Tuesday 8 September 2015

Schoooooooool's back!! Hurrah!

Another sad day here at Chez Seal. While the boys sadly slunk around the house, lamenting the end of the summer holidays, I practically danced for joy. Poor Cam had a massive tantrum as he was scared of the new teacher, classroom etc - but we reassured him, and all was well with the world. Both boys had a fabulous first day back, Kieran saying there had been so much good stuff he couldn't begin to talk about it :P I got news that the Love food hate waste team are filming me this weekend, started the gcse  (english) today and enrolled in the gcse (science) at New Mills. I have the feeling that I shall be well entertained over the next few (50) weeks :)

Monday 7 September 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 46 The Natives are back at school tomorrow

I have to confess that Cam has a nasty cough so we did nothing this glorious golden day but puzzles and boardgames.The new chore charts are not working as well as the last ones, so I will rejig these slightly. Cam however has seized on the 'help prepare a meal' option with great vigour and has turned into a baking fiend. Though his biscuits today were particularly toothsome. Scouts starts up next week so I am helping sort out the hut tomorrow afternoon after GCSE English, and checking out the best games and then we are set until late December. I am really looking forward to getting the wee weasels back to school after all the chickenpox and illness. I think they will enjoy it too. They have their medal ceremony on the 10th after school which they will enjoy. Roll on tomorrow!

Saturday 5 September 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 44 The Natives are desperate to be back at school

Aaaah, I still feel shattered after dashing hither and yon across these green lands of Merrie Englande. No sooner had we returned from our London trip, than I walked in the door unpacked my bags and repacked them for my trip up to Leominster. With some care and forethought I purchased my ticket from Manchester to Glossop in case of any delays on the return journey. And how wise I was to do so! Once at Leominster, after I had enjoyed a lovely chat with various Welsh ladies, I popped into Ken's car and began the long drive down to Aldingbourne (near Bognor Regis). Twas a mighty journey, and not without its perils. To amuse myself, and my disenchanted sibling, I sent dear Kirst many a glorious picture of the motorway as we hit various points on the journey. She was able to see what the three shires area looked like on the motorway, ditto Gloucester, the Cotswolds, Winchester, Portsmouth and Chichester. She, I am sure, was vastly appreciative. Once in Chichester we popped over to Birdham pool where dad lived on a yacht until he was 6, and visted the house where he was born, as well as other areas of familial interest. While Ken rested at the Travel lodge I dragged dad off for a stroll around the neighbourhood, where we enjoyed foraging sweet peas, blackberries and sighted many other edible delights. We arrive back at the travel lodge just as a light drizzle began to fall. We then headed off to the local pub next to the racecourse for a delightful meal, where the BUGS, the local ukelele group both 'delighted' the ear and provided a topic of discussion. The next day we collected Kirst from the train station. We were afforded the opportunity to closely examine the delights of the station and bask in the sunshine as her train was 20 minutes late. We then headed off to Birdham Pool etc again. After that Ken refuelled and we headed to Aldingbourne Church for the memorial service at 12:30. Sadly, Ken had filled up with petrol, not diesel, so the service was delayed while he organised for a pumping technician to come and 'cleanse the car'. The memorial itself was simple and lovely, with Father Martin saying some lovely prayers. We then skulked about the graveyard like thoroughly disreputable characters until the pumping technician arrived, some 95 minutes later. The fuel removal took another 30 minutes to do and I blessed my foresight in booking the 8:08 train so that emergencies like this could be accommodated. We drove back to Leominster like the hounds of hell were on our tail, a trip so terrifying I read The fault in our stars cover to cover to distract myself from the journey. The light that evening was glorious, and I yearned to photograph the deep green fields edged about by trees and backlit with a deep golden light in the gloaming. We arrived in a rather damp Leominster at 7:40pm and headed to the local pub The White Lion for a refreshing cup of tea. Standing on the darkening platform I noted with no little interest and a total lack of surprise that my train was delayed by over 10 minutes but I boarded it at 8:20 with a sense of relief. Sadly my phone chose that moment to die completely. The train was absolutely freezing (Thanks Arriva!) a situation not helped by my pretty, yet far too summery for the climatic conditions, skirt and top. I finally staggered off the train in Manchester in the arse end of the station, a part I had never seen before at 10:30pm. My plan for a light dinner before the train journey foiled, I dragged myself onto the platform where the Glossop train hulked, The cruel wind whistled across the exposed platform while the shivering passengers gazed piteously at the locked doors. I have never seen a train boarded so fast once the door locks were disengaged. I finally staggered in the door at 11:35pm and went straight to bed. We didn't do much on Thursday and Friday but the boys did enjoy their session at Gym class today.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 40 The Natives are back home from London

Yes! The much anticipated, much requested and much requested trip to London to see Auntie Kirsten has happened. The boys were so excited they counted down the number of sleeps before seeing Kirst each night. We left Glossop bright and early on Saturday morning ad caught the train to Manchester, then popped straight on the train to London. Kieran made use of the toilet facilities on both trains, but only had the misfortune of one door being opened on him, poor soul. The boys were little angels on the way down, and positively raced up the platform to see Kirsten once we arrived at Euston station. Once in London we headed off to Kirst's sitting on the top of a double decker London bus. The boys were thrilled! We popped along to a little charity shop to see if they had books or games. There was nothing really that caught my eye. We then went to Bishops Park so the boys could have a play which they adored. They had a lovely water area which the boys wanted to play in but couldn't as we had not brought spare clothes. After galloping about the area and having a lovely time Kieran slid on the rainslick hummock and had a nasty fall so we trotted off for an ice-cream - which is when disaster struck! Kieran's melted too soon and and he subsided in a welter of despair and angst. After a grueling time he managed to walk home and popped the boys into a warm bath, where they were as happy as a box of birds. They had  an early dinner then fought off the embrace of Morpheus's arms until nearly 10pm. Oy! Sunday was lovely. We popped onto another bus - the boys were in transports - and went to the Science Museum. They truly are their fathers sons! Hours we spent, observing many scientific principles in action, and having a wonderful time. Around 2:30 the boys energy levels plummeted like a stone and strolled off to a gift shop so they could choose a souvenir of London. Kieran chose a Guard bear and Cam a cup. After that we jumped on a bus and headed to Bishops Park. The boys pranced and ran ahead of us and veritably threw their clothes off to play in the sprinklers. They had a wonderful time. After quite a long time they became a little chilled so we dried them off and dressed them warmly and they swanned off to have a play on the equipment. Disaster struck as we were leaving when some silly moo struck Kieran's head a glancing blow when he gently bumped her son, standing on the bottom of the slide, and called him a stupid boy. Another, different ice-cream was then purchased to calm the poor lad, and we talked about the incident as we walked home so he could process it. Another bath was had once home, then dinner and games of cards. The boys slept better that night which was brilliant. Monday dawned wet - a steady constant stream of water from the sky. We wound up staying at Kirst's and watching kids shows. The train ride went well, the boys behaving themselves although we missed the Glossop train by 1 minute after I bought the boys a hot chocolate. We then scoured Piccadilly for something suitable for dinner as it was past 7pm and made our way to Burger King as the least objectionable of our choices. Arriving I could help but notice that Kirean had vanished in the last minute. We retraced our steps and found the wee morsel who had drifted off in the direction of the platform rather than BK. What a relief to finally get on the train ad into Glossop!

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 34 The Natives are cavorting, pox free!

Cameron, as of yesterday, is no longer contagious. Praise the Lord! My plans for the holiday lie in wreck and ruin, my house is a shambles due to my highly unenthusiastic spring cleaning and the children's disgruntled fighting nearly sent them to a better place - but we have turned the corner. Today dawned brightly as Cameron hustled into the bedroom and inserted himself next to me for a cuddle. 30 minutes later he woke up, smacked me with his blanky, and shouted 'I only wanted a small cuddle!' before collapsing back on the bed happily snoozing. Twenty minutes later I felt 'sweat' run along my arm.....Cam was awake and out of bed in seconds, while I stripped the bed, and washed my sad little sausage. We then headed off to buy school shoes (an eternity of torment) and headed off to the Out of the World event put on by the children's centre - where our walked was enlivened bu a sudden rain squall. The boys had a blast, and were even happier when we stopped at the playground on the way home where they cavorted mightily!

Thursday 20 August 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 28 The Natives are bepoxed little swines - AGAIN

This time however it's Cameron. After having to hole up in the house so Kieran couldn't gift half of Glossop with 'chickenspots' we were finally free, free! But then Cameron developed a racking cough. It didn't stop me dragging the boys off on a wonderful walk up Simmondley to explore the woodland trails for edible plants and minibeasts. We managed to get the boys swimming on the Sunday too, but I had made many wondrous plans - which had to be cancelled. So Cameron is spotty as bedammed - a fair sight spottier than Kieran ever was the poor little love - and he's already looking forward to the spots going away.... as am I. Got my maths GCSE results today - 3 UMS off a B, which equates to about 2 marks :( debating asking/paying for a remark. What it actually means is that I have a C grade - wow, be still my beating heart :(. I got B's on 2 of the 3 papers but algebra was my downfall :( That and running out of time on the last 3 questions on the last paper sigh. So I am feeling rather disconsolate at the moment.

Thursday 13 August 2015

Summer Holiday: Day 21 The Natives are lazy bepoxed little swines

Nah, they're little loves really. But Kieran got a bit mopey and 'waaah' for the last 2 days of OTIS. On the last day, Friday, he thrilled and amazed us with a resplendant array of chickenpox - and so we had to cancel both the boys placements. Chris was delighted naturally. Cameron has shown no sign of getting ''chickenspots'' much to his dismay. Kieran has had a lovely mild case and has not scratched a single spot. It's amazing what the promise of a £2 coin can achieve. I had planned many amazing and varied things for us to do, over the last 8 days. Alas, chickenpox and poor weather smote my plans to ruin. However he is totally uncontagious now and so they went to a trampoling and tumbling session for the day. In other news I have joined the gym and pool and am enjoying that. I also bought a second hand bike for £35 AND I have enrolled for an English gcse (free) and a science/bio gcse (£330!! very much not free sigh). The boys gardening is coming along nicely -their herbs have sprouted and their pumpkin has produced some lovely orange blossoms.