We had Phil (my brother) and Anne with their three children and my mum to stay on Xmas day and had a brill time. So much went on my head’s a whizz but we seemed to cram a million little memories into 26ish hours.
A load of photos here. My own personal favourite moments were Angus saying “I can bite my own toe uncle Dave and it well hurts” and the fairy hunting going on on the lovely walk through Redisher woods in idyllic Boxing Day sunshine.
It was Lily’s school Christmas Concert on Tuesday and she and some of her friends danced a delightful penguin dance. Sorry for the rubbish mobile phone quality of the fillum you’re about to watch. (Lily’s the one on the far left at the start and finish)
What’s the music called? It’s so familiar and on loads of things but I don’t know what it’s called and who it’s by. I Googled it: Perez Prado – “Guaglione”.
Oh, and on the subject of fish, which we almost were (it’s something on most penguins’ minds):
Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, “Dam!”
It’s my eldest niece’s 17th birthday on 26th November and it really, honestly feels like a couple of years since she looked like the photo below rather than like this.
Anyway… talking like that just makes me sound old, something I’m happy to keep on pretending to fight. Lily really was fascinated by the fact that Jenny was going on seventeen and was really keen for us to send this video to her… Happy Birthday Jenny from us all and welcome to adulthood. It’s fun – enjoy it!.
Today was a Baker day at Lily’s school so we took full advantage of the quietness by going off to Blackpool Zoo. Unlike Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom, who went there with young Albert, their son, we returned en masse, and a very happy family after a really great day out.
Factor one was the weather – a real ‘steal’ – not expecting it at all but it was clear and sunny almost all afternoon there. The Zoo itself was a great size; I’ve found London and Chester Zoos to be a bit sprawling, but we managed to see as much a variety of animals in a smaller space without the animals feeling cramped. Okay, there were no hippos or rhinos, but the relative space they take up is not really needed. They’re pretty dull when all’s said and done.
Highlights for me were
The lowlight for the day was driving on to catch Blackpool Illuminations as the sun went down. The lights had been switched off the evening before for the year (!!). Will have to get to the illuminations next year though.
See the photos here on Flick or here as a slideshow.
With the national trophy cyclocross coming up in Ipswich, I wasn’t relishing the thought of another long day out and night away from the family. Enjoyable though the sporty bonding trips are, I find it an uneasy comprimise to spend time away enjoying myself and leaving Katie with two young people to look after.
The Ipswich race was luckily on the first Sunday of the half term break, so we booked four nights away to coincide, meaning a great chance for a rest plus an ‘easy’ journey to the cyclocross.
As things turned out, it was absolutely perfect. Better than perfect really, if that’s possible. When you bookk things online you can never be sure what it’s really going to be like, but Low Farm near to Brampton in Suffolk was a bull’s eye in terms of holiday accommodation. There was a fully fledges soft play area called Moo Play Barn and an indoor pool, alledgedly heated (well – it was pretty cold outside too), and a collection of farm animals specifically penned up for children to interract with them. (The Alpacas and their fluttering eyelashes were my personal fave.) A perfect place to be really if the weather turned bad. Except, strangely, it never did. Let’s face it, this was late October. But on three of the four days, we enjoyed pretty much uninterrupted sunshine. I find this type of cold, almost frosty sunny weather the very best time to be on a UK beach. I know they’re ace in hot weather, but there’s something about the quality of the air and the light that is so untainted.
The three days were spent well. Day trips to Great Yarmouth (ace model village), Southwold (Pretty, Posh and very very English) and Aldeburgh (quaint, full of corduroy and blazer wearing bafoons for some reason on the day we were there, but somehow real-feeling, and fisherman-like gritty).
A very chilled out time.
Enjoy the photos of the whole trip – browse them here or click here for a slideshow.
Lily is six today, and amidst the busy week of going back to school, she woke up this morning four times before it was time to get up. Her wish for a Calamity Jane outfit -cobbled together by buying a cowboy outfit and a confederate cap (from the US on eBay!) – came true.
Photos being blogged live from the phone throughout the day here.
A short video to be added soon.
Lovely trip to Fiona(sis-in-law) and Graeme’s – at the Bank Holiday weekend.
Highlights include:
It’s a sad state of affairs when you get too busy to blog. Considering we haven’t been away this summer, it’s been pretty hectic.
Obviously, having a new(ish) baby about the place is a good reason to keep my fingers off the keyboard in non-work time, but it also seems to have just been a bit of a packed time. Loads of things have happened that I’d usually go into great detail reporting, but the reporting time itself is at a premium, so instead, in the ultimate compromise, a list-view of recent goings-on:
I’ll hopefully gather some time in the near future to start writing ‘properly’ some time soon. When things calm down. That distant, lovely day that never comes.
I’ve finally got round to getting to post photos directly to my Flickr account from my mobile in one very easy click. There’s something of a compromise here though. Shiny, feature-packed and lovely though my Nokia E71 may be, its piccies are clearly those of a phone, not a camera. It’s still worth it though. I love the feeling of live reportage when I can post on the spot, even though the subject matter to date has been mainly family snaps.
It’s been seven years since we saw my old and lovely school mate John Bigland, and we finally got together on Sunday for a BBQ in Helmshore’s finest July weather. Or the finest it could muster up, which means just freezing northerly wind.
It was so great to catch up and it’s nice to have these reminders from time to time about how simple it is to get on straight away with people you grew up with. Good mates, a shade of reminiscing but not too much. No need… life’s still fun for all of us without any need to recall the past. Still nice to have a quick chat about whether he still has Tears for Fears posters up on his wall. Sadly, he doesn’t and neither do I. I prefer to think of it as a phase, and I’ll put some up again soon.
Lily lost her first baby tooth today and was well compensated by fairy Abigail (who watches over her). Regrettably, she was so excited about the compensation that she awoke especially early and came to tell Katie and I in bed an hour or so before she should have done.
The new tooth is pushing its way through very quickly anyhow – another sign of growing up very quickly!
Although we had two lovely days of fine weather this long weekend, we chose the wet day to go to the seaside…
We did have a grand day out though – on the Lancashire coast – at Southport (along with its huge pier) and another quick trip to Crosby. Lily’s bike riding’s really coming along and she took full advantage of the soft sand to build her confidence in turning safely (well, relatively).
Katie managed to manoeuvre her large abdomen very well in the circumstances and enjoyed the fresh air and fun.
Photos here
