Countryside adventures, park and Tenko

On Monday, Dani and the kids set off to an event at The Sussex Wildlife Trust headquarters organised by a fellow home edder. They got two buses out into the country and Dani got time to chat with other adults while the kids were taken off by the workers to do things like pond dipping. It sounds like it was a great place. Leo was chatting to me in the bath that night about the lava of the Caddis Fly, which makes itself a little portable case out of shells and stones. They also saw frogs, toads, newts and fish. In the afternoon they were shown how to make things with nettles and elder. Leo made a piece of nettle string to adorn his hat and Pearlie made a nettle and elder bracelet. They were exhausted that night as it was another busy day after the hectic weekend. I was no less tired after a morning of unpacking and sorting and an afternoon at work.

Yesterday, the kids' Squeezebox session was cancelled, so we got a morning at home. I spent this trying to catch up on some more tidying and washing. Pearlie is happily engrossed in the new Roman Mysteries book and Leo was working on a long story he started at his writing group. I did a very stupid thing and brought in one of the recycling boxes to clean in the hallway. People chuck things in our boxes if we leave them out and someone had kindly donated a beer bottle that had dribbled dregs all over the place. I was moving very fast and plonked the box on the carpet before filling it up with hot water and Flash. It was only when I picked it up that I realised that it has four, quite large, holes in the bottom! So, the hallway carpet got a soaking in hot soapy water and I realised I’d get more done if I slowed down a bit...

In the afternoon we went up to the park, where the kids disappeared for four hours with friends and I drank tea and chatted with other parents. Two exciting things happened which were reported to me by a breathless Pearlie. First, she saw a heron on the park pond. Second she and friends saw some kids smashing up a bass guitar. This was very dramatic and involved hurling it out of trees, and so on. Most bizarre... A sort of rock star, hotel bedroom moment, in the local park!

Dani’s knitting group came round in the evening and I watched Bonekickers with the kids. They are really enjoying this but I think it is rather *cough* far-fetched and silly! Dani and I stayed up too late once the knitters had gone, watching Tenko. We got another video cheap on Ebay. I am struck by how slow moving it seems, when compared to modern tv programmes. There are also no whizzing camera shots or flashbacks. It’s rather like watching a play, a genuine ensemble piece too, where the story unfolds and you’re gripped by that. The acting is a bit patchy but there are some excellent performances, especially Stephanie Cole as the doctor. I’m loving seeing it again. It is far more interesting to watch than pretty much anything I see on tv today. It is thought provoking too. Dani and I ended the day looking at our Schofield and Sims history timeline poster, trying to understand why there were Dutch prisoners as well as British ones.

Right, got to go and pack a bag for the kids and Dani to use this afternoon. They’re off across town to an outdoor party. I’ve got to go to work.

Tolpuddle and home again

On Friday we set off for the Tolpuddle Festival and we got back yesterday (Sunday) evening. The kids and Dani were up early this morning to go to a nature event out in mid-Sussex and I’m contemplating the laundry heap, which is out-of-hand, and planning to unpack and check all the camping gear. This is probably why I’m blogging!

The Tolpuddle event was quite a journey for us. The camping field was on a slope, which meant we didn’t get very good sleep. On the second night I woke to find every muscle in my back screaming – probably trying to stop me falling, which we did each night, into a grumpy heap at the bottom of the tent. Speaking of the tent, I am in love with our Vango Force Ten. It is true that it is rather snug, and I suspect that in a year or two the kids may start to spill out into pop-up tents, but the sheer quality and orangeness of our family tent is so comforting. Every bit of it is well stitched, thick and soft. Most modern tents seem to be made of super-light material which, though it obviously has its advantages, never looks very reliable. Peg it too tight or slide a pole a bit wonky and stitching splits. Our Force Ten was certainly expensive (though we did get a good deal - more than a hundred off the price quoted on the vango site) but it feels like the tents of my childhood, the sort you bought once and kept for a generation.

It was good to see family at Tolpuddle. We travelled with my brother J and his son D, who were snug in their little two person tent. It certainly helped to travel together, especially yesterday when we ended up on a very over-crowded train. This was ok, as we had managed to get everyone seated, but then they announced that only the front five carriages would open at Clapham Junction, so we had to walk through packed train with kids and hefty backpacks. I must say that the kids were brilliant. Pearlie carried all her own stuff – sleeping bag and mat included. Leo carried his sleeping back and pjs etc. Little cousin D remained stoical – even when feeling sick – and we held it all together.

It was also great to see K and N with cousins S and G, from Leicestershire. They’ve been to Tolpuddle for ever and so were able to give us tips, like getting up early enough for cooked breakfasts provided by the local WI, who stand in a row with camping cookers and dole out fried eggs.

Sadly, Pearlie cut her foot on the Sunday morning. This was the most bizarre accident really. She was walking along, carrying toast, with her sandals undone. There was a pencil lying on the grass which she somehow flipped up under her foot and then stood down on. The tip was quite blunt but the pressure enough to split the sole of her foot. She was very brave and is determined that it will not stop her. She’s gone off today hobbling and declaring,

“it only hurts when I stand on it.”

It is quite clean and covered but I hope it heals ok. Injuries on feet are always a bit worrying, aren’t they?

When we got in last night, P eager to get her sore foot sorted with clean plaster, Leo suddenly had one of the sudden, nauseous (migraine like) headaches he’s had before. This seemed to resolve with throwing up, as it has before. But after four hours on hot trains and two nights with little sleep, we were all struggling to cope. I can’t really believe they were still keen to get up early for this event today. I hope they’re all ok and don’t just dissolve into a little heap somewhere.

On the Saturday evening, at Tolpuddle, Mark Steel performed. He was very funny. Leo took the opportunity to veg out on my lap during the performance but Pearlie listened avidly and seemed to really enjoy it. He was tormented by kids with whistles, which I found very amusing.

On the Sunday there was a short procession, with banners, down to the Methodist chapel in the village. This included lots of conversation with P, who was surrounded by plenty of information about a range of isms. She is very interested in this stuff at the moment and was able to quiz a young man wrapped in a Communist Party flag. I only got a bit irritated at one point when the kids were picking up free stickers from Class War. I didn’t mind the swearing but insisted they put back the ‘mug a yuppie’ stickers, complete with man covered in blood. They did this with some “yes, er, YUK” type comments when it was pointed out to them. The sheer volume of freebie stuff available meant that they got a bit crazed with acquisition. I found this very hard to deal with. It seems to me that the mass of plastic tat has no place in the legacy of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. I can’t help but feel that Trade Unions with so much money to burn on rubbish should just lower their subs, or donate their bounty to organisations in parts of the world where people are still labouring for poverty wages. At demos and such when I was a kid you just got leaflets, by the hundred, not free Frisbees and sunglasses...

Leo wasn’t that interested in the Tolpuddle Martyrs themselves, but P came to the museum with me and Dani and we all enjoyed that. I was also quite happy to enjoy so many free apples from the NUT stall (a rather useful freebie if you must have them) and smirk a little to myself ;-)

I have to say that I struggled with portaloos. They are the most vile things, aren’t they? I can’t help but wonder if screened holes in the ground wouldn’t be less unpleasant to use. Living with them for a weekend made me appreciate the luxury of the decent toilets and showers at Hesfes. I was very glad of a little bottle of hand sanitiser that we had with us, as it wasn’t always possible to wash hands after using the portaloos.

Right, washing machine has stopped and I have procrastinated enough. To work!

Home from Hesfes

We got home from Hesfes last night and I think it’s fair to say that we’re all pretty tired still. I seem to have a bit of a cold too, so I’m not at my best.

Hesfes was much easier going than last year, mainly because the weather was so much better. We had an electric hook up and so we could make tea easily (always important!) and use our sandwich toaster. I don’t think I’ll want another toasted sandwich for months, mind you. We were quite experimental and found that banana and Nutella was good, and that you could make toast by just pressing a slice of bread onto the hot surface for a while. Our new tent proved itself in a couple of hefty showers and stayed far cooler than most of the tents made of modern fabrics. The best thing was seeing a tent there, of the same make, that looked like it had done decades and was still going strong. It is a Vango force ten and is the sort that youth groups like Woodies tend to own.

This was out little encampment. The pop up tent was great for holding all our stuff and the orange tent was fine for the four of us at night. I wouldn't want to rely on one of those pop up tents for actually sleeping in as they really have a feel of play tents!

Breakfast in the sun one morning. Leo demanded that most of his food came in a form that he could run about with!

Here we are packed up and ready to go home. Journeys were fine, except for a silly argument with an ill-informed gate attendant at Farringdon. Next year we plan to brave the tube and avoid the 4o min walk across centra London with all the luggage. That bit really isn't much fun. I kept nearly tripping posh men in suits with our trailer! We were very grateful to friends who carried some bits and pieces for us.

The kids had a fantastic week. Pearlie had her new Dahon bike to buzz about on and spent a lot of time chatting with friends and going to the pool. Leo was engaged in almost constant water fights and lots of games involving chasing, maps, treasure and general rampaging. Both the kids went to the music workshops for three of the afternoons and played in the end of week show.

Leo in the end of week show. he shared a big keyboard with another player.

Pearlie playing at the end of week show. She is concentraing very hard here.

The kids’ band, Duck Rock, played in the children’s cabaret too. They performed their new song – their first original composition – and it went down very well indeed.

Duck Rock playing in the children's cabaret. We seem destined never to get a decent shot of P behind the drum kit!

Because the kids were busy and happy at the workshops, we were able to go to some of the conference sessions. I particularly enjoyed listening to Alan Thomas talk about his new book, which we bought. I also managed to read a four hundred page thriller in two days. This wouldn’t have been my top choice of reading matter but it was the best I could get in the camp site shop! We did sitting by camp fires chatting and singing and enjoyed a fabulous communal meal in the Sussex field on the last night. We entered the family quiz and managed to win. On the last night, Andy told us we’d won tickets for next year’s Hesfes, which was rather cool. I suspect that there will be rather more entrants next year, now people now what the prize is!

Hesfes is great and I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to go. But it is also an exhausting way to spend a week. I think that’s because it is so full-on. The days start early, because there are so many little kids, and end late. There is little space to be had and that gets me a bit ragged by the end of the week. I did manage a couple of hours chilling on the beach, while Leo looked for crabs and I read my book.

The kids have come back very bubbly, though. Pearlie rushed off to a bead shop this morning to get things to make rainbow jewellery and Leo is working on a big picture map. We’re very excited about tonight’s Doctor Who too. I am also in a fever of excitement as I returned home to find that the story I have in a competition, that had made it onto the long list, is now on the short list. The short list is eleven stories and from that there will be three winners. The winners get cash but, more exciting for me, is the prospect of getting published in the magazine. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Church, maths, history and more

On Tuesday evening we went to a local church to hear cousin S play the violin in her strings group. The church in question is ‘high anglican’ so it has lots of pretty bits and bobs around the place. After a little while, both the children produced pencils/pens and started to draw things. Leo was sitting beside me, quietly sketching away. He’d done the crucifix, various hanging things and then he started to draw a wall hanging of Saint Martin. Underneath the representation of the man, was his name in quite curly, old-fashioned writing. Leo finished his drawing and started to copy the writing and I had to stifle a bubbling giggle as he printed out, in nice, clear letters.

“SAINT MARGIN”

I think he would be the patron saint of the periphery.

There’s been a lot of excellent conversation going on here recently but, as usual, most is forgotten. On Wednesday morning I was walking along the road with Leo, when we got onto matters of belief, faith and proof. Leo is of the opinion that he should not question the existence of God in front of believers as he wouldn’t want to upset them.

Pearlie and I did some of an MEP maths book about multiplication involving numbers with digits to the right of the decimal point. This led to a conversation with Dani, in which she explained to me why one of the many rules of my school maths lessons actually works. Once again, I was struck by the fact that I memorised far more than I ever learned about maths. Anyway, Pearlie was happy with the stuff we covered, so she was pleased. She uses a box method for multiplication. We are doing this regular maths at the mo because, as I have mentioned, P is keen to know that she could handle all that the kids do at school. We are keen for her to know that we will give her any support she wants/needs in whatever she chooses. It’s good for me, because I’m learning things that I didn’t know I didn’t know! Maths will never give me the joy that writing does, for example, but I like the feeling of being on firmer ground in my own head.

Leo is very happy because Kids’ Club is planning an ‘archaeological dig’ in the sandpit next week. He wants to make a, rather intricate, object that he has seen in a history book. The plan is for the kids to discover the hidden things and discuss them. He went to bed very tired tonight as he was busy doing the Olympics at Kids’ Club today and then he and Dani had quite a long walk this afternoon, followed by playing with cousins and learning a new computer game.

Pearlie went to her 10-13s group again today and continued work on her board game. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished article. She also went to Woodcraft Folk tonight, where the group discussed motions for the Annual Gathering and instructed their leader on how to vote.

HESFES packing is well underway here. Right, too tired to think about anything else. Had a two and a half hour meeting at work this afternoon and my brain is jelly now. That is probably also because I stayed up until two last night watching a rubbish tv movie and spent this morning working on a new story. Time to fall asleep in front of This Week.

Impressed by the Little Pigs

Dani, Pearl and I met up with some grandparents yesterday to see Leo take part in the first Little Green Pig open mic night. It was excellent. Leo read his kenning about a hedgehog, which I’ve blogged before. Several kids we knew were taking part and they all did very well. I really hope there are more such nights, as we all enjoyed it. I didn’t take any photos but I’m sure that some may appear on the Little Green Pig site before long!

Now, where did we get to?

We have been doing things here – so many things it’s hard to remember what they all are. Let’s see...

Pearlie and I had a good time on Friday at Critical Mass. It was a bigger turnout this month, being a lovely evening, and we ended up taking control of quite a big, fast one-way system in the north of the town. Unfortunately, some car drivers didn’t have the patience to wait until we moved on, and started being very pushy. One driver actually bumped a cyclist’s leg (she was angry but unhurt), causing everyone to stop in front of his car – so that didn’t get him where he was going any faster!

Before that little unpleasantness, it had been a lovely ride. I particularly enjoyed the bit where we had opened up a really wide, clear space on the main seafront road, which attracted a talented skateboarder, who swept back and forth in front of us, clearly relishing the unexpected expanse of road. Pearlie enjoys Critical Mass a lot, and is determined to attend when she can. I think she likes the safety of being surrounded by other cyclists, and the power of claiming our space on the city’s roads, even for a short time.

Keeping with the activist theme of the weekend, cousin S and her dad joined me and the kids at a demo outside an illegal Starbucks on the Saturday. We met up again with cousins S and D and their dad on the Sunday at the Big Knit In, where I rattled off a quick square for Oxfam, while all the others gradually drifted off to the Pavilion Gardens to eat ice lollies and listen to a brass band instead.

Later in the week, Allie’s mum finally had her cataract operation, which seems to have been successful. She is recovering well, despite having to have painful eye drops four times a day.

Most of the regular groups have started up again this week, following a half-term break. Pearlie has dropped one of her Kids Club sessions, so she’s now there once a week and Leo twice. Yesterday’s session included a performance of a play devised by the kids, about pirates being shipwrecked by a shark and finding treasure. I missed it but Allie and Pearlie were there to applaud, and by all accounts it was a triumph!

While he was at Kids Club this morning, Pearlie and I shopped in town for enticing prizes for the games at the Kids Club Summer Fair this coming Saturday, before squeezing in a quick look at some of the art on display at the University of Brighton degree show. If you’re local, please do come along to the Fair – it should be fun.

In the park with family

Today is the 23^rd anniversary of my sister’s death. Partly by chance and partly by design I spent the day with my mum, one of my brothers and his two kids. We went to the park opposite the house in which we grew up. There is a tree there that a friend had planted soon after my sister died, and another that we planted three years ago.

There was a party shop by the bus stop and my brother had the bright idea of getting a shiny helium balloon to tie to one of the trees. So, we did that and ate picnic lunch and drank tea from the cafe. The four kids were playing quite happily today – the girls using Pearlie’s walkie talkies and the boys seeking staffs and forbidden cities in the bushes.

Being in that area of town is always a bit odd. Everything is smaller than I remember and I realise how often the house I grew up in features in my dreams. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live near there again. Wondering is as far as it’ll ever get as all the houses now cost at least 400 thousand!

It is a park full of memories for all of us. One of the few baby photos of me is of me sitting on a rug (seven or eight months old maybe?) in that park with my grandmother – my mum’s mum. There are photos, taken on the same day, of my siblings in a tree that is still there.

We walked back to my mum’s place – along the roads that were my route home from junior school. We drank more tea and played some word games with the girls. The boys were busy making up complex tombola style games where you won coupons to join their organisation! My brother and I walked our kids back to our part of town. All four kids are very stalwart walkers, thank goodness.

When we got in we made pizzas for tea and now Dani and Pearlie have gone to Critical Mass. I know that there is no reason why it is any more or less dangerous for them today, but I am a bit more twitchy!

My poor mum has had a strange week as she was ready to go to hospital for a cataract operation on Tuesday. When she phoned on Monday night the whole list of people for Tuesday had been cancelled. It had actually been cancelled weeks ago but human error meant that no-one had told her. I know that people have much more stressful waits for more serious conditions, but it was still upsetting for her. That is not good as she is struggling to keep her blood pressure down. Anyway, she’s due to have it done next Tuesday. Fingers crossed it all goes ahead this time.

I am intending to post something about western medicine and the NHS but it’ll take some mulling over.

Busy in the sunshine

Here’s some bits and bobs from the last few days.

Thursday included Kids’ Club for both the kids where they did detective things: identifying whose fingerprints were on a particular item and who had taken a bite from an apple. They are planning to make a little detective film next week, I believe.

Dani had rather less fun at a meeting. We then got carried away talking in the park and nearly missed Woodcraft for P and a Woodies parent meeting for Dani. I was off work on leave again and so got to join in with all the panic!

Friday was the big drop-in session that happens a couple of times a month. I took along some Japanese braiding to share with people. Some people loved it and some endured it and I think it was worth doing!

After that, Leo and I popped to the doc to get a prescription for anti-histamine that seems to be working well for him. Saw a new, young doctor who spoke to Leo in a lovely, straightforward, non-patronising way. She also impressed me with her willingness to prescribe just what I asked for!

Then there was a quick park visit to put up our new tent, which seems to work well. In the evening there was a Hedline meeting at our house. That was enough for one day!

On Saturday morning, Pearlie was lucky enough to be taken to see Michael Rosen by a friend and her family. She said he was SO funny and she came back very jolly. Then we went to the swimming pool, where we had organised a private booking to be shared between local home edders. Those who came seemed to enjoy it a lot and I hope we can do it again.

After swimming, the kids were really enjoying playing in the park with cousin S and friends A and C. Sadly, the fun came to an abrupt end when A got hit on the head by a heavy metal catch. It is a ‘safety feature’ to stop little ones reaching the pond but it managed to make a rather horrible, bloody wound on A’s head. We went home and A and C came to sit in our cool basement for a while. A was quite calm and ok by then, thanks, in large part, to her very calm mum. I am rather hopeless when ours get hurt and tend to let my fear affect them.

On Sunday, I had to go back to work. Pearl and cousin S had an exciting trip to see Caroline Lawrence who told them all about how she writes. Meanwhile, Leo was playing in the paddling pool with cousin D. That must have been fun because he’s still asleep at 10am this morning!

Enjoying my leave

I had a day off today and missed the discovery of an unexploded 2^nd ww bomb on the campus!

But, anyway, we had a lovely day. Leo went to Kids’ Club this morning and had a good time doing some treasure island themed things and playing with his chums. Pearlie and I popped to town to get a pressie for a friend of hers and them came home to brush up our division skills with an MEP book.

We met Dani at the cycling park, once she had finished work. It was wonderful weather and both the kids had a great time cycling about the place.

Pearlie took some beautiful photos of things like bluebells and damsel flies - but I'll let her blog those. Leo got more and more confident and was whizzing off, away from us, in no time.

Yesterday deserves a quick mention. Kids had Squeezebox sessions and Leo went to Green Pig writing group. We also spent a few hours in the park with lots of home edders and scoffed cafe treats.

We are having lots of great conversations at the mo but I can’t remember any details to blog, I’m afraid!

Our new tent arrived today. It is wonderfully old fashioned looking object with the kind of poles that tents had in my childhood, rather than the spindly things they have these days. We need to find some time to get to a park in a quiet moment so we can have a go at pitching it.

Boy on a Bike!!

We’ve had a busy weekend here. I was, sadly, at work on Saturday and Sunday afternoons but we did enjoy a day together yesterday.

Saturday was the Children’s Parade that kicks off the Brighton Festival.

Pearl and Leo weren’t taking part this time but they, and Dani, went to watch cousins and friends. The theme was children’s games and there were some fab constructions. After the parade they went to the beach and met this lovely hermit crab.

We watched Dr Who in the evening and ate roast dinner.

On Sunday, Leo had a friend round to play. They had a great time playing with all his toys and then played games on the Doctor Who website. Pearlie went with uncle and cousins to the family beach hut. I struggled a bit with being at work because I was battling a migraine. Dani has been doing lots of writing/thinking about local authority home ed stuff that is still ongoing. I’ve been doing my best to share that work but my head made it hard to stay up late.

We gave ourselves a lovely, family day on Monday. It was beautiful weather and we went across town to the best park for cycling. Pearlie enjoyed buzzing around on her new bike and Leo, who has inherited Pearlie’s old bike, learned to ride! We managed to forget to have the camera with us, which is a shame. Leo did wonderfully well. He never rode tricycles as a toddler, and found steering and balance a big challenge when he started riding a scooter. But, last year he got really good on the scooter and I think the balance skills were very useful. Within an hour on the bike, he was able to keep riding when Dani started him off. Within two hours he was doing the whole thing – starting, riding, and stopping without falling off. HOORAY!

After a few hours in the park, we walked home and had showers/baths and rest. It was real sweaty summer weather! In the evening we went down to the travelling fair that comes a couple of times a year. The kids went on a few rides and hooked a Tweenies character to get a teddy.

Here's some anti-car chalking that has appeared out side our door ;-)

Right, got to get dressed before Ocado arrive with the shopping...

We’re Ba-ack!

Well, that was a strange experience – nearly a month with no internet at home. Apologies to all those to whom we owe emails and so on. I lapsed back into a pre-internet state and actually got quite calm about it. I have read more books and watched some old videos. Dani was looking decidedly twitchy by the middle of last week (she says it was actually by the second day!) and I think she is very relieved to be back online. The kids were pretty ok with it, though they missed i-player.

A catch-up is impossible. Here’s a few things, in no particular order.

Pearlie had her eleventh birthday last week. We went to Bath for an overnight stay and bought her a new bicycle there. It is a rather fabby Dahon and should last her forever, or until she reaches 6 foot 4!

Bath was lovely. We stayed in a Travelodge room for £26 and crammed in lots of fun. We went on a little boat trip up the river, in the beautiful, early evening sun. We also visited the Bath Fashion Museum and went to Pizza Express for a birthday meal.

We all enjoyed a sunny, family gathering in the park in honour of P’s birthday.

I have been enjoying a continuing dalliance with the writing of Ali Smith. I was mesmerised by Hotel World and have read two of her books of short stories too.

Leo has been prompted to learn a joined up writing style by Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide. We bought a little workbooky thing, which goes through each join in turn, and he’s doing some every day. He is pleased with it and has abandoned his previous writing style (mixture of upper and lower case letters) and is using it all the time.

Pearlie has been enjoying all her birthday presents. She got lots of Jessops vouchers and has had a lovely splurge of processing. Some of her pictures are gorgeous. She got a plant for her room and some lights for her new bike, and is planning to buy an i-pod. She got clothes, too, and has been looking very sophisticated.

Leo is back to reading the end of the Amber Spyglass but has also started The Hobbit.

Dani has made lots of progress with her big, celtic knot blanket.

Pearlie went away for a weekend camp with her Woodcraft group. She had a great time, including playing games in the dark! Leo got to choose dinners while she was away and we ate lots of veggie lasagne and fruit crumbles.

We’ve bought tickets for an exciting Festival show, which we’re all looking forward to. Dani and I have also treated ourselves to tickets to see kd Lang in August. It’ s Pride weekend so everyone should be on a high. If you want an example of how spine tingling kd can be, when singing live, then check this out on YouTube.
Anyway, better get some sleep as electrician is coming tomorrow to fit the new fuse box.

Sunshine and snow

We’re having bizarre weather here. It was really warm and sunny for most of the week, but today it is really snowing

Enough for P. to make a mini snowman
Leo to collect enough snow off parked cars in which to embed a plastic lion
and the two of them to get really wet and cold throwing snowballs at each other.

Anyway, what have we been doing?

On Tuesday, Allie and the kids went to the park, where it was sunny and there were a goodly assortment of home edders. P. had a drama in which her abandoned bag nearly got taken by a kindly stranger and handed in, but this was spotted by P’s friends and the bag retrieved. They went out to see cousin S. singing in her choir in the evening, while I went to my knitting group (blanket update over on Knitting Notes).

Allie and Pearlie carried on with their punctuation book on Wednesday morning, while Leo was at Kids Club. Later on, we did our usual swimming and library trip. Leo was upset because they were forbidden to play with aforementioned toy lion on the water slide, but pleased because the library had his reserved copy of Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse ready for collection. Pearlie also picked up another Ally’s World book.

I helped out at Kids Club on Thursday, the last one before a two week break. It was nice and mellow, occasional flashpoints were resolved amicably, and the session ended with some of the older boys offering training in a variety of survival and combat skills to the rest of the group, which both our kids found tremendously exciting.

The others spent some time at their favourite branch library on Friday, while I went to a meeting of a reference group of home educators, set up by the Head of EOTAS at our local authority, to help them formulate a new policy, and then on to work. My report of the meeting will appear in the next couple of days on the HEdline website. After an afternoon spent playing happily with water pistols, the kids rescued me from being trapped at work by bringing me the keys I had forgotten. The others had borrowed Boggle and a 500 piece jigsaw from the library, so we all had a go at both of those in the evening.

Both Allie and I are feeling run down at the moment, and although the kids are actually getting on quite well at the moment, their low level bickering sometimes gets under my skin, so I’ve not been handling things brilliantly this weekend. Thus our plan to go to the garden centre yesterday was foiled at the last minute by a row between me and Pearlie, but we did manage to get out to the unveiling of the community mosaics at the park where Kids Club is based.

Kids from the local school, Kids Club, the after school and youth project and the unemployed centre neighbouring the park worked on designs and created the mosaics, and all these contributions were coordinated very skilfully by local artists Touchwood Trees as some kind of replacement for the large graffiti pieces that have recently been obliterated by the council. The mosaics are lovely, but I do still miss the graffiti.

P. made a rain gauge in the afternoon, while L. created a book of pictures of monsters, researched and printed off from the internet. We reinstated our tradition of roast dinner to accompany Doctor Who in the evening. Weather made our signal frustratingly patchy, but we managed to get the gist, enjoy the adventure, rejoice with Donna’s granddad, and be suitably intrigued by mysterious appearance of Rose.

Leo is fully garbed as the Doctor now, collecting snow in the street. He decided not to go into our garden, as it was too beautiful in the snow and he didn’t want to spoil it. Allie’s gone to work and P. has been taken to the pictures by some friends.

Weekend

It’s been a fab weekend here.

On Friday night, Dani and Pearl went to see friends in a gig. They did very well, apparently. While they were there, Leo and I went to the cinema to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. I remember reading those to Leo several years ago and not being hugely impressed. But, the film was very good indeed. The creatures were brilliantly done and it was well acted. I was particularly pleased to find it had Mary Louise Parker in it. Leo has re-read most of one of the ones we own, in a single sitting, this evening. He also spent some birthday money on a little book based on the movie. During the weekend he has also made himself a beautiful little Field Guide – like the one in the story. He’s written little descriptions of various creatures and done drawing to go with each.

On Saturday, I had to go to work. Dani and the kids had friends A and C to play. They had a great time playing at home and making mud soup in the park. I came home to excited kids performing rather strange little sketches for the adults.

Today I didn’t have to work because the uni term doesn’t start again until tomorrow. Dani and I have decided we have done all the painting we can face and declared our room finished so we spent some time tidying and organising. I am so happy that we now have this finished room – four walls, door, everything!

Dani's Kandinsky picture finds a wall - at last!

I have decided that the green isn't showing through - I hope! It took three coats of yellow.

It isn't suffering to badly from boxitis. Or, if it is, at least they are tidy...

In the afternoon we popped round to see local cousins S and D. My brother was struggling with a curtain rail. We drank tea and chatted to S and D’s mum. Pearlie and her cousin S were devising codes based on different number bases. This isn’t something we’ve ever talked about much but P picked it up quickly and wrote a list of numbers in base three up to thirty. Leo and cousin D did some lovely dragon drawing. When all the kids had gone outside and got muddy, we came home.

I made roast spuds, steamed broccoli and carrots, frozen peas and green beans, tinned sweetcorn and cold Quorn chicken for tea. No matter how many roast potatoes are made they are all, always, eaten! It's been a great day for veg eating here. Pearlie was thrilled to find Lamb's Lettuce at lunchtime and Leo declared the tea-time broccoli 'delicious'.

While I was cooking, the others played a game Leo was given for his birthday – Sardines. It is a visual memory game so P walked it. She can just remember what she sees. I think it was about eighteen months ago that she memorised all the flags of the world. I wonder how many she can still remember?

Dani is working away on this massive blanket project that will apparently use up lots of wool. It is looking wonderful.

Pearlie blogged tonight, which involved the scanning in of photos. Check out her blog.

OK, got to watch The English Patient. I went through a real Michael Ondaatje phase before the movie was made and didn’t expect to like the film. But it is very captivating to watch – especially Kristen Scott Thomas.

British Museum

We got up as early as we could stand yesterday. We were all rather tired – I guess a day travelling from Cornwall, a day frantically preparing for a party and a day having that party had worn us out a bit! We’d also all stayed up late on Sunday night – P watching the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency with us and Leo watching his new DVD of Primeval series one.

We spent rather a lot on train fares, to make up for the cheap tickets to Cornwall, I guess… Dani was working on the Guardian cryptic Easter crossword, Pearlie and I largely failing to do the quick one in the local paper, and Leo mostly playing with his Iorek Byrnison figure. There were beautiful snow flurries as we went through Croydon.

The main reason Leo chose a trip to the British Museum was that he wanted to have a good look at the Ancient Egyptian stuff. I have to say that I felt it was better than the stuff in the Tutankhamun exhibition we went to in December. The museum was packed, which was a bit of a shame, but at least we’re all old enough to cope with that now. I really felt for the people with buggies, or small people who just couldn’t maintain their interest.

We also looked round the Romans in Britain gallery, which includes the Mildenhall Treasure. I remember reading the kids a Roald Dahl book that tells the story of its discovery. The whole idea of finding treasure is so exciting, isn’t it? When I was a kid, I was always sure that I’d find some one day.

We had a good look at a gallery all about money, which P particularly enjoyed. There was a man in there with some genuine artefacts that the kids could handle. He told them interesting things. I have to say, I like real people better than interactive touch-screen thingies when it comes to making museum collections more accessible. I suppose there’s a place for both.

Part of our birthday present to Leo was a promise to buy him something in the museum shop, but he didn’t find anything he wanted. So we’ve given him the cash to add to his birthday stash.

We had managed to eat all of our picnic food on arrival at the museum, and people were getting hungry again, so we had to buy bagels at Victoria. We got a bus home from the station. I made lots of spaghetti (I guess the cold is making people hungrier than usual?) and then the kids found an old Harry Hill stand-up video to watch. I started to feel very odd, took a Pink Migraleve and fell asleep on the sofa. Dani tipped us all into bed about nine and probably sat up doing her crossword. She’s back to work today.

Kids have got Squeezebox later, followed by writing group for Leo. This evening, I’m off to try out at a new writing group too. A friend has kindly asked her group if they’ll let me come along. Typically, as the house is unusually tidy, I have lost my notebook. Better go and look for it and remind Leo that there is a limited time for keyboard practice.

Too busy to blog... again...

It’s been very busy round here lately. Here’s some stuff that’s been going on…

On Saturday, Pearlie went on a bouldering trip with Adventure Unlimited, to Harrison’s Rocks. This would have been higher climbing but it was too wet. She went with a friend from Woodcraft (the only two girls, apparently) but happened upon several boys she knows from other places. She had a great time.

While Pearlie was there, Leo went to a friend’s house to play. They watched some old Doctor Who together, as well as the start of Jurassic Park. (Luckily, Leo and Dani happened upon a copy in a charity shop yesterday, so he’s seen it all now.) They also went under covers and told each other very scary stories by torchlight.

I was at work and so Dani had a couple of hours alone in town. She bought a beautiful wool coat, ‘vintage’ velvet jacket and black/black baseball boots. This was all in honour of the evening…

Once the kids had finished climbing and playing with friend, we dropped them round at their cousins’ house for a sleepover. We ate a quick meal and went out to an International Women’s Day disco. Sadly, this was not the exciting event we’d hoped it would be. I have amazing memories of an 8^th March cabaret event in Leeds where this tiny, stocky, leather dyke put on a big wig and belted out Shirley Bassey numbers. This didn’t really come close… So, we had a quick drink there, cut our losses and went to the pub. Pubs are much better now they’re not full of smoke, aren’t they? Then we came home and watched some series three L Word episodes. It was lovely to have some time to ourselves. We talked about how lucky we are and thought about other women who aren't. (There is a petition online but I'm not sure how current it is.)

Sunday was pretty quiet. I went to work exhausted. I can’t imagine how I used to go to work on so little sleep when I was younger. D and the kids relaxed at home.

Yesterday, Pearlie went to Kids’ Club in the morning and to the grandmothers’ in the afternoon. At Kids’ Club she did some work on a magazine they’re making. At the grandmothers’ house she played a French game they’ve been making together – as well as cards and with the trusty, red animals. The red animals arrived in the family in my childhood. They came from Terry, who was a sort of adopted family member, having been on my mum’s caseload when she was a social worker in the 1950s. He had a succession of factory jobs and the red animals were meant to go singly into cereal packets, I believe. He arrived with a big bag full. That was always the way with Terry. When he worked as a meat packer he used to turn up with huge joints. He was such a skinny bloke, I guess there was plenty of room under his jacket! Anyway, those red animals have provided hours and hours of play for children in the family, for the last thirty five years.

Leo and I had a lovely morning at home. We did some maths together and I was amazed at the increase in his speed and skill in things like subtracting two digit numbers in his head. Then he did some more excavating for plastic dinosaur bones, while I read him some of the book we’re sharing. I wasn’t too sure of these books at first (they’re full of American childhood cultural references, so a bit hard to grasp at points) but they are actually very clever. I like the way the author has taken realities of modern children’s lives (like absent parents and diagnoses of ADHD etc) and held this ancient mythological glass in front of them. Leo is picking up loads about mythological monsters and likes to check on the free Guardian wallchart we got recently, to see if there’s a picture of each one that gets mentioned.

In the afternoon, I hurriedly sploshed a bit more yellow paint on our bedroom walls (yes, we’re still decorating that room!) and then went to work. Dani and Leo did some more experiments from his Christmas chemistry set. So, the kitchen is now full of crystals growing and stuff in test tubes.

Pearlie’s forays into the world of veganism are proving a bit of a mixed bag. She’s happy with vegan marg on her bread and toast, which is good. She had some soya yogurty stuff which she said was ok. We all tried some Cheezly vegan cheese and found it revolting! Dani made some of her lovely bread on Sunday, which is super-nutritious.

P is off tidying her room at the mo, as a friend is coming to play on Thursday. The living room is covered in piles of stuff as we are mid-pack for our holiday at the end of the week. There are a hundred things I should be doing, but I think I’ll have a cup of tea. Oh, fab, Leo has washed up all the breakfast things.

Birds, bunnies and blossom

We ventured over to Pulborough Brooks RSPB reserve today – to our shame, the first time we’ve been there since the kids joined the RSPB two years ago. It was quite a big excursion for us, as the two trains and a bus needed to get there didn’t connect up very well, and the total journey took about three hours each way.

It was lovely when we got there, though. The weather was bright and cold, and there were hundreds of birds and other wild creatures. There were rabbits everywhere – the kids got very close to one particularly relaxed one.

Leo spotted newts in a pond.

We all enjoyed the views.

Pearlie got some great photos of spring blossom…

… and friendly cows.

I think we’ll go back, though we may investigate different methods of getting there. Paying £5.10 to travel on the bus for less than five minutes was a bit galling, so we may do that bit on foot next time.

Allie and the kids spent most of the day at home yesterday. They all collaborated on the First News crossword, and Allie made some yummy cheese scones. Pearlie went to play at the cousins’ house for a little while in the afternoon.

In the evening, they went swimming, while I made pasties for tea and today’s packed lunch. Swimming was eventful, as the relief lifeguard forgot to come up from the town centre pool, causing a delay to the start of the session and free swimming for everyone who was kept waiting. In an apparent epidemic of forgetfulness, Leo then discovered he hadn’t put his swimming trunks in his bag, and had to borrow some from the lost property at the pool.

He is quite distracted lately... This evening, Allie suggested that he go and wash his hands before tea. He went up to the bathroom and came back a few minutes later, then stopped and said "Oh! I brushed my teeth by mistake!"

Science and dancing and a bang on the head

On Sunday morning, Dani got the kids up and out to cross town to visit the Brighton Science Festival. They saw lots of cool stuff. Leo designed a chair and made a model of it out of paper. He also saw some silk worms, apparently. Not sure that Pearlie was as keen on the event.

I was at work in the afternoon and rushed into town on the bus afterwards, to meet the others for another bus east. We were headed to a seafront café a few miles along the coast, where a friend was having her eleventh birthday party. This was a lovely event - but sadly marred for us by Leo tripping over a skateboard while playing a chasing game in the dark outside. It was one of those horrid moments when you thought something was a bad idea (kids running about on uneven surface in very dark area) but didn’t say anything. He grazed his face (forehead and nose) and got wet and muddy as he fell into a puddle. He screamed and was very shaken. He told me this morning that he thought that all the water running down his face was blood and it was too dark for him to see. We cleaned him up and he sported a big, blue catering plaster on his forehead! He’d just eaten some chocolate birthday cake and he went very pale… Happily, a kind friend offered to drive me and Leo home. He perked up in the warm car but went very shaky again as I got him into bed. I think it was just exhaustion – as he is fine today. We’ve got the plasters off and none of the grazing is very deep at all.

Today, Pearlie has gone off to Kids’ Club, where a local environmentalist and campaigner is coming in to talk to the kids. She’s taken in a clipping from our local newspaper, of a letter by my mum. The grandmothers are opposing a development in their street, which eliminates a small green corridor beside the railway line. It is a horrible, money grabbing thing, cramming people onto this little scrap of land, down a steep slope. The access will be by means of a lift! The land has had slow worms, and other wildlife – though the developer seems to have slung a load of weed killer over the site now.

After Kids’ Club Pearlie’s off to visit the grandmothers. Leo is having a day at home – making comics and so on. He is a bit miffed to find that a ‘design a monster’ competition on the Primeval web site is only open to people over ten. I helped him do some maths in an MEP book this morning – something he’s quite keen on at the mo. I’m having a lazy time – until I have to go to work – as I can feel a migraine lurking. This is no surprise, really, as I had a huge adrenaline rush and swinging blood sugar yesterday night. We’re expecting Dani home from work any minute. She’s popped up to the post office to collect a parcel, which I hope is our new duvet set. Something very strange has happened to me recently – and I chose a duvet with embroidered flowers on it. I used to be much more into primary colours and plain things but this seems to be changing with age. If I start to like doilies I think it will be time to end it all…

Weird week

It’s been a strange week here – as half term knocks out some of our group activities.

On Monday we had a slow morning. Pearlie tidied her room – uncovering her lovely purple rug from under all the stuff.

I took Leo over to the grandmothers’ house (stopping off myself for potato omelette and delicious cinnamon rice pudding!) Once Dani had finished at work – at lunchtime – she and Pearlie went to a friend’s house for tea and chat. I did some more emulsion painting in our bedroom, which is finally looking more yellow than green!

Leo arrived home with a cardboard box bed/car for his daemon (cuddly stoat). This included a pocket with mini copies of the Dark Materials books for his stoat to read.

Yesterday we spent some time tidying the living room. I’m also on a mission to get to the bottom of the mums’ laundry basket. Typically, the kids are having no trouble keeping up with their laundry, which is showing up our laziness!

I took the kids down to Squeezebox. They are working very hard on their new songs. One of them is Sunny Afternoon, by the Kinks, which has imprinted itself on my brain. Leo stayed on for a one to one session, which really helps him in the band. Pearlie had already gone off to the park with the rest of the band, so Leo and I went to join her there. It was the birthday of a home ed friend, so there were scones for sharing – yum! I was once again struck by how lucky we are here. Pearlie ran off with ten or twelve kids to play wild games in the bushes. Leo pottered about, on his own, and I chatted to people.

In the evening, we got our weekly shop delivered, from Ocado. We seem to be managing ok, so far, and I like the food! There seem to be more delivery slots on offer with them, and the booking is for a specific hour, rather than the two hour slot from Tesco. We made ourselves pizzas again. This is very popular here at the moment. We bought two mozzarellas to put on them, and some fresh herbs. Mind you, it just makes me realise what a terrible rip-off takeaway pizza is!

I did a bit more painting in our room. Pearlie requested the Brio (mostly fake Brio, actually!) train track down off a high shelf. She and Leo enjoyed playing with it over the next day or so.

On Wednesday, Dani and the kids went up to the Booth Museum, where they have a new display on Victorian taxidermy. But the best bit was when they asked about Stoats (for Leo) and got taken, by a curator, up into the museum store room – which is full of stuffed animals of all kinds. They were shown all sorts of fascinating/upsetting things – like a case full of humming birds. We’ve talked quite a lot since about how time changes what we see as pleasant or amusing.

We had a friend round in the evening and drank lots of tea and chatted.

On Thursday cousins S and D came round to play in the morning. This was happy and fun for three hours and the kids were just getting to the point of falling out when it was time for the play date to end, which was lucky!

Today, the kids and I went to the big home ed drop-in group. I took wool and lolly sticks to make God’s Eyes. This was remarkably popular! We had planned to go to the family swim this evening but the pool is closed for maintenance.

I’m feeling a bit below par – bunged up and my legs ache. It doesn’t seem to be turning into anything worse, thank goodness. Leo had a headache this morning but has been fine for the rest of the day.

So, that was our week.

Happy New Year

The kids and I popped in briefly at the local Chinese New Year celebration today – picked up some freebie paper dragons, ate some nice chow mein, saw some dragon dancing and impressive brush painting and listened to some singing and speeches.

We moved swiftly on to drop Pearlie off at a birthday party, where she had a lovely time involving games, sweets and birthday cake. Meanwhile, Leo and I had a pleasant little stroll through the nearby woods. There were signs of spring everywhere – blossom and buds on the trees, birds singing and building nests, snowdrops.
Leo saw a rabbit, and we also spotted some blue tits, a robin, a blackbird and lots of magpies. He constructed himself a ramp, to climb up on top of a fallen tree trunk and generally interacted with the woods delightfully.

From the bus stop on the way home, we saw a lovely view of Brighton, all the way over to another hill top, which happens to be where we were standing yesterday, looking at the view.


It’s a short walk from our house to the top of this hill, where there are allotments and this radio mast – anyone know what all these things are attached to it?

Other things we have been doing include:

• Reading – Leo has finished The Subtle Knife and moved on to The Amber Spyglass. I finished reading him Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and he has Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters all lined up for Allie to read to him when she’s finished her current book with Pearlie. Pearlie finished The Past, the Present and the Loud, Loud Girl and borrowed a Clarice Bean book from the library.
  
• Entertaining a visiting friend – lovely evening catching up over a bottle of wine
  
• Playing Rummy – Pearl’s current passion
  
• Painting our room – very gradually, as there’s so much furniture in there
  
• Thinking about the Bermuda Triangle – Leo is developing new theories about a third pole
  
• Keeping an eye on the temperature – P. made a chart of temperature changes over a couple of hours this morning, measured using her treasured indoor/outdoor thermometer
  
• Using public services – two visits to libraries and two to swimming pools in the last week
  
• Watching quality programming on the BBC – Life in Cold Blood, Lark Rise to Candleford, and Ashes to Ashes – and lightweight brain candy on ITV3 – Rosemary and Thyme.