Just Jo!

The photo prompts girlies are on holiday and have left a game to play. People take it in turns to put up a photo, the next person has to take a photo that begins with the last letter of the photo before. Confused??
The photo before this was ‘Knight’, so I got ‘T’, so I did ‘Tea caddy’. Another one of my frogs!

Them being on holiday means I can leisurely do a photo prompt catch up. I have a month. Yee hah!!!
Now I’m off to feel sorry for myself, Ive had a horrible earache since Tuesday afternoon and only got about a half hour of sleep last night. So I will do a proper post over the weekend.

Ummm…..trying to think what we’ve been up to…..apart from not doing the photo prompts….
Saturday morning was art club for Olivia. She’d missed the first one because we were acquiring the subtle odour of basic camping the weekend before. Did I say how much fun we had? Must have….
Anderson had told me about a Refugee Week coffee morning, so I popped in there while Olivia was being arty. A bit of shopping, then collected Olivia to go to the Respect Playday in the park. We went last year and had a lot of fun, spent ages there and didn’t really want to leave. This year was wet. Very wet. And very muddy….

So I totally wimped out and begged to go home. On the bus. There was a lot of wet falling from the sky. Bumped into a friend who was going to meet another friend, so we tagged along too.
Spent a lovely afternoon chatting in a local pub, they had a family room so it was quite civilised. Olivia incredibly chuffed because she beat a 16 year old and an 18 year old at pool, and found another fiver in the garden.

The weather was somewhat brighter when we left to go home, amazing how a few hours in a pub can improve the weather so much!
Sunday was just general schooly type, workbooky type stuff of an English, maths and science nature. Checking on the garden in the rain, we’d rescued some poppies from the community garden (they were ambushing onions and had to be moved), so we had to see how they were settling in. Lots of reading (both of us), and writing book reviews (just Olivia).

Yesterday morning was supposed to be windsurfing. Notice I said “supposed to be”. One of the dad’s had phoned the centre to see if it was still going ahead.
“No,” they said. The river was too swollen and fast and dangerous. Apparently there was lots of frantic calling trying to get hold of me to let me know, I eventually got the call while we were dripping at the bus stop and all ready to go. I personally thought that as they were going to get wet anyway, a bit of rain wouldn’t hurt.
So….slight change of plan yesterday morning….
As we were all set for the rain, and Olivia didn’t fancy a morning of being stuck indoors with the jolly old workbooks for company, we headed down to the river anyway….

In the rain. Lots of it. And, ooh…. wasn’t the river high. And muddy. And actually quite scarily fast….
Hmmm….perhaps the professionals at the activity centre know what they’re talking about after all!
So we chatted with some swans and their fluffly wuffly babies (Sorry, I appear to have been possessed by some pink glittery girly type person for a second….). Then ran away quick when they hissed at a dog that they thought got too close.

I thought we just weren’t quite wet enough, so we walked up to the Cathedral and had a wander round in a bit more of the wet stuff. Taking photos of the trees that aren’t there anymore….

And a couple more pics as well….

We still weren’t quite wet enough, so we joined a 90 minute Redcoat tour of Medieval Exeter. Like you do. Whereupon, we did get wet enough, thank you very much.
Which obviously meant that afterwards we needed a big cup of hot chocolate (with lots of frothy soya milk!) at Caffe Nero’s. ‘Cos you do, don’t you?

And laughed at the pigeons all lined up neatly on a church roof…. until one went and flew off to spoil the line-up….

Finally got home well and truly drenched, Olivia jumped straight in the bath for an hour and a half, I messed about on Flickr for the duration. Suppose I could have used that time more profitably by catching up with the photo prompts…. but I didn’t. Shoot me.
We then spent what was left of the day cuddled up in bed watching ‘Ice Age 2′ and ‘Me, You and Dupree’.

I woke up late this morning. Because Adam very kindly phoned at two in the morning to ask me to make sure the chain wasn’t on the door. So he wouldn’t wake me when he came home. At half past two.

Another pleasant afternoon at Di’s making collage pictures of horses and unicorns out of grasses, flowers, leaves, crepe paper and nail varnish. We liberated the pretend chicken from Di’s fridge. (Yay! We can have lunch tomorrow!!) And got home about an hour ago. So now it’s dinner and a bath. Night night.

The pretend chicken has taken up residency in Di’s fridge for the next few days….
We do have hot water again….yay!!!
But the phone is still kaput….

So Wednesday…. at group…. a somewhat eye-opening chat with friends there, sort of following on from a chat over the weekend. I’m not one for gossip and I stay out of feuds and such like, so if I’ve got a problem with someone I keep it to myself, it’s not really anyone else’s business is the way I see it. But some had noticed ‘things’ and asked me about it, which led to the eye-opening chats. This is all sounding incredibly mysterious, which is not like me at all. What you see, is pretty much what you get…. Anyway, having had the chats, I’m feeling better about the situation as a whole. Let’s just say I really do have a huge problem with people lying to me and about me. And that’s all you’re getting from me on the subject!
Still managed to upset someone else at group though….
I hadn’t heard from her as to whether her boys would be doing windsurfing, one of the activities I’ve been organising, and as per my rules (quite clearly stated on posters I put up each week at group), I gave their places to the next kids on the list, bumped into her in the High Street and told her. She got annoyed, stomped off saying she couldn’t talk about it then. Then kicked up a fuss at group….
Upshot is that the substitute boys felt uncomfortable taking the others’ places and stepped down. Which is fine, I have no problem with that. But….gnnnhhh….can feel the need for a chat with her coming up….such fun….

Anyway, after upsetting her, we went and checked on Olivia’s community garden….

And had time for a snack on the Cathedral Green before drama, I also got to play with some B&W photography….

Needless to say there’s a few more on Flickr.

Yesterday, we had the pleasurable company of Lisa’s girls in the morning. Lots of sticking bits of old magazines to bits of paper, and playing with cuddly toys. Must be a girl thing, Adam was way past cuddlies by this age. So was I actually, but then I was a total tomboy….
A quiet afternoon for me ‘cos Lisa took Olivia home with her, before taking her to Guides in the evening. I had my long awaited mega bath with huge amounts of Lush thrown in for good measure.
Adam came home, perfectly timed for about ten minutes after I’d got out of the bath. He wanted to look at my book of quotations. I thought he was getting all erudite….a thought which had a lifespan of….ooh….about five seconds. He was looking for inspiration for his next tattoo. He made the mistake of asking my opinion on what he should get. He is fully aware of my opinion on tattoos, so I suppose it’s quite touching that he still asks. I suppose….
He said he wanted another one because he really wanted to be a yob….
“You’re already one” I said.
“What? What did you say?? I’ll show you!!” And off he ran upstairs….
Coming back down with this….

Can you see what it says? He’s very proud…. yes, so am I!
I had a meeting in the evening about the grant we got for the outdoor activities. A few other groups turned up and we all showed what we’d been spending our/their money on. They had laptops and power point presentations, I had a bit of paper I waved about with great enthusiasm….

This morning was fairly bright and sunny, this evening is turning out the same. This afternoon it was grotty and raining. Which is why we decided to choose that particular time to wander round the Continental Market in town…. Like you do….
All these photos taken by Olivia.

But not this one, ‘cos I had to stand on a chair in the kitchen.

A scary amount of money spent.

I think we have about a weeks worth of photo prompts to catch up with. Safe to say, it’s not gonna happen tomorrow. We’ll be going on another cycling scavenger hunt somewhere, so if it’s grotty weather on Sunday (which no doubt it will be), it won’t be happening then either. Monday’s out as well, as is Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Looks like it’ll be Thursday then.
(Or should that be…. )
In which case, it’ll be nearly two weeks worth, which is definitely worth a

….fantastic in fact. We are now full of confidence regarding our abilities to camp in a field with basic amenities….ie a tap in a corner. And the field was full of thistles. And poo. And it rained. Nothing like being chucked in at the deep end on a first camping expedition.
But we had lots of fun, and can’t wait to go again.
Lots of walks and scrambling over rocks to get to beaches, great views all around the site. Lots of nature and wildlife, kestrels hovering over the field, swallows swooping low, curlews calling out, magpies raiding rubbish bags at 5 in the morning, bugs and beetles aplenty. Very funny evenings around a torch making up stories and laughing loads, playing games in tents with the rain pouring down outside, Pit and Settlers of Catan being favourites (even though I lost dismally). Friendships very firmly forged. No mobile signal, apart from one spot up in the village. The joys of a shared portaloo….
A few photos…. there are plenty more here on Flickr….

Oh yes, camp was good…. shame being back home is total pants….

There was a problem with the phone before we went away. It’s not taking incoming calls, Olivia gleefully telling everyone at group last week, “She (meaning me!) hasn’t paid the bill!”
But I have! Honest!! Couldn’t get broadband if I hadn’t, could I?? We’ve come back, and now I can’t phone out, every single number I’ve tried dialling is not recognised. Even the BT helpline number….
And now….no gas….which means no hot water!
Which after a long weekend of camping in a field with one cold tap is on a par with….with….with….ooh….something really, really bad!
I made the mistake of calling EDF after 8pm, which means no-one’s coming ’til the morning. Between 8am and 12 noon. I could cope this morning washing my hair in cold water (which was actually colder than the water in the field!), but I was kinda sorta looking forward to a hot bath tonight. A long hot bath. With a bit of Lush thrown in. Quite a lot of Lush to be honest….
And I left our pretend chicken slices for lunch tomorrow at Di’s this afternoon.
Please excuse me while I go and sulk….

Too tired yesterday to post. This getting up early business is no good for me at all! I got to group, and realised I’d forgotten my diary, not usually essential, but it is on Wednesdays so I don’t forget anything. Especially as yesterday was also the AGM. And I’d forgotten my luvverly posters reminding everyone about the outdoor activities, and to put my rings on, and food to share at the party in the afternoon, and the birthday card and pressie for the child in question.
Anyways, the AGM went the way of most AGMs, kids playing outside and occasionally running screaming through the middle of the meeting. Olivia got her photo prompt while we were there.

Hand
The end of an arm. Show us a hand in your space today.
She borrowed a friend’s hands holding a borrowed umbrella in the rain. Mine was taken after we’d left the park and were walking along the High Street in the rain.

Today’s prompt….
Boat
A small vessel propelled by water. Find one in your space today.
We’ve both cheated and used old photos, Olivia’s is one she took at Dartmouth last week, mine is one I took at Teignmouth last month. Mine doesn’t have much chance of being propelled by water though….

Back to yesterday, after the wondrous AGM, it was party time! One of the boys had reached the grand old age of 10, so it was balloons, pass the parcel, food, (I had remembered marmite sandwiches for our two selves!) and Elfic the Jester. Yay! We like Elfic. We get to see him at least twice each year.

We’ve not seen him in an indoor setting before, the rain got rid of all notions of outdoor shenanigans. He coped admirably well though.
After group, it was still raining, so I did my usual humiliating Olivia by walking barefoot into town. Flipflops are dangerous!
Wander round shops before drama, then home.
Adam was on the ‘puter finishing his last assignments for college. His very last assignments. So he has absolutely no more work to do now. He’s a happy boy. Except last night he wasn’t. His girlfriend wanted to go out for a run. So he did. Must be love.

Now for the rest of today….
We could do lots of housework…. Olivia could finish off some more workbooks, she got through quite a few pages on Tuesday (we didn’t go to Di’s, Tavis was very ill in bed)….. We could finish cutting the teeny tiny last bit of hedge…. Or we could make some choc chip muffins and stuff our faces all afternoon…. Hmmm…. decisions, decisions….

What with all our efforts yesterday, re hacking hedges, then promising to get up by 8 this morning, I was tired. So I went out to get a photo of the main culprit….the pile of dead hedge in the front garden. Olivia was there to show how big the pile is, but couldn’t resist jumping on it, “It’s a trampoline!!”
There probably won’t be a photo from her today….she doesn’t really understand the concept of “tired”.

I felt really grotty last night, all achy, like flu or something coming on. Couldn’t sleep either, which just made it sooo much nicer.
So this morning, we got on with cutting down the front hedge. ‘Cos there’s nothing like a bit of manual labour to beat flu-like symptoms is there?! We got halfway through and came in for some lunch, and it started chucking it down. Which meant, obviously, that we could get on with a photo prompt catch-up, completely guilt free. Yay!

Lid
A removable cover for the top of a container. Find a lid in your space today.

Fairly easy for both of us I think….

Basket
A woven container. Find one in your space today.

The only problem with this one was discovering the huge amount of baskets we actually had, and how to decide which one was worthy of a photo….

Bread
A simple food of brown or white colour. Show us bread in your space today.

Olivia beat me to the only (plastic) bread we had in the house….

Furry
Something that is covered in fur or has a fur like appearance. Find something furry in your space today.

Another easy one….

Cheese
A food made of milk curds. Show us cheese in your space.

Milk curds?? This one got tricky, for obvious reasons….us being vegan, for those who didn’t know, although Olivia has wavered on occasion. But visiting the Bristol Vegan Fayre on Saturday has renewed her enthusiasm. Especially stepping inside the PETA tent. She lasted about ten seconds….well, they do go for shock value in their posters….
Anyway, I got the only cheese-like substance in this house, Olivia sneaked into Adam’s room….

Plug
Something to block a hole or a device to make an electrical connection. Find a plug in your space today.

Another frog for me. Olivia wanted the bath plug, but despite our efforts there yesterday, it still remains horribly stained. So I put my foot down at putting photos of our manky bath on display to the general public.

Nugget
A small lump or chunk of a substance. Find a nugget in your space today.

This one was a doddle….

Me
Yourself, who you are. Show us who you are in your space today.

Olivia has absolutely no qualms about her photo being taken. I, on the other hand, do. Soooo…. some might see this as a cheat. I don’t. It says, quite clearly, “Show us who you are in your space today.” I had to go to my bedroom for ‘Basket’ and ‘Nugget’ (which is also where I store all the old photos), so in ‘My Space’ today, was a photo of me. So it’s me in my space. Job done.

You can click on the photos to get a better view, and some more info on the pics.

Just remembered that I’ve forgotten to do my list of 8 things….
Ooh….quick….
Ooh….should I go with Sarah’s rules? 8 things with the number 8 in them? I have a strange feeling I may be struggling with it….
Here goes anyway….

Adam was born in 1988. (Two down, six to go….)
There’s an 8 year gap between Adam and Olivia. (Five more….)
I have 8 toes bigger than the big toes. (Four more….)
Sometimes I wear size 8 shoes. (Three more….)
Once, a long time ago, I was 8 years old. (This is really hard! Does it feel like I’m scraping the barrel?? Oh well, two more….)
I’m halfway to being 80. (That is seriously scary! Cheers Sarah! One more….)
Um….um….um….
I promise, faithfully, hand on heart, that I will get up, really get up, not just wake up, at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.

No doubt that later on, I’ll think of some mind-blowing things about myself concerning the number 8. Now I’m supposed to tag 8 more people. Bearing in mind that I’ve found it really hard (and quite scary at one point!), I’ll leave it entirely up to you. But let me know if you did it!

Oh yeah….I remember….I think….
Monday, we were being all arty again….I think….
Tuesday, we went to see Di and we did….um….not a lot really….we did eat cake though, a huge great chocolate affair, so we obviously had to eat a lot, ’til we felt sick in fact….and drank tea….
Wednesday was group day. There was supposed to be yoga, so we got there in plenty of time, Olivia with her mat tucked under her arm. But blokey never showed.
But Louise did….with an addition….

Guess what she had? Can you? Can you really??
The afternoon’s entertainment was provided by Dan the Hat….pic city central….

Lots of fun. Then Olivia’s community garden, where I meant to take some progress photos, but I’d run out of memory. Not me, the camera….the SD card to be specific. Then drama and home again.

Thursday….what did we do Thursday? Slightly worrying blank….nope, I’ve already blogged it….most confusing. Adam (the fitness instructor) got the results of his practical.

Friday, we were out early to set off to Dartmouth for the day with the photography group. Not as early as it could have been, because the bus goes past the end of the road, so we didn’t have to haul ourselves into town. Most convenient. I like buses like that.
Yes….photography group means photos….
We met up with everyone and had a walk round part of the town, snapping away.

Then got the ferry to the castle….to take more photos….and have lunch on the beach….

The plan was for the two of us to leave in time to get the last ferry back to Dartmouth (Yeah, I know we could have walked, but ferries are cool!), but Olivia and B had bonded big time and persuaded us to stay longer. Mainly because B accused me of being completely unreasonable.
So back to the beach it was after everyone else had gone. Jolly glad we did too, we spotted a seal out at sea (well, Gordon did…), but the photo was ridiculously small. A blob in the water, not worth the space it took up on the memory card….
And we spotted a jellyfish (well, Gordon did….)! Olivia caught it and it was deposited in a bucket for us all to have a look at before releasing it back into the wild. Olivia, oh so bravely, conquering her fear of jellyfish. Where it comes from I have no idea, it’s not as though she has been viciously attacked by hordes of them in the past or anything.
But she was viciously attacked by all the barnacles on the rocks….although she remains completely unconcerned about them….

The other 37 photos are here in a set on Flickr. Look, it was a photography trip, I had to take lots of photos!
We got a lift back to Totnes (bizarrely finding out that Hannah knows my uncle Nick from the jazz band he used to play in at the Seven Stars in Totnes!) and caught the second to last bus, getting home at almost nine. As in 9pm. About a 12 hour day. But a very lovely 12 hour day.

So….yesterday….we left the house even earlier to catch a train to Bristol. To visit the Bristol Vegan Fayre. More photos….

A recurring theme throughout the day was the repetitive questioning by a certain Olivia child….
“Is it really all vegan??” (We’d seen a milkshake stand)
“Can I really eat everything??” (First stop was the central market with lots of food just begging to be tasted!)
“How can he do that??” (We were watching a contortionist)
“Is everyone really vegan??”
I lost count of the number of times she asked each question!!

We missed lots of talks….all of them actually, we were there for food and entertainment. We got both in bucket loads. We did catch a cookery demonstration by Jane Easton from VIVA. She was doing a mushroom risotto, followed by raspberry syllabub. She made a huge fan of Olivia by letting her have the glass full of syllabub that had been used for presentation purposes.
Cue more repetitive questioning, “So, mum, how much syllabub did you get?? Ha!!”

It was extremely hot and muggy the entire day. Fortunately, there was cool wet water aplenty just outside the venue, so we had a paddle midway through the afternoon.

Mr Brett, him of the stripy outfit, sat on my lap. You can imagine my joy at having a sweaty man sitting on me. Just think ‘armpits far too close to my face’….yeah, you get the idea….

We’d missed the display by the Sikh martial artists because we’d been watching Jane Easton. But we did get to see Harem Nights, a North African band complete with belly dancers. Olivia was fascinated with them and got as close to the stage as she could to take photos. Lots of photos, I had to whittle them down a bit….

Another very enjoyable day, even with the sticky weather. We saw a few friends from EFFA, one was working on the Animal Aid stand, the other two were just up for the day like us.
It started raining as we went back to the train station. Those big big raindrops that seem to fall slower than the others. My favourite kind of rain.
So….we got back even later than we did the day before….and went straight to bed. There’s a surprise.
I seem to remember saying something about doing a photo prompt catch-up today. Think that’ll be happening tomorrow now! As will Sarah’s kind tagging. ‘Cos I’m still tired. And we blitzed the bathroom this afternoon. Which means that I may have need of a glass of wine. But I don’t have any in the house. I’m feeling too lazy to go to the shop. Olivia’s too young to go for me. Adam’s already gone out. Looks like a wine free night again tonight. Which is not fair, seeing as I resisted the Apple Bar (lots of cider!) so nobly at the Fayre yesterday. Looks like I’ll be sulking then.

Adam became a fully qualified fitness instructor today!!
Yay!!

Very pleased with himself. Can you tell??! A true master of self control.
He’s also looking forward to taking his Level 3, because then he can start making big money in the cut-throat world of sports and fitness.
I’m pleased for him too of course…. My little baby boy. All growed up. And still focussed on sports after the dream began 10 years ago.

Oh….and Olivia’s been planting more things in her vegetable plot today….

And cuddling Adam….sort of….

Proper catch up of our goings on, news and photo prompts on Sunday….maybe…. I dunno yet. We’ve got a couple of long days ahead, so I may very well spend Sunday in reading blogs. Which I haven’t done since….um….Monday? Tuesday? Seems so long ago, I can’t remember….

Fruit
A sweet product from a tree or plant to eat. Show us fruit in your space.
A strange lack of fruit in our house today. Definitely in need of a mega shop tomorrow. Whoopee doo…. Regular readers will be aware of how much I dislike shopping. Detest might be more appropriate actually….

Her Space
Olivia grabbed the strawberry ‘flavour’ washing up liquid. Not that she makes a habit of drinking it ….

My Space
I made do with an abandoned half eaten apple in the alley beside our house. The fact that someone on this GCE eats (however half-heartedly) fresh fruit is encouraging however….

I have been indulging my healthy obssession with Flickr by uploading most of the photos from our jaunt to Spain last year.

So here’s a few of them…..

The rest of them are in a set over here.

I shall now jump on the bandwagon, and ask any lurkers to de-lurk….. ‘cos I’m starting to get curious….