Flying Kites

Today we were out flying kites. We have two (thanks to Auntie F), the other one is the same except for the colour. Despite the clouded sky we didn't have rain, and the clouds cleared from time to time, alhamdulillah. We were joined by another family, had a picnic, and stayed out for hours, alhamdulillah.

We also saw this mushroom circle, (the mushrooms were too small to get them in shot all the way round)

and whatever fungus this is.

A few books

Here are some books being read in our home. The Usborne British histories is a good series. Just the right amount of information to keep a child interested.

Foolish Physics does a good job of explaining the history of physics it chooses to address, but COMPLETELY fails to mention the contribution of past Muslim scientists, most notably in the area of astronomy.

I'm rereading Lark Rise to Candleford. I don't know why I find Victorian social history so interesting. This is not a novel, by the way.

Ia is reading the Enormous Crocodile.

The boys read various adventure books, this being one example.

Family History

We do lots of general reading about history, but we are not at all organised about it. Having dipped into histories from all over the world I thought it was about time our history studies got more personal.
I do have some resources at my disposal, at least for my (non-Muslim) side of the family. Towards the end of their lives my mother's parents took it upon themselves to write their memoirs. My grandmother had been a typist when young, and she typed the whole lot out. Then they bound their work into two books, one about each of them, and distributed copies around the family.
Their accounts begin with stories from the 1840s which had been passed down to them, and continue with more detail once their own experiences can be recorded.
My grandfather also took time to draw up a family tree, and put together photo albums of copies of old photos, complete with a booklet explaining who is who in each picture, (all numbered and organised page by page).
There are also supplementary booklets containing copies of family letters sent from the USA in the 1950s, and details of work practices from the 1940s.
Now, these are all primary sources for social history, and inshAllah we'll be reading them through, matching names to photos and entries on the family tree.
As for my husband's side, I hope the children will be encouraged to ask him about whatever tales were told to him as he grew up, then they can write it down, inshAllah, and create their own part of the tradition.

Going On An Explore

Under the skudding clouds of a briskly breezy summer's day.

Still getting there

So, I was starting to get a little grumpy. Maybe I'm unrealistic, but after days spent on trying to tidy up you'd hope for a little evidence of that, wouldn't you? But, of course, it all looks much the same when I go to bed, as when I wake up ready for a day of housework.
I also decided to paint the filing cabinets, well, one so far. Their grubby greyness could not be cleaned up, and I have a habit of painting battered furniture and giving it a new lease of life. Preferably the battered furniture should be of the sort abandoned by someone else when they move out of a place I move into. Surprising how much furniture you can get that way, alhamdulillah. So then, when someone says, "That's a nice cupboard, is it new?", I say, "No, that is the hideous old dresser base I used to keep shoes in at the top of the stairs. I just painted it."
No fancy painting, just a match with the wall colour, so it doesn't stand out if there are scratches too deep to erase with paint.
Anyway, now it is the turn of the filing cabinets. Then I'll have to get the first one back into its position, and fill it back up again, inshAllah.
Meanwhile the girls have been doing creative stuff again, which makes me feel better at least!

Clean Up

I've been giving our study room a bit of a spruce up.
Day 1 - I remove everything except the computer from the room.
Day 2 - I paint the walls and skirting boards.
Day 3 - Someone comes in to remove the stained old carpet and put down a hard floor. (After computer has been removed.) I spend the day cleaning the upstairs. Not that you can tell, less than 24hrs later.
Day 4 - I start putting everything back. But I really need to sort out some of the papers and bits of things.
Interesting, huh? Not.

Baking

So, it is summer, and we are taking things easy for a while. This afternoon has been one long baking session. I needed to do my bread and a couple of cakes, then later on the boys went to their friend's house and their friend's sister came over here and I helped her learn how to bake. As you can see, she is very generous with her decorations, maashAllah.