The Gallery - Animals

This was a surprising tough prompt from Tara this week.
Oh the pressure not to be obvious, to be witty, to try to be just a little bit original...
Misty Moo (our four legged blogger) was getting very excited at the opportunity of taking centre stage on the blog for once. But sorry Mooster my four legged friend, you have been stood down in favour four wheels.

We were at Stamfords Car Fair on Sunday and saw a shining array of animals. Arriving slightly late we missed getting a shot of the prancing ponies but we did see them stampede out of Stamford.

For those less familiar with the emblems there is Mustang, Tiger Racing and of course Jaguar.

Hop over to Tara's blog, Sticky Fingers to see other entries in this weeks Gallery.

The Great School Holiday Challenge - Week 5

Week 5 already!

I actually think *pauses for breath* that we might just make it. I know I could be tempting fate here but we might actually survive 6 weeks school holidays with no packing cases type holiday, no major injuries or visits to A&E, no major damage to the credit card and, more importantly, survived with our sense of humour intact.
I know there is still time but let me have my moment OK?

Day 29: Car shopping. After 3 months of mostly managing without a car while the Mr is off hunting and gathering, today we went to buy him a runaround so I could have wheels. Yipeee! Interesting experience. First stop, a field and bunker, a moustachioed man and a potential car but the moustachioed man had lost the keys. Second stop, a level crossing and a potential motor with keys. One test drive later, a quick exchange of offers and a passing over of some notes and she was ours/his.

Day 30: Bouncy castle heaven for the kids. Friends had their 2 remarkably well behaved boys Christened and at the party afterwards the Princess and the Wee One had their first successful experience of a bouncy castle. No tears. Not one. I was happy.

Day 31: After an unplanned visit to the local soft play centre (which really must get some investment soon because it is falling apart but they can make a decent cup of tea) our friends from Sant Pol de Mar (Catalunya) arrived for a 3 day visit. Whooo hoooooo! You may have seen my earlier post about houseguests which was inspired, but by no means directed at them. We had a great time. The Princess was in total awe of the Tall One who is 10, my god-daughter, very slim and leggy and also very intelligent. She will go far. The Wee One was in total Awe of the Chatty One, my not god-son, who will undoubtably be in the media with his witty comebacks. The Big One was just as happy as he could be. Sleeping arrangements were tight, with me "shhhing" alot after the Wee One had gone to bed but it worked!

Day 32: I was super delighted and gushing with excitement to be invited to a Mothercare #MummyMeetUp at their Peterborough store. a) This was the first time I had been invited to anything as a blogger and b) this was the first time I would meet anyone in the flesh from twitter. I was surprisingly not nervous and it was a pleasure to meet some lovely bloggers and tweeters. We only had an hour so we didn't exactly have a huge amount of time to get to know each other and the time was also largely taken up by a representative from Medela who fought bravely through the toddler mayhem to educate us on breastfeeding and the equipment that is now available to support you. She did remarkably well given most of the audience was actually beyond that phase of parenting but I did get to play with a fake boobie and breast pump which have improved considerably since I fed the Big One (pumps not fake boobies that is).

Day 33: The sun shone (for once this week) so guess where we went? Regular readers will know that Burghley is my local attraction and I have a season ticket. So off we went. Sculpture garden where the Big One managed to roll around in some nettles (you probably heard his screams) and the water garden where, not surprisingly, we all got a bit wet.

Day 34: I'll let you into a little secret, the best cheese scone in Stamford is at the Stamford Arts Centre. So we went and I had a cheese scone which was still the best in Stamford. The Wee One ate ice cream. And then we waved bye bye to our visitors. Tears were shed when we all looked at each other and thought "Now what?". So we went to bed early.

Day 35: Boring bored sort of day today. Post visitor blues combined with rain and the essential cleaning requirements of a house of 5 people and a molting dog. There is no way I can glamourise the day. It was essentially dull.


And so I return to my hopeful opening paragraph and try not to tempt fate that we are now in the last week of the school holidays and we haven't killed each other. Mind you, there is still time.

Silent Sunday

House Guests and How to Survive Them

We love them right? Friends or family who we don't see that often and live too far away to come just for a day or evening. So we offer them a bed / mattress / tent in the garden for the night. That way we get to spend some quality time with them, catch up with how big the kids have got, remark on how much weight they've lost since you last saw them, and generally relax and have a fun time.

Or not.

Let's be honest, it is hard work isn't it?

We have moved about a fair bit and we have friends who have moved around a fair bit so consequently we have friends who are far flung. Some we see quite often, some we don't see much, and some we wish we saw a lot more but distance and time prevent it.

If you have to travel a fair distance to get to see them, then you are going to spend at least one night with them which probably means a weekend and there are only 52 of them a year (last time I counted) so chances are, like me, you only get to see them once or maybe twice a year.

And it is indeed a great pleasure. I love it. If only it wasn't at my house.

It is with a sense of despair that I have realised I may be a bit of a control freak. I do a good "relaxed, laid back, hey no problem" face when underneath I am aching to move that abandoned rucksack, put those shoes somewhere more convenient, or just chivvy them along in our (only) toilet.

Yes, thank you so much for making a coffee but actually I like it a bit stronger and with more milk. 

Oh, you let your children stay up till 10 in the holidays.


To be honest, I would prefer it if you didn't leave your used teabag in the sink.

I used to think that my increased anxiety levels were purely down to the fact that I am not a domestic goddess in any sense. The necessary housework required to ensure that guests would want to cross the threshold and then remain there was a major undertaking, requiring much muttering under my breath and swearing at the hoover, normally accompanied by a bit of bashing, slamming and general blustering through anything in my way. So by the time guests arrived rather than a hostess who floated through offering drinks on arrival accompanied by canapes, I would be snarling at a knot in the hoover cable while spraying Mr Sheen in my wake.


I have since recognised that although housework contributes to house guest stress it is not the whole cause.


I know it must come with age, and I am cringing at myself for the slow transition into my mother (runs screaming from the room), but I like my home, the way it is organised, the routines we have, and the sanctuary it provides. And I get stressed when we have people come and stay. I hope that I have not reached the stage where my guests feel uncomfortable (Mother, take note) and can sense any irritation. I'm pretty sure I haven't tutted at a guest yet and any raising of my eyebrows has been strictly restricted to the back of my guests head. [As a complete aside, I have to mention the time we went to visit my parents only to be welcomed at the door (after a 2 hour drive with 3 young children) with a "Well, better late than never." and a "Don't put your bag there please". Bless.]

It is hard to shuffle your life around to accommodate other people into it (even if it is only temporary) but I know that the reward for doing so is the pleasure of seeing my dear friends and being part of their lives as well as me being part of theirs. And lets not forget that it is very likely I will be a guest in their home too and they will have to put up with my little habits and foibles.

So for the record, here are a couple of my coping strategies for when the invasions happen:

• Get all the cleaning, ironing, housekeeping done before anyone arrives so you don't have to worry about it or try to do it around anyone else (guests do not appreciate the smell of bleach or the fact that you need Take That at full volume to clean the bathroom).
• Relax the children's routines a little and work out a compromise of bedtimes to avoid overtired kids and give you some adult time.
• Discuss food preferences before they come so you don't have awkward "Johnny can't eat fish" conversations 5 minutes before you dish up fish fingers for tea.
• Have some ideas about what you are going to do and have a plan B just in case.
• Hide anything that you don't want your guest to see before they arrive (bills, letters, dodgy ornaments) and get out things that you want them to see (like the gift they bought you last birthday that *cough* didn't quite match your decor).
• If your guest offers to help then accept it and put them to work.

And a little advise for the guest:

• Remember you are the guest in someone else's home (so don't waltz in with all your "Johnny needs to have semi skimmed lactose free goats milk on his Shreddies in the morning" *smiles sweetly* requests).
• There is a toilet brush and can of air-freshener in the bathroom for a reason.
• Don't expect full waitress service.
• If you offer to help expect that offer to be taken up.
• Don't expect a lie in.
• Feel free to make a cup of tea/coffee (black with half a sugar/white with no sugar please).

This post is scheduled to reach you just before your weekend guests arrive.

Photo credit: http://jennybrowndesigns.blogspot.com

World Photography Day - The Gallery

Tara Cain over at Sticky Fingers had tweeted about World Photography Day and I thought what a great way to spend some time, at the Burghley Sculpture Gardens. So the Big One and Princess were given cameras and free reign to snap away. They had a great time right up to the point where the Big One's batteries ran out *fail*

It was wonderful watching them run around and capture their afternoon through a lens. I could have used one of their photos for the Gallery but to be honest there wasn't a shot there that I would say captured the moment or would be saved for years to come in an album to show the grandkids!

The children had abandoned their cameras to run up and down this hill and around the wooden 'carrots' (I'm pretty sure that wasn't what the artist had in mind when he conceived his sculpture) and I just got a quick glimpse of Princess through the Big One's legs and I snapped not even thinking that it would come out okay.

This sums up our World Photography Day.

Thanks Tara. Pop over to Sticky Fingers to see other entries in the Gallery.

Silent Sunday

School Holiday Alphabet Challenge - K

We had a double whammy yesterday. Whilst jumping up and down like a loon in the middle of a critical nailbiting football match against Daddy, the Big One was inspired for his next letter so we took it there and then. Well, technically I took it (again) but it was all his own footwork.

K is for Kick!

We'll back again tomorrow folks.