yes it is a textile constructed of food

Ok here are a few of the things we made today. I'm not sure where the pictures are going as I just upgraded my blog template and it's doing strange things I'm not used to. Well I'll just keep calm and carry on and see what happens. There's some spanners and stuff appeared too, presumable indication that things need fixing... hmmm, not sure I like this way of doing things. Anyway, this is Fergus's plasticine thing...

Anyway, we seemed to have quite a procuctive Sunday at home, considering how ill I've been feeling. i finally had a bath and got dressed and took down the rest of the decorations and the tree outside- phew! Well, mainly spent the morning cleaning the kitchen, and then it was nearly teatime really.

Well, we did spend quite a bit of time finishing off Freddie's model pirate ship before tea could be started . I just wanted it to be out of the way as all the bits were getting lost, especially when they started boucing the inflatable mega-globe around the room! The boys were having a no-computer day, as I had said something before they went to bed and they remembered. I did have to send them upstairs to play a couple of times as they were a bit lively.

And as tea was a bit boring I decided I had to make some puddling, and still running on emergency rations and Chrstmas leftovers, I plumped for a mince tart and custard. Yes, I have loads of homemade mincemeat left! I just remembered it was something my mum used to make. I quite enjoyed making this, as you can see... you can take the girl out of the textile design but you can't......... Add the barely listenable-to pop music, AKA the Radio One chart show, blasting its way across the kitchen table, and you might get a flavour of the true delights of the experience.... My kids are funny about pop music- they seem to have discovered it all at one and are to be heard humming all sorts of tunes, and when I ask them where they heard them, "O that's in Shrek 2" or it's on the radio. I overhear conversations such as "I don't like this kind of music it's like a radio that's gone wrong" and .... "there's nothing in that pie and you're putting it in the oven! That's called baking it blind"..and"what's that song by? what's the name of that thing you get in a desert with trees and water? ...oasis? yeah, is it by Oasis?"

What?!!! O I hate this editor!

i give up

drinking hot water- too lazy to add a teabag

I'm blogging now because I'm bored. bored of facebook, which is what I do when I'm ill or tired, which I am both. Nothing much going on, well it is Friday night and people have more interesting things to do. I could go to bed and read Margaret Atwood's The Tent, but I had been looking forward to Falling Through Clouds at the book launch this evening. I didn't have the energy but Rach said she would get me a signed copy- huzzah! (But why didn't I just get it from Amazon?)

So we had a lazy week at home. When I felt like I could do something other than lie in bed napping and lapping (laptopping, but lapping rhymed) I decided to mend a badly in need of repair blanket. Something I can never really be bothered to do, and leave it till a rainy day when I've not much energy. Well it was a snowy day. Look you can't see it! haha, well, at least its not all raggedy.
The boys finally went back to school on Thursday, though Joy's school was closed all week because of the snow. So I finally got out and about to college, and out in the evening, which was nice, but now I'm paying for it as the cold has gone to my chest and making me feel really drained.
I am running low on supplies of food and fuel. Surprising how good I am at stocking up on food though; after going through all the leftover mince pies, funny cheese and stollen I have found plenty of soup ingredients and frozen pizzas. I've only just had to make some bread, as I did recieve a food parcel earlier in the week from Sean, who can't work because of the weather. Juice seems to be an issue, and although the children are quite capable of drinking water I had to persuade Freddie to have some, which involved spilling some down his pj's, which he was not very impressed with, but I was worried about him getting dehydrated. Me, I'm just drinking gallons of ginger tea, aka hot water with a few bits of ginger floating in it, which I only change about once a day and don't even bother adding honey now. I can't really be bothered to change the tea bag- can't really taste it anyway.
It's not as though I'm totally cut off in drifts of snow and shops are only 10 minute walk away, but I can't get the car out, and when I have been out I have been too tired and cold to actually go and buy anything (apart from cat food and a battery for my guitar tuner- those little essential things!). I'm sure there's a few veggies in the garden, but they are still under a foot of snow, and I've not been desperate enough to dig for them yet, (like sheep do in the snow to find grass).
I just did some washing, finally, but only hung up the urgent things: my favourite t-shirt and cardigan and the school jumpers. Watched way too much TV today- didnt reallise the Johnny Depp Charlie and the Chocolate factory was on, and The Simpsons movie. I think I'm going to give the TV back after Slumdog Millionnaire on Wednesday. It was good for Christmas, and it does keep me company and stop me feeling all sad and lonely, but I do have other things to do, and the adverts are starting to bug me- the kid's ones that is... they have been really good at not watching it, even when I was ill in bed, but now remember when the Simpsons is on... thin edge of the wedge? Anyway it takes up space and i want to clear the decks a bit. Can't wait to get all the Xmas decs and stuff tidied away. Joy took down the tree decorations, but it is still here with us, getting all hot and dry... somebody help me get it outside and watered!
Spent way too long helping Freddie make a model pirate ship today which was way too fiddly and is now gaffer taped up, in the hope that it will stay together when the glue is dry... Didn't make it to Fergus's piano lesson, unfortunately, so it will be 6 weeks in between lessons, but he has been doin a bit of practice, which is the main thing.
Now I really must get some horizontal rest. Amazing how much I need sometimes. Ah sure it will do me good.

bike riding and other stuff

Ok so the summer holidays are going by way too fast. I've lost count but I think we're over halfway through now. We did spend the first few weeks taking it easy, lolling around at home, etc.

I went to the ME clinic, which totally wiped me out, being, in a cruel ironic coincincidence, sitiated at the end of the universe, AKA Seacroft. Anyway I finally got the letter today- yes, I officially have CFS/ME. Fortunately the homeopath didn't have to go through such a long-winded proceedure of diagnosis, and in the meantime has treated me, and I am now so much better I am able to have a relatively normal existence, go on picnics and walks, stay up all day without having a nap, do housework and gardening, etc. This may be a temporary relief, but it's better that no relief at all.

Yesterday I finally achieved part of my mission for the holidays: to get the boys riding bikes. We live on such a steep hill that the thought of taking two non-bike-riders out at all has been too off-putting. Yesterday afternoon we went to the park with bikes, which we have left in town so we don't have to carry them up the hill again. I did enough running about holding Fergus's saddle while he cycled round the grass, saying, "Im gonna fall, I'm gonna fall!", and they got ice creams, and Freddie fell over and I had to take him back, where I promptly fell asleep for two hours.

Anyway they've just been doing their scrap-books. Fergus showed me his food collage, with the word FOOD spelled out in pictures of knives. They have done quite a bit of spontaneous activity like this, like the sort of thing they used to do when they were at home all the time. I sometimes dread it when they get something like this out, because I think we're going to be stuck inside all day. And then I have to remind myself of their short concentraton spans and that they usually will stop after half an hour or so.
So they have now gone outside- hurray! I said we would go out afetr lunch- we need rabbit food and a light bulb for the kitchen, and the fleamarket is on... best get on with it then...

remember me?

Ok, well we have been a busy of late, what with the Fringe, etc, which I shall blog about here when I get round to it. But there has been some other stuff going on in our lives as well. Here are some of the highlights...


Theres been Calderdale pulling the plug on Joy's stabling experience: "no-one under 13 is allowed to groom a horse"... they need work permits now. This was pretty devastating news, but the stables are starting a pony club to find a way round the regulations.


there's been a wet summer solstice round a bonfire

...with fire twirling


There's been a 21st birthday

...featuring Meg Munroe
And we spend this week at Grandma's, looking after her, playing where I used to play,
...cycling and talking to horses
and of course lots of homework. There might be more about this later.

It's a coco-pops advert

Here are some pics from yesterday:

Yes we do work! The boys captured in a Jolly Phonics moment: "Do you want to come with me for a walk or do some of your workbooks?"





Yes, we have rabbits: two were allowed inside to star in a video/be shown on webcam to one of Joy's blogfriends. Joy's friend Imi came round all afternoon and they had loads of fun.




This was on Sunday, on our way back from the cinema. The boys have already seen The Golden Compass on DVD but I was really looking forward to seeing it, having read the books, and needed an excuse! And I wasn't dissappointed. I was engrossed, and enjoyed the characters: Nicole Kidman was a great Mrs Coulter, and that coyboy guy, what was his name? Interesting to see what they do with the other books.

It did cost me 18 quid, including the popcorn and cup of tea, none of which, I hasten to add, was split. Unlike the two other children we went with, who left a carpet of popcorn around ther seats and after we had left we found out they had left early. I don't know why I'm gloating at this, maybe because it is often assumed that you can't take my children anywhere, because they don't know how to behave (because they don't go to school [unspoken]). No, the funniest bit was when the second the adverts started this miserable old geezer in the row behind grumbled: "Can you sit down, I can't see". Kelly, who was settling her two boys in their seats just looked at him and said "It's a coco-pops advert". Maybe you had to be there.

bimbling

What have we been doing for the last week? Well, last Friday we made it over to Skipton to a home-ed meeting, where we had a play with some electrical ciruits from the STAR centre, plus saw some lovely old friends we havent seen for ages. That was me and the boys; Joy was up at the stables all day.

It's been a quiet week of bimbling around the house this week. We did the Hebden meeting, after some sound advice from a friend who knows: I decided to go along and open up and hang around for half an hour or so and leave if no-one else turned up. We ended up staying as there were a few things to sort out in the cupboard, Dave turned up and made me a coffee and the boys found the Duplo and got stuck into that. I even found the chalk (that walks); it had been borrowed and put away somewhere else, but I spotted it. Meanwhile some people turned up from Tod, very late but now at least they know it's on. Must set out earlier next week so we have chance to call in at the flea market on the way, as I'm sure there will be a few people coming.

It was funny when we left as we finished dead on time, which is exactly the same time that the school across the road comes out, so we found ourselves walking down the road with hoards of families, which was quite a novelty. I then had the idea that of course Dawn and Ro would be around, too, so we exchanged texts just as her van came round the corner and she gave us a lift home and came in for a good old chinwag and Ro played with the boys.

Yesterday I went out on my own for a haircut, and a good excuse to wander around Hebden aimlessly. I did get a new mouse, though, so now all the computers have one each! I got some new sketchbooks, too, the ones in the market for 99p that actually have nice thickish paper in, in the hope of inspiring a bit of non-computer based activity, which Fred and Joy both got into.

Today was a combination of computer games and Playmobil, which took off when Clare and Lu came round. By quarter to nine this evening (I'm a bit slack about bedtime when it's just me in for the evening) it had reached it's ultimate conclusion, that is, the Playmobil people were lined up on top of Freddie's laptop, along with a sea monster, watching the big screen. I couldn't get a picture as Freddie insisted on going to sleep with this going on, but now I've temporarily removed the audience so I can do this.

I am trying to upload some pictures to Flickr, as I am about 8 months behind in this, but my broadband connection is ridiculously slow. I am going to sack Pipex as soon as the contract runs out. Nick said he would get me a new router today, which might help, too. Yep, I new laptop would be nice, too...

merrily random boys

Yesterday morning we were up bright and early when the postman brought our Hama delivery from Bead Merrily. So here they all are merrily beading in their pyamas.

Freddie got a boy template, from which he has made "random boys", ie, random colour beads.

Joy enjoyed her horse kit, along with extra brown mix beads, as I suspected she would.

Fergus had a go with a dinosaur kit (inspired by the Manchester Museum), which I was a bit disappointed didn't have dinosaur-shaped templates, but it was more of a challenge to him making a dinosaur on a square board and he did pretty well, I thought.

Freddie had only done random colours until then, but then he did this:

Which turned into this: Well, I was impressed, anyway.

meanwhile...

some other stuff we have been doing...

dismantling the climbing frame (it was just an eyesore, taking up space in the best open bit of garden- well, we have trees...

geomags


Messing about with the fire: now we are on anthracite. The smokeless fuel I got before was a bit expensive. I need to get holed of some (free) wood ideally.

do I look tired or what?

boxes and their uses

these are just a few things we have done with the millions of boxes. Most of them have gone to be recycled now.

just a quick hello

Hi, I haven't really had time to blog and the pc I usually use is still being mended after not quite surviving the move intact. And basically, I am a bit out of the habit of things, and finding a time and a place for everything in our new life.
Anyway, briefly... today we went out in the garden and madly hacked away at some of the overgrown bushes with shears and started to clear a place for a firepit. Miffy had another litter- o dear! we must have about 12 rabbits!
After tea I cut down one of the old wooden venetian blinds for the bay window- 2 up, one to go. They look great, and I was told it couldn't be done, but you know me: dogged determination... I used Milly's hacksaw for the metal bit and a big wood saw for the slats, which I had bound together with parcel tape. Unfortunately I have to cut 2cm of the other one before I put it up, but at least I know it can be done. But, for now my arms are really tired!
Meanwhile the boys played at making robots from all the bits of wood and cardboard boxes that were lying around. But I had to tidy it all up before I came upstairs as the room was a complete mess!
Yesterday we didn't go out and they did lots of jigsaws, plus a bit of phonics (collage of things beginning with "e" sound- quite challenging, but they did really well). I made a phonics board- I'll have to show you- much easier than describing. Joy decided to do a large horse alphabet, ie a picture of something to do with horses for each letter of alphabet.
Last week I was too tired to do anything much- I think it all hit me 2 weeks after moving and I took it easy for 4 days. I did manage to get rid of nearly all the big boxes, though.
We seem to be having a great time in our new house. It's such a relief to be finally here.

home sweet home

Well, here I am, finally connected to the internet and what do I do? well I've just been browsing (for a whole hour) the IKEA website (for smaller furniture than our existing stuff!) and the Jolly phonics site to look at the order of learning letter sounds and The Actions... hmm. We've been doing a bit of learning/consolidation of letter sounds with Freddie and Fergus. Will go into that with pictures at a later date, but now I seem to have used up all my time and energy for one day and now Meg has come home and is complaining that there is no door between the computer room and her room, which is the attic. O dear- we will have to sort that out, really.
Anyway... we're doing ok. I unpacked the last box in the boys room today and finally found Fergus's clothes! Also most of the boxes downstairs are unpacked- lots of stuff lying around but better than loads of boxes. Now I just have to wait for Darren to come and take them away before there is another avalanche, like yesterday, when I heard a little voice saying, "Mummy, I'm trapped..." Anyway, it's cosy and feels like home, but now Meg is hassling me to make her telly work- argh! one of the 101 little things I have to do... se ya later

We bought another Judo outfit it the jumble sale this morning for 50p (better than £25, although Joy pointed out it was not me that bought hers). So they had a bit of a sesh in the white room. I told them to remember there were no mats and be careful!

It seemed to take forever to do the shopping in the market and I still have to go out again tomorrow for stuff for Freddie's party.

power cut

On Thursday morning there was a power cut, so, as the computers wouldn't work there was "nothing to do"...


No heating so we lit the fire.

There was plenty to do...

We did crumpets and tea on the stove.
Mmm...hibernation mode
Unfortunately the power came back on around lunchtime, much to whoops of joy and delight: Horay the computer's working now! I think they will not be in the living room in the new house. (Possibly moving in the last week of October- It's all finally definate now, as the buyers' mortgae is in place so only paperwork to do, and packing, don't forget the packing...)

experiments

Tuesday also got off to a good start with a spot of tai chi on the patio with TCD and Michelle. The boys got into a great session of experiments with vinegar, bicarb and fizzy vitamin tablets, in various explodable containers.

Meanwhile, I had to stand on the table to have a macro moment with this gorgeous red admiral.