This morning’s excitement for the kids was watching the digger excavate the drainage hole for MamaKaty’s yurt, and a drainage trench for our laundry pipe. When the digger had gone, there was still the big pile of dirt to play on, so of course they all got filthy dirty and had to get changed. But it was too cold to be out there getting muddy and wet, so they’ve mostly been inside. Katy has been playing even more guitar and recorder, and her focus for the last couple of days on reading the music without the note names written in has paid off as she is now obviously sightreading! Very exciting 😀 She’s also discovered musical rebuses where you read the word from the notes on a clef, and Mr Bat found her a list of words she can make with the eight letters of the octave so she played around with that idea for a while. She has played through two recorder books so far this morning and moved onto a third. I can’t imagine where she gets this single-mindedness from *ahem*

Da Boy was questing about being a PITA and looking for something to do, so I pulled out the felt stuff and started making a robin ornament for the Winter table/Yule tree. As expected, he gravitated to the table, along with Dougie and Katy, so I set them all up with felt things to make. Dougie had to go off with MamaKaty (they went to Meg and Adam’s to smoke the experimental bacon) before he got to do anything with his, but Hugh finished decorating his matrushka doll, although he used glue rather than sewing. Katy started working on her robin, although she got distracted and went back to the recorder after a while. I have finished mine and hung it up on the table, and am contemplating how we can have a Yule tree which doesn’t get in the way of the laundry which has taken over the corner we usually put the Christmas tree in! I also want to make more ornaments, like toadstools, snowflakes, candlesticks, owls, little houses with snowy roofs, and a couple of pigs to remember Sunday and Honey by.