Respite from the Grey

A New Year is like the first page in an unread book, one full of promise of a new journey into the unknown.  The last weeks of 2015 were grey, the sky covered in heavy grey cloud day after day, the rain poured, there were odd days of clearer weather but they were so few and far between that they were all too easily forgotten.  I had high hopes for Winter, that it would be cold with wide blue skies but by the middle of January I was beginning give to give up hope.  I don't usually let the weather get the better of me but it was, then it all changed.  It snowed, and with it came sunshine, blue sky and light.  We soaked it all like sponges, revelling in its beauty.  Driving home on the best of the days it was hard to concentrate on the road, the fading evening light on the snow covered hills was magnificent.  It has gone for now but those few days were just what I needed.

Although the weather took a while to give us a fresh start we got straight back into our rhythm, and like a pair of your most comfortable shoes, it was a good place to be.  The children have been asking to incorporate working towards Scout badges into our learning and we spent some time back in November looking at the badge requirements and which ones they wanted to work on.  So our new project this month has been all about the Weather.  There is a practical requirement and by sheer coincidence we were given a lovely weather tree by a friend, I had seen these on other blogs but have not been able to source one anywhere and now I don't need to!  Cameron has made a wind vane and a simple rain gauge and we have been finding out about wind, clouds, temperature and pressure so far.

We have a second new project which I shared the barest of details of and left many of you guessing what on earth we were doing.  Its basis is in nature a subject at the core of all that we do.  Despite our interesting weather, the British have a fascination with it, it is what we talk about incessantly but it does give us much to talk about!  We spend time outside every week.  I am not going to share much more for now as there isn't much to, suffice to say that we have greatly enjoyed the first two weeks!

January is always a month that seems to go really quickly for me as we find our way back into our groove, settle in, I blink and it is February.  I love the hibernation that comes with this time of year and, although it can sometimes be busy, it is filled with those lovely things that restore and revive me ready for the Spring and Summer and the, different, busyness they bring.  I do hope the rest of the year is filled with learning, fun and creativity.  I will be back at the weekend to share what I have been making and creating this month.  I hope January and the start of the year has been good for you too?