An End of Week Round Up

We met with our homeschool friends on Tuesday and the girls worked on a replica of an Egyptian necklace.

On Wednesday, Dave and I went to visit Sara, Tom and Oliver.  Sara and I had fun choosing books for Ollie, and at the tender age of seven weeks he has his very own library ticket ;-)

On Thursday, in between a hair appointment for me, we completed all our home school tasks and I visited Uncle Bry as usual in the evening.

Saturday meant Wildlife Watchers for Pip and an extra chance for me to be in the loft room.  So far this week I have managed to make four bags and four lavender baboushka dolls.  When it is too hot for the loft room, I take my handsewing or crochet outside and enjoy working in the fresh air.  In the afternoon we had a visit from Kath and Mary which was lovely.  Pip had fun hanging out with her niece which meant nattering time for me and Kath ;-)

Today the kids and I sat outside to pray the rosary whilst Dave rested inside.  Warm weather is great if you do not have MS, so he has spent the day seeking either shade or being indoors.  He will just about to acclimatise to the heat and then the temperatures will drop!  I don't think this current warm spell will last.

All in all it has been another good week, with plenty of variety and lots of things accomplished.

 Oliver and Grandpa ~ Ollie looking a bit phased, he had just had a big feed and was definitely tired!

 Filling out nicely ;-)

 Library books for our youngest bookworm!

A Productive Day

Funny how blue skies and sunshine can spur you on :-)  We managed all the items on our to-do list which I think is the first time ever!  In no particular order:

We managed a weekly home blessing hour a la Fly Lady, surfaces dusted with a swiffer brush, floors cleaned, mirrors wiped and the bathroom given a once over.

Pip mowed the lawns and Benedict undertook all the meal prep for the day, vegetable and chicken soup for lunch and lasagne for tea.

Ben helped with the recycling.

Pip completed all her home school lessons:  Singapore maths, spellings, times tables practice, read aloud and adding another floor to her Egyptian house.

Three loads of laundry were washed, aired and put away.

I made banana muffins and a start on another project bag for the craft stall.

Ben has been working on an Age of Empires scenario with an Egyptian theme.  He has undertaken all sorts of research for this project and has worked really hard.

Tomorrow we are home schooling with friends and I'm looking forward to a quieter day!

 

Sunday Snippets

We finished the death mask on Friday and for a post lunch treat Pip made the date balls for afternoon tea:

 Dave is has found a way of attaching the mask to a wall and so the first artefact for the "Around the House Museum" will duly be installed :-)

On Saturday I spent the whole of the day in the loft working on items for the craft stall.  I also managed to make a handmade gift for an upcoming birthday and it was quite satisfying to see the completed project.  I have come to accept that making handmade items for sale will in my opinion never sustain a living wage.  However this form of work not only enables me to work to my own timetable, thus allowing for my own health needs it also means I can be at home to support my family.  Somethings in life such as flexibilty really are priceless.

On Friday the diabetes specialist nurse arrived at our home minus the all important laptop!  This meant that she was unable to make a fully qualified decision regarding Benedict's diabetes care and I was quietly apoplectic!  As a result some cursory changes were made and she is returning on Wednesday to undertake a full download of the sensor and pump information.  His diabetic readings are quite worrying, yesterday he had multiple hypos throughout the day and he was having a quiet day at home!  If he had been active there would have been a reason, but when these blips occur for no apparent reason it is quite baffling :-(

We missed church again this weekend, my health is just not  up to it at the moment.  By the time I have ferried Ben to college, taught Pip, attempted to keep on top of the house and undertake additional work hours, I'm worn out by the time Sunday rolls around.  We did have a lovely visit from long standing friends in the afternoon.  All the kids played together really well and Debbie and I had a quiet time knitting and chatting.  And before we know it, Monday rolls around once more!  All we need is some decent weather ;-)

Saturday Snippets

We actually managed to make church today! This is a big deal at our end since we have not attended in months due to continued ill health. It was just lovely to be in the presence of The Lord and I had a bonus by also attending confession, the best form of therapy and totally free :-)

It has been a mixed week in the school room with bursts of activity followed by periods of independent learning when I had been up all night due to sickness and needing to rest the next day.  I have rallied in between so two outings were accomplished much to Pip's relief!!  That girl just hates being home bound and can climb the walls both literally and metaphorically if she is cooped up two days in a row ;-)

Knitting has been my go to therapy and I am currently tackling one of my goals which is to make handmade gifts throughout the year for birthdays and Christmas where possible.  I also have an additional challenge of 12 pairs of handmade socks in a year, so it will be interesting to see how I fair.

Here are our pictures of the week:

 I made my own home made deoderant and it not only turned out surprisingly well it works well too!  It is a combination of coconut oil, bicarbonate of soda, cornstarch and organic essential lemon oil.  My mix is not an anti-perspirant but I don't have any real issues in that department.  However I have since learned that Zinc Oxide is a natural antiperspirant and so I might consider adding it to the next batch.

 Pip enjoyed using the felted Rosary that I made and we prayed one of the joyful mysteries together.

Pyjama home school before breakfast and yes that is the correct time!  That was the morning of my being up all night quite unwell.  I sat in the rocking chair with a hot water bottle and my knitting.  Pip was quite surprised to see me up and about at such a time!

 My January socks, one pair down eleven more to go :-)

 Sour cherry, cacao and almond bites.  The cherries contain anti inflammatory properties and the combination of the three ingredients are also supposed to help with insomnia aswell as pain, I can report that they and the Potters' Herbal sleep remedy did the job.

 Pip totally bemused by an old fashioned type writer, " You actually put paper in the top and it doesn't send emails?!!"

 Lovely gifts from friends!  Pip grabbed the camera and took this fuzzy picture to show Chanda that she loves her cat!  We love the napkins Dorina and the books what a lovely gift to cheer on a dreary January day :-)

 #womensmarch #pinkhat

Women and men marched on Washington today sporting pink hats in the shape of a cat's head;  there were also similar marches in London. Even Cate Blanchett was spied wearing such a tifter in a similar march in NYC on Thursday.  They were marching against Donald Trump and his so called "values."

Here in the Madness Abode there have been no pink hats but pink slippers instead!  Standing in solidarity with those marching against hatred and division today.  These slippers are quite poignant; they were bought by a dear family friend whose wife died at the start of last year.  Aunty Maureen loved butterflies :-)  She had a generous heart and would always reach out to others in need and I know that she would be appalled at the state of our world.  How can one man who has displayed such appalling behavious be in charge of and represent a nation?

Renegade knitters unite!