Back to Earth

Now, who wanted pickles? 

It's the last week of Holidays here, the week of trying on new school trousers and trying to get bedtime back to something reasonable and HAIRCUTS. Boy, it's been busy! A lot of sandwiches have been eaten in olde ye steam trains, under trees, and atop windswept hills. Hordes of friends and cousins have come to stay. The weather has been interesting, with sunny days and then A FLOOD! and then some more sun and rain, very tropical. The BIG FLOOD ('it rained and it rained, Piglet had never seen so much rain...' we nearly had to be rescued on a honey jar, 'The Brain Of Pooh', or was that the umbrella?) completely washed out the first day of Bournemouth's four-day Air Show and Chas's YouTube footage was aired on national news. We made cookies instead with hordes of visitors. I let the kids eat cookie dough even though they might get salmonella poisoning, and it was yummy and they didn't.

Distant yachts 

Day TWO of the Air Show was perfect. We headed to the beach and were blown away by the awesomeness of the Red Arrows, Wing Walkers, and dozens of other sights and sounds. Later that night, we sent Max off home with a friend, and Chas and Sam and I took in the live music on the beach. A T-Rex tribute band called T-Rextacy was brilliant! The boys were blown away and would have partied all night but I made us all go home before ten. Boring Mummy!

Photographic proof of a Sam Snuggle! 

The Red Arrows. RIP 'Red 4'

We slept like logs, looking forward to the next day and MORE Air Show fun. But the next day, as we were getting ready to head out and watching the beginning of the show from our kitchen window, we heard that one of the Red Arrows, who had opened the show and headed back to the airport over our house, had crashed in a field. The news was not good, and it put a damper on our party spirit. We had just waved to them, as they roared by. How could any of those dancers in the sky, crash to Earth so terribly? Sadly, we learned that the pilot had died. A tribute was flown the next day, the last Air Show day for the year.

Round Hill Campsite, Brockenhurst

We borrowed tents and things and went camping in the New Forest with cousins who are seasoned English Campers. We had a lovely time, and I think that 'Camping', with hot showers and toilets and all, is very nice, but very different from the Camping we're used to. We'll buy some of our own stuff, and bring our Trini camping things, and do some more next Summer. The kids climbed trees, whittled a fleet of boats, and ate a LOT of beans. Next time, we must plan less beans, or have separate tents.

The campsite is in Brockenhurst, which is really convenient for us. We rode to our station with all our stuff, put our bikes etc on the train, and hopped back off at Brockenhurst station. The campsite is riding distance from the station if you're reasonably fit and can carry all of your tents on your backs. On the way back, we ate at a pub near the station and along came a man on a Penny Farthing Bicycle!

Me in my element. Max looking like one of the 'Gorillaz' 

Much lolling under trees, reading books, riding bikes, baking and eating has happened as well. Building projects, mess, and art. I have been cooking and freezing, and poring over recipe books. Riverford has been delivering organic, seasonal veg to my doorstep and I thought it would be too much so I froze some things, but we have now eaten it all. We've been to the library and read our way through stacks of books. I've been reading to the boys, even to the big boys, who are loving it. We've been watching films: Oldies like Mary Poppins, and newies like the Entire Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy. Visiting children have been encouraged to do wild things, resulting in one trip to ER and five stitches. This did not slow anyone down, though, and the brave wounded boy hobbled all over the ruins of Corfe Castle to celebrate Enid Blyton's birthday. What fun to visit Kirrin Castle with true Enid Blyton fans!

Now, I hope the sun shines all day today because I have heaps of sheets, towels and duvet covers to wash and hang out. DVD and book reviews coming soon!

What was the best part of YOUR Summer? And what is your aftermath like?

The Joy of Cooking!

The boys will go back to school in September and say that what they did for their holidays was 'Baking'. I'm sure of it. Except for Sam, who is now known as "Ramón, my Mexican Chef". His chili con carne is becoming a legend.

Anyway. Today, Chas graduated from easy recipes scribbled in the Recipe Heap or found on the internet, to complicated recipes contained in fat cookbooks: He made a delicious chocolate cake from the Joy of Cooking. I hung around, saying "Aaah! Stop! You have to actually follow the recipe. It says to keep the dry ingredients separate from the eggs and things, see? And separate the eggs." And he explained chemistry to me and tasted the baking soda. Heh heh. I laughed at him and he couldn't believe that I KNEW all about baking soda. How come mothers know all these things? It's just uncanny!

I used to read mum's Joy of Cooking like a story book, and as a teenager I made many complicated recipes like cheese, and vegetarian burger patties, three gallons of sweet and sour sauce for a luau, bread, cakes, sweets... Even weird things like soya milk from beans, and home made blender mayonnaise that's easy and delicious. The Joy of Cooking is full of sensible things like, how long should I cook this leg of lamb for? And what should I do if I'm having twenty people over for lunch?

When I grew up, I bought my own Joy of Cooking and it might be the oldest book I have... It's travelled with me. It's easy to read. I refer to it ALL THE TIME.

And, I'm seriously enjoying the nutty, moist goodness of this here cake. It's on page 675, and Chas used leftover coffee instead of hot water and I helped him to FOLD in the beaten egg whites instead of attacking them. A good mother-son effort I think.

Things I've Found in Pockets...

Sundry shopping lists, "Sandwich ing. Picnic things. TP."
Pencil
Sand
More sand
Mud
Leaves
DS game cards (they still work after cold wash and line dry)
Memory stick (it doesn't)
String
Money (muahaha!)

What's in pockets at your place?

Snot City

Well, that was an exciting few weeks, culminating in an 'Assessment Day' and Interview for a really cool job.

Assessment Day Tips:

1) Don't get a stuffy head and spend the day snotting at your assessors.
2) Do NOT giggle.
3) Do not forget important chunks of your presentation.
4) Being nervous is not cute or professional.

If I were them, I would hire 'Jane', who was experienced and on the ball. Maybe Jane will decide to pack it all in  and become a pro golfer, and I'll have a chance, I'll hear later on in the week. Anyway, it was a great experience and very good practice for the next time, which I am sure will be soon. There are good interesting jobs to be had, you just need to search, search, keep searching.

SO now that I have my driving

(Aside: Chas is editing over my shoulder, and said I need a comma after SO. He's worse than I am at obsessive editing...)

SO, now that I have my driving theory out of the way and the scary job assessment is history, I can spend the next week hanging out with my beautiful boys and writing a few articles that have been commissioned. I can't wait till the first one is published, so I can point you all that way! (All 2 of you. I used to have like 20 commenters and now I have one. I don't know whether that's because commenting is out of fashion or because nobody loves me any more, but it's okay. I'll still blog because it's what I do.) (On the other hand, I do get 2,000 page views a month. Who ARE these people, and are they all really here for the yogurt recipe? A fabulous piece of cookery writing and appliance review, to be sure.)

A few friends are coming to stay over the next few weeks and enjoy our beautiful beaches, but we will steer them away from said beaches, which are packed with pink tourists, and head to the clifftops and woods and castles instead. Hopefully by the time they arrive I will have gotten over my snot. (Talking about snot is a sure way of attracting commenters, no?)

One of the boys took this pic, very early on the Thursday
morning of the Air Show in 2009, before anyone had really
arrived. No further photos were taken due to the awesomeness
of the event. I promise to take pictures this year though. 

The BOURNEMOUTH AIR SHOW begins on Thursday 18th August, in case you were wondering, and we do have a few patches of floor still available for sleeping on. The Red Arrows! The VULCAN!!!! Wing Walkers! The Blades, Lancaster Bomber, and many, many other exciting and LOUD displays. This week a VERY LOUD something roared over the house, and the nine little boys who happened to be here at the time screamed in unison, "RED ARROWS!!!!" and stampeded out of the house, to stand in the middle of the street looking at the sky hopefully for fifteen minutes. Good thing we live on a dead end, what with all the drivers also looking up a lot these days.

The rest of the holidays is going to be fun!

Fun in the Sun!

My goodness, I haven't posted in over a week! Hello? (hello... hello... hello...) is anyone out there?

I haven't been lying on a lounge chair with my book sipping cocktails, honest! No folks, I spent the last week or so busy as a bee. Studying for my UK Driving Theory test and the latest thing, the Hazard Perception test, which is fiendish. I did those bits on Monday and got 100% in the theory test (thank you, thank you...) and got 67 out of 75 in Hazard Perception which is pretty fabulous. (Yes, I AM pretty fabulous...) I'll do my Practice Test soon and then TRINI DRIVER ON THE LOOSE! I could drive with my (Trini) International Licence of course, but I want to do my UK licence because they have lots of LAWS here, like DO NOT PARK ON THE ZIGZAG LINE! Who knew? And dude, they fine you thousands of pounds if you do. Plus, technically you ARE supposed to get a local licence after a certain amount of time. Heads up, all you foreigners.

I have really been enjoying my driving lessons actually. I originally booked two, and the AA Instructor was so good and pointed out lots of bad habits I've picked up in 20 years of Trini driving, like whipping the steering wheel round and reversing one-handed. So I've got two or three more lessons booked. He's impressed that I can reverse into a space that's smaller than the car, using Trini Space-Warping Tactics. Oh, AND? English roundabouts have LANES, fyi.

I've also been asking important questions over at Derfwad Manor, and I would really appreciate it if you would head over there and tell me what you think. This week I'm writing a summary report, and being very professional. You didn't know I could be professional, didya?

Much research and thinking and reading is happening here, as well as Cousins visiting, and a RASH of birthday parties. We seem to have hordes of July and August-born friends and family. Plus, it's the holidays but there is still work for some, so babysitting duties have been duly shared out and ALL the kids are usually to be found together at one friend or another's house. We were thinking of counting the number of pizzas consumed over the holidays, but we've lost count already. Today, I am happy to report, we will be having baked salmon and such to counteract the pizza effect. And then we'll be heading to a birthday barbecue to counter-counteract it.

On Monday it was so hot, that after my fabulous tests and certain people's work we all lay on the trampoline half-dressed and the kids used sheets and bedspreads and branches to make a tent city, or as they called it, a Meditation Centre. Chas was the Guru who gave out Spiritual Enlightenment to all who wanted it, with free chocolate (he's definitely on to something) Max and Jimmy were the Managers and wrote out receipts. Sam set himself up as 'God', while Venus and Kate picked 'herbs' and brought throw cushions into the tents. My skin-and-blister Ailis called and I filled her in on events. She said "You, Lena and Charlotte tanning half-dressed in the back yard? It's indecent exposure!"

"Absolutely," we said.

"I'm calling the fire department to report hot stuff at the Sheppards."

"Ooooh, yes, please!"

She's just jealous cuz she has a big belleh and was stuck doing sensible things while we lounged about receiving spiritual guidance and chocolate. My sister's baby is due in October!!!!!!!!! Squeeeee!!!!!

We haven't been missing out at the cinema either. We watched 'Cars 2', and Harry Potter of course, and lots of DVDs at home with 12 people on the big sofa and popcorn everywhere.

We're reading stacks of books:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle By Barbara Kingsolver and Family. We have spent the last two years being very green. Apart from not having a car (we ARE getting one soon, but we live a short walk from the big bus and train station so really it hasn't been hard to do without) we have been getting our organic food delivered and using other environmentally friendly tactics. It's been a great part of our two-year family slowing-down scheme. Anyway, I wish I had read this sooner, it's great.

I will do a proper book list review later in the week, if I have a moment.

In other news, Chas has a new boa constrictor named Parima. She is a beauty, and there are 5,712 photos of her on my camera, I just realised. This is why there will be no photos to accompany this post, as I will have to download them all and find which ones are MINE. We have separate memory cards, but the system does not always work for us when we get excited.

SO! As you can see, (in conclusion...) it's been all work AND all play around here. How's the Summer been for you?