Harvest Poem

I know we're abit on from harvest time, but I just had to post this poem that G Boy wrote earlier this autumn. I know I'm biased, but I'm pretty impressed for a 5 year old!

Stormy Skies

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I've been having the most torrid time with this computer, and have in the last day or so seriously contemplated tossing it out of the window! It's made me realise how much I depend on the computer, and what a vital part of my day it forms. Especially when it won't work!!

Anyway, the good news is that we finally had a good weekend. I went Christmas shopping on Saturday, less said about that the better, given it was raining, and busy and not that fun.

But on Sunday we had a delicious sunday lunch out, followed by a bracing walk along the beach at Budleigh. The sky was magnificant to watch as we could see the storms gathering, ready to sweep in again. The wind was blustery and buffeting us along, and bitingly cold as well, so it wasn't the longest walk ever taken, but good enough to blow the cobwebs away, giving us all a rosy glow and a feeling of vitality in our bodies. Then it was back home for hot chocolates, cakes and board games - warm and cosy after our excursion out. Just how I like it really, a feeling of having been out, achieved fresh air and exercise, but then able to snuggle up in the warm and dry and properly enjoy the cosiness while the weather rages outside.

Beauty

My favourite flower.

How I would love to live somewhere where it was warm and sunny enough to have these growing all the time.

Giveaway!

I have a copy of the December 2009 Simply Knitting lying here unread and unloved. I would be more than happy to post it to anyone who wanted to get their hands on a copy (no diary though, I'm keeping that in the hope that I can use it to become more organised next year).

Leave your name below if you are interested, and I'll draw a name out of the (knitted, obviously) hat over the weekend.

There are lots of fab ideas for Christmas - perfect if you've a crafty nature and are quick with the needles (sadly, they are all a bit too much for my skill level, or to be more accurate, lack thereof, and it would take me until Christmas 2010 at least to manage one thing I should think!)So, it would be nice to see it go to a home where it will be used and enjoyed properly

Calming Seas

It was another weekend that seemed to go by in a flash, with every second double accounted for.

We went to another party for one of G Boy's friends;

we went to the library;

I took the children swimming;

we looked into what we could do to stop the windows allowing the cold wind in (all wood framed windows in our house, lovely to look at, good for the environment, not so good for my environment as the wood warps as it ages and the windows refuse to shut tightly - no point having double glazing when there's a visible gap between the window and the frame!);

we fixed a leak under the kitchen sink, involving clearing out ridiculous amounts of stuff from the cupboard where the leak was coming from;

we looked to see what was making funny noises in my car - think the exhaust is cracked uh-oh!

It seems every weekend at the moment is just crammed full of really crushingly dull chores that have to be done and we've not had a chance to do anything fun, or nice or spend any good time together as a family. Added to which I feel the pressure of birthdays and Chrsitmas looming, knowing that shopping and sorting and organising will need to be done, to say nothing of decorating and food buying and all the rest. I feel like I'm in one of those games where you have to race against the clock, finding various objects before the time runs out - except I'm not remembering everything, and the time always seems to be against me.

So, having really got quite snappy and unpleasant (neither M nor I enjoy these kind of domestic weekends, we'd far rather be out and about, walking somewhere in the fresh air - we are not what you'd term DIY fans), we made a last minute decision at 3pm on Sunday to Go Somewhere.

We decided on Exmouth, as it is probably the closest beach to us, and we thought that any woods/forest walks would just be too wet and muddy after all the storms. As we set off, I thought we were probably mad, the sun was setting, it was turning cold, I could see that we'd get there and just decide that it wasn't worth getting out of the car.

Fortunately I was wrong - we made it in time for the sun set and it was just breathtaking. The tide was in further than I have ever seen it, and the sea looked silver in the last rays of the sun. Two brave (foolish) souls were in surfing, and a couple of children were splashing in the shallows. The beach was still really full with dog walkers and families making the most of the autumn sunshine. So we joined them and walked down to Orcombe Point, marvelling at the beauty, delighting in being away from the chores, the responsibilities, the To Do Lists. I took deep breaths of cleansing salty air, and felt the weight of responsibility, the burden of obligation lift from my shoulders. We were only out for about half an hour, but it absolutely made the weekend - lifted it from a time of drudgery to a golden moment that will be remembered through the rainy days.

Just look at these pictures and take a deep breath - doesn't it feel more calming already ?

What a star!

G Boy is in the good books this week - it was Parent's Evening on Tuesday night and M braved the wind and rain to get our progress report. Turns out he is "a pleasure to teach", that he's doing well with his reading and maths, and is well liked in the class. He could do with rushing less, but being more careful (inherited from M, as he admitted on the night), and not assuming, if he can't do something straight away, that he won't be able to manage it at all (inherited from me that one!).

None of that really came as a surprise, well, perhaps the pleasure to teach bit, since he's not always the perfectly mannered little angel at home. I'm most proud of that, and the fact that she said he gets on well with everyone in his class - to my mind, academic skills can be acquired at any age and stage and are mostly acquired when one is keen and in the right mindset to learn. But to know that he has good manners, is considerate and thoughtful and liked by his peers, well, they are the kind of skills that will last a lifetime and make all the difference.

So, well done G Boy. Pack of Match Attax, the current collecting/trading phase, on the way.

As for the rest of the week, it's been busy busy busy. Lots of planning and furtive whispered conversations as plans are made for presents and parties and a very, very special birthday treat for G Boy. I'm so excited for him I could burst with the not telling of it, but he'll, hopefully be finding out all about what is going on next week, so that he has a week or so to look forward to the event before his birthday, so I just have to contain myself for a little bit longer.

Funny to think, this time six years ago, I was the size of a house and wondering would I ever cope with labour, let alone thinking about what I would do with a real, actual baby afterwards!

I grew up near, and now live near, a small town called Ottery St Mary. It's a lovely little town, still with plenty of independent shops, on the banks of the River Otter, with a beautiful church and a lively atmosphere.

Ottery also has two very odd traditions, one of which takes place annually on Bonfire Night. The other, for the record, is called Pixie Day, happens in the spring and involves lots of small children running through the streets dressed as pixies (there's some legend behind it, but that'll be for another day, another post). The other traditional event, considerably more dangerous, is Tar Barrel Rolling.

This is when local residents take barrels of hot, burning tar and run through the streets, with the barrels on their backs. Yes really.

There's a number of suggestions as to the origins of this - some say it started as some form of pagan rite to warn off evil spirits. Others say it came about during the time of the Black Plague,when cannons were fired to scare the rats out of people's homes and then burning barrels were rolled through the streets to kill the rats which were then tossed on a big bonfire.

Nowadays, it's just done for the spectacle. The barrel carriers must have been born in the town, or lived there for a long time (fifteen years at least, I think might be longer) and often generations of the same family carry barrels. Barrels are lit outside each of the four pubs in town, then carried through the streets - and this is equal opportunities madness, you know, there are childrens (!) and women's barrels, which happen early in the evening before the men's barrels. There's always a massive bonfire, and a big fair with lots of thrilling rides as well, and it's certainly a spectacle not to be forgotten. The heat coming off these things is just staggering - how they manage to carry them I'll never know.

Apparently the barrels are specially treated, and are kept at a top secret location by the event's organisers, who regularly check them and soak them in tar at various intervals throughout the year so they are in perfect condition come the big night.

We've not gone yet as the children are still far too young (the streets get absolutely packed - it's not a place for those who don't like crowds), but it will be an event when we do go - I remember being exhilerated and petrified in equal parts when I used to go.

Pictures taken from the Times and Telegraph newspages. (because there's no way I'd get that close for a photo!!)