Atypical Home Ed Day

Just about when it was still May we photo documented our day for our annual photo blog. We've been doing this since 2005 and I don't want to miss a year, particularly when our life has changed yet again and Home Education and a day in our lives is different again. As ever there is no such thing as a typical day so here is an atypical day of being Home Educated for Dragon and Star.

Dragon - in his lair!

Star - she'll kill me for this shot!

The day starts in bed! It's daylight here til gone 11pm which means going to sleep doesn't really happen very early. Which means getting up doesn't happen very early either. Not really a problem, just a readjustment of the day - besides Dragon is a teenager in training anyway so laying about in bed til mid morning is only round the corner for him!

Ady heads up to the croft to feed the animals, taking Bonnie the dog with him.

I was busy frosting this carrot cake and cutting up flapjack as I've been selling baking to the teashop on Rum this week

And drinking tea 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ady returns, carrying the empty pig feed container ready for refilling with kitchen scraps

Dragon tucks in to his two shredded wheat! The cereal was part of various food items kindly donated to us by the group we talked to last week. It was like early Christmas when they left us a food parcel containing all sorts of goodies.

after breakfast a quick 3DS session.

Ady de-midging in Star's room. It's been a really bad week for midges and the static has been a haven for them. We think we have it better midge proofed now.

Bonnie in her crate. We were off to the ferry so left her behind

Down at the pier. The boat is coming in. We've filled up our water containers and are hoping for various deliveries on the ferry.

if you squint you can see the first glimpse of the boat.

the islanders gather to await the arrival

and start unloading the lorry - food supplies for the castle, pet supplies, stock for the Rum shop and more

this ferry also brought kittens!

taking our stash back home

for us it was food from the CoOp and a screwfix direct order 

strimmer line, masking tape, superglue, ear defenders and smoke alarms

we used some of the food shopping supplies to try teaching Bonnie some new tricks - inspired by a book we'd been reading we're trying to teach her jumping!

she's okay at jumping but rather better at just being gorgeous!

time for lunch - home made bread (we're making it every other day), cheese and fruit (our fruit and veg order comes on a Monday)

To the croft! It's a midgey afternoon so we don our midge jackets

can you tell which Wonderer this is?

Ady lights lots of insence sticks to smoke out the static while we're gone to drive the midges away

and we're off! with ditch digging spade (arrived on the boat), pig feed scraps, a tub of clean washing to hang out and some cardboard ready for our next campfire.

Eggs! The hens have started laying, we are now getting 5 a day every day and have already arranged to sell excess to the shop.

they are buggers for roaming outside of their pen though, so Bonnie does lots of rounding them up. We are worried we are losing eggs to the crows (and potentially the hens not laying in the pen).

who needs sheep to herd!

the ducks - if they are laying we are not getting the eggs!

me hanging out the washing

Dragon gathering up the chickens

pig love :)

with Tom & Barbara

on the way back to the static we gathered some broom flowers - I have various plans for recipes using them and they are abundant here just now. Elderflower is just starting to bloom too so there'll be more potions brewing with that soon.

back at the static the kids do some colouring while I read a story to them. Here they are colouring in bookmarks to be sold in the Craft shop.

I got another loaf of bread on

and then back to reading while the kids moved on to drawing

we were all deeply amused that the piece of paper I grabbed to swat a very persistant fly happened to have this written on it.

Dragon's gallery - he is doing pictures of all our animals, it might take awhile!

we got a bit slack with the camera after that but here is how our day ended - after dinner with a film. We've joined Lovefilm and are getting through a couple of films a week.

So - plenty of outside time, some creativity, lots of animals and some baking and brewing, socialising with the other islanders, getting our food parcel on the ferry and a hefty dose of midges. A pretty fair reflection of how most days go here just now.