Denmark trip as a disabled traveller

In July 2024 I met a Danish scout leader at a jamboree and we got on really well and became good friends. he invited me over to Denmark. I didnt have a passport and was terrified of flying and have never been abroad. Move forward 9months and I went to Denmark on my own! I pre-booked passenger assistance for trains, plane and airports.

GOING

Train passenger assistance were great in the UK as always. The main issue was they had me with wheelchair not mobility scooter but a quick phone call got it all changed. They met me at the stations or train doors and helped with suitcase and scooter and got me to the next place i needed to be. however, Passenger assistance manchester airport not as great and left me at a lift as they apparently were busy! This was reported.

Manchester airport assistance team were great WHEN i found them at the other end of the terminal and near the departure area. I had to manage scooter and suitcase on my own. They should be positioned near the entrances! This was reported. They got my case checked in, took me through security and calmed me down when i started to panic as my hand luggage was stopped due to medications and tools for mobility scooter. They took me upto the gate area and let me with the staff there.

Manchester airport gate staff moved me through to the front area and did my checks, as soon as they got authorisation they took me to the plane 1st, helped with my hand luggage and then took my scooter for boarding. 

KLM cabin crew at Manchester - they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.

Amsterdam passenger assistance arrived with scooter at the gate, took me to the gate team ready for Billund as were late. They stayed with my scooter so i could go to the toilet. They handed me over to the gate team.

Amsterdam gate team were not as great as Manchester. They didnt believe i had just got off a KLM flight, they said scooter was too big, even with the KLM cares disabled info emails, they had tape measure out and i was getting upset. They got the pilot and he accepted the email and let the scooter on. This meant i was last to board and flight delayed as they had to take the scooter for boarding.

KLM cabin crew at Amsterdam they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.

Passenger assistance team at Billund were not great. They didnt have my scooter at the gate or a wheelchair! This was due to security taking the scooter to drug swab it as it "had left me and been moved by staff at Amsterdam". I got the scooter after a10min wait standing! They were also too busy to take me right through to get my case and pointed me where to go.

RETURN

Passenger assistance team Billund the departures team was much better than the arrivals. They got a lady to sit with me due to the Alarms being tested and me being anxious. They carried my food & drink to a table. They got my case checked in and took me up to the gate area.

Billund Gate team were really good, they moved me to the front and got me boarded 1st and took scooter for loading. 

KLM cabin crew at Billund they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.

Passenger assistance at Amsterdam collected me via minibus and not my scooter, they said 1 it was a long way to my next flight and 2 the scooter had been lost! I went mad! The men from the mini bus left me with another member of the team who didnt know anything about me as i wasnt on her list. She got me up to the gate  in a wheelchair for connecting flight, which had apparently already boarded - it hadnt! 

Amsterdam gate team - confirmed they had the mobility scooter boarded but needed to check the battery "that i had with me" for safety. Errr i dont have the battery it was on the scooter when they took it from me at Billund! So they said that the battery must be lost. i told them to find it before i got to manchester airport or im stranded. the guy asks could i not push it! WTF!!! They got me on the flight.

KLM cabin crew Amsterdam were lovely they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc. They also knew i was upset and concerned over scooter battery.

Passenger assistance Mancherster airport arrived WITH my scooter and battery, and were confused as to why i was panicking. They took me to the area to get back to the baggage area but said i had half hour wait for another member of the team as they had other passengers to get. I had 40minutes until my train no chance was i waiting. So i asked which way i needed to go and left them. NOT helpful. I found my way to baggage claim and got my case and they was given wrong directions by other airport staff to get to the train station - i ended up in a car park not the airial tunnel!

Passenger assistance train station - they were really good and took my case and got me on the train i made it with 3mins to spare.

Conductor transpennine train - wasnt happy i only had rail card on my phone and not a physical one even though the info matched my scooter. He didnt kick me off the train though.

DENMARK GENERAL

streets - fairly flat which was great for the scooter BUT many places had some sort of cobbles on the streets which made the scooter battery bounce and not stay connected meaning it cut out a few times. Drop kerbs were everywhere and i didnt have to hunt for them very often.

UK disabled carers card was able to be used to get my friend free or discounted entry to many places like museums. 

People were very helpful, from getting things off shelves, shop staff offering to carry my basket (propped on top of scooter basket!) and assist with shopping, to others translating things to english, helping to self-scan shopping and all sorts.

Transport - not great. 

Trains - despite being told the week before i travlled by DSB that my scooter would go on trains fine and stations had ramps to trains this was not the case. most stations had no ramp nor did the trains meaning it had to be lifted on/off - that was when the conductors allowed it on them. Some passengers were happy to help with lifting it. This DID improve on the days that my Danish friend was with me as he argued my case.

Buses - despite being told the week before i travelled by DSB that my scooter would be fine on buses it wasnt. The bus drivers were very negative as "it has an engine and isnt allowed on buses". My scooter DOESN'T have an engine it runs on a battery charged by the mains. This DID improve on the days that my Danish friend was with me as he argued my case.

Charging scooter whilst out & about - museums and library's were great at allowing me to plug in and give scooter a boost so i could get back "home" etc.

overall i had a lovely week despite the issues mentioned above linked to the scooter and transport. I would go again.

My scooter is a Mobility Plus Navigator, 53kg weight, dry cell batteries and accepted on all flights. Mobility plus even sent me copies of the full battery info and scooter manual via email to print and take with me.

I have since bought a lighter scooter (23kg) for futuer trips but i need take the battery on the plane with me as its lithium.

50 things before i'm 50

 Today 3rd January 2023 i turn 41 OMG this is not possible!!! Well sadly yes it is as 41 years ago today i arrived into this world.

I have decided to do something different and have given myself 9years to do it in. That is to complete 50 different tasks before i turn 50. Some are going to be easy others are going to be hard and other are going to cost money so i will struggle with them. I am going to add the list below and update as i go.

If they are make lists of take photos i will save them all to a file and just add a number beside it on here. I am going to gave to change them to red once done and write done at the end as i can't strikethough on here.

50 things to do before I’m 50

Before I turn 50 in 2032 I want to complete all of the following things 

1. Write a letter to myself for my 50th birthday and open it on that day.

2. see the Lion King in London

3. See Wicked in London

4. Re-visit Camden market and Camden

5. Get free tickets to a concert (somehow!) *got to ABBA in Whitehaven Aug 2023

6. Spa day/weekend

7. Go to Charnmouth and/or Lyme Regis fossil hunting

8. Take 50 photos with 50 different people I know (20/50 done)

9. Read 50 books (6/50 done)

10. Have a real Christmas tree

11. Visit the dolphins in Scotland

12. See Bryan Adams again

13. Have a go at Axe throwing *did aug 2023

14. Go to the Big Butterfly world in Stockton

15. Get a blue Peter Badge *CANT AS AN ADULT

16. Hold a monkey/marmoset/cotton top

17. Visit monkey world in Devon

18. Link the Whitehaven Lackey Family to my tree *did dec 2023

19. Attend a viking re-enactment battle

20. Attend a kite festival (Lytham St Annes 8th sept 2024)

21. Pick pumpkins from a farm

22. Get my phto with 50 different “welcome to ……” place signs

23. Send a message in a bottle and see if get a reply

24. Attend 5 international scout camps (all different if possible) (3/5 done)

25. Try foods from a different country not tried before *did jan 2024

26. Attend a Christmas market and have hot mulled wine

27. Attend the Fire Festival linked to Mabon in Scotland

28. Leave a random act of kindness note in a book or on food

29. Go back to Peterborough Beer Festival *did Aug 2023

30. Visit Merlins Cave in Cornwall *did oct 2023

31. Eat proper Cornish ice-cream in Cornwall *did oct 2023

32. Visit the Witchcraft museum in Cornwall *did oct 2023

33. See a solar eclipse

34. Spit roast a chicken on an open fire *did aug 2023

35. Watch 50 different movies (101/50 done)

36. Go to Threlkeld mining museum

37. Visit Muncaster Castle *did feb 2023

38. Visit china town Manchester and eat in an all can eat buffet *did jan 2024

39. Attend the Winter Droving in Penrith *did nov 2023

40. Find a real crystal on a beach *did oct 2023

41. Eat fish & chips at the beach but not at home *did oct 2023 Cornwall

42. Try a new flavour ice-cream *did may 2023 bubblegum

43. Go to the theatre/cinema 50 times (12/50 done)

44. Play crazy golf at 50 different locations (6/50 done)

45. Swim in an outdoor pool *did june 2023

46. Try glass blowing or similar

47. Visit 50 different museums (17/50 done)

48. Use a hot tub or get own *did 2023

49. Campfire on the beach *did aig 2023

50. Tattoo linked to being 50

Encase I can’t do any of the above I have a reserve list of things

51. Make a playlist of 50 no1 songs from date of birth *did 2023

52. Attend a festival (music/light/Chinese new year etc)

53. Visit the caves in yorkshire

54. Wine tasting

55. Visit to a brewery

56. Visit a waterfall

57. Meet someone famous

58. Wreck it room

59. Visit Harry Potter world again

60. Sort the garden out so accessible and easy to maintain (started 2023)

61. Watch a drag show

62. Swim with Dolphins

63. Re-visit Seaham beach and the blast and find decent coloured sea glass

64. Drink coffee in 50 different shops/locations (29/50 done)

65. See cirque de solei

66. Visit i-fly Manchester

67. Make the books linked to covid, photo a day etc and book for Jay

68. Visit Alnwick castle where Harry Potter was filmed *did dec 2023

69. Make this into a book to keep and add all of the images and facts etc

PLUS a few I would love to do but don’t think will happen

70. Get K to be mine 

71. Visit Dawn in Florence SC

72. Visit Cathie in West Virginia

73. Visit Malta

74. See the Northern Lights (ideally in Norway)

75. Visit Flanders Field as so many ancestors died there

76. Go to Saintfield in Ireland as ancestors from there

77. Save £50 a year from starting this challenge

78. Save £5 per completed task on here

79. Qualification in Genealogy

80. Get to one of the fairy pools in the lake district

81. Clear all of the clutter and junk from the house that isn’t needed

82. Travel 1st class (like I can afford that!) *did jan 2024 free upgrade WOOHOO!

YES i know there are 80+ things on my list but i also know some of them may not actually happen, so i have added extras!!!

***UPDATE*** for some reason this post didn't get publish back in 2023, i have found it today sat in drafts. SO i have updated the bits and hopefully now it posts.

By Jan 2024 i have managed to do 21 of these!

hogwarts week 6

 Hogwarts week 6 sees us going to Slytherin for the first time.

The lessons were:

unicorn milk - this involed adding food colouring to milk and then touching gently with washing up liquid and watching what happened

dragon spotting - matching up the dragon info with its name

glow in dark flowers - white fflowers, tonic water, glow in dark paint and see what happens

making a mandrake - this was from clay

popindio - making things pop spell

enchanted objects - he had to write about enchanted things

next week he is in

hogwarts week 5

 hogwarts week 5 back in ravenclaw

Week 5 saw the following lessons:

2 dragons - research and compare 2 dragons

making a cardboard knight bus

crystal ball prediction - he had to repdict what he thought was going to happen

make a famous wizard - he had to invent his own wizard and what it was famous for

instant ocean - this was a potions subject, although there was changed it didnt work fully for some reason

bits to ice cream - this was making ice cream in a bag. it tasted horrid!

Next week is a 1st visit to Slytherin

hogwarts week 4

 hogwarts week 4

This week saw my son in Hufflepuff house. His lessons were:

a dragon stained glass window (he had to colour it with sharpies).

Edible floo powder - from sherbert, glitter and popping candy

tarot cards - learning about them and how they work

disappearing penny  - using water and a glass

a brooms eye view - 4 writing tasks linked to being on a broom

a new wizard sport - this was good he had to write about a new sport, but if he could make it in real life he got extra points. He went with giant frog racing, whereby people rode on the backs of frogs and competed as a team to win.

He was sorted into Ravenclaw for next week

HOGWARTS week 3

week 3 at Hogwarts my son was in Gryffindor again. He got a large amount of points this week and gave Gryffindor a big lead.

His lessons were as follows:

Gringotts vault - this was a general lesson. it was a box i had made with holes cut in it and a plastic cup in each (think halloween punch out game). each cup had a small gift/item inside and was then covered in gold paper and had a "harry potter" number added to it. These numbers were also on keys that had been hidden around the house with clues.

Dragon impressions - this was a care of magical creatures lesson and what dragons meant to my son.

Bertie Bots challenge - this was 2 parts. part 1 was how many beans were in it (son spent ages weighing jellybeans, and proper trying to work out total) the 2nd part was guessing flavours from appearance and possible smell and then eating them to see if correct.

magical store - making his own magical store and writing about what it sells etc

inverted balloon - this involved heating a glass bottle and placing a balloon on top and it *should* suck the balloon into the bottle.

He was sorted into hufflepuff for next week

Hogwarts week 2

 Today marks week 2 (day) at Hogwarts for my son.

We didnt have any arguments over work today, he just got on with his "pre-sorted" tasks that he picked last week. He was sorted into Gryffindor for this week, meaning that any points earnt for tasks go to there.

His lessons for today were as follows:

Weeping werewolf (care of magical creatures), this invovled lemons, washing up liquid and bicarbonate of soda. The ingredients cause a reaction.

Tarantallegra (spells) this involved him using just dance on the wii to make his legs move!

Describe snape (potions) he had part of the story and then he had to use bits from it to describe snape.

Bean in a bag (herbology) this involved putting runner beans into a zip lock bag with wet tissue to make it grow. he needs to log what it does daily.

Butterbeer fudge (cooking) this didnt quite work as it didnt set so we had to re-boil it and then add some cornflour to set it. BUT it did taste really nice!

cloud in a jar (divination) this involved hot water in a jar with ice on the lid and then adding hairspray to see the cloud form.

as well as the above he had 5mins to find words in the giant wordsearch (A3 in size), he could do some tasks from the OWLS book, he had to fill out his time table and write his daily prophet newspaper.

He has been sorted into his house for next week (Gryffindor again) and he has picked his 6 lessons.

Hogwarts/Harry Potter treasure hunt for trunk

 Many months ago i found a post online here (nothing to do with me) that gave me the idea for my sons trunk. So before i start the hunt, i will explain the box.

I used an old shoe box, the straps were pieces of cardboard stuck onto it. i bought a small hasp to fix on it.

the whole outside of the box was covered with kitchen towel and glue, which gave it a rough texture. I let it dry and then painted it all. I fixed on the  hasp and glued over the screws as they were slightly bigger than the box. I printed an assortment of images - hogwarts, platform 9 3/4, mauraders map, 3 broomsticks etc and his name, and stuck them to the box and covered with pva glue. The box/trunk was now complete.

Onto the treasure hunt. as per the blog entry here , my son had to go on a hunt to find his trunk. The clues had been printed onto mini scrolls (word art shape) and laminated. There were dummy keys and real ones, you need to make sure that the keys needed early are in early places and not later ones. the scroll he was given had the following info on it:

Dear Mr Watson, 

before you can fully enter Hogwarts you need to find your missing trunk. To do so you need to work through the clues, keep hold of anything you find as they will be needed. Good Luck.

Outside in the "toy shed" you will find an assortment of wand blanks, one of these is your new wand. Remember the wand chooses you not you it, so you will need to close your eyes and feel the best one. Also with the wand blanks is further instructions.

Professor Dumbledore

He went to the toy shed  (which had a sign saying "olivanders"), and he picked his wand and read the 2nd clue:

clue 2 - Inside the owlery* you will find some feathers, you need to gather these to make your Quills. There's also a key with wings and another key. *the owlery is my dining room window and it has has plush/toy owls hanging from the curtain pole.

Along with the quills and keys there was another clue.

Clue 3 - In Flourish & Blotts stationary store* you will be able to gather the materials for your ID card. *Flourish & Blotts was the drawer that holds all my pens, staples, hole puch etc. 

There was also the next clue.

Clue 4 - the words "go to the upstairs library" are among the pens as well as a key. *The upstairs library is the bookshelf at the top of the stairs.

Clue 5 - you find a stack of books that will help you with your studies. There's also a "gringots  coin".

and the next clue.

Clue 6 - One of they keys fits the bank vault. You open it to find a well deserved snack and the words  "the mirror shows the most desperate desire of a persons heart, a vision that has been known to drive men mad.". *This clue was on a lockable money tin labelled gringots bank. 

Clue 7 - it says "some keys have been dropped by an owl down the chimney. They could be important."  *this clue was on the "mirror of Erised".

and the next clue

Clue 8 - one of your keys unlocks professor snapes potion cupboard where you can find a simple experiment to do today. *This was on the fireplace.

Clue 9 - well done for finding the correct key to the cupboard. your simple experiment is here and an image of moaning myrtle. *the potion cupboard is one we keep all of our sceience things in and i had locked with a bike lock. 

clue 10 - how many "POINTS" do you get for hitting Myrtle in the head?" * this was in our bathroom which we had named myrtles bathroom, there was also a key.

clue 11 - Deep in the restricted cellar you will find your trunk that the pesky elves have hidden! *This was on the hogwarts house points chart.

The drinks cellar was my outdoor cupboard that has a couple of shelves for alcohol. Obviously you can change the clues to fit your own house etc.

This was alot of fun.

Hogwarts sorting hat

 Linked to our "year at Hogwarts" as part of home education we will be doing the sorting hat ritual every week so we can award house points and hopefully get a different house each week. I will add them as we do them.

I have come up with various ways of doing the sorting hat. We have a stool and a sorting hat (see left), the stool was an old wooden chair i cut the back off, picked up in local charity shop and the hat was bought off ebay few years ago.

Like in Harry Potter my son will sit on the stool with the hat on his head, he will be given "the task" for the week to be sorted and will ask the hat where he belongs, he will then do the required task and go into that house for the week.

1. The 1st sorting hat task was 4 Hogwarts envelopes (picked up in a charity shop), to which i added a printed "house info", each envelopes had 1 house in it. We didnt seal the envelopes as we can re-use this option to sort into houses during the year. I shuffled the envelopes and gave my son all 4, he picked the one he wanted and took out the house info.

(although only ravenclaw shown each house has one of these inside the envelope). All house info bits have been laminated so that they will keep throughout the year.

2. We used a dice and a pre-made chart. 1, 3, 5 and 6 give you a Hogwarts house, 2 says it likes your shampoo and thinks its in love, so you need roll again, 4 says yuk your hair is greasy i want to leave! roll again.

3. I had made an assortment of "bingo" type grids with words linked to each house, some of the words (in gold) are linked to mroe than 1 house, the other words are only on 1 house. He had to mark off which words described him and then i went back to my sheet and worked out which he had the most words for and that was his house. (i have 12 of these in total!)

WELCOME TO HOGWARTS

Today (5th September 2023) was the start of our Hogwarts adventures. Sadly my son dint get to go on the train from half hr away as we couldn't get him there, but there will be other weeks this can happen. He had yesterday picked his house of Ravenclaw, there will be various ways of sorting him. (see separate post).

The day started with him receiving his "welcome to Hogwarts" pack (powerpoint) which had information on how things are going to work (1 day Muggle = 1week at Hogwarts), the colour-coding i have done for each lesson, house points, lesson rules etc. Once he had read so far in his welcome back there was a slide that read:

"As you know you have been given a place at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Upon arriving at the school you are presented with a scroll with your name on. You open it and read the following:

Dear Mr Watson, 

before you can fully enter Hogwarts you need to find your missing trunk. To do so you need to work through the clues, keep hold of anything you find as they will be needed. Good Luck.

Outside in the "toy shed" you will find an assortment of wand blanks, one of these is your new wand. Remember the wand chooses you not you it, so you will need to close your eyes and feel the best one. Also with the wand blanks is further instructions.

Professor Dumbledore

THIS was the start of his treasure hunt (see separate entry) around my house. He followed the clues and gathered items to make his ID cards, wand permit, an experiment to do today, some chocolate coins, some books he needs and eventually his trunk.

He sat and typed up all of the rules onto word document for each lesson and printed them for their folders, which he also sorted. 

He made his ID cards (for each house), his wand permit, care of magical creatures permit, library card etc. He wasn't able to finish his wand as the glue gun hadnt been delivered. He made his Quills using feathers we had collected whilst on walks (a swans and a seagulls). He sat and made a start on on plant fact files. He asked if he could do a fact file for our pets linked to the beast classifications. He did his experiment.

A year at Hogwarts part 2

 Earlier in the year i posted on here about "A year at Hogwarts". WELL, we are almost at the point of it happening! Only a few days to go until we "go to Hogwarts!"

No I didnt totally lose my mind, but came close, the printer is still here, although it has come close to being thrown away as keeps stopping and i hope everything is planned.

SO where did the inital idea end up?

We have the following subjects:

• Arithmancy (maths)
• Care of magical creatures (includes Dragons)
• Cookery
• Divination
• Defense against the dark arts
• General Hogwarts
• Herbology
• History of Magic
• Potions
• Spells
• Transfiguration

Each of these subjects has many different activities and lessons linked to them. This has happened due to countless hours of research and hunting on the net, finding and saving them all and then working out which subject they fit into. Powerpoints for all subjects with the lessons have all been made, worksheets have all been printed, i have spent an absolute fortune onthings that we need (and probably things that we dont), and i still have a list a mile long that i havent got yet. 

As per the orignal email all subjects have been given a colour and each lesson has been printed in the correct colour, laminated and then added to a cauldron so my son can pick out the 6 subjects he is going to do the following week. (There was originally 265 i think but this is now nearer 300! so we have plenty to do).

I had thought about getting a proper book made linked to spells and magical creatures but these were going to cost loads so i printed and stuck in exercise books instead and also did 1 linked to Dragons. I need to finish the spells.

I currently have piles of paperwork EVERYWHERE as i'm trying to sort it all into the different subjects as we have folders and dividers for them. I still have loads to print off as well.

I have boxes of harry potter/hogwarts decoroations down from the loft as we had them for HP party few years ago and we need them for this next year. once they go up they are staying up!

We are not sure HOW son is getting to the train station on tuesday as his Dad's car is off the road at the moment. So this could be a big change in his plans sadly.

As much as this has been hard work to sort out i am actually looking forward to it as is my son. And i think i will end up doing the same thing for next year so i am hunting new ideas already.

A year at "HOGWARTS"

 A year at "HOGWARTS" 

Yes you have read the title correctly, we are having a year at "HOGWARTS". No we are not moving into the warner bros studio, nor has my son got a place in the musical. However, as he is Home educated this is our plan for set 2023! 

For Info - Hogwarts = HG and Harry Potter = HP

Lets back up a bit as it's been ages since I posted on this blog, well during covid I think! (no that was my family tree one, never mind!)

In October 2021 my youngest son was removed from school due to ongoing bullying and the fact the school couldn't (or wouldn't) protect him and keep him safe. When he fought back against a gang of 6 lads he was the one who was suspended for 2 weeks for fighting. When we went in to school for a return to school meeting the safeguarding officer (SGO) was really arsey with us. He didn't know why we were so upset over this as it was his 1st punishment and incident. Errr no it's not! He argued i presented him with 2 A4 pages of "incidents" including dates the school had taken him to hospital with suspected broken ribs from being kicked. SGO was shocked and didn't know anything about them all. He went and spoke to a teacher who said "well they are boys being boys you didn't need to know". THAT comment was the final straw and I decided I was removing my son and going to Home educate him.

So, we move back forward. Since being home ed, my son has done various things. As part of this years work he is doing the Pagan wheel of the year and this was meant to be ended (nearly) with a visit to the Witchcraft museum in Cornwall and the History of Witchcraft. My son then said "well you have said about doing Harry Potter theme at some point, can we do it at the same time as the History of Witches?" Well yes we can, i will work on it.

I started looking for ideas and things to do and came across a blog of a lady who home educates in USA and she had done "a year at Hogwarts" and this is where my thoughts went!!! She had done it every day and all lessons were linked to it. Sadly there wasn't much on here blog except this was what they were doing. I know for a fact that my son will be bored doing it every day for a year as he gets bored of long topics after 5 weeks. So I spoke to him, and he has agreed that he will do 1 day a week at "Hogwarts". 

Let's do some maths - there are 39weeks in a school term (approx), so that's 39 days of work. If we do 4 lessons a day that's 156 lessons I need. BUT some HG lessons and activities I've found are fairly quick and less than 30minutes to do, this means a very short day of learning. Back to numbers if I add in 1 more lesson I need 195 in total or if I go to 6 I need 234! OMG! This is going to be mad. My middle son then said, maybe you need a bank of extra bits as well "just incase" something goes wrong or you can't do the planned activity then you have a back up. (Thanks son! start thinking of extras then!) So it looks like I need about 275 different things. (Ideas on a postcard please!)

My son has stated he wants dropping off at the train station 2 or 3 from home by his Dad, with his suitcase, an owl in a cage (toy), and him in wizard robes. He then plans on travelling like it to the local station where I am to meet him, dressed as a WITCH, and we then proceed to get a taxi or bus home so that he can start his HG experience! This is also to be reversed on the last day of each term. He also wants a sign outside on the wall above the post box saying "welcome to Hogwarts" and it's to stay for the year. (My neighbours and postman are going to think I've totally lost the plot! LOL!)

I started planning. I wrote down possible subjects - we have 7 main, a general HG and maths. I then started hunting the internet and saving websites with ideas, activities etc. I grabbed all of our science instructions from kits and a few science experiment books and started making notes - this for potions, that for spells and such. From here I have made (well started) a powerpoint for each subject. So I can start adding the activities to them. This is going to take me a few weeks.

A few things I am 100% certain on:

1. I think I have totally lost the plot on agreeing to this (and actually doing it).
2. My neighbours and postman are going to think I've gone mad, my friends probably will as well but most know I will do anything for my kids.
3. I am 99.9% certain I am going to be fed up of seeing HP/HG decorations and items around my house before my son is.
4. I am going to sell the "work pack" afterwards that I am making as it will help so many others.
5. We are going to change "house" every week, with a new sorting hat ceremony. This means that we can work with a house points system and see which house wins at the end of the year. (Son won't be able to "fix it" for his favourite as it will be done via a quiz, a dice, a spinning wheel online and picking paper from a cauldron throughout the year.
6. Lessons are going to be picked out of a cauldron at the end of the each week ready for the next week, so I have time to get the equipment together, especially as some tasks I am looking at require fresh foods etc.
7. IF I manage to pull it off I think I could end up with 6 weeks to plan another big theme for September 2024. BUT saying that, if son decides he wants another big thing and says soon after we start etc I will have time.
8. I think my printer is going to leave home crying due to the amount I will need to print, thankfully I'm on a pay as use ink programme and they send me replacements.
9. My middle son thinks I'm crazy for even considering doing this and has said he's NOT dressing up or being involved - he will be!

Watch this space for more updates on our "Year at Hogwarts". I think it will work out really well when it comes to it.

new business venture

Hi all,

I want to tell you all about my brand new business venture that i have become involved with. 

For a while now i have been using products from a company called "oriflame", they are Sweedish. I will be honest i wasn't sure about trying them to start with as i have sensitive skin and react to most things, make-up, perfumes, bubble bath etc and i tend to stick with brands and products that i know i dont react to. 

I asked many questions about the products before i ordered as i wanted to make sure that i wouldn't react and if i did what did i do. I was assured that all products are natural and not tested on animals, the company research the best things to go in the products. So far i haven't reacted to any of the products i have used.

The person i was buying from suggested that i take the plunge and become a partner myself. I was a bit hesitant about doing it, i went along to an online information event and the guy who was doing it i sort of know - i worked for his parents 20years ago, and that kind of gave me the shove i needed to start.

 

Oriflame sells many products and has something for everyone - fragrances for him and her, products

that can be used by anyone - the spot stuff is great 

for teenagers and they do products upto anti-wrikle creams (i've not tried those). They sell suncream, bubble bath and shower gel, vitamins and minerals, make-up and accessories. There is a new catalogue every 4weeks, which have many offers inside (which change each month), and there are more products available online.                                                                                             My online store can be found here and my facebook group can be found here. I share posts and offers and stuff in the facenbook group and i am more than happy to answer questions relating to products or the company.

I'm really excited to be starting out on this journey and the best part of it is that it's work from home and i can sit in my pjs and post about the products and offers.

making a robot (that is wearable)

I had a food delivery sent to me by courier and it came in a huge box. I joked to my son that I could turn it into a giant turtle for him, he said no it could be a robot. Hence this post, we made a robot. I am adding how and what we did below. I don't have photos of every step we did, but it was very easy to do.

EQUIPMENT

1 large cardboard box, 1 smaller cardboard box, pieces of cardboard, duct tape in grey/silver, scissors, tin foil (or silver paper, or paint if you dont mind waiting), a tumble dryer pipe for arms, odds and ends as decoration/buttons, imagination

Tape the big box together securely but leave one end open. Work out where the head will go and cut out a circle. Cover the edge with duct tape so no sharp edges.

the kitten helps cut out the head!

Next you need to cut out some of the base (so child can get into the robot once it's all sealed). Don't go all the way to all sides as it will loose it's strength. As with the head go
round the base with duct tape so no sharp edges. Go over all parts of the box "that should open" with duct tape so it is fully sealed and more secure.

Once you have a head and base hole you can work out where the arm holes need to go, cut them out (make big enough to allow for clothing and more tape) and add duct tape over the edges. Tape the open side of the box together so you have a solid sealed box. You should have a box "outfit" your child can get into like the image right.

We then measured the distance between the top of the smaller box and sons head so we could work out where the eyes needed to go, instead of cutting circles we cut a rectangle right across the front (so he could see even if he turned his head slightly), as with base hole don't cut all the way across leave some on each side for strength. Cut a smaller rectangle for the mouth. Go over the edges of both with duct tape.

Next we fixed the smaller box to the top (over the head hole), we fixed it on with the top flaps open, so it had the whole open part as space. We cut lengths of the tumble dryer pipe to use as arms (this was an old one heading for the bin).

Our next move was to make the robot silver. We spray painted the tumble dryer pipes silver (as well as some of the patio and ourselves!) and left them to dry. We only did the outside. My son found some silver shiny wrapping paper with white stars all over it that he liked and wanted to use for the body. He wanted the head plain silver so we used tin foil. We covered the head first and secured it with more duct tape. Then we covered the body with the wrapping paper, i had to do it in bits due to the holes (and the bar code on box my son wanted to keep), I held the joins in place with normal selotape whilst i cut and sorted then secured with duct tape.

Once it was all covered i put duct tape around both ends of the tumble dryer pipe to cover the metal that had been snapped to break the tube, i then fixed them to the arm holes with more duct tape. Hopefully you have something that looks like our robot to the right.

We still need to add buttons and bits to our robot but this is the main construction complete.

HOWEVER, my robot making and craft skills didn't end here as my son decided that he wanted the robot to have a pet kitten, cue more boxes, tape and stuff. The pieces were collected (see below) and made into shapes, spray painted and duct taped together. this didnt take as long as the main robot did.

My son is very happy with his robot and robot cat and has decided to use them in his school homework and has written a story about them.

I hope that you have as much fun as we did.

*NOTE* i am not linked to the duct tape brand, nor am i being asked to promote them. the tape i use is from £1 shop or other cheap shops as it's just for crafts. We use loads in the things we make so i cant justify using expensive brands for it. I have also bought different colours from shops (like aldi) when they have had on offer.

More things to do at home on isolation with the kids

So things have been posted on FaceBook (FB) and ive saved them so i can share with others. Please do the same (in order to keep each and every mum sane during this time)

Many schools have sent out/home homework packs for children to do, but please remember they are just as scared (if not more so) than us adults are. My thoughts are yes do some of the work everyday BUT it's more important to be there for them, so play some board games, read a book together, get a notebook/diary and log down what you do (it's proof they weren't watching tv or on a pc for the next however many weeks.)

This was shared as a joke on FB and it did make me smile, I hope it does you as well. However, my sons Godmother said that after they have counted the rice they need to write one word on each grain of rice and then make stories. That made me laugh even more than the post did.




Before i start adding activities i will share a few websites that WILL be a godsend to all parents/guardians.

• Pinterest has hundreds (more like thousands) of things you can do, it is free to join and you can save all the things you like in one place, make different sections etc, you can find crafts, meals, school worksheets all sorts on there.
• Twinkl has loads of free worksheets and activities use code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS to get more free ones.
• Scouts UK has shared activities you can do at home (you could even make your own certificates and badges to award).
• This blog  has a list of loads of free worksheets and websites, ive not looked at them all but they may help someone.
• Quirky Momma on FB has shared many things including virtual museums  and places you can "visit" online.
• colouring pages can be found everywhere online if you dont have books at home, and this page on FB has shared loads for free - you just need to print them.
• glasgow science center is doing online science bits
• cre8tive resources has loads of free worksheets 

if you google "free school worksheets" there are pages upon pages that come up.

Now for the activities ive saved.

• Make your own monopoly board - use  local places etc, this would be best done on cardboard and use proper monoply money if you have the main set. There are blank templates online for monopoly boards.

• Make a RAINBOW and put in your window - the idea is for people to create rainbows for others to find when they are on a self-isolating walk, there are many groups popping up on FB linked to it, this one is linked to Whitehaven, Cumbria. I have also seen groups doing similar with hearts.
• my personal pinterest boards have hundreds of items saved type in "yummymummyamy" and you should find it.

• In summer 2014 i made an activity journal/book for my sons, yes it's mainly summer themed BUT i'm happy to share it and hopefully you can make use of it with your children. I didn't make the worksheets they were found all over the internet. 

There are also loads of websites offering free courses for adults to do, alison.com, skills network, futurelearn, and the open university have some

i hope this info helps someone.

Shut in with the children - things to do

SO, in light of the current situation around the UK linked to Coronavirus Covid-19, you have found your self on isolation with the children and you don't know what to do. I  have added some ideas below, not all are mine but some have been copied from posts on Facebook and other sites (I will credit where this is due.) They also don't include them being on technology (bonus). Many can be done with things you have around the house so wont cost anything.

The following items are things i have on a chart from school holiday activities for my children to do.

I hope that the above is readable.

The following lego ideas were taken off a page on Facebook (no idea of the original creator). They do seem a bit hard for some children, but you could alter them to the age of your children.

Also with lego you could make a model and then explain to your children how to make it without them actually seeing your model. EG you need a red piece with 8 raised dots, fix that to the bottom of a green 8piece so you have an "L" shape. this can be a fun activity as you get a wide range of models made.

• Pinterest is a godsend for ideas of things to do and you can find many for different ages.

• Teachers pay teachers website has worksheets if you want to do school type work (there are many free sheets as well as paid ones)

• twinkle has a good selection of worksheets and activities, as does activity village, some are free some are not.

There are many other ideas on my blog, please take a look for some ideas.

Take this time stuck at home to enjoy your children, make it a fun time to take their mind off the worries linked to the virus.

competitions

i like to enter competitions (i dont win many) but maybe thats because i only enter certain ones - eg of prizes i can use or are relevant to me and my family.

i was reading a post online where this lady enters every competition she can and she then sells prizes that are of no use to her. i personally think this is unfair on those whose genuinely want the prize.

yes it limits my chances but there is no point me entering to win a weeks cruise when 1.i get sea sick, 2.i dont have a passport. and this applies to holidays abroad as well. also no point in me entering baby comps as my youngest is 10years old.

it just got me thinking as to why people do it. and my answer is greed!

Making of a gruffalo outfit

This year for halloween wea re having a monsters and aliens theme, not a problem halloween is ages away.  Lil man says he wants to go as the gruffalo, so I had a look and there wasn't any in his size, so I said I would make him one.
Skip forward a week and he brings home a letter about world book day and decides he wants to go as the gruffalo!!!  Errrrr we have no outfit.....You can make me one......from what????

THINK Amy THINK!!!

2days later this arrives through the post:

1 brown furry monkey onesie.  After some "minor surgery" the monkey looked like this:

I then set about making the face for the gruffalo from pieces of felt - big orange eyes, white fangs for teeth and a green pom pom as the spot on his nose:

Next came the horns on its head, these were made from a white sock, cut and stuffed:

I then started to make purple spikes for its back from an old purple fleece:

lil man was so pleased with his gruffalo outfit.  He wore it for book day and has worn it around the house since and will wear it for halloween as well.

counting to 10 doesn't work.....

can't you tell it's the summer holidays - kids are fighting, winding each other up, winding me up and them ending up in tears.  I've tried counting to 10 and it doesn't work!!!  I'm sure i'm no the only parent that is having one of those days!

I've joined Amzreviewtrader......

I have recently joined the Amazon review website - Amzreviewtrader.  This means that I request to view  products/items that I am interested in.  The seller than decides if they are happy to let me be a reviewer of their product.

Some of the products are free to try others are at a discounted price and all you have to do is try it and review it and state that you recieved the product for free or at a discount.   How simple is that?

SO I find items that me and my family can use or want or need, request them and if selected use it and review it, which also helps other buyers.