Ben ended up at the hospital last night, as Dave was putting him to bed he was complaining of a bumpy bit on his neck which ended up being a tick sticking out... YUCK! After a few unsuccesful attempts at getting it out, Dave took him off to A&E and they didn't appear back until 11 o'clock. Poor Ben was falling asleep before he went and managed to crash out while waiting at the hospital but not much fun for him! The doctor (who had never seen a tick before & who knew nothing about them & yet still did not appear to see the need to seek help or information????!!!????) managed to pull half of the tick out but left the head in (I wonder why it is that I don't trust doctors.......??) . So he has been put on antibiotics as apparantly the tick can still survive being pulled in half! He has an appointment tomorrow just to check it is all ok and he seems to have been fine today.

After church today we decided to use our last free ticket to go to Holker Hall and the Lakeland Motor Museum (http://www.holker-hall.co.uk/). Ben really wanted to see the Bluebird Exhibit (Donald Campbells boat) so we went around the Motor Museum first and then they had a play on the adventure playground.

We never actually got around the house or gardens as Ben was flagging by then so we headed over to see some friends who live on the way home. We only went for a coffee and a chat and ended up staying for dinner and didn't leave until about 10pm!! They have a girl about a year older than Eilidh and they had disappeared upstairs and came down a long while later with lots of glittery eyeshadow, painted toenails and VERY red lipstick!

Amazingly they both also had the same teeth fall out so when they smile they look like duplicates........... very wierd!!!

Ben had sat snuggled up with his older friend watching vidoes quite happily. It eventually all caught up with Ben and he climbed up on Daves lap and immediately fell fast asleep. We managed to get him home and in pyjamas without much of a murmer so hopefully he will sleep well tonight!!

Grizedale Forest was lovely as usual ( http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5k2b6b). We parked about two miles from the main visitors centre and met up with about six other familes (and as many dogs!) and wandered through the forest trails to have our picnic lunch at the centre. There is a huge adventure playground there and a cafe and while the kids ran around playing we all sat chatting and catching up. The forest has lots of different sculptures dotted along the trails so it's a lovely place to visit whatever the weather, fortunately it wasn't too bad today!

Ben fell asleep on the way home as he had been on the go all day but they have both been really good today and enjoyed themselves. Had to spend all this evening ironing as I just havn't been able to get my head around it all week and we have two cottages to clean tomorrow (Oh what joy!!).

Been a weird couple of days. Ben seems to have been bouncing off the walls, Eilidh is really stroppy and I'm tired...not a good combination!! I ended up threatening them with school today to which they both replied they wanted to go (not quite the response I was hoping for!) After explaining that they would not be able to play, run around, chatter and see all their Home Ed friends all day they went off the idea! We came up with a compromise of actually doing some 'proper' work at home. I think they both need a little bit more structure now so we shall see how it goes. So this afternoon they decided to watch 'Swallows and Amazons' and then go on to do a project book all about this. Well, Eilidh got on with designing and making the front page and Ben decided to draw letters with a stencil we found. He has just started being interested in making letters and drawing rather than just scribbling so it's a good start. We made a list of all the interesting things in the film like charcoal burning, fish, sailing, where the filming was done, pirates, morse code and about Arthur Ransome himself so this project could go on for a while!! We will probably try to do a little bit each day and try to get hold of the rest of the books to read.

Tomorrow we have a day out planned up at Grizedale forest with our local group so the project will have to wait for now!

Event of the day.....Eilidh's tooth came out, with a little bit of help from someone else's head!! Really tired and stressed today so not writing much!!

This afternoon we decided to have a bit of time out all together as Dave wasn't working. We went over to The Aquarium Of The Lakes and to the Lakeside Haverthwaite Railway as we still had free tickets which needed using before October. This is an old steam railway which runs from Haverthwaite to Lakeside. So we parked at Haverthwaite,had a look around the engine sheds and then caught the train to the aquarium at Lakeside. Ben loved looking around the sheds at all the different engines and carriages and kept asking where Thomas was!! It's just a short run but both of the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

The aquarium was really good, we saw otters (busy playing catch with some stones), fish (obviously!), lobster, snakes, mice, rays, and sharks. They also have an underwater tunnel which Eilidh loves as you can watch all the different fish swimming around you. But the best bit is watching ducks diving underwater to get food! We all had a really good afternoon.

Dave's tummy was making peculiar noises all night but he bravely got up and went of to work again today! The rest of us went off to work too, sorting out our smallest holiday cottage. I love people who leave their holiday homes spotless, it only took us about 45 mins to sort out... fantastic!! We then went off to a sale at a local private boarding school which has been closed down. They were selling everything from mini-buses to books to chests of drawers!! We really went to get some more art equipment for the group and for ourselves but there wasn't much left worth having. We came out with some paints, stickers and Eilidh got a half size skateboard and helmet which she was really pleased with! We then decided to go out for lunch at Sedbergh had a drive round the countryside and then home. Eilidh was straight onto the pathway with her skateboard and spent ages playing out there while Ben came in and played with his trains.

While we were away we heard about an internet site where you can sign up to help people who may need help all over the world in exchange for board and lodgings. They had been to France on a couple and had other helpers back to their place to help them. It sounds really good and it may be a way of travelling without so many of the costs. We have always wanted to go around this country (especially Scotland) so maybe in the future..... The site is http://www.helpx.net/, well worth a look!!

Today was our monthly art group. The kids got busy doing origami, pastels and making little birds from beech nuts and putting them on a twig!? They actually look quite good when done. There wasn't a huge amount to do this time and all of the adults ended up having a meeting while the kids played outside for a while. We sorted out what we are going to do for the next few months so we can get a bit more organised with the group. It looks like it could get really good with some really nice arty ideas coming up.

When we got home, our friend Kate turned up with Dennis and Florence. Eilidh and Dennis disappeared upstairs to play while Florence and Ben pottered about together. They all then decided to go and play outside and Dennis and Florence, once again, went home covered in mud!! What is it with our kids and mud??

Autumn is most definately here, it has been raining all day and a bit chilly, and the pheasants are back!! Yes we have about ten or twelve in our back field (well not actually ours, but we have adopted it!). The nights are getting really dark so early, although there seems to be a plus side in that Ben seems to sleeping in a bit longer in the mornings, long may it last!

This morning we sorted out our very late library books and headed into town. Eilidh managed to find six brand new books in the series she loves reading so she was really happy, all about fairies (of course!) Ben spent most of the time trying to hide under the book boxes but still ended up coming home with about six or seven of his choice! We went off to McDonalds for a quick lunch and then headed home again.

This afternoon was spent reading books, playing dominoes and another counting game, colouring, and then they both got quite into doing some mazes and dot to dots which I had found in a pile of paper I was sorting through. This was in between taking turns on the computer on 'Starfall' which is a really good reading site for kids. So all in all a reasonably productive day for them.

Dave was off working again and I was not having such a good day! I managed to put the clothes to be washed into the dryer (twice!), burnt the dinner and spent most of the day walking around in a daze feeling completely overwhelmed by the amount of work that's needed to sort this house out! I really don't know where to start! Then I read a poem I have on the wall and it made me feel a little better....

I TOOK HIS HAND AND FOLLOWED

My dishes went unwashed today

I didn't make my bed

I took his hand and followed

Where eager footsteps led

Oh Yes, we went adventuring

My little child and I

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the sun and sky

We watched a Robin feed her young

We climbed a sunlit hill

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was so neglected

That I didn't brush the stairs

In twenty years no-one on earth

Will know or even care.

But that I've helped my little child

To noble adulthood grow

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

Anon

Today was a lazy day, recovering from camp. Dave was off working at Steve's again so we pottered about doing washing, getting the kids bathed (they needed it!!) and then off to do recycling and shopping. When we got back Eilidh decided she wanted her face painted, so we dug out what face paints we have and bothe of them got 'done'. We really need some decent face paints as these are pretty rubbish so that's another item on our 'want' list!!

Back again!! We had a really good time at LakesCamp. The site was right by the lake shore and there were boats, windsurf boards and canoes for everyone to use. The weather was pretty good for the first half and not quite so good for the second. On the last night Autumn had most definately come as it was freezing!!

It was a really good week but really tiring, the kids were worn out from running around outside, splashing in and out of the lake, going on boats and hiding in the woods. We were just worn out, we didn't really do much but late nights around the camp fire, a not very comfortable bed and kids restless nights take its toll after a while!! So although is was good we were all quite glad to get home after a week, needless to say our proposed camp for next week has now been cancelled!!

Dave had won tickets to Westmoreland County Show on our local radio station, so on Thursday we took a day out from camp and went there. This is a huge agricultural show near here which has everything from Shire horses, craft tents, trade stalls, food hall, birds of prey and loads of other animals. Unfortunately there were no sheep and cattle shows this year due to foot and mouth but it was still really busy. We had a wander around and found a quiet spot for lunch watching horse jumping then decided to head for the food hall. There were so many people in there! I had hold of Ben and as soon as we got to the first stall he grabbed hold of my arm and said 'mummy, get me out of here'!! I felt just the same so ended up putting on my back and found a quiet bit in the middle of the marquee to stand in until Dave and Eilidh were ready to go!! Neither me or Ben can cope with lots of people. The whole show was really interesting, but I think we were all tired and decided we probably wouldn't go next year but who knows?

Well, our caravan will soon be off to pastures new. We had decided that this would probably be it's last trip as it was starting to fall apart a bit but didn't know what we would do with it. One of our friends who does coppicing and charcoal burning has been offered the job of looking after someones large woods for them, which also means them living in the woods. They are going to be living a a large yurt and were wanting a caravan to use as well while it's being built and then for extra space afterwards so it will be retiring gracefully to live in some lovely woods. (We did do a swap for a chain-saw as Dave needed one for cutting wood and for work.) As it will be staying there they can reinforce the floor etc and it should do them for a few years to come. Our friends have three kids and are part of the home education group and hopefully next year when they are a bit more settled, they will be doing woodland skills with some of the kids which will be brilliant. They are hoping to do work with willow, charcoal burning, building benders and just having the woods to play in. I'm really looking forward to it, never mind the kids!!

Today we are off camping again (well caravanning actually!) We are just off to Lakeside which is not very far away on the shores of Lake Windermere. The people running it we got to know better on one of our camps this summer but when we found out they were organising this one it was already booked up. We happened to ring them last week to have a chat about something else and they asked if we would like to come as another lady hadn't sent her money so of course we jumped at the chance! The site is literally on the lake shore so the kids will have a great time, I think there will be a few activities going on as well and there are quite a few of our local group going which is good!

This morning Dave has gone off to a funeral for one of his friends, unfortunately this guy suddenly died last week and no-one seems to know why. He had been unwell and gone to hospital but the doctors sent him home saying they couldn't find anything and a couple of days later he just keeled over at home. Weird. So I'm busy trying to pack everything up for camping, fortunately the kids have decided to be coach potatoes and watch telly so I can buzz around getting it all sorted in peace!

The camp is for a week so no blogs until then , although we will have to be back to work on Saturday and Sunday (yes, they have decided to book people out of cottages on Sundays this month...boo hiss!). Hopefully they will be quick and easy so we can get back to the camp asap. I'm hoping one of our friends can look after the kids so they don't have to get dragged along with us as I think we could have a fight on our hands otherwise!!

The kids decided to play their instruments first thing this morning (drums and recorders) just to get us in a really good mood for the day!! After we had reluctantly dragged ourselves out of bed we got on with bits and bobs around the house while they carried on playing.

Once I had got all my chores done for the day we then sat down to look through a Science workbook which Eilidh is doing. They both snuggled up and learnt about our skeleton, what we should eat, and our senses. Ben always surprises me , he sits very quietly listening so you think he's half falling asleep and then when I ask them a question he will suddenly wake up and come out with exactly the right answer when Eilidh is struggling. We then decided to set up an experiment with celery and red food colouring to show how plants take up water to their leaves. This was left to work while we went off to our Home Ed group. The kids disappeared all afternoon playing with their friends while we chatted and drank coffee and tea. I did spy Eilidh halfway up a tree as usual at one stage but generally they amuse themselves quite happily!!

Dave got some money through from his work at Steve's house so we treated ourselves to tea out at Morrisons (only the best!) Mind you half of it was cold and pretty horrible but never mind!

When we got home we found the celery leaves had started to turn a definate shade of pink so we shall leave it overnight to see how dark they get!

After spending this morning sorting out two holiday cottages we headed home for lunch. I had promised Eilidh and Ben that I would make them some play dough so after lunch Eilidh helped me make up some very yellow play dough and they got busy cutting, making shapes and squishing that about while I made up some VERY pink play dough as well. They both spent about two hours just sat playing with these although Ben (as usual) managed to squish both colours together so we now have stripey play dough.

I managed to sneak off for a lovely bubbly bath and Dave got on with sorting out the caravan out as we are off again next week on another camping trip. The kids eventually got bored of the play dough and went out to play in the mud instead!(Just a dirtier version of play dough I guess!!)

Eilidh and Ben spent this morning sat outside again playing with plasticine and then doing some painting. I managed to get more laundry done (we seem to have piles of stuff to do). We then went to take Dave and Paul their lunch up at Steve's house and were intending to come straight back for our lunch. However, Steve then talked me into a coffee and some lunch and we ended up staying there all afternoon again!! The kids played about in the garden, went and pestered Steve's two boys who are brilliant with them and we watched Dave and Paul working hard. Steve has a lovely Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog who looks really big and butch and is actually unbelievably soft. Eilidh and Ben are still a bit wary but he is such a soft lump and so good with kids.

The weather has been gorgeous for the last few days, more like summer than it has been all year.....I just hope it lasts.

Yesterday was a long day so didn't get time to write anything. We had organised a 'NOT back to school' day out with our local Home Ed group to Brockhole. So while all the other kids were going off to school we were all having fun splashing and playing!!! We met up with everyone (about 11 families came in the end!) and first went to the adventure playground at Brockhole, the kids spent a happy hour and half playing while we munched our lunches. Then we wandered down to the lakeside and set up camp on the beach. The weather was warm and bright so the younger ones went paddling, playing on our body boards and splashing about while the older kids had a 'squirt the ducks' session on the jetty!!? The afternoon went really quickly with trips to the playgound and up to cafe to sneak in a decent cup of coffee and ice-cream. Spent most of the time just sitting around chatting overlooking beautiful Lake Windermere. What more could you ask?

Some people had to go towards tea time, but the real hardy ones stayed on for a BBQ on the beach. We ended up packing up at about 8.30 as it was starting to get dark! Ben was shattered and fell asleep almost straight away in the car. Altogether a really good day, better than going to school!!!

It would have been Ben's first day at school yesterday (if we had sent him) so it made it a bit more poignant for us. The thought of Ben going to school, quite honestly scares the life out of me now. He would probably either be classified a 'problem child' or end up sitting in a corner biting his nails as he would be soooo not ready!!! Thank goodness for Home Education!!!!!!!!!!

Today, Dave was working at Steve's again so we got a load of washing and drying done. Eilidh and Ben helped wash the outside table and then set it up to play on. They sat making plasticine mushrooms, cars and mermaids and did some colouring in. They amused themselves for about an hour and half and then demanded some lunch.

I had promised them an ice-cream this afternoon so after taking all our recycling we went off to Natland Millbeck Ice-Cream Farm. They have outdoor toys and sheep and calfs, a big sandpit and of course lovely ice-cream so we spent a while there before coming back home. Ben fell asleep in the car (again!) so he got packed off to bed while me and Eilidh sorted out some of the garden, trying to find somewhere to put all our recycling each week. Eilidh then helped me make some dinner (chopped a few carrots, washed potatoes and helped make gravy!)The farmer then came over the hill and we watched two tractors trundling up and down, one putting all the cut grass into a neat line for the other one to make bales from. This one would just pick up all the grass and then plop out a big round bale at the back. Amazing! Ben wandered downstairs at this point and I was getting all excited telling him to watch the tractors but apparantly he had been sitting on his bed watching them already and knew exactly how it all worked!!! (Silly mummy!!)

They then decided they wanted to play on CBeebies on the internet and fought over whose turn it was until dinner time! Just as we were finishing dinner a hot air balloon appeared out of nowhere right at the top of the hill behind our house, Eilidh has now decided she wants to go in one!!

Dave went off again to sort Steve's garden out and we went off to sort out one of the holiday cottages. Someone had been in for the weekend and I think we actually spent all of about half an hour in there as it looked like they had literally only slept there and nothing else!! Great!!

I then braved taking the kids around Morrisons for a few bits and pieces, needless to say I will not do that again in a hurry! We then went over to Steve's to take some lunch for Dave and Paul (friend helping him out) and ended up staying all afternoon chatting. Eilidh and Ben went off with Steve's son Joel and his friend Myrna to pick blackberries and disappeared for about two hours so we had lovely peace and quiet! They all came back and set to making blackberry cordial, sieving the blackberries, then cooking the juice up with sugar. It was actually really nice and Ben decided he actually loved it although he won't eat blackberries themselves!!

After all their excursions picking blackberries, Ben fell asleep on the way home and I managed to get him in his pyjamas and into bed without a murmer!! Eilidh followed soon afterwards. A nice relaxing afternoon for me.

This morning was spent sorting washing, raking up grass and generally pottering about the house and garden until it was time to go to our usual Monday Home Ed group at Endmoor. We packed up lunch and bundled the kids in the car to get there on time. Eilidh and Ben both went off with their little friends, climbing trees, digging up mud, running around and playing in the playground while we chatted and drank tea and coffee. In fact I didn't really see them all afternoon!!!

It's always nice to chat and find out how everyone else's week has gone, at the moment the group seems to be quite close and it's really relaxing just being able to let the kids run knowing that everyone is keeping an eye out for each others kids. So not much to report today!!

After church this morning, we decided to walk down into Kendal to check out the last day of the Mint Festival, stopping off outside the town hall for a quick lunch from Greggs. This is a new street entertainment festival they have started this year which has been on over this weekend. There have been bands, jugglers, street entertainers, stalls and loads more stuff going on.

We walked all the way from church at the North of Kendal down to Abbott Hall Park at the South end of Kendal where all the action was. It was brilliant!!! First we watched a very weird play on a converted roundabout(??) then had a walk around and the kids had a go at clay modelling (with a bit of help from Dave!). Next we sat and watched Senmaru a Japenese entertainer juggling, spinning rings and boxes on top of umbrellas and balancing tea pots on a stick! We then saw a sign for 'child friendly acts' so had a wander round there and Eilidh and Ben sat enthralled by a couple of childrens plays. It always amazes me that Ben can sit still to watch plays and listen to books but not for anything else!!

After an ice-cream we wandered around a bit more and stood watching an act where two people dressed in very strange costumes were picking people out of the audience to get their hair done. Now this wasn't a normal hair-cut!!! They were back-combing, scuplting, spraying with colour and making the most weird and wonderful hair -do's complete with make-up to match. Some of the hair styles were amazing!!

As we are standing watching along with a couple we know from church Tim was just saying to Dave that you should avoid eye contact with the guys on stage just then the guy on stage caught his eye and pointed straight at him, of course with Dave being the shy retiring type he accepted & this is what he ended up with!!!

Ben kept saying he didn't want a green Daddy until I pointed out that he would get the trains afterwards!! Fortunately it was my turn to go to church tonight!!!!!

Then the fun of getting back to the car which was still parked at the opposite end of town, fortunately it was around 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon, unfortunately since the festival was on there was still quite a few people around giving us strange looks & giggles etc. Then even more fun when Dave tried to get into the car which would normally only give him about 2 inches of clear headroom, our friend Rob got a few pictures so we will try to get them & load them too for a laugh.

What fun we have had today.

Saturdays are pretty uninteresting days as we are usually doing some of the holiday cottages which takes up most of the day. So I thought I would get some pictures of our back bit of garden to put on the blog. Our veggies are doing well, we have even had some cauliflowers now and the beetroot, cabbages, onions, garlic and leeks seem to be doing ok as far as I can tell. The courgettes in buckets seem to have been gobbled up by snails but we may save one and the runner beans have just started flowering but not much else so we shall wait with baited breath!!

The back garden is still waiting to be dug out to make a flat seating area, but so far either the weather hasn't been here or we haven't!! We really need to get this done before winter comes as the retaining walls need to be built before the hill behind us ends up in our kitchen!! Any volunteers???

The farmer was out in his field at the back cutting the grass the other evening so he will probably turn up at some time to pick it all up for silage. This will keep the kids happy watching the tractor going round and round the field.