Family Holiday Part 1 - Daytrip to Lynmouth

Rather than overload with the holiday in one big hit, I thought I would write a couple of more in depth posts.

One day on our holiday we took a trip on the open top bus along the hillsides of Exmoor. This is an open clifftop park of unspoiled land. And when I say clifftop, I mean the bus views were stunning. I must confess I hate heights but the scenery was worth the trip.

We left our holiday town of Minehead in Somerset and arrived in the coastal village of Lynmouth just over the Devon border around 45 minutes later. We were up and down hills, windy and steep and rather near some huge drops for my liking.

Upon arrival we discovered a beautiful little seaside resort full of tea rooms, bed and breakfasts and seaside novelty shops.

We passed ice cream shops and a couple of fudge and toffee shops that the children found mesmerising.

The local pub on this hill looked very popular. Very typical of British Heritage and it's quaint little village look.

The Lynmouth Memorial Hall was previously used as a lifeboat station. However, in 1952, this picturesque little village fell victim to a massive flood.

Two rivers, East and West Lyn meet the sea at this point (Hence Lynmouth, Mouth of the River Lyn) and a torrential downpour from the hills caused extensive damage to the area. 32 people died, 39 buiklings crumbled. The hills were partially destroyed due to landslides and forced huge boulders to roll down the river creating a danger to all those in it's path.


The harbour is very small but very pretty and reminiscent of the old days of this village.

The river opening into the sea looks peaceful and serene and holds no evidence of the horror that once besieged this seaside place.

On the right of the above picture sits a beautiful bed and breakfast/restaurant/pub. With it's traditional look of a thatched roof, the bunting and typical beer garden, I thought it looked a lovely building.

Finally, here are James and Matthew sitting in one of the Lime Kilns.

It was a lovely day out with lots of sunshine and the kids loved seeing somewhere new.

Once in A Lifetime Oppertunity

Well, since I last posted a fair bit has happened in good old Blighty.

You may have noticed the Olympics has started. It's impossible to ignore in the UK, most of our tv channels have been taken over (or so it feels) and everyone has a feel good factor about it.Possibly due to the fact that we got through the first few days with nothing BAD happening. (We'll overlook the wrong flag being shown for North Korea - They showed the South Korean flag. Ooops, they are not called those names either. North Korea as it was in now called The Democratic People's Republic of Korea..Yep, really, I am not being sarcastic at all that it's being called Democratic, And South Korea is called The Republic of Korea. So we cocked it up with the football before the opening ceremony had even begun)

We have been on holiday. Expect a picture post to follow soon.

But we have BIG NEWS!!!!!

We are going to The Olympics!!!!

We are going to be watching the Paralympics on September 3rd at the Official Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

As you may know by now, we have been here a few times already to the shopping centre that overlooks the stadium now we will be going there for real. There are alot of events on as this is the official venue for the athletics. We also get to look round the whole olympic village with the tickets and we may even be able to visit other venues in the vicinity as the paralympics are not as popular as the big events.

Personally, I find the paralympics a hundred times more interesting. These are people who have fought to become sportsmen and women in the face of adversity and compete with disabilities. I find this much more inspirational than an able bodied person competing.

We will see some track events, possibly some shot put and javelin. We will also see some award ceremonies.

I am not a fan for sport in the slightest but this is an amazing oppertunity for us all to see something that is unlikely to be so close to us again in a very long time, possibly even my lifetime. I am really excited about it. The kids love the idea, especially sports mad Matthew!!! He is more excited about this than anything I've seen him excited about. We've put off the football stadium tour until next year and doing something much much bigger. He is so proud to say he can go. James is also excited as he's heard a lot about it at nursery.

Matthew is hoping to also get to see The Velodrome where the cycle races take part.

It does look an interesting place.

We will be using London trains which will only add to the excitement and atmosphere! I do think it will be a day to remember.

So, who saw the opening ceremony? What did you think of it? I liked it, especially the history of rural England into the Industrial reveolution, I liked the dancing through the ages of music and I liked the fireworks. But a couple of pieces weren't as good. The NHS thing seemed ALL WRONG. It focussed on a very prestigious famous London Childrens Hospital - Great Ormond Street and focussed on the villains of childrens books and movies. I found this WRONG!!! This hospital and those who work there are just amazing  and should have been represented as heroes or angels. I speak from experience as Matthew went there as a baby and spent 5 days in Intensive Care with a respitory infection at  6 weeks old. I felt this was mis-represented and I would have done that very differently. Ok, Mary Poppins may have made the baddies disappear but from an outsiders perspective, I think they should have shown it in a better light than focussing on fears and dangers. I also lost interest in all the teams coming out. After 45 minutes we were up to "J" in the alphabetical procession. Bored bored bored. I didn't see the fireworks or the lighting of the torch at the stadium until the next day. I LOVED the idea that they didn't just go for a celebrity sportsperson to light the biggie, but they went for 7 teenagers who are olympic hopefuls for 2016 and beyond. I really liked the fact that London was focussing on future success rather than what we had. I think it's just what we need in times of recession, a positive look to the future.

So, I've rambled on enough there.

In more personal matters, A couple of days before our holiday I had the contraceptive implant fitted after a few problems regarding the IUD.

All testing was fine but they then told me I had to go to Bury St Edmunds hospital to get it done. With 3 kids in tow in the school holidays, I thought it too big a feat since I would be stressed enough with the procedure. That would have taken up to 20 minutes and then I wouldn't be allowed to leave for another hour to make sure I was ok after it. So, I could have waited another 4 weeks worrying about that and the kids or had a small incision in my arm and had the implant fitted there and then.

A week and a half on I am fully healed though still a little bruised. The fitting was fine as I had an anaesthetic injected first but the next two or 3 days were uncomfortable to put it mildly as I continued to bruise and bruise and bruise. It's all feeling normal now, the bruising is just a tiny patch compared to what it was and I can feel the implant in my arm with no pain or discomfort now. And I won't have to worry about contraception until July 2015!

Well, that's my little catchup until I start the holiday entry and I am very looking forward to that but time is short in the school holidays. I have children to see to and books to catch up on.

Funny Things Kids Come Out With

It's a wet Monday so let's share out some smiles!

My kids absolutely crack me up on a daily basis.

With 3 young people in the house, there are testing times but there are some hugely funny times as well.

Kids come out with the simplest, truest of things and never fail to entertain.

Here's a couple of snippets:

"Me:  James, is Mummy a girl or boy?
James: Girl
Me:  Is Daddy a girl or boy?
James: Boy
 Me: Is Matthew a girl or boy?
James: Boy
Me: Is Liam a girl or boy?
James: Boy
 Me: Is Nanny J a girl or boy?
James: Girl
 Me: Is Nanny P a girl or boy?
James: Girl
Me: Is Grandad a girl or boy?
James: Boy
Me: Is Uncle S. a girl or boy?
James: I don't know. Let me think...... No.... I really don't know."

Then yesterday Matthew comes out with  a classic.

Watching Horrible Histories there was a question about the Ancient Egyptians. It stated after combat, soldiers were judged upon how many people they had killed. They made the counting easier by removing which body part from the dead enemy? Was it a) nose. b) their right hand or c) their left foot.

The answer came out as b) their right hand.

Matthew piped up sounding incredibly pleased for himself.

"It's really lucky I am left handed then because if they killed me and chopped off my right hand I can still use my left for everything so I wouldn't miss it and can carry on as normal."

He then found it incredibly hilarious when I reminded him about the "being dead" part of it. 

One That Disappoints - A Book Review

I've got back into my reading challenge for the year.

I had fallen a little behind but I am now back on track.

I have been opening all horizons this year and reading different genres to just do something different.

I've read some fabulous books and I've read some that have bored me.

The last book I read started off wonderfully, it got me properly hooked and as each twist and turn happened the more I wanted to read it.

The Haunting of James Hastings had EVERYTHING you want a ghost mystery to hold. Mystery, suspense, a touch of possession and it was really quite odd that James new girlfriend was becoming his dead wife.

Then I got to the last 50 pages or so and the ending has probably got to be the worst ending I have read in a very long time. The dead woman wasn't dead but then they got killed with their husband who didnt really die because it was a double, so the double died? No, no that's too simple, the double was an actor who survived but pretended to be dead. The only person who ended up dead was the person who was supposed to be dead from the beginning and one of her killers.

I didn't even get why she pretended to be dead?

They you begin doubting yourself  "was one of those books that started with the death and went back in time?"  but the fact he had a new girlfriend a year after her death that was involved in the wifes eventual death says otherwise. It was rather strange.

It just bought a massive question of "Why?"

I am all for twists and it had gone through my mind she wasn't dead but why so ridiculous with it? It was rather annoying.

Are there any books out there you have been disappointed in? Or anything you could recommend for an open minded book reader?

Baby Dreams - Help

So I have now done my first month on the pill. It hasn't been too bad. I certainly feel like Aunt Flo is due a visit. I feel heavy in my lower regions, my back has that niggling ache and I feel like I am retaining water. (not to mention I have gained 3lb this week - all related if you ask me)  I finished my pack on Sunday but with the go ahead from my GP, I have started a new pack and will take another pill tomorrow as it is recommended that AF is not in attendance at my swab testing tomorrow. I've only delayed it 5 days but hope that this will be a success. I have heard so much differing stories about people coming off the depo. Some it takes months to get a system back to any AF visits whatsoever even those controlling it by the pill but I am optimistic my body will do what it should as I feel ready, my body feels ready.

I am also experiencing another slight side effect from those leaving behind the depo.  Paranoia!

Paranoia that I am part of the 0.00001% of women that fall pregnant within the first month of being off the depo when they have been on it for longer than 2 years. I feel like AF is due, but those symptoms are often the first symptoms of a baby on board.

Speaking of which, I had the most vivid dream in a while last night.

I had another baby.

Another little boy.

It was not really a dream about pregnancy. Nope, much further advanced than that. Very heavily pregnant and more so a birth dream. Itwas so vivid I sort of recalled the real pain of birth for the first time in a long time.

It could be the niggling back and lower tummy pains that feel like very much like pregnancy discomfort and slight labour pains but it bought back a lot of lovely memories. The newness and joy babies bring to families.

There's a whole number of things making me feel reminiscent. Reading pregnancy blogs, friends having babies, being more aware of my own fertility in the changing of birth control and removing baby things from the house bring about so many memories so it's little wonder that this could play on my subconcious mind.

I don't particularly yearn for another baby, but I had forgotten so much the dream re-awakened. in me.

As an avid dream interpreter and having been interested in dream analysis for many years, I see the dream as  a positive omen.

Birth signifies new beginnings, new hopes, new paths in life. All in a good way. This year hasn't been one of the best as I recall, there's not been anything particularly wrong but nothing particularly right about it either. Whereas pregnancy in a dream (for the non pregnant-which I am assuming/hoping is my case) is that the ideas for change are in motion, birth actually means that things are changing.

I feel life is stuck in a bit of a rut and as much as I want to make the odd change with things here and there, family commitments and support come first with me. I suppose I have also been suffering from a touch of anxiety that I am trying to dig myself out of. STUPID things that shouldn't be bothering me have been bothering me and some aspects of things in the news sets my mind on a crazy cycle of what the worst case scenario will be. It's not that I am a negative person at all but unintentional worries are hard to shake off. This is why I feel I haven't been sleeping so well and anyone who goes for a period with less sleep than they need will face difficulties in some way. It's felt like a repetitive cycle which has been hard to shake off but hopefully after 3 good nights sleep in a row, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Things are moving forward all the time but as the kids grow it feels the system is getting much slower. This week I removed the downstairs stair gate. We will keep the upstairs one for another year or so until the little boys are dry at night and confident using the upstairs bathroom without fear of them falling down the stairs during the night or going downstairs themselves unaccompanied when they are up at silly 'o' clock
 in the morning.

But you know, it's more and more evident there are no babies in the house anymore. While I find it sad it's also exciting. With the kids growing up there is so much more we can do as a family.

Maybe I am a little broody but I love life as it is. I'm done with having babies and have to keep reminding myself of that. haha. I just want to concentrate on the 3 beautiful lads that I have

Something in the Air?

I swear the world is out to get me some days.

Last Tuesday we had a power cut. After about an hour we thought we should check with our neighbour just to make sure it was a proper power cut and not just our house having problems. On the way out, Liam and I put some celery into the guinea pig run for Scratch as he loves his fresh salad-y treats.  We spoke to our neighbour for a few minutes before returning.to discover the celery still in full view upon our return. This is out of character for Mr Scratch but it made me think that when I filled his normal food bowl that morning there wasn't the normal squeaking scurrying noises. On closer inspection, I discovered a hole under the edge of the run.

 It's not that clear here but....

 I can get my hand under the run....

 More than that, I can get a good part of my arm under....

Where I have smoothed down the grass you can see just how big the space is.

Now, we had Scratch for about 4 years. He first came to us from a pet shop with his friend Nuzzle. Nuzzle died shortly after we moved house and he had been living a solitary existence for about 2 years.

Well, it appears, that enough was enough for a guinea pig when there was a big wide world out there to explore. The high winds and rain of late meant that our back gate had not been shut (yep, we get better as irresponsible pet owners) and well, Scratch's last hours were in a bid for freedom. I hope he enjoyed his little guinea pig self running around the fields behind our house and did not venture to the road. I just don't think he would have survived too long with the dogs, cats and foxes nearby so I hope he got to enjoy a little of the big wide world before he succumbed to nature. Even if he did survive for longer, then who knows how or if he was getting fed/watered.

The kids took the loss of Scratch well. Liam loved that animal the most but took it just as you would expect a 2 yr old to take it. "Scatch gone, go pet shop" were his exact words which to me says he accepts he's lost a pet but it's ok as we can get a new one. You just have to love the logic of small children!

There has also been some signs around the village saying a pair of ferrets had escaped from their enclosure too. So we aren't alone in the runaway animal predicament.

Since the rodent disappeared Liam has been playing with his toy "Scatch" much more which is incredibly sweet.

We won't be getting any more pets in the short term. We have said we will probably wait a couple of years until Liam can get more involved with the pet care. I would actually like a rabbit or two and a pair of hens. Yep, I am getting to be a really country girl wanting to have freshly laid eggs every morning.

The weekend was good. I got to spend my clothing vouchers. I bought myself two dresses and a handbag for a bargain £31. You have to appreciate half price sales! That just says to me that Autumn clothing is on it's way in even though we are only just in July.

I had been feeling rather run down, exhausted, suffering from Hay Fever and generally not myself for the past couple of weeks but today I woke up much brighter and confident today was going to be good. Right up until the arrival at school, the Monday morning feeling was a good one.


When dropping James at nursery Matthew comes running in crying and saying he needed his swimming stuff. This had caused a minor argument this morning with Matthew adamant he did NOT have swimming. I swore he did. In the end, he left his swimming gear behind despite me telling him to take it in case. At first I downright refused and told him to wait outside while I sorted out James. By the time I got out, Matthew was getting a lot of sympathy and attention from other mums. So I changed my mind and said I'd get it back to the school as quick as I could. A very nice fellow nursery mummy lived just round the corner and offered me her sons to save me doing a 40 minute round trip for it. I was very grateful for this and after a little chat outside her house took it to the school for Matthews 10.15am swimming lesson.

We then had a couple of jobs to do in the village shops and stood talking to the bakery woman in the large store about said swimming gear incident when another mum comes in and says it has once again been cancelled as the water was green. All that worry and panic for nothing once again. This is EXACTLY what happened last time Matthew forgot his swim stuff. The school pool is a joke it really is. No wonder half the kids are ill and highly prone to infections when they can't get it under control. I still think that's where Matthew picked up Hand Foot and Mouth Disease last year and since the infectious bug has resurfaced this summer shortly after the pool was opened I hasten to add, the more it puts me off allowing to have Matthew swimming there. Let alone the younger 2.

The more cancellations happen and the more ill kids get over the summer term the less likely we parents are to pay for the funding of the pool as we have paid for the term to have the lessons halved. I paid the first year and last but with so much of it being cancelled last year, I was among a number of others that chose not to pay the "voluntary contribution" of £3 per week this year. It's the first year I haven't paid and so far I am glad I haven't. They only get 1/2 hour at a time and by the time they warm up to swim it's time to get out. I won't be disappointed if they scrap the pool altogether next year.

So, that is hopefully the most stressful day of the week sorted with the most stressful situation of the week over. So I hope.

Things need to get a bit brighter for my own sanity but I am sure the rest of the week will go much more smoothly.

Every now and then we all get into a little rut. Life the past few weeks has had me feeling less than my normal chirpy self. With the downward turn of mood comes the downward turn of energy and passion for life.

Upon such times, the housework slips and the whole "Can't be bothered" feeling slips in. The worse the mess, the less I can be bothered. The more I see everyone else in the house neglect it, the more I feel "Why should I clear up this?"

Sometimes it's tempting to just leave things where they are. Instead of putting washing up in the sink to be cleaned, hubby leaves it on the side RIGHT next to the sink and most days it feels I am the only one capable of putting rubbish in a plastic bag. Both hubby and Matthew are terrible for leaving things NEXT to the rubbish bag.

As for anyone putting things away after using them, then forget it!

The first 15 minutes of my day always involves the night befores washing up and putting away the salt, pepper, vinegar, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc that should have been put away the night before. I do wash up the cookware as I finish using things but something about the dinner plates seem a lot less urgent.  The kids regularly put their plates and cups in the sink, it's only on odd occassions where they have alot of leftovers they don't do it. Matthew will fairly often put his dinner plate in the sink with food still on it. (sigh)

My kitchen is the room I look after. I like it for my space of the house. I have my DAB radio, I use the table for jigsaw puzzles and I do enjoy cooking. First and foremost I am a mum and wife so my cookbooks are basic and contain basic recipes.

 

I love cooking but I don't want to spend hours stirring and watching over a simmering pan. I like to experiment with new flavours but I don't want to lose too much family time. On special occassions like birthdays and anniversaries I do tend to go the whole hog and do the 3 course meal for myself and hubby though I tend to cheat on the dessert and go for something cold or pre-made.

The kids are great with trying new meals. Not very often do they not like what I cook and they ALWAYS try my cuisine attempts.

Tomorrow it's the kids go at cooking. We are making homemade pizzas. I will cook off some chicken in advance and the kids can mess about making the dough (bread flour and olive oil) and I will set out a selection of chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese, ham and pineapple for them to experiment their own way (I know Matthew will do ham and pineapple)

I always like to have flowers on my table. These ones are fresh from the garden this morning.

I believe they are called Black Eyed Susans. How this name came about I have no idea but they are very pretty and very easy to grow.  They just add a little bit of sunshine to the kitchen and dining area.

Today I have been tough and cracked on with the housework, everywhere looks good but I know it won't last much beyond the time the bigger boys return from school. All the bedding is currently out on the washing line, I just hope it dries in between rainy showers.

Today I feel like I have acheived a few things and it feels good.

Social Gatherings

After an exciting sociable weekend, we're back to the run of the week. Big boys are at school and Liam and I have been running errands around the village. A re-stock on some salad and posting some Lego minifigures on behalf of hubby has us having a restful coffee and juice.

On Friday we went out for a couple of drinks at the local pub with friends and their 2 kids. It was my friend Sams hubbys birthday and they invited us out for the evening. We weren't out too late with the kids but they loved being out and playing with Sams 2 kids. Sam is probably my best friend in the village, we haven't been friends too long (about 6 months) but we are incredibly like minded socially and will make time to make sure we meet up once a week taking it in turns to do lunch at one anothers houses. James loves going to Sams house after nursery as she lives about 2 minutes walk from the school, he doesn't have so far to walk home on those days.

On Saturday it was her hubbys birthday barbecue. I was a little wary when she said they had invited 30 people and for thier sakes, wanted them to have a good turnout. Luckily everyone did turn up and it gave hubby and I a chance to mingle and speak to the people we'd see around Melford but not really get the chance to know them. We had a wonderful day and everyone seemed to have a great day. I did drink a fair bit over the weekend when I rarely drink (so this week I only lost 1lb making it a total of 7lbs or half a stone now lost) but it was spread out well.

We got to the bbq/party at 2pm and roughly got home Sunday morning at 1.30am. I'm not 100% sure when. But the kids did great. Rather late in the evening the Wii Karaoke came out and I didn't realise how fun it was  (after several hours of drinking beer) and had a couple of rounds singing with oldest boy Matthew and a couple of others we'd met that day. We did enjoy ourselves.

Yesterday we called to see my nan and Uncle in Colchester and ended up going out for dinner with them. My eating was really good over the weekend, (the drinking could have been better) but I didn't over-indulge and yesterday had a sensible balanced meal of steak, chips and salad.  So I did well over all. The kids loved having dinner out, 2 roast chicken dinners for the little ones and Matthew loved his steak and chips too.

Fridays driving lesson went fabulous. Learning about the different types of crossing this week was more interesting than I had anticipated and the next lesson is tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. I never used to think that with the old instructor.

I am still rather addicted to Instagram. :)

The top photo were red and white roses I turned to black and white, then the other 3 photos were at the barbie on Saturday.  The boys had all had thier hairs cut ready for summer and look so grown up when it's first done.

Today I updated my Good Reads page and I am on target for my book challenge. I am 50 books in to my 100 books read in 2012. So far so good. I am waiting for a fair few books with the library including the Fifty Shades Trilogy. So popular is the set I may actually be reading them in reverse as I am 137 in the queue for that and only 30 in the queue for the final installment and around 54 for the middle one. All I am going by is hype so I hope they are not too disappointing. ;)  So, we'll see......