today's table

looks like this:

Disclaimer: the hair straighteners and wine glass are nothing to do with home education in any way, shape or form.

In fact the meagre amount of lovely cold white wine I just quaffed was to compensate me for the sweaty and shaky half hour I've just spent at the Doctors having a mole surgically removed. Oliver cried (real tears) at lunchtime when he realised he had to accompany me to this 'procedure' and then once in the Docs surgery promptly went from sitting in the corner with his ipod and headphones on and eyes shut to pulling up a chair to the end of the bed and telling me gleefully that there was 'blood dripping from the injection'. What a ghoul.

On the table today we have maths (Saxon 54) and Sudoku. The maths is going extremely well, and it is something I enjoy with him, because he gets it and likes it. The sudoku is a new thing, prompted today by an email from the lovely Louise re Activity Village. He gets it and is enjoying it. It works on logic, and needless to say, me and logic are not best mates. In fact we are not even on nodding terms. Glad to see that the boy does not take after me in many aspects of life....

Also in the pic is Oliver's new notebook for spanish sessions at the hut - I didn't even realise that everybody else took a notebook - so my poor little lad has been drawing on loose bits of paper like a pauper! tsk tsk. So today we went and bought a lovely new pad and some pens - it was great, reminded me of the first day of term at school with lots of delicious new stationery.

And finally....

This is Ladram bay on Sunday. Lovely, one might think. But - no. In this pic you should just be able to make out my dog, buggering off up the beach back towards the car. Mark (unseen in the pic) is strolling off in the opposite direction, patently ignoring the impending screaming at the dog to return. Also note the evil glowers coming from the hiking fraternity on the far right. (no dogs on the beach apparently, which we decided to ignore....) Clearly Harvey is a better reader than us because he left the beach of his own accord pretty sharpish like .....

junk journalling

Welcome to my 'new' thang. Junk journalling, as far as I can gather, is pretty much just bunging anything you want to into a book which you think looks good, and lots of paint. To this end, here is the beginning of mine - an altered book. I won't 'do' the cover until much later, but at the moment I am finding gentle satisfaction in slapping paint about.

Here is a 'naked' page;

The 'nude' front cover;

a few 'ready-for-entries' pages;

a couple of completed pages;

Tres enjoyable. Also picked up my cross stitch again, pic to follow of progress made with that.

Home edding update to come.....

I have lost £3.....

....no, sorry, that's 3 lb that I have lost this week. Ha ha - it's a joke - see how I did that? £ - lb?? Never mind. It was funnier in my head.

And helping me along the way in my quest for a less chunky moi is an Xbox Kinect game - the Biggest Loser. Now, this is apparently a game show type programme on tv (never seen it) for tubbies who need to lose weight before they die of a cardiac arrest. It is, as confirmed by the reviews of the game, a difficult one to control. If you were thinking of getting a Kinect - and I think it's a fab concept because it generally means that instead of your kids sitting on their arses getting blistered fingers from using handheld controls, they are up on their feet using energy and co-ordination. No, it doesn't compare with being in the great outdoors for real, you puritans, but it is a good step for lazy gamers (of which there are millions) - anyhoo, IF you were thinking of getting one - you need alot of room. I frequently find myself backed into the farthest reaches of the room pressed up against the corner of the sofa trying to be seen by the sensor whilst preforming a series of 'jab crosses'.

AND, the point of today's diatribe is - this game is shit. Buy it if you want a programme of controlled exercises to follow on a regular basis (I do), but if you are not deft with the old control aspects of gaming (I am not and frequently swear at the console) and the constant drawl of American twang jars at the very core of your patience (good jaaaahb, perfect pose - just like a yoga master) then don't buy it - you will end up very angry.

AND - today, because the stupid pile of shite (the console, obviously - not me) hadn't saved what I'd done last week (3 workouts, no less), I had a terrible score and ended up at the bottom of the 'leaderboard' and up for elimination!!!!!! What utter bollocks. What happens if you get eliminated from your own game that you bought and paid for and can turn off at any time is a bit of a mystery to me. I ended up watching the elimination process in fascinated horror as it came down to me, or 'Amanda' getting kicked off the show. Luckily, 'Enzo' voted for me to stay, not Amanda, and I live to workout another day. Phew. I noted my character, a little fat round object in a red vest, collapsing on the podium in sheer relief.

Truly, I fear for our future.

ok, ok, don't faint

I am back in blogworld. The reason for the break? Er, Christmas, disillusionment with scrapbooking, holidays, blah blah blah....

So, Christmas was good - highlights and lowlights as ever. Great pressies received by us all, and it passed peaceably enough. We had the fortune of going to Lanzarote just after Christmas to join Mum and Dad in a villa in Puerton del Carmen - somewhere I have not (and never wanted to) visited before. How narrow minded am I?? It was, although a tad purpose built and touristy, lovely in it's way. The weather was idyllic - hot days, cool evenings, the resort was not busy. We had a villa with our own pool (that's a luxury that I will now demand from any holiday, I can tell you) just up from the main promenade, near the shops (tacky or not, I don't care - shops is shops), and I loved being able to bimble along either way along the beach/prom for a walk. Pics:

Cheezers:

Oliver and his nemesis, the front crawl:

Canarian sunset:

studying the specials board:

Madre y Padre:

Now this - this was an experience. Mum and Dad talked us into a stroll out to see the planes land - YAWN I think to myself - but - sacre bleu - how wrong could I have been mes amis - it was bloody fabulous, free entertainment!!! The runway was yards from where we were standing, and they came in at a speed of at least one million miles per hour and brushed the top of my hair.... well, it seemed that way anyhow. It was well good (as I would say if I were young enough to get away with it).

Get yer fill of that blue sky.......

The baking from Saturday's blog post of intentions:



The cherry & almond flapjacks were very good I have to say, the mince pies - well, same shit different year really. I hate my mince pies. In fact, I'm not at all convinced that homemade mince pies are worth the time, money and clearing up anyhow. I am sticking firmly to my shop-bought preference from now on. Sod it.

Today we got on with the timeline. We did the birth of the Jewish Nation, and it was fantastic to witness Oliver's joy at producing aesthetically pleasing work. He is genuinely enjoying this timeline, so I am dead chuffed with it.

laters.

do have a look....

....it's bloody funny.

http://www.52newthings.co.uk/the-52-new-things-list/

In a break from my blitherings, do take a look at the link above, it's a bloke who is trying (with the aid of suggestions) to do something new every week. My personal favourites are the walk home, the back, sack & crack and the colonic. Hilarious.

It is Mark' s birthday. It has started off with pressies (well received, I think - he is very difficult to buy for) and now he has taken himself off to the osteopath. Not as a result of the presents, I might add.


Oliver is off a-Pokemon-ing for the day, so I am left to my own devices. heh heh heh. Here are my intentions:


1. Get out all the gifts from the wardrobe thus far purchased for Oliver and make a list of what we have


2. Make mince pies (somethng I almost never do as they seem cheaper and easier and nicer than mine, but saw a recipe using ground almonds in the pastry, and think this will make all the difference. (yes Kim, I know you always do this....no one likes a smarty pants ;) )


3. Make cherry & almond flapjacks


4. Douse, sorry, feed my Christmas cakes with the last half of a bottle of brandy (the first half of the bottle already being in the cakes)


5. Squeeze in some exercise. I am uncomfortably aware of the tightening of my waistband and too-snug fit of jeans around my inner thighs. Problem is, for the first time I ever remember, I really just don't want to exercise. sigh.


6. Finish my second beaded bauble whilst watching Foyle's War. I love Michael Kitchen.


7. Ignore no 5.


8. Feel guilty for not doing no 5.


9. The usual drudgery: washing, washing up, changing the bedclothes......


10. Dye my hair. Well, cover the greying, darkening roots really. I have a box of 'natural baby blonde' waiting for me. How the word 'natural' can be incorporated into a box of hair dye positively bulging with artificial chemicals is beyond me...


This years tree:




Fabulouso.