Easter Week!

As you know, it's Easter Sunday today! I can't wait to eat my Easter Egg.
I had a very "Good" Friday as well. I went to Wood Green Animal Shelter with my mom and dad for an open day. Unfortunately we didn't get there very early so we missed some of the talks, but it was still great fun to just walk around.

The Feisty Ferret!

One of the first animals we saw at Wood Green was a very fiesty ferret who was being taken for a walk. He had a little harness on with a lead, it was very cute! Obviously he didn't approve much of the lead, as he managed to squeeze under a fence and unclip it. The staff member who was walking him started panicking and it very quickly turned into a highly serious mission to catch the run-away ferret! I didn't manage to get a picture of him because as soon as he was caught again his handler rushed him back into his cage. It was very entertaining to watch, though!

There were some very odd looking chickens. They barely had any feathers on them, so they didn't look very healthy at all. The staff there were telling people about how the chickens had been kept in dark cages, which made their feathers stop growing and eventually fall out. Now that the chickens had been rescued and they had a bright, outside run to play about in, their feathers would grow back.

The main animals I wanted to see were the horses.We could only see one close up, but it was a beautiful tricolour cob.

Cobs are heavy horses and they have really fluffy manes, tails and feet! It had lovely brown and white markings but its mane was black and white so it looked very pretty. I would have loved to ride him.

Nearer the end of the day we saw the cats. There was a very regal looking cat that had the most beautiful markings I've ever seen! He clearly didn't have any time to pose for photos, either. I wish I could have brought him home.













The final animals we saw were the goats. The first one we saw had such big horns, I had to take a photo of him! I think it was the most posh looking goat in the UK, he clearly cares a lot about his appearance.

I love going to Wood Green and seeing all the animals there. It always makes a great day out!


In other news, on Wednesday I went swimming in Peterborough pool with my friend Liv-Astrid and her brithers. We had a great time even though the pool was a bit cold. It didn't have any waves either. I think next time we might go to Oasis pool!

Finishing my coaster!

Grouting is messy!

Last time I went to my home ed group in Stamford I made mosaic coasters with my new friend Lucy.

I put my initial "K" on my coaster

Today I had to grout my coaster. It was rather messy but it was a nice effect! Mom made a coaster too and she has already put her coaster to good use!

In other news, yesterday's Grade 3 Piano Exam went very well. I am confident I will at least get a Merit, but I am hoping for a Distinction! The exam was in Stamford, so me and Mom made a day of it and had a lovely meal in a restaurant.

Big Bang Fair!

Do you remember last year I went to an awesome science show called the Big Bang Fair? Well I went to it again yesterday! Me, my mom and my dad stayed there for 5 hours, and there was so much to do. There was still stuff we didn't see! It was very, very busy, so we couldn't really do a lot of things because of the seemingly endless queues.

One of the first things we saw was a massive, jet powered car! It was called the Bloodhound SSC. The engineers are still working on it and by 2017, the Bloodhound will be able to go over 1000 miles per hour! Now that's really fast. 

There was also a Formula 1 racing car. It was a proper F1 car but it had been turned into a simulator game. It looked really awesome and dad was dying to play it, but unfortunately it was fully booked. Maybe next year.



Trying to land safely!

Later on we saw a show that was about special effects: The "Hollywood Special Effects Show" It was very noisy! It was more comedy than educational but I definitely learnt a lot. Did you know that in the movie "Pyscho" the blood was actually chocolate syrup? Of course when movies started being made in colour they had to find something that was actually blood coloured. Chocolate syrup is not very scary!
I learned how you made explosions and gun-shots look real. There were lots of flames, explosions and bangs.
The scientists explained how CGI (computer generated imagery) works and how you can create creatures or characters and give them human chacteristics. You can make their movements realistic, believable and life-like. One of the men dressed in a special suit that had, what looked like Ping-Pong balls, pinned to it. When the man moved, the computer detected the movement of the balls and transferred the movement to an image of a cartoon character on a huge screen. Awesome, right?

Near the end of the day we saw a rather interesting machine that looked like an oversized treadmill. The treadmill was attached to a special camera that tracked your every move and sent the information to a computer. The scientists there told me to walk up the treadmill at normal speed, then down again but slowly and then walk very quickly back up it! The machine tracked the movements of my feet and legs and plotted them on a line graph. It looked just like a lot of swiggly lines to me, but apparently I was contributing to science! The scientists have found that in all adults, the walking patterns on the graphs are very similar, but in children they are different. They don't know if this is because children are shorter or just because children have a different way of walking. The scientists are collecting lots of data so they can find out the answer. Dad and I had to give our shoe size, and have our legs measured. I was worried because one of my legs was a whole 2cms shorter than the other! The lady said it was completely normal. Phew!! The information the scientists find out will help them to make better prosthetic limbs for children.

Trying to walk "normally"!

The most weird and funny thing there was definitely the robot! It looked a bit creepy because the eyes were really glowing and staring but he was so life-like! It was easy to think he was human and people were having conversations with him. There was a bunch of children taking selfies with him and the robot was saying, " Put your arm around me!" and  "Cheese"! It was really awesome.

There was a man who gave us a talk about "Monster Munch." Who knew crisps could be educational! He showed us how scientists and engineers designed the machinery to produce monster munch from corn. Do you know if you lined up all the Monster Munch produced in just one just day, in one factory, they would reach all the way from London to Edinburgh!

Learning about Nuclear Energy!

I made a friend!

Even though I did really enjoy the day, I think it would have been better if there were less people. It was so busy there was a lot of things that I wanted to do but couldn't because of the queues!

All About India!

On Wednesday, the theme at Eureka was India. There were so many things to do and I learnt a lot!

If you ask me, the creepiest thing was the silk worms. There was a bowl of little cocoons made out of silk and you could rub them with a toothbrush until they opened! It took ages because the tiny strands of silk were really really strong. Inside there was a tiny pupa that, in the wild, would have hatched to be a moth.

The silk worms start out as caterpillars. They shed their skin, with each skin being roomier. Once the caterpillar has grown enough, it pupates and starts making a silk cocoon. It takes around 3 days for the cocoon to be made around the pupa.
Three weeks later the pupa emerges as a moth, but only lives for around 5 days. Interesting, right?

I also made an Indian anklet with Liv-Astrid and Lilli! Anklets made in India often use many layers of chains and have jingling bells and colourful beads; they are an important part of ceremonial weddings. Anklets that had a lot of bells on them were often used by women that danced to make an accompanying jingle while they were dancing! There weren't a lot of colours to choose from when we were making our anklets and most of the colours seemed Christmassy to me, so I made a Christmas one!

I also learned about a special tradition called Mehndi. Mehndi is the traditional art of painting on the hands. The paint is usually from dried and powdered leaves of the Henna plant that leaves a red dye. Mehndi started out as just a dot of the plant dye on the Indian's hands  to cool them down, but people started adding lines, swirls and patterns to it and eventually it became the same magnificent patterns we see today!

There was a lady with a huge snake. It was a Burmese Python! I was quite scared but I think I was brave!

Trying not to look scared!

It was heavy!

Not Indian themed, but Easter themed; a chick in a nest!

I didn't have time to do much else at Eureka because my friends Summer, Lilyanna and Liv-Astrid were there! Near the end of the day we all went outside and played in the freezing cold wind until it was time to go home. I wonder what the theme will be next month?

In other news, on Saturday I'm going to the Big Bang Science Show in Birmingham!We went last year and it was AWSOME!

I've got my grade 3 piano exam on Monday. I'm so excited (and very nervous) for it! Mom's been bribing me with money if I get a distinction, so I've been working extra hard. Wish me luck!

I am now a full member of the Pony Club. I got a cool badge, a lovely rosette and a yellow sweatshirt. (I will post a photo of my sweatshirt later)

Hacking and Socializing!

I got my first riding helmet a week or so ago and I love it! I feel like a proper horse rider now.
My first ride in my  new hat was really fun! Me and my other pony clubbers went out on a hack. The weather was rainy and sunny at the same time so there was a rainbow! It didn't last very long, though.
Eventually we reached a bridge which had a really big canal under it. It looked very pretty and scenic. We stopped to take some photos of all the ponies looking over the bridge. It looked like they were playing pooh sticks!

The ponies playing pooh sticks!

When we started heading back home Lora took some more photos and me and Mickey starred in one!

The wind was blowing the hair in our faces!

I also went to the Stamford Home-Ed group today. I met a new friend called Lucy and we have a lot in common! She plays Minecraft and Pokemon and she dyes her hair as well! I think we'll get to be really good friends. We made some Mosaic tile coasters together! We'll have to finish them in a couple of weeks because we didn't have time to grout them, though.

A Bit Random!

This post is filled with random things, so beware!

I finally finished my Rainforest project! It took ages but I think the finished project looks very impressive. I even drew a little ladybug under the leaf! To read about what I put inside my Rainforest book you can have a look at some of my previous posts.

Finally finished it!

Under the leaf!

I'm a full, registered member of The Pony Club now and I'm already working towards one of the most important badges, Road Safety. I've been investigating road signs and what they mean as well as the Green Cross Code.

When you lift up each sign it says
what it means underneath!

My Green Cross Code stuff!

Another horsey thing: I got my riding hat today! After a mammoth search, I went to an awesome Equestrian Shop that was only about 15 minutes from my house! I found looking at all the head-collars and rugs so exciting I didn't want to leave! I got some new gloves and a little horse model as well. The fitting of the hat was an ordeal! The first hats the assistant tried on me were a bit TIGHT and uncomfortable. I don't think she expected my head to be so big!

We did loads of shopping and went to see the animals at a lovely Farm Shop. They had the cutest micro-pigs and a herd of very tame and greedy goats. The baby goats, or kids, were adorable. They made the sweetest sounds. It was difficult to get close to them though, because the bigger goats kept butting them away! They also had rabbits, but I couldn't see them as the farm doesn't properly open until April. I'll definitely go back then!

A few days ago I saw some "Sugar Mice" on the telly. I had no idea what they were but mom told me she had them when she was a child, so they must be very old! They're basically just a lump of  coloured sugar that's been moulded into a mouse shape, very healthy (not)!They have a piece of string for a tail.
When I was shopping with Mom today , I just happened to look out of the corner of my eye and there it was, a Sugar Mouse! I just had to buy it and it's surprisingly nice, I definitely recommend them.

Cute, right?

Also, another random thing: I gave Dan a bath.  I don't think he liked it very much but he smelled lovely afterwards.

It's Noah's turn next!