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{April Gratitudes}

On April 30, 2016May 1, 2016 By JessicaIn Gratitude Journal

What have you been thankful for this month?

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Hello, I’m Jessica. A minimalist homeschooling mother of two living on the British island of Guernsey. I’m also a nature lover, letter writer and journal keeper that wants to to live life with an open heart. Welcome to my blog.

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The summer display is up and this year we’re celebrating life by the sea with lots of sea shells, sea glass and sea gulls. 🐚 . . #chalkboard #chalkboardart #chalkboardartist #chalklettering #lettering #seasonaldisplay #celebratetheseasons #vitaminsea #coastalliving #homedecor

It was mesmerising to watch the starlings flying to and fro from the nests they had made in the bunkers at Fort Hommet back in spring. You don’t see many starlings here in Guernsey these days and their numbers have significantly reduced right across Britain, we really need to change that. 🤔 . . Loving exploring with my trusty Madlug backpack though, it’s the perfect size for all our expedition essentials and such a great cause. 👌🏽 @wearemadlug . . #guernsey #guernseylife #islandlife #coastalliving #forthommet #naturewalk #naturestudy #naturelover #birdwatching #starlings #madlug #wearemadlug #valueworthdignity #lifegoesinside #makeadifference #bethechange

**FOR SALE** . Calling all Guernsey folk... with this glorious summer weather we’ve been having this past week it seems like a good time to sell these vintage galvanised buckets again. These beauties are circa. 1950 and were used during the height of the island’s horticulture industry. They make stylish plant containers and beautiful rustic display pieces at a wedding reception or on a market stall. Buckets with handles are currently on sale at the goat farm in St Peters but I have plenty of other designs in stock in St Peter Port which you can arrange to rummage through. They’re £4.00 each or 3 for £10.00. . . Painted buckets coming this autumn as well as lettered buckets! What colours do you fancy? I’m think pastel blue, pink, green and yellow. Watch this space. 👀 . #guernsey #guernseylife #guernseydaily #forsaleguernsey #vintagebucket #galvanizedbucket #buckets #gardening #weddingdecor #rusticweddingdecor #guernseyweddings #guernseywedding

An oldie but a goodie. It’s a special feeling when your ice-cream matches your sundress.🍦#thegirardgirls . . #guernsey #guernseylife #loveguernsey #visitguernsey #islandlife #summertime #fatface #fatfacemoments #icecreamface #nationalicecreammonth

A long overdue letter to one of my pen pals. Sometimes I have writers block or rather crafters block and ended up having a very low turn around of letters this past spring for that very reason. I hate feeling my letters are building up but the creative juices and motivational feelings have started to flow once again and I’ve managed to get 6 letters out over the last few weeks. It’s good to be writing again. . . #snailmail #happymail #mailart #outgoingmail #showandmail #letterwriting #penpals #sendmoremail #keeplettersalive #postallove #postagestamps #guernseystamps #lettering #handlettering #pepinpress

Gorgeous views with one of my favourite girlies down at Le Gouffre. #daughterdate #thegirardgirls . . #guernsey #guernseylife #visitguernsey #loveguernsey #cliffsofguernsey #cliffwalk #coastalliving #islandlife #islandexplorer #seaview #britishisles #bestofbritain #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschool #charlottemason #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #naturestudy #natureexplorer

Work in progress over at the Girard homeschool. We’ve been wanting to make our garden more wildlife friendly for a little while now but @kategbradbury on the recent @bbcspringwatch was just the inspiration we needed. We’ve got a lot of work to do but for starters we’ve pruned back some unruly plants making a wildlife habitat with the cut branches, hung some bird houses, bought some extra bird feeders and gathered together all our random pots on the patio to add in a few more bee friendly plants to our back garden. . . I also did an inventory of ALL the plants in the front and back garden to work out which were friendly to caterpillars, butterflies and bees and in which season they’d be in use so that I could see where we had gaps. The results? Well the bees are loving us, the butterflies like us but the caterpillars are being neglected so we’re gonna work on that. . Still to do? We need to re-home and reposition a few plants into better locations, fill and add more pots to the patio, create two wild flower beds (seeds already purchased), hang a couple of bee hotels, make a giant bug house and with the help of the @rspb_love_nature online tutorial, create a pond using that old belfast sink we’ve been hanging on to. . What are you doing to make your garden more wildlife friendly? . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschool #gardening #wildlifegardening #wildlifegarden #urbangardening #urbangarden #bbcspringwatch #bbcspringwatch2019

We’re changing up our seasonal display space from a spring theme with lots of daisies and bees into a seaside summer theme with lots of shells, sea glass and sea gulls, but I can’t quite bring myself to part with this sweet robins egg. I’d never seen one in real life before this spring and it was such a treasure to find lying in a quiet country lane. It’s going to stay part of the display for a little while longer I think, ties in rather nicely with the sea glass colours at least, plus I’m still trying to find some seaside decorations to complete the display. I’m thinking some wooden seagulls or sailboats. . . Do you have a seasonal display in your home? Please share a pic and tag me in the comments, I’d love to gather some inspiration. . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschooling #charlottemason #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #naturestudy #naturalhistory #naturedisplay #celebratetheseasons #spring #robinsegg #robinseggblue

Monday’s for us consist of our Nature Explorers group and poetry tea time. . Now poetry tea time has become popular amongst homeschoolers worldwide but it really shouldn’t just be limited to us homeschool families. If you’re a parent or carer of some sort that enjoys tea, cake and poetry then I encourage you to combine the three together into a sweet weekly ritual to connect with your young ones. It doesn’t have to be fancy. For us it’s just a snack time where I allow the girls to have a sweeter snack than usual coupled with a drink from a prettier cup than usual all while I read from a few of our favourite poetry collections. . . We usually read from about 3 poetry books, most of them with seasonal and nature themes as we do love the rhythm of the seasons and Monday just happens to be the day we focus on natural history. . A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davis is perfect for natural history too and definitely one of our favourites. I originally got it on loan from the @gylibrary back in 2017 and loved it so much that I quickly returned it so as to gift a copy to my youngest for Christmas about 6 months later. . . I love this book for 3 reasons that can be summed up simply as variety, detail and beauty. . . The VARIETY of animals featured in this book is impressive everything from exotic birds of paradise and iconic African animals to the small and seemingly insignificant bats and bugs that are so often underrated. It’s also full of DETAIL about animal personalities, life cycles and habitats and it’s BEAUTIFULLY illustrated. I’m a big fan of Petr Horáček’s work, hence why this book drew my eye at the library in the first place and it really is a work of art. . . I’ve been using it through the early years of pre-school education and can see it remaining a firm favourite right through the primary (elementary) school years. . . Tell me, what are your favourite poetry collections? . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemason #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #naturalhistory #naturestudy #poetry #poetryteatime #poetrybook #childrensbooks #nicoladavis #petrhoracek

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