First Day At College :: Home School On The Hoof

It has been eight years since Benedict stepped inside an educational establishment and so yesterday was a pretty momentous day.  He was both nervous and excited which I reckon was the best way to be.  The day was pretty full on with enrolment and finding his way around the campus. 

 Needless to say, his blood sugars were whacky and he ran consistently low all day and had two hypos.  The last hypo occurred just as I was waiting to collect him and by this point he was looking not well at all.  He was very glad to be home and although he enjoyed his day, there were times when he felt overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle.  I am sure things will settle down though given time.  He has English and Maths tomorrow, so I'm hoping he has a good day.

 Just before setting off.

After having dropped Benedict off, Pip, Dave and I travelled the short distance to Barton Grange for a well deserved beverage and second breakfast :-)

 We sent this picture to Uncle Bryan ( who we were visiting later), Aunty Maureen loved butterflies and we knew this would make him smile.

 Retro stand in the cook wear shop.

A pizza tray :-)

Dave and I have fond memories of our visits to Paris, but could not justify spending £20.00 each on an Emma Bridgewater mug ... it was tempting though!  

 And it is that time of year when disappointingly, BG sets to work on the Christmas displays, big thumbs down :-(

Our next stop was a trip to Garstang library followed by a visit to Uncle Bryan.  It was very much a case of, have homeschool will travel.  Pip completed all her tasks, including her main lesson work, English, Maths and German.  Thanks to Eva we have some German resources and Pip did a really great job with lesson one.

After lunch it was time for a walk, so we followed a trail that we used to do with Aunty Maureen.  It was usually a post lunch, "push the kids in the push chair to get them off to sleep walk!"  I don't think Pip remembers the walk, but I reckon Ben would have remembered had he been with us.

 Every time we see a butterfly, we always say that Aunty Maureen is with us :-)

 A chance to talk about our farming main lesson work!

 Well deserved puddle jumping!  Not the best of shots, because I had forgotten my camera, but at least the iphone caught the moment.

Today has been a catch up day and I must admit I am glad that I did not have the drive to college today!  Thankfully Shein has offered to collect Ben tomorrow afternoon which is a great help.  Taking Ben to college and returning home is a 30 mile round trip which takes just under an hour.  

Not Again!

The temperature today has been 23C and Barton Grange once again are working on their Christmas display and the shop floor is littered with Christmas paraphernalia!  I had a chat with one of the contractors working on the electrics for the display and he commented that he felt depressed about coming into work today.  Totally mad, they it did it last year and it really does take the joy out of visiting the place.  Barton Grange is one of the very few places that has something for everyone in addition to being disability friendly.

 They managed to redeem themselves slightly by offering some rather lovely Christian cards for sale. However we tend to support Traidcraft or Aid To The Church In Need for all our Christmas cards.

Today was a tricky home school day with Pip and I still quite unwell.  Still we plodded through and made a good attempt at the tasks on our list.  Benedict took some of his work with him when he stayed with Shein, after which he attended his first ever kick boxing session at the gym.  He came home really pleased with his efforts and is looking forward to his next session on Wednesday.  Not only will the kick boxing improve his confidence, give him a new skill and potentially provide a means of defending himself should the need ever arise, it will also help with his learning needs since the cross body movements reinforce neuro pathways in the brain.  Definitely a win-win situation :-)

On a different note I think Dave and I are suffering from the Post Walsingham Blues, if you check out the Youth 2000 face-ache page it is in fact a recognised condition!!  Mind you our symptoms are more related to the fact that Walsingham is a place where disability and sickness does not stand out and so for a brief period we almost felt "normal."  Suffice to say it has been very hard returning home to isolating suburbia :-(  

My initial word for the year was "trust" but in fact the word that keeps appearing is "acceptance."  Easy to say but incredibly hard to do.  When I find myself struggling with the ongoing worries and concerns for those in my immediate family, I often here myself saying, "it is as it is."  There is some small comfort in these words because if I am unable to change my circumstances then it is useless fretting over the what ifs, or might haves.  Like the manna in the desert I have grace for the moment :-)

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Amen x  

Random

I have been unwell these past few weeks but I have remembered to take photos, so I thought I'd dump them here and give a brief explanation where necessary!

 Saint Catherine Laboure is our Little Flowers saint of the month.  The above is Pip's notebook page and on Monday of this week her craft was a foil replica of the Miraculous Medal.

 During a particularly bad week whereupon the kids fought like cat and dog, we were granted a reprieve in the sibling squabbles and spent a peaceful afternoon at The Midland Hotel for tea and biscuits.  Our usual spot in the main foyer was taken so we made our way to the Rotunda Bar instead.  The area is reminiscent of the 1950's, even the tea pots are bright red!  The mural on the wall was originally painted in time for the hotel's official unveiling in 1933, however since the plaster work had not sufficiently dried the paintwork crumbled and flaked as the years went by.  Two local artists were commissioned to restore the mural in time for the hotel's second unveiling in 2008.  If you want to know more about the history of the place then you can read about The Midland here

 I first came across this book whilst waiting in the audiology clinic with Pip.  It was given rave reviews in the national deaf society magazine so imagine my joy upon finding it on the shelf in our local library!  The author herself has a hearing impairment and some of the characters and experiences chronicled in the book are an account of her childhood.  El Deafo was her alter ego and by creating the super hero she was able to work with and accept her deafness and subsequent difficulties in daily life.  The book is set out in comic book style and outlines  the difficulties faced by those within the deaf community, it appeals to both adults and children alike. 

 

 We spent a lovely morning with Dave's Aunty Judith.  She has a whacky sense of humour which was just what we needed, having been told earlier by a not-so-friendly neurologist that Dave was not eligible for any MS treatment.  In his opinion folks with MS have a fifteen year shelf life post diagnosis after which its a case of shut up and go away!  Thankfully our regular neurologist is a man of woolly pullovers, compassion and a penchant for recycling :-)  He too is limited by way of helping as a result of the NICE guidelines for MS but at least you feel that he listens and cares.

 One Sunday after mass we made a trip to Barton Grange and bought a planter of flowers and a butterfly to place on Aunty Maureen's grave.  It was the first time that the children had visited.  Benedict was subdued and Pip in between crying hugged the ground and wanted to leave her teddy for Aunty Mo.  She is buried in a beautiful village church yard and her place over looks the hills beyond.

 Last week we managed a trip to Holker Hall to meet Dave's mum and dad.  The kids spent the afternoon up and down on the scooters and in the adventure play area.  It is quite expensive to visit the house and gardens but we did decide that next time the gardens really would be well worth a visit.  Dave's dad is famous for telling a yarn interspersed with an old joke or two, the kids have as much fun watching him trying to keep a straight face in the process!

 Last Saturday we had our usual make and cake gathering and I had offered to make the refreshments one of which was this paleo friendly strawberry cake.  The cake itself is made from almonds, eggs, coconut sugar and butter.  The cream topping is in fact whipped coconut cream!  Even if i say so myself it was a lovely light cake :-)

 Since the beginning of this week we have been chasing very unpredictable blood sugar readings.  On Monday lunch time Benedict encountered a very severe hypo with no warning, he started to fit and began to lose consciousness.  We weren't with him at the time but Shein managed to bring him round and stabilise his blood sugars.  Thankfully I had a spare sensor which has enabled me to track his blood sugar readings even when he is sleeping.  As you can see by midnight on the Monday his bloods were crashing so it was a case of pump suspension and me on duty until 2am.  It's been a long while since I have done a middle of the night stint and I had forgotten how awful the night shift can be.

My bed is currently topped with items ready to be packed as we are spending the week not far from Uncle Mike in Gloucestershire.  Dave's brother Uncle Andy is hoping to stop with us for a few days and it will be lovely to spend time with them both.  We even have wi-fi in the cottage, so with a bit of luck I'll be able to update here throughout the course of the week :-)

Thanks for reading, San xx

Barton Grange :: Visiting Friends

It's that time of year and the best place to experience over the top colour is our favourite eating and garden place, Barton Grange.  Naturally it was super busy on a Saturday but it was well worth working our way through the throng to marvel at the displays:

 

 

Barton Grange is celebrating 50 years in business so each tree represented each decade as you can see this one is dedicated to the nineties.  On the ceiling they also had pictures from that era, ranging from Princess Diana to Kylie Minogue!

 

 

Pretty in Pink and Purple.

 

 

Standing Guard.

 

 

The Kids Tree.

 

 

Snowman Plates.

 

 

Santa table display.

 

 

Santa in his workshop.

 

 

Pip totally enthralled by a moving Santa ~ oh to be a child again!  It was lovely to see her response of unbridled joy.

 

 

Our last Aunty Judith treat of the year ~ our Barton Grange gift card was such a treat and much appreciated.

 

 

Benedict having another hypo, his fifteenth in ten days!  There is no real pattern to them, so I definitely have some detective work cut out for me tonight!

 

 

Dave catching up on a much needed  forty winks!

 

 

Singing Snowmen.

 

 

Pip sitting on Mr Barton Grange.

 

 

 

After our trip we popped in on a surprise visit to Aunty Maureen and Uncle Bryan.  It has been ages since we have seen them and it was so lovely to catch up on news, deliver Aunty Maureen birthday's present for Tuesday.  Uncle Bry very kindly bought tea for us all ~ fish and chips and great they were too!

 

 

Trying out Pip's reindeer ears.

 

 

 

Aunty Maureen wearing the flashing nose!

 

 

 

This sums up our feelings of the day.

 

 

 

The Lord is so good a beautiful sunset at the days end.