People Can Be Strange

I got a bit of a jolt when I realised I have rellies here reading. All the more odd cos none of them have ever admitted they are or even left a comment to that effect. Life has been very hard lately but, despite the obvious lack of happy posts, none of them have phoned up to see if I was OK even tho they have seen from this blog things have been far from OK. In fact it is fair to say a wall of silence has come from all of them. Busy I suppose. Or can't be bothered. Whatever. Do I mind they are reading? Well its public so I can't complain really can I? Just another eye opener. I might put it private tho so if you want to still read let me know on the comments with an addy I can invite you from.

Further to My Getting Things Ready Post

I decided to re-arrange the house a bit and put the resources for formal learning in the front room. I am surprised it has taken me this long to do it as the room is unused except for sleepovers ( of which three are in there tonight) and when visitors come and visitors can sit elsewhere. There is already a table and chairs in there and bookcases so it is just a case of removing the 3 carpets still waiting to be laid and swapping books and art stuff around. The room has no TV which is good as the room the boys do the most in has one and it is a big distraction. They even call it the TV Room.

I am hoping the room might inspire them to do more of what I think they need to do now they have hit "big school" age. Hoping anyway :)

It's cold this weekend and raining hard, with a howling gale. Summer seems a distant memory already and it isn't even halfway through August. We had to put the rabbits back in the shed. They are not impressed but sit in the rain if not put in. My head is full of ideas and things to do. I just hope the boys are sparked off by some of them.

De -Cluttering

Everyone seems to be in the mood for a clear out at the moment. I certainly am and are determined to get rid of 9 years of accumulated crap from HE. Unfortunately youngest son has other ideas and every. single. thing. I box up he gets out again. Now if he used the contents of the boxes that would be great but no. He drags the boxes into his room and tips them out to add to the ever mounting compost heap of detritus under his bed, his brother's bed and the middle of the floor. I go back in ( when he is asleep ) and gather up the rubbish and put it back in the loft. The next day he finds out and takes it all back again. I point out that he outgrew blocks years ago, ditto Cuisenaire rods and weigh bears. It cuts no ice. However I am determined. We made a "deal" that we keep every.single.book ( including My 1st Thomas and Oxford Reading Tree readers) if I can get rid of the babyish HE resources. He agreed - sort of. He still wants the rods and blocks but hopefully the ebb and flow to the loft might stop and I can actually get some crap out of here and to a charity shop. Well that's the plan.

I have been making preparations for the winter. I have been stockpiling coal while it is a bit cheaper and gathering and saving wood for the fires. I also got two dryers for clothes and a pulley system one to hang in the kitchen. The tumble dryer is going bye, byes. We took out 20 light bulbs and saved half our electricity in one month by doing so. No one noticed but prior to the bulb cull certain members of the family had been leaving all the lights on all night. They are low energy ones but I am sure they don't actually save anything. We had new double glazed windows put in the back of the house in the hope of keeping wind out this winter and so keeping warmer. The 120 year old Victorian ones looked nice but rattled and whistled all the time. The kids are being trained to turn electrical stuff off. ( except D who used a fan all night while on his games so I have had to hide it). Dh is putting carpet down in places we didn't have it before to keep the draughts out. It is already a bit autumnal here on the coast and it is only early August. Last winter was terrible. I need to get everyone fleeces soon which we will wear ( even in bed) from September to next June.

Getting Things Ready

is hard for me. I am not a natural planner as I feel deep down learning should be a bit more spontaneous then maths on Monday at 10 am just cos it is Monday at 10 am lol. Anyway that aside I pulled out some resources and took a long hard look at them and got the boys to look too. B said OK to a fair bit of what I showed him and so did D but the workbooks were scorned as boring. What we ended up with was this:-

For maths mathletics online which also has the, once free, Rainforest maths. If you ask for a HE code it cost £10 a year per child. I have also got all the books for Living Math as well as the schedules which will work well with our history which is going to be Story of the World Ancient Times and the activity book for D as he hasn't finished it and Story of the World Middle Ages for B who is also doing The Middle Ages lapbook to go with it and cos he likes them. B is also reading this.

Both boys are doing art from this, this and these. Both boys are doing writing from here. D already does the primers and they have proved very successful for him as it is fairly short pieces and he cans stop before his hand hurts. Science wise I am undecided cos they are lol. I may do

The Story of Science with the associated experiments. Or do our own chemistry and use MLB as logs for pictures and recording of findings etc. Which leaves geography. We have done loads over the years and I think we might do the coast of Britain and use our Coast To Coast d.v.d's and do a bit on the places around the coast, coastal erosion, rocks, plants, and the like. We also have a fair few of these which are handy for a bit of a change or review or on a day when all else fails :)

So thats it really. Best is it all here already so is costing nothing. I hope I am feeling up to it.

Better Now

dh is back to help out. It was hard here on my own even though it was only for 2 days. I ran round all day yesterday from early so when dh got home we went out for our tea. I was shattered, stiff and in pain but it was nice to eat in peace and watch the boats go by. Today we had the bay replaced in ds room. More mess but it is worth it. All of the back is done now and now looks almost posh instead of a crumbling wreck. :) I am hoping it will cut down the fuel bills in winter.

I bought this book for B a couple of weeks ago. He is really into Lord of The Rings and all things Lord of The Rings so I got him it and this literature guide to do a bit of work on the books we are reading. He has almost read the Guide To Middle Earth from cover to cover and spends ages giving me verbatim accounts out of it, despite refusing to admit he is reading it lol. Its not an easy book to read and I am proud of him for managing it. We bought a few Lego figures and parts of figures off ebay for his videos he makes of the books.

Dh is putting down the carpets that are clogging up the hall and stair and landings soon so when the are done I can sort out HE stuff and have a clear run for starting some science and art projects with the boys. S has nearly finished her 2nd diploma and is deciding what to do when she finishes compulsory ed in June. I think she will be going to college then uni. It will be weird only have 2 HE by then.

I am fragile, really fragile but getting there. Some days are better then others and I am always OK ish when it is sunny like today. Got a charity quiz to do tonight for the rescue fund raising. Not sure if picking me was a great idea considering the last team I was in was called Dumb and Dumber ;)

Thinking and Planning

Decided after the last post, that I pulled to draft, I need to take the bull by the horns so to speak and get proactive. I had a long think - never a good idea. The long think resulted in a long cry and the realisation I am actually quite depressed. I have decided getting a grip on the stuff that upsets me the most is a way forward and have decided that due to the descent into indolent chaos around here the boys need a bit of a routine. How I am going to get that when their sleep patterns are so out of kilter I have no idea but D ASKED - yes asked - for main lesson books again and more art. I dragged out the art resources and the books on artists etc and he wants to do that. B wants to do a medieval history lapbook. D asked to do more chemistry and record it in the MLB and so we are doing that too. Both of them need more maths practice and I am ruminating on that at the moment. I have many options but most are workbook based and neither of them like that much. B has decided his spelling is not good enough for him at the moment and we had a whole series of books called Sequential Spelling. All but book 3 and 5 have disappeared. They are from the US and I don't feel inclined to buy them again but I cannot find them anywhere. Very strange.

I fear we are in for another round of HE battles if people have their way and I need to prepare for that contingency too. We already had a hell of an 18 months and I was quite enjoying the lull.

Rescue wise we are full up. I see all sorts here but one little rabbit reduced me to tears. He had been a pet of someones for 5 years but was handed in cos they were bored of him! He is lovely and deserves better then being ignored and left in a tiny hutch and I am glad he is here but it upset me a lot that he could be sent to us like a piece of used furniture.

Pet wise we are down to 19 rabbits after Jim had to be pts and up to 7 cats - 5 of whom are mental kittens.

Too Much To Blog

and little time to blog it. The weather is fantastic, the beach nearly empty of tourists until the end of July when the English school holidays start and what are my lot doing? Sleeping every day away. Heat really pole axes them. At night they come alive and want to do things when it is dark and I want to sleep. I spend all day cleaning, doing rabbit care and gardening and waiting for people to get up. Then being stuck in the middle of endless aspieness no one can help but is wearing all the same. It is lonely, depressing and has hollowed me out. One or two need an attitude adjustment. Dh is moving back in. Yeah I know. I know what I said but sometimes what I said and what I do don't tally. He has been out of here a long time now and I started to see it wasn't all him. I am a bitch. Class A one actually. I expect too much of everyone, including myself. I need to lighten up and not go off on one over trivial stuff. Its not like he had an affair or anything. My whole war with him boiled down to 4- 6 cans of beer a night. Life is to short to whine about stuff like that. Most blokes drink far more and noone gives a toss. So.........................here we go again. The boys are delighted. Those who take after me are not. Go figure lol I could write a book on dysfunctional families.