Just Jo!

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….when you step on the edge of the cat’s litter tray and it upends all over the back of your leg and the bathroom floor???
But don’t you just love it when that’s the worst thing to happen all week?
Apart from missing the last bus home when you’ve got four girlies in tow??
Which is what happened last Friday after a lovely day out at Castle Drogo with one of our groups.
And very nice it was to see people I haven’t seen in a while. Although, as I was being responsible for children other than my own, I didn’t get much of a chance to chat, because every now and then I can actually be quite sensible….

Love this one, although I got woefully left behind.

And just after this is when we missed the bus. Not so much ‘missed’ as much as Stagecoach suddenly deciding that they were going to stop running the bus. A bus we’ve caught countless times coming home from Chagford after seeing Olivia’s grandparents.
The girls kept me entertained though….

After witnessing a quite spectacular sunset, not that the girls were overly impressed….

….we wandered up to Drewsteignton to partake of liquid refreshments and await our lift home.
A bit of a late night, followed by what was supposed to be an early start the next day. But we overslept and it was far too hot and humid to be rushing about, so plans got changed. Fortunately we’ve got very accommodating friends who are very lovely!
Instead of going to Newton Abbot to visit a World Music Festival (which by all accounts wasn’t as good as hoped), we got the train straight to Totnes, then got a steam train. Which pleased Olivia no end, because she’s suddenly Harry Potter mad and kept saying it was just like the Hogwart’s Express. Repeatedly.

We met up with our friends down by the river….

Then it was back to their’s, a lovely meal, chatting and staying the night, followed by a day up on Dartmoor….

We could quite easily have spent much, much longer there (including more shared food at our friends house!), but we really had to get back for Olivia to get an early night. She was very tired. She’s not good when she’s tired. In a whiney, moany, tearful not good way when she’s tired. She proved my point when I said we really had to get home, she wailed. So did B. Yes, I managed to make two girls cry that day!
But she needed her sleep!
For this!
Windsurfing!
Another one of the activities that yours truly has organised.

A very successful day, very much enjoyed!
After she’d finished, we did a bit of shopping. A new tent. One of life’s essentials.
It is! Honest!
We discovered on our last camping trip, that our tent wasn’t quite big enough. We had to put our bag in a friends tent. See? We needed a bigger tent!
And on Tuesday, I needed a new phone. I did! Honest!
Especially one with a camera!
Which I had to test out while we were seeing our friend Di and checking up on her allotment….

I like my new phone almost as much as my new camera!
A Sony Ericsson, but go to Phones 4 U, so much cheaper than Amazon!

Big news last night was that Adam found out he did very well in his trip up to London last week.

Can you read it? He’s practically got the job! So he’s a happy little camper. Except you’d never catch him in a tent. Ever!
But we (as in the girlies of this household) tested out our new tent this morning….pleased to say, it works! Which is jolly good as we’re going camping again very soon.

What other news?
Ooh yeah! We saw one of Olivia’s school friends while at the river on Monday. Except he’s not a ’school’ friend any longer! They’ve taken the plunge and he’s now being home educated! Yay! Perhaps all my ’selling’ has paid off! So we’re looking forward to seeing lots more of them.
And the kitchen? Yep, lady from the council came. I’m having pale cream flooring, beech units, very dark blue marble worktops, white tiles and I’ve got a funny feeling I’ll be providing the white paint for the walls, ‘cos they don’t do white. It will be taking three weeks (give or take a few days), but they’re taking everything right back to bare floor and bricks. New wiring, new plumbing, everything.
No idea when of course….
But like I said, do I care?
Absolutely not! Oh life is indeed good!!
And today (or yesterday, now that I’ve seen what the time is), seeing as my new phone is on the Orange network, it’s (it was) Orange Wednesday. So we went to Vue to see The Simpson’s Movie. Buy one, get one free. So I was assuming I’d pay for an adult and Olivia would be free as she’s a child and therefore cheaper than me. But no! I am apparently cheap! Shut up! I got in free! I’ll make Olivia pay next time then!
And Olivia started back at drama. And very happy she was to see all her friends again. Athough, as some of them pointed out, they have seen her over the summer holiday….
Oh yeah, and I’ve booked our tickets for the Tutankhamun exhibition in London. The second week of December. Maybe Adam will put us up overnight. Or not….

Apart from the truly horrible news about Laura, things are much better here.
We (as in Olivia and yours truly) have set up our own Flickr group. Mainly at Olivia’s insistence, but I must admit to having a bit of fun with it too.
I’ve remembered to put up a photo of Olivia’s play, it’s just unfortunate that the day she did it, I really wasn’t in the mood to be faffing around posting photos. So here’s one of her big scene….

I’m also allowed to finally post a photo of Olivia’s stone age scene ‘cos it’s now finished….

We made a flying visit to group on Wednesday. There was another workshop at the museum the same day. Animals in Native American art, so we got to make totems. But first we had to say hello to this beast….

We had one of Olivia’s drama friends with us, who took part in the totem making but refused point blank to go anywhere near the snake.
She came back to our house after and set Olivia up with her own Bebo account. Because Olivia really doesn’t spend enough time on the ‘puter.

I’ve had a birthday, so I’m now older than I was. Whoop de doo. It was going to be postponed ’til next week because we’re all skint. But both the kids took it in turns to make me cups of tea in the morning. Then Olivia disappeared off on a Guides day out, leaving me with the pleasurable company of Adam for most of the day, ’til he disappeared off to work. I had a bath. A long one. With lots of bubbles.
Then Lisa treated me to a lovely night out. Tapas meal, then a club with lots of alcohol.
And a very nice barman, who made the mistake of almost falling onto our table. He was very lucky to escape our clutches!
‘Twas a very lovely night indeed, thanks Lisa!
And my birthday’s not over yet, as Adam is treating us to a meal out somewhere after he gets paid, which is on Friday. But he won’t be here that day. He’ll be up in London being interviewed by Richard Branson. Sort of.
Anyway, I digress, got home at 1:30, then woke up completely and couldn’t get to sleep ’til gone three. Which was not good, as we had to be up early the next day in order to catch a train. We were heading back down to Totnes to be picked up for a drive to Spitchwick, on the edge of Dartmoor. A birthday picnic, not mine, a little friend who is now the grand old age of three. Although I did get Happy Birthday sung ‘at’ me.

We saw ponies too! Well, it is Dartmoor….

One of those truly lovely and relaxed days with friends, plenty of food, plenty of chatting, plenty of giggling….
More pics here.

Boring food shop and bill paying day on Monday so we’ll gloss over that.
But we had another lovely day out yesterday.
Lisa picked Olivia up and I got the bus. Which meant that I obviously got there hours after Lisa and her sister.
Where?
The Amazing Maize Maze at Bickleigh. A gloriously hot sunny day. Picnic first, ride round on go-karts, then the maze. The girls had to find brass rubbings hidden in the maze. The brass rubbings all joined up to spell out “Sir Robert Baden Powell Chief Scout of the world Be Prepared”.

My personal fave from the day….

It turned into a very hot day, not helped by the fact that the last rubbing was incredibly elusive. I’m sure someone kept moving it. But, after purchasing ice lollies, we headed back into the maze determined not to let it beat us! Yay! We found it! Then there was the obligatory paddling to be done.

Lisa took all the girls home. And I missed the bus by seconds.
The driver shrugged apologetically as he pulled away….
Not too concerned though, there is a jolly nice pub across the road.
I took some pics in the garden while supping me shandy….

More pics from the day here.
Yes, another one of them lovely days.

This morning we’ve had a visit from the council man to do the annual gas check. The fire is never used, except as a display area for Olivia’s arty crafty bits and pieces, so we had to clear it off for him. I happened to mention that we never use it and he asked if I wanted it taken away. Ooh! Yes please! So we have a little bit more room in the sitting room now, which will be occupied by a bookcase (currently residing in Olivia’s room) as soon as another council man has bricked up the hole and replastered.
But…. but…. but…. the bestest news is that Adam wasn’t winding me up about the kitchen!!
There is a lady coming this very afternoon to go over colour options with me . Yay!!! Blokey this morning said they take about three weeks to fit it, which means no kitchen for the duration. Do I care? Not a blinkin’ sausage!
And I had a lovely card from my mum and stepdad with a big fat cheque in it.
Adam’s gone to pay it in for me, ‘cos I’m not stepping outside the house, just in case I miss the council ladyand my new kitchen is delayed.

And three dessert forks?
And one dinner fork?
Teaspoons I can understand, sort of, they’re little….actually, no I can’t. You wash ‘em up, you put ‘em in the drawer….What? There’s some kind of black hole in the four foot space between sink and drawer that sucks in stray cutlery??
But forks???? Wha….????
Yes, I’m ever so slightly perplexed. Ever so slightly. The cutlery drawer had broken it’s back (No idea how, so don’t even ask!), the cupboard it’s in has a false back. Again, don’t ask. Oh, go on then, it’ll give me another reason to moan about the council. It’s their fault entirely. Why, oh why, would any sane person put a false back in an already very shallow cupboard? Why?? And let’s ignore the fact that the kitchen was so obviously designed by a man in the first place. And a council man at that. Not that I’m grumbling. Much.

(Deep breath….calm down….)

Anyway, this morning I decided to do something about the drawer, instead of instructing various children to gently close the drawer, not slam it shut as hard as possible (which probably explains the broken back now I come to think of it) and then screaming at them like a banshee when they completely ignore me (no change there then).
I emptied the cupboard completely, with Olivia’s help, supposedly, but she took over an hour to change from pyjamas to jeans and a T-shirt. Not that I’m grumbling. Much.
I took out the shelf, took out the false back and anticipated locating all the lost and abandoned cutlery that had fallen down behind the false back. Because the false back doesn’t go all the way to the top.
And what did I find?
One soup spoon (Which I didn’t realise I’d lost so it made me go “Ooh!”).
A mezzaluna (Which prompted the dismantling exercise in the first place because I can’t live without my mezzaluna. Well, I can, but life’s less interesting without it).
And spiders.
Teaspoons? Nope!
Dessert forks? Nope!
Dinner fork? Nope!

So where do they go??? I really wanna know!!!

The cupboard has been cleaned out, the spiders ‘encouraged’ (ahem) to relocate, the false back propped up against the back door, and ooh, who’d have thought? The cupboard can now house lots more than before!
The drawer has a new back, a bodged (and that spelling doesn’t look right for some reason) up one made with cardboard and parcel tape. Yes, I know I could have cut the ex-false back to size and nailed it on, but I was seriously lacking motivation by that point. Shoot me.

Soooo…. the rest of this week?

Monday. Monday? Um….er….must have done a bit of shopping. And the stand out moment was undoubtedly getting accosted by a member of staff (waving a photo of me taken by a security camera) in the corner shop. I thought I was going to be accused of shoplifting and I was getting all set to be righteously indignant, but it turned out that another member of staff had forgotten to charge me for credit on my mobile. Would I kindly pay it? Please? Or the staff member in question would have to pay it herself. I was very, very, very tempted to say “Well if she’s daft enough not to have noticed it, let her pay then!” Which means I’m daft as well because I didn’t notice it either. We’d been in town, the schools had broken up so it was extra busy (’Nuff said!), and I was paying gas and electric and buying more stuff in the shop, so I was frazzled. What’s her excuse? Eh?

Tuesday. Tuesday? Um….er….we didn’t go to Di’s. I was wafting around the house and suddenly it was half past two. Wha? So that made it a bit late to be going over there. So we didn’t. We stayed home, cut back the russian vine, because it keeps ‘russian’ to block the alley. Boom boom!! Sorry.
We both got a sudden urge for some Ancient Greek studies, so we hunted down all things Greek, looked at them, Olivia decided what she wanted to make and then…. um….we sort of got distracted. By what exactly I have no recollection.
So now we have a Greek corner in the sitting room that keeps winking at us pathetically.

Wednesday. Now Wednesday’s memories aren’t nearly so vague.
We did go to Di’s. We met at her allotment via a trip to Poundland and Poundstretcher, because Olivia has managed to lose her gardening gloves. Poundland didn’t have any (but they did have some arty bits and pieces that Olivia fell in love with), so we got a double dose of cheap tat when we ventured into Poundstretcher too (who did have gloves).
Olivia spent ages picking and eating blackberries….found some raspberries…. “NO!!” we both yelled at her, “they’re on someone else’s allotment!!”

Handed over a card for Di’s son’s birthday….

And made the weekly trip to the library.
Once home, we hit the ‘puter. Not literally. I’m quite fond of my ‘puter and I’d never abuse it in such a manner.
Olivia wants to have a Victorian high tea at some point and invite some friends over. What’s that got to do with the ‘puter? We were looking at suitably Victorian cake stands on Ebay and Amazon. See? Educational! Ish. And I set herself up with a Flickr thingy. So she’ll be all set to go when she’s saved enough for her digital camera.

So that brings us up to yesterday. Which was damp in the extreme.
Such fun. ‘Specially as it was another one of the group activity thingys, wall climbing in the rain. But first we had to walk there (still haven’t sorted out my flat tyre). In the rain along the river. Olivia took a pic of crazy kayakers going over the weir.
Some pics from the wall….

And my personal favourite from the day….

Such an attractive look….seem to remember her saying something about not really wanting her photo taken…. “Shut up and smile!”
Olivia updated her blog (Go have a look!) once we got home, with a ‘few’ of my photos and the only two she’s uploaded to her Flickr. There’s four really, but I uploaded the other two to show her how to do it.
You can imagine how long it took her to put all those photos on….
But she’s very pleased with herself and keeps wanting to read it. And she’s got herself a new email account, so she sent out a few emails to friends (Lisa! Check the girls’!) and family. So I didn’t really get much of a chance to do my thing on the ‘puter at all yesterday.
And she’s nagging me to get off it now, because she wants to upload her photo prompt pics. She’s taking over those particular duties, which leaves me free to do all sorts of wondrous things like….um….er….wash my hair….read….nag Olivia for my turn on the ‘puter….

Oh, and Adam’s gone up to London for the weekend….his nephew’s christening….ahhh….

Yay!!
I got my phone back last week and my broadband back yesterday!!!
I would have blogged yesterday, but I had 505 emails to trawl through, some grotty e-mails to send off to BT and a hundred and thirty something photos to upload to Flickr. Which was more important, because if I’m honest, I’ve missed being able to Flickr seductively a whole lot more than waffling on me blog….
I also caught up with reading blogs, but only skimming over them, and then it got to gone one in the morning, and I thought I probably wouldn’t be able to comment sensibly by that point, so I didn’t, will try to today….maybe….
So…..what have we been up to???? A whole 20 days to catch up with!
I’ve got to think back to the beginning of the month….

I rebooked windsurfing, which meant we had a walk along the river and said “Wow!” a lot as we marvelled at the river rushing along….

Fell in love with a tree (although Olivia wasn’t equally as smitten….)

Olivia had a Guides trip to Bicton where they did canoeing, den building and other stuff. Lisa’s girls came back here after, so I put on a few DVDs (Monster House and Over The Hedge) and made a big bowl of popcorn. Think the microwave did most of the work though.

Went to Totnes for an Historical Visit, which included a visit to the castle (duh!) and a Treasure Trail around the town….

A very lovely day out with friends. About halfway round the trail, there was only the two of us and Hannah’s family left, which meant we got time for a proper good chat and half a shandy down on the Plains. More photos here.

Spent another Saturday afternoon with friends, but the weather was oh so much better, so we went to the park and watched the kids bashing each other with tennis rackets….

Adam helped a friend celebrate his 18th birthday in Exmouth and spent quite some time in the bathroom when he got home. Almost gave me heart failure when I came down for a wee in the early hours to find him sitting on the edge of the bath.
He felt somewhat sorry for himself the next day, as he went to the shop, he said “If I’m not back in ten minutes, call an ambulance….” Hee hee. I can laugh because it’s by far from a regular occurrence. Once every three or four months? If that. Which I think for an 18 year old isn’t bad at all.

We had a group trip to The Rock Centre, a climbing/abseiling/caving/camping wonderland. The kids only did the first two though, with a bit of zip wire and Tyrolean thrown in for good measure.

So much fun! We’re definitely going back, Olivia wants to go camping there too. I’d be up for that, ’specially as it’s so cheap. Oodles more pics here.

We didn’t go to pottery because I had a flat tyre. Which I didn’t realise ’til about 15 minutes into the ride. So we had to come back, and find out we didn’t have a pump at all (well, only a football one), by which time it wouldn’t have been worth going over there. so we didn’t.

We did, however, go to Exeter’s Green fair in the Bishop’s Palace garden….

We saw lots of friends there and joined the Devon Wildlife Trust. We had a long chat with the woman on the DWT stand, who was very impressed with Olivia’s knowledge of natural history (I was too, she sounded quite intelligent on more than one occasion!). The woman was so impressed she was going to ask which school Olivia went to that she knew so much, found out she’s home-educated and said “Ahh! That explains it then!” One up for home-ed methinks.
Oh yeah…. pics here.

We both cooed a lot at the sky that evening and kept snatching the camera off each other….

Hard to believe they were all taken over twenty minutes or so. We’ll conveniently forget the fact that all the wonderful colours and effects are due (more than likely) to pollution.

I had a horribly bad stomachache for a few days which meant I had to lie down and cuddle my froggy hot water bottle loads. Adam took Olivia to play tennis while I was being wimpy. He said she did OK for her first proper tennis. And Adam knows about these sporty type things, him being a fully qualified fitness instructor person.

Olivia had a birthday. Just the one. She’s 11 now. Last Wednesday (the 18th). We met her Nan in town, had lunch in La Tasca and did plenty of girly shopping for lots of clothes and shoes. Met Adam in town, who gave Olivia her birthday pressie, a very pink MP3 player. Managed to persuade her that Build A Bear is a complete rip off, and if she was just going to buy a bear would she really want to pay that much? “Um….no.”
And have you really got room for anymore cuddlies? “Um….no.”
And wouldn’t Ted get a teensy tiny bit upset and jealous if you ‘adopted’ (Adopted?! For crying out loud people! Get a life!!! Don’t even get me started on Cabbage Patch Dolls!)another teddy? “Um….yes.”
And isn’t there plenty more stuff you’d much rather have instead? “Um….yes.”

The three of us went bowling in the evening. And the two of them played lots of arcade games.

Home for trifle and National Treasure on DVD.

A very yummy trifle indeed! All vegan too. It even passed the Adam-who-won’t-eat-vegan-food-if-his-life-depended-on-it test. “‘Salright….” he mumbled.
The next day, we had the rest for breakfast, like you do. Lisa’s girls came over in the afternoon. They made cards for Brown Owl who was leaving. Two of them did. Olivia made one for herself which she is also going to post to herself. Just to see how long it takes.
They watched the rest of Over The Hedge, with the required amount of popcorn dutifully supplied. They all disappeared off for a barbecue, with the veggie and vegan having to take their own pre-cooked (by yours truly) burgers. Lisa brought them all back again for chocolate cake and “Happy Birthday to you”.

She’ll be having a proper party when the weather is slightly more predictable (just in time for her fiftieth then), because she wants to invite everyone. And my house is too small so they’d all have to be banished outside. With any luck she’ll forget she wants a party at all. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Almost caught up now….yay!

Friday we went on a Natural History trip to Staverton to do a bit of pond and stream dipping. Ooh looky….photos….who’da thunk??

And ooh looky again….more here.

Whizzed back to Totnes to catch the train home, only to find out it had been delayed due to ‘adverse weather conditions in other parts of the country’. Then finding out on the train just how adverse the weather had truly been. Not nice.
That evening was spent at a cocktail party. Ahem. Which gave rise to a classic quote, “I love watching Supernatural when I’m drunk, ‘cos there’s three Jensen Ackles.” I won’t say who said it, just that it wasn’t me. And there’s no photographic evidence because I purposefully left my camera at home.

So….in between all that lot, Olivia has been doing tons of workbooks, finishing her last maths one the day before her birthday. Which meant we just had to buy another one on her birthday. Because I’m evil like that. And yes, I made her carry it home too!!
We’ve got through about half the library. Olivia finally discovering the joys of Swallows and Amazons.
Olivia finished her unicorn picture at Di’s.
We’ve both had haircuts, Olivia’s built a den out in the back garden (that’ll be Swallows and Amazons then), of which I have yet to take a photo. Bad mummy moment. Oh well.
We’ve been enjoying some of Olivia’s produce from the garden, sharing carrots with Lisa and the girls, a few broadbeans, onions and peas today. I’ve got a funny feeling we won’t actually be getting an entire meal all in one go, because Olivia is eating things as soon as they’re ready straight off the plant. Hmmm…..

Yesterday was obviously spent in gleeful enjoyment of broadband (and completely ignoring anything Harry related, sorry, the more the fuss and hype about something, the more I dig my heels in and resist, I’m perverse like that) and now I have to go. Olivia is desperate for Adam to show her how to put/download/upload (whatever!) music onto her MP3 player. It’s pink don’t you know.

….has been dominated by my ear….you’ll see.

We got to group at a reasonable hour on Wednesday, me with olive oil dripping out of my ear.
Olivia had taken her kite, but didn’t fly it at all….and then asked me to carry it for the rest of the day…. “Um….don’t think so luvvie!”
The rest of Wednesday went the way of most Wednesdays, with an additional trip to the library as well.
My ear protesting most of the time.

Thursday, we stayed in ( this is where it starts to get a bit foggy). Olivia did lots of workbook stuff with minimum complaint. I’d reported the problem with the phone to BT online and got a letter from them. Not so much a letter as a final bill.
Noooooo!!!! I don’t want to leave, I want the phone sorted!!! So I sent a complaint to them online. B****y BT!!!
Lisa picked Olivia up to take her to Guides. And brought her home again. And we both went straight to bed. Me and Olivia. Not me and Lisa.
That was the night I got a half hour of sleep. Because of my ear. Which was starting to really hurt. Which wasn’t good. Especially as I was going to be taking Lisa’s girls with us on a Natural History trip to Dawlish Warren. I phoned Lisa and said I didn’t think I’d survive the train trip with four girls, so we wouldn’t be going after all.
As they were all looking forward to it, I said they could come over in the afternoon anyway, which was the original, original plan (long story), because Lisa had things to do.
We played Cluedo, in which I made the wrong accusation because I crossed off revolver instead of lead pipe.
The youngest ended up winning. Then she and Olivia had a game of Yes/No at the top of the stairs, one of the others Hama-ed and the other one drew me a picture of a happy frog because I was ill.
Lisa picked them all up and Olivia stayed the night. That night, my earache got so bad that I actually resorted to painkillers.
But at least I got three hours of sleep.
Picked Olivia up in the morning to deposit her at the Arts Centre for her art club. Spent the two hours of art club nursing a cup of tea and a glass of water, feeling very clammy, very earachey and very sick because of the pain. So when Olivia emerged, I decided that it was really time to get medical opinion and we toddled off to the NHS walk-in centre. A lovely man looked in my ear and went “Ooh! Not nice”, and gave me eardrops, told me to keep on taking the painkillers and see my doctor on Monday if it wasn’t better.
Got home, discovered I only had two Ibuprofen left, cried, and made Adam feel suitably guilty that he went off to buy me some more. By the time he got back, I was in bed where I stayed for the rest of the day, evening and night. Olivia very nobly got on with some more workbook stuff. And read. And drew Beano cartoons. And played with Polly Pocket.
Oh yeah, and we watched Dr Who, because they’re doing something Dr Who related at art club next week. Which seems highly odd to me, in the gumpf about art club it said the kids would be doing artwork inspired by exhibitions at the arts centre. Now….I might be wrong….but to the best of my knowledge, they’ve never had a Dr Who art exhibition there. May have to question that choice, unfair really as Olivia hasn’t watched any of this series, or the last one. Think she might have watched an odd episode or two in Adam’s room though. I may be in the minority here, in fact, I know I am, but don’t think I’ve missed much judging by last night’s episode (actually, I read me book most of the time). I don’t think Olivia was all that impressed either because she hasn’t mentioned it since. And if she likes something, she does tend to go on about it. A lot.
(I’ve just asked her, she sort of shrugged, “Weelll….it was all riiiight….”, yeah, like I thought, not impressed.)

(I got about four hours sleep last night, as soon as the painkillers wear off, I wake up.)
I opened yesterday’s post, another letter from BT (the Debt Recovery Unit no less), demanding ‘immediate’ payment for the final bill. The bill that I recieved two days before. The bill that wasn’t actually necessary, because I’m not actually ending my contract with them. A contract that I am now considering ending. So I’ve sent another email complaint (because I can’t phone the helpline number they so thoughtfully provide),….watch this space….
And at the risk of repeating myself….b****y BT.
But I read something about Mercury Retrograde this morning….ahh….that explains it all then!

Olivia has spent the morning finishing off the red in her friend’s Hama design, and building a Lego Labyrinth, which meant she’s had to get out some of the Ancient Greece resources and have a read through of them (think she might have been just looking at the pictures though!)
Right, the painkillers are starting to wear off and I need to go lie down with the eardrops.
Before I go, I saw this over on Shirl’s….

Your Brain’s Pattern

You’re a simple thinker, and this is actually a very good thing. You don’t complicate matters when you don’t have to. You look for the simplest explanation or solution, and you go with that. As a result, your mind is uncluttered and free of stress.

Ummm….s’pose so….I do so like a simple, stress free life….

Oh, and our next camping trip is all sorted…. South Wales at the beginning of August. Yay!!

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

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….

….and neglecting my blog.

Wednesday was group day, so all fairly normal there. Apart from the rippling muscles on display, but I digress….
I handed over the cheque for the outdoor activities and had apologies from the absentees on Monday. One of the teenagers asked me to do a henna pattern on her, which I very skillfully managed to delegate to others to take care of.
Well, it was getting late and we had things to do. Like Olivia’s community garden bed. And a bit of shopping, flipflops for me, almond oil for Olivia. Got the oil (will explain later), but no flipflops.
Photos of Olivia’s bed, as in community garden bed, not her actual bed. That would be too awful to contemplate….

Seems a bit overgrown, but she wanted to keep lots of the wild flowers growing there.
Drama as usual, then home to bed.

Yesterday was lazing around the garden. I did, Olivia had work to do, of the educational workbook variety. But at least she got to do it all out in the fresh air. Wearing her new swimsuit. Like you do.

I did do some washing and a bit of tidying up, I also managed to cram some reading into my hectic schedule. Then we took a gentle stroll along the river to meet up with some of Olivia’s guide pack for a swimming session.
Look what we saw….
A river. Fancy that. All wet it was….

We saw a heron too….

Ooh!! Looky!! Sweeeeeeet!!!

So sweet and cute, they nearly made us late for meeting everyone. All three of them, plus two guiders. Lisa and I ran away quickly, dragging R with us round T.K.Maxx. I bought six side plates, a huge great serving plate and a muffin tin.
We had to pick the girls up again at half six….
So all six of us descended on Subway for nourishment. Then wended our weary way home.
Adam came home later, I gleefully showed him my new plates.
“They’re ugly!”
“They’re not!”
“They’re probably the ugliest plates I have ever seen in my life!”
“They’re not”
“They look all old and Victorian. Ugly”
“Bohemian.”
“Ugly!”
“Bohemian!”
“Ugly!”
“Bohemian!”
Methinks he wasn’t too keen on them.
He then proceeded to show me some defensive moves he’s learnt in his new kickboxing thingy on a Wednesday night. He asked me to try strangling him…. so, so tempting!
He then even invited me along.
“You should come. It’s mental. It’s ‘bring a buddy week’ soon. You should come.”
“I’m your buddy am I?!”
“No! But you should come anyway.”

We have spent the whole day today with Di. She was showing Olivia how to make an elderflower face and body cream. It usually takes a few days to make, but Di showed Olivia a cold compress way that is much quicker. We met at the community centre to pinch pick some elderflowers.

After picking enough flowers, we went to Di’s house. Olivia giddy with excitement because she found a fiver on the pavement. Di introduced us to the blackbird chicks nesting in the back garden.

We had lunch, which may possibly have involved tasting some home-made elderflower wine. Di thought it tasted a bit like sake, and as she happened to have a bottle, we did a comparison tasting. Relax, it was only a sip. Enough to say, “Nope, completely different.” Then we had to taste some home-made blackberry and apple wine. Just to compare.
It was all very low alcohol, and very, very nice.
So on with the actual task of making elderflower cream (which is why Olivia needed the almond oil)….
A lesson in photos….
(It contains a tiny amount of beeswax, so not strictly vegan.)

After it had been poured into jars, we had to wait for it to set. Olivia kept herself busy with flower arranging.

We said our goodbyes, Olivia acquiring an old scooter that Tavis had picked up from somewhere else. We walked into town (I walked, she scootered), I got my flipflops…. two pairs!! Olivia was desperate to spend her fiver, so Hawkins Bazaar it was. She got herself a mini bedlam cube. Very, very frustrated with it already.
“Can I take it back and get my money back?”
“No.”
“Why not???”
“Because it’s not back in the box!”
“But they can do that in the shop!”
“No!”
Not a happy bunny.

And before I forget, I saw this on Prydwen yesterday……
Very creepy!

David Blaine - this is great*

This is creepy!

* *

*Think of a letter between A and W. (now scroll down the page)*

* *

* *

* *

* *

* *

* *
*Repeat it out loud as you scroll down.

* *

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* *

* *

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*Keep going ………………………. .*

* *

* *

* *

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*Don’t stop . . .*

* *

* *

* *

* *

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*Think of an animal that begins with that letter.*

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*Repeat it out loud as you scroll down.*

* *

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*Think of either a man’s/woman’s name that begins with the last
letter in the animals name.*

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*Almost there……..*

* *

* *

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* *

* *

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*Now count out the letters in that name on the fingers of the
hand you are not using to scroll down.*
* *

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*Take the hand you counted with and hold it out in front of you at
face level*
* *

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*Look at your palm very closely and notice the lines in your hand*

*
*Do the lines take the form of the first letter in the persons name?

* *

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*Of course they b****y dont…….*

* *

*Now use your outstretched hand to smack yourself on the head, get a
life, and quit playing stupid e-mail games!

Only because it’s been a normal kind of Wednesday, I’m tired and I want to go to bed. But I’ve started now, so I may as well finish.
We bussed to group, weather too grotty for anything else. Olivia was wearing her kagoule, but got too hot in it and took it off.
“Can you put it in your bag please, mum?”
“No,” (’Cos I’m an ‘orrible mother like that!) “You should have brought your own bag.”
“You didn’t tell me to bring a bag!”
“”You’re almost eleven years old, I shouldn’t have to tell you to bring a bag!”
“I’m quite inventive though….”
“Whaaa….??!!”
The child gives me headaches….recklessly, needlessly and without any thought at all for my sanity.

Normal Wednesday at group, doing normal Wednesday group things. Except for Lou being there. Still. For goodness sake, have the baby would you!!
Olivia pinched Sarah’s camera to take a few snaps. Yoga hasn’t started yet, but there is already a teenage girl fanclub.
We bypassed the community garden today, figuring it’s had enough rain lately. We shall visit on Saturday and make up for our neglect.
A quick visit to the library. No fines! Yay!!
Olivia got two more Enid Blyton books, a Secret Seven and a Faraway Tree, with another one on order. She also got a photography guide for kids. We discovered the ‘Children are taking photos’ group on Flickr, to which she uploaded her photos from yesterday.
Teeny tiny bit of shopping, then drama. I couldn’t get into my library book, so was glad of the chat with Lin when she turned up.
Tesco’s, then home.
Typical Wednesday all in all.
I need my bed.
Knowing me, as soon as I get up there, I’ll be wide awake.
I shall start my book again, see if it’s more riveting second time round….
May even open my bottle of wine….
Or not….