My today...

Today is the only day you get...

I went out early this morning to walk my dogs. I absolutely love Sunday early morning walks. The road was empty, it felt like I had the village to myself, bliss. 

I walked in to the fields down the footpath, I spent some time kicking hawthorn hedge clippings off the path. Then headed down the path. 

I passed a beautiful fluorescent blue flower in wheat field, sitting there all alone. 

The birds were lively today, rooks squawking, sea gulls wailing, sparrows competing with black birds and skylarks flying up from the path in to the air in protest as we walked by. It's was cooler today, and it was as if the birds were gathering and commenting on the weather. I looked up as I heard a flock of geese pass overhead. Little rabbits ran off the path in terror as my dogs approached fast! 

I repeated this walk with my guest dog, as I now have a job looking after dogs. She took great delight in plunging into the stream by the path and sent up a large heron that had been hiding there.  

As I was walking back I thought to myself, this is my life, I have always had that feeling that my life was a future thing, but today is the day, the only day I have right now, it's not grand or particularly glamorous, as I started the day cleaning toilets and picking up dog poo.

 So I have made up my mind to enjoy each today. Try and notice the beauty, laugh at the small things and not be so stressed about things. 

Life is for living...

Running with sons is fun, we went running today through the woods. It's a very up and down route, good for preparing our mountain legs I tell my boys. The woods near us were lovely today, with fresh damp smell of the trees, and Woodpeckers and Jays lively over head. It was very muddy, but call me crazy I love running in mud far more than pounding a pavement.

The boys haven't always come running with me, in the last year they have started to ask me if they can come join me on my runs, which made me grin. I started running three yeas ago, determined to regain some vigour and bounce. The boys have watched me run and train for a race in CaniX (cross country running with dogs), which is really noisy, especially on the starting line with the dogs barking and the huskies howling all excited to run. You harness you dog to your waist with a bungee lead and off you go... Like a rocket! I have labelled my dog "a random speed generator" as he loves to run, but then gets distracted and suddenly stops in front of me or veers off the path after a squirrel, but the low branches he dives under are the most dangerous... So yes, CaniX is a danger sport.

I have found there is three ingredients for fitness and sports when home educating; example, inspiration and opportunity. So setting an example, by heading out myself for two years three times a week running, and doing a strength work out at home with the boys watching me and giggling when my dog tries to sit on my face when I am doing sit ups. Now they join in, both are very motivated and want to be strong.

For inspiration, we have watched Born Survivor avidly, Bear Grylls is now my youngest male role model for adventure and what you can achieve physically. My eldest has been inspired to exercise and sports by his determination that he wants to be a pilot, he knows he needs to be fit and is now fixed on that. Also inspiring is our dog, having an energetic working dog living with you who thinks being active is the best thing EVER.. add waggy tail here...is so movitating to movement.

The boys have had endless opportunities for all different sports, through scouting, AirCadets, and group events with other home educators. I had my eldest at one time begging me to buy him kangaroo legs after trying them at a Scout Jamboree camp.

I am slightly bias about sports as I have always preferred adventure sports, like sailing, hiking, basically any sport that takes me some where beautiful or wild... The boys are very competitive so any thing that they can achieve and claim as a victory motivates them.
 
So in conclusion, anything that inspires or motivates my boys to be able to enjoy life and be active counts as sports too me... Life is for living.

CaniX racing with my dog

Moments in between...

My heart sings to the tune of one song at the moment "Appreciate the little things". Today's walk was full of little things, the tiny white moth that fluttered out from the grass at my feet, the grand looking heron that swooped over my head, the fresh summer rain that cooled me down, all so insignificant yet so beautiful.

I was trudging through the field at the top of the hill next to the small parish church and noticed another small thing, on the edges of the field which is planted with beans this year, few stalks of wheat, seeded from last years crop are pushing their way up through the beans, this made me think...

...I started to think of all the small seeds we plant in our kids as they are growing up, we often think we are having no effect, but then years later they shoot up and bear fruit when we think the season has past... I thought about my own childhood, one of my favourite things was snuggling in the arm chair at the end of the day next to my dad while he read me 'Swallows and Amazon' stories tales of adventure in the Lake District, this was just one small seed that has sparked a life long love of the Lake District. I have always longed for the adventures of sailing on Lakes, camping and mountain climbing.

I can see my boys imaginations being sparked by books and inspired for adventure, especially Bear Grylls Junior edition of 'Mud, Sweat and tears' . My youngest son is reading it in bed every night and gives me enthusiastic book reviews over breakfast in the morning (along with bad jokes, thanks Aunty & Uncle for buying him a joke book for his birthday!).

Well I am going to keep enjoying the little things, this blog will probably end up full of them.

Here's a bad photo of a picture on my wall that says it well...

... the caption is "Life is not about the big catch, its about the moments in between."

Where your feet tread...

I love walking, today was no exception when I headed out with my dog early this morning. The wheat fields are so tall now when you look out over them they are like a soft shimmering golden carpet. I take great delight in walking through them running my fingers over the tops of them.

The sun was shining today, with a fresh breeze blowing my hair as I walked...so refreshing. Skylarks added music to my walk and swallows were swooping by so energetically.
When I tread the paths across the small valley where I live, I always get the feeling that they belong to me. It's as though as I trudge through the fields and woods they become mine. My love for them grows as I watch the seasons change and enjoy the little surprises and stories they bring, like when I looked up one morning and saw a Little Owl swoop on to the branch above my head, and I paused for a while excited to watch it, or when I past under a tree and heard a Cuckoo sing out above me, and then the sad moment in mid winter when I found a fox that didn't survive the cold.

Walking seems to be special some how, if I drove past the same lanes and fields in a car or even a bicycle it wouldn't belong to me in the same way. The slow steady passage of a walker, stepping in the mud, avoiding the nettles, getting wet feet in the puddles, it's becomes part of you, remains in your heart.

I see Home ed like this too, as I walk through life slowly and steadily with my kids, it's like we belong, you start to notice the seasons of their lives, see the small changes in their learning. You enjoy the small things again, like this morning my youngest and I took time to play guitars together and learn a new song, we spent a good few hours lingering on it, trying to make a pleasant sound... Happy days.

"Where your feet tread belongs to you...

 ... my little valley."