Salami Races

We had our two younger children taking part in their school's sports days this week, one at primary school near home and one at number 2 son's school about a 45 minute drive away. We like to be there to watch whenever possible so spent the morning watching Little Miss racing around.

We had been a little puzzled before we arrived, she'd told us that her best event was the Salami Race!

Turns out that was the Slalom Race - weaving in and out of cones and other obstacles. I think it will forever be the Salami Race in this house!

Number 2 son's sports day was on a huge scale, it's a very sporty school. And the weather was good too. Following on from the last post I did get out of the car to find I was wearing an old baggy jumper, leggings which I'd done some decorating in and furry boots with a hole in. This is the posh school where all the mums were in flowery dresses and kitten heels!
Oh well he ran fast and came 2nd in one race just behind a runner who represents England. And the bacon rolls were fabulous so we were all happy!

But back to Salami racing.....I love the things kids say when they get the words almost right but not quite. I've kept a note book with little sayings in, as I'm sure we'll forget the words they said which made us howl with laughter at the time.
Little Miss once recounted the songs she'd been learning at nursery - blah, blah, blacksheep & the ranger in the manger, the latter one for Christmas of course! And how, after jumping on the trampoline with a friend they loved it that their hair went ecstatic!
Number 2 son once told me he had sensible skin, it must be sensitive - there's not much about him that's sensible! He also enjoyed the primary school project on Florence Nightgown.
I remember when friends were informed, in a very serious tone,
that the hamsters were alternative (nocturnal).
My favourite of all though is Little Miss's saying (which we've never corrected) - when she means to say "something" it always comes our "some pink" .
And I for one think you can never have too much pink going on!

Just a quick post today as I'm very bleary eyed after around 2 hours sleep! We're hosting a sleepover for six 13 year old boys and despite letting them sleep in the garage - mentioned here, they managed to make enough noise to keep us all awake (apart from the 16 year old who's barely conscious)
They did have a stowaway for part of the time though!

Fabulous Fashion Sense

I had a dawning realisation this week, my daughter has inherited

my fabulous sense of style and fashion.

Because why would you not wear leggings which fitted perfectly 2 years ago, with stripey shorts, a flowery top, spotty ankle socks and your school shoes??  Sadly this is just the sort of outfit (minus school shoes) I find myself wearing on a regular basis. I often dress with no mirror and then glance in a shop window and am horrified at what that strange lady is wearing!
My best friend once pushed me into a shop changing room and asked an assistant to not let me out until I tried on everything she flung at me - she wouldn't let me leave until I agreed to buy a new outfit - the same friend also came into my house some years ago and threw my favourite rugby shirt in the dustbin - the fact that it was years old and had faded in many places was no reason not to continue wearing it!


I find myself hopping out of the car at school wearing baggy tracky bottoms and my slippers! In my head I'm a glamorous, middle aged mum of 3 but in reality it seems I'm slightly off the mark!

Our hectic summer schedule usually means I throw orders around at the family and don't always check that everything has been done. And clearly I never check what she's wearing!
 Sometimes we have to pack up the car and head off to a cricket match in some back-of-beyond place in the early hours and won't be retuning home til late. Last weekend we were due to have 5 matches over 2 days. Little Miss was due to play at 9.30 on the Saturday (later cancelled), swiftly followed by number 2 son's school match whilst husband and number 1 son were playing elsewhere (they do tell me where they are playing but they may have well said "on the moon" for all I know!). Sunday saw us heading to another County for number 2 son's schools tournament (which they won) and then stopping on the way home to watch the end of number 1 son's match.
All in all a very hectic weekend where we survived on flasks of coffee, cheese sarnies, crisps and chocolate - yes 3 meals a day of it, for 2 days - well we did have a McDonalds in the middle somewhere so we varied the diet!

Some of the cricket is in lovely settings, last week we were here in Cambridgeshire, another school

There had been a breakdown in communication for this tournament which meant the front gate to the school hadn't been opened - that is the first and probably the last time I will scale a six foot hight fence to get INTO a cricket match!

This weekend saw us here on Saturday

Yes it is another school, looking rather like a palace! The black sky (blacker than it looks on the photo) was as miserable as the loss number 2 son's team faced.


And today we were up at 6am to set off for a match in Sussex, despite the dire forecast and the non stop rain all night we packed to car, woke grumpy children and set off for the 3 and a half hour journey - an hour up the road it was called off!!

Oh well maybe we can get on with some DIY??

Earlier in the week this event occurred....

We now have 2 teenagers in the house - what a scarey thought!

The celebrating had to be scheduled around all his matches and next weekend he has a sleepover party for 5 friends - I will be admitted to the asylum shortly thereafter!!

Kitchen Progress

Things have moved along nicely in the kitchen, still not finished but we're certainly on the home stretch. I think it's looking ok, it is what I asked for -
as the builder keeps reminding me!

I described the slow progress of our house in this post.

It was once finished but didn't really suit our growing family.

The original kitchen was beautifully handmade and incredibly cheap, however it wasn't really practical. We had pretty display cupboards but very little storage. It has, over the years, been mistreated. Doors have been swung on, drawers have been slammed shut - 1 to the point of us having to crowbar it open again. So, after serving us well for nearly 20 years it has been ripped out and the bright tiles removed, I wanted a calmer working space with plenty of storage for the hungry hoards that seem to inhabit the house.

This is our kitchen in 1999
                                                            

 it was very bright and cheery!

This is where we're at just now  

It's a completely different look for me, I'm going to try to keep it clutter-free! I am looking forward to the accessory bit (maybe not keeping the Christmas oven gloves all year round!)

The window needs to be painted and the worktop oiled to get it to a lovely dark brown,

this is after 1 coat.

We also need a windowsill

The only bit I'm not sure about is not on a picture - it's a tall larder cupboard to the right of the cooker in the grey/green colour of the base units. It sticks out into the room quite a bit. I'd ideally have that side clear of all cupboards as the kitchen is long and thin-ish - but we have a wall hung boiler to cover up. And maybe I should have ordered it in cream...??

I'm really happy with the bargain tap, found on ebay after inspiration from Dan here

I'll be spending the weekend cleaning and painting by the looks of it! The carpenter comes back Monday and I hope we'll see the electrician soon too. At the moment we have 1 socket and no dishwasher!

Anyway by the end of next week the food will be off the dining room floor and into cupboards, I hope. So thats one room down, 4 to go.

We should be going to a concert in the forest tonight - the builder and I do not share similar tastes in music so it's a miracle he agreed to come with me. Apparently there's a torrential downpour forecast so that'll be me in an anorak bopping around!

We should have 2 games of cricket Saturday and 2 on Sunday but

(if I keep everything crossed) they'll be rained off!

I know I shouldn't say such things but no one in this house knows I've started this blog so please don't tell them I said that!

Sailing by

We had our usual busy weekend here, fitting in what we could before everyone went back to school today. Getting everything ready for school was a bit of a trial - the house has literally been turned upside down since the building work began! I have no idea where anything is and the builder seems to have started a job in everyroom downstairs. I had a friend round for coffee on Friday and she had to sit upstairs on the bed - good job she knows me well!

Anyway there was, unsuprisingly, a bit of this

In a beautiful setting up near the Norfolk coast - the posh bit!

The picture is actually taken at a school.

A great day and number 2 son's team won, but we left having almost frozen to the spot! Number 1 son was playing a match elsewhere with husband (the builder) but unfortunately they lost. I don't like being in 2 different locations as I'm expected to provide a blow-by-blow description of the game over the 'phone. This usually results in lots of umming and aaring from me trying to describe things like the bowlers pace (?) I say things like "well it looks fast to me - oh apparently he's a slow bowler!" "Yes I think he's a spinner, oh apparently he's their fast bowler"  I have watched my husband play cricket since I was 14 and now I watch my children play, I am, however, still clueless!

We also managed to see the start of the Three Rivers Race. I've heard lots about it and it's a big event in this area, but I've never actually seen it. Lucky for us (but not for the racers) there was a much delayed start due to high wind so we were passing through at the start time, around 5pm.

Although we live very close to the river (the Norfolk Broads) we not a "boaty" family but the sailing boats were a spectacular sight racing up the river.

It's not the widest river in parts and at this time of year it's full of holiday makers

 in cruisers or day boats.

It's a 50 mile course and I think many finished the following day, there's much more information, if you're interested, on the link above.

I hope you all had a good weekend, despite the lack of sunshine!

And then there was one....

Just a quick update on the baby situation....

We looked yesterday to find this.....

                                                                ..............an empty nest!                                 
                                             
Then the builder found 1 little baby on the floor, hiding in the plants

He carefully lifted him back into the nest hoping that mum would come back. We wondered if he was the egg still in the nest after the others had hatched. The other babies can fly but he just flaps and squeaks (so like a toddler!)

Well mum did come back but wanted him on the ground, where she took them all for a little walk!
Sadly they all flew off and left him grounded....

He's crouching and shivering by the garage door, in a torrential downpour!










I managed to scoop him up and made a shelter for him 
(I'm afraid the pictures not great)                                                                          

So we all hope that mum will come back soon,

 he won't survive long without her in this "autumn" weather!

Watch this space!

Red White and Blue

I hope you all enjoyed the Jubilee weekend? If you're not into "the Royals" at least we had

a 4 day weekend.

Most of the cricket here was rained off so we did manage to visit a Jubilee Fair nearby. Just me and Little Miss, sporting a union jack face, enjoying a few cakes and ice-cream!

Our village was adorned with some bunting, mostly flapping madly in the wind. It did make everywhere quite pretty and colourful though.

The Builder was also being very patriotic, in the shape of black, or more accurately red, white and blue, eye! He was hit in the face by a cricket ball (not for the first time) and was looking extremely colourful over the weekend!

One of the pubs by the river

Just before the weekend our local primary school took part in the open studios, artists displaying their work all over the county. The children did really well and had quite a few visitors, some from as far away as Cornwall (we live in a holiday area). I had a browse around their work on a very wet afternoon.

Mud faces stuck on the trees!

Colourful hanging art

Project Solar System

The kids are still off school, all 3 go back on Monday so the timing hasn't been great for the whole kitchen to be ripped out! There is mess and dust over every inch of the house, we currently have no cupboards, no sink or worktops and for part of the time no water. On the plus side we do now have a ceiling and lights. I'm secretly enjoying all the takeaways for tea, we are having a balanced diet - we vary the evening meal from fish and chips to Indian to Chinese with the occasional

McDonalds thrown in!!

I will post more photos of the kitchen as it takes shape, there's not much to see as yet and things are not going completely to plan - as usual!

For those who were interested in the baby's nesting by our front door this is an update of the last couple of weeks. They change so quickly. Mum is hardly ever on the nest now, I guess she's off hunting for food a lot! (I know that feeling!)