Unexpected Tuesday

We were supposed to be meeting Tasha, Toby and Vinnie at the park today and although it was bright and sunny this morning I wasn’t really in the mood for it so I was quite relieved when I sent her a text to arrange times and she texted back to say could we leave it for today as her partner was off work.

I’d had a bit of a rant at Davies yesterday about not playing with most of the stuff in the playroom which was what had prompted the painting yesterday and this morning he went and got out the k’nex and the two of them played that for ages. They moved onto some collaborative marble run building and then tidied all of that away and got the pens and paper out.

I spent some time in the kitchen – I got a beef and vegetable stew in the slow cooker for dinner – massive success again that was, Davies and Scarlett both had seconds and Ady and I finished it up later with dumplings :). Next month when we plan menus I am aiming for the children to eat more or less the same as us which I’ve been meaning to make happen for ages but not quite pulled off.

I also made some chocolate brownies – one tray with nuts (to me a chocolate brownies isn’t a chocolate brownie without nuts) and one without (to Davies and Scarlett a chocolate brownie isn’t a chocolate brownie if it’s tainted by nuts!) and some cheese scones for lunch. I’ve always been a bit anti electric mixers but my Mum gave us a Kenwood Chef a couple of years ago and it lived in a cupboard but I’ve started to use it and so far have been very impressed with the results :).

I did a couple of loads of washing and enjoyed the housewifely feeling it all brought on – not something I’ll be making a regular thing of by any means but quite pleasant for an hour or so here and there ;).

We had lunch and I intended to read the rest of the reading group book (Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal, Liza) but it was failing to grab me and so instead I offered to read some more Olga Da Polga to the children and I read a few chapters of that to them while they did drawing and colouring. Very peaceful :).

The pack came for Scarlett’s Keeper for a day thing so she spent some time looking at that and getting all excited. Her and I also watched Lion Man together (docu-soap thing about a man who works with big cats, think it’s Australian). The sun was still shining so I suggested the children went outside for a while and they ran around out there being rowdy for half an hour or so before coming back in and going to play upstairs. Davies has a sort of science lab set up in his room with all sorts of ‘experiments’ which are mostly nasty things in jars and perfume and make up filched from my bathroom and made into potions.

The phone rang and I had a nice catch up with Karen who I’d not spoken to for ages and ages. Hello Karen if you’ve come back to read sooner than another year :). Then it was time to dash out to swimming.

Last week I realised I am no longer really watching either childs’ lesson properly any more. When Scarlett is in I am keeping half an eye on Davies on his own in the big pool and when Davies is in I am trying to entertain Scarlett. It is always really hot in the spectators area and now they have their lessons so much earlier the pool is fairly empty and always looks really inviting. So I took along my own swimming costume and went in myself today.

Scarlett had her lesson and I paused to watch odd bits from the big pool including seeing her swim a whole width on her back unaided (yay Scarlett 🙂 ) and caught up with the instrutor briefly afterwards. The pools are quiet enough that she is happy to watch the children come over to me and check I have got them rather than me have to get out of the pool so that is good. I did some proper swimming and managed 12 lengths in about 15 minutes. Given I don’t recall the last time I managed more than about 4 I was quite pleased with this. I chatted to Davies inbetween and he raced me a couple of times. The last two lengths he swam with me and I came out of the lanes to swim back with him. He is really confident now and although he has his own unique way of swimming it gets him where he wants to be pretty fast :). He did have a stitch though bless him which probably wasn’t the greatest way to start his lesson.

Scarlett and I practised her jumping in and just messed about, which was almost as energetic for me as the length swimming. She doesn’t want any sort of proper practise or input from me on her lessons and infact I suspect she did so well today because I wasn’t there watching for her to be waving and smiling at. They opened the slides towards the end of our half hour so we had 3 goes on that before Davies came over to join us. He got one go on the slide before they closed it again and then we all got out. They were both really worn out from a full hours swimming each. They had a bath while I got their tea ready and then Ady arrived home.

I had a brief chat with another friend on the phone who has all sorts of crazy life stuff going on at the moment and was all high and giddy with excitement and then headed off to reading group.

It was a fairly small group of two couples, three women, the librarian and me but we chatted for ages about various stuff and it was a good meeting. I dropped one of the women home as she’d bravely walked so she could have a second glass of wine but was wilting rather at the prospect of walking home again :lol:. This month we have 1000 spendid suns to read which I have already started, determined to finish and get ‘out of the way’ in good time.

Home for bath (I hadn’t showered at the pool and stank of swimming pools), stew and Jamie’s Minsitery of Food and now off to bed before it all starts again tomorrow!