In At The Deep End

Gosh – lots to catch up, so this will be edited highlights.

Sunday 30th October – Operatunity rehearsal, which coincided with a Hallowe’en party thrown by friends. Since L had missed the previous rehearsal, but K hadn’t, they decided to swap round this time, L missing much of the party for the rehearsal while K relied on her keeping him up to date with developments and new songs.

The week which followed was the normal busy round of nothing much, but enlivened by a K’Nex extravanganza on Thursday 3rd November Another Operatunity rehearsal for K and L at the weekend, then Bob was off to Germany for a few days, leaving the rest of us to prepare activities on Brazil for Geography on Wednesday: sugar skulls for the Day of the Dead. Thursday was multisport, which the children are enjoying far more with the new team running it, and Friday our day at home to replace the Tuesday we missed through Bob being away. School and music school on Saturday, Remembrance parade and then Operatunity on Sunday and another week had gone by…

Wednesday 16th November was Historyetc which has been blogged so well elsewhere that I’ll just cheat The afternoon was spent hastily cobbling together a costume for J to wear to school the next day, when he was to represent Uganda in a UN society debate, and in the evening A, J and I had a babysitting sleepover at Gina’s, leaving Bob to take K and L to yet another Operatunity rehearsal.

The weekend had the usual whirl of music and school, but with added ceilidh on Sunday afternoon (thanks, Gina, for organising – it was lots of fun) which made a nice change from Operatunity – no rehearsal for once, but lots to come…

On Tuesday (22nd November) K, L and A spent a lovely morning going round Wood Green, especially A, who got to answer lots of questions and then we had a long chatty lunch with friends and a quick scout round the thift shop before heading to violin, ‘cello, swimming and, eventually, Brownies.

Lots of extra rehearsals that week led up to a full run-through on Saturday afternoon, at which we were joined by Hannah, an old friend and K’s godmother, and then PIL for a quick tea out and, at last, the grand performance. It was very good, an adaptation of Jill Tomlinson’s story The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark done to help children to become accustomed to opera and operatic style. K’s comment on Mother Owl (a professional opera singer) was that she had a very loud voice, especially considering her size – “it’s amazing how much voice comes out of such a small person!” – and that her voice was “rather wobbly”; she certainly put plenty of vibrato into her performance!

The following day we delivered J to a brass day which he says was excellent (certainly the concert at the end was very good) and then the rest of us went to Audley End, there to meet up with Bob’s parents ready for a day spent enjoying a Victorian Christmas celebration. We saw elaborate food preparations in the kitchen, were fleeced by the rather dodgy fairground stallholders, watched a potted Christmas Carol, met Father Christmas’s reindeer (but couldn’t face the immense queue to see the man himself), admired the horsemanship of the lancers and the Hunt, watched the lady of the house getting dressed in her numerous layers, listened to a talk about Victorian Christmas traditions, did Christmas craft, found numerous small reindeer hidden in the rooms of the house and thereby earned prizes for the children (popping candy chocolate; A wasn’t at all sure, but K and L liked theirs very much), ate a picnic in the sun (ridiculous for the end of November!), queued for aaaaaaages for a cup of tea (Bob did that bit while his parents admired the kitchen gardens and I watched the children who were busy in the playground) and eventually decided A and L were so tired that they and Bob should catch a lift with PIL and get an early night while K and I went to join J for the end of day concert. I think K would have liked to have gone home too, but there wasn’t enough room in the car; he enjoyed the concert once we got there, anyway

A Viking History session on Monday kept everyone busy and awake, then Tuesday was a nice relaxed morning and a less than usually busy afternoon, as violin had been cancelled so I decided to cancel ‘cello too. We found out that J’s school was to be closed on Wednesday (not entirely closed, but for his year group at least as enough teachers were striking to mean only essential classes took place) which was good news for us as it meant he could come along and join in with a busy day and we didn’t have to worry about the school run at either end. In the end he didn’t get homework done on Tuesday evening so spent Wednesday morning doing it while K and L took part in a Victorian morning, mostly doing seasonal crafts but with some music and dancing thrown in for good measure Then we doubled back on ourselves and headed out in the opposite direction to a soft play party, celebrating a double birthday with lots of friends from all over the place – and a very impressive cake! L decided to miss ballet for once, which gave us time to pop in for tea and chat at the home of one of the birthday girl afterwards, but there were lots of other people I’d have liked to have seen for longer… at least knowing we had Christmas camp to look forward to made it easier

On Thursday L’s gym had a Christmas special session, with performances by representatives of each group they work with, from the littlest recreational gymnasts right through to Olympic medal-winners. The children each found different things to like best and L was very happy to have been part of it. Considering how much they were trying to pull together, I thought it was very impressive

Saturday morning was music school open day, which meant I got to listen to all the things they’ve been working on and then the afternoon found us at Christmas drinks with a friend – the one who organises lots of activities, some of which we attend, so it seemed only fair to make the effort to go along. It was a good chance to chat to people we didn’t know very well, something I find stressful and rewarding in equal parts
Sunday 4th I had earmarked as a day to finish and finetune the talk I was to give on Tudor Christmas customs for EWS and her group of ladies, but at quite short notice it was swept away from me by the visit of an old school-friend and her husband, L’s godparents and our children’s guardians should anything happen to us (the children were disconcertingly pleased when we told them that!), who came in time for breakfast, a game of chess with K and then church, followed by a lovely meal at a cafe near church which we’d walked past but never been into before. Luckily once home Michelle didn’t mind me cooking while we chatted, so I was able to get some of that side of the preparation done (and had already prepared the talky bits), L and K showed off their skill at Tudor boardgames and then A decided that Chris needed educating in the art of caring for dolls so took him off to show him what to do, which kept them both busy for much of the afternoon

Monday 5th December should have been K’s Cubs Christmas party – well, I guess it still was, but he wasn’t there because our plans to meet at EWS’ so that Bob could take the children home and I could stay and talk were changed by discovering that there was an impromptu party going on, to which the children were invited. It made sense for them to go while they waited for Bob but somehow once they were there it was so much fun that they decided to just carry on staying and not go to Cubs at all… Eventually, Bob took them home and I stayed and set up my stuff, changed into Tudor garb (minus coif, so that I could still talk normally) and met the ladies to whom I was to be speaking. It was a very enjoyable evening, ending with carols and then companionable washing up I’ve never before been asked if I’m a hand model or a dancer, so that was a new experience

Wednesday found us juggling schedules again, as K had a recorder exam to get to at about the time I should have been collecting J. In the end we decided J should get the train a few stops further than usual, while Gina very kindly took L to ballet – which was just as well as a few stops further meant going right into town to the main station and the traffic was awful It was a watching week at ballet and we made it for most, but it was a relief to know L was alredy there!

Thursday was multisport again, but with added talk beforehand as Ruth came to tell us about otters – very interesting Then on Friday we went to a German Christmas market, kind of :p There were stalls and activities, food and songs and lots of opportunities to use the language, mostly run by HE parents, with a little help from a German teacher and various friends. Lots of fun, if somewhat chaotic! J was finishing at lunchtime so we expected to have to leave early, but Bob picked him up from the station and took him back to work, then we collected him from there, so gained a little extra time. We had a very quiet afternoon, mostly because Bob and I had Evening Out plans Big Alice came and babysat and we went and had a posh dinner at a posh hotel with lots of Bob’s work colleagues – which is where it gets a bit less exciting It was good to have an evening out together though; I can’t remember the last time that happened!

Saturday = packing day, ready for Christmas camp on Sunday….and we’re not even up to the circuses yet, but it’s a new day and a new year and I’m going to stop now and get myself a celebratory drink

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Happy new year

May 2012 bring joy, love and peace to all those friends I’ve known and loved for years, those I’ve been privileged to spend time with this year, those I’ve sadly not seen or spoken to for too long and those I’ve yet to meet.

Wednesday was a quiet day at home, with visiting friends, then an evening with Big Alice – lovely to have a chance to catch up with people

On Thursday Bob worked from home in the morning so he could take the children (and himself) to dental appointments (they’re currently all on 6 monthly whereas mine are generally annual) which meant that I could finally get some of the larger toys out of the workshop, where they’ve been lurking since Tots had to move out of the church hall for refurbishment, and take them to the now new and posh church hall for rehoming I also took slings to lend to Anna, who is taking over Tots and clothes for R and E, forgetting that they wouldn’t be there. Toys and slings delivered, clothes brought home again… We were expecting Big Alice back again, but she had a nasty m/w appointment and was left feeling too traumatised to come Hopefully things will be sorted by the next one, as changes are underway.
In the afternoon our new minister came round for a cuppa and a chat, just as the children were crafting pumpkins and ghosts for Hallowe’en. Fortunately this didn’t seem to faze him and he fielded lots of interested child chat with good humour He also accidentally reminded me that I was supposed to be at a church council meeting in the evening by mentioning that he had one… I’d not registered that there was one at all, leave alone that it was an important one (Bob puts them on the church calendar, as he is webmeister, but never remembers to put them on our calendar or to tell me!) so that was a Good Thing. We’re considering redeveloping the church and the meeting was with architects who’ve been looking at possible paths to take.

Friday was another day with friends, although this time an away match We went to Gina’s to play – a change from our now regular trips there to work – and met up with Susan and K there too, which my K was very happy about J was very pleased to see Gina’s J again too, as both being in school (but not the same school) has somewhat limited their opportunities to spend time together, and all the children played nicely while adults chatted, so it was a good day all round, with a few bonus bits of music and art thrown in too. Thanks Gina and Susan

Saturday has not quite gone to plan. J had a trombone lesson, so Bob took him and the others to that, intending to take younger ones to the park while J was in his lesson, but ended up taking them all to the park afterwards instead, so they were later getting on with other things than planned. Meanwhile I went to a warehouse sale, only to find that there was a long queue to get in, so I was later than planned too. This meant that Bob ended up taking all children to Make a Difference day at church, rather than me taking J, so they all made sandwiches, laid tables, put out cakes and prepared tea and coffee, then Bob took A home when I got there (she’s very much a home-body at the moment) while the other three worked as waiting staff, serving afternoon tea to paying customers I got to sit and be waited on, which was lovely, but the easy afternoon I had planned was taken somewhat off course when a young man came in, on a strong waft of alcohol, and sat at the table where the minister and I were chatting, clearly in search of help, support, or maybe just somebody to listen to him. We plied him with coffee and listened. We let him hold our hands and tell us about how his awful childhood had affected his adult life, about the many times he had been in prison for things he did whilst running away from life, about the counselling he is just beginning to undergo and how hard it is, but how he hopes it will help him to get out of the cloud he is in. We advised him as best we could, knowing that most of what we said will make no difference at all, given the alcohol-induced fug he was in. We warned him that counselling may make things feel worse for a while rather than better, but that that is part of the process and once you work through that it really will get easier. We tried hard to let him see that God was listening all the times he cried out to Him, but that sometimes prayers aren’t answered directly and sometimes God speaks through other people rather than through instant intervention, miracles or signs. We encouraged him to hold on, to seek help, not to run any more, not to give up. I wish I could have told him to go to AA for support, but he was adamant that drink was not a problem and I no longer have local AA contacts; I don’t know the groups here or what they’re like. If you pray, please pray for him.

We had to go to Nottingham on Tuesday, so asked around for suggestions as to what to do in the afternoon. Wollaton Hall came highly recommended, so we made our way there, through horrible roadworks and traffic, then had trouble finding the park entrance and almost gave up, but once there we were very glad we had persevered

The children started by running off some of their traffic jam induced grumps in the park and then we made our way over to the hall itself (and discovered that there was a car park rather nearer than the one we were in. Tant pis.) passing a large stag on the way, which we thought must be stuffed or a statue until it moved. Apparently he likes to lurk there and survey the visitors, and is especially partial to scones.

We started in the great hall with pictures to colour, which kept A, L and K busy while J and I read information boards about the origins of various Hallowe’en related traditions. From there we moved on through a doorway which gave an enticing glimpse of lion. It turned out to be a room full of cases of preserved and stuffed animals, which reminded me a great deal of visits to the natural history museum at Norwich Castle. I guess it’s from much the same era. We managed to be fascinated rather than saddened – it was all very well laid-out and carefully arranged yet somehow rather forlorn looking too.

The next room was full of birds, some of them in naturalistic settings, many with their eggs (which was fascinating in itself) and with exotic specimens from far-off lands arrayed alongside birds of prey and seaside scenes. The children were entranced, especially A and K, while J was rather taken with all the assorted trophy heads which adorned the walls above the display cases. There was pretty much a whole safari park worth! He wasn’t quite so sure when he realised they were all real though…

Upstairs we found insects: wasps, bees and beetles with their habitat and some utterly beautiful butterflies, all pinned to display boards… again a mixture of fascination and melancholy. The lighting was very well done to show off colours and shapes and there was also a spinny thing to make up your own insect by mixing and matching features, which A rather liked, and a creepy-crawly sentence generator which L enjoyed.

My favourite room was full of minerals and crystals – absolutely stunning! Many of the colours looked just too startling to be natural and we lingered over our favourites only to have our eyes caught by another and another.

There was also a room with cushions, but not enough for all the children to sit on them, and video playing, but so quietly that it was pretty much inaudible, which was frustrating on both counts so we moved on and instead watched a different video with a presentation on taxidermy – specifically how a badger was rebuilt, for want of a better word. The video was accompanied by a partially made badger framework and a finished stuffed badger. After that there was much looking for seams on other animals

From there we stepped into a little part of Africa, including a rather lovely giraffe, a pair of elephant tusks of rather impressive size and George the Gorilla, with his rather sad story (he was the first gorilla to be caught and stuffed and was displayed in the Paris Exhibition in 1878 before being bought for £5000 and brought to Nottingham). There were also books to read (which of course the children greeted as a major attraction!) and some footprints to match with their owners

Another favourite was the display of jellyfish and similar sea creatures, made of glass because obviously they can’t be stuffed, and described as being not quite art and not quite science but “with a tentacle in each” Leopold Blaschka, a glass blower with a keen interest in natural history, first started by making glass models of flowers and was then commissioned to make a display of marine invertebrates for Dresden museum – the start of a whole new direction for him and his son Rudolf.

A quick pop to the shop and we were off back to the park… only to return a few minutes later when the boys realised they had left their diabolo somewhere in the museum. This gave the girls a few more minutes of colouring (and me a few minutes of peaceful sitting) and then we really were off, via an ice-cream and a play in the park, to home.

J is on half-term (which means I’m overdue a post about J being at school, but you have to start somewhere and for want of anywhere better I’m starting here) for two weeks, so we’ve been making the most of the chance to do the sort of things we used to see as routine for home ed but which have been a bit harder to do with school added into the mix.
On Friday 14th we dropped J off at school and drove to catch the tube, heading for Abracadabra at Wigmore Hall . A mixture of music and magic, it was fab and we all enjoyed it very much – the children’s only regret being that at just under an hour it was nowhere near long enough. Neil Henry was presenting/narrating (and performing little tricks along the way, such as producing eggs from various parts of the musicians) the story of the ugly duckling, with musical accompaniment from members of the Aurora Orchestra on ‘cello, violin, viola, flute, oboe/clarinet and harp – the concert began with an impromptu lesson in harp-string changing as one broke at just the wrong moment. We heard the overture to The Magic Flute, variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Arthur Bliss’s Conversations (not heard these before, but very much enjoyed them, especially the Committee Meeting!) and something else which I can’t for the life of me think of now – will have to find the programme and check! Afterwards we had some time in hand but not much so walked a short way to see the Wallace Collection, where we had a picnic outside then went in to admire some paintings, discovered that A is really rather into furniture (she remarked on all the cabinets we saw and was intrigued by how they were made) and pictures of pretty girls (no surprise there, though), while L enjoyed spotting Bible stories in pictures and K was rather taken with all the arms and armour. While we were there a lunchtime talk was announced, on the preservation and repair of old armour so we found our way to the basement for a fascinating discussion. We saw different types of chain mail, with plain round links and riveted links and found out that any new links put in when repairing chain mail are marked with a tiny HH so that future conservators won’t get confused if they have accidentally not done it the same as the originals. We also learned about enamelling, how to protect silver from tarnishing, that hippo leather is translucent and much much more

Saturday 15th was the English Heritage Battle of Hastings, although J gets very cross when you call it this and insists it was the Battle of Battle, near Hastings (apparently his History teacher is rather evangelical over this!) and since J had no school and the others no music school we decided it was time for us to finally make it to the Battle A decided to stay at home with Bob – I think she is missing being at home and opts to stay here whenever possible now. I’m sick of driving so we caught the train, which would have been better had J actually got up in time (still, I guess it was the first day of the holidays for him ) but as it was we arrived at about midday, having aimed for 10:30. Ho hum. Rushing to get to storytelling session (which had started early and therefore finished early so we missed all but the last few words ) we spotted the Beans and Manorborns and joined up with them (or at least the children did with their children) for a children’s battle, which was great fun
We also wandered round the Saxon encampment, and a little round the Norman one, but that was smaller and didn’t have the added draw of market stalls and found an amazing storyteller who used his own version of the Bayeux Tapestry (but not) to recount the Battle of Maldon, with K getting to wear lots of armour and carry a shield (not the linden wood one, although he did try it – close-grained enough to stop and hold a sword or axe, it’s also very heavy!), sword and spear, while L and J helped him to create a shield wall and L was given a spear she was warned was very sharp so she shouldn’t aim it at anyone unless she really meant it – “you’ll be in just as much trouble anyway, so you might as well have some fun out of it!”
Returned to children’s area for storytelling (a different version of the Battle of Maldon) and then back for a wander round, quick look at a Viking (?) ship, but too late for the naval battle, potter round the stalls and finding Beans and Manorborns again to sit together for battle. We thought we had a not-so-good place as the ground was sharply sloping in the wrong direction and all we could see for ages was Saxon backsides, but as it turned out we had the best seats in the house when it came to the end of the battle, as it all happened right in front of us
Normans victorious (C, J and I were trying to think of things we could have shouted at them in French to parry the things they were shouting at us), the children asked to go round stalls and encampment alone while grown-ups drank tea. We eventually caught up with them sitting outside a Saxon tent, absolutely entranced by tablet weaving, which a kind re-enactor was teaching them to do. Lots of atmospheric photo opportunities as the evening drew in but that also meant it was time for us to be taking our leave, back to the station and home.

Sunday 16th – Operatunity for K and L, while J and I hunted for a new watch for him, since he managed to lose his at school

Monday 17th – a History session followed by a play in one of the many parks we seem to go past without ever having time to stop and play. It was good Monday night is judo night, and for once J, K and L all managed to make it – generally K has Cubs now, and J is often too tired, then L doesn’t want to go on her own.

Tuesday 18th – our weekly mostly-at-home day, minus ‘cello as teacher busy, but with violin as usual, then swimming and Brownies. Not really at home much then

Wednesday 19th – Historyetc Lovely day, with masses of activities and nearly enough time to chat with friends. We were enjoying it all so much we stayed a bit too long and ended up making K late for his book group… Then spent an hour in the library waiting for him – my children’s idea of heaven and something we don’t do nearly enough!

Thursday 20th – finally we had a day free to make the most of National Schools Film Week, with a trip to see Gnomeo and Juliet. We took E and S with us, and all the children really enjoyed it, as did I – much more than I had expected. Lots of fun allusions for older children/adults/Shakespeare scholars to pick up on, and lots of slapstick humour too. Sad bits too – very poignant when the flamingo tells of how his love was destroyed by the hate of others (how sad is it to have to admit that I cried at a story told by a pink plastic garden ornament? ) – but the requisite happy ending, complete with song and dance number
Then we went on to HE sport, the first time we’ve made it since new coaches started. J was very pleased to be able to make it (and wants to know if it will always be on in his holidays – sadly I think not) and even L was able to join in, as they needed one extra to make up numbers for a team.
In the evening I had a BF support team meeting, which was good – interesting discussion on the necessity or otherwise of vitamin supplements for BF babies and a grant to spend on resources – any ideas welcome

Friday 21st had an early start, with ‘cello lesson at 9, then 10:30 found us at the cinema again, this time to see Kirikou et les Betes Sauvages which was… interesting. It was in French with subtitles, which was a bonus, but it was odd seeing things which supposedly happened in the middle of the events of the previous film (Kirikou et la Sorciere, which we saw last year) and that took a bit of getting your head round. A was particularly confused as to why the witch was still bad, when we knew that Kirikou had made her good…

Then we dashed across town to see (hear?) Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals, along with hordes of rather noisy school children. Still good though

Saturday was to have been a trombone lesson for J (with his old teacher as lessons at school haven’t really happened yet) and then straight on to the Festival of Ideas, but sadly the car wouldn’t start when we tried to move on form the trombone teacher’s house, so we went in for a chat and a drink while Bob came to the rescue. Quick exchange of children, J and A opting for home instead, and K, L and I went on to a circus skills workshop, which was great – K learned two new tricks on diablo and I can now spin plates When that ended we moved on to Prehistory, including painting with pigments made from ground up chalks, earth and so forth, investigating (by candlelight) cave paintings, having a “tattoo” done, watching tanners and smelters at work, grinding flour, making bread (but missing out on eating it as we weren’t quick enough when it came out of the oven) and throwing a spear with and without a spear thrower. We could have stayed longer (and would have liked to, as friends were there too) but really wanted to get to see Anglo-Saxons and Egyptians too. As it worked out, we could have gone on a tour which would have told us about Roman and Anglo-Saxon bodies found in the grounds but that would have meant very little time for anything else so opted instead for making shabtis and masks, whilst learning about Egyptian culture from the very friendly and knowledgeable students running the activities. We didn’t make it into the museum, though, so will have to look into doing that another time.

Sunday 23rd was October Plenty which I have wanted to do for a while, so J, L, A and I went there, while K stayed with Bob to do normal Sunday things: church and operatunity rehearsal (he felt that if L was not going then he needed to, so he could tell her what she had missed). Lots of photos should shortly be available to tell the October Plenty story for themselves, but in short we wore strange clothes, processed, watched a play, sold programmes, listened to stories (and I ended up telling one too, as there were children waiting and the storyteller was not around), tried lots of different types of apple, listened to some fab music, chatted with friends, J entered an apple peeling competition and got a prize (despite having thought the aim was speed rather than length of peel; he says he’ll do better next year now he knows what he’s meant to be doing!) and we came home with a leek and a small sheaf of wheat from the dismantling of the Corn Queene – which L and A then very much enjoyed giving out to strangers on the way home, explaining that they were sharing the Plenty and spreading the harvest

On Monday (today – phew!) we had fun at a Play with Maths session – a long way away but worth the journey, I think – and then dashed back in another direction entirely to meet up with an old friend, the French assistante from a school I taught at. We went to a couple more Festival of Ideas things, firstly an interesting display about coral, which included a (video) performance by David Bower, a deaf actor incredibly adept at using facial expressions. The children were spellbound for ages! A cup of tea and some macaroons later we met up with Bob and handed over the three youngest children, leaving J, Marie-Laure and me to go to Adventures of a Palaeolinguist, an excellent talk from James Clackson (who incidentally finds the term “palaeolinguist” a bit annoying as it mixes Greek and Latin) about how linguists/historians can begin to work out what ancient languages mean and where to even begin when faced with a piece of script you know nothing about. I was surprised but pleased when J asked a question (about pronunciation) and there was lots more I would have loved to have heard. Loads of information on screen though – handouts would have been good, as once it had gone I couldn’t remember it
Cheeky chips on the way home

Days 2 – 5 mostly taken up with Holiday Orchestra and lots of nothing much around the edges, a bit of house sorting, a bit of F sorting, both work and heart, some cooking and shopping (new boots for L as well as interesting food to make a hamper for Big Alice and John) and general holiday laziness. On Wednesday we went to see friends on the way back from HO and chatted a lot about En Famille – we did a reference for them and they are now about to start their exchange, having discussed it between families and decided January suited them both better than Sept.
HO finished with a bumper day, which started with getting the boys there by 9:30, then J’s Gamelan performance at 10:10 and K’s at 11:30, collect K at 1.20 and J (and SB) at 1:30, then back for J/SB rehearsal 2 – 2:30 and back again for first presentation concert at 4:30 and second one after that. All very good, but a long day, and only having one car meant the girls and I did the whole thing so Bob could work from home. In the afternoon gap we walked into town and had baked potatoes from the stall there – a key part of my student life and then a place we frequented when J and K were tiny Whilst sitting there eating them an old friend strolled past, so we had a lovely (but brief, as we had to get back for the concerts) chat and promised to catch up soon. Her son, B, was at school with J and used to come round for tea once a week, even after J had left the school. Bought tasty but expensive tea from M & S as now not enough time to get to cheaper places and then dashed back via routes through/between nice colleges to show F
Concerts good – recorded relevant bits on Flip, which F then accidentally took home with her – ho hum! A managed really well, watching (and videoing) first concert, then spent most of second concert on my lap snuggling to sleep. Home and to bed…

Assuming the first day of Christmas to start on the evening of December 25th rather than the morning of 26th…

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… some liquorice that was just too salty (although fortunately some of our New Year visitors liked it) and, on behalf of the children, several lovely books (although one is now sadly out of date, thanks to a tragic incident which allegedly will sAttc – I couldn’t bear to listen, but that was okay because they repeated the moment on Radio 4 ad nauseam ) Simon’s Cat is almost as good on paper as on screen, but lacking those little chirrupy cat noises. I’ve not yet started A Little History of the World but I think it might be coming to bed with me once I’ve worked my way through all the Harry Harrison books the children gave Bob while Stephen Fry’s Ode Less Travelled might have to wait a while for me to have enough time to do it justice. Apparently I used to write poetry…

PIL did an almost excellent job this year, with a QI book for Bob, lovely warm slippers for me, some Peppa Pig bits and pieces for A, a fleecy blanket for L, a dinosaur kit for K (which he assembled the very same day and then could barely restrain himself from painting it before the glue dried) and a curious blank for J (presumably his parcel fell out of the bag somewhere along the way); fortunately there were also a couple of “all the children” parcels so we declared those to be his The joint subscription to Aquila is their favourite thing though

I’m getting ahead of myself, however. Christmas Day started for us at about 8, when the children came in to show us their stockings (handily stocked with food and drink which had held them off for a bit ) and then opened one present each before church – picking the ones they wanted to take to show: a magic Box of Tricks for J and K, which J practised on the way so he could show David, our local church minister, a trick, ear warmers and fleece for K, a little doll from her stocking for A and a warbling bird, also from the stocking, for L. The service was lovely – thought-provoking, fun, lively – it’s a shame David will be moving on this year, and really doesn’t make our still ongoing which church dilemma any easier.
We came home and had a snacky kind of lunch, then another present each, which gave us all something to do before it was time to get the dinner going. L’s godparents gave her a castle which needed putting together (Bob did it, but I thought it looked odd, read the instructions and redid it ) and then about 4000 stickers putting on; she’s about 1/10 of the way there so far… K had his dinosaur to do, J lots of magic trick to learn and A helped with the stickers, had stories read to her and generally pottered about. I lounged on the settee feeling a bit bleurgh and migrainous but managed to shake it off enough to supervise cooking. A did a good job of making pigs in blankets, Bob did stuffing balls (he’s the only one who likes stuffing anyway, so if he doesn’t make them he doesn’t get them!) and J and K peeled potatoes while L helped me with the sprouts. Dinner was a veggie version of traditional all the trimmings Christmas fare, then we watched One Ronnie, especially loving the Blackberry sketch, before flaming the pudding and opening a couple more presents. Nice quiet family day We talked to Bob’s family on the phone, then tried to phone my dad, but he’d had his favourite kind of Christmas dinner (beans on toast, then mince pies washed down with whisky) and gone to bed so we talked to Mamgu instead and arranged to phone again on Boxing Day, when my sister would be there too.

So on the real first day of Christmas we headed off to Norfolk to have lunch with my aunt and uncle. The children were a bit disappointed that my cousin and his family weren’t there, as they’d been looking forward to a game of football, but they always like visiting there anyway; Auntie Norma has lots of interesting things to do We phoned Tadcu and Polly and had a nice chat, also checking that Polly is still up for coming along to CP with us. She’s not sure Adam will make it, unless weather clears up a lot for them (so need lots of good weather vibes for mid-Wales please!) but she should be there for most of the time Couldn’t stay too late, as boys had holiday orchestra the next day, but my aunt keeps toothbrushes etc there so children were all able to clean teeth and get ready for bed then fall asleep in the car, which helped.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a lie-in (with the girls) while he took the boys to holiday orchestra. In the afternoon I did some provisions shopping and F arrived, come to stay for a few days with a long list of work to do in our nice peaceful, conducive-to-work environment

And that’s as far as I’m going to get for now… I’m going to take my books to bed…

Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Hmm, I can see why that verse didn’t stick in my head

October may not have brought us pheasants, but we did gather lots of (horse chest)nuts, which ended up being painted with poppies for our RAH Celebrating Remembrance art.

The boys had a sleepover with S and W at the beginning of the month, from which I picked them up on Monday in time to get to my BF peer support class, then we had the usual round of Monday afternoon rushing, with L’s gym, French with Deborah and boys and then back home for quick dinner and judo. Unfortunately the children’s latest night of the week is followed by the earliest morning, dashing across the county for K’s strings group and orchestra, which happen in the before-school slot on the wrong side of the wrong borough – ho hum! It does gain us a morning with Gina and co, when timings work, at least, as they did this time, which means J can have a piano lesson while the others tick a few boxes in English/Maths/French/whatever seems most useful at the time. Then L had violin (while the boys popped to the park with Sarah and Z, which is where most of the conker collecting happened), a brief play in the park for all of us and then back home for Rainbows and the boys’ gym session.

Wednesday was that rare thing, a free morning! We celebrated by doing a few normals and some music practice K had cello in the afternoon and both boys Cubs in the afternoon. Thursday was Tots, as ever, and on Friday Gina and co came over so we could spend some time on RAH artwork – we talked about conkers and the war effort, then did lots of painting (and also playing) conkers, but also apple printing (some beautiful poppies produced that way) and J and J spent a while fiddling with photos using the Camedia editing programme to see if we could get an effect of age; they settled on sepia in the end and chose a picture where E and L were playing conkers and both looked as if they could conceivably be in period costume. Printed onto sticky-backed photo paper and stuck onto canvas board this formed the centre of our art piece, with a wreath of poppy conkers round it. So far so good…

On Saturday we had hoped to be at the Battle of Hastings reenactment, but again it didn’t happen (maybe next year!). Instead the children had music school and then Bob took the girls to ballet while the boys and I got cooking and tidying, making room for two more children in their bedroom and a couple of Rainedrops adults in the annexe Barbara and Chris, with impeccable timing, arrived just after Bob and the girls had got back and much chatting ensued We were joined by Michelle and Marcus and spent a lovely evening catching up – it’s definitely been too long since we had a good chat like that (as evidenced by the fact that we stayed up far too late…) – thank you all for coming, and please come again soon!

Sunday started too late for church, realistically, so we had a leisurely morning instead, with a trip to the park for all those of us who didn’t have A Level maths to mark When Barbara and Chris left they took K with them, to go to an activity camp with B, and left us R. She fitted in beautifully, even to the extent of sleeping curled up in the big bed with J, L and A (Barbara – we did offer her a bed of her own, honest!) and clearly expected to be given work to do, so on Monday morning the girls played around with letters while J reluctantly did slightly more age-appropriate work and wound up his mother. I had been debating missing BF on Monday afternoon, but in the end decided it would be easier to go than to have work to catch up as well as homework to do. Fortunately the ladies in the creche didn’t seem to mind having R instead of K (although they were a little surprised that he seemed to have changed gender!) so I left the children with a small pile of work to do and went off to find out about problems with breastfeeding and the support available. And then we dashed about as usual, including taking R to judo, where she found the games good and the breakfall practice a little too scary, but had to be dissuaded from joining in the sparring with the added complication of having to leave Bob to it all because I had a continuing local preachers’ development session which I couldn’t miss because in a rash moment some months ago I offered to lead it. Since I had now almost completely lost my voice I had to change my plan rather quickly and find material written down somewhere so that others could read it out for discussion rather than me raising it initially. This page came to the rescue with enough material that I could just whisper the extra points I wanted raised and then leave it to others to discuss – it is the nature of local preacher meetings that there is rarely a shortage of people willing to discuss things It went well – in fact a little too well, as I’ve now been asked to do something similar at the general local preachers’ meeting in March…

Since we didn’t have K we didn’t have to get up early on Tuesday, and L was not feeling quite herself, so we laid abed until rather later than usual and then ambled over to Gina’s for J’s piano, French for all the girls, a bit of playtime in the garden and a bit of a whinge from me about J’s attitude recently Violin was good (yay for Christina may become my motto ) and then the girls had a snuggle on the settee with a video while J and I mended some fences and did a bit of work at last. It should have been Rainbows for L (her promise making session too) but we had decided earlier on to cancel as she was not feeling quite well and I think that was the right decision. If nothing else, it gives us another week to sort out uniform and find out what the promise is that she’s supposed to learn… Rainbows leader popped by in the evening with a catalogue for uniform and said she’d give us a copy of the promise (it’s now Sunday and no sign of it – ho hum), plus a goody bag and a very special events badge for L because she had been at Kentwell when lots of Rainbows visited J had gym, which he always seems to enjoy more once he’s there than in the anticipation. He’s thinking that he might keep going until the end of term and then stop, which we have said is fine as long as he will do something else to keep fit in its place. If he and K were to both give up I think I would look at putting HE group swimming back in, as Tuesdays wouldn’t feel quite so tight again and the cost for three of them would be about the same as gym for two. Just J giving up would make little difference though, other than financially, I guess, as we’d still have to get K there and back.

Wednesday 13th was Latinetc, with dangerous chemicals courtesy of HH. Even the younger group looked at the effect of hydrochloric acid on different metals, with some spectacularly smelly and smoky results! We also galloped through chapter 4 of Minimus and Zoe did some pastel Hallowe’en pictures with anyone at a loose end, which was great. I think we need to plan again, though, to make sure everybody gets at least three sessions of something and makes the most of the morning. (A still misses Michelle’s story reading – she was overjoyed to see her on Saturday and kept bringing books and a hopeful smile…) No cello for K, since he was still busy doing exciting activity stuff, so although Gina still had to go Helen and Zoe were able to stay and chat for longer, and good-enough weather meant lots of playing in the field for the children

Wednesday evening was a bit of a finely crafted piece of timing, as J was at Cubs and Bob at home with R, L and A while I went out to collect J, E and S from E’s ballet. We got back just in time to swing by and pick up our J from Cubs, where they had been looking at fair trade, including sampling some tasty products and then brought everyone back home to finish off teas half-eaten before activities. Eventually all seven children were tucked up in the front room watching Madagascar, which was great until the closing titles woke everybody up enough to start dancing rather than dozing, at which point we sent everybody off to bed, leaving Gina’s three in sleeping bags in the front room ready for collection later. Gina arrived some time after 11 and had barely driven away when Barbara arrived, with K and B asleep in her car, so we were able to transfer them pretty much directly into pre-warmed, recently vacated sleeping bags in the front room and put the kettle on Unfortunately for my sleep debt, Barbara had been hoping to catch news of the rescued miners and before we knew it we were hooked and watching the last few come up, which meant we just had to stay until the end… and then we got chatting… It wasn’t the earliest of nights, anyway!

Thursday was Tots, but also a rehearsal for the music school concert with the Britten Sinfonia, which meant that J, K and L had to be in one place at about the same time as I needed to be in another. Barbara saved the day by taking them for me and then going on to visit the Beans, while I just had to worry about getting A and myself to Tots, which turned out to be a Book Club session I had forgotten about, so there were a few slightly disappointed people waiting for the Js to join them and read The Importance of Being Earnest – ah well. Our original plan had been for Barbara to stay until Friday, so that the Beans could join us all for tea (and optimistically on both Barbara and J’s parts, boardgames) on Thursday, but in the event, despite the fact that we are neither mice nor men, she had to go back earlier than planned so the Beans had some morning and we had some afternoon, then Barbara, B and R left. A was rather upset at not having people here any more (she’s a hospitable little soul ) so it was good that Chris and SB and then Helen and BB and finally all four of them at once were able to join us. Having met with success in making everybody work for their sushi supper on Saturday we decided that DIY pizza was the way to go this time, followed by some yummy desserts courtesy of Chris and Waitrose – thank you for another lovely evening; we really need to do this having people round thing more often!

Having decided at the last minute that a film on Friday was the way forward we were happy to get tickets for the NSFW showing of Ice Age 3, which was loud and a little on the scary side for A, but much enjoyed by all the children overall. Gina and co were there too, and we had tea and a chat with them afterwards then came home so that overtired crabby children could rest before the afternoon’s rehearsal and evening’s concert. Heavy traffic changed our later plans slightly, as there was clearly no point trying to get home in any of the gaps but luckily the room set aside for instruments, food etc was large and available so A and I stayed in there until Bob was able to join us in time for the parents’ performance of In C by Terry Riley. I have to admit, it was better than I had expected (especially having heard a rather scary version on youtube, which sounded awfully much like car alarms!) but it still isn’t something I would ever actively choose to listen of of my own accord! The children assure me that it was even better in the evening, with a few extra players and a bit more confidence The rest of the concert planned for the evening looked rather more promising to me, including several choral pieces and a performance by Dame Evelyn Glennie but it was by invitation only, and we weren’t invited Still, the children got to hear most of it, as their performance was right at the end of the programme, and they were suitably impressed

Despite a late night, it was still music school again on Saturday morning. Bob did the drop off, and Baby Music with Anna, and then I picked them up and took them all to ballet, with work for the boys while the girls had their classes, so that Bob could get some jobs jobbed.

Today K threw things into disarray somewhat by managing to leave his fingers in the jamb while A closed the door, but we still made it to church more or less on time and they seemed to plump up again… He did a piano practice in the afternoon anyway, so they must have been better Bob sorted lunch, which gave me a chance to do some BF course work (still a bit more to do though) and then the afternoon had country dancing, which was fun (and I got to Strip the Willow, thanks to someone who didn’t want to dance with anybody she didn’t know, but did know me ) and then a trip to the park which went on rather longer than planned, sucked in by sunshine and good company. By the time we got home Bob had dinner on the table and it was pretty much bedtime for children. And now I’m done it’s pretty much bedtime for me too