dottyspots

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)