One glass of wine....

and you get me dancing to a beach boys tribute...!

I know, I'm neglecting to blog much at the moment, but I'm either out having fun and to busy to blog or I'm at home and too tired and frustrated to blog.

(Theres a lane that runs down the side of my house leading to the road behind me, people drive me crazy, we're all in , dumplings humming and drawing, Lolly is ironing and I'm on the pc, some woman can hear all the goings on as the french doors are open and all I hear hear her saying is "who's that?" WE'RE NOT TALKING TO YOU, WE'RE IN OUR HOUSE TALKING TO EACH OTHER. Either that or people think its a private place to talk on their mobile phones, just because they cant see us over the six foot fences doesnt mean we cant hear every single thing you say. And all I can say to the teenage drunk girl who had a 'wee'(not the word she used) in the lane, right underneath my bedroom window is nice)

Anyway, if I was out and having fun then it must have been at one of these places

1) At the circus, we were given free tickets by a friend of my mums, when we got there, the lighting tech was an old school friend who gave us the full tour, met the cast, let dumpling play with the light deck and basically gave us the VIP treatment and we got to see the circus agan the next day for free!
2) At a free music festival in a large park near here, great fun, met some old friends, took picnic chairs and a small bottle of wine, gave me a headache by early evening but what the heck? I went both days, didnt take my kids the second day as couldnt take any more of the whining and bickering.

And thats the flip side of having the kids home all summer, 24-7 of listening to them doesnt give me the chance to appreciate them how can I miss you if you wont go away? They have both been lazy to the point of ridiculous and the only way they will do anything is if I get 'army angry'! If I ask nicely for them to pick up their mess, put their plates in the dishwasher and get their stinking bodies in the shower, all I get is a vague hand wave and "in a minute..." I have to raise my voice and get all seargant major on them, then it takes me an age to calm down, my back pain intensifies, my blood pressure goes up and I'm irritable and headachey, then they want worship for doing the things I ask and expect of them!

It doesnt feel like a summer this year, the weather really has been rubbish, if its not raining, its overcast. Its just not right to spend the August bank holiday in a sweatshirt and jeans with your umbrella handy!

what else has happened? Friends of my dads came over with him while I was out as I said they could take as many apples as they liked of my tree, I assumed they might leave me a bucket of apples and maybe tidy up the windfalls in return? nope, grabbed and ran, I wouldnt dare be so rude?

Have two new boys starting in October, petite toddler and his seven month old brother who only weighs 2lb less than him! Because the baby is so big he looks like he should be able to do more than he can, he can barely sit up, yet you think he might walk! Its just one day a week, wish it was earlier as have been used to the extra money doing holiday care and have a month with very little work right before dumplings birthday!

ok , more later, back pain is just too much to sit at the pc any longer x

RIP Cookie

Our pet chicken, Cookie was badly injured by the fox last night, he grabbed her and I got her back off him, I aint afaid of no varmint... but her insides were hanging out the back end, I hoped she might pass away in her sleep of shock but she was still alive this morning so our hunter neighbour, RAF guy who keeps ducks himself despatched her quickly. Realy upset me as we hatched her ourselves and was a real character, I cant tell the three youngest chickens apart yet I could write you a page about Cookie. Will miss her very much.

Its August, I live in Britain, so, you guessed it, its pouring down with rain. Torrential rain, my (fixed) roof is leaking again. I have to dress like one of the men on that tv show where they catch crabs in big boats, whats it called?Its the same programme every week, but my kids love it, the biggest catch? something like that, anyway I have to dress in full welly boots and plastic mac because its pouring down and as the garden is covered in chicken and dog poo and the garden slopes, I run the very real risk of landing flat on my back on the mud if I slip, that is if I don't break my neck on the decking first which becomes a veritable ice rink when wet. All this to feed chickens who KEEP EATING THEIR OWN EGGS! I feed them everything, layers feed, cabbage, bread, corn, I even gave them all the contents of the half empty boxes of cereal that the kids had got bored of and left to decompose in the larder, they cant still be hungry? (the chickens, not the kids) We do get some eggs, but they quite often look up at me with innocent expressions while their beaks and necks are covered IN YOLK! Busted!

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Off out in a few minutes for a PTA pizza night...wooooo...yayyyyyy...not really! OK, it might be fun, but I'm only actually going because I know how much they will bitch about me if I'm not there!

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I made the huge mistake of going into town on a rainy saturday afternoon in august, hell on earth, full of tourists walking round in shorts and rainjackets, stopping me to ask where the beach is, its about 4 miles from the town centre, didnt you do any research before booking a holiday here? One man stopped me and asked me which town centre car park would be best for him to visit Tower park, (its where the bowling alley, cinemas etc are)umm, none of them unless you want to walk the four miles to get there, if I even visit a town for a day, I at least have a look on the web and see where the places that I plan to visit are, I dont just assume they will all be lined up next to each other, sorry, living in a tourist town can be a little trying. Perhaps its the fact that I'm the only one dressed appropiatley for the weather that makes them know that I'm local and canbe asked all manner of questions!

With the washing machine now able to get rid of the dirty water I did 8 loads, 8 loads of clean washing is great and smells wonderful, damn site better than it did when I emptied it out of the bag, phheeeww, but 8 loads to dry and sort isnt so much fun!

My washing machine outlet pipe blocked, I cleaned it out with a variety of implements, all of which have been thrown away. I can not get rid of the smell of the thick black and grey stuff which I dug out. I may need therapy and steam cleaning...

We’re leaving today and I haven’t blogged once about this holiday apart from the photos! Spent 4 nights in a huge tent, have eaten loads every day, walked around the horse farm we’re staying on, walked in the woods, to the top of hills for the amazing view across the fields and forest. The children have ridden around the filed on little ponies, Lolly has ridden out to the local woods on the bigger horses. I brought my 5 year old niece with me to, so she, dumpling, and the two children here age 4 and 7 have run around all day long, swooping into the farmhouse kitchen for drinks and biscuits, then off again to check the chickens for eggs, find apples in the orchard and cycle their bikes around and around the stable. Its so different from where I live in the middle of the town where you worry all the time about crime, here the doors are never locked, theres no ‘assumption of criminality’ people wander in and out of the farm house and stable, bags are left open, car keys left on tables, you’re free to take them and move a car if need be. I cant even let my children play in front of my house at home yet here they run free over fields and woods.

I can already feel my jaw tensing as I think of home, my brain is starting to list washing and cleaning and catching up, I’ve spent four days showering in the morning and then not drying my hair, not putting make up on, we’ve eaten when we’re hungry, not looked at clocks or watches, haven’t checked phones for texts. I’m anxious to get going now, not because I want to be home but because I’ve already lot that sense of calmness and relaxation.

Nemo has had a great time, learnt to be a dog with the 6 or 7 dogs that wander freely around here. The people here find him strange and I find their dogs strange, I bristle a little when they 'diss' him but I cant seem to convince them that his behaviour is perfectly normal for a town dog.

I've made sure my niece has bathed every day at my sisters request but dumpling hasnt been near water for four days! He would give him self a 'quick flick' with a baby wipe, put clean clothes on and then run out again, his neck is filthy, he will be having a thorough scrub tonight at home, hair wash, nail scrub, the works!