Remembrance Day

Remembrance day is held on the 11 of November. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 1918 a peace treaty called The Armarctice was signed and the fighting between the Allies and the Central Powers stopped.

A moment of silence is held each year to remember those who fought and those who lost their lives in World War 1. 10 million people were killed and 20 millionaire wounded. The war had been on for 4 years. It has been 100 years since that dreaded war but we still remember it.

We should remember Remembrance Day because it is apart of our heritage, and it is part of our nations story. Many people died in that war and just forgetting them would be terribly sad, it took human lives to win that war and neglecting the fact that people died for you to live (like Jesus) would be horrible.

If we keep on remembering this day we will know what happened and what it cost for you to live free.

Lest we Forget.

Written by Tiger

Renovations part 1

We've bought a 130 year old house...it's a beautiful home, but there is a lot of work that can be done to get things more liveable.

Project number 1: Curtains.

There were only see through curtains in the girls room (designed so they could see out but you can't see in). So since we came from Queensland, our dear children all thought they were being put to bed in the middle of the day. 7pm is rather bright during daylight savings!

I worked hard on this project, and sewed curtains for the boys room and then the girls room and then our room and finally worked out some curtains for the study/baby room. All the curtains for the bedrooms are made with triple weave fabric that is thermal and also 95% block out. The result was just what I wanted. I've also sewed some curtains for the two bathrooms (so we can see out but you can't see in). My favourite curtains would be in our room...they look heritage. Or are they in the kids bathroom, where the curtain has little animal shapes all over it...cute!


Project number 2: Pantry






I wanted to have more storage in the house in general, but here the storage was poorly worked out, and food being central to our life and entertaining guests...this was an urgent project.

My wonderful father took on the task. Tiger was faithfully by his side, and quickly showed his grandfather that he is indispensable! Tiger worked as hard as his grandfather, not shirking when the other kids were playing. It was a hard job, and whilst not beyond my amazing Dad...it was a little harder than we both thought. The pantry is just over 3 metres long and over a metre and a half wide. It's a great size for a growing family. I just need to order an extra shelf for each section up the top.

I think the result is wonderful! Thanks Tiger and Dad.

David Livingstone

David Livingstone 

David was born in Lanarkshire AD 1813. As a child, David Livingstone worked in a mill in Lanarkshire 14 hours every day, for six days a week. That meant that it left David little time to go to school. David loved science. In those days many people believed that science and Christianity did not go together, which meant that David could not study science. But one Sunday morning a book sent by a Dr Dick was read in the Congregational Church that the Livingstone family attended. The church was captivated by this book that said science and Christianity could  go together! David was relieved that he could now become a Christian and still study Science.

David believed that God was calling him to be a medical missionary, and the more he prayed about it the more he felt he should become a missionary.

David decided to go to college. After he made some quick calculations he discovered that if he saved every spare penny he earned at the mill for three years he could go to Anderson College for a term, which was the cheapest College in Glasgow that he could find.

When he got to college he started studying right away. His main goal was to become a missionary in China and to also become a doctor. He finished term one in Anderson College and headed back home. When the time came for term two he did not have enough money to go back to College, so his older brother gave him enough money as was the custom in those days. After finishing his terms in Anderson College he was sent for further training at the London Missionary Society offices in London. After training some more and having occasional mishaps, like forgetting a sermon, David was ordained as a pastor and a missionary. But the problem was that he could not go to China because of the Opium Wars. So after talking to another missionary who was stationed at Kuruman in Africa he decided to go to Africa.

David Livingstone mapped most of the unexplored places in Africa. And he learned there languages but he had a few mishaps with some of the languages. When he was preaching a sermon about sin he discovered later that he was preaching against cow dung. Many of the tribes he visited had problems with lions  eating their livestock. Once at Kuruman David got attacked by a lion  when he helped the tribesman protect their livestock. The lion had pinned him to the ground and made a huge gash in his arm, he also broke a few bones. He was rescued by his African interpreter.

He went back to England and wrote a book describing his adventures and explorations and became famous. He met with Queen Victoria and talked with her about his explorations. He told her that when he was in Africa some of the Africans had asked him how many cows she had, and that why had he never met his big Chief. She laughed and was amused.

He married Mary Moffat, daughter of the director of the Kuruman mission station and had six children and didn’t spend much time with them. Once one of his daughters did not recognise him. 

David went back to Africa and soon people thought that he was dead. So an American newspaper the New York Herald sent Henry Stanley an explorer to find David. He found him in Ujiji on the coast of lake Tanganyika, and greeted him with the famous line “Doctor Livingstone I presume”.

David also hated the slavery that was going on around the area he was traveling in. 

     

He died in a village on the coast of lake Tanganyika in 1873. His attendants wrapped his body in bark and tar and the took it to England were it was buried in Westminster Abbey.

I like David Livingstone because he was an explorer who never gave up and also because he found unknown places such as “The smoke that thunders” (Victoria falls) and Lake Tanganyika. 

Essay by Tiger 

Lego Christmas (Northern Hemisphere)

We made a Lego model of Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. The scene is set at a frozen lake. There's a fire going in the background to warm them when they get cold. A girl is ice skating on the lake, whilst a man is building a snow man. Two blokes are having a snowball fight.

To make the fire glow, we built the fire out of Lego, and took a few pictures. We edited the main picture colder in temperature (more blues and greens). We then edited and cut down another photo to just the fire. We increased the temperature on the fire photo (more yellows and reds), then we placed the fire in the spot where it was on the main photo. We blurred the outline so that it looked natural.

Created by Tiger and Princess

Making The Wild West

I made The Wild West because I wanted to make a movie.

Making The Wild West was quite hard. It took me about two or three weeks make it. First I wrote the script and Mummy helped me edit the script and type it up. Then I had to work out who else could help us fill in the character roles. Finally, we filmed this on Friday and over the weekend I have worked on it and edited it to make it look cool. I used a programme that comes with Apple called iMovie.

Written by Tiger

Mummy Note: Something is wrong with my camera, thus the crackling noise that it is making. And if someone can tell me how to fix the wind on the microphone that would also be great!

How To Make A Hot Water Bottle Cover

You need to have a hot water bottle cover on your hot water bottle so you don't get too hot and burn yourself.

1. Make a pattern. Mum did this using the hot water bottle and a sheet of newspaper. She drew around the outside about two centimetres away from the edge of the hot water bottle.

2. Cut out your pieces of fabric. We used thick, furry fabric with a leopard print, it's really snuggly.

3. Thread your sewing machine with the appropriate colour of thread.

4. Start with the two larger pieces of cover that were cut in half (They are the two parts on the right of the top photo). Fold over a centimetre of fabric on the straight line and sew. This is a hem.

5. Pin the right sides of the fabric together, so that it looks like your size of water bottle. The right sides are the sides with the strong colours. The two hemmed bits will overlap each other like a pillow case.

6. Sew around outside of the whole thing leaving a bit of fabric on the side of your sewing foot. That's called a seam allowance.

7. Cut off all loose threads, then turn the right sides out.

8. Put your hot water bottle inside it. Fill up the hot water bottle in winter for a nice, warm, snuggly sleep.

Written and sewn by Tiger  

Viking Longship

 This is my Viking Longship that I built in 2012. I have used lances for oars and I have a drummer so that the oarsmen can row to the beat.

When I put fire in the mouth of the dragon, I used a four times one brick with two pairs of studs and put a jumper plate on it. Then I put the fire on the jumper plate. The jumper plate is a two times one brick with one stud in the middle. It's good for centring things.

But I think the most difficult thing was that my siblings kept on breaking it, and no matter how hard I tried to stop them, they still kept on breaking it.

When I built my viking chief I used a special one times one brick and put horns on it.

I built this with kingdoms lego and mixed lego.


Written by Tiger!

Viking Longhouse.

I built this Viking Longhouse in 2012. At the time we were studying the history of the Vikings, and I was borrowing a lot of books from the library about Vikings.

Building this Viking Longhouse was quite a challenge.
Getting the doors to fit was quite hard, I had to use round bricks in an arch for the top.















We had to use hinges to put the plates on an angel for the roof and put plates on top of the roof so that there were no holes in the roof.

Inside, I made beds on the side with a fireplace in the middle and the Viking Chief's throne at the very end.

I built this with a mix of Kingdoms Lego and Daddy's old Lego.

Written by Tiger!