A day of Perception Deception

Last week we went to Science Works where the current display is Perception Deception. It was a day of discovery. 

We arrived as Science Works opened.
The next exhibition is Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention

Upstairs we found this Naughts and Crosses Machine built in 1960's.
Designed and constructed by Mr. Roy Hartkopf of Alphington
Unlike a machine with a perfect program of responses this machine can lose to a careful player.

We spent the afternoon exploring Nitty Gritty Super City

Perception Deception was excellent.

We played in Sportsworks and outside.

We had so much fun we are planning on going to see Explore-a-saurus next month.
 
If you join the Facebook Little Kids Day In you can download a 2 for 1 voucher which entitles you to half price entry to Science Works & Explore-a-saurus on Monday 5th March 2011. Offer: 2 Adult Explore-a-saurus exhibition AND Scienceworks entry tickets for the price of 1 Adult entry to the Explore-a-saurus exhibition AND Scienceworks entry only. Save $18.

Hope you can join us next month

Blessings

1/52 - Unveiled the story of Tamar.

I had such grand intentions at the beginning of the year but it's another thing altogether to get those intentions into reality! I have also discovered that I need to rearrange my habits to make room for an old one that is my best friend ! So I am playing catch up on my 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge
 
In another challenge to read my bible Cover to Cover I was reading about  Jacobs family and it goes on to speak about Tamar in passing (Genesis 38).  This got me thinking about this book and re-reading it I am so glad that I did.

Unveiled the story of Tamar 

(Series: Lineage of Grace)

Francine Rivers

• Format: Hardback
• Number of Pages: 173
• Publishers: Tyndale House
• Publication Date: 1 December 2000
• ISBN: 9780842319478
• Author Francine Rivers

This book is an easy read and opens up the world of old.  Francine does an excellent job of taking the reader to the era with it's customs and traditions. She has excellently woven together biblical and historic history.

Tamar is often ignored or thought little of in the reading of the word yet she is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus.  To read an outline of the book you can go to Praise for Unveiled.

Unveiled was a 2001 Christy Award finalist

This book is available for purchase from: Koorong, Word, Fishpond, Book Depository, Kindle, Amazon.
These links are NOT affiliate links.

Linking to: 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Homeschool Mothers Journal {13} - A Reminder for You ?

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

In my life this week…

 
In our homeschool this week…

• We went to Science Works and had an absolute ball.  It was so much fun. We went and had a good play around Perception Deception and are planning on going to see Explore-a-saurus next month. 
• If you join the Facebook Little Kids Day In you can download a 2 for 1 voucher which entitles you to half price entry to Science Works & Explore-a-saurus on Monday 5th March 2011. Offer: 2 Adult Explore-a-saurus exhibition AND Scienceworks entry tickets for the price of 1 Adult entry to the Explore-a-saurus exhibition AND Scienceworks entry only. Save $18. 
• We participated in a Not Back to School Blog Hop Aussie Style. This weeks topic was introducing our Children.  It was fun and I am looking forward to next weeks blog hop.I have enjoyed meeting fellow Australian Homeschool Moms.  If you are Australian, blog and Homeschool join in the fun.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Candid Conversation with God by Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  If you are weary and in need of some encouragement as a homeschool mom this one is one you need to keep in your favourites bar. Erica writes about her doubts and fears and what the Lord answered her through His Word. 
• Tips for a smoother homeschool day over at Weird, Unsocialised Homeschoolers.

I am inspired by…

•  The difference between an Abiding Mom and a Super Mom by Renee shared by Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Erica has made a beautiful sheet to print up and frame. 
• Bethany Hamilton Soul Surfer.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• This week I am pleased to say was a quieter week for which I am pleased.
• Monday we joined a few friends and went to Science Works for the day.
• Tuesday we went to Pykes Creek Reservoir
• Wednesday we visited some friends for a play date
• Thursday some cousins came over for a play date
• Friday swimming lessons at Paul Sadler Swimland
• Saturday we are going to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries and then we are going to celebrate the twins birthdays !
• Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…

• Watching Sir N learning how to dive into the pool.
• Watching Soul Surfer.  Excellent movie.  Great family viewing.  Especially watch the extra parts.

Here are some interesting links to and about Soul Surfer: Her personal site: Bethany Hamilton, Health and Fitness, Her Blog, Soul Surfer, Picture Gallery, About her foundation: Friends of Bethany.

What’s working/not working for us…

• having our shelves organised.  It's so much easier to find what we are looking for now :)

Questions/thoughts I have…

• I have been reading through Exodus and Numbers in the bible.  I read in Numbers 10:1-10 how the Lord told them to make and use silver trumpets  along with instructions on when to blow them.  They were blown to call meetings, announce festivals, the start of a new month etc. At the end He says: They will serve as a reminder for you before your God: I am the LORD your God. Numbers 10:10 
• This has me thinking what can I do that will help me and my family remember the Lord my God daily, monthly and annually ? What do you do in your home that serves as a reminder of the Lord your God in a special way?

Things I’m working on…

• Valentines Day crafts with Sir N.
• 14 Fun Valentines Day ideas over at Enough Time.  Some neat simple ideas to do that are inexpensive but mean a lot.
• I pinned it Down this week and made a Wipe Off Weekly Menu Planner. I am looking forward to using this in the week ahead.

I’m reading…

• Unveiled the story of Tamar (Series: Lineage of Grace). The story of Tamar is but a few lines in Exodus but oh such a powerful story when you think about it.
• Exodus in the bible along with my Mom.  I have learned so many many interesting things as I have been researching online the biblical events, customs and festivals of the Jewish people. This is our heritage that we have been grafted in to.   
• Moses The Deliverer by Ellen Gunderson Traylor.

I’m cooking…

• Turkey legs for dinner.
• Home made apple crumble with apples Paul picked for me.  Feeling very domesticated!

I’m grateful for…

•  Sara over at Saving for Someday who took the time to explain about blog giveaways and the law.  I had been feeling rather put out by all these excellent blogs who have these rules posted at the bottom about their giveaways and they are only open to US residents. I can understand about postage but when a giveaway is an eBook why can't it be open worldwide ?? Thanks to Sara I have a better understanding.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Pykes Creek Reservoir Day Trip

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Home Grown Learners, Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Chick pop on over to read what other homeschool Moms are doing.

NBTS Blog Hop - Introducing My Children

Kylie from Our Worldwide Class Room dropped me a note and invited me to join in her Not Back to School Blog Hop . 

Welcome to our little space in blog land.  I am Chareen, mom to three roses and have been home educating since 1998. This is my first year home educating my youngest.  Our family has been home educating for 14 years.  My eldest attended school for one week and decided it was not a good idea when he was 16. As a family we are eagerly anticipating a trip to South Africa in April it has been 10 years since we have been back.

Week 1:  Meet my children

This is my first born Mr T who is 18.  He was born in Hoedspruit South Africa.

He is 6'4" tall and likes to let me know I am short! (...I am 6')

He is great at computer IT and can make a pc do things that makes my head spin.  He finished school with me a year ago and is currently exploring the greater world to find the right path for himself.

This is my second rose Miss J.  Miss J is South African born and is 16 years old. Miss J has not been to school.

Miss J did 11 years of homeschooling with me and last year attended Carrick Institute where she graduated with a Cert III in Children's Services.

Last year she also started her first job and became an adept Barista and attained her Cert III in Retail.

Today she will be starting her first permanent part time position up at the local Plaza.

This is Sir N whose current passion is fishing with Dad. Sir N is the natural kiwi in the family.  He was born in Christchurch New Zealand and is six years old.

Sir N started official homeschool last year with me and features in this blog quite often.

He likes green and gold and his favourite book this year has been The Box Car Children.

He likes learning about drawing, making snow globes, and building / making things with Dad.

He would like to be a forklift driver (this is his current favourite toy)

His favourite place to go to is Werribee Open Range Zoo and Granny's house.

Looking forward to next weeks topic:

Week 2: Your Curriculum. Your plans for the year, resources you will use etc.

It's not too late to join in the linky is open till 13 Febraury. So please join in the fun :) Be sure to hop on over and meet some fellow homeschoolers blogging around Australia.

Blessings

Pinning it DOWN {3} - Menu Planner

Welcome to the Fifth Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and Sarah every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week. This week is hosted over at Sarahs

In week 3 Ann from Building my Catholic Home and in  week 4 Laurie from Keeping it Simple posted their versions of the Menu board from Pinterest.

I have not been a menu planner but loved the idea and wanted to give it a go.  So this week on Pinning it DOWN I made something for me :)






The orginal idea was shared by Little Birdie Secrets over at Make and Takes: Wipe Off Weekly Menu Planner.

I purchased a certificate frame from The Reject Shop
Used Excel to create a weekly dinner planning sheet.
Chose a sheet of pretty paper from my Scrap booking stack
Cut it to fit.
Printed my menu sheet on it.
Framed
Done !








Blessings

Menu plan gifts

Photo Collages done with the FREE software Photoscape . Tutorial over at Great Fun 4 Kids.

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:
1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.

3. Link up over at Sarah's . Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.

Tuesdays Treasure {26} - Honey for a Child's Heart

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

Honey for a Child's Heart

Gladys Hunt

• Format: Paperback
• Number of Pages: 251
• Publishers: Zondervan
• Publication Date: 
• ISBN: 978-0-310-24246-8
• Author Gladys Hunt
• Illustrator: 

When I first started home schooling this was one of the first books I invested in.  I loved the idea of twaddle free living books but did not have enough experience to pick them.  This book became an invaluable resource along with my Sonlight Catalog.

Personally I do not endorse every book that Gladys has listed but as a family we have certainly enjoyed a good many.

The book is divided into two parts:

Part One: Using Books to Help Children Grow

Part Two: Best-Loved Books for Children.

"Every child ought to know the pleasure of words so well chosen that they awaken sensibility, great emotions, and understanding of truth "- Gladys Hunt

Blessings

Gladys Blog:  Honey for a Child's Heart.
Remembering Gladys Hunt.
This post is linking with: Favourite Resources over at Learing All the Time.

Purchase the book from (NOT Affiliate Links)

• eBook, ePub download from Zondervan. 
• Christian Book.com
• Amazon
• Kindle Edition.
• Ebay
• Fishpond
• Koorong
• Koorong eBook.
• Word

Homeschool Mothers Journal {12} - Blind spots ...

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

In my life this week…

 
In our homeschool this week…

• We discovered The Brick Testament.  Lots of fun. A word of caution the author does use poetic licence in some of his speech bubbles.
• We have been watching Little House on the Prairie season 1. So much fun.
• Sir N has renewed his desire to learn to tell the time !  So out came the watch and file folder game to learn to tell the time.  Plenty of practice happening around here.
• In maths it so happens we are learning about skip counting in 5's. Some days the pieces fall into place and other days it's a struggle. I think I need to get the counting beans out again.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• An excellent handbook for new and seasoned home schoolers:  Things we wish we'd known. This book is a compilation of letters by 50 veteran homeschoolers all sharing what the one thing is they wish they had known when they started home educating.
• Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers over at Weird, Unsocialised Homeschoolers.
• 10 skills every child should posses before leaving home over at Weird, Unsocialised Homeschoolers.

I am inspired by…

• An Innocent Man Imprisoned for Life by Gail Purath  over at WOW Writing on the Word.
• Ten things I love about being an OBGYN over at  The Pregnancy Companion (No I'm not pregnant, although you could stand with me in prayer for another blessing ....)
•  Ten ways to say: "I love You" to a Homeschool Mom over at Weird, Unsocialised Homeschoolers I ♥ this list it is practical, inexpensive and easy to implement.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• Today we will be visiting a homeschool Mom who is going to introduce me to All About Spelling.
• We visited my sister and sister in law this week.
• School term swimming lessons commenced today.
• Celebrated Miss J's graduation on Tuesday evening with a meal chosen by her and a framed replica of her certificate and a special item of jewelery. 
• Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…

• Going through my computer archives and finding a document with the themes for each book of the bible.

What’s working/not working for us…

• Having a subscription with Library Elf.  The Elf notifies me via email when my books are due back at the library! Library Elf is free for basic service level. 
• The service is available in the following countries: US, Canada and International pop on over and see if your library is on the list. The service is not affiliated with anyone and is independent of any school or library.

Questions/thoughts I have…

• How do you organise all the homeschool items that you are not currently using ??

Things I’m working on…

• Creating an achievable schedule to help our homeschool rhythm and maintain the areas of my home I have reclaimed from CHAOS!
• Conquering Mount Washmore and Mount Ironmore ..... (I am a comrad in arms with Sue: laundry hater, if I had the finance I would pay for someone to come in three times a week to do it for me sigh)
• Moving lots of things around. Paul has erected a storage shed for us as we do not have much storage space in our home.  So I am creating a mess to make an organised space !

I’m reading…

• Parenting with Purpose over at  Teri Lynne Underwood. Teri calls a spade a spade in the most encouraging way ever.  Pop on over and be encouraged.
• Top Ten Tuesday Blog Hop over at Oh Amanda !
• How to get motivated to clean your house over at Homegrown Mom it is a little wearying trying to over come CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) and this post is encouraging.
• Inspirational Quotes over at Guidance for Victory.
• Weight Loss Tips over at Our Goodwin Journey. This is an excellent post of encouragement for anyone who is currently on a weight loss journey.
• Two issues that cause division in Families over at  Keepin' It Real Boy do I wish I had this article seven years ago ! This is an excellent post dealing with modesty/clothing and music issues and teenagers. Excellent encouraging advice.

I’m cooking…

•  Nothing new.  Reheating some of the extra meals in my freezer. 

I’m grateful for…

• Gina who wrote Blind Spots over at  Keepin' It Real I really needed to read this post today.  I have much to think about and much to pray for now.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

We are not exactly doubting that God will do the best for us; 

we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. 

CS Lewis

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Chick pop on over to read what other homeschool Moms are doing.

Pinning it DOWN {2} - Snow Globes

Welcome to the third Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and Sarah every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week. This week is hosted over at Pams


Sir N and I along with some friends made Snow Globes from a tutorial from over at Our Best Bites.

Source: ourbestbites.com via Chareen on Pinterest

• Sir N and I upcycled baby food jars.
• Our first snow globe we used far too much glitter.
• I found that around 1/16 teaspoon is about right.
• We had lots of fun and the snow globes are sitting next Sir N's bed.

Blessings

Photo Collages done with the FREE software Photoscape . Tutorial over at Great Fun 4 Kids.

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:
1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.

3. Link up over at Pam's . Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.

Tuesday Treasure {25} - Things we wish we'd known

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 

This week ...

Today's resource is one for the mothers, it's a compilation of letters by 50 veteran homeschoolers all sharing what the one thing is they wish they had known when they started home educating. Q: Who do parents turn to with questions aout homeschooling, whether they're novices, long-timers, or just testing the waters? A: Experienced homeschoolers. Who better to answer the questions arising from any serious endeavor than those who have been there, done that, and found a better way?

50 Veteran Homeschoolers share ...

Things we wish we'd known

• Format: Paperback
• Number of Pages: 232
• Vendor:  Publishers YWAM USA
• Publication Date: 2001
• ISBN: 1-883002-42-7
• Author Compiled & Edited by Bill & Diana Waring
  
• Illustrator: N/A

This book is worth it's weight in gold and I recommend it to any homeschooler whether they are new to homeschooling or been on the journey for fifteen years this is a gold mine of encouragement and insight in one book.

The book is divided into 6 parts

• The Basics - Keeping the fun in it
• The Concepts - Redefining the 3 R's, Curriculum: tool or tyrant?
• The Priorities - You can't do it all and don't have to
• God's Involvement - Home educating for eternity
• Character and Academics - Developing the worker and the tools
• The Blessings - Homeschooling pieces our hearts together, and much, much more

Blessings

The book is available for purchase from:

• YWAM USA
• Book Depository USA
• Book Depository UK
• Amazon
• Fishpond

** These are NOT affiliate links

GRADUATION DAY

Miss J was awarded her Cert III in Children's Services ** by Carrick Education today. 

Dear Jane 

We are so proud of you our precious daughter.  We love watching you grow into the woman God has made you to be.  May His hand of blessing rest upon you daily. May you continue to know Him and hear His voice directing you. May He bless you with His perfect will for you.  May He clearly give you a vision and hope for your future. We pray He will bless you with favour.  May He bless the work of your hands.  We pray He will draw you ever closer to Himself.  May His mantle of joy and peace be upon your shoulders.


All our love

Dad and Mom

** In Australia a Cert II is the equivalant of Year 12/13 (Matric) school.  Cert III is first year post school study and one year before a Diploma level. Jane achieved two Cert III certificates at the age of 16

Homeschool Mothers Journal {11} - Pinning it Down.

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

In my life this week…

 
In our homeschool this week…

• Completed two Pinning it DOWN challenges. We made peg frogs and Firefighter Fingers.
• Started Abeka math again.  It amazes me how much they forget if you go on holiday ....  so we are working on re - remembering.
• Did a week of holiday swim program at Paul Saddler swim land.
• Made snow globes.
• Celebrated Australia Day by blogging .....

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

•  My Biggest Homeschooling Mistake: Over-thinking Methods & Philosophies by Sarah over at Amongst lovely things.
• A reason Credentials shouldn't Concern Homeschoolers by Luke Holzmann from Sonlight

I am inspired by…

• The one Habit more Important than Quiet Time over at A Holy Experience. 
• We watched The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry this is an excellent family movie that will encourage and impact you and your children for the Lord. Best of all it is based on a TRUE story and at the end of the movie you find out what happened to all the characters in the story.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• We had lunch with the ladies from the Art co-op we are a part of.
• The first CHEF (Christian Home Educating Families) meeting for the year started this week. It was great fellowship.
• Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…

• Watching Sir N remember the skills he had attained in swimming before the holidays during his week of swimming lessons at Paul Sadler Swimland and being awarded his Pink Certificate today!

Miss J was awarded her Cert III in Children's Services today!

What’s working/not working for us…

• Trying to do my One Year Through The Word bible reading / blogging during the day. I have come to the conclusion I need to be up an hour before the rest of the household if I am going to have the time and more importantly quiet uninterrupted time to do it. I now have a few days I need to catch up.  Who said you need 21 days to form a new habit ? It's not true !!

Questions/thoughts I have…

• How do you keep track of the memory work of your children ?
• Writing them on the Doorposts: Scripture in our Home by over at The Purposeful Mom. I love this idea and think I will try it with our memory work with Sir N.

Things I’m working on…

• Thanks to Erin I discovered: Pinning it DOWN!  Love this idea!  Do you have a Pinterest ?  If so you NEED have to join Sarah and Pam who have started a Pinning it DOWN! challenge this year. The challenge is to take one of the ideas from Pinterest and DO IT, blog it and join in the linky!  ♥♥♥♥ it. I Pinned it DOWN this week.
• A couple of Food posts, and a few DIY  blog photo tutorials. (making scrolling button widgets, Favicon ??, Make your own grab my button, Working with HTML code)

I’m reading…

•  How to Sabotage Your Blog (and your life) by Amy over at Blogging with Amy.  This post was so not what I was expecting.
• Freedomship Education: Notes & Thoughts by Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things These are Sarah's notes from Andrew Pudewa's talk on Freedomship Education.  Rather thought provoking.
• A (rather long) Homemaking Post by Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things.
• The results of some interesting research conducted on students using Facebook: Friends Happy Pictures make you sad ?
• Do Other Blogs make you Jealous ? by KM Logan from Lessons from Ivy over at Raising Mighty Arrows. This spoke volumes to my heart:  

"Envy, jealousy, coveting; whatever you want to call it, is sin and it will cripple your ministry.  Besides, God doesn't just bless a blog through numbers…they only tell half the story."

I’m cooking…

• Snapper wrapped in bacon. 
• Collecting Watermelon rind to make another batch of Watermelon Jam.
• Tuna Bake.
• Brown Onion Soup Potatoes

I’m grateful for…

• Good wholesome DVDs that we can watch together as a family and that are appropriate for Sir N to watch with us.  DVDs like:  The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry,  Original Heidi , The Way Home,  The Prince and the Pauper, Pollyanna , Old Yeller, Little House on the Prairie series and The Book of Ruth.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next - Abraham Lincoln

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Chick pop on over to read what other homeschool Moms are doing.

Watermelon Jam (Waatlemoenkonfyt)

Ever wondered what to do with the left over rind from your watermelon fruit snacks?  I have just the solution for you.
Growing up in South Africa this is one of the jams we had and is my favourite.  My children have been enjoying watermelon So I took a recipe from my Mom and one from my Mother in law combined them and made my own. It tastes just like the store bought variety.

Ingredients:

• 1 Kg peeled and diced rind
• 3 Tablespoons Bicarbonate of Soda
• 3 Litres of water
• 6 cups of sugar (1.5 kg)
• 2 Litres water
• 3 teaspoons of dry ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of dry ground cinnamon
• 20 ml lemon juice (4 teaspoons)

Method

• Take the peel of a ripe watermelon. Peel off the green outer rind and remove most of the pink flesh inside. Discard the green skin and pink flesh.
• Prick each piece in several places with a fork and cut into desired shapes.
• Combine Bicarb and 3 litre water and rind and leave to soak for 12-18 hours.  This ensures that the preserve is tender yet crisp.
• Rinse. Now soak in fresh water for 2 hours.
• Rinse and put in a pot covered with hot water. Bring to the boil and boil, uncovered, until just tender. Test by piercing the peel. 
• Drain rind. (Do this a moment before you are ready to add to the syrup)
• In a separate pot prepare the syrup. Combine the sugar, 2 Litres water, lemon juice, ginger and cinnamon.  Put pot on low heat and stir till all sugar is dissolved.
• Bring mixture to the boil and add hot rind.
• Boil rapidly until the pieces are tender and translucent and the syrup is thick. (1 - 1 1/2 hours)
• Pack the peel into hot, dry sterilised bottles, fill with the syrup and seal immediately.

This should fill 5 300 gram bottles. The mistake I made was to put too much peel in each bottle.  It would be better to fill the jar 3/4 fill of peel and the balance syrup.

Enjoy on a fresh slice of bread or toast. What's your favourite home made jam ?

Blessings

For more information:

• Fun Facts and FAQ
• Health and Nutrition.
• Carving & Entertainment.
• Recipes
• Preserves The Traditional South African Way.
• Watermelon Jam or Preserve on Group Recipes.

This post is linking to:

Making your Home Sing Monday over at Moms The Word, Feasting in Fellowship Link Up over at Comfy in the Kitchen, Teach Me Tuesdays over at Growing Home, Natural Living Link Up over at Little Natural Cottage, Food Friday over at The Singing Sparrow.

Pin It

Pinning it Down {1} Peg frogs & Finger Firefighters

Welcome to the third Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and Sarah every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week. 


Sir N and I chose two pins to Pin down this week:

This is our first Pin:

Source: flickr.com via Chareen on Pinterest

Our first Pin is this one from a flicker album by Molas & Co .

We had a look through the different ideas and then settled on The Frog and The Sea Inside pegs to try.


We had loads of fun trying this one.
This one was a little more tricky because there was no tutorial and if you look carefully at the photo's they are made of wood.  So I improvised.

• Sir N painted our pegs.
• I took a screen shot of the peg we wanted to do.
• Put it into a word document and printed them off.
• Next we cut the pieces out and lamenated them.
• Cut them out and then glued them onto the pegs.
• Loads of fun and we can't wait to show Paul tonight.

The Second Pin we did is :

Source: tippytoecrafts.blogspot.com via Chareen on Pinterest

This Pin is from Tippytoe Crafts: Five Little Firefighters.

This one was super easy and quick to do.
The tutorial on Tippytoe Crafts was excellent.

• We painted Sir N's hand, made a hand print,
• Next I drew around some 10 cent coins to get the round heads.
• To make the hats I drew around the 10c coin and cut the base straight.
• Next Sir N glued the bits on and used texta to draw the rest !

What will you be trying from Pinterest this week ?

Blessings

Photo Collages done with the FREE software Photoscape . Tutorial over at Great Fun 4 Kids.

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:
1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.

3. Link up over at Sarah's . Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.