In my back Garden.

• The faint buzzing of a bumble bee as it hovers over the newly mown grass
• The chack, chack, chack of the magpie that is watching me from the dry stone wall
• Wilma the hen who is having a dust bath in the sunshine
• The wiggling tail of a lamb in the back field as it suckles its mother.

Going with the flow-not with the Crowd

As I went to fill up with diesel as I normally do on a Thursday I was met with queues of panicking motorists eager to fill up with fuel because of the impending tanker stike (that's if it actually happens) It seem that the U.K.  media have successfully stirred up panic buying, causing problems before there even is one.
It occurred to me that society sadly so often follows the herd. People were buying petrol because they saw queues at the filling station and realised if they didn't stock up there would be none left so they refuelled too. Mostly to full capacity!
We are fairly sheltered in the country side, there's  a community here and people are more resourceful in emergencies. They have to be, there is little public transport. I remember a pensioner joking that whilst he was delighted to have a free bus pass it would be even better if a bus came with it!
So often there is a good side to such emergencies. We take our transport so much for granted. A hundred years ago in our village you would have taken your horse and cart to market every Thursday over the Fells, a round trip of 16 miles and it would have taken all day. You would probably have sat on the moors with a picnic overlooking the estuary on your way back watching the sun go down over Black Combe, a much healthier and contented lifestyle than most of us have now! Obviously there were great hardships too but people didn't expect the government to sort it out, they pulled together and helped one another.
Here we have another beautifully sunny day, I have my weekly shopping and I intend to spend the rest of the day working in my garden. The problems of tomorrow can wait (after all only 80% of what we worry about actually happens anyway.) So until it does it's not worth stressing about!

Black Combe

The Easter Holidays Approach!

Duddon Estuary

• Only two days to go before the Easter holidays begin. Woo-hoo I can't wait!
• Saw the first violet in the hedgerow yesterday. The forget- me- nots are out too!
• A wren hopped along a tree branch peering at me whilst I was out with the dog.

Sights and Smells of Spring!

Never did sun more beautifully steep 

   In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill; 

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! 

   The river glideth at his own sweet will:  

Upon Westminster Bridge, William Wordsworth

• The clocks have gone forward for British Summer-time and, as I shut in the hens for the night, I notice bats circling in the dusk.
• The crescent shaped moon shines brightly through the bare silhouetted trees which have not yet come into bud.
• The fragrance of Viburnum  bush wafts through the garden in the warm air and the redcurrant bush is in full bloom.

Open the Windows and let the sun shine in!

Sports relief 2012

Things to be Thankful for!

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And Heaven in a wild Flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake , "Auguries of Innocence"

Pussy Willows in Spring!

• It was a day of firsts today. I saw my first pussy willows in bloom, watched as a flock of geese flew over towards the estuary and saw my first dandelion of the year. Small things but a sign of new birth!
• The builder sitting in his upturned wheel barrow in the sun drinking a cup of tea!
• Sitting under the pear tree amongst the daffodils with my son, drinking chocolate milk shake and munching a chocolate muffin!

Making the Most of the Weather!

• Chaffinches sit like sentinels along the bare hedge as I walk along the track.On closer inspection I realise I'm wrong.On the south side of the track beyond the beck the hawthorn hedge is starting to sprout whilst on my side the buds are barely noticeable.
• A magpie flies across the garden with a twig in its beak and lands in a conifer in the corner of the garden where it is obviously building its nest
• My son comments that the spring weather has brought out all the cyclists and dog walkers this morning.

Spring is Sprung!

Wild garlic in the hedgerows!

I love this time of year . The daffodils are out and there is wild garlic growing in the hedgerows. If you pick them when they are young and tender they make a lovely mild garlicky soup. They can also be washed and chopped and put into sandwiches instead of lettuce. 

Wild Garlic and Potato Soup

25g butter

couple of handfuls of wild garlic leaves

2 medium-sized potatoes

800 ml of chicken or vegetable stock

salt & pepper

Melt the butter in your soup pan. Slice the leaves into strips and add them to the pot and put the lid on. Let them soften in the butter while you peel and chop the potatoes into cubes. When the leaves are wilted add the potatoes and the stock. Bring up to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are really soft. If you like, add a spoonful of cream and liquidize the soup.

"Spring is sprung the grass is riz. I wonder where the birdies is" has just come to mind! Have a lovely day!!

Country Observations

Micro the hen

1. Stopping the car on the way home from the school bus run to enable three frisky cows who had escaped from a field to sprint past. An elderly lady driver sat shell shocked, hazard warning lights flashing with a queue of cars behind her several minutes after they had gone by!
2. Collecting three large brown eggs from our hen coop after several weeks of rest during the winter.
3. The grass is getting too long. Resolve to learn how to use the tractor mower this year before the grass gets out of hand. If my children can drive it is surely can't be too difficult for a veteran driver like me? Brought back memories as a girl of riding my friend's tractor mower round and round the garden whilst she tried to remember how I was supposed to stop the thing. If she hadn't  remembered I would probably have gone round in circles until I ran out of petrol!

Take time to stop and stare!

What is this life if, full of care, 

 We have no time to stand and stare. 

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

From the poem "Leisure' by R.H.Davies 

.

Sheep and lamb 

•  I stood for a while and watched today as a sheep struggled to give birth in the field by the beck and breathed sympathetically with her as each contraction came!
• A heron rose from the stream in front of me as I was walking the dog. I didn't realise  that they could fly but they circle in an ungainly fashion above your head like large seagulls.
• I understand that the dog violets in the Church yard are out and make a pretty picture amongst the wild daffodils. I make a note to walk up and take a photograph.

Grab your opportunities!

First celandines

We've been down to the beach in the sunshine today . Here are some photos of things we discovered. Every outing is the opportunity to learn something new.
My son spotted the fossils and the newt and my daughter discovered the caterpillar.We will be looking into the species of newt and caterpillar, their habitats and food and trying to establish the types of fossils we have uncovered!

Lonsdaleia floriformis

Brown newt

Fluffy caterpillar

Ants nest

Gorse bush

Surround yourself with Beautiful things

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. " William Morris


As anyone who knows me will tell you. I'm not a tidy person. I've read about just about every book imaginable on the subject of de cluttering but I still struggle to throw things away in case I suddenly need them. When however I read William Morris' quote I suddenly realised that he was right, there was no point surrounding myself with things I didn't need any more or had no time to do. They were just filling up space and complicating my life.

I decided to take a bag of things to the charity shop every week in order to minimise my chores. Books were a problem as I love reading but I came across www.readitswapit.co.uk/ and my problem was solved. For every book I read  I had to give one away. It made me more aware of what I owned too! I had a pile of books waiting to be read and I hadn't got round to them. By reducing the pile I could see what I still had to read!

I also found that if I thought hard about my purchases then I got far more pleasure from them. Instead of buying the first thing I saw I would ask myself if I needed it. If the answer was "no" then I walked away. If I wasn't sure I decided to leave it and come back another day. If the item had been sold when I came back it wasn't meant to be.I started to record a wish list on www.amazon.co.uk when I read an outstanding review of a book or film so that when I received money for my birthday or someone wanted to know what I wanted then I was sure that the item was something I'd really considered and waited patiently for .

I found that the things that gave me the most pleasure were simple things like a bunch of daffodils from my garden or a Christmas wreath made from Holly and Ivy, giving friends a box of our own hen's eggs or a home made jar of lemon curd. I enjoyed making cards too. The feeling I got from giving my own card was far superior to rushing out to the supermarket at the last minute to find one.Even my vases and crockery were important to my well being. I chose vintage cups and vases from charity shops and car boot sales. They didn't need to match, the only criteria is that I should find them pretty. I filled them with flowers I found on the grass verges on my way down to the beach.We are lucky in this area to still have such things as grass verges filled with celandines, buttercups, foxgloves, shepherds purse, honeysuckle and campions at different times of the year.


Bed linen received a once over too. Rather than seek out duvets based on the current crazes of my three children I decided to collect white cotton bed linen and sought out home made patchwork quilts. It didn't happen overnight but I'm gradually collecting a wonderful selection of vintage bed linen which brings me a great deal of pleasure, particularly when sprayed with a bottle of lavender mist! I'm still not tidy but I am gradually learning that every thing I choose to surround myself with says something about me and my personality and, if chosen wisely makes me happy!

Just a little Note!

I had a lovely surprise yesterday, a wonderful home-made birthday card from a dear friend I haven't seen for several years. It was totally unexpected and wonderful to hear news of her family and mutual friends! Letters are special, especially those where extra time and trouble have been taken to make them with you in mind. I always enjoy my Christmas letters too. I've given up on the commercialised Christmas cards bearing the words "from the ...family" often from acquaintances who don't even know the children's names. I'd much rather curl up with a coffee and savour the news of my real friends who keep in touch with a letter despite the physical distance between us. Emails are not the same. I'm guilty of sending them too often as they're quick and cheap but I have to admit the "old fashioned way" is better.A letter can be picked up time and time again to read and re-read and to hand to friends when they visit. I've resolved to turn over a new leaf! I've already started making my own cards whenever possible , failing that I've discovered that they can often be bought quite cheaply in charity shops and at Craft fayres. I've been lax with thank you letters too. It isn't intentional but family life has so often got in the way and before you know it its the next birthday or Christmas and you haven't written! So as from now I've decided to turn over a new leaf and start writing more. Meanwhile here are the lovely cards I received from very dear friends!

It's Lambing time again!

I've just got back from the farm down the road. The sheep are lambing at the moment and there was a poorly looking sheep in the field.Having inspected it to see it wasn't just sleeping I decided it was decidedly ill and went to report the same to farmer Paul. He happened to be at the auction mart so his elderly old mother confirmed it had just had a very difficult birth and that there was another on the way. Meanwhile the first lamb is wobbling round the field like a weeble and its mother looks like a gonner! I'm just wondering whether to scrub up and do an emergency caeserian or to leave the poor thing to its fate and hope that Farmer Paul gets back from the auction in time I have to say I've come a long way since my early days in the country when I couldn't tell one sheep from another. I may not know all their breeds but I can tell which sheep belong to Paul and which are the rugged mountain sheep that have legs like springs and can escape from Alcatraz. I recognise their different markings too and the fact that their bottoms bear a coloured ink when they've been served by the Tup! We're used to a garden full of lambs at this time of year. When we first moved to the country my husband carefully built a little enclosure round my prize rhododendron to protect it from the sheep. I came back from the shops one day to discover two lambs INSIDE the enclosure together with my rhodedendron and unable to get out. Then there was the time when my then three year old son came into the kitchen to tell me that we had a lamb in the garden and it couldn't get back into the field so he'd told it to 'wait there' whilst he came in to get me!Now at the ripe old age of eleven he thinks nothing about grabbing a lamb round it's middle and chucking it back over the fence into the field. What our hens will think of several little faces peering through the fence at them this year I don't know but as they've come out to breakfast recently to face three large brown cows peering curiously over at them they'll no doubt survive the ordeal!

Strength in Numbers

I've read several articles recently reporting government cutbacks severely impacting on disabled people and their carers. Only last week the government announced the closure of several Remploy factories which provide much needed employment and support for 1700 disabled adults in Britain. Then yesterday I learned that our local Alzheimers society is having to make four of its employees redundant due to reduced funding. Again this effects some of the most vunerable people in our society and their carers many of whom desperately need respite. The more I've thought about how Government cutbacks are affecting our society the more I have come to the conclusion that, in some ways the Government is doing us a favour. That may sound contraversial but I think we have relied on the Government too long to provide us with our education, our health care and our welfare benefits. It's patently obvious that we can't continue to rely on them. Our education system is failing many children, there is a post code lottery on our health care and people who really need financial help aren't getting it. This morning I was reading a short motivational article on one of my favourite websites called "The Happiness Instutute" . It advises us to: " Find a community—whether virtual or real—of like-minded people. The energy of one person is amazing, but the energy of two or more is awesome. The chance to learn from new perspectives and different experiences will enrich your life at every level, and spark new ideas—and often new opportunities—as well" I was reminded just how much people can achieve when they work together for a common cause.Whilst home educating my son we have studied the lives of Human Rights activists such as Ghandi,Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and William Wilberforce. The problems they were facing seemed insurmountable at the time but through their incredible personal sacrifices and persistance they achieved their ultimate goals. Many of the challenges we face from day to day are nowhere near as complex as world issues but they're just as real to us. It's amazing how much we can achieve by working together. As the mother of an Autistic child I have derived immense support from a local NAS support group and a home education forum called H.E.Special U.K for children with special needs. The knowledge of the parents is phenomal and their support is unwavering. The introduction of the internet has brought like minded people together who would previously never have met. We can now petition the government online, email our local MP at the touch of a button and circulate new developments and articles in a jiffy. When you can gather strength of feeling you feel empowered and in control and more able to fight for your beliefs! The government are unwittingly re-creating a sense of community, forcing people to care for and help one another, as they see people suffering. I don't know whether you remember the sitcom "Power to the People" but we are having to regain control and it's a good feeling. When people are angry they are also motivated and determined and I'm sure a great deal of good will be achieved if we continue to work together for a common purpose.

The Value of Friendship

As we came away from my little boy's friends birthday party yesterday he sank thoughtfully into his seat and said 'Well that was nice!' Very special words for a little boy with Aspergers who struggles to socialise and was too stressed to go on his own. I was touched by the thoughtfulness and kindness which had gone into the invitation and the preparations which had been made to ensure that he had a good time. My son had been prepared for all eventualities. He knew what food they were going to eat, the games they might play and most of all he was the only guest. They realised you see how intimidated he would be if there were too many excited children. My son's friend didn't comment when my son arrived with his computer 'just in case'. He just accepted him as any friend would for who he is! I am deeply grateful to that family for what they did yesterday because they made my little boy smile!

Refresh the Family!

As the family have grown up we have seen routines come and go as jobs changed, after school clubs came and went and commitments altered. What did become apparent however was that as the children grew so did the number of commitments and the time we were able to spend together as a family became less and less as my husband took the boys to go-carting whilst I went in the other direction with my daughter to her music lesson. Tea times became a snatched pre-cooked meal from the freezer so that we could get out to the next group or club in time. What we were seeing was a demise in our quality time together. I was suffering burn out and the children weren't enjoying the constant journeys from place to place to ferry each of them to the next club. At the point of crisis I decided that things would have to change.We all needed time to unwind. I was at work during the week then trying to cram in emergency shopping on Saturdays, followed by Church and often children's birthday parties on Sundays. Before we knew it it was Monday again and we didn't feel we'd had a rest. Change happened gradually. The first thing I noticed was how much we enjoyed a roast dinner in the winter when the afternoons were dark and the weather inhospitable.It was the one meal we all enjoyed, no making three different things for a change ,and my husband seemed happy to peel the vegetables whilst watching a rugby match on the television so we introduced the weekly roast and it continued into the summer months, albeit at a later time. We began to review our commitments at the beginning of each new term in order to decide which we wanted to contunue and which we needed a break from. The rule was, no more than one club a night, and if you weren't enjoying it you could give it up no questions asked, at the end of term but you had to follow it through until then. The new regime worked well. We began to see which clubs the children really wanted to do. For my son the priority was drums and Explorer scouts, and for my daughter she gave up guides and started scouts instead and we looked for a dance class when her gymnastics came to a natural conclusion at the end of primary school.There were obviously occasional days when there was a clash because of a one off event but as I couldn't be in two places at once the children learned that if they couldn't arrange a lift with a friend they couldn't go. The change in our well-being was amazing. As friends tied themselves in knots flying from one place to the next, I breathed a sigh of relief that I'd stepped off the treadmill.I set aside Sunday as being the best day in our house for doing nothing. It needn't have been Sunday, any day would have done, but as my husband was now working 9-5 then it fitted round both work and school. Having the freedom to wake up in the morning and decide whether we wanted to go out or just chill in the garden was fantastic. It meant that we sometimes had to say 'no' to invitations when we felt tired or stressed but we discovered that conversely often the most special things happened spontaneously .If the children were invited to the beach with friends or to play soccer on the astro turf they can go but if they preferred to lie in bed until late reading- it's was their choice, no pressure! The side effects were unexpected too! We ate better quality meals as I had time to bake if I wanted,cook in bulk and plan ahead.The garden started to get some attention and we had more fresh air and exercise because we weren't constantly driving from place to place. I also had time to help with homework if needed or look things up because we weren't going anywhere. The benefits have been immense to us all so stop rushing, start resting and I'm sure like me you'll reap the benefits!

Real Life Education

Whilst looking at the question of why leap years exist with my youngest son I learned that the term calendar derives from the latin name Kalens

which meant the first day of the month. Had my son been at school we would not have had time to discuss the gregorian and julian calendars and to learn that every four hundred years three leap years had to be removed to keep time accurate. As a parent with a foot in the camps of both home and state education I witness my teenage son being 'educated' at school month after month by being taught how to answer the test papers he is set and the contrast is stark. Since stepping into the realms of home education my attitude towards our state education and its exam system has changed.I now regard home as being the primary educational setting and school as merely an additional tool to enhance my childrens' learning opportunities.I didn't always feel like that but my experience of home education showed me how the current educational system dumbs our children down and fails to prepare them for the outside world by knocking the ability from them to experiment, ask questions, and challenge things. There is just no time, teachers have a curriculum to follow and woe betide those who get behind they may just get a bad ofsted report. By far the most valuable learning experiences my children have received have had nothing whatsoever to do with SATS or GCSE's. As Scouts and Explorer scouts my children have been offered the opportunity to camp, learn cookery, do woodwork and rock climbing. At the age of fourteen my son travelled round Cumbria on our rail system with three other Explorer Scouts, found his accomadation, budgeted and cooked his own food and never missed a train. He even made his way from Windermere lake to Eskdale under cover of darkness as part of a Man Hunt- just walking that distance is a feat in itself, never mind sleeping overnight without cover! Similarly our local Community Choir and orchestra offer opportunities to take part in workshops,play and sing with people of different ages and abilities and go away together. We are teaching our children to 'take control' of their lives. It doesn't start when they leave school. They are living right now and will learn as long as they are enjoying themselves. They don't need to work for someone else, they can work for themselves if that's what they want to do. They don't need to be 'clever' by academic standards. (The current GCSE'S aren't worth much to them anyway) They need to stand out as the people who will'give it a go', will offer to work for free to gain experience and have a positive 'can do' attitude to life which is so often knocked out of our children by a system which continually sends them the message that academic subjects are so much more important than being creative, flexible and adaptable. If what I'm saying strikes a chord then Guerilla Learning- How to give your children a Real Education with or without school by Grace Llwellan and Amy Silver is a great book to read to give you some ideas. It may just change your world! Learning is continuous- it doesn't end at 16 or 18 or after university so no matter what grades your children are predicted to get. They're not destined to a low paid manual job for the rest of their lives as many teachers will tell them. They just need your support and to know you're behind them as they pursue their interests!