Not back to school again!

Yet another September and our second year of  'proper' home education.  This past year has been a year when Tilda has learned to read fluently and gain a love of Fairy Magic books. She is also keen on the Mr Men and has read the entire library. We regularly trawl the charity shops on the search for more fairy books. We have played with Moshi Monsters, spent hours on their website and pouring over the magazines. We have painted, sewed and eaten lots of blackberries and elderberries (Winnie's favourite).
We have gone car-free - I'd like to say it's for altruistic, planet-saving reasons, but really, our car was a big waste of money for what we used it for. We are now hiring a car for one weekend every month or so and to get our money's worth will actually have a day out - so we are hoping to put our National Trust membership to better use this year.
Winnie is no longer allergic to dairy - although soya and strawberries still upset her and we've yet to try egg. What this means is that I can now eat Dairy Milk, which is fantastic (although not so great for the waistline).
The absolute best thing to have happened this summer though is that we were given a piano! I am so incredibly chuffed with it and am quite pleased with the progress I am making on it. Now that I am a grown-up (supposedly) I have the attention span to practice. Matilda couldn't be any less interested I think, but Winnie loves it and is quite deliberate with her playing - high to low and vice versa, rather than just mashing it. I think it may be something she will take up properly in the years to come.

Here are some pics from the last week. We had a lovely paddle in the river, went to Conkers, to play in West Park (sooooo quiet and wonderful now the schools are back) and a Not-back-to-school Picnic at Highfields. Tomorrow it is off to Slingmeet, then a birthday party on Friday - everything seems very hectic this week!