Impact

Take one visit to the Tate Modern last week.

Add 2 boys with nothing to do at 8am.

Leave for 30 minutes.

We saw Piet Modrian at the Tate and discovered that one of his works sold for $50.6m. We've had a lot of fun thinking about what we could buy with that amount of money!

Countdown

Our friends have nearly finished school and our timetable is about to change. It's a challenge to adjust in holiday time - we want to see friends and go on adventures but we also want to keep some momentum and structure as it's one of the balancing factors of EHE. We do so many extra-curricular activities in term time that keeping a loose lesson structure through the holidays helps keep the kids feeling like they know what's coming next.

We've got over a year under our belts and have one more year to go before K heads to secondary and W will likely head back to school too as he doesn't want to taught at home alone. It feels significant and momentous - we're over half way through this EHE adventure and I'm reflecting on what we've accomplished so far.

The boys folders are bursting with work. Their progress has been excellent and they've learnt so much. I'm exhausted. They've created beautiful things that they're really proud of. The house is a mess. It's been a philosophical awakening of epic proportions. We understand each other better than ever. We've done things we never dreamed of and visited incredible places. Our spontaneity has translated into tangible success - we can be packed and leave for a night away in less than 20 mins if the mood takes us. The boys brought us cups of tea in bed this morning, just because. Life is good. Nothing seems impossible.

Now the clock is ticking, counting down to the next stage of their educational journey back in the mainstream, and I've got the carpe diem vibe in spades.

One year to go and it's going to be an incredible 12 months.

Varying Sentence Length

A simple, powerful demonstration of how varying sentence length improves writing and speaking. A lovely example for auditory learners - google for images of this quote for a visual version with sentences colour coded by length.


“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. 

Now listen. 

I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

― Gary Provost

The Joy of Trees

Things to do with your tree :

• Hug it
• Climb it
• Spot shapes in the bark
• Catch leaves
• Hide in it
• Use broken branches as swords/magic wands/den building materials
• Dangle from it
• Hide behind it
• Paint it with mud
• Marvel at it
• Identify it
• Take a bark rubbing from the trunk
• See what's living in it

We just love trees.

Abstract

Matisse's work appeals to my two. W loves colour and minimalism. K loves detail and technical balance. I wanted the boys to create an abstract piece of art and I was curious to see what they'd come up with without guidance from me and while sitting next to each other.

W takes his lead from K in many things but when it comes to art he sets his own path and isn't influenced by his big brother. We spent some time researching Matisse and getting inspired by some of his later cutout work. Shape and colour are the joy of Matisse - he also knew Picasso and they were both friends and rivals. K was drawn to 'Bees' and W to 'The Parakeet and the Mermaid'.

Art is best interpreted by the viewer, so I cordially present :
K's piece : "Static" inspired by technology and a badly tuned TV.
W's piece : "Abstract"inspired by woodland and a strawberry mousse for lunch.

Both available for general sale, signed and authenticity assured, for £5m each from the Fridge Gallery at my place.

Thoroughly inspired, we headed off to The Tate a few days later. We stuck to the abstract gallery as there was enough there to keep us busy. Highlights were Dali and Picasso but the whole experience was cool and unpretentious and the variety of artwork was diverse and engaging. We'll be back to explore other areas. It was fun to chat about what art is and how things are valued by how much people want them. 

The Tate sits right by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre so we watched a Midsummer Night's Dream from the Yard. It's cheap but standing for 4 hours was tough going on little (and big) legs. We'd pre-read the play and the boys kept up with the story but we were hampered by visibility and missed a lot of the physical jokes because of a pillar in our line of sight. We'll return when the boys are a bit taller or save up to pay for seats!

Then we ate crisps, stalked pigeons on the lawn and chased bubbles on the edge of the Thames - just in case we were getting a bit up ourselves. 

Finally a cheeky Picasso from W - with a small diversion into genetics! He drew me and S, then cut the faces and swapped parts so each face is half mum, half dad. K is on the right, W on the left!

Art imitating life.

Feels like Summer

The sun came out so a day at the beach was in order.

We'd been to a swimming pool that morning which turned out to be exclusively flumes - an awesome, extraordinary thing which I didn't know existed. Half the slides were outdoors and although the sun was out it was more for appearance than for temperature - it felt like a quintessentially British thing to be in nothing but swimming things, soaking wet, stood outdoors queuing for a slide in a brisk north easterly breeze ... and still call it fun.

We had a great time but were sorry there was no regular pool for a splash about. Lucky we were by the coast and nature kindly provided the largest, chilliest pool we could ask for - it even had a wave machine.

Despite the beautiful weather and calm seas we were alone on the beach except for the lifeguards so we enjoyed the exclusivity on this stunning bit of coastline. We collected shells, buried ourselves in the sand and had a swim which I'll call refreshing, but I suspect in other circles would be better described as fricking freezing, or borderline insane.

Brush and Ride

We popped in to the stables next door to the campsite we were staying for a night. The guys there managed to squeeze us in and I was so grateful as we had an incredible morning.

The boys were camping-tired which is a special sort of tired which involves being happy and grumpy at the same time. Too tired to manage polite conversation or help with the washing up but still able to shimmy up a tree or race around a campsite at the sight of a dragon fly.

The boys have sat on a horse once before but they don't remember it so to all intents and purposes this was their first horsey experience. Rather than just sit on and go, they had to brush and prepare the horse and then tack up, giving them a chance to get to know their new friend.

Our instructor Sue was boundlessly enthusiastic and explained the differences between classic and Western riding, how to brush and tack up the horse, where to stand, which bits to avoid, how to clean hooves and how to speak to the horse. Preparation complete they mounted Honey and Tilly and off we went.

It was an excellent lesson. They walked, steered, did challenges, trotted and went from zero to looking basically competent in under an hour. Physical co-ordination isn't W's strong suit but with patient instruction he got the hang of the controls on this new vehicle, mastering acceleration, steering and even braking (eventually). They both loved it and are looking forward to another lesson next time we're in the area.

What was the best bit? I ask as we drive away.

K's horse stopped for a massive wee and W's had gas. Cue uncontrolled giggling.

You can lead a horse to water ...

Village Fete

We love a village fete. Bumbling around with change in our pockets, buying overpriced ice cream and tickets for tombolas that are filled to bursting with things we either donated ourselves or that we just don't need.

I won a wine soaked Body Shop gift box. Oh, cruel tombola! I could smell the wine and the box was saturated with it - but the only bottle in my win was rose-scented body wash. I'm just saying it's not as good as wine.

Hook a duck, tractor rides and decorate a biscuit were fun but the highlight by a mile was the petting zoo. Amid my mutterings of 'we didn't have a petting zoo in my day' I ushered the small ones in for what turned out to be the most fantastic 45 minutes of their week and probably the best value £2 I've spent in ages.

K&W held ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits, chicks, geese, baby mice and fed a baby goat from a bottle.

The team running it were fabulous : competent, confident and with a sense of humour completely undiminished by 4 hours of small children wandering around their pen. They plonked furry and feathered beasts onto children's heads, laps and hands - giving them no time to be nervous or refuse. The highlight for me was a quote from a small boy who was sat next to us. As a rabbit appeared on his lap he looked faintly unimpressed as he turned to his mum and asked :

"What does it do?"

Mum looked briefly flustered before replying :
"It doesn't do anything - it's a rabbit."

Okay, this was no Xbox but we had a great time.