Look What We Did Today!

We had a massive toy purge and reorganised our main learning space, yay!  Just in time for school to start back on monday.  So here's what it looked like when we emptied EVERYTHING out ...

and here's what it looks like now.

School supplies and curricula are on the Ikea shelving unit.  Dressups are all hung nicely on the clothes rack.  Thanks D for this great idea! 

Some bigger extras that i couldn't find a better home for. 

LOVE the Ikea Trofast frames housing cars, threading 'stuff', trio, little people, playdough 'stuff' and duplo.  Smaller unit to the right housing baby doll clothes, Possum's toys, train set and doll house 'stuff'.  Probably need to move the world map and multiplication charts a bit higher on the wall now. 

Finally the top of this sideboard looks neat.  Mostly taken up with books, the CD player, the mouse house and a ready supply of paper and pencils in the draw units.  The crate with wheels at the end is our new library crate.

Our workboxes all loaded ready to go, science in a nutshell kits to the left and ontop of the Trofast frames are out BUILD materials.

You might be wondering about the desks.  We usually school on the kitchen table which is just on the other side of the half wall where the workboses are.  Although i was talking with Rusty this evening about getting a large table that we can all sit around so that we don't have to pack away at mealtimes.  We will see what happens there.

We are all really looking forward to getting started with school this year.  Just a few more things to finish organising tomorrow and we will be back to our full schedule on Monday!  We have really enjoyed schooling 'lite' over the summer.

Warm wishes

Amber

Tutorial - Dishwasher conversion from installed to portable

We used to have an installed dishwasher with independent plumbing and electrics. We moved house and now there is nowhere for the dishwasher to go so we have converted it to a portable dishwasher, here's how we did it.

From the back of the dishwasher you have two pipes, one for clean cold water and one for discharge water. At the end of the cold water pipe there is a fixed connection similar to a washing machine hose, we cut that connection off and in it's place we connected a snap on brass garden hose connector. The dishwasher hose is 10mm and the brass connection 12mm so we soaked the pipe in hot water to make it pliable then pushed it on to make it seal.

Next we altered the kitchen tap. On the end of the tap there is an aerator connected. We removed the aerator and then used a connection piece to screw into the end of the tap so that it would take a snap on hose connector.

After that we positioned the dishwasher so that it could reach the power and water, then connected it up turning the cold water on at the tap and making sure the discharge pipe was anchored in the sink.

Our remaining step which we are yet to complete is to fashion a skateboard for the dishwasher so that we can wheel it into position when needed and out of the way when we don't need it. We will use a piece of marine grade ply and some castors.

** Two serious things to remember **

1) This dishwasher is a tip hazard. As it is meant to be an installed dishwasher when you open the bottom draw all the way and it is loaded it will fall over.

2) As you are using garden fittings you need to monitor them for leakage. We applied thread tape to the kitchen tap as it wasn't a snug fit. Never turn this on and go out!

Back to school

Today we went back to school, metaphorically ofcourse :-)

Since we have had such a big break with our holiday to Kambalda and then all our prep for the move I thought it only fitting to ease back into it on Rusty's first day back to work since the move.

Here is what we completed in under 2 hours -

Together we jumped our way to 100.

Flossy & Bugsy completed 1 page of Miquon each.

Flossy completed 1 page of Kumon word problems.

Busgy completed 1 lesson from Reading Eggs.

Flossy reviewed all of the charts for 1 - 10 from Professor B.

Flossy completed 2 lessons from MEP.

Together we played a round of 3 player Addition War.

Flossy read some from Wanderings of Odysseus.

Bugsy completed 1 lesson from 100 Easy Lessons.

Yes, it was my intention to be maths heavy today :)

Backyard Pics

Back patio.

Water feature which we plan to put fish in once we give it an overhaul.

Side garden complete with citronella and aloe vera plants.

View of yard from corner near shed.

View of yard from other corner.

View of yard from 'dead wall' side of house.

Our fruiting banana palm.

'Dead wall' side of the house with water tank.

Fruit trees we have include -

Lime

Cumquat

Banana

Grapes - several

Passionfruit - several

Pomegranate

Guava

Paw Paw

Fig

Mandarine

Lemon

Nectarine

Vegetable plants are too numerous to name :)

Finally at the new place

Yesterday was the big day! The truck arrived just before lunch and the weather managed to hold off just long enough for them to unload.

We are all enjoying the space of the new house. It is wonderful! The backyard is flat, grassy and packed full of fruit and vegetable plants. Inside is light and bright with neutral decor.

Today saw the unpacking of the kitchen so we managed a simple homecooked meal for dinner. Having the groceries delivered was a godsend and I would recommend it to anyone moving house.

Garden Produce

Our vegetable garden has been sadly neglected since we found out we were moving. It has received little water and certainly no weeding attention but it still managed to produce a few things, 5 butternut pumpkin and 5 small corn cobs picked today.

Why are we moving?

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball! When Rusty went to work for his current employer we were assured a close to home job. So we moved from the country to the city so he could make the daily commute to the office. Unfortunately that didn't last long and they realised Rusty was a versatile, troubleshooting type character so they flew him out for 3 weeks at a time to help out, then see out the project. 9 months later he was back to the city office once again making the daily commute. That didn't last long, he was permanently allocated to a new project in January which will last 2 to 3 years. If we stay where we are we will only have Rusty home on the weekends, that isn't sustainable for 2 to 3 years! (OK, well sustainable, but not nice!) So we went and found a wonderful house close enough for him to commute daily :)