NotSheep

Last week, after our flat tyre was replaced, I noticed the car was making a strange noise. We tried to get it looked at on Friday, but the mechanic was too busy. By Monday, it was worse. The mechanic said it was a wheel joint (or something like that - I’m really not very good at car-mechanic type stuff) and it’s not going to be cheap - and the part he needs won’t be in until next week. In the meantime, he recommended that we not drive very far, because it might seize up.

So here I am, without a vehicle, for nearly a week.

I did risk driving to Beavers last night; the only other option was cancelling it and we had a visit to the library planned. The library is only about 300 metres from the Scout Hall, so we set a trail for the Beavers to follow, using stones and bits of twigs to create trail-signs, then gave them a sheet of what the signs meant - it went down very well Barney and George missed Scouts and Cubs tonight though, and we’re missing a home-ed outing that was planned for tomorrow And I have no idea how we’re going to get groceries. Public transport around here is very limited, and the only shop within walking/cycling-back-with-groceries is currently closed because it’s being rebuilt. Hm.

Apart from that, it’s been a fairly typical couple of days. Barney’s mood improved dramatically after a decent night’s sleep, and we’ve been doing lots of education-type stuff - well, with no car, it’s not like we can go anywhere anyway.

Otherwise, highlights of the last few days have included:

Four of our five Postcrossing postcards have been registered on the site as “received” - which means there should be some postcards on their way to us soon - and I’ve had a message from someone in Belarus who particularly wants a postcard from this area, so we’re going to exchange cards with her too.

George and Freddy spent some time following the links from the Usborne site, from their Internet-Linked Romans book. (Every time I say that, I have visions of centurions with laptops.) They landed on a quiz site in which every correct answer gave them a chance to score a goal against a famous person. They were in fits of giggles aiming the football at GWB’s head

I noticed Jack using his hands for emphasis - he’s been doing this for a while, but it was only yesterday that I realised who it reminded me of: Ali G. What’s that about then?

I had a look at Education City and considered whether it might be worth a subscription. I don’t think we’ll go for it though, as I’m not sure what’s available on the site justifies the cost of registering at least two and possibly three children.

Jack, trying to sound out the word “crisps” - which he calls “crips”, which complicated it slightly: “cuh, rr, ih, sss, puh, sss…” - then, under his breath, obviously trying to make the picture fit the word: “packet…”

Freddy, using “the words in the box” to “fill in the gaps in the paragraph”, wrote “The sun is… opaque.” Well, yes, I suppose it is. I think they might have been going for something else though

There was something at dinner tonight that made me think I must blog it, but I can’t remember what it was. I wouldn’t have remembered half of this post without my Twitter archive; I really must have another look at updating my Wordpress installation so I can use the Twitter plugin to stick my tweets in automagically.