if you went down to the woods last Saturday...

 Last weekend, Dulcie donned her fairy wings and accompanied my mum and I to a fairy festival at the Children's Wood.  It was a really fun couple of hours.  This lady here was telling a story about a fairy while leading a promenade around the meadow.

 Dulcie met quite a few friends from nursery and actually had two pals fighting over who would get to hold her hand at one point - most amusing to me, having never been involved in such a social melee, myself!  Here she is holding hands with the victor, her long-term friend, Vaila.  They are so funny together, playing really nicely for a while before their equally strong stubborn streaks bubble up to the surface and cause a flash fight.  They hang out outside of nursery most weeks, so we are pretty familiar with their double act by now.

 Of course, it wasn't long before there was a fight over a wand.  "No, Vaila!  That's my wand!"  Shortly after this photo was taken, the two of them were stealing the storyteller's limelight by having a full-on wrestle in the long grass, an incident that cheered them both up and had them laughing and cuddling again.

 As well as the storyteller, there were lots of other fun activities, the mini petting zoo being a definite highlight.  Dulcie was the first one in with the rabbits and guinea pigs.  She's so brave these days :)

 The absolute highlight of the whole shebang, however, was stroking this African pygmy hedgehog.  Dulcie was beyond delighted and followed the hedgehog handler around for ages.  I was pretty pleased by the encounter too.  I love hedgehogs and all their spiky weird creepiness.

 We skipped the willow-wand making in favour of a general tour of the woodland.  There were lots of fairy doors and glitter trails to spot, but Dulcie was more interested in jumping across the logs...

...and playing with the recycled bunting.

The Children's Wood is such a great place - a rambling natural oasis amid the streets and buildings of the west end - and always has loads of events on.  If you're Glasgow based or bound, you should check it out.  The council wants to build flats in this space (naturally) but there's a very well organised opposition to this and joining in with all the fun events they put on helps their cause no end.  Win-win, huh?  You can find out what's on as well as more ways to help save the woods and meadow by visiting their website here.

P.S. Perhaps you've noticed that Dulcie is never out of these grey knee-high socks these days.  They're from BHS's schoolwear range, so came in a cheapish five pack, and I thought they'd be great for our unpredictable climate and for potty training - quick access in case of emergencies and less layers to change in case of accidents.  I was right on both these counts, but I wasn't expecting them to look quite so bleedin' stylish with it, gov!  I love them!