Whisby Nature World

Katie and I were out and about again this Thursday. This time we spent the day at Whisby, about an hours drive north of us.

We met up with our home ed friends at The Natural World Centre.

The weather was lovely and we mums sat in the sun drinking coffee and putting the world to rights, while the children played in the sand. Hmmm..the sand; Katie and her friends had a great time digging holes and burying themselves but her clothes were in such a state afterwards as the sand was  wet below the surface. Katie had a very damp bum, but it didn't seem to bother her that much. Her leggings were so badly stained with the wet sand that they made their way into the bin as soon as we got home.
Thankfully the leggings weren't expensive!

Today we headed off to Bedford as Katie had been invited to her friend Lara's 10th birthday party.
Dave and I dropped Katie off at Lara's house and spent the afternoon shopping in Milton Keynes.
Ooooh! A whole three hours to ourselves. Lovely!

Belton House

Today Katie and I visited Belton House in Grantham with our home-ed friends. We joined up to the National Trust and got a special HE rate too!

Belton House in the background

The weather was so lovely and there was so much to see outside in the beautiful grounds and play-park, that we never got to go into the house! We will do that another day.
We did get a "free ride" on the train though!

Train Ride!

Play Time

Katie was thrilled with the deer roaming freely in the grounds.

Piano!

We had some great news.
Katie got the results of her ABRSM piano exam that she sat last week. She passed with a merit!
She was chuffed to hear she had done so well.
Well done Katie!

Then today, Katie entered Grade One piano at the Grantham Music Festival. It was held at Christchurch in Grantham and it was another early start for us.

Katie played beautifully and in spite of making one mistake, she came 2nd place out of her class of 12. The competition was stiff, so we are very proud of her. All her practice has paid off.

Better get saving up for a proper piano!

Wooohoo! Well done Katie!

Off to Shotley

Charlie's little legs can walk a long, long way!

Yesterday, Katie and I drove the 2hrs to see Jaime at her home in Shotley Gate.She's pregnant with our 2nd grandchild and it is so exciting.

Charlie was as cute as ever and surprisingly well behaved! He has been a bit of a handful lately for his mummy (terrible twos we think) but he was on his best behaviour for his nanny and aunty Katie.

We headed down to the harbour, despite the chilly wind. Charlie's little legs can walk a long way!
We had a lovely lunch in the pub overlooking the harbour then headed back home. Charlie insisted on walking part of the way, so it was slow going with the wind blowing in our faces.
Thankfully, he retreated to his pushchair so we could hurry home, and he was fast asleep by the time we'd climbed the hill to Jaime's house.

Jaime is about 3 months pregnant and she looks as beautiful as ever. We don't know the sex of the baby yet, but she has booked a 4d scan for next month, and we will find out then. Can't wait!

Lovely Lincoln

We did something really unusual this morning; we got up before 9am!

Katie had a piano recital in Colsterworth. We were really good, managed to get up and out with plenty of time to get there. We never made it in the end  (that's another story) Just as well it wasn't too important. Katie sat her Grade 1 on Wednesday gone, and I think that's enough piano excitement for one week!

So, since we were up so early, we headed off to lovely Lincoln. There was so much to see but I wish I had worn my flat boots, cobble stones and heels are not good together.

The "Olympic" post box!

Cuddles at the Cathedral

We found a gorgeous little shop that sold Lincoln Soap moulded into the most delicious looking cakes! Honestly, they looked good enough to eat.

Katie treated herself and I know where to go for those special Christmas presents!

A lovely Collection!

Today we went to THE COLLECTION in Lincoln with our lovely friends Michelle & Lucy.

It's a fab art gallery/ archaeology museum right in the middle of historic Lincoln. The parking is rubbish but we hitch a lift with Michelle.




Stained glass windows

It's great for the girls as they are safe to wander freely and there are lots of areas geared specifically for children. They  designed their own mosaics and stained glass windows, dressed up as Romans and had a go at scribing with a feather quil and ink (messy!)
It's great for us mums too as there's a lovely café serving delicious coffee and snacks.

Scribing,,it got a bit messy!!!

The girls were happy to pose for pics!

Amazing Lamda

Yesterday Katie had her very first LAMDA exam and she was amazing! It was musical theatre and she performed two lovely songs. When will my Life Begin from the movie Tangled and one of my favourite songs, Part of that World from The Little Mermaid.

We didn't get to see her perform as we had to wait outside. I would have loved to see her performance, after all we have spent months singing and perfecting her act, but her only audience was the examiner and a lady who sorted out the backing music. So, you might be wondering how I know she was amazing? I know, because she told us! How wonderful is that?

She was so nervous on the way to the exam. Fortunately the exams were running ahead of schedule, so Katie was straight in as soon as we arrived at the Theatre School in Grantham. She didn't even have time to sit down!

She skipped out of the exam 15 minutes later, buzzing with excitement and so happy that she'd performed her songs the very best that she could.

We have to wait six weeks before we find out her official grade, but it doesn't matter; she's already a winner!

I am so proud of her. She is one gutsy little girl!

If there was a grade for baking jam tarts I think Katie would be grade 8 already. The chief taster is Katie's dad, and he is in total agreement...grade 8!

Rain and Rockets!

The last few weeks has seen rain, rain and even more rain.

I am not complaining too much though. Some poor folk around the country have lost their homes and their farms to flooding. The worst the storms have inflicted on us, is limiting our outings and reducing the garden to a squelchy, clarty mush. Roll on the spring!
Nevertheless we have been making the drive to Bedford to see our HE friends. We have also headed north to Lincoln and joined in with the HE group there.

Best Friends

Dave is still working hard, and coming home for weekends. This weekend he has been working with Katie on producing spread sheets of all the hundreds of Pokémon Species.. Pokémon are her latest interest, as well as Minecraft and Lego.

Last weekend we drove to Leicestershire to visit the Space Centre. It was great, and so much to see! We got ourselves a year pass, and it will be good to re-visit during term-time when the kids are at school.

 

Get ready for Blast-off!!!

Time's a healer...........16th January

16th January

They say "time's a healer". I don't know who they are, but they are liars.

Today would have been my mam's 70th birthday.
It's more than ten years since you left us, Mam and even now I find it inconceivable that you are not here.

You would be 70 today Mam. I wonder how we would have celebrated this milestone?
 I wonder how proud you would be, surrounded by your beautiful grand-children, and the sweet grand-children you never got to meet.

I feel angry today. And so, so sad.

I miss you. I miss you with every fibre of my soul. I will miss you 'til the day I die. I want to believe I will see you again: maybe that would give me comfort?

How much "time" has to pass before the healing begins?

Katie is 10! & Christmas 2013

Katie is 10!
How did that happen?
I have been telling her for a long time now (purely from a selfish point of view)  that I will keep her forever "my little girl" and that means she can never go into double figures! She must stay forever 9!
But now she is 10! And I couldn't be more proud of her.
Of course, it's silly to imagine I could keep her forever my baby, but I have so enjoyed every single minute being her mum. She was a "surprise" baby ; such a surprise_ I couldn't imagine how we were ever going to cope. She arrived during the saddest part of my life. Mum had just died, after a very short illness, and I was so, so low. I couldn't see a way forward. A new baby was the last thing on my mind but my mum had other ideas.

My mum knew about Katie. She knew, even before I did. She talked to me about a "baby" just before she died.
They never met, mum and Katie, and yet it's like they know each other.

I am grateful every day for the wonderful mum I had, and for the little girl who was sent to mend a broken heart.

Happy Birthday Katie. Can't believe you are 10 already!!
 

Once again we made the trip to our motherland, otherwise known as "Newcastle" to visit our respective families this Christmas.
In one weekend we managed to fit in two shopping trips to the Metrocentre, two visits to my dad's house, a visit to my sister's house, with a cuddle from her gorgeous new baby "Lil Dottie" and a visit to Dave's boys' home, where, once again I managed to drink too much wine! Thankfully, Dave's ex managed to get herself more drunk than me so I don't feel so guilty! Well, it is Christmas!



We love the Christmas decorations in the Metrocentre

Katie and her big brother at Nando's

Jaime, Tony and cheeky Charlie arrived a few days before Christmas. Our house was so busy and noisy and messy...but filled with LOVE

Charlie loves playing the piano!

 Charlie helped his Nanny with the housework. Well...you have to get the place tidy for Santa coming! Charlie is definitely on Sants's "good list".

Jaime left Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with her dad in Newcastle.

Normality and order were resumed in our home, but it is so so quiet! How can one little cheeky 2 year old make his presence known so acutely?

Christmas Day was just the three of us and everything was perfect.

I still wonder what I have done to deserve such a lovely life and a beautiful family.
Truly Blessed.x

The Mayor's Chair

Katie in the Mayor's Chair

I have purposefully not blogged about this, but my little family has become quite political where home education is concerned. Back in June we became "known" to Bedford LA and since then it has become a roller coaster of a journey trying to "educate" them regarding there duties towards HE families and exactly what they can and can't do! Unfortunately, Bedford are more interested in what they can't do, and go and do it anyway!

Recently Bedford announced they were reviewing their HE policy. Great we thought...at last they must have read the Law on HE and the Guidelines issued to them by Central Government and we rather naively thought they we amending their (dire) policy for the better.... nothing could be further from the truth!

There was a consultation meeting in Bedford yesterday to discuss the new draft policy and of course we wouldn't have missed it for the world. And, what an education for Katie : 9 years old and attending her first council meeting.

The meeting was surprisingly civilised considering emotions were running high. The EHE officer, who has far too much to say in her letters to us (visits, evidence, reports etc) was noticeably quiet. Of course she already knew how people felt about the appalling policy as most folk had already submitted a written response. She'd even called in a mediator to keep the peace as she feared it would all kick off! Ha Ha!  Fortunately the lovely families who turned out for the meeting were intelligent, eloquent and civilised. And the children were all amazing.... and so patient with what must have been a boring meeting.

On the upside, Katie had a turn in the Mayor's chair which she informs me is most comfortable. After the meeting Katie and her friend Lara were treated to a visit to the Mayor's Chamber.

All in all it was a positive meeting. I think our many concerns were taken on board and hopefully the draft policy will be put in the bin and re-written from scratch!
There are to be further work-shops in the future with Bedford to discuss the new policy. Hopefully, with the insightful input of HE families the new policy will be truthful, honest and open. Maybe then HE families will be more willing to engage with Bedford LA.
Now our new LA here in Lincs....arrggghhh! that's a different post!

Baston Fireworks

 Bonfire Night is here again. Sunday gone, we saw the most spectacular Fire-Work Display in Baston

(a village just down the road for us) The village is small and there were a lot of people there! The parking was a nightmare, but it was so worth it! And...it didn't rain! It always rains on Bonfire night!

 

 

Bonfire night always reminds me of the day I gave birth to my eldest daughter Jaime. Nine months pregnant and Jaime's dad decides we should go and see our local bonfire, on foot. Trouble is it was miles away, and it was bloody freezing. But I went anway, because we were at that glorious stage in our relationship when we would do absolutely anything for each other. By the time we got back home I felt ready to drop, literally! I went into labour later that night and Jaime was born the following day. That was 28 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
 

Happy Birthday to my darling daughter Jaime.x



Jaime