Dracula’s House

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Following a drive to Lincolnshire, I took the opportunity to take the 3 to see my Aunt and Uncle in Whitby.

Never Ending Stories

Over the weekend, we returned to Lincolnshire to collect the 3 from Nanny and Richard. I think they had a good two weeks without us, managing to cram in all sorts of activities. I’ve listed what I can remember:

• swimming at Roger and Jane’s place (twice)
• going out on the combine harvester to watch the harvesting
• a trip to the cinema to see Inside Out
• M learned to tie her shoelaces, shown by E.
• T has been spending lots of time playing football with new friends William and Lucien
• out with Auntie Liisa and Uncle John on the boat down the River Witham, including going out in inflatable kayaks
• shopping in Boston
• a trip to see the Magna Carta in Lincoln
• tours around Lincoln Castle and Lincoln Cathedral – the gaols seemed to get a lot of attention here
• new trainers for M
• E has perfected her fast cartwheels, and M’s seemed to be a bit better too.

So we’re not really under any impression that they missed us at all.

 

 

I Am Sailing

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We enjoyed the company of friends from Birmingham and Bath this weekend, university friends of S’s, which coincided with the America’s Cup World Series. Friday and Sunday both had terrible weather, torrential and relentless rain, leading to the Sunday races being cancelled. However, luckily Saturday was very pleasant and we managed to get out on bicycles along the seafront, down to the Spice Island Inn and catch the very impressive racing boats, including the Ben Ainslie team boat. It was quite amazing watching the six competing boats from Castle Fields, teams from Sweden, Japan, GB, America, New Zealand and France. The Solent was an arena, with hundreds of small private boats moored around the perimeter of the course, and official speedboats zipping to different parts of the channel to check, adjudicate and film proceedings.

…and they’re off!

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First day of the school holidays, and we manage to choose a great day to go out for a walk with the children’s friends Oscar and Anna, and their dad. Both men had been told to take the first day of the summer holidays off to cover the childcare. The walk was through the Hampshire countryside, taking in the Ashford Hangers and the Harrow Inn at Steep.

Plenty of ups and downs through the rolling hills, lunch at the Harrow Inn (enduring wasp attacks, which amused the children endlessly), the children running about and exploring the narrow country footpaths. There were no moans and the walk was quite idyllic.

Darling Buds of May

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Our biannual visit to Kent this past Bank Holiday weekend to see Great Auntie Judy and her son, Cousin William. E, M, T and I spent the first night in her garden in the family tent that William had put up for us. By Monday night, this had diminished to M, T and me, with E and S opting for the warmth and comfort of the cottage.

Judy now has four dogs: Millie, Jessie, Billet and Severn (“not the number, the river”), 3 of which she has inherited from a friend who was moving into a flat that didn’t like dogs. However, this was an absolute bonus for the children who spent the weekend adoring and fussing the dogs like they’d never known. It was lovely to see a gang of children and dogs wander off across the fields in the bright early summer sun.

We also got a chance to visit the very impressive Dover Castle, a site given all the more importance following our taking up membership with English Heritage at Easter. This meant that we could get in for only £4 for a whole family to see the special event, a World War 2 re-enactment day. The queuing was an exercise in patience, which E reminded us “was a virtue, so we might as well use it”, while T got embarrassed when a Tommy soldier came up to him to ask if would consider fighting for his country. Whereupon, T hid behind S, suggesting that he wash’t quite ready to face the Nazi threat.

S got the chance to meet up with her Cousin Tom (Auntie Judy’s other son) and his family who are big players in these WW2 events, signing up for the whole costumes and drama as part of the Home Front. Tom arrives on his WW2 motorbike and sidecar, dressed in corduroys, a mustard tank-top and a donkey jacket. Tom’s wife Judy gives cookery demonstrations, giving descriptions of rationing and mealtime efficiencies to the crowd of tourists (mostly ladies, it must be said). She conjures up such delights as meatless meaty casserole. She also showed the children how the laundry was done, giving them a chance to have a go on a manual mangle.

At the cottage, William flew some kites, M and E wittled some rosewood sticks and S and I drank tea and chatted with Judy. It was idyllic, although that is probably a word I have used for previous entries about this reasonably regular visit.

Isle Hopping (1)

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For the second week of the Easter Holidays, we took a family break to the Isle of Wight. As this was the first time that we had been on holiday as a family of 5, the pressure was on.

S booked a chalet in Colwell Bay, on the West of the island, near Freshwater. Prior to getting there, the 3 were concerned about the creature comforts that would be available to them. Eager to reassure them in the run up to the holiday, our responses simply earned the accommodation the nickname “The Shed”. I’m not sure they were really looking forward to it.

When we arrived, the 3 were greatly relieved at what was actually our residence for the week – a semi-detached bungalow, complete with beds and a toilet and everything. We piled the 3 into a bedroom to share and left them to it. M. slept on the floor, while E and T took a single bed each.

The week started with thick fog for about a day and a half, which created both some trepidation at the cliff-edge walks that we planned to do (especially when well-meaning hessian-waistcoated beret-wearing locals tried to warn us off: “I wouldn’t even take the dog up there right now”, with a glance at the 3), and then excitement once we ignored their advice and got on with what we planned to do: the walk up Tennyson Down. Once we walked above the fog, the view was fantastic, like being in an aeroplane above cloud level. The 3 all noticed the coconut smell of the gorse bushes that lined our walks.

Communicating with bus drivers was an Isle of Wight experience:

Me: How will I know when we’re at Freshwater Bay?

Bus Driver: [looking through his windscreen at the thick bank of fog] You’ll see the sea.

Me: Or could you tell me how many bus stops there are between here and Freshwater Bay?

Bus Driver: Well, that depends on how often I stop.

We visited Osborne House, where S signed us up as members of English Heritage, much to E’s disgust: “Does that mean we have to visit other boring places as well?” This was more of a facade, a practice for forthcoming teenage indifference and hostility, than actual annoyance. Once we were in there, the 3 did very well with the history and stories, and at least some of it was familiar following on from school topics. We spent a couple of hours on Queen Victoria’s private beach, looking out across the sea to Portsmouth and paddling in the shallow waters as the tide went out.

Carisbrooke Castle was on our list, where M dressed up as a medieval knight, and the 3 walked along the battlements, and had fun dropping pennies down a very deep well. We walked through Alum Bay, had chips on the beach at Totland Bay, took a boat out to the Needles, went to the Needles Batteries and former rocket testing site, and on the final day did a road-trip of the south and east of the island, with some short walks to St Catherine’s Oratory, St Catherine’s Lighthouse and walks around Ventnor.

The 3 did well to be up and ready for our country walks each morning, and the latest we were ever out of the house was 9:50am. E would stride off, keen to get it over with, T would be singing to himself wandering around in a daydream, and M was usually at the back throwing stones, picking flowers or poking the earth with a stick. M insisted on carrying the children’s day-pack with water bottles and few snacks, occasionally giving it up for one of the others when we asked her to (in the spirit of fairness). At the different beaches, T and M spent their time skimming all the stones they could. We managed to get lightly sunburned on the first day (despite the fog), and this was suitable warning for the following three days, when we made sure that we were all creamed up. E took many photographs, some of which are featured in the slideshow.

We were usually home by 4pm, then into the on-site pool for a couple of hours before tea. Pool activities: catch, tickle-feet, swimming under legs, swimming races. The evenings were spent playing Boggle, which was the surprise hit of the holiday.

Christ Almighty! It’s Easter….

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Easter means a trip to the farm in Lincolnshire for the traditional Easter Egg hunt. As usual, it’s a pile of chocolate in a tub each, and brief uninformed conversations about how it may relate to actual religious celebration: did Jesus come out of an egg? Was he eating a Kit-Kat when he died on the cross? Did the Easter Bunny dig him out of the tomb?

Nanny did a fine job of hiding the various chocolates around the garden, with an added twist this year: the occasional empty wrapper poking out of the hedges and plants! The 3 thought that this was hilarious, and managed to just about avoid falling for it.

The 3 spent 5 days at the farm without the two of us, and M managed to get some experience with a real dog – Matt and Sam’s Ziggy. This encouragement is of high concern, as I’m sure we will one day find a puppy packed into her suitcase or school-bag to be a dog of her own. Other activities for the 3 included clothes shopping, a trip to see Home and an afternoon at Roger and Jane’s pool, and then we collected them from South Mimms on the following Saturday. I think they were pleased to see us.

Emsworth Walks

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S went off sailing a couple of weeks ago, so the 3 and I went for a tried and trusted walk from Langstone to Emsworth and back again. It really felt like Spring was on its way, and we were able to walk along the coast line from Langstone, go for a hot chocolate and flapjacks at a cafe, and then walk back again.

In preparation for Red Nose Day, the 3 were expected to colour in and design a red nose face for decoration in the cafe.

There were plenty of dogs on the walk with their owners, and M spent much time speculating which dog she would have and how she would look after it.

I’d forgotten how much fun these walks are with the 3. Some very funny conversations, and there is no real challenge to the walk now – we can just walk and talk without worrying whether anyone will make it back to the car or not.

Wordplay

We have managed to come with some new characters in our house:

Mr Chopupanapple and Dr Weesunfeeciese

M also enjoys commenting on others behaviours in a tell-tale way:

“I was just wondering why E was doing handstands on the sofa”

“I’m not sure T was supposed to kick the ball over there”

Quick on the Draw

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At the moment, the conservatory resembles more of a studio than anything else. Littered with the creative spoils of Christmas, the girls have made it their own. M has immersed herself in building cardboard rockets and cardboard houses (architect, interior designer?), plenty of cutting, shaping, shading, splashing, colouring, slicing and sellotaping. E plays a less destructive/creative role, diligently putting coloured pencils to bleached paper to take a more fine arts approach to her artistic expression.