In At The Deep End

We had intended to go to Framlingham Castle on Friday to do a bit more time travelling but in the end the children decided they fancied a day at home instead, with a visit there next week if we can manage it. Big Alice came over and they showed her how good they all are at riding bikes (L still can’t start by herself except going down a hill, and isn’t quite reliable on steering or stopping, but both boys have got it sussed to the point of practising tricks and stunts now) and did lots of playing on the field, then came in and let her sit for a bit while they played a few board games. I went out on a (sadly fruitless) quest for plastic storage drawers for the bathroom and x10 lenses, which we had been told came from the £1 shop. We don’t have a £1 shop in our nearest town, but we have a couple of similar places, so I was hoping, but the nearest I could find was a set of x5 and x3 – put them together and you get x8, which is getting there, I guess… Alice stayed for tea and we initiated her into the delights of roll-your-own sushi

On Saturday our plan had been for me to take the children to the 1940s event at RAF Upware, leaving Bob behind to get lots of jobs done (like cementing in the manhole cover frame in our driveway, which has been sitting precariously ever since we decided the old one was just too rickety to be safe) but we were a bit late leaving and then we got side-tracked, having missed a turning and ended up in the rather lovely village (town?) of Ramsey. We found a lovely higgledy-piggledy charity shop, where everything seemed to be £1 or less, including a couple of bike helmets so that the children now have one each, and a discount shop which sold completely random things in odd quantities for small sums – spent £7.50 there and came out with tins and packets galore! We parked up by the Abbey gate and read the national trust plaque there (but since it wasn’t an afternoon of the first Sunday of the month we couldn’t go in), admired the Parish church, walked back through the main street admiring the 1940s shopfronts (and occasional passer-by in costume) and browsed the stalls that had been set up along the pavement, including a tombola run by a man so desperate to get rid of things that he let the children have 5 tickets each for £1, then made sure that they each won something – they were chuffed but I can’t help thinking that’s more tut to get rid of By now it was chucking it down so we sheltered under the awning of a greengrocer’s stand and chatted to him about his produce, which included apples and plums from the farm we had visited for the plum festival We bought some more apples (Discovery – one of my favourite varieties) and a few other bits and pieces as well, including a romanesco broccoli/cauliflower, which the children ate with great delight both raw and cooked for tea. Another thing to add to our list of veg we’d like to try growing
We got home to find that Bob had had to dash out and buy cement, since what he had bought before was concrete and not really suitable… The frame was embedded though, and looking quite neat, just waiting for the cement to dry enough so that the lid could go back on J, K, A and I went out again still in search of plastic storage drawers, but this time to replace A’s tut drawers, which we had decided to use in the bathroom. She wanted pink, so was happy to give up the blue ones which we had actually got for M to use when he was here. The boys dashed in for bike lights, while I stayed with A in the car park to avoid having to pay for a 5 minute stop, coming back with something which was not at all what I expected and I am not convinced will work, but we’ll see. Then we looked for drawers and water butts. We were intending to move the slightly leaky one which is currently outside the kitchen door with a larger one and move the current one to the workshop, where there is a connector spilling water onto the new fence each time it rains Also hoping that a new tap will fix the leak and make that butt as good as new anyway. They had no large water butts left, but did have slimline ones on special offer, which can be connected together to give more storage and would fit better in the space available anyway, we thought, so we got those – after huge amounts of waiting for staff to get back to us with various bits of information. No taps, and no suitable drawers either, so we ende dup having to go elsewhere in any case, where we managed to get silver drawers, which A decided were acceptable even though not pink, and a water butt tap By now it was getting late so we popped into a supermarket to pick up stuff for quick tea and came out with lots of reduced tasty veg pots which salved my conscience a little on the feeding my children ready meals front Oh, and also a large chocolate mousse which is the first shop bought mousse I’ve ever found which was veggie – perhaps not healthy but oh so yummy!

Today we decided to do the RAF bit of the 1940s weekend, and Bob wanted to come too, so we all set off together. It was a very expensive day, as entry was not cheap by the time we had 5 of us to pay for (but we were hopeful it would be worth it, as the event promised much in terms of numbers of re-enactors and things going on) and then practically everything once you were in was extra – we managed to keep it down to ice-creams (it was a stinking hot day!), a ride on swing boats, a ride on a miniature steam train and a few bits and pieces for mementos, but still spent far more than we had intended! We could have spent far far more, as there were stands, stalls and things to do on every side – but 9 out of 10 of them to be paid for J wanted me to be made over 1940′s style, with back-combed hair and bright red lips, but I resisted. We might try it at home sometime though There was an airshow going on above our heads, which looked good (and probably accounted for a fair chunk of the entry price) and lots of clearly very knowledgeable people about, but somehow it wasn’t as lively or as involving as I’d expected – perhaps I’ve been spoilt by Kentwell and their very interactive approach! Definitely worth having been to once, but I’m not sure we’ll bother again, or at least not for a few years, until all the children are old enough to get more out of it – perhaps when we get to Book 4 of Story of the World will be the right time. It may also be, of course, that I’m just not really into the militaria and the WWII stuff, so perhaps I’m not the best person to judge…

Having said all that, A spent a fair bit of time chatting to a parrot and there was one rather lovely little corner, where a bit of everyday life at home was being recreated, including two small children playing in a tin bath full of water – the best place to be on a day like today, I think – watched by a young woman while another woman was washing clothes by turning the handle on her machine and then running them through a mangle before hanging them out to dry. I think that kind of cameo of real life is much more to my taste and I’d happily have spent longer there. L, A and I stayed for a while watching them and looking at the toys and everyday household items, then realised that Bob still had the camera and he and the boys were across the yard from us trying on fireman’s helmets (another highlight of the day: lovely old fire engines and pumps, including a steam-powered one). L ran across to tell them we had found something they should come and see, tripped and fell, badly grazing her knee and shredding the palm of one hand Unfortunately the wounds were very dirty and full of small bits of gravel, and there was nowhere to get her cleaned up, so having dabbed with a wet tissue and failed to make much progress we decided to seek medical assistance and took her to the St John Ambulance, who cleaned her up very efficiently, dressed the wounds – and took lots of personal details – and then the airshow started and somehow we never did make it back to that lovely little area, or even to the fire engines

Eventually K and L were just too tired and fed up to keep going, so we made our way back to the car and came home for a revivifying water fight which ended up in a bath before tea and then an early night for the children… and I think I might follow their example…

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