Ladybirds, ladybirds fly away home....

Now I don't usually leave my garden baskets up throughout winter but this year I had a good reason for it. When I was taking them down to compost the dead plants and give them a wash out I found a crowd of ladybirds hibernating underneath, yes really, they were all huddled together keeping warm.
I was amazed by this because I'd always thought that they just died off after laying eggs and then new ones were born in the spring.



Here's the first group:


and here's the second group:

I thought they might have gone by now but they're still there so I've put the baskets back up even though they are unsightly; ladybirds are too precious to let die as they do such a good job in my garden :o)

Education Round Up

Well... I seem to have misplaced the 'Cultures around the World' lapbook, hence no photos yet but it must be here somewhere so I'll hunt it down and then get some up as soon as possible.

We've moved on from Algebra on MEP maths, infact we've moved on from MEP altogether. Youngest was struggling with Algebra so we went back to Conquer Maths and she's flying through it. I also enjoy the freedom it gives me (to do the ironing) whilst she's listening to the tutor :o)

Youngest has finished researching all she wants to know about the Elizabethans for now so we're going to move on to more recent history, say the 20th century I think.

Science was dithering a little, we either did alot all in one go or nothing for ages but not anymore, oh no, now we do Super charged Science!
I'm really enjoying it as it is so easy to do, just watch a video, read a bit and do the experiments and have a quiz at the end to check understanding. I think youngest is enjoying it even though she isn't a science person, and my son keeps watching the videos too and I feel sure that he'll join in when we get to the harder stuff :o)

So that's it for our round up I think. We obviously do many more things but these are the ones that have changed so far this year, no doubt there will be more ;o)

Getting ready for Spring!

I really wish I had a photo of the huge hole in the wall but I wasn't in when it was taken down, and when I came home and saw it you could say I was in too much of a shock to bother with photos.
The only proof I have that the french doors are new are the curtains, as you can see they are too short for the french doors and we didn't get the blinds ordered in time before hubby cracked on with it.
This was home ed in action as hubby taught himself all he needed to know to do it; now I'm just waiting on the blinds* to finish it off.
Molly certainly likes it as you can see and I can't wait to get out into the garden and start planting and weeding again and get some nature study back into our home ed life as that's really been curtailed with the horrid winter we've had.

*company we ordered blinds from has gone out of business and having a job getting our money back so new blinds will just have to wait a while longer, sigh!*

Just had to post...

We'd just got back from our weekly shopping trip when our neighbours daughter popped round with these lovely flowers for me. Her mum had bought too many and wondered whether I'd like some, isn't that thoughtful?

Just ignore the clay bits and pieces for now, they are our attempt at vases and are just drying out before we paint them, they should be about ready now but I don't think we'll get many flowers in them, mine is the wonky one on the right :o(

Still catching up!

Aww, my children are so thoughtful. This lovely box of choccies was given to me from one of them to say 'thank you' for taking them to the hospital and keeping them company on the numerous appointments; something that I see as part of my job anyway but it is so lovely to know that I'm appreciated :o)


And now down to some 'schoolwork'. Youngest is working her way through this text book (she hopes to do an exam in it) and after a rather boring start (lots of reading) she's gotten onto the good bits, which is a little reading and lots of practical things to do on the computer.

This photo shows some print outs she did both showing different headings and how to make them stand out on a black and white printer - something she hadn't considered before because she's been using a coloured one at home. You can just about make out the heading at the top of the sheet but it's not very clear, I blame the photographer, tut! tut!

Granny kindly donated lots of wool and I mean lots. I'm not sure where we're going to put it all but youngest is putting it to good use by crotcheting a scarf.

New beginnings

This post is just a quickie to say that I haven't forgotten about posting, just being a little busy but such a lot has been happening around here over the last few months that I can't possibly get all the news into one post anyway but no doubt over time I'll get up to date with it. As for the title, well, I just feel as if it is new beginnings but more on that another day :o)

Below is the lovely basket of bulbs that we had delivered as a 'thank you' gift from my inlaws. The intention is that they can go in the garden and flower year after year.

Gingerbread people made by my daughter to take to her Tuesday night group. This is a group of like minded young women who discuss the past weeks service, what they thought to it, what they got out of it etc and have lots of laughs and love along the way (and lots of food too).

Below is Molly, we found her sleeping here after we'd stripped the beds and left the piles ready for washing, she obviously found them very comfy!

More biscuits made by my youngest, only these were for a neighbour who was feeling poorly at the time.

Below is a photo of the family's Christmas present off my daughter. She made them herself and designed the packets and everything. They tasted scrumptious, mine had maltesers and M&M's (my favourite chocolate) in a melted bar of chocolate, my mouth is watering just thinking about all that chocolate.

We've also had two birthdays in the family this month so this has meant more chocolate in the form of lovely cakes but I'm not sure whether photographs were taken but they taste yummy all the same!

Happy New Year!

It's all over for another year and I feel quite sad. I don't feel that we all got out of the period what we could or should have because we were all ill at one point or another :o(
The tree is down and the decorations have gone away, the house has been vacummed and re-vacummed, the pressies have all found a home and the house is ready for another year. Plans have been made and holidays booked, school work has been sorted out and gotten ready for a new year so everything's ready to welcome 2011 and all that it holds into our life.