After Bruges we drove through Holland onto an 'autobaun' (German for motor way) and finally, after one of our biggest drives for the whole holiday we reach Nuremberg, stop 2 to Croatia. We only stayed one night so we had to make the most of it! We walked into the old town - which you could tell the difference from the new town because of its walls - in there we walked through the crowded streets looking out for a place to have our picnic. Eventually we reached a quieter spot to have our picnic. There was even a playground to play on. As soon as we got there we rushed to the play area. Then we had a delicious picnic of apricots, baguette, cheese and much more I can't quite remember. After our picnic we made a city out of sand but sadly, it was time to go back.
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After a long drive down England across the English channel via the train, rush through Calais into our first destination, Bruges. We stayed there for 2 nights, 3 days. I soon discovered Bruges is a very interesting place. Not only does it have a hidden (sort of) Venice in it's canals but also has a history of stories, lace and death. There is a myth from Bruges that says 'there was a girl whose parents had died and she had to look after her siblings. One night she cried for help and in her dreams she saw Mary holding baby Jesus and a spider. Baby Jesus told the girl to copy the spider's web using thread and the girl did what baby Jesus said and lace was born'. There is a similar story that goes like this,'there was a man imprisoned for something he did or didn't do and was to be put to death the next day (hangings weren't uncommon in Bruges those days). He fell asleep and guess what he saw, Mary holding baby Jesus and a ink pot and quill. Baby Jesus said he would write the man a note that would stop the execution and guess what, the man didn't get exucuted! These are just 2 of the many parts of Bruges history we found out about. Overall it was an amazing stay at Bruges and I couldn't wait for what would come next.
Think you are low on food? Can’t afford to go to the shops? All you have to do is pop in to a field and if you know your plants you could find yourself a feast! Dandelion and mushroom salad? Nettle tea? Even elderberry cordial? All these things you can find in the wild – and this blog is about what I learnt on my Saturday at school with Craig from Edible Leeds. We started off in the school grounds and you’ll be surprised on how much we found! A whole basket-full of dandelion leaves, yarrow, nettle tops and lots more. Craig also explained why there were a lot of plants right up next to walls. Well the answer is the wall works like a blocker stopping the seeds flying past with the wind or over it. Since the seeds are blocked by the wall they fall down to the ground and grow there. That, believe it or not is the answer. When we got round to the nettles I discovered that the stings are good for you! Just don’t go rushing to the nearest patch of nettles and say to your mum “Jonah told me to!” because I didn’t tell you to. After our school scavenge we had a tea break with cake which was very essential and made of plums, slows and raisins. Soon we had finished our break and went to Witch Wood. We found a few Rowan and Hawthorne berries there and lots of mushrooms. I found all the elderberries. Even though I found them I wouldn’t recommend them. They definitely need a bit of sugar. We also found velvet shanks which are a type of mushroom. We found them on a rotting tree trunk. If you ever get the chance to see them, take a picture. They look so pretty! An orangey sunset colour on the cup and similar colour on the stalk. As you can see, foraging is very interesting and is worth the effort learning about all the plants. After all that foraging I think you’d agree we deserved a meal, so we made one out of the many things we collected from our foraging. No-one was left out when preparing the meal – we all had special jobs to do and I was part of a group including Mrs Bickerstaffe and Julie. We were in charge of the chick-weed. Mrs Bickerstaffe washed the chick-weed and I dried it. After the washing and drying Julie took out all the bits of sneaky grass. It took us ages to pick out the grass but by the time we had finished, it was time for our lovely meal – and it was yummy. For starters we had a fish and mushroom broth, dried seaweed and lots of other bits and bobs which smelt delicious and was delicious! Next we had fried mushroom and salad. I quite enjoyed my salad in fact; especially with the Douglas Fir salad dressing. That was my lunch and dinner and I adored it! Thank you Craig for that wonderful day! I've written a poem to celebrate Spring!
Today Spring is here! Everybody wave and cheer! Insects start to buzz around, Plants start to grow from the ground! Butterflies flutter, as dainty as can be, Spring is so colorful, from the bottom to the top of a tree!!! Winter is now long gone, It's time to get our happy Spring faces on! Tomorrow Summer is here! Everybody wave and cheer!!! Yesterday the Crouch family, the Waltons and the Walton's friends Kaleen, Sophie and Sophia went on a trip to the waterfall of our dreams. When we got to the waterfall it was beautiful; unlike the water. the water was freezing! Even when you just dip your toes you freeze nerveless swim with your entire body in the water! That's exactly what Isla and Sophie did. they swam completely soaked in cold water and stayed in for ages! I ate my lunch while they were in! Lunch was delicious! We had sticky rice and chicken. It was also hot so it felt just like Thailand except there was no som-tam! After lunch I dipped my toes in the water (which was still cold) then watched Mike go swimming with Sophie and Isla. When the trio got out they couldn't stop shivering. Then I went behind the waterfall with Mike. I had another quick dip before we had to go. I really enjoyed it there and I hope I can go again!!!
From now on, the year 4s will go down to the senior school on every Thursday to learn science! We were all really excited when our teachers told us we were going down to the senior school to learn science. Mrs Merrick taught us. At the very start of the lesson she told us about some safety rules in the lab. When we got on to it she explained about the topic we were going to learn about. We were studying electricity and magnets! Now put the two words together and make electro-magnets (electric magnets). That was what we did, made some electro-magnets. We had 8 different combinations we could try: wood centre and string, wood centre and metal wire, metal centre and string, metal centre and metal wire. We soon figured out that the metal centre and the metal wire was the one that `worked. Next we had to see the difference on how the coils change or don’t change it. We started with five coils, then ten, then fifteen etc. all the way to twenty-five. Our conclusion was that the more coils the more magnetic force so the more paperclips were attracted. I said,
“I won’t be able to wait long enough till next week!” because I loved the lesson so much!!! That was the first week. On the second week we found out what different circuit units did. The buzzer buzzed, (no surprises there!) the light bulb lighted up, the diode only let electricity through one way, the volt-meter measured how many volts were passing through, the a-meter measures the electrical currents passing through and a switch lets electricity pass when on. Then we completed our sheet which was saying what the circuit units. Today was the car boot sale. It didn’t go as well as I had hoped, because we only raised... actually I'm not telling you, I was hoping to get to £40 but I didn't, but this hopefully is where you come in (I’ll explain later). So we got up at quarter to 6 and had breakfast. Then we got changed. Then we left. We got up early so we could get one of the best spots, which we did. I was in charge of the toys and Zoe was in charge of the books. Our first buy was when a lady bought the Peppa Pig car. She gave us £1! The most memorable buy was when another lady bought the doll’s house and the dolls for £5! That was the most someone paid us! I got to buy the full Hunger Games book series there!!! Now how to help please, I would like you to help me by donating some money to help the whales. And before I finish, I have a question for you. If I need £14 more to get to get to £40, how much do I have? Please answer by commenting and please donate!
Today we went to Wray to see the scarecrow fair. At the beginning we were given a booklet and a voting slip to write our three favourite scarecrows, I’ll get to that in a minute. So we set off hunting for scarecrows. one of the ones Sam liked a lot was the Buzz Lightyear scarecrow (he certainly would scare enemy crows!). But the one Sam voted for was the one we chose would go first, a person in the Arctic (COOL)! The one Zoe liked was the scarecrow on the bench, he was a normal scarecrow that was extremely cute. He just sat on the bench with his hat covering his eyes. This one came second. My favourite was the “Should scarecrows stay in the E.U.?”. There was a ballot box and everything! I voted yes and so did dad. Mum said she didn’t care about it. But either way, there were a lot of amazing scarecrows!
On bank holiday Monday, my school is having a car boot sale. I'm going to have one there as well! But instead of keeping the money, it’s going to a charity called EIA. This charity helps whales and dolphins. I’m not going to be doing this alone, (apart from mum, dad, Zoe and Sam) my friends are going to help out there. They’re also helping me by giving me the old stuff they don’t want anymore. We got the idea from when we were giving some old shoes and things to the charity shop and we thought instead of giving everything to the charity shop, we could sell it at the car boot sale to raise money!
Yesterday I went to a lecture about the Beauty of the Galaxies. It was led by Professor Donald Wayne Kurtz a person that teaches at U.C.L.A.N. (university of centre Lancashire). Here are ten facts I liked:
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Jonah8 years old, I like to create and make things. I make up great jokes and love to read! Archives
October 2016
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