Quite a good day... had a lie in! But up at 10.30 and I got busy straight away as it was a nice day and I had an appointment at 2.30 at Jim's office, to learn how to edit Wordpress websites. I did emails first and then the washing up and recycling.
The visit to Semlyen IT went well... Jamie took me through the website and showed me how to do various things... I now have to go and play with the website and add things before we launch it to the unsuspecting public.
I came back via Country Fresh as Gill had asked me to try to get something which could help her make a costume for our youngest's World Book Day. He is dressing up as Ergum the Barbarian.
When I came back my eldest was arriving home and we chatted and then I helped him with some homework, just encouragement and one or two ideas, and the resulting piece of work was brilliant.
A very positive evening, what a relief!
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
Well, a quiet day, had hoped to make it to the allotment to put in my spuds, which are very well chitted, but lots of things got in the way.
It was a busy family day in the morning, boys playing Wii Music and I don't know what else going on, and then I spent some time repairing the broken tiles around the raised beds.. they are quite brittle and a kick will break them. Several have been kicked and therefore I have had to remove the soil from behind them, excavate a space for the tile to slip into, and replace. Fortunately, when I recovered the roof tiles, I got some spare, so more can be kicked and I'll be able to replace them for some time to come...
I added some home-made compost to the soil as I'd taken out loads of roots and it did seem quite impoverished. It won't be long before we can replant that bit of bed. Tomorrow maybe?
Also made some more growing medium, compost, leafmould and loam.
I popped down to Country Fresh to get assorted veggies, some for Tony's quiches for his birthday party tomorrow. Also brought back plenty of compostables... and a huge pawpaw (papaya) which made a good fruit salad base and lots of strips for drying.
In the evening I helped our eldest with some homework (amazing!) and then did two lots of washing up. Gill made quiche bases (pastry) and a chocolate cake in the shape of a narrow boat, as Tony is more than keen on canals, and is one of the lock keepers at the Foss Barrier.
It was a busy family day in the morning, boys playing Wii Music and I don't know what else going on, and then I spent some time repairing the broken tiles around the raised beds.. they are quite brittle and a kick will break them. Several have been kicked and therefore I have had to remove the soil from behind them, excavate a space for the tile to slip into, and replace. Fortunately, when I recovered the roof tiles, I got some spare, so more can be kicked and I'll be able to replace them for some time to come...
I added some home-made compost to the soil as I'd taken out loads of roots and it did seem quite impoverished. It won't be long before we can replant that bit of bed. Tomorrow maybe?
Also made some more growing medium, compost, leafmould and loam.
I popped down to Country Fresh to get assorted veggies, some for Tony's quiches for his birthday party tomorrow. Also brought back plenty of compostables... and a huge pawpaw (papaya) which made a good fruit salad base and lots of strips for drying.
In the evening I helped our eldest with some homework (amazing!) and then did two lots of washing up. Gill made quiche bases (pastry) and a chocolate cake in the shape of a narrow boat, as Tony is more than keen on canals, and is one of the lock keepers at the Foss Barrier.
A long lie-in as went to bed at 3am. Got up at midday and there was a knock at the door, a neighbour offering me some wood. She described it as an old fence... I asked if it had been treated and she said, yes, tannalised, but I went to have a look anyway. It wasn't treated, it was oak, which doesn't need treating as it lasts for ages without. The fence was in pieces, ready to be put back together and used. They just want rid of it and were wondering whether to skip it. It will be reused not burned! I had a nice chat with the couple about quite a few things, including their enormous fir tree which has looked unwell for the past year. It may have to come down... which will be a pity as it is a good habitat for birds. and it sways beautifully in the breeze and I can see it from lying in bed!
Lunch and a quiet afternoon... Gill had a snooze and the boys played on the computer... I let them have a long time and then invited them to do some homework.... which after a while, and a bit of noisy protest, they did do! Wonderful. Why the fuss?
I popped down to Country Fresh before it closed and also Freshways, then stayed in the garden til dark, piling stuff on the current hot heap.
Gill made tea, cauliflower based, very nice.
Watched an excellent Natural World programme on BBC2, called The Future of Farming.
Well worth a watch (BBC iPlayer available til 17th March 09)
Later in the evening, Gill and I watched the film of Sex and the City, a DVD she bought for £3 from the local Blockbusters, an ex-rental copy. Good re-use!
Lunch and a quiet afternoon... Gill had a snooze and the boys played on the computer... I let them have a long time and then invited them to do some homework.... which after a while, and a bit of noisy protest, they did do! Wonderful. Why the fuss?
I popped down to Country Fresh before it closed and also Freshways, then stayed in the garden til dark, piling stuff on the current hot heap.
Gill made tea, cauliflower based, very nice.
Watched an excellent Natural World programme on BBC2, called The Future of Farming.
Well worth a watch (BBC iPlayer available til 17th March 09)
Later in the evening, Gill and I watched the film of Sex and the City, a DVD she bought for £3 from the local Blockbusters, an ex-rental copy. Good re-use!
A nice relaxed morning and enjoyed Countryfile. It was good to see my friend Guy Wallbanks interviewed in Whitby about how to have an ethical St Valentine's Day. Then I enjoyed Gardeners Question Time. I spent lots of time peeling dozens and dozens of lychees, which were unsaleable as they have some little patches of mould on the outer skin. But when this shell is peeled off, the fruit within is absolutely fine... so did loads, then peeled the fruit off the stone, and liquidised this fruit pulp with some apples to make a wonderful juice. I'll convert some of this into fruit leather, but we had some nice perfumed juice drink with our evening meal...
Mid afternoon went for a cycle with my eldest lad. He had some homework to do, making a virtual tour of York, so we went with Gill's camera down to Heslington to get photos of his school, the park, Heslington Hall and parts of the University. He decided where to take the pics, I took him to the places he wanted to see.
Then we went down to Country Fresh and got some bananas and tomatoes, plus recycling, and then on to Freshways where one of the guys offered my son some bananas and he was unsure whether to take them... he's not used to the generosity that shop-owners display to me, their volunteer recycler!
Pizza for tea and then I took some lychees up to Wendy in part payment for the exercise bike... I sorted out a couple of dozen with minimal mould on, and she was happy with these.
Bathed both the boys in stove-water and a very peaceful evening.
Mid afternoon went for a cycle with my eldest lad. He had some homework to do, making a virtual tour of York, so we went with Gill's camera down to Heslington to get photos of his school, the park, Heslington Hall and parts of the University. He decided where to take the pics, I took him to the places he wanted to see.
Then we went down to Country Fresh and got some bananas and tomatoes, plus recycling, and then on to Freshways where one of the guys offered my son some bananas and he was unsure whether to take them... he's not used to the generosity that shop-owners display to me, their volunteer recycler!
Pizza for tea and then I took some lychees up to Wendy in part payment for the exercise bike... I sorted out a couple of dozen with minimal mould on, and she was happy with these.
Bathed both the boys in stove-water and a very peaceful evening.
Gill took our youngest to school and then went to town on the bus to get a requested green tee shirt for our eldest (I've no idea why he needs this, but his school has lots of material needs...) and I had a fairly lazy morning... took a few phone calls, dealt with emails and did some letter writing.
Gill came back for lunch which we ate together and after this, I had a short session in the garden putting another load of watermelons and about 20 200g packs of 'Chinese morning glory' in the Compostumbler.
We both went down to school, as I was volunteering with Green Thumbs. Gill came in and reminded me about BBC's Blue Peter Appeal, called 'Mission Nutrition', so I decided to ask the children about Blue Peter and whether they wanted to help raise some money for their appeal. We eventually got round to the (preferred) 'Bring and Buy' fundraising technique, and agreed on that. Three older children wrote a letter to Mrs P the head teacher, and took it to her, and came back with a decision... Friday 23rd January 2009, 3.15pm, in the 'pack-up bags' area if wet; in the playground if fine. Wonderful! Next week we'll do some posters for this event.
The tasks today were all inside, as it was raining, and some children made Christmas Cards, others made Christmas Tree Star decorations out of twigs, paint and glitter, and still others made stuffed fabric decorations. Busy, messy and fun!
I came home and collected three sacks of wet autumn leaves on Windmill Lane in my usual fashion... cycling fast, sticking out my welly-booted foot into the kerb which scrapes up a big pile of leaves slowing me down, so that when I stop, there's several armfuls of leaves for me to put into the trailer or a sack, and take home for the leafmold enclosure.
We had pasta for tea and I got ready for the York in Transition meeting. This meeting was again at the Stables Project, but this time the meeting was far more complicated... we continued what we did last week, building on it, and looked at the different jobs/roles/tasks etc which were possible in a York in Transition process, and tried to prioritise them and group them together. It seemed very theoretical and I found it a tough meeting to get my head around. But hats off to Jennie and Edward for helping us through it and for bringing this planning process towards an end. Just one more of these types of meeting before we do something a little more vibrant... However I did find out that allegedly, the Stables Project does have a ramp to make their downstairs room accessible, although their toilet definitely isn't...
I got home at 10pm and our eldest was still doing homework, writing an excellent story about a mythical Roman scenario mixed with a bit of SciFi and computer game imagery. Gill read me the story when she came down at 11pm, which is when he finished.
Gill came back for lunch which we ate together and after this, I had a short session in the garden putting another load of watermelons and about 20 200g packs of 'Chinese morning glory' in the Compostumbler.
We both went down to school, as I was volunteering with Green Thumbs. Gill came in and reminded me about BBC's Blue Peter Appeal, called 'Mission Nutrition', so I decided to ask the children about Blue Peter and whether they wanted to help raise some money for their appeal. We eventually got round to the (preferred) 'Bring and Buy' fundraising technique, and agreed on that. Three older children wrote a letter to Mrs P the head teacher, and took it to her, and came back with a decision... Friday 23rd January 2009, 3.15pm, in the 'pack-up bags' area if wet; in the playground if fine. Wonderful! Next week we'll do some posters for this event.
The tasks today were all inside, as it was raining, and some children made Christmas Cards, others made Christmas Tree Star decorations out of twigs, paint and glitter, and still others made stuffed fabric decorations. Busy, messy and fun!
I came home and collected three sacks of wet autumn leaves on Windmill Lane in my usual fashion... cycling fast, sticking out my welly-booted foot into the kerb which scrapes up a big pile of leaves slowing me down, so that when I stop, there's several armfuls of leaves for me to put into the trailer or a sack, and take home for the leafmold enclosure.
We had pasta for tea and I got ready for the York in Transition meeting. This meeting was again at the Stables Project, but this time the meeting was far more complicated... we continued what we did last week, building on it, and looked at the different jobs/roles/tasks etc which were possible in a York in Transition process, and tried to prioritise them and group them together. It seemed very theoretical and I found it a tough meeting to get my head around. But hats off to Jennie and Edward for helping us through it and for bringing this planning process towards an end. Just one more of these types of meeting before we do something a little more vibrant... However I did find out that allegedly, the Stables Project does have a ramp to make their downstairs room accessible, although their toilet definitely isn't...
I got home at 10pm and our eldest was still doing homework, writing an excellent story about a mythical Roman scenario mixed with a bit of SciFi and computer game imagery. Gill read me the story when she came down at 11pm, which is when he finished.
I got up just before 8; Gill had been up since before 6 with our son, still trying to get his homework finished. He finished most of it at 8.20. I took our youngest to school at 8.30.
I got home and had a short while with Gilly before my meeting with Ali at the station. We first checked her return journey times and then went on into town to try to find a pen which writes in italics for her project, and ended up in a pen shop in Fossgate where the woman inside was very dismissive of the difficult access into her shop. She didn't apologise for the lack of ramp, just made some feeble excuse about most people not needing it or something like that. Neither of us felt we had the time or energy to stop and explain that as her shop wasn't very accessible, she wouldn't have that many wheelchair users coming in......
Onto El Piano for a hot chocolate and some filming about the list of words plus much tangental chat. Then on to the City Art Gallery which had let us use the Studio for the interview with Dexter and me. Ali and I had lunch... soup and a panini for me, Ali had quiche and salads. A nice little cafe. Then at 1pm we were able to move into the studio and set up... Dexter arrived soon after 1,30 with his partner, good to meet her properly. Dexter explained about the start of his interest in graffiti, 'retrograffiti' and reminiscence art. He'd brought along a small piece of his Dexterworld artwork, based on the life and work of Andy Warhol and some postcards and other reproductions of his larger pieces. We talked about my ideas about having the words different sizes and colour coded.
Ali got a train home soon after 3 and I bombed home. Early in the evening a housebuilder called Clive knocked on the door offering me some joist ends for the stove, and telling me about the green building group he's joined.
I went to the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel meeting at Tang Hall Community Centre which I'm 'acting Clerk' of, and four of us looked through and discussed at least half a dozen planning applications, several of which were enlarging houses from 2 bedroom to 6 bedroom, almost certainly for student houses. There was also a huge pack about the new University campus, too chunky to look through in the hour we have, so one of the group will look through it and we'll have another meeting next week about that.
Home to a warm house, children peaceful, wife sleepy, I set to writing my paid blog which I'm happy with.
I got home and had a short while with Gilly before my meeting with Ali at the station. We first checked her return journey times and then went on into town to try to find a pen which writes in italics for her project, and ended up in a pen shop in Fossgate where the woman inside was very dismissive of the difficult access into her shop. She didn't apologise for the lack of ramp, just made some feeble excuse about most people not needing it or something like that. Neither of us felt we had the time or energy to stop and explain that as her shop wasn't very accessible, she wouldn't have that many wheelchair users coming in......
Onto El Piano for a hot chocolate and some filming about the list of words plus much tangental chat. Then on to the City Art Gallery which had let us use the Studio for the interview with Dexter and me. Ali and I had lunch... soup and a panini for me, Ali had quiche and salads. A nice little cafe. Then at 1pm we were able to move into the studio and set up... Dexter arrived soon after 1,30 with his partner, good to meet her properly. Dexter explained about the start of his interest in graffiti, 'retrograffiti' and reminiscence art. He'd brought along a small piece of his Dexterworld artwork, based on the life and work of Andy Warhol and some postcards and other reproductions of his larger pieces. We talked about my ideas about having the words different sizes and colour coded.
Ali got a train home soon after 3 and I bombed home. Early in the evening a housebuilder called Clive knocked on the door offering me some joist ends for the stove, and telling me about the green building group he's joined.
I went to the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel meeting at Tang Hall Community Centre which I'm 'acting Clerk' of, and four of us looked through and discussed at least half a dozen planning applications, several of which were enlarging houses from 2 bedroom to 6 bedroom, almost certainly for student houses. There was also a huge pack about the new University campus, too chunky to look through in the hour we have, so one of the group will look through it and we'll have another meeting next week about that.
Home to a warm house, children peaceful, wife sleepy, I set to writing my paid blog which I'm happy with.
A tough start to the morning... because our boys go to Self Defence/Martial Arts class on a Wednesday, one of them hadn't done his maths homework last night and got it out at 8am this morning. However, the photocopied sheet did not make it clear where the answere had to go... they could have been put in the margin or below the lists of figures to get averages/means/spreads for, or on the back of the sheet, or on a seperate sheet... and this uncertainty resulted in a lot of shouting and verbal abuse, resulting in him getting to school late as he initially refused to go to school. However, after a short cooling off period in his room, he went to school. The other child wasn't feeling well (depression?) and he stayed at home.
Things are not easy in this household right now and the large amounts of homework and the frequency of it does not help... where has their fun childhood gone? Then there was a piece on the telly about some teaching union coming to the same conclusion that kids are set too much homework and it is giving them stress, ill health and putting a strain on families. I totally agree.
The day got better as the bedridden one did his homework and went to school at lunchtime.
I went into town and paid a bill, collected compostables from Martin's, put them on the lottie heap, came home and had lunch and had some time with Gill before she went to school to collect one of the kiddies, and I went to school to attend a Green Thumbs meeting, which was just with Julia and was very nice. We had some wide-ranging discussions about various things and decided that the meeting on Monday night would be enough, and as several people couldn't get to the possible Tuesday 'AGM-type' meeting, we would postpone it til after Easter.
I collected my Dramatic son from Drama, he'd been getting ready for a Drama Festival over the weekend.
A relatively peaceful evening until homework was mentioned and then it all broke down AGAIN! I had to go out to a CRAG-public-meeting planning meeting, we had to decide who did what. I drew the short straw and I'm going to be the pro-offsetting person. However I do have two films to support me, one from CO2Balance and the other about a project in India where kerosene lamps are being replaced with solar panels by the Carbon Neutral Company (I think).
Got back shortly before 9 and the boys were in bed and Gill and I watched a programme on Tibet (a low-carbon way to see the World!)
The rest of the evening was on the computer, emailing and researching offsetting....
Things are not easy in this household right now and the large amounts of homework and the frequency of it does not help... where has their fun childhood gone? Then there was a piece on the telly about some teaching union coming to the same conclusion that kids are set too much homework and it is giving them stress, ill health and putting a strain on families. I totally agree.
The day got better as the bedridden one did his homework and went to school at lunchtime.
I went into town and paid a bill, collected compostables from Martin's, put them on the lottie heap, came home and had lunch and had some time with Gill before she went to school to collect one of the kiddies, and I went to school to attend a Green Thumbs meeting, which was just with Julia and was very nice. We had some wide-ranging discussions about various things and decided that the meeting on Monday night would be enough, and as several people couldn't get to the possible Tuesday 'AGM-type' meeting, we would postpone it til after Easter.
I collected my Dramatic son from Drama, he'd been getting ready for a Drama Festival over the weekend.
A relatively peaceful evening until homework was mentioned and then it all broke down AGAIN! I had to go out to a CRAG-public-meeting planning meeting, we had to decide who did what. I drew the short straw and I'm going to be the pro-offsetting person. However I do have two films to support me, one from CO2Balance and the other about a project in India where kerosene lamps are being replaced with solar panels by the Carbon Neutral Company (I think).
Got back shortly before 9 and the boys were in bed and Gill and I watched a programme on Tibet (a low-carbon way to see the World!)
The rest of the evening was on the computer, emailing and researching offsetting....
