Freedom for All

Being home educators gives you a whole different take on things.  As I previously mentioned over the years, it encourages you to look outside the "accepted" and traditional and to feel more in control of the decisions that face you.

We make our own way.

This doesn't just apply to our children's education of course.  Being a family of six with all four children having been/being home educated, has created a family dynamic that is very different to what it would have been if we'd had traditional, 9-5 jobs and all the kids had gone in to the school system.

We had already decided that self employment suited us before we took the older two boys out of school but - like many home educating parents - we have definitely found flexible employment to be better suited to our autonomous, free range, home educating style.

All of this is a VERY long winded intro to some great news: my husband has just published his first book!  This has been the result of many things: long years of ill health, two decades of theological study, the above mentioned flexible lifestyle, and finally of course our move to Margate and the change of pace and lifestyle.  All of these things have brought him to a place where he has been able to write this book and I am very, very proud of him and delighted to see him pursuing this God-given dream.

Dear reader, please consider purchasing his book and/or sharing this link with someone in your life who you know would benefit from it!

Still here...

Gosh is it really that long since I last posted?!  Over 3 1/2 years..

Life took on lots of unexpected turns in 2010, including the need for our family to retire a little bit from "public" life and just spend time being family for our own sakes.

I also ended up in quite a different direction personally, on the business front, and decided I wanted to keep my family life well away from my new notoriety in my business life.

I miss blogging though.

Brief update then: We are still home educating, still in Kent, but now in NE Kent instead of NW Kent/border of London.  We are enjoying beach life now, living in a seaside town, and very pleased to be adapting to the slower pace of life.

The "kids" are now 18, 16, 11 and 6 which is a bit of a shock to write down..  The younger two have never tried school and I shall be quite happy if it remains that way.

It does look, by the way, as if our youngest is also somewhere on the autistic spectrum.  I guess at least as he is no3 to be wired that way, I should make fewer parenting mistakes this time *crosses fingers*

Josh is looking for work, Samuel is volunteering in a local charity shop, William is building a social media empire, and Jonathan is trying to do what everyone else is doing.

We only moved at the new year so we haven't yet got involved in the local home ed scene here but there is a big, active network which I'm hoping we will get to grips with in the coming months.  Meantime we are learning to love the area during winter - whilst of course looking ahead with anticipation to warmer days!

Water Fights and Stary Nights

At the weekend we started the celebrations for William's 8th birthday.

His actual birthday was on Sunday but Josh was out most of the day at Celebration Surrey event where SAVVY where performing.

That's Josh on the far left of the picture - shades on of course!

Actually it was so very hot - being the hottest day that we'd had of this warm weather - that they came home from the event earlier than we had expected.

We invited some friends over and we had a bring and share kind of birthday meal for William.

On Monday morning we packed everything up and went over to my Mum's. She's got a big garden - and isn't on a water meter like us - so William was able to have a water fight for his birthday! He'd got lots of water pistols for his birthday - which is what he'd wanted - and we told everyone to bring a change of clothes.

A friend lent us their 12ft paddling pool too which we filled up for the kids to play in.

Photos to follow soon, but suffice to say a good (wet!) time seemed to be had by all.

William seemed to like his cake - he'd asked for a Tardis Cake.. between the heat and trying to stack up slices of gluten free cake, the thing didn't want to stand up, so our Tardis was post-crash-landing in Amy Pond's garden!



Josh and Jonathan used to be with Scallywags but, though Josh had some castings and one job out of them, we didn't feel they were right for us. We've had conditional offers for both the boys now from Chilli Kids so this week we sorted out professional photographs to send for their portfolios.

I know I'm biased, but... I think they are gorgeous!







This week Josh got to go with SAVVY to the Globe Theatre to see the performance of Midsummer Night's Dream (which he is performing in next week).

It sounds like, despite the standing, they all had a great time and it really helped to bring the characters to life for them all.

Roarke met Josh outside the Globe to come home with him and they got in around 11.15pm.

We moved Jonathan's bed around yesterday and took the bed guards off from the side so last night was his first night without them. Despite now being able to climb in and out of bed easily, he didn't get out of bed once we left his room after his bedtime stories, and when we went up to bed we didn't (as we'd half expected to) find him in our bed. He fell out once in the night, that was all, so all in all I think he did rather well!

Talking of doing rather well, he took only one day to get the hang of the potty, and only had a few accidents. Week two since starting potty training and we've had no accidents at all. He is even using the potty for "number twos". On top of that he's also learnt to use the toilet standing up like a big boy - and again, we've had no accidents and not even any drips on the floor! Interestingly, since we started potty training he has only used his night time pull ups three times - the rest of the nights he has been dry.

Roarke went to the specialist this week for a chat about the results that have come back from his various tests including the MRI. We were rather shocked to be told that he appears to have osteoarthritis. Bearing in mind he also has gout - which is the most painful form of arthritis - already, this was a blow. We believe in a God who heals, therefore the challenge for us now is not to focus on what is true (that he has bulging discs, bad joints etc) but to focus on The Truth - that by His stripes we have been healed (Isaiah 53:5).

These are interesting times!

This weekend we will be celebrating Roarke's birthday and we've got some friends coming over this evening. For now, I'm enjoying a rare moment of piece and quiet before everyone gets up...

Birthdays and Sunshine

Crikey I didn't realise it had been so long since I blogged!

What have we been up to?


We had my niece's 1st birthday party at my brother's house (she's the little girl in pink watching whilst everyone else plays with her new toys!).

Everyone dressed up for the occasion and, ironically, Roarke, Josh and William all wore blue shirts.

That meant I got a lovely photo of my "boys in blue" (one of whom is bound to want to kill me for putting that picture on the internet... *shrug* mother's prerogative - and I could put worse ones up!)

We also officially started our Pampered Chef business, with Roarke having three cooking shows in four days. It is really fun, and we love having something to do that includes food ;-)

I have finally been able to pass on the media spokesperson role, with Ian Matthews being announced as the new spokesperson. I'm sure Ian is going to be amazing, and I wish him all the best. I'm not going to miss the endless phone calls nor the short-notice "can you do a radio interview?" or, worse, "can we send a car to bring you to the studio?"!

Ongoing activities include Josh taking his Level 4 Sailing course at Danson Park, and going to SAVVY on a Thursday. Samuel is getting more and more involved at church on the sound/multi-media desk. He served in ROCK Sunday School on Sunday and then in the evening (and again on Monday) when we had Pastor Bill Wilson from Metro Ministries over, he served in the tech box. He has also been going to band practice every Thursday to do the sound for Baseline.

Josh is still doing his math regularly, which is encouraging. I need to start thinking about giving Jonathan some more opportunities for learning actually. I think, having never gone to school and therefore having no hang ups about studying, that he would response well to having some worksheets and things to do. I need to dust them all of ;-)

Bill Wilson was amazing, actually. The messages that he brought have really affected myself, Roarke, Josh and Samuel and there is a lot of thinking, praying, and planning going on as a result. There has definitely been a paradigm shift..

That same weekend we also went to another first birthday party, this time for Kaiyah.

This was a lovely gathering and we were very pleased to have been included amongst friends and family invited.

We went with William and Jonathan for the start of it; they had a great time with all the kids there.

We then collected Josh and Samuel from their life group social, dropped Jonathan at Mum's, and went back and stayed until the end.

It was good to be out as a family.

This morning I had an interview with a reporter - not about home education for a change! Woo hoo! Actually it was about Dad's story and I'm hoping that the piece gets published and helps a little in raising awareness of coeliac disease.

The garden seems to have recovered from the frosts and the plants have all responded well to the short sunny spell that we have had. I have finally worked out that it IS the pigeons eating my brassicas, having caught them in the act, so yesterday I went out there and made a make-shift netting cover for them all as well as for the strawberries. I hope that works!

Now I need to focus on the fact that Jonathan will be THREE next weekend, and then it will only be a few weeks before William is EIGHT!

Wednesday afternoon a friend took me out for lunch, to lift my spirits, and also ended up talking me into letting them dye my hair! Actually the afternoon of having my hair coloured, washed, dried and styled was really nice. Surrounded by males, I'm not used to any sort of "pampering" so having a young girl friend offer to give me a "girly" afternoon was quite a novelty :-)

Thursday was spent in the garden, finishing the work Roarke had started on clearing the shed and setting up the replacement play equipment.

(hang on, just going to take a photo to upload...)

Ok, I took more than one!

This is the 9ft by 15ft space we've gained at the end of the garden, behind the trampoline.

We've put in the new climbing frame and slide that we got given by Argos. Roarke's triathlon bike is going to be fixed onto the fence behind, out of the way.

Mum gave us a tool tidy which I've put all my garden tools into. We're going to use the old wooden garden table to cut to make a roof to go over it as we found a green garden table behind the shed when we took it down, and it is in better condition than our poor old table!



In the other corner you can see the old table, which we are going to use :-)

There is also an old builder's wheelbarrow left over by the workmen who did the house.

Mum gave us her old tool shed, which I've put all my hand tools, pots, and bags of seed compost in to.

We intend to turn around the trampoline net so that the opening is on the side where this play area now is, as it is higher than the middle part of the garden and therefore they will be able to step onto the trampoline instead of having to climb up each time. It should make it safer for Jonathan to get on and off himself.
I realised when I went out to take these photos that I could now take one from the end of the garden looking towards the house.

The green handrail of the slide is just in shot, giving you an idea of where I was standing. Looking through the trampoline you can't see the middle part of the garden, with all my vegetables growing, but you can see how the back of the house is in full sun all day.

I keep thinking I need to grow a grapevine up that wall...

The window on the bottom left of the house is the kitchen (you can just make out the second window), and the door.

Above that, is Josh's room. To the right you can just see the window for William's room, looking out over the flat roof of the kitchen extension.

The window at the top, where the grey tiling is, is Samuel's room - he's in the loft conversion.

This is the lovely little playhouse that Jonathan now has.

During the day he takes his cooker out there, together with all his toy food.

We had another home ed family over yesterday, with three young children, and the older two of them enjoyed playing "McDonalds" (of course!) with Jonathan and William, with Samuel as "delivery man".

I love how home ed allows kids to play whatever they want - regardless of age. Let's be honest, as adults, we often envy the kids playing with their toys!

I've sown some more seeds, so that hopefully the seedlings will be ready to plan out by the time I've got some space in the veg patch once I have thinned things out.

I'm also really concerned that the cabbages will end up with one of the very many diseases or pest infestations that they are prone to... I've always avoided growing them before now for that reason.

I've grown other brassicas before, and so I'm hopeful...

Anyway, if the pigeons, or catapillars, or anything else gets them, then I'll just pull them up and put something else in its place!

Do you notice how, as the cover for this is torn, I've added bubble wrap (saved from various deliveries we've had) to add insulation?! Very frugal I thought :-)

On the bottom I've got some seedlings for another home educator in our gardening group, and the tomato plants I received in exchange for my cabbage seedlings via freecycle.

Above that there is a tray of beetroot, and a tray half with salad leaves and half with lambs lettuce (my favourite!). On the top is a tray half full of french beans with the other half sown with basil seeds. The other tray is Josh's salad leaves. The middle two little pots have peppers in them - which have finally come through! That took about 4 weeks. I grew them once before, when we lived in Chatham, rather unsuccesfully so I'm hoping this sunny patio will make a difference this time.

Of course there has still been baking :-)

Today I made some oatmeal and raisen gf cookies, and yesterday there was another delicious gluten free briocheWhat have the boys been up to, I hear you ask? Well Josh started another sailing course yesterday. It is aimed at those in the group who have completed up to Level 3 sailing and it should end with them gaining their level 4, and getting a go at competetive sailing.

It helped fill a void left by drama - his teacher unable to get back from Australia due to the volcano.

Samuel has mainly been on his computer. We need to find a way to get him outdoors more as he's looking quite sallow :-( He's had a massive growth spurt and is now taller than Josh by some 2cm, and is only a few centimetres behind me now!

William still has a mark left from where he skidded and fell against the side of the car 2 weeks ago when we were at a friend's farm. We're concerned that he actually did some real damage so I think a trip to the GP will be in order this week. It is SO hard with ASD kids as his sensory processing issues means, as I've mentioned before, that major injuries don't seem to bother him yet he'll scream and moan over a scratch... It is hard to believe he could have broken his cheek bone or somesuch and not have said more about being in pain but... I just hope the GP is understanding.

Jonathan is still super cute. He's sitting with his arm slipped through mine as I type this, playing with my peg bag and watching Winnie the Pooh :-)

Love Doesn't End With Dying

"Love doesn’t end with dying
Or leave with the last breath
For someone you’ve loved deeply
Love doesn’t end with death"

"…Bill always seemed to be someone who would go the extra mile. He is going to be enormously missed by so many people and I am proud to have known him…"

Four years ago today my beloved Dad died. The quote about him above was just one of many messages we received from friends in the weeks that followed, and it really sums him up.

From the very start I was a Daddy's Girl. Dad worked as a truck driver up until my mid-teens and was often away for days or weeks at a time on long trips. I always missed him terribly and was ecstatic to see him home. So much so that one year it was my downfall - literally! I remember hearing his air horn sound and hear the truck pulling into the lay by opposite our house. I ran out the back door to look over the fence, and promptly slipped over on some ice, fracturing my coccyx - I couldn't sit down without a rubber ring for months afterwards (not a Good Thing when you are 13, already being bullied, and now have to take a rubber ring into school to sit on....).

It was worth it :-)

Even now, four years on from his death, I find it hard to conjure up memories of Dad. Not because they aren't there, but because they hurt so very much. Yet at the same time I'm scared that if I don't think about them, they will fade.

I have lots of lovely childhood memories, of home, of family holidays, of cuddles with Dad. I remember him feeling I had got too old to come in bed for cuddles - Dad was a very "proper" man and always concerned about what was right - so he insisted that I stayed above the covers in future if I went in for a morning cuddle.

We clashed, like all families, during my teen years. Looking back now - as an adult and more imporantly as a PARENT - I can see why! I wasn't an outrageously rebellious child, and to be frank, most of my escapades were kept well away from my parents who didn't know the half of it ;-) But I tested Dad to the limit with some of my late nights, unsavoury boyfriends, playing heavy metal loudly, and all the other stuff you would expect from a teenage girl!

(so glad I've got boys...)

One shining memory is of Dad's face the day I got married. The grin on his face made the Cheshire Cat look like the Mona Lisa. The pride he felt in me was so obvious, so humbling, so warming, so loving.

When the minister asked "and who gives this woman away?" Dad stepped forward and said in a loud, cheerful voice "I DO!" and all the guests laughed at his enthusiasm.

But I know that when I moved out, he missed me terribly, despite his show of being glad to see the back of me.

I know he enjoyed helping us set up our first home. Over the years he helped with gardens, flat roofs, numerous broken down cars... nothing was ever too much trouble.

My joy was complete when I saw Dad holding his first grandson, Josh, for the first time, in hospital in 1993. His face was indescribable.

Oh this hurts so much to write..

I was so blessed to see how much joy his grandsons brought him over the years. He never lost his special awe over his first grandson, and was incredibly proud of how Josh was growing up (Josh was 10 when Dad died). As Samuel grew though, there was a special bond between them as they shared a love of trains. Dad used to take Samuel to train fairs and shows, and it was lovely to see them have something special, something private to share in (as he shared with Josh over a love of birds and nature).

When William was born however, whether it was because we named him after Dad, or some other reason, but there was a strong connection. William would stick to him like glue whenever they were together, and they played endlessly.

With hindsight, I think Dad would have found it unbearable to see how William's personality is affected at times by his ASD, and there is no way Dad could have coped with his violence.

Of course it pains me every single time I look at Jonathan that he never knew his Grandad. Jonathan is such an amazing child, with all the best bits of his brothers rolled into one cute package with his own bits mixed in. I know Dad would have been fascinated with him and, having retired, would have enjoyed spending lots of time with him.

[good grief - knock on the door at 7.30am by a timber merchant, who had got the wrong address. Good job I had put a jumper on over my pyjamas... but not good to open the door like that when you are in the middle of crying so hard... goodness knows what the guy thought...]

It is painfully ironic that the only reason we are back in this area, having lived in the Medway once we got married, is because of Dad dying (and us selling up to first live with Mum, and now renting). If he had lived we wouldn't be this close to him - something he would have enjoyed so much.

Dad never counted himself as significant in any way. I grew up knowing that he felt a failure for not having been "educated" and not having had a "proper job". He compared himself to those around us with fathers working in the City, "something in banking", to those who had at least two holidays abroad each year, and two cars on the drive. We struggled to have a holiday each year, we grew our own veg, and Mum made our clothes - by today's benchmark we were pretty close to the breadline at times.

Dad had been thrown out of home aged 14 and signed up - illegally - to the Royal Navy by his father who lied about Dad's age in order to get rid of him. Dad loved his years in the Navy, and said to me - in a rare confidence shortly before he died - that it was the first time in his life he'd felt loved. Just before Mum and Dad married he left the Navy to join the police force - another job that he enjoyed.

By the time I came along the shift pattern and hours of the police wasn't working out with a young family so he left for trucking. He stayed with that until just a few years before he retired, when he switched to being a parking meter attendant - a job that got him out and about (he could never have worked in an office).

Through the years he first ran a local British Sub Aqua Club branch, then volunteered for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution local branch, and then the Royal British Legion.

I was proud to be able to share this with him, as we both served as Standard Bearers, taking part in competitions and having the privilege of marching on hundreds of remembrance parades as well as taking part in the Lord Mayor's Show and the Royal Tournament. Dad also took part in the Cenetaph parade on a number of occasions.

Everytime I hear a bird sing, every time I look at a flower, every Remembrance Day, every time I see an image of the Royal Navy, every time a truck goes by, every time I go into my garden, every time the car needs fixing, I miss him.

Every time I see an elderly couple walking by, and know Mum is alone (they'd known each other since Mum was about 7), I miss him.

Every time I see a lady out with her Dad, I miss him.

Every time I see a grandad out with his grandchildren - in the streets or at a park - I miss him.

Every time I look at my children - I miss him.

Every tough moment I face, I wish I could still call him up for a hug.

Every happy experience, I wish he was there to share.

Every time I have something to be proud of, I think how much more proud he would have been.

Every time I bake something gluten free - I regret not having had the chance to show Dad that, despite being coeliac, he could still have had all his favourite cakes and pastries - because I would have put every effort into trying to make the most amazing foods for him so he didn't miss out.

Every year, from Mum and Dad's anniversary at the start of February, through to the anniversary of his funeral in the middle of May, I spend every day missing him and mourning him so much more.

I wanted to write something that somehow conveyed, and honoured, my Dad. I was inspired by this post by a friend which moved me with its expression of love and loss.

But I can't do him justice. Maybe it's my writing skills that have let me down.

Maybe it just hurts too much.

Dad - I miss you more than I can express - You will never, ever be forgotten.

Gardening

I feel like I've been paying for my two lovely days of self indulgence, because I got up this morning to the realisation of a very long list of things to do!

I managed to get done most of the things I needed to do in the garden. I planted out another 12 cabbages (and put the remaining 12 on freecyle), 6 more broccoli plants, and the pink fir apple potatoes, and sowed another row of carrot seeds.

My chilli peppers are through, so I potted them on. I also planted the french beans I received courtesy of the BBC Dig It offer, as well as the basil seeds that they sent.

I've just got enough room left for the courgettes - the tomatoes will all have to go into pots!

My thyme is picking up lovely now that I have put the pot into a sunnier position, and the mint and chives are coming up.

Roarke started to take the shed down today. It isn't watertight and is very old, and the landlord said we could do what we like with it so... When he was loading some of it into the car to take to the dump, he saw a tree felling truck pull up at the traffic lights by our house. On the spur of the moment he went over to ask them to quote on taking down the tree at the bottom of our garden (next to the shed, which are both behind the trampoline). The men turned the truck around and came straight in to have a look and offered us a half price cash deal if we could say yes there and then. It was very convenient to say yes, and so within barely 45 minutes the tree was out.

Not only has this added more sun to the garden (which is south facing and sunny anyway), but also it has shown us just how much wasted space was down there. The garden is about 15 foot wide, and the area behind the trampoline is easily 8 foot I'd say.

The question is what to do with it?

The area is raised, where the sloping garden was terraced, and edged with railway sleepers. It would be really hard work to dig it all out and therefore be able to move the trampline back towards the end. The other option is some new play equipment. Argos offered us children's garden play equipment up to the value of the climbing frame that they recalled (as it was faulty/useless), so we've got a new slide and climbing frame that would fit down there.

However, looking at the area, it would be lovely with a canopy, some trellis, fairy lights.... a lovely night time nook...

The slide and swing that Argos have sent are going in Mum's garden. The remaining item is a little outdoor playhouse that we've put up on the patio and Jonathan has moved in to ;-)

The Blessings of Friendship

This weekend has certainly turned out so far to be one of the most relaxed, happy, and enjoyable birthdays I think I've probably ever had.

All of it has been made possible by the friendship of many amazing people, who I am truly blessed to have as friends.

On Friday I spent the day baking, cooking and preparing for Saturday.

The marinaded/slow roast beef was joined by cola ham, and chicken roasted with lemon, thyme and rosemary.

I baked olive oil gluten free baguettes as well cheese and sesame gluten free loaves. As my brother, who is a coeliac, was coming to the birthday party I wanted everything to be gluten free.

Fortunately, as it turned out, the bread was so tasty that no one on the day noticed/complained about there not being any "normal" bread!.

In the evening, my generous hearted boys told their Dad that they were clubbing together to buy a take away for dinner.

Their Nan (who was over helping out with Jonathan) matched them pound for pound, so I was able to relax in the evening and take a break from cooking!

Saturday morning dawned with an beautiful clear blue sky and gorgeous sunshine and the day just got warmer and warmed. This meant we were able to put chairs outside and our guests were able to make the most of our sun-trap patio.

In the end we had twenty-six adults and twenty-nine children here!

Some friends brought food to contribute, and someone generously provided juice, fizzy, and wine (as well as crisps and chocolate for the kids!).

I also have to mention Max who managed to combine all the things I said were my favourite sweet things (meringue, fudge and toffee) and made the most amazing dessert that disappeared really fast!

The food all went really well actually, which was a relief. Just a few left overs - enough so I didn't feel that I'd undercatered, but not so much that I could think no one like the food! An experimental roasted vegetable and cheese tureen that I made at the last minute on Friday turned out to be one of the biggest hits.

I was too busy to take photos, but as always Henrietta did that for us all - I'll let the photos speak for themselves.










One of the nicest things about the day was the chance to catch up with people that I hadn't seen in months, or in some cases, years. The bitter-sweet part came from having Mum and my Brother there - but no Dad. He was present though in our thoughts every moment.

The celebrations continued in the evening when we went out for a meal with eight friends. My friend Stan was able to come - I've known him for 23 years! - which made a nice "seasoning" to the group who were all new friends from BCC. I really enjoyed the company and it was a lovely end to the day.

Today, my acutal birthday, the sun is still shining and I'm off now to church to give thanks from a VERY grateful heart.

Life Stages

We're really packing it into the days this week!

On Friday Samuel and Josh went to a friend's house from 11am till 8pm. Whilst they were out, we took William and Jonathan over to meet with Vicki and the boys, and we went for a walk/pond dip and general hanging out in the sunshine.

Saturday, Samuel went out for the whole day with his friend Alex, for Alex's birthday. They went to the Comedy Club for Kids in London, then for a meal, then back to Alex's until after Dr Who in the evening. By all accounts Samuel had a great day.

Sunday was church, with Roarke taking part in the second drama of a series that they are running during April. It sees him in his soldier's uniform, playing the part of "Brad", an actor... as you can imagine he is getting a lot of laughs :-)

On Monday we had a family day out with our friends and their children. We went to Greenwich to the Royal Observatory, and then had a picnic in the park - despite the somewhat artic winds blowing across the hill! We then went back to their house (to warm up!) and relax. A really really lovely day.

The rest of this week so far has been a mixture of business, charity work, family stuff, and generally rushing around.

April is of course a really bad month for me, and as always I am mentally and emotionally spending most of my time thinking about this time back in 2006. This weekend will be my 40th birthday, and that added "life stage" kind of atmosphere is, I guess, making my grief sharper this year.

We had hoped to have a party at a hall, but for various reasons this has been downgraded to having friends over on Saturday for a buffet lunch. Just as the kids always get to chose their "party food" for their parties, I've decided what we're eating on Saturday - and it is all my favourites! This means everything is either meat or cheese based (savoury) or meringue, fudge or toffee based (if sweet).

I'm hoping peope are going to be able to bring food, but I'm doing the bulk of the catering myself. I'm making it all gluten free as not only is my coeliac brother coming, but also obviously two of my boys are gluten free, and two other guests are gluten free.

It also kind of feels fitting to me, in Dad's memory :-(

At the last count I had 14 adults and 22 children coming...

I've just started the preparation. A beef joint is marinading for 24hrs now in red wine, thyme and rosemary from the garden, garlic and shallots. I'll slow cook that tomorrow, then slice it for the table. I've also made my first batch of gf dough, making some olive oil bread.

This is the view from one of my kitchen windows:
I love this photo as it manages to encapsulate most of who I am and where I'm at right now.

Two measuring scales (a necessity with all this baking), a batch of gf dough provingin the sunlight, potatoes chitting, windowsill chilli seedlings, two pot plants each a gift from friends visiting for dinner.. then looking out into the garden the left hand walled flower bed has crocosmia bulbs coming up at the back, then strawberry plants, then a few primulas at the front for colour. The black seat is off Freecycle (of course!), and the table is 8 years old and on its last legs (literally!). Behind that is my new vegetable patch with garlic, cabbages, brocolli, carrots, beetroot and leeks all in the little patch that you can see, and edged with spring bulbs inherited with this house. And of course the trampoline :-)

Community, Kitchen Tables, and Fund Raising

Sunday saw our Community Day at church. We had a visiting preacher, excellent worship from Ariki, and a Hog Roast. Roarke went early to help set up and to run the barbeque for the children. Samuel went early (having of course lost an hour's sleep due to the clocks changing) as he was helping in ROCK for both services. I had the opportunity to serve with the others on the catering team in serving people their food.

All in all it was a great day, and the weather held!

Jonathan spent the morning with his Nan, which meant that we could all serve without anyone having to watch out for him and meant his Nan got to see him.

Josh and Samuel got to go bowling in Orpington with some dozen or more other teenagers in our group this week, and it sounds like they all had fun. They also had a really good evening with some of the young people in their life group last night.

Trying to find things for William to do whilst the others are out is often hard. When they went bowling we went to buy him a game for his computer, but then when we got home we found the graphics card on his laptop isn't up to it, so he still can't play it. Poor William :-(

Two more Freecyle triumphs this week have been an ikea chair - in exactly the right blue to match the other living room furnishings - which Jonathan has claimed as his own, and today a lovely play kitchen that we collected from a house in the next road along from us! Jonathan said "thank you Mummy and Daddy - this is the best thing ever!" His little face was a real picture :-)

I made schnitzel for the first time this week and everyone love them, so that is now going on the regular family meal list.

Thinking of that, these are our regular meals that I select from every week (depending on what is on offer at Sainsburys!). Perhaps you could share your list?

• lasagne
• pasta bake
• cheesy chicken pasta
• chilli
• bolognaise
• shepherds pie
• chicken pies
• pork schnitzel :-)
• pork tenderloin
• toad in the hole
• sausages and onion gravy
• roast chicken
• chicken in a wine sauce (sometimes a jar, sometimes home made)
• mustard pork
• roast beef (rarely)
• paella
• nasi goreng
• fish pie
• risotto - might be prawn & pea, mushroom, chicken
• fish and chips
• fish with hollandaise sauce
• chicken curry

Of course sometimes there are days when the boys have chicken burgers, chicken kievs or chicken nuggest (Josh has normal, the others have gluten free), but honestly that is probably only once a fortnight.

On Tuesday I was out most of the day on a seminar about social enterprises, which I attended on behalf of our church. I came home very fired up!

The potatoes that our gardening group planted from the Potato Council are through, as are the cabbage, leek, lettuce, coriander, chilli and garlic. The cold snap seems to have slowed things down though this week :-(

Having lived here since May - surrounded by woodland and the like - we have been amazed to have not seen a single squirrel (a huge problem at my Mum's house). This week, within hours of putting up a bag of peanuts for the birds, they were in our garden! The pigeons have also arrived to pick over the dropped sunflower seeds.... I love birds and I want more in our garden but I don't want the pigeons!

Things I've baked this week, other than more of the fabulous bread, included iced chelsea buns
Talking of cooking, if you love food, loving cooking, baking, and talking about food/swapping recipes, please join my new Facebook group, the Kitchen Table!

Talking of links, the most importan one on this page is THIS LINK to sign up to sponsor Roarke in the London Triathlon, to raise much needed funds to continue feeding, clothing and helping those in desperate need in the Borough of Bromley.

Telephone Lines and Ready Steady Cook

The week has seen the usual regular activities sprinkled with a few extras: church on Sunday (Roarke was serving in creche), he had drama practice on Tuesday (he had a 24hr bug thing on Monday so missed rehearsals as he went to bed at 7.30pm and slept till 9am!), on Wednesday he took Samuel and William on a home education trip to the Royal Observatory.

The boys both really enjoyed it, including the presentation and the workshop that had been organised. It is interesting to see just how different William in when he is interested in something - paying attention, Roarke said that he asked lots of questions, knew lots of answers, and generally got fully stuck in. He's also continuing his own, slow progress in recognising letters and words.

Samuel is definately well into his teen stage, including being eyed up by some school girls on the bus on the way home from the trip apparently!

Josh is pining for SAVVY as they have broken up for the Easter term. He's learnt all his lines for his part already and can often be heard practicing them.

Last Monday the local exchange had problems and we ended up losing our phone line and our internet too. I got very stressed!

So, as a result, my kitchen is sparkling, my bakeware drawers have been tidied, the top of the fridge has been cleared cleaned and sorted, and I baked. Lots.

Gluten free bread (Olive oil bread from the Healthy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
book, but I ran out of olive oil so used mainly canola oil - still smelt and tasted divine!)

Samuel helped make gluten free donuts (of which only these two and half were left by the time I got the camera!)
and of course some chocolate easter crispy cakes

I also made some great dinners, but I always forget to take photos of them!

We got a phone line and internet back after 48 hours but after not having any phone calls in two hours (unheard of) we realised there was still an issue. Sure enough, the engineer had made some wrong connections and we have someone else's phone line/number! It is actually quite upsetting as I know that not only are media calls going unanswered, but local home educators enquiries are also not getting through. Seeing as I take several a day usually, this is really concerning. BT have said that we are a priority - because of those helpline calls - but we are now a week around and apparently someone is coming out tomorrow to "the property". Why they need to come here I have no idea when it is a mistake at the exchange. I've got a horrible feeling we're going to have our phone number changed.... surely I can ask for compensation if so?

Thursday I was really busy. My mum came over to focus on Jonathan so that I could focus on our business. Where2EatinKent has now become a limited company and we've got some major projects on the go. It was good to be "working" for a change (lol) and actually the thing I was working on was very rewarding and I soon got into the swing of things and got lots of work done.

Today we had a local home educating family come over, who we've met once before some time ago. The children were William's age and younger and it was good for him to have friends around that weren't older than him for a change. The kids all had fun, and us mums had a good chat.

Josh and Samuel have gone out to get to church for 5pm to serve in setting up Baseline, ready for when it started at 6pm.

I'd been rumaging in the reduced down section at Sainsburys and had bought some garlic ciabatta and some taste the difference cannelloni. Now, I know I should have read the packet, but still I think it is badly done that the cannelloni need sauce to be able to cook them but it doesn't highlight that in anyway. So there I was, ready to put them in the oven, suddenly seeing I needed a jar of tomato sauce and a jar of cheese sauce to cook it.

It shows how far I've come as a cook I guess, and how confident I am now, that instead of throwing a wobbly, I just thought "oh well, I'll have to make some".

I sauted off two shallots, melted in an anchovy fillet, put in a glass and a half of red wine (frozen down in portions you see, from the left overs of a bottle of wine a dinner guest brought a few weeks ago), added a tin of tomatoes and "seasoned to taste". I then half blended it then left it to reduce down to thicken. Meanwhile I made a roux to make up an extra thick cheese sauce. Some fresh thyme from the garden went into the tomato sauce along with one ball of frozen chopped spinach. Once that had defrosted out into the sauce I then pour it into a dish, added the cannelloni, topped with the cheese sauce and some torn basil leaves (from the pot on the window sill) - and into the oven. Served with the ciabatta and a totally-out-of-place glass of gluten free beer, it was LOVELY!

So glad I had the confidence to make that up myself :-)

Spring Fever

It is good to see birds in the garden. When we moved in there was just an unkempt border with ugly shrubs, an untidy lawn, and a patio. Now with most of the garden dug up for vegetables there is plenty for the blackbirds and robins to pick over. Seed and peanut feeders in the little tree has encouraged the blue tits in too.

I've cobbled together a very old upright shelf system covered with plastic to make a temporary greenhouse for my seedlings.

As well as gardening, I'm baking. I'm making use of Google Reader to subscribe to lots of lovely blogs - all things cooking (gluten and gluten free), gardening, and gardening and small holding!

Today I've made a gluten free crusty boule, chocolate shortbread, and chocolate eclairs. The photo of the eclairs was taken before the chocolate sauce went on as it was a bit runny so we just served it up in a bowl!

Please, please consider sponsoring Roarke for the London Triathlon - you can find out more here.

Working Cars and Gardening Clubs

The background thread to the past two weeks continued to be the car. The friend who had kindly lent us his car whilst he was out of the country for three days called us the following week to tell us that HIS car had broken down too!

This put us back on the buses; public transport is ok but the sort of busy, disorganised life that we tend to use doesn't lend itself that well to bus travel and having to allow an extra half hour to get anywhere.

Sundays are a classic example: Roarke went out early to get to church before the first service started so that he can set up the cafe, I take all the boys on the bus later to the second service, then the issue of a half hourly service when you come out to get the bus back just 5 minutes after one has left and you have to sit at a bus stop with a tired toddler for 25 minutes (on those silly bench things that don't fit bottoms the size of mine...), then grab lunch and Samuel and William need to get a bus to Urban Saints, then whoever takes them has to walk back as there are no buses back for ages... then a bus or walk back to meet them 1 1/2 later and get a bus back... its exhausting just typing it!

Getting Josh to Wallington on a Thursday is equally as difficult, with a 1 1/4 hr journey of two buses and a tram to get him there.

Anyway, on Sunday a friend offered to tow our car over to a diesel expert in Thornton Heath ready for them to work on it on Monday. Whilst being towed Roarke engaged the engine to use the gears to help break - and the car started! So, the rest of Sunday we had the car working. Monday we got up and decided to catch up on some jobs. Roarke delivered some furniture for the Hope Foundation, and then went and took bags and bags of stuff over to the recycle centre. However when he got back in the car - it wouldn't start! He waited for the breakdown service who got him started again. We decided to still drive it over to the garage as there was obviously something going on. Long story short, it was something to do with the immobiliser. So as of yesterday we have a working car again - phew! Praise God!

It was great the other week to have Henrietta and some of the younger children over for the afternoon. William appreciated having friends of his age to play with, and I appreciated the chance to chat!

Last Saturday we had friends over for the afternoon and evening. We had just finished telling them about our scary experience at A&E last year when Jonathan broke his leg when yep you guessed it, he hurt himself again on the trampoline!!! Apparently he slipped over (running in socks on the trampoline) and he wouldn't stop crying. He said it was his leg.... we all prayed, and decided to wait and see how it went. All day Sunday he refused to walk on it, crying and saying his foot hurt. Monday he stood on it but he was dragging his leg; GP said it sounded like a hip problem and advised us to go to A&E. We phoned, texted and emailed all the Christian friends we could think of and asked them to pray.

Thankfully, A&E wasn't too bad other than one odd/snide comment from a nurse, and after several hours they sent us home and told us to come back if he wasn't walking on it by Thursday. He was, though still limping, and a week later he isn't fully back to normal but it was obviously therefore a muscle injury. Needless to say I've banned him from the trampoline!

Hasn't the change in the weather been lovely?! As soon as the sun shines I get on with the housework (for once!) and then the gardening.

I love my gardening! We've dug up 3/4 of the lawn to use for planting and I'm really eager to get on with it now.

A few families met this week for our new home ed gardening group.

We planted our potatoes from the Grow Your Own Potatoes project, and sowed carrots, cabbages, leeks, broccoli, squash, lettuce...

Great stuff! The kids all seemed to enjoy it - especially the digging for stones to use for drainage - which was of course the main point. We'll probably meet up weekly or fortnightly now.

Now I've just got to work out what to do with all the trays of seedlings... anyone got a spare greenhouse?!