Thankfulness is at the core of St Benedict's rule. The first rule is simply this:
"Live this life and do whatever is done with a spirit of thanksgiving"
By nine o'clock this morning breakfast had been made, the table cleared, pots washed, clothing on the line to dry and we were ready to go with home school. Whilst I attended to kitchen chores Benedict read The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. We then worked on his spellings for the week.
By then it was time for circle time, we read the creation story in his children's bible and he answered the questions at the bottom of the page. Next it was outdoor time for bean bag toss and number counting, followed by cuisenaire maths, this went down like a lead balloon!
Benedict redeemed himself by reading The Weight of The Mass book to Dave and then it was time for tidy up prior to lunch.
After lunch he had computer time with Dave using microsoft word he typed out the short poem by Christina Rossetti " Who has seen the wind?" This was akin to a teeth pulling exercise and in order to prevent a total mutiny I sent him outside into the wind to collect our windfall apples dotted around the garden!
Seeking peace and quiet at my end, I baked some treats for tomorrows Not Back To School Picnic with Sarah and her girls in Derby. Benedict was quite happy in the caravan listening to Enid Blyton's " Five on Kirrin Island" and drawing as he listened. This was them followed by more reading.
Just before tea I made another attempt at some maths and this time he was in a more receptive mood, using one of his work books we looked at odd and even numbers and coloured in the squares in the appropriate colour.
I think we are turning a corner with the bed times, thank you God for the changing season and darker evenings! Praise God this has been the second night running Benedict has been asleep by quarter past eight!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
A Timely Post
I found this on the following blog: mollysabourin.typepad.com/molly-sabourin/
and it spoke volumes to me, so I offer it to any of you souls suffering in such a way:
A
Blessing for One who is Exhausted
John O'Donohue
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the
strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On
the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the
mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now
become laborsome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity
begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The ride
you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure
ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push
yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The
desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do
now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have
forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And
sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears
will frighten you.
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now
your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses,
open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become
inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate
the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That
fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of
stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with
yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to
linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the
world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned
a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow
time.
and it spoke volumes to me, so I offer it to any of you souls suffering in such a way:
A
Blessing for One who is Exhausted
John O'Donohue
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the
strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On
the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the
mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now
become laborsome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity
begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The ride
you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure
ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push
yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The
desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do
now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have
forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And
sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears
will frighten you.
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now
your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses,
open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become
inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate
the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That
fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of
stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with
yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to
linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the
world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned
a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow
time.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Remembering...
... there is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it.
The beauty of listening for God in ordinary every day life is that each day can become a vibrant creation, when we trust that God is always present. When we look for God in every aspect of our lives, especially in the commonplace and ordinary, we see God as we listen to our life and recognise that each of us is precious to God. Life itself is a gift and holds endless promise when we open ourselves to living with The Holy One our creator.
Jane Tomain - St Benedict's Toolbox.
Slow me down Lord,
ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Teach me the art of slowing down,
to look at a flower, to chat to a friend, to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise,
that I may know that the race is not always swift,
that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak
and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values, that I may grow towards the stars of my greater destiny.
ANON
The beauty of listening for God in ordinary every day life is that each day can become a vibrant creation, when we trust that God is always present. When we look for God in every aspect of our lives, especially in the commonplace and ordinary, we see God as we listen to our life and recognise that each of us is precious to God. Life itself is a gift and holds endless promise when we open ourselves to living with The Holy One our creator.
Jane Tomain - St Benedict's Toolbox.
Slow me down Lord,
ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Teach me the art of slowing down,
to look at a flower, to chat to a friend, to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise,
that I may know that the race is not always swift,
that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak
and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values, that I may grow towards the stars of my greater destiny.
ANON
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Making The Most Of It...
... the weather that is!! Since the start of the school holidays, I've lost count how many days it has rained. In fact if you decide to venture forth for the day you have to be prepared for all eventualities and seasons, wet, cold and sunny! As a result we have sallied forth and dodged the heavy downpours as best we can. These past few weeks we have visited new friends, paddled at the beach, collected stones for an amazing craft activity, played in the park, planted new growth in the garden and in Pip's case had her first proper (much needed) haircut!!
Pip's first paddle albeit in rather mucky looking water!
Sharing a yummy Lakeland ice cream in the car, it was too cold to eat outside, sigh!
A walk on the beach wrapped up warm.
Rock Climbing!
Two's company.
Little Miss Philippa looking very grown up, sob!
" I'll sort it mama I'm a big girl now!"
In amongst the daily living this mama has managed to make a start on making the Christmas presents as well as knitting two cardigans for Pip. All will be revealed in my new blog space very soon!!
Pip's first paddle albeit in rather mucky looking water!
Sharing a yummy Lakeland ice cream in the car, it was too cold to eat outside, sigh!
A walk on the beach wrapped up warm.
Rock Climbing!
Two's company.
Little Miss Philippa looking very grown up, sob!
" I'll sort it mama I'm a big girl now!"
In amongst the daily living this mama has managed to make a start on making the Christmas presents as well as knitting two cardigans for Pip. All will be revealed in my new blog space very soon!!
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
How Time Flies and Other Stories
Thanks to the skills of this mama at:Our Little Nature Nest we gleaned her kindly shared information and worked on our life skill project for the Summer Holidays, that of telling the time. We played a telling the time matching pairs game and looked at the clock story courtesy of the above link:
Mr and Mrs Time.
And when it all became too much, a mid afternoon siesta on the loft room floor!
Our weekly rhythm is working well and we have managed outdoor time most days - the other days have been pouring down wet weather, I wonder has Autumn arrived suddenly days! Here are some pictures from a recent park visit:
Note the wellies!
Benedict lending a helping hand on the raised walk way.
Since we learn as we go we have not taken an official summer break and as a result we continue to plod along little by little. Little and often works well for us, it keeps boredom levels at bay and current interests alive. The weather therefore does not play a pivotal role in our plans and unlike those on a six week break we have the good fortune of grabbing sunnier days throughout the early autumn. This is the first year where we will not be back to school in the September. No school uniform or regulation shoes to purchase and no sitting in a hot class room for Benedict when the summer decides to put in a second appearance, as it so often does at that time of year. For now however lunch time warming soups and bed time hot water bottles are the order of the day!
Mr and Mrs Time.
And when it all became too much, a mid afternoon siesta on the loft room floor!
Our weekly rhythm is working well and we have managed outdoor time most days - the other days have been pouring down wet weather, I wonder has Autumn arrived suddenly days! Here are some pictures from a recent park visit:
Note the wellies!
Benedict lending a helping hand on the raised walk way.
Since we learn as we go we have not taken an official summer break and as a result we continue to plod along little by little. Little and often works well for us, it keeps boredom levels at bay and current interests alive. The weather therefore does not play a pivotal role in our plans and unlike those on a six week break we have the good fortune of grabbing sunnier days throughout the early autumn. This is the first year where we will not be back to school in the September. No school uniform or regulation shoes to purchase and no sitting in a hot class room for Benedict when the summer decides to put in a second appearance, as it so often does at that time of year. For now however lunch time warming soups and bed time hot water bottles are the order of the day!
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Pink Peace
We made play dough from this recipe:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 teaspoons oil
food colouring
In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, salt and cream of tartar.
Make a well in the centre of the bowl and slowly add water, stirring into dry mixture bit by bit until well combined.
Pour in oil and mix; add food colouring until mixture is the desired colour.
Place mixture in a medium sized saucepan over a low/medium heat and stir continuously. The mixture will begin to form small lumps. Keep mixing until it comes together into one big lump(this will take 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat immediately.
Carefully remove from the pan and place on a lightly floured surface; when just cool enough knead until smooth.
The peace comes through adding twenty drops of lavender oil to the kneading process, the tension melts away and the smell is soporific. Great for overtired kids and crabby adults at the end of a loong tiring day!
The recipe was gleaned from: "Nanny Wisdom" by Justine Walsh and Kim Nicholson and the suggestion to add lavender oil was from Elizabeth Foss in her family homepage entitled, "In the Heart of My Home".
Mixing the dry ingredients.
"Gently does it"
This was Pip's first experience of play dough and as you can see it went down a treat. This little one is growing up fast and it is such a treat to witness her development and to be able to record it here on our blog. God is good!
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Rainbow Rhythm
Inspired by this blog, Mummy's Learning Too , I made one of these:
Our weekly rhythm
This colourful yet simple chart has revolutionised our working week and stopped Benedict from saying every day " what are we going to do tomorrow!" Our market /field trip day meant a trip to a local farm shop followed by a soup lunch with Auntie Maureen and Uncle Bryan and then a nature walk in the back lane. We saw Hawes, Elderberries, Purple Sloes, a rabbit trail and listened to the sound of baby birds high in their nests. We managed to make it home before the heavens opened and it has rained none stop ever since!!
Today is baking day and Pizza Scones with Salad were on the lunch menu. Once the breakfast dishes had been cleared we set too and using a child friendly recipe with only a modicum of help from me Benedict made our lunch!
This recipe was from the "Energy Balance Pack" supplied by the Flour and Grain Education Programme. It is a Key Stage 2 teaching pack relating to nutrition and health.
Weighing with an old fashioned weighing scale since our Rosemary Connolly Ener- gi scales are kaput! A pretty good maths lesson and balancing act!
Rubbing in the flour and butter.
Spreading pesto sauce on the base.
Topping of onion, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese.
The pizza was then rolled into a sausage shape and sliced into rounds. The pizzas were a lovely pin wheel formation such a shame that I forgot to take a picture of them, doh!! Whilst the pizzas were cooking Benedict cleared the pots, washed up, wiped the surfaces and made the salad for lunch:
Plenty of pots to wash!
Super Salad!
A very enjoyable lesson and lunch all done despite having had a super bad hypo less than one our after breakfast! Our diabetic nurse was visiting at the time and as usual, was speechless as to what was going on with the diabetes. Typically since lunch he has had rebound blood sugars and been running amazingly high, ah well at least the sun is shining!!
Our weekly rhythm
This colourful yet simple chart has revolutionised our working week and stopped Benedict from saying every day " what are we going to do tomorrow!" Our market /field trip day meant a trip to a local farm shop followed by a soup lunch with Auntie Maureen and Uncle Bryan and then a nature walk in the back lane. We saw Hawes, Elderberries, Purple Sloes, a rabbit trail and listened to the sound of baby birds high in their nests. We managed to make it home before the heavens opened and it has rained none stop ever since!!
Today is baking day and Pizza Scones with Salad were on the lunch menu. Once the breakfast dishes had been cleared we set too and using a child friendly recipe with only a modicum of help from me Benedict made our lunch!
This recipe was from the "Energy Balance Pack" supplied by the Flour and Grain Education Programme. It is a Key Stage 2 teaching pack relating to nutrition and health.
Weighing with an old fashioned weighing scale since our Rosemary Connolly Ener- gi scales are kaput! A pretty good maths lesson and balancing act!
Rubbing in the flour and butter.
Spreading pesto sauce on the base.
Topping of onion, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese.
The pizza was then rolled into a sausage shape and sliced into rounds. The pizzas were a lovely pin wheel formation such a shame that I forgot to take a picture of them, doh!! Whilst the pizzas were cooking Benedict cleared the pots, washed up, wiped the surfaces and made the salad for lunch:
Plenty of pots to wash!
Super Salad!
A very enjoyable lesson and lunch all done despite having had a super bad hypo less than one our after breakfast! Our diabetic nurse was visiting at the time and as usual, was speechless as to what was going on with the diabetes. Typically since lunch he has had rebound blood sugars and been running amazingly high, ah well at least the sun is shining!!
Friday, 16 July 2010
A bit of this and a bit of that
We actually made the bold step of abandoning the household chores and ventured on a short trip to town for errands and recycling. We all felt miles better for being out of the same four walls. goodness knows why I did not think of this sooner!! We seem to be out of rhythm since our weekly home education group disbanded for the summer, so this morning's trip has been a wake up call for me to plan regular jaunts outside. Let's face it the house always needs attendance, it's like painting the Forth Bridge, a constant rolling programme of maintenance and repair. My motto for the time being will be a quote that, is hung on my mother in laws hallway wall:
After our trip it was time to cobble together a quick lunch, egg and chips did the job! Not amazingly healthy but darn good as a once in a while treat. Whilst lunch was cooking I made best use of the oven and cooked a cottage pie for tea and a brown rice milk pudding for tomorrow's breakfast. Whilst Pip was having her afternoon nap, Benedict and I played the Bus Stop Game by Orchard House Toys. He won both games! We then had a go with our new Djeco gel pens, they were brilliant to work with and the colours were just glorious. Benedict was really taken with them and considering he normally hates colouring as it causes his hand to ache, he drew a lovely thank you picture for Nanna and Grandad H.
Whilst an art session was underway in the dining room Dave had the kitchen to himself and made apple jam! Here are our pictures of the day:
An immaculate house is a sign of a wasted life!
Our house will be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy!After our trip it was time to cobble together a quick lunch, egg and chips did the job! Not amazingly healthy but darn good as a once in a while treat. Whilst lunch was cooking I made best use of the oven and cooked a cottage pie for tea and a brown rice milk pudding for tomorrow's breakfast. Whilst Pip was having her afternoon nap, Benedict and I played the Bus Stop Game by Orchard House Toys. He won both games! We then had a go with our new Djeco gel pens, they were brilliant to work with and the colours were just glorious. Benedict was really taken with them and considering he normally hates colouring as it causes his hand to ache, he drew a lovely thank you picture for Nanna and Grandad H.
Whilst an art session was underway in the dining room Dave had the kitchen to himself and made apple jam! Here are our pictures of the day:
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Art Attack!
Straight after breakfast once the table had been cleared and wiped, we brought down paper, craft books, glitter, glue, paints and brushes. We all spent a very enjoyable hour painting and sticking. I practised wet on wet water colour painting. I was pleased with the result and have thought of a way of utilising my coloured paper in a collage. Benedict drew and then painted a castle scene and an underwater scene, he also had a go at splatter painting with the help of Sara. Pip as usual thought it was a great idea to do a spot of face painting! She did however settle to painting on paper and was enthralled with the mosaic sticking and glitter art. All in all a very relaxing, uplifting and productive start to the day.
Ordinary Days
Ordinary days : cleaning (a little), cooking (lots!), laundry, gardening, harvesting, bread making (thanks Dave!), Holy Mass (Sara, Benedict and Pip), visiting friends, Grandparents calling by, all amidst the chaos and unpredictability of chronic sickness. During the difficult days arrow prayers are sent heaven wards at regular intervals and somehow, someway we make it through to the day's end.
"Here my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
I call to you from the ends of the earth; my heart grows faint. Set me high upon a rock; be my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in your wings' shelter."
Psalm 61 v 2-5
"Here my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
I call to you from the ends of the earth; my heart grows faint. Set me high upon a rock; be my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in your wings' shelter."
Psalm 61 v 2-5
Pip helping Grandad mend the lounge door.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Colony Capers
Benedict and Dad went on the end of year sausage sizzle with Beavers. Sausages were in plentiful supply as was good humour, silly songs and boundless energy from the little one's. Here are some pictures from the evening:
The excitement is mounting!
Singing around the camp fire at the evening's end.
Convertable Currency
So what do you do with 16lb of red currants picked on the spur of the moment? Be very grateful for friends who have access to a large supply of jam jars, are willing to buy sugar at the drop of the hat and spend a Saturday afternoon jam making in the kitchen!
After an impromptu lunch of salad, cooked tomatoes, home made bread, freshly cooked gammon (courtesy of Aunty Maureen and Uncle Bryan) and preserved damsons and Cornish ice cream; Dad and Uncle Bryan spent the afternoon in the kitchen making the first of many batches of red current jam.
After an impromptu lunch of salad, cooked tomatoes, home made bread, freshly cooked gammon (courtesy of Aunty Maureen and Uncle Bryan) and preserved damsons and Cornish ice cream; Dad and Uncle Bryan spent the afternoon in the kitchen making the first of many batches of red current jam.
Uncle B at the helm.
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