Or perhaps that should be Apologia and the poncho....

My oldest son just finished getting stuff ready for a lab session on micro-organisms - we don't have a pond nearby so he went to the nearby stream and hopefully he got a sample from a slow-enough section that there will be enough little things to reproduce in his jars to which are added various goodies that the little things can feed on.    That was just a great example of a run-on sentence, wasn't it?

Dad is going to do the microscope work for the project this weekend.  He's a scientist, so I figure he can take some of the science!

I decided to take the poncho seams apart so I could add more rows, which will make the neck larger.  It will also make the poncho longer but with my height and size that won't be a problem.  The first seam went well, but on the second I had a minor disaster - I started taking apart the cast-on edge!   I was nearly dispairing but then I thought I could use a needle and sew the edge back together.  That worked and I am grateful.  I put more rows on one side, but haven't put any more rows on the second side.  I've been working on some wrist warmers, and a crocheted project for a gift.

I've also made some beaded stitch markers - I've never tried them before this month and I've been pleased at how they've come out.  I've made some of them for a swap on Fiber Freaks ( a forum for people who enjoy various fiber crafts). 

The other night I stayed up late and made some felt.  I decided to take a chance the next day and put my partially felted piece in the washing machine with some towels and let it go along for the ride.  I had read that front-loading washers didn't provide enough agitation but I tell you (and I should have remembered, from unintentional feltings in the past) that they do.  My felted piece is much smaller and thicker. Not a bad thing at all, but it was more felted than I expected it to be.

Generally with the homeschooling things aren't too bad  - but with all the difficulties with the one son ( a lot of emotional outbursts when made to do things even when well within his abilities), and just the normal hassles of everyday life I am ready for a break  - but can't really take one because we didn't really start until the beginning of October!  We've also had a few easy Fridays.  

We won't be doing much schoolwork on Friday, but we won't be having a real easy day either as I have to take the children to the orthodontist.  Only two need to be seen but I will have to take the whole family along.  We have to go on the bus, which is not an unpleasant journey, but it is time consuming and costly.   Sometimes dh will take them, but I think this week is not a good week for him.   The bus fare for us will be around £20.00 I think, and then we will eat out.  If we were stoic enough I suppose I could just get everybody to the bus stop immediately afterward and eat at home but I myself will be worn out from it all so I don't think that's a great scenario.  I think I will try to find something to see in Oxford that we haven't seen before, perhaps the Museum of Modern Art,  perhaps something else.   I figure if we have made the effort to get there we should take advantage of what the town has to offer, if it is not too costly.