Category Archives: history

quick catch up

very quick actually, am going to see whether i can do one of these fabulous 10 min blogs, the craze of which is sweeping the early years blogring in that typical blog meme way!! [23:10]

so thurs is chris’s day, so will be swift for me to write! nots and tots, both girls told me lots about recordering – and rather fabulously they have both practiced every day since!! BB is somewhat challenged to keep all her tiny fingers over the holes, and i am somewhat challenged by 10 mins of b’s and a’s, but hey! SB working on her low d at the mo, and just enjoys playing through book 1 – long may it last. actually, she has also done piano every day too. sb made sausage rolls, she def prefers them with linda mccartney sausages [good as much quicker to make!] i think she also did some french.
thurs also gym for both girls – i believe all costumes present and correct! and i did something with them when i got home ? read stories?? and then panicked about my friday!

Fri, i think was a sorting at home day, sb doing lots of reading, both music practices and some maths, and then lots of playing with polydrons and geomags. bB has done lots of fimo-ing. merry left us a fimo booklet thingy, and BB is gradually making them all – i think this is a sales technique! we watched dr who, and BB impressed us by knowing it was going to have the Ood in it! SB has enjoyed reading The Battle for Radio: Marconi’s Story (Science Stories) and Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude and Antarctic Adventure: Exploring the Frozen Continent (DK Eyewitness Readers: Level 4)
My friday wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and i will leave it as that on the blog.

Today I have been working. SB spent AGES doing some maths, and has again piano-ed and recordered. A fair bit of sylvanians playing and reading also. BB and I have fimo-ed [again!] read a lot together [ including this series Duckling (DK Watch Me Grow)] and recordered [more a's and b's] SB wrote BB a recorder piece in a’s and b’s – lovely of her. we read some french alltogether, did a fair bit of playing and reading altogether. watched the second ood thing, read some SOTW [ages since we did that, are reading about gengis khan] and SB currently in bed listing to our island story vol 2. [23:28 - but interruptions from chris - also blogging same days - and SB - can't sleep as windy]

wonderful friend filled weekend

i am getting a bit stressy about something work related, so it was wonderful to have such a busy weekend with negligible time to sleep!! Sat SB went to the young astronomers club for the first time, and really enjoyed it. she did point out that they wouldn’t ever get to see the stars because it was in daytime – amazing bit of sense!! it was based around the royal astronomers i think. chris helped out by being the timer, and read his paper.

bB and i had an adventure, and went into town [by bus having found the bus stop eventually] and then wandered around the ‘dinodoor museum’ which she loved. she partic loved spotting fossils with a passing resemblence to ammonites and belemnites and saying v loudly, ooh we have those! there is an elasmosaurus [well i think that is what it is, might be a pleiseosaur] and she thought it looked like a fab jigsaw and she wanted to be a dinodoor bone person when she grew up. The museum has quite a few books in its hands on bit, and so we read a number i have in my amazon basket! The Birth of the Earth (Cartoon History) The Day of the Dinosaurs (Cartoon History) The Rock Factory: A Story About Rocks and Stones (Science Works) Monster Stones: The Story of a Dinosaur Fossil (Science Works). the last 2 i could read to BB as is, but the first i simplified a bit. we went into the shop, and she spent christmas money on a bag of gems and a bouncy ball with a dinosaur pic in it. these have made her overwhelmingly happy, and she has clutched those gems everywhere. Also a haematite ring present for SB.

BB and I totally failed to find the bus stop leading back out of town, so chris picked us up! we went to diff bits [as i had no map] and when finally did meet up, in a blinding something of fate, there was the bus stop! well, i know now!

we bought a picnic lunch and headed off to the RSPB place. BB was cold, as it was colder there, and we didn’t have enough layers, so wrapped her in a blanket while we ate. The manor borns arrived, ate a bit and we set off. bB declined to wear any extra layers, but ran about happily. we did do BB’s favourite walk, which is the quarry one, and prob my favourite too. it is the longest walk, though we did a ‘shortcut’. We started with a talk with the ‘birdman’ who identified the call of a nuthatch for us, and the shew us 2 treecreepers. we climbed the usual climbing tree and scared the birds from the bird hide and then raced around the quarry. actually, we didn’t race at all, there were that many diversions, looking at things and sitting thinkings that i did wonder if we would get round in the daylight!! but we did, and i really enjoyed it.

moved to the manor for tea and conversation. BB pootled reasonably happily on her own, using michelle mercilessly to get her things that she then abandoned! [though did a good geomag twirler] SB and C played lots of games together, finally settling on Ravensburger Labyrinth Game. it was too cloudy to go to a possible astronomy evening, to the disappointment of the older girls. We cheekily did a masterchef critique of both main course and pudding, but i have to say how lovely it i to have effort lovely expended for us.

today the girls did the birthday cards and that actually took all morning :roll: and so we were late to the party :roll: , :roll: but i won’t expand!! was a lovely birthday party at the deependers, and loads of muddlepuddle/blogring friends and local friends. Pah to home educated children not getting to socialise. its stopping them and getting them to do their maths that can be the problem [as g and I giggled to each other]. lots of party games, party food and 4 fabulous cakes!! SB gave the v lovingly made dolly cloak to L. all cut and sewn by her, so truly a labour of love. we went back to the deependers for a spot of tea and cake [more cake!!] before the children got noticeable enough to be shepherded into the car and home!

PS, sorry for nearly making Katy vomit describing BB’s awful book, and also if you think you may have been caught speeding, you can check here

Forensic Fun

Thursday we were going to go to Tots and Nots in the morning, but we had had a rubbish night, with both kids waking up, bed moving etc. and  Stringbean still not quite right and seeming very tired. We also had something on in the afternoon and I thought that it might all get a bit much

So we abandoned that plan. I’d started reading some more of Inside the Beagle with Charles Darwin, which we had started the night before. We spent the next 2+ hours !  reading the book and talking about various bits :-) Butterbean sat and listened a bit, pottered around with Lego, looked at some books of her own etc. Lots interesting discussion about sailing boats, navigation, time, clocks, fossils, variation, species, islands, evolution, scientific evidence (which is why we spent so long). SB can happily read such books, but often prefers you to read them to her.

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By the time we had finished we were hungry so had breakfast :-) and the rest of the morning soon went with SB doing maths (until she got stuck in a sort of Limbo land where nothing much seemed to be happening, perusing a couple more books, while BB did some more fimo-ing and I got dinner ready to put in the oven.

Then a quick lunch and out. We were just in time, which then turned out to be plenty of time, as the time for the session said 1.30, but it was starting a 2, the time before was for setting the stuff up.

The session was about Forensic Science, normally the leader of the session spends all day doing this in school and we had a couple of hours – so it was obviously a bit contracted. Though the younger ones wouldn’t have coped with longer session though.

Basically, we had an introduction to some forensic techniques and did things like make paster casts of prints, took our finger prints (a little bit of chalk dust on the finger tip, push onto Sellotape, stick it to a piece of acetate sheet – look at with a hand lens.

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She showed us a simple DNA extraction from Kiwi fruit. Whizz up the kiwi with a bit of water and salt (to break open cell membranes). Strain the mixture through a cloth, and a bit of detergent to the mix, then carefully pour in a little methylated spirits to make a layer on top. you can see a some white stuff in the methylated spirit that is DNA.

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Then they had to investigate a crime.

There was a sheet of suspects with  a bit of info about them. We had to look at 5 sets of evidence and try to wrok out who did it. Footprint, fingerprint, car paint, DNA, clothes fibre. We didn’t manage to get round them all (spent too long peering at fingerprints). But we did the footprint:

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The car paint left on a wall:

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And the fingerprints:

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By which time it was time to go home, both kids were seeming a bit tired. SB in particular looked a bit pale and washed out when we got back. So they vegged a bit  once we got home before dinner. BB of course slept in the car so didn’t go to sleep til too late.

Friday

My parents were coming round, so tried to get a bit done before hand. SB did some maths, and read some bits out of her Encylopedia of Knowledge (or some such) which she had for xmas, and we tried to tidy the playroom. Was supposed to do some music but we had a phone call from H to say her Sis and family were stopping off on the way home from Centre Parcs. About 20 minutes later they appeared :-)

So they arrived and the kids were all off playing. A bit later my Mum and Dad appeared. A little while after lunch H got home as well :-) Once Sis and family had gone on their way, SB played kiddie Monopoly, can’t really remember what else might have happene. Parents stayed for dinner, then off to bed for children

fossilised daleks

what a fab title! today was latinetc, and we should have been on time, but a section of the road we were travelling down was being lifted up, and it was only when we got to the front of a several mile tailback that we found this out. harrumph.

As usuall SB enjoyed the latin – and apparently did know more than one word! and loved the music and bells, and was trying to tell me all about the hand signals – is that the doh a dear stuff? thanks gina for link!] the littlies started with a fimo workshop from Merry, where they made snowmen. BB was most happy, and impressive snowmen turned out by all. we then did science. we have put chicken bones in jars of vinegar and sealed, and in 2 weeks will see what has happened. we discussed the properties of bone, what it might be made out of, and then made wild guesses about what might happen to it in the vinegar. A little segue, and i got out some of our fossils – a lot of belemnites, some gryphea and some ammonites. much impressed by ancientness – though obviously the many stones in the garden they have touched are ancient also!! [could side track into ramble on relativeness of ancientness]. we looked at pictures of what it is imagined they looked like, different ways fossils are made and then we got to work making our own fossils out of air drying clay, real or imagined! when i did the bigger group, pretty much along the same lines, but with more detail J had fossil designers block. I suggested instead he could contemplate what might be fossilised today for the future. so he as done a dalek! rofl!! I had in my head that i would get loads of ammonites, trilobites and a few extras, but i should have known that this group has their imagination always on!!

an interesting aside, is that we always have some free questions and answerings in science, and the biguns surprised me by asking about madeleine mccann, and the evidence her parents killed her. I am of the opinion that they didn’t, and that there is no evidence to say otherwise. we talked about how it focuses minds of parents to keep children safe, and not leaving them completely unsupervised, however ‘free’ it might seem. they then moved onto shannon, it is always an honour to hear a group of children discuss these things with you as an equal. i do wonder whether some of them knowing about the current consultation has perhaps kickstarted some thinking.

some fab playing, some french games for the littlies – bb now doesn’t have a problem with staying glued to me, which is nice! BB found a newt in the garden, which she thought was a toy [like her stretchy lizards!] but C then took charge, and all the children got to hold and have a look before it was released into mud world. BB was quite liberally covered in mudworld…

SB was getting a bit worn though, as she wasn’t at her best [though this has meant lots of bonus cuddles for me, always nice!] but she had a bad night on mon, so i slept with her last night, and she did wake and stir most of the night [so not so good for me! but it did settle her more quickly]. SO for once she asked to go home, and so we did. Some of the group were moving on to a museums thing, and we had considered going, but SB was too fragile really for crowds and tramping about.

Merry and co came back with us, as she had a late pass!! and a bit more fimo-ing was done by the children – another fab snowman by BB. She really has quite an eye for detail, and is keen to get things right. playing around and about. but merry’s girls had loved the music at melrose, and were keen to repeat, so a quick sort out of merrily we row, and off we went! a full house of players. J is obviously another keen glockenspiel player, BB had SB’s violin, she recordered, and Merry, ahh, she brought a viola. it was fab. we will hopefully keep this going, and perhaps this will enthuse and encourage.

BB went to bed without too much wailing [ok, i fib slightly] chris read The Beagle with Charles Darwin (Inside) to SB, and she carried on, having really enjoyed it. we are looking forward to Darwin and Evolution for Kids: With 21 Activities: His Life and Ideas (For Kids Series) and The Evolution Revolution arriving. talking of arrivals, my rspb order arrived with ripped packaging – sigh – so now going to get a replacement. the felt also arrived ready for next latinetc.

That was then, this is now

hmm, have delayed writing this blog post to see if would be uplifting a cheerful! sorry. i feel a bit worse than a ham sandwich – and that is a pretty bad thing for a vegetarian

yesterday my mum and dad brought little nanny to visit. it was lovely to see them, but she has got noticeably frailer in the last month since i saw her. the lump over her breast and collarbone is clearly the start of a fungating cancer, though she doesn’t really want to admit this, or consider any treatment options. i have suggested to her she needs to as it will only get worse. not sure if she will. just had to have a short break there. anyway, the girls were delightful and played games and entertained. I love my Nanny. i guess though, what I am wishing for her, above all else is to maintain the dignity she has always had.

after they left, we finished off the day with doctor who and time team, feeling rather subdued.

today i haven’t felt much better TBH, and realising we had let a few home-ed things slip through our fingers hasn’t helped self esteem much. we could do a lot better really. we neither go out loads, or do ‘normals’ or projects and stuff, and well, blah!

But today, SB has done a lot, and it hasn’t made me feel any more competent! She did some galore park english – we are working through one tiny section at a time, as she really isn’t keen on writing, but is wanting to get better. she wrote a lot, and although the spelling is highly imaginative, she is getting the idea. She spent ages beading – i have a bracelet and some presents have been made, and also playing with Barbies. The birds have been fed again. She also did piano practice. Together we have done some conversational french, and a quick look at chapter 1 and 2 minimus vocab – as she said on the way home from melrose then only latin word she knew was fatigata! Also, whilst she was painting a picture of soap for sketch tuesday, i read something from SotW on the Jewish diaspora – but i don’t really think she listens when she crafts, as she has a ferocious concentration face!

BB has done a bit of her before the code, read with me a level one oxford reading tree – she read mum and dad, and i did the rest, we looked at the piccies and letters etc. SHe has also painted, sang songs, played with her paper castle, and periodically screeched!!

ho hum

waves of fire

before i start on wed, i would like to poit out that i finished work at 10pm on tues, so somewhat knackered. i think i am finding work a bit overwhelming in the hours dept at the mo, and it will get worse. ho hum. but i am being resolutely polyanna that i do have a job, and a well paid one – well, i am trying to be anyway as i cerebrally know that is good!! but occasionally it is good to take a second to feel sorry for oneself, and wonder how i got here!

so i dragged myself up on wed early early and the kids so we could go to london, i knew it would be worth it!! we had brekkie of croissants and brioche in the train – such a good idea! a surprise as we saw the manor borns at one of the stations along the way, but they were waiting for another of their party, so we waved and carried on.

we had a plan you see! SB and I were going to an RI lecture on explosive sounds [or something like that] and chris and BB were going to the science museum so she had something fun to do. and then we were going to have a picnic lunch with friends – including the monster teenies – and then spend vouchers in waterstones before going home, SB having her brownie whatsit thingy and judo. well, that was the plan!

SB and i did duly go to the lecture and met up with michelle, c and their friends there. the monsterteenies were rain stopped play though. it was truly fab. being early, we had ringside seats, and the chappie was v enthusiastic, inhaling helium and oh tarnation I have forgotten what the heavy gas was sulphur hexa fluoride anyway we had squeaky and then low darth vade voices, and discussion of asphyxiation and drowning in gases. we all did various not mexican waves as well. the kids all v happy.

the piece de resistance was his home made flame wave machine. when uploaded to youtube, i will put it here. it was well worth the early morning start. we loved it!!

[imagine short video here!]
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Afterwards i hired the pda’s and went down to the basement to interact with the museum exhibits. what a fab idea that was. we had to skip out to meet chris and BB, but next time would spend longer in the museum.

We ate at a place called cilantro [ :roll: that too trendy to be called coriander!] and then spent 90 mins in waterstones agonising over books. BB surprisingly rejected the latest Winnie’s Flying Carpet (Winnie the Witch) [which i wanted to read!] and instead had a dinosaur theme! Dinosaurs Love Underpants Dangerous Dinosaurs Jigsaw Book (Horrible Histories Novelty) Jungle (Sounds of the Wild) and SB sorted out a variety of books having melted down over the roald dahl books and not chosen any of them… We saw M and C for about 5 mins, had a wrong book trauma best glossed over and missed train by a minute.

oops, so we missed the beginning of brownies, SB missed her swearing in, and by the time she finished judo she was wiped out. we did read books on the train though!

BUT a fab day!

ooh, forgot to say, that I got this book. We had a bit of discussion round it on the tube, and you could see lots of peerers over!!

we saw some more birds

i saw the wren whilst getting dressed, so will agree on yesterday’s sighting! also 2 bluetits, a coal tit and 3 chaffinches so that is our lot!! we feed these birds well for the privilege of a quick peak at them!!

SB and BB have sylvanianed again today, and also done some maths and piano. when i got home SB chose to do SOtW as it was richard lionheart to robin hood. since we have done less crafty things with this castle phase than i thought we would, she has decided to do some stop animation, so then spent a fair while working out what she needed – ie now to paint a background. she has the story apparently sorted.

Whilst SB at ballet, BB and i did some painting together, and then played tummy ache and operation. SB came back a bit deflated with her grade 2 ballet result [just missed passing] be we reassured her that all was ok, and actually they get a certificate for taking part. SHe had the RAD dvd for xmas, so will do a bit of that occassionally for fun! [OMG, does that mean i need to do more ballet?]

Chris put up some shelves in the girls room, and I am feeling a bit mis to be back at work, but…

bring back the birds!

we have had a v relaxing end to the week, and have chilled, read and gamed. SB has declared undying love for roald dahl, and is rampaging through his books, having read this weekend Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Fantastic Mr Fox and The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (Young Puffin Read Alone) she is going to make a list [who does she get that from] of all the roald dahl books we have, and then spend her book vouchers on getting the ones we don’t. not that she has stuck with fiction, other nose in a book moments with See Inside Your Body (Usborne Flap Books) and The Search for Radium: Marie Curie’s Story (Science Stories). but actually what she has mostly done this weekend [and this is a falling of perch moment plus extra drumrolls] is writing!!!!!!!! My daughter, the not keen on writing one, must have spent about 8 hours this weekend writing. SHe has written thankyou notes to all her friends who went to centreparcs [all of her own volition, and the one i caught site of was v effusive] as she wanted to let them all know how much she loved them – aaaah. please remember agape! those whose children receive them, will hopefully receive them more happily than the rainbow friend, who when SB told her she loved her, said that that was highly inappropriate [raised eyebrows emoticon!] lots of 2 way explanations involved which i thought rather saddened the whole thing. ANyway, proud of all her writing, we carried on with all the christmas thankyous. SB has also done some piano practice [last pieces in the gbdf book] and maths – spurred on by BB with her head in the clouds declaring that she was catching up!

yep, BB feels she is v clever in maths, and is happily working through her earlibird 1B, reminding me to do it with her. we are doing odd and even at the moment, but we had a minor blip when she insisted she was counting pairs of shoes, not individual ones, so 3 pairs are odd :roll: i think it is time to group then plant seeds!! aubergines and chillis to be precise! she did a bit of Get Ready for the Code – Book B which she is particularly keen on as there is a dinosaur on the front! we had done lots of reading together, including most of the quentin blake books we got from the book people, incl this one Mister Magnolia (Red Fox Mini Treasure) .

hmm, what else, oh, we did french, some conversation using l’arte de dire, and also I’m Too Big/Je Suis Trop Gros (I Can Read French) and we played lots of games [Orchard Toys Tell The Time , Blokus , Guess Who ] we tcikled, giggled, sylvanianed – the girls doing good compromise and cooperation – phew! BB did some brianbox electronics, and was most pleased to get a circuit that could light [she wasn't following instructions]PRIMARY2 KIT – Electronics & Science Construction Kit [bah to all that text in the link!!].

oh, and we fed the birds, and then attempted to find them for the rspb birdwatch. sigh! we saw 14 starlings, 3 blackbirds, 2 wrens [tho only sb saw them, it is a possibility] 1 robin, 2 collared doves, 3 woodpigeons and a chaffinch. and allegedly, but not so believably a thrush. we think we might try again!

each eve we have chilled with the tv – Dr Who first series [bit creepy are you my mummy] and tonight the 4th harry potter. so that us. back to work for me tomorrow – sigh

back at work

but while i was out, chris has done a fab job with tidying up the house. the girls have played alot with their castle, and i managed to pick up a quick bargain at tescos – a coffee table to play games on! our front room being the warmest at night due to fire] and dining room coldest [due to radiators on minimal] playing games in these christmas nights has been a chilly affair. £7 later and we are all set!!

on coming home from work we read a french book altogether, and SB and i did a bit of story of the world together – crusaders. we also read our come look with me book on modern art , Exploring Modern Art (Come Look with Me) , together [sb partic fond of modern art] And this fitted in well with the Matisse: The King of Color (Anholt’s Artists Books for Children Series) book bb got for xmas, and both have enjoyed reading. this year i am fired up with enthusiasm for art! i am also tempted by the following books, Artrageous (Klutz) , Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered (Klutz) , and Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad . I think i am def going to get this one, Watercolour (Klutz) , and was wondering if any of the latinetc bunch also liked it?? cos it could be done in the french immersion session, but it would need one book each…


anyway! after that i played some build a beetle with BB – her rules, and fell asleep! [only a short while, but when i woke up chris had the girls in the bath!! and then some puerto rico with SB. it isn’t really playable as 2 player properly, but it gives us both a brush up on the rules etc.

briefly as time is short

and it really is, the full OMG of what needs doing hit me when i updated our christmas planning list! i am going to see how many of the meals i can make whilst glittering with the girls from sat onwards!! chris will prob do the mince pies and perhaps cheese scones for the freezer, but he isn’t well at the moment. i am not allowed to make him laugh as he then has this weird woofing cough.

brr, it is cold in here tonight, missing the fire, and my insomnia struck again last night grr! today the girls seem to have done bits and pieces. SB has done her piano practice and maths and handwriting. she also appears to have told the leader of brownies that she doesn;t want to do her solo at brownies party last wed. apparently it didn’t go down well and she was told off. i suggested that next time she discuss with us, as i had no idea she wasn’t doing it, and nor did chris, until sunday. i think it because she lost the words. anyway, i am being proud of her for telling the leader her self, headbanging that she has done it so late, and made life tricky, but tbh, if i was brownie leader, i would prob have backup plans for things like this, so not too bothered. shame she didn’t tell us though!

and i think they have spent a vast amount of time doing xmas cards. they watched some science clips or other which they both enjoyed, and we all played games. i read – a bit late – the st lucia bit of While the Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions to them. SB has really enjoyed the usborne books we bought from joanna. SHe has now started the Crusaders (Usborne Young Reading: Series Three) one, after we read the start of the section on crusaders in SOTW2 [The Story of the World: Middle Ages from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance v. 2: History for the Classical Child (Story of the World: History for the Classical Child (Paperback)) ]. I see what you mean Merry!! I think the Usborne version is a bit more even handed!! we had also finished the samurai section, which went well with one of the other books Samurai (Young Reading (Series 3))
from jo. i would really recommend the usborne young readers books. they seem to have a nice reading style, enough pictures for the facts! we have also been dipping into Crusaders, Samurai and Aztecs (The Childrens Picture World History) that we got as a remaindered book from a library.
bit more french practice in a mild way, and the day was done. chris is doing the big sainsbury order at the mo. i should still be doing appraisal stuff [boohoo]