always room for a little bling).

To make them we used some foil cases leftover from mince pie munching into which the children placed some small, scavenged objects they found on a walk yesterday. Then I laid a piece of string across the line of cases, making sure it dipped into the centre of each, and filled the three cases to the brim with water.  Finally we left them outside overnight... only to find them still liquid this morning. 

I am beginning to think that if people in all areas of the country tried to make ice mobiles, we would immediately create a nationwide thaw.  Sod's law is a powerful thing.

Comments

[Joanne Roach]

These are lovely - have never seen them before. Would you consider sending me piccies for a little piece on my site's ideas section?
You're on form this week, I've barely caffeined my brain out of it's weekend coma yet!

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Thanks Joanne - picture is winging its way to you as I type.

[Jude]

Love this idea - I shall bear it in mind for if the weather gets cold again!

[bangchik]

It is nice to hold on to laws that makes dreams come true!!... ~bangchik

[VP]

Nature's done that one for me courtesy of a leaking gutter over an apple tree!

Just popped in to congratulate you on your Guardian article - you must be dead chuffed!

Then I caught up with your previous piece - one of my aunt's lives in the village that Ambridge is said to be based on and some her parish council antics were included in the scripts a few years ago. NAH is always calling me 'me old girl, me old beauty' - it's one of our running jokes.

If GW or the RHS don't accept an article on the transformation, I'd love a eensy teensy little post from you under my Out on the Streets banner sometime :)

[Helen]

Ha I thought that was a robin frozen in ice to start with - very realived it was

[JamesA-S]

From where I am sitting that is not a rosehip but a Chupachup strawberry flavoured lolly that your children scavenged from the village shop.

[Mark D]

I am going to do this at the weekend...after a week of snow, snowmen have started to seem a little passe to my 4 year old and she's keen that I find something else for her to enjoy in this cold weather. So thank you

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Jude - I'm kind of hoping that it won't - ice mobiles or no ice mobiles, I prefer the temperature in positive digits!

Bangchik - you are a wise, wise man...

VP - A leaking gutter - why didn't I think of that!? Would, of course, be honoured to write a piece for your legendary blog, me old girl, me old beauty.

Helen - I tried, but it wouldn't stay still.

James - Shush!

Mark D - Snowmen, shnowmen - ice-mobiles is where it's at with the kids (or something like that...)

[Jo]

Hmmm, I'll have to give them a go, I can't stand much more of this cold weather.

[Karen - An Artist's Garden]

I like this - very Richard Shilling
http://landartforkids.com/

I think I want it to freeze again just so I can have a go.
K

[VP]

Well, I would be honoured that a real live Grauniad correspondent would write a guest post over at Veg Plotting!

You can write an Out on the Streets post on here (that's what most people do then I use some linking software over at mine and do a summary), but if you'd prefer to do a guest post that would also be fine :)

Perhaps we could do swapsies post-wise...