Another post in the long line of ‘doom and gloom’ tradition. It’s winter. We keep stumbling from one illness to another (mainly brought home from playgroup by Adam in a last ditch attempt to make us stop sending him!). We seem to have to battle with everyone to get anything achieved; from telecoms companies to BBQ companies, to patio companies; i.e. everyone!! And it’s cold; very cold. Imagine sleeping in the depths of winter in a rabbit hutch in the garden = this will give you some idea of how cold it is in our house. They don’t insulate AT ALL with anything. Literally, the tiles are laid on roof trusses with NOTHING in between the sky and the ceiling other than a layer of ceramic tile or corrugated metal sheet. Bbbrrrr.
So, don’t read on if you’re expecting a cheery, chirpy update from Oz, move on…… there ain’t nothing to see here this week.
The kids should have gone back to school on Tuesday, but seeing as we were all so ill, they only managed to stumble back in on Friday. Darcie’s chest was rattling like an Elvis convention and Sam had a cough like a barking seal. Paul was particularly rough (he’s a man, after all). Adam does appear to be warming ever so slightly to playgroup. All the staff know his name and he’s met with a welcoming ‘Hello Adam’ every time he goes (probably masking a ‘oh sh*t, here comes the miserable one with the snotty nose who does nothing but whinge every day.’ He makes me laugh with little things he comes out with like, ‘I didn’t get a sticker today’. Me: ‘why not darling?’. ‘Cos I wouldn’t help pack away!’ he said very stubbornly. He got the hump the other week when his favourite helper was too busy cuddling a baby to give Adam a hug. He was quite indignant and blanked her the next time he went. First rule of Adam: everyone needs to be at his beck and call, any hour of the day or night. Geddit?
Sam had his sleepover last weekend at the surf club. He had a fantastic time and really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny though as their trainer is in the Navy (as a PE instructor, so you can imagine how loud and gruff he is?). As you would expect, the kids were still up chatting at 1am; but he got them all up the next morning at 5am and took them for a run on the beach and got them doing circuits at that unearthly hour! Paul picked Sam up at 9am and by 1pm he was asleep in his bedroom (where he stayed for 4 hours!). Lovely! I’m petitioning for them to run the sleepover every week.
Arthur’s got his hat on now; the tiles have all been fitted to the ground floor and the wirings all being run in preparation for the plastering. It’s a very slow process what with the weather being pants. We could hire pedallos on the small lake that’s in our en suite!
House with the roof on :o)
A view of the stairs from the lounge; looking towards the front door.
The wiring for the theatre room - that's just one wall!
Pentley now has a new kennel and resides in the garden. He’s driven us mad. He ate all the retic pipes in the back garden – dug them up and munched them to oblivion! He’s starting a one dog crusade to tunnel to the promised land via our lawn. Even Adam and Darcie are coming to refer to him as the ‘Furry F8ckwit’ Well, this Friday was the funniest thing…… I took Sam and Darcie to school and when I came home, Paul’s car was missing from the drive. I knew he didn’t have a meeting and he wouldn’t willingly dress Adam and take him anywhere without a protest, so I was a little concerned. I just walked in the door when the phone rang; it was Paul in a state of panic. Adam had opened the front door and let the dog out whilst Paul was checking his email! Paul hurriedly dressed, bundled Addy in the car and was driving round Secret Harbour like a Moomin asking everyone if they’d seen our furry f*ckwit. I was just about to walk out the house and have a wander around when I happened to glance out of the kitchen window. This was the sight I was met with….
No, he's NOT a springer spaniel; he's a furry fleabag!
Best of all, when Paul walked back in the house with Adam, he was SO mad. I asked Adam what happened and he just sang to me ‘who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof.’ I had to try VERY hard not to laugh! The kids and I took Pentley for a walk on the beach later that afternoon. All was well until Sam went to kick Pentley’s ball for him to fetch and the stupid mutt got between the ball and Sam’s foot. Pentley’s teeth sank into Sam’s leg and the furry fleabag ran round in circles for 30 seconds, barking like a looney. I don’t know who was in more pain, Pentley or Sam. Neither of them looked happy after the incident though. Sam demanded to go home and Pentley no longer wanted to chase his ball.
I tell you, there’s never a dull moment in our house. I’ve got the vet on speed dial now, along with the local A&E departments. Ask me for the GP’s number – go on – I know it off by heart.
The kids have settled down at school, second week in. Darcie now has spellings as well as home reading. Sam has projects for homework now, rather than the boring times tables and spellings that he always forgot to do. Sam got another award today at football for most improved player and the coach gave a little speech about how much he is improving every week, considering he’s a soccer boy! I am so proud of him! He won a voucher for a meal at Hungry Jacks (Burger King). They’ve only got a few more matches, then it’s their derby and the prize giving. A lot of parents then sign the kids up for surf lifesaving in the summer, so we’ll see if Sam fancies that. I’m really proud of the way he’s stuck with it and thoroughly enjoyed the footie thing.
I took Sam clothes shopping at the weekend, so fed up was I in seeing him in supposedly long sleeved t-shirts that stopped at the elbow, or long trousers that flapped round his ankles in the wind. I can’t really shop for him anymore. He’s getting slightly more interested in clothes (in as much as he won’t wear what I pick out for him – says Noddy and Thomas aren’t his ‘style’ anymore :o( Target had a 20% off kids clothes weekend, so we trundled off with an empty trolley and wads of cash. Half an hour later (yes, half an hour – he went round twice), and we’d shopped. He got a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, a zip through hoodie and 9 t-shirts for the princely sum of $170 (about £70). The thing that blew me away was all his t-shirts were age 12 (the jumper with the sleeves was a 14!). He then chose himself a pair of trainers in the sports shop; picked them out, asked the assistant if they had them in a bigger size, tried them and said ‘I really like these Mum. Can I have them please?’ I didn’t really have the heart to say no (Paul says he played me like a fiddle!), so I paid for them. It wasn’t until we were talking later that I asked Sam what size they were. They are only a 9! Good grief. At least he’ll never fall over in a strong wind. Sam’s particularly looking forward to Nanny D’s visit next year when he is able to tower over her.
I don’t think I’ve posted a photo of our patio have I? These are colorbond (coloured metal) structures that bolt onto your house to stop you incinerating in the heat of summer. Ugly things really and look like the inside of a farm building to us, but you can’t have wooden fencing/buildings over here as they just fade and wharp in the sun. We’ve also got the patio heater fixed, so we can have leisurely nights in the garden as it gets a little warmer; swinging on our swingy chair like Dot and Doris.
Our outdoor enterainment area. Nice innit?
On that note; I'm off for a cup of tea and a Tim Tam. Catch you all later 8-)
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