The Lemon Clock

Ds2 has finally managed to pin Dh down and get him to help him over the weekend with his Christmas present, a 'Lemon Clock' kit. Today ds2 got it out again and set it up with 2 lemon halves and a potato.

After phoning dh to check which of the wires was negative and which was positive (I was clueless), ds2 set about trying to get it to work with the fruit/veg and also tried some lemon juice. I pretty much left him to it, just taking a few photos and film of him in action.

(I tried to upload the film, but with no luck as it was taking ages)

LOOK AT ME MAKING A NECKLACE!

Dd1 was threading some gold cotton with various beads to make a necklace for me. I was surprised how well she was coping, even finding some sellotape to stick on the end so the beads didn't just slide off the other end. I wonder where she's learnt that technique, perhaps from ds1? It isn't something I've shown her. After about half an hour of intense concentration she came and showed me the finished result. She'd managed to thread even the most fiddly of beads onto the cotton - and without a needle too! It was a little too small to go over my head, but went fine over hers. Shortly afterwards, unfortunately, Jack managed to get hold of the necklace and chew the sellotape off - uh oh beads all over the lounge floor!


Before lunch we watched 'Chicken Little' on DVD. The most interesting bit - at least for me and probably ds1 too - is the part where they show how the animation was done. Particularly the part where they show the actors doing the voice overs.Ds 1 is keen on animation, having done several summer workshops with a local animation group.

As consolation for the necklace/Jack encounter, after ds1's piano lesson I filled some seed trays with compost and dd1 and I set about planting some of the 'early' seeds. I'm always surprised how much she enjoys this and how attentive and careful she is when planting them. The sweet pea seeds were easy for her to handle, but the finer seeds such as Mesembryanthemum were more fiddly. Still, she managed well and we spent about an hour planting seeds, putting in seed labels and wrapping the pots in plastic bags to keep the moisture in. All the time she was learning, sometimes counting or reasoning, sometimes just talking to herself as if I wasn't there and other times just listening as I answered her questions about the seeds and why we were doing the things we were doing.

------PLANTING THE SEEDS ---------- ---------TYING THE BAGS-------------

THE FINISHED PRODUCT