Up and out first thing to Forest School. We were cutting it fine this morning but fortunately everyone else seemed to be too (or maybe it’s now running on Home Ed time? 🙂 ) Davies and Scarlett quickly found their mates and barely needed to say goodbye before they headed off up the hill.
I drove round a bit of Lewes I don’t know trying to locate the scrapstore. Eventually I found it, had a quick look round, resisted the urge to gather armfuls of ‘just in case’ stuff but did fill a bag with hair bobbles and bands which will come in very useful as Scarlett and I can never find any.
I then parked up in Lewes high street for an hour (*really* expensive parking) and had a quick wander round the charity shops. I got two tops and a pair of trousers for Tarly, all of which she loves but are too big just yet, and that was it. I drove back and walked up the Hill of Testing to find the Forest Schoolers just as they were sitting down to some elderflower drink so I got a cup too which was nice and refreshing :).
I sat and chatted to Liza while they finished up and then went back down the Hill of Testing again. I was not very impressed this week that Davies had managed to sustain two injuries, including a lump and blood drawn on his head from being poked with a stick. There is a child there who is very unpleasant and violent and I will be happy to ensure we don’t cross paths with again, which is a shame as I like his mother but genuinely fear for the safety of my children around him. I don’t think the rangers are hands on enough with some of the stuff that happens around him and today was obviously another example of that. On the way home Davies, Scarlett and I talked tactics about dealing with him for the remaining four sessions.
We stopped to try and get Tarly a new rucksack – predictably choosing the novelty pink rucksack rather than a proper one meant the quality was low and the zipper is broken beyond repair. We didn;t find one but both children fell in love with straw hats in Matalan. Davies wanted an Indiana Jones style one and found one in the menswear department. Scarlett found a similar one in the ladieswear adorned with shells which is very pretty and as I suspect she won’t wear it much I will be happy to wear instead. I’ve had £10 worth of shopping vouchers in my purse for ages from some survey so happily redeemed them for the hats which was good.
Back home for lunch and egg collecting for me – all the hens are back to laying and we got 5 eggs today 🙂 – and the children did some connecting on their DSs. I also did some phonecalls and efficient stuff and got Wickstead camping booked, Truleigh Hill hostel booked and took a phonecall from English Heritage about my mix up with the Tesco vouchers and got that sorted out too :).
Then it was time for swimming. The kids had a good lesson, both coming along really well :). I managed 22 lengths and will strive for 24 next week as it seemed easier than last time. We walked to the chip shop for the kids tea but it was closed so we went to another one on the way home instead which turned out to be much cheaper and the kids said much nicer so will go there in future. I know it’s deep fried but they are both now eating and loving fish which is great. It’s a very slow and steady thing but we are definitely improving all of our diets gradually.
Ady came home and we all went up to the allotment for various pulling and planting tasks – I’ve finally caught up over on the self-suffish blog as far as the allotment is concerned although I have more photos that need putting up and various chicken-y updates too.
We took some lettuces over to my parents and called in at Sainsburys for a couple of things where we bumped into one of the Badger leaders (perfect! all smudged with dirt and in old clothes!).
I read a chapter of George and we talked about what we’d learnt today:
Nic – onions shouldn’t flower! if they do it means they have bolted and will be smaller, lighter and have a green shoot through the middle where the flower stalk has grown.
Ady – told us about the penguins on satellite story
Davies – learnt about elderflowers at FS – he said he’d previous thought they were large, poisonous flowers but now he can tell me the recipe for making the drink and wants to try doing his own now he can identify them. He also asked a question about the National Lottery stand so I explained the lottery to both the children and we had a brief chat about gambling which I’m sure we’ll come back to.
Scarlett – learnt about elderflowers and lotteries aswell but also says she spent some time talking to one of the rangers about how they carve wooden spoons.
Another really late dinner thanks to a minor drama when Scarlett asked where Candle was and I realised I’d not seen her since about 530pm when I was hanging some washing out. Both kids were in bed but very upset so I went out to look for her in the growing dark. I saw 2 foxes hanging about and was starting to give up hope and plan to resume looking in the morning as even her eyes don’t reflect anymore since she’s blind so searching in the dark for a blind black cat is unlikely to be easy. I had one last walk down a road down from ours and found her sitting in someone’s drive. She didn’t seem too stressed but I’m guessing during those 4 hours she’d probably been quite confused.
Really glad to have found her safe and unharmed and we’ve decided she can no longer go out without one of us as aside from the cost of vets bills and how devastated Scarlett would be we’d quite like her to go quietly here at home rather than in some dramatic car accident like all 3 previous cats :(.
And now, to bed.