I *so* need to get out more

Some years ago my first "husband" came home form work to find me hoovering the walls. From thenceforward it became a metaphor for any slightly mad or cabin-feverish behaviour. Today, an unsuspecting onlooker might have witnessed me ironing a sofa. There is a perfecly simple explanation for this. (Apart from the obvious, but lets not go there). I am giving the bed-settee to my daughter so I dug out its cover from the bottom of a wardrobe and put it on. It looked better, but somewhat creased, so, rather than wrestling again with said cover and getting the (no doubt cobweb-ridden) ironing board out, I decided it would do no harm to iron it on the sofa! It worked! I hasten to add that I would not recommend this for a non-laundered sofa. In fact this prompted me to whip off the cover from the other sofa and bung it in the washer while there is still drying weather. Not the Camel-coloured sofa, the deep blue squashy sofa. (wonder why I'm getting rid of the sofa-bed? "too much furniture" said the charming estate agent and I'm enclined to agree).
So why did I do the sofa-cover-ironing, anyway? Well, I suppose that's just the kind of mum I am. Even though its probably going to be sat on by sallow youths weilding cans of "wife-beater"(AKA Stella) (shudder), burning blim-holes into its plain turquoise loveliness, I just couldn't bear for it not to be the-best-it-possibly-could-be under the circumstances for my not-so-little girl, who happens to be in Malaga at the moment... don't dwell on it...don't dwell

***L@@K!***

"Sorry, but I think you'll find the correct terminology is " ***L@@K***" !!!!!

(this is also a pretty acurate picture of my eyes)"

good toes..

Yesterday the children were recovered enough from their colds to go to ballet. It was Fug's first time and he didn't want to join in as there were too many people. Well I suppose 22 4 year olds can be a bit intimidating. He is going to go along and watch again till he gets used to the crowds.
Jem got a bit EBAY obsessed, as I have been selling stuff, and she helped me put something on, photographed it, etc, and I found all these Fat Face and Boden items in my watched items- well at least she didn't actually bid on anything, but I did bid on a something nice for her (not telling!).
This morning they have all been busily fuzzy-felting and they are now out in the garden.... well they were...

space

We went to see the mobile stars planetarium and made some planets. All full of cold so, one down, the rest of us are going to bed very soon.

Tod Park

pirates, ballet and wood

Jem has a ballet CD and wants to keep practicing- full ballet gear is essential- she did this first thing this morning, before changing into her pirate outfit for the pirate-themed group meeting. They quite enjoyed making treasure boxes, playing games to real authentic piano-accordian pirate music. Someone told a story, which kept them all enthralled, which was just as well, as Allie was still poorly and was a total floppy clingy baby, until the end, when he seemed to perk up. Maybe it was too hectic for him with all those people there.
...and we got some wood yesterday! after the they had run round the garden all day, playing mysterious games involving a hammer and nails, which I had out the mend a dolls house, which we we rescued from going to the tip. I think they made some sort of weather station out of a post with things nailed to it. Must go and see if I can find it...

Seasons for the Northern Hemisphere, 2005

Seasons for the Northern Hemisphere, 2005: "Autumnal Equinox: Sept. 22,22:23 UT"

carbooting

Yesterday I did a car boot sale with Jem, alongside Elaine and JR. I was expecting it to rain, so wasn't mentally prepared and didn't think I had the energy, although all the stuff was already boxed up in the garage and Jem had got some barbies ready to sell. It turned out a nice day, and we made a few quid and had a fun day out. Not sure how much we made as I kept having to get change from my purse when people came with £20 notes- how annoying is that?- and putting big notes in for safekeeping- it wasnt supposed to be part of my float so I hadn't counted it beforehand, but I'm sure there was more in it at the end of the day, plus the increased amounts in our floats. We also came away with a typewriter and some necessary ballet stuff: shoes for primary exam plus shoes and leotard for grade one; "what if I don't get into grade one?" "you will because you won't fail the exam". Jem also bought some Ello, which they have all been playing with today. But there was still quite a lot left at the end so I decided that we would have to do another car boot sale or market stall very soon.
I dont want the go into the losing my purse fiasco. It turned out the be under the passenger seat after I had phoned Elaine three times and she had searched her whole house and street.
I was quite exhausted today after yesterday's escapades, which included starting to scrape a bit of plaster off Elaine's floorboards, (as you do) and getting quite carried away doing most of the visible floor. So I took it easy, well as much as possible with one sicky baby and the aftermath of leaving the house for two days with two small boys and their father in it. (This included vaxing up the bedroom carpet while they were in the bath- how come I am apparently more capable of doing this than another parent?).
I also got the sudden urge to "do" the kitchen floor, which is not dry yet, so I'm not sure how clean it is. This followed several conversations about what the use to clean stone flags? I really don't know, but there must be a secret as nobody else's stone floor looks as grubby as mine and I'm sure not everyone is down on their hands and knees with a scrubbing brush all the time. I have a stiff brush with a long handle which I use to swish copious amounts of water about, occasionally! I think the last time was Easter when the dishwasher flooded! O! that's terrible, but, you see, it's not all that easy to do, not easimoppable, and the dirt just seems to dissapear, just forming a general grubbiness.
So there seems to be a bit of a floor theme emerging! I also picked up all the rubbish of the lawn, with the help of Fugs, and also the budlia which had blown out of the wheelbarrow. We did a bit of weeding and grass trimming, and I have some bulbs and heather waiting to go in. Still loads of pruning to do, but I thought it best to tidy as we go, so it doesnt end up all over the garden (again!).
A friend came over today with her two-year old nephew (I was expecting her 15 year old daughter, but, hey). I didn't seem to have much time to talk to her about her return to HE, although I had printed out some activity schedules for her. She is concerned about being forced back to work when her daughter is 16 although she will be still home educated. She has already had some hassle from the benefits people about going back to work. Any info on this would be gratefully received. Although my blog readership seems to be reduced to about one...(ur hur hur, sobs into laptop...I am so alone!)
Tomorrow I must:
post that letter I wrote to an old school friend.
find my diary and make a proper list
make a calendar so I can plan things
By the way the end of last week was a bit horrendous and I started thinking I can't do this HE lark and got all grumpy with the (equally grumpy) kids, and the Montessori school phoned up asking if it was ok if they gave Jem's place to someone and I had to say yes, holding back tears. On the plus side it means I don't have to give them any more money. So I decided I had to get organised and plan some activities and I ended up doing a charity shop trawl of "resources", ie, some games, books, etc.
What's it called when you get your old dog ends and make a roll-up? I'm not saying I've just done that, or anything.
more list:
gardening
I know there was something else...
Phone old friend who is having a baby, who I saw going past on the bus, and see if she wants a pram- someone must want a pram.
Have a go at corn dollies, seeing as I am supposed to be doing a corn dolly/harvest crafts workshop next week.
Remain calm.
ps. I have recently realised I can read white on black easier than black on white, so I dont see the typos until they are published.

Autumn bonfires

OK, I've got no pictures or interesting anecdotes. I'm just a compulsive blogger who can't let a day go by without putting down something. And I should be in bed. And Middlemarch has got so exciting I had to drag myself away from it. I'm sure its going to inform some major life decision. Maybe I'm just clutching at straws here in the absence of any positive influence. Or maybe I'm going ever so slightly loopy, after not havening actually seen another adult since yesterday teatime. I don't know why I do this. Actually it seems easier at the time, but you have to get the balance right.
So, anyway, We spent the morning indoors. I managed to go back to sleep and completely miss Maeve coming round (for washing!) and the man who wanted to know who owned the field opposite (come back, man, just so I can see someone without bending down). It was quite bright the afternoon, although blustery, so I decided to have a bonfire and attempt to burn the prunings from yesterday. I ended up with only a barrowful of really green stuff, having got it going wih some drier stuff I cut down a month or so ago (when I was angry, but it made a lot more room for the table, although it is a bit transparent to the lane in places.) Fugs really enjoyed helping with the bonfire, and they did some weeding, and played really nicely outside till supper, still pretending to be pirates. They decided to do some colouring and Fugs took this "homework" upstairs to his bedroom!
We were inspired to have an equinox bonfire. This idea has been forming in my head for some time, as I knew we would have to burn some stuff and autumn is a good time for that. Someone suggested that the corn dolly workshop I offered to do in Skipton could be around the equinox. So I thought we could do our bonfire on the 21st; if anyone would care to join us they would be more than welcome.

reluctant teacher

Mummy, where has the sun gone down to?
Ireland. It's gone to Ireland now.
Where does it go after that?
America. It goes to America next.
Where to next?
O, erm, the Pacific. O look! there's a rabbit....


I just decided that the buddlia had to be pruned and started hacking away at it, when a ball went over the wall. I couldn't reach it with the hoop helpfully offered to me, so I had to get up on the wall. While I was up there I spotted this red disc rolling along the hills, so we ran down to the road to see if we could catch it before it went down. There were loads of rabbits frolicking about in the field opposite, not minding us at all. They always come out at this time. We have seen a lot of squirrels too. One was up in the tall tree, watching us, waiting for us to drop some food, no doubt, as there were plenty of rich pickings after the party, which they keenly plundered.
We had a lovely afternoon out in the garden with some friends who hadn't made it on Sunday.
Earlier on Jem finished making this robot, (while I was being useless mummy on the computer), took this photo and handed me the camera. Fugs had fun with his robots and solar-powered motor today.
Right. I'm off to bed. Middlemarch is suddenly more appealing than talking to myself!

totally 5

Here is the birthday boy with one of his presents. And yes, he is wearing summer racing car pyjama top and winter space cadet bottoms, which seems to be his preferred combo, and sporting a "totally 5" badge, and a tattoo on arm and forehead. We had a quieter day today, but still I think he had a nice time, as he was good, unlike some other people I could mention, but the unmentioned girl is now in bed with a slight temperature, so can perhaps be forgiven for trying as hard as she could to spoil his birthday.
We walked/biked over to visit some friends this afternoon, calling in at the park on the way. They are just housesitting nearby, and it was nice to be able to visit them; they are coming over tomorrow afternoon, too. As we set off I was conscious that there would be other children around that would be just finishing school and it had taken us all day to get out of the house. But it was a lovely day and here were hardly any children around.
I thought about what we had done today: nothing, well actually we built a couple of robots and did some singing/playing and listening to music, which we downloaded and printed out, and wrote out some of the music (all out of necessity/fun- no educational agenda intended!), so I was quite happy with that, and now we were taking in the balmy late afternoon sunshine, plus getting excercise and chatting. We saw some squirrels, and some leaves falling. So, I think, the boy that was born on the first day of term had a good start to being totally 5.

scary enough?

Apparently I am:


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

parrot pirate party pinata

Spent most of yesterday doing party preparations, after ballet and some last minute shopping. Fugs potato printed some bunting and Jem drew a huge treasure map for a game which she ended up organising herself. We had a production line of pirate hats and flags, using the potato printers and some super black crepe paper and card we found in the pound shop. Later, much later, I finished off the pull-string parrot pinata and the bunting, and helped Brendan find some pirate music to download. So had quite a late night, as usual.
I tried to have a lie in this moring but it didn't work as I knew there was costumes, games, decorations and food to organise and only about 4 hours to do it in, taking an hour out for lunch. (How strange my mind works!). So I dragged myself up and when I was suitably coffeed I got on with it. It all went more or less according to plan. No one particularly noticed that I was madly still making a treasure chest, for the treasure hunt, from an emptied out washing tab box in between smiling sweetly at guests and offering drinks (I have to try hard to be a hostess, it doesnt come naturally to me!). The pinata worked, as in: some of the ribbons were pulled off and then one ribbon suddenly opened it up. I've not made a pull one before. I think I'll have to go into business! The treasure chest cakes, which Jem decorated, were actually recognisable as treasure chests! Hurray!
Just got some present wrapping to do. My little boy is five tomorrow and he's not going to school! hurray!!

ahhh! 

pinaaataaa

So I crashed out at 10 o clock after a manic day of driving, partying, etc, Allie wouldn't let me read Fugs a story so I gave up and took him to bed and I fell asleep before him. So I woke up after one o'clock with a little voice (in my head) saying ...pinaataa...you haven't made a pinaaataa! So at 2 am I was smearing a ballon with margarine, y'know, as you do....So here I am- I was going to look at my pics from today but I've got a little one shouting "mummy gone?" ...night!...

Ok, well my back seems to be recovering from manic gardening sessions, preceeded by mega stress, which also seems to be fading a little. Today I took all my children shopping. Maeve got pans and other sundry household items from Home Bargains and Pound Stretcher, plus a trolley full of food from LIDL. We got party stuff and another trolley load of food. We managed to squeeze all this plus five of us into my little car. The result was happy relaxed children, (which was my hope, but I wasn't sure if it would really happen!). I was thinking we needed a bit of normality, whatever that is, but spending the day together, doing everyday things seemed to do the trick. After tea I took a tired out baby up to bed while the others sat happily making birthday cards together for ages. Amazingly Jem managed to show Fugs how to write in two cards, which are quite readable, after an earlier conversation between myself and the mother of the card recipients in which I said that he could not even draw, let alone write!
It suddenly dawned on me that it is the 1st of September and he hasn't started school. The decision was not difficult and was made some time ago, but now it's really happened, it feels a bit different, like he's really home educated now. I just hope that he doesn't continue to think that when you're 5 you can read and write. I think this may have come from a question he asked me ages ago, how old are you when you can read? I might have said 5, meaning, o, not until you're at least 5, thinking of it as some hazy distant future. But he knows his dad didn't learn till he was 8, well, I'll have to make sure he knows, and that other people don't necessarily learn that young, as I don't want the pressure on him. One or two of his friends are coming over on Sunday, and I was a bit worried as they are starting school. But I've just found out they don't start until Monday, unlike here, where they have already gone back. So we're having a bit of a pirate themed party! I was dreading the though of it last night, but am coming round to the idea as the kids have been quite sweet about it, getting all excited about bags of sweeties and icecream; making invitations and planning games. Well, it's a good job someone's doing it, cos I couldn't get my head around it, just went though the motions of buying stuff. O no, I said I'd start making a pinata and I cant really be bothered now.