Time goes by so quickly!

I had such big plans for this blog...last February haha.

Well that didn't pan out.

It's nearly Christmas for crying out loud!

I have been SO BUSY! Particularly with the girls home-education planning, teaching, etc.

Well, so this L managed to get a grade 7 in her Maths GCSE and a 9 in her English Language GCSE (7 is an A and 9 is an A**)! We are so proud.  She also passed her Silver Arts Award.  We are now doing 4 more GCSEs this year, English Literature, Psychology, Sociology and Religious Studies, which she will sit May/June next year.  She's been accepted (subject to grades) into a local Sixth Form College to do A Levels in English Literature, Politics, Sociology and Graphic Design starting September next year.

B is still doing her A levels and will sit them in May/June next year, she's in the midst of university applications to do a Theology degree.

So, life is busy...although I have already said that haven't I? LOL

Weather has been cold recently, we've brought our very old little guinea pig (JellyBean) indoors (his partner Cookie died this year, so he's been a bit lonely).  Boots the cat is as crazy as ever.

So what else?  Well, I've joined a Christian writing group and will occasionally post my writing on my other blog (It's Ok to Fail...and maybe on here too.

Oh, I've also joined a book club, we had our first meeting recently and we read a Young Adult book called 'Places I've Cried in Public', we are now going to read Book Thief...which I need to buy yet.

Here are some pics from a recent walk, it was funny really I decided I needed to get out into the fresh air, I set off on my walk and discovered it was muddier than I expected...half way down a path my shoe came off in a boggy puddle and I fell sideways into a tree.  A man had to rescue my shoe *sigh

See! Muddy :D

Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies

I am by parts both fascinated and amused by evil bunnies in medieval art.

Upper image: unknown. Lower image: Liebres cazando hombres. Al margen de un manuscrito francés del siglo XIII

The usual imagery of the bunny in medieval manuscripts (and in most art to be fair) is of purity and helplessness and fertility.  Rabbits are symbolic of docility, fecundity and pusillanimity.  They're right there, at the bottom of the food chain, eating boring vegetation and scurrying into a hole at the first smell of confrontation.

However, deep within that cute, fluffy facade lurks a ruthless troublemaker just waiting for the right time to enact it's furry revolution.

Rabbit and Goliath, Pontifical of Renaud de Bar, France ca. 1303-1316 (Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 298, fol. 7r)

It's just the perfect mix of humour and whimsy.  I mean, who doesn't love a rabbit with a slingshot and what looks like a snake[?]? 😆

Update

I can't believe how quickly time has passed since my last post!

Home Education

We've been so busy.  Particularly with home education stuff.

L is doing 2 GCSEs this year (General Certificate of Secondary Education) these are usually taken in Year 11 when children are 15/16, but home educators often spread them out over a few years because of the high costs and the intensive work required.  L has already done a Law GCSE and a Biology GCSE at 13 and this year she will do Maths and English Language GCSEs.  Next year we  are hoping to do at least three and have already started work on Chemistry, Psychology and Sociology.

In the UK you need Maths and English to access most higher education and jobs so these are important exams.

The maths course is huge.  It's normally done in school over 3 years, but we're doing it in 8 months.  Hence the busyness.  I feel slightly nervous for her, but I am just praying that God helps us!

She just took a past paper and did very well on it, but she still has some topics to master.

The English course isn't quite as daunting as she is very good already, just needs to polish some skills

Bible Study

I really feel this year that I need to get back into Bible study,  it's hard to find the time but so worth it.  I'm doing an NT Wright course which I am struggling a bit with as it seems to go around in circles back to the same point all the time.  But I have got a lot out of it.

I'm also doing a Bible reading plan, but want to do some self-study.


Well, I'd love to say more but I need to get off the laptop as it's late here.

Hopefully I'll post some family photos soon.

:) xx

A Searching Heart - Janette Oke - Book Review

4 stars
I enjoyed this book, but it took me a bit to get into it.

It's a simple, wholesome story and I really enjoyed it. One could say that the references to faith were too simplistic, but this isn't a theological tome it's simply an enjoyable (and encouraging) story. Even though the pace is slow it kept me engaged.

It has some sweet romance and some heartbreak.

I liked the characters and I'll have to read the next in the series to find out what happened to Jenny!

SNOW! So excited

I get inordinately excited about snow.

So, as soon as the snow began to fall, the girls and I decided to go for a walk.

Here is our photo 'safari':

Good morning!

Boots has had a busy morning!

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Wonder - RJ Palacio - Book Review

4 stars

I didn't enjoy this book at first. I didn't like the style of writing. I found the characters annoying and somehow distant. I actually felt the deepest character was Via. I realise it *ought* to be Auggie, but it was Via that touched my heart the most, for some reason.

However, by about halfway in, I was totally invested in the story.

The final few chapters and the ending are very moving, but maybe a little rushed, in the sense that everything was pretty much nicely tied up in a lovely neat bow, all the issues 'resolved', and then it ended.

I sound a bit negative, but I think that is because my husband and daughter had raved about how it was the best book they'd ever read that maybe I expected too much and so I am basically wondering why I didn't find it quite as wonderful.

It is a good story and very heart warming, and I am glad it had a happy ending; and I'm glad I read it.