Cluedo

J's class performed a play written by their teaching assistant this week - we have heard about nothing else for weeks. J has been singing the songs non stop. It is a bit quieter now it is over and he isnt practicing. J was one of the policemen and had 2 lines to say. Needless to say we have hundreds of photos and video clips of the event.
Little M is off to Kentwell after the half term break - this is a tudor mansion which hosts and annual reenactment of its heyday. Everyone on the property during the reenactment is dressing eating and talking Tudor, so the school kids have to do their best to dress up. This is another one of those letters you get which tell you to build a scale replica of the space shuttle by tomorrow morning or your child will be scarred for life! Big M and Little M have been busy making a costume.

Big M is off travelling tomorrow - Groningen and Paris then back next weekend. She is back for a week then off to Dublin, Toronto and Atlanta. We are heading to the beach, weather permitting, for the first few days of the half term break then off to York to catch up with some friends from Minnesota who are visiting.
Nice Grandma made a special bear for J to take to hospital which they both think is wonderful.

The Meadows

Despite being absolutely shattered yesterday the kids were up for swim in the Cam today. Big M went off to the Gym in the morning which takes her half and hour each way to ride. One of J's friends came over and they played in the garden and worked on their book before heading to the river with big M. I went for a ride (about 12 miles) and met up with them at the river.


They had a fantastic time leaping into the river and trying to splash the people passing on punts. The water is freezing so eventually they turn blue and have to stand in the sun to warm up for a while. One the boys from little m's class came past with his parents - they werent letting him in the river but had to cave in once he saw one of the girls from his class swimming!

Southwold

The weather remains fine and sunny...for a whole week. We will no doubt shortly be declaring water rationing and drought. Everything is suddenly GREEN. all the trees now have leaves and the grass is growing - seems like several inches a day. Since it was such a beautiful day on Saturday we drove 2 hours to the beach at Southwold on the Norfolk coast, about 10miles south of Yarmouth.


Kids had a blast - 6 hours swimming and playing on the beach then fish and chips on the pier before all melting down and being unable to agree on whether to drive 2hrs home or find somewhere to stay the night at the coast.

This is the bit of beach we lobbed up at to start with - turned out there was more sand the other side of the pier, but when you havent been to the beach for 9 months (and you are 8 or 10 years old) you pretty much just have to make the straightest line from the car to the sand with no mucking about to find the best bit!

The water was absolutely freezing, and as you can see the beach has a few too many rocks for comfort. When little M turned blue we walked along past the pier for a mile or so until they found a place to bury J.

Of course when they saw the Morgan in the photo they had to have a picture 'for Grandpa'.

There is a possibility we will be going to Southwold for a few days at half term with some of the kids school friends. Big M is off travelling again at the end of the week and we have some friends coming to York who we hope to catch up with later in the month.

Reach Fair

Mayday bank holiday weekend was a scorcher...temperatures in the low twenties and sunshine! Had to dig up the sunscreen to protect our delicate white skins from third degree burns. We cycled over to Midsummer common for a look at the fair on Saturday...the highlight was watching a man opening the lock gates on thre river.
On Monday we drove out to the village of Reach for their fair. This is supposedly the oldest fair in England - started in 1201.

They had local kids dancing round a maypole - this is quite a complicated thing and they make complicated patterns with the ribbons - bit like a game of cats cradle. Perhaps the most amazing thing was that the 10-15yr olds didnt make a single mistake in their 20min routine.

The morris dancing was a bit of a mystery to J until they started hitting each other with sticks, then he was interested!

The traction engine was fascinating - especially wathcing them get it off the low loader - which was not much newer than the traction engine. Kids insisted on a picture for Grandpa.

Just in case you were worried, there were of course lots of rides, bouncy castles, ice cream vans etc. J and little M were pretty shattered after a couple of hours, as were we.

See if can spot little M's haircut in the following picture...she had about 6 inches off and is hoping to donate her hair to a charity that makes wigs for kids on chemotherapy.

just hanging out in Cambridge...

We have been hanging around Cambridge since Carcassonne - some trips to local attractions but nothing too strenuous. J has still not been all that well. Weather is warming up and we have had some lovely sunny days - mornings mostly and rain in the afternoon. Big M and I have started playing Tennis on the way to work. There is a free tennis court next to the bike path. J and little m have also had a bit of hit with us after school.
The long awaited panda jumper has arrived special delivery from Tasmania - it is a big hit and little m has hardly been out of it since! The little flashy badge things and chocolates also went down well, although the badges were a bit of an intelligence test for dad to get them working.

J has been growing his hair and still likes to engage in a bit of body art. Hope he doesnt to decide to cover himself in tattoos later.

There is an old cat over the road with 1 eye and 3 legs that likes to stop and chat, which the kids think is fantastic. They miss 'their' cat from the Eltisley Avenue place, although we do still see her around from time to time. This old ginger cat looks just like Old Tom, a character from a cartoon at home and the kids also have some Old Tom books so they are very pleased to finally meet Old Tom.

Last weekend we all went to the guitar shop. J and I bought the electric guitar to share until we get home to Tas when he will buy a new one...unless he wont let me have the guitar back in which case I might have to get a new one. For those with an interest is a Les Paul style ESP LTD EC-50 with a 15W Roland practice amp. The neighbours are all very happy because we can plug in headphones and they cant hear us practicing (well they cant hear me practicing anyway). Little M fell in love with the 3/4 size steel string acoustic and we had to get that too.


Summer holidays are largely unplanned as yet but we might take the tents to Wales again if weather permits. M is home for the next few weeks but then starts another round of travelling in Europe and US.

Carcassonne

We finally got to go to Carcassonne...it has been on our list of things we wanted to do for a while, but always a bit expensive. It is a world heritage listed site, originally roman, then visigothic, then moorish, then Frankish. Seat of the Cathar heresy and captured during the crusade against the Cathars in 1209. French kings maintained it as a fortified town against spain, but it pretty much got ignored when the border moved to the pyrenees. Extensively restored in the 19th century. Fortunately it wasnt really important after the invention of cannon or there probably wouldnt be so much of it left.

Just the sort of thing we enjoy. Kids dont mind the odd medieval walled town either! J was only just able to get on the plane after a friday visit to the doctor to get antibiotics, but that may have been a mistake as he was sick the whole time we were there. M developed a high temperature just in time to get on the plane back to Cambridge and little M is down with it today! So far I have escaped.

They were desperate to go on the merry go round, we finally relented at the end. There seems to be one of these in every french tourist town.


Little M was very excited when we saw this little fellow on our last adventure...some sort of water rat, about the size of a chihuahua.

If all get over there diseases we might go to legoland sunday/monday.

Snow...at last!

Finally had the winter snow! Didnt look like we were going to get any, but a good solid couple of days of cold snowy weather and it finally started to settle. Kids had a great time.
Thankfully it all cleared up before we headed off to France for the end of term break.

Winterfest

We had the school winterfest at the weekend...kind of an indoor fete but the emphasis is on craft activities for the children to do. J and his friends had made comics to sell (copies available on request) so we had to turn up at the beginning for that. M's dance club danced in the middle and I was rostered on face painting at the end so we spent about 4 hours at the winterfest. Not too bad, they were selling mulled wine (great for cold day).


M has also appeared on the cover of the council magazine! See if you can spot her...
http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/pdfs/cambridgematters/Cambridge_Matters_Winter_2007.pdf.

Big M is in Wellington still, off canoeing last night I think. She is home on Saturday after 3 weeks away so we are all quite excited!

Winter closing in...

We had our first frost on Wedensday night, the dew was frozen on the car windscreens outside our flat by 7pm and everything white in the morning. Big coats and gloves all round. M is in Ireland at the moment, just and overnight trip so no drama. Grandma is very fortunate to have got out before the cold really started to set in. M is off again at the end of the week to US and NZ so she at least will be warm!

Big News!

M has accepted the chair of Economics and Finance at Tas Uni so we will be going back to Tas. A chance to frighten the children with their Tasmanian extended family! We wont be leaving until October 2008, and M will continue here association with Cambridge for the next 4 years or so. We are planning to have 2 summers in a row, but since we are going from England to Tasmania that might require a bit of luck!

10th Birthday Celebrations

J's 10th birthday has been celebrated in style at the Shepreth Wildlife park. We took a few of his friends on the train from Cambridge...it is only 2 stops away and the wildlife park is right next to the station (20min ride for everyone this end though to get to the station). They all had a fantastic time, you cant go wrong with a zoo for small boys!
We took Grandma to Sutton Hoo to see the saxon ship burial mounds and museum...they found a major royal burial there in the early 20th century. Lots of fungi which fascinates little M (a lot of pictures of fungi taken).

I took Grandma out to Castle Rising with the kids...beautiful keep and huge ditch and bank (Isabella, the she wolf of france, lived there a number of years). The village there has a delightful tea room, very rustic. J has been hassling us to take grandma to castle rising the whole time as it is his favourite castle.

Grandma has gone back home now, J was very upset and couldnt sleep.

Grandma's Visit - Ely

Grandma is here, to much rejoicing from the children. She has been wandering around Cambridge getting her bearings and now it is time to make her look at stuff! We took her punting on the Cam and over to Ely to see the Cathedral. Ely is a lovely spot, plenty of space for the kids to riot in!
Little M is doing a project on the Victorians this term at school so there was more than usual interest in the Crimean war cannon.

We stopped at Devil's Dike on the way home so Grandma could see something Saxon. This is long ditch and mound (runs for about 10miles) dug to keep out the locals by saxons. There are quite a lot of them about east anglia.
We had a beautiful day for punting, lovely hazy autumn day, not too many people out on the river and the leaves on the wall of St Johns are stunning red. Even had a pair of swans to accompany us!

Quiet year so far...

We have been staying fairly close to home since moving in to the new place. We get wonderful sunsets from the loungroom window (smog over the M11 helps with the colour!).

M has been to the US and Aus, just back this week. She brought her mum with her, so the kids are over the moon with Mummy and Grandma to play with. Mummy and Grandma are still going to sleep about the same time as the kids, and up early to talk to J so it all works rather well!

One of our old friends from Tasmania, Scott, has been to stay for a few days and sampled the delights of a Cambridge autumn...we took him to the local museums and down to see the air museum at Duxford. Most importantly of course I took him punting and down to Grantchester for a scone. Heading into birthday season now...my birthday next week and J's just after. J wants to go to the zoo with just 6 or 7 close friends which could be a bit wearing. Probably have to go to London since his best friend at the moment gets really car sick really quickly and we can go to London on the train.

Back to School!

At last! Kids back to school today...I think they might be looking forward to it a bit by now, although they havent got over the excitement of being in the new house and having all their stuff back again (so they arent quite as sick of the holiday as they might have been if they had spent the whole 6 weeks shut up in the flat).

We are gradually acquiring furniture...M is off to Ikea today with Mette to order dining tables etc. Everything seems to have a 4 week delivery which is very annoying. Hoping the beds and bookcases will arrive this week so we can stop sleeping on the floor!

Homeless!

We have been very quiet for the last six weeks due to homelessness. The flat we were moving into wasnt ready in time and the builders kept saying finish next week...we left our old place on 22 June and finally moved in here on 15 August. Apart from some weirdness (no toilet roll holder, no cupboard doors in our room) it is nice. Much smaller than the old place but nice to have a modern environment. We miss the garden and the neighbours but the old ladies who live on our stairwell are lovely. We are gradually collectin furniture...everthing takes weeks to deliver in england so even though we bought beds as soon as knew we were able to move in they wont be here for a couple more weeks yet.
While we were homeless we went to Wales, which is about a 5 hour drive if the traffic conditions are good. Culturally it is quite like going from Sydney to Hobart...every one is friendlier and more relaxed and it rains a lot. The day we left Canbridge there were floods all along the border and the only certain access was past Bristol in the south or right up north, but as we had nowhere to live we went anyway!


It rained a lot the first few days...we camped at Dan y Ofog (I think) in the Brecon Beacons which is a cave complex, dont know what the caves are like really because every time we tried to go into one the water level rose and they closed it on us. Fortunately (an for no paticular reason we could see) the cave reserve was infested with lifesize fibreglass dinosaurs which the kids thought was fantastic (note: you cant shelter from the rain under a diplodocus it runs down the sides and drips on you underneath, actually it cascades on torrents).


We very quickly gave up on the hills and decided to head for the beach at the Gower Peninsula, a place called Port Eynon. Lovely beach and quite a pleasant camp ground right next to it. Lots of people but in large field so it didnt feel all that crowded (and we are getting used to it a bit). Kids loved the beach and the weather wasnt too bad. We all had a go at Archery which was a great success with the kids, might have to join the local archery club..


From here we went to Newgale Beach near St Davids which at low tide is several hundred yards wide. At high tide the water comes right up to the shingle bank and there is no sand. Went body boarding and did a surfing class with the kids...they can both stand up. St Davids cathedral is fantastic and St Davids is smaller than I thought it would be. I did the coast path from St Davids back to Newgale which is about 10 miles. Every little headland has an iron age hill fort and the coast is all crumbling cliffs and rocks.



We managed to find a little B'n'B for a week at the end so Mardi could get some work done in a beautiful little town called Solfach which was near St Davids...a picture postcard place. The BnB was right on the waterfront, did some walks, went crab fishing off the quay, play ground right next door and they had a regatta while we were there. The kids entered swimming, diving and silly jumping events and had a blast.

Slack Bloggers!

We have been very quiet on the blogging front for a while due to hectic metropolitan lifestyle! We have been moving house so a bit focussed on that. Had a visit from Melissa and Michael (friends from RBA in Sydney) and their daughter Emily. Visit was a bit eclipsed by our friend Maggi having a massive migraine and being hospitalised - we got a phone call from her son Ben at 8:30am asking if we could come and help his mum so M ended up at the hospital with Maggi for most of that day and Ben stayed with us for a couple of nights. Maggi is only just now (3 weeks later) starting to really recover - hope I never have a migraine like that! M didnt get to do all the things she had planned with Melissa, but at least they got to see Cambridge.

We have had Renee to stay, and M and Renee went to Dublin for a conference, then we moved all our stuff to the garage of the new flat (it isnt ready yet for us to move in to) and cleaned up the old place, moved in with Maggi and Ben for few days before we get a unit at Clare Hall. M has shot off to Provence for this week. Quite wet here now, floods everywhere except Cambridge, but the way the rain was coming down this morning it may just be a matter of time!

Grandad's Trip to Mt Field

Grandad has been hassling all week to go to Mt Field...kept getting out the map and pointing to where he wanted to go, so in spite of some rain this morning (which brought a prolonged bout of what sounded like swearing from Grandad) we set out up the Derwent Valley (he very definitely said hooray when we said we would go anyway). He sits in the front passenger seat and keeps an eye on speed (dont go too fast or slow), what gear you are in and what lane you are in...it is very annoying. Stopped at his friend Ian's place for morning tea and to pick a couple of cases of Ian and Sue's wine (they have a few acres of vines) and then off to Mt Field. Grandad managed to walk most of the 1.3km track to the falls and back but we weren't allowed to hang about afterwards and had to come straight home.

Sue flies home in the morning - looks like I will have to get up VERY EARLY to take her to the airport. I am off home on Tuesday. With luck I will catch up with Ben for one last climb at the gym tomorrow

Dads trip to Tas

My dad has finally come home from hospital after 4 months so I have headed home to help him settle in and help mum for 3 weeks. Dad is doing well, still cant communicate very well but we are seeing small improvements. He can walk all the way along Blackmans Bay beach front (800m - he made us measure it in the car) with a couple of rests and a hot chocolate along the way! The biggest problem is stopping him wandering about...I took him to the tip with me to dipose of a trailer load of rubbish that Kim and Rob had left for me to get rid of - I was driving slowly and carefully and he indicated that I should go faster and do 100 on the highway at which point the trailer came off the towball and we had to pull up (no emergency lane). I got out to fix the trailer and by the time I got round the back of the landcruiser dad was out of the car and heading round to supervise. When we got to the tip he was out of the car as soon as we stopped. Mum tried to leave him in the car while she nipped in to the butchers and she found him trying to get in the door of the butchers as she left. He is a bit of a trial at times!
This is the back end of a seal that hangs around the fish punts in Constitution Dock picking up scraps, something for J and little M who saw him when they were here in January. Both kids a bit miffed that I didnt bring them with me!
Caught up with Ben and Heather - Heather is crewing this Sydney 38 called Asylum and invited me out for an afternoon race this week - if I can get away I am invited out for Saturday morning as well. It was great to be out on the water again after a very long time! Big M is coming over to Tas in september so I will ask Heather if she can go out with them while she is here. I am very stiff and sore, forgot how physical sailing is!

Easter

Another easter...is this the third in England? We went up to Norfolk with Ben and Maggi and stayed in a 3 bed unit at Horningtoft about 10 miles from the coast. Horningtoft is a beatiful village...3 houses, church, not even a pub. Took the kids for walks around the fields in the evening to see badger holes, weasel/stoat tracks, partridges. Drove up friday, we got away by 9:30 and a pretty clear run of about 2 hours to the coast with a stop at Castle Acre Priory. Maggi and Ben left an hour later and spent twice as long getting there in traffic.
We went to Wells-next-the-Sea which has a nice beach, but as on our previous visit (when little M had her arm in plaster) the weather (fine and sunny inland) was grey and freezing cold. A stiff onshore wind and water as cold as snow melt. Kids had a great time as always, but soon went blue so we headed off to the little house at Horningtoft. Great yard for them to play in so they wore themselves out.
Day 2 we went to see Godwick mediaeval village site...just some bumps and humps in a paddock but one of the 5 best abandoned mediaeval villages in Norfolk according to the sign. Appeared in the Domesday book and largely depopulated in the 1300s by plague so a fairly good ground plan remaining of how it would have looked. After that off the Castle Acre again to the Castle (ditches and earth banks for a picture - it is quite impressive from the air) and the Priory again. The priory was suppressed by Henry VIII as usual, so only a ruin but a very beautiful one. One of the better examples of a mediaeval monastic toilet block...about a 100 holer by the size of it.
Day 3 we went to Blakeney to see the Common Harbour Seals...about a 3.5 mile walk along a 'beach' to where the seals haul out on the sand. J's feet gave out and he hobbled back to the car with M, Maggi Ben and little M made it all the way to the seals which were worth the walk. A hundred or more seals on the sand spit. Little M was still going strong by the time we got back to the car after 7 miles of beach walking!
Tired grown ups and tired children...stopped at Castle Rising on the way home on Monday and then the girls all took to their beds when got back to Cambridge after their hard weekend!
This week has been a quiet week at home for them...we built trebuchet's on Wednesday (promised J cause M's class did this at school), Thursday they played all day with friends in the area...rioting up and down between the different houses in a big group of 8 kids and the same today. We will miss this aspect of Newnham Croft when we move from here. Looks like we have found somewhere to live on Gough Way about 1km from here. The kids will get more exercise getting to and from school! Only a couple of weeks before head home to see how dad is getting on...

More weekends

On weekend of 3 March we went to Oxford to visit friends. Kids all went iceskating which they thought was a complete blast - and fortuitously there is 'iceskating' on at the school this Friday. They come and coat the school hall floor with some substance which simulates ice. Both looking forward to that a lot!! Consequently little M has appropriated J's in line skates, as they are far more impressively like iceskating. Poor J has to line up for a new pair when his parents can afford it (they were getting too small). Big M really wants to try it, but rest of family is ganging up on her saying she will regret falling over a LOT. oh well. J has been sick with tonsilitis again, so quiet day at home today, bit of in line skating for little M and some playing with friends. J has another friend, also J, who came round and they did 'experiments' with all the excess bottles of bits and pieces I am gradually clearing out of the cupboards in anticipation of our move at end of June (where to, who knows we have to wait until closer to the date to get available properties). We are looking forward to hopefully having somewhere the plumbing and electrics might work (could be a faint hope) but not to moving!