December

I've been rather absent from here as life has been busy: one child home from university, another on a trip with my husband and a third about to go on a trip. We haven't been doing nothing here: there have been trips and concerts as well as work. I'm not a great enthusiast for a long run up to holidays. Long anticipation seems to lead to over excitement. My Mother used to say "If you get excited and silly, you will end up in tears." I'm really sure this is true, at least here.


One recent trip was to the Science Museum-no photos of this as the camera is currently away! This is a great place to take children-we did the Garden which is billed as being for 3-6 year olds as well as the Launch Pad which is said to be for 8-13s. The younger two aged 3 and 6 were with me and yes, the age for the Garden was about right.

 I'm not convinced about the age range for the Launch Pad-there were a fair few younger children there and many of the activities were quite suitable for slightly younger children. The explanations may have been a bit over their heads but it is definitely worth trying with children younger than 8. The Space section was a big hit with a certain boy who wants to go to the moon one day.

I'm wondering whether we should do the Sketchbook Project next year. Half of me says that I'm such a lousy artist that it isn't worth a go and the other half says that it could be a joint effort with the children/nothing venture and all that.

The Christmas pudding is cooking-a bit late, yes but we had a bit of a disaster last year with a pudding that I hadn't kept in the fridge. No alcohol means poorer preserving properties. I've updated the recipe with some advice on storage. This recipe was my most read post for about a year-it has been overtaken by several other posts now but here is Grandma's Christmas pudding.

The Ice Hotel is an amazing concept and one that seems to have caused a fair amount of discussion here. We aren't planning to go but the pictures of the cold accommodation are fascinating.

The Old Schoolhouse Crew review home education products. I'm delighted that I've been invited to join the 2013 Crew and look forward to reviewing some different products.