Picnic

Day 93

22 August 2009

Oh, lazy Saturdays. Lying in bed, snuggled under the duvet, the soft sounds of the radio whispering in one ear, the occasional seagull squawking as it passes by outside. Thoughts of the day ahead dreamily circling around in the mind. Peace and quiet, and zzzz-ing in and out of a doze until the grumblings of an empty stomach signals the time for a calm and leisurely breakfast.

I remember Lazy Saturdays, but only just. They are a faded memory, and will not enter into my life for a good few years to come.

Not that I'm bitter.

This morning it was overcast, but by lunchtime there was a glorious blue sky. We decided it was a picnic lunch day, so we packed up and headed into town and to the downs.

My son enjoyed his lunch as much as the rest of us!

Mayo would definitely be on my desert island luxury items list. It tastes so good that I reckon it would make eating a crusty old flip-flop an enjoyable experience.

After lunch, my daughter went off bug-hunting, armed with a box, a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers. She didn't have much luck trying to pick ants up with the tweezers, but she did have fun rummaging around looking for stag beetles. Of which, she found none. Unsurprisingly, perhaps!

And as I tucked her into bed this evening, she told me that she thought "sleep is beautiful, Mummy".

Oh, Lazy Saturdays...!

Making Some Progress

Day 92

21 August 2009

We live in a house without a garden. We do have a tiny piece of mud outside our house, which has been neglected for a considerable amount of time. As I am hopeless with a trowel and a bit of earth, and having had a baby recently, as well as the other day to day stuff, the area has not had the zap of life that it needed, until today. Thanks to my stepmum and dad, we went to get some bulbs and pansies to put into the bit of soil. Out came the aged and almost dead lavender plants. It looks so much better, now.

At the same time, the window cleaner arrived to clean a minimum of a year's worth of dirt from our windows, which has had an amazing affect on our ability to look through glass! I've also been painting the hallway, and we've had a ruthless cleaning session or two in the past week, too. It's been a week of transformation and progress.

We just need to get our kitchen sorted out!

Corfe model village

Day 91

20 August 2009

Today we went with my dad and step-mum to Corfe. We had lunch in a pub, then walked up to the model village.

It's a fantastic place to take kids, and the village and castle models are so thoughtfully made. It's also got a large garden play area to play giant jenga, draughts, and a connect 4 type game, as well as a nature garden and a cafe which does a good dorset cream tea, if you fancy one!

A large willow tree, perfect for sitting under on a hot summers' day.

Painting In The Park

Day 90

19 August 2009

This morning we went up to the park to do some art and craft activities, which had been provided by SureStart. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning and it felt good to be out in the sunshine, watching the little ones do their creative best.

All was going well until later on, when we went into the park to play, and my daughter had a food/fluid-deprived meltdown. Then all hell broke loose, and it felt as though the calm, chilled morning had disappeared into the ether!

Tuesday Market

Day 89

18 August 2009

The town has a market on a Tuesday. Today it was busier than ever.

Although it's great to have a market which has stalls for a variety of things, it would be great to have a local farmer's market. There is a small Purbeck produce day once a month, but it's tucked away from the main town. I'd love to see a Purbeck farmer's/local producers market in the main town once a week in addition to the bigger, more commercial Tuesday market. What do you think?

Monday Meander

Day 88

17 August 2009

This morning we all went for a walk up to Peveril Point.

These photos show a few things we saw along the way.

The best bit was when we were allowed to have a sneaky peak inside the lifeboat house.

This is a left-over from world war II, near to the watchpoint. During the war the beaches were closed off and the piers were dismantled to stop enemy invasion into the town. American and Canadian troops were also posted to the Purbeck area.


This feather caught my eye as it gently ruffled in the breeze.

I don't know who this memorial is for, but this tree and two next to it were covered in floral tributes.

Some steps.

The view into Prince Albert gardens and the bay, complete with portaloos in the foreground. Oops!

The Wellington clock tower. It was originally standing on London Bridge, but George Burt, who built Swanage (or most of the old bits), bought lots of bits of London bricks and bobs to use as ballast on the ships taking Purbeck stone off to London. He used the clock tower, parts of billingsgate fish market, and lots of other bits that are dotted about Swanage. The home of recycling!

Look out behind you!

Pot luck

Day 87

16 August 2009

In my house, it's a rare thing for my husband to be genuinely interested in crockery.

I consider this to be a fortunate thing.

Yesterday, at the fete, there was a bric-a-brac stall. I bought a cast-iron butterfly for standing hot pans on. I thought it was a lovely symbol of transformation, very fitting for our soon-to-be new kitchen. At the moment it's just a big empty space with new plastered walls, and a fresh concreted floor.

He bought a bicycle for a couple of quid for our daughter when she's about 8 (a few years to go, but at least that's plenty of time for them to work on it together and get it to look shiny and new), and this...pot and cup set.

I think it's "home made" - there are no markings on the base of the pot or the cups. It's a very well made set. But it's really not to my taste! My husband likes it. So I will be serving him up his coffee in it every day!