I was woken this morning by Ady telling me the last two quails had escaped and flown away. They have been nothing but trouble really and the friend who wants to buy them has been tricky to pin down to a date and time to hand them over as their numbers have gone down rapidly from 3 to 2, to zero as of this morning. Apparently a gust of wind had caught their pen and opened it enough for them to escape. Ady had spotted one in the garden as he went to leave for work and thought it was the original escapee back, went to check and realised none were here and then watched that one fly off over the rooftops. He came to tell me and left for work.
Davies, who has in the last two days come close to mastering tea making brought me a cup of tea in bed. This was both lovely (Tea. In bed 🙂 ) and not so lovely (way too milky) but hurrah for not just big kids but big thoughtful lovely ones 🙂 Even if they are still on the small side and put too much milk in.
I broke the news to the kids about the quails, sorted their breakfast and we debated what to do with the day. I needed to go to the post office to send the book I’d sold on Amazon and Scarlett had wanted to visit the library to order the next HP audio book so we decided to walk into Lancing and do those things. I wanted to blog the weekend first so we watched some CBBC while I blogged, Scarlett did some drawing and I got impatient about being interupted. I’ve been quite intolerant today, wonder if it’s hormonal?
Finally at about 11am we left the house armed with some books to go back and the parcelled up book to send. We walked along the alleyways we’d done the litter collecting in last year and were disappointed to see them filled with rubbish 🙁
I struggled a lot with the walk, which is not far at all (infact less than a mile each way) and realised just how unfit I am at the moment. I guess a combination of no swimming, staying off my ankle for 6 weeks and generally avoiding exercise has taken it’s toll. I’ve never been fit but I would have at least classed myself as reasonably active. I’d planned to do Swimathon next year and aim for the 5km but as we won’t be here next April I’ve been toying with the Aspire Channel Swim instead from September – December which would be 22 miles, or 1073 lengths over 12 weeks. It will be over twice my usual swim while the kids have their lessons and I appreciate it is a big ask of people not that long after badgering them to sponsor me for the Swimathon but every penny I do raise will be great and it will hopefully kick start my fitness again ready for the likely more physically demanding lifestyle I’ll be living next year. To make it real I’ve set up a Just Giving page this evening and will put it ‘out there’ nearer the time once I’ve actually started – so apologies in advance for the likely over-mentioning of it once I get going.
My walking was not helped by getting about 5 phonecalls along the way – one from Caz and about 4 from Ady (who won’t know what to do with himself once I am actually with him all the time next year :lol:). The line was dreadful both ways with Caz but we managed to communicate enough to arrange to get together tomorrow, so hopefully she will send me her new address and we can visit them.
Finally in town we visited the post office first. It was mad busy in there and they even had a ‘queue manager’ there talking to people. We spent the queuing time guessing which cashier we’d be seen by (cashier number five please), what the prize would be (they voted for a cuddle from me, then I offered a consolation prize of a cuddle to anyone not winning and said a cuddle from them would have to be my prize if I won) and discussing wishes (Davies suggested ‘infinity wishes’ would be his first one and the woman infront asked for a wish for her if he got his then 🙂 ). They were the only children in there but I’m always really proud to be with D&S in situations like that where they are certainly bored by the length of the queue but able to stand and chat with me rather than play up like many children do.
We left there and nipped to the Co Op for some food supplies, frowning at the fact the onions all the way from NZ were loose but the ‘British Produce’ ones were packaged. We walked past Yvonne from work on the way back to the library on her lunchbreak so she walked back with us. We returned books, Davies joined the reading game (grr, now they both have and I suspect neither of them will actually finish it), Scarlett chose a couple of books with cds and ordered the next HP and I popped my head round the door of the office and introduced myself to a new girl who started today. Our paths will not actually cross as our rotas mean we never work together but as I was there I thought I’d say hello.
We walked home again, me talking to Ady several times and Davies and I having an interesting conversation about employeeing road sweepers versus installing bins and emptying them. He has a good grasp of the ‘investment purchase’ concept but possibly too much faith in human nature…
Back home I made lunch while the kids collapsed, which seemed quite the wrong way round given I was worn out and they weren’t. They spent time outside with chickens and ducks, drawing, watching TV and X boxing aswell as rather noisily playing and then Thank You Neighbour David and whoever-his-sister-was-being-today knocked at the door to ask if we’d lost a chicken. The short answer is yes, the long answer is yes, but weeks ago now so unlikely she’s still around but for speed and knowing they possibly meant a quail I said yes and they said they’d spotted it and could show me where.
Feeling slightly like someone who’d been offered the chance to look at puppies and lured away I went with them about 10 houses down the main road and stood feeling embarrassed as they both got down on hands and knees and peered in bushes in someone’s garden (thankfully there was no one home, they’d already knocked to see). Then I spotted a quail, dived at it and managed to catch it and we all walked back home again, me carrying a squirming little body and giving an impromptu promenade road side lesson in identifying captive birds, waterfowl and poultry. So back up to one quail again.
I listed some stuff on ebay and then decided to list Scarlett’s Barbie stuff and went to start sorting it to photograph. I realised none of the clothes were there so went to Tarly’s room to find them and got involved in sorting out some of the boxes under her bed with her as a reluctant helper. She is so funny – all of the stuff which once cost money, is branded and theoretically what ‘every little girl wants’ she chucked into the car boot sale without a second glance. But she hugged to her chest stones collected from various beaches, some cut out snowflakes from Helmsley Christmas Camp when it snowed, pictures Davies has drawn for her ‘when I was four and poorly’, McDonalds Happy Meal toys she can’t identify the character of but can tell me what the day out was that the visit to McDs was part of. I guess her treasures really are what treasures should be – about memories, people and places rather than marketing, money and branding.
We cleared two out of four boxes we went through, some to the bin, some to the car boot sale pile and a little for ebaying. She declared herself exhausted and retired to the lounge to do more drawing while I quickly photographed some more bits and then made their tea. While they ate I listed on ebay and now have 11 items up with 10 already being watched a couple bid on :).
Ady arrived home, the kids went out to play in the garden after tea and then came in and we finished reading Why the whales came – oh we how love Morpurgo :). Bed for them, dinner and some crappy tv watching for us. Hoping for full strength tea and no news about wildlife to wake me in the morning.