Grey Wednesday

The day was grey and dull and when I woke up after a lay in and the weather forecast is for rain again. Since the the summer is like last years I just hope that we have the same kind of autumn and the weather turns out fine and warm.

Everyone got up late this morning and after chat in the living room the girls went off to the family room to play and go on the computers. The house seemed to be unusually quiet other than the occasional bark from george when he saw a cat in the garden.

For lunch we had some giant hot dogs that were on special offer in Morrisons in Stamford with fried onions and for the girls tomato ketchup. Given they are not the hot dog sausages we normally have or as expensive there were still very nice.  

In the afternoon the rain that the weather forecasters had promised set in.  It wasn't what we wanted. Emily and Catherine were itching to get out again today and have some fun. What made it worse for Emily was even her friends had gone somewhere and their was nobody for her to go round and play with. At least the famous summer holiday cries of "We're bored" were far and few between as they played on the computers and watched programmes on the BBC iplayer.

Before dinner could be made we had to pop to the supermarket. As a treat we got some jam donuts for pudding that went down rather well with Emily and Catherine. They love donuts as i did when I was a child. I use to buy bags of hot freshly made donuts covered in sugar. They were rather yummy.

After I suggested a game of Monopoly after dinner, it was quickly pointed out Lucy had hidden all the cash cards for the machine bank. That will give us something to look for in the morning if the rain is still coming down. At least some of the other games as still intact including Emily's Cluedo. If only we could get Catherine interested in fantasy games there is loads we could do on a rainy day.

Although it has been a rather dull day compared to what we do in the sunny weather it has been nice to be a home and just chill for the day. 

Big Brother 11 - Final

I really enjoyed big Brother 11 this year, it is a shame that it is the last ever, well on Channel 4 if rumors are to be believed. It has been a big part of life in terms enjoyment. I'm one of the people that can actually say it did change my life in so many ways. Some good and some bad.

This year the producers of the show seemed to pull out all the stops and actually came up with some great idea's for the tasks and got the right mix of housemates. There were moments of genius from the programme makers that I hadn't seen in the show for year. They even managed to make the last few days interesting to watch which is always hard. All in all it surely must rank as on of the best series.

In the end I think the right person won. Josie was a constantly good housemate who was entertaining and brought a lot of life to the house, she actually deserved to win which is more than can be said of some of the winners of the past. She reminded me of the first ever Big Brother winner. in that she is a caring, honest and genuinely a nice person, so refreshing after some of the wannabes that have been on the show in the past.

Anyone who knows me will know my dislike for Nikki Grahame, so it won't come as a surprise I wasn't pleased to see her go back in the house.  I still believe she should never have been in Big Brother 7 with the problems she had back then. But that aside I think the pick of housemates looks interesting for the Ultimate Big Brother and it should provide a fitting end to the shows run on Channel 4. I just hope it's not the end of something that has entertained us for the last 11 years.

Return to Foxton Locks

Another day of typical test match weather where rain interrupts play. The weather could be best described as changeable, with showers and sunny intervals in the morning and grey cloud for a good part of the afternoon. 

Emily returned from her sleep over with a full tummy after what she described as a lovely fried breakfast and Catherine got up shortly after she arrived home. Catherine had missed her overnight, but she is going to have to get use to it because it is likely to happen more often when Emily starts at her new school and makes new friends. 

The girls spent the morning watching television and playing on the computers together. There really wasn't much else to do between the showers. The funniest thing that happened in the morning, as long as your not Catherine, was George who decided to go upstairs and help himself to Catherine chocolate, will they ever learn that dogs are scavengers.

In the afternoon we headed out to shops in Market Harborough and Foxton Locks.  Emily and Catherine had never been to Foxton Locks and Emily in particular was fascinated with how the narrow boats were raised and lowered down the hill side. She even managed to help out by opening and closing the lock gates for one of the boats that was ascending the hill. It is a lovely place even though today it was a bit cold and windy. Emily and Catherine both want to go back when the weather is nicer and have a picnic at the side of the locks. 

After we finished at Foxton Locks we headed back to get some fish and chips from St Mary's Fish Bar in Market Harborough. They were so hot we drove back to enjoy the locks to eat them before returning back Langham. 

It's another day that has gone by without us getting to the Northamptonshire country parks but all the same we did go somewhere interesting. We will get there one day it is just a matter of time.

All Change!

Well the overnight weather didin't look good, as I went to bed the rain was falling again and the promise of the red sunset was gone. On waking the ground was wet and the sun was gone. It was not what we needed for our picnic or our trip to the country parks. 

With plans changed, I went and picked up Lucy. It was lovely to hear her voice excitedly calling daddy as I knocked on the door and even better to get a cuddle and a kiss as I strapped her into her car seat. All the way home she just chatted and chatted.

The morning was spent playing indoors and waiting for the ground to dry out. thankfully the sun kept trying to poke through and the rain stayed away. At one point emily and Lucy were watching television together, it was lovely to see the way they cuddled up together with George by their side. I'm not sure what Emily had found for them to watch but in the end Catherine joined them and they all really seemed to be enjoying it. 

Not to miss out totally on the picnic we got the blanket out of the car and put it out in the family room and the girls all sat on and had there lunch, minus George of course who had to be kept in the living room to avoid him pinching all the food. It might have not what we were expecting but the best we could do given the weather.

After lunch we were going to head out to the park to salvage something of the day out that the weather spoiled, but just as we were about to go out it started raining lightly. All the same we headed out to Stamford with some bread just in case the rain cleared to feed the ducks. 

When we got to Stamford the rain had turned into a torrent. Emily and Catherine got out of the car and fed the ducks from under a tree. They still got soaked but they said the ducks seemed to appreciate it. Lucy stayed in the car her coat didn't seem to be up to duck feeding in the rain. 

We next headed off to the large Morrisons for some food shopping. It was there that Catherine lost her phone, the problem was, however, she didn't notice it was gone until we are just about to leave Stamford. Catherine was quite upset, she loves her phone and waited ages to get it for her birthday. She said she left it in her bag on Emily's seat, but when we searched the back of the car it wasn't there. The whole searching process wasn't helped by the fact that my phone was out of credit so I couldn't call it. We turned the car round and headed back through Stamford to the supermarket. I went to the cash point to put credit on my phone while the car was being searched again, it wasn't until I got back to the car and rang the phone that we discovered that the phone was inside the shop. I'm so glad it turned up.

When we got home it was straight on with the cooking dinner. Tonight's menu chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and nan bread with a special treat for pudding yum yums. The only problem was there wasn't time to cook it and eat it all because of the lost phone. A quick text sorted that out and Lucy got to eat her pudding with her sisters, rather than having to take it home to eat it later at her mummies, however, Lucy still went home eating. She had a half an apple with her as well as the bag of sweets for Mary and herself that she got at Morrisons. 

Tonight Catherine came with me to drop off Lucy, it is the first time in ages that either of her two big sisters had come with me. After Lucy was back at her mummies we popped into the shops and then head off back home just as it started to spit with rain.

When we got home we discovered that Emily's sleep over had been moved to tonight and so Catherine is the only one of the three of them sleeping here tonight. It was nice to spend some time with her alone after she got home from seeing her friend.

All I hope tonights sunset brings better weather so that we can get to the country parks in Northamptonshire before the school holidays are over. It is a shame that little Lucy can't come with us but there is nothing that can be done about that. 

Rutland Water

At last a sunny start to the day after all the grey mornings of days gone by. It was the first thing that Lucy  commented on after giving me the lowest smile as I went in to her room first thing this morning when I heard her calling my name. It was just what we all needed to get out the parks around Rutland water and have some fun.

After Lucy got out of bed and gave me a hug went straight into Emily and Catherine's room to open the curtains let in the sun and welcome them both to a new day.  As usual she climbed into Catherine bed to make sure she got up. Got to give Lucy one thing she has her head screwed on, Catherine the one that makes her breakfast when they are altogether. 

After breakfast Catherine and Lucy sat down on the sofa together and watched television to Emily appeared and they all went off into the family room to play.

Just after ten we headed out to Rutland water to play in the parks there. The opportunity to play in the sunshine was one we could miss even if it meant we didn't get a Sunday lunch together. In fact that lunch which we were going to have for dinner never happened either, but more of that later.

The first of the parks we went to was the one near Empingham which has an adventure playground as well a play area for smaller children. They all love it there and there is lots for them all to do. Lucy has even found her own ways of doing things on the assault corse that she just to little to do. On the stepping bridge she made it the step over bridge so she could join in with Catherine's games. In return Catherine played Lucy's horse game on the same piece of equipment. It was also lovely making a pretend fire with them from sticks they all gathered for me. They might not get on occasionally, Emily and Catherine have there fall outs now and again, but when they do all get on it is lovely. I hope they all enjoyed there time together.

Before we left Empingham part of Rutland Water we also popped to the aquarium to look at the fish they have there. It isn't very big but it is still interesting to look around and the girls like it. It is meant to be a shop, but I do wonder if they ever sell anything.

When we got the Barnsdale playground it was closed for refurbishment. I must stay it does seem a silly time to refurbish a playground in the summer when it going to get use the most. It wasn't like it was in a bad state of repair or anything, all the climbing frames were in good condition and I know Emily, Catherine and Lucy loved that little playground to bits.

So with the play ground closed we had to find something else to do so we headed through a gate and down the hill to the waters edge avoiding the fresh sheep droppings. When we got to the waters edge Catherine and Lucy both started throwing stones in the water with Catherine showing Lucy how to throw her stones further. It was lovely down there and so picturesque with the sailing boats on the water and the lovely countryside that surrounds Rutland Water. It was quite a hill for Lucy to climb up on the way back to the car park, but I was amazed she made it on her own. She is really getting good on those little legs and she doesn't complain wherever we go that her legs hurt. 

Because the Barnsdale play area was closed we decide to pop to Langham Park for a bit to make up for the missed playground time. Although Lucy was tired after all her hill climbing she did eventually start playing although in general she wanted to sit about. Catherine and Emily on the other hand were soon doing time trials on the assault course and having a ball of a time. We didn't stay there long but they all did end up having fun.

Time was very limited when we got home we had cheese burgers with tomatoes for lunch. All the girls loved it and they didn't seem to concerned that lunch had turned into dinner. After all they still got there ice lollies for pudding which they seemed to think was the main thing on a hot day to cool them off.

After lunch the girls had forty minutes to play together at home before little Lucy went back to her mummies. After her food Lucy had picked up and seemed to have found new energy. They had a mad forty minutes together with lots of laughter and giggling. It was a shame it had to end, but it did. After getting Lucy changed into her clean clothes we both head into Oakham playing music and chatting along the way. After getting out of the car I gave her a kiss told her to be good. 

Returning home we all got ready to pop to the shops just get the things we ran out of. It was then that I decided to postpone Sunday dinner for another day and have something simpler for dinner so we could all enjoy the rest of the lovely sunshine. So with that in mind we brought some pork chops for dinner. Far easy to do than a pork joint

After we got home and put the shopping away we head out to Normanton with George to have more fun around Rutland Water. As far as I can remember I don't think Emily and Catherine had ever been there before. As there is no play area there to make sure we had something else to do we took a football with us too. Emily loves playing football and was looking forward to having the space to kick the ball around. George loved it a Normanton and all the chance to meet and play with other dogs. He especially loves meeting other westies and he gets so excited when he sees one. We also discovered he likes chasing ducks. Good thing he was on a lead for the ducks sake. Emily walked him first and then Catherine took over while Emiy played football with me. We were have loads of fun until I my shoe decided to split and then we all had to head home.

When we got home Emily went of to George's to play on the Xbox 360 while I cooked dinner for everyone. Emily was having such a good time that after dinner she wanted to go back to George's, but unfortunately there wasn't time, however she is going there on Tuesday to stay with his sister Charlie for a sleep over. 

They had a lovely day and I hope they have as much fun tomorrow. Lucy is back tomorrow. The picnic food is ready to be made and the drinks are in the fridge chilling nicely. If the sunset is anything to go by then we should make it to the country parks in Northamptonshire. New park's are so much fun for them, and it is always nice even as adult to go somewhere new. Roll on the new day!