RAWGASBOARD! and other events of this week....

This week involved;

An early morning walk to the farm shop - we always like saying hello to the friendly chickens :)

Making some more wind gliders at home ed group...

Acey had alot of fun with these ones!

They also coloured in some origami frogs :)

We have made some little acorn cap candles. Acey enjoyed pouring the wax into them and watching it go hard. Was alot of fun!

This is our new waldorf mermaid which was originally bought for Acey's christmas stocking, but we couldn't resist playing with her now. Acey has named her Ruby...(From Esterella's felted friends on facebook - she makes some LOVELY things)

Chopping the aubergine for a pasta dish that Acey made himself...

And a delicious feast was had on Friday with our friend David....not just ANY feast...but a RAWgasboard (like a smorgasboard but only containing raw food). Dave and I used to be a big fan of 'smorgasboards' back in the day. Once we got so smorgasboarded that we stuffed some cheese, kale and crystalised ginger up each of our noses, and felt that we might die. After a rawgasboard, although we were full we generally felt quite well, and not inclined to do anyting so drastic!! We feasted on raw chocolate balls which tasted like halva, carrots, peppers, raw tabouli (recipe from chrissy at liveliferaw.co.uk) sea spaghetti and raw pesto, happy pate, chia and goji crackers, and some (ok not raw) carob chocolate...
and of course sauerkraut!!!

Nettle's chia and goji crackers

I was quite impressed with how these turned out, so thought I would share the recipe. These are a nice treat for when you want a comforting sweet treat in wintertime;

Soak roughly one cup of chia in two cups of water for about 8 hours, along with a handful of goji berries. We also added some flax. When the water has all been soaked up, add two tablespoons of local raw honey or raw agave. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon or mixed spice, mix with clean hands, spread the mixture out onto a dehydrator sheet  and dehydrate for around 12 hours. Delicious! I love the smell of spices in the kitchen around this time of year. They would be lovely with raisins in them too I should imagine or some cacao.

More amazing raw-ness was had on Saturday as I met a couple of other raw foodists in Taunton - I know - in Taunton! We had some smoothies from the amazing superjuice van in town and it was wonderful to meet some lovely like minded peoples :)

Acey had lots of fun playing with his friend Nancy on Friday evening, and with his friend Vincent Bailey in the park today too! It has been a busy week, and now poor Acey has a cold so I think the next few days are going to be taking it easy.

xxx

November!

November is not my favourite word...neither is December, January or February either to be honest. Not a fan of the colder months...but here they are and so we will celebrate them in all of their horrible coldness!

At home ed group on Tuesday the children made some paper wind gliders which were alot of fun, although as the weather was so nice, they were itching to get outside and play. Acey had lots of fun climbing the Oak tree with his friend;

On Thursday evening we went along to our local church who were having their 'Thursday fun club' and a firework display. There were ALOT of children playing with a big parachute when we got there, which Acey did not want to participate in and spent the whole time watching with his hands over his ears. When it all quietened down a bit he started to relax a bit more and the children all lined up for hot dogs or (in Acey's case) popcorn! The firework display was nice, Acey's ears were covered yet again for the duration of the spectacle, (he does this when there are loud noises) but he had a big smile on his face and especially enjoyed the catherine wheel :) It was another lovely little event for children..

This week has also involved;

Night-time yoga by pumpkinlight (very fuzzy yoga pics)

Acey making his own porridge and hot chocolate

And over the weekend he stayed at his nanna's, and she took him swimming! He came back telling me all about how he had lots of fun jumping in the water. I spent the day in Charmouth with my  best friend David on Saturday...What can I say about that? Well, I never thought I would spend the day in Charmouth with David again, but we did and we discussed the possibility of a whale being washed ashore and trapping us there by landing on our arms like the man in 127 hours. and it was nice and quite magic.

Oh, the sea!
xx

Chutneys, pumpkins and halloween...

So we've had a rather good week :) Last week my mum was off work. Acey and I love it when his nanna is off work, as Acey enjoys spending time with her, and for me it is like I get to spend lots of lovely time with my best friend. On Thursday we all went to the farmer's market to get some delicious ingredients for our apple chutney, and then we had lots of fun (and did ALOT of chopping) making it!

                                                            Nanna's kitchen

On Saturday we got invited to a pumpkin party at the Living Light church. I brought my mum along as I am not a fan of going to events where there will be alot of people who I don't know on my own. We were all a bit shy at first, but everyone was so friendly, and Acey soon got into making foam pumpkins and decorating them with beady eyes and glitter paint :) There was facepainting and orange hairspraying too, and also some games, which Acey didn't want to participate in (I was quite thankful that he didn't want his hair sprayed orange I'll admit)... but he did have enormous fun decorating little cupcakes with orange icing and faces made out of sweeties. After the consumption of such an amount of sugar, he was not so shy anymore, and was zooming around telling everyone about his speed battery (one of the many reasons why I don't encourage sweetie eating...more on that in a minute..). Overall it was a really nice little event for the children, and they all had a little tea afterwards.

Yesterday we ended up going for a wonderful countryside walk with our friends Chrissy and Nancy and their two dogs, and our friend David came along too. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing Acey running around free in nature, it is outdoors where he feels most confident and himself. He did get very carried away sploshing in the puddles though, and so was a bit of a sorry state with wellies filled with water and wet trousers on the way back!! We did a slight spot of whortleberry foraging too (they were delicious)!

                                           One little fairy and one little pixie playing by the tree

The beautiful Somerset countryside where little ones can run wild and free with the sheep :)

When we got home from our walk we made some lovely warm pumpkin soup to eat with our friend David. And yes I do say 'eat' soup instead of 'drink' as we came to the conclusion that people who say that they 'drink' soup are the type of people who only drink those silly cuppa soups instead of the actual real wholesome stuff! ;)

And today it is Samhain, or 'halloween'.. I must admit that I am not a big fan of the occassion. As a child I never went 'trick or treating' and I don't really get it. It is times like this I sometimes do wonder why I have to question everything and why can't I just let my little one go out and enjoy the night, armed with an empty bag ready to fill with sweeties from strangers. Well, for one thing I really cannot stand the array of costumes and sticky facepaints and other gimmicky rubbish that lines the shelves in the stores. It is a waste of money! And WHY would I want to send my little one to eat all of those sweeties?!! Maybe I would feel differently if people instead handed out apples, or roasted chestnuts or something a bit seasonal and homely. Why does it have to involve all of the sugar and E-numbers? A sugar rush followed by a terrible slump (as I learnt on Saturday) are no treat for any of us! Are the children getting tricked into what is a 'treat?'

Mean mummy or Mindful mummy? You decide...

Our loveheart pumpkin <3

Time for Acey's bedtime massage by pumpkinlight now I think...

Love and Samhain blessings to all xx

A mid week blog - soup with Nanna, a spooky birthday party and foraging with Annabelle

I was hoping to start writing this blog on more of a weekly basis, but this week we have quite a few photos to share, and I fear that I would have not the room on an end of week blog! So far this week...

Monday was spent with my mum. We made some delicious butternut squash soup and then made some little christmas decorations - some little felt things to hang on the tree. Acey had fun drawing,cutting out and sticking the loveheart shapes for his and then sticking lovely pretty red beads on them and glitter glue. They look very pretty;

                                           He also made a halloween bat too!

My little star creation (my sewing skills are minimal)

Yesterday we randomly got invited to Noah's birthday party, so did not go to home ed grop.. It was halloween themed dress up and it was quite sweet - there were exactly; two little pirates (Acey and Noah), two little witches and two little skeletons. Lots of fun was had...

                                                    blowing out FOUR candles on the cake :)

Today we went for a lovely walk in Broomfield woods with our dear friend Annabelle who is due to give birth soon. She wanted to take a walk to try to 'speed things up'... this is one of my favourite places...

Such a beautiful view of the sea (kilve I think?) and the quantocks

                                  

And armed with our Richard Mabey's food for free book we did a spot of foraging too. Here our some delicious beech nuts we gathered. It was a lovely walk with Annabelle and Sam the bump!

Now it's time to snuggle up with our redbush citrus tea and toffee apple before we prepare dinner.

Autumn sparkkles xx

The joys of having a home-ed family around the corner, and baking on a sunday afternoon...

Picture the scene; you walk out of your front door of your  flat and get stopped by your nosey neighbour, who asks why your child doesn't go to school...when you tell him you are home educating he recoils in horror and asks if it is legal, and 'haven't people been sent down for that?'... (yeah I know right)?... you walk to your local shop, passing by a local secondary school and nearly get trampled by a load of blazers. You go to your local park and yours is the only child in the playground over the age of four (unless you end up getting jarred to smitherines by some local truanting schoolboys who try to teach your child to swear)... and you don't drive, so you can't escape very far for very often. Now imagine that you suddenly find out there is a mother and father of four living just around the corner who have Taken Their Children Out Of School!!! Just around the corner!! :) On Wednesday our lovely friend Annabelle and her bump payed us a visit and we all went around to visit them. Esther and her partner are wonderful and Acey loved playing with her children, especially Rhys who is seven. So yes, it is a brilliant thing to have some home educated children just around the corner!!!

Tuesday at home ed group was very seasonal - the children made beautiful leaf crowns and masks, and pretty leaf rubbings. Acey did make a small mask, although alas his heart was not really into it this week, as he just wanted to run around with his tomboy friends. How very handy it is to have a playground right next to the village hall!

On Thursday we did alot of spelling... Esther gave us some magnetic flash cards with different words that children can learn to spell and put into sentences. I have cut them up and put them in a little wooden box so Acey can pick words out at random and learn them. He is so good at reading and sounding out words, and the fact that he has taught himself pretty much by asking questions and sounding letters out really proves that children do not need teachers; they simply need gentle nurturing guidance in life and the freedom to learn what they want when they want how they want. Then it all becomes so much fun.

Today has been a typical boring sunday, so we decided to do some baking of jam tarts... you can tell we're mostly raw now because whenever we try to 'cook' anything, it never comes out perfectly anymore through lack of practice. ;) They were more like bramble jelly fairy swimming pools, but hey, they still tasted alright. My one naughty thing before juice feasting this week.

Acey stayed at his nanna's on friday and so I spent my time going to Hestercombe gardens with a friend, reading my mermaids and mythology magazine which is THE BEST and knitting...

This is the 'mermaid' shawl I have been knitting for quite a while now.

And so next week Acey's nanna is off work and we shall probably have a crafty week getting ready for christmas, making chutneys for people and getting the sewing machine out. Can't wait; I love preparing for the wintertime :)

October so far...

''...I knew when Autumn came -

Not by the crimson flame

Of leaves that lapped the eaves

Or mist

In amethyst

And opal-tinted weaves;

But because there were alley-taws

(punctual as hips and haws)

On the counter at Mrs Shaws...''

This is a poem from one of Acey's books and we have been repeating it rather alot. Well, I finally got a new camera! (it's pink) So here are some pictures of our autumn so far - have still stolen a couple and some were taken from my phone...

I turned 24; my wonderful friends had a gathering for me in their beautiful farmhouse garden the day before, where Acey enjoyed playing with his friend Jacob, and then on my birthday we went to Bristol where my dad and step-mother prepared a grand feast! It was beautifully sunny weather, and nice to actually sit out in some gardens (we don't have one)!

(Acey and his nanna)

We have collected lots of conkers, and Acey enjoyed making conker necklaces and a conker cat at home ed group the previous week;

...And then going for a walk at Fyne Court, where they had great fun playing with the wooden instrument!

We had to put Giraffe into hospital, as Acey had been taking alot of aggression out on him rather alot (he needs surgery of the needle and thread variety, and lots of cuddles but I think he will survive)!

We said goodbye to our lovely Marcus who has gone to Jamaica for six months...

we've been for a run (well Acey ran, I walked)...

Acey has FINALLY discovered that he loves salad, and wants to become a raw foodist

He is also learning to play the guitar with his own proper mini electric one (soo cute)...


last weekend there was a history event on in town, where we saw some interesting people in costumes, watched a lady doing some pretty weaving, and watched a sword re-enactment!! Acey was a bit more interested in running around and climbing on his grandad on this occasion though :)

September, the start of the new school year but just the same as ever for us!

Autumn time has crept up on us again really quickly this year! Usually I am a little sad to be saying goodbye to the summer sunshine, but unfortunately we didn't really have the romantic skipping through wild flower meadows basking in the ocean skipping through forests with picnic basket in hand happy summertime that I'd had in mind really due to various reasons. Infact this was probably one of the most difficult disappointing years for me, and although we still did have some pretty wonderful times I can honestly say that for once, I will glad for an excuse for Acey and I to snuggle up, go for walks that are so cold we can't wait to come home and snuggle up some more, and hibernate alot with the knitting. And then we can have a fresh start in the spring time!

The beginning of the season started with sticky red fingers and mouths as we gathered SO many wonderful juicy blackberries. There were so many this year, we were literally going for walks daily, gathering them greedily. We mostly at them raw with delicious unpasturised cream, but we did make a couple of crumbles too! We have also foraged so far; apples (so many apples) pears and elderberries. When September came and most of the children went back to school, I have to admit I got a bit of a 'home educator and proud' attitude, and went out and bought some actuall school shirts, which we took home and tye-dyed with the elderberry juice. They did come out a lovely pinky purple colour, but didn't come out very tye-dyed at all (it was our first attempt) so we obviously did something wrong....still, the shirts are very pretty indeed! We are going to get some silks soon and have a go at batik patterns using wax, which a friend suggested we might be better suited to!

At the beginning of the school year, I really felt very in need of some structure (not MAJOR structure like sitting down doing arithmathics and letterland characters) but just a little routine put into our day, as sometimes it felt like we were just drifting and not really getting alot done! So I have devised a simple little timetable, just containing different daily chores that Acey can help out with during the day now that he is getting bigger, and different things to do each day, with special circle times in the evenings. I have learnt, after been total laid back slummy 'let him get on with it, hmm what shall we do today then' mummy that maybe children do need some routine and structure to their days. (mine does, anyway)! So far this little time table thing we have going does indeed seem to be working, and it is quite enjoyable really, for us both. We don't stick to it religiously, like if we have different plans for a certain day, but it  is nice for it to be there.

This month has also involved attending a steiner inspired forest school kindergarten in Broomfield, set up by my friend Chrissy, which was a really enjoyable day filled with baking bread rolls, making and eating soup, singing some songs and going for a walk at Fyne Court. Hopefully, there will be more sessions of this soon.. Acey has a new electric guitar from our friend Glenn and he has already had a few little lessons. He has the whole rockstar thing pretty worked out already!! We spent alot of time with our lovely friend Marcus, who is soon moving away to Jamaica (massive sad face) but is coming back in six months (massive smiley face)!! I am so glad I have met someone very amazingly smile provoking, kind and great with Acey. Hmm, I wonder if he is reading this ;) We love yoooou loads Marcus xx (urgh I know, pass the sick bucket, right)?!

We have attended a few home ed group sessions, which we really enjoy.. Acey plays very nicely with the children there, and looks forward to it. Unfortunately we missed the Not back to School picnic as my dad was here decorating my room (very pretty pink bedroom now though) but we attended the first session in a hall this week, where the children baked apples,did some cutting and sticking with some beautiful sparkly paper, and played in the little playpark. Some photos of this are included below, which we again have had to pinch from somebody else, as am still without a camera!

Perhaps the next blog post will contain more pictures, as I do intend to get my own camera soon!!

I have to say, this child-led with now a slight bit more structure added style of education is really working and going great for us! Acey doesn't go to school, but he does enjoy spelling, simple adding up, singing the alphabet, cooking and baking, going for long walks, and playing with friends. Sometimes I really feel that school children are missing out on the freedom that comes with this choice of learning at home, yet I can't think of anything that Acey (or any other home ed child I know of) is lacking in any way.  What a rewarding thing to be able to say!!