Hold my hand

A lashing squall battered the house this morning and set off our car alarm. The smalls all slept through it. We lost power at about 8am. Bean was up by then and came to tell me that the light had gone off. Consequently the morning was spent with me in candle light in our kitchen, which has very limited natural light source, and attempting chores that need electricity only to find that it wasn't going to happen. These included trying to straighten my hair, putting on the laundry and hoovering the crisps that Plum had distributed on the stairs. Fortunately, eight years ago when we installed our kitchen we did decide on a gas hob so breakfast, and more importantly cups of tea, were achievable. 

The boys began the morning on the ipad and pondering what the loss of electricity might mean to their power dependent day but they flung themselves into it with full gusto and we rearranged the living room to accommodate a battle scene. Pumpkin taking refuge behind the sofa and Bean building a fort behind the upturned table, both with nerf guns at the ready. Completely seperately, Plum choose to adorn a cowboy hat ('yeehaa' being a well used word) and ride her rocking horse in the no mans land between the boys. It looked like a scene from Dances with Wolves. The game evolved, as these things do, and the boys were soon visiting each others houses and sleeping over with Plum happily joining in.

Despite home educating, our year is punctuated by school holidays and term times. Not with the same pressures of getting up early and preparing school uniforms and shoe shining and haircuts and completing homework but as public places calm down once more we ventured out to meet our friends in Horsham Park. Plum wandering off with fellow home ed children, leaving mummy far behind, and Pumpkin rolling down the wet muddy hill repeatedly. Bean needing a change of socks and trousers after only being in the park 10 minutes. It was wet underfoot and windy out but the sun was shining and it was good to catch up with friends after the Christmas holidays. 

By the time we returned home the electricity was on and normal service resumed. Minecraft and a complete viewing of the Morph dvd with laugh out loud fun for the rest of the afternoon. 

Kitchen in candlelight

Dances with Wolves scene, Plum had been on the horse originally