Egypt

 I had fun setting up a small world play for L, loosely based on the Nile and pyramids, we've also been talking about the river and why it was so important to the ancient Egyptians. She has a fantastic imagination so its a case of set the scene and then see where it leads her. Followed by snuggling up on the sofa to read lots of Egyptian myths, which she  has decided are rather odd at times!





At the beginning of the week the weather was warmer and the rabbits were a lot happier to be outside for run, they love hopping up on the trampoline and running around and around in circles.

            

             

Now there have been some huge changes here, I hadn't written about them earlier as I was still processing and deciding what to do. Thursday was my last day childminding for the moment, my last family left as they are heading abroad for a while, they have been with me for nearly 5 years, there oldest is similar age to L. So its a huge change for L as every week she has her friend arriving, she has been very upset, as the girls were very close, so it will be tough for her for a while. I know I could easily fill the spaces left but as we are nearing exams for M, we've decided that for the next few months we will concentrate on the girls and their education and then look for more work in the late summer. It takes time to settle a new family in and I have high standards so feel I will be splitting myself too much at the moment. Though I know its the right choice for us at the moment this is the first time in 20 years that I won't have other children here, its left me with a huge mixture of emotions, more time to share with my girls and more space in the house, as there won't be all the extra that childminding needs but will miss the extra hustle and bustle of other children, the enjoyment of larger group activities etc. It will obviously mean less money too though we did have a treat on Friday as everyone was of work, college etc and took our first visit to a local trampoline park and fantastically we were the only people there, which was great, complete freedom. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, hubby wants to go back again and everyone else had a great time, M loves the long trampoline as she can practise all her flips etc, the men enjoyed trying to see who get who of first into the foam pit and L was just a blur as she bounced form one corner to another!

               

               



It doesn't really make up for L missing her friend but one thing I can now do, is set up lots of craft and science bits at a low level, as there aren't the babies to worry about. L was so excited when she came down Saturday morning to find lots of different things set up that she could just dip into, some she had seen and said she wanted to do others were my choice.  This is it after she had done a few of the crafts/activities.

 She loved making the sparkly dragonflies, we had to make an extra one as a gift for Nanny's birthday.

She decided the purple one was a monster dragonfly with extra eyes!

Science, we attempted to make our own scales and calibrate them with some little weights we have, ok the scales slightly failed as they kept tipping to one side, so made it a little bit difficult to weigh anything but L enjoyed the process and seeing what things weighed, what is heavier etc. We then spent time trying to guess which object could be heavier by looking at them e.g. a pound coin and a craft pom pom, great way to show that just because something is bigger doesn't mean its heavier. Then weighing them in our hands, to estimate the weight, before putting them on the scales to check.

Now M has come across a vegan you tube called Madeleine Olivia she has some lovely recipes on her channel, so we are slowly working through them, we loved her coconut dahl, even my meat loving husband was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, good job really as it made 6 portions, so we had 2 days in the row (the freezer is rather full at the moment!)

 More cooking, M and I have been mucking around in the kitchen, experimenting with cheese and herb scones, recipe below. The mixture ended up a little bit too wet, to be rolled and out and a cutter used, so we just rolled them into a ball and pressed them down for a more rustic look. They made a very nice moist scone, which were a little bit too moreish!

Cheese and Chive Scones

250g wholemeal self raising flour

75 g butter

100g grated cheese

3 tbsp of chopped chives

2 eggs lightly beaten

4 to 5 tbsp milk

1. Rub the butter into the flour, add the cheese and chives and mix.
2. Add milk and eggs and mix well, roll into balls and gently flatten down and a baking sheet.
3. Bake at gas 7 for 10 to 15 minute, until golden in colour.

We've had results back for all M's exams etc really pleased she got a merit in her LAMDA, pretty good going for first exam and she had a sore throat too. Highly commended in her Latin dance and bronze in her gymnastics, so a good week for her.

We had snow again this weekend, my poor daffodils are buried under it, just as spring was beginning to show lots of pretty signs it was on its way! We had a lovely walk on Sunday through the woods, L was a bit disappointed that the stream hadn't frozen over but enjoyed a paddle through it anyway.

Baby knitting and using up my odd bits of wool, another pink hat and a friend has announced she is expecting twin boys later in the year, so some more Teagan hats and then some simple booties as I had more wool that I thought left over.

Knitting Ocean Waves as a present for a friends 40th, nearly half way through it according to the amount of repeats the patterns suggest but I think it might need to be longer to make a good wrap, fingers crossed I have enough yarn! Oh and it should look a lot better once its been blocked.

More baby knitting, was asked to make this cardi, lots of knitting through backs of loops to give the added texture to the plain strips.

Magnetic Sand

Having fun with the magnetic sand and geometric solids, sort of linked to ancient Egypt as there is a pyramid, maths and  constructing.

It wasn't long before my older children decided to join L, the magnetic sand is rather fun to play with, it holds it shape well and therefore is great to build with.

Enjoying a game of around the world, L loves maps, so this game is perfect, throw in various extra comments, like take a sled ride go on 3 spaces, to fuel her interest and need to learn more.

New recipe tried this week, sweet potato tangine, I loved it, rest of the family not so keen, will have to try it out on the minded children and see what they make of it but it reheats nicely and freezes well, so I am happy with that.

Finally managed to get a photo of our new visitor, this black cap has been darting in and out the garden so quickly its been hard to id him but perseverance paid of and Friday morning managed to get a non blurry, complete bird photo.

We have a pair of long tailed tits that visit regularly, again not managed a full photo but least you can just make out the two of them.

I came across an article on mistletoe and its benefits to the habitat it is in, that one study showed that if mistletoe is removed from a woodland  then 20% of species richness was lost and a 1/4 of the woodland birds were lost too.

Fun with magnets, there properties, what is magnetic and what is not and making a compass.

Making magnets float.

Homemade compass and had fun disrupting the compass by placing magnets near to the bowl.

Made a huge amount of progress on L's jumper, back and front knitted and started on a sleeve, honestly there is no pressure from L at all to get it finished quickly!!

We are slowly stripping the paper from the hallway and stairs, as an incentive to get it finished we have finally narrowed down the colour selection,  now just seeing what they are like in the different lights. Which this weekend we have overcast, rain, snow and sunshine, so doing well, the snow hasn't settled but this is the 3rd time this week that we have had some flakes of snow,much to the excitement and then disappointment of the children.

Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams

Busy

I seem to of been incredibly busy and a bit distracted lately, busy due lots of soft fruit ready and in need of picking, so picking, sorting, freezing, dehydrating etc. Not complaining but it takes a long time to pick gooseberries from 2 bushes and all those thorns ouch!! We've had a huge crop of raspberries, eaten loads but frozen some to use in baking or to add to porridge, managed to actually grow enough peas to freeze some, M normally eats them all before I get a chance and the french beans are nearly ready for picking. Have some late harvesting peas to put in this weekend, be great if we can extend the pea season.

 Distracted because M's hospital appointment was finally due, we've known for a long time that she will need braces on her teeth but appointment with the orthodontist, discovered it was going to be a bit more complex than that. Our hospital visit confirmed this, her top jaw is too small and needs widening and her teeth at the back do not meet either, which makes chewing very difficult, this will need surgery to correct. This on top of the sensory issues she has really does explain a lot of the issues she has with chewy foods! The whole process will take 3 years, surgery won't be till she is at least 18 as she needs to be fully grown before they do it, we will go back in a years time to start the process. Think the process will be tough on her and us but need to look at the long term benefits, this comes on top of the surgery she will need on her nose at 18 so she can actually breath through her nose properly, she is in for a bit of a tough ride :(

Anyway onto something happier, lots of garden photos, I love cornflowers, plenty of buds too, so should have a lovely display soon.

Have I mentioned I love sweet peas, these were from a mixed colour selection but seem to of managed to just pick out the pink ones!

Raspberries,

sweetcorn,

jostaberries,

blueberries, under netting now in the hope that when ripe we get to eat more than the birds!

The jasmine is flowering well this year and the bottom of the garden smells divine, have taken some cuttings, it will be lovely to have some at the front of the house, having a waft of that gorgeous smell every time you leave or come home.

The rabbits have discovered they love grape vine leaves, it's lovely watching them trying to reach the higher ones, as they balance on their back legs.

Had a lovely day at the county motor show, lots for all of us to see and do. L got to sit in the driving seat of one of the huge lorries, my that is a long way up!

They usually have an animal handling section, which the girls love, M wanted to hold the largest snake they had, as we waited in the queue, she was debating which to do, I encouraged her to go with her first choice (not bad for someone who doesn't like snakes) and she was so pleased with herself for doing it, picture further down, L held a chameleon.

L wanted to go on the bouncy castles but didn't want to go on by herself, which made M's day as she got to go on as well to help her through, so happy girls.

Also at the weekend L's maths workbooks arrived, these  are the saxon maths ones and I have used them with both the older two and we loved them. These were supposed to be for September but she couldn't wait to see what they were and to start, she ingeniously used the holes that are punched in the work book to hold her pencils while not in use. Enjoying a quieter week this week as minded children are on holiday and hubby has booked a few days of work, so hoping weather stays nice and we can do some days out.