Cloudy with a high chance of conkers

Yesterday was one of those blustery Autumn days -- grey skies with the wind kicking up just enough to send a steady stream of ripples over the Thames . I took the girls to the playpark after school, and as they made their rounds and I sat absorbed checking my iPhone.

Thud!

I thought one of those teenage boys that you always see lurking at playparks after hours had thrown something.

But on the ground next to me was a perfectly polished brown conker, the colour of a Chesterfield sofa. I looked around and there were hundreds -- OK, that's an exaggeration, maybe 50 or so -- scattered under the the trio of towering chestnut trees that shaded the play area. The wind kicked up again and....

Thud! Thud! 

Two new shiny gems fell at my feet, their green casings nearby. I couldn't resist the urge to pick one up --smooth and cool in my hand. In fact, we all couldn't resist, and we ended up with a Tesco bag full of them.

So what does one do with a whole bag of conkers? (I didn't grow up here -- suggestions please.)

Photo credit: jo-h

Comments

[Susie]

Whatever you do, don't leave them in the carrier bag in some forgotten corner, only to be rediscovered when they start to smell... (as I did!)

[A Modern Mother]

Susie -- good tip, thanks

[Muddling Along Mummy]

You need some string and something to put a hole through them and time to play conkers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conkers) or you could put a few on the mantlepiece to remind you of this lovely time of year but watch out for them going mouldy

I just love their colour and the fact it means we're properly hitting Autumn (my favourite season)

[A Modern Mother]

Muddling Along -- Yes, we'll have to try that... and yes it certainly means Autumn is here.

[Chris Norton]

Ahh it's all coming back to me conkers - I love them. My little boy was only two on Sunday so I won't be tackling these problems for a while yet. He would rather eat them at the moment.

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

I fill glass vases with them - add some pine cones. Totally useless but beautiful to look at - a bit like most of my teenage crushes.

[A Modern Mother]

Chris -- don't let him eat them!!!

Little Green Fingers -- that is a great idea, I'll try that. I have some hazel nuts too.

[angelsandurchinsblog]

Scatter them in your wardrobe. Apparently, their smell deters moths.

[A Modern Mother]

Angels -- fascinating! So glad I put out this query.

[treemama]

agreed, don't put them off somewhere to find them molding later!

we have acorns and pine cones in jars all over the house, that's about the extent of my ideas!

but yes, i know about nature collectors!

[Iota]

You could play conkers.

Or you could keep one in your coat pocket, and then every time throughout the winter that you put your hand in your pocket for a tissue or your car keys, you'll bump your hand against it, take it into your fingers, roll it around, enjoy its smoothness, remember the richness of its colour, and think "oh that lovely conker".

[Expat Mum]

If you're going to play conkers, soak them in vinegar for a while beforehand. Apparently that makes them really hard, all the better to smash the opponant's conkers to smithereens. It's a very competitive sport is conkers.

[Kat]

You need to develop your own hardening technique and then find some unsuspecting chump with a shiny sixer.

[Lucia]

Apparently if you put this season's conkers in each room of your house it will help to deter those enormous spiders that we get at this time of year....
Worth a try maybe?!

[Metropolitan Mum]

You need toothpicks or matches to create little animals. I used to love this when I was a kid http://www.grids-bastelecke.de/bastelecke/basteln_minis/natur/baum/kastanientiere

[blueskyhi]

I have no ideas as I've never seen a conker until now, but we do have gumnuts and they're like rocks. We've had two smashed windscreens with them falling out of trees as we drive!!

[A Modern Mother]

Tree -- I imagine your house full of bowls of pine cones, acorns, leaves...

Iota -- what a lovely idea, you must have told my daughters this because I have found them in my pocket ... but I thought "what's ucky thing"! instead.

Expat -- speaking from experience?

Kat -- understood everything except "a shiny sixer"

Lucia -- fabulous! We have tons of spiders

Met -- ohh, thanks!

Bluesky -- as in the famous "kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" gumnuts?

[Sarah Walters]

I was the '2007 Conker Champion' in my old village (parents still live there).

In the Sports & Social Club (that we, the villagers paid for in 199? :-) my dad runs a knock-out Conker Championship every year.

He spends hours drilling the holes, and threading them all up - then sells them 20p each and you can buy/enter as many times as you like.

The kids love it - as they are no longer allowed to play conkers without eye shields and hard hats (lol) - and the adults are SOOOOO competitive - it really is a fun evening.

Don't bake them or soak in vinegar - that's cheating! and that's why dad will only let you enter the competition with one of his conkers.

Somebody else makes a bit of food, and then all the money goes to the nominated charity they are supporting.

Who says village/community spirit has died!!!???

Love it - Kudos to my Dad!

[SingleParentDad]

Shoelaces off, skewer the conkers, lace through conkers, then proceed to try and smash another prepared conker versus your designated foe. There was a Health and Safety scam a couple of years ago saying conkers had been banned, or safety goggles must be worn, but it turned out to be spoof.

[Michelloui]

I LOVE conkers! I love to hold them and feel their smooth surface like a perfect stone in my hand. I like looking at a bowl of them (but they do tend to go dull and a bit shrunken), all autumnal and gorgeous. I like the lovely wood grain effect stripes on them as soon as you peel the outer husk thing off. My daughter soaked hers in water to see if the wood grain effect would last or if it disappears from air contact (it doesnt last). We planted one once and we are having a real struggle keeping it going because of all the deer in our garden!

[Fanciful Alice]

Reading these comments I now have lots more ideas of what to do with conkers ... I'm also pretty sure that James Wong (grow your own drugs) used them in some beauty treatments, too! In my day we used to play conkers in the playground ... apparently you're not allowed any more. BOOO health and safety!

[A Modern Mother]

Sarah -- that's a feather in your cap!

SPD -- I bet you were a champ

Michelloui - you hit on it, they look there best right out of their casing

Fanciful A -- who would have known?!

[Rosie Scribble]

You could sell them at the school gates and make a fortune. I used to love going hunting for conkers when I was younger!

[Expat Mum]

See what you've started!

[A Modern Mother]

Rosie -- I hope I'm creating some great memories for my girls, there were no horse chestnut trees where I grew up, boo hoo

Expat -- ???

[Iota]

I love Met Mum's toothpick animals!

[Woman Who Can]

It's meant to be right about keeping the spiders away, it was on the tv. And the tv wouldn't lie to you.

[All Grown Up]

My Nan is 75. She cannot walk past a smooth, shiny conker. (Who can?) She stoops her elderly, shaky frame to collect them as she walks her dog in the graveyard next to her home. She has a display plate in her hallway piled high with them this time of year! Reminds me of when my Granddad was around and he would take us 7 grandchildren conkering, and we'd hurl huge sticks into the trees to get them down!

[A Modern Mother]

Just found another use -- hide them in the back garden and play hide the conkers ... beter than easter eggs they don't smell when they rot!

[H Williams]

hi. we have a conker tree in our garden and grown up kids! -bad combination. I bag loads up and send them off to the local pre school groups. they use them for language development. they use them for floating, weighing and in the sand pit etc. anywhere in fact. sometimes some are a little chewed ( by sqirrells etc) so I wonder if eventually they will be banned in this situation as well (health and safety)

[Snafflesmummy]

I think a "shiny sixer" means they have beaten 6 other people in a game of conkers.

My stick to tree throwing technique leaves alot to be desired so when my little boy wanted to go conkering we were relying on a strong gust of wind!