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Today Asha wanted to make a chocolate cake… she wanted to make cream for inside it and for it to have a cherry on the top… So we mad HUGH..

Now most of hugh is sat in our freezer in portions for our days out over the next few weeks.. but it was fun making him!

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We were visiting friends who own an organic farm, and who dont use any pesticides on there farm at all… nope not even organic ones!

And we were in one of the polly tunnels, when our host pointed out a Moth to us.. Not knowing what it was, tonight I have done a bit of a search, and with help from Danni, we have discovered its a “Garden Tiger Moth”

he was obviously an early moth, as normally the eggs dont come to being untill later in the year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_tiger_moth

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They are all around us, smiling with the sun…

So what do we do with them? Pick them off course, just the heads, and as little of the green as you can.. but dont worry if some gets in..

: you will need, some muslin, lemon juice, large pan, and pop a couple of saucers in the fridge, and brown sugar.. complicated hey:d

Put two double handfulls of heads (so four handfulls) into some muslin, and drop it into 1 ltr of cold water.

Bring to boil and boil for a good minute.

Leave covered for 24 hours.

Strain the liquid off

add one 1kg of brown sugar, i used dark, i suspect a lighter varierty would work as well. and the juice of 1 lemon, i used 1/2 a tsp of lemon juice. and bring to the boil..

I keep on stiring mine as i burnt a pan making jam the other day, so well i have no idea if your meant to but i didnt want to burn another pan!

When it has reduced down to the consistency of a runny honey on a plate its done.. bottle up and enjoy served on pancakes and ice cream!

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We had planned a lovely day at home, well Asha and Steve were having a lovely day at home, i was going to a drs appoitment, then to meet a friend for lunch, then joining Asha and Steve at home with a couple of little play mates, and we were going to have an easy afternoon.. Relaxing after a really hectic week..

The three girls however played with the horses all afternoon, quietly, and happily… I love pretend play!

The LEA however have decided differently and we had our first encouter with the LEA.. and to be honest I am not impressed!

Anyway, Asha still had a lovely play with U, and F and E. But the adult stress levels were not as relaxed as planned!… GRrrrrr

Tonight, we went to the poling booth, and asha put both our votes into the booth for us, and we talked about elections and why we vote…

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And what a lovely Salad it was!

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When i was around 11/12 I went to an outdoor presentation of “The Tempest” it was done by the hillbark players, at hillbark, in Thurstaston, which is on the wirral.

It is now a rather posh hotel http://www.hillbarkhotel.co.uk/

I have just been looking at the next outdoor presentation of Shakespear at Caernarfon Castle, and rather funnily it is to be The Tempest, the only peice of shakespear I have been to see as an outdoor theater production! This time being done by the fine “lord Chamberlains Men”

I decided i would book the tickets over the telephone, only to be redirected to the web site.. where i wasnt able to book tickets, because i wanted to sort concessions :d

Oh the joys. So we have seats in reserve i believe… Will ring tomorrow and sort it out! – If the box office is open on a sunday that is!

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A day at home, no beach, no shops, no driving… and we have been playing board games… Yippeee!

We started off playing Scrabble, then went on to the rather funny Poppas Pizza Topping, we enjoyed a game of Snakes and Ladders, and ended up playing connect four and dominoes.

I only got a picture of Asha doing Scrabble, as she has asked me not to take photos of her for a while.. Fair enough!

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We had planned a day at home today, resting, and relaxing, but then we received a phone call from a home edd friend we havent seen for a couple of weeks, so of we totted to join them at Dinas, and we had yet another afternoon on the beach.

We started off with the important thing.. lighting the fire.. :d

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Clas was cancelled today for the second week in a row.. I was really very upset over this, but mummy organised for a friend to come over and play for the day instead.

We played lots of really fun games, we played pick up sticks, cards, ello,  sammy sealion, snakes and ladders, cards games, face painted, musical games, all sorts of really fun games and we had a brilliant time.

After we took my friend home we had a great take out in Bangor, and watched, the herring gulls and a RAVEN! eat of the wall on the quayside in Bangor.

I was very confused to see a Raven with the gulls, but he seemed quite a home.

Brilliant day had by all.

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Home Educators can easily spend a fortune out, on meals and take outs because we spend soo much time out and about.. Its not just weekends for us! Different parents do it different ways, but this is kind of how i do it.. other than obviously i only have one child, so you may have to change it for more children;)

One of the things we soon learn however is that beaches, mountains and parks dont cost. We also find places where we pay an annual subscription and use them loads – RSPB, springs to mind on this, CADWA, and National Trust. Museums are nearly all Free to enter as well.

Since last year I have thought of a few ideas to make life a bit simpler and less expensive.

Any child old enough to carry there own packed lunch has there own small ruck sack / bag to carry it in!   Unless were going to somewhere where its ride based. / or at the beach.  We have used a Little life backpack for Asha since she was two.

As a mum, i make sure my bag can carry all the small bags, if need be. (I use a couple of climbing clips for this But that isnt the plan! If I know the little one wont want to eat once were at the place, we make sure we have a extra bit to eat before we leave home (crumpets or toast and butter spring to mind)

Every child has there own water bottle, which the child fills with water before they go out.  I find the sports bottles the best for this, purely because they dont spill as much and sand dosnt get into them the same. Before we leave the car we always have a drink of water, and before i drive off, for the drive home. (parents may have to check this before each child gets into car though)

Packed lunch ideas : rice, with sweetcorn, tuna, majonaise.  either in individual or large bowls to dish out. Wraps, make an easy alternative to bread on occasion, i tend to purchase these when reduced and freeze!

BEFORE we leave the house in the morning, we know what were going to have for tea. The slow cooker is our friend.. as is our chest freezer!

apples, pears, grapes, oranges, bananas, melons, pineapples, are all great fruits for when out and about.. the last two you need to either slice before you leave, or take a knife and a chopping board with you to dish out.

Bread.. and peanut butter, sliced cooked meats, eggs, cheese, cold fish, mixed with tuna, cucumber, lettuce, basil, humus, all make easy lunch items.  If your going to use tinned items, remember a tin opener, and a surface to slice them on! (we have actually got a knife, cutting board and tin opener which used to live in the car.. I must put them back on it!)We used to put all the sandwiches in boxes, but i have found that plastic sandwich bags work best, in a small cold bag, or just in a ruck sack for Asha.. This stops us carrying extra bulk around with us.

We also take cooked sausages, chicken legs, sliced peices of pork and steak have gone with us as well, and cold jacket spuds, make a long day, work a bit easier.  (espeically if cut into 1/4  or 1/6 before we leave home, and just shared out for the picnic)

A small bar peice of chocolate can help keep a child from tears just before your heading home. to keep the hunger at bay on the way home.. dried fruits and nuts will also help this period. We have used sweets here, but i find the sugar hit from sweets counter productive.  Also  toilet and thirst check before we get in the car helps!

It is worth taking a flask with hot water / hot chocolate in it. I have found this especially useful on days to the beach.. for me, not for Asha.. she has hot Ribena for when she is back in the car, in her own flask, but before we head home.   If i am going to be with a group, i normally put an extra flask of hot water in, and some extra tea bags.

Every child needs to have a complete spare set of clothes, and a wooly jumper on the car. a couple of spare dry towels can also save a lot of wet cold children on the way home!

Ice creams.. we try not to buy them when were out just as a family, but keep bought ice creams in the freezer for when we get home. If were out with a group, it depends on the day. But were happy just having ice cream at home..

Plastic containers from home make great buckets for at the beach.. you can get a selection of cheaper large spades from the likes of B&Q which are great for the pre-teens  / teens who want to do more than dig small castles..

Well there my thoughts.. oh and the MUST have item? A first aid kit with RESCUE Remedy in it and TEA TREE oil…

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And I got a new toy.

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but what did we really enjoy? The BOUNCING…

And the only picture we took of the animals!

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We went to visit some friends and there 7 kids who are all home educated on the island today. Asha had a wonderful time playing with them, and is now fed, and ready for bed, exhausted.

Good day had by all.

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2010 Is happening in August / September this year.

http://www.walesenvironmentalhomeeducationcamp.com/

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This morning Steve was helping out a friend doing HTML and CSS stuff. Asha and I enjoyed the company of his mum, and spent some time browsing the shops and playing a game.

After lunch, and after the css and html had been put to bed, Asha, Steve and I headed once more over to Dinas, to enjoy the later afternoon sun, and the tranquility of an empty beach once more..

Some more photographs!

We found another dead crab,  which had lost its shell, so Asha wanted us to dig it a grave and bury it.. So we did..

She then enjoyed a time paddling with Daddy, and splashing about in the COLD water.

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A steep grassy mound built as a stronghold before the coming of the romans in the 1st Centuaray AD. 100 ft high, and provides sweeping views of Angleseys western coast. The White lighthouse on LLanddwyn Island, 5 miles away is a prominant land mark. Below is the small holiday village which takes its name from the mound. The sandy beach which sweeps north for 3 miles towards fort Belan is backeed by a steep bank of shingle which protects the low lying farmland

AA Book of the Seaside-1972. I have to say it has changed a little bit, but not a lot!

Right so that is the backdrop for where we spent a couple of hours today. And where whilst playing with the waves, and building sandcastles we found the following beach items..

If  you can correctly lable  anyof them, i would appreciate the assistance!

Sand Crab and his / her underneath.

Possibly the mates shell!

Asha like these little white stones, and often uses some to decorate her castles.

The photographs dont show you the orange glisten of these two stones.

Now I was always taught that rocks were round in school, and the errosion was round. Can anyone explain this water errosion to me!

We love the lines in these three stones.

And finally this little rock, we were interested in the different colours speckles in it.

Tuff is technically a sedimentary rock formed by the accumulation of volcanic ash plus pumice or scoria.  link

So onto the shells.

Bi-valve, razer shell.

Mussel .. yummy!

And now we have this.. Can anyone name the next two items?

And something which i dont recall learning about in my biology lessons.. ever!

Is it a metal crab?

Back to some of the more common shells we can enjoy for a minute longer…

I hope you have enjoyed a sample of todays find’s and hopefully by tomorrow we can have a list to go with them of what they all were!

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so what have we done today?

Well we started the day with a story in bed, followed by crumpets. We then moved onto filling the boot of the car with all the recycling from the last 3 months, which hadnt been picked up. We then went to the tip, and then to the post office.

We then drove towards Bangor, and called into the farmers shop and bought Bird food, cat food, three 75 kg  sacks of compost and a new set of over alls for Asha.   (Will try and get a photograph of her in them tomorrow, i left the camera at home all day today!) We then went to the cash and carry, but didnt buy any meat, but did get a few other bits and peices for the New freezer. (Ice cream, beefburgers, chips) and a new cereal tub for some cereal, to save it being all over the cupboard.

After that, we headed home, emptied the car, and headed over to llanberis, for a play on the public swings, which Asha truly inspired me with. Her balancing ability and confidence has exploded this week.  We then headed to petes eats for a small tea, and then back down to the laggoons, to climb trees (well asha did) Mummy just tried her hardest not to panic, or offer assistance, when it wasnt needed, and we  fed the ducks and swans, before coming home, and now she is in bed exhausted.. Me.. I am exhausted too, and gratefull that daddy does bed time!

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Well the sun was out, and we had been talking about it for so many days, that Asha decided she wanted to go back there today, so we did..

Yes, playing on the playground at the slate museum..

Home to bed… some of these houses would hold as many as 8 children… I took Asha back into one, with this idea, she was fairly amazed…

Some of the tools used for working the slate, for making the tiles, etc.

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Well we have been doing seedlings for a while now, and last year we cut down loads of our front garden, so how is it doing.. well here is a few more pictures.

and half the front garden, the pretty bit with the pond in..

I noticed tonight some of the honesysuckle is out.. so i just need to get some more pics tomorrow..

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Asha and I havent been to the Welsh Mountain Zoo for a while, but we went on Friday, with the CLAS group.

The Welsh Mountain Zoo, is based above Conway Bay, and is a beautiful, if not hilly zoo, with fantastic views of the bays.

We were kindly taken by J, so I didnt have to drive, and Asha really enjoyed playing on the “sky line” and has really mastered making it work for her! I also took a second take at the way she swung on the rope ball, and grabbed hold of the string rope ladder, and climbed off without any help! I truly have a little Monkey at times!

As always we went to watch the Californian Sealions sealions rock , The owl getting a good long fly, and the penguins parade, and spent a while looking at the tiny meerkats.. She also enjoyed the pandas, and the snow leopard. But as she has spent most of today pretending to be an ostrich, on a nest, I guess its the Rhea;s who inspired her immediate imagination the most!

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