T-Rex? What about the scary pig!

As temperatures in the UK reach 23*, forcasters are saying 'it's an Indian Summer', meanwhile temperatures reached 34* here today. Wow that is hot!

This household likes to leave everything to the last minute and bearing in mind the kids go to school tomorrow, the boys spent the first part of the day finding their school bags, clearing them out (Smallest!!) trying on shoes (finding out indoor shoes don't fit - Small!!) and packing Gym kit - thank you Yahoo for the reminder. I also made them try on waterproof jackets and wellies (well rain must be on the way soon). I was thinking, the other day, how lucky we were to have specific seasons and that we can put all our winter stuff away when Summer approaches and vice versa. However, the downside to this is that when you go to check Winter things (normally when it is a little too late) they don't fit - kids grow over the summer (is it all the warmth over here). Still I tried their winter coats on them and they are fine for now. Well that's something. Just need to shop for indoor shoes now.

The rest of the morning we played Chinese Checkers, Stack 'Em Up and Catan online. The air con was put to cooler again last night and we have storms forecast from 8pm this evening until Wednesday. Blimey - if that's true then we are having a two and a half day storm! We watched a bit more of Lord of the Rings during lunch.

This afternoon we took ourselves off to the cinema for a last treat before school starts tomorrow. We watched Jurassic World. It was good but there were parts that were just a little cheesey to say the least. Especially the part where the main lady is lying amongst the two dinosaurs fighting. Small jumped when a pig ran out near the beginning which was funny.

Back home we all jumped in the pool (not fully clothed this time) and played Pin Ball until Huffle and I could take the boys arguing no more and left to make dinner. Showers, electronics, dinner.

I heard a rumour that Doc Martin starts tonight. That's what we will be watching then.

 

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Who do you think you want you are?

We are under a heat warning for today and tomorrow with humidex temperatures over 30* and nearing 40*. Huffle decided to put the air con on again in preparation as overnight temperatures are likely to be around 23* (that's not comfortable for sleeping in).

Smallest's tummy was feeling fine this morning so I wonder if his problems yesterday was heat related with rich food on top! Small had a tummy ache after breakfast thigh and had to lie down with the fan on. I am still suffering with a sore throat and weariness but feeling much better. We had a pancake breakfast and after Smallest had cleared his bedroom floor (in preparation for his new paint) we all went up to the pool to have a look. It was very clear and it was just too tempting for Smallest who desperately wanted to jump in despite the fact he still had his PJ's on. I said he could go in and after checking with me that I was serious - in he went. Then Small joined him and I did too. All of us in our clothes. Only Huffle had proper swimming shorts on. We stayed in for a while, careful to stay in the shade as it was very hot and we had no suncream or hats. We sat in the shade drying off and then came in for a cool.

We had lunch watching the beginning of Lord of The Rings. We tried to watch this with the boys a few years back but Smallest got bored. He managed more but didn't want to to watch it all so we stopped it and they went on their tablets while we called Grandma and Grandad on FaceTime on the porch. Even though we were completely shaded, it was very hot. They said it was cold there. Oh dear.

The boys continued on their electronics and Huffle and I played a couple of games together on ours before we prepared and cooked dinner. We were going to have a BBQ but it was too hot to cook outside so we had an indoor one instead with chicken, sausage, couscous, veggie burger, beans from the garden and accompanying veg cooked with our one red jalapeño pepper and corn on the cob.

After dinner, Smallest played outside while the rest of us played Catan. We had to water the garden tonight as it was looking very parched. We can't remember the last time we had rain and the rudbeckia and hydrangeas were wilting badly. Normally we don't water the garden (except the veggies) at all but the poor things were so thirsty.

 

 

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The croissants are on fire.

HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY TO HUFFLE AND ME. As I was hanging out the washing this morning, I noticed one of our towels is fifteen years old (A wedding present) and it hasn't even worn out.

Huffle made us a Croissant breakfast and set one of them on fire. We opened our cards. One from the boys, one each from Huffle and I and one from Moo.

As it was our Anniversary, the boys put on a little puppet show for us. The first one was about Lenny the Lion looking for things on his shopping list (all animals) and the second one was about Polywhirl (a Pokemon) visiting the zoo.

I collected a good harvest from the garden while the boys got ready for a day by the pool.

I still felt a little weary and my throat was sore. Originally we were planning to go somewhere but we are all a bit tired and it was another scorching hot day so Poolside was a good idea. There was plenty of silliness, swimming, jumping in and a new game we made up called Pin Ball Pool. One person stands in the pool and the others are on inflatables. The inflatables have to spin towards the standing person and try to make contact. The standing person has to swim, run or dive out of the way. This was a lot of fun until I dived under the water (I am not the most proficient underwater swimmer and came up to find three inflatables above my head - I panicked and that was the end of that game).

We had lunch at the pool and various games including Chinese Checkers, Piratatak and the three boys had their tablets later. We had a cheeky ice cream and I read about a quarter of a book (The Kite Runner) and had a little snooze (I'm sure it was only a few minutes but it felt very good).

Early evening we cleared away, back washed and fed the pool with chemicals, showered and went out for a celebratory dinner at an Italian. It was nice but we have had better. Smallest didn't feel to well during his meal and had to go outside for some air. He was very hot and his tummy hurt. It didn't last long as we popped into Home Depot (B&Q) on the way home and picked up some bits including some new paint for Smallest's room. He chose a darkish blue called Cosmic Cobalt. There were some classic cars in the car park but by the time we came out, they were all leaving. Shame, the kids like looking at those.

We came home and Smallest went straight to bed (saying he was feeling much better), Small played a game on the IPad with me until he went to bed.

 

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Don't wear white after Labour Day*

Another sleepless night. Too hot (had to turn the air con to cooler), felt sick and had a sore throat. Now whenever I eat anything spicy, I get a sore throat afterwards. Normally it goes away after a couple of hours but last night it didn't and it got steadily worse and then my tongue seemed to swell too. Even an ice cream didn't help. I wondered if I had an allergic reaction but think it is just a virus as I have been hot and cold all day and feeling very rough.

After breakfast, the boys and I played the new Indiana Jones game (me under a blanket on the sofa trying to get warm while it was 31* outside. In the end we turned the air con off just to get some warmth into the house. There wasn't an awful lot else done this morning and after lunch I took Smallest to his friends house to play. Huffle finished work early, as it is Labour Day weekend, so we went off to a shop, leaving Small home alone happily playing on the computer. We printed out some photographs, bought some frames and other bits we needed and after two hours we came home via Small's friends house. Small didn't want to come home yet so we left him and came home to sort our photos out.

Huffle had promised the boys a poster or photo of their beloved Stoke Football team (honestly!!!!) so he got them to choose the photos they wanted and we printed and framed them. Small took every picture down in his room and we rearranged them nicely (he also got rid a of a few he didn't want anymore).

I framed two of my photographs and put them in my newly painted bathroom......

.....and when Smallest came home he chose where to put his (we still need to decorate his room).

Bless him, he chose where to hang them and put the football stickers on too.

We also bought a new BlueRay/DVd player as ours broke and wouldn't play the game properly this morning (it has been playing up for a while). Huffle spent the early evening setting it up (after spending a considerable amount of time writing in my anniversary card - I wondered how many words it took to tell me how perfect I was!).

Huffle took us out for dinner and we sat at the bar, watched a bit of baseball, chatted, played and had a nice evening until I broke one of my teeth on a chip! Oh dear, I have just been to the dentist too and now I can't go until at least Tuesday because of the long weekend. It doesn't hurt yet so hopefully that will be the end of it (fingers crossed).

The boys watched Top Gear at home before going to bed.

* we asked our waitress what Labour Day was for. She didn't know and had to look it up but she could us tell this "you should never wear white after Labour Day, something to do with the fashion and the snow coming!" Rightio then!

 

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Shamen Spitting

The air con had to go on last night as there was no air coming through the windows. At least we all slept well and long. Everyone got up late (obviously Huffle was the first up as he had to work - well someone has to). Lots of sleepy faces this morning and I sat and watched TV with the boys until we could be bothered to get breakfast. More TV, followed by tablets while I cleared the kitchen and cleaned it.

Late morning we went to the school to see what the class lists were for this term. Both boys have male teachers this year (this is a first apart from their music and Science teachers previously). Both boys are happy with their teachers and their classmates (me too). Phew, thank goodness. Next we took a quick trip to the library where we happened upon a huge film crew in the car park. Apparently they were filming Undercover Rogue (I don't know it but I believe it is a Police series) on a nearby Highway. Very exciting. We carried on to the supermarket where we picked up food and some new born clothes for the newest Hamlet member. ClownRose has just had a baby boy and her daughter starts school next week too. Awwwww. Sweet.

The boys were a big help with the shopping though Smallest was so tired he could only push the trolley (and bump into things). At home we unpacked and put away and then had lunch. Once again the boys were in front of the TV. They want to make the most of it seeing as they will be at school in five days time. The temperature was 31* today with storms forecast for later in the evening (there was a bit of lightning but nothing much). After some general tidying I popped over to ClownRose to deliver our present and to The Royals (neither houses were answering so I came home). It was so hot and humid I went in the pool all by myself. The pool temperature was 25* which is not bad considering it was only filled a couple of days ago. There is a still a slight leak but we will deal with that another time.

Smallest joined me and we played for a while and then Huffle came for a cool off, shortly followed by Small. We had a whirlpool till Huffle went back to work and Small, Smallest and I played Piggy in the Middle. Small got a bit grumpy (tired) when I got out of the pool and so he went inside and read. Smallest and I started a new game indoors and Small joined us.

While I made dinner, the boys played a game we got yesterday from Jacq. It is an Indiana Jones DVD/Board Game which they seemed to like. Dinner was eaten, the game continued and then more TV. Smallest went to bed extra early tonight though he must have come down three times before properly settling down and going to sleep. Small went earlyish. The air con is still on as the rest of the week and weekend is supposed to be hot too.

Huffle and I continued to watch Stephen Fry in Central America which is very interesting. Smallest is now hooked on David Attenborough's programmes and the boys have discovered Top Gear (they think it's a new series).

 

 

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Vote for Horse Carrots*

I got up extra early this morning in order to make some muffins to take on our trip this afternoon (we had been invited to an afternoon at a pool, a friend who I met at Pottery). Bearing in mind I am not a morning person and I don't like to do anything till I have at least drank my morning hot water followed by morning coffee, I did make 12 Chocolate Courgette Muffins. I have successfully made this recipe many times so can almost make it in my sleep, except for when I decide not to put my spoon into the salt jar but to tip the salt on the spoon instead (I think you can guess how this story is going to go.....). Bang, all the salt goes in. I tried to tip the salt out leaving the rest of the dry ingredients safely in and I thought I'd done it and even tasted the wet ingredients to check if it was salty tasting. Doh! That's where not having my morning drinks comes in into effect again. I tasted the wet ingredients and they were fine but the dry ingredients (which obviously includes salt!) were not. Still it all got mixed and went into the oven and baked to perfection. I then had a quick breakfast and left for work.

I left the boys instructions for some chores to do before going on any electronics and also to test a muffin between them to check the saltiness. At work we spent most of our time in the greenhouse making cuttings of the pelargoniums. At coffee time we chatted about MrsM's recent tour of Scotland where she encountered NO RAIN at all and had a fabulous time. Jan baked us Zuccini Loaf (less the salt) and we tidied the veggie garden.

The boys squash garden looking good. Squash's getting so big

I came home early because of going out in the afternoon until I was informed that the host was running late (despite the fact that it was at her house) so we Facetimed Moo while we waited and got our stuff together. Finally we arrived at Jacq's house where she had a lovely in ground pool and the boys jumped in at once. She also has a son around Small's age and Suffolk's Kids were also there. They all got along brilliantly and played in the pool for most of the time. Us three Mum's got to chat whilst watching them play and occasionally shouting "watch your head" and "don't dive there" etc etc. We had a lovely time and helped to finish off some snacks that were made for us and the muffins which were really nice. Salty but somehow it worked. I don't suppose I could recreate them as I have no idea how much salt actually went in. Jacq was getting rid of her sons clothes and games so everyone got to have a look and see what they wanted. We came home with quite a few clothes, some bedding, a blanket, cushion and several games.

Just as we were setting off for home (about 5pm), Huffle called and asked if we wanted to go to a Blue Jays game tonight. I said no as it was too hot (temperatures were at 31* at that point and we had already had a bit of thunder) but the boys said that they wanted to go, so we called him back and he got us tickets.

Saw this van on our travels!

As soon as we got home we rushed to get changed and drove straight into Toronto. The traffic was awful and it took forever but we eventually got there, parked the car, walked to the Rogers Centre (quite a walk), grabbed a slice of pizza each and headed to the game. We arrived a bit late and the queues were really long but we had our pizza to eat and we got in not too long after the start.

We had good seats in the top part but with a good view and the roof started to open not long after we sat down. Smallest was too tired and hot for the whole game and really struggled but he managed to stay awake. It was a good game and the Blue Jays won 5-1 (against Cleveland). We had a crowd in front of us who were desperate to start a Mexican Wave and in the end they managed it.

A long walk to the car followed and a slow drive home with lots of muppets driving very badly. We got home around midnight and the boys went straight to bed.

 

 

All the election boards everywhere at the moment have plenty of interesting names, but the one that caught my eye was Horse Carrots positioned next to a councillor's board. Yep, that's who I'm voting for.

 

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Pinch Punch September Sunshine

Today the temperatures were supposed to hit 30* and for September, that's very good. The boys and I took advantage of the good weather and headed to Cobourg Beach (about 75 minutes drive). Armed with a coolbox full of lunch and cooling drinks, three chairs, a blanket, a football and four reading books (one being the Harry Potter Quiz Book which seems to accompany us to all beaches now) plus a shade umbrella, we headed off around 10:45 stopping for sun cream and petrol on the way.

Cobourg Beach is a vast expanse of sandy beach in a bay next to a camping ground for RV's. The water is shallow and very clear but not very warm. Certainly not as warm as Lake Huron (maybe it's bigger). The beach was full which surprised me but I guess other people had the same idea as us. The kids are back at school next Tuesday after all. We chose our spot next to the lake and while I put up the umbrella and arranged towels and books, the boys went straight in for a swim. I paddled but no further than calves to start with.

Smallest started a sandcastle and made a mountain with a drawbridge and a moat which he then filled with water. We had our lunch and then started on Small's mountain. He dug down until he found water and then his hole started collapsing by itself. We built castles and walls and steps (I saw a man take a photo of it while we were in the water later).

Small persuaded me to go in the lake and said once I got my shoulders under it was fine. I tried and I did swim but it was too cold for me. I sat and finished my book instead. We toddled off in search of ice creams and to put more money in the meter for the parking. Small had a Chocolate Monkey (banana and choc), I had a Cappucino Biscotti and Smallest had a Lemon Sorbet. We ate them on the way back to the beach.

Small did a bit of reading, a bit more digging and then they both went in the lake again. Little fishies. Someone on the beach was offering free art sessions next to us. They had brought music and canvases and paint onto the beach for people to have a go. I think it was free, maybe donations but apparently she chose a different beach each day to do this. She even cleared the beach of rubbish first thing this morning and smoothed out the sand. (Small said he overheard her say that the beach people gave her $40 which paid for her family's lunch and the art supplies). The boys didn't want to partake and at 3pm we decided to make a move before the traffic was bad going home.

We stopped at the library on the way back and by the time we got home there were jacket potatoes baking in the oven for us. Thank you Huffle. I made a salad with some home grown onion and we had Cheese and Beans with our potatoes. The boys cleared the table for us and filled the dishwasher and then we all played on our tablets/IPads. I think the temperature was hotter here in the Hamlet than where we were and it stayed hot right through till sunset.

 

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