November 2010

We began with a home-ed visit to Exeter Cathedral and some family walks in our local area (Churston).

Got crafty when a friend ran a "wet and needle felting art workshop" which went down well, also the girls and some friends made cakes to sell at Brownies for “Children in Need” making £23.

Our Garden produced butternut squash which was made into a nice thick soup (Fraser’s favourite), also Cameron had his train track brace fitted, which is expected to be in for about 18 months.

Last but not least Fraser and Kirsty celebrated their 9th birthday.

Summer 2010

Mid July I decided to take the children up to Scotland for an extended holiday, Paul couldn’t take that much annual leave (he flew up later), so I drove the 501 miles to Crieff where his parents live. I wasn’t sure if I could manage it but my Dad said I could, and Paul said your Dad is very cautious so if he thinks you can do then you’ll be fine. Our children are great travellers so there were no worries there and Cameron took on the responsibility of being the eldest male very seriously and was very helpful.

We stayed 2 nights in Crieff (trying not to treat them like a pit stop café) before going up to my parents. Our day in Crieff started with Granddad teaching Fraser how to play “The Entertainer” on the piano, then it was golf for the boys and for the girls (including Kirsty’s friend who lives next door to Harry & Mary) a walk and duck feeding. When we got back to the house it was a spot of lunch and relaxing in the garden. The girls picked raspberries from the garden and Grandma helped them make and bottle jam. They made cute labels and sold the jam to the neighbours and anyone else they could find. Even Grandma had to buy back a jar of her own jam. After dinner I took Kirsty and her friend to watch Harry run his dog training group (what a lovely group of people), which Kirsty really enjoyed being particularly taken with a friendly Golden retriever. She now wants a dog of course.

The day after arriving at Mum and Dad’s in Stornoway the children and their cousins attended a Celtic Festival workshop which covered music, Gaelic singing, animation and stories about the Isle of Lewis.
On the Monday following we packed up and went to stay in Eoropie, (in the Independent's top five great wetsuit adventures) and Stuart, Angela and the children came over and stayed at various times during the holiday, Paul arrived the following week. The freedom up there is amazing, with kids able to play from dawn to dusk with not a worry. They never knew they had so many cousins (2nd, 3rd etc). We had days at the beaches, play park, walking round the Butt of Lewis lighthouse, visiting family and friends. We were supposed to spend the last week in Stornoway but decided to stay in Eoropie until the day before we left for Crieff, as the kids were enjoying the freedom, friends and fresh-air so much. One evening in particular stays with me when Mum, Kirsty and I visited my Dad’s cousin (she’s feels more like an Aunt to me). Some of my cousins were also visiting that evening and we all stayed for fellowship which was such a blessing.

All too soon the holiday was over and it was time to make our way South again. We called in to see my Great Aunt in Inverness, Kirsty had made (with a little help from Granny) her a lavender cushion with her new sewing machine. Two further nights followed in Crieff which coincided with Paul’s birthday and we went to see Toy Story 3 at the cinema.

After only a couple of days back in Paignton our church’s week long Summer holiday club started, with Maisie again celebrating her birthday at the club. During the following week Cameron attended, and passed, a Bikeability level 2 course (2 hours every morning). There you have it 5 days later and it was the 1st of September.

We harvested most of the food from the garden, and are just waiting for the sweetcorn, butternut squash and Brussels sprouts.

What have we been up to lately

Cameron got his new brace, he says this one is harder to get used to than the last one.
Kirsty had breathing difficulties which the doctor confirmed as asthma. Over the last couple of years she's developed allergies to cats and dogs, but fortunately
for her not horses.


We took Rainbows and Brownies to play crazy golf down on the beach boulivard. Luckily the weather was fine and we only had couple of minor injuries. Next week
weather permitting we're taking them rock pooling.

I also kept an ipsos mori's drinks survey diary for the week. During the survey I realised I drink too much coffee and not enough water.



When Paul had a day off we went for a walk in the Grove, Churston. The children are really beginning to enjoy going for walks in the country side.

We had a home-ed outing to Plymbridge to watch the peregrine falcons. I didn't know that they were the fastest animal on the planet (up to 200mph).


On the home ed front we read some of "The story of painting", painted a "storm at sea" (will post pictures later) and put a timeline on the wall in the upstairs hall. The children have also made their "own life timeline" and have enjoyed looking at their baby pictures and hearing the stories. We had started Maisie with "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" but I've kinda stopped it. She didn't dislike it but prefers flashcards. Paul was using the flashcards with her one day and she asked to keep the ones she got correct to make up a story and so started a new game. After one of the stories Maisie's question of the week was "Is jam good for you when you are dead"?

On the gardening front we have lots aphids and the ants are having a ball. I've ordered ladybird larvae to eat the aphids, but the question is when all the aphids have gone will the ants come back inside, I think I'll leave some aphids on the sunflowers. Cameron decided to make a "nutrient rich leaf soup" for the plants, however it stank and clogged up the watering cans so we gave up after a few days. Fraser's sunflower has flowered and I now have 2 red tomatoes and many green ones waiting to turn red. The tomato plant won't win any beauty awards (didn't realise that you're supposed to pinch out the middle shoots) but if they taste nice I'm not complaining.

Gardening

The children and I have become really keen on gardening, as I’ve mentioned before we have a paving slab back garden so we’re growing everything in containers. The books Patio Produce by Paul Peacock and Window-box allotment by Penelope Bennett have really inspired me. Gardening for me is really enjoyable and relaxing, we have woops of delight when another seedling emerges from the compost. It’ll be interesting to see how it all turns out as I’ve never grown anything before except bedding plants in a tub and the odd houseplant.

March 2010

Fraser was enrolled in Cubs this month and we all managed to go along a see it, he really enjoys cubs. We went up to see Paul’s parents in Crieff for a week, fortunately we had great weather and managed to get outdoors every day.
With plenty of lying snow around a sledging trip to Gleneagles was a must. Unfortunately the top layer was an ice sheet and Fraser, yep you guessed it, came off the sledge and scraped his stomach as his jumper rode up.
Next was a day trip to the Beatrix Potter Centre in Dunkeld, where she used to holiday as a small child.

Back home and Cameron’s Lego Imperial Flagship arrived. He’d saved up his birthday, Christmas and pocket money to buy it. He started building it one evening and woke before 6am the next morning to finish it, I can’t remember the last time Cameron woke up that early of his own accord.
I’m thinking of putting a Lego creations page on this blog (if I can) so the children can post pictures of their lasted inventions.
We started planting some of our seeds, we planted a sunflower seed each and wait to see whose will grow the tallest.

Surprise visit

During the February half term we had a lovely surprise visit from friends from Cyprus (now living in Germany). They were the children’s best friends in Cyprus but it’s been 2 and half years since we’ve seen them. A great couple of days was had by all.
Our potato kit arrived from the “potato council", this got us in the mood for planting other things.