1st Week

Well if the rest of the school holiday is as good as this first week we'll all be happy and exhausted by the end of it!

The first day off last Thursday was gloriously hot and sunny and most of it was spent in the garden. A friend of G's gave T this water blaster but unfortunately it was broken. G spent some time trying to fix it and once he thought it was all sorted, well there was really only one outcome wasn't there. Although the water fight was initially just between the 3 of them T couldn't resist the temptation and I ended up completely soaked as well, hardly fair as I had nothing to defend myself with! Never mind it gave us all a good laugh.

T and S also had loads of fun in the paddling pool and had G and I crying with laughter at their antics.

And in case you were wondering, the washing did get wet again!

The forecast for Friday was warm but with plenty of cloud cover so we decided a walk was in order. You can imagine the moans and groans and here is a lovely photo of 2 children about a mile into the walk complaining of thirst and heat exhaustion. Aren't we just completely wicked parents for taking them out into the countryside?!

Our chosen destination was Brockenhurst in the New Forest. I had kept details of a 5 and a half mile circular walk, which began and ended at the train station, which had been published in the local paper a few years ago and with views like this

and this

and this
the children soon forgot to moan and just ran around and played and enjoyed themselves.

We had our lunch sat by this massive tree.

G is 6ft 5 so that gives you an idea of how massive it is!

And of course fallen trees have to be explored and walked along. This was just one of several we found, the favourites were the ones that had fallen from one bank to another across the streams.

Saturday was a quieter day spent tidying thehouse in readiness for our housesitter and packing for a couple of days away.

We did pop out for an hour in the later afternoon though.

Just over the bridge from where we live there was an event being held to celebrate the start of the round the world Clipper race and part of this was live music over 3 evenings.

We chose to go and see a Madness tribute band who very quickly had the crowd dancing and enjoying themselves.

Sunday and Monday were spent in Norwich as we had arranged to meet up with T's birth siblings.

He spent time with S

we spent a lovely evening with R

and had a short meet up with his other sister R.

We had very little time for sight seeing, just the odd hour snatched here and there. We did a tiny bit of shopping and S decided white shades should be part of her new look!

We found the most beautiful shopping arcade ever, this deserves a whole post on it's own which I'll do another day.

The other thing which cuahgt my eye were these glass globules on the fence around a churchyard. They were in different colours and must look fabulous if there is lighing around them at night.

If you don't like snakes then skip this next photo.

T's sister S has a partner who likes snakes and he got their pet snake out to meet us. It took a liking to G and G took a liking to it. He sat with it crawling over him for ages, he said it was very relaxing!

Yesterday was spent travelling home again, so no time for anything else.

Today though with the sun out once again G loaded up the car with the bikes and we went up to the Common. Lots of cycling through parts we don't normally visit and then on to the paddling pool which was heaving with people. After half an hour or so I went to buy ice creams and bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for a while so whilst we sat chatting and arranged another meet up the children played and had fun in the sun, just what the holidays should all be about.

Thrifty Thursday

This weeks thrifty buys aren't ones I have bought, but are ones given to me for my birthday.

If you've been reading for a while (well done for bearing with all this nonsense!) you will know that my sister and I only buy each other's birthday gifts from jumbles, car boots and charity shops. More recently my mum has got in on the act too.
This little selection of goodies came from her. The yellow bag, necklaces and vintage brooch are all pre loved items. The badges I fell in love with when I spotted them in a shop whilst we were on our day out in Swanage last month and so were added to my present haul.




The next two photos are the items my sister bought with our £10 budget. There was a pink smock top which wasn't flattering and 2 pairs of trousers neither of which fitted so she took them back to resale when she does her next car boot. One pair were M&S Autograph trousers with the tags still on them!
So here we have 2 cardis, 5 tops, a skirt and 3 pairs of trousers

set of Eco hangers (they are made from recycled cardboard), a Denby mug, a purse, a notebook, a fleecy nightshirt, a linen jacket and 2 glass dishes decorated with sweets. There was also a bangle which I was wearing and forgot to take off to photograph.

Didn't I do well?!!!!

School's Out

Today was the last day of term for my two.
The school hols have now begun.
'Show me how you feel about having 6 weeks off' I asked them and this was the reaction I got from each of them.

It's not just a case of coming to the end of a school year for T.

It's the end of junior school.

In September he's off to senior school.

I can so very clearly remember when he left infant school. It's like it was only last year that happened and yet so much has gone on in our lives since then.

In the middle of year 3 we became a family of 4 and at the very start of year 4 we lost my dad.
Then there was a spate of bullying which T didn't speak to us about for a while and when it was made known to the school the teacher was extremely ineffective in dealing with it. We had higher hopes for year 5 but it soon became apparent that things weren't much better and when the teacher went off on long term sick the class had a variety of teachers which was quite disconcerting. T also began to receive extra help and support to help him socially and emotionally.

T was thrilled when he found out Miss S was going to be his teacher in Year 6. She had been a support to him in year 4 and was involved in getting the extra support he needed in year 5.

When I went into the school to talk to her at the start of the year 6 she told me that she had given up certain other aspects of her learning support role at the school to concentrate wholly on her class as she felt they lacked cohesiveness after the choppy year they had just had.

Since being with Miss S T's confidence has grown in leaps and bounds. His junior school experience has been made so much more positive because she took the time to understand T and 'got him'.

On Monday the whole year took part in a performance of The Lion King. T was on stage dancing with his class but he was also in charge of making sure the right song was played at the right time. There had been an issue with the music during the rehearsals and T had taken it upon himself to sort it out at home. After the performance on Monday evening (which G was at) the head teacher made a special mention of T and asked that 'everyone give a cheer for T as without his computer know how there may not have been a show.' Children and parents in the hall cheered and gave T a round of applause. It was such a thoughtful thing for Mr W to do. After the turbulent time T has had at junior school it was a wonderful gesture which will give him an enduringly special memory and will (hopefully) help to create a much more positive attitude when he recalls the years he was there.

History Lessons

We've had a really good weekend. The only downside is that G hasn't been here to enjoy it with us. He's been in London at the High Voltage rock festival with his brother indulging in copious amounts of cider and loud music.



As you may well remember I'm never one to pass up on a free walking trail and yesterday as part of the city's Hidden Treasure's weekend they were offering a Treasure Trail for children. This turned out to basically be a walk around some of the Walls, which we did just a short time ago with Diane and Clare on our bloggy meet-up,






but on return and full completion of the trail the children were given a bag of goodies. S was very taken with the bright orange water bottle.

Here she is hard at work writing down one of the answers. We had to count the number of steps on one particular section and I let them do it a few times before letting them in on the fact that it was written on the information board at the bottom. But it was good exercise anyway!

I told them I was going to caption this photo as 'T and S on the loo', much to their disgust. This part of the old walls was actually the toilet which was 'flushed' when the tide came in.

This walkway has seen a lot of activity through the centuries. Here's G's mum walking through it into the town, but marching the other way Henry V led his troops to do battle in Agincourt and it was also from this spot that the Pilgrim father's left on the Mayflower.

Down near the docks we were able to walk along the top of the walls where soldiers would have once kept watch and had a good view of one of the very much larger (and friendlier) sea going vessels which visit our city these days.

Once the prizes were claimed we headed to Hoglands park for a well earned picnic and a sit down before escorting Grandma back to her bus stop for the journey home to Salisbury.

And so to today.

Another day, another city centre park.

This time our choice of place to picnic was Queen's Park. The reason being the city was holding an information gathering event with added entertainment in the form of 'Horrid History' being played out.

The park actually belongs to Queen's College and is leased to the council who maintain it. They are looking to redevlop the site and make it more user friendly and wanted input from the public as to what we would like to see there.

It was such a shame this string quartet were sat a little way away from where the main action was taking place, they played beautifully but couldn't really be fully enjoyed.

Whilst we were sat eating the chap seen here on the left with the bucket came over and introduced himself to us. He told us he was our local nightsoil man. S didn't have a clue what he meant until he clarified his employment as the man who takes away 'your poo, your chocolate logs, your excrement, whatever you might like to call it!' Cue loud 'yuck' noises from us all! He told us that the food we were eating looked like it was good quality and that 'the people who lives round here eat good quality too you know.' He then put his finger in the bucket and pulled out something very brown and lumpy looking which he proceeded to sniff and then lick off! Cue even louder yuck noises and lots of giggles.

We were then visited by this dashing man in green who told us that a show was about to start so

we trundled over and watched these 4 girls perform a skit to music which was really funny. The tallest one appeared to be a very stern cook and the others her kitchenmaids. There was lots of flour throwing and one of them ended up face down in a plate of whipped cream.

It was then over to a Victorain melodrama where extra cast members were plucked from the audience and T was chosen to play the part of the wicked Squire. We had to boo and hiss him each time he did something nasty. Although he wasn't overjoyed at being chosen he did all that was asked of him and really entered into the spirit of it.

Next was a WW2 playlet, but I couldn't see this as S needed a wee and by the time we returned it was just coming to an end.

The final performance was set in Tudor times with a fabulous looking Henry V111.

Before he came out to dine with us at the banquet his Queen chose children from the audience to act as dancers, musicians and artists. S was chosen, but wasn't at all keen, she tried to hide behind me.

T was also chosen again, along with me, to be presented to the King as Lord and Lady something-or-another. Can't remember the name as we were laughing too much and making sure we performed our bow and curtesy correctly so as not to get displease His Royal Highness!

Birthday girl

It was my birthday yesterday (patch courtesy of my sister) and what a lovely day it was too.
Breakfast in bed followed by cards and pressies from my family and friends. A trip to Gunwharf Quay for a spot of mooching in the CK outlet shop and lunch with G. Home again for cake, visits from friends bearing gifts and then finally more cake when my mum and sister popped round with yet more gifts. I shall photograph other gifts to share another day but I wanted to show what G had bought for me.

Last month whilst visiting a local museum I was looking through a bunch of old Ladybird books and saying how much I loved the illustrations, especially in the Going to School one which I used on my last blog post.
Well G bought a copy, which was in a very state of disrepair as it's spine was broken and the pages were falling out, for 1p on Amazon. He then searched the shops high and low for suitable frames and this is what he made.

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement!

He wasn't sure which pictures I would prefer to use so nothing has been permanently put in place and we may have pictures in all of the aperatures rather than some with text, we need to have a play around with them to decide.

G said he was so relieved I liked them as he wasn't completely sure on the idea.

But I do love them ever so much (as I love him too) and they are going to look fabulous in our newly decorated dining room.

School Uniform

During June as July as the summer term winds to a close some of the shops start to put up advertising for 'Back to School' items such as pencils cases, lunch boxes and uniform. I remember this happening when I was at school and getting very indignant because the school summer break hadn't even started and already we were being encouraged to think about September!

Each year I have taken the children out during the 6 weeks to kit them out with new clothes. The school colour for jumpers and cardigians for their junior and infant school is burgundy. It's the most difficult colour to buy for. Lots of choice in red, green and blue, but burgundy is hard to come by.

So whilst I was scouring the shops in early June for a suitable waterproof jacket for T to take on his school trip I found myself, in desperation, in Tesco and lo and behold there with the school uniform were acres of burgundy tops.

I am now feeling just the tiniest pleased with myself to have got most of S's uniform sorted for her IN ADVANCE of the summer break.

I just love a pretty pinafore and I got these for £1.00 each in a CS. They are originally from BHS and look like they have hardly been worn.

Now I only have the polo tops and the new shoes to buy.

And of course the PE kit, to avoid a pants and vest scene like this for S!

Dream Come True

Last year when we bought our little green sofa for the dining room, from a second hand furniture shop, we also bought a small pine dresser. I have lusted after a dresser for many years. It seemed too good to be true when we found this slimline one as it has the perfect dimensions for slotting nicely into one of the alcoves. It has been awaiting it's transformation for nearly a year now and although I still have the feet to complete, its so near completion, but I just I can't not blog about it, I'm so completely thrilled with the end result.

I thought I had a photo of it pre-op as it were but can only find this side shot. It was quite a shiny pine and it had glass doors.



This is how it looks now!!!!
It's blue and the doors have gone to be replaced with open shelving, courtesy of my very clever and wonderful husband who very patiently made my dresser dream come true.

I had so much fun unpacking my china and tins, placing them here and there and try to decide where each piece should live.

Here are the top 3 shelves

and then the bottom one.

This is a closer look at the top two.
My Haddon Hall coffee pot, Poole pottery jug and cherished Emma Bridgewater

and here's the next two shelves again.

My dad gave me the pink flower bread and butter plate with matching tea plates so they are extra special.

I think I'm going to need to put a few cup hooks up along the edges of the shelves so I can hang up the cups and jugs, I'm running out of room already!