A long post, catching up with three days of activities! · Sunday January 28, 2007 by Ann

I’m back bright and early, in a quiet house where everyone else is asleep. This is a long post, catching up with three days of activities!

On Thursday I went to head office of Weekenders . This is the direct selling company I work with, selling clothes to ladies in their own homes. This means I can work around my own life, choosing when to work and I have a great deal of fun at the same time. This has been vital for us to be able to home educate and pay the bills.
The new spring/summer collection is fabulous, I look forward to selling it when the season begins. I’ll be involved in the fashion Show to launch the collection, in Bournemouth in February and I am really looking forward to that. I have to go to head office again before then for rehearsals-so I’ll be leaving the EO gathering at Okehampton very early on the last morning for that.
Lucy went to her friends house, while I was at head office and i called in to pick her up on the way home.

We didn’t get to the home ed meeting on Friday, which was a shame, but we had realised that we didn’t have the required passport photos for the audition forms, needed for Saturday morning. Also dh Tom needed the car for a while too.
So we had a quiet start. Alice and David got themselves up and off to college. Thomas, stepson rang to say he was catching a train to come and stay overnight with us, so that he could come and see his grandmother, for her 80th birthday-pleasing to see something of him for the second time in a month ;o)

Lucy and I went off to our local town to get the photos, went into the charity shops in the high street, looking for tops for her-didn’t find any but did find a really nice scarf/wrap that she decided to buy, with what was left of her Christmas money.

Got home, to find Rich delivering the last of his things before leaving his flat for the final time and handing over the keys- this time he bought a futon, that he had promised to David for his room. It will be great when friends stay.

I picked up Thomas from the train station and we set off to see my mother in law. It wasn’t a huge celebration but most of her family had called in at some point during the day and we were there at the same time as Rich and his wife as they said “Happy Birthday and Farewell”

We got home about 11pm. A few of David’s friends were round-they were having a drink and playing a fantasy role play game-this is a different bunch from his regular game. Alice and Thomas joined them for a few drinks and Tom Lucy and I went to bed, in anticipation of a long day on Saturday. Alice apparently turned in not long after but Thomas stayed up and played with David and his friends, long into the night. The futon has already come into use!

We got up early, for us, on Saturday. Lucy and I caught the 9am train into Birmingham for the 10am audition. once I was sure the forms had been filled in correctly-difficult for Lucy at the best of times, but especially when stressed, I went off into Birmingham. I gota new novel and went off to a vegan cafe for breakfast.
I went back and met up with Lucy at 12md and we discussed how she felt it had gone. Apparently she felt she did well with the drama and dancing, but wasn’t happy with the way she sang today. Overall though she had enjoyed the audition as it is in the form of a performance workshop, so that is, she felt a result in itself. We’ll wait and see what the results are as Lucy is rarely happy with her own performances when she sings. She is very critical of herself.

Afterwards we went off to the outdoor market. We found a lovely stall that sold organic LOCAL vegetables ;o) We looked at how much money i had in my purse and bought all the vegetables we wanted and went and spent the rest on fruit. Lucy was astounded at the prices on the market, (we found four very ripe pineapples for £1!) compared to supermarkets and we bought almost more than we could carry!

At home Rich and his wife had arrived from their hotel. Rich and my stepson Thomas share a very witty, quick sense of humour and we were all very soon, dissolving into laughter at their one liners.
I made organic vegetable soup for everyone and we shared a pleasant family afternoon together, poignant for knowing it may never happen again.
Dh Tom then took them to the airport for the flight to the Philippines and I took Thomas to the train station to catch the train home. Lucy and I picked up Alice from her Saturday job on the way home.

We spent some time talking about blood and coagulation-the girls, Thomas and Tom have an inherited blood clotting condition, which means their blood clots far too easily. It is interesting to discover the effects some foods can have on blood clotting. Tom, Thomas and step daughter Louise, all take Warfarin as they have all suffered at least one potentially fatal blood clots. Lots of foods can affect the action of warfarin and so we have to be especially careful. Pineapples can effect how a blood clots according to some and so the girls decided to lay off chocolate (which also has a blood thinning effect) as the stuffed themselves with fruit. We discussed organic vs non organic foods and the air miles travelled by the fruits we were eating and it’s affects on the atmosphere and our conservation attempts. We took all of the peelings and waste from the fruit and added it to the compost bin. We discussed the relative merits of a compost bin compared to a wormery and moved on to what we are going to try to grow in the garden this coming year, what we have to make room for in the garden and what we can grow in containers.
Nutrition and balanced diet is a subject that comes up frequently-especially in the context of the girls respective vegan and vegetarian diets.

The children know a lot about human biology-almost inevitable I suppose, given Tom’s and my background in nursing. We have decided it is vital to know about their own medical conditions and how it affects them. Besides the girls blood clotting condition, David was born with a condition known as a gastroschesis. We consider it important that they are in a position to make informed choices when faced with medical decisions now and in the future.

David will be up very soon. He is off to Karate again this morning. he is beginning to take this very seriously. He is very keen to stay fit and already does quite a lot to this end at home. He does press ups and exercises and some Chi Gung exercises with his dad who is also interested in martial arts but Tom practises Tai Chi.

Tom and I are supposed to be going to a holiday presentation later this afternoon, but that will depend on whether he has recovered sufficiently from his activities of the last few days. Tom retired from work early on the grounds of ill health, caused by complications of all the blood clots he has suffered in the past, and it is important for him to get the balance right between having a worthwhile life and doing too much.
I’m off to put the kettle on and start the day together quietly before anyone wakes up-but also to read about and possibly post about ‘autonomous education’ and ‘TCS’.

On improving symptoms. On 'Autonomous Home Education'-and then maps!