This week seems to have passed in something of a blur. Preschool has restarted (thank God), although I was somewhat taken aback to be told that my four year old would now be doing ‘rising fives’ sessions in anticipation of school and that these would include homework… I suspect the homework requires rather more of my participation than his, but that’s fine as I have a rather competitive approach to homework and it’s been a while, so I’m hungry for success. I’m also 30-something, so preschool homework ought to be well within my capability.
More unnerving still was to be told that I should probably consider registering The Girl for her place, despite the fact she’s only just turned one and I wouldn’t consider starting her until NEXT September. Apparently the preschool’s consistent Offsted wins have increased its popularity which, in conjunction with all the new housing, has meant they have rather more kids than places. This compared to when The Boy started in September 2014 and we could have our pick of slots with no need to pre-register. Yikes.
In other news we have managed to replace all the dead kitchen appliances one way or another, including a rather snazzy Sharp microwave combi oven from Ao.com. As part of this I had to undertake a slightly expensive re-stocking trip to the supermarket to try and re-buy the many frozen items I had to use up when the fridge/freezer failed. On the plus side this has led to the pleasing discovery that Aldi sell ‘happy’ pork and chicken and that I had enough frozen rhubarb to make several lbs of my patented rhubarb chutney. I may have chucked a few gooseberries in there too. Delish.
Now the weather’s milder our front garden is coming up a treat – the pale lemon coloured tulips look especially pretty, though we could do with the hebes bulking up a bit. We also popped down to the allotment for the first time in weeks. The grass is beginning to encroach a little, but on the whole it’s not too bad, weed wise. The ground is pretty much solid clay, though, what with a wet winter and not enough frosts. Let’s hope for a decent hot summer to help dry things up a bit. On the plus side the leeks and raspberries are doing well, as are the peas we planted mid-winter. Wer even have a plethora of new raspberry canes so we might get enough fruit to make jam this year. Can’t wait!
The Girl is practicing her words – “no no no” and “bay-bee” still top of the hit list, with occasional forays into “dadee” and “mumeee” which is nice. Her signing is also coming along a treat and she’s generally very good at making herself understood. Unfortunately, with teeth causing her problems, a lot of communication has been through the medium of screaming, crying and whingeing which is less pleasant. Poor poppet has her innoculations today, too, so double misery baby tonight I suspect.
She is becoming a right daredevil at the playground, climbing the big frame and trying her hand at the wobbly bridge. Her brother still has her beat, though, as I caught him about to ride his scooter down the (very steep) slide today! Have you been enjoying this lovely weather? We even had to get the old sunhats out, which made a nice change from the woolly hats. How cool does The Girl look, enjoying her apple in the sunshine while she takes a break from scaling the play equipment?!
On Monday night I actually went out. It wasn’t a promising start, as it was the first time I’ve left The Girl with someone other than her daddy or Granny and neither of the kids were asleep, though they should have been. I left the house to the sound of my daughter’s heartbroken wails that I was daring to leave her and wondered if I should be going out at all. Apparently The Boy was very sweet, though, and helped our lovely babysitter to comfort her and they were both asleep within an hour, leaving me to enjoy a rather delicious meal at The Perch in comfort. If I get the chance I may even do a review for you, but in the meantime I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for a nice meal out.
Not sure what the weather is due to do this weekend, but we’re heading over to t’other side of Oxfordshire to visit some very dear friends, so I’m hoping the sun will shine and allow us to do some exploring. Have a lovely weekend!
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