Making Edible Rocks

Toffee - (obisidian)

Honeycomb - (pumice)

Who knew Geography could be so much fun! We made our own "magma" and cooled it to see how different rocks are formed. Rock Recipe 1. Melt about 500g sugar with a little water in a saucepan. 2. Stir until it goes a golden brown. 3. Spoon half of the mixture onto a greased pan and let cool. 4. To the other half, add 1 teaspoon of baking powder. 5. The mixture will froth, quickly transfer to another greased pan and allow to cool. Break the mixture into pieces and there you have it edible rocks!

Making Crystals

We are back into the swing of things concerning homeschool - 2010! May this be a good, fruitful year! For Geography, we are studing minerals and how different crystals are formed. To make our own, we mixed a salt solution with red food coloring (rubies), epsom salt solution with green colouring (emeralds) and sugar solution with blue coloring (saphires). Then you hang a paper clip at the end of string in the middle of the solution for the crystals to start growing on, then the waiting game starts - at least 2 weeks. Who said school is boring?? We Love to learn!!

And the SNAKE is a .......

After much research and confirmation from a friend's husband (who knows a bit about snakes), the snake was in fact a Red Lipped Snake! The photo above looks just like him, but alive. http://momstheword-mandi.blogspot.com/2009/09/snake.html He had a brown body, black head and very distinct orange cheeks, so there you have it! They are not too poisonous, but will give you a craker of a headache if you get bitten. Red Lipped snakes live in marshy or wetlands (there are a few in the area), come out at night to feed on frogs. Now owls, (we have seen large ones around here) come out at night to feed on the snakes. I am almost sure one of them lost his supper the other night, when perching on our roof! Hope you enjoyed today's zoology lesson!

Why I love Johanesburg in the summer

One of the very special thing of Johannesburg in the summer is the hot, lazy days then in the early afternoon, the signs of a thunderstorm approaching. The deep rumble and the huge threatening clouds in the distance, has something so dramatic about it, a feeling of something so much bigger than ourselves. It can be quite daunting for someone that has not experienced one of these storms. The air goes quiet, as birds and animals seek shelter from the coming rain. Then come the first huge spots of rain that begin to fall, the drama starts to unfold - lightening, thunder, sheets of rain blowing against the window panes. Then when it is all over, everything springs to life again. The birds sing, the sun comes out and everything glistens, looking clean and sparkling. The air even smells fresh and new, with all the dust and pollen being washed away. Sigh, I love thunderstorms!

Snake!!!!

There was much excitement today when we had out tea break. On going outside to hang up the washing, there next to our veggie patch ...... was a ....... SNAKE! It is quite small, about the length of my fore arm. The snake is brown, with orange cheeks. It is dead and already has ants crawling all over it, thankfully! Otherwise I would not have known what to do with it. Well, we took the opportunity to have a quick zoology lesson, but Caitlyn and Jaina can't believe that we have living creatures like this in our very own garden (neither can I) - they are supposed to be behind glass at the zoo! I have gone further to find out what kind of snake it is, but to no avail. If anyone has a clue, please post, as we would love to know who this visitor was.

Welcome back Spring, my Friend

Yay! Spring is in the air!

It brings with it the hope of new things, a new beginning, a promise of a fun filled summer.

I was taking these photos a little earlier today, when our guinea pig, Sasha, came out to investigate what I was getting up to - it is out of focus, but I could not resist putting it in!

2 weeks ago, we planted beans, tomatoe seeds, spinach seeds and (for my husband) chillie seeds. This week we started seeing some green leaves popping up. Did I mention how much I love this time of the year?

Air and Fire Experiment

1. Use modelling clay to stick a candle upright in the centre of a small plate or tray.

2. Pour water in until it is about 2cm deep.

3. Light candle and place a glass/glass jar over it. The rim of the jar must be under the water, resting on the bottomm

4. Watch the candle flame carefully as soon as the jar is in place.

You will see the water level rise inside the glass/jar. It does this to replace the oxygen that was used up by the burning flame.

Once the oxygen is used up, the flame goes out.

Try this, it really works. We did this yesterday and the water is still inside the glass.

Let me know how yours turn out!

Mmmm, Chicken Pie!

It's chicken pie for supper tonight, YAY!

Caitlyn and Jaina also had a "finger in the pie" ha ha. Yes, they made the pastry cut outs to decorate the top and had such fun painting the egg on the finished product.

Who knew leftover chicken ala king could be such fun!

What is your favourite thing to do with your leftovers?

I Do Love to be Beside the Seaside!

Last week we went to Umhloti in Kwazulu Natal, for the week. Now bear in mind that we have not been away for over 2 years (not even a weekend).

We have been counting down the sleeps for such a long time. Caitlyn and Jaina had a great time in the sea (I must say that I did too!).

As you can see in the pic below, we had "visitors" that came looking for food most mornings! What a great life they must have, free food and look how peaceful he looks, gazing out to sea (or is it a biscuit he has spotted on the next balcony??).

At the swimming beach, the tide went out to reveal 2 beautiful swimming pools. There were swells and waves that the girls were "surfing" on.

On the rocks were huge groups of green anenemies(sp?) or sea flowers. It facinated Jaina who spent ages closing them all ("putting them to sleep for their mommy" - is what she said).

At night we toasted marshmallows over a fire. Notice the sea in the backround?

Then one morning, I was walking along the rocks and walked by a group of girls with a very broad American accent. I asked them where they were from and they said Michigan, USA. They told me that they were students touring South Africa. I told them that we were actually from Johannesburg and were enjoying an extended summer. Yes, here in JHB we are having very chilly weather right now.

Well, summer is officially over for us and it is back to the school books (next to the heater) for us!

Mmm...mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

I was woken up this morning by Caitlyn and Jaina walking into my room with a breakfast tray, complete with heart shaped toast, fruit, juice and a cup of coffee.

They made me a card and in a beautiful bag was . . .

Lindt Chili Chocolate, my favorite!

What is your favorite chocolate?