WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABDUCTED!!!

Hi all

No we are not dead, we have not moved or been abducted by aliens, we’ve just been busy! Well, I’ve been very busy and Callum has just been busy! And we have had a temporary addition to the family in the shape of my daughter’s Chihuahua/Jack Russell cross Merlin. Sweet little dog, very bouncy and likes lots of love and attention..aaah!

So apologises in advance for this being so long!

Last week of October is always busy for me, even with Callum’s help as we have a Halloween party to organise. I adore Halloween; it’s my favourite festival of the year. I love the excuse to dress up and be silly and to do crazy stuff with food and games. I’ve been doing kids parties since my daughter, now 23, was 8 and they have got more elaborate as the years have gone past. I’m actually glad I have limited money as I’d be one of those that would go completely over the top.

So, what does Callum think of it all. Well, he thinks it’s a lot of fun too and as he’s got older he enjoys the ‘over the topness’ of it all. He’s been a great helper this year too as he’s come up with his own ideas and helped to develop the games and helped with the decoration of the house.

This year, we did a Macbeth themed party (well it does have murder, ghosts and witches in it, so why not?). We decorated the front room with a hanging witch, a cauldron with prizes in, silhouettes of trees and the tree shields that would be used for a later game. We also had a sound activated black cat and broomstick.


The dining room was the medieval mansion with spider webbing, rats and insects plus a ghost to represent Banquo. The table was laid out in black and silver with mice, spiders and bugs on.



Food was medieval themed with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, chicken legs, cold meat, bread and cheese with dried fruit and nuts, fresh fruit and (un-medieval) cupcakes.

Games were played in an order to represent a slightly shorter version of the story and included:
Meeting the Witches – items in jars of birdseed, shake to reveal items and tick off list.
Pass the Crown – Card crown with bag attached. Pass round and pick out parcels in order when music stops. Whoever is King Duncan will wear the crown first.
Murder of King Duncan – Chocolate shaped heart filled with chopped red jelly. Throw a skull on the dice, put on knight’s gloves, helmet, and colours and eat with knife and fork.
Murder of Banquo – Silhouette of Banquo with heart. Blindfold and use dagger to stab nearest.
Witches Spell – ‘Cauldron’ (covered with black bags) of cooked spaghetti containing various spell ingredients. Dive in and pick out stuff. Food stuffs and other items to represent the ingredients.
Moving Trees - Hold cut out tree shields and daggers. Move around and when music stops stand as still as possible. To make it a little harder the moving broomstick was set off and they had to avoid that too.
Finally;
Bobbing for Apples - Containing a cut out head of Macbeth apple. As many apples in 30 seconds avoiding the ‘head’



The party went well and there was a least one “yuck” moment when Amy was the first to cut into the chocolate heart to discover the red jelly oozing out. Face was a picture, bless her.

It was nice to see that the kids had done a bit of research too so that they knew the story and where the games were heading, in fact they got quite argumentative as to who should be wearing the crown and who was dead and who wasn’t.

We had a nice steady stream of ‘trick or treaters’ at the door from about 5pm till about 7.30pm and all the cakes went and we were left dishing out sweets.



The next few days were spent deconstructing the house back to normal and then trying to relax in between going out and about. Tuesday my friend Linda popped round with her daughter Danielle; which was nice as I haven’t seen her for ages and it was lovely to have someone to talk to whilst I packed everything away in boxes.

Wednesday was Mad Science in Sittingbourne with home ed group. Thanks to Lorraine and Amy for driving us there. Acids and Alkalines this time. Callum didn’t go down and try it all out as 1) he was wary and 2) we’d already down this at home, he still enjoyed it though.

Friday was Ice Skating; again with Lorraine and Amy, Callum didn’t ice skate, but sat reading his book and then having a quick game on his DS with one of the other boys. I wonder if it’s worth us going, but he does enjoy it and I think it’s good to get him out in a group, even if he doesn’t join in, to get used to the noise and the people. He does like going as I asked him, so we shall continue, one day he may actually go off and skate.

Saturday was Riverside Country Park for Scarecrow making. We took along some old clothes and used other bits and pieces to make a face and hair and then stuffed it all with straw. We decided to take it home and sew it all together as using the string and/or staples didn’t seem to be working that well. Cappuccino and hot chocolate in café afterwards while we waited for dad to pick us up. Callum has named the scarecrow George. Just need a couple of broom handles now and he can go in the garden next Spring to protect our crops.


Then up to the Great Lines in the evening for the Firework display. We had to take Merlin the dog as our dog was freaking out and Merlin was being a bit of a pest with him. Luckily he wasn’t bothered at all by the noise and ended up falling asleep inside my jacket at one point!

Yesterday, Terri returned from America so we looked at all her photos, got given lots of pressies and then she and Merlin and all her bags went off home.

It’s been very quiet here today.

Cya

Hi all, still glorious down here in the South, but the wind is definitely picking up and we are getting frosty mornings. Winter is coming!

Callum and I have decided to step back from our traditional take on home ed for the next couple of weeks as I've tons to do (read my other blog IS IT ME? for details). We have come to an agreement that he will help me with as many of the 'jobs' as possible and he can stop maths, literacy and science until after Halloween.

So today he measured out 2lb of green tomatoes for me, washed them and set them aside. He then went through all the other tomatoes we'd either picked ourselves or been given and sorted the green from the red or near ripe and took out the mush ones.

Then he washed and destalked all the ripe cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge and passed them to me for chopping in half. These were put in a roasting tin with a bit of chopped onion and 3/4 chopped green pepper (both found lurking in the fridge). We then added some olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of Balsamic vinegar. Then out came the box of herbs and spices. I got him to smell the tomatoes, then smell the herbs and decide which ones he thought went well with the smell. We ended up with basil and oregano!!!! He didn't peak at the labels either, he just went by smell. I sent him outside to smell a couple of herbs we have growing and asked what he thought would be any good, if any, he came back with....marjoram!!! The boys got a nose for flavour. We added all those, or rather he did, roasted it all in the oven for 20mins, allowed to cool and retasted and then whizzed up in food processor, reheated and added a swirl of cream. Lunch made and eaten with fresh gluten free rolls....yummy!

The 2lb of green tomatoes measured out earlier were whizzed up with 4 oranges and with some water cooked until soft, then a bag of sugar added and with the occasionally stir (both of us) was turned into Green Tomato and Orange Marmalade.

So measuring, preserving and soup making done! Plus tea making and wiping up after the washing up.

Then shopping with big sis, Terri and myself this afternoon to buy Halloween stuff for party. He helped carry some of the bags home and then made us a cuppa.

I think he's done well today. No computer all day! Go Callum.

Cya

FRIENDS, CAKE AND A PILE OF BROWN LEAVES

Good evening peoples.

Lovely day today; warm, sunny, but the leaves are all crispy and brown and red and gorgeous. Adore Autumn big time.

Did a quick tidy round and a quick maths and literacy session this morning, then it was a visit from Jo Daniels and her lovely baby Sophia. I should explain, if I haven't already, that Jo was one of Callum's Infant School teachers and he adored her. She was a fabulous teacher (still is) and really helped him out a lot and was very supportive. When we pulled him from school, she came along and did maths lessons with him until she got a promotion and had to give up due to being overloaded with work like all teachers are..bless her. Now she is a mummy and little Sophia is 8 months old. Gorgeous little thing and a very happy little lady.

Was lovely to see her and Callum loves the fact that we still meet up occasionally and catch up. Always a good excuse to bake cakes and sit and drink coffee. It was all timed to perfection as well as they were meeting up with friends for swimming at the same time as Callum had a trampolining lesson, so we had a lift to the Centre and an extended chat.

His lesson went well. He worked quite hard, but I don't think he was pushed enough today, although he didn't seem to be that bothered. Practicing 1/2 twist to back drop with last minute roll to front drop (those that do trampolining will know what I mean, but hope that explanation is enough for those who don't to be able to picture what he was up to). He also ran through his routine again which he is still managing to remember, so well done Callum.

Then a trip to the High Street (with me not being able to resist a pile of brown leaves to kick through...Callum rolling his eyes at me...huh!) to check out Halloween decs in the pound store (got some pretty good stuff and the goblets I'm after are in there which means it will work out cheaper than Wilkos). A visit to Smiths to try and find Teacher's Resource book I'm after, but as its an old one I was out of luck and they couldn't order it. Have found it on Amazon though, so might have to get it through them. Last, but not least, Nisa for wine vinegar for chutney making. Both fancied choccy at this point and they were doing 3 little bars of Dairy Milk (various flavours) at 3 for £1, so guess what we bought. Me being greedy (and hungry) couldn't wait until I got home, so I ate mine on the way...tut tut, but it was rather yummy!

Back home it was computer, dinner, bath and now he's relaxing in front of telly with his dad. Off out to visit friends tomorrow, so hopefully it will be another lovely day.

Cya

Hi all

For goodness sake I'm a day behind again (if you include Saturday and Sunday as one blog). Must get organised again. Haha.

So, here we go...weekend!

Saturday we went apple picking at Gore Farm with Phil, Linda, Tony, Danielle, Mellissa and Ruby. Colin and Lily went off to horse riding and met up with us afterwards in the cafe. We rent a tree for £30 per year, which between 3 families isn't that much, and we get to pick all the apples off of that tree. If the crop is a little low (as it was this year) they have other trees from which we can make up the loss. The photo below is just our share of the apples picked.



Whilst we had a good old chin wag around the table at the cafe drinking tea and eating cake, the kids went off and saw the animals and did a bit of investigating. The girls also picked strawberries, but Callum stayed with us, not because he didn't want to pick strawberries, we just didn't have the money to buy any that he picked and I didn't want him just going off and eating them all.

He went off and fed the donkeys (his favourite animal) where one particularly noisy one didn't like it when he fed the others. Very vocal animal (the one below).



The afternoon he spent back on the computer, so I was glad we'd managed to get out and about.

Sunday was very lazy, partly because I'd been out the night before and just fancied doing nothing all day and partly because Phil was busy doing stuff in the kitchen. So Callum spent the day occupying himself (may I add, not all of it on the computer!).

So, today! Phil is off all week this week and that normally interferes with our home schooling, but I'm determined to get at least maths and literacy done. So at about 9.45am this morning I woke Callum up with a cuppa and while Phil was sorting out the dog and what he was going to do for the day, we sat in bed and did his worksheets.

Then up we got, Phil going into the bathroom to put radiator on the wall and redo pipework running to it, we started the BBC website's typing course....dancemat style. Callum was really nervous, but he did it and got very good with his 'home' keys. I think him learning to type properly will be a big benefit to him and he sees me touch typing all the time and sees how quick it can be. Talking of which, I did a speed test on Google and came out as 54 words per minute. Bit slower than I was when at work, but glad I'm still above 50. Need to practice more!

This afternoon was baking and cooking for me while Callum helped his dad refill the heating system and check the boiler was working ok. All good stuff.

So, am now up to date again. Yay!

Cya

AN UNEXPECTED STROLL

Hiya

Today was yet another glorious Autumn day, but it did start foggy. Love a bit of fog to walk in; like the idea of walking in a cloud.

We started a little early as we had to change our trampolining lesson to 9am as we were off to a party this afternoon. We arrived just as they were opening up, but our teacher was a little late as her lift to work didn't turn up, so she had to walk in a rush. Callum did really well again doing lots of moves that involved one move to a half or full twist and into another move, eg, front drop straight to half twist straight to front drop in opposite direction. He worked hard and enjoyed the last few minutes launching himself into the foam pit!

We'd taken his kite along with us as he fancied another session of flying it. Off we went to the lower part of the Great Lines, but there really wasn't enough breeze, so we wandered off to the upper part of the Lines in the hope that there would be more wind. Passed a couple of Community Officers on the way who just looked at us, said 'good morning' and walked on. Never ceases to amaze me that we are never asked why Callum isn't at school, but I'm not complaining.

Got to the top part of the Lines, but still no consistent breeze. But by this point we were talking about wildlife and pathways, both man-made and natural. I mentioned that the upper part of the Lines used to be all longer grass, but now they have only kept about half of it as there are birds that nest on the ground. Just as I said it one flew up which was quite cool. We then talked about the war memorial and Fort Amhurst. Callum spotted a train in the distance and wanted to know how it got from Chatham to Gillingham. I mentioned that it went under the Lines and he wanted to see where it went in, so we strolled right over the Lines almost to Chatham so he could see the entrance to the tunnel. Just as we got there a train appeared from underneath and went on its way to Chatham. We then walked back home dropping into the library to change some books. Both rather shattered to be honest, but it was a lovely unexpected stroll.

We dropped into Subway for some lunch and then it was home, drop off library books, pick up present and card, check dog and off we went again to catch bus back to Chatham and then onto Borstal. Popped into Arriva shop to pick up new timetables and D&A toys for an emergency pastel colouring pack just in case we can't get the mosaic kit before next Tuesday when we are supposed to be showing his sister something arty to go towards his Arts Award.

At the hall it was Lauren's 12th birthday party, so lots of running around, music, sweets, food, pass the parcel and general party noise of happy kids. Sun was glorious, so a lot of the time was spent outside. After much munching and singing happy birthday, gathering party bag and balloons and leftover biscuits we just managed to catch the bus home. He is now flaked out on the sofa going through his goodies and drinking a cuppa. I don't think he'll be doing much else today apart from the computer!

So, no maths, no literacy and no science today, just lots of fresh air, general chatter about geography and history and a nice social afternoon. I love home ed!!

Cya

A WEEKEND SPENT OUTDOORS

Hiya

Another busy weekend for us, but want to make the most of the September sunshine. Love this time of year! Days are normally sunny, but not too hot and being outside watching the leaves change colour and the air being fresh instead of humid is wonderful.

So...Saturday morning we took ourselves off to Capstone park to forage Sloes, Damsons and the last of the Elderberries. We took the dog with us, so he had a great run round. Breakfast was wild apples and blackberries picked along the way - yum!! Callum managed to find us another superb Sloe bush; lots of berries and not so overgrown so much easier to pick without getting thorns stuck in your fingers and as the bush was more open the sloes had had the sun on them more, so there were a lot of them.

Back, after a round walk, we stopped for a coffee and Callum undid his 'healthy' breakfast by having a huge piece of black forest cake (homemade by the people at the cafe). Must admit it did look good, haha.

The afternoon was spent with Phil setting up the Sloe Gin, Callum running about in the garden and then on the computer and me picking sunflower heads, removing seeds, shelling said seeds (easier than you think, but quite time consuming) and then dry frying sunflower and pumpkin seeds for use in topping salads etc. Must admit, Callum and myself did devour a few, so probably only one lunch salad topping left, haha.

Today, we picked up his best mate Callum D and headed off to Riverside for Kite Making. The boys had a fab time making their kites and really took their time making them look gorgeous.

Then outside we went to give them a go at flying. The weather was just perfect...sunny with enough wind to lift them into the air. Callum D was an expert and got his up first - well done. My Callum took a bit longer, but got the hang of it pretty soon afterwards.


Lots of people were flying their kites, so we moved into the other field and ended up being the only ones in there. Perfect for flying and they only managed to tangle them once. Well done boys!!!!




Back home this afternoon and Callum dived onto the computer again, while I destoned 3lb of Damsons ready for jam making tomorrow afternoon. Still have 3lb left so think I'll be buying some cheap vodka ready for Damson Vodka.

We are all knackered now after so much fresh air, so another night of monging in front of TV beckons.

Cya later