The day started way too early with everyone but me up at some ridiculous, pre-daylight hour being noisy. I refused to get up and read my book in bed with occassional hollering downstairs to break up squabbles. Until the doorbell rang and it was my Dad come to wait out the hour before his denist appointment at the surgery across the road from us. So I had to get dressed and come downstairs.
A day at home had been requested so once Dad left I got the washing machine going while Davies and Scarlett got some plasticine out. Davies very quickly decided he wanted to make a film so he set about making a couple of figures. He is very good at copying things like Aardman figures (he does a fab rabbit) but less great at original ideas tending to be more fantastical which would be fab if he had better technique but tends to look like squashed lumps rather than artistic creations. So we talked a bit about finesse and ways of putting things together properly so they were suitable for the movement that creating an animation using them would require. I made a polkadot Trapdoor-eque figure and then left Davies to spend a bit more time finishing his characters off better. Scarlett was sitting making a kitten and then a selection of accessories for it, happily chatting away to herself. 🙂
We got out the webcam which we bought last year and aside from a quick play with it when it arrived haven’t actually used yet. It’s very basic, plug and play with audio capture and stills from pressing a button the camera itself. I won’t bother reblogging the process of making the film as it’s all over on Monster Movie Productions for any interested parties along with a youtube link to the finished project. Not his finest work but possibly his most independant and the one he learnt the most on as I was doing far more constructive criticism with some honest feedback, which he took really well and went off and made adjustments as a result of. He then sat beside me and helped with the editing process and we talked through what I wrote on his blog before re-watching some of his previous films.
That pretty much took us to lunchtime along with a bit of TV watching (Sorcerors Apprentice) after which Davies and Scarlett did some drawing for a while. Scarlett had brought in the whole banana tree thing when getting a banana for after lunch and seeing it standing on the floor in the lounge in the sunshine inspired me to do a still life watercolour – something I was totally put off from in school aged about 14 from probably a very similar subject matter :lol:. Davies came and watched and we talked about the whole process from sketching to background to the whole adding of colour and then detail and shading. It was a very speedy piece of work and he was quite in awe asking how I’d got so good at it, to which my inevitable reply of ‘practise’ was met with one of his special frowns :lol:. Scarlett did some watercolour painting of her own while Davies returned to his drawings. They have been watching Wacky Races on one of the cartoon channels and that had inspired him to do a series of drawings telling a story using the characters from that.
We then put on some Horrible Histories during which we all cuddled up on the sofa before it was time for swimming lessons. They both had excellent lessons, Davies is really and truly properly swimming now. There is still a lot of learn in terms of style and stroke but he really can get from one side to the other :). Scarlett is loving every minute of it still, and her enjoyment is infectious – she had the lifeguard helping her today while the instructor was busy with the others and made some leaps and bounds too getting across fairly speedily with floats and more or less all the way with her feet up. She is rubbish at listening and has really bonded with another little girl in the group so the two of them have a habbit of chattering whenever the instructors eyes are elsewhere but that worked well tonight as they are similar ability levels and were racing each other across and urging each other on :). She got changed opposite us and they walked out together and down the outside stairs skipping and holding hands 🙂 very cute. And also highlighted to me how indulgent I can be of Scarlett’s ‘babyness’ while having far higher expectations of Davies :oops:.
Home for tea and a reading of the whole of the Hen who wouldn’t give up, which is among the weaker of that series I reckon. We only have the Gorilla one left to go so might try and get that in at some point tomorrow as Badgers will mean a later night and no stories tomorrow.
We were supposed to be at Tilgate Park but the couple of people who were coming have cancelled today for various reasons so I think we might save that for another day and perhaps go to Drusillas tomorrow instead. Mileage is about the same and although Tilgate is fab it is quite a drive when there is no need to travel so far, Drusillas is about the same distance and I do want to get more out of the season tickets outlay. I’ll put it to Davies and Scarlett’s vote in the morning.