Foxy encounters........

"What do ya reckon then.......?"

Without any words...........

Thought it was about time I got around to updating the "title picture" of the blog. The last photo was taken in May 2007 and we hadn't even moved to Pembrokeshire at that point. Alot has happened since - the children have certainly grown and at last we are settling into a home of our own again.

I couldn't believe how difficult it was to choose another picture! There was only room for one! I agonised for some time over my choice.

Then I became intrigued as to why the choice seemed so important.

I suppose it's because I felt the photo had to say something about us as a family - where we are, where we're going, the things we love, enjoy and value.

Sounds a bit precocious doesn't it! But I think that on a subconscious level at least, it was things like that that led me to make my decision.

So what do you make of us then?!!!!

Images can be so powerful it's almost scary.........and this is only a blog!

Perhaps I'll change the picture a little more often so I can share the others that were "just right" ............ and tell you a bit more about us without any words!

Dragons, drawing and discovery!

Just had to share this beautiful pencil drawing my daughter did yesterday for a birthday card.

So far she's self taught, (with the exception of a painting and drawing correspondence course she has been doing.) She's thinking of doing an art/design based National Diploma next year at Pembrokeshire College. It will be interesting to see what professional guidance can do for her work. But I'm glad she's already learnt to be self-reliant! She has already learnt to discover how to do things for herself. She has no one to tell her how to create an effect here. Every day is a journey of discovery!

I think that now she needs more, but I hope she will never forget to believe in her own ability to find a solution to a "problem".

The Story of Stuff

Today we've been talking about "stuff" and thinking about the implications of "stuff". Dh found a great website which I wanted to share - http://www.storyofstuff.com/. It starts with a great 20 minute presentation which brilliantly shows the links between all those issues we know to be important regarding the environment, exploitation of natural resources, cheap labour in developing countries etc etc.... but helps us to see the bigger picture. It is very much based on the American system but nevertheless, the points apply to all of us living in the Western World! It was a great conversation spinner and we hope to follow it up with some real action.

I am sure many of you are already well informed on these issues, but the children learned alot, and for me it helped put many things into perspective.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.................hmmmmm......now I think I'll just knock up a few handbags out of those old jeans......!

In which we discover when it is OK to throw oneself off a bridge...!

The answer................when you are jumping into a river dressed in a helmet and life jacket, and someone who knows what they are talking about says it is safe! Still doesn't sound like a good idea to me though!

However, it turned out to be the highlight of a day out with our newly formed HE group, Kayaking in Llandysul!

Rhiannon poised for action

Oops - missed with the camera

Sam at the ready

I think he liked that.......!

I thought you were supposed to use boats or something.......................

In which we consider the joys of new houses, cardboard boxes, home education, more boxes, slugs, boxes, broken computers and much more....

So, we've done it! After 3 years of planning we've moved into our house in a Pembrokeshire village, 30 minutes from the coast.....bliss!

"Are you all settled in yet?" people ask! "Well you have been in for nearly 2 months".................actually NO WE'VE BARELY STARTED!!! Can't think why really!

Things don't look too bad on the surface - you can move around the place fairly unhindered and I know where all the important things are (like the tea and the wine glasses...). Just DON'T open the door to the garage ...................that's where we shoved everything! Still, I'm feeling optimistic - I reckon about another 3 years and we'll have sorted that lot out and perhaps dh can get his van in the garage (if it hasn't already rusted away).

The thing is, home education is a full time job in itself, so when faced with unpacking and all the hassle that goes with a house move it can all be a bit taxing.

Then there's computers....what is it with them? My dh carefully unplugged our PC, lovingly packed it away, moved it himself to the new house just 15 miles or so down the road, carefully plugged everything back in and hey presto - it wouldn't work. WHY?????!!!!! It has taken 2 months and a gazillion phone calls to get a little man from New Delhi to sort it out for us!Aaaaarrrggghhhhhh! Like we have time for this!

That said, it's nice to be back in our own place again. Here are a few pics as requested by some...

The house

Part of the rather small garden!

The neighbours.....

It all looks very neat and tidy but don't be deceived. For example if we don't take some immediate action re: the windows they'll be rotting in places given a year....all 26 of them! Eek!

Then there's the plague of slugs in the garden. The other day Rhiannon found the quail feeder full of them - evidently they love layers pellets. It's a good job I haven't started my veg plot - it would be decimated by now! ("What's that?" I hear you say, "no veg garden yet? What can you have been doing these last 2 months....?!")

Oh and then of course, there's the boxes......

Still we've been trying to regain some sense of normality. The children have decided they want more structured work to do!! Some IGCSE courses are beginning to creep in for the older ones....! But there's still lots of informal learning going on too and I think that's where the best learning happens!

Then we've been getting back to art courses long forgotten!

Still life in pastels

Sam sketching (complete with pastel all over his forehead!)

Then there's been lots of cooking.....

Home-made burgers

And there's been a birthday for Jo..........

Rhiannon has been busy - she has recently joined a local theatre group which she is really enjoying. And a real turn up for the books..... she has now started thinking about college possibilities for the future! It's taken a while to get to this point but I wanted it to be in her own time. How many of us were "bullied" by careers teachers in to making decisions about our futures long before we were really ready? I know it happened to me. On paper I was the model student - just 14, and a career path all mapped out. I never gave it another thought - just went from one qualification to the next until I reached my goal........only to realise at the age of 22 that it had all been a big mistake. I'm not suggesting I can stop this happening to my children nor that sometimes early vocations do not become successful and fulfilling careers. I just think that if I hadn't been so pressured to make career decisions at such a young age I would have probably taken a very different path. Anyway, enough of me......Rhiannon has no definite plans as yet but I think she has finally decided the broad area she would like to study more seriously. So she's now trying to find out what qualifications she may or may not need to move forward. I just need to find the balance between letting her find her own way and giving the right amount of support and encouragement. I'm always afraid of pushing too hard in my anxiety to make sure she does the "right thing". She's not a terribly "driven" personality and admits she needs a bit of a nudge sometimes. I just don't want to be responsible for "nudging" her into something she doesn't really want.

The boys are still surfing - they passed their level 2 British Surfing Association Awards a couple of weeks ago, so they're having fun with that! They're also making some new friends in the village and are enjoying the greater freedom they have here to go off on their bikes and explore.

Well that's a quick run down of our goings on.....trouble is I always leave the blogging for so long that it seems like a daunting task and there are too many thing to say. So once again I'm promising myself to make more of an effort....!

We're off kayaking tomorrow so will try to remember to put in a report ;)

Fairies never go to bed.....

....according to my three year old! She has been walking around the Botanic Gardens of Wales all day dressed in a pair of fairy wings and a sparkly crown. We had a lovely day pond dipping, looking at what we'd caught under microscopes, and later, den building. A day when HE seems right and purposeful, when everyone is happy and learning by default.

Then later, I had a comment from an old "friend" on Facebook about HE and the proposed monitoring arrangements which were frankly derogatory to all home educators. The implication being that we were all lazy and just "couldn't be bothered to send our children to school". I was angry and upset, not just for myself but for all the many selfless, hardworking home educators I have met over the past three years. Maybe I've been lucky (or just oblivious) to have not encountered such prejudice before, but it brought home to me just how unaware most people are as to the law regarding education. How narrow minded people are. Sad to realise how people cannot see that everyone is different, so that a "one size fits all" style of education can never work. I am not in any way critical of those who send their children to school - I did it once - but how dare they criticise me for choosing to fully exercise my responsibility and right to educate my children in the way I see fit!

It only makes me feel more determined to make HE work for my children for as long as they want it - if they want to return to school then they know they are always free to do so....it's part of the deal.

Anyway, I'm sorry to rant, but I feel injured by this attack - I guess I need to toughen up.

To explain why I haven't been blogging.......we have finally moved to our own house - it's been a stressful year with two moves, but hopefully we can get settled now.....and I can get blogging!