Milo's Fans!! October 17

Just giving link http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fightingmalecancer

October has been a month of opportunities and experiences.

To start, raining for the London Marathon is progressing nicely, I am pleased to share at this point I am now running 14 miles and looking to push another mile on Sundays. Fund raising is slowly gathering pace with a number of activities planned, please do go to my ‘Just Giving’ page to make a donation if you can, link is above.

 An amazing moment unravelled one Friday evening in the Cherry Tree and I was lucky enough to watch the reactions between Milo and his new found fan base! Different music was being selected on the pub tablet by different people and Milo was asked to put something on. He put on chill music from his music channel called ‘pitterpatter’ (link below)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKrasU1qR9l0DJ1tQ98uGLA

Two young European women were standing next to us and recognised the artist, Milo picked up on their recognition with glee and a conversation entailed where the women shared they were keen listeners of ‘Pitterpatter’. Milo’s face shone with delight and he carried the conversation excitedly for several more moments before he pronounced he was ‘Pitterpatter’. The women were overwhelmed and in complete awe of Milo. They were astounded in a back of beyond pub where they had no phone service they were having a pint in the presence of a ‘celebrity’, their words! Lots of jolly conversation pursued and selfies with Milo the centre of the attention, quite a new experience for him – he loved it.

The most major event that has taken place for us is, we are in the processes of buying a house for us to live in (not buy to let as we initially thought). The house is a brand new build, three bed detached and energy efficient in Hingham. 

We are thrilled to find such a good looking, well thought layout home, hope you agree from the plans I have shared? After being adrift from the rat race for a while we feel like we are climbing back on board again and finding ourselves at the mercy of other agencies decision making in order to move on in our lives, i.e. applying for a mortgage. These feelings have been quite alien to us for these past three years and it has been a welcome relief, at this moment in time we are approaching our house purchase in equally balanced excitement and hair-raising fear! It is looking like we will have the keys just before Christmas but we plan to move in when all furniture is in place so will be after Christmas. A remarkable thought is Dylan has spent almost half his life in the caravan consequently he has reservations in the thought of leaving the field, Milo has no reservations; he can’t wait to shut a door!

My birthday was a treat celebrated in the middle of the week, I came home for and then back to work the morning after. After taking Dylan to school, Jerry Milo and I went to the cinema via breakfast. It felt like a sneaky treat on a late Wednesday morning, expecting to be in an empty theatre which was actually quite busy. We ended up watching ‘Kingsmen 2’, a brilliantly light-hearted spoof of Bond movies, exciting and action packed, had me on the edge of my seat being quite exhausted by the end. In the early evening we wined and dined altogether in a local Moroccan restaurant, for us was quite different with tagine dishes accompanied with couscous followed by sticky sweet puddings, a very nice Moroccan wine to wash down our scrumptious meal. Sometime ago I had booked a birthday treat in a trip to Brighton for ‘Legend Live’ concert. Thoroughly enjoyed all four acts

•  Hot Chocolate sound was as groovy as they ever were losing a bit of the sex-appeal without Errol although the replacement had an identical voice
• David Essex continued to be the cheeky, wide boy of our youth as he stood on stage bellowing out tunes at 70yrs, he was fantastic.
•  The Osmond’s were Merrill, Jay and Jimmy. I thoroughly enjoyed watching three old codgers doing appropriate old codger dancing opened with 'Crazy Horses'.and they were really good. I run to ‘The Osmonds Ultimate Collection’ and all the songs that were sung was from this album , I knew all the words!
• Suzi Quatro leapt around the stage with her oversized guitar in leather, straight from the 70ies singing all her hits. Suzi really enthused the audience great fun to watch.

Our weekend in Brighton came to an end with an experience on the British Airways I360, the vertical pier, across a brilliant bright clear Brighton coastline.  Jerry coped well hanging onto the railings and not looking down from inside the capsule, he is not good on heights. Then home to homemade birthday cake, lovely time.

I had been caught up in the outskirts of an accident at the beginning of the year, when a lorry transporter tipped its load across the dual carriageway of the A11 as I was passing. The lorry driver pleaded not guilty so the case went to magistrates’ court and I was one of three people called as a witness. It was once the witnesses were all sitting in the room being instructed on what to expect did the lorry driver then change his plea to guilty which changed the context of court process. The Magistrates allowed us to watch sentencing, acknowledging us at the beginning of the process expressing the importance of the witness in having a presence in court in enabling the justice process. I found the experience upsetting as the lorry driver is a decent man who made an error in a split second which has had an enormous impact on his family’s lives even before he came to court, then he had to deal with his punishment. His error was not due to speeding or distraction of his phone, I was relieved to hear that but felt for him!

October concluded with a day trip to Dover where I was introduced to Ivy Mays' grave in a quant cemetery meadow, an emotionally moving experience and one I was grateful to be part of. It made Ivy May a real person seeing her name on the gravestone, a joy to plant the bulbs for her children and small colourful plant for her grandchildren in UK and Aus. Mum chatted about life in Dover as we visited Kearsney Ave, home of Ivy Mays parents hence mums grandparents, and viewed all those small yet significant places of Mum and her sisters childhood. Even went to the bakery shop and asked for ‘traffic light biscuits’ not sold now but reflected upon with the saleslady who also ate these biscuits from the same bakery as a child too. A lovely sobering day listening to mums reflection of her childhood, lucky to have had the time with her.

Halloween seems to be a necessary event in our home led by Dylan’s need to celebrate so we go  over the top decorating his space with pumpkin carving and costume, always a sweetie treasure hunt. The most amusing part of Halloween is when Dylan hides sweets for his elder brother then we watch our 18yrs son search for his Halloween sweets, biggest belly laughs ever.

Hope you have enjoyed my October adventures if you feel like sharing your thoughts with me then reply on the covering email if you are not able to leave a comment on the blog. I will put any comments on the blog myself for you.

YAHOO! I’m in London Marathon 2018 running for Orchid Fighting Male Cancer!!!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fightingmalecancer

A WILLY WADDLE

What an exciting month!

I’m thrilled to share I have been accepted to run the London Marathon 2018, for 

I was informed before the ballot places were drawn. I started running because I have always wanted to run the London Marathon and it is the sporting event I always watch and thoroughly enjoy dribbling with envy. I have applied for ballot places so many times and not been successful so this year by-passed the ballot and went to a charity place. I have one of  Orchids 20 places and committed to raise £2K.

My running has been limited for quite a while having reached 6 miles, but on news of my London Marathon place I extended my running to 9 miles that weekend and each week extending to now 12 miles, so very pleased although a bit creaky and sore afterwards. So I’m hoping to be in good form to enjoy every moment of the marathon in April, because I'm  not sure I want to have to raise money like this again.

I selected this charity on reflection of what we went through last year with Jerry acknowledging how lucky we were in his cure and recovery. It was a very scary and worrying time and became worse when we were aware how close he was to not recovering. Jerry’s male cancer was found by chance. He had not been himself for a big chunk of 2016 with muscle weakness and pain. In the process of the doctor trying to work out what the problem was and carrying out mass blood screening his cancer was detected, yes by a blood test! Incidentally his muscle problems originated from his cholesterol medication and in a week of stopping this medication he was back to his old self.

The abnormal blood results led to further examinations and the scary words were said “You have Cancer and need surgery”. The surgery was organised very quickly for 1^st November, we then heard the cancer was just encapsulated but very close to spreading beyond, a different outcome would have been inevitable. To hear you have the “C” disease is a shock but to then know how shockingly close we came to it having an impact to how long Jerry might live is overwhelming and he reeled from this shock for a while.

Now Jerry it fighting fight being at least 2 stone lighter and healthier than he has been in years after attending Slimming World then took to exercise. He attempted to run but has taken to cycling in a big way thoroughly enjoying. He aims to ride 100 miles a week with his furthest ride being 52 miles in 3hours 25mins, now considering his first cycling event at the end of this month. In summary enjoying a healthy life to the full and a very good reason to fund raise through the London Marathon.

I am therefore looking for support in my fundraising and have a fundraising page if you would be interested to take a look and donate,

 http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fightingmalecancer

I also have some events being organised for me so I do hope if you are able to join in and help raise a mass of money having fun. The events are

• Kevin and Sandra (aka Mum and Dad) are seriously looking into a bowls tournament on a Sunday where refreshments of light lunches are made
• Kevin and Sandra are also musing the thinking of a Saturday afternoon Beetle Drive in the local village hall, like we did in the old days
• Julie from the local Cherry Tree pub is looking to have a pre-Christmas and post-Christmas Pub Quiz evenings
• Julie is also going to have a charity pot on her bar for me
•  If anyone else is up for some supporting event or is happy to have a charity pot in their business for me please do let me know.
• Supporting me in whatever way you can or able is what I am asking and would really appreciate, so a huge THANK YOU in anticipation of your contribution. 

September has also been the month of big change for our boys as they both take different steps in their respective worlds of learning. We moved Dylan from Rocklands School to Wicklewood School. Jerry was driving 150 miles a week to get Dylan to Rocklands now he has a few minutes walk up the road. Dylan.s approach to a new school has been,

 “I feel 50:50, I feel excited to meet new friends but sad to leave the gang (of Ed S, Jordan and Edward H)”.

I thought an impressive perspective for a 7year old weighing up the changes in his little life!

Milo has moved on and joined a college called Access to Music in Norwich (use to be the old Anglia TV studios where they recorded Trisha), studying Music Management where he is considering business in his creative world. Exciting Times!

Narrowboating, London Trip, Theatre Visit, Partying and then Welcoming Baby Maxwell - August 17

Our August hasn’t felt as full as the list seems as I look back on the month, whilst it has been full-on fun together.

My two week holiday started with a trip to Norwich Theatre Royal with Jerry and Dylan to watch ‘The Railway Children’. It was right up Dylan’s street, he was enthralled all the way to the end of the show avidly following the story. The stream train had a visual presents as a projected film whilst supported with really authentic train audible accompanied by bellows of puffing effects. Our theatre trips seem to conclude in the Waffle House where Milo joined us, but Dylan decided he didn’t like waffles anymore and sent his supper back!

A week on a narrow boat followed starting from Linslade near Leighton Buzzard. This year we included Pat (Jerry’s mum) with us as we all stayed on ‘Empress’, a bit more luxurious with two bathrooms, single leather chairs, bow-thrusters all within its 65ft length. We had Captain Dylan to lead us, Jerry as Chief Driver, I functioned as the Chief Lock Operator and Nanny Pat generally enjoyed the scenic moment! The weather was mixed resulting with driving rain for two days and a sulking driver, until my role duelled as the umbrella protector until the sun came out and tranquillity settled the mood. We travelled our way north along the Grand Union Canal, through a number of locks, aqueducts one over the Great Ouse, turning around after Blisworth Tunnel, stopping at a waterside pub daily. Our daily Heron count concluded with 27 seen over the week all close enough to touch, catching sight of 3 kingfishers with one I saw properly as it flew up the water towards us. Beautiful sight. Lovely holiday break!

All four of us had a day together in London, travelling by train then underground, so different stresses for my Norfolk boys to endure! Our planned visit to London Dungeons as demanded by Dylan, was really good fun. An entertaining wander through the evil and unpleasant elements of London history. The actors played their parts with really believable furiousness in the half light, poor Dylan was terrified and in tears the worst point being when his Dad was in the torture chair he was worried for his safety. The tour ended in the 1889 pub with a drink, Dylan saying he enjoyed the experience! He then won the heart of the landlady when he spent his time describing his life in 2017 of pizzas, electronic games, TV, then electricity and the conversation went on. He was in belief of the moment he was in, capturing all the threads he was being thrown by Margaret, the landlady actor. This summer Dylan’s imagination has been in the world of war, warships, tanks and guns so it had to be HMS Belfast as the next attraction, an immense craft. We wandered from the top being Admiral's chair looking over the guns to the engine room some 15ft below water level. A well organised trip to wander facilitating the age range well, enjoyed by both boys. Trip home was quiet! 

London Dungeon - Great Fire of London 

                                     

Margaret the landlady in 1889

HMS Belfast - from the Admiral's chair

HMS Belfast - to the Engine Room

HMS Belfast - Locked up!

Bank holiday weekend we legged-it to Nottingham with Jerry's brothers, their wives and mum for a celebrating party as the lovely Andrea reached 50 years, really pleasant evening catching up with the Nottingham Steggles and their friends. The partying afterwards was really good fun realising there is still life in us to keep going beyond the early hours, surviving the long haul home, challenging the recovery period is much longer than it use to be! Brett and Millie looked after Dylan deciding playing families was fun but not for them just yet, they all looked pretty exhausted. 

August also saw the early arrival of Jake and Nicola’s baby, Maxwell Boris Becker. He came 7 weeks early weighing 2lb 10oz, he is well and has needed support to grow, all a bit too familiar again. They are doing well and nearly home, Nicola is happy to share these pictures of her beautiful boy.  

Happy family early August

Mawell end of August

Finally in the last days of the month I managed a second visit to Proms 61 at the Royal Albert Hall, listened to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra playing Strauss, wonderful opportunity after a day at work when the pressures of winter were evident, yes in August!

Hope you enjoyed my blog post if you would like to comment either on the blog or send me a replying email would be nice to hear from you.

BBQ's and Music. July 17

 Dylan’s school enjoyed a full and busy school fete at the beginning of July on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon in the school playground. The school grounds were packed with present and past families as one of the school rooms had been converted into a ‘pop-up’ museum of years gone Rocklands. Nanny Pat was able to find a picture of Dylan’s Great Grandmother sitting outside of Rocklands School to show him, quite remarkable. The fete was opened with the children maypole dancing, which is always fun to watch as little faces are concentrating so hard to get right remembering where they fit into the routines and listen intently to the instructions, all without strangling each other with the ribbons! Enjoy a quick glimpse of my video below.

I was taken on a trip to Bluewater, which is just 15 mins away from where I am staying. It is a ginormous shopping/entertainment complex built in an old gravel pit. It felt like I had stepped into the Wild West being impressed at the dramatic back fall of the old gravel pit, sharing its space with a bright expanse of different shaped buildings.

I went to the cinema to see ‘Dunkirk’ at Bluewater. Wow what a movie! The powerfulness of the story line enhanced by the emotionally charged music made the watching experience both exhilarating and exhausting. The reality of the Dunkirk event was horrifying particularly when it was shared Grandad Charlie had a connection to the event. If you have not seen this yet it is one not to be missed!

In the same week I took myself off to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and brought a ‘Promming’ ticket for just £6 and stood in the gallery, looking down upon the awe-inspiring spectacle. I was supposed to meet a friend but she dropped out as was poorly so I was very brave and went by myself! I know nothing about classical music and quite embarrassingly did not know what I was watching but found I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed the storytelling element of the music as each piece was played the thread of the tune led to the turning of the page and the next chapter of the story, it was beautiful. As I closed my eyes there was a feeling of being engulfed by the music as it was so easy to be absorbed in the moment. The final music pieces were played by a 90+ strong orchestra, I marvelled as from on high it was like watching a vast machine at work as each section were absolutely synchronised in their movements. I did find out what I had listened to being:

• ·         Liszt – Hamlet
• ·         Julian Anderson – The Imaginary Museum by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
• ·         Liszt – From the Cradle to the Grave.
• ·         Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition by BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra & Ilan Volkov conducting,

When I had shared at work my adventure those avid followers of the Proms shuddered describing my approach as ‘too much of a free spirit’, with my just turn up and see what happens. So definitely going to see if I can get to another Prom performance before this 123^rd Proms finishes!

July has been a month of lots of barbequing being both the norm, getting together with Roger, Rachel, Fraser and Brett with the lovely Milly, then another date with my dear friends Libby, Maz and Masie, when Vanessa and Lauren came along with children entertaining us. And partying as we celebrated Sara’s 50^th birthday in her garden. Jerry has mastered skill in his own tasty burgers, absolutely scrumptious and filling, with the frequency in which they are presented he is getting better and better at them. My pictures share the really enjoyable BBQ occasions.

Fraser Roger Brett with Jerry and Dylan

India, Esmae Lucia and Dylan BBQ picnicking

Not sure what Libby is in control of - not dog or children!!!

Sara;s Party 

Jerry enjoying his sister-in-law cuddles!

Cousins Finley & Dylan

Celebrating Sisters with Mum. X

Phew! That was a hot June 17!!!

June has had its moments of being extraordinarily hot and in a caravan I would share this is possibly one of the worst experiences, as there is no let up and nowhere to go to get out of the heat. We are positioned so we get the full on morning sun which rapidly heats up the awning and an oven is created so as we open our caravan door and are blasted with hot air. At least when it is cold you can do something to warm up. So a hot June in reality has been one to grin and bear! But then conversely we did take ourselves off and escaped to the seaside as the beginning of June was the boy’s school holiday, to Sea Palling. Yep we had the lot ice-creams, doughnuts, fizzy drinks, car rides as well as sandcastles and wave jumping! The specialness of the day was exacerbated as Milo drove us so he enjoyed the opportunity to drive a different and longer than his usual daily short trips. A lot of fun.

Father’s Day was a beautiful day and we spent the day enjoying our respective dads and Pat (as a token dad), in Horning on the broads, sauntering up and down the river on the Mississippi paddle boat. It was an elegantly delightful experience as the running commentary of the soundings and wildlife was pointed out. The ‘icing on the cake’ was when we were met by Milo, who had dashed from work to also be part of the afternoon, meeting us as we slipped into the Swan Inn for a lovely easy going Sunday Lunch catering for all culinary tastes in impressive fashion. If you haven’t been it is one for a leisurely afternoon.

I had a night out with my sisters and their respective daughters. The chaotic nature of the planning phase ended up in an outing to a ‘night-club’.

What night club?  I had no idea until I learned it use to be the old ‘Chicago’s’. Perhaps my ignorance is already palpable! Night clubs never were and continue not to be my choice of evening engagement!!!

We walked into a bar blasting football noise from a variety of screens, was served cocktails in tin-cans, and when we moved to the dance floor were waylay by young men not much older than they were all these years ago I last went into a nightclub. The enjoying part of the intrusion by the men was observing the expertise in which some of the daughters in our group played the men at their own game. I admired the ‘ballsy feminine’ approach.  Quite an experience whilst really pleasant to be out with my sisters as we very rarely indulge our sisterhood.  

A treat for Jerry’s birthday was a surprise trip to Nottingham to see a live show of ‘Mrs. Browns Boys’, a very favourite TV show of Jerry’s.

For those who do not know the show it is about the antics and tomfoolery of an Irish ‘mammy’ called Agnes Brown (a Irish drag persona) and her grown up family, all being blood relatives and friends in real life. A bit crude whilst cheery and fun, although not everyone’s taste!

We enjoyed VIP tickets, being meal, drinks then sitting only six rows from the very front – absolutely fabulous seats at the Motorpoint Arena (National Ice Rink home of Torvill & Dean).

The show was a mix of all the key sketches from most of the TV show episodes, so in essence we knew what was coming having great familiarity with the TV shows being avid watchers of the box set. A really enjoyable trip and very exciting being so intermit with the performance, although not the ‘belly-laugh’ we had hoped with no new material.

Hope you enjoy the snippet enclosed below of the show finale.

The end of June and Milo’s A-Level exams came to an end and he has left school, quite emotional although he is ready to move on in life – to what we don’t know yet but enjoying the moment he is in.

My final picture is Dylan in his office! The WiFi went down for several days and he got so fed-up trying to play his Kindle game he took his little chair and table to the laundry room and played there as that was the only place anybody could get WiFi!

Car Mayhem May 17

May has been a month of cars for me, taking significant chunks of my weekend. I was involved in the perimeters of an accident in January, when a transporter lorry swerved and then hit the central reservation tipping its load of vehicles across the central reservation as I was passing. A shocking experience as I drove towards the vehicles tipping towards me as the lorry drew up beside me. Definitely feel I was very lucky and lost a life that day!

My car was splattered with debris damaging every part of the car except the passenger front and back door and boot door. Unfortunately the initial paint repairs were terrible with obvious runs in the paintwork, over spray of paint and areas of paintwork where the paint was obviously thinned, hence needed to be re-done. The ‘up-side’ of the poor quality of the initial paint repair was fantastic as I was handed back a beautifully finished car, as the whole car had been resprayed and was finished to a highly polished level, looked like new. The perfect time to sell as it would never look that good again. 

We walked in to the Ford car dealer and came out (eventually!) with a Ford Fiesta but this is an ‘ST Black Special Edition’, being 1L engine with 140 horsepower in black and red, brand new, 17 plate with 10 miles on the clock. What this means is my car is what I recognise as a Fiesta but much more sporty and nippy, Foot down and I go. Love it and it’s comfortable. My silver-lining has seen me good.

Jerry celebrated his next birthday. I suggested a nice leisurely lunch but he wanted to go to his regular haunt for breakfast which turned into a ‘very big boy breakfast’ presented with a candle. He loved it and then lifting our rounded bodies, we were off for an afternoon jaunt to Blickling Hall woods. Our purpose to enjoy one of the beauties of spring – to absorb both visually and sensually the perfume of bluebells as the flowers blanketed the old woods. A truly wonderful cloud of spring haze to walk through and capture, we really enjoyed an afternoon out, between school runs.

Dylan has had his school sports day watched by grandparents and a participating dad!! Dylan very proudly came second in two races and third in another two races, a mixture of running, the sack race, balance race, obstacle race etc. Then I was presented with another third sticker to hear Jerry had been cajoled into entering the dad race with the whole experienced captured for me to share – Poor Jerry!

Things have moved on well with my employment position too. All the energy put into worrying about my job, firstly regarding the government changes in tax profiles then secondly regarding the indifference I felt towards my position in Slough. On a Thursday late afternoon an advert winged itself to me which was right up my street. A position in Patient Flow at Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It took a tense week to confirm I was successful, now 4 weeks I’m getting on well.

I continue to travel weekly to the end of the M11, go left on to M25 and over the QE2 Dartford Bridge then immediately left onto A2 with a slow cruise to Bexleyheath. I travel around four hospital

• The key hospital being Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital in Lewisham.
• Then Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup
• Durant Valley Hospital in Dartford
• Finally Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington. 

The next challenging worry in taking this position to date has been in finding somewhere to stay. A good old fashioned Bed & Breakfast, like I was use to with the lovely Thelma and George in Sussex, is incredibly hard to come by. The new style B&B. in the cities. is staying in someone’s ‘spare’ room, when the expectation is you share the home owners bathroom, share space in their fridge. This has not been a particularly pleasurable experience and an extremely frustrating process, spending too much time trying to locate potential accommodation which then was not available or was cancelled. I have had a couple of really lovely hospitable and easy places to be but I also have had the experience of an awful place to stay.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure about this place, called ‘Love & Peace’ but became a bit desperate to get something booked, reviews were OK with the odd dodgy one but not enough to be overly concerned at my need to book. At this point I am in my first week of my lovely new car! I entered a social-housing estate of blocks of four story flats and my heart sank as I had to leave my new pride and joy on the side of the road and weave my way through pathways to find the flat I was staying. I found myself in a small box room with an enormous telly run by Amazon Fire, completely useless as the connection was poor. The impression I surmised as I walked through the flat was of clean but grotty with poor décor, being told there was other people staying as well in the neighbouring room. My experience got worse when I crossed the landing to the bathroom to find a hole where the handle should be with no lock on the inside of the door – horrified and panic overwhelmed me. I started packing my bags and called local hotels but nothing immediately available. Even considered to sleep in my car but didn’t know how to deal with needing the toilet. A phone call back to Jerry I calmed down and talked through how to deal with the bathroom matter, taking my suitcase with me and ramming it between the toilet and the door. Back in my room I called home and shared I had survived the unsatisfactory experience but could cope with one night sleep. The next morning when I went to the fridge I had my next shock realising the homeowner actually lived in her kitchen as I could hear her still in bed behind a curtained-off area. Horrifying, couldn’t get out of there quick enough.

I‘m very pleased to say I am staying in a spare room with an experienced landlady and her adult family on a short term lease arrangement. I have a lock on my bedroom door, a lock on the bathroom and my own fridge, plus less than a mile from my work base so I am able to walk to work on some occasions. Perfect arrangement and feel comfortable there, thankfully!

To finish Milo along with his school mates marked the end of year 13 going into his A level exams in June with a celebration in which all year 13’s dressed up in costume on the last day of school. We had no idea what he was planning until he presented himself in an all-in-one reindeer outfit with a well-padded head. He looked very funny but suffered as paraded around school and town in his full costume on one of the hottest days of the year. They all had a memorable day together but Milo suffered with heat-exhaustion by the end of the day and went straight to bed – don’t think he thought that one through!

Courageous Dylan (April 17)

April is an important month in our family and one we are not allowed to forget with a consistent countdown to the 4^th April, when Dylan turned 7 years old. His birthday is always in the Easter holidays being an initial Easter Sunday baby, so far has meant a week off work to get ready for his expectation of celebrations, to celebrate, then recover! There is no doubt he is his mother’s child as he sets out his stall of birthday requirements.

A birthday, according to Dylan, does not happen without:

·         Balloons

·         Decorating his awning space

·         Cake with candles

·         And a new one on us this year – a present is not a present unless it can be unwrapped!!!

So you can probably appreciate it is quite a challenge to live up to. Especially as last year, although he had a big party with a big room to decorate, I overlooked his awning space to decorate and he was initially disappointed. I feel the pressure!

Dylan’s day started with unwrapping a new ‘big boys’ bike, he was thrilled and delighted. He adapted instantly to a bigger heavier bike. As long as Dylan’s natural caution is respected and acknowledged he will be adventurous and give new challenges ago. He sped along on his bike really quite quickly, flicking through the gears being the greatest thrill. The causative effect of such excitement was in half an hour of constant gear changing his poor left hand thumb was blistered and too sore to use. (You can share in his pleasure by watching my video, sorry about the tinge of blueness in bits of the film I couldn’t work out white balance).

Dylan’s birthday adventure was going to Go-Ape at High Lodge, Thetford Forest with a few school-friends and cousin for the afternoon. They were all challenged to walk the junior tree top assault course. The course is a variety of twists and turns on rope walkways and bridges all lacking stability 4 meters (13ft) high through the tree trunks – tops, whilst harnessed to the safety cord. Milo and I went up with our group of 6 years old celebrating Dylan’s 7^th birthday, so all very young.

Mio led the way followed by his little brother and his friends as I cheered and encouraged from the back. I could eyeball all the children at every step and was really proud and awe-inspired with how well they all dealt the challenge of an activity which pushed them to the edge of their comfort parameters without a parent nearby. There were moments when fear was visible in their little bodies but all of them took the next steps and moved forward. The only bit some dipped out of was the zip-wire at the end, but all got around.  In the café with fizzy-drinks, chicken nuggets and chips they shared how the experience was, “both terrifying and exciting at the same time”, Tremendously Courageous Children!

The afternoon carried on with much more grounded play in the wonderful playground for quite a bit longer. Then back home for birthday cake, when many of the campsite family wandered around with grandparents, packed into our caravan. I’m pleased to say enjoying Dylan’s homemade three layered smarties decorated chocolate birthday cake. (Share the joy in my video below).

The holidays obviously brought Easter and this year sported by a family gathering for tea together and Egg Hunt at Stone Barn, my sister Vanessa’s home. The vast array of children made the occasion pleasurable, being the very small to adult grandchildren and their lovely partners alike.

from left to right Dylan/India/Finley with Llewella/Esmai and Lucia

The little ones being 2 years old who could take or leave the chocolate just enjoyed the fuss. To the 6-7-9 years old who were frantic for the chocolate sported by a treasure hunt to cease their chocolate loot.

Eloise with Chocolate loot stuffed down her top

Milo -  his coat pockets holding his treasure

Callum and Hannah

Connor and Emily

Jake and hs lovely bride Nicola expecting their baby!

Katherine - jacket stuffed!

Lovely old folks! - Sandra and Kevin

To a vast array of adult children whose true colours of desire to collect the Easter Bunny loot was evident with pockets, jumpers all full of collected coloured eggs.

It was a great laugh, relaxed afternoon and wonderful seeing the majority of the family together catching up. I’m hoping a few pictures of Easter Sunday will assist in capturing the flavour of the day we enjoyed.

Our Easter weekend was finished with experiencing Wymondham Great Duck Race on Easter Monday, it was an experience, many races were sponsored to watch plastic numbered ducks release and floated down the River Tiffey. The winner being the duck the old boy fished out at the end in the net, quite a surreal event. We won none!

Duck race performed just beyond Wymondham Abbey

Hope you enjoyed our Easter activities. X