Category Archives: General

Today was a historyetc day with Nazca and Olmecs. TBH, as we discussed this, i admit to feeling a bit under-resourced for crafts, but after some brainstorming on our discussion group, and google searching we came up with some good ideas. Today they worked brilliantly [mostly!]

You may notice a lack of photos currently on the blog, and that is because i am currently having a hitch putting photos onto flickr due to adobe , and the wordpress upgrade seems to have caused a problem with the flickr plug in. Argh!!

SO, back a bit, Monday was a pretty good getting HE done kind of day, with various of the maths, english, music etc being done by both girls quite happily. SB also had ballet. Tues was a tidying house kind of day, and in the afternoon djembe drumming, much enjoyed by the girls, and then swimming. The manor borns came back to stay at our house. SB had an unfortunate accident on the climbing frame and has a v sore looking arm now. Her swimming teacher also suggested she had got wheezy, so she spent a while googling asthma – argh!

Today BB should have had a hospital appointment, so said the card. unfortunately, the card was wrong. it was monday . rung, apologised and rearranged.

However, i woke up with a migraine so had a bit of a lie in, but when i came downstairs the girls were all watching a programme about Nazca lines, and I found a book so that we read up a bit more about Olmecs and Nazca with each of the bigger girls taking turns to read, and then deependers and le ciel rouge arrived, we had a cup of tea and then got stuck in!! so, crafts:

Olmec papier mache heads

we looked at olmec heads and then using papier mache aimed to recreate. the younger ones didn’t put facial features on, planning to paint in grey, the older ones did. Unfortunately not a scorching day today, so not quite hot enough to dry them enough to then paint, but hopefully ppl will paint at home and we will get some pics.

Olmec Fish

We had a go at replicating this Olmec Fish out of fimo. It worked pretty well with all the kids both young and old doing a really good job. We didn’t quite do what merry intended with it, and I had wondered what the acrylic paints were for, and think her idea def better, but it was still fun and enjoyable, and we did a fair bit of talking about diff fish types!

Mesoamerican Weaving

We made sylvanian families rugs out of wool woven around cardboard. Lovely craft that all the children again concentrated v hard on and did a great job. They looked really effective. Zoe tweaked the weaving on this site and it worked brilliantly. SB hasn’t finished hers having chosen a rather big design… hopefully she will do tomorrow. BB did a fab job concentrating on hers and is v proud of it

Cornmeal cooking

K made cornbread and mini corn tortillas with many of the children, all without any other flour so gluten free, and also baked some sweet potatoes to go with them. V Yummy I do like the addition of food to historyetc

Nazca lines in sand

M organised sand pictures, with the children looking at a variety of nazca lines and then drawing their own pattern, following that in glue and then sprinkling sand on. SB didn’t get round to doing this one, but BB did. SHe did a beach scene rather than a mazca line, but C’s spider recreation was utterly fab.

Nazca lines with string in the garden

This was rather brilliant, but could have done with brighter string to show up against the grass. various children took a spider pic and then walked with the string to ‘trace’ the lines out on the grass. Have taken a pic from an upstairs window tho [when can download and upload!]

pegdolls

This also worked well [trying not to overuse the word fab, tho it was!] Jax had looked up the materials, and they often had embroidered birds, 2 headed snakes or anthropomorphic characters on there. SO everyone had a go at embroidering something. BB embroidered a 2 headed snake, and SB an anthropomorphic character of a rabbit-man. They also worked well.

SO in the end, i think we did a rather good job of nazca crafts and olmec crafts . The children also had lots of opportunity to bounce on the trampoline, play together and giggle lots, and as well as the usual snack options, there was also popcorn . grad ppl left, I did some sewing for kentwell costumes for a friend [and she left them behind so i finished off all the sewing!] and showed off the veg patch . Ended with a lovely soup for dinner,  SB had judo, the kids are still awake, i am going to shower, take some more migraine tabs and go to bed. Night all

Hoped to get the bulk of the gardening/veg sorted this weekend, and think we have prob managed it. OBbviously loads of things still to plant out etc, but is def coming together v nicely. WOuld have liked to have gone geocaching or cycling, but SB has hurt her foot. 3 years ago she had a v nasty accident and scraped off the side of her right foot and also broke her heel bone. SInce then this foot has been v sensitive to knocks and bumps, so it is always difficult to decide how much problem there may be. She also gets very worried about anything with that foot. Anyway, from friday she has been not weight bearing and using crutches. I examined it, and it isn’t swollen, there is no bruising, and it has a full range of movements [even if pain is reported] . Anyway, has v much limited what we have done this weekend. if no improvement, we will go to the GP on Mon for a second opinion. I am less worried as she did a fair bit of trampoline bouncing in the middle of the day. [in fact now occais she forgets and weight bears]

Friday was arts award, and both girls enjoyed their art. SB did a warholised pic, and BB a hamster version. I believe that both really enjoyed it, and there was not too much stress from BB when her first go went wrong. Although the girls had wanted to go swimming, my inlaws needed a few jobs doing, so instead they went round there for the day.

This weekend we have done some music prac and a bit of home-ed – such that both girls have done enough to ‘win’ a box book.SB and I had fun duetting on the piano, and then she played the clarinet and I had to come up with the accompaniment. BB also done a piano prac and glock. SHe is currently not sure about the cello. Always best not to push things with BB! We all did music theory, BB read and did some conversational french and SB did galore park and maths.

However, this has been quite a relaxed weekend and we have done quite a bit of crafting. Yesterday we did both wet and dry felting all together. I do like wet felting, but we now have no working needles for dry! Today we did a bit more, and BB and I now each have a small felted bag as we have sown together 2 squares. . SB plans to make a quilt! BB and I also made some more fimo cane toppers. SB used some of the old seed packets to make a collage, and she has also done the advert for the spare plants we will sell on the drive again. The girls have played with the sylvanians for AGES – allowing DH and i to do the bulk of the gardening work. We have had lots of cuddles and snuggles, watched Dr Who, and currently girls watching prince caspian whilst eating bean wraps for tea. Think Sedna still loose in the garden tho…

merry at patch of puddles reminded me far too late on wednesday about the typical day photomeme, so i didn’t do it. or i didn’t start early enough!

Both girls got some home ed things done [i should have blogged at the time so that i remembered!] in the morning. BB is confidently reading her level 2 books, so will soon move onto level 3. SB finished junior science 2, did some history 2 and maths. BB also did some maths – subtraction. SB also did some of her japanese ds game ermmm clarinet prac

Whilst they were doing this, i was busy in the garden . we’re doing well with the growing this year, and hope that it isn’t all ready to harvest or all dies when we are on our summer holiday!

The afternoon was a casual craft afternoon, and we got out the hama beads and happily chit chatted whilst we did various patterns. some bouncing on the trampoline etc etc. BB and i did some french with wild animals [with SB chipping in] and we all did some story of the world. feeling relatively unenthused re the next historyetc and it is this wed! better find some ideas [nazca and olmecs, and the lines have already been bagsed!] . Jax from Making it Up popped over on her way back from sorting passports, and that was lovely, so we had tea in the conservatory, and the kids played. SB had judo

there may have been other stuff! but i have forgotten

SB and I are having great fun with it

I hadn’t realised how far behind in the blogging i have got. work yada yada etc . SO this weekend we went to Mundesley camping and had a fab time. the roads on fri were clear, i guess the royal wedding had something to do with that . As an aside, i am def more keen on a royal family than a presidency, and am quite happy with the royal wedding, thought it looked wonderful [when viewed later on iplayer] and if BB had been older we might have gone to hyde park, but its not a big enough deal to stay at home to watch on telly when could go to the beach. Where am I?

Ok we went to the beach, Mundesley near Cromer in Norfolk. I love the Norfolk coast . On the way to the campsite we stopped at a lovely farm shop. Yummy supplies for lunch bought we went to the campsite where le ciel rouge was already there putting up their folding camper. We impressed by the speedy minnesota, but i was upset to find there was a tear [small] in the front window. not sure how or when that happened. ANyway, all up, cups of tea, yummy scrummy lunch and a decision to do a geocaching circular walk involving the beach. Lovely walk and found all the geocaches – hooray! though SB managed to tear out the pants of her leggings on the concrete of the boulder. [only SB!] luckilly she was wearing a short dress as her top… The beach was fab. lovely and sandy, the tide was in, and there were huge waves that the girls [and then the dog] had a fab time skipping and jumping in and getting slightly wet. Too late for an icecream at the beach cafe, but picked one up at the local corner shop before walking the long way back to the tent. BB did v well, as it was 4 miles, and she is not a keen walker. Back to a yummy lentil pasta, chatting and a reasonably warm evening before bed.

Saturday we went to Blickling, we are national trust members and do like to get out and about. National trust membership, i think, is a really good deal as it only takes 3-4 visits a year [depending where you go!] to recoup the cost. Blickling had really good guides in some of the rooms, and happy to take questions from the girls. I ended up doing the speedier version with BB [and also Z,S and P] whilst DH did the slower version with SB – she asks loads of questions and is very keen. Beautiful place and lots to look at. DId love the labours of hercules ceiling, and some of the fireplaces were fab. We then went back and had lunch and started on our geocaching walk around the lake. We found all but 1 and had a great walk in fab weather. Had to yomp the last bit as we were v close to icecream closing time [panic!] so DH, SB W,P,S ran ahead to get there in time, and we ended up skipping fast as BB needed the toilet. Hppily reunited with yummy icecreams to boot we declared the day successful and went back to the campsite for a BBQ.

Sunday was a lazy get up and pancake eating session so we were beaten to the beach by lovelyem and family. We were joined later by Jax and family and all had an absolutely fabulous time on the beach. The girls donned their wetsuits and swam in the pools and splashed in the sea. Also made sandcastles. SB and E spent ages digging the deepest and widest hole they could, helped intermittantly by others. BB mostly pootled in her own game and imagination, but we did get her kite out and had great fun flying that. At the end of the day DH tried to stay in thehole till the sea took it over, but we all got a bit bored with that and forced him to leave! everyone came back to the campsite and we finished with a chippery tea. Fab day of the perfectest fun variety sun, sea, friends, laughter and conviviality.

Bit of a blowy night, and then a slow packing up the next day. We decided to visit the windmill we had been able to see from the campsite and pick up a geocache there. It, and the gift shop and house are all for sale Lovely mill, worth a nose about, and a nice gift shop next door, where the girls both found something to spend their holiday money on. we stopped on the way back at a lovely pub serving delicious food with a big vegan and veggie menu as well as the meat . Cught abit in the post long BH traffic getting home, but did eventually make it and watched dr who before collapsing into bed.

A great holiday, refreshing, with friends and sunshine. What more can a family want

Tuesday the girls tidied their bedroom. It is shockingly tidy. WOW that room is big when you can actually see the floor . Weds was a notlatinetc day.

We met up at le ciel rouge, and I immed got stuck in with doing some music theory. SB is still fired up by her success in the grade 2, so is working on the grade 3 book happily. C is also on the grade 3, but having had a years gap since grade 2 she is doing a bit of getting brain back in gear, so we did cabinstepladders for remembering the keys. Because i didn’t give her quite so much attention, and we had used the wrong time sig stickers prev without noticing, and now had to use the wrong ones after we had noticed, BB had quite a meltdown. Tried to persist calmly, as trying to encourage her to get beyond the its-not-as-it-should-be-so-my-world-is-ending response. [a loud one too] she did get beyond it with encourgement and patience, so i thanked her for that, and praised on keeping going. she did one more tiny segment and i encouraged her to call it a day, having ended on a positive bit. [phew] A came a bit later and did some to, and a fair number of kids then thought it might look a bit interesting. I do love how things become interesting when they are doing it together

Merry took the bigger ones off for poetry, which SB really enjoyed, thankyou [but could you link the poem for me] and the 2 littlest [j and BB] did some spelling/first letter matching with M and then got to have extra snack and started on watercolour pencil drawings of chilli plants with Z. I did try and do a tiny bit of french talking with J and BB, but J is v shy about it, and BB took the mood too, so i didn’t persist. next time will take a story instead. [i like to be occupied too ]

Suddenly it was lunchtime! the deependers had arrived too – hooray, and a short pop by by my husband who must have smelled the pasta . BB and J got to do science first with me – making black powder from an internet recipe. [v carefully done and in pairs only] the big’uns were mostly doing the watercolour drawings or spellings with the manor born M. BB and afish were snuggled in with K listening to both french and latin stories [ i think BB had a partic fab day] I took half of the children through making the powder, and then handed over some owl puke to Z and some charts, and i think all the children got to do this with Z. I finally finished the chemistry and wandered around to see what else going on. I think some french number game and also lots of playing/trampolining.

We then tested how flammable our powders were. TBH I was hoping they would be on the less side, but they were even less, so a bit on the disappointing side. Think the bought charcoal perhaps was a weakness, there are other mixture options, and we used boiled water not stale urine! However, i think we all found it great fun, and something a bit exciting. Perhaps another time we will try again but slightly differently. will add some pics

More playing and winding down as ppl left. A melt by BB that i hadnt saved her owlpuke bones, she did manage to calm down in the end, and then get on playing happily again. SB had a fab day being with her friends. we stayed later than planned, gossiping, drinking tea and listening to happy kids.

One of the problems with Home Ed is that holiday feeling. Quite easy to have it whenever the sun shines and children less persuadable that maths really is the answer However, having had 2 holiday weeks, bank holiday or no, this is the start of return to work [i was at work for part of the day anyway] .

BB for her ‘things’ decided to read some books, with SB I think, do some cello practice, do some getty and dubay handwriting B, and with coaxing do the first section of art de dire. She also did bouncing on the trampoline, imaginative games [including being an optomotrist and gave me the word dood to read. I don't think she meant to write a 'd' at all ] and made some fimo toppers.

SB did some VR and NVR, clarinet practice, a suprisingly difficult piano practice, galore park french and also skoldo french. She also planted up her flower bed – did a pretty good job of it – and helped me make fimo cane toppers too. We also played some more ingenious. We were going to ‘just dance 2′ but she was suddenly v tired.

we have played this nearly non stop. it is the travel version so only 2 player, as thought would be good on an aeroplane. saw first at SOTP. Seriously worth it

We went to an English Heritage event at Wrest Park that we haven’t been to for possibly 3 years? [would have to look back through the blog] the last one was ghastly weather, and nearly empty because of it. This one was scorching. Hard to believe what a heat wave in Easter we are having! The other difference is that it was quite scaled back from 3 years ago. I remember that it had spread out to the lawns in front of the house before. BZents weren’t there either – which particularly disappointed SB. However, there was still plenty to keep us busy and occupied [and v v hot – tho unlike the festival of history site there are lots of trees in the grounds and plenty of shade to retire into for those that wanted it.

We wandered around the roman and mediaeval encampments, and watched the 2 players on gurdy and drum, and then bagpipes and drum. It had said you got to take part, but that meant tambourines, and SB had hoped bagpipe! BB watched the puppet show of st george and the dragon [tho said a bit wierd] whilst SB and i watched the end of romans whilst eating lunch [in the shade] and the start of jousting. we did some meandering. BB was v happy with the opportunity to spend money! and bought a kaleidoscope, heart stone and a mini cannon and was v happy, but did take ages! SB after great consideration, bought a roman wax tablet and a beautiful stylus. She was v happy too . we chatted to ladies on horses about riding sidesaddle, watched some fire breathers and the main st george reenactment, and then the girls did the assault course in the ww2 area [quite well ]

tired and mooched out, we went home after a full and v hot day. Amazon have delivered my trial ingenious [i had an amazon voucher ] an SB and i played it and enjoyed it before watching the rather scary dr who with teatime.

the weather has been delightful, SB has been at holiday orchestra and had great fun there, also staying at the deependers for 2 nights, which she loved, tho says A was very hot as tended to use SB as a pillow – lol! BB has mostly pottered around in imaginative games. I have mostly migrained, and when not migrained, been at work. So actually, the gardening blog looks fairly busy, but here is pretty empty!

However, although the holiday spirit has continued, various non-gardeny things have happened BB has done a fair bit of reading, including reading v ably a level 2 book to me. She is pretty chuffed about this She and I also did a bit of french – a lucie chat book and discussed the weather and various fruits, and read the farm through time book together. All lying on a rug in the shade in the garden. Bliss

When SB returned we did some watercolour paintings of flowers. SB started hers off, decided to just do blobs and add the detail with black felt tip, and has never returned, and BB had multiple strops and disasters as it didn’t come out perfectly and exactly as she saw it in her head. I tried to help, and made matters worse, and in the end left her too it and did some gardening. when i returned she had happily tried out SB’s technique, thought it unsuccessful, but was happy enough. She finally let me show her what i had envisaged [again a mistake to actually envisage something!] and demonstrate it, and so spent a while happily doing that until the colours all went wrong. At which point we decided we had painted enough

Today we did a bit more painting tho – crazy colours with acrylics on the tomato plastic pots. fab and fussless

mmm, lots of watching harry potter, playing sylvanians, making mud pies in the veg patch etc etc BB bought me some lovely tulips, and SB made a lovely dinosaur mosaic pic [and has spent a fair bit of today being a ‘research scientist’ tho i’m not allowed to know what!

What BB was particularly delighted about tho was the arrival of a little cello. She has done lots of practice and is v v happy

Also today, we had some of the spare plants potted up on the drive with a home made sign and honesty box. The proceeds are going to the local library. We did well, as there was 4.80 in the pot – we just asked for donations.we sold 3 tomatoes [sungold], 2 peppers [jalapeno] , 2 pots of 2 cauliflowers [violet queen]. We are in a relatively good spot, where ppl often park to go to the local shops, and the library is volunteer run, so ppl do like to help it out.We are pretty happy with that