Author Archives: HHaricot

I know all 3 of the authors, 1 is a sister, 2 are friends and met through home educating. 2 fiction and one self help manual. Have a look at the blurb and consider buying

Hmm we seem to have no internet access. The router is off, so who knows how long we will be internet free for! So I had better put a little bit of blog down here!

So far this week the girls have done a fair bit of home ed type stuff. SB has been quite busy with music practice, predom clarinet and viola, and BB has been ecstatically doing loads of getty and dubay so has nearly finished book A, and is now on explode the code book 1 = much excitement! I think she is getting more confident with the idea of reading, but doesn’t really want to practice it much!! A lot of crafty stuff has been done too! Painting some more of those animals we had at the party, and colouring. Oh, and maths, spelling etc etc! lots of reading, as the reading challenge is back on, and playing with rabbits.

On wed we went to visit sis. SB and M played golf with dad, which they both enjoyed. We have to fix some more golf lessons for her! I took down loads of craft, and the kids had fun painting suncatchers. Saw that M had been doing loads of the other craft kits I have given him, so that is good! Viv is doing her best, and certainly her walking is improved, so she got from bed to table for lunch, and a bit of moving around. Dad has built a ramp for a wheelchair to her door, as the OT said that the space was too small!! Has meant that he can wheel her out into the garden so doesn’t get so trapped feeling. Not that we got out when we were there. The weather was pretty awful! Including a very dreadful thunderstorm and rainstorm whilst we were driving. My sis and her family have my heart and thoughts at the moment, as do my parents, who are trying to make her reality work as best as they can

and to update and leave on a lighter moment! SB and BB continued to do lots of home ed, with BB falling in love with explode the code, and SB doing a complete schofield and simms workbook today! there has also been some reorganisation of bookshelves in the girls room, and SB started painting her ornament shelves.

we are much enjoying reading this at bedtime

this july has been v crazy-busy so far, and i could really do with a relaxing holiday. it seems that sept is my best bet! mon i had off work, so nipped the 2+ hours to visit sis, and then journey back. then after work again visited her again, this time with family. following that tho, we didn’t come home, but stayed at mum and dad’s house and raided their freezer! [they were already in charmouth with my nephew M and niece E].

following morning, nice and early we set off for seadown. I love seadown! it saved my sanity last year, and certainly provided me with some moments of happiness this time. it is also a fab campsite, with yes, lovely toilet block, flat pitches and also statics for my parents to stay in. but the main attraction is the tiny walk to the beach! and what a beach!! rock pools for rockpooling, fossils for fossiling, waves for boogie boarding for kids, sand for sandcastles, as well as retail opportunity and bijou museum. have i sold it to you yet?? Love it!

anyway, tent up, hugs with parents and craziness with 4 kids!! we went down to the beach, bought SB and BB a small board to mess about with.[ later we saw a surfer dad start to teach his kids to balance with a wooden shield like board. looks like a good idea!] both my girls near drowned themselves they had so much fun ‘catching the wave’ with SB trying to kneel as well. we might enrol her in a surf school one holiday… [hmm having checked newgale out due too many recommendations, see it does have a surf school nearbye, but doesn’t take dogs anymore! that must be a blow!!] oh, i am being so distractable in my blogging! anyway, lots of messing in the sea. E not so keen tho! and BB and E hid in suntent to enjoy ice cream. us hardy adults thought the need for sun tent or wind break fairly evenly balanced! quickish tea – ken hom for us, pasta for them, and then me, mum and steward took the kids for an evening fossil walk. also fab!! we found quite a few ammonites, i found a composite belemnite rock, which i thought was cool!! SB found a cast of a bivalve, which was cooler!! although we found some iron pyrites, we didn’t find any in ammonite form though which was my goal!! called back by dad and husband who thought we had been out way too long! it was getting quite dark, so guess they were right.

earlyish start the next day to get the waves! sand castling also happened, but boogie boarding was the best activity! SB just soooo loved it. she is truly a water baby! i loved so watching her, gave me a huge hols smile. and in fact, one of my drives to get thinner/fitter is so that i can mess about with her – i think i would prob sink a board currently! unfortunately i broke BB’s bucket, and going to get another one was a disastrous 45 min wailfest as there was too much choice I think i did a passable impression of a calm and collected parent as we swept out of the shop to sit and cuddle on a seafront bench whilst calming down [yes, both of us!] before coming to an agreement, going in, buying bucket and quick exit!! after sarnies on the beach we went to the coastal heritage place, and SB, BB and E polished an ammonite slice there, and then looked at the activities. This time it was E’s turn to have a ‘retail moment’, but still mine to manage it it’s a great little place tho, and v helpful wardens, who looked at some of our finds of the previous eve. A bit more beaching/sandcastling and then home for BBQ for us and take away pizza for them! kids did some crafting – fab djeco mosaics from craft merrily! all round at our tent as venue. unfortunately [or fortunately, since we had all finished eating] the heavens opened and we proved that you could fit 5 adults and 3 children in the living space of a minnesota 4! [SB was outside doing a rain dance - lovely dance, crazy girl! ]

another day! another day at the beach!! this time we started with rockpooling. we found some likely looking pools with stewart, dad and M. [E having a bit of a moment stayed with mum, who then joined us when migraine a bit more under control] we were suprised by the wealth of life we found in the pools! crabs, anemones, various seaweeds and small fish. we had a great time searching, peering and finding! eventually the tide covered the rock pools and we let the variety of creatures go free. Mum and E had joined us, and we had a picnic before the plan was made to make more sandcastles and do more boarding, after having a perusal of the shops! money was exchanged! rocks, stones, fossils, stretchy dinosaurs etc bought!! happiness!! SB upset that M didn’t want to go in the water, but with chris and stewart, she and BB had a whale of a time! i hadn’t put in the swimming costume i had planned to, so didn’t swim, and slightly grumpy, tho the water would have been freezing!! [this is where i look up plus sized wet suits again!!]. went back to tent. kids crafted – finished the fab djeco mosaics! def a recommended craft! curry for tea – camp for us, takeout for them!! and then piled into bed exhausted. I had a bit of a teary night, and all unsettled. it did feel as if the holiday was my last drop of happiness for a while. I blame too much limoncello!!

having not slept, getting up and taking tent down did seem rather an effort! have to clear the pitch by 10! waved mum, dad, M, E and stewart off, and then our car didn’t start! i took girls to beach and left chris in charge of starting car – luckilly a nearby camper helped out! we went to the heritage museum, looked at bits and pieces and then down to the beach and rockpooled with chris. totally different beasties in this totally different area! a cafe lunch as picnic on beach, some sandcastles [leaving me to visit viv on way home with sandy knees still!!] a goodbye to the sea – one day we will live by the sea! – and we were off!! an easy drive home with a stop to see viv – she plans to go home on wed, all being well.

sunday at home a bit deflating, rabbits back home – snowy even bigger but far less fluffy, so went and watched shrek forever after, a bit of a romp of a film, only 1 sad moment [that's good!] not as good as first 2 shrek’s, but sequels are always trickier!! still, all happy and home to bed!

monday SB waved off to Brownies camp today! hope she has a really fab time!! BB slightly moochily lost, so a variety of crafts – some from playmerrily discont sale!! [so no longer there to link too! v well received!] and some glass painting things from yellow moon – always a hit! I did some freehand dolphins on a glass to give to Viv. then ds vs mario kart – BB ecstatic to win each race as i am totally crap at it!! ah, and now we have caught up – presses publish!!

i almost couldn’t face getting up today, and i almost couldn’t bear to go out today. luckilly i managed to ban the duvet from my mind and went out and we all had a lovely day at paxton pits. le ciel rouge, deependers, gina and a number of home edders i don’t get to see much were there, which was lovely, and also got to meet new ppl too – also lovely. and actually managed to spend most of the day giggling and laughing, which if you had asked me last night, i would have said was frankly unbelievable. so thankyou to those that made my day go with a giggle, friends and my lovely girls.

the weather seemed a bit unpredictable, so we had waterproofs and suncream – lol! and listened to italian on the way down, with some new things – colours! had to just look up on google blue and yellow in italian, it is quite unnerving to have yellow nearly the same! missed the paxton pits turn once off the a1, but had been looking at maps for geocaches, so told girls not to worry, could take another road. was just about to check with a stranger when z rung me to say i had gone wrong! when we beat her to car park she was most surprised!! joined our group, acquired 3 more children for the day – who were all fab and excellent! think we had had a really lovely group. sometimes the kids can be quite, well, disparate! so the mix is a bit oil and water, but today all went really well. the lady ‘in charge’ of our group did start off with a bit of ‘in charginess’ and TBH, although allegedly keystage 2 [i am not keen on all this keystaging either] it seemed best pitched for BB. [who named the icthyosaur]. luckilly she got less teachery enthiastic, and more facilitator as she reached what is prob her comfort zone of looking for beasties! then the day got far better!!

so we started by stepping back in time to the time of dinosaurs, and discussed in BB terms that paxton pits was a shallow warm sea, then we moved forwards a bit, but only so we could search for fossils in the gravel. TBH, I would have done this all quite differently, as the concept was good, but the delivery was a bit we have had a jolly good idea! then we moved to the iceage – not sure what that was about, but we then looked for insects around the woodland, under logs and shaking trees, and it started to work, with show and tell, identifying, and our facilitator was into her comfort zone! kids and adults obv didn’t have enough brekkie tho! as tummies rumbling. the final bit before lunch was in the bird hide, which sb really liked, and bb was wingeing. they had binoculars for everyone, and we saw cormorants, great crested glebe, heron and swans. then lunch = phew! they provided tea with real milk too!!

the afternoon was the best bit, the kids were happy, the adults were happy and the facilitator was happy – had the measure of us! and we started with pond dipping = fab! caught so many different things to last week as well. pond scorpions, caddis larvae [well cool!] water stick insects, swan mussels, as well as the more common water mite, boatmen, watersnails etc! and again a good show and tell, as well as lots of looking and helping to identify. she was really good at remembering the kids names too. so excellent. and then, what was prob the piece de resistance, bug catching with big swooopy nets! i have never done that before, and it was really ace. one of the other children-that-were-mine-but-not-mine confided that it was very much like animal crossing on the wii! caught lots of crickets and grasshoppers, as well as a variety of other bits and pieces. many happy children! we finished with a view of the future, how paxton pits might be when grows larger, and thanks to the organisers.

we all then congregated at cafe for icecreams and cold drinks! i managed to get sunburnt then, but due to the longsleeves and long trousers rule the girls were ok. chatting and finally drifting off. we had french on the way home. BB fell asleep and then when home we harvested potatoes from the potato challenge. i don’t think we will advertise our paltry weights!! rocket >>emerald tho! i had bought some sewing supplies [must ask merry where she got her aida from] and the girls argued and stropped over buttons etc – ok it was mostly BB, ending up with her wailing big style. chris couldn’t find brownies for SB, so was prob a trip somewhere we have missed, and then she got a splinter and was tired and washed out, so we elected to miss judo. instead all snuggled and watched toystory 1 together and then prehistoric park. but girls still not asleep in bed, so prob no better 2moro!!

ooohhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 edited to add – and how could i forget! – BB’s dinomite magazine arrived today as well, and the pic she submitted of a dinosaur was printed!! she is SOOOOOO proud!!