Weird Bug - Who's This Little Chap?

I found this funny little insect yesterday when I was washing my medicinal plants, of course I saved him from the water. He looks like some sort of long nosed weevil, just the type that will probably damage my herb garden, so I released him far away, in the woods.

He was a cute little chap, and the first weevil I have seen with such a long proboscis. On googling the creature I think he is an Oak Weevil, but I will have to re-check his proper name...

Nature Treasure Hunt For Kids

This is the second in my series of fun outdoor activities for kids, all of the activities I am writing about are ones that I have enjoyed as a child with my own parents, activities that bring the family together, and that cost little, or nothing.

As you can see from my collage a natural treasure hunt is today's fun outdoor activity for children.

I used to love treasure hunts as a child, every time we would go walking in the woods my Father would  give us a list of natural treasures to find. Whoever found all of the items on the list won a prize. You don't have to offer a prize of course, that's up to you.

Best Beachcombing And Fieldwalking Finds

Sometimes I fall in love with an item I have found, this can be a plant, flower, or feather, just as much as it could be a unique stone, fossil, or relic. These are my top ten finds so far...

1. Some Sort of Jasper? - This stone was actually originally part of a huge boulder, which I found outside my ex partners parents farmhouse in Granada, Spain. I have a massive interest in minerals and the farmhouse stood in a very beautiful and mountainous area. We went out with pick axes and I developed a great method for finding crystals and minerals. It was as simple as finding the crustiest looking boulder or stone around, (one that was crusty but has a definite shape.) Then smash it open, 9/10 times we found minerals or crystals inside.

This was the first boulder I smashed open, and it was so amazing I wanted to keep the whole thing. I chipped off this part with the pick axe, and it was one of the few pieces I got to bring back from Spain. Of course my luggage was full of stones and at the airport I had to remove most of them before I was allowed to get on the plane, or pay an extra £5 per kg which I did not have, Very annoying.