a winter walk....

today our winter walk was of a different kind. today we had a purpose which went beyond having a stroll and breathing the fresh air. today we had others in mind, our local, wild birds to be precise.

as we snuggle together and keep ourselves warm and cosy, waiting for this long and cold winter to come to an end, we often forget about all others who are also anticipating the warm and fruitful days that the summer will bring.

so we feed, we feed them, in order to feed our own souls.

 

 

apple day

a day full of apples, a day to get plenty of fresh air and exercise, i day to press fresh apples and see how apple juice is made, a day to get lost in a fabulous holly maze, a day to learn about the apple's life cycle, a day to taste freshly squeezed apple juice, a day to enter an apple colouring competition, a day to get some apples to take home........a day when apples took centre stage big time!

autumn is....

a season that inspires us to take lots of nature walks.

:: weekending ::

the honey show was the highlight of our weekend. we saw live honey bees in action, the kids enjoyed searching for the queen bee. there was fresh local honey on sale. they rolled beeswax candles. the gardens were great, there were fruit orchards and vegetable patches, the kids got to do lots of forest foraging, discovering, finding, playing, and the bonus was that the sun came out, Alhamdulillah.

it was definitely a place that fed the mind and nurtured the soul, Alahmdulillah.

we've been discussing bees ever since we got home that day, we've learned so much but there is definitely a lot more learning to be done.

i'd like to end this post with a little reminder for all of us:

'And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (men's) habitations..... there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind. Verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought'.(Translation of Quran 16:68-69)

In addition, the Prophet (PBUH) said:
'Honey is a remedy for every illness and the Qur'an is a remedy for all illness of the mind, therefore I recommend to you both remedies, the Qur'an and honey.'(Bukhari)

a long break!!!

Assalamu Alaikum dear readers,
after a long time of, putting homeschooling on the back bench, taking a break (for a while), of being hectic with everyday chores, appointments and illnesses, of being worn out to do anything, of having no energy to sit and explain work in workbooks, of putting blogging somewhere very low down on the the 'things to do' list....we are back! 'official' homeschooling is still sitting on the back bench, i still can't be bothered with workbooks and work sheets, still haven't got the energy to nag my children to write this or read that, so i have made a very important decision, yes, we are now un-schooling! for how long? i don't know, but that's the great thing about home-education, you can go with the flow and not have to answer to anyone!

these are pictures are from the bug hunt we went on today, we didn't find anything exciting, but whatever we did find, we recorded on a chart.

another thing we did today was go to the library. normally i control the books that my children bring home, but today i let them get whatever they wanted, my son picked up a comic book with his favourite characters and a book about the 'toy story' characters and my daughter picked up a book on baking and story book about two girls who are friends, as long as they read it, i don't really care.

to the sisters who have been concerned and have left comments but received no reply, i am sincerely sorry!

welcoming winter

whne i woke up today it felt like the world was covered in a sprinkling of icing sugar, it wasn't snow, it was frost. branches looked like fluffy reindeer antlers. i was expecting it disappear by 12 o'clock, instead it stayed all day

ever since the weather has gotten cold, my little ones have been ill. winter is definitely the season when the weather takes it's toll on our bodies, minds and immune systems.

so this year i have devised a little plan. the plan is to try and prepare my family, using as many natural ways to stay healthy and keep the immune system boosted, for the months ahead. here's how.

:: one thing that cropped up again and again when i was researching was, washing your hands. so i'm going to try and get all of us to wash our hands whenever we've been out, after sneezing etc.

:: wrap up warm, wear layers of woolly clothes, cosy socks, extra blankets at night, a hot water bottle at the end of the bed works wonders, and don't forget hats, gloves and scarves when your out and about.

:: use essential oils like eucalyptus and lavender on bed linen and with a candle burner to sooth and unblock the airways

:: eat loads of fruits and veges, i know that it's easier said than done, especially if like mine your children don't like vegetables but you know you children best so do whatever you can.

:: cook warming and healing foods like chicken soup (or any soups), chicken soup is very healing and soothing, especially for someone who is run down.

:: give your immune system a helping hand by eating vitamin C rich foods such as broccoli, tomato, red, orange and yellow peppers, blackcurrants, papaya, mangoes, oranges, and don't forget fruit juices are a great way to get vitamin C inside you.

:: herbal teas (this is for adults) work wonders when you are feeling a little under the weather, they warm you up and give you that extra boost, ginger, lemon and honey are all good for common cold symptoms.

:: take plenty of naps and get as much rest as possible, it really does revive and revitalise.

i have by no means given you all the answers to beating coughs and colds throughout winter, but i hope i have made it that little bit easier for you to get through these cold and frosty winter months. if you have any suggestions do let me know.

maybe now, instead of dreading the winter months we can embrace it.

autumn/winter ice sculptures

after a very boring week of workbooks and worksheets, i decided to give the kids a break today. after a couple of hours of reading to each other and watching programmes about fishing and another about animals that live in holes, the kids went out to play. their discovery of this block of ice and leaves fascinated the children, and got them really excited, it also gave me some inspiration to make our own ice sculptures! so we got to work looking for whatever we could find that could go into our sculptures.


here's what we found


we arranged these objects in a glass

poured in some water

and left them in the freezer for a few hours

and voila, beautiful ice sculptures to admire, well for a few hours anyway.

the kids absolutely loved this activity, it was very exciting for them, they waited impatiently all day, checking if it was ready or not, i would definitely recommend this activity to anyone.

,

gone fishing!

all summer my son nagged me to take him fishing, and although i always had the intention to take him it was one of them things that we never got round to.....until one day we picked up these fishing nets for fifty pence each at a car boot sale. now there were no more excuses we just had to go fishing, so we did! and it was one of the best things we ever did, it's definitely one of the things that we will be doing more often (whether permitting of course). inshallah

they actually managed to catch something!