Emily and Catherine's Day Out

Another lovely day. This just goes on and on. I can't remember such a lovely continuos spell of such fine weather in April with the temperatures into the twenties. What makes it perfect is the nice cold breeze that stops you over heating. Just perfect for the school holidays.

The morning was rather quite with everyone getting up late after the excitement of the failed sleep over. Nobody got up until well after nine. Catherine was the first to surface followed by Emily about half an hour later. They spent the morning doing their own thing around the house while they woke up. I just finished off some blog entries and relaxed until lunchtime. At this point we head out to enjoy the day.

Our first port of call was Northfield Farm to see the piglets. Emily and Catherine had missed out on seeing them with them being away and so this was make up time. It would also give me a chance to see how the piglets we saw being born with Lucy were doing. 

When we got to the farm we headed for the pigs to complete confusion as to which mummy pig was which mummy pig. There were two there with new born piglets. One with ten and the other with eight. In the end we had to ask the farmer if the mother of the piglets we had seen had lost some of her litter. It turned out she had lost two since we last saw her and that the other pig had given birth in the night. One of the piglets had climbed into the water trough and drowned and another the mother pig had laid on and they had found it dead in the morning. It seems it quite a problem. The mothers are so big and the piglets are so small and it just happens by accident. The mother with ten piglets originally had eleven. She had done the same thing to one of hers. It why the farmers keep vigil on them until the piglets are big enough not to get squashed.

After we finished looking at the pigs we went on to find the lambs and the other animals. The lams are so cute and Emily and Catherine loved them. Both them feed them straw and stroked them before cleaning their hands and going in to the farm shop. As always they we wanted to buy a cake. The cakes there are really nice, but the budget wouldn't allow such luxury. Well not to day at least. May be one day it will again. Before leaving everyone made friends with one of the farm cats. She was a slight black female and very friendly.

From the farm we headed out to Melton to get some food for lunch. The destination being KFC. It has been ages since we all had a KFC together. Sometime in November of last year if my memory serves me right. We all love them and it was nice to be able to have one again after so long. We just had a bargain bucket but there was enough to feed everyone. Rather than eat in KFC with heat inside the shop we headed off to the country park in Melton.

As soon as we arrived at the park we found somewhere in the shade to sit down to eat our KFC. It was quiet busy at the park but given the weather it was to be expected, but the spaces under the trees on the bank were all free so we settled there to eat. Lots of people seemed to be enjoying the sun while walking their dogs including the army who were there training their dogs on the grass in front of the bank. The army dogs were amazing and so well trained. After we finished  I gathered all the rubbish the put it in the bin and Emily and Catherine vanished into the trees to find the arial runway. I settled down to relax at one of the picnic benches in the sun that a family had just vacated. 

After a while I went off to find them. When I got to the arial runway area they were nowhere to be seen. In fact a single family had taken over the runway and everyone else seemed to be waiting for them relinquish control so they could have a turn. It didn't take long to find them when I remember the shelter they had built the last time they were there. They where rebuilding it but with much more skill than before. They weren't just leaning the branches against the trees but building walls by threading branches between the uprights. They were doing a great job.

Unfortunately the building came to a halt when Catherine cut the palm of her hand and she had to go and wash it. While it healed they returned to the area around the picnic bench and we just lay in the sun relaxing. It was so warm and lovely in the fresh area with the birds singing. I could have stayed there all day. However, all good things come to an end so I suggested they go and have a play before it was time to go home and off they went to the play area. Unlike last time the family had gone. The park had quietened down a bit and this time the got to play on the arial runway. When I went to get them they seemed to be having a super time and they wanted to stay longer but we had to go.

When we got home the girls settled down to doing there own thing for a bit before Charlie arrived to come and see Catherine. Soon they were planning another sleep over after last nights failure, but unlike last time and to maximize the chances of success it was going to happen at Charlie's house rather than here. Given that Catherine has been on a couple of sleep overs I knew she wouldn't be the one to call a halt to it. Emily didn't seem to mind being left out at all. In fact she was encouraging Catherine to go and have fun. So dinner was for three tonight and there was more to eat all round and a nice quiet house before it was time for Emily to go to bed.

It has been a lovely day both in terms of weather and in having fun. Everyone had a great day and it was so nice to fresh air and warm sunshine. It seemed so long ago that we had been to Melton country park and it was great to be back there. I can't wait until tomorrow when the weather is going to be be as nice if not nicer. 

Comfortably Numb

There are times when you hear or watch something that makes your whole body tingle, it can be the same when you meet someone special or there just something magical about a moment. I had one of those moments last night. It took me completely by surprise because it was something I had already seen, watched and listened too many times in the past. It was just a piece of music but it was magical and had the power to connect and move me.

I was talking to Emily and she was listing the bands she liked and she mentioned Pink Floyd to my surprise. Knowing what she does listen too it just seemed odd until she explained "just because a band is old doesn't mean it isn't good". I thought it was a very grown up view of music.

When I think of Pink Floyd I'm always reminded of the incredible set they did for "Live 8". So I found it for her the last song in the set "Comfortably Numb" on YouTube. I just remember how they blew away the younger bands with some of the most amazing live music I have ever seen or heard. The performance will always be with me, but I didn't expect it to move me so much that my whole being could connect to it even now by just watching it again. It was like someone had plugged me into the mains. My whole body just tingled.

Moments like these can be very personal but sometimes they can be joint experience. This was my moment watching something I had heard before. Maybe triggered by the memory of the past, but when you look at the crowd on the video you can see lots of them having the same sort of experience. Many of them were even to young ever to have seen them live. I remember at the time writing something on the BBC site about it, but that is now lost. They were the most emotive words as they were written in the moment, however I find one of the things I wrote five years ago after the concert had finished on another site.

Pink Floyd were great! I agree about the shivers up the spine. It was incredible to see them together. You wouldn't have guess they hadn't played together since 1984, and when they started playing it was electric and the chemistry was fantastic. I was just so glad they had a group hug at the end. Bands that plays as well live as they do in the recording studio will always have my respect!

That was amazing set, an amazing concert and I hope it something that gets repeated again for such a good cause. It is easy when we don't have any money to forget that others have even less and as Governments cut back on overseas aid maybe they now need a reminder. It's amazing even now how just one set can send shivers up you spine. Thanks Em's.

Quiet Day

Well with all the excitement of the weekend this has been a really quiet day. Being a tuesday Lucy would normally have been here all day. That got reduced from ten until half past two when Lucy's mummy decided she want to take her doctors rather than me taking her as planned. In the end that didn't even happen as Lucy had an upset stomach and her mummy wanted her to stay at home to confine the illness.

It was such a shame she was poorly and Emily and Catherine were so disappointed not see their sister. It was all made worse by the lovely weather and the plans they had for her to enjoy it the night before. In the end it turned out to be a really quiet and subdued day. With people just sitting round the house waiting for a day that really didn't start until late afternoon. When eventually they were persuaded by Charlie to play out and off they all went around the village for the afternoon. At one point they did make an appearance to fill up with food and I suggested a trip to the railway museum only to discover it there wasn't time look round before it closed. So that will have to wait for another day.

It just before dinner time that Emily came to ask me if Charlie could sleep over. Given their disappointment I guess it was the right thing to do have here stay. At least it would brighten up a dull day and provide an exciting end to the day at least. With Charlie here things are always lively.

After dinner they all settled down in the family room which they had all cleaned as part of the bargain of having Charlie to stay. I must say they did a grand job of it on the whole. The floor was lovely and clean and all the toys that Lucy had got out and forgot to put away the day before were back in their boxes ready to play with when she comes again. It was nice see them all getting on. Charlie sometimes doesn't work in threes but this evening everything went wonderfully until bedtime when Charlie started missing her mum and eventually had to go home, but at least she tried.

It was such a shame that Lucy was unwell and the sleep over never really happened. I was really looking forward to see Lucy with Emily and Catherine again. I love having them all of them together. It is so much fun and the house feels like it is alive with the sound of laughter. On the positive side it seems that Lucy was much better by mid afternoon. I get these feeling sometimes about the people I care for and today Lucy felt far away, not sure what that is about. Just one of the strange things that happens, I guess. Oh well, we have a special treat for Emily and Catherine to make up for today.

History

History is such a funny thing. It something we all have and carry around with us. Only we know the true events that have happened in our lives and the truth behind them. We can decide if we reveal that truth or hide it behind some smoke screen. We can also change history in our minds to fit a new purpose in life or in some cases have that history changed for us so we lose sight of real events. Our own history stays with us and there is no point hiding it because it is always there. You just have to deal with the past, learn from it and walk into the future know what the truth is. Then there are the bits you hide that sometimes others piece together like building a giant jigsaw to explain there own past.

Sometimes I feel like I am still building a bits of a jigsaw to workout what happened in my own life so far. Bits appear and I put them together to form the picture of the truth. It's not about discovering falsehoods, they are often known, but the reasons behind them that help you explain your own history and those that you come in contact with. This harder for me than most because part of my history doesn't seem to exist. It is like it was taken away form me and is lost in some kind of cloud. Only the major events exist and peak out through clouds like mountain tops. I feel like the wind trying to blow those clouds away but sometimes they won't move, it is like they are tethered to the earth. If you concentrate one thing that becomes the mountain top and the truth gets hidden in the clouds if you are not careful.

Even when you look at your own history you can see the complexities the subject holds. You can see why people study it and the fascination it holds for them. For even in your own history sometimes others know the motivation for your actions and without knowing that and looking at the whole picture your perception and that others can be changed and the truth lost. It is that truth that historians try to discover and sometimes it is that same thing we must discover in ourselves to take use into the future.

Artist of the Week

Sorry there is no Artist of the week but we have been mainly listening to Emily's music CD's in the car as we have been traveling around this week and so their is no single person or band we have really targeted. One of the tracks I partially like is this one.

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I just love the way the two styles of music work together. It really is such a good contrast of styles. Anyway, Artist of the week will return next week with more modern music.