We could have met up with friends today but I have no petrol in my car and am trying to preserve funds this month having transferred all extra cash into the Campervan fund. I was also aware of tonight being a planned late night and had things I wanted to crack on with at home. So we stayed home.
Davies and Scarlett are still on a HP kick so much of their day involved watching the dvd, playing in the garden with sticks carved into wands, playing upstairs pretending to be characters, sitting on the stairs connecting DSs on HP games and in Davies’ case completing the big marauders map he’d been working on last night. He showed it to me and I asked whether he was going to colour it in. He patiently explained it wasn’t coloured but would be yellow and aged so I suggested they use my teabags still waiting to cool down and go into the compost to age it. Which they did, with great glee 🙂
I listed some items on ebay – higher value things that we reckon we’ll get more from selling that way than at a car boot sale. Already have people watching most of them so fingers crossed for more funds raised for the Campervan account :). I then went through the book case and declared 4 out of 6 shelves books to go. A quick check on Amazon Marketplace showed most of them would be worth a penny so they are back on the bookshelf with hopes of raising slightly more for them. I did list about 5 books including 100 easy lessons which had a saga attached to getting in the first place many years ago, was used for about 12 lessons with Davies and has sat on the shelf ever since untouched. For some reason I had a slight pang about that and sure enough it’s been the thing to sell instantly. No idea why I would think about keeping it really and infact now it’s sold I won’t be.
I cooked a quiche Ady had brought home cheap yesterday, rummaged in the freezer and took out some lasagne for Ady and I for later and packed up waterproof jackets and a picnic rug and waited for Ady to get home. He was running late but thankfully traffic was light and we arrived not too late to meet some friends for a pre-show picnic in the grounds of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum before heading off to the main event of the event which was a promenade production of The Firework Makers Daughter, adapted from Philip Pulman’s novel, performed by the local Chichester Festival Theatre Youth Group. We knew at least five of the children appearing in it, all HEd and it being the last night of the run of shows a Home Ed trip had been organised to see it. We’d not got discount on the tickets which were not cheap (£15 each for adults, £7.50 for children) but I’d been feeling flush at the time the event was first talked about months ago so bought tickets. There were at least eight families there we knew and we kept bumping into people which was lovely.
I did start taking photos but got told off and asked to delete them all so I can’t share them 🙁 I’d not realised it wasn’t allowed and still think it’s slightly mad when in an open air location and it’s on the grounds of child protection when all the kids involved are performing infront of an audience, but still…
The first scene was inside, in a room lit with hundreds of red paper lanterns. The story starts with Lila, daughter of a firework maker experimenting and creating. Her father comes along, praises her skill but tells her she will never be a firework maker as she needs to find a husband and marry instead. The story follows Lila after she runs off to prove him wrong – followed and accompanied by her best friend Tulac and Hamlet, a white talking elephant. Incase you have not read it and intend to (and I do recommend it, it’s very good) I won’t tell any more of the story, but as Lila ran off so the whole audience followed her, down the hill to the market square section at the museum.
There folllowed about 12 different scenes with us folllowing the actors and musicians around the place, marvelling at the fabulous effects, props and costumes. There was an interval during which us HE folk gathered as it was the 9th birthday of one of our number so cake had been brought to sing and light candles on for her.
The show ended, in the dark by now as it was gone 9pm with a firework display. As it was their last night plenty of the cast were emotional and it was a truly excellent production and performance. Really enjoyed it :). Davies and Scarlett stayed together but were mostly apart from Ady and I as children were urged forward at each scene. We caught up with them at the end and they were both full of how fab it had been and how much they’d loved it, how glad they were to have had the book read to them beforehand and which were their favourite characters and scenes.
We headed for home, watching out for Percy-wotsits but seeing none. The kids went to bed, Ady and I had a very late dinner and now I am feeling a bit rough and hoping it is tiredness rather than anything else lingering so I’m off to bed.
show does sound ace.