Strange, snowy, sad day

Today has been a strange day - power cuts, snow drifts and a bus crash. Knowing such tragedy had occured so close to home, to people so young sobered us all a bit and the adverse weather and lack of power meant we had to cancel our activities, stay home and concentrate more on the basics like warmth, light and food.

Mollie decided to make the most of the snow and build some snowmen with Grandma. It was interesting watching her trying to figure out the best way to move the snowball, working out the correct pressure to move it but not break it, to consider what was hindering its process and remove it. The same problem solving skills will be of use in many situations.

The bus crash gave a very different set of learning oppertunities, from disscusions of how the TV pictures got from outside our house to on the TV so quickly, the difference between driving a bus and a car in the snow, why the former is harder than the later and how helicopters can take off in a blizzard.

The lack of electricty was ... interesting. It was a taste of what we have to come in our summer Georgian week, and made us realise just how much we depend on it, and how much we will have to think about changing our life to cope without it for a week.

So doing nothing actually turned into quite a lot.

Regular Activities

For blog writing, regular activities are a bit boring. Piano lesson, skating lessons, and riding lessons occur here with regularity, we do one or another most days, and sometimes 2 or 3 on one day.

These activities not only repeat over the weeks, but the actual activities are themselves repetative. We play tunes over and over, Mollie practises the same moves again and again, they trot round and round the indoor school. Progress occurs in tiny increments, that almost go unnoticed. Improvements are gradual, smoother transitions between paces, edges and notes.

But every so often there seems to be a leap forward - starting to canter, a new jump, the next piano book. They then seems like big steps, but really they are just the accumulation of tiny ones.

So, if we have days where it looks like we are doing nothing much, we are just taking baby steps towards the next great leap. I won't blog them all - we have quite enough repetion as it is :)

Not here doesn't mean not doing ...

Sometimes, on days like today, Hannah is suspiciously absent from the activities. We have been busy cooking for Daddy's party and this just isn't her thing. She has shut herself up in her room, but she is far from idle - she is writing.

Writing is Hannah's great love. Stories, poems, plays - she is always either scribbling or typing away. She does lots on her laptop but really likes notebooks. These leather bound ones are esspecially nice and full of masterpieces.

Now we just have to work on the confidence to share her work with others ....

Yoghurt Cheese part 2

We made cream cheese from yoghurt a couple of weeks ago, but it was a bit tart for our taste. So, for Daddy's birthday party. we thought we would have another go.



We used the same equipment as last time, but instead of using the live organic yoghurt from the deli in Biggar we used Greek Style yoghurt from Yeo Valley.



Once again we put it in our cold space under the stairs and it was a great success. The cheese was thicker, creamier and milder.

This time we could shape it into a 'cheese'rather than putting into a jar. It tasted great for lunch, spread on tortillas and topped with roasted vegetables too.

Needlefelted Angels

Whilst mum went down to England to collect Grandma Hannah and Mollie went to their friends to make needle felted angels.



This is one thing we love about our Home Education Community, the sharing of skills. The girls escaped the long drive, learnt a new skill and got to spend time with friends. They even got yummy soup for lunch - what more could they ask for ...

Flatpack - an unexpected educational experience

We had to build beds today - Hannah's new one in Mollie's room, and the spare old one in Hannah's room, ready for Easter guests.



This proved to be a great learning oppertunity, covering a multitude of things. Translating the pictures into reality, orientating the pieces into the correct position, getting things at the right angle so the bolts go in and of course teamwork to make sure ev eryone is doing the right thing at the right time.

The endevour was sucessful and everyone has somewhere to sleep.

Skating Programme

Mollie is working on her first programme with Alice.
Step sequences, spirals and jumps.

Still needs a bit of polishing, and extending to 1 minute 30 seconds, but it's a good start.