Jocelyn's blog
Jun. 5, 2009
Pearls of Lutra Day
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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I am WAY behind with my blogging and hope to do some back-dated entries soon to catch up. I've finally uploaded a whole stack of photos onto shutterfly, so I'll get onto this soon! On Friday 29 May, we had the long awaited "Pearls of Lutra Day". It had effectively been postponed twice, so it was great to finally celebrate this book with a group of friends. The Redwall Book Club here is always changing as some move away and others join so it was lovely to see that dynamic at play. As usual, we started with introductions but this time, I asked the children to mention their fav part of the book. We got some interesting and hilarious answers!! Food and a naughty little Arven rated highly in the responses.  Stevie as Clecky, Zac as Rasconza, Adam as Gowja and Mark as Arven After some indoor games, we walked down the street near the dam and had a sword tournament. One of the mums had asked for the swords to be more than decoration, so we put our thinking caps together and came up with the tournament idea. Stevie then took over and worked out all of the rounds, based on the child's age/ability. Here's a couple of photos from that:     The contest of the tournament. These two were locked in combat for most of the tournament until we finally had to institute "sudden death". We only had one sword casualty, and it was Stephen's sword that cracked in half. Most of the children survived in good humour, so that was good. The next item on the agenda was a pearl hunt. The children were divided into groups and given clues to start them off. Following the clues in the book, they then had to find where all the other pearls would be hidden, either down by the dam or at the Burnet's house. It was a good idea, in theory, but in the rush to get it all organised the night before, I numbered the clues incorrectly which threw everyone out. A bit of re-explanation en-route saw most groups able to continue and work out the rest of the hiding places.   We then went inside, compared notes and each group had a turn at saying the Sister Cicely tongue twister on a time limit. After this, the fav part of any Redwall Day occurred - the feast!!  The horde listening to Mrs Kirky give the wonderful food introductions......and of course, some quick snaps of the food on offer -    We had a lively quiz time after lunch - with chanting that has been louder than I've experienced before - they really got into it! Then, in the same groups as earlier, teams went out and practiced acting out a scene from the book to present to the rest of us. This was a lot of fun and there some great choices. At the close, we probably shouted out the neighbourhood by doing all the war cries from the books - my ears were certainly ringing for a while! Most took their time packing up and going home and one little Dibbun just couldn't wait any longer for a sleep...  We had a great day and thanks go to the kitchen crew and the Burnets for hosting us. That family has been sick this week, so thanks for rising above the oncoming symptoms to have us for the day. A special mention to some of the older ones who really helped out and my own older boys. Stephen and Zac typed out a lot of clues, the door welcome was Zac's creation this time and Stevie organised the whole sword tournament. All these things made it easier for me and much more fun for everyone. So, until next time.........REDWALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Nov. 11, 2008
Outcast of Redwall Day ~ 7 November
Posted in Redwall Book Club
 Hello good creatures and welcome to this day of fun & food! Who are you? If you have good intent, our gates are open to you - whatever your weapon, whatever your race, especially if you are SUNFLASH THE MACE! Knock, come and enter this day of fun. Food and games. Show 10 fingers (claws) and come in… Okay, come anyway, even if you are Sixclaw or Veil Brother Stephen, recorder at Redwall Abbey Well, that was our welcome sign for those who came along to share in this day with us. On Redwall days, we usually start with introductions. We had some great character line-ups this time. Even though I took a photo of everyone, I'll just include a few here.  Zac was Ruddle, Mark was a bankvole, Stevie was Sabretache and Adam was Jodd.  We had a beautiful and dare I say, almost regal, Abbess.  We had not one...but two Sunflash the Mace characters. One emphasised the mace and the other, just doing as he was told, emphasised his golden stripe:  It was nice to have a dad along for the day. This dad, Pete was actually celebrating his birthday but we will get to that later... After the customary character bingo game, we went outside for a scavenger hunt. I made our parents work a little more this time and they all seemed to do well at the tasks I asked them to perform. The first "station" or place to find was the Dubbo-Lingl cave. They had clues to solve throughout the hunt, activities to do and things to collect. The first one was to find a leaf and blow through it as a leaf-whistle. No group quite managed it but after their best attempt, their next clue saw them find the "Gates of Spring" song in the cave and then have to perform it. I think this parent (who shall remain nameless) relished her role as taskmaster for this part of the hunt. You can certainly see her at her "conducting best" below.   After getting a "snowdrop" card to place in their bag, they then had to move along to the next challenge. Like the phantom warriors, they had throw some stones.  The target was the burned out tree on the other side of the gorge and some found this easier than others. After the appropriate amount of practice, they solved another clue about Sunflash moving the boulder for the otters. That led them to their next destination - the trampoline.  After pushing their "boulder" through a narrow crack in the side, they then moved on to making a leaf talisman.  Using string, a square piece of foil, and a green marker pen, they had to construct their own design and put it in their bag. We had four groups and they all did it differently. Two had leaf designs but they weren't alike, one shaped theirs like a triangular stone and the other did theirs as a long tube around the string. It was encouraging to see some creativity in this activity. The last challenge was to do a character name unscramble. Ten names were written on the paper and groups had to work together to solve all of it. One group got 9 of them right...though I did have a few hard names...  After this, we compared the bags, the time spent completing the tasks and I thought two groups should take the honours. Next, of course, was the lovely Redwall Feast. What Redwall Day would be without it? Yet again, the mums really did such a great job of providing excellent food. I made sure that introductions on food were done this time, we shouted the "cut the cake for goodness sake" grace, followed a real returning of thanks, and then got down to scoffing!  I took photos too early for the full presentation of food and then, of course, it was too late as the food was soon demolished. We certainly had some great desserts as you can see above and below:   and they were thoroughly enjoyed... After this, we had a final outside game of captain ball. I pinched Donna's idea and there was a letter inside each balloon, which together, would make up a key word from the book - Salamandastron.   It was the only game that Mark took part in and it was so lovely to see him being helped. Actually, a few of the older ones were just great on the day and made sure the younger ones joined in the fun and had a great time. It was so lovely to see and I just want to commend them again for their caring attitudes - well done! After discovering the word was Salamandastron, they then had to make as many words as they could from this one word. There was a riddle about this in the book, "Sand alas not an arm...". It kept them so busy we almost ran out of time for the quiz at the end, which would have been a shame as coming up with questions while going through the book is kinda fun (and actually, quite time consuming...) Well, our day was not at an end. There was still the birthday cake to do...  and the birthday boy to get....  Poor Pete! As soon as the singing was done, the cake was whisked off the table and the kids began their water gun onslaught!  Don't feel too badly for him. He managed to defend himself a little and really coped with it well. After this, we were all invited to stay and have a swim in the pool as well so it ended up being a longer Redwall Day. Thanks for all the help on the day, guys. Our family had a great time. Euuulllaaaaaaalia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Sep. 5, 2008
Bellmaker Day - 3 September
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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Wednesday the 3rd of September was the date set for the next installment of Redwall! For those who don't know, a group of us have been reading through these books by Brian Jacques and having fun "book club" days. Up until now, they have been hosted by the Luptons. With their early departure to the USA (sob), The Bellmaker Day was rescheduled to September. Our household had to "gear up" as I had offered to take over from Donna as the organiser of the day. The boys helped with the preparations in the week preceding. We made a Pinata in the shape of a bell.    Stephen made up some introductory words and we had people identify the characters from their pictures as a condition of door entry. The picture is not coming up on shutterfly right now so I will have to try and reload it... Once we got to our friends' house, her children and mine helped to fill water bombs for one of the games - even though it was ...brrrr...cold....  We decorated the place with maps, posters and books from the series and everyone came dressed as their favourite character from the book.  Stephen was Rab Streambattle, Zac was Finnbarr Galedeep, Adam was Blaggut and Mark was Mousebabe. Everyone else explained to the group why they had chosen their character. I must say that this is one of my favourite parts of the whole day as I hear why the children have liked the various characters. It was also great because this was the first time that Mark stood up and spoke up for himself - he seemed so grown up!  We had some colourful characters too. Urgan Nagru dressed with great style...  and one who chose her character because her mother told her to!!!  Maybe that's because she couldn't make up her mind which character to be...and now I can't remember which one she said she actually was!!! Ummmm, can you tell I was laughing too hard at the time??? I could go through all the characters but it would take me too long, besides, the children are in other photos as well so you will see the costumes on the way through. Needless to say, we did have one Bellmaker so he needs to get a mention here:  After this introduction time, we played bingo with the character names and then divided into groups for a "who said what?" game. There were some intense expressions as the problem solving got under way...  Some had a more "laid back" approach...  although it didn't help them solve it faster than anyone else! After some good rousing (or should I say ear-piercing?) war cries, we were off outside to conquer an obstacle course. I was too busy making sure everyone was doing the obstacle course to take photos at this point. Each team member had to run down into the gorge, across the dry river bed, up to the rock hill, pick up a weapon, run back, jump through some hoops, dodge some water bombs and tag their next team member so they could run the next leg. Apart from a couple of scrapes and some over-eager water-bombers, this worked out okay. The next activity was to use the words of the "Shrum Song" and staying in groups, come up with a nice tune to sing just before lunch. I thought this would be a good idea as most hadn't managed to get the audiobook for this one and wouldn't have heard the song before. Zac had typed it up for me beforehand and each group had ten minutes to try and sing the same tune as their team members. I made the parents the judges for this one. Here's some photos of the groups in action:   Two Meldrums were in this group and their song was proclaimed the winner.   After a quick prayer, we started lunch. I was pulled up for being the rookie I am by Mother Liz, who works so hard in the "kitchens" - I had forgotten to let her introduce all the lovely foods which made up our feast for the day... I also didn't get to photograph it all before everyone tucked in. Maybe that's why it was easier when I was photographer for Donna because she was too busy to take some of the shots!!! Anyway, here's what I got:   We had such lovely offerings (and this was not all of them): Veggible quiches, Haversack crumble, Strawberry fizz, Autumn oat favourites, Damson wine, Hotroot soup, Harvest Vegetable Soup, Summer Salad, Cheese and onion hogbake, October Ale, Spiced Gatehouse Tea Bread,Apple Fizz, Spring Garden Salad Delight, Dibbuns' Delights, Spring kiwi ale, Warriors' Staples (aka sausage rolls made by one of the dads), Cheerful Churchmouse Berry Crisp, crusty bread and these beautiful hedgehog rolls made by one of the girls:  After the feast, it was time for the quiz, an animal match-up game and the pinata.  Of course, I should have blindfolded them all because it cracked after two people...at least they had fun chasing down all the sweets!  and even though this was the end, I think they all had fun. I know that our family did and we are hoping to get an earlier start on reading the next book! So...watch this space because in November, we plan to have the next day for Outcast of Redwall. |
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Sep. 25, 2007
Salamandastron- 18 September
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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Want to know why he looks so happy? Adam was waiting...and waiting...and waiting for Salamandastron day. We've been getting the audiobooks from audible.com so that Adam can listen to the story that way. He enjoys the audio because they have a range of voices and he gets the music and action noises as well. I must admit it means that I have not been keeping up as much but the boys are thoroughly enjoying the books and these sharing days. Normally, I get all of the boys to pose in character before we go to join the rest of the group but we had another family join us beforehand so we got a group shot instead: This day started with the introductions. All the children say which character they have come as, why they like that character and may be asked to mention some favourite sections from the book with that character. It may be something that is done "all the time" but those little things are so good. They don't realise they are learning to get up in a group and to express themselves. This is certainly a safe environment to start doing that! The big thing in Salamandastron (besides food) is the mountain itself. It is the stronghold of the fire lizard or Salamander. So what better thing to do than go for a nice hike up the neighbouring hill? Not quite volcanic but nonetheless... I had to stay behind and get things going in the kitchen like a good little Abbey mouse... It was a warm day and they needed those water bottles but it's a great view, isn't it? Well, of course, straight after the hike, Miss Donna tried to get ahead of the boys and rush back to the kitchen and help me set up for the feast. No chance!!! My competitive son led a tribe of boys to catch her and they majority arrived soon after she did! And here's the feast: The delights were: Strawberry Fizz, Elderflower Cordial, Spicy Apple Pudding, Gousim Friendly Almond Chews, Apple Cider, Hedgehog’s slice, Fruit Trifle, Savoury Squirrel Cakes, Golden Tots, Hare’s Squares, Tarlequin’s Triple Dip, Hot Brown Rolls, Badger Snacks, Summer Salad, Dibbun Party Pies. This book was a favourite for our boys because there's one page toward the end of the book where the feast food is described. It takes almost the whole page and they love pretty much everything written in it! Cool beans! Thanks one and all... |
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Jul. 5, 2007
Mariel of Redwall - 26 June
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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Sorry, I haven't blogged for a little while. Things have been busy here. . After that, everyone was divided into two groups to play a game in the garage. The red marker stripe meant you were in Devon's group: or perhaps it was more drastic than that... Dylan's team had the gold balloons and Devon's team had the silver balloons. Each person had to hop from one side to the other with the balloon between their legs and then sit down on the other side. Zac as Dandin and Mark as Mariel wait for their gold balloons.
Then it was back inside for some more fun. The feast! We had some great offerings this time and I will consult Donna's blog for the list: Fire roasted fowl, Elderberry wine, Mountain foothill stew, Stones inna swamp, Deeper ‘n ever pie, Veggible casserole, Apple tart pie, Rhubarb & strawberry “fool”, Abbey trifle, Blueberry lattice tart, Hare’s favorite blueberry deep, Bilberry muffins, Woodland pasties, Raspberry cordial, Seaweed grog & October ale.
I made something called a Strawberry and Rhubarb "Fool" as my dessert option. It was all nicely layered with vanilla yogurt, cooked and blended Rhubarb and Strawberries - until the "hordes" got to it... or was it that troublesome mouse? After lunch, it was time for a quiz and to be the first to the bell... Adam listened to the book on Audio this time so he was able to answer his question
Watching others at the quiz. Stephen was Col. Clary of the Long Patrol
Then it was onto the "gull" whacking. Mariel had a rope that she tied at one end and used to whack gulls and other vermin. It's such a handy weapon that Mark decided he had to be Mariel so he could take a gull whacker along. This game was played in the garage too and was actually a duck pinata. Everyone got to have several turns but the pinata wouldn't crack! The Abbess came to the rescue with a few bags of lollies and the day was saved!
As usual, all was well planned, staged and organised - even down to this lovely window treatment. Thanks for a fun time.
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May. 18, 2007
Mattimeo Day - Redwall (15 May)
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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We had our third Redwall Day recently. Unfortunately, a few families had sick children so numbers were down but it always a lot of fun reagrdless. If you wan the full wrap up, Donna has written it up on her blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaLupton/328953/ The boys came as the following characters: Stephen as Basil Stag Hare (somehow I think these ears are going to get a work-out) This time, we made a Vegetable & Lentil soup. There were other berry-type yummies there too. I also made a Strawberry Fizz/cordial by putting some canned strawberries in a blender, whizzing them up and adding lemonade to it. I have a few more feast options planned for the next day, which is on Mariel of Redwall. I've been looking at some recipe books plus been reading some mouth-watering passages in the book itself. Thanks again for organising the day, Luptons! |
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Apr. 3, 2007
Mossflower Day - Redwall Book Club
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Back in February, we had the first meeting for the Redwall Book Club. We are going through the books in order, with the Luptons planning activities for us. We all enjoy the feast time as well, with the mothers making fantastic contributions. It all starts with the introductions. Everyone has to choose a character from the book and come dressed as them and introduce themselves to the group.  Adam as Skipper (an Otter) and Zac as Martin the Warrior (a mouse).  Dylan as "The Mask", an otter and Stephen as Gonff, the mousethief. Don't know all of the girls' characters!  Kim as Ferdy ( a hedgehog) and Devon as another Gonff.  A junior "Coggs" (hedgehog).  Mark as a little Dibbun (small mouse)Then it was straight outside for some games before the day got too hot...  Standing around waiting for "poison ball" to get under way. I guess a sword comes in handy... Listening to the instructions from the Abbess What's a Redwall event with out a feast? Well, it isn't a true Redwall one! I bought the Redwall Cookbook and enjoyed reading the forward by Brian Jacques. He always felt cheated in books that mentioned they had had a feast and yet didn't describe the food. Some of the passages in his own books are mouth-watering and the food cooked up this time was too.  Of course, I include the dessert table first...  The main courses - there were two tasty soups too - they hadn't been put on the counter yet... I have the food list from Donna, so here it is:Plum pudding with spices and fresh cream. crispy cheese and onion hogbake, grilled trout with butter, oats & honey scones piping hot and oozing with butter, Brockhall cobb, chili cheese knob, Little hog pies, paddock pumpkin scones, brown oven loaves, Watergate salad, hot root soup, meadow cream, October ale, apple pie, forest walnut clusters, squirrel mums apple & blackberry cake, guosim shrew shortbread, high meadow corn, & Goody Stickles famous spring vegetable soup.  So, after the feast, we all went and talked about our favourite characters and thought about some Christian characteristics shown in the book, like showing kindess to an "enemy".  I think these happy woodlanders will be back next time... Devon's drawing |
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Feb. 27, 2007
Redwall Day - 20 February
Posted in Redwall Book Club
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With everything happening around here, I haven't written up about Redwall Day. The Luptons have started a Redwall Readers Club. Thankfully, when they first flagged it last year, they ran out of time to do it! It gave my older two 7 months to read the books and get "hooked" on the series. So, on the Redwall Day, the children dressed up as their favourite character from any one of the Redwall books. My boys chose the following:  Tammo (a hare from The Long Patrol) Matthias (a mouse from Redwall) Rakkety Tam (a squirrel from Rakkety Tam) There were puzzles to solve, quests to go on and a feast to be had. All the families had to bring some food found in the Redwall books. I brought along "Wildberry Muffins" which were really packet-mix blueberry muffins. The older boys actually made these up and I just helped them with the can of blueberries. I made some Apple Scones. These are mentioned in some of the books but no recipe is included. This is how we made them: APPLE SCONES 3 1/2 cups of SR Flour, sifted 1 tablsp soft butter 1/2 small can of baker's apple, diced (about 200g) 1-2 cups of milk Work butter into SR Flour with finger tips until combined (looks like fine crumbs). Add fruit and milk. Only add as much milk as is necessary to form a slightly sticky dough and stir only until it is just combined. Flour the counter and add more flour to help turn out the dough. Lightly flour the baking sheet, top of the dough and cutting tool. Even a glass can be used! Cut out (usually round shapes) and place on the baking sheet so that they are touching. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops are a light brown. Cool on tray before dusting off excess flour for presentation. This recipe is my written instructions of what my mother always did at home (minus the apple). She never wrote her recipe down and I just had to estimate as she made scones one day. She has it down to a fine art while I am still learning... Anyway, the boys had a great day and so did I. Thanks Luptons and all the hard working Mums. We look forward to the next day in just over a month when we will focus on the book, Mossflower.  They might be ready for war but Rakkety Tam looks ready to play!!Until next time... |
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