Birds of a feather

It has been bitterly cold today, with a strong north wind. Some forecasts say we may be in for some more snow but, this being England, I won't hold my breath!

I came across a great maths site today, from one of the home ed lists that I am on. The Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching has practice books, copymasters and lesson plans for all year groups up to A level. I am going to be using the Primary section for the boys.

I love the way that with home education you can follow every query, question and sidetrack of the children. This evening's question was "why don't birds get electrocuted sitting on power lines?" Do you know? Apparently Animals are damaged by electricity only when it flows through them. A bird sitting on a power line is surrounded by air, which is a good insulator. No current flows through the bird, and there is no harm done. For the same reason, maintenance workers can sit on live transmission lines as long as they get there using insulated ladders and ropes, and keep a good air gap between themselves and the tower steel.

So now you know! This site has some good lesson plan links etc at the bottom of the page if you want to follow the theme.

Today S got to go out again with his old school friend. They went to the indoor playcentre and then to the inevitable McDonalds afterwards. I had mentioned to his friend's mum about the gluten free, but hadn't thought to rule out McDonalds. Poor lady probably thought that chicken nuggets and fries were "safe". It's an issue, isn't it? For example, tomorrow we will be having dinner at my mum's, after visiting the baby. Mum is quite in a dither over what to serve the boys, and also keeps making reasonable assumptions as to what is "safe" or not. Such as "I'll use that jar of wine sauce" - it's got gluten in it Mum - or "is gravy ok?" - no, unless I bring my own.

Lunch today for ourselves was bad enough. As S was out, we wanted to take J and W out. However, as dh is sugar/meat free at the moment, and them being gluten free, our list of possible venues for lunch dwindled to nothing! We've decided we need to open a dietary specialist cafe in the Medway (sponsors needed, apply within!)

This evening for dinner I made gf pizza, which seemed to turn out alright. I also made some gf/cf cereal bars, using three types of gf cereal, diary free chocolate, Pure (soya) margarine and golden syrup. They are rather yummy and the boys had one for "pudding" and one now with their suppers. At the moment we are concentrating on the gluten free, and not so strict on the casein free, but we are following it where it is easy to.

Looking back over the day, even S could see that his behaviour this evening has been worse, after having had gluten at lunch for the first time in ages. Perhaps it was coincidence, but it certainly didn't seem that way.

I tried making a card for my little nephew this evening, but ended up in a tizz over it. It looks worse than anything the boys could have made, so I don't think I'll take it. It is going to be very wierd seeing my brother's son tomorrow - a most odd sensation that I wasn't really prepared for and can't quite put a name to.

Hope your day (dear Reader) has been pleasant, and successful.