OHC - SQUIRREL HUNT

This week's outdoor challenge is Chipmunks, but as we do not have chipmunks in the UK, we focused on squirrels instead, primarily the indigenous red squirrel.


We started our indoor time reading the first few paragraphs of Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin - an impertinent little red squirrel.

Using our encyclopedia, we then did a little reading about squirrels as well as how they differ from chipmunks. 


Then we looked at the red and grey tree squirrels. The red squirrel is indigenous to Europe and the UK but in ever decreasing numbers. 

About 200 years ago, the grey squirrel was introduced to Europe and the UK to the detriment of the red squirrel - primarily for 2 reasons: 1) the grey squirrel is bigger and stronger and can easily take over the territory. They are also more hardy than the red squirrel; 2) the grey squirrel carries the deadly squirrel pox virus that can kill a red squirrel within 2 weeks.


Using Red squirrels in Britain and  Save our squirrels we learnt about the food, habitat and family life of red squirrels as well as the differences between red and grey squirrels. We also did a Nutitude Test :)


Then we went out for our squirrel hunt. We knew that we wouldn't find any red squirrels as they live primarily in coniferous woodlands (the grey squirrels don't like the little seeds of the pine cones) as well as more to the north of England and Scotland,but initially it looked like we wouldn't see any grey squirrels either. But right near the end of our walk, our perseverance paid off and we saw 2 little grey squirrels:

Back home, we completed a notebook page.

Then, after looking at pictures from our next impressionist artist, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), we painted squirrels using acrylic paints thickened with egg shells, flour, sand, salt, etc. Berthe used heavy globs of paint, thick brush strokes and bright colours. 

Miss A's picture

 While the girls did their paintings, I finished reading Squirrel Nutkin to them - a sweet, enjoyable story, regardless of how old we are :)

Waiting on the Lord!


We have been in the UK for 18 months now and are still (!!) waiting on God to reveal His purposes and plans for us here. It is, quite frankly, exhausting! We feel frustrated, disheartened, disillusioned. We have prayed, and asked, and waited. And we are still waiting. And waiting. We question why? What's the point of praying? We have suggested options to the Lord. But He seems to remain distant and silent. To be honest, I have come close to losing my faith in His ability to answer and provide.


This morning I read a devotional I receive daily from Alpha and Omega publications daily-focus  
Does your faith limit God in what He can or cannot do in your life? Are you willing to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10)? God knows what He is doing, and the last thing He needs is your advice. He is waiting to see if you will trust and believe in Him for the impossible, instead of telling Him what to do. Will you trust Him today for the answers you need?

Lord, you are a great and mighty God who doesn't need my help or advice. Forgive me for telling You what to do and limiting what You want to do in my life. Help me today to trust in Your way and Your will. In Jesus' name, Amen.


Friends recently went on a church camp. The speaker was Mike Endicott. He made the following comment: When we come to God, we should give Him our problem and not the solution (paraphrased). 
I have found in my prayers, that I am quick to tell God what/how the problem should be solved, instead of leaving the problem with Him and waiting (Urgg! The dreaded word!) - let's rather say, "Trusting" Him to solve it in the way He knows is best.


So, today, I choose to trust...yes and to wait! Our God is faithful!

 God wants to carry us through our efforts in serving Him. 

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Isaiah 40:31

New International Version (NIV)

³¹ but those who hope (wait on) in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary, `
   they will walk and not be faint. (parenthesis mine)

Knit one, miss one...


well, those of you who know me well, know that handwork and I don't quite make easy bed fellows. But the cooler weather and other friend's blogs have inspired me to try some knitting. So far in my life I have managed to finish 1 small square that our home school co-op in South Africa did as a project - we ( and that is not a royal "We" - I had nothing to do with this part!) sewed all our squares together to make a rug for charity. 
All my school knitting projects were completed by my wonderful Ouma :)


I therefore, needed to find the easiest recipe, oops, I do mean pattern, I could find. Another form of inspiration came from this book:

 I loved reading this and at the back is the pattern for the scarf knitted by the beginners in this book. And so I headed off to a craft shop and bought yarn and needles for myself and the girls. I bought a tweedy colour for myself, 6,5mm needle, blue-white double chunky, 10mm needles for Alexandra and a mixed, purply colour, needle size 6,5mm for Sarah. 


My scarf is complete now - took longer than I think they did in the book and is a bit broader than it should be, but I wasn't going to pull it out and start again - I realise again that I am a "let's get this project finished" kind of person.

Alexandra loves knitting - reckons she probably loves it more than the wearing of the scarf - we pulled hers out twice already to get the correct width - she didn't mind having to start over again at all! Hers is almost done :)

Sarah also enjoys hers, but reckons she wasn't quite born to knit as Alexandra was. She is taking hers on camp with her this weekend.


Mm, so what will be next. There is a pattern for an afgan on the book, and my friend Elsje sent me some links for an easy (?) Prohibition shawl...just need to figure out all the knitting-speak in the patterns!

Impressionist art


Did you know that Jane Austin first named Pride and Prejudice, First Impressions? Today we started looking at Impressionist artists. Using Artsmarts4kids and a book I bought in South Africa (and one we used for a term with our homeschool co-op) 

we started with Edouard Manet (1832-1883). Using the idea from the book to melt wax crayons, and then practice Manet's dabbing-line style with ear buds, they drew any picture they liked (the book suggests a still life but as Manet favoured blue/grey/black and white colours - judging by pictures we saw on Edouard Manet - I decided to rather give them free reign) Manet is not seen as a true impressionist - didn't label himself as one, either - and still favoured people instead of nature scenes. He also painted indoors, from memory or models, instead of outdoors.


Sarah and Alexandra are not too confident painting people and so painted their own pictures:

Unfortunately, i don't have a hot tray, so we had to run back and forth to the stove to re-melt the wax!

Alexandra 

Cinderella's carriage


I have found that I don't really miss many South African foods here. I buy Mrs Balls from Sainsbury's and rely on friends to bring Smarties, Peppermint Crisp and SAD fruit Dainties. The only thing we have had to get used to, is UK mayo - just isn't Crosse 'n Blackwell. For the rest, we happily use what we find here :)


But! The one thing I do miss and can't find in England - or at least here ion Bristol - is pumpkin. We have to make do with butternut and sometimes hubbard squash, but no pumpkin  



Except, that is, at Halloween! And so (even though we don't do Halloween, we DO love pumpkin), I have bought a huge Cinderella Pumpkin 

chopped it up and frozen 

for all our favourite recipes: pumpkin pie, fritters, pumpkin bredie, etc, etc. Tonight it is bobotie and roasted pumpkin 

I'm sure before Halloween is over, I would have bought another 1 (or 2)!

THOUGHT FOR MONDAY MORNING:

Birthday Balloon
For my birthday this year, Gary gave me a balloon trip and Sarah and I went up. We started at Chew Valley and went over the Mendip Hills to the other side of Cheddar. An amazing trip - I'd love to do it again :)

Attention!

While we were walking around Whitchurch Fair with friends, Alexandra and her friend were approached by the Naval cadets and so our children were recruited to become cadets at TS Dauntless - Navy Cadets . They meet once week in Whitchurch (a 20 minute drive) and do all sorts fo things - marching, standing at ease, learning different skills, like tying knots, camouflage painting. They have been bowling with the cadets and there is talk of a trip on a Naval ship to the English channel !! Sarah may move over to the Marine cadets - same unit, though. They are loving wearing the uniform and participating in it all - must say, this took us quite by surprise:)   

We also attended an outdoor adventure day at Uphill reserve (Weston Super-Mare). Had a great day rock climbing, canoeing and orientering with other home-edders.

Both girls have started music lessons again. Alexandra has guitar lessons - she really enjoys her teacher, who makes her laugh and enthused.
Sarah has started playing the violin - she has a good ear and has already started trying out playing songs she likes.

Hitting the road...

Once Gary's contract ended at the end of June, we decided to make the most of the time and travel a bit. Our first stop was Cornwall. We stayed in a cottage inland of Polzeath. Polzeath has a lovely beach and is a centre for surfing.

Just North of Polzeath lies the historic harbour village of Port Isaac - very quaint. While we were there they were filming for a local TV production, Doc Martin

 Cornwall is also the home of Cornish pasties and we indulged at Padstock:

We travelled South and came to St Ives with the beautiful blue-green sea - but still chilly water:). Also came to Marizion, an island with a castle just west of Penzance (sadly, saw no pirates!)

Cornwall has a super ecological site, Eden Project. They have  2 biospheres - one with a Mediterranean climate( and yes, Cape Town and the West Coast featured :), the other a rain forest climate. This is a MUST visit place if you are ever in the area!

We headed home for a week and then took a slow boat to nowhere :) This was one of our best holidays ever. We rented a narrow boat with another home ed family and did a week on the Shropshire Union canal (West Midlands) from Wolverhampton to Chester ( an old Roman town) and back. Sarah, espceially, enjoyed opening the locks. With a week of sunshine, we had a wonderful time!

On our way home we stopped at the RAF museum: 

As well as Cadbury World :)

Then back home for another 2 weeks before we went to Keswick in the Lake District. WOW! What a beautiful place. Lakes and meres, tall trees and mountains - England's wettest area but if I could choose a place to live, that might just be it. We attended the second week of the Keswick convention. Henry Olange(ex-Zimbabwean cricketer) was one of the speakers and also treated us to a cricket match with his invitation team against the local team.

And then home again for a week before we left by train to London for 4 days. I initially really worried about finding our way on the train (let alone all the other horror stories we heard about the tube stations!!) but armed with our Oyster cards (Alexandra still goes free :), the tubes really proved to be a wonderful way to get around London. We were blessed to have accommodation in Rachel's (my room-mate from school) flat while she was in SA and also caught up with Bertus and his wife Tracey and their delightful twins :)

It is impossible to do justice to London in 4 days but here are some pics of our whirlwind trip.

Buckingham Palace

Nelson's Column - Trafalgar Square

London Eye

Big Ben

Thames River, Big Ben and Parliament

 Will need to get back there some time soon! For now, we are back in our normal routine at home :)