making crystals and getting stuck in the chimney

Those are the two things that I remember most about today.

Making crystals. This must be a top home educating activity....there can't be many of you out there that haven't had a stab at this. It's a simple enough thing to do, you get a jar with some warm water in it and stir in some salt, hang a paperclip into the solution for a few days, and you should end up with some crystals. If you want more precise instructions, then click here.

I assisted with this activity whilst transporting our collection of puzzles and board games to a new location half way up the stairs (we have this strange, large, deep shelf that I think must have been the hay loft opening when the house was still a barn. It was a nature shelf but I think we will use it better as a games cubby)

As I was going back and forth, back and forth, I kept on shouting encouragement "one more stir!" or "add more salt". After much stirring and a little spilling, we were able to put the jar and its precious contents on a shelf for observation, and a small notebook was made to record any developments.

I have tried crystal making before, and it didn't work. That time I used balsamic vinegar, which I think was a mistake.

The second event was all my own doing. We have a fireplace that serves no purpose. It is huge, at least five foot along and easily three foot deep and I can just about stand in it. There is no fire in the fireplace, so we've used it as storage. It was once neat, ordered storage but it had become somewhere I had been scared to go so I decided today was a good day to tackle it.

Half way through my emptying I realised that I had barricaded myself inside the chimney, with no means of escape. I had been emptying it by building a wall of stuff that completely covered the entrance to where I was....clearly not very well thought out on my part. One child was nearby but busy with the Roman Empire on a PC. I called to him for help and he dutifully ignored me.

Twenty minutes went by.

My daughter brought me a coffee. She had heard me calling and thought that was what I wanted. "Help me" sounds like "Coffee" a little bit I suppose, but I am not given to randomly shouting out the things I require like Father Jack. I would have at least said please. After she had excavated a gap in which to pass me the cup, she then cleared a path for my escape. I've got a small idea of what it is like to pothole, and I'm fairly confident I won't want to try it out for real.

I have awarded myself a gold star for not getting claustrophobic. I have taken away the gold star because I must be a very bad mother that not one of my offspring missed me or wondered where I was the whole time I was stuck in there.