The Unschooled Life by Lizi Gambell

I was given a copy of this book for free, in exchange for an honest review.  As someone who unschooled/s her child(ren), I was interested to read Lizi's take on it.

The blurb says:

Are you considering home education? Are you curious about unschooling?

The Unschooled Life combines personal storytelling with advice and guidance for any parent on a home education journey. In this book, Lizi Gambell tells how her eldest son became deeply unhappy at school, and how things transformed when they left the system and started to build their own learning life. Lizi shares the ups and downs of this decision, including the process of confronting her own conditioning, and the wonder to be found in learning alongside her children.

The Unschooled Life includes chapters on:
Developing your Education Philosophy;
Juggling a family and work with self-care and wellbeing;
Coping with other peoples’ questions and criticism;
Tackling screen time and the lure of new technologies.

Using anecdotes from her own life, Lizi shows how a real family can develop a holistic approach to education and parenting, and live happily outside the box! Lizi is a remedial hypnotist, with a deep interest in the mind, self-confidence, and overcoming anxiety. In The Unschooled Life, she brings this unique perspective to the opportunities of unschooling.

If you are looking for a how-to of home education in general, this isn't the book for you. There just is not enough information about the technical side of where to start and who to contact (if indeed anybody) if you decide to home educate. There are some useful parts, but primarily this is a book about Lizi's personal journey.

If you are looking into unschooling, I would say this book is more useful.  Unschooling is a sub-type of home education where you follow the child's interests and natural curiosity, rather than imposing a curriculum or formal work on them.  This is what I did with my girls, allowing them the freedom to learn in their own way and own their own education.  Though much of the book is about Lizi's approach to home educating her children, it is good to read a real life example of unschooling in action, and if you are concerned that this approach is neglectful or too hands-off, then this book will reassure you.

The book itself is very easy to read.  Lizi writes as if you're a friend, so it is informal in style, with plenty of anecdotes and stories that reiterate what she is saying.  If unschooling is new to you, then I can see this book being an easy intro to the topic.  At the end of the book, there are also plenty of 'further reading' to choose to dig deeper if you think unschooling would be right for you and your family.

My main criticism of the book is the final topic on screens.  As Lizi mentions that she follows Sandra Dodd and has read Sandra's Big Book of Unschooling, I was expecting Lizi to be considered a Radical or Whole-Life Unschooler, but the chapter on screens suggest that she is not as she does impose arbitrary limits (imo). Screens and various new technologies are not a problem.  By giving children broad and various opportunities, they will self-regulate and learn loads whether using technology or otherwise. Am I a radical unschooler? Ideally I would be, however, we did implement bedtimes, after years of not having one, when my children were dancing more in the evenings and not recognising their own tiredness cues. I don't know if that technically makes me a not radical unschooler, but at my point in life I don't really care. Rather than Sandra Dodd, I tended to follow Joyce Fetterol's Joyfully Rejoycing and would recommend her to people looking to unschooling.

Overall, this book shows the joy that Lizi has for her family and seeing her children learn naturally as part of an unschooling lifestyle. For people new to the idea of home education or unschooling, this lighthearted book will give you a positive, but realistic, view of how children can effectively learn outside the institution of school.

No More Diets by Sheila Granger

I do like books that help keep me motivated when I'm trying to lose weight, and though I have some that I read and reread (which it looks like I haven't reviewed, so I'll have to remedy that at some point!), I thought I would try a new one.

This book is all about changing your mindset through hypnosis, specifically the Virtual Gastric Band that Sheila Granger has patented.  Having used hypnotherapy when pregnant (and it worked a bit too well during labour, lol) I know that the relaxation techniques can help, so I thought I would give this book a go.

The blurb says:

By picking up this book, you’ve taken the first step in your journey to a happier and more fulfilled way of life.

Forget about yo-yo diets that make you feel constantly deprived. Instead, internationally-renowned clinical hypnotherapist Sheila Granger will introduce you to her pioneering Virtual Gastric Band therapy! By resetting how you think about food, Sheila will help you to:

-Discover a healthier, better you!
-Understand what makes you overeat and STOP!
-Shed excess pounds without trying…
-Live the life you choose…

So, what are you waiting for? Pick up your copy of No More Diets! and start living the life you deserve. With Sheila’s help, you truly can start believing in yourself – today!

I have to be honest, half the book reads like an advert for VGB - which I suppose it is.  I was hoping there would be a bit more about the techniques involved, though the chapters entitled "What type of eater are you?" and "You are the author of your own story" are the more useful ones, imo. 
Of course, it could be because I have read other books in a similar vein that I found this book less useful for me, whereas somebody totally new to the idea of not dieting may find some of the concepts about why we eat, and eating mindfully, much more amazing.

Reading this book has had an effect, though - I have more seriously considered hypnotherapy for weightloss, and last night I found a free app that has a 20min relaxation soundtrack that claims you can lose weight by listening to it every day for 3 weeks.  Having just finished a course of therapy, I do understand that by talking to someone 1:1, you can get things tailored to you as an individual that will be more beneficial than a generic free app, but we'll still see how it goes. (The natal hypnotherapy I used when pregnant were from CDs, so 'generic' can make a difference.)  If it does have an effect, I can then determine if I want to take it a step further and seek out a VGB practitioner.  I did have a look on https://sheilagranger.com/ and while there is 1 practitioner in my area, they have not put any prices online.  Until I believe it will make a difference, I'm not going to contact them to ask the prices.

Weekly Update Y2w8

We were away last week at a dance festival so stayed in a caravan (yes, during Storm Dennis!) rather than travelling to and fro every day.  We ate out on site and in a couple of pubs, and ate easy-to-cook food in the caravan.  My goodness, I miss vegetables.  Not only has my weight skyrocketed, I've felt bloated all week (still do, truth be told, though am feeling a bit better), and one night my stomach pain returned, so I got to sleep around 5am, before having to wake again at 7am to get the girls to their competition.

The graph isn't pretty,  but it is what it is.  I'm not going to sugar coat anything, even on the days where I tried to find food with vegetables (eg one day I had veg soup starter as a main) I still ate the accompanying bread and butter.

Looking at the positive, because I have come away feeling bloated, having had pain, and missing vegetables, I am much more motivated to eat properly now I'm back home, and able to use my fancy new kitchen.

Kitchen Refit

As I've mentioned, we've recently had our kitchen refitted.  We have been without a kitchen for the past week and a half, but it has definitely been worth it!

Our old kitchen was the original one that came with the house (early 2000s), and though it didn't look too bad - despite the colour which I wasn't fond of - it really was badly planned.

Our old kitchen

Firstly, there was hardly any storage.  the largest cupboard in the top corner near the sink houses the boiler.  All the corner cupboards were split in two, and the largest space has the smallest doors; either you couldn't fit the item in the cupboard itself, or it would fit, but you can't get it through the door.  We added some shelves at the end, which we put on many jars and things, but really we wanted some fitted cupboards under the staircase there, that would hide away the mess whilst maximising space.

Secondly, the double oven (which needed the seals and the heating elements replaced anyway), had two ovens the exact same size.  What's the point in that? I'd much rather have a small oven for day-to-day use, and a larger oven when needed for Christmas, or dinner parties or whatever.  Not that I host dinner parties, but maybe with a decent kitchen I will?

Thirdly, there wasn't a lot of worktop space.  I know it looks like there is, because the kitchen is empty in that picture.  Usually, however, the end with the washing machine is full, holding the microwave, steamer, food-processor, [non George] grill, toaster etc etc etc.  The area to the left of the sink held my rubber tree, and general crap (bin bags, pens, hair bands, miscellaneous rubbish), the right of the sink held washing-up materials, flasks and the fruit bowl, and the side to the right of the oven held both my large slow cooker and my triple slow cooker.  If we wanted to bake, or do anything that required worktop space, we needed to use the dining table in the living room.

Initially we were looking to replace the doors on the existing cupboards, and get more cupboards at the washing machine end of the kitchen.  After getting quotes from various kitchen companies, we decided in the end to go with The Hedgehog Kitchen Company, a family run business consisting of a father and daughter team.  We discussed with them both what we were thinking and what we ideally would like from our kitchen, when we were able to have them in to do the work, and what our budget is. After taking measurements and making quick sketches, they quoted us for our ideal kitchen!  We would need to source a new oven and hob ourselves, and they would even fill in the hole in our ceiling where our immersion heater leaked last year!

Work in Progress

The work finally started last week.  The hardest thing was emptying the kitchen - who knew we had so much stuff?!  At least it gives us a chance to de-clutter and see what we really need. At the end of each day I took a photo of the work that had been completed, so we could see the progress that was being made.

We kept the same basic layout and the floor tiles, but that was about it.  We went for white cupboards, with sparkly black worktops and matching sparkly white splash-backs.  New double oven, with different sized ovens(!), we changed a gas hob for an induction hob (so now I'm excitedly looking for new pots and pans), and we got a stainless steel chimney to match.  The fridge-freezer was moved to the far end, the fridge from the conservatory moved back into the kitchen and deep cupboards were built around them in the space under the stairs.  The washing machine was moved next to the dishwasher, and the worktop extended.  Finally, new cupboard carcasses (not just doors) were put in around the oven, so that they can open wide to enable large items, like the slow cooker, being able to be put in them.

This is not to say it has all be plain sailing!

Because we were changing to an induction hob, we were advised to get an electrician in to check the power supply as both the hob and oven need to be hardwired in.  We did that and were told that, thankfully, our supply was sufficient, and could run off the existing fuse.  However, when the oven and hob were due to be fitted it was clear that the power supply was not enough, and we'd only be able to use one at a time - not ideal!  We were offered the chance to go back to our electrician to get him to fix it, but we decided it was probably better to use their electrician of choice since he knows more about it.  (An added bonus, this electrician lives near us, so we can use him in future!)

Then the "under counter" oven we chose didn't leave a space for the hob.  Even if we had kept a gas stove, there would not be space for the pipe to supply the gas.  So, the whole oven has had to be lowered to allow the hob to sit on top.  The base of the oven will now be slightly lower than the adjacent cupboards and there's an aluminium strip to fill the gap at the top.  I'm not too fussy, so I'm happy with this compromise. 

Then the oven itself was an arse to fit.  I stayed in the living room, but could definitely hear the trouble that was being had in trying to get it fitted, lol.  There were the wrong wires (that a different fitter may not have noticed, so could have caused a fire), that were also too short to fit easily, and the whole thing was just being difficult.  But it got fixed in the end and looks good.

This is our finished kitchen - at least as far as the refit is concerned.  We are going to repaint the kitchen, add some shelving units to the walls above the radiator and buy some new pots and pans, but we can take our time doing that. When that is finished I will do a quick update, so you all can see it fully decorated, but I am so happy with how it looks right now.

Weekly Update Y2w6.5

An early weekly update today, as I'm away at a dance festival next week and won't have my laptop with me.  I will be taking my scales, so I can keep monitoring things, but won't be posting anything online.

Despite still not having a kitchen - they're due to finish today, wahoo!!! - and in spite of eating too many McDonald's' this week, I am losing weight again!  I have discovered that my stomach is satisfied eating a McChicken Sandwich and a regular Cappucino (not full - I could eat a helluva lot more if I wanted to - but this would see me through to dinner) and it only comes in at 448kCals, so is a reasonable lunch.  Nutrition-wise it's not the best admittedly, but in the short-term, it is helping me keep on top of my weightloss goals, and my graph looks pretty (ie sloping downwards) again!

Next week, we're in a caravan, so will be able to cook our own foods, and eating out a few times (whether that be picking up a sandwich or eating in a pub/restaurant), so I still need to be mindful about what I'm eating, and make sensible choices.  Hopefully with a bit more nutrition than what I've been eating this week.

Rose of Prophesy by Hope Ann

This is another book I read because I bought it at some point and I'm working through the books in my account before buying more.  What I hadn't realised before I read it was that this was a novella, nor that it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.


This book seems to be no longer available on Amazon, so here is the blurb from goodreads:

She is afraid. Not because she is alone. Not because thick roiling clouds obscure the moon. Not because the wind rushes through the forest like a wild dragon. She is afraid because she is late. And to be late means death.

Her life had been happy once.

Despite the destruction wreaked by Tauscher, traitor to the King. Despite the distant war led by the Prince and fought with the help of her three brothers. Despite her own poorly-chosen nickname of Beauty, she'd enjoyed life.

Of course, that was also before her father left home on a hopeful errand but returned weary and ill, bearing a velvety scarlet rose which he claimed would never wither. But even life in the ancient hall, tucked away in the center of Mosswood, surrounded by roses of every description, overshadowed with mystery and home to a scarred figure who was more beast than man, wasn't too bad after a time.

But now...now, in a flash of light, Beauty finally glimpses the truth. And the cost. The price which must be paid, or the sacrifice which must be made.

It is a curse which even love alone may not be able to break.

So, not realising when it started it was based on Beauty and The Beast, the fact that the protagonist's nickname is "Beauty" didn't give it away for me, nor the fact she asked her father for a rose - duh!  There was enough story around these elements that it felt totally natural.  (I did 'get' it, by the time we met the Beast, I'm not totally silly!)

For being book 1 in the series, I thought there was not enough background to the thing between the Prince and Tauscher.  There was also a reference that I totally didn't understand - the Stieg Der.  Always written in italics, and never explained.  I don't even know what it means (a quick google was no help).  Having finished the book, and noticing there is some Christian allegory to this retelling (though it is not overt, so I other than a Bible reference on the very last page, it won't 'ruin it' for non-Christian readers, but is an interesting twist) it's something to do with The Fall: 'stieg' is the past tense of 'steigen' in German, where 'steigen' means 'to climb'.  So is it a play on words, rather than The Climb (Der Aufsteig), to illustrate the fall, the words have been place backwards (Stieg Der)? I don't know.

Other than that, however, I enjoyed the book.  At 78 pages it is very short (Kindle estimates it will only take an hour to read) and if you enjoy retellings of classic fairy tales then you will enjoy this book.

Weekly Update Y2w6

So, I haven't lost weight since I've been home.  Actually, that's a slight lie, as I did initially lose weight, and then have piled it back on again.  I'm no longer below 94kilos.

My excuse defence is that we're getting our kitchen done at the moment, so have been without a hob for a few days, and are still without an oven, so we've had to eat a lot of pre-made meals and takeaways.  Added to that, it probably didn't help that I ate a whole packet of biscuits by myself on Friday morning, before going out with a meal with my husband that night (the rare Friday nights we have free are date night, as both girls are dancing until 9pm!), meeting up with friends from uni for a meal on the Saturday, and we had a family day on Sunday which involved a meal out, after which I went to Afternoon Tea with ladies from church, and had more than one slice of cake...  But it's probably the fault of not having a fully working kitchen, lol.

On the positive side, and yes I can still see a positive side, my kitchen is looking good so far, and I'm looking forward to cooking in there again.  And my weight does bump up and down fairly frequently, so I'm not giving up, but taking it on the chin and I know my weight will come down again soon.

Weekly Update Y2w5

Just a quick update today as I need to take DD2 to her science club.  I'm still losing weight!
I did put on weight over the weekend, as we were celebrating my mum's 60th birthday, but not as much as I was expecting and I'm still below 94kilos - hurrah!

I'm confident that I can start to lose weight again now I'm home. <fingers crossed>