I have been wanting to share this breathtaking bit of Cornish coast, but day after day gets swallowed up in sports and grading quizzes and sounding out phonics and practicing cursive capitals and walking my daily miles – which is all pretty cool as well. And I pictures of all that too. : ) It finally came together tonight though and it was so much fun to sit and sigh over these again.
Sandymouth, you stole my heart.
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Phil 4:13
From one morning this week. We improvised games from this book and another favorite. Goes like this….
How many animals are in the pen?
Are there more inside or out in the pasture?
If the farmer has 3 animals and he brings in 3 more how many will he have?
If he sells 4 how many will be left?
The farmer wants 5 more (2 less, none, more, etc) in the pen.
He has three pens with 2 animals in each.
These 8 animals need to split into two pens.
Do you have to add/subtract/multiply/divide?
Can you write a number story for that?
and on and on and on and on : )
Painless review and practice of the four operations and I almost made peace with the Littlest Pet Store critters.
Almost.
"All gardening is landscape painting."
William Kent
I have wanted to snag a picture of a local farmhouse which is being rethatched this summer. The house stands right alongside a busy road however so while we get a good look at it every time we drive by there is no good place to pull over. Problem solved when riding with my husband the other day. He even turned around so I could try again from another angle. You know, like hanging out of the vehicle. : )
So, just a little English coolness because a person doesn't see that everyday.
A pullback showing how very right on the road the house now is. And how absent the idea of "shoulder" is….
My guys pretty much do everything with gusto. I just sat on the ground and cracked up between shots.
Growing up the only connection I made between autumn and spiders was Halloween and that mainly due to decorations. In England, the spiders are impossible to miss come fall. While out walking at dawn the other day the dew showcased all the webs we might have missed later in the day.
Turning around you can see the little pockets of white webs laying all across the lawn. One young woman who still lives at home is sticking to the concrete til the first hard frost…
Yep. No words can explain the pure joy of pulling food right off the plant. No words necessary to explain their reaction….
After which the who-can-catch-a-berry-by-mouth game commenced.
May I present the winner….
Almost. Not yet. Not soon enough says one boy. His books have arrived and he is so ready. Three more days…
This has been home-away-from-home during my absence in this space lately. Mornings spent reading with steaming mugs nearby. Days spent hiking. Evenings full of exploring all the nooks and crannies of the eco-friendly farm which surrounded us.
Our host was a fascinating man with a heart for adventure. Quintessentially British, he sported a mop of curly untamed ginger hair and wore a button down shirt with rolled sleeves, glasses, and belted trousers tucked into gum boots. He welcomed our crew enthusiastically and showed the children all the possibilities waiting for them on the farm – bikes, badminton, ponds, and a real treehouse. He explained why the farm was a proper nature reserve and not just a vacay spot. He then showed us where the best hiking was and where to find the ponies I had my heart set on seeing.
Before embarking on the guest farm adventure he had spent many years in Africa as a safari guide. We swapped stories of travel and military life. He had fond memories of US Marines who shared music and cola and conversation in a far away place in the days before computers and ipods. His feet are planted on English soil again but he said Dartmoor was his wild. I get that. I need my wild too and we found it on this trip for sure, thanks to his maps and inside tips.
(just looking – we didn't eat them)
And now it's midnight and the day starts early here. I hope yours are also full of fresh air and wet boots.
Starry Sky Journal 