Sarah's Blog

Mostly pictures!

Been sooo busy with curriculum stuff - problem is, my brain is coming up with ideas quicker than my fingers can get it all typed up! As well as my April/May curriculum, I've also got my Botany 1 and Zoology 1 sets up and (taa-daa!) I've JUST finished a set about landforms which will be in the store very soon :)

After the blinding hot weather a couple of weeks ago, we've been experiencing typically spring weather here - sunny one minute and absolutely chucking it down the next. Literally, as I'm writing this, it's gone from sunny to POURING just like someone had turned a tap on! Last night we even had thunder and lightening! Once that had cleared it turned into the MOST beautiful evening and a stunning sky .... look :)

By this morning THAT had cleared to reveal this .....

Gorgeous :)

Here are a couple of other piccies that I grabbed this morning .....

These aren't going to be around for much longer

Hello there :) The tree he's sitting on is JUST coming into blossom - soon it will be pink all over

The Easter Bun cometh

'Twas a very drizzly and dull (and EARLY!) morning when the Easter bunny quit her cozy burrow (duvet) and ventured out into the rambling garden to leave little treats for the kiddies.

Off she went, hoppity-skippity leaving nice things in cunning hiding places ... and not so cunning ...

Then the famous gold bun made his appearance and hid up a tree ....

"oh, hi ....."

Once the lovely chocolatey things had been hidden, out came the children, in rain macs, wellies and pyjamas!

They hunted and hunted and found many eggs but some were elusive and in the end mummy bun (getting a trifle impatient for breakfast by this point) started handing out clues to find the ones that were left.

... and so the Easter Bunny has done her work for another year and she can now reward herself with a rather large box of Thorntons Continental. Nom, nom.

HAPPY EASTER!

Hoppity-Hop!

Easter is coming! Yippeee!! Chocolate!

I do love Easter - for me, it's the start of spring proper (although with the weather we've had recently you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd skipped spring and gone straight into summer!) I do my Easter bunny bit (no, not the Bridget Jones bunny costume although I'm sure Tim would love that!) - I just get up at the crack (ha ha) of dawn and go outside in the garden and hide eggs for the kids to search for. I ADORE doing it - so much so in fact that I believe I shall still be doing it when the kids have grown up - Tim will have to look for them instead! :D

Anyway, to celebrate this forthcoming holiday, April and I decorated the seasonal table with Easter stuff. We now have cute yellow fluffy chicks, an Easter "tree" (branches decorated with paper eggs) and even a small Easter bunny popping out of an egg :) Here's a piccy:

We've been taking a bit of a break from homeschool work for the Easter hols but I've still been working hard! I've finished my first curriculum book! Yay! It's now available from my home education pages (link in sidebar) and is on the theme of "spring" ....... I shall start work soon on the June/July book which will have an ocean theme to it.

Other than that, not much to add ... other than Floyd diving down by the side of the cooker this morning, rummaging around, backing out very suddenly closely followed by (I'm fairly sure) a large hairy housespider. He then pounced on the hideous arachnid and ATE IT!! Mmmm! Crunch, crunch, squelch, squelch ..... *barf*

Whilst I applaud Floyd's efforts to save me from 8-legged monsters I wish he'd not done it just as I was about to eat breakfast! Blleeeurgh!!

Springing

Currently outside today - enjoying beautiful warm, sunny weather :) Tim and I are sorting out the back fence - we had to cut through a LOAD of brambles first to get to it but the new fencing is going to look really nice.

Anyway, yesterday was mothers day (of course!) and, as well as breakfast in bed, I was treated by my lovely offspring to this beautiful posy of flowers :) It was in a "photo frame" bag and Rosie had put a pic of me, her and April in the front. Sweet :)

Nature table is looking lovely too - here it is - it's looking more and more spring-like all the time with cress, primroses and daffodils:

Plans

"Sure'n I hope you're considerin' the future, Mr. Eastwood?"

Maggie McFly to Marty (Back to the Future III)

If you've never watched Back to the Future (or, at least, not the 3rd one) that quote will mean nothing to you. The future, however, is something we've been considering a lot recently. Mostly Rosie's.

In September she "starts" Year 10 - she finishes her compulsory education June 2014 which seems a long way off but, as many a home ed parent will tell you, the years pass mighty fast. Ever since she was a little-bitty girl she wanted to "work with animals", over the years this has become more specific. Now, it's "work with horses". Since she has been taking her ride-outs with the local stables this wanting to work with horses idea has gathered momentum - to the point, in fact, where it is now definately what she wants to do.

So, plans had to be put in place to help her reach that goal and that means training. At the moment, her ride-outs are very informal lessons - she's worked up to a canter with them but that's about as far as it goes. In order to get on the course she wants to do (more on that in a minute!) she needs more riding experience as well as some horse care experience (grooming, stable care etc). In order to do THOSE things, she needs to be at a formal stable doing formal lessons.

Now, I always find with some things it's best to work backwards - what do you want to do for a job - what training do you need - what do you need to do NOW to get on the training. Having worked out the career choice the next step is where to do the training? In the end, there was only ONE place that she really like the look of - Kingston Maurward Equestrian.

It really is a fabulous looking place and she can work her way right through a programme of courses - ending with the British Horse Society exams if she wants. It also happens that they do formal riding lessons so, to prepare her for college and to give her the necessary experience before she goes, we're going to start her on regular lessons there - probably from early this summer. She's still going to continue her rides with the local stable though coz' she loves them :)

Wow! you know, it seems only 5 minutes ago that she was just starting her "compulsory" education - now we're only a short way away from college - crazy! Like I said, the years do fly past!

Onto other stuff now.

Yesterday the weather was absolutely perfect - warm, hazy sunshine. So, being at a loose end, we decided to go into Christchurch for a walk about. It was market day so, after we'd walked along the river and fed the ducks, we wandered about the market before going into M&S for some food. Then it was home again to .....

Start getting the bathroom ceiling ready for painting!! Errrk! It's the only bit of the bathroom that needs painting as the rest is fully tiled but god what a bind!

We also ordered in some new fencing for out back as the stuff that is there is shot to bits. Should be arriving tomorrow so we can get on and put it up at the weekend (along with some other gardening jobs that need to be done!)

This afternoon the hairdresser is coming to tidy us up :) About time too! :)

"here comes the sun ..."

We've had 2 gloriously lovely, sunny days and, today, we made the most of it and went up Hengistbury Head for a walk. I know I mention this place a lot in my blog but we haven't actually been up there for quite a while so it was nice to get back :)

The "head" itself

Some hazy-sunshine cows .... don't like cows actually ... scare me - but they did look very relaxed and happy :)

A path leading up through the woods

Tim squinting at me!

Rosie in the woods

Me and the kids - not a bad pic but I HAVE got my hair up which is not my best look but I was having a bad hair day and it looked even worse down!

I'm rather proud of this - I managed to get this fab picture of a heron strutting it's stuff :)

Finally, Rosie found a small, muddy boot ... not sure what that was all about, perhaps the Borrowers had been up there for a walk *laughs*

Giving winter the elbow

What an absolutely gloriously fabulous day! It was very misty this morning but that eventually pretty much disappeared leaving warm, hazy sunshine.

I do love days like this (the sort when you kind of wished you'd planned to do some spring cleaning!) - spring really does feel like it's got it's toe in the door! So, we've officially given winter the old heave-ho - no matter what kind of night-time freezing foulness gets thrown at us for a while longer yet - for us, winter is over.

To celebrate, we cleared our seasonal table of all it's winter stuff - packed the holly and mistletoe fairies away with King Winter, shook out the beautiful rose pink silk and welcomed a new season. Now we have a daffodil and blossom fairies and the roof garden of the gnome house has been planted. Well, kind of :)

April and I decided to plant some cress seeds in an old jam jar lid and used the plastic lid from an empty tub of cotton buds to make a little greenhouse. Blossom fairy is very kindly keeping an eye on them for us :) D'ya know, those cress seeds are ALREADY sprouting!

I can't wait to add some real blossom from the garden to the table - it still looks a little bare!

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday the weather was so lovely! Tim took Rosie for her horse riding (and took April along with him just for a drive!) which gave me a while of peace and quiet. I took a stroll round the garden with Floyd trotting along beside me (he really is so sweet sometimes!) and noticed a lot of springtime things popping up.

There were crocuses all over the lawn and leafbuds appearing on the trees and the birds were going crazy! It was so warm - especially in the direct sunshine and I sat on the bench for a bit and soaked it all in - heaven!

Later on I went with Tim to pick Rosie up and we had a bit of a walk in the forest while we waited for her. I took my camera and got a picture of her on Lizzie (the pony they pretty much always give her) - Lizzie is still wearing her winter coat, really shaggy!

Today, by contrast, was a bit gloomy weather-wise but we still had a nice sort of day :) I got up and did something I haven't done for AGES which was make bread - bread rolls to be specific:

After lunch we went up the local shops and to the library - we haven't been to the library since before Christmas! Then home so that Tim could start his Monday evening run backwards and forwards to the local Guide hall - April has Brownies first and then, half an hour after she finishes, Rosie has Guides!

Gettin' loved up and stuff

You might have noticed it was Valentines day recently and super it was too :) Some people don't celebrate it because they are, apparently, so fab to each other the rest of the year they feel they don't have to. Well, frankly, we are the most lovey family I know (lol!) but that doesn't stop us being EVEN MORE SO on Valentines day :) Anyway, the kids would never forgive me if I allowed this day (or any other seasonal event) to go past without recognising it.

So, Rosie made a postbox before the 14th and put it in the hall and we all made little cards for each other and put them in. Tim, who knows I love Hello Kitty, brought me a little Hello Kitty coaster to put my cup on and put it in with my card which was very sweet :) I cut the kids sandwiches into hearts at lunchtime and served them up strawberries with vanilla sugar for afters. Then, of course, Tim and I had a rather lovely (and loving!!) candlelit dinner, complete with bubbly, after getting the kids into bed.

All very gorgeous :)

Other than that, it's all been pretty quiet and nice and peaceful round here (which is how I like it!) Much homeschooling going on - April continuing to thrive on Montessori (just ordered a complete set of coloured beads for all the activities that we'll need them for!) and the New Child Montessori curriculum guides are continuing to serve us well - actually, that's an understatement - we LOVE them! Rosie is on a mixture of Montessori, GCSE maths and "real life" learning - very Montessori Erdkinder if I'm honest. She still adores her horse riding (despite taking a bit of a tumble recently!) She's been riding Lizzie an ex-point to point horse who is VERY speedy - she constantly wants to be at the front of the group but Rosie handles her very well :) Both girls are continuing to love Guides and April's doing very well now she's moved up to Brownies.

So that's about that - don't forget those who are interested, Winterwatch (one off special) is on Wednesday 22nd!

Sunny days!

We've had some really quite unseasonably warm weather recently (certainly nice after the horrific howling gales a little while ago!) Consequently, we've seen a fair bit of wildlife that probably shouldn't be pootling about at this time of year.

Yesterday, we spotted a Red Admiral butterfly fluttering around outside our living room window and I noticed that it seemed to have settled down on the front of the house to sunbathe. I grabbed the camera and went outside, found the butterfly and started giggling - it had landed on our house number and, for all the world, looked like something we'd stuck on as a decoration! :D

It was very beautiful and lovely to see - if a little early in the year. These warm days have certainly helped to ease us into the new year gently. :)

A New Year

So here we are, Christmas done and dusted, New Years Eve done and dusted and we've come tumbling out into 2012 :)

Normally by now I've done my new year post, in fact, I've normally done it just before new year. I looked back into my archives and realised that I always did a post about stuff I wasn't happy with and wanted to change, things I was desperate to do or achieve, homeschool work I wasn't happy with and wanted to change. All change.

It occured to me today that I hadn't done it this (last!) year and I wondered why. When I really thought about it, I realised that it was because all the things I wanted to change or do away with I actually did do last year - there was nothing left. I am, in fact, perfectly happy with the way my life is - I don't want to change anything. The homeschool work is fab, the house is nice, we as a family are happy ... I am content :)

Now, of course, that's not to say that I don't have things that I am aiming for - I'm practicing my new recorder (oh! the alto sounds soooo much better than the descant!) with Tim accompanying me on the piano most times, I'm increasing my crochet skills (just completed a little shrug - my first clothing done in crochet!) and I'm perfecting my baking skills. It's just there is nothing I feel I MUST change or get rid of - the things I want to do are just little, "pottering" things that increase my happiness even more.

It's quite refreshing really! :)

So now the Christmas decs are away and I've hoovered through and the house is back to normal. I'm sorting out the homeschool stuff ready for back to work and Tim also goes back to work on Thursday (he was very lucky and got the time off between Christmas and New Year).

Today we got out for our first walk of the year and went to Avon Heath. It was gloriously sunny and all blue sky (we timed our walk perfectly because just as we finished it got dark and started raining). Where we have had a lot of rain over the last few days it was incredibly boggy and muddy and the stream was very swollen - we had one great bit where we had to make our way across the water by climbing over some wobbly logs - a bit scary!

So that was Christmas :)

Hellloooo! Hope everyone had a perfectly lovely Christmas and is feelin' all relaxed and looking forward to the new year. We certainly are :)

Here is a lightening tour through our festive jollies - lots of "bubbly" blurred pics for you to enjoy *laughs*.

Christmas Eve was terribly, terribly busy. Tim went into work really early because they asked him to in case it was really busy, which it wasn't (it WAS busy the day before!) While he was there, I set about doing a LOT of cooking and cleaning and this wasn't easy because I didn't feel particularly well (cold). Anyway, dosed up on Beechams, I got on with it - I iced my Christmas cake (yes, one of those stars is a little wet because I'd only just finished decorating - that's water for sticking the holly on!):

I made cupcakes for the kids (who don't like Christmas cake):

... and I made mince pies - had a bit of a star theme going on this year! Oh, and the gorgeous Tala tin was part of a set of 3 that I got as a pressie from Tim which I obviously didn't have when I made the pies - this pic was taken later :)

Christmas day was just LOVELY - that's all I can say really. Yes, I did still feel a bit coughy and under the weather but it's amazing what some bubbly and fun with your family and cool pressies can do to perk you up!

Here are some random piccies from the day including our pressies. Now, I always feel a bit "bad" for posting pics of pressies - seems a bit show-offy. Then I thought, this blog is for our own personal memories as much as anything so hey-ho :)

So, pressies first :)

Tims - no, I didn't accidently photograph the same Debussy book twice, he received 2 copies of it!

Aprils - definately had the shakes with this photo!

... those blocks (in the first pic) were fantastic and well worth the money - she's played with them a lot. They came from Myriad and are really heavy and beautiful (and actually a lot bigger than they look in the picture)

This was one of her favourite pressies - a Waddledee!

Rosies - she did astonishingly well for 3ds games and books this year (she got replacement copies of a couple of her Harry Potter books that she has read to death!)

... just to prove that, even at 14, they don't grow out of "toys" - Rosie totally loved her wooden sword - she has mock battles with April in the garden :)

Mine :) I was lucky enough to get LOADS of Tala baking stuff this year which I was so, so happy about - I love the retro gorgeousness of it :)

This was one of my favourites - my beautiful Alto recorder from Tim :) REALLY wanted to learn to play this - it's much deeper sounding and more mellow than the descant (soprano). It also uses different fingering so it's taking some getting used to! It's pretty big and I'm still making adjustments to the lowest hole (on the right hand) to get it in a position that my little pinkie can cover easily! Here it is next to the descant which I already had:

So that's the pressies, here are a few other general pics :)

... the after lunch flop *laughs*

Rosie on the Wii

Tim reading ....

... there was a lot of this going on to :)

Yesterday, as we usually do on Boxing day, we went over mum/Tony's for nibbly food and pressies. As ever, it was nice and relaxing - food very yummy! :)

Today we're chillin' I got a load of tidying up and disposing of wrapping paper and stuff to do but it can wait :)

Next stop ... New Years Eve. Tim and I don't "do" New Years Eve in the traditional sense (i.e go to a party, get wildly drunk and snog someone inappropriate). We both hate the forced, "it is New Years Eve so we WILL be jolly" ... erm.. jolliness of it. So, for us, it's nibbles, champagne, Jools Holland and ... and snuggles ;)

Cake heaven

Unashamedly "housewifey" post today - all food and craft!

I've dug out my Christmas cake stand (what with it being soooo close to Christmas day!) and have been making yummy teatime treats to go on it. Here are some recent choccy chip muffins - very gorgeous - I PROMISE I am going to get my recipe page up in the new year and start adding these things!

The other thing I did a couple of days ago is marzipan my Christmas cake - heavens! It smelt boozy when I unwrapped it! We'll be getting squiffy on it *laughs*.

I always have this "issue" when it comes to marzipan-ing and icing my cake because I get really irritated with trying to get the bottom nice and even. Before, I've always tried to cut the bottom while the cake is flat on the worktop and it's never worked very well and I've ended up doing a patching job with bits of marzipan/icing and got cross.

This year I had a lightbulb moment (quite why I never thought of it before, I don't know). I looked at the cake and looked at a dinner plate ... hmmm ... the central, slightly dipped part of the plate was SLIGHTLY larger than the circumference of my cake. Hmmm. Aha! Put the cake on the plate, cover with rolled out marzipan (clearly - not going to just stick a slab of marzipan on top!), grab sharp knife and cut round the bottom level with the edge of the dipped bit of plate. On removing the spare marzipan, smooth down the bottom and it's PERFECT! No patching!

Sometimes I surprise myself ....

Mmmm! SMELL the alcohol!

Bingo!

Away from food, I've been crocheting (generally only when the heating has been on because otherwise my hands are too frozen!) I'm waiting for same yarn to arrive in the post (absolutely GORGEOUS deep plum colour) so that I can start a nice warm shrug to go with my dresses but in the meantime I'm doing squares. I decided, on impulse, to use up all of my scrappy bits of pastel coloured yarn and make granny squares. Eventually, I'll piece them altogether and make a throw or something - given the colours, it will be nice for the spring .... so I've got a project to keep me busy over the winter :)

That's about it for today folks! :)

All aboard the Santa Express!

Today we took the kids to Swanage for our trip on the Santa train :) If you are ever in the area I can hugely recommend it - it's really, really good fun.

We opted for the park and ride at Norden Station (a few stops away from Swanage) to save parking hassles and rode the Heritage Diesel into Swanage (fantastic views of Corfe Castle on the way!). We had to wait a bit for the train but there is a really nice (stationary) buffet car where we went and had a cup of tea.

The atmosphere at Swanage station was lovely - really festive with Christmas music blaring out, some guy dressed as an elf who was juggling and spinning plates and stuff and all the staff in Christmas hats :)

The round trip itself lasted for an hour and was such good fun. As soon as the train was underway, someone came round with juice and bikkies for the kids and then someone else with warm mince pies and sherry for the grown ups (had to laugh at the little plastic containers the sherry was in - looked like something you'd have Night Nurse in!) Someone came round with lottery tickets (we didn't win a prize - boo-hoo!) and someone else doing balloon modelling. Then, of course, there was Santa! He chatted to the kids and gave out pressies.

Then it was back to Swanage and onto the diesel for the ride back to Norden - very fab trip :)

Here are a few piccies - sorry for the blurred quality of some of them - it was bumpy!

Corfe Station from the diesel train

Corfe Castle

The Santa Express!

Well, I don't know what to say really .... Tim looks massively impressed

Balloon dino ....

... and balloon sword (and Rosie trying to look menacing!)

Tim enjoying his Night Nurse .......

Santa!

April and her present from Santa - which, although you can't tell is a fluffy hippo

Christmas is coming ....

... with our tree up in the living room....

... and a minature Santa's Grotto on the hall shelf ...

Winter ..... hibernation?

Winter's here. Arrived (rather suddenly I have to say) this morning. Woke up .... FREEZING ... wanted to go back to bed but was hungry so didn't.

I've updated the bloggy - nice eh?

You know, this year, probably more than any other I can think of in recent years, I've got the "hibernation" bug full-on. Now, by hibernation I don't mean literally sleeping until spring (although i sometimes think that would be a useful thing to be able to do!), I mean just cutting back a bit and spending this lovely time of the year doing pottering at home (crafts, cooking, wrapping gifts ..) and spend less time on the computer.

Thing is, we've had a couple of quite difficult years one way or another - illness, website issues and other various bits of stress that have just made living the sort of life we like to lead, quite hard. Ok, it hasn't been TERRIBLE but it has been .... tiring. None of us has spent as much time doing the stuff we like was we would have wanted and, I think, we're coming to the end of this year DETERMINED to change that next year.

So, if I had at least one resolution, it would be to spend less time on the computer and more time getting back into my crafting, cooking and other hobbies. I want to learn an instrument, expand my crochet skills, get back into my wildlife photography and other things like that. The computer is my mental drain - it actually TIRES me and makes me feel weak. It has to be cut back.

So, for now, I'm getting ready for Christmas big time :) Done lots more shopping now and coming on fabulously (just got to get the stuff wrapped now!) I've virtually brought out Myriad and Nicnacnoo and Amazon has never had it so good from us *laughs*. I've "fed" my Christmas cake (ooo! yuuum!) and repacked it ready for marzipan-ing in a week. We've got booze (bubbly, Baileys etc) and crackers and cards and chocolate. We are doing well!

April's birthday is tomorrow! She will be 7 (oh where is my baby going!) - so, I've got birthday cake to make and pressies to wrap. Tim's birthday is next Friday (he'll be 39 - 40 cometh bwa-ha-ha!) and then we're going on the Santa Train (can you tell I'm nearly as excited as the kids with this one?!)

It's cold, frost, glittery and the excitement of the season is upon us .... we're happy :)

in which we discuss Christmas shopping and sick

Christmas shopping oh dear. This year I had SUCH expectations. I WAS going to do it EARLY (i.e pretty much done by the end of November). I always, always end up with loads of stuff still to buy come a couple of days before Christmas and it makes me feel not at all jolly ... more baa-humbug.

I can't say I've stuck to my resolution though :( Up until yesterday, I had only brought ONE present. Today, I've tried to make up for it and gone online and picked up a few items (including one of my lovely friend Nats BEAUTIFUL floppy bunnies!) I'm still deliberating between a Kinderkram or Ostheimer castle set for April (the child wants a castle quite desperately) and I'm still frantically searching for a Meta Knight toy. I'm also trying to get birthday items for April and Tim. I've got stuff coming in the post and I've TOTALLY lost track. Bad me.

Sick. You REALLY want to read this don't you?

Yesterday, my littlest girl woke up with a sore throat. She was a bit mis-moggy but managed to eat breakfast and lunch although she spent most of the morning on the sofa watching Kirby TV instead of charging about as she usually does - this SHOULD have been my warning that all was not as it should be. After lunch she went steadily downhill until, eventually, she took herself off to bed with a book (The Clumsies - just so you know). I checked on her periodically but, apart from looking very pale, she said she was "ok". Course, "ok" is a loose term. Tim got home from work and was, within literally MINUTES being confronted with vast quantities of sick. Lucky, lucky guy.

Tim and I were both in the lounge when I heard April coughing. I just KNEW it wasn't "just" a cough and I was right. On entering her bedroom ... well, let's just say it was one of those occasions when all you can do is stand and stare a bit uncomprehendingly for a second. There was (and I apologise if you're starting to feel a bit squiffy yourself at this point), puke on the bedsheet, on her pillow, down the bedframe, down her clothes, in her hair and all over the poor Clumsies (which had to be escorted to the bin at arms length). So anyway, I carted her off to the shower and hosed her down while Tim cleaned up the bed.

She lolloped on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon, ate some ice-cream for supper (which Tim had to make a special trip out for) and I gave her a massage on her chest and hands with lovely lavender essential oil to help her sleep. It did too - she got drowsy on the sofa and Tim had to carry her to bed!

Anyway, this morning she was fine again so, clearly, one of those odd day-long bug things. She is currently, as I write, perfectly ok and ramming a gingerbread Father Christmas into her gob :)

Guy Fawkes and Christmas Cake

Yesterday evening we had our Guy Fawkes celebration - lots of fun :) This year we decided not to do a bonfire as we had in previous years because in previous years it always rained and the bonfire was too damp to light. This year (naturally) it didn't rain .... of course *rolls eyes*. However, even without the bonfire it was really enjoyable :)

We'd brought a variety of fireworks but deliberately selected ones with low noise factor (although a couple were rather borderline I thought) because there is a lot of wildlife round here and many pets (didn't want to scare the poor kitties and doggies!)

I made up a big pot of mulled wine (oooo! it was heavenly!) and we had hotdogs (made with "real" sausages as hotdog sausages are yukky), jacket potatoes with loads of butter and baked beans. Who'd have thought that all that would go with mulled wine but it does!

We did have one rather alarming moment when one of the rockets malfunctioned and went off sideways rather than straight up! It flew into nearby shrubbery and THEN exploded and we were waiting anxiously for a few seconds thinking the whole lot was going to go up in flames. Luckily because there had been rain a couple of days prior to last night, it was pretty damp and a visit from the fire brigade was not needed!

After we'd finished and got the kids off to bed I made a start on my Christmas cake! I just LOVE this particular once-yearly bake - just the SMELL of it makes me all festive :) I got the fruit into the brandy to soak last night and, this morning, actually made up the cake and got it in the oven and that's where it is now. The smell in this house and beyond yummy :)

Oh, and I booked tickets so we can take the kids to the Swanage Santa Train in December - even my big girl can't resist this little bit of festive-fun - and, to be honest, neither can her mummy! ;)

Woooo! Scarey!

After tea today, the kids carved their pumpkins (with a bit of help from me). Here they are (sorry, slightly blurred photo!) - Aprils is on the left and Rosies on the right:

This year is moving on at such a terrifying speed! I've got to make my Christmas cake in the next week, we've got Guy Fawkes night, we've got to get a gardener in to tidy up the garden for winter (garden is TOO big and TOO shrubby for us to handle!), Christmas shopping to start and goodness knows what else!

The cabbage story and other things

Here is a pic of some of Rosie's birthday presents from us (including a terrifyingly expensive, difficult to get hold of, Gamecube game which she has since played to death) .... amongst these you will notice a cabbage (a Savoy Cabbage to be precise) which she insisted on having in the photo.

Why a cabbage? Well, I'm guessing this isn't going to be THAT funny to anyone but us (although it is QUITE funny), but here it is. Rosie gave us a list weeks ago of some of the things she might want for her birthday and we could choose items from it to get her. From that point on she pestered us daily (no! hourly!) with the same question ... "what have I got for my birthday?" In the end we started replying "a cabbage" so Tim, being Tim, decided it would be hilarious to actually get her a cabbage. So we did, and wrapped it up, cleverly disguised to it didn't look like a cabbage. The little joke went down rather well and she was most amused :)

Oh, and here is her finished birthday cake which, at her request, had a Smash Bros. Brawl theme to it (Wii game in case you're interested!) It tasted utterly divine but you can see I will NEVER win prizes for my decoration skills!

So, on to the other things. A little homeschool snippet here - April has been doing work on weather and covered cloud types and the water cycle (amongst various other things). I did love this snap of her concentrating on doing her water cycle picture (with watercolour pencils) - she worked very hard :)

.... and here's the finished work - with labels:

Talking of weather, we've been basking in the most amazing (and totally unseasonal!) warmth here! It's been a little unbelievable to be honest and you'd be forgiven for thinking it was still the middle of summer not early autumn. However, these are a dead give away :)

The other give away? Waking up to chilly, breath-condensating mist ... I took these at around 8.00 this morning when the sun was trying to force it's way through the early morning mist - absolutely gorgeous :)