2020 Before Covid and Heading In

The start of the year was much the same for us as any.  Taking our time and being relaxed in the heat, swimming, keeping cool and being outdoors. 

Wandering around Dalkeith and enjoying the Summer.

Plus learning some local history along the way.







We usually start into our at home activities gradually and we did that again this year.  Starting with painting.  We did some work on mosaics and finished off a story book that we were working on for Irving's Grimm fairy tales work.

Snow White and Rose Red paintings.

Irving.

Arden.

Mine with and without heading.

Arden and I worked together on painting two types of colour wheel.

Arden and Irving went through a domino/ marble run phase including making paper dominos and watch hours of youtube tutorials to develop ideas.

We spent some time reading the Mr Penguin series, and finally got around to reading Farmer Boy together.

We moved onto geometrical drawing for Arden this year, and Irving loves doing it,so he joined in a lot of the time.

We worked on more images with Irving.

This inclueded making images from plants by hammering them with a mallet to see if they would "print".

Arden started working on perspective drawing using this book.

We didn't go to as many fringe/festival shows as we often do during the Summer season, but we took full advantage of Highway to Hell after we discovered "Steve'n'Seagulls" were playing, we followed them along the first leg.

Briefly saw "Shonen Knife"  at the Highway to Hell stage.

Eventually decided we were walking to Fremantle since it was unlikely that Canning Highway would be open for a walk again.

Looking east towards the rising moon.

 And west toward Fremantle.

 

And we made it to Freo! (Irving was inspired to make it when he realised we could stop off for icecream in Fremantle.)

We got a surprising harvest of bird's eye chillis which sprouted up on our balcony garden.

We moved onto biology by the second half of the term using these books.  "Muscles and Bones" by Kovacs and "A Leg to Stand On" by Oliver Sacks (one of my favourite authors for science.

And as covid came into life and caused lockdowns and turned the world upside down, I had the luck to find a coffee machine very cheaply priced in the op shop.

Learning to use the coffee machine.

 

Summer Holidays- finally here

In my preferred Summer routine- we take December off, starting just before Arden's birthday, January off and all of February.  Starting back into some routine with paid classes in Feb, but waiting til March, when usually the worst of the hot weather is over, to do some planned learning at home.  This year continued in the same manner, however my one free day to sit and do some at home jobs, and keep up with my hobbies, was filled up visiting a friend in hospital, and thus this blog has been neglected for the beginning of this year.

Finally life is settling back into our usual routine, and I have found some time to update some of our learning this past year.

This year there was an around the City exhibition of decorated dolphins (to raise money for the Children's hospital I believe), so Arden, Irving and I went out to try and see them all.  In the end, we just missed one.

We managed to get out and about to quite a few Fringe and Festival shows this year.  Some of our highlights- we seeing Movin Melvin Brown, and trying tapdancing in his tap class. (I'm planning to get his DVD so we can continue, as it was a lot of fun.  )

Arden and Irving did a pirate adventure in Applecross at the pirate playground, and also in the Perth Cultural centre.  The story telling and role play was a lot of fun for all the kids.

Stopping off at South Perth on the way home.

Arden and I dancing some rockabilly.

Having a bit of fun at the Courtyard Sessions, after dancing.

Walking home after an education session with Noel Nannup, on the story of the land, at Lake Monger. (This was one of my favourite outings at the Festival this year- the whirling dervish performance, White Spirit, was the other).

Hanging out with Willow and Gabriel in Northbridge Piazza with a very fuzzy Totoro, waiting for Princess Mononoke to start, in the Studio Ghibli Festival.

Willow spent quite a bit of time at Fringe this year, doing flyering, and helping to promote shows this year.  She also went to see Club Swizzle with Damien which apparently was very entertaining.  We all loved the Showman's fair area of the Fringe this year, and we spent just a bit too much of our time there eating stroopwaffles.  In the end we loved them so much, that they gave us the recipe and the machine!

Our regular Burn's night event (since living in Scotland) involves whisky for the adults and poetry reading.

A quiet coffee moment with the little people.

Arden and Irving's beading.

Irving and I did some wandering around Daglish, after visiting a shop there, and we found these cute crossing signs.

Skateboarding

A rainy afternoon

So time for a teddy bears' picnic.

Library stop

Visiting Pompeii at Fremantle.  This was the second time that I have seen this exhibition, and the one thing that I missed this time, was the crystals.  Last time I didn't have a proper chance to look through the crystals (and I was hoping to do that this time) but there was very few, except in the dress-ups at the end.

 Some of the sewing projects that I've been working on.

A quilted skirt

Pillowcase for Damien

Transforming my old jeans, into a skirt.

Red velvet skirt for Willow's Christmas present this year.