nano Archives - Mousevaarks

Jumping the hurdles….

Time for our final sporting event – the hurdles! We’ve got four athletes lined up, and Ofelia is acting as starter. On your marks…

Get set…

GO!

Oh dear! Ernest’s tripped over his own snozzle!

They’re approaching the hurdle…

Whoops! Winston’s tripped on his hurdle!

Fury is over safely! Nano is racing along behind… Now he’s over safely too.

Close to the line, it looks like Fury might win! Hang on! How did Nano move so fast!?

Oh Ernest! You’re not supposed to help him!

Well, that’s tricky. There’ll have to be a steward’s enquiry. But after a bit of a chat, everyone agrees Fury won, but Ernest was just being kind. Ofelia suggests that they all settle down to a snack or two.

A soggy slalom!

You join us today at the white water course, where Nano is going to do some canoe slalom! He’s all sorted with a canoe, paddle and lifejacket.

Off he goes! He has to paddle between the poles, and the water is quite rough!

Ooh, he’s had to turn quite hard to get through the next gate.

Oh, it’s getting very rough down by this last gate….!

He’s capsized! Oh no!

Arnold, I can’t see Nano! Where’s Nano!

PHEW! He’s there look, he’s bobbed up to the surface, thank goodness for his lifejacket!

There, Arnold has thrown the life ring in and pulled Nano out and he’s fine!

Right then, Arnold is off the bottom of the course to fish the canoe out!

Over the jumps!

Over to the equestrian ring today, for the show jumping. Vincent will be going first – first, the bars…

Safely over the first, it’s time for the hedge and bar…

And finally, the water jump, let’s see how he does!

Oops! Bit of a stumble on landing and Vincent is unseated. Bad luck! Fortunately, he’s not hurt, just damp!

So, let’s see how Micro does – the bars, the hedge, now, the water…

He’s clear! Well done Micro!

Micro is very pleased, his mount can have a nice juicy apple as a reward! Oh, hello Nano, are you going to have a go?

Oh no! Says Nano. This horse is as exciting as I want to be!

On your bike!

It’s Cycling Day! Vincent and Micro are all ready to go, and comparing their machines.

Ah, here’s Nano. He says he couldn’t get a helmet small enough, so he has to ride a tricycle.

Right well, they’re all ready for the off, but is there a competitor missing?

Oh, hello Esther, are you competing as well? Where’s your bike?

Ah. Esther says she must have mis-read the schedule. She thought it was re-cycling day!

Time for Welsh Cakes!

Heddiw yw Dydd Dewi Sant – nawddsant o Cymru. Felly, Ofelia yn gwneud Welsh cakes!

Today is St David’s Day, patron saint of Wales. So, Ofelia is making Welsh cakes!

Mae gynnon nhw llawer o enwiau yn Cymraeg, fel pice bach, neu teisennau maen. Maen nhw’n gwneud ar radell, neu mewn padell ffrio.

They have lots of names in Welsh like “little pie” or “bakestone cakes”. They are made on a griddle, or in a frying pan.

Yn cyntaf, rhowch flawd a menyn mewn powlen.

First, put flour and butter in a bowl.

Rhwbiwch nhw gyda’i gilydd i wneud ‘briwsion bara” Mae’n flêr, felly Ofelia yn ofyn Mrs Human i helpu.

Rub them together to make ‘breadcrumbs” It’s messy, so Ofelia asks Mrs Human to help.

Wedyn, ychwanegu siwgr a ffrwythau sych. Weithiau, Mrs Human yn gwneud nhw efo sglodion siocled yn lle

Then add sugar and dried fruit. Sometimes, Mrs Human makes them with chocolate chips instead.

Nesa, ychwanegu wy, a cymysgu i wneud toes. Os ti’n angen, adio tipyn bach o llaeth.

Next, add an egg, and mix to make a dough. If necessary, add a small amount of milk.

Rhowch y padell ffri, neu radell, ar y cwcer i boethi. Ychwanegu tipyn bach iawn olew.

Place the frying pan, or griddle, on the cooker to heat. Add a very small amount of oil.

Gallet ti rholiwch y toes a defnyddio torrwr, neu gwneud peli bach a fflatiwch nhw â dy dwylo

You could roll the dough and use a cutter, or make small balls and flatten them with your hands

Rhowch y cacennau yn y padell, a coginio ar dau neu dri munud a bob ochr

Put the cakes in the pan, and cook for two or three minutes on each side

Wedyn, rhowch y cacennau ar rac, a taenellwch siwgr. A bwyta, efo panad.

Next, place the cakes on a rack, and sprinkle with sugar. And eat, with a cuppa.

Oh, bore da, Nano! Beth wyt ti’n meddwl am fy cacennau?

Oh, good morning, Nano! What do you think of my cakes?

Nano yn dweud “Ardderchog! Blasus iawn!”

Nano says “Excellent! Very tasty!”

Felly, mae Ofelia a Nano yn dweud “Dydd gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus! A mwynhewch eich Welsh Cakes!”

So Ofelia and Nano say “Happy Saint David’s Day! And enjoy your Welsh Cakes!”

A haggis huntin’ we will go!

Well, it is the 25^th January, which is Burns’ Night! So Nano and I have put our kilts on, and are going on an expedition to hunt a haggis. Only, we’re not quite sure what a haggis actually is…

Ernest says, we will probably need a big net to catch it in!

Winston says, he’s heard the haggis lives in the water, so we might need a fishing rod.

Matilda thinks if we are going anywhere near the water, we must take a lifebelt, and Nano’s yacht!

Hypno thinks we might need to look far away, so he’s brought us a telescope to pack.

Microvaark thinks the haggis might be very small, so we’ll need a magnifying glass.

Bernard says he thinks there will be a lot of thick undergrowth to get through, so he’s lending us his shears.

Vincent says, how will we know where we’re going without a map? Just be careful opening it in the wind….

Gino says there are mountains to scale, so we’ll need a rope and grappling hook.

Esther thinks it’s bound to rain, so we better pack a brolly

Arnold, who is always safety conscious, wonders if the haggis breathes fire? So we better take an extinguisher.

Peggy thinks it’s bound to be dark by the time we get there, so we better have a torch.

Dim wonders if the haggis can be tamed with soothing music. Better pack the gramophone. Really? OK…

Fury thinks the haggis will be very fierce, so we should take a big sword to protect ourselves.

Ofelia says we must be polite, so we should take offer the haggis a snack and a cup of tea.

Well! That’s quite a lot of stuff to pack! I can fit a fair bit in my rucksack, but the rest… well, we’ll have to take the wheelbarrow!

Well, off we go! Through dark forests and over rocky mountains we quest.

Well! It looks like we’re on the right track Nano!

Oh! Here is is. It’s not fierce, or tiny, or a fish, or firebreathing. It’s just a sort of meat pudding!

“The good news is”, says Nano, “we don’t have to share our biscuit with it!”

Everyone is very pleased to see our haggis when we get it back. There’ll be plenty to go round!

But having carried the rucksack and pushed the barrow all that way, I just want a lie down!

Advaark 2020 Day 21: Silly string!

We’re going to have a go at some string art today! We’ve got string, pins, and a template. We’re going to stick them into a piece of balsa, painted black. You could use corrugated card, or polystyrene.

First thing to do is to lay the template on the wood, and put pins, or nails, in round the edge. We’re putting one at each corner and a few inbetween. Fury’s got her big hammer to tap them in with.

Now, Nano is going to take the thread and go for a walk in and out of the pins! He goes all round the edge first, then back and forwards to fill in with a random pattern.

Now Nano, you can pick it up. What? It’s too heavy? It can’t be, it’s only balsa!

Oh Fury! I think you’ve nailed it to the floor!

Advaark 2020 Day 13: Fold and crease.

Vincent, Winston and Nano are going to have a go at some origami today. They’re starting with a square of green paper, I wonder what they’ll make?

First of all they fold two corners into the middle and make nice creases.

Now, turn over and fold the corners in again…

Now, tuck one end under and put a pleat in the whole thing…

Oh look, how clever, it’s a tree!

Um, Winston? Says Vincent, where’s Nano? Er… I dunno!

What’s that nibbling noise? Oh! It’s Nano, he got folded inside and had to nibble his way out!

Advaark 2020 Day 5: A leaf wreaf!

Arnold, Micro and Nano are going to make a Christmas wreath. They’re going for something a bit different this year. First we need a cardboard ring, so Arnold is drawing lines to cut round.

We saved some leaves from the Sweet Chestnut tree in autumn, and we’re going to stick them to the ring with hot glue. Nano says he’s looking forward to maybe even getting some chestnuts from the tree eventually!

So, Arnold sticks a leaf to the ring, and Micro and Nano bring the next one, and he works all the way round, overlapping the leaves.

There! All overlapped so you can’t see the stalky bits.

Leaves are all very nice, but it’s a bit plain, so they’re going to add some nuts to carry on the autumn theme. They plan where each one is going, then Arnold glues them down.

And for a final Christmassy touch, Micro is dry brushing a little gold paint onto the nuts and the edges of the leaves. Not too much, just a hint. There! That’s very stylish.