Category Archives: gardening

so the rest

typing this round bb – so difficult!

I had a lie in. I’m not sleeping well, and tend to fall asleep 4am and wake wake up with BB at 6-ish and then where possible have a second shot at sleep. I am lucky that chris lets me do it, but it does take more time away form the children.

Whilst I was snoozing, both girls had a wild hama-fest. even BB did a lovely job with the midi beads. SB did me a pattern and put an M in it for mummy, and a lovely wrapping up [luov to mumee from SB]. BB also proud of hers, and we took a picture.

IMG_5922-1
Both girls also did some colouring in and then some drawing. I read some apple tree farm books to BB, SB read some to herself and then some magic tree house to me. SB then did some violin practice – she declares this new violin is too heavy to hold!
BB did some playdough before lunch and I read to SB some of the rivers book described below. We did the ill fated experiment after lunch! Weather ed indeed!!

IMG_5924-1 IMG_5923-1

The girls then did lots of outdoor play and running about – getting v wet! Chris finished sorting out the greenhouse, so I moved loads of things there ready to get ready for the great ourdoors [toms for indoors, cucurbits, runner and french beans and sweetcorn] I gave them a good water and some rooster feed.

BB wanted to do happy maize [do you still have any Merry?], so she started on that, and SB did some fimo – she made a face pencil topper and some beads. When she did the hair with our garlic press [thanks merry!] BB also wanted a go. luckily BB made a nice colour rather than brown out of her bits squished together, and lot of hair!

IMG_5938-1 IMG_5941-1

The girls watched some TV and I hoed the onions and chris made tea. BB fell asleep and had to be jiggled awake – and why I have been blogging with her in my arms! oh, we joined up the princess hats!
princess hats IMG_5944-1

obviously finishing this blog a bit later! SB had britannia and read me a story from usborne young readers for bed. i am getting mentally prepared to go back to work tomorrow. Have a presentation to write as well!

Anyone who hasn’t stated a castle day preference, either email me or go to the protected post below. Thanks

The frantic gardener blog is back up and running

well, sort of! I am moving posts over, and the will do a photo spree!

Here it is – link also in sidebar.

Are there any other HE bloggers with a gardening blog on the side that wants a link?

A typical home ed day? Photomeme thingummy

Actually, in many respects it was. We forgot about it to start with [fairly typical!] BB woke up way to early [fairly typical] Chris eventually went down with her leaving me to have a lie in [fairly typical for the weekend!] An brought me breakfast in bed of croissants – not at all typical! Bored now with saying the typical bits!

Errr, its amazing how much you can forget. Have got flickr uploading wildly. Honestly Chris P, I put up too many photos even for me, but its much quicker than sorting them out! One day I will, I promise!!!!

playing who's who

Anyway, at sometime after 11 we started taking photos, and not at all sure what went on before that, as that was with Chris whilst I was reading the paper! But when I was surfaced enough to remember we were taking photos and also to interact, we played who’s who. BB insists on playing, so not exactly to the rules, but enjoyed! BB and I then spent some time hammering baby toys and playing with the rainbow blocks to make lots of noise, and then constructing brio and making the trains chug around [always a baby train and a mummy train with BB!]. We also did a bit of looking after and watering the plants in the conservatory.

IMG_5821 IMG_5810
I had suggested to SB that she might do some education city as we have paid for it and she hasn’t done any for ages and ages. SHe fancied webland, so whilst chris got the next edition downloaded, I read a story from the barefoot book of mothers and daughters - the persephone and demeter story which SB knows well, having had a mad love affair with greek myths and legends. SB then spent HOURS on webland! Not very interesting to photo! We had also missed april’s edition, so she did all of May followed by all of April. BB also did some poisson rouge. In a moment of pure inspiration I have put a hand sticker on the left click of all our mice! She now knows which bit to click – hooray! Also getting more controlled with the mouse movt. Does have her mother’s patience though. wiggling it wildly when it didn’t go where she wanted.

IMG_5814

IMG_5813

Had lunch and SB returned to do some more webland. I was bored with this, and checked the mail – hooray her new sports sunglasses arrived. [should stay on as she twizzles about on swings and cycles]. The low start of ebay price was completely overmade up by postage – 6 times the cost!!! i did factor that in though.

IMG_5815

BB desperate to do some painting, and SB wanted to make a princess hat, so combined the 2 activities. At least half our paints were put into pots though – gradually getting SB to take responsibility for setting out and tidying away crafts. hmm She did sort of set out, I totally tidied! Anyway, she and BB painted the hats, and then carried on with further painting. SB did a particularly beautifully coloured handprint. Eventually they declared themselves painted out, and a quick hose down and they went outside to play.

IMG_5848 IMG_5852

SB and BB scootered/triked about for a bit, but SB hurt her poorly knee, so I re-dressed it, and she read a book about food through the ages with intermittent waily patches. I made them some popcorn to eat. BB played Bob the Builder, moving dirt around the garden, and generally enjoyed rampaging about, playing hide and seek etc.

IMG_5862 IMG_5865

IMG_5887 quiet moment

SB got fed up reading the book, and wanted to make the egyptian breads we have made in the past from the 120 history projects book. it was sold to BB as a snail cake – the word cake enticing her in from the garden to join in! SO we added mess onto mess in the kitchen, and all enjoyed making the egyptian sweet bread. BB and SB enjoyed competitive flour and butter rubbing, so there was a fair bit of loss!!

IMG_5901 make light work

Daddy had been to the shops btw as we were all out of food. He returned as the egyptian breads were put in the oven, and didn’t blanch too much at the appearance of the kitchen. BB being up for over 12 hours was swept off to a bath, and SB has been outside again while I have done this and put flickrs onto the uploader. We do plant to perhaps sellotape the hats up before bed, and SB has promised a violin practice of frere jaques – she will moan when she has to do it after tea, but it has been the only non-negotiable thing to do today! SO since we have done all the autonomy, its time to do the violin! I will obviously be adding photos after the girls gone to bed!

follow up! Well, I had set that up, but chris rebooted ‘puter without checking whether I was doing anything! SB did the violin with enthusiasm – and very pleased that a nearly recognisable tune coming! read britannia, and she read a young usborne readers book [and is in fact still reading it]. Joining up the hats will need to wait till tomorrow, as will eating the egyptian breads!

Links to the last 2 photomemes in the sidebar, and this one will join it now the photo’s are added. Look forward to seeing others’ photo days.

A New Ancient Egyptian sweet bread!

pottering, potting and pottying.

Well, couldn’t really think of a title!

Started the day with Chris taking BB for her 2 year check [fine] and then toddler gym at the leisure centre. She loves it! SB did her 2A maths in the conservatory whilst I potted up the final cucurbits, aubergines and peppers.. She was doing hundreds, tens and units. Raced through it until she got to the bit where she had to write them out longhand. SB then helped pot up some final toms to take to people.

BB returned and also sowed some seeds – calendula and sunflowers.We had tea and home made cookies snack. We went on to violin practice afterwards – starting frere jaques on A. Unfortunately, having moved to new size violin, SB has lost totally a sensible bow hold, and the violin is slipping to the front. I am torn between making a big deal about it and putting her off completely, or letting her slip into bad habits to put her off later! Trying to steer middle road!

Unfortunately, BB wanted to ‘do dielin’ at the same time, and because I was tuning SB’s violin at the time rather than paying her attention, she decided to repeated whack SB with her bow. Sigh. SO violin removed from wailing BB, and she was marched to library with Chris to pick up some reserved books. one of these books was about Victorian houses and their maintenance. I was rather gutted to find that the paper in the halls under the dado – now drawn on and torn in one significant place by BB – is prob original. It survives 150 years until BB! The damp from the arch window threatens it as well. We must sort that out this year. aarrgh.

Anyway, SB read some more magic tree house, and I am about to take delivery of some more books. they are really good – recommendation here! they have a 6-8 year old type of story, flexible lexicon and reading difficulty spot on for her.

Lots of playing outside as well – colder today, but both girls twiddling around on their bikes. found chris had put bricks holding environmesh directly on top of my florence fennel, and I have no more seeds. humph!

SB designed a craft activity for BB – she was really excited about it. They put glue lines on card and then glittered them. As you can imagine, glitter EVERYWHERE! But they both enjoyed doing it, and SB was very proud to be showing BB what to do, and enjoying doing it together – a proud mummy moment for me too. This is the great advantage of home ed.

More outside playing and then SB had her ballet lesson. BB and I played snap [sort of!] and read a few books, then took over the curry chris had been making. On SB’s return, we did another science experiment – this time making something appear to roll uphill, as well as a discussion on gravity and what might be really happening. When I got these books from the book people, I didn’t like them, but actually, we are quite liking the forces one. the experiments are simplistic and short and easily done.

After tea, SB played with the leappad whilst i flickred. britannia and bed.

Catch up time again!

We had a lovely day at Legoland on Monday. The drive down was longer than expected and v tedious. Only livened up by passing and being passed by the merrymobile – and the texting! Oncw we got there, the fay was scorching. SB pleased to see various friends. We’d not been before, so gently meandered about. We didn’t manage to stay with people much as busy evening out the excitement between SB and BB, but good start with Em and her girls. SB most enjoyed the water ride that went round in circles and you got drenched by people pressing buttons to release jets of water [I think it was 64] and the dragon and dragon’s apprentice rides. She loved them all though TBH. BB liked the ferris wheel and carousel best. I think SB driving in the slow boat concerned her – especially as they nearly rode over a honking goose. We missed out great swathes of things, so may make a second trip one day – but never at full price! thanks to Nic for organising.
From there we went to Mum and Dads for a chill out time. lovely day in the garden the next day and the girls ambled to the swings whilst Mum and I had retail therapy – of the what would I do with my house in the future kind. Lots of drawing, colouring as well. Realised that SB needs some hand eye co-ordination practice – badminton/swingball or anything!
Back today – very easy drive! Cat had been stuck in lounge – and pooed – and various plants wilty – so resuscitation all round, made some cookies with the girls, they played in the garden and I planted peas. B***** pigeons have eaten off tops of half the previous peas, so environmeshed until we get some chicken wire put up to protect.

Oh, we are well behind with flickr – aargh

first Harvest!

well, it is only radishes, but it’s the first harvest of sown this year veg [we still have some broccoli and leeks from last year]. They are only grown as a line marker for other seeds – in this case carrots, as the girls, particularly BB walk over bare earth and emergent seedlings.

Under cover

today I potted up most of the cucurbits and about half of the toms. most of those left won’t get potted up – they haven’t made the final cut. I’ll take them to colleagues at work, and if anyone thinks they may survive the journey to legoland I’ll be happy to take them. peppers need potting up soon too, but the aubergines that survived Chris’s neglect don’t yet.

Chris worked hard to finish clearing out the greenhouse, and is going to revamp the staging in time to empty our conservatory before we need to semi dismantle it to fi it.

Fruit bed

still a slight misnomer! this year it still has strawbs and minarette fruits, but also the legumes. The broad beans are doing well. No flowers yet, even though the ones in the fields on the way to work are in full flower. I guess the farmers were more organised than me – it being their livelihood! Something’s nibbling the peas though. not too dreadfully, will keep an eye on them. doesn’t look classical slug though. I also popped in some florence fennel today. Back to fruit, I think I might espalier a bit the minarettes – well, the bits that I should have pruned already! We have lost 3 of the original 8 – 1 never grew, 2 died last summer. Anyway, will maybe get some more, but some side branching like we did for an archway in Leeds sounds a good plan. I did some weeding of strawbs as well.

The girls plot.

they helped me weed a little bit, and the onions are sprouting. of all the sunflowers, only 3 have made it to planting – which is very disappointing! We gave everything a good water though. They also did a bit of encouraging with the other jobs.

A home day

wahay! poor old chris had the dentists first thing, but the girls watched tv and gave me a later start than I thought – 9.30. After brekkie of fried eggs and toast as a treat, i suggested to SB that she bring her maths or story of the world to the kitchen table, but she called me to the sofa with a book about the exploration of america. So we read that, looked at the map of various explorers and discussed native americans [and did some more inuit throat singing!].

We went outside and played for a bit, and the SB did some maths – rather easy greater and lesser than in primary maths 2A. She then demonstrated great trapeze artist skills – and was swinging holding on only by her knees, and somersaulting off – weyhey SB. She does always ask if Violet Portico can do these things -I tend to say yes. BB and I were being Bob the Builder, making things with the Bygga set from Ikea.
SB whizzed around the garden on her bike, and BB on her trike. We started to decorate our papier mache pots, and had some lunch, but due to spotting rain, came in and did both in the kitchen.

BB did some playdough whilst SB and I did some sudoko. When she started to join in more, we called it a day! BB and I played boxes, and also SB and I. good game from schooldays!

I did some weeding and gardening whilst the girls played. BB often helps me off and on. Gardening is going to get it’s own blog post i think. We played chase and confetti with the cherry blossom which was fun, and the just lots of being together. BB played in the sand whilst SB did some piano. We had lots of home-ed type free ranging conversations. e of which i swore I would remember to blog, but I have forgotten them!

edited to add – one of them was about debt – credit cards, mortgages and saving for rainy days. our credit card debt is now 1500 – woohoo , and being steadily paid off. so we discussed why i only want the mortgage as a debt, and how much rainy day savings were thought to be a good idea [3-6 months expenditure!] and that we owned 1/4 of the house. She asked sensible questions and got – hopefully – sensible answers.

A bath, chippery tea, britannia and SB reading to me. BB fell asleep at the table – poor love!

Have I redeemed the blog yet?

wouldn’t want Jax to hibernate us!

So today I know SB did maths as she proudly told me she was doing book 2 – it is primary maths not MPH this time. But I got home to find her rewiring the toaster – well think Chris was – not sure which is more frightening! Anyway we shouldn’t have burnt toast now. She also has done loads of reading – pretty much whatever, whenever.

BB has been ‘a pickle’. But also done some lovely colouring. I try not to take heed of milestones to compare, but BB is def way ahead of SB’s neatness of colouring in at that age. SB would just do 2 scribbles through a whole page. BB very carefully tries to stay within the lines.

Gratifyingly, both could still remember I was a parent of theirs.

We went out in the garden to play and plant. Chris did potatoes [still!!] and I did hoeing and brocolli. Both girls bobbed about helping. The ground is too hard really for them to make good holes though, so got a bit bored.

I found them the papier mache pots they had, so they then enjoyed painting them – pearlescent pink and pearlescent lilac paint from tesco, very girly! SB wants to the put glitter and jewels on when they are dried. Following that they made things with playdough together for a bit whilst i put in the last of the brocolli.

IMG_5372

They both finished with cycling races – SB against her Leeds friends, and BB against sundry similar aged children – rofl! SB didn’t always win, but BB did.

SB has decided she does want to learn joined up writing, so we must do more getty and Dubay, and also the piano lessons! Tonights game was rummy, and then Britannia is the Dick whittington story. SB read more than I wanted of Dr Seuss sleep book!

I have planted out a few more mangetout. We will have 2 short rows of peas – yummy!

the great cardboard experiment

when chris finds wherever it is ‘the frantic gardener’ has disappeared to, I will do some garden blogging on there!

Anyway, this year, having reflected on the prime cause of failures last year I decided that

1. I wasn’t going to sow more than I could pot up/plant and keep on top of

2. Since we are incapable of weeding the amount our garden needed, we needed a gardener or mulch. Both of those being expensive, we needed a friend with excess cardboard boxes.

3. Must Feed and Water more regularly

SO this is the feedback for number 2. So far the broad beans seem to be growing very happily through the cardboard. They haven’t been particularly munched by anything and they look nice and healthy.

The potatoes have also been planted through cardboard. Considering we haven’t quite finished planting them all – a great oops, but it is earlies – I have no feedback yet. Today I planted out the first brassicas – early purple sprouting – into holes in the cardboard.

IMG_5143

I’m not entirely sure if this is sensible/ will work. But last year so many plants choked in weeds, or got planted out way too late or never because I couldn’t face reclearing the ground that this HAS to be at least no worse!

The obvious positives are a bit less weeding – just thorugh the planting holes until what is in there is the biggest and strongest. Also, the cardboard should act as a good mulch in the summer, minimising the watering.

The obvious negatives are the increased places for slugs to hide and other non beneficial creepy crawlies. That it may somehow inhibit growth – possibly airflow?? Not sure.

Anyway, when have chatted up very helpful friend with too many boxes, the squashes and poss sweetcorn will also be planted through. Sweet corn often makes accessory rootlets from stem though,, so my have big planting holes!!

Anyway, we will see!

Last day of the hols

well, feels like that here with 6 long days ahead. SO we made the most of playing today.
SB has really been enjoying the Jane and the dragon series on TV, so will prob buy some books for her. She read some felicity wishes today, and assorted early readers.

Chris and SB went for a bike ride on the quieter village roads, learning how to indicate and turn right – she thought it was fab. Chris said she was riding really nicely – all that scootering has given her extra balance. not that her balance on 2 legs is that brill always!

BB and I sowed some runner beans in modules, counted them – in her own fashion, and played outside while they were out. When they came back we had crumpet pizza – yummy.

The whole day was spent outside. the girls wanted to do something messy, so we did papier mache around some plant pots to paint and decorate when dry. They then wanted to get wet, so we got out the old paddling pool [now deflated and puncture! But it was enough to hold a bit of water, and when BB’s cube slide ended it it there was much fun and mayhem for the rest of the afternoon!

As I went in to make dinner [moroccan ish stew!] I cage SB and BB the face paints, so they painted themselves. SB was particularly gorgeous [though the picture will be cropped for general consumption! While it cooked we played spraying with the hosepipe – always a favourite!

Chris planted some of the potatoes – pink fir apple, again wy late, but hopefully will do something. They’re through cardboard boxes, hopefully to keep the weeds down.

A bath – and they really needed it! BB fell asleep nearly instantly, and SB and I played games before bed, SHe is such a sweetheart as she made me a flower display as a present, and hidden in it was some chocolate for me.

Anyway, I have had a lovely break, but don’t imagine I will blog much in the next week!