Pool Painting

I think it rained all through the night and for most of today and it was certainly a lot cooler (I could say too cool but that would be wrong seeing as I complained about it being too hot the other day).

We got up late and spent the morning in, playing Monopoly, tidying, sweeping. We had a quick lunch and then Small and Huffle went out to 'shoot some pool' at the local Bowling Alley/Pool Hall/Arcade. No-one else was there so they got a table for $10 and stayed for 90 minutes (good deal). Small perfected his stance and his technique and won a game (due to black ball going down). They popped out to the bakery on the way home and bought cakes for all. Wahoo.

Smallest and I went and glazed our frogs from last week. It wasn't easy but it was good and Smallest definitely wants to do it again. We also had a good look around the gallery. We finished after a couple of hours and came home to eat cake with the others where Small made us a cup of tea (though it cost us!).

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Small had his shower, Smallest did his homework and Huffle FaceTimed Grandma and Grandad. Huffle decided we were going out for dinner and suggested Frankie Tomatoes which is an Italian buffet style place. We have been here several times for birthdays and the kids have been asking to go for ages but Huffle always denies their request, so it was surprising that he chose to go here. "It won't be busy on a Sunday evening" he exclaimed "and I know it's a fair way but at least we can eat straight away". AS LONG AS WE CAN EAT BETWEEN 6 and 6:30PM says I.

When we get there (around 6:15PM), the car park was absolutely crammed full. Still, we went in and were told the wait is 30 - 45 mins. NO!!! So we got in the car and scouted around for something else, but it had to be quick as both boys needed to be in bed early. Smallest had already had two late nights (and it was showing too in his awful moods) and Small had his Canada Wonderland trip tomorrow and needed to be at school for 7am!). To cut a long story short, we ended up in a Burger place that's only vegetarian option is a bit of stringy green pepper, a few small bits of fried onion, a limp lettuce leaf, a few tiny mushrooms, a huge slice of tomato (hate tomatoes) and a warm soggy bun. The boys and Huffle were fine and Smallest was most excited to serve himself a drink from the Soda Fountain (can't you tell we rarely eat fast food?) where he pushed against the lever for coke by accident whilst trying to get some ice and poured coke all over his fleece! Then when he went back for a refill, he plunked his ice into his drink splashing it everywhere. There was a notice board with some paper and crayons for people to use and people had left lovely notes for the burger place. I drew one that said "please learn to make Vegetarian Patties" and I drew a burger and wrote rice and beans next to it. Smallest drew a nice burger for them.

As soon as we got home, both kids went to bed. I put the quilts back on their beds as they have recently only been sleeping under sheets. I tried to find my bed socks for warmth but I packed them away in my Winter Box which is in the basement. BOOOOO. It's still raining, I think May was saving its rain for the final day.

 

 

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Not a Ninja!

Both Huffle and I woke up feeling very groggy, tired and with headaches. The pressure was quite high though and storms were on the way.

We had a pancake breakfast which everyone helped to get ready and then we headed off on our bikes, all four of us, ringing our bells as we went, to the centre of the Hamlet for the Garden Club Plant Sale. We were quite disappointed as the plants didn't look great and there was nothing there we hadn't already got. However I did persuade Huffle to buy us a Pond that they were selling. Obviously we couldn't get it back on our bikes so we left it to pick up later. The ladies said we could either get cheap fish that will die in Winter (if we have no heart) or we could borrow a couple of fish from someone with a bigger pond or we could get a small pump to keep the mosquitoes from breeding in it. We decided to think about it for a while and maybe wait for Grandad's input as we are still not sure where to put it. Smallest is most excited that we might get frogs though.

We then rode our bikes to the other end of the Hamlet in order to get to our resident Artist and neighbour who had an Art Show on. She is really talented but her work is so expensive and we can't afford it, but each year we buy one of her $10 cards and frame it ourselves. This is our fourth purchase. One day we will buy one of her big works of art. I have my eye on a big pig. Today we bought a Rabbit one.

I drove to get the pond and was given a little Muscari plant by one the ladies - aww that was nice. We had an ice cream on the porch and then the boys went off and played FIFA on the Wii and IPad and I went upstairs and did some sewing of my $10 Quilt square that I didn't finish the other day (I still haven't finished it as I got disturbed by lunch). We had thunder and lightning, a very heavy rainfall and a short power cut.

I can't decide how I'm going to sew it together.

After lunch Small decided he wanted to earn some money as he is going to Canada's Wonderland (a nearby theme park) with the school band (he is in the tech team). He cleared the table for us and walked to the general store to post a letter for me. Smallest desperately wanted to go with him but we didn't let him as we didn't trust them together (poor Smallest). After a short while it got really dark and then it started to thunder and rain so Huffle went and picked him up. He hadn't even noticed but he had got the stamp and posted the letter.

We all played Settlers of Catan (Huffle won) and while Small cleaned the Sun Room (more money earned) Smallest, Huffle and I played Junior Monopoly. Smallest and I then made some bird houses and painted them. We had more rain and more thunder and lightning.

We watched the final of Ninja Warrior UK and were most disappointed to find that no-one won. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT THEN? What a waste of watching! We watched a bit of Britains got Talent just for amusement bestie the boys went to bed.

 

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10am Beer

After the boys went to school and Huffle bought Premium Grade Petrol for the mower, we both went out to get the tractor mower started. How exciting! NOT! It wouldn't work. We both read the instructions at breakfast before we tried, we attempted to call MrRoyal (as he has one) and we tried to call Grandad (because he might just know about such things). After re-following all the starting instructions and Huffle swearing and getting mad, I went across the road and spoke to DonNoQuotey whose first question was "where's your husband?". He sat on it, fiddled with bits and then decided the petrol cap wasn't on fully tight. Well that did it HURRAH! As the engine started purring, DonNoQuotey say there with a happy contented smile on his face. He was obviously getting much more from the sound of a new good engine on a tractor than we ever were! He told me to get going and I mowed the garden while Huffle and him chatted over a beer (DonNoQuotey, not Huffle - he was working obviously).

I hit a small stone that got picked up by the blades and was instantly thrown at DonNoQuoteys head WHOOPS! They moved the trampoline for me and I finished mowing. NICE. Even MrsNosey came for a look. Huffle decided we needed a new strimmer and as they were on offer at the Tire we went out at dinner time for a quick shop. I stopped at Walmart to buy ping pong balls for our Springfest game later and some Ice Poles and then lost my keys. Luckily I left them at the tills and the check out chick found them. Phew! I went to a supermarket and picked up a few essentials and then met back up with Huffle who had bought chemicals for the pool (that incidentally isn't working again - more about that later), a strimmer and an extension lead.

We came home and had Executive Fish Finger Ciabattas (I call them executive because they had freshly pulled lettuce, spinach, watercress and rocket from our garden, red onion, mayo and tomato sauce. Ummm ummmm. We sat on the porch and watched a thing about Queen Elizabeth I.

I went off to school and delivered the Hanging Basket that was donated by Jeff at work for the Springfest and offered my services for helping later. Huffle and I put the strimmer together and then he strimmed everything and then tried to fix the pool (with the help of MrBasement on the end of a phone) though they couldn't get it going. MrBasement is going to pop by again Monday evening (and he may be able to get us a cheaper pump than the pool people).

I left them to it and went and bought two hanging baskets for us at the front and some tomato cages. When I got home I planted the tomatoes and some peppers and put the hanging baskets up.

The boys came home and had a quick mess about and then we all went off to school for the Springfest. We were sent to the school basement to find the jars from last year but they were full of spiders and dead things so we abandoned them and found some clean ones someone had donated. We were given a huge bag of sweets, a lollipop tree, a load of lollipops and a bag of goodies. Once we were set up we had kids flocking. Everyone has to buy tickets (a dollar per ticket) to do anything, play, eat, drink etc and we were charging one ticket each to play on the ping pong in the jars game (get the ball in the jar and win what is in there) and the lollipop tree (pick a lollipop, if it has a blue end of stick, eat it and get a prize, otherwise just eat it). We took loads of tickets as the games were very addictive. We started at 4:40pm and left at 8:30pm.

The boys just ran around doing whatever they wanted, occasionally coming back to help but mainly spending their tickets. Bless them, their friends had wads of tickets but ours just had $10 worth each. I thought they would come back for more when they ran out but they didn't. They got to play lots of games, win lots of sweets and eat pizza. One of the more popular games is Cow patty Bingo where you pay 10 tickets to secure a square where a cow is grazing in a grid of squares with numbers on it. When it poos on a square, the person with that number wins. However, today the cow never performed. There are many other things like silent auctions and raffles and other games like laser tag and haunted house.

We finally got home and Smallest went straight to bed, Small wasn't too far behind. I had to soak my feet as they were really aching and we sat and watched TV. TIRED!

 

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Did you play for England?

A bright and sunshiny day (we didn't get any storms as far as I recall yesterday). Huffle stayed at home and waited for the arrival of the mower which should have arrived between 9am and 11am but in reality was delivered at 4pm. Not too late then!

My mid morning walk was cancelled so I went to Suffolk's instead and we got on with our sewing as she picked up some more material yesterday. Our day was spent talking, drinking tea, cutting material, sewing, talking, drinking tea and having lunch. A nice day.

Huffle put up a couple of trellis panels today (but didn't paint them Grandad) up at the pool to help with privacy now there are no trees or thick ivy there.

The boys were already home when I got back and had done or were doing their chore before gadget time. I made dinner, the mower arrived and Huffle found out how it all worked. He was hoping they would bring it with petrol in but no such luck so we will have to wait to have a go.

Both boys had football this evening. We always say "make sure you have everything and everything is ready for us to just go before you play on gadgets". Of course they always say they have everything sorted. Why do I always believe them? Small couldn't find a football top the right colour because he put it in the laundry basket and I had just washed it (but it wasn't dry), Smallest couldn't find his shin pads or his boots (because they were in Huffle's coaching bag), neither had got a drink sorted or put sun cream on. Goodness, what a palaver!

Eventually Huffle had Smallest went off for their game and Small and I went off for ours (I say ours but I just sat in a chair and watched quietly by the sideline). Only today I wasn't so quiet. The coach didn't listen to Small when he said he wanted to play in defence and put him in goal for half a game. This is not normal, as they rotate the team regularly. Small was not at all pleased though he did make some lovely saves (despite the fact they never gave him any gloves). Then after the first half, the coach put him on as a Forward (not a great move as Small does not run well). He asked again if he could be defence and finally the coach let him but only for a couple of minutes and then subbed him. When he went back on again it was just minute from the final whistle. They are supposed to be balancing the teams but it doesn't look like they are moving anyone. I had a chat with one of the Dads who told me he played for ten years Provincial (I had to ask what that meant - basically one under playing for Canada). I told him I played a bit too. He said "in Europe?" I told him in England and he said "oh did you play for England?". Oh no, I don't think so! Small said I should have said Yes of course for England.

Smallest and Huffle had an interesting time too. HUFFLE EDIT:

Another win, 4-3 this time, two more goals for smallest including the winner. However, the game was not without incident. After taking the lead one of the opposition team crunched smallest, i brought him off to look at the injury and give him a rest. I told him the number of the opposition and that he was making out that he had hurt his teeth on Smallest (or using it as a reason not to apologize for the bad tackle). Smallest comes on and scores past this toothy fool. I don't condone what happened next but it made me laugh, he runs up to toothy right in his face while holding his teeth. Toothy didn't like this so apparently calls smallest an Indian idiot, clearly not the brightest was out toothy. The game goes on with obvious words continually being 'had'. Into the last minute and smallest nets the winner and more taunting, against my own amusement I told smallest to stop. Full time and toothy is a grumpy loser. The teams normally shake hands in a very false friendly way, I inform smallest to shake toothys hand, he offers it and toothy denies it. LOSER!!!!!!!!!

 

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Craft Swapping

Today was another hot and sticky day. So why would I choose to go to aerobics? Because it is a lot of fun and ExerciseNic said it was more beneficial because we sweat more. However, she did let us off a bit on our cardio workout this morning and we got to do much more floor work. Still hard though as there seemed to be no air anywhere. When Aunty A was aerobicing with me, she said of one of the ladies, "she smelt really nice and then I remembered I hadn't put any deodorant on". Today the same lady said "I wish your friend was here because I smell awful".

At home I showered and then walked around the garden with Huffle so he could plant some Sunflowers where I wanted them. I had lunch and watched Love It or List It with Kirsty and Phil (Moo suggested it and I really like it). Then I went off to pottery where I made a big candle holder. It was a lot of fun today. I really like the group we have at the moment. I have swapped numbers with one of the girls and I am going to teach her knitting and she is going to teach me Stain Glass work. Exciting. Another of the girls has just been bought a kiln so we can do pottery at her house. Now that too is exciting. I have a dilemma now with pottery. Next Wednesday is my last session where I get to glaze all my (and AA's) pots but I have also been asked to garden at The Royak York. There is no other session I can join to glaze but the other girls at pottery say they will glaze my pots if I tell them what colours I want. I really want to glaze them myself (not that I don't trust them just because I have paid for it and it is part of the whole process) but I love the Royal York Rooftop. Arrrrggghhhhhh. I need to sleep on it and see what I should do.

I came home, Huffle was working and watching the Blue Jays game in the background, the boys came home and we all had an ice cream. It was still very warm but at least there was a significant breeze. There was storm forecast but it didn't arrive before I published this post.

We had no after school clubs or events so there was no rushing about. MrBasement came round and had a look at our pool pump for us. He got it running almost straight away and then found a small leak in a hose and mended that too. Because we had asked him to do some work for us on the bunker and bathroom floors and the kitchen tops, he was worried our money was fast disappearing so he wanted to help us out to look after his work money for later. He is a useful man to know. He even offered to have a look at our mower but the new one arrives tomorrow and he's already told us to use Premium Petrol rather than Regular petrol in our new one.

Huffle and I made dinner, the boys played on their gadgets after doing a chore and then we all ate. After dinner the boys practised their piano and we waited for the rain and the storm as it was getting darker and darker and the pressure was intense. It was also quite blustery but the temperature didn't drop from 27* until much later.

After dinner we all sat on the porch to get some air and then played Settlers of Catan - Smallest won!

We left the kids watching TV and getting ready for bed while we vacuumed the pool, backwashed and rinsed the pump and put the necessary chemicals in and then quickly watered the garden. TIRED NOW.

 

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Space Invaders

Phew what a hot day today! Though the weather channel said it was 27* it felt more like 37!

Boys went to school, Huffle bunkered (though that's not entirely true. He started on the table in the Lounge, barked at the kids at breakfast, I barked back at him as I felt he was being too tough and by the time I got back from work, he was upstairs in the computer room). Basically, the basement is too cold when we have no heating on as the basement is the coolest place in the house in Summer, but it is freezing down there some days. So now we need to find a place for him where he doesn't get in our way and we don't get in his. Aside from building a purpose built office for him which we can't afford, we are stumped! I did suggest buying a shed and putting him in that but he thinks he'll melt in one! Thinking caps on then.

I went to work and worked in the Potage mainly planting tomatoes, nasturtiums (ooooh there was a lovely pale yellow almost white one - I'm not a fan of annuals but this was perfect, plus they flower all summer long), parsley and broccoli. After our coffee break where we tucked into Lime and Ginger Shortbread OMG delish, we moved a load of Begonias and Pelargoniums from upstairs in the house to the patio. Then we cleaned Mealy Bugs (don't know how to spell that) off two plants that I also can't remember the name of. Today I came home with three bamboo plants, a hanging basket for the school Springfest, two bean plants and four Purple Bean Hyacinth plants (annual climbers but might be interesting).

I had a quick wash and change and then had lunch with Suffolk who had come round so we could make our $10 quilt square. It seems, though, that we were not given enough material to complete our squares and although Suffolk came up with a way that we could make the material work for the pattern, we left a message for MrsSew to call us. She didn't call back and we abandoned it for another day.

Huffle and I planted up the bamboo and were bombarded with a million mosquitoes (I'm quite sure I'm not exaggerating at all). I noticed the pump wasn't working on the pool (despite the fact that it was definitely working first thing) so we attempted to find a solution by checking the Fuse Panel, wires, plug and timer. NOTHING. I called the Pool people and they said they could get someone out to us on June 15th which is three weeks away! I booked it anyway and thought I could always cancel if we found someone else. I also text a few people to see if they could recommend someone. MrBasement said he could have done it himself and is actually coming by tomorrow evening to have a look and he also said he could have had a go at fixing the mower too! He is a Jack of All Trades - I told him to drop by his CV (resume) so I could see what else he could do should we need his services.

It was a mad rush for dinner when the boys came home. Smallest had Swimming Lessons and tonight passed his Level 9 (even quicker than Small did - very proud but worried he will have to give up swimming as he will run out of levels to do). His instructor (MrBean) has lost his record card - I'm a bit annoyed as all his records of achievements are on there plus comments from all his instructors and dates he got the awards Etc. they lost Small's previously too! I took Smallest to his swimming and a woman sat behind me, very close, too close and started talking really loudly to her friend, RIGHT IN MY EAR. I moved away (she knew I moved because of her, probably didn't know why though - BECAUSE YOU ARE RUDE AND YOU INVADED MY SPACE). Towards the end of the lesson, a family of three walked past me and sat in a space that should really have been for two people and they sat down, making me move my stuff. Then the man leaned right over so I couldn't see past him, despite the fact I was leaning so far forward I could have fallen off. I moved yet again. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE - PERSONAL SPACE EH! (That's not really me saying Eh, I'm just mocking the locals).

On the way home the driving of the majority of the cars was ATROCIOUS. I can't stand it, it's driving me crazy. What's the matter with these people? Who gave them driving lessons? Who gave the people giving the lessons their training? c'mon, it's simple. Drive between the lines. Watch the road. Stay on the right (in Canada obviously) and don't sit in a lane that is supposed to be for overtaking, especially if you are going THAT SLOW!

Small had Football practice. He got a goal HURRAH! Huffle said of the game: it was painful, it was lovely weather (he had Happy Mondays in his ear and swore a lot). He was very pleased to see his old bear net his first goal and Small had a lovely big grin on his face. Huffle wrote on Facebook : Canadians know less about football than Arsenal fans. Honestly they really know nothing. It's painful. I'm embarrassed, the swear jar is the only beneficiary.

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

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Winter out, Summer in.

I finally had an appointment today to get my Winter Tyres swapped with my Summer Tyres. It's a bit late but I don't suppose it matters too much. I walked home from the garage after dropping my car off once the boys had gone to school. It was a warm humid day (but it did rain during the night and a little bit today which was refreshing).

Because I never had my car, I had to stay at home which made me do all those little jobs I never really get round to doing. I had a really long FaceTime with Moo (until nearly 11am) and we had a good catch up. The rest of the morning I spent washing, drying, sorting washing, putting away washing and clearing out all my Winter things. I watched Home Fires while I did it so I wasn't too bored. I also swept, dusted and partly mopped.

Huffle and I had lunch together and then we did a bit of gardening before he carried on with work. I cleared lots of paperwork and tidied away things that didn't belong where it was left. I walked back to get my car only to be told that there was hardly any oil in my car (why didn't the light come on then!) and the stuff they did get out was very black. My antifreeze was empty and my tyres were worn out. Oh Dear! I had the Summer ones put on but they will need to be changed soon preferably before we go away (if we do go away this Summer, as we have left it a bit late).

The boys came home and I made dinner while they played on their gadgets till Piano. Both boys are doing very well and doing very hard pieces at the moment. (MrsPiano told Smallest he had to Skype Grandma whilst playing his as she felt she would appreciate it). We had a bit of a disaster as Smallest had an 'accident' right at the end of his lesson. MrsPiano asked if he was nervous bless him, I think he was just holding it thinking he would be finished soon enough and it all got too much for him, he was very upset and embarrassed. Silly Billy.

After dinner of Macaroni Cheese, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Chicken for the Smallest and Biggest, (I know it sounds an odd combination but it actually worked) we all went off to play tennis (not Small, he went to Scouts instead). We played for an hour. It started off really sunny and then became really windy which made it hard to send the ball in the right direction. I'm sure Smallest won though as he said he had the best team when he was on his own against Huffle and I.

Small came home from Scouts with news that he is now not going to the Cuboree as planned next weekend, but instead going on a camp with just the Scouts in a couple of weekends time in between here and Ottowa (much better for him s some of the Cubs are still quite little). The big news is that one of the leaders and his son went once and a bear ate all their bacon. Arrrrgggghhhhhh!

 

 

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"You're a small Gentleman"*

We had another early start to our day because Smallest and I went to a 'Mother and Daughter Pottery Class'. Shhhh don't tell Smallest - they actually named it wrong and in future it will be called something less gender specific. We were at our class by 9:30am. There was a full table and their was little room for creating. We had the same teacher that I have on Wednesdays and she showed us all how to make a Frog Planter. I didn't realise we would be making a planter each but that was quite good because it meant I let Smallest just get on with it (with a tiny bit of help from me and the teacher). At one point one of his legs fell off and an eye wobbled a bit but all in all I think he did really well. He even made a lily pad for his frog to sit on. We get to glaze them next week. He enjoyed it a lot but didn't realise how difficult it would be.

This is Smallest's 'Charlie' frog. (The paper in the mouth is to keep it apart whilst drying).

........ And this is my 'Farquar' frog.

Huffle and Small went off and played golf at the golf club where we sledge in the Winter. Apparently he got to drive the golf buggy until he nearly crashed into a tree and then Huffle took it off him! He played well and there was a festival on at the same time so they played with a musical accompaniment.

We all went out for dinner and watched a bit of the Blue Jays on the big screens. A woman walked past the window and picked her dog up and put it in her handbag. Huffle was appalled. *Small asked for the children's menu and Smallest looked at him and said "you're a small gentleman Small". That seemed a very funny thing to come from an eight year old.

When we got home (it was very hot today) we sat by the pool and dangled our feet in (it's a wee bit cool in there at the moment). We all sat with our gadgets, me blogging, the boys playing and Huffle skyping Grandma, Grandad and Madamme Courvoissier. There was a lot of silly chatter today!

The garden is looking beautiful and there are many flowers blooming.

Baneberry, Virginian Bluebells, Tulip, Ligularia, Aubretia (I think), Anenome Seedhead

Daffodils, Phlox, Wild Violet, Jacobs Ladder, Allium (nearly out).

The veg patch suffered a little due to some overnight frost. We lost a couple of beans and some squash (never sew a hot veg until May 24 is out, or something like that!).

The new mower should arrive Thursday. Look at all those naughty dandelions!

Grandma's lavender on the left and the new one I just planted on the right. These sit on the porch and look lovely. They must help with the mosquitoes too though I haven't noticed yet.

We each had a minor injury today. Huffle got a twig in his eye at the golf. I fell up the stairs this morning. Small crashed the golf buggy and Smallest had a splinter.

Early evening, while the boys were watching Stoke beat Liverpool (Huffle edit 6-1 easy easy, go home scousers), I went and visited The Royals. I noticed them in the garden and went to see what was occurring. I half wished I hadn't as I got such an ear bashing from them about cutting the trees down in their field, despite the fact that Mrs Royal said I could cut down anything I liked as they never go in there. There were a bit upset that Huffle had left it in a mess even though I felt he had tidied it really well and moved all the cut down bits (that we didn't manage to pull over the fence and burn) towards the fence. All the trees we did cut down were diseased or just hawthorn type things anyway. I think they just wanted a bit of a rant because once we had a glass of wine (or G&T) in our hands, everything was fine. We had a good chat about local people, new Presidents, hairdressers, family and gardens. I was there for ages apparently (I thought I was only gone for about an hour but Huffle said they watched football, played football, had their showers and I still wasn't back - Whoops. I need to send Huffle round there next so he can get his ear chewed off about the trees. It seems they may be nicer to him as he owns a chain saw which might be useful to them. Also PrinceRoyal was there and I showed him a photo of Aunty A (he wants to know when she is coming back). Oooooooohhhhhhh.

 

 

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Whimpering Hot Dog

We had an early start to the day due to the fact that Smallest had to be at his Beaveree (30 mins drive away) at 9am and I had to be at my $10 quilt class at 9:30 (luckily in the same City as Beaveree). I took my breakfast and coffee with me as I didn't have time before we left. Smallest was in a mood because I told him to put sun cream on and his trousers were too thick, plus I asked him to take a hat. He was annoyed because he was completely covered with his fleece (including hood) and didn't understand why he needed a hat, plus the sun wasn't fully out so he felt he didn't sun cream. His shoes needed a double knot too which made him grumpy! I said he could sort his clothes out in the car which he found hard work and in fact ended up with his seat belt threaded through his clothes (something else to annoy him). I was happy to leave him with his Beaver Leader who said they had plenty of sun cram and drinks (it was a lady so I felt like she would be more responsible as she was a mum of two). She also offered to bring him home which was a big help. However, when she did bring him home she left him on our drive and didn't check we were in (I was not happy, apparently she said because both of our cars were on the drive, we must be in - what if we had all gone for a walk?). I feel like I want to complain as he was her responsibility but she was doing it as a favour to us. I'm not sure where I stand really except that this is the third time this has happened in 3.5 years and two of those have been with Cubs/Beavers! Not impressed at all. Thank goodness our kids have a bit of sense and don't just go wandering off on their own! Okay rant over (for now).

I got to sewing far too early so I sat in my car and ate my cold breakfast. When it got to 9:35am I thought I better try the door even though I hadn't seen anyone going in and it looked really dark inside (I was convinced I had the wrong day). It was open and they were waiting for me, whoops. Today we learnt the Thangles Tulip technique which looks complicated but Suffolk is coming over next week to help me.

I came home and Huffle, Small and I went off to the local (a few villages away) Spring Fair. We like this one because it is in a lovely small old village. There is a walk down to the river where there are various things to see and do on the way (though there is considerably less things each year it seems). We looked at books, an art exhibition and a bake sale and chatted to a lady who makes her own Maple Syrup (which we later purchased).

We watched the sheep being sheared and chatted to one of our lovely neighbours whilst looking at the chicks. The games were on too late for us to enter Small into so we just wandered around looking at the plant sale (always over priced) and Huffle bought me some jewellery for Christmas (which he will squirrel away so I forget about it). We wandered back up the hill and had lunch by the church. For just $5 each we got two postage stamp sized sandwiches (why do they take the crusts off?), a small homemade cake, a cookie and a tea or coffee. We sat in the sunshine on the grass and were bothered by a sausage dog. Poor dog had no-one to play with, he was tied to a tree and was being ignored and he sat there whining.

Huffle drove us to our nearby town and we had an ice cream and a visit to the DeadMan shop where Huffle picked up two Books for me (Christmas again) and a top for himself.

We visited a garden centre on the way home but it was too expensive so we noted the plants we wanted for when they have their huge sale at he end of the season.

Back home we played a game of Catan which was a very close game but I won in the end HURRAH. Smallest came home (as above) and played in the garden with an ice pole. He had enjoyed his day. Small filled the bird feeders (as a chore to get Tablet time) and complained when I asked him to clear up the mess he had left (there were bird nuts everywhere). I figured if I asked him to clear them (which he had big problems doing) he might make less mess next time. You never know!

We had jacket potatoes for tea and we watched some more Ninja Warrior and then I had to go out again for a School Springfest meeting which I was not looking forward to at all so I decided to walk there and have a glass of wine beforehand. Despite the fact that the people were nice, I really didn't need to be there. It is not how I like to spend my Saturday night, listening to people talk over each other.

Three interesting things seen today. A person dressed as a bear advertising a hair cut place. A licence plate. Two policemen on ATV's waving.

 

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Scab Wars*

It was a funny day weather-wise. The sun was out all day but it was really windy and quite cool. Even though the boys went to school in shorts, they stood shivering (NO WE DONT NEED A FLEECE MUMMY) outside waiting for the bus.

Huffle didn't sleep too well. Too much on his mind re.work and the lateness of his last call.

I went out this morning and returned the pallet (skid) back to the DIY place. First, walk in shop and wait for available assistant, only to be told to drive to the back door and find someone to take the pallet out of your car (due to the fact I already had one splinter from loading it in in the first place). Wait for ages for someone to notice you (why am I still so British, why not just shout HERE GET THIS PALLETT, I HAVE KNITTING TO DO!), and then wait while they fill out a form to give you a refund. Sign the form and drive round to the front of the building, park, go in and wait again for an available assistant to put all the paperwork through the tills, give them your credit card and finally get a refund of $30. $30 for a small pallett - was it worth it. Even the man taking it out of my car wondered why we had been charged for it in the first place.

I did my food shop and then carried on to knitting where I met two new people, one Irish (been here for forty years) and a Canadian. I only had an hour there but I managed to get plenty of sock done and a good cup of coffee.

At home, I had lunch with Huffle. Today the Work network died which meant he had to abandon work briefly. This gave him the opportunity to take down a piece of trellis and replace it with the new trellis and then paint it. He did a lovely job though I have some issues with it due to the fact it has some tacks sticking out of it and it is next to the pool, but we will sort something out. We had lunch and then he disappeared upstairs to carry on working.

I was so cold in the house that I went for a brisk walk in the Hamlet. In the sun it was lovely but that wind - brrrrrrr. I noticed one of our neighbours sitting outside on a chair reading a book under a tree wearing a coat with a hood (dare I say he is British).

I poddled around at home doing little jobs in and outside and then made dinner when the boys came home. Small had had Track and Field and came fourth in ShotPut (no ribbons for 4th) and received two ENTHUSIASM ribbons. They played on the Wii until dinner which we ate whilst watching the last Star Wars. Now we have to wait till the film comes out for the next one. Hurry up Smallest and finish reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban so we can watch that film again.

Whilst watching the film, Small lay on the sofa next to me and Smallest sat on my lap with his head resting on Small's legs, all of us encased in a lovely warm blanket. When Smallest got up, his big scab off his elbow was missing. We searched high and low for it and finally found it stuck to my leg! I asked Smallest to remove it and put in in the bin but he ran around trying to touch us with it. He tried to get Small to eat it and told him it was ham. Horrible boy!

The silly boy put himself in the laundry basket and asked for the lid to be closed!

 

 

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I'm a soccer Mom!*

I spent all morning in the garden re-doing the path. Originally it was six bricks wide but I took one out from each side so it's thinner. I think it still works, plus it goes further. It was quite a warm one first thing and I worked hard.

I found Huffle working up a tree today, laptop and phone at the bottom of the ladder and him up the top (it could've been lunchtime or break time). It made me laugh. If his phone rings he can still answer it from the ladder and he still gets to chop the tops of those awful cedars. My clever corporate lumberjack.

We had a quick lunch together before he had to get back to work and I had to go out. This afternoon I spent it with ExerciseNic in several garden centre type shops. She wanted to make her garden look nicer. She had drawn pictures of her borders and measured them. Our colour scheme was mainly purple, white and pink but I did persuade her to buy a lovely yellow rudbeckia which I know will flower all summer long. We did really well and only visited two shops but managed to get enough to cover all her spaces. She is going to plant them, I was merely there to guide her what will grow well where. I think it will look nice. I also picked up a few nice plants for our garden.

When the boys came home they were full of sillies but had had good days. It is the school talent show (their piano teacher couldn't persuade them to do anything this year) and the Spring concert but they are doing their football instead tonight.

I made a start on dinner, Huffle went into the loft and started his 3 hour call (he had to have dinner up there whilst on the call as it was all a bit rushed this evening). The boys played on the Wii until dinner.

After dinner Huffle and Smallest went to their football (Hiffle is coaching) and I took Small to his football. They are both in different places.

Small played brilliantly and put on a lot of tackles. His coach was very pleased with him and some of the opposition players were scared of him YEAH!

HUFFLE EDIT: an interesting introduction to coaching, which I did enjoy. Myself and coach Seymour (butt) put the kids through various exercises. Then there was a 30 minute game at the end versus another team. 8-4 win with Smallest bagging two and various assists. Not only did he do well under the watching eyes of the rep team manager he was doing well helping an autistic lad, his mum even thanked Smallest. Good lad.

And no swears (said Smallest) so that's impressive.

 

*I may be a soccer mum (never MOM) but I refuse to stand by the sideline shouting GET TO IT! They know they have to get to the ball, that's why they are playing football. They do not need to hear us shouting it across the pitch. I sat quietly by while inside I was shouting GO ON SMALL, KICK HIM. He knew!

 

 

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