This weekend, we all helped my mother-in-law clean out her stepfather's house (Grandad G is currently in an old folks home) so we were tidying, sorting and generally gutting the place for him. Anyway the MiL's mantra for the day was "if you want it, you can have it" which was very kind of her, but lets face it who can use four lasagne dishes at any one time!!! and I'm not really the "fancy bowl for cotton wool" type.
Anyway, what he did have, which I thought were fantastic, were old records! Many of them look virtually unplayed, and in near mint condition. The ones that first caught my eye were the musical soundtracks, Sound of Music, King & I, Carousel, Seven brides for seven brothers etc. but the more I dug through, the more treasure I was discovering...... Mantovani boxsets; Abba boxsets with bonus LP - The visitors; Elvis Presley; Mrs Mills piano sing-alongs; Max Bygraves - singalongamax; Don Estelle sings Christmas (no Whispering Grass unfortunately, but you can't have everything) - you get the picture!
A quick search on eBay revealed some of these were going for £50 for some of the boxsets, and so begun my next mission - to corner the market and flog them to unsuspecting users - ahem, I mean people who will love and treasure these rare jewels of black vinyl!
I keep searching for the elusive "autographed copy" or rare vintage edition, and only time will tell, if this will pay for that dream holiday - but I won't be racing to Thomas Cook's - just in case!
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Friday, 31 May 2013
Wacky women on tour!
One of the greatest things to have happened to me over the past couple of years of not working, is the friendships I have; some new friends, some old friends, and some are casual acquaintances that have deepened into real friends.
The beauty of being off work is of course, the freedom and lack of constraints on time. Many of my friends have children, and are either on maternity leave, or work part time.
I used to meet up with a group who actually all knew each other from work at the primary school, but were all on maternity leave at the same time. We used to meet at the local Wacky Warehouse, we would clamber about on the soft play with our children for an hour, and then brightly announce "snack time" and while the children would have juice and biscuits, we would gratefully sink into the oversized chairs, with a cuppa and any news or gossip we could share. Affectionately known as "tot-time". Mainly because I took Dib-dab and had Kipper of known where we went every week, there would have been ructions to say the least!
There is even a chat on Facebook, where only we could see it, and we would arrange times to meet, and who was going etc. From a simple once a week playtime for the children, this has become a real mainstay for me. There are 7 or 8 of us who meet regularly with our children, and they range from Kipper who is nearly 7 to two 6-month old babies.
It has of course developed outside the Wacky! and the chat on Facebook goes on, there is yards and yards of it if you trawl back far enough. We have had days out with children, we have had nights out without children but with wine! Hopefully if the summer ever arrives, we will have a BBQ here with children, partners or husbands, and of course all our Wacky Women! We might even get t-shirts printed - Wacky Women on Tour!
The beauty of being off work is of course, the freedom and lack of constraints on time. Many of my friends have children, and are either on maternity leave, or work part time.
I used to meet up with a group who actually all knew each other from work at the primary school, but were all on maternity leave at the same time. We used to meet at the local Wacky Warehouse, we would clamber about on the soft play with our children for an hour, and then brightly announce "snack time" and while the children would have juice and biscuits, we would gratefully sink into the oversized chairs, with a cuppa and any news or gossip we could share. Affectionately known as "tot-time". Mainly because I took Dib-dab and had Kipper of known where we went every week, there would have been ructions to say the least!
There is even a chat on Facebook, where only we could see it, and we would arrange times to meet, and who was going etc. From a simple once a week playtime for the children, this has become a real mainstay for me. There are 7 or 8 of us who meet regularly with our children, and they range from Kipper who is nearly 7 to two 6-month old babies.
It has of course developed outside the Wacky! and the chat on Facebook goes on, there is yards and yards of it if you trawl back far enough. We have had days out with children, we have had nights out without children but with wine! Hopefully if the summer ever arrives, we will have a BBQ here with children, partners or husbands, and of course all our Wacky Women! We might even get t-shirts printed - Wacky Women on Tour!
Family day out at Seven Stories
Bank holiday Monday, everyone off school, work etc. we went to Newcastle to visit Seven Stories. What an absolutely fabulous place, a nationally accredited museum/gallery celebrating children's literature. There are literally seven storey's to the building, it's an old mill apparently, on the banks of the river. You enter at floor 3, which is (obviously) the gift shop, and book shop.
Floor 1 - creation station, we made crafts which linked in with their exhibitions, Enid Blyton, and How to train your dragon so whilst Dib-dab read a book about dragons with his dad, Kipper and I made a compass for exploring with, just like the Famous Five!
After the second floor was the cafe (which seemed very nice - the menu looked good, although we only had drinks) and then the fourth floor was the Enid Blyton exhibition. Mystery, Magic & Midnight Feasts! I loved Enid Blyton as a child, particularly the Famous Five, and the Five Finder-outers, and The Magic Faraway Tree, so for me, this was really interesting. The boys found the Slippery Slip slide from the Faraway tree, and stayed there whilst I wandered round reading extracts from her diary ( worked till lunch, played Bridge, pottered in Garden!) Her typewriter was there, all carefully loaned from her collection, and lodas of original artwork and type-written pages from her original drafts. There was a large shed with SS on the door, complete with a (felt) picnic lunch in there, and a cave for the Famous Five to discover smugglers in.
Round the corner there was a lovely Noddy room, complete with car to sit in, and little hats with bells on and yellow spotty neckerchiefs to wear. it was lovely.
One floor up, and it was all about Cressida Cowell, the lady who wrote the Viking series How to train your dragon! Have to say, I am not as familiar with this, although we did watch the Disney Pixar film a while back, but hadn't realised it was based on the book series. Hiccup Haddock Horrendous the Third was a hero in training, and we were given dragon trail sheets to fill in as we went round. We had to have viking names, so Kipper chose his as Death-or-Glory, Dib-dab was unanimously named Snotface! and Daddy Beerbelly completed the trio. we were all too busy laughing to find one for me, and have to say, I wasn't worried based on the selections previously!
The sixth floor was all about the acquiring, storing & preserving of older books, and though interesting for me, it was a little too old for my two. There were a couple of computers there, but in use, so we went on up to the attic, where there was a gorgeous big wooden chair, and lots of curved benches facing it, and a lady, dressed like Noddy came and read us all two stories. There was dressing up clothes, and dens made from what appeared to be clothes horses and sheets (like we used to make a Grandma's when I was little) and lots of books that children could take into the dens and read.
Back into the bookshop before leaving, and the boys were allowed one book each - Mr Croc for Dib-dab, and Kipper chose the Magic Faraway collection (because that way he got 3 stories in one book!)
All in all, an absolutely fantastic day out, and I can highly recommend it to anyone.
 |
| www.sevenstories.org.uk |
Floor 1 - creation station, we made crafts which linked in with their exhibitions, Enid Blyton, and How to train your dragon so whilst Dib-dab read a book about dragons with his dad, Kipper and I made a compass for exploring with, just like the Famous Five!
 |
| Dib-dab reading about dragons |
 |
| Kipper making his compass for exploring. |
Round the corner there was a lovely Noddy room, complete with car to sit in, and little hats with bells on and yellow spotty neckerchiefs to wear. it was lovely.
One floor up, and it was all about Cressida Cowell, the lady who wrote the Viking series How to train your dragon! Have to say, I am not as familiar with this, although we did watch the Disney Pixar film a while back, but hadn't realised it was based on the book series. Hiccup Haddock Horrendous the Third was a hero in training, and we were given dragon trail sheets to fill in as we went round. We had to have viking names, so Kipper chose his as Death-or-Glory, Dib-dab was unanimously named Snotface! and Daddy Beerbelly completed the trio. we were all too busy laughing to find one for me, and have to say, I wasn't worried based on the selections previously!
 |
| Snotface and Death-or-Glory |
Back into the bookshop before leaving, and the boys were allowed one book each - Mr Croc for Dib-dab, and Kipper chose the Magic Faraway collection (because that way he got 3 stories in one book!)
All in all, an absolutely fantastic day out, and I can highly recommend it to anyone.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
George's marvellous medicine
This book was written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.
My mum red the book to me and she used expression.
My favourite part was when Grandma had her hed sticking up in georges bed room
and georg said she's as dotty as a doughnut.
The part I didn't like was when grandma shrank.
The part I loved was when georg was maiking the medicine.
The part I hated was when george gave the medicine to grandma.
Written by Kipper, aged 6 &3/4
My mum red the book to me and she used expression.
My favourite part was when Grandma had her hed sticking up in georges bed room
and georg said she's as dotty as a doughnut.
The part I didn't like was when grandma shrank.
The part I loved was when georg was maiking the medicine.
The part I hated was when george gave the medicine to grandma.
Written by Kipper, aged 6 &3/4
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Dreaming of Grandma!
This week's 100WCGU was inspired by my lack of sleep last night! The prompt was the sentence "the points were sharp".
***********************************
The pinpricks of consciousness broke through her sleep, and
the points were sharp!
The cry came again, “Muuuuuuuuuum!”
Wearily she slid out of bed and zombie walked into her son’s
bedroom.
“whassa matter sweetie?” she slurred, trying to avoid the
pitfalls of lego blocks.
“I had a bad dream!” the child in the bed sobbed, rubbing
fretfully at his eyes, and sitting up, hair in disarray and covers crumpled at
the base of the bed.
“It’s OK now, I’m here, I’ll scare the monsters away –
invite me into your dream.” She pulled
him towards her in a special mummy cuddle.
***********************************
Earlier in the day, I had been priding myself on my excellent knack of storytelling, bringing the characters to life, drawing on all my acting skills, and making the characters fromRoald Dahl's George's marvellous medicine really come to life. However, at half past midnight last night, as Kipper was so upset about Grandma, it didnt really seem like such a good idea.
He asked me next time I read it, can I only use expression on George please?
Thought I had better add an amendment on here: Kipper has a Grandma, Nanna and Great grandma, and none of them are like the grandma in the book - just in case there was any confusion! (Sorry mum ;-) )
Thought I had better add an amendment on here: Kipper has a Grandma, Nanna and Great grandma, and none of them are like the grandma in the book - just in case there was any confusion! (Sorry mum ;-) )
Monday, 20 May 2013
The Sad Little Troll
So pleased that this is still going on, it is a lovely way to keep the brain cells working! For those who don't know, this is a 100 word challenge for grown ups. There is a story prompt, sometimes a picture, sometimes a phrase or short sentence, and you have to use only 100 words to write a story or poem in response to it. Here is mine, in response to the prompt:
As the stream flowed gently down, the two friends reached ever higher on their tippy-toes to see over the fence.
"But dad told me it was this bridge."
"Maybe he is sleeping!"
The subject of their earnest discussion sat perched on a rock underneath, wishing he had enough courage to go up and join the girls. He just wanted to be their friends and play with them. He knew the voices well enough, Milly and Katie had played near his bridge all summer and he promised himself one day he would pluck up the courage to join their games.
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
About us!
This post maybe should have come earlier, but am just getting to grips with the new layout of Blogger. Oh well, a quick remionder won't hurt ;-)
I am a mum of 2 boys, and fiancee of a 3rd (who is nearly 40!) I am resigned to never having a pink, sparkly bedroom with a tulle canopy, but otherwise love my life!
My eldest looks like Kipper from the Oxford Reading Tree books, hence the name.
And my youngest used to love Dip Dap on cbeebies, but both Mr housewife and me called it wrong, we said Dib-Dab, and he used to respond, so his nickname became Dib-dab, or dibble-dabble or any variation on a theme, and he would answer!
I am a mum of 2 boys, and fiancee of a 3rd (who is nearly 40!) I am resigned to never having a pink, sparkly bedroom with a tulle canopy, but otherwise love my life!
My eldest looks like Kipper from the Oxford Reading Tree books, hence the name.
So they remain Kipper and Dib-Dab!!!
enter the timeslip..............
Well, now that the last 2 years have past in a New York Minute you will be wondering where all my extremely clockwork regular blog posts have gone to! (coughs and looks down embarrassed) well, my very valid excuse is...life got in the way! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :-)
We shall have to pretend that you know everything that has happened, and I will carry on regardless!
So, I have recently discovered Pinterest! well, thats not strictly true! I actually discovered and signed up before I left work, but really had no clue what it really was, and never bothered too much to be honest; but as I was discovering, more and more things online have a PinIt" button, and so one day, I pressed it to see what would happen! Well, what resulted was an afternoon glued to the Internet, and a "ToDo" list a mile long, with DIY crafts, bakes, places to go and lemons to cut in order to clean my grout!!!!! (yeah, really!)
In essence, it is a place where you can have as many virtual corkboards as you like, and each one can have lots of links "pinned" to it, with reminders of things you like, or need, or want to look at later. In my defence, since I have discovered it, me and DibDab have played with edible finger paints, home made play-dough, and I am going out to buy co-ordinating fabric swatches, so we can make fabric bowls as gifts.
Since Kate and I set up our Stay & Play playgroup, we have been looking for pre-school activities for our group, and have found a couple of websites with brilliant ideas, so my "craft board" on Pinterest is getting full with some lovely ideas.
We shall have to pretend that you know everything that has happened, and I will carry on regardless!
*************************************************************************
So, I have recently discovered Pinterest! well, thats not strictly true! I actually discovered and signed up before I left work, but really had no clue what it really was, and never bothered too much to be honest; but as I was discovering, more and more things online have a PinIt" button, and so one day, I pressed it to see what would happen! Well, what resulted was an afternoon glued to the Internet, and a "ToDo" list a mile long, with DIY crafts, bakes, places to go and lemons to cut in order to clean my grout!!!!! (yeah, really!)
In essence, it is a place where you can have as many virtual corkboards as you like, and each one can have lots of links "pinned" to it, with reminders of things you like, or need, or want to look at later. In my defence, since I have discovered it, me and DibDab have played with edible finger paints, home made play-dough, and I am going out to buy co-ordinating fabric swatches, so we can make fabric bowls as gifts.
Since Kate and I set up our Stay & Play playgroup, we have been looking for pre-school activities for our group, and have found a couple of websites with brilliant ideas, so my "craft board" on Pinterest is getting full with some lovely ideas.
The edible finger paints were fab, a really strange texture, but the colours were surprisingly vibrant, and it made really good handprints. The best part was it didnt stain. Even though little man wore an apron, it naturally ended up all over his clothes (and mine where he patted me to show off his work) but straight in the washer, and no stains at all. I got loads out of one batch, and was able to make all 7 colours of the rainbow, and we talked about colours and identifying them as we painted.
For those of you not on Pinterest (as I know I have a huuuuuuge following, who will all be desperate to rush home and make this) the recipe is:
3tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cornflour
2 cups water
food colouring of your choice
Bung everything except colours in a pan, and gently heat till it thickens! pop into seperate bowls and stir in your colours. Thats it, as easy as that. Not quite sure how it stores to be completely honest, as i put it in paper bowls, and so won't store it this time, but some little jars may work.
well, thats it for now. Time to go pick up Kipper from school and am sure he will want to paint when he sees whats out on the table, so more pictures later.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
The indignant Cook!
Week 7 of the 100 Word Challenge
The prompt this week was words which have been removed from the Oxford dictionary. They all had a very old fashioned feel, and reminded me of a cross between Dickens and Louisa May Alcott books.
"Mrs Kittytwizzle!"
The shout came from deep within the growlery.
"Oh but the master is having a brabble with himself tonight" the cook remarked to the scullery maid as she prepared the syllabub for dinner. Nelly nodded sympathetically, glad she wasn't the one on the end of that stern voice.
"Mrs Kittytwizzle!"
The shout came again louder this time.
"Oh and now I have foozled the recipe" and dusting the flour from her hands, Mrs Kittytwizzle went off to the growlery to see what her master wanted, the purple ribbons in her mob cap bustling with her in her indignation.
The prompt this week was words which have been removed from the Oxford dictionary. They all had a very old fashioned feel, and reminded me of a cross between Dickens and Louisa May Alcott books.
"Mrs Kittytwizzle!"
The shout came from deep within the growlery.
"Oh but the master is having a brabble with himself tonight" the cook remarked to the scullery maid as she prepared the syllabub for dinner. Nelly nodded sympathetically, glad she wasn't the one on the end of that stern voice.
"Mrs Kittytwizzle!"
The shout came again louder this time.
"Oh and now I have foozled the recipe" and dusting the flour from her hands, Mrs Kittytwizzle went off to the growlery to see what her master wanted, the purple ribbons in her mob cap bustling with her in her indignation.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Baking!
Well, it's official - my budget's about to be completely blown on baking ingredients!
The Great British Bake Off has returned to our screens, and as ever I am following contestants on twitter, and through their blogs and avidly V+'ing all episodes!
The reason for this mad fanaticism is I love baking, I find it really therapeutic to disappear into the kitchen, my iPod on a really dodgy playlist that no-one else likes (just to ensure no other interruptions) and bake away to my hearts content, or my ingredient cupboard is empty, usually whichever comes first. But here is my startling confession....... I only follow recipes, I could no more start to make my own cakes than I could fly to the moon!
I love recipe books; one of the contestants of the GBBO on her blog describes recipe books as "food porn" and I know exactly what she means. I could read a recipe book from cover to cover, and frequently do so tucked in a comfy chair with a cup of tea whilst the other half is watching match of the day highlights with 2 random football teams that I have never heard of (but that is a rant for another day!)
My mum has always said, if you can read, you can cook/bake and I know what she means, if you can read the recipe, then you can follow it. I do think though that a certain amount of common sense and baking acumen has to be involved too - otherwise I am talking myself down. Anyway, I do follow the recipes, and then stick little post-it notes inside the pages with little notes of my own (even though the books belong to me, I couldn't go so far as to actually mar them with my own writing). But I long to be able to just carelessly throw things together with an "I don't care if it works or not" attitude. Randomly selecting ingredients from my cupboard and throwing them over my shoulder like a deranged Mary Poppins where they land effortlessly in my Kenwood bowl and then come out of my oven beautifully cooked (and sometimes in my wildest imaginings iced and decorated too) so I can whirl them to the table to gasps of admiration from my waiting family and friends. Yeah right!
Anyway, I now have even more recipes to follow and try and I am determined that I am going to create my own signature dish whilst I am off work. It may take a while, and once I create it, I will be making it until my friends and family are completely sick of eating it, but until that happy day, I remain all the gear, no idea!
The Great British Bake Off has returned to our screens, and as ever I am following contestants on twitter, and through their blogs and avidly V+'ing all episodes!
The reason for this mad fanaticism is I love baking, I find it really therapeutic to disappear into the kitchen, my iPod on a really dodgy playlist that no-one else likes (just to ensure no other interruptions) and bake away to my hearts content, or my ingredient cupboard is empty, usually whichever comes first. But here is my startling confession....... I only follow recipes, I could no more start to make my own cakes than I could fly to the moon!
I love recipe books; one of the contestants of the GBBO on her blog describes recipe books as "food porn" and I know exactly what she means. I could read a recipe book from cover to cover, and frequently do so tucked in a comfy chair with a cup of tea whilst the other half is watching match of the day highlights with 2 random football teams that I have never heard of (but that is a rant for another day!)
My mum has always said, if you can read, you can cook/bake and I know what she means, if you can read the recipe, then you can follow it. I do think though that a certain amount of common sense and baking acumen has to be involved too - otherwise I am talking myself down. Anyway, I do follow the recipes, and then stick little post-it notes inside the pages with little notes of my own (even though the books belong to me, I couldn't go so far as to actually mar them with my own writing). But I long to be able to just carelessly throw things together with an "I don't care if it works or not" attitude. Randomly selecting ingredients from my cupboard and throwing them over my shoulder like a deranged Mary Poppins where they land effortlessly in my Kenwood bowl and then come out of my oven beautifully cooked (and sometimes in my wildest imaginings iced and decorated too) so I can whirl them to the table to gasps of admiration from my waiting family and friends. Yeah right!
Anyway, I now have even more recipes to follow and try and I am determined that I am going to create my own signature dish whilst I am off work. It may take a while, and once I create it, I will be making it until my friends and family are completely sick of eating it, but until that happy day, I remain all the gear, no idea!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Just one more...
Week 5 of the 100 Word Callenge for Grown-ups!
Inspired by a picture, don't know how I got swimming from it, but it just reminded me of utter exhaustion. I actually do love swimming, but haven't been for so long, I would be the one flopped down like this!
As she pushed the water away from her, she kept repeating "one more lap, just one more!" Like a mantra, it kept her going. She didn't enjoy swimming, but she had that little black dress she was desperate to get back into, and that day of reckoning was getting closer!
Her limbs were stiffening up, and she felt like she was ready any moment to lay in "dead man's float" but no, the image of her in the dress, and the smile of appreciation on his face just kept her going.
"One more lap, just one more!"
She swam on!
Inspired by a picture, don't know how I got swimming from it, but it just reminded me of utter exhaustion. I actually do love swimming, but haven't been for so long, I would be the one flopped down like this!
As she pushed the water away from her, she kept repeating "one more lap, just one more!" Like a mantra, it kept her going. She didn't enjoy swimming, but she had that little black dress she was desperate to get back into, and that day of reckoning was getting closer!
Her limbs were stiffening up, and she felt like she was ready any moment to lay in "dead man's float" but no, the image of her in the dress, and the smile of appreciation on his face just kept her going.
"One more lap, just one more!"
She swam on!
Enjoying the holidays!
Well despite the weather, the summer holidays are great.
We have been having loads of fun. The other half took a week off work to celebrate little man's first birthday, and we have all had a week of days out. You know the kind where you could probably have gone abroad for the same amount!
Following an excellent but expensive trip to the Design-a-Cake outlet at Washington, I bought the stuff to do little man's first cake. I had done the same for my eldest on his first birthday so wanted them both to be the same, and I still had my number 1 cake tin. I got the cake baked, and my friend Kate was coming over on the Saturday morning to help me decorate it. (we were winging it together!) Despite a couple of false starts, we got the cake cut, filled and iced. Looked fab, if I do say so myself. A big light blue number 1 with dark blue stars all over it, and his name down the middle in fancy letters.
On the Sunday, we had friends over for the first couple of hours, where despite the rain they still managed to get outside for a little while on the bouncy castle and trampoline, and gorgeous boy no. 1's "hide me Scooby Doo" came in very handy. After cutting the cake, and singing happy birthday, they left, while we had a very quick turnaround before the family came for a BBQ on the afternoon. I have been with Col for nearly 8 years now, and apart from our engagement party in a function room, I think that was the first time we had both our entire families, including aunts, uncles and cousins in the same room at the same time. Good job we have a bigger house now! Cramped wasn't the word! Was nice though.
Monday was the actual birthday so we went to Whitby for the day, just the four of us, and got the best weather as it rained all day at home, and we had blue skies and ice-cream! A gorgeous day. Then followed a week of days out and lazy times in, playing in the garden. We finished off with a day at Lightwater Valley on Saturday.
Top Tip: Check in on Facebook to Lightwater Valley on your phone, and if you can show the cashier the link, you get a discounted entry fee!
Last year we went there, and I was 2 weeks post-section, having just had little man! Going round there this year and seeing what I did, I must have been mad! Still I did manage to get on some rides this year with my sister-in-law.
So there you go, back up to date again. We had a christening on Sunday but other than that it's back to quiet times again. col went back to work this morning, chuntering and bumping his gums about being the breadwinner! Got quite a lot of cakes to bake now, as my mother-in-law is doing a little party for my eldest on Tuesday as she will be away for his birthday and asked me to do some little petite four cakes, as they are just the right size for little mouths. And then my niece gets christened on Sunday, and I am godmother. I have promised my brother and his wife I will do some pink cupcakes for them, with little teddy bears and butterflies on the top. Pink and sparkly will make a nice change, as most of my cakes for my two are blue, or at the very least Lightening McQueen red!
Still can't quite believe I won't be going back to work in September!
We have been having loads of fun. The other half took a week off work to celebrate little man's first birthday, and we have all had a week of days out. You know the kind where you could probably have gone abroad for the same amount!
Following an excellent but expensive trip to the Design-a-Cake outlet at Washington, I bought the stuff to do little man's first cake. I had done the same for my eldest on his first birthday so wanted them both to be the same, and I still had my number 1 cake tin. I got the cake baked, and my friend Kate was coming over on the Saturday morning to help me decorate it. (we were winging it together!) Despite a couple of false starts, we got the cake cut, filled and iced. Looked fab, if I do say so myself. A big light blue number 1 with dark blue stars all over it, and his name down the middle in fancy letters.
On the Sunday, we had friends over for the first couple of hours, where despite the rain they still managed to get outside for a little while on the bouncy castle and trampoline, and gorgeous boy no. 1's "hide me Scooby Doo" came in very handy. After cutting the cake, and singing happy birthday, they left, while we had a very quick turnaround before the family came for a BBQ on the afternoon. I have been with Col for nearly 8 years now, and apart from our engagement party in a function room, I think that was the first time we had both our entire families, including aunts, uncles and cousins in the same room at the same time. Good job we have a bigger house now! Cramped wasn't the word! Was nice though.
Monday was the actual birthday so we went to Whitby for the day, just the four of us, and got the best weather as it rained all day at home, and we had blue skies and ice-cream! A gorgeous day. Then followed a week of days out and lazy times in, playing in the garden. We finished off with a day at Lightwater Valley on Saturday.
Top Tip: Check in on Facebook to Lightwater Valley on your phone, and if you can show the cashier the link, you get a discounted entry fee!
Last year we went there, and I was 2 weeks post-section, having just had little man! Going round there this year and seeing what I did, I must have been mad! Still I did manage to get on some rides this year with my sister-in-law.
So there you go, back up to date again. We had a christening on Sunday but other than that it's back to quiet times again. col went back to work this morning, chuntering and bumping his gums about being the breadwinner! Got quite a lot of cakes to bake now, as my mother-in-law is doing a little party for my eldest on Tuesday as she will be away for his birthday and asked me to do some little petite four cakes, as they are just the right size for little mouths. And then my niece gets christened on Sunday, and I am godmother. I have promised my brother and his wife I will do some pink cupcakes for them, with little teddy bears and butterflies on the top. Pink and sparkly will make a nice change, as most of my cakes for my two are blue, or at the very least Lightening McQueen red!
Still can't quite believe I won't be going back to work in September!
Friday, 29 July 2011
Their cries were heard!
The new 100 word challenge from www.theheadsoffice.co.uk
This weeks prompt was " their cries were heard..."
The noise went on, a constant ringing - the kind that gets behind your eyes and throbs in your temples. Suddenly there were people everywhere, chaos, a plethora of feet stampeding towards the nearest exit. This was the signal they had been waiting for, a chance to make a run for it. Could they be seen? They didn't care. it was now or never!
A pair of eyes gazed down at them through the tinted glass of the window, spectacles halfway down the nose, and as they ran, their cries were heard.....
"it's finally the end of school, happy holidays everyone!"
This weeks prompt was " their cries were heard..."
The noise went on, a constant ringing - the kind that gets behind your eyes and throbs in your temples. Suddenly there were people everywhere, chaos, a plethora of feet stampeding towards the nearest exit. This was the signal they had been waiting for, a chance to make a run for it. Could they be seen? They didn't care. it was now or never!
A pair of eyes gazed down at them through the tinted glass of the window, spectacles halfway down the nose, and as they ran, their cries were heard.....
"it's finally the end of school, happy holidays everyone!"
An unofficial lady of leisure!
Well the Sumer holidays have started in earnest. I have worked the last two days that I was meant to, and although I am still technically employed till the 31st August, I have finished work for the summer.
All the housework that I have been putting off to do when I finish work is still mounting up, and me and the boys are having lazy days.
It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, leaving work. Everyone moans about going to work don't they.... I mean the alarm goes off on a morning, and nearly everyone sticks one hand out from under the duvet and hits snooze, with a murmured "5 more minutes" and I was no different. And let's face it, what would we all do if those winning numbers came in on a Saturday night! But when it came to actually saying goodbye to my friends and colleagues, I cried like a baby! Everyone was so kind, and I got some lovely cards and gifts, a voucher which I am going to use to buy a nice photo frame to capture memories of the next three years, and a huge card in which all the children had written their names and some lovely messages like "goodbye computer jenius" (sic).
Anyway that was the Thursday, I had Friday off, and then was back in on Monday and Tuesday to finish off. I cleared a load of rubbish, backed up my laptop documents and handed in my door fob and came away.
So what now..... Well I am going to Washington on Sunday to buy cake supplies with my friend and ex-colleague and then after that we shall see. Time with the boys, playgroups, days out, lazy days in, but most of all, just being a mum. As one of my friends wrote in a card, it may be more stressful than printers and laptops at times but so much more rewarding!
All the housework that I have been putting off to do when I finish work is still mounting up, and me and the boys are having lazy days.
It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, leaving work. Everyone moans about going to work don't they.... I mean the alarm goes off on a morning, and nearly everyone sticks one hand out from under the duvet and hits snooze, with a murmured "5 more minutes" and I was no different. And let's face it, what would we all do if those winning numbers came in on a Saturday night! But when it came to actually saying goodbye to my friends and colleagues, I cried like a baby! Everyone was so kind, and I got some lovely cards and gifts, a voucher which I am going to use to buy a nice photo frame to capture memories of the next three years, and a huge card in which all the children had written their names and some lovely messages like "goodbye computer jenius" (sic).
Anyway that was the Thursday, I had Friday off, and then was back in on Monday and Tuesday to finish off. I cleared a load of rubbish, backed up my laptop documents and handed in my door fob and came away.
So what now..... Well I am going to Washington on Sunday to buy cake supplies with my friend and ex-colleague and then after that we shall see. Time with the boys, playgroups, days out, lazy days in, but most of all, just being a mum. As one of my friends wrote in a card, it may be more stressful than printers and laptops at times but so much more rewarding!
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
The 100 word challenge for Grown-ups
100 Word challenge for Grown-ups
I came across this website from a recommended link on Twitter, and thought I would give it a go!
He sat, watching the world go by… men with pushchairs; ladies with briefcases; children clutching sweets in hot sticky fingers – and he thought how much had changed, how much had he seen alter through the years.
It never used to be like that, but were things better nowadays? Do people ever just sit and watch, like he did.
Just those few minutes respite had gave him chance to reflect and evaluate, did he want to re-enter the rat race, join back in with the humdrum ways of a non-stop life?
He sat back and thought about it all some more.
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He sat back and thought about it all some more.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
The big decision!!!
Well, it's official, the letter has gone it to the boss - I have told everyone and there is no going back now..... I am officially a housewife as of July 31st 2011!
Working solely to pay a childminder isn't fun anymore. Besides, I no longer care that the printers at school aren't working - not that me and printers have ever really been best friends, as any of my nearly ex colleagues could tell you. But some things haven't changed... I am still really excited by technological innovations and how they can be embedded into the curriculum, or how children can have fun whilst learning loads of discreet skills playing things like Angry Birds, which was recently demonstrated at the last Northern Grid Conference I attended.
http://www.ictsteps.com/2011/06/angry-birds-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=angry-birds-in-the-classroom
I suppose really, the aim of this blog is to become a diary of things I do with my time, my children and my own professional development during my time off. (As much as I love Cbeebies, there is only so much Justin an adult can take!) There may be entries relating to things we have done at playgroup, or new recipes I have come across. Hopefully there will be entries regarding new ICT advances, as one thing that does worry me is how fast things are moving, and how will I keep up, when I return to work in a few years time.
I hope people enjoy following and reading it, but even if not, I can look back with my children and say "That is what we did when you were little".
Working solely to pay a childminder isn't fun anymore. Besides, I no longer care that the printers at school aren't working - not that me and printers have ever really been best friends, as any of my nearly ex colleagues could tell you. But some things haven't changed... I am still really excited by technological innovations and how they can be embedded into the curriculum, or how children can have fun whilst learning loads of discreet skills playing things like Angry Birds, which was recently demonstrated at the last Northern Grid Conference I attended.
http://www.ictsteps.com/2011/06/angry-birds-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=angry-birds-in-the-classroom
I suppose really, the aim of this blog is to become a diary of things I do with my time, my children and my own professional development during my time off. (As much as I love Cbeebies, there is only so much Justin an adult can take!) There may be entries relating to things we have done at playgroup, or new recipes I have come across. Hopefully there will be entries regarding new ICT advances, as one thing that does worry me is how fast things are moving, and how will I keep up, when I return to work in a few years time.
I hope people enjoy following and reading it, but even if not, I can look back with my children and say "That is what we did when you were little".
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