warning..... there's a photo of a BIG bug in this post.....

just thought I would issue a little warning just incase...... 

some people {including my own dear son}

 hate bugs and it may be a little shocking to be confronted 

with such a beast if you are not forewarned....

Evie love, love, LOVES the garden..... 

rain, sun, winter, summer, 

she doesn't care what it's like, 

she just loves to be out there exploring, finding, imagining, creating.....

she came in the other day with a rather amazing bug for her nature box....

{it was dead before she got to it by the way}.....

 I am always amazed at the way the wings are formed..... 

stunning......

and then, a little while later, she called me out to see the fairy feast 

that she had made with a few acorn tops for bowls and some other 

bits and bobs found around the garden.....

'savouries' on one side......

'sweets' on the other......

and a special pebble seat for the queen fairy to sit on.......

the middle ages.....

yes, it is coming upon me bit by bit 

but that is not the 'middle ages' I am talking about.....

no, in school at the moment the kids and I are reading 

about the middle ages in history..... 

I really enjoy reading/doing history with the kids

 because I must have been asleep in school and missed it first time round...... 

{another joy of homeschooling is that you get to learn stuff all over again..... 

especially good for a girl with very little brain..... 

stuff I've learned seems to fall out my ears after a short while

 so it is good to restock it every now and again.....}

today Evie got to make dinner for us - 

a split pea Monks' soup with freshly baked bread......

and she got to do a page of illumination, complete with guilded bits.....

a little day trip.......

we took a little day trip to Halls Gap on Saturday....

we were going to have a little wander to Venus Baths, 

which Brian had visited last year on a school trip 

and wanted to share with us....

however, because we were away for all of December and January, 

and therefore missed out on most of the rain that fell in these parts, 

we missed out on a lot of information about flooding too....

from all accounts Halls Gap was hit pretty hard by 

mighty rainfall and flooding rivers..... 

trees were torn down by the rush of water and lots of bridges, 

roads and footpaths were made unsafe......

so instead of a nice gentle stroll through the woods 

and along the stream, we found this message:

and could see upstream that, indeed, trees were where they shouldn't have been......

we couldn't even take a drive up to McKenzie Falls 

which is a bit of a favourite of ours because the 

road up from Halls Gap was closed off......

goodness.... 

we really were out of touch...... 

we were unaware that the wet weather was creating so much 

havoc while we toasted our marshmallows and watched the snow

 fall silently outside our 'holiday home'........

there was however a silver lining to lift our spirits..... 

unbeknown to us a Jazz Festival was happening in Halls Gap 

at the weekend so we were treated to lots of great music 

as we ate our picnic lunch....

and then as a little treat we visited Coolahs ice cream shop 

and managed to fit in a little bit of this.......

well, that was for me.... 

the children had more modest affairs......

and we listened to a little bit of this......

and just enjoyed some time by the river.......

how times are a'changing.......

you know it doesn't seem like a moment ago 

that my kiddles were like this.....

Evie on her second birthday.....

Isaac giving it his best 'Wallace' smile.....

just small and dependent..... 

nothing to worry about except that mummy was within shouting 

distance and there were always snuggles and cuddles available.....

those days are SOOOOOO precious and so often remembered.....

but times change, as they should, and our kiddles grow.....

they become more independent with desires and whims all their own.....

Evie is an independent spirit and she likes to try new things..... 

nothing much phases her...... 

she enjoys the next new thing.....

and so we found ourselves in the hairdresser 

for the second time in five months 

{we don't frequent hairdressers much in our family 

as a rule so this was a unusual occurance......}

she wanted a hairstyle just like Emma Watson 

{who plays Herminone Grainger in the Harry Potter movies - 

just incase you didn't know who she is..... 

which the hairdresser didn't so we had to find a picture of the style we meant}, 

and also just like her cousin Abigail in America....

so she went from this:

to this at the end of September last year:

and today she went to this........

doesn't she look gorgeous.....

very pixie-ish and it shows off her beautiful big, brown eyes.......

she is now looking forward to the 'ear-piercing-for-my-tenth-birthday'..........

pummel the bread, don't knead it.....

at the end of last year we made a decision about the cooking in our house....

Evie, and to some extent Isaac, wanted to 

get in on the act of helping cook the evening meal..... 

not a bad thing you may think..... 

but I have to admit that I don't enjoy cooking with the kids..... 

SHOCK..... HORROR.....

I like to get in the kitchen, get the dinner 

done in 15 minutes or less {ha, ha} 

and get on to more fun things.....

Brian.... 

now there's a guy who cooks with kids BIG TIME and 

always involves them when he cooks a meal 

{curry is his 'piece de resistance'} 

and he doesn't ever get stressed about it.... 

have I mentioned how awesome he is??.....

and so at the end of last year we made a decision 

that as part of our 'homeschool enrichment programme' {LOL} 

the kids would, in turn, take one meal a week and make it 'theirs'...... 

that meant deciding what to eat, doing all prep and cooking for it...... 

just simple stuff but nonetheless a night when I didn't do the cooking.....

they have done really well with it so far and we 

have had chicken schnitzel a la Isaac, 

lentil & bacon soup a la Evie, 

spaghetti bolognese and a couple of other tastey dishes.....

this week Evie made us 'broth' {thanks Grandma for the recipe.....} 

and she near pummelled the bread to death...... 

because, of course, making bread rolls is half the fun of making soup don't you know......

the rolls did end up light and airy after a good time 

rising in the warm oven and the broth was DELICIOUS......

maybe..... 

very slowly.... 

we can increase the times they each cook 

and I could retire from the kitchen..... 

apart from baking of course..... 

baking is a completely different ball game.....

ingenious ideas........

I have discovered over the years that my daughter 

has an ingenious knack of seeing the potential of things 

to be used above and beyond what they were intended for......

take for example the hand towel ring in the bathroom......

why of course, it's perfect for drying Sylvanian Family clothes on..... 

after you've given them all a thorough launder in the bathroom sink 

because those pesky Sylvanian Families are SO grubby.....

and why not fill a trug a third full and get in it with your teddy - 

even if you are about 4 years too big for the size of the trug......

she has now pleaded with me to see if we can find a bigger trug.... 

I know they make them but I just don't know where to get one from......

back to life, back to reality......

back to the here and now.....

well, back to school at least.....

we've done a week or so of school now and are just beginning 

to get back into the groove of the days...... 

trying to fit things in..... 

making sure there is enough time for 'just reading' 

{although I don't know that I would ever be able to give Isaac enough time for 'just reading'......}

whilst having a bit of a clear out I came across these folders 

with lots of those magazines you would 

"buy fortnightly and build up your collection" - 

and by the end of the collection you would have 

spent a million pounds on the magazines......

I remember starting to collect them for Brian, before we were married, 

to give him as a Christmas gift because he loves classical music.... 

I didn't get very far in my collecting I have to admit

 though, it all got a bit expensive.....

and truth be told they have not been looked at much over the years 

but they have been kept, along with the accompanying CD's, 

and carted around the world waiting to be 'discovered'.....

well guess what? Isaac discovered them and is now happily 

spending time reading about great composers and trying to 

play the sample pieces of music supplied in the magazines on his keyboard....

sometimes I am very grateful that I hoard a little.......

other things that we have been up to include......

bug saving and releasing back to the wild after a good ol' look at it....

experiments involving baking soda and vinegar which 

of course meant the need for protective eye gear.......

the making of a human cell using jelly and various sweets...... 

{forgot to use extra gelatin which meant we had a bit of a cell 'collapse' 

on turning it out of the basin.... still, it looked good and tasted quite nice too.....}

then the consuming of said human cell......

yes, we're getting back into the groove......