Lovely day.

Today was a beautiful day, both in terms of weather and in terms of being relaxed but quite productive in its own way.

This morning M & I continued in her bid to declutter (or as she would more likely put it 'have less stuff'), getting rid of a lot of junk from one of the many cardboard boxes she has in various corners or her room.  Meanwhile K carried on doing the same on her own in her room. 

The girls had piano lessons at midday and as usual M wanted to go to the park (I'm happy to when it's dry, although she'd go even when it was pouring if I were up for it).  On the way to the park M told me about the book she's reading, which she was given for her birthday, The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, she's enjoying it, but told me that she thought it was 'a bit gendery'.  On further questioning she meant that the two main characters, a boy and a girl like stereotypically boy/girl things, which I thought was an interesting observation.  M also told me that she was ready to start doing 'some more learny things', which I understand to mean a bit more structured or formal learning, so we're going to have a think about what sort of things she has in mind.  Usually K & I play Phase 10 while M has her lesson, but today K decided to go to the park too.

K at the park.

After piano lessons, we took a picnic lunch to the park, where I also read a couple of chapters of Ruby Redfort, before we went to the library.  The girls went to the park for a bit, while I popped to a couple of shops before we came home.

A shield bug that joined us at the park.

This afternoon, having reminded M that she has some thank yous to write for her birthday presents, which the expectation that she write one a day until they're done.  I was quite surprised that she wrote 8 of them, they are admittedly very short and to the point, but still.  Meanwhile K was continuing in her slow but steady progress of sorting her room.

Unfortunately M discovered that her Blue Peter badge, which she wears all the time, had fallen off at some point during the day.  She was a bit upset but has already started on a picture to send in to try to get another one to replace it.

A very busy and eventful few days.

It's been a very busy and eventful weekend.  Friday was M's birthday treat.  She really wanted a sleepover with her friends A & J (sisters), but partly because of the state of our house (building work still on-going although the end is now in sight) and partly because A doesn't feel she's ready for a sleepover at someone else's house yet it wasn't really an option to have it here.  S, A & J's mum, is a *very* good friend and she offered to have it at theirs instead, which solved both problems.  So, after M had been to cricket, K, M & I went round to drop their overnight things off and pick up A & J and I took them all to Pizza Express for tea.

A, K, M & J.

Afterwards, I dropped them back at theirs and went home for my tea, after which A & I went out to the pub for a drink (a very rare occurrence).  They had a great time, although when S dropped them back home about 11.45 the next morning, she told me that she and her husband had been woken up by noise at about 4.30am.  As I understand it, M had woken up and not been able to get back to sleep.  She usually sleeps either with K or with me, but the girls were two to a room and she was in with J and K & A were together.  She would usually snuggle up with whoever she was with and go back to sleep, but J had said that she gets too hot with someone else in bed with her, so M couldn't snuggle with her and she didn't want to risk waking A, so didn't go and get in with K.  Instead, since they'd said it was okay to wake them in the night, she woke up K & J and they started playing (they snuck downstairs to get a game), which woke A up, who joined in.  Eventually they woke the grown ups too, who told them to go back to bed, which they did!

On Saturday, after K's ballet lesson and a quick lunch, the girls and I left A and headed back down to my parents'.  They weren't here, but we'd decided to come for the town street market and the garden party at the semi-sheltered housing complex where my Grandma lives.  A didn't come partly because he was supposed to be playing cricket on the Saturday afternoon (although it was rained off shortly before we left) and partly because the girls and I were staying Sunday night and going straight to a HE group we go to twice a month in Asfordby on the Monday.  We listened to more Lemony Snicket on the way and all was well until about 5 minutes for our destination K said that she wasn't feeling very well.  A little while later she said she felt a bit sick and less than 1 minute from the house, she said she thought she was going to be sick.  When I asked if she could last a minute she said she thought so and we got onto the drive and I pretty much stopped before she found she couldn't quite manage to.  There was a lot of sick.

We were supposed to all be going to join Great Grandma at her garden party, but clearly that couldn't happen, so after some debate, when it was clear that K was feeling much better now and we'd cleaned her up and I'd got the worst out of the car, I took M and left her in the company of several dozen octogenarian-pluses, then dashed back to K.  K was by this time clearly fine, so she had a shower, while I continued cleaning the car and used up all of my Mum's bicarbonate of soda, liberally spreading it over the affected areas to be hoovered out later.

K decided she'd like to come with me to pick up M and we went back to Great Grandma's for a little while, where M told me how all the old people had tried to get her to eat cake, even though she wasn't hungry!  Once back at Granny & Big Grandad's we had some tea, before I read some of the second Ruby Redfort book to them, M & I started a game of chess, but she was too tired to concentrate, so we abandoned it and we all watched Pointless (we like that programme) before the girls went up for an early night (M was, unsurprisingly, asleep considerably earlier than usual!).

Sunday was the street market, which had the 1940s at the theme.  K & M had been keen to dress up, but we had forgotten about this unfortunately.  M was very unhappy about that, so while K was at ballet, she made a gas mask box (covered an old camera box in brown paper and added a strap made of French knitting she'd done ages ago) and dug out the flat cap that A had found in a charity shop to wear when dressing up as James Herriot for my friend's 40th back in February.  She was very unhappy about not really having any suitable clothes to go with them though.  K hadn't made anything, but did have some shorts that would do and a white top with a collar that would work as something a school boy might have worn.  She very kindly let M have both of these though, making one pretty good costume instead of two pretty rubbish ones.

Uncle M popped round before we went out, with Emily, his time-share dog, so we got to see him too, which was nice.  The street market was okay, although lots and lots of tombola stalls and not an awful lot else, but lots of people had made a real effort with dressing up and there were some World War Two re-enactors there, so occasionally you'd see some Military Police arresting a German soldier or someone who'd been dealing on the Black Market.  There was also a fancy dress competition, with 9 & under, 10-15 and 16+ categories.  After some deliberation, M decided to take part and came fourth in the 10 & unders (out of four, but still!) and since there was a money prize for the top three (we only found that out afterwards) it was definitely worth a go!  Someone I used to go to Guides with won first prize for the adults competition and we stopped to say hello to her and various other people, including Great Grandad.

The 10 and unders fancy dress competition

We went to Granny's bowl club too, which was open with a tombola, cake stall and some bowls games. The girls and I all had a go at one of the games, 50p for 4 bowls and you had to try to get them into an area that was marked out with points and get 12 or more points to win a prize. There was an elderly bloke from the club showing you what to do at the time. There were only 3 instead of 4 of the smaller bowls, which, along with the fact that he kept saying 'We won't count that one, try again' rather frequently, confused things somewhat. In the end neither of the girls managed 12 points, but they did do quite well between them, so (quite predictably, since the little boy before us hadn't got enough, despite lots of extra goes, was given a prize anyway) he said to my two that they could chose a bag of sweets (the prize) between them, because they'd both done well. Kate (10.5) had got rather frustrated already with what counted, what he'd said was 'practice' and how many bowls she'd actually had in the end and she stormed off, crying and locked herself in the loo. The problem turned out to be that she hadn't got enough points, so he shouldn't have been giving them a bag of sweets! M (9) agreed with Kate, but instead of having a major paddy/meltdown, accepted the sweets and told me that she planned to share them at the HE group we're going to on Monday.  It took a while, but K calmed down eventually and we went to find something for lunch back on the High Street.  

While eating M decided that she wanted to return to a stall where she had not only spotted, but also had a go on something.  She had some birthday money with her, although she had spent some, so was a little bit short.  Given she had more birthday money at home, I offered to lend her what she needed if she decided to buy it.  She did.

A bugle!

Next we returned to Granny's bowls club for a drink and a sit down and while there we chatted to random people.  One lady, who was also dressed up, spotted M's gas mask box, and said that she'd brought one too, except hers was a real one that had belonged to her sister and she got it out to show us.
 

Trying on the real thing.

After heading back to Granny's, I read the girls some more Ruby Redfort, before having a rest from reading, during which time we found some youtube videos of buglers playing both Reveille (which I learned today is pronounced revalley in English!) and the Last Post, both of which we had talked about with a few different people when M had had a go on the bugle.  This was followed by more Ruby Redfort, tea for the girls (whilst listening to more Lemony Snicket - I don't know how they manage to keep up with and not muddle up the different stories!), more Ruby Redfort, a game of chess for M & me (she won, eventually) and yet more Ruby Redfort before bed.

On Monday after packing up, we popped round to see Great Grandma and for M to play her French horn for her.  We'd been talking about it on Saturday and she'd been very interested, so since M had taken it with her, so she could practise (which she did on Monday morning), she got to see and hear how M is getting on and was very impressed.   

We headed for Asfordby after that, where the girls mostly played outside until the rain started and got really rather heavy along with some rumbles of thunder, when I insisted they come back inside!  Some of the children had decided to put on a bit of an impromptu show and M decided that she wanted to join in, so I went to get her French horn from the car and she played a couple of tunes.  Afterwards we went back for a bit more of a play and a cuppa with E, C, J & L before heading home.  

I had been hoping to come home to a finished or at least nearly finished utility room, unfortunately there seems to have been something of a lack of communication somewhere long the line (about an annoying corner in there), so the fitter had to sort out the corner cupboard to accomodate that.  Ho hum.

A low-key 9th birthday.

M appeared in my bed at a very civilised 7.55am to open her presents and cards before A had to leave for work.  She'd already had her main birthday present from A & me, her French horn, but I had found a book on flags in my present stash, so I'd wrapped that up so she would have something to open on the day.  She also received a pin badge (she collects them) in the shape of a French horn from K, several books, a craft kit to make a London bus pin cushion, a chess set (from Uncle S & Aunty P - having played for the first time at their house when we visited), a couple of photo frames (again she collects them to put on her, already really rather full, wall), some black felt (requested for a secret reason) and some money.

Apart from going out for piano lessons and popping to the shops, we didn't go out, despite the lovely weather, because K & M became engrossed in both listening to Lemony Snicket story cds and in M's case using the black felt she had received putting her plan into action and although it's on the small side, she's happy with the result.

It's a top hat!

Their currently listening to 'Book the Tenth - The Slippery Slope' of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.  In it a poem is referenced (the title isn't quite right, but I think it's a common mistake, as I recognised it as a real poem despite not actually knowing it, if you see what I mean), so I found it and this evening read it to the girls.  It's The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

This evening while K was at Scouts, M got her French horn out and had a good play, not just the things she's supposed to practise (which she's doing really well with), but also with a tune she has made up and some from one of the girls' early piano books.

Fun with Forces and at Fun Club

The (almost) final thing that we did at Ironbridge was the Fun with Forces workshop at Enginuity, which was very good and catered for a wide age range of children from about 4 up to teens.

It was interactive, with lots of questions and audience participation, demonstrations and a good dose of silliness.  It covered:

Forces = pushes or pulls  - using magnets to demonstrate both of these

Gravity - using a silly attempt to turn it off by having everyone wiggle their fingers at some balls as they were released from a 'drop zone'

M helping by releasing the balls.

            - and using a slope to make a truck move by rolling down it

Friction - using a truck with wheels and one without on two different surfaces, smooth and rough
            - using a board and trying to push it, then turning it into a hovercraft and trying again
            - getting everyone to rub their hands together to show that friction produces heat and sound

S riding on the hovercraft.

Air resistance - using little plastic men one with and one without a parachute dropped from the 'drop zone'

Thrust - using some balloons

About to release the balloon.

           - using a couple of 'rockets' powered by air - pushed in by hand and by stamping
           - using fire to blow the lid off a tin

After the workshop, we popped in to have a fairly quick look at the exhibition that was next door to Enginuity, which was about the Postal service during the First World War.  Then it was time to have some lunch before heading home.

We got home in time for the girls to have tea before M went to Brownies.  They were both absolutely shattered by bedtime, and M got rather emotional about having "too much stuff" and with a birthday coming up shortly people were going to give her even more.  She explained that the trouble is she gets attached to things that people give her and then she finds it really hard to get rid of them, even though she has too much stuff.  We agreed that I would help her go through her things to try to have a cull and I've also suggested that she might like to sell some of her things and give the money to charity.

Today was Fun Club, as it's the first Tuesday of the month.  People usually take along a cake to share with everyone when it's their birthday that month and M was very unhappy that I couldn't bake one as usual because of the state of the kitchen.  We bought something from the Co-op on the way and also went to the health store to buy something that particular friends, who have various allergies/intollerances, could share too.

It was a games session today and the older children were playing a co-operative game.  We arrived rather late, but K joined in straight away and M did towards the end after playing a board game with some younger friends first.  The game involved making this out of sticklebricks.

However, in the team, only one person was allowed to look at the model they were supposed to reproduce, another was responsible for getting the correct bricks from a big pile, another was a spy who could see what other teams were doing and the final person built the model following instructions given by the first person.  Not as straightforward as you might think.  However most of the teams did a pretty good job indeed and it was interesting hearing them talk about the difficulties of the different tasks afterwards with J who had organised the game.

We headed to the park for a while after lunch, before coming home and watching another episode of The Human Body dvd, this one covering the time from birth until toddlerhood.  Then K & M listened to some more of Lemony Snicket on cd (having borrowed the whole series from a friend, I've been usurped since we took them with us to listen to in the car on the way to and from Ironbridge).  This evening was the first outdoor korfball session of the year - it's a very civilised sport, indoors for most of the year but outdoor in summer!  Then they returned home with the second Ruby Redfort book, borrowed from their friend J, so I read the first couple of chapters once they were ready for bed.

Return to Ironbridge.

On Friday K, M & I went back to the the scene of our first group HE residential trip, Ironbridge (as you can see here, here, here & here, it was a great success!)  The lovely KL organised it brilliantly again and I think it's fair to say that a fantastic time (if rather less sleep than usual - and not just for the children!) was had by all.

Last time A joined us there for part of the time, but this time it was just the girls and me, even though it was over a weekend.  This was partly because he plays cricket on Saturdays and partly because he's so ridiculously busy with work at the moment that he used us being away as a chance to try to keep his head above water by working at the weekend without having to feel he's ignoring the girls and me.

We managed to get away mid-morning and arrived in time to have lunch in the town, before making our way the youth hostel, where we left the car before walking to Enginuity, which along with Blists Hill, was top of the girls' lists to return to.  One of the reasons for the return trip, was that some of the Ironbridge museums were closed when we went in November last year, so the plan was to visit those along with the favourites from last time.

There were some others who'd had the same idea, and we stayed there until about 4 o'clock, when we were allowed into the hostel.

Looking at how bouncy balls at different materials are.

After last time, I had already prepared K & M for the fact that 'sleepovers' (or lack-of-sleepovers as they should perhaps be called) weren't going to happen and I must say I was quite surprised that when it came to bedtime, although they moaned a bit, they didn't protest too much and as a result I think probably enjoyed the trip more as they weren't ridiculously tired during the day.

On Saturday we 'did' all of the museums that weren't open when we came in November, plus one that we'd dashed through very quickly last time.  Firstly we went to the Darby Houses, with two other families, the S's and the H's.  We all thought it was quite good, looking at the various rooms of the Darby family who were Quaker ironmasters.

The study

A medicine box.

The contents chart - including "Laudanum - poison" and "Sugar of Lead - poison"!

Kitchen.

Then we came to a room where we stayed for about half an hour - the dressing up room!  It had a variety of clothes to try on, for adults as well as children and both 'fashionable' Victorian and plain Quaker clothing.

M - as a mostly Quaker boy.

K - as a Quaker girl (not sure about the hat though!)

And me in Quaker dress too - not sure about the demonic eyes!

Next we went to visit the bridge and the Toll House, where we learned a bit more about the bridge.  Since the ironmasters were Quakers who believed that everyone was created equal, everyone had to pay the same price to cross the bridge, including royalty. 

The iron bridge

The price list - a ha'penny for pedestrians.

I found it almost incredible that the toll didn't change from when the bridge opened  in 1779 until ownership was handed over to Shropshire County Council in 1950!

Next was the Tar Tunnel, where a natural spring of bitumen was discovered when it was hit during the attempted construction of an underground canal in 1787.  It was fascinating to see it oozing from the walls of the tunnel as well as pools collecting in places.

One of the pools of tar.

Finally, despite protests from both of my girls, we went to the Broseley Pipeworks.  They strongly disapprove of smoking, and strongly objected to going to a museum about the making of pipes!  In the end they didn't wait in the car, but came in with us and did watch the videos and have a good look around.

Some of the pipes.

The adults were curious to hear that pipes were made in no small number before tobacco was introduced to this country, but we have yet to discover what people might have smoked!

Sunday, we went with the S's to Blists Hill, which was every bit as good as last time, possibly better as there were some things open that hadn't been when we went before.  We were very fortunate all weekend with the weather and that definitely helped too.  We started off by changing our money in the bank for Victorian money (40p = 1d, if I remember rightly!)

In the grocer's

In the chemist shop - the optician's section.

Same shop - rather larger dentist's area.

While we were in the chemist's we heard a kerfuffle outside and it was the policeman with a man who had nicked his bike!  They put on a bit of a show before moving on and we seemed to see a lot of the policeman after that.  He came into the drapers and haberdashers and commented to the lady in there that there seemed to be a lot of 'eccentric millionaires' about as that was the only explanation he could come up with the strange attire of some of the people around.

The drama outside the chemist.

Lace-making - that C had a go at.

In the candle makers.

The lady in the candle makers told us how she'd been researching the family tree of the man who'd owned this particular candle making business (all of the buildings in the place have been moved and rebuilt in their entirety) and had tracked down his great grandson to Canada and been in touch.  He was going to be coming to visit and dress up in Victorian costume to see where his great grandfather had worked at the time.

Demonstrating a lock.

The lockmakers wasn't somewhere we'd really noticed last time, but there was somebody there this time and he showed up how they worked and the development of the locks over time, which we all found really interesting.  Most of the locks used, certainly in the early Victorian period, had hardly changed from when they were first invented in the Middle Ages.

Lunch!

On the recommendation of friends who'd been the previous day, we walked along to the top of the Hay Inclined Plane, which we'd seen the bottom of next to the tar tunnel the day before, and had our lunch there.  The inclined plane was used to move goods and materials from the canal down by the river Severn to the one at the top of the hill.

Looking down the inclined plane.

After lunch we went to the bakery, to buy some fruit cobs (remembered from last time) and from there to the fairground (which is only there in the summer).

M & P on the swing.

The fairground is right next to the school and we all went in to have a look, but when we found out we could have a 'lesson', K, L & J chose to stay outside with P.

E, C & M in school.

Mr McCreedy the headmaster.

We had our hands inspected for cleanliness (which is of course next to godliness), sang a hymn, had to raise our hands to answer a question and then stand up when called on to speak, chant tables and repeat after the teacher some things about 'respecting our elders and betters' and knowing our 'god-given place in the social order'!

After an ice-cream, we were just in time for a tour of the foundry, before going to see the blacksmith, the 'squatters cottage' (A family moved to the area found work but nowhere to live, so built a cottage on the landowners land, which he did not object to, but then charged them rent for 60 years.  After that time however the cottage and the small plot it was built on then became their property).

Inside the two room squatters cottage, which at one time housed nine!

After a second visit to the sweet shop, and a visit to the wood carvers, where M asked if they had any offcuts she might be allowed and was given some advice along with a couple of small pieces of English lime wood, M also bought a cup and ball toy from the grocer's shop.

We then changed the remainder of our money back in the bank, where we learned a bit more about the florin (a 2 shilling piece, which had been a topic of conversation the previous evening in the youth hostel), that it had been introduced in Victorian times when decimalisation was wanted by the government of the time, as 2 shillings was a tenth of a pound.  However this idea didn't come to anything until the 1970s, when old florins were used a new 10 pence pieces and shillings were 5ps.

After a very long day at the museum, we were there from about 20 minutes after opening until about 20 minutes before closing, we headed back to the hostel.

As it was the last night, C did come for a sleepover with K & M, after they'd along with most of the other children had watched Frozen on dvd. 

The evenings were generally relaxed affairs with the children entertaining themselves and each other and the adults chatting elsewhere, but available to the children when needed.  I had taken along some crochet, which was at times rather frustrating and I ended up undoing and re-doing a significant amount (I think the pattern is missing two rather crucial stitches), I did however, with the help of quite a late night on the Sunday, manage to finish the bag I was making and I'm really rather proud of it!

Ta da!

The final morning was a return trip to Enginuity, where we had a look and a go at the various things there.

Trying to undo a 3d puzzle - nobody managed!

M & E knocking down the arch we'd just built.

KL had arranged a workshop on Forces that pretty much everyone, who hadn't had to dash off for various reasons, went to.  It was very good, with demonstrations on gravity, friction, air resistance and thrust, which I'll post about tomorrow!

Escaping the mess!

We've been away for the Bank Holiday weekend, mostly to escape the mess, but it was also good to see Granny and Big Grandad, Uncle M, Great Grandma and also (briefly) Uncle S & Megan (the girls' canine cousin).

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, but due to the really not good weather we didn't really do much.  On Sunday, Uncle M fitted a new (well reconditioned second-hand from ebay) cd player in our car, saving us about £500 compared to getting a new one from and fitted by the main dealer here!  Then we went for a walk with him and his time-share dog Emily (she belongs to friends of his, but he has her at weekends because they tend to be very busy then).  We went round the nature reserve where the girls had had a great time paddling last time we were down at my parents' - giving how much rain there had been the previous few days it's not surprising that it looked rather different.

The 'island' was about a quarter of the size!

K looking even taller than usual!

Granny is always very busy from about April until September, as she plays a lot of crown green bowls.  On Monday morning she took her to the green when there weren't any matches, so A, K, M and I could have a go.  We all enjoyed it, but it's really rather tricky!

K, M & Granny playing bowls.

The road to Granny's bowls club.

My favourite door in Alcester!

After that we popped up to see Great Grandma, who did a very good job of being surprised (my Dad had let slip that we were there). 

In the afternoon, the four of us went to Coughton Court.  The girls and I had been before, but it was A's first time there.  It was really busy, so it was a timed ticket entry to the house.  We had a couple of hours before our turn, so we had plenty of time to explore the outside first.  We went for a walk in what they call the Bluebell Wood first, although there were only a few stray late bluebells left.

There was this very cool sculpture though!

We also collected some sticks to have a few games of Pooh sticks afterwards.  After this we followed the riverside walk, and A talked to the girls about the river and how the water at the outside of a bend moves faster and how the path of the river changes gradually over time.  This led to a brief general conversation about geography (human and physical) and geology.

We visited the two churches, Roman Catholic and Church of England that are associated with the family from the house and the gardens and had a play with the quoits and croquet sets in the play area before it was time to visit the house. 

The house.

Coughton Court and the Throckmorton family are perfect to take a closer look at for the Tudor and Stuart period that we're about to move onto with the Usborne History of Britain books.  Part of the family remained Roman Catholic and part became Protestant and the fortunes of the different branches varied as you would expect at different times during the period of the Reformation.  It's just down the road from my parents and a National Trust property, so very convenient for us to return after we've done some more reading about the period.

There were First World War medals hidden around the house as part of the centenary of its beginning, which K & M looked for.  The girls have started to take more time rather than dashing around looking for this sort of thing now, which makes it more interesting both for A & me, as we get to look at things, and I hope for them.  One rather gruesome thing we found out, is that Walter Raleigh's wife (who he married in secret without permission from Elizabeth I) and who, after his execution, carried his head around with her in a bag, was a member of the Throckmorton family.

On Tuesday, Big Grandad took A to catch a train to London for work, but the girls and I stayed until after lunch.  In the morning, we went swimming with Granny, then after dropping her off at her bowls club, we went down the town and booked them onto a sewing workshop at a haberdashers in the summer.  They each made a needle case at one last summer and enjoyed it, so happy to have another go.  On the way back to Granny's, K & I (M wasn't interested) popped into the small town museum, which is mostly about Roman Alcester, as there have been archeological excavations in and around the town and they found quite a lot of things. 

Uncle S was there when we got back, and while we'd been at the museum, M had played her French horn for Uncle S and Granny (but in a different room with the door closed, because she wasn't sure if Megan would like it).  She also played for Uncle M on Sunday and practised a couple of times too.

After lunch, M wanted to play a game before we went home, so she and I had a game of Scrabble.  For the first time, M beat me.  She played a risky strategy of waiting for a particular letter, but it paid off and she played "quick" on a triple word square and scored 69, after which I was left unable to get back on terms and she won by a stretch.

Apart from that, the girls did a lot of listening to story cds, as our friend C had popped round on Friday with M's birthday present and on learning that we were now reading the Lemony Snicket series told her she had the whole lot on cd and then brought them round to lend them to the girls.  I also continued reading the one we're on (they're only listening to the ones we've already read), and A read them a Just William story too.

We're now home for a couple of days before the girls and I are off again, without A this time unfortunately, for our return trip to Ironbridge.

Keeping going with the girls and something for me.

Today K & M were being very secretive about what they were up to, both shutting themselves away this morning and continuing with what they were making while I read Lemony Snicket to them (but I wasn't allowed to look).  I was later presented with something that they had made, following the instructions from this book that M had borrowed from the library.

Meet Octavius the octopus!

As well as continuing with Lemony Snicket, we also finished off The Middle Ages.  We've also talked about what we might do once we've reached the present day and we have a plan.  We haven't decided just yet on details, but we're thinking about making a time-line.  I suggested from William I, but K insisted it has to be from pre-historic times!  I'm not sure what we're going to use to do it on, but I'm hoping that the enthusiasm will still be there by the time we've finished the next six books!

This evening I did something just for me.  At the weekend at the local arts festival, while the girls were doing an activity, the lady who was running mentioned a French evening to another of the parents, and when I mentioned that I used to be a French teacher and sounded a bit interested, she asked if I was interested in coming.  I said that I was and gave her my phone number.  Just recently I'm starting to feel the need to do stuff that's just about me a bit more often and this really fitted the bill.  It was just a group people who get together monthly, taking food & drink to share and just chat, but in French.  Talking to a group of people I don't know is not something that I find easy, but they were all lovely and actually because it was just me I couldn't hide behind anybody, so had to talk to people, and it was fine.  They were all really nice and it was really good to speak French for the evening.  It probably also helped that, although I'm really rather rusty, I was one of the more fluent ones there.  There were about a dozen of us with most people being I would guess in their 60s with a few a bit younger, although I think I was probably the youngest there.  I got the impression that the format is usually the same, with drinks and chat, followed by shared food and more chat and then some sort of word or language game that the host has come up with.  As I said this is a monthly thing, which I am definitely planning on going along to again.