A week in pictures

Finally, the sun shone and we went strawberry picking.  Must be said, there were very slim pickings this year.  The excessive rain we have had left many rotting on the plant, all moldy and split.  Usually we stagger home with a couple of large cardboard baskets full, but this year we struggled to fill a small plastic container.

Oh, you let a hen out of a cage and next thing it's checking out the duplo and mechano!  This is Nora (Ex Batty) exploring the play room, having sneaked in when the back door was open.

A queue to lay an egg in the plant pot by the back door.  Sheesh, these hens get away with too much!

We visited a flow mill which is supposedly tidal.  The wheel wasn't turning when we were there, and whilst the on board assistant was pleasant, he didn't seem to really understand it.  He said the wheel sometimes moves a couple of hours after high or low tide at the coast - but sometimes it 'just doesn't'. Hmm...clear as mud.
 

There is lots of equipment on board which tests river samples and somehow translates them into music.    I went along with the expectation of tingling bells and catchy jingles.  It wasn't like that at all.  It was much more like white noise.

We liked  these big glass containers which played bubble tunes when you agitated the water with the rod.

We took this picture standing on the Millennium Bridge.  Wonderful view of the Tyne Bridge, which thankfully shows no lasting damage from it's recent lightening strike.

View of the flow mill from the bridge.

As were in the area we trundled into The Baltic.  I find it's usually a bit hit and miss with the children depending upon how child friendly the exhibitions are.  Well, on this occasion it was a hit!

We thoroughly enjoyed the 40 Part Motet by Janet Cardiff. It was so much more than just beautiful music.



The children had wonderful fun exploring the 'mountain inside a shed' created by Richard Rigg and you can see it here.

My only regret about the visit is that instead of having a good rummage through last years Turner Prize posters and books, all now on sale for £1, we were all distracted by a lovely gallery employee who enticed us in the opposite direction with a large tray of birthday cupcakes, iced with a number ten on top to celebrate the Baltic's tenth birthday.

Goodness, would you believe the folks who shop at Aldi these days?

Gliding giants carrying instruments and strange funnels.

Eeek, smoky funnels!

You see them come, you see them go.  Some are fast and some are slow.

Seriously, they weren't Aldi shoppers; they were Le Snob.  You can see them in action on a different occasion below.  Check them out.  They're seriously strange!

Daisy Heart Bunting

Ta da! 

I've crochet some heart bunting following a pattern from Bunny Mummy.  I'm ever so pleased with myself.  This has to be one of the trickiest crochet patterns I have mastered.  That's not to say it's a tricky pattern; it's just that I generally struggle with anything which requires reading or following instructions.            

I just finished working on them this evening, time which was to be spent dusting and sweeping ready for friends calling by for cake and coffee tomorrow evening.  Oh, here's hoping they are so mesmerized by my bunting that they overlook the dust bunnies!

Glimmers of Summer

 Colorful big top tents make me think of summer.  We went to see Nicole and Martin perform the Musicians of Bremen at the weekend.  It was fun; a combination of arty mime, brass and slapstick.  Something in there for all of the family!

Squishy victoria sponges filled wish mountains of sliced strawberries.  That reminds me I must call the local pick your own farm again.  I fear the local strawberries may well just turn to mush on the plants before they ripen this year.  The lady who owns the farm sounds more depressed each time I call.  Hopefully  next time she will be able to tell me they have all ripened beautifully and that we can go along and pick baskets full.

Little posies of garden flowers.

Patch and Pots

 What with all this wet weather we're having I've not been pottering up the patch that much this last week or so.  I guess one of the benefits of growing in pots is that they don't water log so easily; that's certainly a factor with our clay soil in the patch.

I feel quite self satisfied at the way I've managed to sneak lots of rainbow chard between the primulas.  I like feeding home grown greens to my babes.  Makes me feel quite virtuous and helps to cancel out the times when all they get is oven chips and fish fingers!

Ooooh, not long now and we should be picking broad beans too.

What's that nestled in the shaded grass on a rare sunny moment?  Yes, that's the three baby ducklings at the front.  They're roaming with the flock now and have earned respect from almost everyone with their feisty attitudes.  Certainly no wilting violets!

All this rain is really swelling the apples and pears.  I'm sure they're not usually this size in early July.

Sadly the blooms aren't fairing as well in this weather.  The petals have been battered and dropped early.

Goodness, in the time it took me to ponder which elder flower cordial recipe to use this year the flowers were gone!

A close up of those cuties again. Oh, what hard life snoozing on the lawn!

Lola is ever so taken with the play house right now.  She's another girl with attitude.  We adopted her from a very elderly gentleman who was struggling to manage with his poultry.  It must be said, he'd done well to look after a thriving flock till well into his 80s - it's no mean feat!  This was his 'show girl'.  He hadn't actually entered her into any shows but always called her 'the show girl', hence she came to be known as Lola round here.

Happy pottering  xx

Rising water levels

We called into town today to check out the river levels following yet more rain.  The river was much higher than the other day, and it soon became apparent it had been even higher yesterday!  Below is the roadway we usually walk to get into town.  It was completely flooded.  The river is the second body of water, which looks very brown, running alongside the flooded roadway.

Having battled through the rising waters I found sustenance in a white chocolate and raspberry muffin.

Sheesh, look how high the water was compared to the other day!  Ducks were swimming where we were standing on Thursday afternoon!

This was Miles' chosen sustenance.  He's very partial to a giant jammy dodger in Costa Coffee, but alas, they are no more.  Out with the giant jammy dodgers and in with giant bourbons and custard creams.

Paleo inspired cupcakes

The sky matched my mood today; grey, murky and blurred around the edges.

I'm sick of grey skies, and grey moods too.  I want to see sunshine and all that lurks under the greyness. In the words of Oriah, I want to see, beauty even when it's not pretty.  I know that really, even when times feel tough, I do live in a beautiful world.  I need to make the effort to see it, particularly when it's difficult to spot.

Ah well, I had a plan today to take my mind off the grey skies.  Feeling all inspired by this blog post, and a chat I had with a good friend the other day, about how it was probably possible to make a cupcake which is much more nutritious than most breakfast cereals, I set out to create something special.

I adapted the Paleo Mom's recipe slightly in keeping with what I thought would best suit the small peeps taste round here.  Instead of 1/4 cup of cocoa powder I used 1/4 cup of quinnoa flour. Not sure if that disqualifies them from being paleo?  Did paleolithic man eat quinnoa?  I don't know,  but then I suspect he didn't eat chocolate cupcakes either!

 Also, I used four large duck eggs instead of six hen eggs.  I like to feed my children duck eggs; they contain more vitamins and minerals than hen eggs.  Also, cakes tend to rise ever so well with duck eggs.

It wasn't a quick and easy cake to make as it took time to melt the chocolate and coconut oil.  I didn't have the patience to follow instructions to the letter and resorted to the usual 'bung it all in the mixer' style.

The batter was lovely and glossy but not very smoothe. It must be said, I wasn't optimistic and felt quite queasy at the thought of such expensive ingredients all going to waste.  Have you seen the price of coconut flour?  I was shocked.

Well, my fears were unfounded.  The cakes rose wonderfully and the texture was good too.  Miles really liked them and polished a couple off in no time.  It was clear from Hermione's face that they didn't come up to scratch on the cupcake front, but as breakfast options go, I think she's quite impressed.

Will I make them all the time for breakfast?  No, probably not, but I will make them again.

Later we popped into town to check the river levels after a monsoon like downpour.  Surprisingly the river levels were only a few inches elevated.  Perhaps we hadn't allowed a significant time lapse for all the runoff water from the hills to make it's way in.

The streets were nigh on steaming in the muggy heat following the rain.  We wandered into a cafe for an iced drink and sat inside, out of the heat.  Were it not for all the jubilee bunting still hanging out throughout the streets, I could possibly have fooled myself I was somewhere exotic.

Work - is it still happening?

When I started out blogging a few years ago, I set out to record our home education achievements.  I guess all that we do could be classed as achievements, but I rarely talk about the work side of things these days.  Well, just to reassure myself that it is still happening, albeit in a somewhat random fashion, I thought I’d write a few words about it.

I’m delighted that Hermione is now reading for pleasure every day and not just when she ‘has to’.  I feel that’s a huge break through.  I worried she’d never have the love of reading that I have.  I gain so much pleasure and knowledge from reading and want my children to share in that too.  So, hurrah, it’s finally happening!

She’s steaming ahead with her maths, still using predominantly the Conquer Maths programme.  She wrapped up what would have been the end of this academic years work a few weeks ago, and is now pressing on with what, in the system, she would be starting in September.

   

English is still coming along nicely, and like her maths, she’s working ahead of the level that would be expected were she in the system.  We still use Galore Park for the vast majority of our English work. 

Everything else is covered in a much more random fashion with the help of other Galore Park books, Brain Pop, First News, study units from places such as Curclick and more.

The end is in sight for the Bronze Arts Award.  I think she has till September to have that submitted for moderation but I think it will be wrapped up well before then.  It’s been an interesting journey and I think she’s gained much more from it than I originally envisaged.  All being well I hope she can get cracking with the Silver Arts Award hot on the heels of the Bronze.  Currently the Arts Awards qualifications carry points which can be counted when applying for college and university admissions.  That system is going to change within the next year or two but those who have already earned the points will be able to keep them, so, the pressure’s on!

On the IT front, the Arts Award has been the stimulus we needed to really get to grips with Prezi, the new online presentation programme which is set to take over from PowerPoint.   It’s a great way to present text, pictures, video clips and more.  Hermione used it to present the Neo Classical Architecture aspect of her project – complete with a hilarious tongue in cheek video clip her and a friend made about it.  I never thought I would see a panda and a dragon discussing the finer points of Neoclassicism, but I have now!

French has come to an end; we concluded the efforts and returns weren’t in keeping.  I know that languages are highly valued these days and I’m aware that many colleges expect one language GCSE as part of entry requirements.  We’ve talked about it and we’re interested in exploring sign language – just as soon as we have a moment to spare.  I know it’s not the same, but then home educated children aren’t the same; that’s the point in a way.  If someone wanders into Asda and can only speak French, there is a fair chance that someone will be able to come forward and assist.  Were someone to wander into Asda and could only communicate with sign language, I’m not so sure there would be so many folks able to help out.  I think it’s a good skill to have and we really must make time to look further into it.

I still have a tutor helping me out three hours a week, although I’m not sure how long we will have her as she’s a university student in a gap year.  I’ll be sad to see her go.  I didn’t envisage using a tutor at the outset, but, I’ve come to accept there’s a limit to how thinly I can spread myself and sometimes it really helps to have someone to ease the load.  It sometimes pains me to bring in someone else to do what I can do myself, but there are only so many hours in a day.

Well, what about Miles?  He’s ever so busy, doing more work type stuff all the time.  Literacy can be heavy going, but he finds maths to be a breeze.  He’s zooming ahead with the Conquer Maths programme and loves BrainPop.  

He’s spent hours of late playing Monopoly, so much so that I can take no more and have decided it’s about time he learned to play Chess.  I think he has the patience and determination to master it but last night I decided to Google for tips about teaching children to play.  I discovered a game called No Stress Chess which helps children to learn the moves.  It’s a chess game with a deck of cards which each have a chess move on them.  You take a card from the top of the pack and you have to move the piece which is on the card, and, it shows you the pattern in which that piece can move.  Obviously the outcome of the game is determined by chance, but in the meantime newbies can learn what each piece does. 

I could go on but I think I’ll stop there.  I think I just needed to satisfy myself that there still is something to say on the subject!

It’s been a hair raising week with sickness (to include hurly behaviour in the midst of a sleepover, guests being evacuated from sickness zone at what felt like crack of dawn), hospitals and much other dross.  When the rest of the country was watching the water levels on the roads rise, as we had the worst storms and flash floods in years, I came round in a wet recovery room to find nurses frantically trying to stem the creep of flood water from slipping under the operating theatre door with incontinence bed pads!

Here’s to a light and airy week, free from the feeling of trudging through treacle!  I'm off to bed now with The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.