Faith Boxes

I have been pondering ways of introducing a toddler to religion (or should that be religion to a toddler?). Inspired partly by the liturgical year books I have been making for Little Cherub, and partly by these Feast Day boxes at the Onion Dome - yes, I know I keep getting inspired by Katherine. She is very inspirational! - I have decided I am going to make Faith Boxes. Initially I was thinking of basing them on the liturgical year, then realised the idea could be extended to cover many aspects of religion.

I am going to start with an Advent Box - I always find I do better starting things in Advent. My head does Advent for new beginnings. I even attended my first ever Mass on the first Sunday of Advent. This is what I have planned for the contents:

• Nativity figures - I have a set of squishy plastic figures for toddlers bought from the Early Learning Centre when Angel was tiny.
• A wooden St.Nicholas figure. I have a Santa figure that looks fairly St.Nicholas-ish.
• Various small books telling the Christmas story. I still have a set of little board books covering different aspects which should be just right for Little Cherub this year.
• Pictures of the Five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
• Pictures of St.Nicholas, St.Lucy, the journey to Bethlehem and the Immaculate Conception
• Pictures of St.Lucy's Day celebrations
• A tiny Advent wreath, if I can make or buy one
• A little Advent calendar, with spaces for stickers (and something to stick on it).
• A CD with seasonal music
• A square of purple felt or cloth to use to set things out on

As Little Cherub grows, the contents can be updated with Playmobil figures instead of the toddler ones, a map of the Holy Land, three part cards for the Rosary pictures, O Antiphon symbols and cards, and so on.

On Christmas Day I can swap the box for a Christmas one. Then I have lots of ideas for other boxes ... Lent, Easter, Mary, Saints, Bible Stories (New Testament and Old Testament), the Mass, Church, Sacraments, Prayer. I think a few of these could make a great addition to Montessori shelves.

Thursday Thirteen #16: Classical Music

Thirteen of my classical music favourites:

1. Allegri, Miserere
2. Haydn, Trumpet Concerto in E Flat
3. Vivaldi, Concerto in G for Two Mandolins
4. Bach, Concerto for Two Violins
5. Elgar, Cello Concerto
6. Vaughan-Williams, Fantasia on Greensleeves
7. Rossini, William Tell Overture
8. Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (from Messiah)
9. Mozart, Horn Concerto No.4
10. Beethoven, Symphony No.6 (Pastorale)
11. Vivaldi, Esurientes (from Magnificat)
12. Pachlabel, Canon in D
13. Rodriguez, Concierto de Aranjuez

Montessori inspiration

... from the Onion Dome.

If you are at all interested in Montessori education at home, don't miss reading about how rich, varied and beautiful it can be. And if you have not already seen it, make sure you also take a look Katherine's learning room.

Playdough

Today's minor achievement was making a batch of playdough for Little Cherub. I have a tried and tested simple, non-messy playdough recipe that I have used for years ...

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 cups boiling water
1 tbsp cooking oil
food colouring

Method
Mix the salt, flour and cream of tartar together.
Add the boiling water, cooking oil, and food colouring.
Using rubber gloves, knead a few times.

That's all there is to it! When you start kneading it feels like a sticky disaster, but soon resolves into a nice, soft playdough. I omit the food colouring. My daughters have always been more interested in what they can do with playdough than in what colour it is, and it means there is no risk of staining clothes, furniture or carpets. If the dough gets onto soft furnishings it brushes out easily once dried, and it washes out of clothes. Stored in the fridge in a plastic bag it will keep for months.

The recipe comes from a book I picked up at railway station bookstall discount pile when Angel was small - Four Seasons: Creative Activities for Young Children, by Alice Traer Wayne, Shirley Charlton, and Gwenn Boechler. Published in Canada, I have no idea how it turned up at Euston Station, but I am glad it did as we have used it a lot over the years. The activities are divided by season, and are mostly simple and use items I usually have to hand.

Encouraged by Star and A-next-door, Little Cherub was a picture of concentration, absorbed in the possibilities of picking bits of dough off a large ball and piling them up on each other. She only tried to eat it a few times.

Little Cherub's book choice ... Little Lamb

Little Cherub likes books, but until recently she only liked looking at them by herself, and considered any attempt to read them to her or look at them with her an unwarranted parental intrusion. She now likes to look at pictures with us and ... da, da! ... to listen to a story. One story. Little Lamb by Kim Lewis. It is a board book we found at the library, with clear pictures and short, simple text describing how a farmer's daughter bottle feeds a lamb. In Little Cherub's view this is the ultimate in literature and must be read at least five times consecutively. Every night.

I only discovered Kim Lewis's books when Star was at the top end of the age range for them. She has written and illustrated some lovely picture books about farm life in northern England, such as Floss, Emma's Lamb and First Snow. Worth checking out for pre-schoolers. There are also two more toddler board books - Little Calf and Little Puppy. I'm hoping our library will have these too.

A Parenting Checklist

I am still reading Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful (I think I have around seven books on the go simultaneously. Not surprisingly I haven't finished any in a while!), and I thought these suggestions for family life for an early elementary child - ages 6 to 9 - were worth sharing. Donna Bryant Goertz recommends:

• A slow-paced lifestyle with long hours of sleep on a regular schedule, a nutritious diet high in protein and fresh fruits and vegetables, plenty of exercise, and a generous amount of time in nature.
• Someone to behold the child's face with joy, hold her, hug her, and treasure her for herself alone.
• Someone to read chapter books aloud for twenty to thirty minutes every day, at a level three years beyond the child's reading level.
• Someone to recite poetry every day, a new poem each week.
• Someone to sing every day, a new song each week.
• Someone to tell delightful stories of the child's own life.
  
• An atmosphere of open curiosity and inquiry, in which everyone in the family treasures learning.
• Responsibility for caring for himself and his own things as well as contributing to meal preparation and the care of the house, garden, and pets.
  
• A two-hour weekly limit on all screen media - movies, videos, TV, and computer games - combined.
• Freedom from being dragged around on errands.
• Freedom from the cynicism and sarcasm appropriate to later years.
  
• Parents who say no cheerfully and mean it.
  
• Parents who wait until their children are in bed to listen to music, watch movies, play computer games, and watch TV programs, even the news, that are not appropriate to the children's ages or that would give children more media hours than is best for their development.
  
• Parents who establish and uphold a family child-rearing culture that is appropriate the the child's age and who support age-appropriate independent thought and action and an age-appropriate role in decision making in as many areas and as often as possible.
  

I think Charlotte Mason would have approved.

I fall woefully short on almost all of these, but this list gives me a number of ideas for things to work on with Star, and for the future with Little Cherub.

The sorting hat says ...

I am a Ravenclaw. Which means I am clever, witty, intelligent and knowledgeable.

But then, you knew that, didn't you? Why else would you read my blog? And if you disagree, I'm sure you are much too nice to tell me so.

Which house are you in?

HT: Willa at Every Waking Hour.

Keyboard Maths

Oh dear! It seems I should not have taken a mathematical approach to my keyboard disaster by turning it into an equation.

The keyboard is now reassembled. No letters are sticking.

But ... all the letters on the top row are typing numbers.

Back to the drawing board. Or should that be the mathematical textbook?

Little Cherub's Liturgical Year Book

I have been working on a project intermittently for the last month or so ... a Liturgical Year Book for Little Cherub. I bought three small 6 inch by 4 inch photo albums from Paperchase - just the right size for little hands - and I am filling them with simple pages for various feasts, seasons and saints days. Each book holds 24 pages, so there will be 72 altogether, each with pictures for her to look at and some simple text or a prayer. The plastic holders mean the books will be robust for her to handle. Here are a couple of sample pages from the August to November book I am currently working on:

Feast of Ss.Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, Archangels (September 29th):


St.Therese of Lisieux (October 1st):

Keyboard equations

A-next-door + glass of lemonade = desk covered in removed keys + cleaning with wet paintbrushes + hairdryer + keyboard drying out in airing cupboard.

An alternative equation (and probably a more successful one) is:

A-next-door + glass of lemonade = new keyboard

Note to self: remember to enforce rule about children not eating and drinking near computers.

Love or convenience?

From The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori

When the child goes to bed in the evening he calls the loved person and begs him not to go away. When we go in to dinner the tiny child that still feeds at his mother's breast would like to come with us, to stay near to watch us, not to eat. The adult passes by this mystical love without perceiving it. But the little one who so loves us will grow up, will vanish. And who will ever love us as he does? Who else will ever summon us on going to bed, saying, "Stay with me"? When the child is grown, he will say an indifferent "Good night". Who then will be eager just to watch us while we eat, though he eats nothing? We defend ourselves against this love that will pass away, and we shall never find anything to equal it. We in our turmoil say, "I haven't time, I can't, I have a lot to do," and we think in our hearts, "The child must be taught better, or he will make us his slaves." What we want is to be free from him to do what we ourselves like doing, so as not to give up our convenience.

LOAFing Update #3

I haven't written an update on the progress of my LOAF plan - my attempt to be a ethical consumer - for a while. I'm still hanging in there and making slow but steady progress. In fact, I'm no longer just LOAFing; I've become a LOAFER

Locally produced
Most of the contents of my organic fruit and veg boxes are grown fairly locally - in the same region, at least. Gaps in the boxes are filled with imported produce, but the provider never uses air-freighted goods and keeps imports to the minimum necessary to ensure a reasonably balanced selection. I still plan to start buying some meat from our local butcher's shop but haven't got there yet. I'm going to start this once I start walking into town regularly (see toddler days plans!) as I will pass the shop.

Organically grown
I'm definitely an organic fruit and veg box convert. I like the taste, I like that I am supporting small businesses and responsible farming practices, and I am getting used to having a fridge full of mud (all those freshly picked potatoes and carrots ...). I now have a regular weekly order for a medium veg box, a fruit box and a fruit bag. This just sees us through the week. I'm managing to keep wastage to a minimum, though I currently have rather a lot of chard in my fridge I have no idea what to do with. Other organic food is hit and miss because of the cost, though I do try and buy at least some organic items. For example, today I bought organic milk for Little Cherub and organic butter, along with my decidedly non-organic bagels and appallingly over-priced Invisible Crust bread, which is the only bread Star will eat without whining. (I'm not sure which I resent most: paying over the odds for icky bread, or the sense of shame that I cave in to the whining.)

Animal friendly
I still hanker after buying organic and / or free-range chicken, but haven't managed to screw my budget up to it yet. Meanwhile I still avoid the large supermarkets' meat as much as possible and stick to Waitrose.

Fairly traded
I am more aware than I used to be of fairly traded products and try to pick them off the shelf more frequently. I now only buy fairly traded coffee, and occasionally tea. I bought sultanas (golden raisins) from the Traidcraft stall, but couldn't bring myself to pay that much for chocolate. I know. I should.

Environmentally friendly
I am gradually switching over to environmentally friendly cleaning products. Maybe half the products I use are now Ecover versions. I think I have Ecover washing up liquid, dishwasher rinse aid, spray cleaner, toilet cleaner, fabric softener and a couple of other items. I have not yet managed to take the plunge and buy Ecover dishwasher tablets and washing liquid (powder clogs my machine) as they are so very much more expensive than the non-environmentally friendly versions.

Recyclable
I have been quite a committed recycler for a while. We currently have an "orange bag" system, where we put certain recyclables into an orange bag to be collected by the council along with our other rubbish (trash). Next month the system changes to alternate weekly collections - standard wheelie bin one week, an orange-topped recyclable wheelie bin the next. Quite how we are going to fit two weeks worth of rubbish into the one wheelie bin I don't know, despite my best efforts at recycling. The orange bin takes cans, plastic bottles, paper and card, and we also take bottles to the recycling bank. Old clothes and books go to charity shops or recycling bins (clothes go to the Salvation Army and books to Oxfam, I think). The boxes from the fruit and veg are returned weekly, and most of the produce is packed loose or in recyclable card cartons rather than plastic. On the other side of the coin, I have also started buying recycled paper products - no point in recycling if nobody will buy the products. And I freecycle. I love freecycle! Such a genius idea, using the internet to put people who have things they don't want or need in touch with people who do want and need them. One thing I keep meaning to do is to make a dent in our mountain of plastic carrier bags by remembering to reuse them instead of accumulating more.

Overall, I think I'm doing quite well as a LOAFER. Small steps, but definitely heading in the right direction.

Happy Birthday Star!

Yesterday was Star's ninth birthday. Strangely I have already been thinking of her as nine for a month or so and kept telling people her age wrongly for some inexplicable reason. Whatever ... now she is officially nine.

She celebrated with a trip up a climbing tower with two of her friends followed by a meal at Frankie and Benny's. They looked the strangest threesome. A-next-door is very blond and is head and shoulders taller than Star and her other friend F, who are both dark. They looked for all the world like an elf and two hobbits. I tried to capture this in a photo, but didn't manage it - probably because they none of them stayed still for long enough. As all three are equally eccentric characters it was more Muddle Earth than Middle Earth, but they had fun (and I stayed sane. Just.)

Toddler Days

Yesterday I sat down and planned out a new routine for my toddler days - the time I will have with Little Cherub during school term time. I like my plan :). We will be doing lots of different things, but all at toddler pace. No rushing from A to B.

Once Angel and Star leave for school at 8 I'll spend an hour on housework and laundry, with Little Cherub "helping" (or - more likely - hindering). We may not get much done to start with, but over time it should improve. I hope. After that we will go out for the rest of the morning, somewhere different each day:

Monday - Mass followed by the park
Tuesday - Mass, then a trip out somewhere (the farm, the zoo, the woods, visiting friends, shopping, anywhere else that takes our fancy). If I want to take a day trip somewhere, we can do that on a Tuesday.
Wednesday - visit Grandma
Thursday - Mass followed by the library
Friday - Jo Jingles music and movement class (I used to take Angel to this and she loved it. Star wasn't interested, but I have a hunch Little Cherub will be), then out for lunch with Grandma

I want to be home in time for lunch at 12, followed by a couple of hours quiet time for Cherub to nap while I have computer time or read. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays the rest of the afternoon will be free until Angel and Star get home; on Wednesday we will go to the toddler group at our Church, and on Thursday there is Toddler Playtime at the swimming pool so I may take her to that.

I'm planning to walk to as many places as possible, as it is the only way I can see to fit exercise into my routine. I only have the use of the car on Tuesdays and Thursdays anyway, which means that I have to walk the rest of the time anyway. It takes around 30 minutes to walk to the town centre (Church, shops, park, library and so on), so that will give me a fair amount of stroller-pushing exercise.

Geography picture books

I am on a roll ... more library finds, this time with geographical themes. I am on a mission to find books that will bring the world alive to Little Cherub once she grows into them. I used many of the books from these series with Star, and intend to use them again with Little Cherub. I discovered that Barefoot Books publish a number of books set around the world, including these by Laurie Krebs:

We're Riding on a Caravan: An Adventure on the Silk Road
We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania
We're Sailing to Galapagos: A Week on the Pacific
We're Sailing Down the Nile: A Journey Through Egypt
Off We Go to Mexico: An Adventure in the Sun

I saw the first two, which looked lovely - good illustrations, simple rhyming text, and some extra background information at the end.

The Barefoot Books catalogue includes a number of other appealing titles, like these:
My Granny Went to Market: A Round-the-World Counting Rhyme by Stella Blackman
Catch that Goat: A Market Day in Nigeria by Polly Alakija
Tenzin's Deer: A Tibetan Tale by Barbara Soros
Elephant Dance: A Journey to India by Theresa Heine

Ack! That wishlist!

Good King Wenceslas

Browsing at the library again yesterday, I found another Geraldine McCaughrean picture book with a Christmas theme: Wenceslas. This one is a retelling of the story of Good King Wenceslas, based on the Christmas carol.

Another book for my wishlist.

One hundred and ten years ago today

... Enid Blyton was born.

As this is a children-ish, book-ish blog I thought that deserved a mention. Maybe her work boasted more quantity than quality (according to a news report I saw she wrote over 700 books), but whole generations of British children have grown up reading Enid Blyton and characters like Noddy and Big Ears, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven have all stood the test of time.

Many people don't realise that Enid Blyton was a keen naturalist and in addition to her children's fiction she wrote a number of books on nature study. I have Round the Year With Enid Blyton and some of her short Nature Lovers series, but a search on Bookfinder showed up a whole list of nature themed titles.

Victorian "dress"

A couple of commenters have been intrigued by the clothing worn by my great-great-great-grandfather in the photograph below - if you are curious, it is a shepherd's smock. I'm not sure if they were only worn by shepherds, or whether they were also used by other farm labourers.

Thursday Thirteen #15: Homeschooling

I forgot to do a Thursday Thirteen last week, so this week you get a double dose (a day late).

First, thirteen things I will miss about homeschooling when the girls start school ...

1. Spending so much time with two of my very favourite people.
2. Being able to get up in the morning whenever we like.
3. Reading good books aloud.
4. Taking day trips and holidays when everyone else is in school.
5. Planning curriculum (even if I do always end up changing my plans!)
6. Getting together with other homeschoolers.
7. Snuggling at home with warm blankets and hot chocolate when everyone else has to go out in the winter cold.
8. No busy work or homework.
9. Tailoring the girls education to their needs and interests.
10. Lots of time to talk.
11. Plenty of time for outside activities.
12. Independence.
13. Flexibility.

On the positive side, here are thirteen things I am looking forward to ...

1. Having lots of time to enjoy Little Cherub.
2. Doing fun toddler things.
3. Having a cleaner, tidier house - at least some of the time.
4. Being able to go to daily Mass more often.
5. Not being responsible for teaching Angel maths.
6. Slower-paced days.
7. Peace and quiet (relatively speaking).
8. Hearing about the girls' school days.
9. Having to arbitrate in less sibling disputes (I hope!)
10. Less juggling of competing and sometimes incompatible needs.
11. Being a kinder, gentler, less stressed mother (again, I hope!)
12. Planning and implementing a new routine.
13. School holidays :)

Look what I found!

My great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Bates, photographed c.1870.

Amazing what you can find when you Google.

I love the internet!

Book Review: Father and Son

Just look what I found at the library!

Title: Father and Son
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Fabian Negrin
Age Suitability: 4 and over

I am a fan of Geraldine McCaughrean, and this picture book is one of her best. Written from the perspective of St.Joseph wondering what he can possibly offer as a father to the Son of God, this book brings home the reality of just Who was born in that stable:

What lullabies should I sing to someone who taught the angels to dance and peppered the sky with songbirds?

How can I teach him his words and letters: he who strung the alphabet together, he who whispered dreams into a million, million ears, in a thousand different languages ...

The text is short but deep, and is complemented by illustrations showing father and son together in a variety of childhood scenes. I was surprised to see only a three star rating on Amazon for what I think is a five star book, but this was down to a bad review by someone who found the language and concepts too advanced for young children. If, like me, you enjoy picture books with more complex language and with religious themes you will love this. It is one of those rare books that took only a brief glance to know that I just have to buy it.

Enjoy!

Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful

When I posted my summer reading list I forgot to add another book I had ordered ... Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful, by Donna Bryant Goertz. I had seen it recommended on an email list, and when it arrived I wondered how useful it would be. It is essentially a series of case studies of off-the-wall children in a Montessori early elementary classroom (ages 6 to 9). My eccentric, non-peaceful child is nine, the child I am thinking of taking a Montessori approach with is only one, and this is not a classroom situation. Despite my initial reaction I am finding it an interesting and worthwhile read, both for the insight it provides into how a Montessori classroom works, and for illustrations of ways in which difficult behaviour can be handled respectfully.

The first thing to grab me was this statement in the introduction:

Children today respond to the Montessori prepared environment in various ways, just as they did in the early years. Children who are surrounded at home by excess in the way of toys and pampering require greater talent and effort on the part of the teacher over a longer period of time to reach regular, deep, and lengthy engagement ... children who lead less cluttered and indulged lives respond more immediately to the Montessori classroom.

To what extent do my children have cluttered and indulged lives? Are they surrounded by excess? Are they pampered? In some respects I fear the answer is yes.

What do I need to change?

Food for thought.

Farmyard Tales First Nature Book

A book I ordered to put away for Little Cherub arrived today: The Usborne Farmyard Tales First Nature Book (not to be confused with the Usborne First Book of Nature, which is something else entirely).

It is exactly what it says on the cover - a lovely first nature book for little ones. Both Angel and Star went through stages of enjoying the Farmyard Tales books, a series of easy readers with dual text (each page has a simple sentence for the beginning reader, together with slightly harder text to be read aloud or later for the child to read themselves). The First Nature Book has the same characters introducing various aspects of nature study. There are clear pictures of common birds, insects, trees, wildflowers and so on for the child to identify, and a number of simple nature activity ideas. I'm sure I have all the information and ideas already in other books, but this pulls it all together neatly into an appealing format for preschoolers and beginning schoolers. Each page also has the usual Farmyard Tales hidden duck to hunt for. And the Book People are selling it for £2.99.

Bubble Gum Maths

How I wish I had seen this post from Lissa at the Lilting House when she first posted it two years ago. I think it could have reduced Angel's mathematical pain significantly. I plan to stock up on chewing gum and bubble gum and try a scientific experiment when the girls start getting homework.

Personally, I suspect chocolate would have the best SSB effect.

Mrs Tiggywinkle

My regular readers know from my repeated attempts to get off the ground with FlyLady that I am a Sidetracked Home Executive. Cleaning and tidying do not come naturally to me ... but I realised today that there is one area of housekeeping I do enjoy. Laundry! I actually like ironing. I also like hanging out and taking in washing - particularly that nice, clean, fresh-air smell when taking down the clean clothes.

And no, I'm afraid my laundry is not always up to date. And yes, the ironing pile does build up ... but I do usually manage to do better in this area of housekeeping than most others.If you wish, you may call me Mrs.Tiggywinkle :).

More Montessori Musings

In my musings about Montessori education one of my concerns was my inability to be a purist about the method. In the light of that I was delighted to read Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bath Water by Suzanne at Blessed Among Men. She makes a case for Montessori being about principles rather than method, about a way of viewing education rather than a collection of materials. Here is her list of the principles at the heart of a Montessori-style education:

*The freedom of the child
*The absorbent mind and its functioning
*The importance of work: How a child's work differs from that of an adult
*The sensitive periods of development: Child led learning
*The prepared environment
*Spiritual preparation of the teacher
*Poverty of spirit
*The need to protect and shield the child
*The importance of joy in work

I confess that part of the attraction of Montessori for me is the stuff. I like the idea of having lots of manipulatives and activities available. However, I can see I could easily end up obsessing on collecting the right bits and pieces to the detriment of the underlying principles - of putting the bathwater before the baby. I ordered The Secrets of Childhood from the library and collected it yesterday. There should be lots of food for thought there.

Funny ... I intended to make myself a reading list for the summer, but never got round to it. Now it seems to have made itself:

* A People's History of Britain
* In the Steps of St.Paul
* The Secrets of Childhood
* Flatland by Edwin Abbot (a "living geometry" book recommended to me by a friend, also collected from the library yesterday.)

And when I finish those, more H.V.Morton.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

A random blogthing ...

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

I have a theory that people prefer the season in which their birthday falls ... and yes, my birthday is in autumn.

In the Steps of St.Paul

At Shrewsbury I spent some time browsing in a second hand bookshop (bliss! no comments of "Mum ... hurry up!" or "oh no! not another bookshop!") and found a book that immediately jumped out at me as a living book: In the Steps of St.Paul by H.V.Morton. It is part travelogue, and part biography of St.Paul, written in 1936, and I was surprised and pleased to find it is still in print. Here are the first couple of paragraphs as a taster:

I went on deck before sunrise. The storm had backed to the north-west, the sky was clear, and the ship rolled in a long, sullen swell. I hoped to see the pin-prick of the lighthouse on Mount Carmel, but we were still too far from land.

St.Paul must have known this moment: the grey light, the last star, the cold wind, the fusty cargo, the smell of beasts and tar, the movement of the mast against the sky, the smooth pressing forward and the rhythmic hiss of water running back along the sides of the ship. It was good to stand on deck, thinking that this ship might be the Castor and Pollux.

And there I was, 20 pages into the 800 plus of Rebecca Fraser's A People's History of Britain, which I have been meaning to read for ages, and now I am distracted. Tantalisingly, a number of Morton's other books are also still in print. Titles include In the Steps of the Master, In Search of England and A Traveller in Italy. I think I may be off on a pre-war geographical rabbit trail.

Shrewsbury

Yesterday Tevye gave me a day off (stand up, dear, and take your round of applause!), so I took a day trip to explore a town I have never visited before ... Shrewsbury, setting for Ellis Peters' Cadfael books. In British terms Shrewsbury is a long way from Bedfordshire, but I am an intrepid train traveller. I booked value advance tickets, undaunted by the prospect of a three hour journey, requiring four trains there and three back. Initially the plan went awry when the departures screen showed the very first train running ten minutes late, wiping out all leeway for the first change, but Tevye rose to the occasion and drove me two stations up the line to make the connection. After that every train ran like clockwork, making it a very pleasant and easy journey.

Shrewsbury is a lovely town, well worth a visit. It is built on a hill by a bend in the River Severn, and the combination of the river setting with the up and down streets gives it character. The town centre has a number of old black and white timbered buildings and narrow streets like this one ...

The church in the background was St.Alphage's, one of a number in the town centre, though not all are in regular use. I spent some time in St.Mary's, which was simply stuffed with extraordinary stained glass. This stunning Jesse Tree window dates from the 1340s. It was originally in the Greyfriars (Franciscan) Church, at the Reformation it was moved to the parish church of St.Chads, and then when St.Chad's was damaged beyond repair by the collapse of its tower in the late 18th century, the window was moved again to its current situation ...

The yellow patch near the bottom of the window is the recumbant figure of Jesse, from whom a vine twines upwards to pictures of his descendants, culminating in panels at the top showing Joseph, Mary with the baby Jesus, and the Crucifixion. The colours glow as brightly as they must have done when the window was first made.

Another window that particularly attracted me was a smaller window of 17th century Dutch glass containing a dozen of these delicate roundels. I particularly liked the scene at the top showing the Adoration of the Magi ...

Across the river from the town centre I found the remains of Shrewsbury's Benedictine Abbey, home to Brother Cadfael. The monastic buildings were largely destroyed at the Reformation, and those left were finished off by 19th century road builders - all except an ornate refectory pulpit marooned on the opposite side of the road. Today's church is a shadow of its former self as the original chancel was demolished, leaving just the nave. What is left is little more than half the size of the medieval church. I found it all rather sad, and didn't bother to pay £1 for a licence to take photos of what is left of the Norman interior. At least I managed to eliminate the busy road from this photo ...

From the Abbey I walked back across the English Bridge (at the other side of town is the Welsh Bridge leading, rather predictably, to Wales) and round the remains of the town walls to the "new" St.Chads (an unusual round church built in the 1790s) and the Quarry park. Within the park is an enclosed garden known as The Dingle, converted by the Victorians from an old quarry. I was lucky with the weather, and with the sun shining this garden was beautiful. I sat for a while overlooking the lake and just enjoyed watching the world go by ...

Shrewsbury also boasts the remains of a castle. The Great Hall is now a military museum, but is also used for weddings. Yesterday's wedding party couldn't have picked a better day after all the miserable wet weather we have had ...


Finally, here is a picture of the old Shrewsbury School building (now the public library). In front is a statue of its most famous alumnus, Charles Darwin. Who put that plastic barrier there to spoil the view?

I got home at 9pm tired but relaxed, and very grateful for the luxury of day to myself to explore such a lovely place.

New theme

How do you like my new medieval theme? I was playing with customised themes for my Multiply site and decided to update my Blogger template to match.

In case you wonder, the background is the text of the Magna Carta, and the header picture is of Kenilworth Castle. Both the charter and the castle played an important part in the constitutional history of England. Part of the castle was built by King John, and later in the thirteenth century the governor of the castle was Simon de Montfort, sometimes known (not entirely accurately) as the "father of the English Parliament", During the Barons' War of 1263-5 Simon kept both the king's son and brother prisoner here.

Shame this neat constitutional link was entirely accidental and I only realised it after making the changes. The real reason I chose that picture was that it fit neatly in the header!

Tiny Tot

You know your almost 14 month old is built on a very, very miniature scale when you buy her a cute little knitted dress and jeans set in the Next sale (aside: tell me, who would pay £21 for one baby outfit?) in a 6 to 9 month size ... and still have to roll up the legs on the jeans to stop her tripping over them!

Thursday Thirteen 14: Round the World

Thirteen countries on my tourist wish list (excluding any I have already visited) ...

1. Peru. Maybe I read too much Paddington Bear as a child.

2. Mali. I want to visit Timbuktu.

3. Botswana. I was going to put South Africa (which Tevye says is the most beautiful place he has ever visited), but the 1st Ladies Detective Agency makes Botswana sound appealing.

4. Egypt. To unleash my inner archaeologist.

5. India. One of the legacies of empire is lots of Indian-themed British literature (Kipling, Rumer Godden ...), which has caught my interest.

6. Tibet. On the list thanks to a combination of Michael Palin's Himalaya documentary and this book.

7. Japan. Ancient and modern. And I love sushi.

8. New Zealand. All that natural beauty. Think Lord of the Rings, which was filmed there.

9. Maldives. For that lazy holiday on a tropical island ...

10. Norway. Natural beauty again, with northerliness (is that a word?).

11. Austria. I have always loved Elinor Brent-Dyer's Chalet School books, and it would be so fun to visit Achensee, which is the real-life Tiernsee, setting for many of the books.

12. Greenland. Because I don't know anyone who has been there.

13. United States of America. Last, but by no means least!

What Byzantine Emperor are you?

You’re Constantine The Great!

Though he did not accept baptism until the very end of his days, Constantine was the first Christian Roman Emperor. His Edict of Milan put an end to institutionalized persecution of Christians in the Empire. He convened the first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicea, to settle major doctrinal and disciplinary disputes. Though it has become fashionable to portray Constantine as a ruthless suppressor of paganism, that is a caricature, based on almost no evidence. He is better represented by one of his famous pleas for tolerance: “Let those who delight in error alike with those who believe partake of the advantages of peace … Let no one disturb another, let each man hold fast to that which his soul wishes … What each man has adopted as his persuasion, let him do no harm with this to another.” Constantine condemned “violent opposition to wicked error.” The Orthodox venerate him as a saint.

Find out which Byzantine ruler you are at The Way of the Fathers!

HT: Studeo

Digital Art

In the past month or so things keep falling apart on us. The list of casualties includes Henry the Hoover, Tevye's mobile phone, the Freeview box (this gives us digital TV and extra channels - a kind of halfway house between standard terrestrial TV and satellite / cable), a lamp, and our digital camera. In one month. What is going on?

At least it means we now have a new, better digital camera (though we still languish firmly at the bottom end of the market). It has more buttons and many more settings than the old one, a whopping six megapixels compared to our previous three, and it will take close ups without dissolving into an unfocused fuzz. Star is my budding photographer, and is enjoying experimenting. Here is her latest work of art. Very minimalist!


It finally stopped raining long enough to take our much postponed trip to Wicksteed Park today. Did I remember to take the new camera? No!

MacCherub

MacBooks have a very neat magnetic connection between the power lead and the computer. It is so simple to use, even a one year old could do it. Repeatedly.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Fishy feet

Angel: What was that fish I liked when we were in Greece? I think it had something to do with a shoe?

Tevye: Sole ...

Cleaner than a whistle!

My blog rating ...



Not a single bad word to its name ... unlike the PG-rated Margaret in Minnesota and Katherine. Of course, I can't tell you what they said, without risking my unblemished reputation.

(Mind you, I did have an urge to jump up and down shouting rude and juvenile words, just to see what the bloggy thing would say about it. But I resisted.)

Montessori

As I have no homeschooling plans to put together for next year, my mind has turned to Little Cherub. Yes, yes. I know she is only thirteen months old. And I learned a lesson about overdoing early education with my poor experimental first child. But still ...

When Angel was small I dabbled a little with Montessori. Read a couple of books, and started (but never finished) making various manipulatives. I did manage to teach her to put on a coat Montessori-style, but that was about it. Star came along, and somehow time to make materials and prepare an environment went out the window. I discovered literature-based learning and Charlotte Mason and forgot about Montessori.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about Montessori education on the 4 Real Learning boards, and it has inspired me to think about this for Little Cherub. This time round I have time - at least in theory - to prepare Montessori activities (buying anything more than a select few isn't an option), and should also find it easier to create and maintain a suitable environment. Space is an issue, but with some creativity I should be able to manage. If I ever finish decluttering, that is.

There are a number of things that appeal to me ...

• the emphasis on practical life activities and fostering independence. I can see Little Cherub going the same way as her eldest sister ("I do it mine self! I do everything mine self!": Angel, aged 2) and this could help to minimise frustration.
  
• the ordered environment in which everything has its place and in which the child can function freely.
  
• freedom within limits. I like the idea that she can choose which activities to work on so that she can learn at her own pace.
• the materials. Many of them look so appealing and I can see how they would be enjoyable for a child to use while also being educational.
  
• lots of ideas for learning activities, which I hope would mean a child who was busy rather than bored.
  

On the other hand I know I would never be able to be a Montessori purist as I can't resist changing and adapting. Certain aspects do not sit well with me ...

• I understand Montessori discourages imaginative play, and that bothers me.
  
• I wonder how well Montessori would work with just one child. While it would certainly give me time to prepare and present materials, and to observe her needs, I suspect it could become too intense.
  
• My understanding is that Montessori materials are presented in a highly sequential way, and my older girls - Star in particular - have often learned in leaps rather than a steady progression. How would this work with Montessori?
• Is Montessori an all or nothing approach? I know I would end up picking and choosing parts and leaving others, and wonder if this would undermine the whole idea.
  

Lots to think about here, and to plan for. I'm afraid what would be typical of me would be to jump in with enthusiasm, spend a year or so making Montessori materials and then switch directions at the last minute and never use them. Either that or to spend too long thinking and then never put the plans into action. Can I manage a happy medium? Think ... decide ... construct ... implement. Maybe.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Got it.

Read it.

Enjoyed it.

Normal service is now resumed.

It's raining ...

... it's pouring (again), and we have postponed our planned trip to Wicksteed Park for the second week running. This was the view from our house this morning ...


... and our back garden ...

But at least there is one silver lining to the clouds ...


If I'm not blogging over the next few days, it's because I'm reading.

Thursday Thirteen #13: Summer

Thirteen ways to enjoy summer, despite the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, wet and miserable weather we have had for the past two months ...

1. Wear yellow.

2. Drink Pimms and lemonade. With ice.

3. If the sun comes out for five minutes, drop everything and go outside.

4. Listen to Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

5. Get some holiday brochures and fantasise about long and expensive breaks in the sun.

6. Have crab sandwiches and strawberries with clotted cream for tea.

7. Chill a nice bottle of Chardonnay.

8. Sing silly summer songs ... We're All Going on a Summer Holiday; Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside; Didn't We Have a Lovely Time the Day We Went To Bangor. (Did I hear you say I'm Singing in the Rain? Don't even think it!)

9. Scrapbook photos from last summer. They may remind you what sun looks like.

10. Read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K.Jerome and think about lazy summer days on the river. (Swallows and Amazons and Coot Club would also do nicely.)

11. Add a nice summer wallpaper to your desktop ... maybe this one, or this.

12. Buy lots of summer flowers.

13. Read Jennifer's blog and dream about life on a boat in Florida. Sunny Florida.

Spelling Test

I passed!

I Scored a 100%!

HT: Studeo

I'll never be late again

Not now that I have discovered GOOGLE CALENDAR!!!!!!!!

(I admit it may be an exaggeration to say I will never be late again, but at least I no longer have an excuse for double booking myself or forgetting something completely.)

I saw a calendar in someone's sidebar, clicked, experimented, and fell in love. I have planning mania, remember, and this is planning heaven. So far I have set up calendars for each member of the family, a general family calendar, my daily routine, and a schedule of the girls' weekly activities. Tevye and I can both view and amend them from any computer, and it is incredibly user friendly - click Quick Add, type "birthday party 2pm next Friday", and up it will pop in the right place. Cool!

It gets better. You can search for public calendars to add. So far I have ...

• Catholic liturgical calendar for England
• Jewish holy days
  
• Kids activities in Bedfordshire

So I can see at a glance that Friday is the feast of St.Apollinaris, and Saturday is Shabbat Hazon (whatever that is!). On Sunday we could go to a Pirates and Mermaids Adventure Day at a country park, take part in a Weekend of Wizardry at a shopping centre (no prizes for guessing what that's about), watch the planes at a model aeroplane weekend, or go to an archaeology fun day. Or at least, we could if we weren't going to Mass in the morning and the girls to a birthday party in the afternoon - but I had no idea about any of these events!

Individual calendars can be pulled up separately, or in any combination.

You can share calendars with friends!

You can put them on your web page, or in your blog!
(ETA: Take a look at my sidebar.)

Oh, the fun! The possibilities!

It's all too much. It has turned me into a walking exclamation mark!!!!!!!!

Hey! Look what I found in my ear!

Pasta!
What do you mean it's supposed to go in my mouth?

Mmmm! Cappuccino!

Inspired by a friend's mysterious disappearing post I found this ...

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Before and After: Decluttering Task 5

Another task finished!

Before ...

... and after

The white wicker baskets are from Ikea. The larger basket on the right is for books. The other baskets hold toys which I plan to rotate - currently there are blocks, a tea set, a doll with a few accessories, a few small toys and one of those things where you bang balls through holes with a hammer. She also has a puzzle, chunky crayons and a push-along dog accessible. It will be nice not to have toys stacked on the floor.

The yellow Thing on the top shelf is an iPal, won in a raffle at Angel's music school concert. It looks like a furry alien, but is in fact iPod / MP3 speakers. Angel and Star were delighted with their good fortune; Tevye has been heard to mutter the words "poisoned chalice". Tell me, where would you put a set of speakers carefully disguised in bright yellow fur? On second thoughts, maybe better not!

Thursday Thirteen #12: One Year Olds

Thirteen things I love about just turned one year olds ...

1. Giggles and tickles.
2. Hugs. Little Cherubs idea of a hug is more of a snuggle.
3. Determination ... I am a baby on a mission. I will get that toy / phone / remote control.
4. Delight ... I got it! I did it!
5. Words that come out sounding as though they are spoken by a small, squeaky robot.
6. Dawning understanding of the world around them. Plug? Electric socket? Oh yes! I know what to do with that! (And yes, we do have those child safety socket covers. Fortunately.)
7. Recognition. Beaming smiles when they spot their family and friends.
8. Stickiness. The sign of a baby who enjoys her food.
9. Curiosity. What's going on? What am I missing? I need to know!
10. Feet. Still baby feet.
11. Shoes. Her feet grew and we found some that fit. Is there anything cuter than little feet in their first shoes?
12. Dinky little summer dresses. Shame there is no summer weather to go with them.
13. A little warm, snuggly person sleeping on my lap.

First day of school

Today was Angel and Star's first day at school! The schools here have an "intake day" near the end of the school year when children who are moving schools go to their new school for the day, and others have a taster day in their new year groups. They get to meet their new teachers and classmates, to learn their way round the school, and generally find out what to expect when the new academic year starts in September.

So, by eight o'clock this morning both Angel and Star were dressed in a passing imitation of school uniform (black trousers / white shirt), bags and lunches packed, and ready to go. Angel's personal spies had already found out for her what class she would be in; Star still had to wait and see. Angel spurned the offer of a lift in favour of walking with J-next-door; A-next-door opted to come in the car with Star and myself. We regrouped at the school, checked in, and I left Angel waiting to be taken off to her new classroom, and Star in the school hall with 130 or so other new Year 5s waiting to be allocated to their classes.

Fast forward seven hours ... Angel waves "hi and goodbye" to me as I wait for Star and heads back home on foot; Star emerges tired and over-excited but happy.

How did it go? Both girls are happy with their new classes. Angel is not with any of her close friends, but is with a good friend of J-next-door she already knew, and they have teamed up happily. Her classroom is the IT suite (IT = information technology = computers), which is considered a perk as they get swivelly office-style chairs and a computer on their desk. However, it does mean they have to go to other rooms for most of their lessons so end up as a peripatetic class. They also have the teacher reputed to be the nicest of the Year 8 class tutors. As well as some introductory stuff they had three taster lessons - history, music and "food technology" (which in my day was known as cookery!). History was declared boring, music good, and food tech "a bit odd" (they couldn't do any cooking today, so ended up writing "healthy" menus). At lunch time Angel went on a mission to find out the name of every child in the Year 8 playground, all 150 of them. "I knew quite a lot of the girls," she said, "but none of the boys, so I went up to everyone I didn't know and asked who they were." Right. You know how it is with homeschooled children. They suffer from lack of socialisation and find it very hard to mix with others. Not.

Star found herself in a class with R, one of her closest friends, and another old friend, H. These three went to nursery together as tinies; R went to one school, H to another and Star to none at all, and now there they are sitting in a row at middle school. What goes around, comes around! Star also has another friend from Brownies with her. She is happy, and so am I ... if I could have picked her classmates I couldn't have done better. Her class teacher, Mr.W is reputed to be nice but quite strict, which is just exactly what Star needs. They spent most of the day on "getting to know you" games and activities.

Of course, today was a fun day and it will all be different once real work starts next term, but I'm happy the girls have got off to a good start. I had no doubt that Angel would settle easily, but being with these particular friends bodes very well for Star.

As for myself and Little Cherub ... we had a good day. I decluttered my wardrobe and got rid of two bags of clothes, then in the afternoon took Cherub to the library and to the toddler group at our Church, where she almost came to blows with a small boy over possession of a toy mobile phone. Cherub may be small, but like her eldest sister is not shy and retiring!

One year ago

Now that is funny!

Inspired by Willa I decided to look back at my blog one year ago. My entry for today's date was about a family trip to Wicksteed Park. Guess where we are planning to go on Friday? Yes ... Wicksteed Park.

Most of my posts from July 2006 were about my plans for this last school year. Who would have guessed that this summer our school plans would be of an entirely different kind? Not me, for sure. Karen E has been putting planning in perspective on her blog. Don't miss these two posts, here and here for her thoughts on five year plans.

A Picture of Now Meme

I saw this meme at Alicia's Studeo blog, and as I am sitting with my feet up and a sleeping Little Cherub on my lap I thought I'd play ...

A picture of now, between past and future.

1. a. Describe your outfit. Cropped beige trousers, green t-shirt, blue crocs. Coincidentally very much like my Meez.

b. What associations does the main color evoke? Oooh ... green! ... grass, trees, the English countryside in July during a wet summer.

c. Is there a memory associated with that outfit (or part of
it)? I bought the trousers to take to Corfu in May, so I associate them with holiday memories.

2. a. Are you listening to music? No. It is quiet except for Star shouting downstairs asking where some clothes are, and Angel and Star chatting upstairs.

b. Was this intentional? No. But now I notice the silence I am appreciating it!

c. What does the music make you remember? ----

3. a. Describe the objects within arm's reach. My nice new Macbook. A sleeping baby - very cute, in green cropped trousers and a flowery top, and snoring slightly. Three books: (1) A Weight Watchers cookbook. I defrosted turkey steaks to use for dinner but have no idea what I want to do with them and think I remembered seeing a couple of recipes in this particular book (2) Ladybird's Toddlers: Things I Like Best, (3) The Story of France, by Eleanor Doorly. A little baby hair elastic with a bow, pulled out of hair by the baby. The phone.

b. Choose one object and tell where you acquired it. The Story of France ... bought three years ago to add to my collection of narrative history books for children. A dear friend and I went for a weekend of manic book shopping in Hay-on-Wye, the book town, just before she returned to live in the US.

c. On the whole, are the objects new (memory blanks) or old (memory filled)? A mixture. The Things I Like Best book was one that both Angel and Star liked as Toddlers, so is memory filled, along with The Story of France. The rest are memory blanks. Apart, of course, from the baby, who is a memory in progress.

4. a. What room are you in? The living room

b. To what extent is it yours? Ours. Very much the main family room.

c. What kind of memories will you have in the future of this
room? Playing, talking, reading aloud, homeschooling, watching TV and DVDS, using the computer, toys, games, laughing, crying, children dancing and doing gymnastics ... children ... family ...

4. What were you doing before starting this post, and what would you like to do next? Playing Who Wants to be a Millionaire online with Star. Next? Unpack the organic fruit and veg box that has just arrived. And yes, the doorbell did wake the baby, who has now been taken off to watch Angel and Star perform gymnastics with beanie babies - beanie baby gym competitions were an old favourite game; Star has just been sorting the beanie babies, so they obviously decided to relive the past.

As I no longer have the sleeping baby excuse, I'd better go and tackle those boxes! And then see if I can find a recipe that will match up any of the vegetables with the turkey steaks.

No tags. If you want to do this meme, go ahead!

Before and After: Decluttering Task 2

After a trip to IKEA yesterday I spent the evening working on my understairs cupboard - task number two from my decluttering list. This cupboard contained a jumble of sewing and knitting, small cleaning tools, photos, scrapbooking stuff, and old family photos and memorabilia. And Henry, now in a state of suspended animation. (Thanks to the intentions of our favourite domestic appliance repair man, his motor runs again, but the switch still won't stay down. Repair Man has gone away to research the finer points of Henrys before trying again.)

Before ...
After ...
All the craft items except my scrapbooking bits and pieces are now in the baskets, along with the photos. Four baskets are still empty waiting for various items of stationery and computer clutter that I need to clear out of my messy desk (task one). Cleaning things and bags are neatly on top of the storage unit, and the memorabilia is stacked neatly at the far end of the cupboard. It turned out to be a long job - I didn't finish until after midnight - as although I had carefully measured the cupboard, I forgot to work out how to get the storage unit through the door. Oops! In the end we had to partially dismantle it, then rebuild it in situ. Henry is going to have to find a new home in the garage (assuming he can be resuscitated), and the scrapbooking box will eventually go into our bedroom, once I have done task six and cleared out the wardrobes.

Overall I am making good progress with the list. Task four - filing the girls' notebook pages - is done and I am part way through five ... I have moved the reference books into the space left by the notebook folders, and am part way through organising shelves for Little Cherub. My IKEA shopping trawl included some baskets for her toys that will work nicely here. More before and after photos to follow soon, I hope.

Little Cherub also now has her own little table and chairs. We still have those we got for Angel and Star, but they are too large for our tiny Cherub to use comfortably. The cheap set I bought yesterday are much less sturdy, but are Cherub sized and will work nicely until she grows into the others.

Big sisters, little sister

Over the past few days I have been reflecting on our family dynamic since the arrival of Little Cherub. Before Cherub was born I pictured a two-fold family dynamic with the older girls as a pair and Cherub as the adored baby (which indeed she is!). In fact, Angel's leap in maturity over the past year or so has turned things triangular, with all three at very distinct stages. Angel is an almost-teenager, very involved in outside activities; Star is still firmly in mid-childhood; and Little Cherub is an almost-toddler.

I am finding that this poses particular challenges I hadn't anticipated. (Ha! Isn't that always true of parenthood!) At the moment each of the girls needs individual attention to a greater degree than was the case when both Angel and Star were younger and spent a lot of time playing together. Now their interests are different, and they increasingly go to different places at different times (or worse, different places at the same time). While they can still be good companions for each other, the difference in maturity levels means there is also more conflict than there used to be. Star in particular is very needy of one-on-one time. Little Cherub, of course, gets lots of love and attention from her sisters, but will always in some respects be more like an only child. With no sibling close in age she has no real playmate, and will still be a child when her sisters are young adults. Once the two older girls go to school building in family time and finding activities that work for everyone is going to be a challenge, but one we need to meet if we want our family to be more than just a collection of individuals doing their own thing.

Another aspect of having a little one after a long gap that I had not anticipated is the way it constantly reminds me of Angel's and Star's younger days. Before Cherub, I was focused on the present, only noticing the stage they had reached at that time and forgetting what went before. Now I see reminders of their baby days, toddler years and young childhood at every turn. I look forward to doing things with Cherub all the more for being able to remember the fun of doing them with the older girls ... but then I miss those days! Somehow the past seems to impinge more on the present than it did before Cherub arrived, and it is easier to see the girls' childhood and adolescence as an organic whole. Being better able to see the toddler and young child in the older child or teenager can only be a good thing, I think, and is an unanticipated benefit of having a wider age spread in the family.

Of course, the problem with family dynamics is that they are constantly in a state of flux. I may feel I have got to grips with where we are now and the implications that has for the needs of each child, but next year it may all seem entirely different.

Computer heaven

What a difference a few weeks make! Back at the end of May I was in the computer doldrums, battling with email and connection problems, and hating my Windows Vista laptop which has developed a faulty DVD drive before it was two months old. Now the various problems are resolved, I have returned the laptop and replaced it with one of these ...

Yes, we are now officially a fully converted Mac family, with this little MacBook added to our iMac. No more Windows Vista! If you don't think computers can be cute, take a look at a MacBook ... "it's adorable!" sighed Star as we took it out of the box. It is the slowest, lowest spec version, but we love it.

Our new little beauty is a reconditioned MacBook. Buying reconditioned meant that we paid little more than the refund we received on our cheap Windows laptop - which I bought because I thought a MacBook would be way out of my price range. Since then I discovered that the online Apple Store lists available reconditioned models daily. The prices vary, but all are significantly less than the list price. The computers are either ex-demo or returned under the Apple warranty. Any faulty components are replaced with brand new ones, the machines are refurbished to factory standards, rigorously tested, and come with a one year warranty. The website warns that there may be some minor cosmetic flaws, but ours was immaculate.

The Meez below shows me happily in MacBook computer heaven ...

Which one is Meez?

Ruth at Just Another Day in Paradise has been collecting Meez. Here are mine (I couldn't manage to limit myself to just one) ...



It wouldn't let me eat chocolate cake while using the laptop, but it did let me wear my blue Crocs. I hope you are impressed by the tidy desk in the background. My real one is beginning to have a hotspot problem that needs dealing with!



But then again, I didn't want to just stay home with my laptop - this is our out-and-about season. I dithered between rollercoasters and the zoo, but the zoo was aesthetically more pleasing so I decided to take Little Cherub there.

You can make your own Meez here.

Thursday Thirteen #11: Devilish machines

A bit tongue in cheek here ... thirteen devilish machines I wish had never been invented:

1. Aeroplanes - how much more exciting travel must have been when the world was a larger place. And I love boats and trains.

2. Telephones - they always ring at the most inconvenient times. Perversely, I would keep mobile phones, as I like being able to text.

3. Televisions - although I watch a bit, I could easily live without it, and I'm sure many people's lives would be richer without them.

4. Lifts (elevators) - I can never quite trust that they are not about to plunge to the bottom of the shaft.

5. Remote controls - think of all the calories I could use up by having to get off the sofa.

6. Patio heaters - if it is too cold to sit outside, sit inside!

7. Electronic toys - anything plastic that bleeps, squeaks, plays electronic music and flashes. Worst are those toys that pretend to teach under-ones to count and learn their ABC.

8. Car alarms - no more being woken with a start when somebody's alarm goes off all of its own accord.

9. Parking meters - free parking for all, I say!

10. Barriers at car parks - I am always convinced they are going to come down on top of my car, so entering and leaving car parks is a stressful experience.

11. Alarm clocks - ugh!

12. Electric light - think how romantic it would be to use oil lamps and candles. (Yes, I know. It wouldn't exactly be convenient.)

13. The spinning jenny - as I am in Luddite mode ...

For Karen ...

... and any other forty-something chocaholics who read this blog.

Little Cherub and the Chocolate Factory

Today's trip out was to a chocolate factory. Heaven. Or, more accurately, Cadbury World. Here are some highlights, erratically illustrated with photos as my camera batteries were flat and I only managed to coax it to take a few. (Yes, I know. Always carry spare batteries.)

Meeting up with friends who live near Cadbury World and meeting their gorgeous new baby. "Ooh!" said Little Cherub, " 'ook! 'at! " (Look! That!). "That" was a five-and-a-half week old cutie, who slept contentedly in her pushchair and sling. And I didn't get a photo :(.

Finding out how favourite confections are made (no photos allowed in the actual production area) ...

Angel and Star finding out how they would look if turned into chocolate (bad photo!) ...


Experiencing life as a chocolate bean ... shaken, winnowed and roasted!

Liquid chocolate, pumped over a delicacy of one's choice. Angel chose marshmallows; Star chose Midget Gems (chewy, wine gum like sweets. Icky, with or without chocolate.) ...

Free samples!

FLYing: Daily Routines

Even after nearly a month I am still having to check my list. Will I ever reach a point where it becomes automatic? And somehow I never manage to do it all - one bathroom gets swished but not the other, or I don't get round to hotspots, or whatever. Still, things are running noticeably more smoothly, so I'm hanging in there.

Morning
Change and dress Little Cherub
Load washer
Swish bathrooms (sink and toilet)
Shower and dress
Bedroom hotspots

After breakfast
Stack dishwasher
Wipe table, high chair and worksurfaces
Defrost dinner (if not already done)
Hang laundry

Later afternoon
Prepare dinner
Empty dishwasher (if necessary)
Empty kitchen bin and recycling
Sort and put away laundry
Tidy living room
Living room hotspots
Straighten bedroom
Check girls' rooms

Bedtime
Empty dishwasher
Defrost dinner for tomorrow
Kitchen hotspots
Stairs hotspot

FLYing: Weekly Routine

I have been reviewing the FlyLady routines I set up a few weeks ago. I have just about been keeping my head above water with basic cleaning, and have managed a bit of decluttering, but decided they needed tweaking and making a bit more detailed in the light of experience. In an attempt to keep myself accoutable, I'm posting them here. This is my revised weekly routine ...

Monday

• Dust bedrooms
• Vacuum bedrooms
• Empty bins
• Clean bath
• Wash bathroom floors
• Clean shower tray
• Clean shower screen
• Do a zone mission

Tuesday

• 15 minutes declutter in zone
• Clean in zone
• Update personal finances

Wednesday

• 15 minutes declutter in zone
• Clean in zone

Thursday

• Change beds
• Clean mirrors
• Check and refresh pot pourri
• Change table cloth
• Empty magazine rack
• Flowers
• 27 fling boogie

Friday

• Dust living room and dining room
• Vacuum living room and dining room
• Empty bins
• Clean kitchen surfaces
• Clean kitchen sink
• Wash kitchen floor
• Clean cooker hob and front
• Wipe tiles
• Plan menu
• Order groceries

Saturday

• Ironing
• Catch up!

I'm aiming to do most jobs, most weeks, but there will inevitably be days when I don't manage anything, or only a small part of my list. If I can manage 75% in an average week I'll be happy - over time everything should get done reasonably often.