Music, marquees, history and sea

I really ought to be in bed, so I’ll try to make this quick. Previous attempts at this kind of thing suggest I’ll be up for a while…

Yesterday was music school for the big 4 and a lie-in for Katy. After dropping them off I took A to pick up a huge parcel from the local DHL depot, then read to her at the music school while waiting for the others to finish. Back home, lunch, then I mowed the front lawn (before the strimmer cable ran out, and re-doing it is a simple but lengthy job, so I put the back lawn off for another day) and gunged sealant around a gutter / downpipe joint that was leaking.

I then took M to mass in an inter-denominational primary school near where I work. It was relaxed and friendly, but didn’t have a separate children’s liturgy, so I don’t know if M will prefer that or the other church he’s tried. Good homily too – the priest knew his stuff, obviously cared about his congregation and loved God too 🙂 . Then I had to dash to a last supper 😉 . A colleague of mine R who, like me, has kept his job throws occasional excellent parties, and he wanted to have the work gang together one last time before people started getting established in new jobs. Some people who had left several months previously also came back, which was great. It was in one of the marquees that R and his housemate own (for their amazing parties) and very nice indeed. I had to leave earlier than many as today was going to be busy.

Today had a slower start than we’d planned, then we headed off to near Norwich to visit the shop owned by Katy’s uncle and aunt. So M and they got to meet each other, but it was a flying visit en route for further Norfolk adventures.

We went to a stately home with a moat that had lots of historical re-enactors (who’d have thought it, eh?). It was a multi-period fair, with Romans and Anglo-saxons up to WW2. We were in time to see some falconry, and then some people playing with a big trebuchet. While we were watching it, Tadcu met up with us, and we saw the trebuchet mis-fire backwards. Fortunately it wouldn’t have hit any spectators, because some lovely WW2 vehicles were in the way, but a brave / foolish re-enactor saved the vehicles by catching the rock which was about the size of two bags of sugar. His fingers survived, and the re-enactors continued playing but we wandered off.

There were lots of other very nice things. A good but slightly scary story-teller, a lady with WW2 bits and pieces like sweetheart badges and ration books, which kept the boys interested for a long time, Tadcu bought a cloak, we bought some ginger honey, I bought a longbow and associated bits from these people (the magic words “I’m a re-enactor” got a discount, which was great.) I just need to learn how to use it properly 😉 .

While I was spending lots of money, Katy and the children wandered into the house, which had WW2 people letting people try on their gask masks, someone talking about tea – with some blocks of pressed leaves, how expensive it used to be etc. A barber said some interesting things about his strop. “Throwing a strop” comes from literally throwing your strop at someone.

After a bit of hunting, we tracked down the NAAFI canteen and got to speak to one of the ladies running it. She’s an education officer with the Poppy Line, and so might do an evacuee day event for home educators near us (quite far away, but sounds very good).

At closing time, K and M got into Tadcu’s Morris Minor Traveller (at their request) and we all headed off to see Poppa in his new nursing home. He seems better than he was when we last saw him in hospital, which was good to see.

We didn’t stay long, and then a short drive later we were in Sheringham for sea and chips. We stayed there until it was nearly dark and then home. Tomorrow is work for me and the train to the Tower of London for everyone else.