bank holiday activities
it’s a public holiday in the UK today and of course it’s raining. so we’ll probably take the kids for a nice walk in the rain.
update: we went to Kew Gardens and got very wet:
cycling
last week we did a cycle ride. this week we did it again, only the other backwards. yes it was tricky.
at one point esther decided she wanted a break from sitting on the back of her tag-along bike so decided to sit on this fence instead.
love flowers
here are some weird little flowers from our garden. esther spotted that they looked like little hearts. and so they do.
long worm
there was much excitement this afternoon when the girls found a big snail walking across the lawn. unfortunately it moved too fast for my camera skills to catch a photo of it.
but a little later this massive worm wiggled by our feet. it was above half a metre long at maximum stretch. (jane says it was around 20 centimetres – andy or mary-anne may wish to add their estimates as they too witnessed the monster).
whatever it was i didn’t like it and will NEVER go in to my garden again.
friends for lunch
we had our friends Andy, Mary-Anne, Jacob and Alice for lunch. we beefed it up with the traditional ‘orkshire puddings.
summer decided to return so here we are in the garden:
and here are alice and kezia enjoying a drink and a cake:
dandelions
i didn’t realise that both of these things are dandelions until fairly recently. i’ve posted this picture so you’ll know if you don’t or be reminded if you do.
boobahs
have you heard of the boobahs ? i bought a DVD of them for �2 last week and esther and kezia love them.
as a parent you usually have at least an idea of what is going on in a program, but the boobahs is just too random for words. it’s fantastic. as is their website. Apparently it’s educational.
i have a theory about this kind of program – the creators, producers and commissioners of this type of program are probably of the 60s generation who experimented with psychedlic drugs. they are now passing on their ‘experiences’ through the media of kids TV.
here are esther and kezia on the sofa (under a blanket) mesmerised:
little dougie
here is dougie. he’s 10 days old and is very cute. he belongs to paul and liz.
last week three of our bests friends had babies every 2 days (you know what i mean). Dougie is the youngest.
here is a profile view:
supermarket sweep
so, what did we buy at the auction ? not much. but what i did get was this fantastic piece of TV memorabilia.
it’s a T-shirt, jumper and board game which you can only get from being a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. I got it for £3. no one else bid.
but that means that someone at esther’s school has a parent who was on supermarket sweep, won the prize and gave it away to be auctioned for school funds.
Dale Winton himself has apparently touched the merchandise you see below.
click to see it in all its glory
tony
here’s tony. he often comments on the blog so you’ll know him by his cutting wit. if he looks confused it’s because he’s lost in music. there’s no turning back apparently. yes. he’s caught in a trap.
he babysat as we went out auctioning which was very kind of him. and doesn’t he looked pleased about it ?
explosive
gelatine blows stuff up doesn’t it ? not a good plan to put that on your nahds or face surely ? might be good for a face lift if you don’t mind your face being a lifted very quickly a few inches above your head.
and why did i say inches. i’m metric boy. through and through.
parents auction
you suddenly feel a bit old when you become a parent. you suddenly realise you ARE old when you start going to school parents events. where did our lives go ? good job the blog has an archive so i can keep track and answer that question at least for the last year.
meanwhile jane and i went to an auction at esther’s school this evening. there were many delights and many expensive items were bought (but not by us).
and how strange to look around and see other parents who we don’t know, yet our children may know each other really well.
it’s all just too bizarre. luckily there was beer, chocolate and a flappy number to help the auction go smoothly:
window
the weather is like my head at the moment. full of a thousand different bits of a thousand different things all dropping down at the same time. oh well.
morning
a 6am start working from today quietly downstairs. About 7.45 i heard a thundering noise, the door opened and esther and kezia arrived !
Here they are giving you a good morning wave.
cd of the day
today i have been mostly listening to this. it brings a tear to the eye.
meeja training
i had a media training thing at work today which was very funny.
here is me (I?) doing an appalling pretend TV interview.
i’ve got my eyes closed in this picture. i’m probably trying to block the whole thing from my mind.
you’ll be relieved to know that i’ve decided to stick to blogging rather than becoming a TV presenter.
furniture
which is why there weren’t any bikes attached to this:
