Snow ice cream

It snowed last night.  Springy got very excited about it as it was the first snow she has seen this year and indeed this winter (which has been relatively mild in comparison to the past 2 years).  This morning she got out into the garden at 8 a.m. in order to gather the snow, that was already melting, and to make snow icecream (which she has had a recipe for since Christmas).  She is getting much more independent in terms of culinary skills.  A few weeks ago her daddy C showed her how to make a very delicious cheese omelette; he supervised her but she did the actual cooking - it was to professional chef standard and I had a tiny bit of it.  Yum!

This afternoon we picked up our 'new' car - it's secondhand and 8 years old but has less mileage than our current 10-year old vehicle.  Also, it has a steering wheel that you can turn (unlike the Merc which is more like going for a gym workout as the steering column is in a bad way to the point that it is painful to turn a corner); it has air conditioning (the Merc has this too although it's called opening a window); and the interior lights don't act as a feature at night (unlike the Merc which has interior lights that come on and off as you are driving at night in a rather scary way); it doesn't have a 'safe mode' (unlike the Merc which has a so-called safe mode that means either your engine cuts out altogether or cuts the speed down to 30 mph, even if you are on the fast lane of the motorway); its water stays put (unlike the Merc which involves a water check every time you set off, even on the same day, as the reservoir leaks badly)...so fingers crossed it will not try and let itself down.

Bathroom tiles and angles

This morning was a manic rush around the house with a protractor to measure angles - we wrote on bathroom tiles and the bathroom mirror to remind ourselves of how many angles in a right angle and a circle and discussed when using angles in everyday and work situations would be essential. Laying bricks and tiles were discussed and also explained to Springy how in physio and (for me) massage therapy we need to know ROM (range of movement) to assess. Took Springy through some movements involving anatomical planes and did some abduction and adduction of the shoulder girdle.

German bears

Studied loads of German today and also did quite a bit of German with Springy with her teddies doing the talking. ;) C and Springy also had a walk around the harbour with Lily; Lily met some other dogs (we don't think she fully understands she's a dog) and got to play with one on the green. Poor Lily keeps trying to make friends with the swans too ("Wow - big hens. Hello!") but all they do is hiss at her and try and peck her.

Springy made her own cheese omelette this morning for her breakfast. It tasted and looked amazing - proper omelette (not scrambled at all) and under the supervision of trained chef Daddy. We did a charity market  - can't do it again as a stall holder as it cost us more than we made (didn't make anything in fact) but Springy had a great time and even did an impromptu Irish Dance which made £6.32 in tips which she donated to the charity.

Currently reading

I recently read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.  I really enjoyed it.  My other regular reads are on musculo-skeletal anatomy and deep tissue massage at the moment.

Springy is reading "lots of stuff."  She has pet books, Jack Russell Dog Detective, and Timothy and the Two Witches.  She also loves the Guiness Book of World Records.

Two Lessons poem

Two Lessons

by John Ciardi

I.

A frightful Scowl met an Owl sitting in a tree.

The Owl said, "Who?"

---If it was you

who answered, "It is me,"

Then hide your face. You're in disgrace.

And the next time you reply

to a bird in a tree

Don't say, "It is me."

Say, properly, "It is I."

II.

People who say nooz for news

Must think that kittens' cries are moos.

Kittens, properly, say mew,

Rhyming it, properly, with you.

Happy New Year for 2012

It's January.  Our Christmas did not go quite as planned.  I was ill before Christmas with a bad cough and some kind of flu-like virus and then on Christmas Eve Springy said she wasn't feeling too well.  On Christmas Day she woke up with a fever and no appetite.  We didn't have Christmas dinner 2011 and most of the next few days were spent on fever management with a cold flannel.

She spent the entire Christmas week at home and no friends round (one of her best friends' father is undergoing cancer treatment so we didn't want to risk giving him an illness either).  Anyway, in some ways the break was just what we needed.  It was simple:  simple meals, simple activities, lots of cuddling up together.

She's now back to Irish Dancing and Cubs (her last term and has just been made a Sixer).  She also got walkie talkies which is what she wanted for Christmas and an American Girl book on the body.  The book is excellent - just what I could have done with at her age in order to prepare for puberty.  It's very matter of fact but also deals with some of the feelings girls have about changes in their bodies.  Springy is a few years off puberty still but some of her friends have started to alter and I think it's useful because she can help them too with the information and it's opened her to knowing that she can trust and ask me about anything she wants.

This week and a bit since the start of the New Year has seen us returning gently to a rhythm for our home education (although it never really stops).  Springy has been painting, we did some maths involving graphs and bar charts (from Galore Park) and also today she has been modelling with Fimo, before going out this afternoon for her aunty's birthday lunch.  I must admit that I was in a panic last year - I felt stretched in so many directions.  As well as home educating I work and the work has not been as busy as we need to pay bills etc.  So I've been worrying about getting another job and then wondering how I could fit that in with home educating and already working.  I'm also studying for a degree and also a BTEC.  This year I'm not able to afford much of my BTEC studies so although I would love to do them (and not doing them is going to affect my therapy business as well the likelihood that I will ever finish the course), it's one less stress in many ways. 

On Wednesday we went down to the harbour to watch the sunset.  It was beautiful. There were loads of swans, oyster catchers, sandpipers and curlews - eerie bird noises along the shoreline and soon the owls were due out.  The tide was going out so the shapes in the mud flats and the bare winter trees looked spectacular.  We've also been watching a series called Earthflight which is about birds, on the BBC.  Although the script is rather 'dumbed down' in places, the visuals have been wonderful.