Kind of glad the holidays are over!

Nipper will only attend school for five and a half days in total this month what with the Easter break, the bank holidays and the Royal Wedding. I was getting pretty stressed about how I was going to get through the month quite frankly. However, it went better than expected with regard to keeping Nipper happy (and me not having a nervous breakdown in the process!) but was a bit of a disaster in several other ways.

The family worker at our local children's centre told me about an inclusive holiday playclub which is able to cater for kids with additional needs. This was a godsend! Nipper went from 9am to 3pm for a several days across the holidays and had a lovely time of it. We'll definitely be doing this again.

Our family has otherwise spent a good deal of time in the company of the NHS and the local vet over the holidays. Not really how we wanted to spend our time.

First incident - my Dad being rushed in to hospital in the middle of the night with suspected heart problems. Luckily it was Angina, they gave him some tablets, he'll have to go back in a few weeks for some tests, and three days later he was up a ladder re-felting his shed roof!

Next - we are due to visit Mr Earplugs' parents but get a phonecall the day before to say that his Mum has fallen off her push-bike, dislocated her ankle and broken her leg! Scratch those plans then. His Mum is in plaster but so far no need for any surgery and she's feeling pretty ok.

Then - Tiddler falls over the stairgate, goes airborne, and crashlands with his forehead against the edge of the cupboard resulting in a nasty split which requires a 3 hour stint in A&E. I won't have a rant here (much as I'd like to but it's getting late!) but they did a crap job of steristrip-ing it and after 5 days it was very nasty, swollen and 'oozing' so we spent another 3 hours in there to be told that it should have been stitched but it was now too late. It's still bleeding intermittantly (10 days after it happened) and he'll be left with a scar!

Onward with the holidays and Nipper gets a nasty bug and has a raging sore throat and temperature for 2 days. I dose him up with Calpol and on day 3 he comes out in a horrendous rash all over his body. I consult my 'kiddie diseases' book and it looks like it might be German Measles. We go down to the walk-in health centre (as it's the weekend) and we wait 'in isolation' for 3 hours to see a nurse who says it's not German Measles, just a nasty virus which presents like it. Apparantly they'd been inundated with kids with the same symptoms and had problems finding rooms to keep them all isolated until they could see the nurse. He's much better now but still has the rash.

Then the cherry on the top was the untimely demise of Scooter, Miss Muffett's guinea pig. She couldn't have chosen a worse moment as Miss Muffett had just gone off on holiday for a few days with her Dad! Poor Scooter has had a couple of difficult months, bless her. She had an injured eye and a small abcess which meant that we had to give her eye drops twice a day, and both oral antibiotics and painkillers by syringe. We had 5 trips to the vet with her and she made a remarkable recovery, much to the vet's surprise, given that she was an old lady in piggy terms at six and a half years old.
She was doing ok, then, all of a sudden, she was behaving oddly and couldn't balance. I took her to see the emergency vet (£103! Why do these things always happen at the weekend?!) Turns out that if a small animal looks ill then they are really ill, and if they look in a bad way then they really, really, really are in a bad way! I was prepared to give her all the medications again etc but the vet said she had little hope of recovering and it would be best to put her to sleep. Once she was dead he was able to examine her more fully and found that she had a lump in her tummy so most likely had a tumour. 

We dug a big hole in the garden and popped her in it and Nipper was very pleased to know that Scooter was now going to be buried treasure!

He then announced that when she was better he'd be able to dig her up, before going off to fill up the watering can to water her, since we had just planted her! I think I'd better plant a shrub above her to stop him from digging her up (as I know that he will try to as and when the mood takes him!)

RIP Scooter (hopefully!)

Yes, I'm definitely kind of glad that the holidays are over!

Kind of glad the holidays are over!

Knitting at the Beach and The 4x4 Show

We had a nice week in Devon (I'll pop some photo's up when I get them sorted out) and Mr Earplug's took an extra week off work so we have had a few daytrips too.

If we want a day at the beach then we usually head to Hengistbury Head but this time decided to go a bit further west to Boscombe. I've never been there before but I'll go again as it's great to be able to park up just feet from the beach with no need to lug all your beach gear more than about 20 feet from your car.

I decided to do a bit of work on Miss Muffett's much maligned second attempt poncho while Tiddler ate the sand and Mr Earplugs and Nipper had a paddle:



I didn't get very far with the knitting - the sea air seems to make stuff feel somehow sticky and I just couldn't get the yarn to 'flow' through my fingers the way I like when I'm knitting. I think that's probably just an excuse to stop though as I'm pretty much hating knitting this darned poncho!

But then, check out those clouds:



Yes, it poured down - good old english summer weather! So we retreated into our beach shelter and watched the rain and had a sandwich. The boys don't seem to mind whether it's raining or not. They just like digging holes!

Then today we went to The Berkshire 4x4 Show as Nipper really loves monster trucks and this show is within easy driving distance. It's not really my thing, and it rained, and the field was like a mud bath, but the boys liked it! Some of it was a bit ridiculous - check out this Mini:



And if you like monster trucks then here are a couple more:





And for a bit of a diversion check out 'Joseph' jumping through a ring of fire on his push bike! He was wearing a very fetching pair of frilly gold pants and not a lot else!



The finale was a bunch of cars getting crumped by the star of the show (before it karked it and got stuck on top of the cars!)



Now this would have been a great chance to sit in the tea tent and knit - shame I left the dreaded poncho at home!

Knitting at the Beach and The 4x4 Show

Catch Up Before Holiday Time

I don't know where the time goes! I've been meaning to do a post for I don't know how long but never get to it! So here is a quick catch up.

All three kiddies have had birthdays recently. Tiddler turned one:





He had a little family party at home which was slightly scuppered by my S-I-L's cat having an accident and everyone having to rally around to get it sorted out. Nevertheless he enjoyed the day and his cake! I managed to finish his quilt much to my surprise. It turned out really well (considering I can't get a walking foot for my machine) and I love it.





Nipper turned four:



He had a party for his nursery friends at a local leisure centre where you could hire the bouncy castle and soft play equipment. A fab time was had by all though the service from centre staff left a lot to be desired, the worst of which was when one of the kids was sick and the reception staff handed my daughter one wet jaycloth to deal with it. How can you clean up sick with one jaycloth?! No paper towels available anywhere - not even in the toilets, no disinfectant provided - yuck! Won't be going there again, nor recommending it - lol! Unfortunately I didn't finish his quilt - it's still a work in progress and he doesn't seem to mind. I bought him some Thomas trains and tracks off Ebay and he was over the moon with them.

I'm not doing too well on the crafty front generally. I eventually frogged Miss Muffett's poncho and I'm now attempting it again on smaller needles. It just wasnt working out - the Debbie Bliss cotton did not like being knitted up on a 10mm needle. We'll see how we get on with the new version.

Miss Muffett turned fourteen. Here she is with Tiddler's present - the cat thingy from Waybuloo (she has a thing about cats!)



She was easy to please - an LG Pop phone from me, some arty supples from Nipper, and a trip to the cinema and Pizza Hut with her best buddies. She even came home with some change from the cash I'd given her. I was impressed.

We were also impressed and very proud of her achievements at Junior Prizegiving. She has received prizes each year that she's been at secondary school but I've not been able to attend the ceremony before as they don't allow you to take young children (wonder if they'd have turned me away if I'd turned up with Tiddler anyway??) She received the lower school award for Drama, and also the Academic Achievement award for her year group. To top it off she came first in the 100m at sports day and was only beaten in the relay by the team who run for the school. Apparently her teachers are urging her to stand for head girl so Year 10 could be a very interesting year.

We've been to some lovely Summer fairs, four so far. I love them. Give me a cup of tea, a piece of cake, a book stall to have a rummage and a bouncy castle to entertain Nipper and I'm a happy bunny. We picked up some great books and cd's and some educational stuff for Nipper which looked brand new. But best of all was the visiting Fire Engine which came to Nipper's Nursery Fair. They allowed the kids to sit inside and pretend to drive. The nursery staff had a fireman's helmet and took pictures of the kids and gave them a certificate. Nipper was over the moon:



Some very exciting things have been going on in the garden! I decided to have a go at growing some veg, though left it a little bit late to be growing from seed, so I don't know how things will turn out. Here's a glimpse - the courgettes are doing very well and I'll soon have to start giving them away as we can't eat them fast enough:





The little ridge cucumbers are very sweet tasting:



The tomatoes are just starting to flower:



I never realised that pumpkins would take over the garden though given the size of the fruit it should have been obvious!





And look at this little chap having a whale of a time inside the flower:



The baby squashes are so cute!



What do you think of my lettuces?



Yes, they are nasturtiums. I gave up after 3 seperate plantings were gobbled up by an unknown critter. I'm having better luck with my 4th lot which are sitting on top of the guinea hutch:



I can only assume that the slugs dont like the feel of the roofing felt?

And remember this - the space where the old rotten shed used to be:



Well it's now this:



If only I had time to sit in it! It's become a den for Miss Muffett and her mates! It was a very kind and generous present from Mr Earplug's parents. It took a while to get it up and painted but it's lovely and won't be a teenage den for long!

Oh, and I finally got the remainder of the money that was outstanding following my car being pranged by the lorry driver - only took 16 months and a court case to get it!!

We're off to Devon tomorrow. This time we're having a whole week away and I cant wait!

Catch Up Before Holiday Time

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Linda to tell seven amazing things about myself. I'm not too keen on the word 'amazing' as that feels like bragging and makes me feel uncomfortable, so I'll settle for seven 'achievements' instead:

1). Despite the very negative attitude of my teacher, I passed my O Level in English Literature with a grade A. During class I sat with a girl who constantly gave the teacher a hard time. I kept my head down but unfortunately got tarred with the same brush. The teacher hated me and gave me a really bad school report. Luckily my parents took the report with a pinch of salt and I showed him!

2). I was the first person in my family to go to university. I grew up on a council estate and my Dad worked in a factory and my Mum did part-time cleaning. We were pretty poor and I remember that a lot of my teachers were surprised that I did so well academically. I was very lucky to have a couple of teachers who could see beyond my background and were really supportive.

3) This cardigan, made for Miss Muffett, was my first 'serious' piece of knitting. Each row took 12 minutes to knit and I dreaded having to answer the phone etc because I would lose my place in the pattern. Even though no-one else will ever wear it I can't bear to throw it away.


4). I've been researching my family history off and on for a few years and so far have managed to get back to 1790. We are so English and 'northern' at that! My parents live only 2 miles or so from where my Dad's ancestors lived - they just moved off the moor and down into the valley!

5). I am a very poor traveller. I get really bad travel sickness and so any travelling is usually quite stressful. A few years ago I did a tour of Peru - Lima, Cusco, Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and various Inca sites, lots of air and coach travel plus a train across the altiplano, altitude sickness and a touch of 'dehli belly' too. Frankly I don't know how I did it! I couldn't have done it without Mr Earplugs and it's definitely one of my greatest achievements.



6). Having Tiddler has to be my greatest achievement I think. I wasn't sure I could face another pregnancy when I lost a baby last year. Tiddler's pregnancy was such a worrying time, constantly thinking whether everything was going ok, never mind factoring in my age (43). We are so pleased to have him and he's a lovely little lad.

7). My 1st Blogiversary! I have just realised that I have passed the one year mark! Look out for a blogiversary giveaway coming soon (or soonish anyway!)

(Sheep photo from answers.com)

Tagged!

A Very Busy Few Days

We have had a very busy few days! Mr Earplugs took a few days off work and we thought about going away, but as I'm feeling rather rough I was happy to stay at home! It was a good thing really as Thursday was a flurry of appointments and dashing here and there - dentist appointments for us all, dry cleaning to drop off, Miss Muffett to drop at her Dad's, car to go for a service, visit to a nursery for Nipper, my long awaited doctor's appointment (more of that later), and then retrieving the car.

I was hoping to post a photo of a fabulous Halloween lantern but sadly my pumpkin is still in it's natural state. Miss Muffett wasn't too bothered as she spent Halloween gadding about London with her Dad, Uncle and Aunt (and they went to see Joseph too - lucky girl). Nipper couldn't care less either as he's been rolling the thing around the house like some sort of boulder.
This was the closest to Halloween that we got (display at Legoland):


Legoland is within reasonable driving distance of us and as we had some 2 for 1 tickets we decided to go on Friday. Nipper was too small for most of the rides but he really enjoyed watching them, especially the 'weeeeee splash' (the log flume). Aside from the pumpkin photo we only managed one more before the camera packed up. I bought a spare battery for just such moments but I hadn't charged it - doh! It was absolutely perishing cold (I may be a northerner but I really don't do 'cold'!) . We had a good time though, despite my feeling sick a lot and Nipper having a nappy malfunction whilst sitting on his Dad's knee! Again I was prepared for just such an event with a set of spare clothes (for Nipper at least), however I had left them in the car in the car park - doh! Are you getting a kind of theme here? The day ended with a fantastic fireworks display set to the music of Star Wars. Almost every kid in the place had a light-up light sabre and you could see hundreds of them glowing in the dark.

On Saturday we decided to go to the Sealife Centre in Brighton (more 2 for 1 tickets). I use the term 'we' very loosely as it certainly wasn't my idea to venture forth when it was bucketing down! We made it to Brighton in really good time. This was probably due to the fact that no-one else was daft enough to be heading for the seaside in torrential rain! The carpark by the centre was closed so we had to park a 15 minute walk away and got absolutely soaked to the skin. Even my underwear was wet! Not nice! It's a very interesting place to visit but Nipper spent more time jumping off the steps than he did looking at fish. I managed to get a photo of the Stingrays though most of the fish were just too fast:


Nipper might not have liked the fish but he was very interested in the Amazonian 'poison-dart' Frogs. I couldn't get a photo of them as their tank was all misted up but here's a good likeness (Nipper's rubber frog, bought as a souvenir):


Pregnancy update:
The spotting seems to have stopped, which is a relief. I'm as sick as a dog as they say but I'll try not to whinge on too much about that. If you don't hear from me for a while it's because being at the computer makes me feel worse! My trip to the Doctor resulted in being sent to the hospital to be stuck with a needle, twice actually, once on Friday and again this morning, in order to check for a rise in hcg levels. I'm also booked in for a scan on Wednesday morning so we should know by then if everything looks to be ok at this stage.

And finally, if you're interested in finding new and under-rated blogs then check out this idea.

A Very Busy Few Days

A Lovely Few Days Away

We had a lovely few days away in rural Suffolk. The weather was very kind to us and it only rained while we were asleep or doing 'indoors' things.

This was the view from the patio of our rented cottage (a small converted barn):


We went here:


And saw this:
Then had a day here:

Nipper getting into the spirit of things:


Miss Muffett is mad for a bit of body-boarding:


Nipper had his eye on this fabulous fortress built by some other children:


I don't think they would have appreciated the 'help' of an enthusiastic 2 year old!

We had a great few days. I'm left with a stark reminder of what it would be like to move house again since this is what was needed for a mere 5 days away!


P.S. Check out the difference in the size of the suitcases - mine is the large blue one and Mr Earplugs had the miniscule one buried under the body-board. No such thing as travelling light in my book - lol!

A Lovely Few Days Away