Autumn walk at Burghley and other things
Took a trip, with friends, to Burghley House for a rather chilly picnic (eaten in the car) and walk around what was known as the Sculpture Gardens but seems to now be called the Gardens of Surprise. We wrapped up warm and spent a bit of time with the Fallow deer, letting them get used to us and come close enough for a quick stroke and photo shoot. We were lucky enough to see a couple a males rutting, something, according to the website, the bucks do around this time of year to guard their patch and attract the females (does).
"I command you ..."
Once we were suitably chilled from standing around we headed for the gardens which, being more sheltered, were alot warmer (coats, hats and gloves came flying off in all directions). Ducking under low hanging trees and wandering along paths we found some new and old sculptures. We all really loved this one, which we discovered is the world - best viewed from a distance. Unfortunately it didn't have a plague nearby so I'm unable to mention the person whom, I'm sure, spent much time and energy producing such a lovely piece of work. After much studying by us all, the sculpture looks like several layers of resin with brick and rubble pieces to form the outline of the countries. It looked beautiful with the sun shining on it.
Another fun and new addition (can't really call it a sculpture) was a small shed which, when you entered and closed the door and blackout curtain, you could see the image of the trees made by a pinhole on one side of the shed. Very clever and educational.
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We have re-discovered the History Channel, by chance, and have been watching a documentary about a recent dive to view and collect more information on the sinking of the Titanic. Although 2 hours long it made for interesting viewing. As we've now finished our project it made the whole thing alot easier for Katie and Ben to understand. They found it interesting to hear some of the stories of passengers, especially of those they'd already read about and to see the camera crew's pictures of the broken liner lying along the bottom of the ocean with so much depris spread so far away from the wreck. It seemed to finish off the project nicely.
History Channel is also running a series on the universe which Ben has begged me to record and I believe they are repeating the Household Cavalry series (which naturally includes the horses) previously shown on BBC (I believe) which Katie is itching to see again.
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I chatted recently with a mum at Katie's riding about the rising stress levels in her household as her daughter prepared and took the 11+ this year and how she is going to "train" her son from year four in order to hopefully make the exam a little less nerve-racking. With all this in mind I decided to check out some sample papers on the internet. I remember finding out about verbal and non-verbal reasoning after watching a programme a year/18 months ago on TV and finding both papers rather difficult to get to grips with, especially as they were timed (I'd never been good at exams under pressure!). Looking at the sample maths paper now, I think Katie and Ben would be able to cope well with it as it covers everything that we've been learning this last year. I found I wasn't quite so slow with the verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers I'd found this time (so obviously HE has improved my logical thinking), but I'm not sure how both my children would get on with it - they've never done anything this before. It does seem a very good way to sharpen the brain. Perhaps it would be good for all four of us (as P took a bit of time to get to grips with them) to do a couple of questions a day. These are the papers I came across this time (free downloads), and here's another bunch just for good measure!
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In my spare (spare!? What spare?) time, I've been making a few crafts which I'm now selling in my ebay shop, Ellies Home Treasures. It is something I am hoping to continue to do, so please take a look. There's quite a few Christmas decorations, each one individually made and therefore quite unique. Katie and P are battling to get a website up and running for me - they are treating it abit like a contract. Good practise for the future I guess!
"I command you ..."
Once we were suitably chilled from standing around we headed for the gardens which, being more sheltered, were alot warmer (coats, hats and gloves came flying off in all directions). Ducking under low hanging trees and wandering along paths we found some new and old sculptures. We all really loved this one, which we discovered is the world - best viewed from a distance. Unfortunately it didn't have a plague nearby so I'm unable to mention the person whom, I'm sure, spent much time and energy producing such a lovely piece of work. After much studying by us all, the sculpture looks like several layers of resin with brick and rubble pieces to form the outline of the countries. It looked beautiful with the sun shining on it.
Another fun and new addition (can't really call it a sculpture) was a small shed which, when you entered and closed the door and blackout curtain, you could see the image of the trees made by a pinhole on one side of the shed. Very clever and educational.
********
We have re-discovered the History Channel, by chance, and have been watching a documentary about a recent dive to view and collect more information on the sinking of the Titanic. Although 2 hours long it made for interesting viewing. As we've now finished our project it made the whole thing alot easier for Katie and Ben to understand. They found it interesting to hear some of the stories of passengers, especially of those they'd already read about and to see the camera crew's pictures of the broken liner lying along the bottom of the ocean with so much depris spread so far away from the wreck. It seemed to finish off the project nicely.
History Channel is also running a series on the universe which Ben has begged me to record and I believe they are repeating the Household Cavalry series (which naturally includes the horses) previously shown on BBC (I believe) which Katie is itching to see again.
********
I chatted recently with a mum at Katie's riding about the rising stress levels in her household as her daughter prepared and took the 11+ this year and how she is going to "train" her son from year four in order to hopefully make the exam a little less nerve-racking. With all this in mind I decided to check out some sample papers on the internet. I remember finding out about verbal and non-verbal reasoning after watching a programme a year/18 months ago on TV and finding both papers rather difficult to get to grips with, especially as they were timed (I'd never been good at exams under pressure!). Looking at the sample maths paper now, I think Katie and Ben would be able to cope well with it as it covers everything that we've been learning this last year. I found I wasn't quite so slow with the verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers I'd found this time (so obviously HE has improved my logical thinking), but I'm not sure how both my children would get on with it - they've never done anything this before. It does seem a very good way to sharpen the brain. Perhaps it would be good for all four of us (as P took a bit of time to get to grips with them) to do a couple of questions a day. These are the papers I came across this time (free downloads), and here's another bunch just for good measure!
********
In my spare (spare!? What spare?) time, I've been making a few crafts which I'm now selling in my ebay shop, Ellies Home Treasures. It is something I am hoping to continue to do, so please take a look. There's quite a few Christmas decorations, each one individually made and therefore quite unique. Katie and P are battling to get a website up and running for me - they are treating it abit like a contract. Good practise for the future I guess!
posted by Elaine, Ellies Treasures @ 9:49 pm
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