Weekending

A huge and heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you who left messages on my last post. 

The kind words were so very much appreciated. It was very touching that those we have never met, but through the wonders of this blogging community have shared so many of our family times over the years, took the time to leave a caring message for us all and especially T.

For T, as you can imagine, losing his brother has been devastating. 

We are trying to support him in every way we can whilst we all work through the emotions associated with our grief.

We have muddled through the weeks since half term when Liam's funeral took place and we have relished the weekends when we can all relax a bit and try and unwind.

S and I spent some time blowing bubbles, such a soothing thing to do, and she was fascinated by a bubble which moulded itself into the shape of the leaf it sat on.

We tipped mixture into small bowls and added a couple of drops of food colouring to each and then blew bubbles at sheets of paper to make some bubble art.

During a conversation with my sister one evening she asked if we had ever done the walk from Swanwick Shore Road. No we hadn't I replied and made a mental note to check out the details. A local walk we hadn't done before definitely needed to be investigated. There was a tiny car park just to the left of these houses although next time we are thinking of taking the train as later on in the walk there is the opportunity of taking a water taxi and then we could complete the journey home by bus.

So with two attractive(!) walking companions

and new star patterned navy pumps

 off we set for our stroll along the waters edge.

When G and I took the train to work the line ran along the opposite side to our walk. It's just behind the row of hedging you can see in the centre of this photo.

I don't know the details of this wreck but on recent reading it would appear there are a few on this stretch of water, maybe something to read up about before our next outing along here.

We spotted a pale blue phone box sat on the pier at the marina, looking a bit Tardis like.

I loved the simplicity of this little wooden boat sat moored on it's own away from the bigger ones.

An unexpected sight was a field to our right which was home to some donkeys and three alpacas

We didn't make it to our intended destination as we turned off the foot path and went into Holly Hill Woodland Park to find a spot to eat our picnic. We did a spot of exploring whilst there and found a rope swing.

A split second after this photo was taken S had fallen flat on her bottom as you can just see in the picture that the wooden handle snapped in two.

We decided to halt our day out shortly afterwards as we realised we didn't have enough time to reach the end of the walk as we had side tracked ourselves with unplanned exploring and we also needed to make a quick dash to Tesco and buy S new trainers for school.

There was some extremely childish giggling done in the supermarket as another customer had clearly decided that the shop models looked a little over dressed!

The following weekend we took ourselves back to Holly Hill as we decided we wanted to see a bit more. It was whilst we were walking down to the sunken garden I remembered that I had been there once before with my dad, the year before he became too poorly to go out. T and I had also visited here with my aunt and two youngest cousins, he had only been about 5 years old and he couldn't remember when I mentioned it to him. You can just see him, the dot of red!

There is a huge lake with picnic spots situated all round it, another visit is due in this summer holiday I reckon.

These stepping stones were met with much laughter, something a bit different to try out.

And finally we are at last weekend. We took ourselves off to Eastleigh for a day of street art events. The young girl who hula hooped with several at once was very impressive and S enjoyed watching her. G enjoyed eating his enormous ice cream! He bought it whilst I was off watching the drummers and when I took the photo he said it had actually been twice that size to start with!

The Wheelhouse was definitely our favourite of the day. The performers acted out their little journey as they propelled the wheel up the road, us audience walking alongside them. The 'house' had windows and doors and cupboards and all manner of odds and ends attached. Some ornamental and some used as props to tell the story of their journey.

Should you ever be at an event they are at make sure you make the time to watch them. S was totally captivated as she watched I was just as absorbed by her concern for the female performer 'fell out' of the wheel and was nearly run over.

There was so much we didn't get to see as well and some of the shops had displays in them. I fell in love with this red, white and blue dress in the window of Oxfam. Unfortunately it wasn't for sale but I really like the simplicity of the design and the big pocket which had a big red button sewn on to it. It had the look of a patriotic deckchair and I wouldn't mind one for the summer.

Liam

During the past few weeks I have written this post in my head over and over again, each version not quite right.

I've come to the conclusion there isn't a right way, for what has happened isn't right.

On 6th May Tony's brother Liam passed away.

He was 16.

This photo of the two of them was taken during our introduction week with Tony. It was the first time we met Liam. Even though the boys had been living apart for about 18 months in different foster homes the bond between them was still so strong.

The children's social worker told me that Liam at 5 years old had told her 'my birth family are like a rainbow, you want to reach out and touch them but they are always just out of reach.'

.

They say that children are resilient and that they can cope with a lot.
This may be true, but for some children they see too much and feel too much.
And the saddest thing is that this pain is caused by those who are supposed to love and care for them.

As the boys grew up circumstances meant that for the past 5 years they weren't able to see each other as frequently but as and when it was possible we made sure they did. And there were phone calls too, lots of phone calls. The boys last saw each other in March.

This week I took Tony to Norwich for Liam's funeral.
I am so very proud of Tony for the way he behaved towards others that day when he was hurting so much himself.

The vicar who took the service at the crematorium knew Liam and spoke about him with true affection. He said how he knew how we all felt cheated at losing Liam because he was such a star, his future was looking bright with the plans he was making and that should we look into the night sky and see a new star shining we could be certain it was for Liam. 

Bank Holiday

I thought I should blog about the first bank holiday weekend in May before  the second one happens!

On the Saturday afternoon G and I went to the theatre to see a trio of plays by Noel Coward. The first was Way and Means about a couple who had frittered and gambled away their money and were wondering how they were going to continue their travels through Europe and pay their bills. They were so self indulgent and self absorbed you didn't feel the slightest bit sorry for them. It was very, very funny.

The second was Fumed Oak about a downtrodden man who has saved enough money to leave his family. Doesn't sound funny but it was and there were parts which made for uncomfortable watching too.

The third was Still Life which went on to become Brief Encounter.

 Enough said.

A really enjoyable afternoon.

The Sunday was spent firstly at the car boot and then at home catching up with bits and pieces around the house and just general pootling about.

Bank Holiday Monday called for a day out. We picked up S's friend L so she didn't have to put up with boring mum and dad on her own and the four of us hopped on the train down to Portsmouth.
In the Guildhall Square I had my first viewing of the new Charles Dickens statue. Impressive beard.

We made our way down to the front at Southsea and paused a while at the Naval Memorial. The names of those who died during WW2 are listed on the panels which run along the length of the wall. 

Those who died in WW1 are inscribed on plaques on the obelisk, part of which can be seen behind these poppies wrapped around a lamp post. A piece made by, according to the attached tag, Knit Portsmouth.

We wandered through the fair on Southsea Common and stopped long enough for S and L to have a go on this humongous inflatable slide. The look on their faces when they saw how big it was and then what the view was like once they had got to the top was priceless! As S took her first slide down I could hear her shouting out 'This is amazing!'

We had chosen Southsea as our destination as they were holding a rural and seaside show which looked good fun according to the blurb on the website. Great styling on the advertising poster.

They did have a lot going on over the three days and what would have made it more enjoyable would have been a listing on line of each days events and timings as when we arrived the things we had wanted to see, like the heavy horse display, had already happened which was a bit of a shame.

It was a really good day out though and lovely to be beside the sea side on a bank holiday.

Looking Forward

When T started school I changed over to using an academic diary, instead of the traditional January to December variety. 

It was an easier way to keep track of dates for each of the different terms and holidays as the year became carved up in portions of, approximately, six weeks.

As I started working in a school last December these cycles have even more relevance to us.

Whilst out at the weekend I spotted a range of academic diaries in The Works and bought a pretty peppermint coloured one.

Next job is to find a quiet hour so I can fill it in.

I get quite excited about that.

I feel the same way when I start a new notebook.

One special date I can add is a trip to the theatre in October for me, G and S. We have booked to see Coppelia, it will be the first ballet experience for us all.
It's always good to have good things to look forward to.

Pairs

I hope everyone had a good Easter and if you were lucky enough to have had time off then routines being re-established this week wasn't too much of a shock.

As normal I am playing catchup and this post is a brief selection from our second week of the school hols.

Sunday morning we took ourselves off to the car boot and it was the first huge one of the season. 

Two of my best buys cost £1.00 a piece.

The ice cream motif is on the front of a knitted top from Miss Selfridge. I would somehow like to chop this about and use it on the front of a cushion.

The Mousie Mousie game is brand new still in it's the cellophane wrapper and will be given to a little boy for his 5th birthday later in the year. This game has given our family hours of fun over the years and I hope it does the same to our friends.

We did have some lovely warm and sunny days over the Easter holiday which this pairing show. The first from an afternoon in our back garden and the second from a 4 hour trip to the park with S and her friend L on the Wednesday full of the best kind of fun.

The original plans for Thursday fell through and both children were getting a bit crotchety so I printed off the Easter scavenger hunt clues from the Nature Detectives site and said we were going out. I can't say it was a complete success as there was a fair bit of moaning but it got us outside for a walk.
As we approached the park we saw this post on the right showing the letters N and Y. 'Wouldn't it be funny if the other two sides had T and O on,' I said. And they did. T assured me he hadn't been out with the paint. He was secretly a bit pleased, although he wasn't going to show it!

We had to find something green and I vetoed grass and trees as too boring (you can imagine how that was received!) but thought bowling green was a good example as it wasn't quite so obvious. Despite the warm and dry weather the bits we had walk through which were muddy were really muddy.

On Good Friday I escaped for a couple of hours and went to visit a friend. It was her birthday the following day and so I had to deliver her present. I made up a set of practical but pretty items for her. A heart shaped bucket, CK washing up cloths, a beehived washing up brush, a tea towel which said 'Save Water, Drink Champagne' and a book with a bit of a vintage feel to it on Household and Organisational tips. On the bucket handle I attached a tag with said 'Pretty things should be used even for the boring jobs!'

S and I made some daffodils with the help of a pattern from Martha Stewart, which were given out to aunts, uncles and grannies. The flowers were cut from card and then a yellow cake case stuck to the centre and filled with mini eggs. A chocolate ladybird was sellotaped to one of the petals and we were really pleased with the end result.

We had our Easter egg hunt on bank holiday Monday as we spent the Sunday in Salisbury with G's family. We invited my mum and my sisters over in the afternoon for coffee and cake cake and the children then got down to the serious business of solving the clues. They soon worked each one out and dashed (or in T's case gently ambled) around the house and garden. The clue which got the biggest laugh was the last one and the one of which G was most proud.....
Mars Bar, Twix, Crunchie, Snickers
Look where mum keeps her knickers.
Childish humour goes down very well in our house. Hope it gave you a giggle too.

Monday to Friday

The first week of the Easter holiday has passed at a gallop.

We started Monday with a lay in and then carried on the day with a fair amount of general lazing about. The afternoon saw a bit more action when we had a new kitchen window and back door fitted.

Our old door was a wooden one and let in so many draughts and the kitchen window was the last wooden framed one in the house which needed to be replaced with a double glazed one. 

Not that exciting as far as home improvements go but we are so pleased to finally get these two jobs done.

Tuesday was chosen as the day to go and pick up my mum so the four of us could go on our annual Easter trail at Itchen Valley Country Park.

S has been wearing hair clips with bunny ears on all week and lent them to T for a quick photo opportunity.
She was concerned about him wearing them at a slightly wonky angle and here she is trying to help him, all he was concerned about was getting a selfie!

Although I haven't been posting my daily photo challenge here I have been keeping up with it on Instagram.

Tuesday was draw a picture of a bird day.

My drawing skills are pretty rubbish and when S asks me can you draw a horse/pig/cat then the results aren't always very impressive. I found something on Pinterest which shows you how to basic animals and so we had a go.

S's is on the left (including her bird) and I had to share my very woolly sheep.

We live quite close to a branch of The Range and after seeing an advert in a magazine I wanted to check a few things out in store so that's where we went on Wednesday. S had to come with me and in return for her patience I took her to a new (to us) playground where she spent a very happy hour.

There were no plans for Thursday and I did wonder what we would do but in the end both children were busy with friends and I was hardly needed at all. This has happened a few times recently and is a very strange feeling.

Yesterday was lovely. G is now working closer to home and is able to cycle to work. He put in an extra hour on Thursday so he could leave early yesterday and was able to meet us at Royal Victoria Country Park for a picnic lunch.

Good food, good games, good company and good fun.

And another selfie, this time me and S, complete with her bunny ears.

Emsworth

Emsworth is a very pretty little town and well worth a visit should you ever be in the vicinity. 

The High Street was very busy when we arrived at mid day. There isn't a huge selection of shops but what they do have includes a traditional butchers and fishmongers, a deli, a lovely florists, a bakers, gift shops, 4 charity shops and a happy find for G, a vinyl record shop.

Purchases were made.

The houses in the town centre are just as picturesque as you would expect.

Should you visit and need refreshment then we would recommend The Greenhouse Cafe. Being lunch time when we arrived and we had planned on going on a 3.7 mile walk, we needed filling up first.
G had a big breakfast, S had the all day breakfast and I had bacon and egg on toast. The food was delicious and the staff friendly, the place had a welcoming atmosphere about it. Apparently it was once a cinema, it certainly is an attractive building.
This photo was taken from across the road later on in the afternoon and isn't great, but it was so busy when we left I didn't want to hang around outside taking a photo of people tucking into their food!
Judging by the cakes on display (custard crumble cake!) it would also have made an ideal afternoon tea stop.

Our walk started down at the harbour and to get there we walked past a pub with a sign outside which made us chuckle.

The sun did try and come out a couple of times but it wasn't very successful and most of the day was pretty overcast as can be seen in most of the photos.

We were able to walk along the foreshore as the tide was out and in the middle of the photo below you can just about make out the remains of the oyster beds which used to be a busy industry for the fishermen of Emsworth. Didn't know that until yesterday.

S skipping along the foreshore, brolly in hand which she needed later in the day.

When I took this photo I said to G 'Bloggers like a door photo, especially one set into an old brick wall.' I'm right, aren't I?!

We passed an old boat building yard and then walked along the side of Slipper mill pond which is now a nature reserve and the mill has been converted into offices.

This led us onto the first of two marinas where there is a little community of houses on stilts. Apparently they were originally built as holiday homes but some are now lived in full time. I would like to have a look around one to see what the lay out is like inside.

Then a walk across a field and down a long lane and we came to the second marina, Thornham Marina, as modelled here by S still with that brolly, not yet up although the hood is!

It was here we saw a blue whale, don't get to say that every day.

It was here that the weather turned pretty mizzly. You can just see S's umbrella in the far left. On a clear day I bet the view out across the water would have been lovely.

We left the sea wall just a couple of hundred metres on from the spot above and turned into a little village called Prinsted. According to our walking guide it is one of the most sought after places to live because of it's plethora of thatched cottages and attractive houses. Something we can vouch for after the hand full we saw. I did a quick search for information about it, as again according to the guide, it's name derives from once being a pear orchard. I couldn't find anything about that but did find out that Hugh Grant lives there. 

I absolutely loved this wall and hope you do too Diane! The rows are so solid and textural and it was such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship

and then to have seen the whole of a farm out building constructed the same way I could have looked at it for ages.  
But we needed to press on. Across one more field, past some houses, across a road and we were back to Slipper Pond, 

and within a few hundred yards back to the High Street and the picturesque houses.