Catch up - halloween, fireworks, capoeira, and other stuff!

Ok, ok, so I haven't blogged for AGES (smacked hand, naughty naughty).

Which means

ta ta ta da da da daa daaaaah...

I'm due one of those mammoth catch up posts. I posted the photos a few days ago, but didn't get around to writing the blurb. So, here goes:

HALLOWEEN

(Me, looking gorgeous):

FIREWORKS

(Cub fireworks night)

Too noisy!

CAPOEIRA BATIZADO

An annual event when ds1 and ds2 play Capoeira with Brazilian masters to earn their next belt.

THINGS WE MADE

Dd sewing felt teddy bears:

Dd helping me make candles with our freebie candle-making set from the Swap Shop:

(Guess what eveyone's getting for Christmas this year?)

Ds2 finally finished his James Watt steam engine. If you look closely you'll see that it's held together with double sided tape and pins and a few (non-religious) prayers.

Now we just have the Viking settlement and medieval town to start (remind me not to buy any more of these cut out cardboard kits in future...arghhh!)

Dd1 has been making loads of films on his camera and creating all sorts of interesting items for his warhammer scenery (most of which are part assembled on my conservatory table...). He doesn't really play warhammer, but likes making the scenery.

And ds2 showing off his natural ability with technology again, while his mother disappears down the other end of the hall and feigns complete ignorance...well actually I didn't need to feign it :)

Oh I do love to be beside the...SEASIDE???!!!

Yesterday and today I was woken by seagulls at 5am (actually, to be precise, yesterday it was at 4.30am). Lovely you might think, waking to the sounds of the sea, the crash of the waves on the beach, seagulls welcoming you to the British seaside. Except that we are about 80 miles from the nearest bit of coast, probably as far as you can get from the sea in the whole of Britain!

What are they doing in my back garden?! And at 4.30am?! Go away!

Maybe someone has secretly created a refuse tip behind my house. Oh yeah, that's our garden, I remember. Which reminds me, must have a clearup and take a load of stuff to the tip; we've had a standard lamp in the garden for almost a year now and it's not as if the neighbours think we're normal anyway.

As I was in need of displacement activities (I have lots on my jobs list that really really need doing) I've decided to build a chicken coop. Another chicken coop. The plan is to get some fertile eggs, pop them under our broody hen, and Bingo! have some chicks. Well that's the plan. Except that I can't find anyone with fertile hen's eggs and I've got to put this coop together.

In theory it should look something like this (with doors of course):

With the idea that I will attach a small run to it either at the front (easiest option) or maybe at the side (more difficult because of the sloped roof). The end bit which is open but covered should be good for a bit of shade if I decide to use the coop inside our current run when chucks are bigger. Might even fix a perch in it, but then again, I've never known a chicken use any of the perches we've provided up till now, so that will probably be a pointless bit of engineering.

So, after looking all over for some fertile eggs I've finally conceded and ordered some off Ebay, a mixture of coopper maran and light sussex eggs. I'm assuming these are full size breeds rather than bantams, but I guess we'll see when/if anything hatches.

So I have to get a move on with this coop and rally the troops into assisting me. Of course we all know that home education is a cover for forced child labour, don't we..? (that's a joke by the way, in case any Badman supporters are reading).

And I don't even pay them the minimum wage (but they do get board and lodging for free).

And in case you wondered, yes the lawn is now striped with wood preservative.

wow! How many weeks has it been since I blogged? Seems like ages. Well, here's a brief overview of what we've been up to...

Ds2 has been busy making working models. The one below is from the book, 'How Things Work: Cars, bikes, Trains and other Land Machines', by Ian Graham. We had to make it up a bit as we went along, but it kinda worked.

Continuing the theme of model making, here is a video of a 'wind generator' we made from a kit during a short break at Pontins.

We'd visited an Eon information centre in Great Yarmouth and had a long chat with the guys inside. They had some kits and information so we came back to our chalet with lots to do!

One of the staff was an ex-teacher, so our conversation about home education was interesting. He was very 'old school' so the conversation revolved around how dreadful school is now and how much better it was in the 'good old days'. I was surprised to find out that he had taught a class of 40+ students with no problems at all; large class size seems to be one of the frequent excuses for poor academic results nowadays, so I wonder how valid it is. At least the conversation wasn't confrontational, though when he started testing ds1 on percentages I figured it was time to change the subject!

And model-making of a different sort...

Also at Pontins, ds2 had a go at climbing. He's been climbing quite often at a local climbing wall, but has never climbed using a harness before. Dh had a go too. It's a long way up!

We all had a go at crazy golf. I have a limited concentration span for this sort of thing, and dd1 was quite 'flexible' about the rules (lol) so it was all a bit random!

And yes, it was my ankles that she managed to hit with the ball!

So what else have we been doing?

Well the music lessons have been continuing at a local Montessori school. I'm not sure how much the kids get from it: ds2 seems more enthusiasitc that ds1, but we'll see. Having cut out pretty much all the regular group activities, this is something I want to continue, at least for this term.

We've been spending a fair amount of time down at the sailing club, doing various activities and also some conservation/clearance work, spotting wildlife etc.

Above you can see ds2 lopping some bushes at the sailing club. Below is a willow kayak that I made using a scaled-down version of the willow kayak on http://www.instructables.com/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Four-Hour-Kayak!/ )

I used a black binliner instead of tarpaulin.

We have ambitions (or perhaps they are just my ambitions) to make a larger version, or even a full-sized coracle using a framework of willow. There's plenty of willow to cut at the sailing club grounds. The children did some willow weaving and made some bows and arrows. I have plans to cut willow poles for my allotment beans for next year, though I'll be careful to let the poles dry out over winter before using them just in case they start growing.

And we've been continuing our indoor activities too...

Making a bird beak from paper

Next we plan to make some lanterns for bonfire night.

As for more fomal activities, well we're not quite in 'winter mode' yet. However, I have been encouraging the children to practice their handwriting a little and it looks like ds1 may have finally written a letter back to his penfriend in Australia. Writing just one or two sentences a day, it takes a while, lol! With this autumnal weather I have to resist the urge to start getting workbooks off the shelves as I know it will only send us all into a foul and stressful mood. There's something about the start of the new school year that is internally programmed into me ; I want to rush out, buy up loads of textbooks and stationery and start playing 'teacher'. Hopefully the feeling will pass! I have to keep reassuring myself that all the things I'm doing with the children are educational and that they are learning. Lots.

p.s. we're still waiting for the big fat brown chrysallis to hatch out into a moth (remember, the neighbour arrived at our door with a big caterpillar for us). It's been chrysallized for a month or so now; maybe it'll hatch out in Spring? It's sat on some compost in a fish tank on the windowsill in our lounge, right by the tv. I wonder if this is something that normal families do. I've been home educating so long now I think I've lots all perspective of what normal families do, lol!

A whole new meaning to the phrase, 'Losing Your Marbles'!

It's amazing what kids can create, given some junk and a hands-off approach by adults.

Yesterday, at the home ed group, we brought some 'junk' along for the kids to make marble runs. The results (and the processes involved) were very impressive. Apart from a bit of help with the cutting and sticking, the kids came up with some wonderful designs, limited only by their imagination (and the stickiness of the tape). Ds2 even had an idea to create a crane mechanism which would lift the marble up in a flowerpot and then deposit it through a hole in a tube to continue on its way. Although not all of the plan was feasible in the time frame, but with a bit of help he made a start. The others ran marbles through tubes and boxes taped to the wall, periodically re-engineering them to improve results. The teamwork involved would have put most adults to shame!

Working as a team (with a bit of help from the dog)

So, where's it going to come out?

Hmm...think I might need a hand here...

Fixing the glitches in the marble run

"The marbles are MINE, ALL MINE!"

The home ed group was running an 'India Day' for charity, so the kids entered some colouring competitions (ds1 and dd1 were chuffed when they won something). The chocolate mints won in the raffle will also be much appreciated while we're camping this weekend.

After the home ed group we rushed back, unloaded some of the car and reloaded with bbq stuff and swim kit to go to the sailing club. It was a beautiful evening, still warm even at 9pm as we left. We took a couple of boats out, but mostly the kids were happy, fishing and paddling. This is going to be a great way to spend the Summer.

The children managed to catch one of the many small fish swimming in the shallows. Dh reckoned it was a Dacebut looking at the picture above and reading the info on http://www.maggotdrowning.com/fish/gudgeon.htm I'm rather more convinced that it's a Gudgeon (see picture below), because of the spots. The British record for Gudgeon was 5oz which doesn't sound particularly large, enough for a fish finger or two I guess.

The fish the children caught (a gudgeon?)

Dd1, enjoying the sunshine

Fishing off the jetty