Monday, 31 May 2010
That thing they say about motivation...
....I haven't seen H move so fast since the last time the router needed to be reset!!
Crossroads
We found a remote crossroads about 25 minutes away. My cheeks are still burning from the blowy wind and sunshine there.
T needed me to be his bodyguard, looking this way and that while he got down in the middle of the tarmac to get some good shots.
T needed me to be his bodyguard, looking this way and that while he got down in the middle of the tarmac to get some good shots.
Industrial Estate
My inexhaustible supply of places to take T to take photos keeps on going....We drove round one of the Didcot industrial estates and found straight lines, trees and empty roads to kneel down in the middle of.
We can try going there at dawn, sunset, in the rain, in the snow and in different seasons. I love the richness hidden away locally. I only think of these places when I'm really stuck and have to think extra hard to find something that will fit T's latest requirements.
We can try going there at dawn, sunset, in the rain, in the snow and in different seasons. I love the richness hidden away locally. I only think of these places when I'm really stuck and have to think extra hard to find something that will fit T's latest requirements.
Awol
I went off for an hour at a home ed meet up. Well, that was rather a lie, I basically went awol and had a lovely 3 hours chatting, eating strawberries, watching children leaping around on the trampoline.
We discussed loads of different things and I feel so refreshed.
We discussed loads of different things and I feel so refreshed.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Animals and Humans
Why is it that some animals seem to really want to be near humans? Do we out of all the creatures offer something special that no other creature offers?
I know that no other creature would save a drowning insect or gently help a bee out of a window. Maybe we sometimes offer the animals something as magical and undeserved as they sometimes offer us?
Do they observe and care for each other ever?
I know that no other creature would save a drowning insect or gently help a bee out of a window. Maybe we sometimes offer the animals something as magical and undeserved as they sometimes offer us?
Do they observe and care for each other ever?
More early starts
On Sunday it was 4.30am to go with T to get the sunrise as opposed to the dawn. The birds were extremely loud where we went. The young cattle trotted over to be close to us. I get the feeling they just want company and human contact of some sort.
This morning it was 6am to drive on a mercy mission to get special biscuits our household needed in the way you need particular biscuits....
This morning it was 6am to drive on a mercy mission to get special biscuits our household needed in the way you need particular biscuits....
Monday, 24 May 2010
Yoghurt day
It's a lovely feeling to be able to make yoghurt without any recipe now.
I have my own method and a few tools which work for me. The main tool is a rhythm of one bought then one home made, so I always know where I am in the cycle. I also have a circular metal disc which prevents the milk from boiling over the top of the pan, a thermometer and a kilner jar thing which I make it in.
I have my own method and a few tools which work for me. The main tool is a rhythm of one bought then one home made, so I always know where I am in the cycle. I also have a circular metal disc which prevents the milk from boiling over the top of the pan, a thermometer and a kilner jar thing which I make it in.
Stunning afternoon
H and I sat on our lawn in the partial shade. We nearly did forward rolls, but decided against it!
After he'd had enough breathtaking beauty I lay and looked upwards. I could see the birds fly from one branch to another. The sky was that constant blue. The planes had stopped for a while. The acacia has just come into leaf over the past week. I could see the tiny leaves against to the gnarled old branches I hope will never smash into the roof of our house in a storm.
When I go into and out of our house there is a battle about the doors, I like them open to allow the breeze in and H likes them shut to keep out the flies. He is right really, but I keep on opening them again while he is busy in his room.
After he'd had enough breathtaking beauty I lay and looked upwards. I could see the birds fly from one branch to another. The sky was that constant blue. The planes had stopped for a while. The acacia has just come into leaf over the past week. I could see the tiny leaves against to the gnarled old branches I hope will never smash into the roof of our house in a storm.
When I go into and out of our house there is a battle about the doors, I like them open to allow the breeze in and H likes them shut to keep out the flies. He is right really, but I keep on opening them again while he is busy in his room.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Strewing for myself
Maybe I will try again and from a completely different angle. This time I could strew stuff for *me*. Then I'd be guaranteed one eager user or player. I do love fiddling with physical things and playing or rearranging items on a table.
Maybe some people love new things provided by others and some people prefer to seek out their own new things. I suspect I have 2 persistent sniffers out of new stuff who operate on their own terms online via YouTube and favourite computer news websites.
One thing which works is a game of 'ask me a question?' We take it in turns and try to ask difficult but not impossible questions of each other in turn. The hard bit is picking something suitably unexpected that the other person will find interesting to answer. That verbal strewing is fun and something we do when we are at a loose end.
My last maybe...it could be that the word new is more important than strew? So anything new and surprising would count. A new smell, an odd sound, an unusual cloud shape or colour. Rather than trying to plan it each day I could simply be on the lookout for anything worth pointing out...which is easy as I do this anyway. All I'd need to do is write it down. The more I write down, the more data I have to play with when I do my home ed reviews so it's all good from my point of view.
By writing it down I have come to the conclusion that the thing which bugs me is the deliberateness of this strewing concept.
Maybe some people love new things provided by others and some people prefer to seek out their own new things. I suspect I have 2 persistent sniffers out of new stuff who operate on their own terms online via YouTube and favourite computer news websites.
One thing which works is a game of 'ask me a question?' We take it in turns and try to ask difficult but not impossible questions of each other in turn. The hard bit is picking something suitably unexpected that the other person will find interesting to answer. That verbal strewing is fun and something we do when we are at a loose end.
My last maybe...it could be that the word new is more important than strew? So anything new and surprising would count. A new smell, an odd sound, an unusual cloud shape or colour. Rather than trying to plan it each day I could simply be on the lookout for anything worth pointing out...which is easy as I do this anyway. All I'd need to do is write it down. The more I write down, the more data I have to play with when I do my home ed reviews so it's all good from my point of view.
By writing it down I have come to the conclusion that the thing which bugs me is the deliberateness of this strewing concept.
Trees
The conkers H and I collected in the autumn are growing beautifully. They are now on their second pair of leaves. Soon we will repot them into individual pots. What are we going to do with 10+ conker trees? Tomato plants are one thing, vast sturdy trees are another!
We have an oak growing in a hidden spot in our drive, so there's another future problem/blessing. The walnut at 15 feet high beside the cherry is an even bigger surprise. Maybe our back garden is destined to turn into a shady grove or forest.
We have an oak growing in a hidden spot in our drive, so there's another future problem/blessing. The walnut at 15 feet high beside the cherry is an even bigger surprise. Maybe our back garden is destined to turn into a shady grove or forest.
Concert
I got out to a concert this evening. I sat there listening and watching my thoughts drift to other topics.
After all those years of trying to shush a child on my knee or making it through just the first few minutes of an event before going outside, it feels very odd, empty even, to be the undisturbed adult able to sit there and act conventionally again.
Someone took their little boy out before the concert had even begun and I realised how disconnected from parenting I feel when I don't have one of my children with me. I even felt jealous of that situation.
However the reality is that I am in the middle of 2 ongoing arguments/discussions about issues I feel uncomfortable with. Neither content to say 100% yes to, nor content to say 100% no to. This middle ground is where the difficulties lie I find.
Do parents get amnesia about the teenage years? Do they look back fondly and wish to be tied up again in verbal knots about their clearly not well enough thought out positions?
After all those years of trying to shush a child on my knee or making it through just the first few minutes of an event before going outside, it feels very odd, empty even, to be the undisturbed adult able to sit there and act conventionally again.
Someone took their little boy out before the concert had even begun and I realised how disconnected from parenting I feel when I don't have one of my children with me. I even felt jealous of that situation.
However the reality is that I am in the middle of 2 ongoing arguments/discussions about issues I feel uncomfortable with. Neither content to say 100% yes to, nor content to say 100% no to. This middle ground is where the difficulties lie I find.
Do parents get amnesia about the teenage years? Do they look back fondly and wish to be tied up again in verbal knots about their clearly not well enough thought out positions?
My tadpoles are growing
I looked carefully at my tadpoles while they were near the surface because of the warmer weather. The something different about them is that they are developing eyes. I hadn't expected that at all.
They have also started to snap at the surface of the water. Their tails are darker and longer too. They swim in more jerky deliberate moves.
While I look at them I check the surface of the water for struggling insects. Each time I spot one I save it with a dry leaf and place the leaf on a plant pot so the insect can have another go at life. It's lovely to see the water drain away and the little legs start to move again and off they go to somewhere safe.
They have also started to snap at the surface of the water. Their tails are darker and longer too. They swim in more jerky deliberate moves.
While I look at them I check the surface of the water for struggling insects. Each time I spot one I save it with a dry leaf and place the leaf on a plant pot so the insect can have another go at life. It's lovely to see the water drain away and the little legs start to move again and off they go to somewhere safe.
Nature in the raw
H rushed down to the kitchen and told me about the fly in his room. I thought this would be a tale of woe as he hates flies.
Actually a spider had crept up and killed it from behind. H was thrilled and had watched it all happen. It's a good thing he doesn't mind spiders.
Actually a spider had crept up and killed it from behind. H was thrilled and had watched it all happen. It's a good thing he doesn't mind spiders.
Stonehenge in a morning
The plan was for T and I to go together. When I called him at 7.30am it was just too early for him to get up on a weekend, so I drove down by myself.
I love solo expeditions. I wandered about, listened to the audio guide, made little noises at the sheep, snuffled the lovely summer air, enjoyed the hot sunshine at 9.30am, gazed at the patterns the stones make against each other as I moved my head.
I even bought a commemorative mug and enjoyed my coffee once I'd driven back home again. Everyone was still asleep when I got back!
I love solo expeditions. I wandered about, listened to the audio guide, made little noises at the sheep, snuffled the lovely summer air, enjoyed the hot sunshine at 9.30am, gazed at the patterns the stones make against each other as I moved my head.
I even bought a commemorative mug and enjoyed my coffee once I'd driven back home again. Everyone was still asleep when I got back!
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Dr Who
T has got right back into Dr Who. He tells me about the special effects and the plot. I've just given up on one bit of plot and have asked him to show me very, very simply with Lego men. I'm one of those people who tends not to follow the plot at all and just watches rather than understanding a film.
Tidy mode
For some reason I have gone into tidy mode and have cleared some parts of the kitchen. They are visible parts so the overall impression is more peaceful. This is meant to allow more room for creative conversations and an easy life!
Parody
I was put in my place when H explained that a TV programme we were watching was a parody of a particular genre. I simply hadn't spotted it, but as soon as he pointed it out I almost got it. Here's someone who has a better grasp of these finer points than me. How on earth does he know these things?
Thursday, 6 May 2010
I don't have the heart...
...to be a guerilla gardener. When I looked again at the corner I had thought I'd 'improve' I realised it is just lovely as it is. Wild flowers and weeds are growing through the gravel and thriving in their own way. All I have to do is look and appreciate it all.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Dawn
Maybe it was overkill, but we didn't want to miss the dawn. That is why T and I got up at 4.30am on a Saturday to drive to his current favourite photo spot near the Wittenham Clumps.
He walked off into the distance with his gear once the rain stopped and the sun was shining. I watched the signs of life, a bee flying, a magpie pecking at the road surface, a jogger and heard the first lambs of the morning.
He walked off into the distance with his gear once the rain stopped and the sun was shining. I watched the signs of life, a bee flying, a magpie pecking at the road surface, a jogger and heard the first lambs of the morning.
Films
H told me this afternoon how much he enjoys watching really good films from all eras. So that's our focus for the next however long. I look forward to sitting up for some great films.
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