Where is Summer

With another wet day today one is wondering what has happened to the summer. The odd rainy day isn't unusual but this constant rain and the cold isn't something I can remember this time of year.

It makes you wonder what we are doing to the environment. It is clear the effects of global warming are starting to show in the weather patterns. I can't remember a summer that has started like this. It been so wet for so long. It seems all the rain is falling at the wrong time of the year. This is all because the jet stream is in the wrong place, it is far to far south.

It looks like this changing weather is something we are going to have to get to use to. Something we have brought on ourselves. What we need now is to find ways to return things to normal. It not just about not making it worse, it is reducing in our use of carbon fuels to the point that the environment can start to recover. It is about doing things to reverse what we have been doing and putting things right.

To do this is going to take a whole rethink not only how we use fossil fuels but how we live, where we work and how we protect the countryside. The reason we need to do this is for your children and their children. We have to act now and not bury our heads in the sand thinking it doesn't concern us. Saying that is like saying you don't care about your children's future.

Shopping in Corby

It was a grey start to the day and the weather was just as confused about what it wanted to do  as the weather forecasters predictions. Thankfully the one that was right was the one that included sunny intervals so we did see a quite a bit of sun throughout the day and by the end of the day the weather was lovely just when we needed it.

Getting the girls off to school went like a dream. They both got up with loads of time to spare, made their own breakfast and packed lunches and were soon on their way to school. All to soon I was sitting down to my coffee in the peace and quiet of an empty house before it was time for a shower.

At ten o'clock it was time to pick up little Lucy from her mummies. She seemed in a strange mood when I picked her up and gave me the biggest cuddle ever and just wouldn't let go. Normally we just walk to the car and chat but this morning it was completely different. I asked her what was wrong but she didn't answer all she did was hug me. I think she might have been tired and clearly she wasn't happy go lucky self. All the same as we drove home via the garage she did pick up and really made me smile with one or two of the things she said. It was lovely to be with her again.

The morning was spent around the house playing inside and out. I made Lucy a train track and we played trains for a while before she headed out to the garden to play on her tricycle and play chase with George. George loves haring around the garden. He plays hide and seek in the long grass and equally Lucy loves to chase after him. After being outside for a while she went back in to play with her dolls and play shops. We had a grand morning together.

With food to get and driving to be kept to a minimum until the car is repaired later in the week we headed out to Corby to go food shopping for the rest of the week. On the way we stopped off at Greggs for some sausage rolls and drinks which we polished off while we chatted in the car. Lucy loves the sausage rolls from the bakers and today they were just the right temperature for her delicate little mouth.

With lunch out of the way we set off to get to the large ASDA in Corby. Compared to the supermarkets in Oakham it seems really big and not only stocks food but all kinds of household item, clothes and electrical items. Although I prefer the smaller supermarkets it does make a change to be in a larger store with such a large range of goods. Lucy loved the halloween aisle they had there and we had to make several visits to play with the scary toys they had on display. In particular she liked zombie with it red flashing eyes. She going to have so much fun on hallowed this year getting sweets, it just a shame she won't be going around with Emily and Catherine this year or for a few years to come. They both love dressing up as does Lucy. With most of the shopping for the week done we soon were heading home again while listening to music and having fun in the car. Lucy was so good in the shop as always, the only thing she asked for was her sweets for her and her sister Mary. 

When we got back to Langham there was just time to put the shopping away and have a quick coffee before Catherine came home. With the weather improving all the time we decide we should make the most of it and get out to the park. So as soon as Catherine got home we headed out to get Emily and bring her home via the local park.

It was really rather glorious for the time of the year when we got to the park. The clouds were high in the sky and the sun was shining down brightly. Lucy had been wanting to go to the park all day and even though it was only Langham park it was still a park to Lucy. Emily had science homework to do and was soon settling down on the picnic benches to get it done in the sunshine while Lucy played, while Catherine had popped back to the house to pick up her new bicycle. Lucy had great fun on the slide and the trim trial. She is so good on the chain bridge now and can do it without thinking. By the time Catherine had arrived we were down by the skate board ramp. Lucy love sliding down it, especially hand in in hand with Emily or Catherine, preferably both of them. Catherine is not confident enough on her bicycle to use the ramp yet but Lucy had great fun chasing her around while Emily continued to finish her home at the top of the ramp. When it came time to go home Lucy walked through the allotments with Emily who told them all about having one last summer. Lucy loves seeing all the things that grow there and Emily picked her a few raspberries for her to eat. She loved them just as much as she loved the blackberries that we use to pick outside the house and was soon asking for more.

Returning home Emily went off to play with Lucy while I got the dinner ready. A simple meal tonight, meaty sausages and mash with bake beans. Lucy did really well eating her dinner and Catherine and Emily had clean plates by the end of the meal. For pudding they all had swiss roll. It goes without saying that all was gone before not to long. Finally they all went off to play in the family room for the last hour before Lucy left us again. 

With Lucy dressed in her Peppa Pig clothes it was time for her to return back to her mummies. After kisses and cuddles from Emily and Catherine we both set off for Oakham. We were soon there and I was heading back home on my own. We had a fab day together and a surprising one in some ways. I can't wait to have them altogether again on Friday and with half term just around the conner they will have even longer with each other soon during the day.

When I got back the girls were playing on the computers. Catherine was playing games on Facebook while Emily was chatting with her friends. They did this for a while before settling down to watch so television on BBC iPlayer before bedtime. They both seem so grown up these days that it is hard to think they were once like little Lucy. Time passes so quickly.

It has been a funny three days in lots of different ways, things that have happened and things that have been said. I know what I want from life and I know things can only get better. In fact I have always known what I want, it is something I worked at for ages, it just got lost in all that has been happening at home recently. How I get there again, well that is something that needs some thought. 

Cheeky Friday

It was another of those grey start to the day that reminds you that it really now is autumn and whatever you do the weather is going to play it's part in. Gone are the days when you knew it would be dry and plan to go out and have fun in the fresh air. You just have to take each day as it comes and make use of any fine weather that comes your way.

The morning started much like any other with Emily and Catherine getting up for school and making their own packed lunches and breakfasts. Then I ran Emily into Oakham and came back to make sure Catherine got to school on time. While I was away Catherine fed and walked George and finished getting her stuff together for school. They seem to have sorted out a nice routine for themselves.

Just after Catherine leaves I have just over an hour of peace and quiet before getting little Lucy from her mummies. This gives me time to have a coffee, a shower and a shave before I have to head out to Oakham.

Today's pick up was slightly unusual in that I was given some boxes to finally pack away Lucy's mummies books from our house. She left them behind when she left. I was really pleased to see Lucy and she gave my leg a hug as my hands were full. It was all rather lovely as always and we chatted as we walked to the car and drove home.

Most of the morning with Lucy was spent inside the house playing games and having cuddles. After a bit we did get down to colouring in an old colouring book she found in the family room in one of her toy boxes. The only problem was that we couldn't many of her crayons. Somehow they always managed to get lost no matter how many times you gather them up, so we didn't have many colours to chose from, but all the same she did have loads of fun.

With the weather being the way it was going to the park wasn't an option and so just before lunch we headed out to Corby to do some shopping and have some fun and on the way to the shops we popped in to Greggs for lunch. Lucy just loves the sausage rolls and had a bottle of water to wash it all down. We only needed a few things from the shops for dinner and I needed a new headlight bulb for the car. Other than that it was just nice to get out and do some window shopping at the same time.

Lucy was really good around the shops, as always. She seems to be like Catherine and loves shopping and never finds it a chore unlike her big sister Emily. She had great fun in Halfords helping me find the right bulb by emptying the shelves of the bulbs one by one and giving one of each different type until I had the right one. Thankfully she picked the right one after I had about six in my hand, otherwise we would have been there all day putting them back. There were hundrads of them. 

After we had finished shopping we headed off to Cheeky Monkeys. A soft play area much like Rascals in Stamford but with slightly more to do. I'm not sure she has been before but I'm guessing not since she didn't seem to know the place. It is slightly more expensive than Rascals but it has one thing going for it in that the coffee is better, but Lucy didn't get a free drink.

When we arrived her face beamed from ear to ear at the monkey sign, but when got in she was unsure of what to play with first. We tried the floating ball machine but that sounded too much like a vacuum cleaner and she doesn't like those at all. It was going to take a bit of confidence building to get her to play with that so we left it to try out the slides. Again with nobody to follow she was a bit apprehensive so in the end I went up to the top of the slide with her and we came down together hand in hand. The same sort thing happened on the tube slide and I had to go with her the first time. After that she was off on her own going up and sliding down, again and again and exploring the higher levels all by herself. 

On of the major things they did have there that Rascals doesn't is a indoor mini football pitch. We both went in there together and she was soon kicking the football into the back of the net and cheering. She is a real tomboy sometimes just like her big sister Emily, mixed with bits of Catherine and Mary rolled into one.  While we were playing football "We No Speak Americano" came of the sound system and Lucy began dancing, it was so funny and sweet both at the same time. I'm so glad she had remembered the fun we had last Sunday and got me to join in too.

Before we left we went back to the floating ball machine and we a bit of encouragement and showing her it was safe and not going to eat her she managed to master her fear and start to play with it. She loved the place so much she didn't want to leave and although she didn't cry she did avoid putting her shoes on for ages.

On the way home we popped to Oakham to pick up Emily form school slightly late due Lucy wanting to stay at Cheeky Monkeys. Emily didn't seem to mind to much, and she was waiting at the side of the road talking to her friends. When we got home to Catherine it was straight out to play in the garden where Lucy had loads of fun locking Emily in her toy house as well as playing her bike.

After a quick dinner, which I cooked while they were playing inside they all settled down to watch a film. Unfortunately time caught up with us and the film unfinished Lucy had to return to her mummies. With hug and kisses all round and some sweets in her bag Lucy said her farewells for another day with Emily walking her to the car for an extra cuddle.

As soon as I got back from dropping Lucy off it was off out again to take Emily and Catherine to their mums for the weekend. They were both pleased to she her and she was pleased to see them. I know they both value their time with they mum so much and I'm sure they will have loads of fun. It will be quiet without them but it is a chance to recharge the batteries and have a lovely weekend and a memroable one with the end of a TV show I have watched for years. 

Rain and Rain

This is the first of four days and three nights that Lucy is staying in her home in Langham. Her mummy is off to a music festival, to get the rest she needs after being poorly. 

I picked Lucy up at ten o'clock from her mummies on a cold and wet summers day. Not the ideal day for doing very much but playing indoors. That is what we did most of the day. It wasn't helped by the fact I did have a coat for her other than a light summer waterproof mac. Not the thing to keep a little person warm. Thankfully I do have a hoodie for her, although if it warms up I will have to keep changing her tops, but never mind these things happen. 

There not really much to tell about the day until the afternoon. All we did was play and play. The only thing of note was when Lucy first saw George and commented that he had a hair cut. I thought she wouldn't know it was him but she did. I think she likes the new George with his soft hair. He is much more cuddly.

In the afternoon we went to Corby to ASDA to have a look around and get some food for the next few days. It's strange going to a large supermarket, they seem so big when you are use to the smaller supermarkets of Rutland, it's not like we need superstores with only 35,000 people in the whole county. The only thing we miss out on is the range you get in the bigger shops. On the way home we popped into the village of Lyddington, arguably the most beautiful village in the county, to have a look at Bede House from the outside.

Bede house is part of a medieval Bishops place owned by the Diocese of Lincoln. During those times Lyddington was an important religious centre and the house was the residence of the Bishop and his entire household. Later it was converted into a almshouse called the Jesus Hospital which housed twelve bedesmen and two poor women. It is in this state that house survives as a almshouse. It a very impressive thirteenth century building even from the outside and we will have to go back and look around inside one day.

While we there we did manage to pop into  St. Andrew's church. Lucy loves churches and was soon exploring and asking questions and having fun going up and down the stairs to the pulpit  A man in the church asked if we were wearing her out for bedtime. It is a lovely church and very old. There is even part of a wall painting remaining on one of the walls which gives you an idea of what it was like when the Bishops from the place went to the church all those years ago.

While we were out we had some dinner so when we got home there was loads of time for Lucy play before her bath and went to bed. I was really surprised how well she went down for the night. I was expecting some trouble getting her down since she didn't have her bedtime drinking bottle, but after a quick explanation and a cuddle she was fine and slept really well.

Shopping

Just one of those days were shopping needs to be done. There are things to buy and places to go along the way. You just have to hope you can create fun when the task at hand is so boring. This was one of them days

With Lucy picked up from her mummy and the girls in the car we set off to leave Rutland in search of bigger and better shops in Corby and Kettering. 

On our trip we stopped for lunch at KFC and al had fun eating finger licking food and ice cream. The bed shop for a quick bounce and generally made the most of a boring shopping trip.

Not much was brought, there isn't much money, but there is lots of.....