A wonderful adventure with our Home Ed Friends

 What a great start to this Autumn's Chapter of Home Ed Meets, today turned out to be.

(As you can see, I have been busy with the camera, despite the fact that I can hear my brother telling me to go easy with the photos, ha ha...)
 
But let us return for a moment to the issue of our new breakfast menu, which today was to be banana, orange juice, ground nuts and plain yogurt smoothie.
This turned out to be a real hit with Sarah, but unfortunately caused Matthew a great deal of stress.
I think you would have found it amusing to see my attempts at reproducing this offering in a palatable form à la Matthew!
I tried adding it as a creamy topping to raw oats, with a bit of added milk.
No good....
Then I heated it up to make a type of porridge with some extra orange juice.
Verdict: disgusting!
I think the extra orange juice was a mistake here!
Poor old Matthew!
We will have to go back to the drawing board, methinks. 
I guess the best approach might be to simply let him choose his favourite breakfasts from those suggested in the book!
Sorted! 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained! ....

In the end, after a lot of unnecessary distress for all concerned, we resorted to buying flapjack from the local store in Exford.
It was here we had planned to meet up with our dear Home Schooling friends, for what proved to be a packed and memorable occasion.

On arrival, the children needed the facilities.
So we trooped to the pub to find some of course!
Even the mundane can be an adventure!

(I'll let you enjoy the photos for now, but will continue the story of our day,
when I get the chance to update this post).

Thanks for dropping by....
  


Making use of the lavish facilities

Paying a visit to the local pub



Enjoying the cosy atmosphere
at the local pub,
if only briefly!

                                                         

Seeking out the stuffed bird of prey
in the sitting room at the pub...

 

As soon as the children spotted their friends across the green, they called out to each other. Such a happy reunion...


Running to meet their friends at Exford Park


 


They settled quickly into their various games,
 and socialising took a natural course.

Fun with friends at Exford Park



Important meetings about minecraft

We stayed at the park to eat at least part of our lunch, before moving onto Exmoor Blueberry Farm. 

The picnic lunch

We parked our cars on a verge at the end of a long track,

and set off to find the blueberry farm.

The walk was an adventure in itself...

We had to cross a small ford and then follow a rutted concrete slope.



Collecting their containers from the office.
At Exmoor Blueberry Farm

Armed with their receptacles, the children raced ahead to start picking.
Apparently, the bushes were arranged in rows of different varieties.
And the idea was to taste a selection and choose a favourite. 



Off to choose their favourite variety.



Plump and ripe for the picking

Bushes lined the hillside

 

Searching for ripe berries...

To be honest, Matthew didn't really enjoy this activity.
He was only interested in getting an update on the dog, which had gone missing.
He had visited the blueberry farm with daddy before and had spent the whole time searching for the owner's dog! 



Another chance to socialise with friends whilst picking...

Sarah was in her element however and friendships and games blossomed amongst the bushes.



Comparing the spoil...



Taste test!



Always a game to invent! Something to do with 'bubble-gum'?

 

Enjoying the fresh air...



Playing hide and seek in amongst the bushes, from mum and the camera!

What a stunning location!

The setting was indeed amazing! The bushes were set out in orderly rows all across the hillside, surrounding by far reaching views across further rolling hills.



The fruit of our labours...

We filled two whole punnets between us and our friends picked even more!



Making friends with the resident dog....

This was more like it!

Matthew loved interacting with the little dog, who was missing his terrier friend.

We were told that he might have been stuck down a hole somewhere...

 

After all the fruit had been weighed and paid for, we set off back to the cars.
Matthew did seem to really enjoy this walk too.

On the way up, the girls had apparently made a bridge across the ford and were keen to make it again. It was lovely to watch them find some stones to raise the plank and prevent it from sinking under the water under the weight of those crossing it.

The whole idea was to make sure that children would keep their feet dry...



Making a bridge across the ford to help those without boots to cross!
Good team effort!



Testing out the bridge!

 

It was so sweet to see them helping each other to cross.
Such thoughtfulness is so heart-warming...



Helping each other across...

 

A waterfall beside the ford

Stopping to admire the sheep. And what a view!

Matthew also enjoyed gazing at the sheep, even striking up a conversation with them.

Of course this was rather one-way, or did those bleats have a special significance?

A cuddle for a little friend... the antidote to teasing...

On reaching the cars, we set off on our final excursion to a little place call Landacre, (pronounced Lanarka).

This was our second visit to this spot and we loved it even more this time around...

And so to the idyllic setting of Landacre!

With its fantastic arched bridge!

The children had an enormous amount of fun playing in the water. 

But the highlight of the day had to be Finley's boat! 

Wow! What an inspired birthday present!

The children took turns to sail down the river, whilst working in pairs to protect each other from 'the rapids' near the bridge.



Matthew couldn't wait to try out Finley's new boat.
I think we may have found a new passion here....



Children helping to launch the dinghy...



Her maiden voyage



A little help required to steer the craft away from the 'rapids'...

Working in pairs to push the boat back against the current...

Bringing the boat back 'into harbour'...

 
Matthew snatched a few chats with his mate Dayton and learnt some useful information about how to install Minecraft on the laptop, in preparation for a new Home-Ed Minecraft group to be held after our Fun Science sessions in Taunton.



Continuing important conversations



And what a setting for a conversation!



What an incredible place!



Enjoying the quiet of the river

Sarah chose to sit back and observe on this occasion,

happy just to enjoy the tranquillity of the setting

or to listen in on the adult's conversations on the picnic rug.

Maybe she will be happy to join in on another occasion.



Waiting for the boat to return



A solo voyage, anticipated with great excitement...

While Matthew was eager to get stuck in and enjoy the sense of achievement at managing the boat alone.

He is like a water baby and totally unafraid of the water.

He can swim like a fish, but prefers just to go with dad to the pool, rather than have any formal lessons.




First attempt at paddling!




Accepting help from a friend to pull against the strong current...



What a kind friend and what great fun.
We are certainly grateful to our friends Kirsty and Finley
for sharing their precious dinghy...

When the day was finally over, we followed our friend Cath back past a farm we had noticed advertising free-range eggs for £2 a dozen.

Sadly when we got there, the box was empty.

That experience will have to wait for another day.
But Sarah and I did get to chat to a large horse watching solemnly from a neighbouring barn. Sarah noticed there were also cows and calves in the darkness behind the horse.

 

When we got home, Sarah took Silver in from his run and both children settled down for a bit of screen time. This seems to help them unwind.

I made the bolognaise for our evening meal.

 

We had been looking forward to daddy getting home early from Bristol, but unfortunately, he had been seriously delayed by some heavy bank holiday traffic.

So in the end, we passed him on the way out to band practice.

 

He took Matthew back home with him, while Sarah and I continued on to play with The West Somerset Brass Band.

 

Sarah plays the cornet and is set to take her grade 3 in November. It was a great rehearsal, and Sarah seemed to really enjoy having some one to one 'tuition' from a lovely lady in the Band.  Such a great opportunity for her and a chance to hear all the brass instruments strutting their stuff!
I had taken a Bill Bryson book to read while she played, but the Music was so rousing, it was impossible to concentrate. There were a mixture of five euphoniums and tubas after all. And the solo from the lead cornet was superb! We stayed until 9 o'clock and at times I closed my eyes and let the Music wash over me. It was great. Sarah kept looking round between songs to smile at me in such a sweet way, that I knew she was thoroughly enjoying herself!