A Perfect End....

The boys went back to school yesterday. Duke came home with a blue card - not a good thing - and a "well done" sticker on his sweatshirt - to counterbalance the blue card perhaps. Joe was covered in yogurt and pronounced himself ill this morning. So none of us is particularly thrilled with the beginning of term.....

The last full day I spent with the boys was Monday. I was predicting a day full of name-tag stitching and gathering of school bits, but then Superduck called on Sunday night with a request for a band of singing children that he could film for his Sigur Ros projections project. A bit of phoning around and we spent a sunny afternoon on Clapham Common with seven lip-synching under 11's! It was fun. We went to the Italian ice cream parlour once everyone had given their all and then the kids had a bit of a climb all over the bandstand.....

Lovely, unexpected day out...and if the Super 8 turns out as planned we'll all be going to see their little faces behind the band in November at Alexander Palace.

The holiday ended quite beautifully actually. I drove down to Herne Bay for the last weekend where the boys were already, and while London suffered drizzle, we basked in Kent's micro-climate.


Between going to Gosport and Herne Bay, the boys probably spent about a week in London tops this summer, I'm really pleased, they look brown and healthy, had space to run around, messed around in the sea, on the sea....they seem to have grown about two inches, both schooldays I put Duke's uniform trousers on and they're whipping around his ankles! Even though we didn't go abroad or anything I feel rested after the summer for the first time since they were born!

Still, wish we could squeeze a couple more weeks of summer out....I'm not mentally ready for this jumper....

Madame xxx

Cruising in Kent

I've had a few days of sunshine, seaside, house clearances, fishcakes, go-carts with a difference, carnivals, rain, skinny-dipping and fireworks.... back at the computer again with grey clouds outside and still in my nighty at 2pm! I've been up since 9am but I can't seem to find the will to get dressed - where oh where is the sun???? Alex just called and said she may pop by later thank goodness....a reason to drag my carcass to the shower and get some clothes on! I think it's the novelty of being here on my own and no work until tomorrow.....yes that's what it is.....the novelty of squalor!

Funniest moments of the weekend were burning up and down the seafront on mobility scooters! Bugger go-carts!

Duke was actually a pretty careful driver....

Joe on the other hand was a danger to all, he drove over toes and into the other scooter several times...

Jonjo came to stay for a few days and we had a fantastic night skinny dipping in the rain....




....and I may have caught a little chill, which also accounts for the attire today.....that's right, I'm ill and it's the novelty.....

Strangest moment was the Herne Bay Carnival such as it was. Unfortunately for the participants it rained for almost the entirety of the spectacle. There are very few photos due to the fact that the rain was sheeting down much of the time but the grimacing faces of the young girls twirling their batons in the face of the elements will stay with me for a long time......
We all stood in our wet-weather gear clutching bags of pennies to throw on (NOT at!) the floats representing various theatre groups and beauty salons from the town....and THIS:

Now, this enormous lady is the mascot of Herne Bay, and you can just about see how enormous this papier macher figurine is....it was like The Whicker Man in a dress! I wonder if she'd disintegrated by the end....
The kids loved it of course and couldn't have cared less what the weather was doing as long as they had a balloon to hold and a bag of pennies....

How wonderfully British we were gritting our teeth in the cold, I love this country!!!

Madame xxx

Just in case...

...yesterday was the sum total of summer, we decided to escape to the coast yesterday and I'm so glad we did..

The sea was so clear...and so cold!...I went in for a paddle and my feet were ACHING so I was super-impressed when the boys all went in...

It was amazing to spend most of the day barefoot and feel the sun on the old bones, plus a bit of trampolining and nutty amusement rides for the boys:

Joe was torn at times between Nanny Van's Nintendo and the sea,

but mostly it was just wonderful to be outdoors all day. Ironically all the rape fields are in full neon bloom and I think I've developed a hayfever or something to that particular crop because I was sneezing all day and my eyes swelled up quite dramatically, as we drove back into the pollution of London my inflamation and sneezing stopped! Still it was worth it to have a mini-holiday....


Madame x