*This is a paid collaboration with Studio.co.uk
When I was growing up, some of my fondest memories were spending long summers in my Granny’s garden. We would sip homemade lemonade our bare toes tickled by the grass and time seemed to just stand still. My Granny loved being outside sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the fresh air, and she really used her garden as an extra room during the summer. I used to love staying there for the weekends, and during the school holidays, they were some of the best times from my childhood. She taught me to love the outdoors, and I would hate it whenever it rained, and we had to retreat inside, but she reminded me that rain meant rainbows something I have taken and applied in all aspects of my life. My Granny is sadly no longer with us, but as part of my Studio ambassadorship I have been looking at some of Studio’s newest collections, and a few of their items got me really inspired to get outside with my children.
Moving to the Countryside & Getting Outdoors
We moved to a new house last October away from the hustle and bustle of Manchester and out towards the countryside in Cheshire. One of the primary reasons for moving was to find somewhere that had a garden for my children to grow up in. We live in this digital age where our days are filled with technology. I, myself am guilty of this obsession, and you won’t often find me without my phone in hand, but I would love to detox digitally, and I think making use of our garden this summer will be a great way to do that. Those childhood summer days at my Granny’s house were long and filled with such adventure, and I never once remember feeling bored, and we don’t have a fraction of the technology we do today.
What Adventures Shall We Have Today?
Whenever we would pull up outside the house, I’d run from the car straight to the garden where I would always find Granny. Sometimes she would be curled up on a sun chair with a coffee, on a hot day she would have her feet dipped in the paddling pool, or she might just be pruning or weeding, but she would always be outside.
As soon as she saw me, I always got the same reaction. She would look at me over the top of her thinly framed glasses and smile:
“Now then, Sophie, what adventures shall we have today?”
When I think about it now, my Granny didn’t have anything fancy or flash, and I remember her teaching me to play croquet with Grandad’s old walking stick and some old wire coat hangers. It wasn’t about possessions or items it was about the time spent together – that’s when the magic came. My Granny could make everything out of anything, but that’s the era she grew up. I’m nowhere near as creative as her, but I do want to enjoy similar memories with my boys that I fondly remember with her.
I’ve been showing Henry how to play croquet and although this is a far cry from the old walking stick I used to use all those years ago it has exactly the same feel to me. Things have become quite competitive as we have been playing my Granny’s favourite – Skittles and a new one for us – Giant Stack n Fall!
We are all enjoying the outside just like Granny always did, but I realise now it wasn’t just being outdoors that she loved, it was everyone coming together and having fun as a family.
Do you have games you like to play whilst outdoors? In summer do you make full use of the garden or would you like to use it more?
Some of the items featured in this post can be found here:
Garden Games Croquet · Garden Games Skittles · Garden Games Giant Stack n Fall
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Love as always!
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Your photos are beautiful Sophie. Your children are going to have such fond memories throughout their lives of the garden fun they had as children x
Aww they look like they are having great fun in the garden. Loving the idea of the outdoor jenga
I love playing croquet. It initally looks like quite a genteel game but actually you can play quite ruthlessly to smash your opponent’s ball right off the lawn.
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Oh yes when you get into it is quite ruthless!