places we like

Skating, friends and a doodlesome evening

October 3, 2017 By Jax Blunt 1 Comment

First Tuesday of the month meeting, for the first time in a while (it doesn’t run in school holidays, and got caught out in September by inset days). Small declined on the grounds that none of his specific friends were going today, so I was able to offer a lift to one of Smallest’s friends, […]

Filed Under: art, Doodling, drawing and decoration., places we like, tigerboy Tagged With: drawing, home education, sktchy

What I wish I knew before my first camping trip with kids – by Kirsty from Get Kids Outside

August 10, 2017 By Jax Blunt 1 Comment

It’s not often I host non book related guest posts on this blog, but I think actually it might be a nice way to introduce my readers to some of my blogging friends – and Kirsty is someone I’ve known since before I started to blog. Yes, we really do go back *that* far. We’ve […]

Filed Under: guest posts, places we like Tagged With: camping, camping with children, Get outside with kids, Kirsty Bartholomew

Getting Christmas crafty – no 1 peg doll fairies.

December 14, 2016 By Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

So, last night I had plans – how did it all pan out? Well, we did some of it 🙂 I started the day with my physio mandated exercises. Then I did a bit of crying when my shoulder went into spasm 🙁 I’d been gentle, honest, but obviously not gentle enough. Pulled myself together […]

Filed Under: Doodling, drawing and decoration., Making things, places we like Tagged With: 30 Christmas Ornaments, clothes pin fairies, peg doll fairies, pom pom angels, red ted art

Animal adaptations – home education at Colchester Zoo

January 21, 2016 By Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Colchester Zoo is our local zoo, if you can refer to something 40 minutes drive away as local. We’ve only been once before, as guests of First News when we had a fabulous amphibians experience. Then just last week I learnt via facebook that they were offering (free) home education sessions, targeted to age group, […]

Filed Under: It's where it is, places we like Tagged With: animal adaptations, colchester zoo, home education, homeschool, workshop

Fun with felt at home education group

January 7, 2016 By Jax Blunt 4 Comments

First meet of the year, a workshop run by a felting expert. Now, I’m reasonably familiar with felt after my Kentwell experience, but I’m never going to pass up on the chance to work with an expert, and this turned out to be great fun. Smallest designed a picture, I just love the way the […]

Filed Under: places we like Tagged With: art, craft, felting, home education, wet felting, yarn

Perfect moments

June 17, 2015 By Jax Blunt 6 Comments

When the rain starts 5 minutes after you get back to your tent after a long warm day. When your 3 year old picks up a diabolo lying on the sward and can almost work it. When you speak to your other half and say a friend went on a supermarket run so you asked […]

Filed Under: places we like, Reenactment Tagged With: camping, country kids, Kentwell hall, reenactment

Friday frolics at the beach

April 17, 2015 By Jax Blunt 1 Comment

With home ed friends. When the older children were young, we were part of a network of early years home educators, built around Merry’s Muddlepuddle site. Perhaps because there were so few of us we worked hard to build relationships that are still strong 10 or more years later. (I’ve known Merry online for more […]

Filed Under: Getting to know you, places we like Tagged With: friends, home education, Muddlepuddle, outdoor play

What makes a good PR event?

September 18, 2014 By Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

Today I took the two smaller children into London. I got up at 6, so that I could double check travel arrangements, slightly nervous as I couldn’t find a route without a bus part of the way. We were heading to Surrey Docks Farm to visit the Huggies Pullups bus. The farm is a community […]

Filed Under: places we like, review Tagged With: animals, Buggies Pullups bus, London, potty training, Surrey Docks Farm

Treat day. (With bonus Shattered book launch.)

March 20, 2014 By Jax Blunt 2 Comments

Today has been a treat day. I try to do this with the children in some kind of rotation, but it can be difficult to juggle. Today was Big’s turn. We got on a train to London. When we got there it was coffee time. Then we went to a bookshop. For this. This is […]

Filed Under: Big, Book club, places we like Tagged With: London, shattered, Teri Terry

Dunwich Heath Sconeathon – inspiring Stilton and Ale scones.

March 11, 2014 By Jax Blunt 19 Comments

At the weekend we were invited up to Dunwich Heath National trust, who were having a sconeathon. I’d no idea what a sconeathon is, but it sounded like a good idea 😉 Dunwich Heath is just up the coast from us, and not a National Trust property we’d visited before. Then again, we haven’t done […]