Author Archives: Daddybean

Sometimes you just despair.

This morning, girl’s are happily watching TV, until BB threw a basket (smallish, wickerwork thing that came with flowers in) at SB – hitting her right next to her right eye. These things come totally out of the blue.
Yesterday, while eating dinner she threw a Fimo face that SB had made across the table, breaking bits off it – again, she just did it for no obvious reason.

This morning she got banished from the kitchen for a bit for again being horrible (forget exactly what now).

Sometimes she can be really horrible :-(

Return of the absent blogger?

Problem I have is that it just seems rather boring – but I did bold things :-)
Morning started with Sb doing some of the music theory book she started the other day with Helen . BB got me to help her with the Ikea wooden construction toy thing making a helicopter. Then they both moved on to the polyhedrons for a – BB wanted a house for lizard and then some general playing about with things. We sorted out books for returning to the library and then had breakfast, SB catching up on a few of the library books, chased them up trying to speed up the getting dressed and sorted procedure which can take forever left to their own devices.

Off to the library in the rain and wind, BB pleased to be using her umbrella to keep her dry. Storytime, selecting new books, home again in the rain via the shops for lunch supplies.

Home, SB settled down with a Rainbow Fairies book, which she knocked of in the hour or so before lunch. I drank coffee and read books with BB and did boring household tasks. After lunch they both did a bit of stuff on various websites, SB piano practised and then entered some kind of educational limbo where she spent 2 – 21/2 hours doing maths and handwriting that should have taken a lot lot less, so we didn’t really get onto anything else much before it was time to cook dinner.

After dinner, I rapidly chased BB up to bed. In one of her Jekyll and Hyde moments, one minute she was sitting happily eating dinner, next minute she was being some sort of annoying mad dervish, out to annoy SB in as many ways as possible. When she chased after SB waving a pair of scissors a swift intervention and imposition of bedtime was deemed appropriate.

SB watched a Roar episode, and then we did the Roman city jigsaw whilst awaiting Helen’s too late return from work.

Roman City Jigsaw

So she had late bedtime. Tonights excuse for coming down when she should really have been asleep was that she wasn’t warm enough (gloss over that it’s been much colder than tonight before) – told her to wear her fleecy bunny suit.

Just to confound things

It’s just arrived !!

If I wait do you think another one will come tomorrow.

So why did it take all day?

Ordered a new laptop for H on Tuesday lunchtime, with next day delivery. Unfortunately it didn’t come. I was always suspicious as the Parcelforce tracking no never gave me anything useful, but that wouldn’t be the first time.

so, didn’t arrive yesterday, rang PF first early this am, no record of parcel with this number.

9am – So on the phone as soon as they opened, to the retailers. After realising after I’d put the phone down that the assurance from Jody on the other end of the phone that it would be delivered today was based on the assumption that PF had the parcel and had just been slow.

So back on the phone again (each time it’s taking 5-10 minutes just to get to speak to a person – on an 0871 no. and at least once it just went dead on me after a wait) explain situation to Jody, says she will check with dispatch dept if the parcel is there. Says she will ring back once she has sorted it.

She hasn’t rung by 12, so I ring her back, seems that disptahc say they it was dispatched, but she will get them to look more – or something like that. Says she will ring back.

3.45 pm – No call back, so on the phone again (2 dead lines – took about 15 minutes to get to speak to someone. Spoke to someone else. Tries again speaking to disptach etc. they say it’s gone and PF must have it. But I’m not willing to wait on the off chance that they deliver it today, as I don’t believe it will come, eventually he rings PF. Turns out that they had asked PF to collect it yesterday (WTF? it was supposed to be with me by then – I guess they check the deliveries or something after 6) but too late (PF collect at 6, they requested it at 7.30 or some such) So they didn’t. So it was still there – argh!!!
Quite why no one realised this, quite why dispatch couldn’t find this parcel, quite why it took all day to sort out, who is and isn’t telling the truth etc. is questions it’s probably not worth bothering to ask. Though I think a proper complaint is in order.
The chap assured me that it would go out today, and upgraded the delivery to a pre 9.30 one.

Ahh, feel better now. Here’s hoping ….

The last of the baking

Father Xmas has overflown ritain, just finished the glazed nut topping on the Creole Fruit Cake I made, looks yummy. Now we concentrate on eating all the food. Have made mince pies, drunk mulled wine, listened to lots of carols and other xmas music, had the xmas eve massed veg prepping session, with customary debate about how many sprouts, parsnips etc. And now all is quiet, and I should be in bed.

Happy Xmas everyone.

Creole Fruit cake with glazed nut topping

That ‘blog readability’ meme – all not what it seems….

It seem that that blog readability meme that has been doing the rounds over the last month is not quite what it seems.

Short version for those that don’t want to read the whole article: The ALT tags for the image contain text referring to a US loan site, which will have pushed them up the Goggle ratings.

Off to delete that post then.

Re the ‘Canoe Man’

Surely this is the daftest thing from the whole thing, a photo of you and your spouse, complete with Christian names, location and date……

A Winters Walk

On Friday me and the girls went out for a walk in the afternoon. Not far, but with BB we don’t go fast ;-) It was lovely sunny and cold early winter/late autumn day.

We splashed through puddles, looked for berries (the Blackberries weren’t nice confirmed SB :-) ), squelched around in a ditch, played pooh sticks, swung on branches, stroked horses, watched diggers and got home to a nice cup of tea/hot choc.

IMG_1490 IMG_1506 IMG_1487 IMG_1498 IMG_1503 IMG_1464 IMG_1463 IMG_1510_edited-1

Had lots of discussions as well about things, Why railways often run on embankments, why it’s cold, even though the sun is out all day, why more clothes keep us warmer, why the digger was digging holes, how things like water and electricity get to houses, other stuff I’ve forgotten. Lovely bit of fresh air, and modicum of exercise, really need to make the effort to get out more.

Other than that, this morning there was more maths (almost the end of Singapore Maths 2A – she can do it easily, but likes to finish things) Has said she prefers the My Pals Are Here ones, with the Aliens, so we’ll have to see, we’ve only got up to 2B in stock. Keep meaning to mix it up with the ‘Exeter Maths’ MEP stuff, but tend to forget. Did find the other day that they are starting to put some of it up online – the Year 3 practice books (as in you can do it online) which saves printing stuff out, and having yet more paper around the place. Some handwriting, reading of library books and some tidying of the girls room.

Much playing as well with BB’s Bob the Builder Duplo/Lego which she loves, even though she isn’t so much into BTB on tV.

Once Helen was home, we’d had dinner, we retired to the sitting room, to roast Chestnuts on the fire and watch Earth: Power of the Planets

Thursday was mostly a recover from BB’s party day – the parents were knackered anyway., with much tidying up to be done, a few bits of maths etc. SB’s Rainbows friend R came round after school and except for one standoff over where to play what they had fun. Playing something upstairs, some Fimo-ing, watched an awful My Little Ponies video, I cooked something she didn’t want to eat much of again :-( H was staying over at this training thing so I got the girls into bed as promptly as I could after they’d gone home so i could collpse in a heap and watch TV moslty – even went to bed at sensible time.

John Muir Award

I’ve been  member of the John Muir Trust for years now.
They run something called the John Muir Award which is an environmental award scheme aimed at encouraging the discovery and conservation of wild places. Though primarily aimed at organised groups, it is open to individuals, families and small informal groups as well.
I’m pondering trying to organise a group of home edders to do it, it sounds like it could be interesting and fun.

The Longest Day

Which is what Tuesdays have turned into, esp. so for Helen who should be out the door by about 730 am and often not back until 7pm + (about 7.30pm today) :-( and lucky if she gets a drink, let alone anything to eat during the day.
But also SB’s swimming lesson has moved  (since she moved up a class) to 5.30pm – which means us leaving the house just at the time everyone is starting to flag, you are thinking about feeding children etc. and we get back at about 6.30, needing to eat dinner, all feeling tired, getting crochety, children seemingly extra noisy etc. It’s be ok just taking SB out, but dragging an almost 3yo out of the house for an 1 1/2 just to go to someone else swimming lesson isn’t a great plan. Last time she fell asleep on the way home, today she stayed awake, but didn’t eat any tea anyway and was running on that need to sleep speed fuel that toddlers have.
Have talked to the leisure centre about moving classes, but it’s complicated by people waiting to move up from other classes as well, avoiding other clashes, fit in with other things we are doing etc.

Other than that, this morning went in baths,  bickering and books, SB had only been up about 2 minutes and they were bickering about something that BB had done to annoy her (BB does plenty at the moment), then they argued about each not having enough space in the bath…. :roll:

eventually we got children, books, bottles etc together and headed to the library, via the bottle banks, BB looking very silly wearing a sou’wester hat backwards, looked like a big red headed duck.

I day dreamed in the library while someone read them Mr Men stories, they cut and stuck and coloured. Oddly a pair of scissors disappeared – did a toddler pinch them to threaten other kids with at playgroup, or maybe they went off to join the knife that disappeared through a  rift in the space time continuum at Kessingland last year? they got more books, we came home. SB slipped over coming in the door, so went back outside, twirled around on the drive and slipped over harder, hurting herself….. :roll: – cue wails.

Much reading of books, before lunch. Afterwards, SB  had found a  colouring competition in magazine, so spent a fair while colouring that in, she wrote out the address on the envelope, wrote her name and address on  a piece of paper and we posted that off. BB didn’t want to be left out, she scribbled on some paper, put in an envelope and scribbled on that, so we posted that as well (too ourselves).

Also did some more maths this pm as well. And they played some complicated game with finger puppet animals and the Operation travel game whilst I got dinner cooked. Until it was time to go out to the aforesaid swimming lesson.

By the time the kids were in bed it was time to collapse in our respective heaps and watch a couple of episodes of Numb3rs, which does have some inventive, if sometimes a little implausible plot lines