Llanymynech

28 September 2012

After a morning spent shopping in Oswestry we headed out the town in search of somewhere suitable to eat a picnic.  We ended up in Llanymynech a village which straddles the border between England and Wales, it runs down the high street.  In fact there was, it is now closed, a pub which straddled the border and it had two bars in England and one in Wales!

We found a car park next to the Montgomery Canal and headed off and found a picnic bench a few yards up right alongside the canal.  It was a lovely spot out of the wind and in the sun that had come out for us.  After we had eaten we headed off to explore a Heritage Area nearby.  What we found was a collection of wonderfully preserved buildings and much evidence of industry.  We only explored a small section of the area bit we did walk around in a huge Hoffman Kiln which was used to produce lime for industry.  The article I have linked to is old now as it talks about the kiln being overgrown, this is no longer the case, it has been restored and recovered with a large metal structure similar to what it would have looked like in its heyday.  There were many interesting interpretation boards which explained what the buildings were for and many signposts to help you walk round the site.  We only managed to look round a small part of it, I would love to returned and look round it some more in the future.  My eldest was intrigued and fascinated by all of it, after reluctantly joining us!  What better way to introduced children to industrial archaeology and history?

Montgomery

27 September 2012

We have visited the delightful town of Montgomery today.  This small town is in Wales, close to the border with England.  It has a number of interesting buildings including a old gaol, an market square surrounded by imposing and very old houses and the remains of a castle high up on a hill next to the town.

We climbed the hill up to the castle the remains of which are interesting to explore.  It was destroyed over 400 years ago at the end of the civil war, but nonetheless there is still enough to see.  The views from the top were amazing as it was a bright sunny day.  We worked out we could see a nearby town Welshpool, which is about 7 miles away in one direction.  One the way down we picked blackberries there were still a few to be found, they made a fine crumble with apples for tea.

On returning to the town we visited one of the most amazing shops I have ever been into to, I have visited before but no visit to Montgomery is complete without looking round Bunners.  It describes itself as a hardware store which it essentially is but it is also an absolute warren of a shop and one which it would be easy to enter and difficult to find your way out, if you are not careful! They sell a massive range of so many things and if you ask if they have anything in stock they will take you too it.  I have no idea how they keep track of everything but it is a wonderful place to explore and difficult to leave empty handed.  I found some great biscuit cutters, a cup for my dad and a small present for my youngest today.

We had lunch in the delightful Castle Kitchen.  I ordered my children a sandwich each.  They were absolutely huge and came with a large salad and crisps.  They kindly gave us a bag for each to take home the uneaten half!  My beetroot and feta salad was also a generous portion and very tasty.

So if you ever find yourself in this part of the world, do go and visit this very interesting little town you will not be dissappointed.

Knitting

26 September 2012

I am joining in with Ginny and friends for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading and Tami for this weeks work in progress.  I thought I was only going to be able to read everyone else's posts without being able to join in this week but I have worked out how to take and post a photo using my iPad so am able to join in when not at home!


I am still knitting the sock that I started last week, it has a grown a little but not as fast as I had hoped, my husband has been around more than I thought he would be and as these are a present for him they have been put on hold. The dress I am knitting my youngest has been progressing faster I have now completed ten stripes.  I have also bought some more yarn at this wonderful yarn shop.  We are staying with friends who live within walking distance!

I have fitted in more reading this week and am now half way through my book and enjoying every page.

What are you knitting and reading this week?

We have been mainly.......

24 September 2012

busy!

We started the week with our usual trip into town for food shopping and a visit to the library.  I managed to fit in a visit to a craft shop to pick up another ball of sock yarn to knit another pair for a Christmas present.  We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at home as we usually do, we all find shopping exhausting but it needs to be done as we don't eat otherwise.  My eldest went to Beavers in the evening.  This is the only time in the week when I have to be somewhere by a certain time and I am absolutely rubbish at getting tea on the table in good time for us to eat it with enough time to get there.  It is a good job I only do this once a week!

On Tuesday our regular play date was off as our friends are moving house.  We were lucky enough to be invited to play with a different friend.  The friend was so keen for my eldest to come over that they came and picked him up!  It was strange in the house without him, my youngest loved the rare chance for undivided attention.  I had a D of E pre-expedition check to do in the afternoon before heading to our friends to share tea and then head home.

The next day we were joining friends for a picnic and blackberrying.  For some reason I really struggled to get it together to go out.  Everything I did that morning took longer than I thought it would and it took me hours to get out of the house.  We made it eventually but it was so late we had a picnic on the living room floor of our friends house.  We had just enough time to do a spot of blackberrying before they headed to swimming lessons.  There were slim pickings, they had either already been picked or it was a poor crop this year.  We did find enough for blackberries and cream for tea.

On Thursday we all headed south to join friends for lunch.  I made a loaf of bread to take, one which you make a sponge overnight.  It was the best I had made with the flour yet, I was really pleased with it, the whole loaf got eaten for lunch!  The children played and the adults talked, it was a lovely afternoon.

Friday we spent at home, I baked two cakes to take on holiday with us.  Packed a bag of clothes each for myself and the children, wrote a packing list for my husband to pack stuff over the weekend whilst I am out and then headed out for the afternoon to get a birthday present for my husband.  It is not for a few days yet but we will be away on the day and I wanted to be sure I had a present to take with us.

Over the weekend my husband and children packed up stuff to go away whilst I was out on the fells doing a D of E assessment. It was really cold both mornings there was a frost and I had to scrape ice off the car on Saturday!  It was a beautiful sunny day on both days, really warm for the time of year, it was great to be outside and enjoying it.   I walked a fair distance and up some steep slopes which my legs are not used to anymore.  I think I will have sore leg muscles next week, can't remember the last time that happened!  On Sunday night my husband had cooked tea after which we jumped in the car and headed off for two weeks away and some rest!

Frost

22 September 2012

We have had our first frost of the season, yikes!  We knew it was going to be cold last night but I had to scrape the ice off the car this morning when I went out at 9am.  It was a proper cold morning followed by the most beautiful sunny day, my favourite kind of day.  I was lucky enough to out in the fells today and the views were amazing.

My husband has been out covering all the plants that need protecting in case we have any more cold nights which is highly likely.  We are away for a two week holiday tommorrow so I hope there will be some produce left when we come back as it has taken all summer to produce anything!

Garden

20 September 2012

I have neglected my garden of late, left it to its own devices, in the main this has worked well but there are places that are in need of attention.  The weather has been harsh for us this year.  Cool, cold temperatures throughout the summer months left me thinking I would have no produce at all.  However my neglect has paid off, as I have no being paying any attention to it at all I had not noticed what was really growing.

Tonight we have had a meal made from vegetables picked from the garden, the first this year.  

We had roasted beetroot, beetroot peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces roasted in oil, balsamic vinegar, water, garlic (from the garden) and thyme (from the garden). 

I also made up a lasagne with kale and courgette.  I shredded the kale leaves and cut the courgette into chunks and steamed both when they were cooked I added ricotta, goats cheese and two crushed cloves of garlic (from the garden).  I made a white sauce with oil, flour and milk to which I added mustard.  I layered the lasagne up and sprinkled grated parmesan type cheese on top and bunged in the oven at 190°C for about 25 minutes.  

We were so hungry I did not get a picture and there is none left, it was very tasty.

Knitting

19 September 2012

I am joining in with Ginny and friends for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading and Tami for this weeks work in progress. I  have finished the socks that were on the needles last week and cast on another pair.


I have also cast on several other projects this week as we are off on holiday for the next two weeks.  They are all Christmas presents so depending who we are with and what time of day it is I have a project to be getting on with!  So I have two more scarves like this one and a dress for my youngest.  I hope when I share again in a couple of weeks time these projects will be either finished or progressing well. 

Reading this week has been really slow.  I think I may have only read a few pages if any.  I have other things on my mind and just needed to knit, knit, knit this week.

What are you knitting and reading?

Cycling

18 September 2012

We were privileged to have the Tour of Britain cycle race come through our village last week.  We could have watched the race from the front our house but we decided to walk up into the centre of the village as there was to be a sprint section.  There were lots of people out to watch it, it was great to have so many people out on the village.


The sprinters came first


Then the Peloton



Then the huge mass of support vehicles, including a van which had a label 'broom' complete with a witch type broom the side!


It was all over in seconds after a long wait but somehow the build up of excitement with so many people made it all worthwhile.

We have been mainly......

17 September 2012

We started the week with our usual trip into town for shopping and the library.  We found a great story sack this week based on the story of the Little Red Hen which we have read several times.  We have played the game that came with it loads too, it was a number lotto game which I adapted to make it playable for my youngest.  She has loved that there is a game that she can play, she always wants to join in when I play games with my eldest but it is not always possible to adapt a game to allow her to join in whilst myself and my eldest play with other rules!  As we headed up for bed that evening my youngest decdied that the living room needed tidying up and put everything away!  

The next day we headed south for our usual play date with friends.  It was a much better week than last week.  Sadly this is the last time we will all meet up for a while and the last time at that house.  Our friends have bought a new house and need a break from us all meeting at theirs whilst they pack up and move!  We hope to be back together at their new place next month.

On Wednesday we were joined at our house for lunch and play with friends.  We had hoped to go out but it was very wet and the children seemed very happy to play inside.

We headed south the next day to join friends for lunch at their house before heading out to a local to them nature reserve.  It looked like it was going to be a wet afternoon as it started to rain as we arrived but it was short lived.  We had a little walk round before stopping at the adventure playground for a play and snack.  We headed back once we were starting to cool, and once we had managed to rustle up enough money to leave the car park, I ended up 'borrowing' money from the centre to pay for it!  We stayed with our friends for tea which was most welcome, any food that I do not have to cook is welcome for me!

Friday we had a quiet day at home, playing, reading and chilling it was great.

The weekend started with an inspiring day out to the farm where our veg box comes from and finished with Daddy coming home.  He set off very early in the morning and was a welcome suprise and joined us for lunch.  We now have a week at home together before setting off on a family holiday.

Revived

16 September 2012

After a couple of weeks of feeling like I was wading through treacle, when my tolerance levels have been zero, when I have been irritated by the slightest thing, when I have had days like this when I seem to be surrounded by chaos, I feel like I have come though to the other side.

I have had a bounce in my step today that has not been there for weeks.  I got up wanting to do stuff and actually doing it rather than sitting downstairs and feeling defeated.

So my house is a bit cleaner and tidier, I have baked several cakes, done some washing and tidied away a huge pile of clean clothes.

It feels good, I feel alive, that I have come out of my hibernation state.

Now I need to tackle the garden......that can what for another day!

Inspiring

15 September 2012

As I am always keen to find out where the food I eat is produced, other than that we grow for ourselves!  I have visited the place where the veg box I have delivered every week is packed up and where some of the contents are grown.  I have been having a box delivered since the beginning of last year, a few months ago the place I visited today took over the delivery of my box.

It is run as a community owned food co-operative and registered as an Industrial and Provident Society.  My last paid job was for a company incorporated in the same way and it is a model that it would be good if more companies adopted especially those who are driven by profit.

We were given a tour of the site, it is not huge but it took nearly two hours to look round as there was so much to see.  The company took over the site, which had been previously used to grow bedding plants, in 2000 and inherited several very large glasshouses.  The whole place felt like one of innovation, of creativity, of experimentation, flourishing.

There are many large, multinational companies who are owned by even fewer global organisations.  They are so big, inpersonal and cannot possibly be in touch with all the countries that they operate in, and most are profit driven.  It is refreshing to find a company who are the complete opposite of this.  Who are actively involved in local food production though such positive means, long may they continue and inspire others.

Chilly

13 September 2012

As I sit and write this post the wind is howling outside, rattling everything that is loose and the rain is lashing against the door.  Autumn is closing in.  I am not ready for it this year and wish it could delay its arrival.

Autumn is my favourite season.  It has always felt like a new beginning for me, even though in nature it is a time of withdrawal.  It is the season of my birth, of the birth of my husband and my eldest child, a season of celebration for us.  As a child I could see a hill from my bedroom that was covered in trees, in the autumn the colour palette I could see from that window was amazing.   I loved to look out each day and watch it slowly change from yellow, to orange, sometimes to red and then to brown with all the other hues in between.  I can still picture that view in my head

We have has such a cool summer, with very few days of blue skies, that so often over the last months I have not been sure of the season.  The temperatures have been distinctly autumnal but with everything so green it has not felt like autumn but nor has it felt like the summer.  I love that I live in a part of the world that has distinct seasons, cold cold winters, cool autumn, warming up springs and warm summers.  It never gets that hot in the the summer but it is good to see big blue skies, to have warmth on bare skin and see the abundance of beautiful green growth and the other wonderful colours of nature.  Perhaps I am longing for that warmth still, I have not been warmed up enough by our summer.  We had really warm weather last week warmer than it had been since May but now that warmth has gone.  I will have to wait until next year for any more.  Now is the time to embrace the autumn and all that it brings with it.

Knitting

12 September 2012

Joining in with Ginny and friends for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.


Same project on the needles, but this is sock two.  This sock has been washed already!  At the weekend I managed to drive over my knitting, this sock, I was having one of those days.  I have already bought some more yarn for the next pair.

The book is being read slowly. It is really interesting and makes me want to read more about this period in history.

What are you knitting and reading this week?

Courgette

11 September 2012

Yesterday before my husband left us yet again he returned from a forage in the garden for salad leaves for lunch with this:
Not quite sure how we have managed to miss this.  It was lurking on a plant behind the poly tunnel door, behind it when the door was opened.  It weighs over a kilo so it going to take some eating especially as my husband eats half the food in our house.  So I have been working my way through may recipe books to find intersting recipes using courgettes.  As we needed a picnic today and quick cos I got up late I thought I would make courgette muffins.  I could not find a recipe in any of my books but found this one which I had all the ingredients for.  They made a huge batch and most got eaten for lunch.  I did not have any self raising flour so used plain and added my own raising bit.  They make great picnic or snacking food and I will make more to use the huge courgette up, think I will try freezing some.

We have been mainly.......

10 September 2012

doing lots of different things this week, days out at home and catching up with friends.

On Monday we headed off into the local town early.  We needed to be back for lunch as some friends were joining us.  We found some great books in the library including one by Oliver Jeffers called Stuck, whereby a little boy throws stuff into a tree to free a stuck kite.  A bit of a modern day tale really, throwing stuff at a problem in an attempt to sort it out without really thinking it through, hmm I can think of many people I worked with in my past life who were like that.  It is a really funny book we have had this one and many others by this author from the library and we love them.  We made it back for lunch and our friends arrived just before us and used the key I left out to let themselves in.  We ate lunch together and the children had a lovely play together whilst the adults sat and chatted, a perfect afternoon.  It was lovely that the girls once again played together rather than alongside each other, I know it can take time when they are little but they seem to have really hit it off and my youngest was sorry when her little friend had to leave and go home.  She has been asking all week when we are going to see them again.

On Tuesday we headed off for our regular play date, we gave a lift to another family who we had not seen for weeks it was great to catch up in the car on the way.  Unfortunately our day was not all a good one as it usually is.  Last time we had been to their house, before we went away, there had been some different children there.  They had changed the dynamics amongst the children to a point that my eldest was uncomfortable with.  They were there again but this time my eldest became really distressed at one point and kept asking to go home.   I was happy to, if that is what he wanted but it meant taking the family we had given a lift to too.  It took ages to locate their child and by then the children who were causing his distress had gone home anyway.  One of these children had also accused him of hitting her.  I tried to establish the facts but was unable to, the child making the accusation kept telling me wildly different things that happened so I was unsure what had happened.  I was later informed of another accusation by the same child that had been completely made up.  I was very saddened by the whole situation.  For my own child who was left confused and bewildered by what had happened, but visibly relaxed when he realised they had gone home so he decided to stay, and sad because if a child had been heard making up an accusation what are they feeling to be saying such things.  Talking to my eldest about it later he told me that he did not understand the game they were playing or what they were asking him to do and he felt like they were making fun of him.

The next two days we spent at home.  I was still really tired after my busy couple of weeks and hoped for some quiet time at home to recharge.  For reasons that I still cannot fathom they were a horrible couple of days.  The children could not seem to get on or settle to anything, I was really tired and craving peace and my husband was away.  It was beautiful weather but I did not want to be outside.  On Thursday afternoon knowing that I would be at home again the next day if I did not plan otherwise I decided that we would go out for the day on Friday.  I thought through a few possibilities and presented them to my eldest for him to choose.  It made that afternoon and evening a lot more bearable.

So on Friday we headed out for a long day out to this place which you can read about here.  In retrospect, hindsight is a wonderful thing, it was too far for the day.  If we visit again I will stay in the area and visit other places too.

Over the weekend I was meant to assessing a D of E Expedition on my own and leaving the children with my husband.  In the end he was delayed returning to this country so I ended up, at very short notice, taking them with me on the Saturday when I had a day to remember or forget depending on your perspective!  Sunday I was alone and gladly so as I was really busy.  It was great to do some walking on my own again and enjoy some rare peace and quiet waiting for the groups to arrive.  I have not walked up or down hill so fast in ages.  I am looking forward to a calmer week.....

Havoc

08 September 2012

Today has been one of those days when it seemed like nothing was simple.  Life threw everything at me today and somehow, despite this week being one when I was a crabby, short fused mama, I have got through the day smiling.

After a long day out yesterday I came home to find that my husband who has been overseas had been delayed on his journey home and was not going to arrive in the UK until the following morning, 6am, at the airport two hours drive away.  At that point, I have just realised, I had no idea where he actually was, last night I was too busy to consider it!  So I got tea cooked, got the children in bed and got myself ready to go out the next day shortly after my husband came home.

At 8.30 this morning I got a call from my husband to say he was a the airport waiting for the taxi home.  Ah, I needed to go out now, the children had got up and had had their breakfast but were not dressed.  I tried a friend who I knew both the children would be happy to stay with until my husband got home, no answer.  So in record time I got them dressed, packed some extra stuff, made more lunch and headed out with them in tow.

Now running late I headed off and met every slow vehicle on the road or perhaps you just notice them more when you need to get somewhere quickly?  Many tractors later I got to where I needed to be, about two hours later than I wanted to be.  I then spent the rest of the day waiting and walking to find two groups of young people on d of e expeditions that I was assessing.  I managed to read one of the route cards I had been provided with wrong so waited in one place for an hour only to find they had walked past ages ago, before I had even got there.  I left my knitting at one place we stopped and then drove over it when I went back.  My mobile phone was running out of credit and my car was running out of fuel so the journey home was delayed whilst I saw to both.

My lovely husband rang me on the way home and got tea started so we were not too late eating in the end.  As I sit and type this I realise that the washing machine has just finished and needs emptying and my dh has gone to bed, he was the one who put it on.  So it looks like my bedtime is delayed by hanging up washing, then I am off to bed before I wreck any more havoc!

Projects

07 September 2012

We have had a busy enjoyable day out today, which had been a great end to a very very long week.  My eldest has rekindled his interest in World War II over the last few weeks.  This was his project of learning in the spring and early summer and we had many visits out during those months.  Most of the books he is borrowing from the library are now about this, his own books about this are being reread, all his daily drawings depict scenes he has been reading about, his made up Lego models are of vehicles from this time.  So I am back to looking for interesting places for us to visit to support his interest and learning.

So today we made a long journey to this place.  I had to be organised and make a picnic the night before, as we needed to set off early, at a time when we are usually just waking up!  It was a very cold morning at home so I packed for every type of weather, the boot was full of clothes.  I am glad I did as when we arrived it was a beautiful hot sunny day, so the first thing we did on arriving was to find the toilets and get changed.

The museum itself is on the site of a prisoner of war camp.  Each of the old huts has a theme, the Blitz, U Boats, Women's role during the war, etc.  Each hut is like a small museum.  There is a lot of written word in most of the huts, little of which got read by any of us today.  The snippets that I did manage to read I did share.  If you read all the information in every hut I think you would be overloaded.

Like all information from this period some of it makes for difficult reading and viewing.  It always leaves me feeling, why?  How can humans do this to each other?  In particular anything to do with the concentration camps.  I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau some years ago, even with all the reading I had done and pictures I had seen nothing can prepare you for seeing it for real.  At the end of the hut which contained pictures, very sensitively put into a small side room, of the concentration camps there was a chapel.  As I walked through I felt compelled to sit down and pause.  I needed to sit quietly and gather my thoughts, to make sense of what I had been reading in all of the huts.

In an ideal world we would have no wars, but I am realistic this world is not for idealists.  What I can do is help my children to understand why war is not the way to resolve conflict and that peaceful solutions can and should be sort.  I hope I can do this, one small step at a time.

Butterflies

06 September 2012


I planted some Liatris bulbs this spring for summer flowering.  We have had such a cold, wet summer this year that I thought they would not flower at all. The warm weather this week has bought some of the flowers out.  The ones in flower have been covered in butterflies and bees which is why I planted them.   
  1. Small Tortoiseshell sharing the flower with what I thought was a very interesting looking bee but it turns out is a Footballer Hoverfly as I found on on this appropriately named blog
  2. Peacock Butterfly sharing the flower with honey bees
  3. Small Tortoiseshells with a bumble bee
  4. Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock
  5. Honey bee and Footballer Hoverfly
The children and I stood and watched for ages there was so much coming and going by several bees and butterflies.

Knitting

05 September 2012

I am joining with Ginny and friends for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading and Tami for WIP (work in progress) Wednesday.


On the needles this week are lots of projects but I am sharing the sock that I started some weeks back and I am close to finishing.  A few more rows of the foot before I can start shaping the toe.  My husband has been away this week so I have managed to knit these all the time this week.

I am reading a book about the Crusades at the moment.  I have wanted to read a book about this part of history since reading Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.  The history that I studied at school left huge gaps in my knowledge as I all we seemed to look at was the Romans!  I have found as an adult that I love to read books like this or historical novels like Katherine by Anya Seton which is one of my all time favourites.

What are you knitting and reading this week?

Ricotta

04 September 2012

I have recently started to buy this cheese on a regular basis as it is an ingredient in one of my favourite pasta dishes.  I buy it in a small tub (250g) and the recipe only uses half the tub so I love to find ways of using the other half.  The pasta dish I use it for is really quick and easy to make.  Like so many of the dishes I cook this is an adaptation of one I find in a recipe book.  I usually adapt the, because they contain ingredients that make me ill, on this occassion I forget what I miss out and why as I no longer refer to the recipe.  The quantities I have given are approx, I do not weigh anything out for this recipe any longer, you may prefer more spinach.

Spinach and Ricotta Sauce

125g ricotta
50g finely grated Parmesan or similar type cheese if you are vegetarian
15g butter
250g fresh spinach shredded
3 good sized cloves garlic crushed
15g butter

Put your pasta on to cook.

Heat oven to 100°c.  Put the ricotta, Parmesan and butter in a bowl and place in the oven to melt them together forna few minutes stir and return to oven.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the garlic for a few minutes add the spinach and cook until reduced.  Add the cheese mix.

Mix the sauce with the cooked pasta and eat.

We have been mainly.......

03 September 2012

crazy busy this week, well I have.  I have been meeting myself coming back!

The week started with the end of a folk festival which for me, sadly, fizzled out rather than finishing with a bang.  The headline act had had to pull out due to a bereavement in her family.  Whilst this was disappointing what was more so is the way to was handled by the festival organisers.  We went to the festival with another family.  Both of us have fairly young children and were not staying up until the end of the music each night.  By chance one of us did on Sunday night, so found out through an announcement at the end of the music that there was a change to the programme on the following night.  During the Monday we could not find any information anywhere about what was going on, if we had not heard the announcement the night before we would have been none the wiser until the final concert started at 1pm.  Part of me really wanted to stay to listened to the other bands playing that afternoon, and the other part just wanted to get home knowing that I had a busy week ahead that needed organising.  I have never felt like that at the end of a festival and it has really marred my whole experience of it.  The tickets were not cheap, I will be thinking long and hard about returning for another year.

After a lovely sleep in my own bed the next day was very full.  I had to plan a food menu for the week, write a shopping list, unpack, start packing again, hang up wet camping gear, and go food shopping.  I got in the car and started to drive up the village before I realised that I had a flat tyre, humpf.  I phoned my dh to ask him to come and car swop, it was already quite late in the day and I still had a million and one things that needed doing and there was not room on my list to fit in changing a tyre.  Luckily for me he obliged and we were our way.  Shopping done I started on packing and unpacking at the same time before cooking tea and then driving North to talk to a group who I would be assessing on a d of e gold expedition for four days.  I fell into bed exhausted.

I woke on Wednesday and packed the car and drove North, with my youngest, to meet the group out on the fell.  We found a spot to park the car, packed up a bite to eat and wandered to a good vantage point and waited for them to walk towards us.  We waited and waited and waited, their supervisor arrived and we waited.  Eventually, running very late, they did arrive, very wet and tired the ground it seemed was very hard going with a lot of bogs.  They walked off to their campsite and we drove off to find ours.  We pitched the tent, cooked tea and then drove off to meet the group at their campsite and check they had made it ok, all being well we headed back and fell into bed.

Thursday was a beautiful day, the sun was shining but it was bitterly cold in the wind.  We met with group a couple of times and spent the day, walking a little, eating a picnic, enjoying the views, playing wonderful imaginative games with my youngest, knitting, brewing tea on our little stove and eating cake.  It was an oasis of wonderfulness amongst all the busyness which was filling my head.  The coldness carried on into the night, it was very clear not a cloud in the sky and the moon so large and bright it was like a torch shining into the tent.  We woke the next morning to ice in the tent!

We met with the group once again on Friday morning, another bright sunny but cold day.  Whilst waiting I played the most wonderful game at the instigation of my youngest.  With absolutely no props she announced that I had to come and get in the car as we were going shopping for food for tea.    Shopping done we then went home and cooked tea, ate it at the table and then we washed up the dishes.  This lasted for about ten minutes, we were sat on the edge of a grassy field.  The group arrived soon after and we chatted for a short time before heading on our way, the, to continue their expedition, us to home.  After unpacking yet again and cooking tea I fell into bed really early for a very long sleep.

The weekend marked two days at home with no need to pack up and go anywhere for the first time in days.  I did some washing, took the car to the garage for a service, packed up a tent from the festival which was now dry and hung up another wet one from the last few days.   The best thing was a phonecall from a friend inviting us over to a BBQ, no cooking hurrah!  We said goodbye to daddy who is off overseas until the end of the week and then had to wait in for the d of e group as they were calling at our house for a debrief.  This is to bring the expedition to an end, a review of what they have achieved and for me hand back their signed books.  All done we headed to our friends for a lovely evening.  Sunday I 'celebrated' my
wedding anniversary or perhap I should say I observed the day as my husband was not with me to celebrate. I have a quieter week ahead, I hope!

Anniversary

02 September 2012

On this day, twelve years ago, I got married.  Twelve years?  Where did that go, gone in the blink of an eye.  It has been a beautiful hot sunny day today, the hottest in weeks.  Sadly my husband has not been here to share it, he is thousands of miles away overseas.

So I did what I love best, got up and had a slobby morning in p-j's.  We all got dressed just before lunch!  We had a lovely morning sitting enjoying each others company talking, looking at books and playing games.

After lunch we met some friends to look around an exhibition of artwork from the books by the wonderful children's author Julia Donaldson.  It was lovely.  The children recognised most of the artwork as we had read or own a copy of most of the books that they featured.  We also had tea and cake together before heading home for tea (the meal kind).

For me the last twelve years have been wonderful.  I have laid roots down in a beautiful part of the world after many years of moving after leaving my family home. I have two wonderful children.  I have become a more confident, happy and contented person.  I am not constantly looking and searching for better things.  My father gave me a sound piece of advice at my wedding, stay friends.  My parents have themselves just celebrate 46 years of marriage so it is advice that I have often thought about when the going gets tough, as I am sure it is why they are still married too.

So thank you to my lovely husband for the last twelve years and here is to many more happy years together.

Home

Today has been my first day at home when I have not been organising to go away somewhere for over two weeks.  Admittedly I have been away for most of that time but each time I have come home from one thing I have had a day or two to repack and cook to go away again.  This has been part of my spectacularly bad planning.  I was supposed to be camping, again, with friends this week but I have cancelled those plans I just could not face it.  It is not the actual camping that I could not face but the getting ready.  If I could be teleported to a campsite with a ready packed car I would be off.  I love camping but not the getting ready bit.  So I am going to spend some time at home.

I am going to do some better planning to make sure that I do not have week after week of getting ready to go away.  I am going to get on top of my very over grown garden, there are plants in my poly tunnel that are trying to grow out of the door, you can hardly shut it.  I am going to finish knitting some socks, well maybe one, that I started a while ago as my husband is away this week. But mostly I am going to enjoy being at home for a while and catching up with friends who I don't feel like I have seen for ages.