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how happy am I . toilet and sink tempporarily out for painting.

some weekends i work, part on site and part on call, and this was one of them. luckilly, it hasn’t been too busy, so we managed to go to a reenactment market to pick up some red wool [madder] for my petticoat skirt. we also bought a small blade for FrB for when we are there, and some larger snips in case SB is in the stillroom again – tho she thinks she might like to try new things each year for now. We met up with a few other Kentwell reenactors which was lovely, even if BB wasn’t in the mood to chat! what she wanted to do was look at the rabbits to rehome. we did this, and put our name next to a pair of rabbits wanting a new home. we obviously stopped for a cake

so the next day she was keen to see if our hutches were ok. TBH, with a bit of work they will be. However the rescue centre would like a far bigger run than we have, so we will look around for a second hand aviary or the like!

We did some prepping for the new colours upstairs – see the 40 days update, with BB painting on the testers. she liked the 2 bright ones best. Mostly we were arts and crafty tho. i have said i would like some of the half done craft kits to become done craft kits BB did some of them whilst i did a bit or sorting in the conservatory, including hanging up my secret santa . BB did a quick draw game, and i was impressed by the rabbits. we had the winter olympics on as a background, and she has been quite enthralled watching it.

We also did a bit more of her robot kit

But we did a lot of hugging and cuddling. I think now that SB’s homecoming is approaching she is feeling just a bit in need of extgra hugs. She is desperate for SB to return and can hardly wait. We watched some more elephant diaries this evening and BB had a dose of minecraft.

not for the bathroom, tho that is happening on tuesday – yippee! currently the bathroom is all prepped for painting and looks like this

and to get to this stage, my DH has finished most days looking rather powdered! However, today BB and I put some orange testers on the wall of the next door little upstairs toilet. we want a zingy room

so, to decide between:

there are 2 different oranges there, and we can use one or a mixture of the tiles just over the sink. we have 12 of each tile. [impulse buy ] Nice to see some paint tho!

An at home week as unfortunately bb twisted her ankle last weekend, so mostly hopping about. Hence high amount done.

we started this weds4ed with making hexaflexagons as our maths manipulatives. we all made and decorated some in the end, tho following the instructions was more of a challenge for some! we even had a go at making double ones – much more tricky. The we moved on to trying to make texamexahexaflexagons – much much harder! TheB managed it, tho most of us made a mess v tasty tho

after lunch of a mixture of wraps and the more traditional pasta we went to our be engineous. This time we were making water purification systems. we made ours in 2 parts, the first with gravel and sand, and then the water was passed through cotton wool and coffee filter. Whilst doing this, we could see that the finer filters worked better but took longer, and we discussed the things we cant see – bacteria, poisons etc.

finally our last organised activity was art, still in the modern era this is a 2parter. today they made the collage material that will then next time be made into the artwork. this was in the style of eric carle

Without photographic evidence we also had a fab flying visit from Zoe . really miss zoe! we had some fab wednesdays together. her girls have moved to being schooled and are comfortable with that choice, but I still miss the ‘good old days ‘ . lovely to catch up.

This fab game we imported from Germany after bb enjoyed playing it in France. Loverly memory game with a bit of probability thrown in. Quite quick too

SB has had the final feedback for her half of the exchange.

here it is

I spoke to SB and mamanV this week to complete the evaluation of the first half of the exchange. This is what I noted…

Are you happy to be leaving ? ‘yes and no! I will miss my friends’

Relationship with FrB and the family – very good relationship with FrB. We play board games, mosaiques and laugh a lot.

School – good. SB liked school as she made friends. She was at ease in maths and science classes.

What was difficult ? at first, I found the rhythm of life a bit difficult like with the family meals and also when I started school – I really didn’t understand.

Will you return? Yes, I want to come back during the holidays!

Extra activities – I went skiing – it was so nice !SB learned to sky with her French ‘parents’. She was very happy with this experience

Linguistic evalution – SB has an excellent comprehension of the French language. I was very impressed! She made huge progress from the beginning of her exchange. I was able to speak to her naturally and she understood everything, even when speaking fast. She told me that she was used to listen to her French sisters who speak very fast! She also has a good vocabulary. Her pronounciation and intonation are also very good. She makes a few syntax errors but this does not hinder the meaning of her sentences.

MamanV’s feedback – At first, I spoke to FtB who is really looking forward to going to GB – she can’t wait. mamanV then told me that they were very happy to welcome SB into their home. At first, she needed time to get used to the rhythm of their family life, school, timings, learning…etc. Now, they see that SB feels better as she can express herself. At school, the teachers see that she made progress. SB liked school as she had friends there. Well done SB. Now, it’s her turn to play the welcoming role with FrB. We wish you a happy family reunion

honestly we had hoped that the bathroom would be done by now. However… still dh has fixed the wood around doors and windows and done the plastertaping. just needs one more skim and them it will be ready to paint.

oh, and i do really like our taps