Zoo etc

Yesterday we went to Belfast Zoo with an old school friend of mine & her 4 kids who are home from Australia for 6 weeks. It was a gorgeous day & a good exercise workout.

In typical Irish style the poly tunnel didn't arrive on Friday as planned & neither did the men who are to do the fencing. We've only been waiting over 1 year on the latter & I've phoned him almost every week & every week he's promised faithfully to come within a few days. Booked in another guy to do the fencing about 4 weeks ago so whoever arrives first can do it. They'll probably both arrive on the same day.

Rocky is still escaping but seems happy enough to potter around the outside of the pen staying close to the hens. Every night at bedtime he either pecks at the door or window to get in. Not a routine we had planned on but I think Davey is getting quite attached to him.

Rocky Rooster

We were trying to get the hens back into their ark about 1/2 hr ago. Rocky seemed quite restless & suddenly just flew off out of the pen. Unlike the last cockerel he seemed happy to stay around us but we couldn't get close enough to catch him. We came into the house to see if he would fly back in on his own. He then disappeared & the kids were in the living room when he reappeared at the back door, which is glass, pecking at it. I opened the door & he ran straight in. After a chase around the room, Davey caught him. If we lose this cockerel it'll be the last. Jersey Giants are the breed I'm going to buy from now on as they are too big & fat to fly.

Take 2

New rooster has arrived - we had to rush out & purchase 2 hens to try & encourage this guy to stay. First day they stayed locked in the hen ark to get them used to their surroundings. Today we had a small temporary pen erected until we get the proper fencing done - hopefully next week. They seem to be quite tame - Rocky ate out of the kid's hands. One hen is laying a blue egg & the other white. Shadow (our golden retriever) has been lying beside the pen 'protecting?' them.

Planting the Seeds

To date we've planted giant pumpkins, sunflowers, strawberries, broccoli, radish, foxglove & ox-eye daisy. Yesterday we took a trip to Maghera Garden Centre & bought more seeds -asparagus, globe artichoke, onions, leek, rhubarb, coriander, cress, cauliflower, swede, spring onion, fennel bulb & fennel herb, Brussels sprouts, swede, thyme, borage, mint, rocket, parsley, lettuce (3 varieties), cucumber, parsnip, celery, beetroot, carrots, mustard & french bean. The guy at the till said he'd never sold so many at one time. Some of the dates are for 2010 so if we don't get them all planted they'll keep for again. We bought as many organic as we could but the selection is pretty poor. The poly tunnel is supposed to arrive on Friday so we're going to plant as many seeds as we can today in preparation. The garden has been rotavated for grass seed so that'll save me lots of digging this year. The mustard is to provide a green manure - recent evidence shows that it cleans the ground of some bacteria as well as providing nutrients. Plan to do crop rotation - leaving one section each year with just mustard. Haven't time at the moment to read up on all the dos & don'ts so we'll be experimenting. Even if 1/2 the veg grow successfully it'll be worth it. We've got trays with 60 tiny pots so those veg which need to be grown in succession to avoid a glut will be sown at weekly/2weekly intervals.

Rooster

He hasn't been heard crowing the last couple of mornings so I assume that some sly old fox has had a tasty meal. Lesson learnt. Will wait until garden properly fox proofed before getting another.

Cockadoodledoo

Had an early morning phonecall from the Browns - 6.00am. Rooster was crowing loudly in the background. Felt obliged to get out of bed & drove up the road to see if we could catch him. He must have heard us coming as there wasn't a mute. It'll be a good alarm clock for them!

Thought for the Day

'The Real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money' - John Henry Jowett

Who Let the Cat Out of the Bag?

oops! - I meant ROOSTER. Today we were supposed to receive the 1st addition to our poultry collection. The kids were waiting excitedly for it's arrival. The idea was to keep it in for a few days in the hen ark until it got used to us. So hen ark prepared the 'guy' arrived with the cockerel in a bag. Now there's no way that I would want to embarrass anyone so he shall remain unnamed!! He untied the bag & in a flash the rooster flew out across the field. An hour was spent trying to recapture it but it seemed to have more brains than it's captors. A few tail feathers are all we have left for our encounter. He was quite a beauty & no doubt if he hasn't been eaten by a fox we will hear him crowing in the morning. Our attempts at keeping free range hens has got off to a good start - he had plans for being more free range than we had planned. Will post a photo of him if we manage to catch him tomorrow.

Outcome of Talks with the Dept of Education

Apologies if this is a little long winded & it's probably totally boring to anyone who isn't interested in home education but for those who are it is an excellent outcome & deserves to be posted here. These are the results of the recent talks with the Dept of Education - copied from the HEDNI site : Going to school 'not compulsory'http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6636569.stmParents in England are being reminded that they have the right to educate their children at home if they wish. Proposed Department for Education and Skills guidelines on "elective home education" stress that education is compulsory but schooling is not. Councils should offer support to home educators, and parents must see that their children are suitably educated. But the authorities have no right to enter people's homes or make routine checks on children's progress. The department has been discussing the issue with several groups representing home educators and with local authorities. It has decided not to propose any changes to current monitoring arrangements or legislation. It has dropped plans for compulsory registration of home-educated children. Instead it is proposing to issue guidelines for the first time, which point out that it is fundamental to the English system that the responsibility for educating children rests on the parents. What parents must provide is "efficient full-time education" suitable to their children's age, ability and aptitude and any special educational needs. Efficient broadly means that it does what it sets out to do. The courts have held that a "suitable" education is one that equips a child for life within the community they belong to, providing it leaves open their options to live differently later on. The guidelines say there really is no definition of "full-time". Monitoring - Nobody knows how many children are educated out of school. Research commissioned by the education department reported recently that it might range between 7,400 and 34,400. The proposed guidance says local authorities now have a duty to try to identify children in danger of missing education. But it says they have "no statutory duties in relation to monitoring the quality of home education on a routine basis". They could intervene only if they have "good reason" - it stresses -to believe parents were not providing a suitable education. They could ask parents to provide information. Parents "are under no duty to comply" though it would be "sensible" to do so.Serving a school attendance order should be "a last resort". Allegations - The aim should be to build a trusting relationship between families and local officials. This is something that can be lacking at present. Some parents claim local authorities have told people to educate their children themselves, to evade their responsibilities to provide for those with special needs. And some local authority officials have said parents sometimes claim to be home educating to hide abuse. The guidelines accept that local authorities get no money for helping home educators, but say they should at least provide written information and website links. They say there will be diversity in people's approaches to education." Children learn in different ways and at different times and speeds." 'Very good news' - Consultation on the proposed guidelines runs until the end of July. They have been welcomed by one of the main home educators' groups, Education Otherwise." Confirmation from DfES that they have no intention of changing the existing legal framework, nor to make registration compulsory, is verygood news indeed." Spokesperson Ann Newstead said they appeared to be "a welcome changet o the kind of documents that home educators have seen used in the past by local authorities". Details needed to be checked. One of the accompanying documents said registering children educated at home would be made compulsory, but the department had assured her this was an earlier draft, published in error." These are the most positive statements that have been coming out from the DfES," she said."It really is so heart-warming to families to have their choices recognised in this way."

Peatlands Park

Bank Holiday Monday found some of us home educators at Peatlands Park. It has an excellent resource centre & Peter (our guide for the day) showed slides on the bogland & also did pond dipping with the kids. Diving beetles & newts were among some of the creatures caught. It was good to see some new folk there & inspite of the showery weather a good time was had by all.

It Started With a Bang .......

...... or so they would have us believe. I'd never seen a Passion Flower before until yesterday. It is perfect - intricately & beautifully made. To believe that something so exquisite could be formed out of disorder & chaos takes more faith to accept than the fact that there is a God who designed & planned it all.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened". Romans 1 v20,21.

Trip to Castle Coole

Yesterday we went to Enniskillen - the Woman's Institute were celebrating their 75th anniversairy at Castle Coole. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the climbing wall. Mums enjoyed the coffee & chat - Life's tough for stay at home mums!!

A Genius at Work

In his 80th year - this is dad working on his latest project - a hen ark to rival the one I bought 2 weeks ago. This will hold over 24 hens while the smaller will be used for those which are clocking.

You just don't get good men like this anymore!!