It's been a funny old week this week. Another one which has passed in a haze. The rapid but seamless passage of our time concerns me sometimes. What are we doing? What are we achieving? Is it right for children (and parents) to bumble along in a content haze? Before you know it you are way down the road and there isn't the supposed *security* of boxes ticked, tests passed and achievements documented.


Instead we have memories of our bumblings. Thoughts of Hermione messing on her tree swing in her nightie for hours on end, attempts at training the cats, children head down bottoms up making mud pies on the deck, arguments over who will get to stroke the rabbit first, Miles munching his way almost single handedly through almost all of the blackberries in the garden, the rush to the Eglu when they suspect a hen may have laid an egg, reading stories, laughter, tears and lots more besides.


To attempt to structure our days into learning/leisure/play would undoubtedly mean that we would loose our flowing bumbling quality. As much as I worry about our bumblings I would hate to have it any other way now.



It's almost a year since we bought our house. Craig managed the renovation. I nagged about the renovation. Craig is an expert at meandering . I'm new to it. I never thought we would get anywhere, actually achieve anything. Thankfully my kitchen no longer looks like this




and my garden no longer looks like this




It is possible to reach goal at a slow meandering pace - although if you happen to read this Craig you must realise that it is not possible to do DIY at a slow meandering pace without being harangued. DIY stores didn't coin the phrase 'weekend projects' for nothing - some things can be achieved in a couple of days.


Some other happy memories I have of this week are thoughts of Lily and Hermione writing stories together using a dice. They take turn to throw the dice and write however many words there are spots on the dice. The dice and piece of paper is then passed over for the other to have a turn and so it continues. I must say that pigs, cats and poo have featured heavily in all stories but they have had great fun and have talked of looking into publishing their efforts. Oh dear, I hope those thoughts pass quickly, I'd hate to have to be the one to disappoint ....


We spent a lovely afternoon looking after a friends children and whats more received some Durham Exchange hours in return. Durham Exchange is run on the Lets principles. I hope that when we have acquired sufficient hours some folks will come round and help me to blitz our front garden. The front isn't really suitable for the children to play in as it isn't secure so it tends to gets neglected.


Something else which has happened this week is that we have decided that once a fortnight Hermione will study our cookery books and choose a three course meal which she will then help to shop for and prepare. We're aiming to get out a table cloth, napkins and candles too! I suggested this to her as I have such fond memories of doing something similar with my mum when I was young. I was probably a bit older than Hermione is now but hopefully with help she will manage fine. She has spent lots of time looking through the books and starting (but not ever finishing) shopping lists. Lily is keen to get in on the act too so it may be that Lily and Hermione will alternate weeks. I'm hoping that by being so actively involved Hermione may actually try some new foods - although I won't hold my breath, she's a girl of very plain and fixed tastes.

More eggs and a pak choi surprise

Omlet has followed Henrietta's lead and is also now laying. We have had five eggs over the past three days and thankfully all have made their way into the kitchen, which is surprising considering the kerfuffle Miles is having about them. He seems to think that the eggs belong to the chickens and when he managed to get his hands on one egg today he ran after the chickens throwing the egg at them!!! It's most out of character as he doesn't usually chase them at all. He's generally very gentle with them. Definitely a bit of confusion going on. At least now we know that they are eating enough grit as despite being thrown and dropped lots of times the egg didn't crack - no problems with weak shells.

Last night I was lucky enough to slope out for a couple of hours when the children were asleep and visit a wonderful pan asian restaurant. I've seen lots of vegetable carvings before but the ones than adorned my meal last night were really special. So special that I popped a couple in my handbag and brought them home to show Hermione and Lily. The photographs really don't do them justice but here you go, this is what you can do with a pak choi stem and a turnip if you are so inclined!

Hermione and Craig went to see Evan Almight today but hasn't really made any comment since she came home. I guess it can't have been up to much.

Our first egg

Today Henrietta laid our first egg. Hermione discovered it in the nesting box. I wonder if this means that she will lay one most days now or if they are a bit stoppy starty in the beginning?

Nana headed off for Canada on Thursday. She has gone to visit my sister for a few weeks. It feels odd without her around.

The weather has been glorious over the past couple of days. So much for my last post with talk of autumn! We have spent lots of time in the garden. Miles has whiled away hours painting the deck and house with a bucket of water. Hermione has spent hours swinging and planning a trip she intends to make alone to a near by village. Hmmm, not sure about this one. I've been weeding, scooping chicken plops etc.

We had a barbecue last night. We all enjoyed it but Hermione in particular thought it was great - especially toasting marshmallows over the coals.

We read the story of Ferdinand again and talked about bull fighting. Neither Hermione or Lily had realised that the bulls are killed. In their innocence they both thought that the bull could fight back and it would be quite 'even' with no one seriously hurt. They now know that sadly this is not the case. Hermione made a poster. She folded her paper in half and on one side drew a bull fight with a big cross through it and on the other side drew a picture of a bull sitting under a tree surrounded by flowers. She put a tick next to the bull under the tree.

The seedlings we planted a week or so ago are starting to show. My labeling hasn't been brilliant but I think it is the spring onions and turnips which are furthest on. Lots of planting on to be done soon.

Nip in the air

We have spent most of the day in the garden today. It has been bright but decidedly chilly. Lots of small branches have blown off the ash and the sycamore is shedding it's seeds. The weather really is changing. I love autumn, it's my favourite season. But here's hoping it hasn't arrived just yet, a little more summer time wouldn't go amiss.



The apples are ripening and we have all started to munch the odd one as we mess outside.



We went on a clover hunt this morning. There are many pictures of clover in the story of Ferdinand so it felt only right to check it out in our garden. We didn't find as much as I expected. The lawn is full of weeds but surprisingly not much clover. We did find some however and brought some inside to do clover rubbings with crayons. I recounted the tale of how when Nana was busy cooking Sunday lunch and wanted me out of the kitchen, she used to send me to the garden to look for four leaf clovers. I whiled away many hours searching.


The red cabbages are really hearty now. I love their colour.

We now have a fence around our veg patch but it isn't chicken proof. For birds that supposedly don't fly they can jump rather high. Tim spent a whole day constructing a fence from wood and chicken wire but by late afternoon they had made their way over it and were pecking about near the spinach. Rascals. I have been reassured by a friend that they won't be so flighty once they start laying - another reason to be excited about the appearance of eggs at some point.

Ferdinand

We have read Ferdinand by Munro Leaf this week. The story of a little bull who would rather sit under a cork tree and smell flowers than fight. I have found it quite touching really and can't help but think of all of the real life Ferdinands out there.





Quick round up of what we have done so far -

* Made a story disc and placed it on Spain on our big world map
* Coloured the Spanish flag
* Talked about the tourist industry and looked at a couple of pictures like this one
* Discussed the physical characteristics of a bull as opposed to a cow - yes, one of those udder/ penis/horns sort of conversations.

Getting along just nicely!

Well, it's been one of those weeks, dashing around, doing this and that - hopefully achieving something but I can't be sure!

We read Mirette on the High Wire a couple more times. We pondered how it would feel to run a boarding house of our own, and wrote a list of jobs that we suspected we would need to do and personal qualities it would be desirable to have in that role.

We talked about how shortest routes travel in straight lines (like the high wire) and drew pictures illustrating the quickest routes to different areas of the garden.

Walking on a high wire commands a lot of skill and both Hermione and Lily felt that feet are one of the most important body parts in doing this. We observed how bony our feet are - feet have lots of bones and this helps them to be flexible. We looked at this Youtube clip which shows a lady doing a self portrait with her feet and also talked about how elephants possibly 'hear' with their feet - a couple of particular skills we hadn't previously associated with feet!

The weather hasn't been brilliant but Hermione and Nana did manage a quick trip to Whitworth Park and a local village show yesterday between showers. We have also managed to clear a lot of space on the vegetable patch this week and have planted some chard, carrot, spring onion and turnip seeds. I don't know how they will do. It may be too late but I decided to speculate and we will see what happens.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the hens. They are turning out to be real characters. Particularly Henrietta who has attempted to climb the climbing frame and ran on the top of the washing basket like a mouse on a wheel - before falling off in a heap of crumpled feathers! Unfortunately the veg still isn't fenced off and I think we could have had some pak choi casualties - could have been worse I guess.