Whoosh...

...the sound of another week flying by.

Work this year is going to be hectic. I have a "real" timetable this year (no more NQT remission), I'm teaching three courses instead of two, and I'm mentoring someone who's embarking on their PGCE, so that's yet another period a week. It's going to be odd - albeit less stressful - being on the other side of the observation!

So I'm going to be busy, which means that the weekends are going to be precious.

I went for a run early on Saturday morning, and then we cleaned the house and dealt with the laundry. Bobs went to fly his planes in the afternoon while I did some college work, and the kids hung out and read their books. The evening was also low-key - ironing and chatting, mainly.

Sunday has been a day of relaxation, though.

We went for a walk



and then on to Fanny's Farm Shop for brunch. It's so pretty there, especially round the back in their kitchen garden section - little battered tables hidden in the foliage. There's also a treehouse that one can hire for special events - I'm wondering if Sophie would like her next birthday party there...



Then we went blackberry picking. It feels quite eco-friendly getting food from the hedges, and I always feel like I've earned it, by the time I've fought the thorns and the nettles that grow interspersed with the bramble! I decided to make bramble jelly this year, instead of jam - the seedy bits were slightly annoying last year. But I got slightly freaked out by how repulsive the berries looked while they were draining through the straining cloth. It looked distinctly like something a serial killer might have in their kitchen. Very disturbing.



The end result looks good, though. I have three jars of jelly sitting on the kitchen counter, ready to be tasted at breakfast time tomorrow morning. I hope it'll be a good start to the week!

Last hurrah

Bobby's mum and sister left for South Africa on Friday. It was lovely having them visit, and it still feels odd without them here - the house feels much emptier, and cooking meals for five instead of seven feels wrong. Hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again...




And today was my first day back at work after the summer holidays. Interestingly, I have noticed that the more holiday I have, the more I want. Apparently, for me, there is no such thing as enough free time. It's not that I don't like my job - I do, and I can't imagine a nicer one - but I like being on holiday with the kids more. Presumably I will get back into the swing of the work week, but I was shattered when I got home today, and it wasn't even a proper work day - just meetings and such!

Since yesterday was my final day of freedom we decided to have as full a day as possible. So we took the train to Waterloo early, and went to see Stephen's hall of residence. (He starts university on the 19th - eek!) He is so lucky - he'll be able to walk to his lectures along the Thames, looking at views like this one!




Then we went to Covent Garden Market, and looked at a variety of tat, and watched a guy on a unicycle.

Then on to Camden Market...




...for lunch next to the lock.



The food stalls there are amazing - everything from Ethiopian to Chinese.

Then to Regent's Park, for a lie down on the grass, a cup of tea, and a walk though the gardens...



... before going to Trafalgar Square, on to China Town, and to the book shops in Charing Cross Road.

This is a reflection in the mirrored surface of a bridge as we came up from a tube station.



While we were at Foyles, I bought myself a copy of Margaret Atwood's new book. I feel slightly guilty about it - normally I'd wait for the paperback or just get it out of the library - but the cover was so beautiful and it felt so satisfyingly heavy when I picked it up that I couldn't resist. The girls got books too. Sophie got Forever Rose, by Hilary McKay. I absolutely love her books, they are funny and honest and intelligent and also very charming. And Ems got Tell Me No Lies, by Malorie Blackman. Bobby is still working his way through a programming book he bought when he went into London with his sister last week, and Stephen is tackling some of the books he'll be studying, so they didn't get anything...

The weather was so gorgeous that we couldn't bear to go back home, so we went back to the South Bank and had supper outside at Wagamama.




We lingered for as long as we decently could, watching the people go by, and then wandered down onto the pebbles next to the Thames.




One thing about the British and the sun ... when it shines, the men tend to take their shirts off, and it's not always an appealing site.




This view, on the other hand, was truly beautiful...




We walked a roundabout way back to the station, and were well and truly tired by the time we got on the train. Not in as bad a way as the drunk guy who got on the train at East Croydon, though, and staggered up from his seat after a few minutes when he realised that he had no idea where he was, or where he was trying to go. He alternated by saying "Oh dearie, dearie me!" and "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Lucky conductor, getting to deal with him...

What we've been doing...

Horses on the hill at the allotments...



Tower bridge...



Boat trip on the Thames...



On the grass outside the Maritime Museum in Greenwich...





High up on Beachy Head...



and deep down in the Underground. The escalators were broken so Bobby's mum had to walk all the way down those steep stairs; a bit frightening for all concerned. I'm grateful it was at a quiet time of day - it would have been terrifying if there'd been loads of rushing commuters pushing past her.



Outside Buckingham Palace. (There's water behind them, and no, he didn't actually fall in...)



And to tea in a rather sinisterly decorated farm shop.



Poor swine-flued Bobby missed out on a lot, though he did recover in time to have a good day in London with his sister yesterday. He's back at work today; what an infuriating waste of his week of leave!

And, note all the blue sky! The weather has been glorious; the English summer at its best.

Up and down

Up: my mum-in-law and sister-in-law have arrived. It's lovely to have them here, and we've been sightseeing and doing touristy things. Tower of London, boat trip on the Thames, Greenwich market, Hever castle... And the weather has been gorgeous. Hot and sunny; most un-English.

Down: Bobby has swine flu. He's quite ill. High temperatures, muscle aches, sore throat, sore chest ... generally miserable. I think he is starting to feel a little better but it is a nasty flu. The NHS system has worked very smoothly; we picked up his Tamiflu as soon as he was diagnosed so he could start it promptly ... and we didn't have to pay a penny for it...

Up: Stephen got his A level results today. He got his predicted grades so he can take up his place at King's College and start his philosophy degree in a couple of weeks. So all that hard work has been worth it. He's excited; so are we. Excited and proud.

Busy!

I woke up able to walk, so we took the train to Charing Cross Road and had fun in the bookshops.

Stephen has If Minds Had Toes, Sophie has The Carbon Diaries 2015, Emily has Finding Violet Park, and I have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

We felt bad about not getting a book for Bobby, but he has a whole pile next to the bed that he's working his way through, so he really doesn't need one... We did buy him a little box of tamarind chilli sweets from China Town, though - thought he'd like them as he likes spicy things but alas, they are rather vile. Like those dried fruit snacks we used to get in South Africa for lunch boxes, the ones with sugar on the outside - only burny and nasty. Poor Bobs. Stuck at work, and with a horrible present to boot.

After we'd been to the bookstores, and had a cup of coffee, and bought our customary samosa from our favourite cafe, and wandered through China Town, we watched the person on the 4th plinth in Trafalagar Square for a while. The fourth plinth is used for temporary works of art, and the current one is Anthony Gormley's conception - random people stand up there for an hour each and do whatever they like. Seems like it could be pretty interesting, but when we were there the woman on the plinth was not making the most of her time up there. She has a thermos (of tea?), and was throwing sweets at the onlookers. Not terribly thought provoking, really. Here she is...



By the time we got home again, my back was hurting quite badly, which meant that we had to take the car to see the Harry Potter movie, which, despite all the nitpicky reviews, we all enjoyed very much indeed.

So that was yesterday. A good way to start Sophie's summer holiday - term only ended for her yesterday, though the rest of us have been on holiday for a while. Today's been equally busy, though not nearly as fun. We had Emily's appointment with the endocrinologist (she's still growing beautifully, and we'll keep things as they are till the next check-up in six months time), the vacuum cleaner repair guy had to come (at least Dyson has good service) and Emily had to be taken to (and fetched from) a party in creepy-Crawly this afternoon(laser-hub and then a movie). All well and fine, except that to my horror, as I went through the pile of documents-to-be-dealt-with, efficiently making pap smear appointments and sorting out pension stuff, I realised that our car's tax disc needed to be renewed two weeks ago. And in order to do that, its annual MOT (roadworthiness test) has to be done. Shit. So much for my efficiency. The first slot I can get is for next Wednesday - Sophie's birthday - and we really shouldn't drive the car meanwhile. What a nuisance! And then, to add insult to injury, the next letter I opened was a speeding fine. For Bobby, last week when we went to the beach - 36 miles in a 30 zone. £60 and 3 points on his licence - ugh!!!!

The only good thing about today is that my back is hardly sore at all. With any luck, if I rest up tomorrow, I'll be back to normal this weekend...

Perfect Summer

It's been beautiful here recently. Long, perfect, summer days; days when the sun shines all day; days when it's still light at 10 and you can lie in the garden with a glass of wine and look up at the leaves and the sky... Knowing that it can't last forever makes it all the sweeter.

And everything is growing! My pumpkin plant is spreading its tentacles in a triffid-like way, the courgettes are getting bigger by the second, there are dozens of baby tomatoes, and the peas are flowering! It's all very exciting.

The flowers in the fields around us are gorgeous too.



I took this at about 6.15 on Saturday morning (it's light here well before 5 at the moment). Wild poppies and daisies and cornflowers ... My favourite colour in the crayon box when I was 6 was Cornflower Blue, so it makes me happy to finally see cornflowers growing wild.

And I think this is flax growing in this field. I am enjoying seeing the seasons change on my running route; so far, I've seen this field frozen and grey; freshly ploughed; sprouting tiny green shoots; and now covered in blue and white flowers.



Oh, and my parents spent this past weekend with us; it was lovely. We hung out at home on Saturday, and on Sunday the boys went to an airshow, and us girls took the train down to Brighton. We looked at pretty clothes in the lanes, and walked along the pier, and ate chips on the seafront. And ate Chinese takeaway when we got home (from the place where Ems has her Saturday night job). Delish.

I'm still working hard; lots to do before term ends on the 14th. Teaching is over, but I have an awful lot to prepare for next year, and it all has to be done as soon as possible, as other people will also be using the materials I'm working on. It's somewhat stressful but also quite enjoyable.

One more picture, this one taken in the parking lot at the climbing gym last week.



Sophie wants to start climbing again so we've started going to the gym again. I'm enjoying it - it feels good to work my neglected muscles again. Hope she maintains her enthusiasm. I think it'd be good if we started climbing regularly again...

Hand-in Day

Today was official hand-in day: all assignments and my portfolio are now in for marking. It felt odd walking out of the library (where we handed them in) and seeing our folders sitting in a heap on someone's desk, waiting for some poor individual to go through all those thousands and thousands of words. I'm glad that individual is not me!

I'm also glad that I didn't have any work to do this past weekend, because the weather was amazing.

 

I took this picture on Sunday morning's run. It was only about 6.30 and already the sun had been up for almost two hours. Gorgeous... We went for a cycle ride in the evening, to a lake we last visited in winter. On that ride, the whole world looked grey; it was an icy, foggy morning, and we couldn't even see across the lake. There was not a glimpse of colour anywhere - just grey and black and white. Yesterday, though, the sky and the water were deep blue, the grass was bright green, there were yellow buttercups and white daisies ... it's like living in a different country, now that it's summer.