Sunday, June 22, 2008

Non-stitching weekend

Well Lou returned from the Isle of Wight on Friday evening in one piece having had a great time

Sarah's final exam (Physics) went well - she's now finished for the summer apart from a morning's intro session at her new 6th Form college on the 1st July and her little sister has two days on the 2nd and 3rd at her new secondary school
Nick had an inter-school cricket match against a neighbouring school on Wednesday evening - he was a last minute 'make-up-the-numbers' addition for the year above him as they are a very small school. They were playing the secondary school adjacent to the primary school where I work which has a pretty formidable sports reputation and Nick's team won - Nick caught one man out and made a partnership of 32 runs with another Year 7 friend.
The offshoot of this is he's now decided he'd like to play cricket for a team and has been trawling the net pricing up the kit which is a bit more expensive than a pair of football boots - but I like to encourage all of them to play sports - after all nothing's better for growing kids than fresh air and exercise - unfortunately he has the same tendency as his father of not letting go of something once he has a bee in his bonnet so we've been nagged to death all weekend. I'm totally sure my son invented 'pester-power'.
Saturday morning - a celebratory breakfast of 'bake your own' croissants and pastries from the freezer section of our local farm shop - now if I were a proper blogger these would all be nicely laid out on a china plate with smiling husband and children waiting patiently at the table and a beaming proud mother in her frilly apron waiting on their every need - instead you see it like it is - chez Bebbington - dressing gowns and all.
It's down to this aforementioned obsessive tendency on the father's part that I've got absolutely no sewing done this weekend and precious little computer time either.
The height of the ironing pile had obviously got just too high for himself to bear and the corresponding nagging became too much for me to bear so I gave in and stood for the best part of 6 hours yesterday and cleared it - phew!!!!!!!
But then some little rotter, probably himself in between still digging for Australia, had put some more washing through the system and just after I'd finally put the ironing board away I discovered another mini pile in the tumble dryer - grrrrrrrr!!! A woman's work is obviously never done!
I decided to draw a line under all this domestic bliss today and insisted we went out to lunch - a sort of joint celebration for belated Father's Day from last weekend and the end of the exam period for Sarah.
Then a minor miracle, I managed to drag my beloved away from his mistress (the pickaxe - well he's spent considerably more time with it than me over the past wee while) and we popped up to Burnham on Sea, our nearest seaside about 20 minutes away to blow away the cobwebs.
I've never actually lived this close to the coast before and the novelty hasn't worn off yet by a long way.
We parked the car near to the church which must be built on very sandy foundations - it had a distinct list to one side.
The weather was exceptionally windy so the rugby ball we'd taken to throw about wasn't such a good idea.
You can see just how windy from the flags on the top of the mini pier.
However the man with the kite and the skateboard type contraction was having a terrific time.
The sands were virtually empty - Nick found his own particular brand of treasure, but Nigel wouldn't let him bring it home despite the fact I thought it might go quite well in the garden somewhere.
Along the beach in Burnham is its most unusual and distinctive feature.
I guess it must be an old lighthouse from earlier times.
It's painted black on one side and red on the other, presumably for navigational purposes.
Then Louise and Daddy discovered a dead fish - the kids reckon it was a stingray - I think more likely a skate, still almost perfect except the seagulls had taken the eyes.
Finally an ice cream rounded off the visit.


Then we called in at the 'Pick Your Own' place on the route home.
Rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries the order of the day - everyone looking more than a little windswept after the beach
Who knows I might sneak in a little stitching this evening.

15 comments:

Anne Wigfull said...

Oh happy days!
I think you may all be right about that dead fish, I have a feeling stinkrays and skate are of the same family.

Ann J said...

I am so jealous ! Will swap you croissants for gooseberries anytime as they don't grow in France and we both love them !!

sewprimitive karen said...

Hi, Anne, what a wonderful day you had! Love the pictures of the seaside town.

Jeanne said...

I thoroughly enjoyed spending the weekend with your family!
Jeanne :)

loulee said...

Thwe beach? Ice cream? PYO? You got the better end of the weather today. TheIsle of Man has gale force winds and driving rain! I stayed home, did the ironing and then my cross stitch!

sewkalico said...

Well, I snuck none in (again). But this can't last. can it???

Libby said...

Hurray - the exams are over! I think the breakfast looks like a delicious and perfect way to celebrate. Aside from the ironing *ugh* the other weekend festivities look fun too -and yummy fruits to bring home *s*

julieQ said...

Don't worry, that ironing pile cannot be higher than my laundry pile right now! I am glad you got away for a while and enjoyed the sea...

Lily Mulholland said...

OMG 6 hours of ironing! So glad you made up for that non-day with a fabulous outing. I have always wanted to go to a pick-your-own berry farm...one day!

meggie said...

I would guess a skate too. Poor thing, I felt a little sorry for it, but at least it will be recycled! A nice weekend apart from poor you, with that ironing!
My least favourites- rhubarb, & gooseberries!
Great post Anne.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Phew...what a busy weekend. You must be pooped..I know I am just from reading it ;o)

Just got to say I love the look on your little one on the croissant picture...that is a distinctive, "what the heck are you doing taking a picture now" look. :o)

~Niki~ said...

Thank you so much for joining Just Us Quilters! Would you kindly add my blog link back to your blog? I have the HTML on my sidebar to copy/paste. Hugs! thank you.
niki

Mad about Craft said...

So nice to be at the seaside!!

alice c said...

Hi Anne! Nice to 'meet' you. Glad to see that you are introducing your family to the Modernist Steel Aesthetic and not forcing them to live with china which is so last century.

YankeeQuilter said...

What a great day! Fresh picked strawberries are the best! The kids all look wonderful...glad you all started your summer right!