The Nanna Who Came To Tea ...

... and also stayed the night!

"Smile you are on breakfast Candid Camera!!"

Mum H did an epic thing last week, she drove a two hour journey on the Monday to see her sister Aunty Judith and then stopped off with us on the way home on the Thursday.  It was so lovely to see her and spend time with her, her visit was a real tonic for sure :-)

 Breakfast hugs with Ben before he heads off for college.

 Playing Dobble with Pip and ...

... Pudding Ping Pong :-) 

Sharing a hug x  

"Bye, bye Nanna come again soon!"

Certificate Day and Making Slime

Today we attended our usual Arts Award session where Pip enjoyed making slime and she also received her Bronze Award Certificate and pin badge.  The first part of the session included the usual around the table catch up from the previous week and she shared her replica animation of the Mary, Mungo and Midge lift sequence; this also included a complete breakdown of all the steps involved, drawing the characters, photography, using Windows Movie Maker and Audacity software for the music.  Dave was great at helping with the tech side of things!! 

Once we had shared our activities from the previous week the kids had great fun making slime, it was an interesting mix of science and art!

 Finishing the animation sequence.

 A painted cardboard still complete with a moveable Mungo head.

 PVA Glue, contact lens solution which contained the all important Boric Acid, mint green paint and green glitter.

 Stir away until you have the right consistency and then see if your slime meets the following criteria:

 Can you stretch it to form a long thin rope like structure?

 Can you stretch it to make it transparent?

Can you inflate it like a balloon?

Whacky Wednesday ~ It Could Only Be Lent!

Another whacky day of driving hither and thither.  Once we had dropped Ben off at college the three of us drove to Whalley Abbey for a look around and to also visit the Autisan cafe that had been featured on a recent episode of Songs of Praise.

  Whalley Abbey was originally a Cistercian Monastery and is now a retreat centre belonging to the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn.  The cafe itself is autism friendly so no loud music and glaring lights and some of the staff identify as being on the autism spectrum.  It was good to support a worthy cause that is almost on our doorstep.  We made it home in time for me to have a well deserved lie down before heading out the door to collect Ben and drive to the hospital for a diabetic appoinment.

 Hot chocolate at the Autisan cafe.

 A replica of the Cistercian Monastery

 Beautiful Tapestries

 Pip's photo of me!

Now that Ben is over sixteen he no longer attends the paediatric clinic and this was our first time at the transition clinic on another part of the hospital site.  The building itself worked well for Ben as it didn't shout at him, this is a hospital!  Even though he has been attending since he was four and cannot remember ever not having diabetes, over the last few years he has found it increasingly stressful attending the clinic sessions and so the appointments have always been met with dread.  Unfortunately the appointment itself was not straightforward :-(

 Benedict's blood sugars have once again been all over the place resulting in a lot of hypos, either at college or late in the evening.  The team want him to try a Flash Libre CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) which he isn't to keen on as it will require another piece of kit to carry around.  However it will give us much needed information regarding his blood sugar levels throughout a 24 hour period and providing he is stable it will also reduce finger prick testing on his good days. Thankfully we did get to catch up with the dietician and offered some useful advice in the interim period. Fingers crossed things should hopefully improve :-)

Glasses and Guitar Lessons

Today involved driving into Lancaster for Pip to collect her glasses.  I don't know how it has happened but in the space of less than a year she has gone from excellent vision to suddenly needing glasses for distance vision.  She has been really good about wearing them and because they have made such a difference the incentive is there to wear them all the time.  I did wonder if she would struggle to wear them with her hearing aids but no, she hasn't complained at all which is good.

In the afternoon whilst I was making pancakes, Dave took her on the bus for her very first guitar lesson.  Unfortunately the trip was marred by a very unhelpful and inconsiderate bus driver for the return journey home.  He allowed Pip on the bus and promptly closed the doors and drove off leaving Dave behind at the bus stop!!  At this point Pip was yelling at him, " You've left my Dad behind,"  to which he replied, " He can get the next bus!!"  She continued to state that she needed to be with her Dad and he finally let her disembark 100 yards down the road.  Once they were together he rang to let me know what had happened and needless to say I jumped in the car to bring them home.  A letter of complaint is currently winging its way to the bus company!

 Buckwheat pancakes.

 Pip hanging out with Dave's Jumbo Folk Guitar whilst he restrings mine in the background; she's concentrating hard!

This and That

Well we avoided the February homeschool blahs, but instead were assailed with additional health problems and hassles with the Department of Work and Pensions thanks to our 'lovely'Government's desire to hassle the sick and disabled!  As a result a document the size of a dissertation should give the pen pushers plenty to think about!! Never a dull moment round here :-)

Pip has passed her bronze arts award and will receive her certificate next Thursday.  She has already begun working on her silver and one of her first self imposed challenges was to replicate a piece of animation.  Admittedly she has had help from Dave with the software challenges and the animation itself was shot using Uncle Bernard's bridge camera.  I think he would be really pleased to know that she is making good use of it.

Ben was officially on college break this past week, but he went on campus for four days to help with looking after the animals.  It looks like he might be able to help on a more formal basis for weekends and holidays but a start date has yet to be confirmed.

I am under Doctor's orders to do something just for me so I have unearthed two unfinished icons and have been working on them.  It's been an interesting process as you say a prayer before beginning and then work in silence.  All thoughts and worries are displaced by the sacred image before me and I feel really rested by the end of the session.

Here are some images from the past few weeks:

John Muir Conservation Award

The first session was mapping the fell and learning about John Muir.  In addition to the map, Pip collected various items from around the fell to turn into a collage once home.

Silver Arts Award

Pip has decide to look at various forms of illustration for this award:

Comic books from the Marvel series to The Beano and The Dandy.

Quentin Blake associated with the Roald Dahl books.

Tony Ross characters for the David Walliams novels.

Animation in the form of 'Mary, Mungo and Midge,' and Captain Pugwash courtesy of John Ryan studios.

Walt Disney

The Katie Morag stories

Once she has investigated each of the styles she will then choose one to teach in a workshop.

We have been following a hands on rabbit trail for History which included watching "The 1940s House" and having a go at some ration book recipes.  Typically I went hunting for my book associated with the series and realised in all the moving chaos it was culled!  Thankfully we were able to purchase a copy for £2.00 and I've enjoyed reading it snuggled under a blanket this afternoon.  We have thankfully avoided the floods but the weather has been pretty horrendous these past few weeks and another round of storms are on the horizon.  I think we will all be glad when Spring rolls around :-)

Wartime vegetable stew with dumplings.