Happy Times

With the wonderful news that parts of the Children, schools and families bill which would have severealy blighted the lives of home educators were thrown out in the wash up !  Oh happy happy day! This also means that the government have not conferred powers upon the Welsh assembly to adopt english law/practice. The rumblings from the assembly were positive but Welsh HEers were understandably worried that we would be affected by the appallingly compiled Badman report and the legislation which the Government tried to enact on the back of it. Im undecided how I will vote yet but one thing is certain it will most definitely not be Labour who gets my vote. Im hoping I will get canvassed by my local Labour MP or his supporters so I can "engage" him on his parties views. I must look up how he voted and when on the issues that matter to me- you know, just to show we do do our "Homework" ;-)

And  another fabby surprise.... visitors this week when my cousin and her family decided to descend on us! It was a lovely suprise, they texted in the morning and arrived from Darlington at midnight! We had a lovely few days with them stayying, visited St Fagans, played in the park and just chilled out.

We had planned lots of gardening, that didnt happen so we have spent this weekend catching up a little. Weve planted up strawberries and potatoes and have lots of seedlings almost ready to get transplanted.

We have bits and pieces ready to start the fencing off tomorrow, better late than never! Once thats done we can plant veggies out in the garden. The kids were inspired by seeing the vegetable patches at St Fagans all ready for planting I think. We have masses of seeds. I dont think we will have space to grow them all and we'll be supplementing the space with the containers we used last year

The chickens are laying well now, well enough for me to sell about a dozen eggs a week. The inital ones were given away but its nice to know Im getting a return for the effort, even if it just make our eggs free by funding their feed and bedding stuff!

Im trying hard to get into the habit of blogging more often, I find it so useful to keep a record of what weve been getting up to, its so easy to forget and its nice to look back. The kids have been having a couple of weeks of a different routine really since its been the easter school holidays. Theyve bought some funky stickers to liven up their bedrooms instead of decorating throughout (far cheaper and they didnt need repainting) and this week Im going to have a great big sort out and ebay some stuff.Im also looking into making some chutneys to possibly sell at a local farmers market which is run by the food co-op we belong to. I need to go and investigate the possibilities Were really getting into being thrifty and the kids are entering into it too.Ive been reading this site Love food,hate waste and will be following loads of the tips on there, its really useful. Im also trying to cut our shopping bill right down.

The kids have been getting into some new things lately.Chloe went off to her first under 18's disco at a local nightclub with some of her mates from primary school who she stays in touch with via facebook. She looked gorgeous going off out, even if I did gulp and realise just how grown up she looks, she had a blast and is looking forward to the next one in June, shes already bagged a bargain dress on ebay and booked an appointment to have her hair done!. Shes still unsure about returning to school but needs to decide soon whats going to be happening one way or the other as shes been away half a term now.

Sophie is going to try Army Cadets tomorrow, Im wondering if she will enjoy it as shes one of the least organised kids in the world ( shes a real ditzy soul) They do lots of outdoor stuff which she enjoys and hopefully she will meet some nice local friends. She is keen to start volunteering at the food co-op with another HE child who lives nearby. Im also going to enquire whether its possible for her to do an NVQ level 1 in Animal care locally or by distance learning if we can arrange her a placement. The training agency here takes referrals from schools for 14-16 year olds on some courses so Im wondering if there may be some flexibility or possibilities there.

Connors been enjoying his Mathletics. Im still pushing for him to get a certificate every week, he has a short attention span so loses interest quickly. Im also going to get the kids involved in the ebaying/boot sale stuff and hope we can get enough by June to pay for our holiday in Spain in August. I managed to get 2 nights in the travelodge in Barcelona as part of the holiday for just 40 Euros! I was amazed. I also want us to start learning some spanish in readiness. Sophie already knows a little from her recent time at school.I did learning at home ed group but was so busy helping out I didnt manage to keep it up.

So yes, were busy but were also very happy and enjoying the sunshine and the new possibilities the simpler life holds for us!