Out of practise

We’d planned a picnic lunch at the beach with Tasha and co today, for which we were predictably running late. I did do laundry, chickens,washing up, making picnic and checking emails all before we left though.

The mention of beach picnics on twitter by both Tasha and I clearly bounced off some satellite or other and created instant gloomy clouds and downpours of rain though, so we had a lounge floor picnic at her house instead. Well Vinnie did. Davies, Scarlett and Toby ate at their dining room table and Tasha and I ate on the sofas while knitting / beading / cooing over their two new kittens.

Davies, Scarlett and Toby played upstairs together for pretty much the whole time. Tasha and I caught up with each other and it was all very nice :). We left just after 2pm to have an hour at home before swimming lessons.

Scarlett is still in the 4pm Swimmers One lessons she was in (with Davies) last term but Davies has been moved up to an inbetween Swimmers One and Swimmers Two class which only had four pupils today. I suspect it is a very small class size with the intention of coaching them up to Swimmers Two asap so they can join that.

Davies informed me, just as I was feeling smug about knowing where all the swimming stuff was after the summer holidays that he had lost his goggles whilst at Badger camp. They had gone swimming and he had left them in the changing room before even going swimming and then never found them when they came out. I was really cross, not that he’d lost them but that he’d not told me in time to get a replacement pair. The last pair were from the swimming pool and were really overpriced so I was determined not to get them from there again and have promised a new pair for next time from a sports shop but said he’d have to do without for today.

So Scarlett went off to her lesson, Davies went off to the slide and I did my lengths. I could really, really feel not having been for six weeks and after 10 lengths I was struggling, after 16 I could have very happily stopped but I carried on to do 20 as I was really cross with myself and surprised I could lose such ground so quickly. Davies went off to his lesson, Scarlett came to the big pool and as all she wanted to do was go down the slide which she can do by herself I carried on and did another four lengths to punish myself for being feeble. I could barely stand up afterwards! 😆

I watched Tarly do some slides and then she did some jumping in the deep end and swimming to the side. Her arms are still a bit doggy paddle-ish but she has lovely long, perfect swimming legs and glides along really well. She was very enthusiastic and when I said she’d done about 2/3 of a length of the big pool she was desperate to do a whole length. The pool was fairly quiet, particularly the lane swimming area so we got in and I swam behind her to do a length. I actually had to put effort in to keep up with her in the beginning but about 2/3 of the way she flagged and wanted to rest. She went to the side and I expected her to climb out so I carried on to the end but when I looked behind me she had started again and finished the length 🙂 She was really chuffed with herself and I was very impressed with her after a half hour lesson and 25 minutes on the slide and swimming making nearly an hour in the water. It also meant I did a 25th length which made me feel better about myself even if that was also spread over an hour for me.

Davies was finished with his lesson by then. I’d seen a bit and it looked really good -= proper intensive coaching with lots of individual feedback and concentration on styles and strokes. Davies was really pleased with himself that he’d managed without the goggles and done some very good swimming too. 🙂

We called at the Chippery for fish and chips for their tea and got home shortly before Ady. There was some debate about books to read so we went through the whole pile from the library and seperated them into books to go back that we’ve read, books to go back we’ve not read but noone is interested in enough to read and a far smaller pile of ones to keep and read. From that pile we chose some to further reduce it and read and had a quick flick through which I’d ordered literally months ago when one of them (don’t even remember who) was worried about something or other but had taken ages to come in as it was on loan to the schools library service. We quickly decided none of us worried about anything enough to need helpful coping mechanisms from a book so moved onto the first chapter of which has come much recommended from various people and sure enough we found very engaging from the off.

I have a long and *very* full day tomorrow so along with various other people BKing late tonight I must also go off to bed.