Category Archives: General

Amazing – one i like!


Amazing – one i like!

Originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious.

today

well, Denny Abbey was lovely, but the mediaeval re-enactment sucked!! These things seem to do so periodically, so not desperately disappointed, but as the blurb was

Medieval Life at Denny.Come and meet the lively Medieval Pilgrims as they camp at Denny Abbey with lots of have a go activities from making rushlights to coin stamping as well as archery demonstrations. 12-5pm

I did think there may be some of the above there! well, there was coin stamping I guess. but not much pilgrim-ishness. however, the herbalist lass was good, and SB enjoyed making a headache poultice and looking at the surgical instruments. She also chatted with the cord maker and the the coin stamper – and liked looking at the coins. SHe would have had a go with a quill, but the chap was only giving to the crowd of older children, so we went off. Did like looking round the abbey again, and making arches etc. The farmland museaum bit had a basket maker – and SB told her all about the MP basket making! and she got to weave a fish – very easy, suitable for wee ones at MP camp that struggle with baskets! Also do the usual crafts there whilst we discussed rural life. SO it was a geat afternoon out, but seriously slack in the pilgrimage dept!

I am back-flickring at the mo – uploading is SO slow!

oh, and I REALLY rate the city through time book

Bank Hols

TBH, I’m finding it hard to blog atm. Sure it will come back, but its the most expendable activity of my day, so I’m not doing it – or reading blogs much for that matter. i have had my nose stuck in as many alternate realities as possible – a good thin I have a wide number to chose from on the bookshelves! No, I don’t know yet. Though now very belated, I might find out Thursday – so rumour has it. luckilly, there has been a change in redundancy payouts so that they are not age discrimintory, and it looks like I would get 13 months now not 13 weeks as my notice period would be beyond 31st Oct – so there’s something to be greatful for. A soon as I can be bothered to fill out forms etc, I am going to plunge into the hitherto completely unwanted world of private practice. No idea how much of a living I can make from it, but feel I need to start at least, so that if the day comes, I might have some income. One of my colleagues made ?2000 after tax last year – hardly encouraging! Also, where would be the time? finding it hard to keep up with everything at the mo. The bank balance however is not encouraging me to be slack!
Had a lovely party with parents last week, but too many people commiserated, so felt quite moody and fed up by the end. Day went really well for them, which was the most important thing. All my work days finish really late now, so don’t always get back in time for bedtime. Good wednesdays and weekends though. and when at home I try to be REALLY noticeable – cue much roaring and chasing.

Yesterday was crafts and books, and then a much overdue visit in the afternoon to flag fen. We all enjoyed it – BB shouting and running around, and SB spying the things to find and pretending to be ancient. I don’t know how much handling of the stuff in the roundhouses you are supposed to do, but we did a lot, but it was all put back. BB was most disappointed in the fake apple… SB and I had re-read the usbourne first people, and the DK story of a street recently, so she was fairly clued up anyway, but its nice getting a real visual.
we did buy a dinosaur egg thing [her money] and DK story of a city [mine] while out, so read some of the book when we got home, and otherwise played.

today was an in day, an easy HE day as well, as things seemed to flow – we started on her dinosaur egg – the tools with it are hopeless! form that moved on to some enchanted learning colour by numbers dinosaurs – but the numbers are sums to work out. We a read a bit more of story of a city – whch is quite different from the street as not UK, and then got out a crystal kit that we have had for a while – SB had a mad crystal phase and then cooled off a bit. we’ve read a number of other history through the ages type books as well – the ‘really intersting bits’. london and some more ancients people. SOme explode the code – SB is finally grasping that perhaps she can read as we near the end of book 3.

Sounds a lot, but threaded through the day were costume changes, being ballerinas/ fairies/ princesses and servants. Apparently she enjoyed being my servant best of all! SB was in her belle dress for a bit. BB refused point blank to be dressed as a pirate [which she normally seems to like, being able to say pirate] but was keen to be a fairy – thus it starts! We played outside and in, reading storybooks and making up stories. Quite a bit of chase…

We baked chocolate brownies – nice and quick! SB was rather proud to harvest some carrots from the veg bed. they are, well, diminutive! But certainly carrot, and more than bitesize – well, 2 out of the 3 plucked were! more yummy were figs.

bB has done a fair bit of peg boards. jigsaw and joint book reading today as well. She is always up for chase, dancing and singing with SB, and when SB doing a def not for BB activity, a good bit of playdough keeps her endlessly amused.

Tomorrow maybe to Denny Abbey.

Ruby Wedding Anniversary Party

Had Helen’s parent’s Ruby Wedding Anniversary party here yesterday, and a good time was had by all. Weather was looking wet and dodgy, but as forecast it dried up and the sun popped out at 12 as the first guests were arriving. It stayed dry until quite late so that was good. Helen’s mum was stressing quite a bit about the weather as she so wanted it to good enough for us all to be outside.

Was plenty of food – mixture of homemade and Waitrose Entertaining stuff (no we weren’t buying it) – which was pretty good.. Been quite a lot of preparation gone into the whole thing, so glad that it all went smoothly. Usual sort of eating, drinking, family catching up, chatting, laughing, kids playing, photo snapping, chillin‘ , sort of gathering.

By the end of we were absolutely knackered. So rather a shame that BB decided that once SB had gone to bed (rather late and very tired at about 10.30 – 11) she would wake up and wail and gnash and fuss for the next two hours…… :-(

Plenty of photos to sort out, so have just posted a few as a taster.

Domesticity

well, my Mum and Dad are having a party here at the weekend. this means they are trying to make my house look presentable! So far, Mum has spent all day on just 2 rooms! i should have invited Ros and Joyce next week!!!! Dad is in the garden.

BB has spent today eating, running and shouting wildly, doing lots of pegboards and dance mat. I’ve read her lots of books, we have had roust about games and she has done some fun blox playing. She is adding new words all the time, but I am glad of apple and banana, as it doesn’t make it appear that we only feed her sugar!

SB has done halving and doubling maths today in a picked up workbook, some explode the code and 3 chapters of Story of the world – cretans and early greeks, followed by MoRE myths and legends. We also did some of the activity sheets. SB spontaneously put a ‘line with levels’ up the side to help me direct her on the map to the key cities! Not grid referencing yet! the maze was a hit, and she enjoyed the colouring in. Also quite a few board games and fun blox. lots of running about too. We made a Dundee cake together – well, actually SB did most of it, so fingers crossed. It doesn’t seem to have risen much though, and I’m sure the last one did. Oh well. Its for the party. Will make and decorate a sponge cake to go with it.

the quality controlled cake!


IMG 7353

Originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious.

It does look very sad doesn’t it!

Anniversary

Every time I listen to this I still get goosebumps up my spine – esp. the bit about 30 seconds in when were walking back through the assembled guests. It was the music (Overture from the soundtrack to the Kenneth Branagh film Much Ado About Nothing ) played at the end of our wedding ceremony – 9 years ago today (just about still) we got married. Though we’ve been together for 18 years. After 9 years we figured we were grownup enough ;-) to get married.

It was a wonderful day, great location, beautiful weather accompanied by family and friends, it couldn’t have been better really.

Love you as much as I ever have done Helen.

Musical wedding anecdote: THe DJ for the evening disco thing tried playing slow smoochy stuff near the end but there weren’t many takers. So he gave up and finshed of with ‘The Prodigy’ :- which was much more welcomed :-)

very long catch up

about me – well still waiting, have offered up 10% paycut [yes another one!] and awaiting outcome.

SB this week has had a lot of fun playing with cousin Oren, including a fun visit to Hunstanton with grandparents and funfair adventure. Oren was here today as going back to France tomorrow.

We have been less match and sorty – though some going on! But I have read loads of books on history, geography, science, lots of chats and discussions and geomagging and brainbox electronics. We have also baked!

BB getting alot more words. She is very clear over some directions – like get up and move it!! She can shout ‘thumb out’ at SB [which causes a riot!] and lots of other small words appear to be peppered in her still largely incomprehensible [but long!] sentences. She is gettng good at shape sorting, and having a bash at pegboards – but not so good at rotation! She is a know-no-fear climber – loves steps of any kind! A passion second only to that for ‘bicbic, coctut, cake, fapjak’

SO to the weekend – a really fab time at SOTP. they have a great camping field, lovely atmosphere and a good guest list, so that we were too busy wathicng children having fun and nattering rather than taking pictures!!! one of the good things about having met each other a number of times before, is that I no longer am concerned about either of my childs little foibles [wailing/eating everythng in sight] and their responses to other children’s foibles, so it is far more relaxing, and this seeing them used to each othr and adapting, and occaissional nudging into better behaviour [after all, lord of the flies is better as a book than in real life!], should help SB avoid the social pariah trap that I didn’t if things didn’t go my way, or I didn’t ‘get’ the game.

Mmmm to food – pancakes was inspired! Was that a standard pancake mixture or a slightly thicker one? We have gazillions of guests this weekend, so thought i might copy!

ANyway, many thanks to the hosts, hope chaos has been magically transformed back to the oasis of tranquility! lovely seeing everyone. oh, I want one of these for xmas!

IMG 7458 IMG 7479 The usual suspects! playing against Mummy!

oh, and after lots of meddling, I still can’t get flickrbadge to work properly! link to my set.

Euch!

As I just ran down the stairs, I trod on dead mouse. It made a squishing sensation and since partially dismembered, a blood an entrail imprint on my foot. YUK!

Two garages

In town today, looking in estate agents window – as you do.

SB: ‘ That’s a good house, it has two garages. One for all the stuff and one for a car’

Personally I think she is being optomistic thinking that one car would have space….

Off to pick Helen up from work and then head off to SOTP for camping garden party, don’t know who else is going so looking forward to getting there :-)