Blog Carnival

Well, it goes a little something like this. Watching an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot last week I mentioned to S how Christie was herself home educated. S is always interested in the backgrounds of people she admired and will often ask me, in a gallery for example, if a particular  painter went to art college or was self taught.

The outcomes of adults who were home educated as children is something that always interests me so I pulled a few thoughts together in a tab on the blog and shared with some of my blogging friends. Several of whom are currently writing on posts about particular individuals and a couple of more general posts.

If you would like to write one to whether it be about a celebrity or your own home educated child do get in touch. 

Carrot

Two posts in one day.

Well, we've been to the allotment this gorgeous light evening,  where not only did I find strawberries and mint for my pimms, but..........S ate a carrot. S doesn't really do fruit and veg outside of peas (which there are plenty in the pod) and orange juice so it is a mission accomplished moment. The boys had carrots too. And E made a pretty decent sand tunnel.

Turn Me Out

Turn Me Out

Although my interest in current affairs and news is not as obsessive as it once was my feeling from the stories that do cross my radar is that those at the top of the tree in politics and the world of business are operating at the murky margins of the law now more than ever before. As a mother this is a challenge to me, I look at my children's behaviour and feel morally compelled to point to the wrongs of lying and stealing whilst being doubly aware that actually our society currently seems to be rewarding (financially anyway) just those traits. Never did I imagine the clay that makes us would be so fluid, the setting of our traits is perhaps not as grounded as my perception.

Anyway, I digress after a fab couple of hours making pirates and playing lego with Weed this morning in which I ran errands (& listened to today's title track on max) and made summer pudding with berries from our garden we headed to see Grandie who is 66 today. One of our long car journey games is "spot the Ferrari" and we see maybe one a week depending on where we go but today we saw well over 40 thanks to the nearby festival of speed and Chris Evan's magnificent 7. The trio were thrilled and even more thrilled when I told them we are going to the Festival of Speed on Sunday.

E has been a bit of a handful today, a few temper moments but all of this faded away when, after a walk in the woods this afternoon, a great friend of Grandie's fashioned him a cater pault from a stick. It was a dream come true moment for E.

One of the lovely things about the freedom home ed offers is to be able to celebrate family members birthdays on the actual days they fall. In fact one of the many brilliant things about a life out of school is freedom full stop.

 E, 5, just loves the woods

 Take two party poppers into the shower?

 One of my Mum's roses (Paul's Himalayas Musk if you are interested)

 Route 66

 A mug of beer with a malteaser border made by S, 7.

Spoons Take Two

Spoons - Take Two

Used this tune earlier in the week but, if it is possible, I like it even more now. Background for this sultry weather.

Reflecting on yesterday's post, and looking back on general themes  it is clear to me that the things which drag me down most are siblings squabbles and domestic dross. They can bring me down whilst being a learning facilitator comes pretty naturally now I'm nearly de-schooled, it strikes me that,  if the trio were at school, that is mostly the negatives that would be left, but that said if school had ever been on the agenda I doubt we'd have had a trio at all!

Today there were raspberries from garden for breakfast. Plan A for fortnightly cleaner day was Bodiam Castle today but TDO needed the car. No matter. A welcome home day which included a walk around our village with a slow worm, the library; the park along the way.

Our local library is closed for part of next week whilst it is upgraded to self service check-outs.

"How will I survive for a week without the library?" Said S , 7.

S has gone for a dog walk on this gorgeous summer afternoon

 O piles up his sandwiches today and said they looked like a Scooby snax! The first time we have had lunch at home this week after Fishers Farm and Haslemere Museum visits

 I've always rather fancied a white agapanthus and this summer I might just get one.

 After a big bust up in the park S and E held hands all of the walk home.

The view on our walk to the library .

My Favorite Things iii

 My Favorite Things

Well. So it goes. For a day with a 4:19am start it's been better than you might expect. A freshly waxed body, clean bed sheets early night possibly holding the answer. In the unlikely event that I should ever win the lottery, so the saying goes, tricky as I understand enough of probability theory not to play it, then the fast cars and luxury holidays could wait. To feel clean sheets on my skin every night as I jump into bed is the only real luxury I desire. Bliss.

Actually, I rarely jump into bed, usually it is more a question of engineering a space around the small people who made it there first and secured the good bits!

Yes, this track has been used before but it is all the better for it, one I sing to the trio as a lullaby regularly, you know when you hear those interviews with famous musicians about the musical legacy they acquired from their parents. I can only but speculate.

We digress, today started, eventually after a 5 or so hour "breakfast" period with a gallivant to the fabulous, eclectic, Haslemere Museum. Last time we were there was on a undercover mission as judges in the Telegraph Family Friendly Museum award (which, I am happy to say, the museum has since won) and there are heaps of photos on that post. "Two Voices:One Song."

Today the trio were keen to see the bees again, dress-up, see the Egyptian Mummy Case and look for baby frogs. We went with Grandma and were joined by a couple of school trips, one a girl's school and another a  boy's school practicing scenes from Lion, Witch and Wardrobe on the lawn, S clocked the play they were enacting after hearing one line. What struck me was the large number of fellow pupils sat around waiting, doing the seeming "nothing" (here I use Nothing in the Naomi Stadlen sense of the word) gives me comfort that not all of my charges need all of my attention all of the time.

We seem to be shadowed by school trips at the moment. Must be the season.

After this we gallivanted across the weald to meet some of our oldest home ed BFFS in Horsham Park, they came to my rescue as I was short on change for the car park and a couple of hours of fabulous play followed. S felt a bit left out at points but I did highlight to her that she has already seen four of her BFFs so far this week. Spinning plates! Eventually she came around so we headed home on a high, quitting whilst we were ahead. The counter intutaion of days out with young children not deserting me today.

It has not been unnoticed by me that recent blog posts have been gradually becoming shorter in length, two factors really. First my time windows seem to be contracting and second I don't really have so much to say in the way of explanation. Outside of being too cool for school and gallivanting the process of justifying labels and outlining our relationship to them is something this blog has really helped me evolve away from. I also trust the process now and don't feel the need to draw a line from what we do in our day to the corresponding school subject box. It's alright. I can feel it.

 Fun at Horsham Park

 Haslemere Museum

 Playing dinosaurs

O as a Victorian sailor boy

Golden Lady

It was a late one for S, 7,  & O, 3,  last night night,  past nine when they returned from the allotment.

A 6:30pm Wonder Woman book delivery meant a snuggly one for E, 5,  and me , 40.

Tuesday is Grandma day, plus we met some friends (and their Grandma too :-)) at Fishers Farm, 4 or so hours of splash attack, pony rides and interesting chats about trusting children and similar but different styles of home education and the genetics of red hair and recessive genes.

Things feels very full on atm, feel a bit overwhelmed by constant meal preparation and laundry and not enough of the sitting down or the  intellectual! Still, did have a great wax this afternoon so at least I am cool! I did manage to crash on the sofa for an hour last night but even then S was awake upstairs reading and this morning I immediately regretted ignoring the clearing up as I can't cope with starting the day on the back foot. This too shall pass.

The trio enjoyed the new friends today and there was a cute moment when they all spontaneously held hands

Late Night Learning and the 9pm artist

Often creative on a Sunday night is S!

Sunny Day

Sunny Day

E got pretty frustrated this morning when he wanted to draw white ninjago and the white pencil wouldn't show up on the white paper. As I was doing 57 other things bringing breakfasts and a picnic up together he headed off and found these black envelopes which he glued to the white paper he had already drawn the first half of his picture on solving the problem. Initiative!

We've had a really neat sunny too coll for school day today. First stop a small park just outside Horsham where we met up with two other home ed families for a couple of hours and O raced cars down the slide for ages and I played football with the boys whilst S had a great time with her friends.

Then, the trio asked to call into splash attack at Fishers Farm on the way home and I said "Yes" knowing some of S's BFFs were there and that these sunny days are a rare commodity this summer! Afternoon socials are rare for us as we normally have a siesta sleeper but it worked out pretty well, mostly as I had packed a huge bag of snacks in the morning!

Home via the library as S wanted to order in a book - tuned out they had it on their shelves! She was thrilled. Topped off a great day for her. Well, all of us really :)

Spoons

Spoons

All about 7s on the blog today - 700th post, 72 followers and 71,939 page views since Feb 2011.

Aside from the ginger and spring onion pork burgers all of the rest of tonight's supper came from the allotment! Chard, new Charlotte potatoes, rocket, basil, salad leaves..........yum

Not the afters though - a nectarine and amaretto biscuit delight we learnt how to create on honeymoon

O rather likes my new too cool for school bag - it fits the walkie talkies just right!

Swings at the local park this afternoon - I offered to take them pretty much anywhere and they chose the park we can walk to!

Drawing on the megasketcher is pretty tricky so this picture of TDO next to the washer and tumble drier is pretty cool I reckon - S drew it today.