dottyspots

Please update your bookmarks as I’ve moved to: http://hearthandhomeeducation.co.uk

Here’s the customised knitty pattern ‘Childhood‘ (from a cardi to a jumper with an elongated hood instead of the one included and of course a different colourway). It’s knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which is a joy to knit with. My photo-taking skills don’t do it justice, it looks far nicer ‘in real life’:

Ted was rather difficult to take a photo of.

one of my new little ad thingies

Whilst I’m at it, I’ve given the Ninny Noodle Noo site a new year ‘revamp’ and would appreciate some feedback as it’s a very different look. Not everything is back up as yet, as I’m ordering some more castle and fairytale pieces as well as some more British animals. A few new lines are also planned from around April.

I’m also hoping to build upon what’s there and add ideas for crafts, days out, etc. So any ideas or suggestions are welcome - and if you’ve bought things from me it would be great if you could leave some feedback on what you’ve bought.

Thanks!

Meet Monty, the almost 9 week old English Setter pup.

He’s really lovely and doing really well.

The cats aren’t particularly impressed, but don’t seem to be hugely bothered, mostly because they get to gloat as he can’t jump onto windowsills or bookcases or sit on the comfy warm space by the radiator - all prime feline real estate (and subject to much internal feline bickering), so as far as they’re concerned he doesn’t really register as important as they’re far to wrapped up in their own (sometimes contentious) feline politics to much bother about him.

Currently on 1-2 hourly toilet trips outside, with only 2 accidents because of this (best to do everything possible to help his small bladder out, the trips can cut down as he gets older and has better bladder control). He’s a bright boy and toddles off to the gated part of the garden despite having only been with us since Saturday - not bad for such a small baby. I got up with him at 5am for another toilet trip (he slept from an 11pm toilet trip through to 5am) and he was fine on a blanket in our bedroom, settled down quietly, only to come and complain when he woke up and needed the loo.

He’s the recipient of lots of cuddles

… but only in blogland. In t’other world I’ve been busy - really, really busy. Part of me wants to blog this, but part of me is struggling with words. R. chose to go to school f/t in January, however, he is having no little amount of problems atm. Ahhhh, I can hear many of you say - then take him out and HE. Well, no actually, I don’t think that is the best thing for him right now as his behaviour is becoming steadily more and more ‘eccentric’ and to be frank, being at home wasn’t helping any either. A few phone calls from school and the picture isn’t exactly looking much brighter, except that the school seem to be being very, very helpful, to the point where teachers have actually given him a lift home. It’s all rather complicated and I don’t really have the words to go into it right now, save to say that he seems to be taking a downturn again, however this time there’s more people to see it, so perhaps there might be more support?

Added to that I’m studying a HNC in Early Years with the hope that it will lead to a degree and am having serious thoughts about bridge-building with the LA on the HE front, amongst ‘other things’, but this is taking quite some thought as to how best to move forward - so there are some positive things happening amongst the gloom

On the knitting front there’s a lovely hooded jumper in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on the needles. Inspired by a pattern on Knitty, but never quite being satisfied I’ve changed it from a cardi to a jumper and have had a fiddle with the hood. It should be finished soon

I also know who my Secret Pal has been - she’s here: Chickenlips Knitting - so a great big thank you to her for being such a wonderful Secret Pal!

Rik to Ned (holding onto a chair): “All your spots are clearing up. What a handsome boy you are!”

Ned falls over, takes the chair with him, splits open his lip. Blood everywhere. Lip has ballooned (I put some arnica on, but a bit difficult with where it is).

My youngest son is determined to look as bashed up as humanly possible.

T’next one up has now got chickenpox - why can they never all be ill at once and get it over with?

I frogged the beaded lace scarf because it is impossible to concentrate on it and have started on the back of a moss-stitch and cabled jacket for Ted who’s had a growth spurt and therefore needs some bigger jumpers (etc.)

… this site is wonderful

Found on on of my friend’s blog at: http://esther-reeves.livejournal.com/

… to Ted.

He’s one today!

He’s also very spotty as he has chickenpox.

He’s holding the lovelyhandmade car he got for his birthday, bought from Hobby Horse Toys. Next on the wishlist is one of the lovely hobby horses (for Nin) made by the same craftsman.

Hard to believe he’s a year old already!

Also, here’s what Gilbert is looking like now, he’s grown quite a bit:

He’s ‘not the brightest card in the deck’ but is very much loved.

More tags! I’ll have a think - I don’t really think of myself as doing anything *wierd*…

… another Tag I’ve missed. This one from Rosie - sorry Rosie, been a busy few weeks! However, my tree is still up (but not for much longer) so I can answer the first question in faith.

Name three things:

That you had hanging on your tree:
1. Glass baubles.
2. Some birds
3. A faery finger puppet.

That you’ve eaten / drunk lots of:
1. Chocolate (every year…)
2. White wine
3. Roast potatoes (yum!)

That you didn’t do this year but hope to do next year:
1. Make cards.
2. Make more presents (rather than buy them)
3. Ermmmm, that’s it really…

Favourite presents:
1. The hot chocolate in a tall glass from Sarah and co.
2. The lovely parcel of organic (etc.) goodies from Janey.
3. Two jumpers (with cashmere) I bought for myself with some money my mum sent over.

That you’re glad you didn’t get for Christmas:
No idea.

I’m not going to tag anyone, as I’m rather late on this one.

I had almost finished a lap-necked jumper. It was looking rather nice, in a burnt orange and chocolate, until I sewed it up.

Nope, not working. Not happy. Hate sewing in sleeves (still).

Gave up and frogged.

Humph.

I hate sleeves - or rather I hate the sewing in of sleeves. I don’t mind sewing up a garment, I can do so, neatly, but it’s just the sleeves that I’m never quite happy with. I’ve been looking at yoke-based jumpers etc. as a possibility - or even picking up stitches at the shoulder and knitting the sleeve down (surely someone, somewhere has done this?)

Anyhoo, I have got a few other things finished.

A cat hat (complete with ears). I’m not a fan of intarsia and a couple of lines are a little tight. The pattern also ends up being a little short on Ned’s head, a few more lines would be better - still, I needed some practice so have also knitted one for Nin in pinks and added a few extra rows to the pattern (which worked better) - it’s still tight across the same couple of rows as Ned’s though. I’m now knitting a stripy matching scarf for Nin and when that’s finished (imminently), some mitts. Once the set’s done, I’ll take a pic and post.

Another Ned pic.

Far more successful is the balaclava. I was in the local yarn shop picking up some buttons and commented to the lady behind the counter that I fancied knitting a balaclava for Ned as he wouldn’t be able to pull it off and lose it (or atleast it would be more of a challenge to). There weren’t any patterns in the shop suitable but she said she thought she had one at home. She did and photocopied it for me and left it behind the counter - very kind It’s an old pattern and uses 3ply, but I just went ahead and used a regular dk (Sirdar Snuggly) and knitted a variegated stripe into the originally plain pattern and it worked really well and fits him with a bit of space to grow. I’ve also knitted a pair of matching mitts (no pic atm) and will also make a scarf (I find stocking stitch scarves deathly boring, but still…)

I’ve just realised I’ve not taken any photos of the corsages I’ve made recently (will have to remedy that).

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Duchess Nicola the Fifteenth of Nether Wombleshire Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

LOL! As seen on various blogs on the blogring (not sure who started it).

Happy New Year everyone!

Tonight, in Oaxaca (Mexico) it is the Night of the Radishes, where you can see such wonders as this (apparently the Dios del Maiz or Corn God):

More pics, here and here. Well, it appeals to me as a festival anyway :0)

A couple of photos we had taken recently (not including Erk as he’s at school full-time - his choice).

… having (for a change) found someone to look after the children for the day - well, Ned came with me, but almost all the children.

It was really nice pottering about with a friend, looking in various shops. I bought a nice present for my Mum in Kindom (and admired the glass that I’m hankering after to go in the living room if we get planning permission to extend) and looked in a great shop of retro/customised clothing (my friend is looking for an *interesting* wedding dress). We had a late lunch at El Piano, bought some books (as listed in the previous post) and a funky hairbrush for Nin (to try to encourage her not to insist of ‘wild thing’ hair ) I managed to find two nice v-neck light wool jumpers (I’m a bit low on the top front as my size keeps changing atm - post baby an’ all that). Nice to have a quiet day out with some good conversation and a bit of (mostly window) shopping

I’ve knitted two sweet rose corsages and have also finished the matching mittens for the balaclava I made for Ned, so will get some pics up of those when I remember to transfer the photos onto the PC.

… and a few more books.

I bought a few books (always a good thing). The first, The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges is fab! It lists basic jumper and cardi styles but in multiple guages - so rather than buy the yarn for the project, you can make from the yarn you have. Patterns are listed in multiple sizes (from child through to large adult). It’s great - I’d heartily recommend buying it!

Next on the list is a bit of eye-candy, Childhood Treasures: Handmade Gifts for Babies and Children. It’s beautiful to look at and some lovely ideas, but some of it caters more to my ‘fantasy home life’ rather than any sort of reality. Mind you, I did note some Haba wooden toy food that I sell in my toy shop pictured in the book I plan to sit down again with a cup of coffee and enjoy dreaming over it again some time this afternoon!

Although nothing particularly new if you have a few pattern books - I do like the colourways chosen for Great Knitted Gifts and have already earmarked a couple of ‘must-make’ patterns.

This one’s purely functional. I keep thinking about having a bash at dye-ing and it seemed a good basic book to start with: The Fabric and Yarn Dyer’s Handbook

I also bought a selection of Julia Donaldson (illus. Axel Shaeffler), some of which are showcased (along with the various books mentioned above) at my A store, all of which come very recommended!

You Are A Maple Tree

There’s not anyone in this world quite like you. You are full of imagination, ambition, and originality. Shy but confident, you hunger for new experiences. You have a good memory and learn easily. You are sometimes nervous and always complex (especially in love).

Shy? Nervous? Would anyone who knows me ‘in real life’ like to comment on this?

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.

Right, this is a bit wierd. I’m not known for my Christmas spirit - well, for a start, I’m more Yule orientated - but I do get very peed off with the over-commercialism of it all and would prefer it if more people got into the true spirit of Christmas (peace on Earth, love for one’s fellow people an’ all that). Anyway, I see a blog quiz, I can’t resist. This one was first seen at: I Think You’re Bonkers.

… listening to the Sonics (Louie, Louie) - oh no, just moved on to Green Onions - and waiting for dinner to cook (some sort of mix which FIL brought back from India, saying it’s nice).

I’ve knitted Ned a cat hat, but it’s a bit short (could’ve done with a few more rows before shaping) and a couple of the rows are a little tight (intarsia - not one of my favourite techniques - I carried some of the yarn a la fairisle and pulled a bit tight, but it’s not that noticeable).

One of the nice ladies in the wool shop in town photocopied me a pattern for a balaclava, so I’ve been making one of those for him instead - which has been *interesting* as it’s a rather old pattern and I’m using an entirely different yarn (pattern specifies 3ply, I’m using DK) but still, it’s making for a quick and easy knit. I’ve decided to stripe it in chocolate and blue to ‘update’ it a bit and I’m hoping it might be an answer to the hat-throwing problem (that’s common to most small children). Should it fit I’ll make some matching mitts and a scarf (and feel all smug). I’ll take some photos when the balaclava is done.

Ned’s still not entirely 100% and isn’t eating up to usual standard, which means he’s still a bit runny. Bfeeding such a boon when a baby has gone off solids a bit - although he does like toast (but man cannot live by bread alone, an’ all that )

The nursery paperwork came through a couple of days ago (because I thought I might as well apply to keep our options open). TBH though I don’t want Nin to go. It’s confirmed in my heart that I want her to be HE-ed from the offset and further confirmed that I really must learn to drive if I’m to have a hope of doing half the things I want to do with her (and Ned). I’m going to have a word with the toddler group parents to say that either we change Tuesdays or they find someone else to open up/organise on that day as I really want to start getting over to Sheffield a bit more regularly (well, at all, as I haven’t been of late). It’s a pity Bradway isn’t still running as that would’ve been a bit easier, I think, than Highfields (as I’ve got littlies).

Nin was also offered a further day at pre-school/playgroup with a view to going 5 sessions later on in the academic year, but she’s not going to go any extra days, two is quite enough with everything else we do in the week - sometimes it’s seems like I’m an everywhere-but-stay-at-home-mum!

S’not nice, lots of vomiting (etc) all round.

Still, before all that, I made this:

It had been a cardi I’d knitted out of Noro Kureyon - but amazingly it was too big and as I don’t plan on gaining weight to fit into it, I thought I’d take a gamble and throw it in the washing machine on a hot wash. It’s come out rather nicely felted - shorter than it was, so now jacket-like and is, I’m guessing, a size 14 as it’s a bit bigger than a friend who is a size 12 (it’s too small for me atm) - still, rather pleased and I’ve hung it in the wardrobe for when I’ve lost a bit more weight to do a bit more with (like add some fixings etc.) The photos don’t do it justice (I am a self-confessed useless photographer) and it looks rather nice (on my friend, who it’s a tad too big for).

Whilst Ned was throwing up and therefore attached firmly to me, I made this (whilst he was sat on me either dozing or munching):

I needle-felted the base to give her some features, but also a base upon which I could needle-felt the hair on through the cotton knit ’skin’ I put over the base. There is a better picture, but for some bizarre reason PSP is refusing to save any change to it… Anyway, not bad for a prototype. I’d change a few things, but do think I’ll make some new ‘improved’ ones - and some clothes

Also, in the depths of my throwing-up-ness, this arrived:

A present from my lovely Secret Pal - which did cheer me up through the murk, although I’ve still not felt quite good enough to try the chocolate included in the parcel (a true indication of my level of yuckiness-feeling). The whole parcel smelt divine, thanks to the soap and candle and I’m really looking forward to sitting down and sorting my circulars into the case. Thank you so much Secret Pal - it’s such a lovely parcel!

Download homeedflyerpdf.pdf

… go and look. I first saw them ages ago, but came across the link in my Favourites folder again and thought I’d share: Camille Allen.

Says Rik.

“No you’re not.” Says Nin.

“I am.” Says Rik.

“No you’re not, I’ll hide your keys so you can’t unlock the door. You won’t be able to find them.”

“Where?”

“I will get a ladder and put them on top of the cupboard.”

“Which cupboard?”

“That one.”

Ok then…

I’ve not been blogging much of late. It’s said that ‘life is a rollercoaster’ (and no I don’t mean the song sang by Ronan Keating), but I think it’s more like the waltzers in that once in a while the carni comes along and gives you a good spin and off you go round and around, dizzier and dizzier – it’s great, but gravity has got your head pinned back to that cushion.

And so life has been and still, to some extent is.

I’m a bit of a crap blogger in that there’s lots I want to say, but I’m not really a heart-on-my-sleeve kind of person so sometimes I struggle to put it all into words and the more words there are whizzing around my head, the harder it gets.

R. starts school 3 mornings a week from the 29th. He’s really happy and wants to go full time, something that everyone else who is involved doesn’t think he is quite ready for yet… True to form however, I’m going to whinge about me (it’s my blog after all, he’s got his own if he wants to ramble on).

I’ve found it really, really tough – predominantly my hard concealed fury with the local HE ‘advisor’ who basically took us saying that we had concerns about R.’s progress in maths to mean that R. wasn’t receiving a ‘suitable’ education (etc.) and doubtless (and this is conjecture on my part) that our refusal to show any ‘evidence’ of education as a cover-up for a lack of education.

This is, of course, balls, as I said at a meeting a few months ago (and I have an independent witness and it’s also noted on the ‘advisor’s’ follow-up letter) that, “R. has some difficulty with maths that we are supporting him with.” R. was then asked about this and R. said that he didn’t like maths and would much prefer to read a book. This was noted on the follow-up letter where, despite not seeing any ‘evidence’ (as requested) the advisor concluded that upon visiting us that education was clearly ‘satisfactory’ (yes, yes, I could pick a million holes in this, but I’m trying not to get sidetracked from my main point). And that R. is a very polite, articulate young man and that we should be very proud of him (well yes, tempers aside, he is, we know that already). In addition, the EWO commented that IHO a child couldn’t fail to learn in our home environment.

Right, so we (R. and I) acknowledged at the time that maths is a difficult area.

As part of the Statement of SEN we requested (as R. wanted to return to school) R. was tested by an Ed. Psych. We agreed to this as it contributed to the Statement and we were endeavouring to get good support in place. As part of this test (WIAT-II for anyone that’s interested) R. was ranked at percentile 4 (i.e. the bottom 4%). He scored average in mathematical reasoning, so this particular ranking is a very localised area of difficulty.

Again, this is not what was actually said, but rather me doing some simple maths (excuse the pun) BUT at the multi-agency meeting, after having expressed concern about R.’s difficulty, bearing in mind that WE requested the statement, R. WANTS to go to school, the HE Advisor says that we have admitted that R. isn’t receiving a suitable education.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Now hang on a sec. This is one part of the test – clearly the advisor finds it very convenient to ignore the other parts of the test. Aside from this one low ranking, R. ‘scored’ (yes I know, but again, I’m trying to stick to the point) one ‘average’ ranking. Every other ranking was ‘above average’ (i.e. over and above the 90th centile). In fact, on the WISC-IV Comprehension Scale the results suggested an age equivalent of 16 years and 10months (he’s 12). Ok, he struggles with long division, but when asked to explain why the internet might be considered a threat to dictatorship (or some such, I know it was worded better), he not only explained why, but gave an example of China.

Hmmmmm, something tells me this HE lark works…

So, quite understandably I’m a tad tetchy about what I perceive to be the very condescending way the ‘advisor’ (and I do use the term loosely) spoke to me. This meeting happened some weeks ago and I’m still, to be frank, furious.

As an additional aside, bear in mind that his younger brother who chose to return to school last year, was also HE-ed for over 3 years and guess what, they did maths together. Said child went straight into the top maths set when he returned to school and shortly afterward, excellent SATS results.

Now I *KNOW* it’s not about results, I am not results orientated in my opinion of my children, but I’m putting it across in traditional National Curriculum speak (something else we went nowhere near whilst HE-ing) and well, clearly HE really did work for Erk too and also, quite obviously, demonstrates that maths is something that can successfully be grasped in this house.

In which case, clearly, R. and I have a difference in understanding in that I explain, but don’t explain in a way that he understands with much success. Clearly Erk and I understood each other and therefore Erk (who also really enjoys maths as a concept) has little difficulty with maths and demonstrates that learning (and therefore a suitable education etc.) is happening in this house but that we have come across a particular stumbling block for R. That being the case, it is very likely that he would have also have had difficulty in this are had he been attending school.

HOW DARE HE MAKE THE HYPOTHETICAL JUDGEMENT THAT R.’S DIFFICULTY IN A TINY AREA IS DOWN THE FACT THAT I LIED THAT HE WAS RECEIVING A ‘SUITABLE EDUCATION’ AND THAT FURTHER MORE THIS IS BORNE OUT BY THE FACT THAT WE REFUSED TO OFFER UP ‘EVIDENCE OF EDUCATION’ AS PER THE LAW AS HE PERCEIVES IT.

And before anyone dives in at this point, we know the lae, hence our confidence in refusing evidence that R. was not comfortable in offering up for judgement (and it was his choice not to). However, even at the recent multi-agency meeting I was *still* told by said advisor that I was wrong and that by law he MUST be provided with evidence of education – oh and BTW folks, EO and HE-UK (etc) are also wrong in perpetuating the ‘myth’ of a right of refusal (etc.), one of the reasons why EO info. is not given out by our local LA

So this is my mantra: “R. has chosen to return to school, so therefore I must not let the narrow-minded man annoy me.”

Except…

He really, really, really does and it’s not just me. I may no longer have to deal with him (atleast temporarily, although, upon my polite comment that we’d be seeing him again in a few years when Nin ‘comes of age’ he replied that he didn’t expect to be in post at that point), other people do. He carries on believing that he is right and we are wrong and that he is justified in his opinions that people who are ‘difficult’ are really hiding something.

It’s all very well saying that local HE-ers should stand together on this point – but they don’t.

I was one of a (very) small group standing up to the LA on this point and, until R. returns to school p/t on the 29th, I am the only one left who has not shown an example of work, or whose child hasn’t subsequently returned to school – and of course, as R. has chosen to return, that doesn’t even leave me and there is a rather large part of me that really, really hates the fact this and I think (and of course, again, it’s purely conjecture on my part) that he is smugly patting himself on the back at ‘dispelling’ the thorny lies that we spouted about HE-ers rights etc.

I am not criticising other people for their family choices, but ‘being the last one’ was bloody exhausting folks and near bought me to tears on numerous occasions and near bloody crushing when, after more than 18 months of what I would consider harrassment by the LEA, my son, who in preferring not to ‘provide evidence’ or even, at one point, meet the HE advisor and my determination to support him in his legal choice to do so led to the long back and forth of letters and arguments, chose to do a complete U-turn on the “I’m never going near school again” to “I want to go to school asap” .

Sometimes this supporting children’s rights can be a real downer, because, as his mum I love him and want to support him (within reason – we’re talking sensible choices here folks, I do bring in some adult consideration here), but sometimes I feel like I’ve been the full distance and back so many times (bearing in mind the court cases against his nutter of a biological father, which, incidentally, the second of which I had to represent myself as we couldn’t afford legal representation, even with some Legal Aid).

I’m so very, very, incredibly tired.

No, exhausted.

And then I have two more children. Two children who, after my experiences with the older two and school, I don’t want to ever set foot in a school at age 5.

But then I didn’t want them to attend pre-school either and yet Nin goes twice a week (and loves every minute of it).

It’s really hard to HE when you feel really set out on a limb. It’s not like there aren’t other HE-ers in the town, there are. They’re nice people, but I don’t necessarily connect with them and therefore I do feel rather alone here. I can’t drive and TBH I think I need to drive to get out somewhere else if I’m to successfully HE Nin and Ned.

I don’t feel really like I ‘fit in’ at the next nearest HE meet (there certainly isn’t one locally and part of me wants to set one up, but then the other part of me knows about all the crap that can go along with HE meets and I really DON’T want to be dealing with that – and I know I’m not alone with saying 98% of it is other parents, not their children). Oh and Fiona, Sarah and Kris will know what I mean when I say, yes, I still am anal enough to be really, really wound up about it all

I know I’m cynical, but d’you know what, we don’t live in a wonderful Utopia where we can all get on and agree – HE is diverse as any other group of people and sometimes, although my politeness generally means I smile sweetly, I really want to thump someone on the head with a heavy implement (not a good urge!)

I live in a mining village where those people that know me think I’m a bit odd and I do struggle to find common ground with people, even without the breastfeeding (yes, even breastfeeding is viewed with surprise, it’ll be interesting what they say next year when we’re likely to still be going and thereon ), slinging, cloth nappies, eating organic food (why waste your money on that?) and well, you get the idea.

I really need to learn to drive, but to learn to drive I need some work coming in and that is something I’m rather short of atm. I need money to plough into business to make business successful, but perversely, needing business means that I don’t have the sort of money needed – catch22, so continuing to learn to drive not much of an option atm.

DH is making noises about me having to drive to HE too and that IHO I will be isolating this children if I don’t get out amongst the HE community with them.

I’m going to stop ranting now.

I’m not really very happy atm.

… but I see these things and I can’t resist having a go:

You are The Empress
Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.
The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Seen at Ethically Speaking - a blog worth reading

… this. One of a number of links on this website.

My Barefoot Books site is now set up: http://dottyspots.mybarefootbooks.com. There’s also an opportunity to enter a free prize draw for £10 worth of product (drawn twice a year).

Or rather she was on the 27th. We had a party and Sarah & Co. and Kris and Co. came.

Nin’s princess costume.

Nin’s fairy costume

I made a gluten and dairy free brownie cake with dark chocolate ganache (plus loads of gluten and dairy free fairy cakes to decorate).

Also a none gluten and dairy free cake (for those who didn’t want to OD on chocolate - the brownie was VERY rich!)

And a bonus Nin pic:

I’ve been promising a few people that I’d post details of a book I’ve used to make the scrummy gluten and dairy-free cakes, it is:

It really is a fabulous book and really helps when I feel like I might be ‘missing out’ by not having dairy or gluten!

Yay! My first pressie has arrived (always a nice moment, receiving something in the post).

One Skein from my wishlist on Amazon, some bamboo circulars, some lovely yarn, some fabric that R. wants to have for his own use, some light green yarn that I have just the project for (when I’ve finished my Noro cardi). A rose scented candle (that I had a good smell of ) and some beads to add to me stash of beads and other ‘little bits’ that I periodically look at and they make me smile Thank you Secret Pal!

It’s been a really busy time. My grandmother had a mastectomy on the 13th and is recovering well. I’ve been involved in various childminding things - no work on atm, but I like to ‘be involved’ with general happenings on a local level. Nin is 3 on Friday so I’ve been trying to organise a (rather last minute) party and we spent time making decorations for the toddler group’s Halloween party, whilst also trying to remain organised to do something for Samhain in the evening.

My gluten and dairy free bread is slowly getting better:

I’ve started adding some Xanthum gum, which seems to make it springier

Only a short blog, as I’m still really rushed off my feet but I will take time to sit and blog at the weekend.

Because at the moment that’s mostly how I feel, I have a cold which is giving me a permanent headache (not helped at all by R. spending most of the day complaining…)

My grandmother went in for a mastectomy today (she was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago). I desperately wanted to go over and see her before she went in, but as she’s in Norway and Ned doesn’t have a passport, there was no way of organising it quickly enough. So not particularly happy atm.

R. going back to school (not that he’s there yet) has really knocked me for six. He says that he wants to be there but we (Rik and I) have severe reservations about whether this is the best thing, not least the fact that it wouldn’t be our first choice of school for him - but every concern we had was hushed down by the HE ‘advisor’ and the SEN bod at the recent multi-agency meeting, because local provision for young people on the autistic spectrum is ‘excellent’ (cough, cough).

I know what they said was bollox (to put it politely) and this has been backed up by a number of people (not just HE-ing folk, anyone with an ounce of common sense who knows R. will be rather cynical about school for him).

However, the fact of the matter is that I have reached the end of my tether with him here (and part of me wonders whether he is being so incredibly obnoxious atm to drive home the point that HE wants to go to school). TBH as he is atm I’m rather thankful that he is going because I certainly don’t want him here 24/7 (not least as he winds up and thumps his little sister, which is very far from acceptable and there’s barely anywhere I can take him where he won’t end up throwing a screaming tantrum or shouting very loudly at me, or other people for that matter). Of course he doesn’t see at all that we are simply very worried about him and just rants and raves louder.

If he was my partner, I’d leave.

Not kidding. We’re talking a certain level of abuse here and I am really at the end of my tether.

But he isn’t my partner, he’s my son and regardless of the fact that he is convinced that he is ‘head of the household’ and that everyone should do what he says and if they don’t they are contravening his human rights - of course, he spares little thought for what anyone else might feel or need - I have to keep on trying.

So the headache continues and I’m very cynical as to whether it’ll improve once he is at school - I have grave doubts that it will - still, I’ve been proved wrong before… All we can hope for is that it is a welcome break and that he really enjoys it and that maybe he might come home a bit happier.

Isn’t that the best that any parent can wish for?

Saw this at Jax’s and Tech’s

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink - nope, never had the money to do that
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain - yes, my mum lives on the side of one
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive - no driving license
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables - it just tastes better
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars - not my own
20. Changed a baby’s diaper - I’ve 4 children, so more than a few here
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne - although I’m not that bothered by it - cheap bird me
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment - this was a real big bad too
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb - well, my mum does live on a sheep farm!
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - it’s called vodka!
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day - various stories here, from having my own eclipsed whilst at a Teddy Boy do in Skeggy (because pretty much everyone I was with was from around Sheffield and without realising it I was copying them *blush* and also regularly when I was on the streets to sound like I was from somewhere else than I really was - don’t ask (rolls eyes).
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk - and then some
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs - actually our vinyl used to be in chronological order within alphabetical…
57. Pretended to be a superhero - not pretended, I am, all mothers are.
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football - what’s this?
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight - what’s this?
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children - well, raising
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking - I always sing loudly in the car, drives everyone mad
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds - how much is 100pounds in English money?
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback - of the LSD kind, yes
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours - but not ‘naturally’
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - almost, but keep losing interest
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions - so far
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

… is gearing up to go. Below are my answers to the SP9 questionnaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
ATM I is mostly loving soft, soft yarns like cotton angora I like all sorts of yarns save for plasticky squeaky ones. I’m not a fan of novelty yarns either.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A cardboard tube that formerly held hazelnut coffee.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learnt to knit when I was 17 – that is, I learned to do a knit stitch, not purl or cast on or off or anything… In 2003 I finally learned to cast on, off, knit and purl and haven’t looked back!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Oh yes, yes, yes: my wish list

5. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
Roses – I love the smell of roses and ???? arrrrgh, can’t remember the name of the flower.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I like chocolate (I’ve met very few people who don’t) but I shouldn’t really have any dairy, so it needs to be dairy-free/suitable for vegans.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do a bit of sewing. Recently I made a Waldorf doll for my daughter and I now want to expand on that and make some dollshouse dolls. I keep meaning to sew up the pieces for a shirt for my son - I need the sewing machine practice, years ago when I used to make clothes I made them by hand, but I don’t have the time to hand sew everything with 4 children. I’ve also been collecting bits to start making jewellery again (something I haven’t done for quite some years).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Trash/garage/garage punk (NOT the dance stuff, proper trashy guitars garage), 60s/Texas Punk and psychobilly, but I also like various things in the charts, think the Killers and stuff like that. Soul – gotta have a bit of soul in my life . I play the recorder (and can play a few other related instruments) so also like listening to renaissance etc. music, but I’m a bit of a philistine, so if anyone wants to educate me

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I love greens (not peppermint green though – y’know the particular ‘baby yarn’ colour), deep pinks and browns.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have 4 children: ds12, ds10, dd3, ds8mnths. I also have two cats, an Ocicat called Fern and a Korat called Gilbert.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves and mittens, occasionally hats, never ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I don’t have any particular favourites, I just knit what I fancy.

13. What are you knitting right now?
My first ‘proper’ attempt at a simple lace shawl. I’m also knitting a cabled jumper for Ned.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer things with some points to them, so although I do like the smoothness of my Addis, I really would prefer a bit more point (especially with the lace!) I do like the bamboo needles I have – but only have some 4mm in bamboo. I do need to expand on my collection and have thought about buying some plain wooden ones and prettying them up.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I frog UFOs older than a certain amount, because if it’s a UFO for long enough then I’ve lost interest in knitting it.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
I’ve got a handle on the US terminology now I don’t have a particular favourite holiday, I have a bit of a block over holidays which I struggle to get over, although I’m getting better at them now.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarn I also like buttons (as in the ones you do up in button holes) and beads – I think it’s a ‘treasure chest’ thing, it gives me a joyous little girl happiness to have ‘sparkly things’.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I need to renew my sub. to Rowan (must get around to that), aside from that I’m not subbed to any knitting mags, not for any particular reason, it just never occurs to me (although I do enjoy looking at friend’s mags).

I do want to expand and buy some more bamboo needles and some pointier circulars.

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
I’d like to learn to crochet, but need to pin someone down to teach me that (I’m not very good at learning things like that from a book). I’d like to expand on my sock knitting skills, but again, I’m a monkey see monkey do sort of person.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have knitted socks. Yea, I have enjoyed knitting socks. I can’t remember my foot size – and they are very wide.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
Not until next Spring.

… WIPs that is. I finished the purple cotton angora cardi:

Nin wouldn’t stand still long enough to take an unblurred one of the front, but I did get another couple of photos of her and a couple of Ned:

I also fixed Nin’s button jointed doll (the legs had come off) and have embroidered a face onto the first Waldorf doll I’ve had a bash at making (I bought some black mohair to knit a wig when I get a spare mo’). I sewed up the rip in Woody’s trousers (and restuffed him a bit).

Continued WIPs are:

The Waldorf doll (needs that wig knitted and some clothes made)
A pink lace shawl (which is knitting up quite fast really)
A blue ‘pram blanket’ - with textured trees and houses on it (from a Lucinda whats-her-name book)
The cowboy print shirt that has been cut out ready to be sewn for Ned
I *still* haven’t finished embroidering the rosette I felted about a year ago…

There’s a lot going on here atm and at some point I will blog about it, but it’ll be a bit of a marathon (or should that be Snickers) blog and it’s just getting it written down in a bit of peace.

An Irish Craftworker has been needlefelting lovely stars She also makes felt birds, fish and bowls (I really like the birds).

Yes I really should stop mooning over other people’s talent and get off my bum a bit more and do some more for myself, but it is so much easier drooling over other people’s work

Funnily enough, yesterday I had a mini splurge at Ottakars yesterday and bought R. and me (as R. wants to have a go) a book on Feltmaking and a Beginners Guide to Stumpwork. I also bought Vols. 11, 12 and 13 of Ultimate X-Men

R. had an appt. with an Ed. Psych yesterday and I will be complaining She asked questions as if R. wasn’t sitting next to me and at one point told me that: “Children cannot be taught at home.” When I pointed out that R. had been taught at home for a good few years now, she said, “So the LEA has arranged a tutor.”

NO! NO! NO!

Arrrrrghhhh!

So I quoted some law at her, but don’t hold out much hope on the report at the multi-agency meeting next week.

Ho hum.

*Still* I know that the two of the people who will be at the meeting are supporting HE, although a possible p/t attendance at school is possible (and tempting at times). It’s all so up-in-the-air atm.

Still, grrrrrr to bloody annoying psychs.

Is it just me who hasn’t been able to see various photos and graphics on this page for a few days?

Poop-scooping Barbie, well I never I read about it here and had a good old laugh.

… this will be a short blog. Ned is asleep on me and his weight is pulling on my neck. R. came 5th in the Junior Bowls comp. at the weekend:

It was only the 6th time he has ever played bowls, so we’re very proud of him.

Yet MORE chillis (grown by Rik):

I finished a sock (just need to do the other one now) made from lovely handpainted yarn:

I’ve also been busy knitting this:

It’s in Debbie Bliss cotton angora and is wonderfully soft. The edge is lace, with twisted stitches up into the main body that will form the basis of stalks for embroidered flowers. I’m currently finishing the second sleeve ready to sew it up and pick up stitches for the collar etc.

The boys have also asked me to post this:

A large bubble - well, we thought it was impressive.

Over the past few days I have made some bramble and apple jelly (and have more apple juice waiting to be made into jelly on the hob), re-organised my paperwork (on the children’s info./OfSTED front) and been helping with the clean up effort at the local closed-down school which is where I’m hoping to take the family-learning centre project forward.

It’s looking increasingly likely that there will be space available at the ‘closed-down’ school for the family-learning centre to use which means that there will be space for a HE group if other local HE-ers are interested, space for the Pilates class a friend and I are trying to organise (not to mention the Indian dancing her daughter is keen to see take place), a possible location for Donny Nutters to work from (on a community level) and the various other classes that I’m hoping to organise. At the very least it is a venue that can be written into the feasibility study that I’m, now we, are applying for. Should that come back positive we will have a good base to apply for further funding from.

I’ve a meeting on Thursday to show the funding-support bod who has been working with the group the possible venue and then the week after next with the lease-holders to try to negotiate a good deal on taking on space. Signing the paperwork for the bank account on Thursday afternoon and from there we can go for the funding for the feasibility study - really excited!

Once things have moved forward a bit more I will put together a website with information on the project.

I forgot to gloat:

Wooden kitchen bought for £3 - consisting of sink (with tap and a little plastic washbowl that can be removed), fridge (with pull down egg holder and also a foldaway shelf on the door, plus inner shelves) and a washing machine. Salvaged whilst helping with the clean-up at the school they asked for a donation of £1 a piece. Nin is thrilled.

After a hard day:

… do you like it?

I made the header myself - that’s R. up ahead, followed by Nin and Erk. Ned isn’t on it as yet.

There’s loads more links etc. still to go up, but as I’m on dial-up I think I’ve hogged the phone-line enough for a while.

I feel really boring and repetitive saying that we’re really busy here - because I know I say that every single time. It is busy, but to brighten things up a bit, I have a few photos:

On a walk out blackberrying, Erk took a picture of a swan from the lane. We found 3lb of blackberries - although we could’ve picked more, but didn’t bring more containers. There were also sloes, loads of elderberries (some of which I’ll go back for) and a few early hazelnuts, with the promise of more to come.

Erk and his friends regularly visit some friendly horses and ponies across the river:

Rik’s had a few days off so has been ‘catching up’ with various things, like painting with Nin. These were ‘blow paintings’, where they blobbed paint on and then blew it out into patterns with a straw (yes that is a Spear of Destiny t-shirt he’s wearing, for anyone who is straining to see).

I made jam with the blackberries (adding some apple to it) and these are going with the stash of pickled beetroot and squash chutney. I need to pickle some more beetroot and get down to what is now probably a rather pitiful allotment, as the rain has put me off going down there. I need to put in some kohl rabi, but have recently started making enquiries about finding a small piece of land instead. The plan is to share it between a few local families and the hope is that we can have a few goats, another family want some bees and the idea of a couple of pigs has been tossed around, amongst other things, so enquiries are being made. It’s a big step, but I’ve wanted goats since I was a girl (I really love them) and so, for me it would be better and I would transfer ‘growing stuff’, which has sort of put the allotment up in the air atm as I’d prefer to share a space that I could keep animals on.

Also HEADS UP on an order. I’m planning to place an order with Kate Quinn Organics (the clothing that I included a few posts ago) again. If anyone would like to add anything in particular to the order (size or colour-wise) do have a look at her website and let me know and I’ll make a note to add it.

… has arrived. Thank you to the Angel who stepped in at the last minute, so very kind! I hope my original Secret Pal is ok too!

Some lovely Louisa Harding yarn - which is so incredibly soft (we all had a stroke against our cheeks). I’ve not held any before, so was rather pleased with this :0) Some interesting R2 paper tape - again, something I’ve not seen before. I really like the colour, but am a little unsure what to make with it, so will have a good think - it’s great to get the opportunity to work with new yarn! Some sweet Patons Flower Garden, which I think will make a lovely scarf and hat set for my daughter (or possibly me - I really should knit something for me!) Some buttons - I *like* buttons, they appeal to my inner-hoarder (I have boxes of ‘ephemera’ - little bits and bobs, so buttons are wonderful!) Also some Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer - I recently read some good things about Burt’s Bees and had already been to have a look at the website, so clearly this Angel is psychic and tuned into that It has peppermint in and makes my lips tingle

Thank you so much!

“I’ve cleaned the bathroom.”

“That’s very kind of you. With what?”

“Your toothbrush.”

Maybe not so kind then…

… I’ve been working my way through this blog - I’m not jealous, honest
Edit:Her husband makes beautiful hobby horses!

As I was waiting for the screen to load to start typing, Gilbert landed, all claws out into my side and is currently trying to eat the back of the chair behind me…

I’ve taken delivery of some lovely organic children’s clothes for Ninny Noodle Noo. I sold one of the dresses pretty much straight out of the box as a friend turned up as I was checking the delivery. Below is a pic. of the tees, although I only have a couple of colours - however, if there’s any colour or size anyone wants, I’d be happy to order, I’ve already got a few enquiries for different sizes, so it looks like I may place another order soon.

I realise it’s been a little while since I blogged anything of substance, but it is because we’ve just been so very busy! My mum came to visit for a few days, bringing Erk back with her (he’d been staying with her on the farm for a few weeks). We visited York, the first time the children and I have been. We went to the Jorvik Viking Centre, which the children really enjoyed.

Mum & Ned

So many wonderful shops to look in and it’s only 25mins away on the train! I’m really keen to save up for some glassware I saw in a shop, statuettes of Odin and Baldur and also a piece called ‘Two Souls’ - also the most lovely glass plates, I’ll have to dig out the link as I took the details for their website.

We went for a picnic in Sandal Beat Woods today. Lots of blackberries everywhere (really must go back and have a picking session, was kicking myself I didn’t think to bring anything).

There were loads of fungi of various sorts:

I’d love to go on a guided mushroom walk to learn more about them (or rather I’d like to know which ones are edible so I can eat them!)

Anyway, dinner is now calling!

Rebecca from What Did You Do In School Today? has tagged me.

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers from Christopherus.

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT
T’internet – it’s great!

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
None, but then I didn’t rush out and buy I took my time and sort of ‘came to’ what feels right atm.

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
All the art & craft stuff we have – and we’ll continue to enjoy them this year.

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
T’internet (again). For the Roman block we will be using: “Famous Men of Rome” which is online at the Baldwin project.

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
Live Education, it does look lovely.

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
Languages – I’d love for my children to learn a different language in a way other than software and tapes. I’d like them to have the opportunity to learn songs and stories, etc.

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING
I didn’t know they existed. I admit to getting a lot of books from Amazon. Again, I find Christopherus books really good for suggesting further resources.

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
I don’t really need to. I would recommend Education Otherwise, HE-UK and Muddle Puddle (for younger children). A great resource for waldorf-inspired home-education is Waldorf Homeschoolers.

I’m putting together a website for Pagan families, called Hearth and Home Education (submissions welcome – plus I’ve added a forum, which needs people to be ok-ed to join and the topics should be visible to members only for privacy).

10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
Sarah (I Think You’re Bonkers)
Rosie (Knitting Yoghurt)
Tech (The Woodland Path)
Elderfaery (Growing Wild Like a Tree)
By Other Means.

This site has some wonderful doll patterns - but it’s worth just looking at the pictures too (under patterns)!

……. talented people with eatable blog design.

Like Heather Bailey. Jealous? Moi? Humph

I’ve been wasting a goodly amount of time (that I could’ve spent finishing a sock) having a look and being very inspired by some of the fab blogs that are out there. Do go and visit her blog, it’s not only lovely to look at, but interesting too!

Linked to from there is: Wee Wonderfuls with some truly wonderful wee creations!

Enjoy!

……. the cheek of some people! One of my neighbouring allotmenteers is giving up his allotment and wants £75 (!) for the fence or he’s taking it with him to sell for scrap. Unsurprisingly I said no (as I can’t see him getting anywhere near £75 for it as scrap) but it’s still bloody annoying as it means my allotment (all the allotments on the plot are fenced) will be open to anyone to come on until someone new takes over and puts a fence on the front, so I’ve had to move my tools and hope nothing gets vandalised.

Hmph!

More potatoes and shedloads of beetroot today, so will definetely be pickling beetroot tomorrow and MUST make some pumpkin marmalade out of the squashes Kris brought round.

I bought some more books from the market - an encyclopedia of the British Countryside, an atlas of historical maps and some children’s books.

I’m still knitting a sock (eventually to be 2 socks, but I’ve got to finish the first one yet) using some lovely yarn from the Knitting Goddess (I’ll post a link when I’ve got a photo of the yarn). It’s a distraction from the pram blanket which was boring me a little and I *still* need to finish the rosette I’m making from the Rowan Yorkshire Tweed I felted.

I’ve sewn the front and back of some denim trousers for Ned, my first attempt at making some trousers ever. The machine stitching isn’t wonderfully straight, but doesn’t look too bad. I’ve cut out the pieces for a shirt (using cowboy fabric - again I’ll post the link when I get a photo) and when I’ve some red thread I’ll sew it up.

I’m feeling rather domestic and would be feeling even more so if the vacuum cleaner wasn’t packing up.

I’ve ordered the Romans Unit Study from Christopherus because even *if* R. does go to school (part-time) there’ll still need to be things we do together. I like Donna’s books because they’re no-nonsense and realistic about home-ed and reasonably priced too If you look on the Main Lesson inspiration pages (under Norse Myths) there is a picture that R. drew, currently the third one down on the left-hand margin - of the Eagle chasing Loki and Idunna (also transformed into birds). So I’m looking forward to receiving it and having a think.

Gilbert is still convinced that cornflakes and kiwi-fruit are normal cat fare and Fern has moved into the boys’ bedroom in protest.

…. we brought home a little Korat kitten on Wednesday. I’ve struggled to get unblurry pics as he doesn’t really stay still very long!

He’s a bit of a menace and has already landed in a plate of egg muffins, shoved his head in Nin’s icecream and her breakfast, R.’s cranberry juice, almost landed in R.’s dinner and tried to make off with some kiwi fruit. He managed to go missing for about an hour on Thursday until we found him in the coffee table drawer (there’s a small gap at the back of the drawer which he fits through) and I’ve had to rescue a metal scouring pad which he must have walked through the sink to get (judging by how wet he was - there was washing up on each side of the sink, so I suppose he decided on the direct route). He sounds a little bit like a hand-blender and has the rather posh name: Serrenol Virote (virote apparently means ‘power’ in Thai - Korats are a Thai breed), however, dh called him Gilbert on Thursday and it’s stuck

Call for a later start at school (with a couple of other interesting stories in the right hand column linked to from that article).

….. I’ve been breastfeeding Ned from the day before he was born. I think I ought to check that my counters are working properly.

…. and then I get sidetracked and forget. When did life get so very busy - and people wonder why I laugh when people say, “You’re at home with the kids all day? Don’t you get bored?”

I’ve not been bored for some 11 years now and TBH pretty much the only time I have been truly bored was when I was at school (and I did pretty much everything possible to avoid going). I have a boredom-avoidance gene or rather a tendency to avoid doing things I have no interest in - known to some people as ‘laziness’ but only because they’re really rather jealous as they may not have the balls to actually stand up and say, “D’you know what? Life’s too short.”

My father calls it selfish and says I have to grow up sometime (or rather he said it the last time I spoke to him, some 3 years ago). That we all have to face the ‘hard facts’ of life - this sort of comment usually comes in the same sentence (or atleast the same conversation) as ‘children need to go to school to learn what life is really like’/'bullying toughens you up’ - you get the idea.

I’ve been a very superficial blogger of late, mostly because I have so very much going on in my head it can be so bloody hard to put it all into words. It’s been a wierd year, what with moving and then feeling rather ‘out on a limb’ and R. having such a difficult time and Erk deciding he wants to go back to school and me really questioning life (again) - it’s a bugger this non-conforming rebellious streak, people keep trying to stamp on it but it just won’t give up and go (quietly).

And that’s part of the problem with R., Me. Because in so many ways he is very like I was at the same age (minus the bullying crap I was going through at the same age - but then he managed to squeeze in a goodly amount before he was 7). He hates fractions and time-tables, he *can’t* do them, not because he physically can’t, but because he has decided he can’t - and I decided the same thing at school and just refused to learn them, I couldn’t see the point and I’ll have argued the toss with anyone.

My mother says it’s divine retribution - or rather a balancing of karma, someone, somewhere is smiling down on her and whilst I know she wouldn’t wish me any distress, it must be a slight smug kick for my first born to be as much of a PITA at times as I was.

And that’s part of the problem too.

I remember being 11. I remember being 12, and 13 and 14. 15 is a bit of a blur (drunken etc. induced), as is 16. I sobered up a bit at 17 (after all I did have a baby) - point is I do remember what it’s like to be an adolescent and a teen - atleast I remember the crapness of it all.

Yet I could quite cheerfully strangle him at times - the child, who is, after all, quite a bit like me. Same bloody-minded control-freakery I KNOW WHAT’S BEST so f*** the lot of you streak and yet he is so very conservative, so very adherent to the rules as they suit him and everything is so incredibly black and white - not the myriad shades of grey that drive me bonkers so very often and stupid-o’clock-in-the-morning - and I know that’s not necessarily an adult thing, I was like that as a child and Erk is like that now (which worries me slightly).

So maybe we’re not so similar after all.

I never was one for rules and I get ever so uppity if someone tries to tell me what to do.

Which in a rambling way leads me to Statements of SEN.

I wrote a request, I received a form to fill in details, I haven’t filled it in.

Because really I don’t want him to go. I know it’s not the right thing for him either. What we need is a bit of space from each other, but he’s so bloody difficult atm that it’s nigh-on impossible for him to go anywhere to get that space. I always say that school is really a form of mass subsidised childcare - and certainly that’s how I’m viewing it, but I don’t want him to go, it’s still *not right* for him.

But then what is?

The past few months have been a hellish blur (and I consider myself to be an optimistic person) and yet there are rays of sunshine through the clouds. He spent a day helping one of the neighbouring allotmenteers clean out her chickens, rabbits and ducks. He came back with some eggs and the promise that if he continued helping out to demonstrate he could care for them properly he could have a rabbit and some chickens to keep on the allotment (on the proviso he builds a good home for them - and he’s already built a compost heap, so is getting rather handy with the woodwork). He came back so happy, it was wonderful to see, plus I’d had a quiet afternoon with the littlies - the first for a very long time without R. there.

That’s what we need, a bit of space from each other, but that space is bloody hard to find.

Today I had friends round, with their respective children (which made for 5 little girls in the house) and he was great. Spent most of the time in his room reading and watching a DVD. This may not sound like anything special, but recent visits have been positively explosive. So today was a big difference.

He also seems a bit ’sunnier’.

And so I start to doubt again. Doubt the decision to seek a statement that I don’t think will be right for him anyway, but was done in desperation to have a day which isn’t filled with bickering and upset or him thumping his sister (and he’s thumped me too). Maybe it’s hormones kicking in, complicating the already complicated Aspie tendencies (or rather the not very complicated Aspie tendencies, as R. focusses on what he wants and doesn’t necessarily ‘get it’ if it causes chaos for everyone else).

Still with me?

I know I’m meandering (and no I’m not drunk, just ponderous).

*ANYWAY* I’m dawdling on the statement front, my cynicism is kicking in big time and I’m wondering why life is so bloody complicated and why I always have to play the devils advocate and see so many bloody facets to absolutely-bloody-everything.

We have been to the allotment.

This is the allotment that I had a letter from the Parish Council about saying that it appeared to be ‘uncultivated’ (please translate this as in all probability that one of the Parish Council’s members friends wants an allotment). I got a bit miffed and wrote a sharp e-mail back, which resulted in an apology and them pointing out that they had to follow procedure and from peeking through the gap by the gate, etc, and that it *does* say in the letter that they are aware I’ve just had a baby etc. OK, I’ll admit there are alot of nettles, but it’s taken months to get this much done (what with all the rubbish, glass, nettles and other chaos on what had been a neglected plot). OK, there are more than alot of nettles, the plot is mostly nettles, but what is the point in tackling them in the main growing season when I can tackle them at a less productive time of year. Said nettles are also hiding all the bits of allotment covered in assorted cardboard, plastic sheeting and rugs (in an attempt to stifle some of the nettles). I will be keeping a ‘wild’ patch too. Personally I rather like the chaos, it makes me smile and remember how beautiful and bounteous the gifts of Mother Earth are.

This is Sunday’s tray dug up and picked at the ‘uncultivated’ allotment.

We have more chillis (Rik has been taking photos of them)..

.

And finally, a smiley cat:

….. it’s far too hot to think of a title. I think I’m the world’s worst thinker-upper-of-titles - no dry wit pretensions here.

Life seems to be getting in the way of blogging and indeed of being on the PC very much, although I have had brief forays into cyberspace to search for cat breeders (we’re getting a kitten), fabric (so I can have a bash at making some clothes to Ned and work up to larger things from there) and finally to go round the MP ring (because it’s rather large now and I don’t get around it as often as I used to).

Ned is getting bigger and now has his second tooth coming through. He rolls around everywhere and is perfectly capable of making his way across the living room in order to get to something he’s spied on the other side of the room.

He is such a smily little boy and likes to talk (and laugh) with his mouth full!

Nin has been spending most of her time in mud (as, IMO, all small children should) in various states of undress - I really must post some photos, but she’s generally just in a pair of pants and a sunhat :0)

Erk has broken up from school and we’re sending him to Norway on Sunday (as it’s his turn and it’ll hopefully avoid some of the bickering that would otherwise be very likely over the summer holidays). He is not impressed ATM as he ‘doesn’t like’ the teacher he’s been allocated next year.

We’ve had the Family First team out to assess our needs (with re. to R) - the hope is that they will be able to find some support for him to attend some activities over the summer holidays to get him out of the house a bit. It’s a bit tense here, but he’s been doing a lot of sewing of late (which he finds calming) and finished a bat today (on the sewing machine). Doubtless he’ll take a photo and will want it posted up.

The greenhouse has been busy:

Rik has pickled the first lot of chillis, but there’s plenty more to come. Ashamedly I’ve not been down the ‘lottie as much as I could, but the heat has been squarely putting me off. We have picked quite a few blackcurrants and raspberries that have been enjoyed, but really I should be down there sorting out the spuds (and everything else that is doubtless suffering under this dryness) and I dread to think what the nettles are like! (I MUST bring the camera with me next time).

The shows were good fun over the weekend, with the opportunity for some interesting chat.

The Barefoot Books sale is still on (until the end of July). If anyone places an order, if they quote my stallholder number: UK-1006663 I get a credit :0) The beautiful Little Red Riding Hood (illus. Nicoletta Cecolli) is down to £1.99 (amongst other great bargains).

The learning centre now has a working title: Ingenero Schola. The tender spec. for the feasibility study is good to go and once I’ve got a bank account set up, it’s time to go for the funding to pay for the study - so very, very excited about that!

….. Sarah and I are off to the Sheffield Green Fair on the 15th and The Natural and Organic World Good Food and Good Living Show (in Doncaster) on the 16th with a selection of items from our sites, Ninny Noodle Noo and Ethics Trading. If you’re able to, do come along and atleast say hello!

Barefoot Books have a Summer Sale on and I will be bringing a selection of books with me, plus catalogues. If anyone wants to order anything off the main Barefoot Books site, if you quote my stallholder number when you pay: UK-1006663 that would be great! :0)

Anyway, it’ll be nice to meet up with anyone local that can get to either of these events :0D

5 things in my refrigerator:
A few ramiro peppers (for throwing on the barbecue)
A jug of filered water
Apricot jam
Peanut Butter
Cranberry juice

5 things in my closet:
Bags - because I just don’t seem to really use handbags
A pile of clothes I no longer wear, waiting to be chopped up and made into something else - and I have *finally* got the sewing machine downstairs to do it with.
Clothes I do wear.

5 things in my purse/handbag:
Not very good on the handbag front, I very rarely use one and tend to just shove money and cards in my pocket. However, I do have a large changing bag which has nappies, purse with other cards, mobile, scissors and rescue remedy in (amongst other things).

5 things in my car:
I don’t have one.

5 people I am tagging:
Erm, anyone fancy a bash that hasn’t been tagged already?

… for reminding me about ThreadBared.

Whilst we’re on the subject of amusing (bitchy) sites, I also like this one.

…. I got around to scanning in Ned’s ‘official’ photos. These were taken in April (so it has taken me a bit of time).

The last one is the one going out to close family members (and mum, I’ve also got another one of the one before that for you as well).

We’re really pleased with them and are planning a few of all the children together once Ned can sit up.

“Sensational Knitted Socks” by Charlene Schurch and Room on the Broom and 4 Terry Pratchett books: Carpe Jugulum, the Discworld Companion, Johnny and the Bomb and Johnny and the Dead. The latter 4 from one of the stalls on the village market which is a real draw to me and fatal reallly as I already have books in the attic and piled on sides as I currently only have two (full) bookcases in the living room. I neeeeeeeeed more bookcases, but the car’s packing up and dh doesn’t think it’ll make it to Ikea and back to get the cupboards I want.

I’ve taken the plunge and started making a Waldorf doll on the sewing machine. I’m rather useless when it comes to using a machine to sew, but I am perservering. The doll probably won’t win too many beauty contests, but I’ll be pleased and I’m sure Nin will love him/her (we need to decide on a gender). The knitte d pram blanket is growing slowly - it’s not something I feel especially passionate about, but will use up some cheap acrylicy wool I have knocking about and be a useful thing to have when the weather gets colder and a covering layer is needed (over a plumper crocheted wool blanket I have).

The SS came out on a fact-finding mission (to decide whether they will do an assessment on R.’s needs) and it’s been hot so we made smoothies :0)

Just realised I’ve slipped off the MP ring - where do the days go?

I’ve been busy (as per usual): Monday with working and a meeting re. the ‘family learning group’ (wish I could think of a zappier title than that); Tuesday I co-organised a Teddy Bears Picnic as part of National Childminding Week and then in the afternoon took Nin and Ned to Movers & Shakers. Wednesday we went to look at a local Special School that we’d like R. to attend p/t (if we can wangle it) - whilst initially very sceptical, it has it’s own pool, private gym and a polytunnel which really impressed R. and he now seems fairly enthusiastic (they have space from September, but convincing the LEA may be less easy…..); Thursday I went to a Babywearing meet at M’hell and met up with a few other local people I’ve not had the opportunity to meet yet, including Stella & the little pies and Mamadillo from BabyArmadillo. In the evening I attended a Local Co-ordinators meeting (for the local Childminding Assoc.) and didn’t get in till 9.30pm - so a loooong day. Friday I was working again. Ho hum…….

It’s been a busy few days so I’ve not had time to enthuse before now (and I only got in 15mins ago - as it’s been another very long day).

The parcel came on Monday - and yes, I read the comic straight away (having got my eldest to make me a cup of tea to go with it). I have a liking for ‘dark’ comics and so really enjoyed this fix. The pink panta has also had some good use (I have long hair and need to keep it off my face) and I will definitely have a bash at making myself one on a break from the blanket I’m currently making.

The lovely yarn is from: hellomango. I’ve enjoyed stroking it :0) I’ll have to have a think on a good project to use it in as I really like the colours.

The hot pink card is good - funnily enough I have, of late, been considering dusting off my sewing machine and having a bit of a practice as I want to start making some clothes again. I used to make/customise clothes as a teenager and did it all by hand (I could never get on with a sewing machine). I sport of chipped front tooth, broken when pulling a needle through denim with my teeth (I’ve also had a needle snap in my mouth - yes, *I know*….) Having put on a few pounds after the last couple of children I’ve been really frustrated by the choice of clothes available - and I’m not *that* big - a size 18 (which is big for me but I know people who are bigger) - and there are nice clothes out there, it’s just not ones that are *me* if that makes any sense. The only way to remedy this is to make some myself, something I’ve been rattling on about for a while, but just haven’t quite got around to. *Anyway* perhaps the card is a good omen :0)

Of course I enjoyed the chocolate……….

It’s lovely getting a pressie in the post, especially when someone has clearly put so much thought into it - so thank you so much Secret Pal!

He always wanted to explain things, but no one cared.
So he drew.

Sometimes he would just draw and it wasn’t anything.
He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky.
He would lie on the grass and look up in the sky and
it would only be the sky and the things inside him that
needed saying.

And it was after that he drew the picture.
It was a beautiful picture.
He kept it under his pillow and would let no one see it.
And he would look at it every night and think about it.
And when it was dark and his eyes were closed he
could see it still.
And it was all of him and he loved it.

When he started school he brought it with him.
Not to show anyone, but just to have it with him like a friend.

It was funny about school.
He sat in a square brown desk like all the other square
desks, and he thought it would be red.
And his room was a square brown room like all the other rooms.
And it was tight and close.
And stiff.

He hated to hold the pencil and chalk, with his arm
stiff and his feet flat on the floor, stiff, with the teacher watching
and watching.

The teacher came and spoke to him.
She told him to wear a tie like all the other boys.
He said he didn’t like them and she said it didn’t matter.

After that they drew.
And he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt about the morning.
And it was beautiful.

The teacher came and smiled at him.
“What’s this?”, she said.
“Why don’t you draw something like Ken’s drawing?
Isn’t it beautiful?”
After that his mother bought him a tie and he always drew
aeroplanes and rocket ships like everyone else.

And he threw the old picture away.

And when he lay out alone looking at the sky, it was big
and blue and all of everything, but he wasn’t anymore.

He was square and brown inside and his hands were stiff.
And he was like everyone else.
All the things inside him that needed saying didn’t need it anymore.
It had stopped pushing.
It was crushed.
Stiff.

Like everything else.

*****

The teenaged author of this poem committed suicide.

We’re having a bit of a tough time here atm and the above poem was mentioned on a mailing list I’m on. It makes me cry every time I read it.

Not that long ago I blogged that R. was having a bit of a difficult time. He still is and it isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse, like how he was when we de-registered him from school over 3 years ago. We are awaiting a re-referral to CAMHS and have now requested a Social Services referral in a desperate attempt to get some support for him. We’re also going for a place at a Special School p/t as this may be the only way we get some respite (both R. and the rest of the family) and one of the support workers from a local charity we contacted has been in touch and met R. and taken him out on a bowling trip and agrees that f/t would not be an option for him (atleast initially) and that it might be a solution to offering us all a bit of a break. She knows a few locally HE-ed children on the autistic spectrum and also a local adult HE-er (who I also know) who is dx. Aspergers - it’s great to have someone to talk to at a project like this that doesn’t think that HE-ers have 2 heads

However, it is very likely that the push from the local authority will be for him to go to mainstream school as being HE it’s very difficult for them to assess how he would cope in a mainstream school situation and they’re likely to prefer to try him in mainstream and then when it’s clear he can’t cope go for a statement. WTF?!

Our concerns aren’t academic, there’s no doubting that he’s an intelligent, articulate, capable boy, HE works folks! I kept repeating to Parent Partnership that it wasn’t anything to do with HE and that we’re planning to HE the younger two (she was surprised and said, “Even though they don’t have Special Needs?” - LOL). He wouldn’t last a week at a mainstream school and TBH I have my reserves about any school, but we’re pretty desperate here. There’s no way he’ll ever set foot in a mainstream school again (as far as I’m concerned). Why do children have to be pushed to the brink of suicide before anything is done? But then I can talk, I’ve waited this long to finally crack and go for an SS referral………

So if I’ve been a bit quiet of late, that’s why (that and how busy I am on top of all of this!)

I’ve visited the counties in yellow. Which counties have you visited? made by marnanel map reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey. © Crown copyright 2001.

First seen on: The Woodland Path.

but maybe needs to be a bit *rounder*………

N*stle have taken over the Day Chocolate Group - no more Dubble or Divine choccy for me then (oh and they also make the Co-op’s own brand of choccy): Link to the Guardian newspaper

It’s been a busy old time just trying to keep up with life! It seems that with the coming of the warm weather life takes an upswing and things get manic again So this is sort of a list of what we’ve been up to fairly recently:

Saturday: My first parcel from my Secret Pal (knitting) arrived. It was lovely to receive something in the post and the items were well picked, being a bar of Green & Blacks (not in the photo as I ate it before it had the chance to have its photo taken), 2 skeins of mohair boucle from the Natural Dye Studio, a pattern to make a scarf from the mohair, 2 copies of Gardeners World and a selection of organic veggie seeds for the lottie. In addition my Secret Pal had also sent a present for each of the children: sunflowers, different sorts based on his/her perceived idea of the children (e.g. Ned got ‘Teddy Bear’ as the sunflowers are small and round whilst R. got ‘Nature Walker’, etc.) Clearly a lot of thought went into the parcel! So thank you Secret Pal!

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In the evening we watched the Eurovision song contest (I wanted either Finland or Lithuania to win, so was pleased Finland got it!) We munched on a selection of dippee things with hummus and also some dolmades (sort of honouring the Greek thing as Eurovision was in Athens this year – plus I love dolmades!)

Thursday and Friday: I was working, J. (the little boy I look after – I am a registered childminder) is very *attached* and cries if he’s not carried or has me sitting directly next to him. As he only comes a couple of days a week for the morning it is a bit difficult for him to get used to me, but then that doesn’t exactly appear to be the problem - he likes me - unfortunately so much so that he cries if I try and do anything that doesn’t involve focussing attention on him (which is a little difficult with other children here). Still, we’re muddling along and he’s usually happy towards the end of the day with me and confident enough to toddle about and do his own thing. We went for a walk to the market and bought a couple of fresh pineapples amongst the usual local stuff. Two of Kris’ girls came for the afternoon, so Nin had a good day with lots of small people to play with.

Wednesday we went to town to get to the Farmer’s Market, bank some money and also pick up some stuff for the spoilee that I’m being Secret Pal to. Annoyingly the *nice shop* selling candles etc. wasn’t open, so I’ll need to find some bits and pieces elsewhere (we’re not really very well served for that sort of thing in town – and certainly not in the village). So I was a bit disappointed. We bought some more ‘Gruffalo’ cheese and I picked up a tin of okra salad which will be nice to try later on.

It was also the 17th May which is a day of celebration in Norway, although in rather un-Norwegian fashion we had a nice meal of a selection of Indian foods

Tuesday we went to the market before Sarah and Co. came round along with two of Kris’ girls (and Kris popped in for a bit too).

Monday we went to the allotment, something that is difficult to know with how busy it has been of late! Anyway, here are some updated pictures (we’ve done a lot of work down there!) They’re not up to date though, being older than the last time I went down there.

The nettles are rampant! R. has made a great compost bin (which I will take a photo of when I next remember to bring the camera with me).

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We’ve cleared quite a bit and got various bits planted - but actually this photo is a few weeks old and now the radishes, beetroot and broccoletto is coming up.

Must go so will blog more later!

…….. Norway’s Constitution Day a day Norwegians celebrate!

… plus a bonus photo of Erk & Ned:

Been a bit fed up of late, no particular reason (due to there being a number of reasonable reasons IYSWIM), but fed up. Worried about Erk at school. I though it was a bad idea to begin with, but bit my tongue because at 9 I believe he does get some sort of say over where his education takes place (where practical), I’m struggling against my own natural bias towards HE, but I can categorically say that I’m rather worried about his education at school.

It’s nothing to do with his teachers, they appear to be capable (and rather nice), but more to do with him and his rapidly waning enthusiasm. This is something different for us, Erk was always very enthusiastic at home and was at school (initially) but this appears to be going downhill very quickly. He’s clearly shattered when he gets in as he usually explodes and stomps off to bed. He ‘never’ has homework (rather he does, but of course he never brings it home - and I sort of see his point, but at the same time it was discussed at the time that if he decided to go to school then he had to abide by school rules - he knows what the options are and for him it’s home or school). He’s been fighting (?!) and he is being mouthier (than usual - he always has been a bit quick, ’tis true, but this is above and beyond and far as I’m concerned).

Of course we’ve discussed it. Of course we’ve asked whether there’s anything underlying the general disatisfaction. One teacher is persona non gratis, but we’ve explained that that in itself shouldn’t necessarily put him off (and that doing his homework would do a lot to get said teacher off his back, quite simple really)

*Anyway* I’m very very close to losing patience with it and pulling him out whether he likes it or not (perhaps that’s what he’s aiming for, to not make any decision but have it made for him - arrrrrrrgh I need to switch off the Devil’s Advocate switch in my brain). Dh is humphing because he says that my bias is getting in the way and that he worries about Erk being at home due to some rather awful fighting on the boys’ part which has resulted in us splitting them up bedroom-wise - which has seemed to improve matters a bit. The concern being that the bickering will get in the way of everything else. Anyone who knows my eldest will laugh at this as my eldest has no difficulty putting as many difficulties in his own path without the need for much aid from any of his siblings, so Erk being there makes very little difference on that front.

Erk says he wants to be home-educated but at the same time he also wants to stay at school (the reasons for school being his friends, the extra swimming lesson, science and his form tutor’s - the one he likes - jokes). No particular reason given for being at home except for the fact that he misses it and finds maths too easy and boring and he *could* see his friends after they’ve finished school for the day and at the weekend (essentially for the fun stuff). The suggestion has been that he sees it out to the end of the academic year and then decides over the summer holidays what he wants to do - but with the way things are going I’m rapidly getting to the bollocks to it, you’re coming out NOW! The only thing that’s stopping me so far is dh - his other reason being that what if Erk changes his mind again and wants to go back to school, what then? It would be very disruptive to keep swinging from school to HE and back again (another arrrrgh! from me and also who gave him the crystal ball to see Erk deciding to go back to school again in the future? Perhaps he wanted to see if it was any better than last time, decided that no it isn’t and that it is HE for him all the way? Oh and whilst we’re on the subject, how about dh actually being at home long enough to have a proper discussion about it in the first place. Humph).

We are still trying to get a re-referral back to CAMHS for R. Part of me wonders why as everything I’ve heard about the local CAMHS isn’t particular positive, but we have to do *something* as he is really struggling atm. I had a support-worker-sort-of-person from an organistation that organises activities etc. for children on the autistic spectrum (and also has some supported housing for adults who need it) who is able to write a supporting letter and can apparently harrass a bit on our behalf out a couple of days ago. The plan had been to discuss some of R.’s difficulties without R. being there (because really it is less stressful all round if that’s how it happens), unfortunately my MIL had an appt. come through that morning so R. could only stay for part of the time, came home and exploded. He was aware the meeting was taking place and had, eventually, voluntarily gone to MILs, but that wasn’t going to stop him going ballistic when he saw the support worker. Ho hum, I guess it just supports the re-referral really.

So rather stressed atm - and hardly surprising I feel a bit fed up.

On the plus side I’m working on a proposed ‘family learning group’ locally and will be having another meeting re. it on Wednesday and again the week after. So feeling positive about that

First seen on Sarah’s blog - so blame her

You entered: 4/18/1977

Your date of conception was on or about 26 July 1976 which was a Monday.
You were born on a Monday
under the astrological sign Aries.
Your Life path number is 1.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2443251.5.
The golden number for 1977 is 2.
The epact number for 1977 is 10.
The year 1977 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/18/1977 and ending 2/6/1978.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Snake.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 10 April 1977.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 10 April 1977.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 23 February 1977.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 29 May 1977.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 5 June 1977.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 13 September 1977.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Sunday, 3 April 1977.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 22 February 1977.

As of 5/3/2006 1:21:11 PM EDT
You are 29 years old.
You are 349 months old.
You are 1,515 weeks old.
You are 10,607 days old.
You are 254,581 hours old.
You are 15,274,881 minutes old.
You are 916,492,871 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.15146771037182 years old. (You’re still chasing cats!)

There are 350 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 30 candles.

Those 30 candles produce 30 BTUs,
or 7,560 calories of heat (that’s only 7.5600 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.43 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1977 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.
In 1977 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1977 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%)
In 1977 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Diamond
The Mystical properties of Diamond

Diamonds are said to increase personal clarity to help one see things clearly as well as be straight-forward and honest. Supposedly, the higher quality the diamond, the better it is supports these qualities.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Opal, Quartz, White Sapphire

Your birth tree is

Maple, Independence of Mind
No ordinary person, full imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-respect, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, many complexes, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

There are 236 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 249 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon’s phase on the day you were
born was new.

….. at Brodsworth Hall on Saturday.

It was a lovely day, after the initial worry of drizzle and grey skies. We’d not been there before and as we’ve had a bit of a hiccup on the car front (i.e. we no longer have a car that will seat all of us), the children and I went on the bus (Rik was working so even if we did have a big enough car he couldn’t have driven over).

It was a lovely bus ride and a short walk from the bus stop to the Hall. The faeries were hidden in the gardens around the Hall:



We wandered around the garden searching for ten faeries so that we could claim our prizes (lollipops) from the gift shop.

There was a wonderful yew tree at the front of the Hall.<

A pet cemetery which Nin seemed to really like!

We had a picnic close to the fountain and a robin came to see what we were up to - he came ever so close!

To my surprise, after all this activity the boys wanted to go and look inside the house. Nin was tired and so was transferred into the pushchair and Ned into his sling (Nin swiftly fell asleep) and we explored inside (no photos allowed). It really is an interesting house - more so because English Heritage haven’t sort to restore it to it’s former glory, more it is faded and you can see something of how such grand houses decline. We learnt loads, not least because the boys asked loads of questions - but by the time we got upstairs the boys were flagging too, so we went to the tearooms for R. and Nin to have traditional lemonade; Erk, ginger beer and I had an orange jigger, before walking back to the bus-stop to go home. The boys wanted to know whether we could go back yesterday! So clearly a hit with them!

Plant nursery on the kitchen windowsill.

Because he looks so cute!

Ned again.

….. someone else’s fault that I see these things and get sucked in!

Who Should Paint You: M.C. Escher

Open and raw, you would let your true self show for your portrait. And even if your painting turned out a bit dark, it would be honest.

I blame Kris.

Your Life Path Number is 1

Your purpose in life is to lead others. You have great drive and determination. Nothing is going to stand in your way. You seek out challenges and the spotlight. You’ll take all the work - and all the glory. Status and success are important to you. You demand the best from everyone and everything. In love, you tend to take a protective role. You enjoy being the provider in relationships. You expect others to be like you, and as a result, you are often disappointed. A little selfish and vain, you always put yourself first. Remember, everyone already knows you’re great - you don’t need to remind them!

…… that makes them think it’s a good idea to deposit half-eaten pears in people’s gardening shoes?

Yes, it went squidge - yuck!

It’s my birthday today - just another year until I’m 30. I took Ned for his photo session. I won a free photo (yes I know it’s all part of a promotion to get me to buy loads of photos, but then I wanted some of Ned anyway and at some point need to get one of the children together, so actually it’s quite welcome). Ned was a star, smiling enthusiastically and burbling away at the photographer - I can’t wait to go and see the proofs next week! It was a lovely birthday present just to go along and watch him laughing

Erk’s gone back to school, rather unenthusiastically as it turns out school isn’t quite as fantastic as he thought it might be…..

I’m planning to go and visit my brother in Brighton in the summer (not been to Brighton before) so am feeling rather enthusiastic about that and apart from that everything’s plodding along.

I’ve been slowly cutting out dairy again and hoping it might help my skin out a bit - also on the cards in wheat etc., but I need to look at the logistics of managing that and not eating meat as well. This was the problem a couple of years ago and I came across someone who is vegan and also gluten-free but unfortunately they didn’t answer my questions about the hows etc. I don’t want to have lots of supplements, I’m not a fan of pill-popping, rather I think people should get the vits etc. they need from the food they eat. I’m off for a blood test when I get a spare min as doctor thinks I might be low on B vits - lots of ulcers etc. in my mouth (plus itchy mouth etc.) which could be a sign of candida apparently - basically my diet needs a complete overhaul and I really MUST lose some weight (because whilst I’m not exactly a vain person, I’ve put on a lot of weight whilst pg with Nin that just hasn’t shifted and the extra weight makes me feel so heavy and tired - which is not a good thing - I’m a size 18/20, rather than the 12/14 at which I feel healthy and haven’t been for 2 years).

Time to get really strict about the number of cakes I’ve been eating!

Thanks to Jax for this one (I saw it there first):

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn’t cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

….. for my birthday (it arrived early and caused some confusion because I’d forgotten that it is my birthday soon).

See the little child in a sling behind the shield? My grandmother knows just what I’ll love

Tusen takk Bestemor

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don’t actively fight them. You’re just you. You don’t try to be what people expect you to be.

Still really busy!

I’ve been carrying on with getting R’s jumper finished (just a couple of inches on one sleeve and another sleeve before making up), I’ve started a little tunic for Ned (I’ve almost finished the back).

The allotment now has 13 raspberries (because I bought some and as I was putting them in our ‘lottie neighbours popped their head round the gate and asked if we wanted some more!) 2 (possibly 4) blackcurrant bushes - I wasn’t sure about the 2nd two as I couldn’t remember what I’d got - and 2 redcurrant cuttings (which will hopefully take - I did have 4, but gave 2 to the neighbours as they’d very kindly given us some raspberries and also some beans some of which they helped R. plant up and leave in their polytunnel to be collected later). I also planted some carrots and R. put in some beetroots (in between hiding in the shed from the rain), so a rather productive day!

We had a meeting with the LEA last Wednesday. This has been a bit of a sore point as R. didn’t want to meet them and of course I supported his decision, after all, we don’t need endorsement from an outside agency, we’ve HE-ed since 2003 and it’s going very well. I don’t lack confidence with the decision to HE and know that R. is getting the best education he can (certainly better than school could provide for him).

However, the LEA was insisting on ‘examples’ of work and I was arguing that R. didn’t want this and there is nothing in the Education Act (or case law) that dictates that ‘examples’ must be provided. This has gone on since last year and there has been much to-ing and fro-ing of letters and I was preparing to dig us in for the long haul (and had taken some legal advice!)

The R. changed his mind and declared that he wanted to meet the local HE Advisor. So this duly happened last Wednesday. It actually went very well. R. made scones (mostly because Fiona, who came along too, had made scones last time we visited her, so he wanted to return the kindness) and the 2 bods from the LEA were fed them with organic strawberry jam and a cup of tea. We discussed various subjects, I told them something of my thoughts on how children learn and R. told them some of the things he was interested in and what he had been up to recently, quite a bit of which involved gardening, history and cooking. Not one scrap of work was shown (as R. didn’t want to show any of his work) but the response from the HE Advisor was that R. is clearly a very intelligent, articulate young man and we must be very proud of him I’m not a person that looks for (or needs) outside approval - but hey, it’s a bonus!

R. has been continuing with his project on Ancient Egypt. I’ve given up on ‘the schedule’ again, as it’s behind (again) and R. is quite happy meandering along. We will get to Ancient Greece when he’s ready, but we’ve so much else on too that it’s hard to squeeze in the time for his project as he’s spending a lot of time reading and with the planning for the allotment, him cooking (he’s doing more and more) and just getting out and about more, we seem to be busy all of the time!

Anyway, time to get on with dinner. I’ve a nice home-made jam sponge ready to go in the oven (yum!)

…. but I’m not complaining, because TBH I prefer it that way!

I’ve been busy updating Ninny Noodle Noo (although I’ve not finished yet), setting up Donny Nutters with Sarah and also building Hearth and Home Education which I’m hoping will be a useful resource for Pagan HE-ers in the UK - although I hope they’ll be useful stuff on there for all families

If anyone would like to submit any articles for Hearth and Home Ed. please do!!! They don’t have to be Pagan-based, I’m also looking for HE resources, gardening, household tips, breastfeeding and cloth nappying stuff (and Infant Elimination Communication), health, etc. It would be lovely to include some stuff from children and young people (poems, drawings, writing about flowers, etc.)

Photos etc. are also welcome. Please send any suitable bits and pieces to me - thanks!

My little girl went all the way to Highfields on a bus and a train (and walking) and back again without a nappy and didn’t have any accidents! I’m so proud of her!

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things. Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life. You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon. Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall. You’re an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults. Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion. A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

…..will I be forgiven for not blogging much?

Where does the time go? Lots of vomiting children made for the days flying by! Everyone seems on the mend now and we’re trying to get back into the swing of things. I need to get some rhythm back into my life as the past few weeks seem to have been a hectic whirl which has left me feeling rather wobbly. I’ve been taking stock and really need to get my bum in gear and get more organised if things are going to run smoothly as it’s set to get much busier as this year goes on!

I’ve a meeting on Monday, I’m planning to get over to Highfields next Tuesday (will have to see how I get on), another meeting on Wednesday, working Thursday and Friday - an it’s been like that for the past few weeks (broken up with the spells of vomiting children). In a way I’m happy, to be so busy - I do like it, but I MUST get my orgo-planner head on (now Ned is a couple of months old) if I’m going to cope with busy.

The allotment has a shed, some raised beds surrounded by paths made from dumped sleepers and bits of concrete (left on the lottie) and there’s plastic down on the rest killing off the fast growing brambles and nettles. Two window-sill propagators full of chilli seedlings (dh has a *thing* about chilli) and one of herbs and I really must look at some more vegetable based seedlings ready to plant out - because I’m convinced better weather is coming soon!

I woke up this morning to the dulcet tones of child throwing up in the bed next to me. Nin is ill, she has spent the past couple of hours throwing up and now she is asleep. Poor Nin.

…. But then I have been really busy in a so much to do so little time way. R. is still plodding on with his Ancient Eygpt project - I *still* haven’t caught up with my book (I wanted to make one too), especially as the map drawing with his new aquarelle pencils looked so much fun – but I’ve got a few knitting projects that need to be done if my children are going to have clothes to wear (as I should really use some of the yarn I’ve got rather than buying them jumpers!)

I’ve made a kaftan for Ned – it needs an iron (as you can see in the photo) and I’m going to embroider around the neck and cuffs. I’ve almost finished the front of a chunky cabled baggy jumper for R. (who feels the cold and needs thick jumpers) and Nin is fast outgrowing all of hers, so next on the agenda is a cardi for her.

Sarah & co. came round on Saturday. It was Sarah’s birthday so we ate home-made pizza, dips and chocolate cake We spent a lot of time discussing life, the universe and everything and also business plans that might make life a little easier for both of us.

Rik built the fence at the allotment on Sunday and we all had a bit of a clear up there. It’s looking a lot better but still needs A LOT of work. Feeling all inspired though! There are three propagators sitting on the windowsill in the dining room – one of herbs, the fennel, parsley and time are sprouting already and two (!) of chilli peppers (Rik has a *thing* about chillis). Kris had some garlic from us as it desperately needed planting (we’ve some planted already in the back – but what was left wouldn’t keep for our allotment) so we’ll divvy that up when it’s grown (dh also has a thing for garlic – we’re going to stink for the rest of the year It was lovely to see her and Tea and Piglet after such a gap.

Off on a tangent, this is where the road leads that we live off:

The lane you can see peters out not much further on and from there there is a track to the next village (which is cyclable – if I had a bike).

A photo of the woods (which are to the right of Erk in the photo above):

There are what I think are quite a few hazel trees, but I wasn’t able to check in the autumn (the nuts would’ve confirmed it, I get a bit confused between hazel and something else – i.e. I sometimes think it’s a hazel tree but there’s a similar leaf on something I typically can’t remember off the top of my head now – but the nuts clinch it), so will keep returning until I’ve confirmed whether that’s the case. There are some hazel trees in the other wood - I saw unripened nuts on them, but wasn’t physically able to pick them later in the season, but it’s nice to know of as many as possible so there’s a choice when picking.

The fungi that I mentioned a few posts ago:

Anyone know what it is?

The boys finally decided they wanted to read Harry Potter:

And a pic of Ned, he’s 8 weeks tomorrow and weighed 12oz 12lbs when I got him weighed last week!

Your wise quote is: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising everytime we fall” by Confucius.
Yes indeed, you see true strength can only be seen when a person has “fallen”. Only then one can tell how they will handle it. Just don’t make others fall so you can know who they really are. You on the other hand may be a very quick recoverer and don’t let people bring you down. You are your own and you’re find with that. Emotional issues is something you handle rather nicely.

What wise quote fits you? [pics]
brought to you by Quizilla

R.’s been continuing with his Egyptian project, the backgarden has been cleared (mostly down to Rik, not me), I bored of knitting a bag and have started a lovely kaftan in a grey-ie blue wool/cotton mix for Ned, which I plan to embroider (finished the back of it). Just general busyness really.

We went over to one of the Sheffield meets which made a nice change. R. really enjoyed himself and afterwards we went back for a cup to tea etc. with one of the Sheffield ‘lot’ before coming home (rather later than initially planned).

I took Ned to be weighed - he’s 12lb 5oz, which isn’t bad for 6weeks old. I was rather surprised and am thinking of renaming him Nibble Munch (after a poem by Brian Patten).

Should hopefully have a fence up at the lottie soon (Rik went to get an idea of how much it would cost). I’m looking forward to that as it means we can start getting it cleared, I’m spending a lot of time dreaming about it.

Erk has decided he wants to be a fashion designer (bit of a change from a builder) and I’ve realised that I’ve just written more of a list than a blog (but I’m still tired after yesterday and want to blog, but feel a bit bleurgh.)

Nin has just asked for some ‘Gruffalo cheese’ - LOL!

Hmmmm, there are some wonderful things on this site!

Jealous? Moi?

Forgot to say that on Wednesday we tried Water Buffalo cheese (with nettles) at the farmer’s market. It was a big hit with the children and the piece I bought has almost gone (Nin ate most of it for lunch today).

We went for a walk in the woods today and got rather muddy I’ve taken a photo of some strange black fungi we found (will post it later/tomorrow). It’s been a bit of an odd week as it’s half term and it’s strange (in a nice way) to have Erk here - unfortunately it has sparked quite a few more arguments between him and R. though.

Oh and we also registered Ned on Wednesday!

So we went and had a look and took some pics:

(including random child I picked up on the way to the allotments)

It’s a good job I’m such an optimistic soul! Guess what’ll be featuring very heavily in our HE plans for a while!

Now *that’s* a film I can watch over and over and over - I’d completely forgotten about it until I saw it listed as on last night (although I wasn’t feeling well, so didn’t stay up to watch it as I’m trying to grab sleep where possible) - but it did mean that I noted it down on my wishlist to buy when I’ve a few spare pounds - although admittedly I have lost count of how often I’ve seen it and can confidently predict what dialogue is coming next throughout the film.

Yes I like vampire films - and no I was never a huge fan of George Clooney - but I do like him with the tattoos he has in this film.

You are a Siamese! You are fun-loving, playful,

energetic, talkative, and exotic. You are

the center of attention and you love every

minute of it.

What breed of cat are you?
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I feel a bit guilty - I’m on a HE blogring and yet very little blogging about HE seems to happen on my blog…….

It’s not that we haven’t been doing anything, it’s that (hang my head in shame) I’ve just been a lazy blogger.

R. is chugging along quite nicely with his Ancient Egypt project - he painted a wonderful map of Egypt using his new Aquarelle crayons (from Lyra - he is very proud of them). He has practised his Norwegian and we’ve been out and mowed the front lawn (eventually) and cleared the front beds a bit, bought flowers (ready to go in tomorrow hopefully), baked bread, cakes, jam tarts, carried on reading the Hobbit and R. various HP books (he finally started reading the series and just finished the 4th book).

Dawn & Co. came to visit us yesterday. It was lovely to finally meet them all and R. and the girls really got on well. An added bonus for R. is that Lana is a fellow stamp collector, so he was really pleased about that - it’s wonderful that he’s met someone who he has something in common with (it’s been a while!)

Anyway, it’s a short blog (again) as I’m still pretty knackered and not feeling fantastic (I think tiredness is catching up with me a bit!)

I’ve been tagged by: Rosie

4 jobs you have had in your life
Cattery/Kennel Maid
Asst. Youth Worker
Childminder
Toy-shop owner

4 movies you could watch over and over
Fight Club (for the anarchist in me)
Dangerous Liaisions - as Jayne reminded me makes my heart thump (sad but true)

Either Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2 (can’t quite choose between them)

I keep thinking there’s something I’ve missed - and then there’s quite a long list of other films that don’t fail to please me/give me a warm cozy glow, but they don’t leap out in my mind. Then I think of made-for-TV stuff, like Pride & Prejudice (with Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie) or Dr. Zchivago (sp? with whatsisface, I know his name, but of course now it escapes me, as Pasha - again sp?) they really grabbed me - and I can always watch Buffy LOL.

4 places you have been on vacation
Crete (I loved the palace at Knossos and would love to go again)
My mum’s farm
The Dordogne (wonderful pre-historic sites)
Brecon Beacons (it rained)

4 websites you visit daily
Ebay (oh dear)
Various blogs
Erm, after Ebay and various blogs you don’t have time to look at other sites……..

4 of your favorite foods
Various Indian foods (not hot - but spicy)
Okra
Carrots
Berries (ok, not strictly one choice)

4 places you would rather be right now
Quite happy where I am in life (although a bit of a windfall wouldn’t go amiss)

4 Cars you have owned
Can’t drive

4 bloggers you are tagging
Ummmmmm, not sure, can’t remember who hasn’t be tagged that I’d feel comfortable tagging!

These will only really mean something to those people that know us, but actually these descriptions are quite scary! This is R.

Your Birthdate: October 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You’re very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don’t “get” you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

And this is Erk:

Your Birthdate: July 3

You are more than a big ball of energy - you are a big ball of hyper. You are always on the go, but you don’t have a type a personality. Instead of channeling your energy into work, you instead go for fun and adventure. Witty and verbal, you can have an interesting conversation with anyone. Your strength: Your larger than life imagination Your weakness: You tend to be pretty scattered Your power color: Lime Your power symbol: Lightening bolt Your power month: March

Hmmmmmmm. ‘Scattered’ is an understatement. LOL!

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all… But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

Thanks to Rosie for this one.

Your Birthdate: April 18

You are a cohesive force - able to bring many people together for a common cause. You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too. Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others. You also keep your powerful emotions in check - you know when to emote and when to repress. Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities Your power color: Crimson red Your power symbol: Snowflake Your power month: September

This might be a bit *sad* but we caught the end of The Romantics on BBC2 this evening, Erk watched getting really excited at a reading of Shelley’s work (something to do with Atheism - I’m not very *up* on poetry etc.) he then proceeded to tell me that he’d thought about that too, that God is created by people through the energy of their belief and that God needs people to live and believing in God helps people to live. Now, I’m not atheist (and Erk used to see what he describes as angels and clearly believes there is ’something’ there too), but I was impressed by a 9 year old’s capacity to consider such things and the fact that he understood what Shelley was rattling on about. It also reminded me (just a little bit) of Terry Pratchett’s “Small Gods” (which is possibly a little more approachable - I’m ever the one to admit I’m not exactly the academic…..)

The Noble Princess

You are just and fair, a perfectionist with a

strong sense of proper decorum. You are very

attracted to chivalry, ceremony and dignity.

For the most part you are rather sensible,

but you are also very idealistic.

Role Models: Guinevere, Princess Fiona (of Shrek)

You are most likely to: Get kidnapped by a stray

dragon.

What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I’ve spent the past couple of days wanting to blog but not quite getting around to it……

I went to renew my First Aid Cert. yesterday (I go again next week as it’s a 12 hour course) with Ned in tow. It took a bit of effort to find a course that would allow me to bring a newborn with me (people muttered about insurance etc.), but apparently it wasn’t a problem on this one, although it appeared no-one had asked the tutor, who was a little surprised but then spent part of the day cuddling Ned whilst I breathed various numbers of breaths in various sizes of dummy.

I’m fairly sure I had other *interesting* things to say, but right now they’re all escaping me, I’m not even wonderfully sure of what I’ve done over the past couple of days (save for sitting on the sofa holding a poorly Nin). Rik’s been cooking because it’s been easier that way. There has been very little done on the HE front because R. still isn’t feeling on top form so has spent the past few days reading Harry Potter 1 & 2 in bed. I bought some yarn from Ebay and *still* haven’t got around to trying to design a shawl despite a few attempts at getting the ‘good’ crayons down to do it with.

I’ve another pic. of Ned, modelling (of course) another cardi knitted by moi - I should really get cracking on some larger sizes for him and have a go through Nin’s clothes to see if she needs anything (which TBH I don’t think she does as very kind family members keep sending her presents). I’ve also printed off a pattern from Knitty to make a felted bag to use up a load of grey wool I have. Anyway, picture of Ned:

So I’m counting down to Ned and I feeling awful too That’s one of the problems with numerous children, once one is ill, they all come down with it.

I’ve had a bit of a book splurge and bought the Gruffalo board book with a Gruffalo toy (from good ole’ ebay), Knitting over the Edge, Hats, a Knitter’s Dozen (which has some rather funky hats in, as I’ve promised the boys I’ll make them something a bit ‘different’), Crocheted Hats (yes I know I can’t crochet - but I can learn!), Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker which I may need to read a few times…… and the first two Harry Potter books.

In addition I ordered some books by Prudence Mapstone (her website is here). I really must have a go at this, I’ve been feeling a bit ’stuck in a rut’ of late, due to the extra weight I’m carrying around - although atleast I’m not still wearing maternity jeans, so there’s hope yet that I might be loosing steadily whilst breastfeeding rather than staying pretty much the same weight (which is what happened with Nin) and not being able to wear what I’d like to wear. I’ve always prefered to *stand out* a bit and need to inject a bit of colour into me again (and loosing weight will mean cheaper knitting as I won’t have to buy so much yarn! LOL

Anyway, do visit Prudence’s website - I spent hours over the weekend following links etc. and learning loads!

Oh and I also treated myself to one of Sheffield’s finest, the Artic Monkey’s album - which is great - any album with a song on it called Mardy Bum is bound to make me smile! Anyway, if you liked the 2 singles they’ve released, you’ll love the album

Ned’s just started crying so I’m going to have to go.

Knitted Elvis wig - this made me laugh (me thinks that I still have far too much time on my hands…….)

In the all-in-one I knitted (yes there’s loads of buttons - it was the first time I tried to put buttonholes on something I’ve knitted).

Another suit I knitted but haven’t got round to sewing the buttons on yet.

Thank you for all the good wishes! I’ve finally got round to posting a couple of pics from not long after he was born.

And some other good news….. I spoke to the Clerk to the Parish Council and I’m 3rd on the allotment waiting list, but should go to the top as there are 2 plots to allocate (apparently they should’ve been allocated in December but the meeting was postponed) and should the 2 people ahead of me want them then I go to top of list :0)

I know it sounds a bit sad, but I’ve wanted an allotment for a few years now and this is the first time we’ve ever lived close enough to plots for it to be a reality (as I can’t drive, so any plot has to be within easy walking distance). In addition there’s a bit of a pile of cardboard boxes (ok a large pile of rubbish) in our back garden and the boxes would be great to cover part of any plot (as chances are it’ll be a mess and need clearing) - plus a couple of old chairs and a table which would provide a valuable resting place :0)

Our back garden is a bit of a mess, but I’m a little tied there as we’re planning a conservatory this year so I don’t want to go ahead with any other plans until that’s built and the resultant mess is cleared. I plan for the raised bed by what will be a patio to become a herb garden and I want to train a couple of fruit trees against the fence as it’s a lovely sunny spot. The back bed will be for some soft fruit - but much of what I want to do needs to wait until the conservatory is built (which will be our craft and play room).

So I’m all excited now as the allotment seems to be coming a couple of steps closer……

little Edward Amund, who was born on 10th January at 00.53 and weighed 9lbs. Will blog more when I have some spare time (and post some pics!)

Just a quick note (as Mum’s visiting and I don’t want to spend too much time on the PC). *Still* no baby! Apparently I’m 3cm so something has been happening, but baby isn’t really showing any signs of making an imminent arrival!

No the baby hasn’t arrived yet…….

I’ve added a couple of photos to the photos page (ones that have been on the blog already though - I really must get the photos on the PC organised).

Sarah & Co. came round for a visit today. Dino disappeared upstairs with R. and Mimi brought her doll and pushchair so she and Nin had great fun pushing their dolls around, going ’shopping’, etc. and playing with the farm animals. Sarah and I chatted about ’stuff’ (notably how to expand on our respective businesses and our perfect ‘home’) and generally putting the world to rights. Had a taste of bread from her new breadmaker (which was very nice) and some German gingerbread biscuits covered in dark chocolate which for just a second Sarah had R. believing was only for over-18s. Nin was so exhausted she was asleep with a few minutes of them leaving.

Erk went back to school today (I’m finding it hard to believe he’s not even had 2 weeks off!) and I had an argument with R. (again). I’m a bit torn as to what to do but am getting to the point where I think we really do need a bit of a break from each other (working both ways). School in not an option - and I don’t think a Special school is either - both would probably cause all sorts of difficulties for him.

Once I get some regular work in I might consider trying to find a childminder to take him for a day a week to give us both a break, but if I’m honest I don’t think that’ll work either, he certainly wouldn’t be happy there (he probably wouldn’t even try) - so it leaves me with a bit of a dilemma - as unless he knows someone he can be very difficult to talk to and if he doesn’t want to be somewhere will be doubly difficult and TBH I think I’d struggle to find a childminder who I would be comfortable leaving him with (and that’s speaking as a registered childminder who knows some fantastic childminders but thinks that any contract would be shortlived - bearing in mind I used to work f/t and R. had a thoroughly miserable time of it!) Still that avenue may work and give us some much needed ‘time apart’.

Hopefully the re-referral to CAMHS will come through soon and that might throw up some other options. Problem is I’m a little sceptical of them too as I worry I might come across a rabidly anti-HE keyworker/ASW, which considering the behaviour of the LEA wouldn’t surprise me a bit!

I really want HE to work, but it does have to be a two-way thing and ATM R. just isn’t very motivated. He still has some huge ‘hang-ups’ (which isn’t the best word to use because he is justified to a certain extent) about other children (especially children of his own age) and *school* in general, which even 3 years later is still having an impact. Still, I’m trying to hit 2006 with a renewed motivation for the both of us (will have to see how long it lasts……….)

I’ve started knitting a throw to go on the cotbed out of bits and pieces left over (but then realised I’ll still need to buy some more wool to finish it how I like it!) It’s chugging along well enough as it’ll be composed of differently patterned squares - I’ve got a lovely book of knitted throws and blankets and so got my inspiration there! I’d love to make a huge one for my bed - or maybe a throw for the sofa but would probably need a second mortgage to afford the wool!)

R. has continued knitting a present for my Mum (who arrives on Friday so he’s now cutting it a bit fine considering he then needs to felt the piece and embroider/bead it etc.) Still it’s looking good

Nin seems to have had a mini-spurt and whilst she doesn’t quite have long enough legs to fit the jeans she was bought, many of her tops seem a little short for her now, so I think I’ll need to have a sort through - a good excuse to knit some nice new cardis for her I could still do with learning to crochet though………..

I had an appt. with the consultant today - but actually saw a m/w (I’ve never met the consultant) - who tried to do a sweep but couldn’t reach (I’ve tilted backwards so it can make exams a bit difficult for some people!) I think this baby is very comfortable………

Oh and Dawn, I wish I looked so elegant naked (don’t think the boys would be too impressed if I swanned around naked covered only by a few flowers

Funnily enough I remember getting exactly the same result donkeys ago when I did the same quiz (yes I too am struggling for things to occupy myself…….)

You are the Empress card. The Empress is the
archetype of the Mother. She creates and
nurtures life. She represents the abundance of
Mother Earth. The Empress is capable of using
nature in a productive way. She espouses art
for art’s sake. Her planet is Venus, and she
embodies love of beauty and a strong value
system. Here is also found initial sensation.
This is the first really physical experience of
the world that The Fool has entered. The
Empress has a rich understanding of the world
based on her five senses. In a reading, The
Empress represents pregnancy, actual or
metaphorical. She indicates an act of creation
and a sensual experience of beauty. The Empress
is a nurturing force that wishes to see the
product of her experiences reach the next stage
of development. Image from A Photographic Tarot
http://www.bluewitch.com/healingtarot/healtar.htm
Deck

Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

My mum’s updated her website for her farm B&B in Norway, if anyone would like a look: Uppheim Farm.

And balls to the ticker - how many babies come on EDD (although Erk did)? Surely it should just keep on going till it’s updated?

Humph! Despite being really crampy and uncomfortable nothing actually seems to be progressing. Took Nin out for a walk in the snow today - she loved it! Took quite a while as she just wanted to pick the snow up, scrunch it in her hands, throw it over her head, etc, etc. It was rather wonderful to watch. She was so excited when we got home and rattled on to dh about the snow (she even enjoyed slipping over, which she also did quite a bit). I still don’t fancy venturing out in the car though to take the flea-bag mog to the vets (which I’m feeling a little guilty about, but I really don’t fancy our car out on the road - although I’m guessing the main road is probably fine (it’s just the windy road to get there that worries me!)

So still crampy and uncomfortable - but looks like I might still be for a while yet (I’ve got an appointment on Tuesday with the consultant and would really prefer for baby to come before then as I don’t fancy traipsing 3 children on 2 buses and then be poked and prodded whilst they get bored and fed up!)

as it’s coming on to 7am and I’ve been awake since before 6am feeling rather crampy and ‘wierd’ (just recently I’ve not been getting up until 10am - *shock horror*!) I bloody well hope so as I’m thoroughly in the I’m big, lumbering and uncomfortable stage - where I can’t sit on the floor as I then can’t get up again, well, that and the cats got fleas and we’ve been stuck until now to take her to the vets (as we discovered them Christmas Eve). The plan was to take her today, but I’m looking at the snow and whilst not exactly a huge snowfall I do worry about how useless some areas are at dealing with snow in England and do worry a bit about being in a car out of the roads, so may have to give it a miss - in the meantime my ankles are being covered with bites which I know I shouldn’t itch, but am and they’re starting to become a little raw (I attract all small biting things - as does R.) Might see how the day progresses, because we’re all a bit uncomfortable and Fern is in a foul mood with added flea bites (not that she wasn’t in a fairly foul mood through us having new furniture, then putting up a tree, then moving furniture around, etc. - not exactly cat heaven).

We had no electricity for part of last Monday and most of Tuesday - which was fun as it meant the phones were unusable and of course my mobile and Rik’s had run out of batteries and there was no way to charge them……. I was convinced that meant I’d go into labour then, but luckily not (the one neighbour who doesn’t work was also out for most of the day as I had tried to call to see if I could atleast top up my mobile). The electricians were really good - unpatronising - although I think it helped that I understood what they were talking about in the first place and was able to atleast sound like I had some idea of what might be happening and that I’d cut down some work for them having tried a few possible ideas myself (although dh had to move furniture). It didn’t take them too long to sort out what the problem was - so all in all - lucky that it happened then, as opposed to a few days later.

Sarah & co. came round (can’t remember what day - brain doesn’t much function this early ATM) which was lovely as it has been a little difficult for me to get out of late.

Yule was quiet - we batten down the hatches at this time of year and tend to hide away - Christmas too. Dh cooked (as per usual) although I did make a lovely lemon tart (but kept getting sharp pains so it took a little longer than usual - I was determined to make it though!) The children helped and I have a photo of Nin squeezing lemons, so must sort that out in a bit and get it posted.

The ‘Making Dolls’ book is the new version of ‘Kinder Dolls’ - I’m really looking forward to having a bash at some little dolls (I’m a bit crap with a sewing machine and don’t fancy attempting anything larger by hand ATM). I also got a book with patterns for knitting ‘folk’ hats - a bit fanciful, but some interesting patterns - including a knitted samurai’s helmet that looks rather impressive, if a little difficult, to knit. I might have a bash at knitting the one with a shaped bird on top and the Lappish-inspired ‘Four Winds’ hat for the boys (might extend the horns though to make them long and floppy). I’m onto the sleeves of a coat for Nin’s doll - to match the pink & purple hat and pink bootees I’ve knitted so far. I decided to make the coat a little thicker by mixing pink and purple 4ply together for a kind of ‘mottled’ effect. The coat is in st-st and moss (which isn’t my favourite stitch) and the moss stitch is taking a little longer, but it’s looking nice - essentially it’s a pattern for a matinee jacket, I just adjusted the needle-size a bit, but it seems on track to fit.

Anyway, I suppose I’d better get on and hang up the washing or something (and hope these cramps continue!)

Had a bit of a ‘day off’ today. Took almost 2 bloody hours to walk to the market and back (in reality only a few minutes round the corner, but the queue in the post office wasn’t short and I had to keep stopping to catch my breath and wait for the stabbing pains to go away - why, in late pregnancy, does it feel like your insides are dropping out?)

R. carried the veg. We came home, made a cup of hot chocolate and sat down to knit. R. has decided to make a knitted cuff for his granny. He’s going to felt it once it’s knitted and then decorate it with beads and sequins. So he’s been enthusiastically, if a little slowly, knitting one, in between stopping to listen to the Gruffalo (for the umpteenth time - Nin actually quotes from it now - she is, apparently, ‘The ‘ariest ‘eature in this wood!”) Pity I’m not feeling more inspired to make a toy Gruffalo, she’d probably play with it for hours……..

Nin’s dolly has new bootees and I’ve almost finished a dolly hat too. I received my book order for Making Dolls (I’d like to have a bash at making the small ‘dollshouse’ dolls) and Teaching Mathmatics by Ron Jarman (for Steiner schools - very interesting, although it will take a few re-readings as the more esoteric elements of the Steiner approach to mathematics is a little much for my rather addled brain ATM, although I find how maths corresponds to the four elements etc. very interesting and of course the nods towards the symbolism of numbers is again of interest - I’d love to study this more but honestly don’t know where I’d squeeze in the time!)

I’ve hit a bit of a brick wall maths-wise. I like maths, but I’m having a little difficulty enthusing R. and so have pushed it back for a while to have a read and a bit of a think on it (in the hope that some inspiration might present itself). In all honesty I don’t think it’s helped by the fact that our relationship is a little *strained* ATM and I have recently requested a re-referral to CAMHS as I feel I’m floundering a little - although I do feel there are still other avenues of support to explore, I just need a bit of a light to shine from somewhere. It is, of course, never easy to work with someone with whom you’re finding it a little difficult to get on with, even if they are one of your children. So stepping back a bit and chilling out seemed like the best thing to do today.

Anyway, I really should go to bed!

Mummynat tagged me so:

3 names you answer to-
Nicola
Nikki
Nik - but would probably answer to dottyspots if someone shouted it out it’s been *me* for so long.

3 parts of your heritage-
Norway
Dreaming
Music

3 things that scare me
Losing my family (that has to be the scariest!)
Operations (mostly due to having a drip, last time I had a spike set in my hand I ripped it out!)
Being paralysed from the neck down (I’ve had ’shock paralysis’ and couldn’t move from the neck down it was incredibly frightening).

3 of your everyday essentials
Family
Music
Carrots

3 things you are wearing right now
Jeans
Purple jumper
Slippers

3 of your favourite songs
Arrrrrrgh - that’s really difficult and I have a big long list! It really depends on what mood I’m in! Usually either Holiday in Cambodia or Californian Uber Alles by Dead Kennedys, You’re Gonna Miss Me by 13th Floor Elevators and Say A Little Prayer (sung by Aretha Franklin rather than Dionne Warwick) - but really it is very changeable and I always have new things I enjoy listening to added to my playlist. ATM I’m listening a lot to Mr Brightside (Killers), Golden Touch (Razorlight) and Intergalatic (Beastie Boys - ‘cos my 9 year old got their best of…)

3 things you want in an relationship (other than true love)
Honesty
Fun
Equality

2 truths and 1 lie
I never lie
I like spiders
I believe in fairies

3 things about the opposite sex that appeal to you
GSOH (stereotyped - but I really do need it!)
Knowing something about the music I like
Conversation

3 of your favourite hobbies
Listening to music (well actually more singing and dancing along)
Knitting
Making lists…..

3 places you want to go
Svalbard/Spitzbergen
Very Northern Norway (where my mother’s family are from)
Barcelona

3 things you want to do before you die
See my grandchildren (hoping I have some)
Errrrrr….. visit the places listed above
Errrrrrm, that’s it really, I’m not actually very demanding from life!

3 ways that you are sterotypically a male/female
I talk, alot
I have to do things myself to ‘make sure they’re done properly’
I have big ‘ole mood swings

HTHs

Being a bit of a twit I managed to fall down the stairs whilst carrying Nin. I should’ve had my slippers on, but we were going out so I’d got myself and Nin changed, slipped down the final 3 or 4 stairs and in true cartoon fashion, the minute my tight-covered foot hit the laminated floor I flipped up in the air and landed on my bum with Nin on top of me. Nin was fine, if a little surprised. I was a bit shaken up. It seemed to set off a good lot of very painful contractions and I ended up being checked over in hospital just to check that baby was ok. Looks like I’m set for a last few uncomfortable weeks as every evening I’m getting very painful contractions added to by a tickly cough (which is driving me mad).

I’ve had another blood test, so fingers crossed my blood count has gone up, if not I think I will be a little concerned this close to labour.

We’ve put up the tree so are looking a little more festive. No itching or swelling this time, so I’m guessing I was allergic to something that was sprayed on the last tree (as I ended up at A&E itching all over with my airways swelling up - not a fun experience).

It’s still rather quiet on the HE front, simply because I’m permanently tired. R. has been plodding along in the background whilst I’ve tried to rest (as I’m struggling to get up before 10 ATM). So here’s hoping I’ve not got too much longer left and can get my iron levels back up well after baby arrives.

The past few day I ‘ave been mostly watching: Sharpe.

I bought the DVD boxset as a little pressie for me (although dh loves the series as well) - so have been spending my usually TV-free evenings watching a little joyous blast from the past

I’ve started taking flouradix because my blood count dropped even more and I’ve had to admit that it does need boosting a bit (so that I don’t feel permanently knackered).

I’ve taken on the post of local childminding co-ordinator, which should be interesting as I’m wanting to be involved with the new Children’s Centre to atleast attempt to get some of my thoughts heard (and those of other local childminders who are a little concerned about some of the plans).

Apart from that, feeling seriously crampy and a bit sick and keep hoping it’ll carry on, but generally I get a good set of BH for a few hours and then it tapers off in the early hours of the morning.

grrrrrrrr……….

Well the CTG on Monday didn’t exactly go as planned, as on chatting to the midwife she fetched a doctor who suspected a blood clot and then I wasn’t going home. I had a series of rather unpleasant tests which luckily all came back negative (they were still poking and prodding at 3am the next morning). I’ll never complain about blood tests again having had them take blood out of the artery at my wrist, which was rather *interesting*.

I’m back home but under strict instructions to go nowhere, rest and contact them if anything aches etc.

So I’ve been reasonably good, even missed the talk on Heuristic Play I was so looking forward to attending. I’ve managed to re-arrange attending a First Aid course for January (and apparently I should be able to take new baby with me too - fingers crossed otherwise I’ll probably have to cancel again).

Naturally it’s been fairly quiet on the HE front, R.’s been chugging along, but obviously hasn’t had much input from me as I’ve not been here and Rik hasn’t really got much knowledge for what R. is studying ATM. Today he had his first go with the sewing machine (I’ve been converting some rather ‘past-it’ terry nappies into wash cloths for bums and R. had a bash as a good way of practising).

Anyway, it’s a bit of a quiet post as I’m in a fairly quiet mood - off to do a bit of surfing before I go to bed (I had a sleep earlier so am just working off some excess energy in the quietest way possible I can think of).

The answer to whether I’ll manage in a smoky pub is….. I wouldn’t. The cramps got worse and sickness is back with a vengeance. I went to be checked over Saturday night and need to go back on Monday afternoon. I’ve spent today wanting to throw up everywhere, with an achey back and headaches. I’m guessing it’s some sort of infection and I’ve been asleep for most of the day. So not good……

Arrrrgh, town in the lead up to Christmas, but was pretty desperate to pick up my new glasses (as my other’s are broken) and that overcame my not really wanting to go near the place at this time of year - plus the boys needed the usual socks and pants etc and R. needed shoes. I got Nin’s feet measured on the off chance and found her feet are a size too big for her boots how guilty did I feel! So had to get Nin some shoes - and this was after I’d bought a few CDs (if I’d have known I was buying an extra pair of shoes I wouldn’t have got the CDs).

I bought the John Peel Tribute CD which will be great for when I fancy an eclectic mix, the Best of Santana (I have stuff on vinyl but no record player - and Erk singing She’s Not There makes any singles collection worth the money ), Singles (Smiths) because again I have stuff on vinyl, but the tracks I’d generally choose to listen too were on this CD and the new Beastie Boys compilation Solid Gold for the boys to listen to (and a blast from the past for me, as quite a few people at school listened to them). Had a chat with blokey behind counter about Spear of Destiny as they’re playing locally on Thursday and me guesses that now Rik knows he’ll go, I quite fancy it but don’t know how I’ll cope with smoky pub gig ATM.

Feeling all knackered and very crampy, so going to relax, play Freecell and listen to Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division (me thinks it’s time to update my playlist).

Cleaning is driving me mad - or rather lack of cleaning. Further from discovering that shoe-polish smells like freshly dug carrots and that it is possible to eat 30x30cm square of parsley for the garden in one sitting I am now going slowly insane over the fact that I want furniture polish.

I spent the trip to Leeds Ikea on Sunday dreaming of furniture polish. I can almost taste it, let alone smell it. Usually I wouldn’t use it, I wipe stuff down with a few drops of essential oil and a damp cloth (apart from the kitchen sides and the toilet which do get a clean with disinfectant now and again!) I know it’s horrible stuff, but my mouth waters just thinking about it.

I’m desperate to vacuum but can’t physically get to the cupboard as we bought quite a bit at Ikea and had it delivered on Monday and it’s taken up the majority of the hall (and the vacuum cleaner is under the stairs along with the carrot-smelling shoe polish). At present I couldn’t move it without doing myself an injury and there’s only so much Rik can clear it by putting it together in his time after finishing work. Yes I am sooooo pleased we’ve got it (even if I did forget to remind Rik to get the small bookcase I needed for my files - which now means they’re all in boxes and adding to the chaos in the kitchen) - but the accompanying mess is not good.

In desperation I spent Monday emptying the kitchen cupboards, re-arranging, writing an inventory of food, typing it, printing it off and sticking it on the inside of the food cupboard (although I also included what was in the freezer). I then moved on to the shed and almost burst into tears because it needs vacuuming and I can’t reach the vacuum - and YES I know that’s irrational, but at the time I really wanted to vacuum it. I was limited to what I could do as when I tried to move the mower I felt rather ill and had to sit down.

Tuesday I didn’t even realise I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch until I happened to glance at the clock and realised it was past 14.30 - poor Nin must have been starving (R. had given her breakfast though!) By the early evening I couldn’t walk and Rik had to help me up the stairs.

I’d planned to go into town today as there’s a few things that I need to get, but this morning found that I couldn’t walk very well either R. went to buy some milk and furniture polish ( ) and all he could find was one trainer and one of Erk’s school shoes - yes, Erk had cheerfully set off this morning in one school shoe and one of R.’s size 6s (even though they’re much bigger than Erk’s shoes and trainers, as opposed to *shoes*). You guessed where the other shoes are, behind lots of flat-packed furniture. Luckily I had a pair of cream trainers under my bed and he had to borrow those, go to the school, give Erk his other school shoe and pick up his own.

The shop wouldn’t sell him furniture polish as apparently it’s a solvent and he might be buying it to ’sniff’ and shouldn’t he be at school anyway?

So I’ve had to manage with no furniture polish as I doubt I’d make it to the bottom of the street, let alone the shop. My plan had been to sit and polish the window sills, thereby getting the smell but sitting (which has to count as resting, right?)

I’ve no hope of buying parsley locally, the nearest place I know of is the next village. Carrots with mud on would be good too, but supermarkets sell them washed and the organic box delivery hasn’t had any muddy ones just lately either TBH this feels worse than when I gave up smoking. The craving is driving me slowly mad. The people across the road have recently creosoted their fence and I found myself standing by it inhaling deeply a couple of days ago. Aaaaargh.

Apart from that I’ve been feeling decidedly odd. I don’t really want to eat anything apart from carrots and parsley and I’m all crampy and it’s making me snappy and unreasonable and I know I’m being snappy and unreasonable, but it doesn’t appear to be helping.

Oh and I had *another* letter from the LEA which has indicated in no uncertain terms that said ‘advisor’ will pointedly ignore any comments I make re. what is actually legally required of me (and any request by myself for him to confirm exactly where under the law I am failing in my responsibility as a parent that means he can continue to harrass me - which of course I am not, hence the request can’t be answered). It is clear that he is intent on being intimidating because he hasn’t got his own way (despite the fact that I’ve quoted various case law to him about my obligations, which have been fulfilled by the rather comprehensive report I sent). It rather brightened my day in a way as atleast it was some light entertainment as I have finally found someone who is absolutely intent on getting their own way with no consideration for what is actually required by law and thinks that they can bully and intimidate me. LOLOLOLOL. Not going to happen……

Time’s still fairly chugging past. It’s been a bit of a ‘challenging’ time as R. has taken a bit of a spiral down on the behaviour front and I’m finding dealing with his bad temper increasingly wearing - the difficulty being that although he is 11 years old, socially he appears to be much younger, but of course all people see is a child who they generally think is older than he is (because of his height), who speaks well, etc. so it comes as rather a shock when he has a meltdown and collapses in a tantrum on the floor because he’s lost his favourite little rubber dinosaur (out of a cracker).

I know I should work with him where he is, but as he gets older some of his difficulties become ‘more obvious’ and harder to deal with. In addition he is furious because Erk gets to go to more ‘activities’ with him - and it is very difficult to explain that I know that he would not cope with many of the things he wants to do ATM. His latest complaint was that he was ‘discriminated’ against because Erk is moving up a swimming class next weekend and will get to go swimming for an hour (only for next week mind) rather than the usual half and hour, so why can’t he do the same? This is on the back of him being ‘discriminated’ against because the flu jab is offered to older people or people with a particular health condition (he made a point of shouted this at the surgery and complaining to the nurses, who looked a little perplexed and explained exactly the same thing as I had, that the flu jab was for target groups of people and a strapping, healthy lad such as R. should be fine fighting the virus should he contract it).

Added to the shouting out in the street that a group of young men were obviously drunk and pee-ing in someone’s bush (this was in the evening) and complaining that a group of children are smoking and they’re too young (which was true, but you can imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t been with him) - he is heading for a lot of trouble. Yes, technically he is right that these things shouldn’t happen, however, he is also very likely to get a punch in the mouth for his trouble (and it wouldn’t be the first time, bearing in mind his arm was broken by a group of children after 2 years of bullying).

He seems to have developed an automatic lie facility - in that he will claim he hasn’t done something when it is clear he has (or I have even watched him do it). He is constantly sniping at his brother and criticising anything I suggest and right now a residential school does appear to be very tempting (although not really an option).

Of course he is furious because we won’t let him go out to play, because we just cannot rest that he would be sensible or safe (especially after his younger brother informed us of a recent incidence when they went to the shop on the corner). He is insisting that he should go to Cubs as well (even though he’d be in Scouts) regardless of the fact that he hates groups of people, noise and being told what to do. He is demanding taking archery lessons (oh yes, because a child who refuses to be told what to do by anyone save for me - and believe me he will try and argue, but you’ve got very little hope otherwise - is going to be safe with a potentially lethal weapon in his hands). At present he’s struggling coping with the swimming lessons, although he is progressing well with the actual swimming.

Group activities just aren’t an option ATM - and this had led to further difficulty as TBH I have a need to get out and see people and Nin appears to enjoy a bit of time out. MIL was supposed to be watching R. one day a week so that this could happen (and he prefers to go there than to the group and apparently is a real help whilst there) - but this hasn’t been happening and TBH I’m starting to feel rather annoyed and let down. I was supposed to be doing a First Aid Course today and MIL had offered to have the children whilst I did it (it is a condition of my registration - but I really wanted to do the course anyway). I phoned her to see if everything was still on yesterday to be told that she is ill. Thing is, the last time I asked for a bit of help on the childcare front to attend a course she didn’t even turn up and told me later she was ill (so essentially didn’t even phone!) and I have a feeling she wouldn’t have bothered phoning this time round either, so I would’ve rushed around in the morning, taken the kids into town to meet her and there would be no-one there :0(

So rather p****d off. Of course people can’t help being ill, but it is happening with such a regularity that I’m struggling to be sympathetic as it’s not as if I’ve even asked for a babysitter so that I could have a night off, it’s so I could attend a couple of courses. I’m p*****d off with Rik as well, because whilst I appreciate he’s working 7 days a week, I’m more than a little annoyed that he was given lots of notice of when the course was but couldn’t take the time to watch the children either whilst I did one little thing for me, for a change - perish the thought I tried to do something simple like get a haircut (which I’ve wanted for around a year now!) I’ve explained that taking the children with me just isn’t an option (but clearly he has no experience of trying to get a 2 year old to sit still whilst someone cuts your hair, whilst your 11 year old complains that the radio is too loud and someone has ‘funny’ hair or they have a ‘crap’ haircut).

On the plus point, R. appears to be enjoying the Mesopotamia project (when he isn’t complaining about something else) and Nin used a potty for the first time.

I keep thinking about blogging but just not quite getting around to it. I’ve not been feeling on top form, so have pretty much stayed off the PC.

Nin’s birthday went well. Kris & co. came round for a little while and had fun decorating cakes.

As she has been obsessed, of late, with pushing anything she can around, we bought her a pushchair (and a travel cot) and she has been happily pushing dolly about and then putting her to bed. Dolly is also sporting some new knitted trousers and a cloth nappy.

She also has some lovely new slippers and a very pink bag and purse (so she spent the entire evening doing laps with the pushchair around the house whilst ‘going shopping’). I’m still making the coat to match the pink trousers for Dolly, but I haven’t been feeling particularly motivated as of late.

I have got some more pics, so will get round to posting them at some point. She was terrorfied of the caterpillar birthday cake (and cried and cried) and was not convinced by the idea that she should blow the candles out. Still, on the whole I think she had a lot of fun

I’ve had a couple of visits to hospital. I finally had to chase up the GTT I was supposed to have at 28 weeks and finally got an appointment for first thing Monday morning. Blood tests are not something that I enjoy and this wasn’t helped by the fact that when she went to take the second lot of blood, the midwife/phlebotomist/whatever-she-was couldn’t find a vein in my right arm and so had to go back in the original hole (after treating my right arm as a pin cushion was not happy - she did apologise, but it’s not as if it was her fault, just crappy veins in my right arm.

Last Friday I went to a meeting at the local family centre (which is due to become a Children’s Centre as per the governments ‘10-year plan’ or whatever they’re calling it ) I’m hoping to take over as childminding co-ordinator for the village and want to be in a position to liaise more with the centre and be involved in the plans (as the place is currently a building site). Now is the time to be doing it. Ex-manager was very nice (new bod had just taken over as we held the meeting, but couldn’t be available - however both bods work for the same charity and ex-manager is still helping out whilst new manager finds their feet). A bit disappointed about the 41 place nursery due to open up on site (to be run by an outside agency apparently), just not a positive move IMHO, not least because I simply don’t like daycare nurseries - I’m in the camp of the best carer for a small child is mum, followed by a HOME environment which is what a childminder can offer - IMHO nurseries result in the institutionalisation of children from almost birth, not least for various other reasons - but I’ll start to slide into a rant. Anyway, back to the point, the village doesn’t need another day nursery as the demand for childcare isn’t there, so a bit bizarre, even with the explanation that it’s to fulfil eventual demand (?!!!!!!) Strange, strange, strange, but apparently beyond the charity that runs the place’s control as funding always comes with strings attached.

Hopefully I’ll find out when I’ll here about the co-ordinators post and then I can get moving a bit and try and get organised and keep on top of what is happening and hopefully throw in a few suggestions along the way (well, always worth a try).

Anyway, must get on, as feeling really stuffed up and probably should be learning the verses for Thursday’s circle time.

I’ve finally posted THE letter (recorded delivery) to the LEA telling them how disappointed I am that they seem to be of the opinion that the lovely report I sent them, which they acknowledged was interesting and appeared challenging, etc, etc. is lies - despite the fact that the previous LEA we were under were satisfied that education is taking place, etc. I’ve helpfully pointed out various bits of law, have also resent the original report and will now have to await their reply.

Call me cynical, but I’m not particularly hopeful - they have been nothing short of bullying with other local families and do not seem to even bother to read any literature we’ve sent re. the law as it pertains to HE.

Ho hum. Time will tell.

We’re having a break this week as now I’ve one back at school it’d be nigh on impossible to get R. to sit down and do anything - although the trip to the library today furnished him with various books on history which he’s joyfully flicked through (although he’s now upstairs apparently ‘tidying’ his room).

I finally got into town (it has been quite some time since I last ventured in). I needed to buy a couple of un-underwired bras (slap my wrists for still wearing them this far on into pg. as I know it’s not ideal), some pants that fit and socks; a raincover for Nin’s buggy (which I couldn’t ignore today as it poured down for part of the time we were out); a lunch box for Erk and some children-sized coat hangers. I also treated myself to a pair of boots (not quite knee high) that were on offer in Evans - I have very wide calves, even when a few sizes smaller, and struggle to find boots to fit - and a beautiful long cardigan that should fit over my bump. I also picked up a couple of tops for a few pounds in Primark. It was a necessary splurge though as I’ve been spending much of my time pulling my tops down to stretch over as usually the couple of tops I own that are long enough are always in the wash when I need to go anywhere.

So I’ve come home feeling reasonably cheerful, but pretty shattered.

Anyway, I best get on and get the rest of shopping ordered as it’s Nin’s birthday on Thursday and I need to get a few things done tomorrow.

Still feeling a bit ropey - but it appears I’m in for painful Braxton Hicks from now on (joy!) I have a low blood count and the doctor has prescribed me 600mcg of iron a day (?!) which I think, if nothing else, is enough to guarantee constipation in anyone, let alone a pg. woman who might be more prone to it anyway - guess who had a discussion about iron with the M/W today that went along the lines of, “I will not be taking that much iron in supplements a day.” The b/c is 10.something-or-other, I think if I up my iron intake from iron rich foods and make sure I wash it down with some orange juice (or similar) I should be fine - after all, I am pregnant which does tend to suggest a naturally lower blood count anyway. (I don’t like guiness - before someone else suggests it - in many ways I would rather drink my own wee

This was posted on the EO list in response to a discussion about creationism vs. evolution - it’s quick to load (which is a bonus when you’re on dial-up like me).

At Thursday’s group we made lanterns:

Which look lovely all lit up.

A picture of the kids.

If anyone didn’t believe me when I said that Nin always helps do the cleaning!

With everything that’s been going on I forgot to mention the Home Ed. Handcrafts Team Blog which a few of us from Muddle Puddle are contributing to.

R. is really keen to get on to the Epic of Gilgamesh (as he got the book, along with others, for his birthday). At the moment we’re reading Wolf Brother, which I would heartedly recommend for children who aren’t too easily upset (or possibly just older children, bearing in mind the boys are 9 and 11). We’re all really enjoying it.

I’ve been busy making soup out of surplus butternut squash and plan to turn what tomatoes are left (whether ripe or no) into tomato relish tomorrow. Also on the cards is piccalilli - maybe of Friday - because it beats anything you can buy in the shop hands down. It looks like we need a bit of a baking session tomorrow to use up some eggs too!

R. has spent the day reading about algae and then staring into next-door’s pond (which has had a heron visiting it), followed by more Norwegian practice (he tried the next CD and got annoyed because the recordings were in sentences, so a bit more challenging). He’s hoping to buy some nice Lyra pencils when I next put in an order for the group.

Anyway, I’d better get on as my belly is a bit achey.

I’ve been really swollen and itching an incredible amount (I’ve taken the skin off the top of my foot), so I phoned the midwife and was told to come in that afternoon for bloodtests. The midwife has sent a test off for Obstetric Cholestasis which is apparently rather serious - however, I could just be itching due to hormones, so I’ve been given some piriton to see if that helps a little (so no driving, operating heavy machinery or drinking alcohol for me then - not that I ever really do any of those things anyway . Still, it’s not a pleasant wait for the test results.

In addition, everytime I walk anywhere I getting contractions - and they’re painful too Considering I had steroid jabs and spent some time in hospital when pg. with Nin, I’m not too happy ’bout that either. It could be due to an infection (which is what set off the prem. labour last time apparently), so I’m keeping an eye on it but am back to see the midwife on Monday.

So generally feeling a bit urrrrrgh and puffy and hoping those bloody test results come back sooner rather than later.

It’s not that I’m at a loss really for something to write, just that I’m rather peed off, so anything I did write would be a long and probably fairly meaningless rant…….

So, instead I typed out my current playlist:

An Honest Mistake – The Bravery
You’re Gonna Miss Me – 13th Floor Elevators
Highly Evolved – The Vines
Hate To Say I Told You So – Hives
Once Around The Block – Badly Drawn Boy
Hateful – The Clash
Just One Look – Doris Troy
Hazy Shade of Winter – The Bangles
Devil in Me – 22-20s
Hanging On The Telephone – Blondie
Who Was In My Room – Butthole Surfers
What Do I Get? – Buzzcocks
Her Love Rubbed Off – Carl Perkins
A Little Respect – Wheatus
The Only One I Know – The Charlatans
I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman – White Stripes
Garbage Man – The Cramps
She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult
Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
Holiday in Cambodia – Dead Kennedys
Love What You Do – The Divine Comedy
Dinosaurs – The Stingrays
Add It Up – Violent Femmes
Too Drunk to F*** - Dead Kennedys
Somebody to Love – Jefferson Airplane
Everyday I Love You Less & Less – Kaiser Chiefs
Shoot Forth Thunder – The Grips
Oliver’s Army – Elvis Costello
Untutored Youth – Hives
A Song for the Lovers – Richard Ashcroft
Town Called Malice – The Jam
World Shut Your Mouth – Julian Cope
Suspect Device – Stiff Little Fingers
The Puppet – The Stingrays
Search & Destroy – Iggy & the Stooges
Every Day Hurts – Sad Café
Hounds of Love – Kate Bush
Up the Bracket – The Libertines
Fell In Love With A Girl – White Stripes
Seven & Seven Is – Love
Alive & Amplified – The Mooney Suzuki
Day We Caught The Train – Ocean Colour Scene
Territorial Pissings – Nirvana
Getting Better – Shed Seven
Paint It Black – The Rolling Stones
Come On Kid – The Stingrays
She Bangs The Drums – The Stone Roses
Richard III – Supergrass
It Came From Japan – The Von Bondies
Trick Bag - Artesians

Because it is looking a bit bare on here!

A quick pic of us (Nin hiding my ever expanding belly)

Proving that Nin can fall asleep anywhere, even on my feet!

Blogsome ate my last blog :0( I was really pleased with it too, but typically I didn’t write it off-line to copy in, I wrote it online whilst chatting on MSN and didn’t take the sensible precaution of copying it just-in-case and so it was eaten – and yes, I did make noises resembling Muttley……

It’s been a good few days on the whole – certainly much quieter without Erk around which in a way is nice. R. is thriving on not having his brother around, so I guess they both needed a little space (it may well take a nose-dive again when they have to go back to sharing a room, but TBH that’s just tough ATM). The daily ‘rhythm’ has been fairly ticking along which R. finds reassuring, as he is one for asking what we are next, today, tomorrow, next week, etc. repeatedly. A rough timetable gives him a bit of security and he quite happily moves from one thing on to the next (although there is some blurring when we become engrossed in what we’re doing and don’t notice the time).

Multiplying decimals seems to have just ‘clicked’ with him, so I don’t think we’ll need to spend much time there, so it’s on to dividing and then a quick recap and I think we may get on with the ‘planning the garden’ which I have spent far more time talking about that actually planning. He likes gardening, so will probably be fairly happy to get the tape-measure out and help me measure up and plot it out on some graph paper. We want to put in some soft fruit this autumn and hopefully a couple of fruit trees, although quite what I’m not sure yet, but we can have a look at the options and have a think – just need to get dh to shift the sheds to the back (as he promised a while ago).

I’ve signed up for ‘Reading Classical Greek’ with the OU. When I originally went to college I went to study Ancient History and signed up to do Greek and Latin GCSEs, but decided not very far into the course (a few weeks) that drinking etc. was far more fun and left to do that instead. When looking at the OU I did consider the Early Years courses, after all, far closer to what I have studied (I went back to college years later), and more applicable to the area I have enjoyed working in and the degree I planned to do before finding out I was pregnant with Nin. However, as the past couple of years have gone by I have read so much more on the subject that I can’t help feeling I’d be a little frustrated by it all. Whilst it is without doubt a good thing to have one’s personal beliefs/prejudices challenged, I just don’t think that I’d have the patience for it at present and have a sneaking suspicion that it might be similar to my experience studying Equal Opps., which although I enjoyed, was incredibly frustrating as I had to sit on my hands to avoid landing heavy books on other students’ heads.

So I went back to one of my original interests, Ancient History. The bonus of doing such a course is that I’ve planned for R. and I to look at Greek Myths and then Ancient Greece next year and the OU course, starting in Feb. ties in quite nicely with that because R. can also benefit from it. He’s very excited about the idea (he appears to have inherited an interest in history which is more the good) and I’m feeling really positive about it all.

I was out trimming the tomatoes yesterday. We’ve had a fantastic crop of cherry tomatoes and there are still plenty on the vine, but they’ve been neglected the past week and it’s amazing how fast they can send out surplus shoots, so they needed tidying up to get some sun to the final toms to get them ripened and ready to eat. There’s still a few courgettes for taking and I’ve left the beans to dry on the plant (I hope that’s right, I keep meaning to check, but I want to dry some, basically to see if I can and to make a nice display in a glass kilner jar on the kitchen side :0)

Today has been a hectic day again. The group went well, although Nin was a little off-colour and wanted to stay closer to me than she has done at previous groups. We rejigged the format a bit to have Circle Time before snack-time, which seems to work better. Nin and I popped back to Kris’ for lunch and had a short time to chat about some books I’ve just received before I had to start back again. Erk was a little late back from school (he must have taken a *very* scenic route) and Nin attacked him when he got in (literally, as when they were playing she whacked him in the eye and it looks a bit bruised!) It was hard to tell who was more distressed, Erk because he’d been hurt, or Nin because Erk was crying and she was frightened!

I finished a sleeve on the yellow and green cardi I’m knitting for the baby, so now need to press it, sew it up and pick up the stitches for the buttonband. I’ve been so busy the past few days that I’ve not got a huge amount of knitting done, but baby cardis are a fairly quick and easy knit.

R. still isn’t back and dh has gone straight from work to pick him up (he’s been over in Sheffield so is later than usual). I forgot to get any meat out of the freezer this morning and really should make a start with dinner as it will take longer to cook with half-frozen mince. So that’s what I’ll go and do now :0)

……wandering in the street. I was having a bit of a rest earlier and heard a small child screaming outside. I assumed that they were having a tantrum and that a relevant adult was dealing. The screaming continued, so I looked out and saw a little girl standing across the road screaming and screaming. I looked up and down the street and couldn’t see anything, so I went out.

I crossed over to her and asked her where her mum was, but she was only around 2 years old and clearly couldn’t talk particularly clearly. I asked her where her house was and couldn’t understand what she said, so I took her hand and walked down the street with her (in my socks). We got to the corner with another street where a load of children were playing - and as children generally know other children (even littlies, as they’ll know the tiny brothers and sisters who don’t go out) I asked them if they knew who she was. There was a fair few of them out and none of them recognised her, which I thought was a little strange.

At which point she pulled a mobile phone (!) out of her pocket. Sooooooo, I had a look in that and tried one of the numbers but there was insufficient credit, so I took her hand again and walked back to my house to use my phone to try a number, now with an entourage of local children. As we were going into the house a young man, maybe early 20s, possibly late teens, ran up and claimed that she was his girlfriend’s daughter.

Trying to keep as calm as I could I commented that she really shouldn’t be wandering the streets. He replied that his cousin had let her out of the garden. I said that perhaps they should keep an eye on said cousing, at which point he told me that she was 25.

?!!!!!!

I took a deep breath and said that such a small child should not be wandering the streets and that perhaps the cousin wasn’t the best person to leave her with and that they were incredibly lucky that I’d taken the time to go out to her (as plenty of other people must have been curtain-twitching) as she had been wandering around next to a road - and did he know she had a mobile phone? To which point he tutted and said she must have nicked it.

:0(

Sadly this isn’t an isolated occurence - it’s not the first time I’ve come across similar incidences and is one of the reasons I found detached youth work so depressing on occasion……

It’s been a nice, if a little tiring, day. Rik took R. to his Gran’s on the way to work and I left the house for when Erk had to leave for school anyway. Nin and I ended up catching a coach to the next village. I was stood at the bus-stop waiting. A coach pulled up and I ignored it until the driver popped his head out the door and asked if I was getting on as I usually went to where he was going. It was then that I noticed in the front that there was a card with a destination. Turns out the coach only runs term-time. It was nice of him to stop and ask though.

Nin was thrilled, she clearly doesn’t remember being on a coach before (she was very, very young the last time she went on one) and was very excited about climbing up the steps – and very conscientious at climbing down them when we reached our destination :0)

She really loved playgroup, as ever, playing with the bricks and painting with her hands and the leaves provided for leaf prints. Unfortunately circle time just didn’t seem to ‘click’ this week – my fault, I wrote it – but it just didn’t seem to sit right, so I’ve had to go back to the drawing board for something that will sit a little better with such very small children. So lots of action-based verses to try to engage their bodies a little more. It’s a learning process for me to and I’ve actually found it a very useful exercise, meaning that I think a little more carefully about how littlies experience the world.

Afterwards we went back to Kris’ for a spot of lunch before I had to get home ready for Erk returning. My feet have been suffering a bit of late and I really wasn’t looking forward to this – not least because Nin was clearly pretty shattered – but luckily Rik phoned to say he was picking R. up early, so could pick me up too and get us all home for 3.30pm.

I have to admit that I don’t like this having to be at home at 3.30pm everyday lark – I’m just not used to having to do that! I am very rarely, if ever, late to anything I choose to attend, but I don’t like *having* to be somewhere when I can think of more interesting things to do.

Dinner was some very nice pork chops from the farmer’s market, with courgettes (from the garden) fried in butter and garlic and a mix of tomatoes from both Kris’ and my garden mixed in with couscous. It was lovely :0)

Nin went up to bed early as *still* hadn’t had a nap by this point and so clearly needed some sleep, closely followed by an overtired Erk too (judging by the level of giggling, burping and general impoliteness which finally went past the point of my patience). He was asleep shortly afterwards, so he obviously needed to go.

R. is still pottering about in the background (having polished off two minneolas) so I suppose I better start ushering him towards bed.

…. went very well. I had a brief word with the teacher just to fill her in on the basics we’d covered in maths and literacy - as I hadn’t even looked at the National Curriculum until very recently to see whether there was anything Erk might’ve missed here. She seemed a little surprised that I’d bothered to do so.

In maths they were counting in various different numbers, so Erk, having just started decimal fractions at home said that this was a bit easy. They also looked at different states of matter - which Erk said he remembered well enough too. He could explain what made solids turn to liquids and then gas but couldn’t remember at what temperature water froze or became steam. Apparently the story being read is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and he seemed very impressed with that (as I got a brief history of the story so far). Although he couldn’t remember the title, I managed to piece it together by the names of the children, the fact there was a wardrobe and a snow witch/queen.

Then it was a quick back home and chill before he went off to Cubs on a night walk around the village.

R. was a bit ‘off’ this morning, but I think he enjoyed the extra attention. He’s just finishing up on Norse Myths and I’m planning to have a bit of a whizz through basic form drawing before returning to Botany in October. I’ve been busy putting together a new schedule and have uploaded it as a word doc: Schedule 2005. I’ll be adding to it (as ever) as more ideas come to me and doubtless I will stumble across useful bits online. I showed him the plan for a general ok and he seems fairly happy with it so far.

Apart from a bit of knitting, that was about the sum of it today, just hope I can keep the earlier mornings up ;0)

We ventured over to Ikea today for the first time in a very long while (and the first time to Leeds). Did the usual Sunday afternoon *thing* in there, checking out what sort of wardrobes and drawers we eventually hope to buy (so we’ve somewhere to put our clothes) and also a nice bureau-thingy to go in the space the big fridge left. Also on our shopping list is a bed for Nin.

Of course, we couldn’t actually *buy* any of these things today but it was nice to look :0)

We came back with glasses, a few kilner jars, some prints and storage boxes for the bedroom.

Dinner was a very nice roast chicken (the first for ages due to lack of fridge), followed by an apple and blackberry crumble - blackberries picked by us and apples given to us by a couple of neighbours - it was wonderful and so much a taste of autumn!

For the second night running Nin has gone directly to her own bed. Admittedly it’s directly next to ours, but as my rapidly expanding girth has been causing some space issues in our bed even without the magical expanding toddler in it (how do they fill an entire double bed?) her timing is great.

She still wakes up and panics if I’m not in my bed, but even with a 2am wake up flop on me and snuggle, she still finds her way back to her own bed by the time I wake up again in the morning.

I must take some more photos, but as this blog is looking a bit bare, thought I’d post the one of Nin trying to knit:

On the HE front it’s been decimals and converting fractions into decimals. Both boys seem to be really enjoying this and even R. has managed to muster up some enthusiasm for a previously disliked subject (sometimes it just takes something to ‘click’ into place and the rest doesn’t seem so bad after all). It’s been a funny few weeks anyway, what with Erk deciding to return to school, leaving me a bit unsure of what to suggest to do in the meantime. So planning to start fresh with R. on Monday once Erk starts back. It will be very strange not having Erk at home, but I suppose this might benefit R. a bit and atleast it’ll be one less person for him to argue with, so day-to-day life might become a little more peaceful. Might be good for all of us :0)

Despite the very heavy rain (that only really kicked in as I was getting off the bus in the next village to go to the parent & child group I co-run with Kris the day went very well.

The group had lots of freeplay with finger painting and ‘making leaves’ on offer, followed by some lovely homemade ginger biscuits made by one of the mums, apple juice, banana and apple, followed by lots more play and finally circle time. Nin loved it again!

There was excited talk of future craft projects (amongst other things) and then I popped to the little bakery across the road to pick up some bits for lunch at Kris’.

I may have mentioned before that Nin has a habit of sticking her hands down my top (and up on occasion). Kris’ youngest watched this and stated, “Nin is sticking her hand down you top.”

To which I replied, “Yes, she does that sometimes.”

Nin moved off to the side and then Kris’ youngest clambered up and thrust her hand down my top too (blush), followed by the gentle,

“Thanks but no thanks.” and gentle removing of said child :0D

I hasten to add at this point that for those that don’t know, both Nin and Kris’ youngest are just two and almost two, so haven’t quite grasped the social niceties (or rather lack of) of doing such things. It was rather funny then.

It was obviously a day for affectionate climbing as later she wanted to sit on my lap next to her mum (who was on the PC), the bouncing was a little uncomfortable and Kris explained that she needed to be careful as there was a baby in my belly.

This caused quite some confusion…… lifting up my top she demanded, “I want to see the baby.”

“Well, you can’t, the baby is inside my tummy.”

“I can’t see it!”

“Well no, it’s under my skin.”

She did not look convinced….

I then kept catching her staring at my belly.

Hmmmm, that might lead to some very *interesting* conversations for Kris (LOL)

Was rather impressed that Erk remember that you could get syrup from trees and had a discussion with Kris and her eldest daughter about tree sap. Learnt that the berries which my mum didn’t know the english name for, but which are fairly useless for eating anyway are called crowberries and also the history of Fat Hen (the plant). I didn’t bring my knitting as with the rain and other bags that needed carrying it would’ve got soaked.

I hid from the pouring rain all afternoon until Rik picked me up and we went over to pick R. up from his nan’s, then home for a ready-cooked meal (slap my wrists - but I had just picked up frozen stuff from Kris’ and it was all frozen meat etc. as I generally cook from scratch , but that wasn’t going to happen tonight) and then catching up on over 500 e-mails (most of which I did delete - that’s what comes of not checking last night and also reading them this morning) and trying to get a few bits done, so I’m off to continue and chat on MSN.

Broadband is dead.

I don’t know what happened - I haven’t been fiddling, there’s no obvious explanation, but broadband is not working :0(

Soooooo, I phoned my service provider.

First technician suggested something, it didn’t work and so said he couldn’t help.

I rung off, tried a couple of things and phoned again.

Next technician tried different things (funny there were other alternatives when the last person said that there wasn’t) and then said that they’d exhausted their possibilities and that the tcp/ip needed to be reset and I should phone the Legion of the Damned.

Sooooo, I phoned them to be told the OEM in the serial no. (or whatever) meant they needed to refer me to manufacturer.

I phoned the manufacturer, who told me I’d been given the wrong number for that problem and could I phone a different number.

So I phoned the different number and then spent about 5 minutes how to spell most of my address (which was rather frustrating) and then had a painfully slow person who didn’t seem to register me saying I’d done something 3 times (!)

Over an hour into this the doorbell rang and two men stood on the doorstop with my new fridge. It was 12pm. I had been told that delivery would be after 2pm. Of course I hadn’t emptied the existing fridge (which even thought it was broken we were still storing things in) or the freezer (which was still working) and I hadn’t shifted the pushchairs out of the hall, etc, etc. because I DID NOT EXPECT THEM FOR ANOTHER TWO HOURS.

Naturally they weren’t interested in this and informed me that my phone had been engaged for over an hour and they had attempted to phone me to notify me that delivery would be earlier than originally stated.

Sooooo, I tried to explain to the *technician* that I needed to go and could I possibly have some sort of reference number to call back with.

The technician didn’t appear to understand this, despite me explaining it a number of times.

I gave up and spent the next 10 minutes trying to talk to technician, type and empty the hall/fridge/freezer with help from my eldest whilst Erk kept Nin upstairs.

Old fridge was picked up, new fridge was installed and I was left free to continue with the now INCREDIBLY annoying phone call. It went on for some time before I finally managed to explain that I’m pregnant and really had to take a break to go to the loo. I managed to get a ref. number, phoned Kris in a panic for freezer space to store my defrosting food, narrowly avoided bursting into tears, made a cup of tea, had a biscuit, sat down and phoned back to try again.

To be told I need to do a system restore.

hmph

This computer is only a couple of months old and I haven’t done a back-up (wail). I know I should’ve done, but I haven’t and I haven’t got any spare CDs till I can get to a shop that sells them (and also remember to buy them). The technician didn’t appear to understand that I couldn’t do a system restore till I could back up my files, so, as politely as I could muster I said goodbye and hung up.

I think my midwife might have had something to say about my blood pressure at that point.

I decided that I honestly cannot cope with the stress of trying to get the problem fixed and decided to phone the service provider to cancel broadband and reinstate dial-up until I’m in a place of tranquility that can deal with the incredible patronised annoyance of bloody call-centre technicians when I have to spell basic words like ‘avenue’ and have to wait 5 mins despite saying repeatedly that I’ve either got to where they want me to go or that I know that the ’start’ button is in the lower left hand corner of my screen.

ggrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So I am on dial-up, which is slower, but for the time-being is avoiding any further stress (or possible breakdown) from dealing with the broadband problem.

I found this whilst reading here.

Everyone says that my life is the way of a simpleton.
Being largely the way of a simpleton is what makes it worthwhile.
If it were not the way of a simpleton
It would long ago have been worthless,
These possessions of a simpleton being the three I choose
And cherish:
To care,
To be fair,
To be humble.
When a man cares he is unafraid,
When he is fair he leaves enough for others,
When he is humble he can grow;
Whereas if, like men of today, he be bold without caring,
Self-indulgent without sharing,
Self-important without shame,
He is dead.
The invincible shield
Of caring
Is a weapon from the sky
Against being dead.

Lao-tzu
Tao Te Ching

Made me think :0)

…. I also got a rendition of Sultans of Swing, followed by Tunnel of Love and Walk of Life (I’m guessing he likes Dire Straits) and something indistinguishable but possibly Rod Stewart again - this final one at around 02.15. I kept hoping he likes the Doors or similar and would put something mellow on that I would have a better chance of getting to sleep to (possible as I seem to remember hearing something similar earlier) - I did also get to listen to Sunshine of Your Love by Cream, so that was a small perk amongst the stuff I’m not so keen on.

He doesn’t usually have the music on so loud so late, but it sounded like he had company (as occasionally the singing was in stereo). I have even listened to Nirvana (during the day) so he seems fairly eclectic in taste.

We finally received a credit letter from Samsung, so after over 2 months of no working fridge (which I could rant about for hours, but TBH I’m all ranted out now) we finally went and ordered a new replacement fridge from Currys - unsurprisingly it was not a Samsung.

The wonderful bonus was that the fridge we chose was cheaper than our original fridge so we had money left over (the credit note had to be spent at Currys) to buy a breadmaker and a fryer - plus, because there was nothing else we could think of that was needed, the completely frivolous surround sound system that Rik has asked for every time we’ve gone near an electrical goods shop and I have repeatedly told him we would not buy because why should we spend money we don’t have on something we don’t really need. As there really was nothing else we could think of to buy in there I finally conceded that yes, he could use the remaining money to buy one - and we still had money left over!

The sound system is still completely frivolous as I usually watch a grand total of 3 programmes a week: Lost, Tales from the Green Valley and Scrubs, plus the occasional Horizon or Dispatches etc. We do not have the TV on before 6pm in the week (unless dh is home and then we do have a TV elsewhere which he can watch) and sometimes not at all. TBH it is only Rik who watches much TV, even the boys aren’t particularly bothered, R. is usually busy elsewhere (although he does like history programmes and dramas like Sharpe or Hornblower - he has a developing *thing* about the Napoleonic Wars) and Erk likes Malcolm in the Middle and that’s about it. Rik watches football, cricket, golf and snooker (depending on what’s on) and the occasional programme on history too, so generally the only thing that is ever on is sport of some description (makes me wonder why we pay a license fee really).

Still, we do like to watch the odd film and the sound from the thing is stunning, so I suppose it’s as close to the cinema as we can get (bearing in mind that we can’t take Nin and R. will sit there holding his ears, knees pulled up under his chin :0(

The fridge should be delivered on Wednesday, so really looking forward to that (and being able to get a delivery from the supermarket - as I’m not supposed to be pushing trolleys around or anything like that, but I couldn’t justify the delivery charge for only a few things from there as I couldn’t order other items due to non-working fridge, so I will be able to keep the physio happy too).

So here’s hoping there aren’t any further snags as I won’t completely rest until the fridge is safely ensconced in the kitchen and the big ole’ broken one has been taken away.

…..is singing to Maggie May, loudly.

On the plus side I think I know how to integrate my other web pages so I can get rid of the frame on the MP list and just stick to this basic blog (with added pages).

These were posted on a forum I’m a member of (Waldorf_Craft) and I thought that some might really enjoy them:

Felted Apple

Knitted Gingerbread Man

Knitted Pumpkin

Knitted Meringue Pie

Knitted Strawberry

Misc. Knitted Baby Fruit & Veggie rattles

Various crochet patterns for food

Just in case any of you were stuck for stocking fillers…….

Now I must learn to crochet……

Classroom role-playing limited
Young children are missing out on imaginative games in school because of the demands of the curriculum, a study suggests. Playing pirates, princesses or mums and dads can be very good for a child’s development, says Dr Sue Rogers of the University of Plymouth.

But she found the set-up and demands of the classroom mean opportunities for such role-play are limited.

The government insists young children in school are learning through play.

Dr Rogers studied 144 four and five year olds in three areas of south-west England in a year-long study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

She watched children in reception classes doing role-play games and canvassed them on what they liked to do. Dr Rogers found that the classes were not always designed to meet their needs.

“‘Children of this age learn to make friends as well as to use their imagination through role play,” she said. “We know that they are capable of sustained and complex imaginative play and that capturing and engaging their interest is essential. Unfortunately, pressures on time and space, as well as the need to teach literacy, means that playing at shops, pirates and hospitals is difficult to fit into the timetable.”

She said children were often frustrated to be called away from a game with their friends to do more structured school lessons. Boys might find their games are seen as too boisterous for the classroom setting.

The children’s games tended to follow gender patterns, she said, with girls often opting for a nurturing-based game such as mum and baby, while boys were more interested in being action heroes, despite teachers’ efforts to ‘de-gender’ role play.

Her report says role play is valued highly by both children and adults and that it can make “a significant contribution” to learning and development.

“However, the intervention of certain pedagogical factors often prevents children from realising its potential.”

It suggests there is a need for more outdoor play spaces so that children could have more choice over materials, locations and playmates.

This could encourage girls to take a more active role in building activities and allow boys’ play to develop without disrupting people around them.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “It’s completely wrong to suggest that children are missing out due to the national curriculum. On the contrary, the foundation stage for three to five year olds is all about learning through play with enjoyment and challenge - enabling children to develop the key skills needed for all future learning.”

Margaret Morrissey, from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said many parents were concerned about a lack of play in school.

“We would like to see less emphasis on keeping small children focused on classroom working,” she said.

“We know as parents that young children learn at their best when they are learning through play. We are putting too much emphasis as a nation on formal learning for very small children.”

Link to article (and video clip)

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Well ’spokesperson for the Dept. Ed’, I beg to differ…

I really could rant on about this as I think that many ‘learning through play’ activities are also really formal learning prettied up a bit so that teachers can tick boxes that will make policy makers happy (and I could rant on a bit about what I think is over-prescription for teachers too, quite frankly IMO I don’t necessarily see their jobs getting any less bogged down in paperwork - big ((((hugs)))) to any frustrated teachers too.)

Of course for anyone who agrees, there is always an alternative………. children don’t have to go to school! Keep them at home for a while and then re-assess, not sending them in the first place doesn’t mean you can never send them in the future and with a 9 year old due to return to school - his choice and no, I’m not 100% about it but at the same time I don’t want to forcibly home-educate because that would go even more against the grain for me - I’m sure academically he’ll do just fine. I know of parents who have delayed school entry to 7 years and their children have had few problems having started school at a later age - so it can be done!

Still, R. is happily chugging away at home and will continue to do so and I have a little Nin and bump who at this point will never go to school and I’m already looking at all the possibly alternatives within home-education.

Suffice to say - let them play, in your heart you know it makes sense!

It appears that making comments on the last blog was a little difficult - so I’m trying blogsome to see if that makes any difference……