Thursday 31 January 2013

Going ,going, gone.

It is pouring down outside;
the piles of mucky snow have been washed away.
The hens have flown (except for a forgotten pashmina whose owner I have tracked down.)
Ticket sales are flying away for our pantomime production of 'Cinderella'. Oh yes they are!
Regretfully baby A. and her mum have departed after 2 weeks.

However our 'foster son' JP is coming to stay and the beds that were stripped after the hen party, were remade for J,M and B (his mother), have been stripped again and now are to be made for JP.
It is all go!
H1 has gone to play golf (in the rain?!)

I have no time to blog which I feel really bad about-every week I promise myself things will get less hectic but....
I confess I like being kept busy; however this baby will be a teenager before her grandma finishes the cardigan I am knitting for her-I thought I'd at least manage to knit one garment for each grandchild- I am a failure!!! Thank heavens for Mothercare!!

Now cameras and confetti......

Friday 18 January 2013

Hen Parties

You really didn't expect me to blog, did you?

I have been up and down the A1 like a fiddler's elbow.Oh my goodness! Everyone of my friends who is in the 'grand' state of life told me how wonderful grandchildren are- some even said 'better than your own kids'- NEVER! but A is gorgeous- and the biggest thrill was when I sang to her (4weeks and counting) and she switched on a pensive facial expression and looked up at this idiot who was singing the same daft song to her and beamed at me!! Recognition! She is a delight who is tiny - you forget how small newborns are- and does something new every day....to gaze hard at pictures on the wall, to focus, to smile (not the wind sort) , to grip tight, to delight in the bath, to reach for a toy...... A shame she hasn't learned the difference between day and night yet- she is so awake she could go clubbing with us hens!

Meanwhile while I attempt to relieve the sleepless nights of the new parents by being a 'chief cook, and bottle washer', scrubber, ironer, and all things housewifely, H1 continues to play golf, bridge and all things too important to travel south. He reminds me so much of his parents/family who always found it just too much bother to travel north so didn't! They missed so many of the delights of their grandchildren.

Still in January but Christmas is way behind us now; the cake is finished ( gobbled before New Year!);  I recycle Christmas cards  by tearing the fronts off & using them throughout the next year for recording shopping lists; I keep some in my car so when I visit people in absentia I drop a note in their letterbox saying I called. The backs of the cards get deposited in M&S's recycling boxes to go to the Woodland Trust (to be made into mulch?) The decorations are back up in the loft for another year and we move into wedding mode!!

Well no! Before that we hit the hen party. I wonder do other cultures have stag and hen celebrations? I still remember my henparty-going out dancing with my female family and girl friends to celebrate my last day/s of unmarried freedom. First the staff at school decorated my coat (with the help of my gleeful students) and made me a hat then followed me all the way home to ensure I did not divest myself of the ridiculous garments which declared to the world  that I was about to be married. Then we danced the night away.

My husband does not have much recall of his stag night though I heard one of his group (was it him?) came home naked from Newcastle. It seems the male challenge is to get the stag drunk.

It is snowing so will we manage to stick to our arrangements? We shall have to play it by ear.

Talking of that reminds me- we have been to see 'Quartet' which we really enjoyed and would recommend especially if you are a musician.
I am prompted to tell you of our panto production coming up soon- OH yes it is! Cinderella is in dramatic need of a cast learning their lines- some of the younger members need to put down their mobs and get cracking! Can you hear the teacher frustration?

I went to Frankie and Benny's with my voluntary Year 5- we made healthy pizzas-I can hear you all saying'HEALTHY?'- well the sweetcorn, peppers and mushrooms were! Forget the pepperoni!

Where all my time has gone I do not know- I have just got back to my tome- Diana Gabaldon's 'Drums of Autumn' have just started beating again!
O.K. Friends to ring, folk to visit, lots of people calling in; there's the doorball- I need to get the kettle on
I promise to do better and get back to blogging soon.

Thursday 10 January 2013

An ordinary day

Back in routine ;the sky is blue; the sun is painting the garden with light at last; we seem to have been immersed in grey dullness for months - except when baby A. smiles.

I haven't had to prompt Buttons and Bows as much as I thought I would.....

An invitation for spag bol at L's and then a quick trip to see 'The Hobbit'- did I say quick? I got a wee bit bored by the Auks fighting a lot but it did bring back happy memories of reading Bilbo myself in early teens and then to my children.....my precioussss.....

Spot Benedict Cumberbatch....!?