Wednesday To Sunday

It has been a busy end to the week and so I am finally managing to post late on Sunday evening! 

On Wednesday we went shopping and Pip had great fun comparing prices, weights and value for money.  She had her own money to buy a little treat and enjoyed paying for the item using the self service checkout :-)  Once home she helped make quick and easy pizza using gluten free tortillas, tomato and basil sauce and cheese.  Our top oven and grill is awaiting a new part so it was caravan cooking to the rescue once again!

 

On Thursday we met with our home ed friends and made a visit to the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss.  The kids and adults enjoyed deciphering the clues for the family trail.  We saw barn owls, a peregrine, a pintail, some coots and mallards.

On Saturday we visited Kath and Mary-Grace as well as Coco the cat and Jorgan the dog!  It was a busy and interesting household :-)  We spent a cold hour or so on the beach followed by hot chocolate once home again.  Kath cooked a lovely lunch and tea and despite being up at 5:30 am that morning Pip managed to stay awake on the return journey home.

 MG who will be three in April.

 Kath and Jorgi Bear.

Today was a home day.  Pip made vegetable soup using the recipe from one of her library books:

I also completed the 30 day minimalist challenge!  I was running late for a few days because of the business of the past week but the challenge was finished today and over 426 items have left the house :-)

My reward for all that effort apart from the sense of a job well done, was a shared mug of quick chocolate mug cake!

 Phew, a job well done!

Tuesday Co-op

We met with our home school friends today and we were greeted with the news that they had acquired another pet!  They already have a dog named Alfie but now Harry the rabbit has been added to the menagerie. They discovered Harry on one of their regular walks in the nearby wood and it was obvious that he had been abandoned. Both E and A aged eight are keen animal lovers and their wish is to own an animal sanctuary when they are older, looks like they are starting early :-)  Alan their Dad is also pleased as he is no longer out numbered in a house full of females!

 "Please Mum, can we have one?!"

 A Happy Bunny

Benedict as promised made vegetable soup for lunch and it was enjoyed by all.  He has promised to make  butternut squash, chilli and peanut butter soup for next week, it was a hit with Chanda when she visited two summers ago :-)

 He just keeps on growing!  He is now at my height and can most definitely look me in the eye ;-)  And of course boys keep on growing until their late teens, so it should be interesting.

Well done Benedict for making a soup-er lunch!

After lunch Dave, Christina and the girls worked on the dog sculptures whilst Benedict, Alan and I took Alfie for a walk.  There was one interesting situation when Alfie ecstatic at having been let off the lead, saw his opportunity and scarpered across the sand,stones and into the sea!  He reminded me of Pip when she was a toddler that if you gave her an inch she would run a mile!!  Alfie however was far more obedient than Pip and did return when called.

We also had an unveiling of the copper newel caps made by Dave for Alan and Christina's garden.  It wasn't quite a ribbon cutting ceremony but still they are fine piece of workmanship:

Shiny, shiny

Another good day x

Busy Monday

It was Pip's first official home school day today and despite having suffered a disturbed night due to diabetic issues, I was pleased that I managed to help her have a good day :-)  Benedict spent the day with Shein as per usual, so he is absent from the photos.

Whilst I was helping Benedict organise his gym items and sort laundry, Pip under the supervision of Dave worked through the next set of Singapore Maths exercises, this girl loves maths and takes after her Dad in this respect!  Once Benedict had left for the gym we made our way to the prom:

 Choppy and Grey

 Busy Digging

 All Smiles

 A message to Dave and I from Pip

 We then made our way to The Midland Hotel, for our usual pot of tea and gluten free biscuits.  Whilst there we met a lady who was taking part of an amateur photography group and she was having trouble taking a shot of the stairs and the iconic image on the uppermost ceiling.  I offered to help and Dave snapped this shot of me!

Having fun with a tiny Cannon bridge camera

 The sun came out and so we snapped the obligatory...

 ... family selfie!

Our next stop was a trip to the library.  Pip chose an assortment of reading books both for her and Benedict.  After lunch she worked through several pages of a literacy scheme followed by a narration and copy work of her day:

The picture is her jumping for joy in the sand and I'm holding my phone taking a photograph, I love the blue bike :-)

Pip did a great job helping with tea which was earlier than usual since this evening was our first attendance at "Brownies."  As is per tradition, Rainbow Guides are carried over the threshold from one group to the other and the delight on her face says it all!  It was also a first for me as a Brownie helper, yes I will be spending my Monday evenings with a bunch of lively 7-10 year old girls!

 

A lovely day x 

All Change

Once upon a time, in the not so distant past we thought this was going to happen and instead this occurred!  There was always a caveat though and that  if Pip ever changed her mind, we would listen and so she will be joining Benedict on a learning journey as of next week.

We are very fortunate to have some solid support within the home ed community this time around.  We have The Little Flower's Group that meets fortnightly and we also have a local family nearby that up until recently we have met on alternate Mondays.  As from next week we will be meeting with our local friends twice weekly in a mini home school co-op.  The three girls are currently working on an advanced paper mache project and we are hoping that Benedict will enjoy having a go at wood work.  There will be soup to make and Alfie the dog to keep them fit and entertained :-)

Our decision has been met with a totally mixed response from stony silences to words of encouragement and understanding.  I know that the prophets of doom are coming from a place of concern about the level of stress and health in the family but that old adage, of walk a mile in my shoes rings true.  Being tied to a school routine has had an impact not only on Benedict's education but his relationship with Pip.  I am not naive enough to think that from here on in it will be a bed of roses but I do know that whatever happens we will have tried our very best and at the end of the day that is all we can do.  Here are some photographs of Monday's visit:

 First time using the peg loom.

 Checking the wire shape against the original tracing.

 Illustrations.

 Yes it can stand unaided!

 Either E or A's pug, I cannot remember which, but essentially the dog in its finished form.  Pip is also working on a pug.

 Mammoth concentration needed ...

  ... and dexterity too!  Lots of winding, folding and shaping to be had.

Since these photos were taken, Pip has worked on the dog with the help of big sister Sara, it is really taking shape :-)  So that's our news for this week, hope to catch up soon x

 

This Week

It's been a while since I blogged and radio silence at this end usually means only one thing and that is I have been struggling with my health, caring for family members and keeping the house running at a bare minimum.  I think the previous two weeks caught up with me and my body decided to let me know in no uncertain terms :-)  Still, I have managed to snap some shots of this past week and thought I would share them here:

Monday was our "Little Flowers Group."  We were low on numbers since one family was travelling home from a christening but the rest of us had a lovely time.  Our saint for the session was St Joan of Arc, so after the usual introductory prayers, song to St Therese and memory verse, we listened to the story of St Joan and then completed a page for the notebook as well as a colouring sheet:

Benedict had some fun in the workshop on Tuesday and spent a good hour or so whittling.  We bought him some whittling tools and a book for Christmas and so he chose to have a go at a spreading implement, so here are some shots of a work in progress:

In amongst the paint tins and in front of Dad's work bench.

 Stage One Complete.

Wednesday was an unexpected home school day for Pip.  I had been up half the night battling a migraine and had only managed to settle again at half past six in the morning.  Since Dave is currently unable to drive and we do not live within walking distance to school, the only option was to teach her at home alongside Benedict.  Pip is an enthusiastic learner and easy to teach, we worked on Singapore Maths, Cooking, Reading and Religious Instruction.  Here she is wearing the apron I made her from her drawing of an angel, it is a combination of applique and machine and hand stitching:

 I think she is happy with it, don't you agree?!

On Thursday we watched the documentary "One Simple Question" produced by Teresa and Ben Carey.  The whole film from start to finish was expertly put together, the scenery was epic, the story well told and the photography just awesome.  Pip was very impressed and drew a picture of Ben battling the elements during a violent storm with Dory the ship's cat in tow, Teresa was below decks navigating.  We posted the picture to their face book page so hopefully they'll see it before too long:

The boat is named after Ben's mum.

Friday was a struggling along home day and to be honest just getting Pip to school and back was my successes for the day.  In the past seven days I have had two days in total where I have felt remotely well, not a great hit rate I know!  To keep my spirits up and as an accountability tool, I have decided to undertake the 30 day minimalist challenge; on day one you rid yourself of one item, on day two, it is two items and so on up to day thirty, whereby over four hundred items should in theory have left the house!!  Now I am not a hoarder and had a substantial clear out just before Christmas and again before I was hospitalised, so this challenge should prove interesting.  The following is a montage of items for the charity shop:

So Far, So Good!

God also gave me a great big nudge today, to remember to look for the daily joys :-)  I let that slide when I was ill and no surprise my mental and emotional well being also took a tumble!  My daily joy today is a blog link.  I found this lovely lass via another blog and her site is such a happy place :-)

Be Blessed x