9 years of home education

Easter marks the ninth anniversary of our home ed journey. I can't believe it, nine whole years of educational freedom :-)

My official journey began when my eldest daughter Miss P was five. She had completed two terms of full time primary education at the sweet little village primary school in our parish. Unofficially our journey began when she was just nine months old and I furthered my study into the Montessori method for children aged 6-12 years. Having already trained to teach Montessori in the nursery years, learning about the primary (or elementary as it is known) enlightened me to a very special and more natural method of educating the child. It was to be an enlightenment that would shape the future education for all of my children.

The parish primary school was lovely and friendly and I do not doubt that it delivered a great education. Certainly the time Miss P spent there she enjoyed tremendously. But what spoilt it for me were the limitations of the National Curriculum which most schools tend to opt to sign in to. There are reasons of course. It is supposed to provide the child with a very 'rounded' education, a little knowledge about many different curriculum areas. What is doesn't take into account and what really mattered to me, were the actual interests of the child. The Montessori method on the other hand, recognises that not all children learn at the same rate and that they all have very different educational needs and interests and we all know that we learn best when something is of interest to us.

So after two terms of my beautiful daughter enduring institutional based education I removed her in order to educate her 'otherwise'.

Removing my child from what is considered 'the norm' and going against the grain of what all my friends were doing was daunting to say the least. Luckily I had developed a thirst for researching home education and had found a few local contacts and activities happening locally, so there was an element of support out there. My family thought I was mad!!!

The first few months were a learning curve as I tried to establish a method and break away from the idea of 'school'. It's a tough habit to break when it's all you've really known, but it is possible. Initially we did 'school' at home. I made an effort to make sure we covered all the topics on the National Curriculum and we worked to the hours of a typical school day. It didn't take me long to realise that you can actually achieve all the work outcomes of a school day in just an hour when you're working on a one to one basis. So we suddenly had vast amounts of wonderful free time to spend playing freely - it's been idyllic!
Everyone who home educates does things differently and even within a single family, what works one year doesn't always work the next. Even the needs of individual children are different. So it's a constant game of trial and error; swap and change.

Back in those early days I didn't know where our journey would take us. I told people it was a short term measure, perhaps just the Primary years, but we've had so much fun that it's continued into the secondary years too! :-)
Miss P will be sitting her first iGCSE exam in a week.............

When people learn that you home educate they look on in pity.....'Oh poor darling, I guess you don't have any friends'. WRONG!! We all have amazing friends. There is a fantastic community of people worldwide that now home educate and the numbers are growing rapidly. It is a very real option. With regards to friends, we have many many friends. Socialising is not a problem at all. Our children go to clubs, visit museums, volunteer in local shops and organisations and much more besides. They mix with people of all ages all of the time. When you think about it, in school children are all grouped according to age. In the outside world that doesn't ever really happen.
We also have a huge amount of fun and enjoy the time that we have together. As we're not following any strick guidelines and have a huge amount of freedom to do what we want, we do just that! Bliss!!

Spring enthusiasm

Well here we are again; Spring!
When I look back through my posts at what we were doing this time last year, it only seems like yesterday. How fast time passes.
It will be three years tomorrow that I have been in my current little abode, living the dream by myself with three 'not so' little people, Jenny dog, Lily Loola and a stick (insect). Spring for me is always a time of high inspiration when finally I feel able to emerge from my little chrysalis and venture out into the wide world once more after my long Winter sleep....I'm sure you know what I mean!
So this year enthusiasm on full throttle, I'm all out and raring to go with plans for this years attempt at the vege garden.
Last year, you may remember or perhaps not if my blog remained in my head and didn't make it to the stages of publishing....last year I progressed from the failed container vegetable growing idea of the previous year, to a miniature vegetable patch in a large space. That space (the field behind my house) longs to be utilised every year, it calls to the gardener in me to transform it into something productive. I call back 'hang on a minute, I'm busy doing a hundred and one other things'....I voice my ideas but rarely do they materialise. This time last year my lovely brother in law and I dug two very minuscule beds in which I tried to grow food for myself and the children. It was the first little step onto the ladder in my mind, the first step forwards in my plan to transform the space. I try. I try very hard....every year I try and every year I plan to do better the next.

Last year I did manage to grow a few things, a boiling of delicious broad beans, about five sweet pea flowers, some very small onions and that was about it! I did plant some healthy looking sweetcorn plants and some leeks given by a friend, but would you believe it something (??????) ate them in their early stages of growth. The cheek of it!!
This year I am out on a personal war against bunnies and deer and slugs and am once again determined that this year I'm going to have more luck and success.
I have big plans for this space :-), well in my dreams I do......in the Autumn last year, my neighbour and I cut down a whole load of sucker trees that were crowding one corner, (I shall use the slim trunks to make stakes to secure my anti bunny/deer netting around my main vege area). I've also had an offer of a mini digger help to level off some of the ground, remove the tree stumps and to generally tidy the place up. I've got plans to make the vege patch at least twice the size of last years efforts.

And.....I've built myself a salad garden :-)...I'm quite excited about the prospect of having delicious leaves and flowers pretty much on my doorstep for picking as needed. The back of my house doesn't get much sun once the lovely walnut tree that shadows it comes into leaf. I can't complain as the tree produces an amazing crop which I collect, dry and store every year for all year round consumption. The front of the house does get the sun but the flower boarders are already planted with shrubs and there's no room for vegetable growing. I decided this year to create my own salad garden, so I've made a raised bed :-)

Do you see those Sweet peas at the back? I'm hoping they will grow right up the meeting against the wall and up the windows :-), the salad has already come up after just a few days.

It wasn't all that difficult. I had some lovely planks of wood that I'd been saving to create rustic shelves but hadn't actually got around to using them so they have been put to good use and made into the raised bed.
I was planning to be on the scrounge for some soil to fill the bed but then it was pointed out to me by a good friend that I had a good supply right under my nose at the bottom of our communal compost heap. Sure enough when I cleared away the top clutter, there it was. Gorgeous rich soil, perfect for the job!
I enlisted the help of one Small Boy who was keen to get his hands dirty and help shovel the muck and soil and barrow it to the front of the house. So there we have it, one raised bed and all planted too!
Oooh and a piece of corrugated plastic sheeting makes the perfect lid to ensure moisture stays in and heat is trapped; the perfect combination for germination. Now it has become a waiting game. '21 days' the packet suggests until I should have some edible delights :-)

I am soo grateful to my lovely friend Kat who gave me her petrol powered lawn mower that wasn't working. In my previous life when mowing the lawn wasn't my job. My lovely husband used to use a petrol mower. I learnt all about the engines and the cut width, those things were all important to a man who valued his tools. When I moved to the little cottage with the tiny lawns, I gave away my old beast of a mower, Tim was the only person who could start the thing and besides with two lawns the size of postage stamps I figured I could cut them using scissors!
Fortunately the person who I gave my old mower to kindly gave me a little electric number in exchange. It worked quite well although it was a pain to keep moving the electric cable around the house and the wheel kept falling off so you had to hold it with force to enable it to cut properly!
It's funny, every time I used that mower I imagined Tim looking down at me and laughing, he wouldn't have been seen dead using such a thing! The second Summer I invested in a push along mower which wasn't much cop either and tended to flatten the blades of grass rather than cut them. So this year having finally progressed to a super posh petrol mower that now works thanks to my lovely dad, I feel I have some lawn cred. I got so carried away today at the excitement at actually managing to start the thing that I cut a good part of the field, the green in front of our house, the alley next to the house AND my neighbours lawns :-)....no, I didn't do my own. I'll stick to the push along mower for them, I don't fly round the corners!!

Now thinking willow arch, fire circle, straw bale shelter/den, tree house............

Mmmm lunch for free

Hmmm I've been out and about foraging for scrumptious delights to feast on. Spring time is a fantastic time of year for free food. As the warm weather starts to kick in the green areas become alive with tasty treats.
Way back in May 2013 I blogged about Ramsons (or wild garlic as it is know to most). It grows mainly in woodlands and now at this time it is definitely at it's best when all the flavour is within the leaves. You can forage it right into May but the energy moves up into the flowers in May and the pungent flavour isn't as intense.

A word of caution when picking. Make sure you don't confuse the garlic with Bluebell leaves or those of the Lords and Ladies, which grow side by side.

So our favourite little haunt is laced with Ramsons right now so with the weather as it has been for the past few days, it seems the perfect excuse to take a wander and go picking.

You can add a little layer of grated cheese here. Yummy!

You can add the tasty leaves to salads or my most favourite thing is to make them into pesto. If you look back at the May 13 blog 'If you go down to the woods today.....' you can find my recipe.
Saturday when I made my first batch of pesto of the year, I spread some onto a plain flat great and lightly fried one side, then I sandwiched another flat bread on top and flipped it over. The kids love it too!
Garlic pesto is also scrumptious stirred into pasta or as a pizza base topping.....
Enjoy!!

Science overdose

We've recently come to the end of Oxfordshire's science festival where organisations across the county have hosted a wide variety of science activities for folk of all ages. I have to confess that although I studied science at school waaaaayyyyyy back, it's not really a subject that is of much interest to me. I'm more of the airy fairy creative type me.

In previous years anything remotely science related has usually come to my attention after the event and I have always sighed a small sigh of relief that I haven't been involved.

This year somehow (not sure how?), I did actually take note of the fact that it was science festival week. Perhaps it was due to the fact that we had a guest attend our Home Ed group who ran a laser workshop? Maybe it was the recent solar eclipse? Or maybe the fact my sister pointed out the event? Who knows?? Whatever it was, this year I decided that perhaps the children might like some of the activities on offer. So we pootled off to the Natural History Museum in the first week and to the Science bazaar at Brookes University in the second.
Well, I'll be honest and say there we loads of really cool and interesting things on offer to do and see. I was proud to witness a familiar home ed father and son leading two demonstrations too :-)
We even got to solve a murder....how cool is that!

Here are a few piccies:-

Spaceman....

No fear!

Runner beans on soggy tissue in a plastic bag- makes for a perfect mini green house which can be stuck onto the inside of a window and observed.

We've got a race going now.....!

Cornflour goo....( it was actually custard powder)

                         Watching the solar eclipse....this blacked out car                 window worked well.....

Amateur astronomers at work....all eyes on that tiny light dot!

The action viewed with the naked eye...

Taking part in scientific research...

What's happening here?

Walking, walking, waaaallllkkkkkiiinnngggggg........

You may recall my mentioning in passing back in January this year, that I have registered to take part in the London Moonwalk to raise money and awareness of breast cancer.
Well we're some four months on from that initial walk now and right at the heart of my training schedule (supposedly). I walked the walk back in 2011 with two of my lovely friends Kat and Jenny. The whole experience was beyond amazing, from the personal reasons we had for taking part, to the very intensive and demanding training, to the rather fun and exhilarating marathon walk around London during the night time hours in our decorated bras.

This year has been a different experience. Jenny isn't walking with us and to date Kat and I haven't managed any training walks together, so I'm feeling a little disconnected. Besides that the major difference this time is the fact that I am now a single parent. I cannot train as I did last time. Training isn't something that I can just 'do' as I please. This time training has to take into consideration three children who have to cycle alongside me. Miss P and the Little Lady are responsible enough to be left at home alone for short periods of time but Small Boy.......he cannot be trusted! So every time I wish to trundle on out I am accompanied by one (usually two) children who complain and fight constantly. You would not believe the energy that I have to use yelling at them to 'keep going', 'stop complaining', and encouraging them not to crash into each other. It's exhausting!!!

In the early weeks of training walking is to be leisurely. That's not busting a gut but generally meandering along at a reasonable pace, soaking up the serenity and beauty of your surroundings. If you read my January blogs you will have noted that I didn't really get to enjoy that phase but instead have been rather frantic and unrelaxed from the beginning. But 'hey ho' that is how it has to be.
Things were looking promising early on. I managed a few walks a week and was hoping to build up steadily. Nature had its own idea for dealing the cards but hey, isn't that what happens to cancer sufferers?
The divine powers that be gave me a stinking cold that morphed but lasted for five weeks. A slight drippy nose would not have  been a problem but a full on snotty hooter was no fun at all so I stayed in and kept warm not wishing to over strain my poor heart.

I've been back in training now for three weeks and I'm feeling somewhat behind but confident that I shall be ready in six weeks time to strut my stuff and walk the 26.2 miles needed. Whether I manage to beat my previous personal best time of six hours is dependant on factors on the night like whether we get caught at the back of 17000 other women, or having to stop to cross roads as London doesn't sleep even in the small hours, and whether I'm actually fit enough!

Last week we tackled the remote roads within the palace grounds of the Blenheim estate. There's a good mix of flat and hilly, relatively even tracks to put me through my paces and it's a pretty safe place to take child cyclists. I had wanted to cover twelve miles but nine was my limit, restricted due to exhausted children.

Power walking long distances is an empowering experience. Some folk listen to music or pod casts along the way, but I just tend to contemplate. Last week as the going got tough and the children complained about their achy legs and how stupid I was to do such excessive training and why did I bother anyway. I found myself thinking about those who develop cancer. They don't choose to develop it. I likened the highs and lows to how life must be for them, apart from they don't have the choice to give up and everything be okay. If they choose not to fight the battle they lose the fight.

A mighty Oak. I love having the time to notice such natural beauties!

You'd think that with training things would get easier and to a certain extent they do. But even now I still get an intense burn at the front of my lower legs which hurts and lasts for approximately the first mile and I don't feel warm until the two mile point. Then there are the hot and cold moments during the walk. The weather can change considerably during one of the longer training walks.

Monday this week, I managed to walk 13 miles with two children in tow. It was sunny and bright when we set off and raining and windy when we arrived home three hours later. I do enjoy walking out on the country lanes which I usually zoom along en route somewhere. At this time of the year it is especially lovely as you get to see all manner of wildlife bumbling about in their daily routines. I find myself talking to them. They probably don't see folk walking very often.
On this particular walk I could really feel the burn firstly in the front of my legs and in the latter miles around the sides of my butt. It's good to think of the good that such a workout can do. Three hours of intense training certainly makes you hungry!

If you are able to sponsor me I would be eternally grateful. Last time I raised a staggering £500 from all you generous folk. I wonder if I can get anywhere near that amount this time?

After 9 miles!

Do let me know if you would like to join me on a walk :-)

A moneyless existence

A couple of weeks ago (Mother's day), I sat browsing through a book in the straw bale cafe and came across a whole list of things that sounded interesting and which I jotted down information about on a little scrap of paper  rustled up from the darkest corner of the bottom of my bag. I'm always doing that these days. Things look as if they inspire so I write down just a fragment of info and then store it away until I return home and the next available opportunity to look it up on the good old WWW.
Anyone else like that?
Anyway, on this occasion one of my little snippets of inspiration was a brief reading about a chap that lived for a whole year without any money. I know you probably all think I'm crazy but the idea of having no money is far more appealing to me than having endless amounts. I'm guessing you really are thinking I've lost the plot now....(if you hadn't already thought that!).
So I got home and was rather excited about finding out more.

In 2008, Mark Boyle an Irish business man currently living in Bristol, decided to try his luck at living for a year without spending any money. He foraged for his food and became a dab hand at 'skipping' for food thrown out by shops but still in perfectly good and edible condition. He also worked three days a week on an organic farm in exchange for further food plus land on which to live in his caravan which he obtained for free from his local Freegle website.

Inspiring.......

After initially reading about this chap I wanted to have him come give a talk locally, however he seems pretty busy and didn't seem overly keen on taking a trip to Oxfordshire anytime soon. I decided I would just have to buy a copy of his book and find out more about what possessed him to  carry out such a challenge and how his year went.

Upon reading the first page it was obvious why he perhaps isn't so enthusiastic about visiting every individual who is interested in his story. For the past seven years he has been inundated with requests to give interviews, talks etc etc....he has to move on and live his own life......

So I purchased a copy of the 'Moneyless man'. From the moment I retrieved it from the dogs jaws after she beat me to the letter box, I have been hooked on the chaps story. It wasn't just the whole living without money thing that grabbed my attention it was more about the love and joy that seemed to evolve when no money was involved. Mark could work but couldn't accept a penny (his rules), what a joy to be able to help someone and not expect anything in return.
It occurred to me that this is just NOT how the world works these days. The vast majority of us don't like to do things unless we get something in return.

To me this is rather funny. Many years ago Saturday nights used to be all about the National Lottery and what we would do with our winnings. I craved that life 'when money will make us happy'. Of course it didn't take long for me to realise that the odds are seriously stacked against your winning and besides what would you do with the money anyway? These days, winning the Lotto would be my worst nightmare, I don't do it!
During my recent clear out, I've dug out oodles of 'things' that I could potentially 'sell'. I've chosen not to and have instead given the items away to folk who could make better use of them. What's more, I don't have any feels of regret about doing so. I've actually gained pleasure from the experience.
The same has happened recently with my shoe selling. Much as I need to make a living from the sale of the shoes I purchased back in January last year, I'm not against sharing the savings with others in the form of accepting offers. One lady in Russia was deeply upset about the depreciation of her national currency due to the political situation. It made me feel really good to be able to ask her how much she could afford to pay for the shoes including the postage. She actually paid more than I expected and was thrilled by my generosity. It feels good to be able to help others.

The Moneyless Man set up all kinds of skill sharing and free swapping type arrangements during his year and makes many suggestions about getting by with no money. I'm pretty frugal anyway and not really interested in 'keeping up with the Jones' so much of it was reinforcement of things I am already aware of. For me it offered a new kind of inspiration that I haven't quite put my finger on. I think it's probably more to do with the possibilities relating to being liberated from systems....oh hang on, when did I ever conform to systems anyway??!!

Do look up the 'Moneyless Man' and Mark's second book 'Moneyless Manifesto'....it's free to borrow from the library or to down load HERE, or you could buy it and all the proceeds go towards helping set up further moneyless ventures :-)

Right, need to find something else to inspire now...............
(finds self looking up caravans on Ebay and thinking about solar panels....)

Mothering Sunday

What I lovely day today has been. Not the weather, that's been rather dull, but the day itself. It's been one of those lovely rolling days that just drifts by allowing for fun and business but also calm and relaxation. Arrrr......

The children woke me up a minute before my alarm with token gifts and cards as signs of their appreciation of my efforts. Handmade trinkets and vouchers for massages..... shall look forwards to cashing those in!

A hand warmer, card and 2.5hr massage voucher from the Little Lady, two beautifully handmade bracelets, a card and a Hama bead photo frame complete with fun photo from Miss P, oh and a further 2 hr back massage voucher and a picture and army coloured loom band bracelet from Small Boy. Such thoughtful children :-)

This morning we headed off to church for the 'All age worship' service, it's always especially lovely on Mothering Sunday. This morning we were armed with 62 mother's of the gingerbread kind all decorated with love and arranged in rows on trays ready to sell.

We host a little cake sale after the family service every month and the proceeds of our sale goes towards the sponsorship of a young eight year old boy called Ravi who lives with his family in India.
We've been doing this as a family for about eight years now. It came about when Miss P was little and as a mother I wanted her to learn about others in the world, especially those in countries less well developed than our own. Back then it cost just £18 a month to sponsor a child, with over 80% of the donations going directly to the needs of the children who are part of the project. It's not a huge amount of money when you break it down into daily increments but to us at the time it wasn't something I felt I could commit too due to our low income. So we put it to our congregation and asked them if they would help us. I committed to bake cakes every month and pay for the ingredients and the proceeds of the sale sponsor the child.
For seven years we sponsored a young girl called Tina who lived in Bangladesh. She wrote to us and told us about her life. She seemed very happy but extremely poor financially compared to us in the UK. When we sent her £10 for her birthday, she was able to buy a goat, chickens, a new dress and books. Amazing!
Upon reaching fourteen, Tina moved away from the area to an area no longer supported by the project we were funding, the financial help that we provided gave her food, education, medical care and religious teaching. Now we are helping Ravi, the monthly fee has also risen to £24, not much per day but in a third world country it can stretch a long way. To find out more visit Compassion UK it's a worthy cause.
During the service, all of the females were given a small bouquet of flowers and foliage, a lovely gesture. I did have to shut my son up upon heading back to the car though. He announced that the bouquets were dead and that the flowers had been taken from someones grave! I questioned his story and he informed me that there were several other similar flowers in the bin.......honestly, that boy!!

From church to my favourite cafe of the moment. The wonderful strawbale cafe at The
Whichford pottery. I knew it would be busy today and imagined we'd have to wait for a table, but as luck would have it our absolute favourite spot on the sofas right next to the wood stove were free :-). It was meant to be! So we spent an hour or so loving our surroundings, chatting, eating the scrumilitious food and me....I found myself totally engrossed in a book on Transition Britain. Food for thought and then proceeded to figure out how the cafe could actually be my home! Oh yes, I've got it all worked out. It would be amazing. An open plan living area downstairs with kitchen at one end and perhaps an added bathroom area/shed on the back and a mezzanine floor area in the roof space to house our low level beds.......dreaming again. I find the place so grounding and peaceful even when it is bustling with chattering mummy's!

Back home for an afternoon of relaxation. Everyone was busy doing their own things, it's perfectly lovely!

Oh, and homemade pizza for tea........

......and entertainment in the form of an air show!

I have to say that I struggle with days like today. Not because I'm n old grump, it's just that I feel we should take time to make our mother's feel special and loved everyday and it's not just mother's. There are many folk in this world who aren't mother's and may never be so but still play a huge part in the role of being carers for children and adults in someway. They should be recognised too :-)

Hope you've had a wonderful day folks!

GCSE's home ed style

It's quite some time since I sat my GCSE examinations and back then I do recall not really working too hard for them. I kind of assumed that all would just fall into place. How wrong! It may have been due to the fact that my entire life and being focused on gymnastics, but what I do recall is that I had a feeling of true awakening once I had flunked the majority of them. An awakening that drove me forwards and ensure that second time around things would work out.
As I look back now, I wonder if I just wasn't mature enough the first time? Or perhaps it was that I hadn't been surrounded but the right kind of stimulation? Who knows......

One of the many questions that people often ask when they find out that I home educate my children is 'What will happen when it comes to exams?' (That is of course once they have almost died on the spot at the thought that we actually don't do much in the way of 'school' and have....FUN in our days!)
The truth is that 'yes' our children like those who attend school can also study for and sit GCSE examinations. Generally students actually take iGCSE's (that's the international version that doesn't have the coursework element).  Home educated children either study with a tutor usually in small groups in the comfort of ones home, through one of the many on line providers out there or at home by themselves usually using the exam boards student course book.
Often these children have very little prior knowledge of the subject having not formally had classes in the subject area before.
Last September, Miss P decided that she might like to give her first iGCSE a try. She chose geography as the subject as a lovely fellow HE parent was planning to run a course. In those early days, Miss P found the lessons and studying all rather confusing and the homework......goodness! It took US forever!! After a few weeks she seemed to experience a similar kind of awakening to that which I had experienced (several years earlier). It seemed that overnight everything seemed to fall into place.
The beauty of home education is that you can choose to study the subjects you want and you can also start formal GCSE's earlier than you might if you were in school. We've chosen to spread the courses over three years, just because we can really.
The other thing that was pointed out to me last week, is that in the school environment you engage in study of say ten or eleven courses often not knowing what you want to do. 'You buy the ticket to an unknown destination'. As home educators, we chose our destination first and then buy our tickets, i.e if we only need five grades to get somewhere then we only take five courses. This takes the pressure off and means that we can spend any extra time doing the things we enjoy.
The downside of course is, that we have to pay for everything ourselves.
Not all home educated children choose to take GCSE's, some still get into university based on their interests and interview alone - inspiring!

It is true in life that if you want something in life, you will do everything in your power to get it, that includes your choice in career.
In my own life I always wanted to be a teacher. Having flunked my GCSE's initially and then going on to pass only one A Level, I wasn't going to university without re-sitting or going through clearing. I didn't do either but still followed my dream and qualified to teach as a Montessori teacher through two amazing establishments. In all fairness, I probably wasn't ready to face the world at 19, I had to find my way through alternative routes.

Miss P currently wants to study fashion design in Banbury. She loves creating garments and is becoming a dab hand with the sewing machines :-)

Several of my friends are running courses starting around Easter, (English, Physics, Combined science (double award), Environmental Management), if you're interested for your child then please make contact and I'll point you in the right direction. Another friend is running courses in English, English Lit and Art History. They're live home study courses that are delivered weekly via the internet. Check out dreaming spires home learning, she also offers GCSE revision crammer courses.

You're never too young or old to learn!

Ed note: I have just been reminded of the very informative Wiki site that is an valuble source for anyone wanting to take their GCSE's at home. It might also be good for those doing them in school as there is quite a bit of information on support resources, find it here HE exams.

Mini adventure

We've been on mini adventure this past week. Two nights glamping at The Royal Umpire Caravan Park, in Croston nr Preston in a wooden tent. I know, we're really living it up these days!

Back in December when the short cold days were full on I booked this little 'get away' imagining that the weather would be much warmer and definite signs of Spring would be evident and indeed they are. The thought of a little Spring loveliness was just what I needed to look forward too and to gently encourage me through those grey Wintry days and icy cold nights.

So Monday morning we arose and began packing our 'going away' stuff. With five of us travelling in my little estate car there isn't a huge amount of room for belongings. As always I embraced the usual battle with one Little Lady who always places claim on the 'biggest' bag and insists on taking her double duvet when everyone else follows my instructions to only pack a sleeping bag! Hmmmm!!!
The usual morning squabbles drive me to the brink of insanity and I fear the torture of living in a seriously confined space - What was I thinking of????
What I really ought to have a arranged was a trip away just for me. A room somewhere, anywhere....or even a caravan in a field......

Trying to put those thoughts behind me and make the most of the change in scenery we set off.
Surprisingly Preston isn't that far. I always think of the North as being miles and miles away, but no, it's not that much further than the closest area of the south coast.
In my family, the draw of the north is just not there. Folk think it's cold. I personally think there are some very beautiful places 'Up North' and the weather isn't that bad, I've spent many memorable holidays visiting some lovely areas and actually prefer it to many of the areas I've visited in the South.

So two nights in a wooden tent/shed. It was really rather fun. The shed was situated on well equipped and orderly campsite. Many beautiful caravans and no crazy tenters at this early point in the year, (well apart from us in our little wooden dwelling). We had to go outside and walk a minute or two to use the facilities but the weather was kind to us and that wasn't really too much of a problem. Our little wooden tent was perfectly adequately kitted out with seating, which converted into a very large bed, plus a kettle, fridge, microjobby and all the crockery and kitcheny things that one would need. It was perfect as a base for a couple of nights!

The first night we thought we'd eat out as there hadn't been much room for packing essentials for a meal. The site receptionist recommended a couple of local places that were decent and a fiver a head. Five pounds for an 'eat as much as you like' meal! Bargain! It actually was as well. The food was a little salty but we didn't grumble at the price. Where can you eat out for a fiver these days in the south??

Our little adventure took us to Blackpool on the first day. We drove the sixteen or so miles to get there, drove along the coast and past the tower and then turned around and drove right on back again. Say no more!!
We did then stumble across an amazing little Aladdin's cave of a place; Bygone Times. What a fabulous little hideaway. Five layers of neat little curiosity shops all packed with treasures from the bygone eras and housed within a into an old mill. I was indeed in my element! I purchased nothing but thoroughly enjoyed browsing and reminiscing over the items on display. The kids were kept entertained too with the tales of ghostly hauntings of the place!

Dinner on night two was a home grown concoction. I hate the use of microwaves and purposely don't own one anymore. Sometimes though I do go against what I believe in and on this occasion we had a number of meals in their bags that we microwaved and served up. It's amazing what you can conjure up when you have too. Pilau rice, vegetables with noodles, fresh raw pepper slices, sweetcorn, chickpeas, quorn pieces with oyster sauce....mmmm, made for a scummy offering!

The second day took us along the coast on our trip home, to Liverpool. My surname Fazackerley (spelt Fazakerley) comes from Lancashire near Liverpool.
Now Liverpool is an area I did always imagine was slightly deprived and run down. How wrong. It really did seem a decent place and not at all how I imagined.
Our brief visit was not to muse at the City but rather to visit the Antony Gormley sculptures that align the mile stretch of beach. Gormley has created 100 sculptures created out of steel of himself in various statures and buried them in the sand looking out to sea. The exhibition entitled 'Another place' was really spectacular and definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. We hadn't told the children about the exhibition and it was rather lovely when we pulled up and the Little Lady commented that there was 'someone out there'. It was a very blustery morning on the coast of Liverpool Wednesday but we embarked on a little stroll along the coastal path to view the sculptures, some were submerged up to their heads, others only had the waves breaking over their feet. The children dodged the waves to walk up and touch one.....

So back home, refreshed? Hmmm not sure, but good to have done something a little different. It crossed my mind in the car on the way home that life is all about little adventures, it's important to occasionally have break from routine and do something just a tad different, whatever that may be.....

Out with it, not in!

The second week of my 40 day de-clutter.
Not quite as much of a breeze as the first week mainly due to the unregulated hoarding tendencies of my children.
Clearing out is in itself relatively easy once you set your mind in gear and body in action, it's the children's inability to 'let go' of belongings that seems to be scuppering plans.
I get the novelty factor of the exercise. Clearing out means rediscovering things you never knew you had and things long since forgotten about. In someways I guess it feels like Christmas! But then there's the discovery of having grown and clothing that no longer fits. Trying to convince the younger children especially, that it's a lovely act to pass on unwanted or ill fitting items is painful to say the least. I've been spending the past week trying to smuggle out stuff to avoid the upset and and arguments but is that right?
Then there are the vast numbers of cardboard box buildings that are scattered around the place. A home for a teddy, a bed for Rara (that's Small Boy's comforter), a castle for the Playmobil people - the list goes on.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the use of such things, in fact I quite openly encourage it. recycling and all that, but there does come a time when it becomes apparent that such constructions are taking over or have seen better days. It's not always easy to crush and inconspicuously disguise a cardboard city in the council waste boxes.
So two weeks in and the house doesn't actually look that much tidier. Certainly areas are less cluttered and the contents of my cupboards are looking orderly for once, but in general I seem to have created more mess by forming piles everywhere of things to be re-homed, things to be recycled and things to be put away within our home. Uuurrrrrggggghhh!

Today I have been gathering together some of my many 'throw out's' for the local community swap shop that is running tomorrow. The sheer frustration of the matter when the children catch on and start unpacking my bags and reclaiming things.....

The temptation is there to give up!!!!

On the plus side.... I'm feeling somewhat liberated. I can easily find things in the cupboards and drawers, I have sorted my email box and now have under 1000 emails so my computer is working faster and the feeling of having passed stuff on that others can make good use of is wonderful :-)

I suppose with so much clutter lifted there will be space both physically, mentally and emotionally for more of the desirable things in life :-) :-) :-) :-)

40 bags in 40 days

Yesterday marked the start of Lent in the Christian calendar. 40 days of trying your hardest to abstain from something. Usually I have to confess that I don't give up anything and continue to gorge on life's delightful treats. This year WAS going to be the same as ever until yesterday when a good friend posted a link on Facebook to decluttering, to be precise chucking out a bag of rubbish everyday for 40 days.
Yep, that's it! What a good excuse to declutter my life. Thinking of it as 'Spring cleaning' :-)

Now for some of you that might be a difficult task. Not for me! Although I wouldn't say I am a hoarder, I do have a very large stash of everything, far too much. So this year I am going to attempt to ditch a great deal of it.
You would think that with two family house moves in the past three years, the amount of unwanted clutter might be at a minimum. No! Unfortunately that is not the case. As a home educating mother and father figure and self confessed craft addict, anything and everything has a potential use. So it's stashed away for the moment in life when the light bulb is on and it materialises into something beautiful......well that's sort of how it is intended.

So, a quick read through the idea of the challenge and I'm off...inspired to throw away.

Day 1: The shed.

Just one hour in my lovely little shed and 5 (yes 5) boxes of rubbish are recycled and given away to friends who can make good use of the items no longer needed here. Oh this feels good!

Day 2: A rainy day so indoor decluttering.

Embarrassed and shamed myself by exposing the interior of kitchen cupboards and drawers. Arrrr....how could you live like that??
2 drawers and 2 cupboards cleared out :-)

This is obviously a before photo. It actually wouldn't close properly due to all that clutter. It does now though :-) :-) :-)

Turned on computer to discover that I have almost 8000 emails in my inbox. RIGHT, time to clean up (this challenge is about cleaning up all areas of my life). Manually deleted just over 4000 emails then discovered 'Roll up' through a friend which helps to eliminate subscriptions. Subscribed and am not free of 65 subscriptions. Wooo hoooo! Doing well!

I'm wondering if I shall be able to sustain this level of clean up for 40 days? Will I have anything left at the end of it?

Day 3:

I've woken up and the first thing on my mind is 'What am I going to clear out today?'.....
Fearing my clear out is becoming an obsession!
There are so many areas that need sorting and the temptation is to dive in and do it all at once. That may well be a quick fix to the 40 bags but will not be sustainable over 40 days and both go together as part of the challenge. So, I'm having to restrain myself and tackle small areas of the house at a time.

Tackled the dreaded larder cupboard today. One whole bag of rubbish easily disposed of due to resident weevil infestation in my flour. I blame the kids for that for spilling the contents all over the cupboard! Apparently you can help prevent weevils by freezing your flour for a few days as soon as you can after purchase. Hmmm the thought of frozen weevils is not in the slightest bit more appealing!
I'm finally throwing out all the out of date jars that have festered at the back of the cupboard waiting to be eaten. They were there last time I tidied and are still there so obviously no great urge to eat the contents. Good bye rubbish!!

Before

Ta dah!

I've had a little move around too :-) 

Yes I know, that top shelf is never going to look tidy but it's all okay and as neat as it can be!

I got quite carried away today and tackled one under bed drawer too throwing out old creams and lotions that didn't smell too pleasant.

2 bags!

There was also a strange moment today. The Little Lady discovered that a bunch of tunes that I had purchased from Amazon years ago, were present on our Kindle. I got listening to them and found a lovely track that I downloaded to play to the children way back in the days when we sat by the hearth singing and engaging in moments of loveliness. Now nothing too weird about that hey. But when I was clearing under the bed I found the written lyrics to the song! Just that one song - VERY weird! I haven't looked at that for years. Hmmm??
Mind now puzzles at the likelihood of a coincidence or some hidden message?

Here's the song......

'Land of the silver birch
home of the beaver
Where still the mighty moose
wanders at will

Blue lake and rocky shore
I will return once more
Boom diddy aahh da boom diddy aahh da boom diddy aarr da boom arr ar'

There's more.....but you'll have to look it up yourself.


Day 4: The study/larder/laundry room

My 40 day challenge was not the first thing on my mind this morning you'll be glad to hear.
I had planned on taking the kids out for a hike on this (unbeknown to me)  beautiful morning. I saw a little note on the local information site advertising the walk which crossed the local Roman road twice. Wow! Amazingly enough the threat of leaving the children with family for the morning whilst I enjoyed the blissful scenery by myself was enough to insure promises of good behaviour and no complaining.
Everyone seemed to want to talk to me this morning (as seems to be the case most mornings when I'm in a rush to get out) so my plans to arrive on time were scuppered and I found myself in a half dressed state running to catch up with the last walker just as they disappeared along the footpath and out of site. I must have looked a bit of a plonker with one gaiter on and the other in hand!
Walking through the peaceful countryside is just what was needed. It's amazing how nature works to clear your mind of clutter. It's so good on so many levels. Exercise, fresh air, socialising and in this case learning quite a bit about the history of the local area. What's more, if you take a buddy for the youngest child it seems that they complain far less and explore more. So returning home, I had four tired, happily aired children :-)

This was an old healing well. Inside you could see the spring bubbling away. Folk used to walk to this well via an ancient avenue of Ash trees and bring their sick to this well for healing. Apparently there used to be signs of use right up until fifteen or so years ago. Folk used to leave remnants of the suck child's clothing attached to a nearby Hawthorn tree.

Interesting!

This afternoon on day 4 of my 40 day challenge, I embarked on The Study. Well we call it that. It's a little room at the back of the house that triples up as a utility room/larder/study (and at the moment - common dumping ground). Oh those drawers and that filing cabinet have been crying out for a bit of tlc for months (okay, years). Everything had got into such a muddle with paper and things literally spewing out of the drawers and piles of unfiled paperwork. Jee whizz! This clear up business is not for the feint hearted. But I'm determined, so I sauntered on.
There's always that moment where the whole place looks a whole lot worse when you're trying to tidy up. That moment when you remove everything ready to sort it before putting it all away again.

This is that moment!

Looks like a bomb has gone off!

I've taken great pleasure in throwing a whole bin bag of paperwork away and sorting all those drawers :-) It still looks a mess though as I am yet to clear the main of the room. Today's clear out was a good one. I found several early examples of the children's artwork which made me smile and some lovely photos too. Plus I found an old birthday card from Tim. He wrote inside that he loved me very much. I always knew that he did :-)

Tomorrow is a 'no tidy' day. The challenge allows you a day off! How will I resist the temptation?