A Day of Many Things (by sarah)

I am resting my bones today - I've had a hectic last few days and after a fall and during a bit of a flare up. This means I am doing Easter crafts with the girls and there will be a picnic in the garden.

Yesterday however was a day of many things.

It started early with getting Mary to nursery and Al to work, then me and Jeany walked from Al's office into Gloucester to the climbing wall. Jeany had her second climbing session of the holidays - this time Rock Ratz instead of Rock Mice, which is more challenging for her. Whilst she was in the session I did two hours of course work for my PGCert in Practical Science Communication.

Then once she was out and we were eating lunch, I did some art practice which is important for both the comic book and my college project. I drew eyes.

(Some of them I made up myself but most of them come from a manga drawing book.

We then went to the library where we bumped into two lots of friends Jeany hunted easter eggs in the children's Library whilst I looked at story line, set out and drawing styles in various graphic novels - my conclusion is that I've been worrying too much about my drawings and my story lines are more coherent and less bitty (I think), than those I got through yesterday.

Jean won a wrist band and we moved on as I had a voucher for a free coffee We sat in the coffee shop - Jean had picked up a for sale book at the library - just a bit of light reading you understand!

Apparently it is book five of a series and she wants the rest :/

I worked on my college work again and then scripted 3 pages of comic book, Jeany kept nagging me as she wants to know what happens in the rest of it and I'm not writing it fast enough apparently!

We then picked up a watering can and few other bits, I found a grumpy cat graffiti and we saw street performers though we didn't stop as Jeany wanted to go and read - she has said she wants to be a street performer and she is SOOOOO going to be a scientist.

She got mistaken for being 12 a lot - that's 4 yrs older than she is.

We then walked down to Al's office again (Jean was navigating as I'm a bit out of it at the moment - couldn't find the library from the climbing wall!), all bundled in the car to go and get Mary. It was Mary's parents evening at nursery so we picked her up and had a picnic in the park. Al then went off to the kid free parent evening to get the little report and be shown her work whilst I stayed at the park with the girls. I am so proud of my little climber - she really hurtles up things

They really loved the spiny thing in the park.

I also found blossom to photograph for my 100 Flowers in 100 Days Challenge.

Then it was off to Copa in Cheltenham for a improve/acting/comedy workshop with the lovely Joy Amy - again this is actually part of what I am developing for college. I can't make a production without understanding stage craft and though the workshop was comedy a lot of the skills will be transferable and when dealing with kids being able to improvise is always important.

Whilst I was in learning how to be comedic, Alaric and the girls went off to Cranham to pick up some furniture his cousins have given us for the girls.

It was a busy day.

Home Automation: Phase 1 (by alaric)

I've always had a nerdish fascination with home automation.

There's been a recent trend towards the "Internet of Things" (a.k.a. "IoT"), which is related, but different. The IoT seems to focus more on home devices talking to centralised Web services, which is a hateful model (we all know why: those central services are outside of your control, so unless you're paying a subscription, you are the product rather than the customer; and if they're shut down, your devices become useless; and they can leak your private information whenever they want; and they can take control of your home; and it all falls apart if your Internet connection goes down; and I'm sure there's others).

No, I want to have my house under computer control - but with those computers under MY control. This is something I've planned for for ages, but as with all hardware projects, getting started is tricky; I need to commit to a final design and then afford to buy the parts, and that's scary because I might find out that the parts don't quite work together in the way I wanted. Unlike with software, hardware hacking requires up-front commitment of resources, that can't be backed out of. Scary!

So the trick is to split the thing into small parts, with flexible interconnections, so I can iteratively prototype parts and then connect them up in due course. And this last week I took the first step - building an announcement system in the living room.

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Domestic Sunday (by sarah)

When we are not away doing events, we are trying to have a whole day focused just on domestic stuff. In reality I am often slopping off to catch up on work I can't do with small people around me but I still aim to spend at least the morning on domestic stuff with my family.

So today we did some house tidying that needed doing, sorted the chickens and rabbit out, fixed some door handles and I got stuff ready for the allotment. In the end when we saw how time was going it was decide that Alaric would not take the seedlings I've been growing or the fizzy drinks bottles to turn into mini green houses, as I needed to get some work done. So he just dug the plot and planted the marigold seeds in the tyre with the girls (I say just but that is huge work). And tomorrow after school I shall go down there with Jean and my dad and plant things.

Alaric took eggs to his aunt and attempted to sort her printer out and the girls came back with play dough and a pick nick hamper, which they love!

I mean while sat and drew pencil sketches with construction lines - female manga heads and worked on my comic book. The comic book and my last assignment for college mean I need to remember how to draw and illustrate. So I am steadily working my way through my how to draw books. I think there is a marked improvement from the line drawings I did earlier in the week.

People interested in the design and/or creative process, I am using the Complete Book of Drawing Manga at the moment but have a stack of other drawing books and more in depth updates will be happening on Purple Monster.

In the evening Alaric cooked a wonderful stir fry - though sadly we couldn't use the funky sauce he had bought as Jean noticed the ingredients included the chillies that kill me and fish sauce, meaning it wasn't veggi for Al

On the other hand, him and Jeany made cinnamon swirls which we ate warm and drizzled

Allotment Stuff (by sarah)

We are loving our allotment but we still want a walkable one that I can attend with the kids after school and plant the stuff that needs lots of watering etc... so I prodded the council again - found that their email system has apparently changed which might be why I've only been getting bounces back lately. Anyway I pointed out that I had been trying to get an allotment since we moved in which is now well over 2 yrs ago (I should probably stop calling it the new house!). Apparently we are registered as having asked about it last year and they will pass on that we are still interested. :/

So I think we made a really good choice, going for the private one on a farm - at least I can grow something! And hopefully more than dandilions!

We have so far (and when I say we I mean poor Alaric as I have had course work or been ill) dug over one section of it and have planted the pumpkins out in a little cold frame or mini green house we have hobbled together out of bubble wrap and bamboo canes - it wont take strong wings but then neither will most of the polythene and metal frame ones you can buy.

The pumpkins are tad insane - half of one of the pumpkins started to go off and when I went to compost it I saw that the seeds where germinating so I bunged the whole thing in a pot and popped it on the top shelf of the propogator that is in the dinning room at the moment. I'm hoping one or two of the plants will live to maturaty.

The girls love the allotment and Mary calls it The Mud, Jeany has gotten over her fear of worms and actually held one! (I think Al took a photo of that on his phone so I need to extract it!).

Jean has requested the old tyre at the end of the plot and wants to grow flowers - we have compromised and she is growing edible flowers. I have lots more seedlings and a rota written out for which seeds need to go in next

Also there is an amazing view and the girls like having picnics there.

Library Book Tower (by sarah)

It's one of those parental situations where you don't really know weather to be proud, angry or too split your sides with laughter. Out 8 yr old has been hoarding library books - all of which she's read.

It all started with a letter from the library saying books where late (my fault I've been too busy and sick to walk to the library and forgot there was the website). So we got together all her books and took them to the library - except it wasn't all her books!

Turns out she had gotten Daddy to take her to the library and had maxed her card out, then she got my parents to take her and got books out on Mary's card (which looks exactly the same). So we had a fine just under £10 and I was fuming especially as we couldn't find one of the books.

She had to earn the money to pay the fine (back to me as I paid the library - though not for my own fine (including the one I had out on Al's card - erm...).

In the process of looking for the library book we discovered that Jeany has also been getting unlimited books out of the school library, those who have been following this saga on social media will not be surprised to find out that the last count of 25 school library books has since been upped by another 5 or so. Apparently they told her she could take as many as she wants as she was checking out a handful everyday.

It is hard to be angry when a) she has demonstrated the intelligence to get around the system b) has actually read them all c) you would be the biggest hypocrite ever if you were.

Most of the books from both libraries where RL Stein - the Goosebumps Books with a few Winnie the Witch and Jacqueline Wilson - she says she likes the Jackoline Wilson books but they all seem to be the same story and asked if her parents broke up when she was small. She loves Whinny to the point of being too shy to talk to her at the literature festival but it is the Goosebumps that are king - I know she is eyeing up the point horrors and Fear Streets but I've told her she has to read all the equivalent ones for her own age group first. She asked if my Spooksville books where by the same person but nope they are Christopher Pike!

I am finding this really interesting as they where my two favourite teen horror writers.

But still Jean's book habit is a tad insane - she has inherited Alaric's fastness for reading but my love of fiction and my obsession for always reading - she even asked if she could to town reading - I said no and felt two faced for it as I used to walk home from secondary school with my nose buried in a book.