Monthly Round Up (August '11)

Hello lovelies, how are you? I hope you're as chilled and relaxed as we are here. How blissful is a whole month of not having to get up early? I think I'm going to find the school mornings quite difficult next month!

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This month I've done lots of clearing out - cupboards, wardrobes, etc. I've decided I need to buy some (more) storage - it's a never-ending quest to 'house and hide' a lot of our stuff. I've taken lots of bags of stuff to the local Red Cross charity shop (they are the only ones with parking right outside, so it's easy to drop stuff off - I'm sure it gives them an 'advantage' over other places), and listed things on eBay but there are still things to be done. It's my first really 'big' clear out since we moved here three years' ago, and I'm now able to part with things I couldn't throw away at that stage. Am I the only one who finds I can sometimes discover something from the past and just not be ready to give it away?

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I am very happy indeed to report that Kevin the hedgehog is back on a regular basis. I first mentioned Kevin in my June round up. Since then he has been back quite often. I googled what to give him to eat, and was surprised to find that the old favourite of bread soaked in milk is NOT a good idea. Instead they like meaty cat food (but not fishy flavours), but what Kevin really likes is sultanas. One evening I sat just a couple of feet away from him and tossed a few sultanas over to him. He snuffled towards them and gobbled them up ... it was really lovely.

Georgie-cat is bemused by him. She just watches him from a safe distance, and he doesn't seem to mind that she's in the garden. Just like the birds, he seems to know that she's harmless!

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I must mention this month, the death of Robert Robinson, at the age of 83. I remember him looking as in the picture above, when he presented 'Ask The Family' when I was a child. It was a programme that our family did watch as a family, although looking back, I wonder if my parents did that to make my brother and I realise how (relatively ... pun intended :p) stupid we were. There were some real brainboxes on that show, weren't there, and it was surely the most archetypally middle class show ever to grace early evening television?

I also recall him as the presenter of 'Call My Bluff' which seemed a very genteel half hour's television, and which my mum, in particular, enjoyed. In short, he was one of the TV stalwarts of my childhood, and his passing is yet another reminder - as if I needed one - that I am galloping towards old age adulthood myself.

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Does anyone reading play 'Words With Friends'? Because I think I might be a tiny bit addicted. It's just Scrabble, but it's so lovely to be able to log in now and again and play a few words and then wander off again to do something else; and I love that I can play it on the poota or my iPod Touch. It also has a chat function so you can have conversations with those with whom you're playing, as well as play the game. I've got about 8 games on the go at the moment, but if anyone else fancies a wording partner, just send an invite via Bookface, and I'll gladly have a go. One of my American FB friends and I are very childish and make as many silly or rude words as possible - it does brighten up my day to log in and see her bum. :D

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The highlight of the month for us was a day trip to the seaside. I really love the wonderful countryside amidst which we are lucky enough to live, but to be on a beach and able to watch the sea is really something special, and I am one of those people who would like, maybe one day, to live by the sea. We're not having a 'proper' holiday this year, to the trip to the sea was very much needed.

This year we decided to go to Weston-super-Mare: We'd never been there before, and because the journey was largely motorway, we got there in less than 90 mins, which was great going.

It was high tide when we got there, late morning, so we had a paddle in the (rather cold!) sea. We had a picnic lunch on the beach, and watched the sea retreat at a very fast rate. By the time we left, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the beach. Mid afternoon we took the little train along the front and visited the Sand Sculpture Festival, where I took at least one shot of every single sculpture. Wow - how do they do that sand carving?! There was some amazing work on display.

We also went to the Seaquarium, where I discovered that my little compact camera was much more successful at capturing shots than my DSLR. They didn't allow flash photography, so it was very difficult. They had an educational talk going on where kids were told interesting facts about some of the 'inmates', and offered the opportunity to touch them. That sort of kids' stuff is of course not 'cool' for someone of No.1's age, but No.2 was up for it. It was fun. The Seaquarium has a very good café, so we had a cuppa and a sit down there before heading off.

On the way back to the car we visited the tradition 'Steam Fair' which was parked along the seafront lawns. This was a fair like I remember fairs from my youth - some of the rides were so beautifully decorated. No.2 and I both love the bumper cars, so we had a go on those (there was another mother and son combo who seemed up for a bit of a bumping war which was great fun). Then I decided that I just had to have a go on the helter skelter. Again, No.1 wouldn't entertain the idea, but No.2 had a go. I loved it!

We spent a bit longer on our journey home than our journey there, courtesy of a traffic jam on the M4. My brother and I amused ourselves by making up bizarre stories about those in cars around us - it's been a lot of years since we did that, and was fun. I don't think my kids knew what to make of it. Anyway, I probably won't see the sea again until 2012, so I shall enjoy the photos I took and remind myself of a really lovely day.

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I have again been pretty good about taking shots for the 111 in 2011 project over at Flickr, and will leave you with some of those images.

Handmade

Clothing

Stranger

Water

Blue

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