Fly In Freedom

Bullying in Schools

2009-08-31T10:10:00.002+10:00

I'll be up front and say that I was bullied in school. I had someone kick the back of my knee (to make me stumble and fall) as I was walking down a set of concrete stairs, but I have a very good sense of balance, so that didn't work. I had one girl tell me repeatedly that, "one of these days, I'm going to beat your head in." My response was to look her in the eye and say "Yeah, yeah." I wasn't a very good victim. Too independant to act intimidated by these girls. My friends, however, were terrified. This was over 20 years ago. I shudder to think how someone like Tracey would act in today's schools.
Maybe she would have had a hand in what happened last week. This morning, hubby was listening to ABC Radio this morning (Mornings with Madonna King - not sure if the piece will be podcast) who was discussing bullying, and gave the statistic that "today, 3 children in your classroom will be bullied. By the end of the week, 1 child in 5 will be bullied." Just what you want for your school-going children. And what can be done? When you have a ratio (in class) of 25+ children to 1 adult, and in the playground of hundreds of children to a few scattered adults, what can realistically be done? Are we to expect children to exert positive pressure on their peers to behave themselves, and not bully others? That's not how it works. Peer pressure generally exerts towards the lowest point. You will not (without significant outside influence, eg a strong parental figure influencing the leader(s)) get a peer group promoting positive behaviour, but, rather, whatever they can get away with. Young people will test limits and boundaries, and the result may be horrendous, like last week. Oh, and at the end of the report was this quote: "Mullumbimby High School has about 920 students and 75 teachers, and an anti-bullying policy." (Emphasis is mine.)
So what are your options? Private schooling? I only ever went to private schools - Catholic girls-only schools from Year 5 onwards, Catholic mixed school for Years 1-4. A 'nice' State School? How do you figure that out? Depend on the official word? Not helpful when they play 'blame the victim' to avoid reporting bullying. (I have enough anecdotal evidence of this happening locally - where you live may be different.) Haunt the school to make sure everyone is behaving themselves? Teach your child to be the bully, not the victim (because that will make Grandma so proud!)
Homeschool. Keep your child in the nurturing, natural environment, where their education can be tailored to their personalities and learning styles, where someone, at least, will be able to repeatedly tell Junior to put pencil to paper now! (Sorry - ADD child would rather play WWIII with his pencil than do maths ;) If we sent him to school, he would be sent to the overloaded Special Education class where they barely have enough teachers and aides to keep things relatively sane, let alone have the time and energy to ensure he actually does work.) Keep your child at home, where you can make sure that your stressed child gets the attention they require for mental and/or physical health. Keep your child at home, so they can do their work at home, rather than schoolwork and homework.
Keep your child at home. That's it. May not always seem possible, but if you really want to, you'll make a way.

Photography as a school subject

2009-08-27T21:44:00.003+10:00

The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is coming up (3rd week of September, approx.) and the annual photography competition closes tomorrow. It has three levels of competition - Open (over 18 years), Student (up to and including 18 years) and Historical (no age limit, except on the photos ;) ) Well, when I told Beth about this, she wanted to enter. So here are her items for submission to the competition. I'm also thinking of entering them as part of her Yearly Report for next year. I think she would also have to do another set in a few months for comparison purposes, but then, I'm not sure how I would put it in the report. Anyway, it's vaguely learning oriented, and she's happy with the results. She chose the subjects when she took the photos, and she chose which of the photos she wanted to submit. They were all taken at Toowoomba's Botanical Gardens, Queens Park.

Motivation

2009-08-07T14:24:00.003+10:00

Well, it seems like the moment I put my blog addresses in my e-mail signature, I lost all motivation to keep going. Funny, huh. Anyway, I'm trying to get things going again, and have now updated my other blogs. As for homeschooling, we are getting stuff done - nothing to write home about. We have joined a local group - took our own sweet time doing so, but the children have found friends, and are enjoying the outings, and I'm enjoying meeting other homeschoolers.
It's funny - just last weekend I was sitting with a group of mothers, listening to them complain about school uniforms (uniforms are the norm in Australia, and one mother mentioned the variety of uniforms they had to have, and how very strict their school was with enforcement!) as well as start times and late slips. I'm just so glad I don't have to deal with any of that, or bullying, or peer pressure, or any of the stuff you get when you get masses of children spending inordinate amounts of time together, with minimal supervision or control. Socialisation - do I really want my children to be socialised into a pack mentality? Ah... No!
So, anyway... We're keeping on. I'll try to think of something more interesting to talk about later.

Distracted... Who Me?

2009-06-30T17:12:00.002+10:00

sigh... Yes, I've been very distracted recently. I've been doing anything but blogging. I haven't even been taking photos lately! And we've been going very slowly with school.
One of the things I love about homeschooling is the fact that I'm not bound to the school schedule. I can keep going as needed, and take holidays as needed. My cousin's children, however, are, and my children tend to spend a week with them every school holidays, so we do have breaks related to the school schedule. As a matter of fact, the children have just come back from a week with their Nanna, and have a week at home before going to their Grandma's for another week to spend time with their cousins. After that, we will launch back into things, but with a new focus in science and the arts.
The plan for the coming period will be:
Science - Birds - We do a mini-project each Wednesday from our Wildlife Folders (huge set of cards in folders, passed on from a neighbour) as well as reading an appropriate chapter from Window to Bushland.
Composer - Handel - I have a number of cd's of his works, including a full copy of the Messiah, so we will have a good amount to listen to.
Artist - Rembrandt - I have a large (I guess coffee table-sized?) book of selected works. Each work covers 1-2 pages with each image a good 20 x 30cm in size, and accompanied by details of the work without any discussion, which fits with the general premise of CM-style picture study - show them the work, and let them draw conclusions. Sometimes, though, there is a back-story to the painting, eg The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilius, which I, at least, like to find out, and perhaps share with the children while we are looking at it.
But for now we carry on. Studying seals this week (fitting it in to the last week of mammals.)

Do you have to be smart to homeschool?

2009-06-18T21:39:00.003+10:00

A question was recently asked in a forum I'm on - do you have to be smart to homeschool? Well, do you?
No.
So what characteristic(s) do you need to homeschool?
Dedication to your child(ren).
That's pretty much it. Everything else flows out of that. Junior needs help with maths? I am dedicated to finding out a way of helping him. Janey wants to learn French? I am dedicated to finding a way for her to learn, whether it's using a native-French-speaking tutor (because there's one available, and I can afford their fees) or finding a good online language program for free (because http://www.livemocha.com/ is brilliant!)
I believe that if you are a fit parent, you are fit to homeschool.
Now this is not to say there won't be challenges. There will be plenty of challenges. You will need all your dedication, all your patience, all your will and strength to do this. You will need your self-control to make you do the work, day after day. Find a way to make it interesting. Find a method that will help your child learn and understand. Learn how they learn, understand what they need to understand. Help them to know that education is more than just sums and spelling, but to also know that sums and spelling are important, because they are some of the basic skills required to communicate with others, to get your needs met.
You also need people. Other people. Your husband (because homeschoolers are usually women) to support you, your family and friends to accept you, and other homeschoolers to talk to, to tell you that, Yes, life happens, and Junior and Janey can be real little brats about doing their maths at times. Someone to listen to you rant, to console you when you're tired, and to suggest some new curriculum that might fit in with your educational philosophy and/or your child's preferred learning style. Someone to tell you what an educational philosophy is, or to explain about learning styles. Life can be hard without these other people, and if you're dedicated to your child(ren), and have decided that the best thing for them is homeschooling, then you need to get your own support network going. You have to be dedicated about your own needs, too.
Once you've got the dedication, you can branch out from there. You can consider educational philosophies. You can look at curricula, and think about the interesting extras that your children might be interested in, or that won't interest them initially, but would be useful to have in the backs of their brains in 10, 20, 30 years time. Without this dedication, however, you may find yourself maneuvered into a position that you cannot maintain, and experience the exhaustion that comes from being something or someone that you are not.

Well, that's food for thought. Hopefully it was coherent, and actually said what I wanted it to say.

His First Chapter Book

2009-06-02T22:31:00.004+10:00

A cause for celebration - Mark had read his first chapter book! We went to the library today, and I saw some books titled 'Boyz Rule!' and thought that would appeal to Mark, so I pointed them out. He selected all 3 books, and got them out himself. He has now read 1, and is half-way through the second book. I'm so proud of him. He hasn't liked to get books out, but if I can find books that appeal, we might just have something.

The Year So Far...

2009-05-29T23:39:00.003+10:00

Wow - it's been so long since I've posted anything. Things are moving along here - going into Winter very soon, one child's birthday just passed, and 2 more coming up in the first week of June.

What have I learned this year? That my eldest has not been educated by the school system as well as I had hoped, that's for sure. This is supposed to be her last year of primary school, Year 7 in Queensland, and yet she's only now learning fractions and factoring, and solidifying her multiplication and division skills. I hadn't really thought about fractions and factoring being so closely interlinked, because it's just natural for me to bring a fraction to its most basic form. 2/4 becomes 1/2 because both top and bottom are divisible by 2... and so on. I think she's just getting that concept this week.
Spelling has always been a problem for her. At her age I scored 100% on a spelling bee, where she can barely spell her way out of a paper bag, and I believe this rests a great deal on methodology. I went to a fairly old-fashioned Catholic school, back in the 70's. I learned to read with phonics, I learned my tables by rote, and I even learned Greek and Latin roots! I had a very good education, and I would like to thank my parents for sending me there. Poor Beth has had no rote learning of tables, and now has to study the multiplication table that I gave her (thought she seems to be picking it up) and wouldn't know a Greek or Latin root if it hit her in the face. So far. [insert evil chuckle here] She's getting there, and I believe she's already ahead of where she would have been if we had left her where she was.
She loves to read. She was complaining today that she had read all the books she had borrowed from the library (on Monday!) and had nothing to read. So I gave her The Hobbit. She has read about 8 pages, so far, and I'll ask her about it in the morning. A very different level of book to what she has been reading. She has been having a little trouble with some of her books - she finds 'Age of Fable' very boring, but doesn't want to replace it with another mythology book I suggested, as AoF covers a variety of mythology, while the other one only covered Greek mythology. She loves Shakespeare, so far, as do the other two. I guess it helps that I made little dolls, and use them while reading from Charles and Mary Lamb's 'Tales from Shakespeare'. I have also read a few pages of the actual play (Romeo and Juliet) and I must say, it is quite bawdy! Thankfully not in a way that my children will understand, but still - hopefully I won't blush too much while reading it out. (Just keep reading, maintain the flow, and don't explain!)
It's also funny, if you can catch the language. The first dialogue between the two men of the house Capulet starts off with the phrase 'carrying coals' and there is a response about colliers (one who carries/mines coals) and moves right onto a discussion of temprement (choler = bad tempered) and finishes off with the collar! Then they move onto being moved... to stand... to...

To move is to stir; and to be valiant is to stand:
therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn'st away.

he he... Then they get bawdy! Ahem. (blush) And then some men of the house of Montague turn up, and they start to quarrel, but after a side discussion among the Capulets about whether or not they have any support for getting into a fight, the Capulet backs down.

SAMPSON
[Aside to GREGORY] Is the law of our side, if I say
ay?
GREGORY
No.
SAMPSON No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I
bite my thumb, sir.

And on it goes.

And now for something completely different. Well, not really. Just a different child. Hmm... what have I learned this year (so far) about Mark? He is passionate about things I wouldn't have suspected, and things he probably wouldn't have had a chance to do if he had stayed in school. He loves French. He loves music (though not necessarily the singing of folksongs and hymns.) He still very much needs me to keep him on task, but he is enjoying his Maths, as well. He is coping with/tolerating his writing - I still have him only on copywork, doing about two lines a day, because that is about as much as I can get from him without him baulking. He is enjoying 'Grammar Land' and is learning the parts of speech. So am I, because, for all their benefits, the school I went to didn't do much at all for Grammar. I learned about nouns/verbs/adjectives/adverbs, and I learned to punctuate (basically, anyway) but I don't recall learning any more than that. I didn't know what an article was, let alone pronouns, etc.

Well, I might sign off now for tonight.

I want!

2009-05-18T14:31:00.002+10:00

The plan is to buy another computer, bigger and better than this one (er... not that hard, this is a number of years old, now) which will be my computer, and also for general household stuff, which, since I do the general household stuff, makes sense. And I will have a *big* flatscreen, since it will also be the computer that plays the DVD's, etc, since we don't have a TV in the house. And it will be in the schoolroom area, so that when I'm not feeling well, I can veg at the computer while the kids are working. Which is kind of what I'm doing now (I even have my lovely, snuggly, dressing gown on!)

Scheduling 3 children

2009-05-12T13:47:00.004+10:00

Well, the last couple of months have been something of a learning curve for me. When I started out, I had planned to have all 3 children on differing schedules, and I would flip from one to another, concentrating on one at a time. Well, in this house, that was just chaotic! So I've streamlined my schedule. As it happens, the children are now studying pretty much the same thing, but my eldest does have some extras (and not too happy about it at the moment.)
What I've done is make up a bookmark sized daily schedule for each day, listing the different things that we need to accomplish, and also make space for the breaks. The way I've worked it, and as I've explained it to the children, there is about 1 hour's work, then a 15 minute break, with 3 periods of work all up. Theoretically, we can get out work done in 2 1/2 hours for my son, with an extra 1/2 hour for my eldest, and with my youngest only having to do as much as she wants, since she doesn't *have* to do school at the moment. I haven't included the time for the last lesson, as it's generally a fun lesson (art or craft, with 1 health lesson, which is no more than 15 minutes long.) I also haven't scheduled the weekly afternoon tea, which is when we are supposed to consider our term's artist and composer.

Weekly Schedule

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs Business & Law daily ao

When making schedules, I generally find it easier to do it in an Excel type program. I use Open Office, so my program of choice is Calc. OO also offers a direct export to PDF, which is what I used to convert my schedule, and then I published it on Scribd. Its not really that hard, though easier if you have a more visual brain, I guess ;)

The School Room is done

2009-05-02T22:12:00.003+10:00

I've pretty much finished the school room now. Down the right-hand side, we have the former TV cabinet, with one of those grey cardboard office stationery things which I have turned on its side (I think) and am using it to keep various books sorted.
Beyond that is my desk, then Beth's. At the far end is a trestle table, which we will be replacing with desks for the other two. We don't want to use the trestle table for computers, etc, as it doesn't feel that stable. And to the left, of course, is an organ. Mark is very excited to be learning the organ, and I'm taking him through the course I had as a child. Unfortunately, I think the last book or two are missing.
Coming back up the left side is the sliding door to the patio, and then a couch that we have had for ages, and don't really like, but it's there. The kids can use it.

And continuing up the left side - 2 small bookcases.Oh, and the dining table, which we use for most of the school work. With my fancy new-to-me jacquard table cloth.

Now to keep things clean.

New blog

2009-05-01T00:07:00.002+10:00

Well, my new blog is set up, and has some posts on it. I even have a comment (thank you, Jeanne.) So my new blog is Fun with Onions and I'll try to keep this blog a little less everything-but-homeschool. But no promises.

Opinions please

2009-04-28T15:33:00.004+10:00

I'm setting up a new blog where I can post my recipes for ... whatever. I'll also do things like Menu Plan Monday and other stuff over there, and try (rooly, trooly) to keep this for homeschooling. And stuff.
Anyway, if you could take a look at the image below, and give your opinion on the layout, colours, etc. Is it too garish, are the fonts too difficult to read, which set of yellow text to your prefer, etc. I'll be putting the image attributions underneath the smaller image (on the green background.)

Please and thank-you.

Just had a look... I'll have to tidy up the font size for the post header. I think it's too big - it's certainly bigger than the title. Anyway... as you were.

Oh, dear!

2009-04-27T13:43:00.002+10:00

Gracey has been trying to organise something for my mother's birthday present for a week or two (it's on Wednesday) and today showed me a closed box which she said contained Mum's present. I was going to check it out, but Beth got to it first. It was a little ornament Mum gave Gracey for Christmas 2007. Well, she can't re-gift like that, so Beth took it off her, and went back to the display cabinet. "Let's see if I can get it back in it's place," she said. "There's a little shadow where it goes," she said.
Oh, dear. Time for dusting :o

Interesting discussion

2009-04-26T23:24:00.003+10:00

I wasn't feeling well this morning, so hubby took the children to Church by himself. Not that big a task, really, as the children go straight into Children's Church before our service starts, and stay there until collected.
Anyway, when he came home, he had 2 boys and only one girl. He had brought home a friend for Mark, and left Beth with the boy's sister and mother. Well, when the mother came around to drop off/pick up, we sat down and had a chat.
Her son, you see, is/has high functioning Aspergers, and I wanted to know more from someone who actually knows something about it, as I have been thinking along those lines about Mark. It was very interesting. I could see similarities between this boy and my son, though there were, of course, differences due to different up-bringings. There were things his mother said that struck a chord in me, and in hubby. She went on to say that Aspergers generally comes through the father, and hubby said that was possible. She also said that Aspergers, Autism, ADD and ADHD are related, though different, and so, even though there were similarities between the boys, it didn't automatically mean that both had Aspergers. Especially since Mark had already been given a diagnosis of ADD by a paediatrician.
The last thing we discussed was diagnosis, and who to talk to. She has given me the name of a psychologist that I now want to see, at least for an initial consultation. We'll see where we go from here.

Still looking

2009-04-23T23:12:00.003+10:00

Well, I went to Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul's second-hand store) to get some jeans for Bethy. The kid just keeps sprouting, and I'm now getting worried about the clothes I bought for her birthday at the January sales. Sheesh!
Anyway, so we went to find jeans, and this is what I came home with: 1 pair of jeans for Mark; 2 pairs of jeans for Gracey; 1 damask table cloth; 1 small, square, embroidered table cloth; one of those long, 2-handed oven mitt things, and this -

And no jeans for Beth!

Hard at work

2009-04-22T15:44:00.001+10:00

Well, someone was hard at work. Although she had also left her toast and juice in *my* place at the table. I had to get other things done, so got the children set up with their maths. Gracey has a supermarket-bought Kindy-age maths book so she can do maths with the others. Mark is *supposed* to be doing his work, but is distracted (as usual.) Beth had finished her work, so was playing with the folders and helping Gracey with the instructions.

I wish you could have seen it

2009-04-21T11:22:00.003+10:00

I wish I had taken photos. The day was running long, and I had dinner to cook, but I still wanted the children to do some more 'school', so I told Mark to read "Madeline" to his little sister. Mark is not up to level on reading, and never has been, but it is my goal to a) instill a love of books (which he has) and b) to make reading easier and more fluent for him. This takes practice, hence the read-aloud session. He only had problems with one word in the whole book - stomach. Hmm... There may have been another word, but I can't really remember.
After he read that book, I then got Beth to read a Beatrix Potter book (she chose "Two Naughty Mice") then she chose to read from a Winnie-the-Pooh book we have, and then I got them to practice "Lines and Squares" from When We Were Very Young (or Now We Are Six - I forget which part of the book it's from.)

Serendipity

2009-04-18T23:03:00.003+10:00

Mum arrived this afternoon to pick up the cousins, and the first thing Beth said when she went out to help was "Grandma's been to a garage sale!" Hmm... Nothing new with that. Mum often goes to garage sales, and is now under strict instructions - no more teapots! The entire top shelf of my Dining Room display (2 shelves, about 3m long) is devoted to drink sets. I have 7 drink sets, only one of which is not a tea/coffee set. But I digress.
The next thing Beth said was, "And she's bought some bookshelves." Bless the woman! She knows what I need :)
Hubby only just commmented last night how my bookcase had space on it. Now he has no excuse.

That is so tilted! It's not like that in real life, honest.
As for my new bookcase, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it. It fits in perfectly where it is now, but I may need it in the other room.

Fettucine Bolognese

2009-04-18T00:09:00.004+10:00

Well, after the last 2 posts, I started looking at other blogs, and the first one I dropped into was Food Renegade, who is hosting Fight Back Fridays - a blog carnival for Real Food lovers. Anyway, I thought I'd do one final post for the night (honest!) and talk about what we had for dinner, and how we eat, and some interesting things I've noticed recently about my family, and just generally gas-bag. Okay.
So tonight I had my 3 children, plus my cousin's three children. For anyone truly interested in that digression, you can read here. Tonight I made Fettucine Bolognese. And here are the 4 youngest with their dinners. Please ignore the white bread and Sippah straws. Also, the sale of raw milk is banned here >:( so we can't have any of that delicious nutritiusness (yes, that is a word) but have to put up with standard pastuerised milk. mmm... And butter :)

So, for my bolognese sauce, I start with 2 rashers of salt cured (nitrate-free) bacon, diced into 1cm slices (or thereabouts.) I toss them into the frying pan on low to let the fat rend.
I then dice one very big onion and toss that in, and give it a stir.
I then dice a good sized carrot, and one stalk of celery, and add those, giving them a stir, and then leave them to saute gently.
While they are cooking away, I then finely diced 4 roma tomatoes. None of the veges are home-grown or organic :( but I'm still getting there. So, 4 finely diced roma tomatoes make their way into the pan, and start to cook off.
Once they are nice and soft, I add 1kg pasture-fed beef mince (I am very fortunate to have a butcher nearby who sells pasture-fed beef and organic free-range chicken for decent prices. Actually, the butcher owns the cattle which become the meat that he sells. This meal took the last of my mince, so I will have to go in next week and get some more. In the meantime, I have a lovely chook in the freezer, along with 1kg each of chuck and lamb necks. Looking forward to those!) Okay, so add the mince, and break it up quickly. The more you break it up while it's raw, the finer the end product will be.
I also added a splash of red wine vinegar for a bit of kick, but I'm not sure that I added enough. I'm not used to cooking 1kg of mince - 500g is always enough for our family, with left-overs.
Anyway, once the mince was browned and all mixed in with the vegetables, I decided that there wasn't anywhere near enough of a sauce for what I wanted, so I added tomato sauce. I always add some sauce as it gives a kick from the vinegar that is always used in the recipes, but it seemed that I had to use a lot for this one. Of course, I was cooking twice as much food as normal, so - duh!
I had a look at the ingredients list, and it was: tomato puree (79%) sugar, salt, vinegar and flavour. We don't have HFCS here in Australia (thankfully) so companies tend to use plain sugar. If it was my own recipe, I would use grated carrot instead of the sugar, but I haven't gotten around to that, yet. Another time.
Moving on... So, the sauce is bubbling along, maturing, and it's time for the fettuince to go on. Just plain fettucine, nothing special. Once that's cooking, I then add the final touches. 3 teaspoons of garlic paste (oh, yeah!) and a really good (massive) pinch of oregano. My oregano is getting old, so I have to use a lot more, and I make sure to crush it as I'm adding it - this releases what's left of the aromatic oils. (Mental note - add Oregano to the shopping list. This is getting ridiculous.) As for the garlic paste - "You'll Love Coles" brand garlic paste has 96% Australian garlic, olive oil and salt as the only ingredients. Convenient, non-irradiated, non-bromided Australian garlic in olive, not canola, oil, and salt and citric acid as the only preservatives. Love it! And it's cheap.
Well, I managed to feed the ravening hordes, with no complaints, AND have left-overs. Guess what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow - mwa-ha-ha-ha!

And because I haven't written enough lately, I have more to say. Oh yes I do! We've been here about 6 weeks, now (or is it 7?) and my children have been eating my cooking, the way I like it, instead of my mother's style (since we lived with my parents for 6 months.) Well, we went back to Mum's place over the Easter weekend and saw a couple of people who hadn't seen the children since we left (6 weeks previously!) Well, the general opinion was that they had shot up (in 6 weeks!) and that they were looking a lot healthier. One person said they had a glow about them. Well, they've been eating simpler foods, and been spending more time outside, since it's cooler here, and more conducive to time spent outside. (Not in the mornings, though. It's cold then.)
Another thing we noticed today, having my cousin's children here, is the difference between her 2 girls (just-turned-9 and just-turned-8) and my youngest girl (not-quite-6). My daughter is shorter (hey, she's 2-3 years younger!) but heavier (1-2kg, but it's quite noticeable when you pick the girls up.) Gracey is also *stronger* than either of her cousins. If she wanted, she could push them about quite effectively. She is not a fat child (just look at any of their photos) but she is a strong and healthy child, active and growing.
Anyway, I think I've blogged (blabbed) enough for one day (don't you?) so'll stop now. Fine food wishes to all, and to all a good night!

Memory Lane - Now On Google Maps

2009-04-17T23:35:00.003+10:00

I've just been having a bit of fun over at Google Maps, looking up places I have lived in. It's interesting to see what people have done (or not done) to places that you called home, and in some cases, put a lot of effort into.
The year I turned 16, we were building a house. It was way out of town, in a rural estate. The minimum block size was 1 acre, which is what we had. Dad (an accountant) built the house with the help of a brick-layer friend of his. He designed the house, built it, and finished it as much as he could before the accident that left him in a wheelchair. We had to sell it unfinished, because of the accident. It was a lovely house, well sited on the block, with louvres at one end of the house to let the breezes through the whole house. The windows were heavily tinted to keep out the Summer sun - we lived up in the tropical north of Queensland, where it gets very hot and steamy. Also, we painted the split concrete blocks a lovely cream colour, also to keep it cool. A plain corrugated zinc-alum roof so you can hear the rain while it reflected the sun's rays away from the house. (And yet it's become fashionable to have a black roof - blech. Can you say 'heat trap'?) Well, here it is, 32 years on. A subsequent owner added an awning in front of what was planned as the Dining and Living rooms. I wonder if they ever figured out that the little alcove in the Dining room was for an organ?

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The house we had prior to this one was originally a high-set, 3 bedroom, Kern-built home, identical to not only most of the homes built in Townsville and Thuringowa at the time, but also (the floor plan, at least) the home I lived in for 9 1/2 years in Beenleigh, 1300km to the south.
Dad then: removed the external stairs and created an internal staircase, built the lounge room out to incorporate said internal staircase, built in the entire under-house area (originally there was just a concrete slab for the laundry - no walls, just some concrete, and water and power for the washer) to create a laundry, 4th bedroom, office nook area (thing) storage room, and huge rumpus area. He also added a double carport (couldn't get permission for a garage) and patio in front of the house. Oh, and the upstairs storage area over the end of the staircase, and the built-in floor to ceiling bookcase where the original stairs joined the original verandah. I didn't really have anything to do with this as I was only 12 when we left that house, but I remember it happening. The stairs used to go down in front of my window, and I remember the day Dad got the crane in to remove the stairs, and swing them around the other way, and re-connect them to the house.
Since we sold the house (to a John Smith, if you could believe it!) they have added a back deck, air conditioning and a picket fence. Well, when it's been done right, what do you need to change ;)
Now, for some reason, my view of Google Maps came up with some wierd distortion straight ahead, so I'm going to (try to) give you a side view of the house. We'll see how this goes.

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Well, that's my walk down memory lane. What do you remember about the houses you grew up in?

What was I thinking?!

2009-04-17T22:19:00.005+10:00

Every holiday, my three children spend a week at my Mum's place, and her sister brings up *her* three grandchildren, and the 6 children spend a week together on 3/4 an acre, with 2 dogs and a huge tub of lego. Tv's and computers are also available. Usually, they will have a High Tea to practice their manners, and some of them might go in with my Mum to help her clean her church on the Friday.
Well, we dropped the children off at Mum's on Resurrection Sunday, as my Aunt was going to have her grandchildren from that day, also. Unfortunately, my Aunt had to travel to a funeral last night, and won't be back to Mum's place for a few days, so Mum had 6 children to look after for a few days. Last night was very trying (my son, unfortunately, was the ditherer who made Mum's life that bit more interesting) so today we flew in to the rescue. So now I have 6 children at *my* place for the night. With *no* tv, and only 1 computer, a small tub of lego, a small back yard, and no dogs. And they'd *better* get along, OR ELSE! So here are some of the little angels having dinner.

At the back is my Gracey, to the right is Gemma (who's lactose-intolerant - thanks, Mum, for the lactose-free milk and yoghurt!) then next around the table is Mark (in the rugby shirt my brother brought back from Ireland) and then Jaelene. The question was brought up as to how we were going to seat eight people around a 6 person table. Easy - cast the younger ones off to a small table I already had. They sat on the floor and had a grand time.
And here are the rest of them - hubby is closest to the camera, then Max, then my Beth at the back (incidentally also wearing a shirt brought back from Ireland - it was made for a more mature figure though, so I've had to sew up the front a little.) We had a kind of bolognese sauce with fettucine, with fresh grated parmesan and cheddar (separate plates) and buttered baguette to with it. The children had milk with banana-flavoured Sippah straws (lactose-free for Gemma, of course) and hubby and I had soft-drink.

If anyone's interested, I could post my recipe for the sauce, but it's pretty basic. Plate-licking good, apparently.
And it's 10.30pm, and I think the boys are *finally* asleep. Mark was sent to bed at 7.30pm, and Max at 8.30, so they're only 2-3 hours late to go to sleep.

Oh... and I have ordered Beth's maths books (finally) from Chariot Press. I chose Singapore Maths, but these seem to be from a different publisher to the one I originally purchased Mark's from (Shing Li). I am hoping that they are of the same standard, as I have been very impressed with Mark's so far, but the difference in postage between purchasing from Chariot, in Australia, and Shing Li, in Singapore, made up my mind for me. Also, I could purchase piece-meal from Chariot without suffering extra postage costs, while I would have had to order everyone's books all at once to make it worthwhile to order from Singapore. So... Now I'm waiting. I ordered Thursday before Good Friday, so I didn't really expect anything to arrive this week. I really want them early next week, though, so we can get on with things. Anyway, I'll talk more about that next week, when we get into it.

My new abode

2009-04-15T22:37:00.005+10:00

I just wanted to start off with this one. Isn't the sky so wonderfully clear and blue? This is absolutely untouched (otherwise I might have gotten rid of the clothesline shadow ;) ) Also, this is about the only acceptable view of/from my backyard at the moment. We've had a lot of rain (apparently this part of Toowoomba does) and the grass is making the most of it. Time to call the lawn guy in again.
So this is the living room/school room. The TV is going and we want to put some tables and computer desks along the walls. The windows are actually lower than usual, so we have to make sure the tables will fit underneath the sills. We have had a table under there, but it's been moved. You'll see it shortly.

And if you look hard, you'll see the table. It's that thing with the whiteboard and plastic drawers and printer and computer tower and (frankly) everything else on it. Then there is the bookcase (hiding behind the boxes.) My Granddad made that out of silky oak for my Mum's 21st birthday. She then passed it on to me some years ago (one of their moves.) Hubby has most of his books on it - the rest are in the boxes, waiting to be hidden away somewhere. Then there is the computer table with the monitor and ever-present tissues. (We have allergy issues.)

And this is my bookcase. It's not as full as I would like - must buy more books! This is supposed to contain *only* my books, but there are some library books on top, as well as hubby's Brain Stretchers book that won't fit anywhere else. Let's see... I have Georgette Heyer on top, plus 3 Tolkein books and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Wonder Book (which really should be on the children's bookcase.) Next shelf down has Ellis Peters, Patricia Cornwell, Terry Pratchett (must get more) and Michael Crichton, because everyone has their guity secrets. Bottom shelf - Hitchhikers Guide, which isn't actually mine, some Tom Clancys (must get more) and some others. So now you know what I like.
The thing on the wall is my tambourine. I used to play (yea these many years ago) and like to keep in practice.

At the other end of the lounge room is the built-in display and oil heater. I just got a quote for getting oil for it - nearly $400 to half-fill the tank out the back! Plus about $150 for a service, but since I don't know when the last service was done, and I don't trust the previous tenants to have done anything so pro-active and sensible, we will need to get it done. Yikes! That's about 6 months electricity bills for us. Oh well, apparently we will need the heater, so we will just have to suck it up and do it.

The flash washed out the photos above the heater. This is the top one, which was taken about 11 1/2 years ago.
And here she is today.

This one was taken 5 1/2 years ago.
I don't know if you could see it well enough, but the tiny silver frame in the bottom left of the photo is of hubby's (late) best friend and his wife. He died about the time Beth (above) was born.

And today.

And now for something completely different!

2009-04-12T09:18:00.004+10:00

Ok, for comparison, this is what our view usually looks like to the North-East.

And this is our view this wonderful Resurrection Sunday morning. To the North:

To the North-East.

Note the lack of view! Note the fog. Actually, since we're 600m above sea level (2100 feet) it's cloud, but who's counting?

Note the daughter doing dishes!

Note the daughter's hair. I cut it yesterday. It used to hang down to her hips, but she wanted a haircut, and I didn't want to pay for the hairdresser, so I did it. I mean, really, it's just a straight cut across, what's so difficult?

Remember that old saying - don't teach your Grandmother to suck eggs? Well, there's no way I would *suck* an egg (ew!) but I did blow an egg, and without anyone to teach me. I knew the general principle - little hole one end, bigger hole the other, break the yolk in the meantime, and blow!

Actually, this is me rinsing the egg, because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving the egg yolk and white on the inside of the egg.

Happy Resurrection Sunday

2009-04-12T08:47:00.002+10:00

Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia!
Earth and Heaven in chorus say - Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high! Alleluia!
Sing, ye Heavens, and Earth reply - Alleluia!

This is the best day of the Church year! "And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain." Yes, Christ died for our sins, but without Resurrection Sunday, we would be without hope of our own resurrection, so today we celebrate!

Up from the grave He arose;
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!

The things you find!

2009-04-08T23:47:00.002+10:00

One of the things I have been doing over the last number of weeks is unpacking. As you do. Move into a new house, and, well, you need things. And then there are the boxes that you didn't really need. And then there are the boxes that haven't been touched in who knows how long. One thing I discovered was a pile of 3.5" floppy disks. Remember those? So I went through them, and found a pile of files I had saved from 2000 - 2003. Recipes (I was on something of a Atkins kick, then) and homeschooling files. One recipe I found was for Sticky Chicky. Don't know where it came from, but it was basically a marinade, and you pop the chicken leg-thigh combos (we call them Marylands) into a zip-lock bag with the marinade, and freeze. Haul it out the night before you want to cook it, and defrost in the fridge. When it's time, dump it in the oven (possible with on top of some sliced onions, but I may be thinking of Kay's Braised Chicken - drool) and bake. Well, that didn't appeal to me, but the marinade did. I reminded me of some recipes for satay chicken, plus it was *very* simple, though *not* for the purist. So, here's what I did:

Marinade:
2 tbs oil
1 tbs sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
3tbs peanut butter
3 tbs tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 tsp curry powder

Other:
500g chicken, diced
500g frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup rice

Mix the marinade, and coat the chicken. You could leave it for a while, or use it straight away. I left it maybe 20 minutes. Saute until browned, but there is no need to cook through at this point. (Probably best not to.)
Once the chicken is cooked, add in the rest of the marinade, plus enough water to make it a fairly runny sauce - the water will cook off, but the flavour will remain. Once the marinade is thoroughly mixed with the water, add the frozen vegetables, and allow to simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
Meanwhile, cook the rice in your preferred method. Mine is to dump it in a lot of boiling water, stir, and then cover and turn the heat right down. 10 minutes? I'm not good with times. It's done when it's done. Drain, rinse, serve covered with chicken and satay-ish sauce. Yum.

I've since done this with mince: saute 1 diced onion; add 500g mince and brown; add the sauce, water and 500g frozen vegetables; cook till vegetables are tender. One thing that struck me afterwards was the the oil in the marinade was fine for a marinade, but what purpose does it serve when I'm tossing it straight in like this? I'll have to experiment further with removing the oil for this type of thing.

The beauty of this is that I now can have 'satay' meals without having to use a packet mix - something I loathe doing, but hadn't been able to figure out how to avoid without buying a pile of specialist ingredients. Now I have one, but it could have other uses.
Oh - and the kids at it all up!

I'm back!

2009-04-07T00:01:00.002+10:00

5 weeks. 5. Blessed. Weeks. That's how long I've had no internet. Meh! Ok, so we wanted to go with
Company A, but they are not the Company-formerly-known-as-the-Monopoly (that's Company B) and so they didn't have any available connections for us, and said they generally have something in about 2-3 weeks. So we went with the aforementioned Company B, and got connected straight away. Great. Well, the deal wasn't so great, but - hey! we had a phone! But no modem. Can take 3 weeks, but generally out in 1. I waited 2 weeks (silly me) before ringing them. 'Oh, no. Your line isn't activated for ADSL as the last tenant skipped without paying the bill, etc, etc. I'll do that now, and your modem will be out by Friday. Really. Promise.'
Tuesday rolled around, and so I called to find out what was happening. 'Oh, it's in the mail, just call them tomorrow on this number and check that number and they'll tell you where it is.'
Bright and early Wednesday morning (or not - I had to ring the Post Office, after all) I call up only to find that said modem had been handed over to them Tuesday (in the 4pm mail bag, most likely) and wouldn't be received until Friday, if not Monday.
Right. So I phone Company A and ask if there's any room in the inn ... I mean exchange ... for me. Yes, there is, so off we go. Yes, this is all done, you will receive your modem on this day, and your service will be connected on that day. This day happens to be *this* day, and that day is supposed to be tomorrow, but end-of-business seemed to be near enough for them so YAY!
As for Company B - I rang them back after connecting with Company A and told them that as I *still* hadn't received the modem, they could cancel the order. 'Oh, but it's marked as received.' Yes, received, *yesterday* by the Post Office, but I live a considerable distance from there, and *not* in a metro area, so there's not so much of the receiving of the blessed thing here, thank-you-very-much.
So, 5 weeks and 2 internet contracts later, I have internet! And I'm really late for bed and have to get hubby's shirts ironed for the morning, and *really* shouldn't be doing this, but - I have internet!
Sad ;)

Bye bye for a while

2009-02-28T12:39:00.002+10:00

I'm going to be off-line for 2-3 weeks (so they tell met.) The phone-and-internet company I'm going with (pretty good deal) couldn't start the connection until I had something (preferably my licence) with my new address on it to show them. And then it's going to take 2-2.5 weeks to connect. (Huh?!) Anyway, we're moving everything tomorrow, and won't have internet from then. Hopefully I'll have interesting things to say when I get back. Till then... au revoir.

The Lord God is amazingly gracious

2009-02-24T22:50:00.002+10:00

Sometimes you just have to say it like it is.
This time has been amazing. Stressful, at times, but God's grace to us has been amazing. From things like getting a king-size bed (bed, mattress, pillows and linen) for $850 when it would have been over $3 500 full price to timing the particulars of this move. Hubby is a shift worker. Not the 24/7 kind, but he works a variety of shifts, all the same. Yesterday we submitted paperwork regarding the house (not the lease, but other stuff.) We were told at the time that it took 48 hours to process, then we would have to come in and sign papers. Well, we wouldn't be getting the keys until this was done, but today was the only day hubby would be able to sign anything, as today was a half-day, and he will be working full days for the rest of the week. I got the phone call at about 10.30am today as I was puttering around town. Yay! So we got the papers signed after he finished work, and took them straight over to the Property Manager, and managed to get the lease signed, etc, and be on our way earlier than previously planned. So tomorrow we start moving.
Why do I feel tired already ;)

My Mum Made a Face ;)

2009-02-21T19:49:00.002+10:00

But before we get to that, I'd like to share how good the Lord has been to us. When we moved here, there were certain furniture items that we couldn't bring - a bed for us and a lounge suite, for example. Well, we have since got a king sized bed with latex mattress and good linen for and excellent price, as well as a grey-toned lounge suite. I lost my food processor - and have just picked up a nice Moulinex with (some) attachments for $4. There have been a number of lovely items we have managed to find for very good prices - God's blessings have been wonderful!
Anyway, I had to chop up some vegetables today - a bag of coleslaw which we wanted chopped finely to add to savoury mince. I could (indeed started to) chop it by hand, but it was going to take a while, so I pulled out the food processor, cleaned it up, and dumped the bag of vegetable into the bowl, and had it all chopped in seconds. I turned to my Mum and gloated. And she made a face :D

We got the house!

2009-02-21T13:43:00.002+10:00

You should have seen me when I got the call! In the middle of the shopping centre, no less. We've paid the first week's rent, and get the keys on Wednesday. It's wonderful, because David has a 4-day weekend next weekend, which is exactly when he wanted to move. Also, Mum suggested my... indisposition... was due to stress, I am certainly better now :D
Well, we have a lovely house with *plenty* of storage, a rain-water tank out the back which is plumbed into the kitchen sink and possibly the laundry sink, so we can have rain water to drink, instead of the flouridated stuff that the government has decided to give us. Now I have to arrange connection for everything. Eek! Oh, and there is a ramp out the back so that my Dad can come to visit. He's in a wheelchair, and can't manage stairs, but he can go around the back and up the ramp. There is a small lip at the laundry door, and then it's absolutely flat in the house. Also, the halls behind and beside the lounge room are wider than normal, so he'll have no problems there, and he can also get down the hall to the bedrooms, but he'll just have to go into a bedroom to turn around. The kitchen is huge, the dining/rumpus is huge, the lounge is huge, the bedrooms are huge! Yipee!
Next time, I think I'll tell you about the city we're moving to.

This is getting ridiculous!

2009-02-18T19:19:00.004+10:00

It's been nearly 3 weeks since my last post, and here are my sins. er.... Sorry. I grew up Catholic, and sometimes words just flow. Anyway. I have been busy, out of the house a lot, and also sick (blech - not right yet.) We applied for a house, but it went to a long-term tenant who needed to move (that's ok - hubby suddenly realised the house, lovely though it was, was 3 doors from a pub, which would mean Friday and Saturday nights would just suck :p ) We're now waiting on another house. Here's hoping. Here are the views from the front patio.

Of course, it would have been better on a fine day. Ah, well.

Making some changes

2009-02-01T18:16:00.002+10:00

I'm going to be fiddling with the template over the next while, at odd times. Don't know how long this is going to take, but I came across The Cutest Blog on the Block which had some instructions for updating the look of your blog, so I'll be fiddling. For some reason, though, the home page isn't working, so I'll give you the link for the page on signatures, which is what I've been working on.
So anyway, I've just added a signature. It's not perfect, but it's getting there.

Starry, starry night

2009-01-31T00:50:00.002+10:00

I had to dash out to the shops tonight, and when I got out to unload the shopping, I looked up. Oh my! The waning moon had gone down, and we have few lights out here, so the night sky was glorious! There were stars so fine you could barely see them. You could definitely see the Milky Way, though. Back when I lived in Brisbane, you could see the stars, but the Milky Way was not really defined. Here it was a speckly swathe of stars. I saw Orion, loud and clear, but as that's really the only constellation I can easily define, that will have to be it. (Sorry.)
Oh, and no pics, sorry. My poor little dear of a point-and-shoot can't handle anything like that. Pity.

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-01-28T22:28:00.004+10:00

The next 2 months are going to be busy. We *plan* to move to a new place in about a month, so February will be full of preparations - finding a rental, applying for a rental, and (hopefully) moving into a rental. The problem is that we have spent the last 10 years in family-owned accomodation, first renting from hubby's parents' for 9.5 years, and now living at my parents' place. February will be exactly 10 years. Wow. So now we have the whole filling-out-forms and wishing-and-hoping-and-praying thing to do. And once we've secured a place, then there's the moving in and settling down. Yeah. Great fun.
What this all means is that our weeks are going to be unsettled. Today, for instance, I was in the city, looking at houses, leaving the children with my mother who is supposed to be minding, not teaching, them. I do not expect her to teach them, she has enough to do. But it does mean that the week is shortened/disrupted. But we're homeschoolers, aren't we? Who says we have to do school between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday only? Especially when hubby is working this Saturday, and the kidlets have no outside engagements at this time? So this week will be as follows: Monday - off, public holiday (Australia Day); Tuesday - school; Wednesday - off (I was in the city); Thursday - school; Friday - school; Saturday - school. Next week will be similar, as I will be away on Monday and Wednesday with appointments with real estates, and house hunting to do. And getting the car fixed (yay!) And other stuff. So for the next however-long, we will be schooling whenever we can, trying to get things done without stressing the children. Or myself.
Wish me luck.

Tangrams

2009-01-26T13:01:00.004+10:00

I've wanted to have tangrams for the children for a while, and finally got around to making some today. I have seen suggestions to make them from paper or card, but, frankly, that wouldn't last long around here. Not only that, but they wouldn't be stiff enough to use (to my way of thinking, anyway.) So, anyway, onto the action.

The cast of characters: sticky-back foam, cardstock, ruler, fine-point pen, craft knife and cutting board. You could use plain foam, but I couldn't find any. And, of course, you wouldn't need the cardstock.

Peel off the backing for the foam, and place the cardstock on the surface. I chose blue cardstock for the red foam, and red cardstock for the blue foam. The card was a little smaller than the foam, so I just smoothed the backing back onto the foam.

Flip the foam over, and mark out the cutting lines, using a template. I used one from Enchanted Learning, a wonderful site, well worth the $US20/year subscription. If you're not a member, you could try here. While you're here, you can download some patterns.
Ok, now you have your template, use your fine-point pen and ruler to mark the foam.

And this is what happens when your first one goes perfectly, and *then* you decide to document. Try to make sure your sides are the right length and your corners are good.

And now we cut. Use the craft knife carefully to make sure if doesn't run off and join the circus, or something else a little more ... realistic ... like digging into the sides.

And we're still cutting. On the correct line, you'll note.

As I cut out pieces, you'll note the white backing paper. (Because that's *important*.)

The red set finished - for contrast, I used blue cardstock.

And the blue foam has red cardstock.

Well, now it's done. The girls have already had a go at the tangrams, though Gracey has just been playing, not using the puzzles from here. And for further information, Wikipedia is your friend ;)

The new Schoolroom

2009-01-17T22:30:00.002+10:00

The children needed a specific place where they could put their things, and could do their work while we're staying at Mum & Dad's. They couldn't do it at the dinner table, as it tends to be in use a lot already. We can't use the lounge/dining, as Mum uses that for visitors over the week. It has to be away from the tv and computers, as Mark, especially, is drawn to anything with a screen. (It's really bad!) So we've put them in the front hall. It is quite wide, wider than a normal hallway, and Mum had a long, narrow trestle table that I could use. So, I covered it with a long tablecloth, added chairs and stuff, and here we are.

View from the door:

View from the end of the hall.

We try to colour-code the children's things - one girl gets pink, the other gets purple. Mark and Beth both have schedules at their places, showing what is done when. This way, I figure I can get things actually done. This fortnight's artwork is up (Botticelli's 'Fortitude'), as well as the month's memory verse. And a mirror. Because it's still an entry hall.
The boxes have most of the children's books in them, as we have no bookshelves for them. Each day, they have to roll out their boxes, and then push them back underneath the table, otherwise there isn't any room to move in the hall.
Hmm... Mark has a Kipling omnibus (the red and blue book) open at his place, and Grace has "The Kuia and the Spider", a tale from New Zealand, held in place by her Barbie pencil case. Beth's books are all away.
So, anyway, that's me rambling about the children's work area.

Virtual Girls' Night Out

2009-01-17T21:36:00.004+10:00

Hopping around the blogosphere, as you do, I came across the Virtual Girls' Night Out, hosted by Ann Again ... And Again. Well, The Name Game looked like fun, so here we go. (I've quoted her rules below.)

The Name Game. Use the first letter of your name to answer the questions. Your answers need to be real places, names and things. Nothing made up :-> (You cannot use your name for #3 boy/girl "name" question.)

1. What is your name: Emma

2. A 4 Letter Word: Ever

3. A Boys Name: Ernest

4. A Girls Name: Evangeline

5. An Occupation: Engineer

6. A Color: Emerald

7. Something you wear: Espadrilles

8. A Beverage: Evian

9. A Food: Escargot (French food to match the French water, neither of which I would consume :p )

10. Something found in the bathroom: Ewer (big water jug for bathing)

11. A place: Elba (Island Napoleon was exiled to.)

12. A Reason for being late: Everyone stopped on the freeway

13. Something you shout: Eek (more of a squeal, but...)

So who's next?

Skywatch Friday

2009-01-16T16:55:00.006+10:00

I've been going through my photos, trying to sort them out, etc, without going overboard. Anyway, I found this picture of the storm front going over. It took less than half an hour for this front to go from one side of the sky to another!

Pleasant surprise

2009-01-14T14:45:00.003+10:00

We started back this week, after at least a month utterly off school, and probably longer for French. As it was, I wasn't doing French in a full-on manner. I had made some flashcards, which I was using - show it, say it, have him repeat it, mix them up and find the right word, match the French and English words, that sort of thing. Anyway, we started up this week, and I pulled out the flashcards. I only showed him the French ones and asked for a translation - he rememberd all but the last set of 4 words - brilliant!
Now to make the next set of flashcards. Note to self: buy more licence-sized laminating pouches.

This is Beth feeding the flashcards through the laminator. They're small enough to send 3 through at a time.

I ♥ Faces Competition

2009-01-12T18:09:00.003+10:00

The iHeartFaces website has opened their first competition, and they have two sections: adults and kids. Guess which one I'm entering?

That's right: adults. No. Wait. Oh yeah - kids. This is my Gracey. Actually, I want to spell it Gracie, but she has insisted, and, well, it's her name, so this is how it's spelled.
We went to Queen's Park, probably the main park in Toowoomba, the local Big Smoke, at the beginning of the month. They have a selection of wonderful playgrounds there, including some big climbing things. In this shot, Gracey was stuck up high on a kind of disc/bowl/thing, and couldn't get down. This is her looking down over the edge at me. Poor thing. I made her wait while I took her picture. Bad mamma!

Scrambled Eggs for Dinner

2009-01-11T19:08:00.005+10:00

It was my turn to make dinner last night, and we were just going to have something easy/simple. We were having scrambled eggs. When I make scrambled eggs, it is always going to be a filling, if simple, meal. Eggs, of course, onion is necessary, ham, bacon or cooked chicken is nice, and vegetables, especially if it is for a a main meal. So we begin.

Roughly dice 1 onion and some meat. Don't know how much - how much meat do you want? how many people are you feeding? There's probably 100-200g (1/4 - 1/2 pound) of ham here. Put some butter in the pan and start the onion, then add the ham. Now, if I was using bacon, I wouldn't use the butter, but start with the bacon, and add the onion once it had started to rend off the fat. I cook chicken the same way as the ham, because both are relatively low in fat (compared to the bacon.)
Once the onions are getting transparent, I added about 500g (1 pound) of frozen peas and corn. It could have been anything, but I like peas and corn, and they were right in the front of the freezer. Stir, then cover and let cook 5-10 minutes while you go back and add imperial measurements. (I have been very rough - 1 pound = 450g, and this is NOT a delicate recipe. Go for it, add whatever you like. Though I would not recommend adding chocolate. Not such a good look.)

Look at my eggs. Mine! All mine! Free range, and cheap as chips. [gloat]

Moving on. Look at those yolks. (So I'm not moving on. Deal with it.) I've got 8 eggs, because I plan on feeding the family, and by feeding, I mean stuffing. And maybe some left-overs because I'm the kind of Phillistine who eats left-over, nuked scrambled eggs.

Next is the milk. And cream. Don't tell Mum, but I nicked off with some of her whipped cream. Don't ask me how much, just pour the milk until you cover the pan to a depth of ... er ... 4mm? Which would be 1/6 inch. So not much. The cream is for richness, and I just used a teaspoon to dig out a few good lumps, which would be... maybe 1/4 cup? But then, if you're using half-and-half, you may not need that? We don't have that here. Just plain milk. And skinny milk. And not-so-skinny milk. And lactose-free milk. And rice milk. And ... but you get the picture. No half-and-half, though.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... We did Macbeth at some point in school - possibly in drama, and possibly only the witches' speach. No eyes-of-newt in here, though. So what we're doing here is reducing the milk and cream mixture (see, I can do chef-speak!) It will also take on a caramelly colour as it cleans ... er ... deglazes the pan. Which is actually why I do this. Yes, I'm not just lazy, I do have reasons for what I do. All that lovely fried-onion-and-ham-and-veg stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan need not be wasted.

The milk and cream mix is now reduced sufficiently. When I push it around, it leaves a clean spot for a few seconds before slowly seeping back.

Got to be quick, now. Add the eggs and cheese - as much grated/shredded cheese as you like. I like *lots* of cheese, so i just about filled my grater with the stuff. If you do nothing else for your eggs, add onions and cheese. Yum! And stir, of course, before it all congeals into a misshapen lump.

Serve with buttered toast, and eat. Cutlery not required (unless you're civilised.) Plate of unknown provenance.

I was photographing all this and hubby was on the computer. He noticed one of the flashes and wanted to know what was going on - just photographing dinner. Nothing special.

Oh, and I wanted to add - I got left-overs! :D

So the recipe is:

2 tbs butter
1 onion, roughly diced
200g diced ham
500g frozen vegetables
1/2 cup milk (total guess here)
1/4 cup cream (same with this one - doesn't have to be whipped) (optional)
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups grated cheese

Melt butter, add onions and saute
Add ham and stir for a few minutes
Add frozen vegetables, stir, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size and type of vegetables used
Add milk and cream (if using - I don't usually have any) and stir to deglaze pan
Reduce milk mixture for a few minutes
Add eggs and stir
Add cheese and stir
Stir regularly for a few minutes until about done - eggs will continue to cook after the pan is off

Serve with buttered toast

Plans for the New Year

2009-01-11T16:20:00.003+10:00

Well, the children want to start school tomorrow, so I thought I'd post our plans for the year. Translation: the *girls* want to start school this week, but my eldest is sleeping over at her best friend's tonight, so the only person actually wanting to start tomorrow is the youngest, and the boy is doing what he's told, and Eldest Girl starts on Tuesday. First week of the year, and she's already a day behind :)
So... Plans! Beth is doing a variation of Ambleside Online's Year 4. Technically, she's in grade 7, but Year 4 is a pretty hefty year, so I'm content to slot her in there.
Here is her yearly plan, all of her readings. Some things I've had to replace or remove, and here we are:

Year 4 Year Schedule

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Curriculum Education amblesideonline sche

Being a person without much of a sense of time, I need a schedule to ensure that we do what we need to do, so I've written a daily plan, as well.

Year 4 Daily Schedule

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Curriculum Education amblesideonline sche

Mark is 8, turning 9 this year, and technically in grade 4. (How did that happen? He's just a little boy!) He's not a good reader, though he loves to read, and doesn't always pay attention, so I'm starting him on a combination of Years 1 and 2. I

Year 1/2 Year Schedule

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Curriculum Education amblesideonline sche

Mark's also has a daily schedule:

Year 1/2 Daily Schedule

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Curriculum Education amblesideonline sche

As for Gracey, she has gotten a taste of school at Prep last year, but she's still only 5, and won't be of compulsory school age until December, so I will be doing a form of Year 0 with her. Pretty much this involves phonics, handwriting, a little bit of maths, and picture books. She will also be taking part in the combined subjects, like Artist and Composer studies, songs, Art, Craft, and Nature Study. So, pretty much Gracey's year schedule comprises a booklist that I can tick off when we have read the book. I plan to have a general book, an Australian book, a New Zealand book, and a Beatrix Potter book each week. Since I don't have all the books, let alone have room for all of them, I made a list so that I can take it to the library with us, and can get out the week's books then, and tick them off so that I don't get them out again by accident.
Gracey's booklist is here:

Year 0 Booklist

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Curriculum Education amblesideonline sche

Actually, there were so many great Australian authors, including a number I thought were American, that I just listed the authors' names. I've also got a reading log on my computer so I can list what I have read, and when.

Well, if you're with me at this point, congratulations! And thank you for your attention. Next thing is to see if I can actually stick to this. Also, I have to figure out where we're going to be doing school. I think we will be shuffling around the rooms for the next couple of weeks while we figure it out. And I promise to post some pictures soon :)

Oh, and they have free reading lists. Mark's is basically 15 books our of the Year 1 and 2 free reading lists combined with a list of Australian classics, while Beth's list is 20-30 books sourced out of Mark's list, the Year 3 and 4 free reading lists, and a few more Australian classics, a lot of which were scrounged from my mother's shelves. She has a lot of wonderful books! I'll add those later.

That will teach me!

2009-01-11T15:11:00.001+10:00

Honestly, the number of times I write late at night, and had to go back later to insert words or correct spelling! I'm a good speller, honestly I am. But not so much at 2am ;)

Eek!

2009-01-08T23:10:00.004+10:00

The garage was going to be empty for a good day and a half, so I decided to get into our boxes. Since we're still living at Mum's place, most of our stuff is still in boxes, including all the books I had set aside for this year's school. I went through every box not clearly marked 'crystal' or 'plastics', etc, and found just about everything. But not Beth's Bulfinch book. This book will be a major part of her English Lit studies for the next 2 years, I purchased it years ago for just this time, and *I* *couldn't* *find* *it*. Not at all. Not in any of the boxes. Nowhere.
Then I glimpsed a plastic crate which appeared to have papers in it. Huh? So I checked. *Someone* (possibly my brother, to whom I will be ever grateful for his help moving - too huge job for words) put books in a plastic crate. Bulfinch was there, along with Mona Brookes 'Drawing with Children'.
Duh!
On the upside, Beth took one look at the books piled on the table, and decided that she wants to start school immediately! Yikes! I'm not ready! I have sales to go to, doesn't she know that? Actually, she does, as she also has money burning a hole in her pocket. So, anyway, hubby has a day off tomorrow, so we're heading up to the 'Big Smoke' to buy things. Oh, and he has uniforms to order for work, but that's just trivial stuff, isn't it?
So, anyway, I have found that I have enough folder-file-box things (1-2cm deep, takes A4 books, clips shut securely, see-through, *love them* .... Sorry, got lost trying to find a pic. Ok. Got them, got writing books, except one or two for copywork, got some writing pencils. Will probably get some new colouring pencils, textas, and ... ooh... art supplies. (drool) And recorders. Yes, I know, not a good look, but they are a good basic instrument. Hubby went from the recorder to the saxophone without lessons, so 'nuff said.

Side note: looking for a Youtube video for "God of Nations" (New Zealand's national anthem - hubby's kiwi) and came across this. (Ok. Hoped that worked. If not, it's the Youtube video titled NZ National Anthem TVNZ Promo. Amazing video. But the one I'm intending to use for homeschool ended up being an All Black rugby version - I was trying to avoid it, but the singers are always clear and distinct in their enunciation, and sing the standard version, while the one I linked isn't. This is necessary when the anthem has more than one language, and the words are not an *exact* translation. There was also one from the NZ Youth Choir - heavenly, but, again, not so good for teaching children.
He he... and maybe a Haka. That'll make hubby happy.

Anyway, better go now. Shopping tomorrow, bright and (gasp) early. For me, anyway.

Gluten-Free Blondies

2009-01-06T21:21:00.006+10:00

So, here we are. About to embark on a sinfully delicious recipe which has at least the benefit of being gluten free.

Oh my goodness! I'd forget my brain if it wasn't stitched in! I forgot to talk about the white chocolate at this point, so am adding it now. (For first time viewers, this wasn't a mistake, I am practically perfect in every way, more so than Mary Poppins!)

So, take 375g/13 oz (very approximately, my conversion of weight isn't the best, and besides, it's ...) white chocolate, and melt gently. You could go the whole double-boiler-don't-let-the-chocolate-get-wet-or-it-will-seize route, or you could nuke it, like I did. Nuke and stir, nuke and stir, because chocolate maintains its shape when nuked. So you have to keep stirring it to get it gooey. And then there's the spoon to lick - yum. And you should probably use a bigger bowl, 'cause I can't make a cake in this one. Sigh...

Add one cup of sugar. I use raw, which adds something of a caramel flavour to the recipe. Note the metal bowl. Now I can't stick the chocolate back in the microwave to warm back up. Oh for my big ceramic bowls :( They're in storage :(

Three egg, which are free-range, and I get at an incredible price. (Insert gloating here.)

1 cup of gluten-free flour, because this is a gluten-free recipe. But if you don't need that, feel free to use the flour of your choice. I'm using White Wings gluten free, which appears to be based on rice flour, is *very* white for someone used to unbleached flour, and is... chalky? in texture.

Mixy mixy mixy... And keep mixing. You don't want any unmixed flour, because that would be just ick. You don't want it to end up like this. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the batter after mixing, because it was Sunday morning, and I don't like mornings. I'm lucky I took as many as I did.

Line a 20cm (8 inch) square pan. A little better than this, preferably ;) Ok, so pour it in, and bake it at 180C/360F for about 35 minutes.

And the final product. er... these are the scones. I was cooking for Church, and so I cut the scones with the small cutter (2.5cm/1 inch) and put them all together on the tray to bake. I didn't even have to brush the tops, just, you know, leave them in a little to long. (blush) But they went.

Ok, so *this* is the final product. Caramelised surface, soft interior, absolutely yummy. Tasted just as if I had used wheat flour. Very rich, though, so you don't want a lot. Which is handy, 'cause if you take it anywhere, you won't get a lot.

Ok, so that is:

375g/13 oz white chocolate
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup gluten-free flour

Melt the chocolate, mix in the sugar, and then the eggs.
Mix in the flour, making sure you have it all mixed in.
Pour into a lined 20cm/8 inch square pan, and bake at 180C/360F for about 35 minutes.
Let sit for 5-10 minutes before removing.

Theoretically this should serve 16, but if you eat the lot with ice cream, well you'll be *really* sick, but I'd understand.

So, notes: in Australia we have white chocolate, which is cocoa butter and milk and sugar. Something like that, and it is drool-worthy. I think, in America, you have vanilla chips? They should probably do. Next, the melted chocolate will be warm, which is why I add sugar next. The sugar won't melt, but the process of mixing in room temperature sugar will drop the temp of the chocolate. Third thing to consider is have the eggs at room temperature. You don't want the chocolate-sugar mix to congeal into chocolatey-sugary lumps which will float through the mixture, and become lumps of ymuuy-chocolatey-sugary ... stuff ... in your blondie. Or wait...
Moving along.
Oh, and you can use whatever flour you like/have/need. The White Wings flour, which is made with starch (maize, tapioca), rice flour, and vegetable gum (464), worked admirably in this. I cannot vouch for any other GF flour.
Yeah, and use milk/dark/whatever chocolate you want. I based this on my standard lazy brownie recipe, which is great, even with generic brand compound chocolate which I wouldn't eat directly.

Mysterious happenings

2009-01-06T21:05:00.003+10:00

Any guesses what's going on?

The dark bits are magnetised haemitite, and all our wall corners have steel reinforcing strips, so they are just sitting there, half way up the wall.

Yummy posting delayed

2009-01-06T13:54:00.002+10:00

I made a Gluten-Free Blondie on Sunday morning, for Church. I took photos and everything, but hubby has my camera, so I can't post it just yet. Maybe tonight I will remember to take it out of the car! Super easy (4 ingredients) and super yummy.

That time of year again

2009-01-05T18:18:00.003+10:00

Yep, it's heads-down-bums-up (if you'll excuse the vulgarity, that would be great!) as I plough into planning documents for Mark and Beth. Yikes! I have been planning their curricula for the last 3-6 months, but now I have to formalise it in a manner that the Home Education Unit can access. type type type...
Ok, back to the grindstone. Who needs a nose anyway?

Chicken Confusion

2009-01-04T07:56:00.002+10:00

Dad started watching The Good Life again, from the first episode. They bought some chickens, so the camera focused on the chickens for a good few seconds. I took one look at the chickens and decided they were Golden Laced Wyandottes. Stop. Think. No. They were Barred Plymouth Rocks. Or maybe Silver Laced Wyandottes, but either way, I *would* remember the wrong breed when I couldn't remember them last time I wrote about chickens.

Sunset

2009-01-03T15:36:00.003+10:00

We had such a wonderful sunset last night, I tried to do it justice. I haven't done much at all to the photos, maybe crop a few - that's it.

I tried to rest on one of the cars for support. That's the shiny thing at the bottom ;)

I did not touch these colours. Such incredible yellows!

Again with the yellows!

There were these amazing little whispy/fluffy clouds. I don't know if they came up but it was an incredible effect.

Walls and floors and skyhooks!

2009-01-02T12:52:00.002+10:00

Bethy wanted to know why there were 2 mattresses laying across her bedroom doorway. I said that it's because we have a lot of people staying tonight - it's my cousin's 30th birthday party, and it's here, and there will be 22 people staying the night. She asked where they were going to sleep? I said that I didn't know, but what I wanted to say was: walls and floors and skyhooks!

It's back!

2009-01-01T22:36:00.002+10:00

Sorry to do this to you, but I have to say it: So You Think You Can Dance Australia is back! If I have to download it from the website each week, I am seeing it!
The new promo is here.

My First Award!

2008-12-29T23:46:00.005+10:00

Yay! An award. Except... I don't know how to link the picture. So, until someone manages to put me in the know (anyone? help, please?) I'll have to be award-pictureless. ... ok got it now. I think. It's here, anyway.

See!

Anyway, the rules. I have to link it back to the lovely lady who nominated me, and that would be Leslie. Then I have to nominate 7 others.

Jeanne from a peaceful day
Keptwoman from Jumped the Ditch
Dutch Girl Cooking
Darcy from Life With My 3 Boybarians
Obi-Mom Kenobi
Michelle from girl, outnumbered
Kayluray from Charlotte Mason in America

I've only been blogging for a short time (2 months) and I've come across so many interesting people, and had wonderful responses from those who have come across my little blog. I originally started this so that my in-laws, living in New Zealand for about half the year, could still keep up with the children and our general goings-on. Now I'm blathering about all kinds of things, and you are letting me. Thank you very much, you have been very kind.
Next, learning how to jazz up my blog. Something pretty and purple and dragonflies. Or dragons. Some blue and green, too. (I like dragons, and dragonflies, and butterflies are ok, too.)
Oh, and losing weight. But that's another conversation.

Worst.Snackfood.Ever

2008-12-29T23:32:00.001+10:00

Chocolate-covered cashews. They have chocolate, and they are cashews. *And* they *don't* have a padlock! Grossly unfair. Don't look for any left tomorrow ;)

Scones

2008-12-28T07:07:00.001+10:00

I was looking at the picture on my previous post, and noticed that part of the recipe for scones was displayed, so I thought I post the whole recipe, because I like scones.
I actually make 2 kinds of scones, depending on what I have, and how I'm feeling. The first recipe is the more traditional, and more effort.

Scones

500g self-raising flour
1 tbs icing sugar (4 tsp)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
60g melted butter

Whisk together flour and sugar
Stir in egg, milk and butter, until mixed
Pat together, and knead for a few seconds
Pat or roll gently till about 2-2.5cm thick (1 inch)
Cut into squares or use a 7cm/3 inch biscuit cutter
The remains can be patted together and cut again. Try not to do this too often.
Place close together on a lightly floured tray and bake at 210C/410F for 15 minutes

The other recipe uses lemonage, and is wonderfully simple, yet still makes a great scone. I've made both and people have loved both.

Lemonade Scones

3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup lemonade
1 cup cream

Mix together gently, and pat out like before. You pretty much do exactly the same for both

I've added sultanas, dates and cheese to these recipes to make different scones. It's better to use the first recipe if you're making savoury scones, and omit the sugar.

Well, I hope you like them :)

Easy-peasy Apple Cake

2008-12-26T21:39:00.003+10:00

If you look, you can find a variety of eggless cakes that involve oil, bicarbonate soda and vinegar. This recipe started there, but, well, it's something slightly different now. So, here goes.

You will need:

1 ⅔ cups self-raising flour
1 ½ tsp allspice
1 cup sugar (it called for brown sugar, but we only have raw)
½ tsp salt
½ cup water
½ cup applesauce
⅓ cup oil

I used SR flour, so didn't need the bicarbonate soda and vinegar.

And this is what you do with it:

First, you DO NOT grease the pan. Or maybe you should, but the person who wrote the recipe said DO NOT (just like that) so I'm just passing it on. I didn't this time, but I think, maybe, I will next time.

The whole point of the recipe is that it is incredibly easy, and doesn't involve much in the way of clean-up, so you're supposed to mix everything in the pan you're baking in. So, dump all the dry ingredients in your 20cm (8") square pan and whisk until blended. Then you add the wet ingredients, and stir to mix, not overbeat.

Bake at 175C (350F or thereabouts) for 35-40 minutes. I baked it in my Mum's oven at 180C for 30 minutes because her's doesn't have clear markings. Also, her oven is fan-forced, so I probably should have set it lower. Anyway, it was certainly edible. I made it a couple of hours ago, and it's mostly gone now.

This is the Applesauce cake. You may even be able to read a couple of recipes off my sheet. I laminate my recipe sheets so they actually survive my cooking :o

This is the chocolate cake. I've put the recipe at the bottom of this entry. Hmm... Let me see. Milk, oil, salt and vanilla. Some of the ingredients.

If you are using a special cake pan, it might be a good idea to mix it in something else, and pour it into the pan, so you don't get unmixed flour in the grooves.

Mum gave this to me a couple of Christmases ago. It's bigger than the 20 x 20cm pan, so it cooked quicker - about 24mins. Nice, hey.

The chocolate cake recipe, using the same method, is this:

1 ½ cups self-raising flour
1 cup sugar
⅓ cocoa
½ tsp salt
1 cup water (I used milk)
½ tsp vanilla
⅓ cup oil

So, again, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the wet, and mix. My suggestion would be to do this in a separate container, and pour into a lined 20cm (8") square pan, because both my cakes (in square pans) stuck. I may just have to stick the chocolate cake back together with icing. Sigh... the things I have to do... ;)

Some Christmas Photos

2008-12-25T18:03:00.004+10:00

I just made these into a little movie. Hope you like it.

Spring Street AOG Lights

2008-12-25T07:16:00.007+10:00

We went to the Spring Street AOG Christmas lights last night, and some of the pictures are actually fit to be seen ;)
As you turn onto the streetm, you see the sign:

Then, at the front of the church (which is on a fairly major street) they have this sign:

The lights are arranged on a little drive through the carpark. All around the ride are wonderful lights - different words, such as the one below, as well pictures.

The angel's wings were supposed to appear to flutter up and down. I managed to catch it just as it was moving up:

I think this is the stable. Either that, or there was room at the in for a horse, but not Mary. Behind the stable is the word 'Believe', which I have above.

Here are the shephards and the star.

Another angel. Beautiful.

The Three Kings/Wisemen/Magi. I know one of them was traditionally called Melchior, and another was Caspar, but I can't remember the other one. Or the order of the gifts, but that's ok.

They also had a lovely nativity - about full-sized, and right at the end of the ride. Unfortunately, BOTH shots I took of it are horribly blurred, as are all the other photos. I really need to learn how to take photos. Maybe if I get that nifty SLR I want, I might magically be able to take wonderful photos. Hey hubby.... ;)

Christmas Lights

2008-12-25T00:41:00.004+10:00

After closing off the inspection pit and taking the photos we went to Toowoomba to look at some Christmas lights. I actually managed to get some usable photos from the 2 lovely exhibitions we went to, but I'll do that tomorrow. Or Boxing Day. Sometime. In the meantime...

Merry Christmas to all, and God's blessings on your New Year.

The Aftermath

2008-12-25T00:21:00.004+10:00

It's raining! It's bucketing down! I don't think you can see it, but it's even splashing out the inlet, because it's coming in at such force that it's bouncing off the strainer/insect wire at the inlet.

One problem though. There is a leak. It's at the first section that I made :( Dad thinks he knows why - we have placed the joint under too much pressure (because we wanted it to go a certain way, and it didn't want to.) Dad also thinks he knows the answer. Yay, more blue glue :P

The rain has stopped for now, and Bethy is pretending to dive into the water. We got 20cm in that downpour - 8 inches. Over a roofspan of 100 square metres, that equates to 20,000 litres. Now Dad somehow got another figure entirely, but he was manipulating cubic metres and all kinds of things. I'll just stick to my plain mm rainfall x square metres roofspan. (Which is to say, 1mm rain on 1 square metre roofspan = 1 litre of rain. So 200mm rain on 100 square metres = 20,000 litres. Apparently.)
Also, it has been raining since then. Insert big, cheesy grin here!

I really should get the stepladder out. Someday.

How it went... Part 2

2008-12-24T23:16:00.005+10:00

So this was the last section completed. The downpipe has to make this side-step because it was placed so close to the concrete area. The pipe it used to connect with was capped, and is now a dead end. The plaid (former) tablecloth covers the inspection pit which we can open to flush the pipes. (Have I already mentioned that?)

Thankfully, we got a bobcat-digger-thingy to dig most of this trench, but it still only dug beside the pipes, so we still had to dig out the rest. We actually cut out 3-4 metres of pipe and pulled it out so that we could do the alterations. If we hadn't done that, we would have had to buy a $50+ thing that had sliding bits so we could fit it in. Once the pipes are in the ground, you see, they don't move. So we sliced and diced.
T-piece 1 took the new pipes from the back. (You can see the new pipes at the back. Mum covered all the other pipes before I got to take photos.) T-piece 2 at the front takes the side downpipe. You can't see it, but there's a 3rd T-piece in front again to take the overflow from the tanks. (This is getting boring, isn't it? Sorry - it will be over soon.)

Ok, so this is the inspection point. It is currently open (that is, the pipes are open) because Dad didn't want any rainwater going into the tanks until he was ready. The whole thing needed to cure 24 hours-ish before being put under pressure. Which it will be (insert evil cackle here!)

Note the inportant differences: The pipes are now capped. Yippee! The system is now ready to take water. Which is very important, because...

See these clouds? They're heading our way. This whole time the weather has held off. It's ready to go now, and here comes the rain. And, according to the weather website, it's here to stay. Woo-hoo!
Don't they have a nice yard?

How it went... Part 1

2008-12-24T22:35:00.005+10:00

Well, this is where it all began. This is the first downpipe I had to work on. In the beginning, it was just hanging from the guttering, not attached to the wall, and draining to the ground, not to the storm water drains like the other downpipes, because the patio roof that it drains was a an addition, and the builder doesn't appear to have been able to bother.

This is the downpipe that I pulled out of the gutter. It was too narrow for the rest of the work, so I had to make a new one. Anyone want a somewhat used downpipe?

The downpipe runs along to the rear downpipe, and then into the ground. It will be painted to match the other downpipe (and the wall) but not today.

All the pipes travel under the ground to the tank pad. Then they go up the side and into the inlet at the top of the tank. That thin, snakey thing running down the side will be the water guage (eventually) so that we can see how full the tanks are.

Ok, so the main lot of piping is the new pipes leading into the tank. Of the other two lots, the one sticking up with the lid is the septic. We made extra sure that we DID NOT risk damaging that one. The little bit of pipe uncovered is from the downpipes I've already shown.

Now to upload some more photos. See you soon.

The Fine Art of Present Balancing

2008-12-24T00:15:00.003+10:00

Is it just me? Or does everyone do it? Everyone with children, that is. I have just spent the evening wrapping presents, and during that time I took time out to present-match. Have I bought too much for this one? Does that one have enough? Is the only boy going to feel left out that his sisters got the pretty-pretties and he got the dinosaur puzzles? (Doubt it!) ButI do make a concerted effort to ensure that I have gotten similar amounts/types of presents, and that no one feels left out. I could buy so much more, especially for the eldest, but I won't. I don't want accusations of favouritism, and I especially don't want bickering. So I present-match. Is that such a bad thing?

That's It!

2008-12-23T20:55:00.001+10:00

Well, that's it! The last join. Please ignore all the messy glue - we were just making sure that there was enough glue, as there could be a fair amount of pressure on these joints. Oh, and the glue pot is closed, isn't it. Uh huh, it is. The clothes are there to prevent dirt getting into a) the join, and b) the inspection point. Of course there is still work to do, but, from tomorrow, it is allowed to rain to the heavens' content. (We are allowing 24 hours for the glue to cure to full strength.) Tomorrow I plan to take photos of all that we've done. I should note that Dad is the brains behind the op - I'm just the worker bee. He knows where everything is going, although I may just tell the story of Gumpy's Folly ;)

But I Just Got Them Cleaned!

2008-12-22T20:29:00.002+10:00

I finally got the last of the blue glue off my fingers this morning. Now I've got more. And I've got more plumbing to do tomorrow, to try to get it finished by Christmas, and I may be going out on Wednesday, so it has to be tomorrow. sigh... In the meantime, let's slather the moisturiser. I'd take a photo, but the desk if *very* cluttered. Again with the sigh...

Tanks for the Exercise

2008-12-22T13:13:00.006+10:00

I really need to take more photos. We had 2 large rainwater tanks delivered ... er... some time ago, and Dad decided that we could hook it up to the downpipes ourselves, rather than employ a plumber, since it wasn't being plumbed into the house. Since Dad is in a wheelchair (mobility scooter, actually) and hubby is working, that meant Mum and me doing all the work. So I have been cutting (a little) glueing and fitting *lots* of PVC piping. We're not far from finishing the actual plumbing, now, and hopefully will be done before Christmas (Thursday - eek!) which will be good if it rains as forecast. It will be good to get rainwater in the tank, rather than town water. We had to fill it up partway in case we got another heavy rainfall before it could be hooked up. If there had been heavy rain before the tanks were ready, they could have floated up off the tankpad. There have been a few, apparently, come up like that.

This is the white piping that will go to the pump, which will be close to the house. The other thing hanging down will be a guage to measure how much water is in the tanks. The black pipe connects the water from the front tank to the back tank. Around the other side will be the overflow coming from the back tank out to the street. That will be the last thing to do, as the tanks won't fill up quite that quickly.
As for the exercise bit - I'm sore! I've been stretching and squatting, and lifting, and all that. And using the gloopy blue plumbers glue that STINKS! I think I've finally got all that off my hands. I got so grubby that I went straight in and had a shower, then came out and slathered the hand cream on. Got to be girly some time.

Blog lists

2008-12-21T23:41:00.003+10:00

Is there some kind of limit to the number of blogs you are allowed (you know, in that polite, 2-snacks-on-your-plate kind of way) to follow? I have only just started 'following' blogs on my blog-following-thingy in the last month. (Ok, I had a sugar low today, and my brain hasn't caught up.) I now have 17. So is this normal, or am I getting a little obsessive? Because I really don't know who to trim. They're all good. And when you've got a blog called Help me, Obi-Mom Kenobi! You're my only hope ... well, what can you do? Yep, my latest... er... followee?
Next question, of course, is how many do I actually list on my blog? Just because I'm following them in the background, do I list them *all* on my blog? That could get a little long. hmm... we'll see.

Christmas on William Street

2008-12-21T22:08:00.006+10:00

Every year, the Baptist church in town hosts a Christmas celebration, with carols, a little animal-petting thing, a big display on the true meaning of Christmas, some crafts, and a nice alternative to Santa photos. And, unlike most Santa photos, the photographer had no objection to my taking a photo as well. His photo cost $5, which I got, but I can't send that to relatives, so I took my own photos as well. So... photos!

This is the Nativity scene. Mark is Joseph, Gracey is Mary, and Beth is a Wise... Person. Thinking of a reference from Riana of These Days in French Life - une sage femme?

My photos seem to have loaded in reverse order, and I really couldn't be bothered correcting it. Here is Bethy colouring her bookmark. You can also see a star in the foreground - the 3 crafts were: colour a bookmark, glue and decorate a star, and there was some bell cut-out-and-fit-together dealie at the other table. We didn't get to that.

Gracie colouring. That dress was bought that very day, without her available for sizing. It fits well.
This shirt was also bought that day. I don't know if you can see it, but its the Black Watch tartan pattern (aka Campbell tartan.) Not that we're Scots (or at least, not much) but it's a lovely pattern, and he loves the look and feel of it. And it brings out his lovely pale complexion (roll-eyes.) The kids actually do get outside, just not in the heat of the day. I don't like sunburn on anyone, especially not children. We usually kick them out somewhere between 3pm and 5pm, depending on the heat of the day. It was bright enough for playing until about 6.45pm today. I should know, I was doing work on the tanks at that time.
Here's Bethy petting a (rack brains for name) Barred Plymouth Rock chicken. Purty! er... Both of them, actually. I just have a thing for the Barred Plymouth Rock chooks. Although, I also like ... er ... Golden somethings. I've forgotten.

It took me all my effort to get Gracey to touch the sheep. I don't know why, but she seemed to have decided that they were dangerous creatures bent on biting her. This her smile-for-mummy smile. Note the dutiful pat on the sheep's rear. Couldn't get her near the chickens, though.

I've been working on the railroad...

2008-12-19T14:05:00.001+10:00

So... child labour or heaps o' fun? When we dug the tank pad, we ended up with a huge pile of dirt. Some of it was spread around the yard to fill in some low areas, but at least half was left in 2 mounds, waiting to go back in around the tanks. Well, we're still working on the tanks, but now that the tanks are in, the kids are now allowed to play in the dirt.

Beth is carving out her initial in the dirt.

They're all having fun, making a mess. They now have some small tunnels in the dirt, but I don't think my camera can pick that up. Friends that have come over (late enough in the day to be comfortable) have been taken out to the dirt pile for some fun (and so their mothers can have a fit over the amount of dirt they bring home in their clothes :D )

Galahs in the Sorghum

2008-12-17T20:02:00.001+10:00

I saw this as we were driving home today. The sorghum is ripening and burnt orange in colour, and the grey and pink galahs are having a wonderful time feeding off the seeds. I hope they leave enough for the farmers :)

Mark and his tree

2008-12-11T22:39:00.002+10:00

Well, I've finally got the photo of Mark with his tree, an African Mahogany. It came back from my aunt's place in Townsville sometime around October last year, and was planted sometime after Christmas. Being in drought time, it hasn't been watered often, but it's doing well now. I don't think it's quite as big as he thinks it is ;) He tends to let his hand float up when going from the tree top to him.
As an extra note, the shirt he's wearing came all the way from Ireland. My brother went there for a holiday this year, and had to buy a rugby shirt for Mark. It doesn't have any particular country affiliation - my brother thought that hubby wouldn't appreciate an Irish or Australian jersey, since he's a died-in-the-wool All Black supporter.

Pirate Dancing!

2008-12-11T16:40:00.002+10:00

Well, my baby had her Dance Night last night, and the theme of the Preppies' item was Pirates! Aaaarr me hearties! Well, this is my baby carrying off the treasure right at the end of the item. It's pretty well the only photo that turned out nicely, as it was so dark, and I only have my little camera. Lusting after the $1 200 SLR camera, but that ain't going to happen anytime soon. Ah well.

My elder daughter insists I add her comment: boring! The poor little dear was bored out of her poor little mind by the concert. All together now: poor Bethy! (That will teach her for insisting on adding something to my blog. The cheek of her! ;) )

Phew!

2008-12-11T00:12:00.002+10:00

Well, I've done it. After weeks (months) of ignoring it, I've finally cleaned out my e-mail inbox. I have trimmed it from er... something over 100 e-mails down to about 3. I have deleted most of it, and filed the rest. I have cleared out my Sent folder, my Deleted Folder, and deleted my Work folder (nothing in there since... er... the job before last, where I had to e-mail in reports from home, or possibly while I was applying for the last job, which I quit in July.) I haven't yet touched my Registrations folder, which has all my account registrations (hence the name) but it has over 100 e-mails in that alone, and it's after 12, and I'm tired.
And do you want to know why I did this? Because I want to send my mother-in-law the link for this log, so that she can see the picture of my son at his desk. And I can't find it because it appears I only e-mail her from hubby's e-mail account, which is on the other login on this computer, and it's after 12, and I'm tired.
I'll do it tomorrow. Good night friends.

Heart of the Matter Meme... Thingy...

2008-12-09T12:43:00.005+10:00

Well, I'm going to try something. I've come across Heart of the Matter, and they have their weekly meme going, so I'm jumping in. Here goes...

Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa?
How does your family celebrate? What are your favorite holiday links? Do you teach your kiddos about the other holidays? Do you take December off from schooling? Imagine that this is a unit study–share your past and present holiday ideas with everyone else!

Ok... Now that I've got that sorted... We celebrate Christmas. I am very blessed in my family, with wonderful, easy-going people, who get stuck in and work. It's summer here, and Christmas Day can get hot! That said, we usually will have some roasted stuff - chicken and pork or roast, and some vegetables. We also have several salads and cold meats, so we're not sitting down to a hot-only meal. Also, we often have the airconditioning going - such a blessing in itself.

My Mum has an 'elastic' house - we currently live here, so there are 4 adults and 3 children here normally. Come Christmas, my brothers will both be here, and on Boxing Day, my aunt, her husband, and probably her daughter (with 3 children) and maybe a son, maybe both, with the daughter-in-law, to stay the night (or more.) Another uncle and aunt (and her sister) will come on the 27th for Christmas/my parent's anniversary, and another dinner to equal Christmas. They won't be staying, though. Oh, and their dog.

Also, my cousin is having her 30th around this time, and so that's why so many of my aunt's family will be over. So, there will be: Mum, Dad, Me, hubby, 3 children, elder brother, younger brother (pretty sure his son won't be allowed to come - not getting into that!) aunt, uncle, cousin with 3 children, single cousin, cousin with wife, birthday girl with boyfriend. 14 adults and 6 children. Don't know if anyone else will be coming. And they will all find places to sleep, because we live in an 'elastic' house. And we'll eat well, and have a good time, and probably won't have any fights, certainly no big blow-outs. We are so blessed!

As for the period leading up to Christmas, well... We don't preach Santa in this house. The older 2 are confirmed in their belief there is no Santa ;) The younger is still in school for another few days, and we prefer not to disillusion any littlies, so we are avoiding the whole discussion for another few days. Come Friday afternoon, though, and the issue will be clarified. It's a pity, though. As I said, *we* don't preach Santa. *We* are very clear that Christmas is about Jesus. However, the school preaches Santa, and she has sent off a letter, and everything. meh! So...
From next week, we will be doing a Jesse tree. I had planned to do it from last Sunday ... er ... the Sunday before (oops) but next week I'll have all the children home, and can do it during the day. Also, I have to get some hessian or something.

We have never really concentrated on Advent or anything like that before, because we have always just spoken about it incidentally. We might spend a few minutes discussing the Christmas story, or why we're doing all this, but never in a sit-down, let's-have-a-lesson sort of way.Also, being summer, schools break up at least 2 weeks before the holiday, and stay out until the end of January. Next year, I plan to finish formal schooling at the end of November, but really think I will need to have some kind of plan for the holidays. Otherwise, they will sit in front of the tv all day.

Well, I hope that's what everyone wanted.

School Photos

2008-12-09T12:08:00.001+10:00

This post is for my mother-in-law, who asked for a photo of my non-school child. The girls both go to school, and got official photos from the school, but since Mark is homeschooled, he doesn't get anything like that. So here it is - Mark, at 'school'. He sits at a little table, beside where I sit, doing (at the moment) maths. And, yes, there is a bike helmet on the table. Don't know why, and it (apparently) isn't even his. But there you go.

Four Ingredient Brownie

2008-12-09T08:08:00.003+10:00

Well, I would post a photo series, a la Pioneer Woman, but it got took and eaten :( Not a scrap left for us. Actually, all *I* got was the work and the smell, but apparently it was good, and went down well. So... the brownie. What I did, was take Martha Stewart's Super Fudgy Brownie recipe, and metricise it (I *think* it's a word... moving on...) for my personal use. The catastrophe! I'm living at my mother's place, and she only has self-raising flour! And no cocoa! So necessity being the mother of invention, I trimmed it all down to the Four Ingredient Brownie. And here we go...

400g chocolate (I have used generic brands with success, but then, I'm not Martha Stewart)
1 1/4 cups sugar (I use raw, because that's what we have)
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup self-raising flour

Pre-heat the oven to 175C, and line a 20 - 23c square pan (whatever you have.) Thou shalt line thy pan! Or thou shalt be picking bits of brownie out of the pan. Which... that's bad, isn't it? Or...

Moving on.

Melt the chocolate. You could do the whole double-boiler, don't let the water touch the bottom of the pan or get steam into the chocolate thing. Or you could whack it into a microwave container, and nuke it in 10 second bursts until it's all soft and squishy. Stir frequently until it is lovely, shiny, melty goodness. Try not to drool into the chocolate. It's gross, and leads to chocolate seizing (technical jargon, blah blah blah.) Don't!

Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the sugar. It will be grainy. That's ok. It will remain grainy until it cooks, and that's ok. That's the way it's meant to be.

Once the sugar is stirred in, stir in the eggs. I'm sure Martha does it one egg at a time, but I'm not Martha, so just chuck them in and stir.

**Quick note here: you don't want to take too long, as the chocolate will start to cool, and you may end up with semi-solid chocolate, which is not good. And you won't want to re-melt it, as you now have egg in it. So keep it moving.**

So we have the chocolate, sugar and eggs, and it's a 4 ingredient recipe, so let's add the flour. Mix it in, and then pour into your already-lined pan. It may be a little stiff, but, again, that's ok. Pour it in, and smooth it out as much as you can. Put it in the oven, and bake.

For a 20cm pan, the time should be 50-60 minutes. When I did it Saturday, I used a silicone Santa head pan, and cooked it for 40 minutes, but then it's bigger, and triangular...ish. Also, I'm working with a fan-forced oven, which changes things.

So... Cook, and eat, preferably with vanilla ice-cream.

Nothing much...

2008-11-27T23:01:00.002+10:00

ahem... Well, it's been a week since my last post, and if anybody's listening, I'm sorry. Not that it has been an especially exciting or busy week. We've just been doing... stuff. I've managed to get schoolwork done every day. I've had both girls home sick, though not on the same day.
I took the chance today to take photos of the girls with their trees. Mum planted trees for each of the children, but Mark wasn't co-operating, so I didn't get a photo of him with his tree. His is a lot smaller than the girls' trees as Mum originally planted a ylang-ylang for him, but it died, so she has replaced it with an African Mahogany. Beth got a Golden Pender, and Grace got a Jacaranda, which is about 2 years old in this photo.

This is my baby being 'cute'.

I managed to get her so that she was facing the afternoon sun :D

Five feet high and risin'

2008-11-20T20:16:00.003+10:00

Last Sunday, we drove past this river, and it was bone dry. I looked out the window as we drove over the bridge, and saw the dirt that the council workers left behind, complete with tyre tracks, after they did some upgrades to Daveys Bridge, our main route into town. Actually, if you look at the near bridge pillar, you'll see a blue plaque. That's the watermarker for the 1974 flood. I have been into a building in Mary Street, Brisbane, which had another watermarker inside the building (bronze, because it's in the CBD, of course ;) ) and the water level in Mary Street, Brisbane, in 1974 was either my waist or chest height. (I saw it quite some time ago, okay?) Scary.

This is Daveys Bridge.

Road Closed? Really? You don't say?

From this point, I think the rippled surface to the right of the picture is the bridge.

We had to take the long way into town.

...

Actually, when all is said and done, we (my family, and our little area) have had it really easy this last week. 100km away in Brisbane, 2 lives have been lost, and many people have had major damage to their property as a result of the same storms. Not far from here, an elderly lady lost her life when her car was engulfed by flood-waters. I am so thankful that the only problems we have concern draining the tank pad for the water tanks. That's pretty much it. We had some hail last night - we were worried, as there were 3 cars parked out front (mine, and our visitors) and no available cover. The hail did not venture from the back yard to the front. My mum and her friend prayed, as did I, walking out to the front to check on the cars. Not so much as a single hailstone. God was merciful.

Poor Man's Pump

2008-11-20T09:25:00.003+10:00

Since the gutter is lower (we think) than the bottom of the tank pad, Mum and Dad are using garden hoses to siphon the water out.

At the other end.

If you look carefully, you can just see the dirty water coming through, clouding the clean run-off. We've just gone and bought another 4 hoses and connectors to double our output. As for how it's done - I wasn't there, but apparently you put it in, connect it to the tap, run water through so it's draining into the tank pad. Then you stop it so that the water doesn't flow out, and take the other end off the tap, and out to the street. Since the gutter is lower than the tank pad, the water will drain out to the street. "It's a theory, anyway."

Edited to add: Dad has since added another hose to the effort. They have calculated that they have doubled the output to 1l/min. Since the tank pad is 9 x 4.5m2, and about 0.5m deep, that equates to 20,250l of water. At this rate, it will take 14 days to empty the tank pad. Minus evaporation. Plus any rain in the intervening time. So... Mum said she didn't want to know :D

Okay, so 2nd edit. I spoke to Dad, and he said that he has 4 hoses, each siphoning at about 0.6l/min, and it should be done in 5 days (weather permitting.) So he's planning to hire a pump tomorrow or Monday so he can GET IT DONE! ... ahem.

Dam!

2008-11-20T08:06:00.004+10:00

Since my parents moved here, they have referred to a dam that they can see from their property. I have never seen it. Now I can see it.

If you look between the houses, you can see the dam. My dad said last night that it covers 7 acres when full.

Why? Because in the last 24 hours, we have had 136mm :o So now the tank pad is full! Dad was already talking about getting a pump in to drain it, but this is ridiculous.

Can you see how full the rain gauge is?

Behold our 'swimming pool'. It actually reaches the top at the far end.

Mud, glorious mud!

2008-11-19T23:17:00.002+10:00

Well, we got the first tank, we got the gravel (decomposed granite, actually) and it is in the tank pad. BUT it is not all spread around properly, AND it has been raining! 38ml yesterday, 29ml the day before, and unsure how much today, but I'm guessing HEAPS. Now, the problem here is, apart from the fact that the tank isn't hooked up yet, that the gravel is not actually smoothed out properly. It was dumped in, and we've been trying to spread it out, but the afore-mentioned rain has kind of been hindering things. And it's still raining. And it's supposed to continue until Sunday. Hmm... Anyone up for mud-swimming?

Today's narration

2008-11-19T11:22:00.003+10:00

We've just started on our way through Marcia Stenson's "Illustrated History of New Zealand", and got to the second chapter, on the birds of New Zealand. After reading the chapter, I asked Mark a few questions about it. He mentioned the huia, and I asked about if it was still alive. This was his answer:

A word of warning: if you are a young-earth creationist, Marcia Stenson does talk about millions of years.

Progress

2008-11-17T17:51:00.006+10:00

We've been building this garden bed for some time. My dad wanted it done a certain way but he's unable to do much of the work. He is still able to do quite a lot, but not everything. Also, he is easily tired, and so can only work for an hour or two before he has to rest again. So things haven't been going very quickly. Well, the frame is built, the tank bed is dug and levelled, we have now received one of the tanks, and the gravel is in the tank bed. Dirt from the tank bed is in the garden bed - it may not be certified weed free, but it is free. We have had some desultory rain, so the surface of the dirt is wet - probably more than that, now - and I dug in some fertiliser today. I was going to buy some blood and bone, or dynamic lifter, but Dad remembered some organic fertiliser they had left, so I used that. Probably way to much, too :o It's soaking in. Tomorrow I will sow the seeds, as well as plant some tomato plants Mum had bought. I may even go so far as to transplant some of the marigolds from the sand-pile.

Mark took this photo of the tank being delivered. I think he was still being cautious, as we had told him to stay away from the truck.
Even though it was late when she got home, Mum decided to smooth out the gravel, as the delivery driver simply dumped it into the tank pad in two piles. She recruited the children to help out.

Mark and Grace helping even out the pile. I'll take another photo tomorrow to see how much has been done.

Smile!

Busy last few days...

2008-11-15T15:44:00.007+10:00

My hands are sore, and my arms are weary, and we're not finished yet. Not that I *should* be feeling all this, as I don't think I've done that much, but I am. We have slowly been building a garden bed at my parents' place, but it got side-tracked when they decided to get a water tank. First, it was going to be a slim-line tank, that had to fit on the 60cm concrete path Dad decided to install at the back of the garden bed, between it and the house. Then they decided those were far too expensive for what you get - $2,000 for a 5,000L tank - as compared to the traditional round type tanks. Then they found a 24,500L tank for nearly $2,50, so they decided to get one. Then they decided to get two! Well, the tank pad was dug today, the first tank comes on Monday, the crusher dust comes on Wednesday? and the second tank comes on next Monday, which is when they will both be put in place and the dirt dug back in. Then, hopefully, it will rain.

Measuring the depth of the tank pad.

Nearly finished digging the area.

We're semi-rural here, so have a septic tank. My parents oringally wanted something like the Biolytix syste m, but weren't allowed. Still not sure if they're allowed in the area, which is a pity.
The reason why we're getting the water tanks is for the vegetable garden. So far, we've built 1 garden bed, 6.3m? x 1m. The topsoil from the tank pad went into the wooden frame, with the spare topsoil being spread around the yard. The subsoil is going back around the tanks when they go in.

The frame is made from split hardwood sleepers. Dad then decided to notch them and screw the pieces together. That pile of stuff to the side is the sand and gravel mix that they had delivered some time ago, and use for ... well ... stuff.

Almost done. Now we just need some compost or similar, and then I can plant some seeds. I also need to send a bale of lucerne hay through the mulcher to make a finer mulch.
By the way, if you want a hardy plant, go for the marigold. These are blooming in the sand and gravel pile. Doing quite well, actually. I don't know if you can see it, but both dogs are in the photo - Zoe's the big brindle bitser, and Daisy is the ruby Cavalier.

It's been a long day ;) Mark lying against Zoe, my aunt's dog that my parents are currently looking after. He loves that dog.

Resources

2008-11-12T15:50:00.002+10:00

We did some more science today. We're studying the Solar System, which has Mark quite excited. Our primary resource for learning about the Solar System is the website Enchanted Learning. It has information, interactive puzzles (which he went through by himself, but then, it was computer-based, and therefore interesting :D ) colouring pages, and other learning activities. It costs $US20 for membership, but there are plenty of free pages on the site. Personally, I think it is money well spent, and have renewed my membership for the new year.
Other resources I use: Wikipedia, for the wealth of interesting information. True, anyone can edit it, and can introduce incorrect, even slanderous, information (try reading the political biographies during an election!) but for every person that will do that, there are more to correct the information. Also, you can look into who has edited what, and when.
Being Australian, I like to interact with other locals, and 2 great boards for that are Rockpool and Australian Homeschool Classifieds. There are many wonderful women, with so much information, and they can really help you with whatever questions you might have. A word of warning: it is very easy to spend up at Aussie Homeschool Classifieds. There are so many things, and do you really need them all? (But, YES.)
Since I plan to use the Ambleside Online curriculum, I find their Yahoo group indispensible, while the CMandFriends-ANZ group has been very useful in finding local alternatives so that I don't end up raising wanna-be-Americans.
Hmm... that's all for now.

It worked!

2008-11-11T10:50:00.005+10:00

I have a cunning plan!

Get up on time, get stuck in, and get it done! No... wait... That's just common sense, isn't it :D

So, it's 10.30am, and we've covered Maths, English (all of it!) and History (New Zealand). Mark's off having a bit of play, and then I'll call him back for some Science and French, maybe a bit of Auslan, also. He's started asking about signs, so I may just go through and find some for him. We have already learned the sign for banana (also) from the Auslan Sign Bank. I know it's not learning it properly, but that's fine by me. Auslan has a whole different syntax and grammar to English, and I really don't want to get into learning that just yet. We don't have a physical need for it at this time, so I think I'll save my energy for what we do need. For further information... (Wikipedia is your friend :) )
It's funny the noises that come out of that boy. He's in the bedroom, and I think he's fighting WWIII. Speaking of which...

Poppies

It was the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, and we have remembered them. Before the girls went off to school today, I took them aside, ensured they had their poppies, and said a few words about today, who and why we remember. 11am arrived, and I called Mark in, and spoke with him. Then I played The Last Post, and read out a few lines of the Ode of Remembrance.

Lest We Forget.

ps. My mum just passed a music video on to me. It is called "A Pittance of Time" and was a wonderful song for Remembrance Day. The home-page for the song, including backstory and links, is here.

Back to School

2008-11-10T12:27:00.004+10:00

Well,Thursday was a not-good-very-bad-day with the Boy taking 3 hours to write 2 sentences! Friday was a school-free day as the cousins arrived on Thursday night for the weekend, and so everyone played hookey to have some extended-family time. Saturday, we went to the in-laws, as they will be flying out next week, and the children won't get to see their grandparents for about 6 months. It's 2.5 hours each way, unless you happen to have radiator problems, then it can take 4 hours. Fortunately, hubby used some stuff to fix the radiator, and it behaved itself wonderfully for the return trip. The rain on the way back was very gratefully received for its own sake, let alone the cooling influence on the engine. Sunday was church day, and nothing scholastic was attempted. And now it's Monday, Back To School!
Maths was accomplished reasonably easily, finishing off with some tangram work. Then I read the story for lesson 18 of Voyages in Literature, the closest thing we have for a workbook for English. Mark loves listening to stories, so this is never a problem, but when it came time for the weekly copywork section, he duly lost his pencil. Knowing this could take hours if I left him at it, I got up and found it within 30 seconds. So now the poor boy is all but chained to his desk, aka 'the penal colony', serving time doing writing, which must be NEAT and in the proper script. To help him with the letter formation, I write the text on one line, and leave room for him on the line below. I think this is going to take a long time to get him write nicely, naturally.
Because he has so little patience with handwriting, I'm making him write one line of words, then have a 2 minute break. I had pulled out The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, by Beatrix Potter, intending to read that to him later, but he wants me to read it in-between his lines. Nutkin has no manners!
It's amazing what a child can do for entertainment - apparently rolling a glue stick backwards and forwards can be so much fun. Biting erasers also. (Guess what I've just confiscated :o ) After writing is (finally) finished, he will do some read-aloud, and then maybe some history or science. I recently bought The Illustrated History of New Zealand, so I might get into that today. If he ever finishes his writing. I think he's getting too bored with it, and may have to finish the rest off tomorrow. Maybe...

....

Squirrel Nutkin is finished, and so is the Boy, nearly. 2 more lines (5 words) to go.

...

Finished - yay! Now he's off to look at his tree (African Mahogany?) and then get something to eat. The tree is up to his eyebrows - "just by one leaf" - and now he's off to get something to eat. I really should add some photos sometime.

Not-so-good day

2008-11-05T20:36:00.003+10:00

Well, the boy decided that it was all too much today. I wanted him to write 3 sentences - it was an exercise in changing the order of the words in the sentence, while keeping the original meaning. An example: 'Last night there was a big thunderstorm' becomes 'There was a big thunderstorm last night'. We discussed the sentences, and how to change them around, but I don't think he got it. Then I think he looked at the words, and decided there were too many, and gave up. That was this morning, and he still isn't finished. Thankfully he did his maths first. Then we had visitors, and that was the end of that. We'll try again tomorrow. On the up side, I made scones and a banana cake.

So ... What are we doing?

2008-11-04T12:50:00.009+10:00

Well, *right at the moment* the boy has scampered off to play with his de-confiscated toys, but, curriculum-wise, this is what we're doing.
For me, maths and English are the 2 most important subjects - you need to be able to read, write, and keep your sums straight. If you can do that, you can learn anything else you need to, no matter how poor your schooling otherwise was. So, for maths, we have switched to Singapore Maths, specifically the New Syllabus Primary Mathematics, published by Shinglee Publishers, and purchased through sgbox. We started out the year with Qld Signpost Maths, but I hated the way it jumped around - there was no continuity, unless you hunted down the topics in the book. Blech. When we moved out here (we moved in with my parents for a while) he promptly lost the book. After a week, I used the fact we still couldn't find it as an excuse to purchase the year's worth of books from sgbox. It arrived in 4 working days, from Singapore, and we have been using it since. Of course, my Mum managed to find his old book about 2 days after I had ordered the new books, but that's ok. Anyone want a partly used maths book ;)
Well, for English, we're doing a couple of things. For reading practice, the boy is reading from McGuffey's Eclectic Primer. He enjoys reading aloud, and is getting quite good at it. Then, he also uses Voyages in Literature 1, which has copywork, writing exercises, grammar and other exercises. I'm also trying to get him to write in a nice cursive script, so I created an alphabet sheet using the font called Script - it is a standard font in Open Office (a free office suite, instead of Windows Office) and possibly in other office suites.
Alphabet Short

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Education Primary and High Sch helps Homeschool

(Edit to ad: Yay - it worked. It took a bit of fiddling, but I managed it. Ok... back to your previously scheduled blog. Blogging is not the only thing I'm new at ;) )
We also do history, science, art and french when I can fit them in. Sometimes it is as much as I can do to get him to finish his maths and English in a day, as he has ADD, and keeping him on task can be trying. The Singapore Maths has actually helped since it is so... regular? We sit with a topic for a few days to a week or 2, until it's finished. He's enjoying geometry at the moment. English is the most difficult subject for him, as he has to write things down, which he really dislikes. I do what I can verbally, but, when it comes down to it, stuff still needs to be written down, AND he has to learn to have, at the very least, legible handwriting.
So, for history this year, he has gone through "The Australia Book" by Eve Pownell, and some of a World History book I picked up somewhere. Also, my brother brought back a Dorling Kindersley "Castle and Knight" sticker book from Ireland, which M really loves. Knights, castles, and weapons - good stuff :D
With science, we were going through some of Nuri Mass's "Wonderland of Nature", but it is currently packed away. Now we are studying the Solar System. One great resource for any homeschooler is Enchanted Learning. There is a great amount of information and activities on any number of subjects. It does have an American slant, as it is American (there are a great many more American students, etc, etc) but it is otherwise a very useful resource. It costs $US20 a year to become a member, but that is nothing for the value of the site. I have just signed up for a second year.
For French, I am using Live Mocha which is an online language progamme and community. Each level has a number of activites to re-inforce the lesson - hear, read, speak, and others. Unfortunately, THIS computer doesn't have a sound card, so I have to move to my mother's computer to do the lessons. After I do the lessons, I then make up flash cards, using Open Office Calc, which I cut up and laminate for Mark's lessons. He's been picking them up, and retaining them, quite well.
Well, that is all for now. M is on the Enchanted Learning site looking at Venus.

er... Hello?

2008-11-03T16:10:00.000+10:00

Well... This is my first entry in my blog. I have finally succumbed to the siren's lure, and here I am. Most likely this blog will be rarely updated, and even more seldom read, but I'll have a go.
I am a stay-at-home mother to 3 children. Currently, 2 of them attend school (my eldest and my youngest) while I homeschool my middle child. I have always wanted to homeschool - which is to say, I decided that it was a brilliant idea back in Grade 11, when I first heard of the concept. We won't discuss how long ago *that* was. I had something of an abortive attempt with my first child, and held her out of school until she was 7 years old, but it ended as I wasn't putting in due effort. I have had my second chance due to the fact that my son (the middle child) has ADD, and really doesn't work well in the classroom environment. Towards the end of last year, his Grade 2 teacher told me that he was reading at a Grade 1 level, and gave him D's for English, SOSE and Science, all because he wouldn't write out answers for her. She was candid about the fact that he knew the stuff, but because he wouldn't write anything down, she had to give him the D's.
Well, homeschooling this one hasn't been a walk in the park. In the time I have written this, I have had to talk (yell) at him at least 3 times to DO YOUR WRITING! He has actually done some work, but keeps going off track to do something else. He has an amazing imagination, and can play all kinds of games with just a pencil and eraser. He can also shred a nice latex eraser into little bits in the least amount of time imaginable. Sigh.
And now I have to do a report on how his homeschooling has gone this year. They want writing from him. Blech. I really have to ring them to discuss the matter. We are registered homeschoolers, which (I think) still puts us in the minority in Queensland. Still, the application process wasn't bad. It's just the reporting process I'm currently dreading. You see, I know he's improved. I just have to prove it. Ah well...
So... The other two. Well, they are both girls, and are doing quite well at school, actually. My baby is in Prep, and enjoying it immensely. She enjoys the friends, and the play-based education. We had a bit of a difficult time when we moved here in the middle of the year, as she was missing her previous teacher, and her friends, but now she is back in the groove, and loving it and her teachers. The difference in the 2 schools is noticeable. At the previous school, she was learning phonics (via Jolly Phonics) and had got about half-way through the program when we left. This school doesn't officially teach phonics until Grade 1, which is fair enough, but it meant that she was about a year ahead of the other children, and wanted to continue with her phonics. She loves 'reading' and 'writing' - she can write reasonably well for a 5yo, I think - and keeps writing letters and 'books'. She also loves the arts - singing, dancing, drawing, etc.
My eldest child is 11yo, and, yes, we're looking towards puberty. She possibly isn't doing quite so well at this school - she seems to be a little overwhelmed, and has 'ill' quite a bit, lately. Well, another 5-6 weeks of school, then the holidays. At the previous school, she was in the Senior Band, and drama group, and had her group of friends. Well, she has new friends here, both at school, and at church, but she's not in the band, and there is no drama group. She has joined an after-school basketball team, so she at least has something to do.
So, that's my 3. Next year, the plan is to have all 3 of them at home. Honestly, I don't think it will be that much more effort than having the boy at home, because the girls are much more interested in the book-side of education. They will both sit down and do work, which irks the boy tremendously. He loves to sit beside me and listen, but not for too long. He loves to read aloud, but, again, not for too long. He loves history (especially the medieval period for all its knights and castles) and science (astronomy at the moment.) Well, next year, we will be doing Ambleside Online, which I am looking forward to. I will shortly have my 3rd attempt at planning the new year, and hopefully will be able to retain these plans even if this computer dies on me, as the last 2 have (insert scream here!) I will also have to pull out my boxes and find out what books are where, what I have, and what I will need to buy for the coming year.
Well, I really need to finish this off, so here it is. Signing off for now. If, by chance, anyone happens to read this, feel free to ask a question. Until next time...