Day 16 - Father’s Day

Okay, so Saturday wasn’t actually Father’s Day, but as FP had been working and I’d been having to study I’d promised him a Father’s Day on another day. Much better on a Saturday anyway, might do that in future!

So he got a lie in and then G and I woke him with a huge stack of pancakes which we all ate on the bed. Then it was off to town for a coffee in Costa and our planned walk. We started off by the wharf, then walked up past our old flat. I sort of miss the flat. I don’t miss the arsehole that made our life a living hell with his music, but I miss the huge living room and kitchen and being in walking distance of town and a supermarket. We then popped into the Spice Merchant to see if they had any Indian sweets. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the selection they used to, but we picked up some nice little things anyway, then we went to Licorice Park and had a sit down, bite to eat, and identified some wild flowers.

I have to say that Licorice Park is really really overgrown, the grasses are the same height as G, he measured himself against them! But I like that natural wildness. However, FP’s hay fever medication could only take so much so we left soon enough, though not without noting some fruit trees for future scrumping!

After that we walked

to The Lawn, which has a nice park and playground in its grounds as well as a garden area, so we had a picnic, played, and explored.

After that we walked back to the Castle/Cathedral area where FP went to buy some local honey as it’s supposed to help ease hayfever, and G and I went and sat in the Castle Square to listen to some town pipers from the international guild of them. It was great!!! There were a number of different types around town but those in red, from York, were my favourite!

Day 15 - Hello Again!

Well with the falling down the stairs and the writing of the essay thing going on I just didn’t blog. But, as I promised a month of blogging I’ll just have to switch that to a 30 day thing rather than the whole month of June.

So we finally got to Wacky Warehouse! However, before that I asked Friend T if we could take a detour to the Post Office to pick up a parcel for G. I got my armour on anyway because the closest Post Office is manned by complete harridans. It’s not just my opinion either, even the vicar goes to the nice Post Office! But, as I had no choice, there I went. Cue some incredibly slow looking for parcel thing going on, even though there were only bloody 4 of them there. Then she comes back with it, tantalisingly close behind the fistproof glass and the following conversation ensues:

Harridan: I need some ID, the ID of the person on here.

Me: (staring, as I’ve never even been asked for ID before for a parcel picked up at the Post Office in the city centre even though their sign states that you MUST HAVE ID to pick one up) ID of the person on it?

Harridan: I need the ID of the person on it.

Me: (thinking that I have the fucking card they left through my letter box and have even signed for parcels for people 1 and 2 doors down) It’s for my son, I have ID.

Harridan: I need his ID, how old is he?

Me: (probably getting attitude now) He’s four.

Harridan: You need to come back with his birth certificate.

Me: (Full on attitude) Are you SERIOUS? That is abolutely RIDICULOUS (flounces out)

Friend T volunteered to go back so I could pick up the birth certificate, but I decided not to. Not least because I was likely to walk back in with it and plaster it against the glass and go, “Is this good enough for you?? EH???” Then pick G up so she could see his face. “And I brought the child too, unfortunately he can’t sign for it as well because he can’t write“.

I probably wouldn’t have felt so pissy if I hadn’t been treated like shit everytime I went in there. I don’t know why it’s not one of those they’re going to close (I looked in hope!), there’s barely ever anyone in it and some of them can’t even do their job properly. Grrrrr.

Anyway, I’d forgotten it by the time we got to Wacky! Oh the joy it is to sit there with free coffee and have almost uninterrupted adult conversations! We were there for hours n hours!

Later that afternoon, as it was so lovely, I thought I’d study in the back garden while G played with his cars. That lasted a very short length of time!

He wanted to know what trees we had so we got the tree book out, then he wanted to know what weeds wild flowers we had in the garden. I decided to take photographs, then he wanted me to take pictures of his sticks, which are referred to as “my collection”.

When I suggested he go back to playing cars he snuggled up to me and said, “I just want to be with you” LOL! I was contemplating the best way to get rid of him when he said, “We are thinking, we are thinking what to do next, this is a Mummy and G day”. I was pretty much backed into a corner! So we did a few crayon rubbings and then I got the paints out.

Then we came in for tea and Top Gear, and now it’s time for bed! FP is working late tonight again, so I’ll obviously be having wild parties!

Day 14 - Belated Friday 13th?

‘Twas not a good day! I developed an ear infection late on Friday and it was terrible through the night, then when I got up on Saturday morning I fell down the stairs!! I was near the bottom, but still, there was enough bruising for sitting down or moving to be a miserable affair.

As you can imagine, I didn’t take any photos that day!

Day 13 - Friday the 13th!

It was only unlucky for one of us!

So on a Friday Friend T and I usually take the boys to Wacky Warehouse, but Friend T’s partner needed the car today so we went for an adventure instead. We tried Diamond Park, which was shut again because there’d been a bit of rain yesterday. G said we should’ve brought towels to wipe everything down! So we headed over to Birchwood Nature Park, stopping at Mini Park on the way. As we were doing that Mark, my brother (who gets a name because he comments on here with it!), sent a text wanting to know where I was because he was hoping for coffee at my house! So he asked if he could join us and we accepted. In fact, at various points as he was entertaining G and Blue, Friend T and I considered sneaking away

Mark was a big hit with Blue, who can be rather fussy about people, but it’s no surprise, all kids love him! After he’d taught them to climb up and down the more difficult ladder in the playground we set off into the park. We went the way Friend T got lost with last time, and encountered a man just sat up a tree, which was rather creepy! But with me along we made it (breathes on knuckles and polishes them)

We finally arrived at the marsh bit from day 2. As we’d had some really warm weather there was much less water than before, but there was enough!! So, even though he was told not to, G ended up in the same deep area he had ten days ago! This time it was up to the top of his trousers. I was sat on a bench chatting with Mark and I could see G through a bush and as time went on I noticed he hadn’t moved. I shouted across to ask if he was okay and he said he was stuck! LOL! He’d apparently told Friend T earlier but he was still enjoying himself and was so matter-of-fact she assumed it was just one of those things he says!

So we mounted Operation Rescue G. The biggest issue was he was worried about loosing his wellies and so he wouldn’t move, then he fell over a bit. So Mark fought his way through branches to get to the side G was closest to and, with a huge tree branch, tried to get him to pull himself out. G was having none of it! Eventually, Mark just stepped in it and lifted him out! It wasn’t as warm a day as last time he went in and he was thoroughly wet and miserable. We stripped him off and he walked home (via shops) with Blue’s warm but a bit small cardigan on and my light summer jacket tied around his waist like a puffy sarong. It was so catwalk!

Unfortunately there are no photographs of the event! G probably wouldn’t have appreciated it anyway! I had taken FP’s camera and the batteries had run out and Mark had forgotten to put a memory card in his!

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FP took G there the next day and the branch Mark had used was still semi-submerged on the far bank. G insisted FP get a photo of it!

Day 12 - An even more normal day!

So normal in fact that I haven’t even taken any photos! I couldn’t capture G just laying in the garden looking up at the trees without spoiling his serene moment, nor could I capture him holding up two small weeds, looking through the living room window and saying, “can I ‘ave a pound then?”

So today’s photographs will be from what I was doing in June 2007.

T189 - Intro to digital photography with the OU.

Eating strawberries with my mum.

My parents taking us to Whitby,

and Scarborough.

Day 12 - A Normal Day

G and I watched Big Brother this morning! He likes it, and I think it’s a good teaching tool to talk about the way people act, emotions, motivations etc. Plus there’s a blind guy on it this year and he’s been curious about blind people because of the signs that say guide dogs allowed in shops, and from asking why the pavement has bobbles in it at a crossing. Plus he helped confirm my view that Mario and Lisa are really infantile by finding their antics amusing! If a 4 year old thinks you’re hilarious it cannot be a good sign about the maturity of your behaviour!

Then we had to go to the shops. I had to get FP some more hay fever medicine from the chemist as the two types he’s tried so far this year don’t last, so in the morning he’s miserable till it kicks in and by the time he’s walked home he’s miserable. There wasn’t another kind of hay fever relief so the person behind the counter suggested an anti-histamine. Hopefully it’s not going to make him really drowsy!

On the way G and I walked across Runway Park and he went into the wild area to find flowers to identify. We saw bladder campion, goat’s beard, and hedge mustard.

We got pasties for the way back and ate them in the field.

Then G played out for most of the afternoon, and I paid him to pick weeds from the drive! He got 10p per weed, but only if it had the root attached. He did try to get me to pay him for leaves! Then he tried to get me to pay him extra for the weeds that had multiple roots! Anyway, he came out of it with £1, which is what I told him would pay for a nice ice-cream. I definitely over-paid though, that was only ten weeds!

Day 10 - A New Park

So Friend T and I went to a new, lovely, park today, Boultham Park (I think that’s how it’s spelt, I think it also might be pronounced Bootem, maybe).

We didn’t explore it all of course, so there’s still another side of the lake and some wooded areas to look around, but what we did see was lovely. It was so peaceful there! There were even some wandering horses. They’d escaped from somewhere and people arrived to track them down, but they just seemed to fit in so well!

Anyway, the boys had fun!

Day 9 - Lobster Face!

Another scorcher! And FP just pointed out that I have a lobster face! I did skimp on the sunscreen on the face as it feels too thick, didn’t expect to burn though!

Anyway, G woke up this morning at 5:45am, but that still meant he’d had 12 hours sleep! He was all puffy around the eyes still as well. But, of course, he was brimming with energy and raring to go on our picnic in Hartsholme with my home ed friend, K, and her daughter and son. I probably wasn’t fabulous company as I was still worn out from yesterday as well! But it was fun and the kids had a great time.

Day 8 - A Spur of the Moment Adventure

So I let FP have a nice long lie in again (hay fever disturbs your sleep) so it meant we would miss church, although, as it happened we ended up in Lincoln Cathedral just as communion was starting so I went and took it there.

Anyway, back to chronological events!

So FP got up and was planning on making Sunday morning pancakes while I got a shower. In a fit of madness I decided it was too nice a day to just stay at home! I asked G if he wanted to go on an adventure and he said yes, he wanted to see the “roof of the town” (up Steep Hill), which was exactly where I wanted to go! So we all hurriedly got ready and set out, and then had ages to wait for the bus! But I really didn’t want to miss it as they’re only hourly on a Sunday, however, we passed some of the time identifying wild flowers.

I realised too late that jeans would probably be a bit hot for the day it was already shaping up to be, oh well! G made his own preparations, cars in a backpack, super hero gloves, and a magnifying glass. What else would a boy need!

As we pretty much had nothing in, intending to pop to the shops after church, so in town we picked up a few things for a picnic at Marks and Spencer, then went to Temple Gardens to eat and have a mess about and wander around.

G spent about 5 minutes following a woodlouse with his magnifying glass.

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Father and son moment looking at a poppy.

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Leaving the gardens.

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After that we went to the old ice-cream shop and sat in castle square to eat it, before making our way to the cathedral. Next, we finally went into Bishop’s Old Palace, where G had a whale of a time investigating nooks and crannies and going up spiral staircases. We talked about what went on in “the old days”. He did have problems with the concept of things just falling down over time, he thought the place had been blown up!

On the way to Bishops Old Palace.
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In the grounds, with the cathedral in the background.
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In the living area in the tower, up a lovely winding stone staircase!

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Coming out of the living part.

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Running around the vineyard. G and FP ended up having a race back down the rows.

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We then went back to the cathedral grounds for a while and then back into town for the bus.

This list doesn’t really adequately describe the hours and hours we were out and the amount of walking we did! We’re all absolutely worn out! FP and I are also enjoying some black beer and raisin wine we purchased from the cathedral gift shop.

Oh, and on the subject of wine, in communion at our church we have port, at the cathedral the wine is so dry the back of my tongue welded itself to the roof of my mouth! We also have it pretty easy with a nice comfy bench to kneel on, rather than thousand year old masonry covered by a threadbare carpet. It was an experience though! They certainly use some high falutin’ words in the high Anglican communion!

Day 7 - A Rainy Day in Town

Well, the original plan for today was FP taking G to the nature park and then maybe go into town, and I would get my hair cut and have some me time. But it was rainy, and I had a lazy morning so wouldn’t be able to get to the hairdresser’s when it opened and thus would have to wait, which I didn’t feel like doing. So we all went into town.

First we went to Toys ‘R Us and got G a few cars, a magnifying glass, some Dora the Explorer write on/wipe off cards, and some dog Top Trumps, then we went to Costa Coffee. Out of the three coffee places we have, Costa, Caffe Nero, and Starbucks, I like the coffee in Costa the best. I will always remember my first Costa experience, a rainy day in Cambridgeshire with my friend E before she moved to Switzerland. It was November, lovely near Christmas, and I ordered the largest size gingerbread something or other and it came in a two-handled cup the size of a soup bowl!!

Anyway, we hung out there a while, eating;

having a laugh, taking photos, G playing mostly with his cars and magnifying glass, sometimes both together;

After that, we popped into the charity shop, and I only picked up four books this time, then went into town and discovered the continental market was happening.

We looked at a few things but didn’t buy anything. Most of it is the same as usual and we’ve tried a lot in the past, and I can’t eat a lot of cheese anymore which would be the best thing to get! On the way back through it we did get G a chichi, which is a kind of doughnut, the definition I found was “doughnut-like, deep-fried bread spirals sprinkled with sugar; often sold from trucks at open-air markets; specialty of Provence and the Mediterranean.” He had chestnut puree on it.

FP then took G to the toy shop and I went to the charity shops further up town. There were no books I fancied but I did pick up a serving bowl and bowls for £2.99, and some suitable for summer plastic plates and bowls for £1.50! Bargains!

I then met back up with the boys and after getting G food, which is about a two hourly occurence, we went to a bookshop to hang out in, and I finally picked up a better wild flower identification book, this one, which uses photos and sorts them by colour. I hope it will be less frustrating!

Then home on a double decker bus, my favourite! We also went to other shops of course, and spent time looking at the swans and wandering around a little, so with bus times we were out about six hours.