Monday 24 August 2015

Well Rested

Dave and I were away from Friday to Sunday of last week, our first time without children in over twelve years!  Benedict stopped with Sara and Tom and Pip stayed with some friends and their kids.

The reason for the jaunt was an early birthday treat for Dave, who'll be 50 on the 27th September.  Initially I had hoped to take him to Paris (ever the blue sky thinker!) but a jolt with reality brought me back to earth!  We decided on a visit to a steam railway, anything train related and he is one happy chappy.  

Here are the highlights from our stay:

 Our view from the upstairs lounge.


 Quietly Knitting.


 Wider view of the lounge/kitchen area.







 Dave's secret weapon for eradicating the horse fly,(of which there were a fair few since we were staying on a working farm) was a A Henry Vacuum Cleaner  the blighters bit and drew blood but thankfully we did not suffer any horrendous infections!


 If you have ever seen the original "Karate Kid" film then you will know what I am doing!

On Saturday we visited the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, the last time we were here, Pip was but a toddler! We had a lovely time watching the engines and sharing some cake and a hot chocolate and I was pleased to capture these images for Dave:




















 The weekend was also a no cook weekend for me, hooray!!  I bought a reduced price Indian takeaway from Tesco for the Friday evening at the knock down price of £5.00!  The meal for Saturday evening was ready made cheese and bacon baked potatoes with a large bowl of salad, we even stretched to a glass of wine with our meal!








We are now back to the grindstone and I am currently repainting some of the chipped paintwork in the downstairs hallway which being a main thoroughfare takes a real battering!  The door frames have been stripped down to almost bare wood and have been sanded, ready for undercoating and glossing tomorrow.  The small entryway/porch was painted last week and so I don't feel to ashamed now when visitors pop by.

I have also downloaded a year eight curriculum for Benedict encompassing history, geography and science.  He's chosen his own ICT project and in case you are wondering where does the maths and english fit in, they'll be rumbling along quietly in the background :-)  Living with and attempting to support a kid with special educational needs has not only taught me to think on my feet, but to also think outside the box.  His core subjects of history, geography, ICT and science can be "taught" in a very practical way with little to no writing, which is great for a kid with dyspraxia! Let's see if I can get beyond the first week without either him or me having an epic meltdown :-)

14 comments:

Sue Elvis said...

San,

So glad you were able to get away for a few days with Dave. I hope you came back feeling rested and refreshed.

We have a railway museum about 20 minutes' drive from our home. We love looking at all the old engines and carriages. There is a disused rail track running through our village. Trains haven't run along it for many years. There used to be a rail service between here and Sydney, but I suppose there weren't enough passengers to keep it going. I often think about past days and imagine the trains rattling through our village. Local history is fascinating!

sustainablemum said...

Sounds like the perfect holiday :). Hope you were well rested!

Sandra Ann said...

Your railway museum sounds interesting. It is such a shame when tracks are closed, there were plenty of small station shut downs in the 1950's fronted by a chap called Beeching. If my memory serves me right he was a business man and not a railway man, he knocked the heart and soul out of many a small community.

Eva said...

That picture with you and the vacuum cleaner hose is so funny!! Did you have many horse flies? What are you knitting? Did you skip a grade with Benedict? I thought he was the same grade as Miriam . . .

Sandra Ann said...

Yep we had quite a few flies and they were a real nuisance!

Benedict would actually be in 8th grade this year at school. I have just found a Christian home school curriculum from My Fathers World and am debating whether or not to go with them.

I am knitting a shawlette that has ruffled edges.

Eva said...

A friend of mine uses them for her children. But I do think she changes things with it. I used to get their catalog, but have never ordered from them. They were always a bit too Biblical for me. Some of their materials are good, there is no doubt, but I am not so sure how their lesson plans are. They use the same high school science as we do, they also use Saxon Math. Jonathan is doing that, but not Charlotte. Are you thinking of using all their materials? I sometimes look what additional materials they use for certain subjects and get them from the library. Is Benedict older than Miriam? I thought he was just 12, no?

You must be up early! Is a shawlette a small shawl?

Sandra Ann said...

Yes a shawlette is a small shawl and yes I am up early! I have just left a comment on your blog :-)

Benedict is just twelve but the way the schooling system works here he entered reception which I think you would call kindergarten aged four.

The curriculum is very bible based but I've looked at sample work sheets and it looks to be ok. They recommend Singapore Maths which is very sequential and despite the dyscalculia problems I think it would help him gain some much needed repetition and grasp of numbers.

Eva said...

All my children have been using Singapore Math, but it only goes up to grade 6. Many children use the books a year later, so doing Singapore Math 6A and B in grade 7, but beyond that, most people start with algebra in grade 8. Were you thinking of doing the 6A/B books? Miriam is doing them right now. That would be funny if they were doing the same math books.

Sandra Ann said...

Benedict is way behind in maths so we are having to drop right back to basics. The dyscalculia is really bad, I looked at the grade 6 work and it is way beyond him at the moment. I am hoping with some consistent sequential learning that he'll grasp some basic concepts.

Sleep week x

Eva said...

I hope he will like it. I think the program does a good job. I do supplement it, though.

What do you mean by "sleep week"?

Sandra Ann said...

Typo! Sleep well :-)

Eva said...

Ha, ha, I thought it was some British expression :))))!

Sarah said...

Looks like you had a lovely weekend away!

dorinalouise said...

Hello San, I enjoyed your weekend away pics :) I'm so glad you were able to go! And you were very smart about the meals :)

I really feel like you are getting quite a good handle on the schooling! I hope it has been going relatively smooth. It's always up and down for me . . but overall I do love it. I hope you are feeling okay with it too. I think it's good to try and keep up with where you think he's supposed to be, but not to get too crazy about it if he's not . . Chanda never took off with her maths but she still plods away and I think she definitely knows enough to get through. As long as we give them the resources to learn how to learn, I think they will be fine. Chanda does better with reading and writing and logic. If she ever wants to focus on Oceanography she'll have to brush up on her maths, but she's smart enough to figure out how to do that now. She knows how to research and how to study. I think I remember Eva recommending a book about study habits. Anyway, good luck to you at the start of this school year! I think it all sounds good :) but hang in there if there are some low days!