When you haven't been able to play outside because of the terrible miserable drizzle there is only one thing for it. Wellies, an umbrella and a handful of bottles of food colouring.

We chatted in the rain about how the colouring turns the water in the puddles different colours, just like how the rain turns the sky into a rainbow. We made magical mud potions with stirring sticks and then scurried into the house to warm up with a glass of milk!

My husband works for a web agency specialising in the food and drink sector. He has been swanning around lots of different food fairs recently and I have been rather envious of the interesting people he has met! He has discovered this wonderful company called LittlePod who specialise in Madagascan vanilla. Beautifully packaged they completed our rum experiment! Last March we visited my cousin and her family in Oxford for her birthday weekend. Her husband had left a vanilla pod and coffee beans in the bottle of an old bottle of rum, allowing the flavours to infuse the spirit.

We have been meaning to try our own ever since and meeting LittlePod gave us the final ingredient! We added a few cinnamon sticks to add a hint of spice. My friend also gave out favours at Christmas, mini bottles of clementine and vanilla infused vodka. I think we will try that next!

Our rum will get it's taste test at the end of January when we are hosting a belated New Year's celebration complete with our favourite cocktails!

What flavours would you put together?!

Sammy has been intrigued by ice this week. The weekend before Christmas we had booked to go ice skating at a temporary rink at Cadbury Garden Centre. Unfortunately it tipped with rain and as they allowed us to postpone our booking, we changed the date and prayed for sunshine on Sunday 6th January! Fast forward to the 6th and we got our sunny day. In fact it was so mild, my husband skated in just a polo shirt!

We tried to explain that the ice had to melt, as our session finished, as it was the last day of the rink being open. He didn't really understand so we played a game at home to learn how ice melts. I set several of his favourite dinosaur toys in a bowl of water in the freezer. Then we let it defrost and chipped away at it with a wooden spatula! The defrost button on the microwaved helped a little and we had a good question and answer session!

I would definitely recommend the ice skating as a Christmas activity for next year. Poor Ollie couldn't go on as you had to be 2 and over but was happy to watch from the side as long as one of us was holding him. He found the glass a curious barrier!

Here are some of my favourite snaps we took. I warn you there are loads!