The plus side of the clocks going back is everyone is waking early-for-us at the moment. I don’t seem to be managing to get to bed correspondingly early though (and actually neither do the children) so I suspect it is not long term plus.
Davies and Scarlett used their early start to catch up on yesterday’s Life [DVD]
that Ady had recorded. They are really enjoying it. They then watched some more Prehistoric Park [2006] [DVD]
I made some bread dough and simmered the chicken bones from Sundays roast with some salt and pepper, onions, garlic and carrot to make a stock for chicken soup for lunch. We also had four bananas that were rapidly going manky so I made some banana and choc chip muffins with them.
Then we sat down with the pile of Colin Thompson books we have borrowed from the library and all chose one book to inspire us and set about doing a drawing based on his work. Scarlett struggled with the ‘freeness’ of the idea of not drawing a specific thing and made a valiant attempt at ‘going where her pencil took her’ but it not her thing really. She did a fab wheel which she had a person running round in, hamster wheel stylee, which she then turned into a wheel on a car but she then got distracted by drawing a couple of monsters. Davies really got into it and drew a bookcase filled with books which all had various other things going on it them, some were houses or castles, some had ladders to climb up, two resting against each other made a slide. It’s very pale watercolour pencil so hasn’t photographed very well but I love the detail and imagination that he’s put into it, he totally got the idea of recreating some of Thompson’s ideas. I drew a big tree trunk and tried to have loads of things made from wood in it including a table and chairs, a grand piano, a windmill, various staircases,a window frame looking out onto the same sky in miniature as was behind the tree, a bed with a patchwork cover which put me in mind of a wall so I drew Humpty Dumpty on it and then in seperate places had a king on a throne and running down one branch a load of horse and down another a load of men. I quite liked the idea of a nursery rhyme or fairy story picture, might explore that further another time.
Then we had lunch. We all had fresh baked bread and chicken soup and watched Horrible Histories and Trapped which we on TV but I turned over when Basil Brush came on and we watched some Big Cook, Little Cook.
I then wanted everyone to watch Alien Worlds [DVD]
Davies got out his animation station and made some plasticine figures using one of the new background pictures Ady printed off for him while Scarlett did some more drawings.
Then it was time for swimming. I’d decided not to go in today, partially because I wanted to watch their lessons so Davies went off to swim in the big pool while Tarly had her lesson. It was only her and one other girl, Sophie today so they had a good lesson. There were more in Davies’ class though. Tarly sat and DS’d while Davies had his lesson and then we were out in record time and came home via the chip shop for their tea as we had time.
Ady arrived home not too long after us and I headed back out again for my course. Week 5 of 9 tonight so nearly 2/3 through. I had another couple of comments about how great D and S had been yesterday and a firm offer from Sheila, the retired woman who is on the course and used to teach music for us to go to her house so she can teach the kids some music. She has a piano, folk harp and various percussion instruments and has taught groups and individuals music and singing over many years. I’ll be cautious as to quite how it would work but potentially hopeful that her and the children could all get something from each others company. We’ve exchanged numbers and said we’ll get together once our course is over.
Tonight was about Green Cones and Green Johannas which I now know loads more about than I did when I woke up this morning! We also covered some of the ideas we’d had in groups last week about waste prevention, a debrief from yesterdays visit and a talk from someone who did the course 18 months ago and is now a volunteer Waste Prevention Advisor (WPA) involved in loads of initiatives and really out there making a difference. Feel very motivated and excited about the whole thing at the moment, which is of course the point of the course :).
Home for a bath and very late but very delicious dinner of saute potatoes, sweetcorn and the first pheasant of the season – yum!