Meet George, he's been part of our family since 1998, the year before we got married. He took us around Europe on our honeymoon, and has been a staple part of camping holidays ever since. He's also been quietly rusting away and falling apart over the years which is a travesty brought on by lack of a secret money stash to throw at him.

Recently Mr Boxer Shorts did something we've never done before. He loaned George to a friend of his to go away on holiday in. It was a friend from a long time ago, reaquainted through the miracle that is facebook.

Try and wrap your head around the enormity of this. Would you lend your children to someone you didn't know?

My father in law has recently been dragged kicking and screaming into the current century, by the tax department. He now owns a computer, and has "access to the interwebs". He had no choice but to buy a computer because - as an accountant - he was required by law to put his clients tax returns in online.

With any normal person, adapting to this new regime might be tricky, but would eventually become second nature. But we're not taking normal people here.

If you knew my father in law you'd know how insane this situation sounds. Suggesting that he'd become familar with it soon enough is enough to induce death by hysteria...

Today is a first time milestone for me. I've made a blog posting in a location that's not my own blog. But listen, this is important. It's no ordinary blog.

The Blogger Body Calendar is a collaborative project, the outcome of which is calendar for 2010 which features 12 bloggers portraying their beautiful bodies as nature intended. And we're not talking photoshopped, retouched, anorexic models - we're looking at real women (and man)...

More gin, Brown Owl?

filed under: kids running wild

After waiting for a year and a half after leaving Rainbows, my 8 (nearly 9) year old has finally got  a place in Brownies. She'll have all of a year there before having to move up to Guides because the waiting list was so long - and I worry now if she'll be able to go smoothly from Brownies to Guides, or will there be another gap like this.

I realise why it's like this of course - my mother was a Guide leader, and eventually had to close down her Guide unit 10 years after she'd first wanted to retire. Simply because there were NO others willing to take it on and run it, despite wanting their girls to be involved...

We've just spent a glorious week on holiday in Crete, nestled in a tiny village near the sea, in a house that was built by pirates, and rebuilt by honest men. It was like stepping into another world, with another set of values entirely, as I discovered when I inquired about the security facilities before we left.

The house was going to be home to not just us, but another couple upstairs, and two young girls downstairs. As I was taking my laptop, I wanted to ensure that the bedroom was lockable to keep it secure. As it turns out - the room could have been locked if we'd had a key, but we didn't. And didn't actually care either...

There has been a large furor lately about a fox attack that happened on two babies who were lying in their cot - in their house, on the third floor. Both babies were seriously injured, and while they are both home now, one of them may need plastic surgery throughout her life, due to the facial injuries. 

Apparently 6 foxes have now been trapped in their backyard and put to death.

Nothing can lessen the horror of this event - particularly the fact that the fox had to travel up 2 flights of stairs to get at the girls. That they were not safe in their own bedroom.

What bites on me - however - is...

Free range kids roll on

filed under: kids running wild

Last Saturday was a day designated by Lenore Skenazy as "Take your kids to the park and leave them there" day. The goal behind this day was to encourage helicopter parents (those who hover) to give their kids a little free reign and let them learn to be independent. And we're talking 7 years old and up, not toddlers.

In the lead up to the actual day, I read the comments and reactions to the idea with interest. I expected people to express doubt and disagreement, there was no surprise there. What had me rather flummoxed was the notion that apparently some parents don't let their kids out of their sight - even in their own homes.

Maybe I should say "allegedly" rather than "apparently" - because I simply don't believe that it's true...

Have you had it up to here with rude pushy people?

Are you sick of people making demands of you all the time?

Do you hate it when self obsessed people yack on and on about themselves?

Is your day filled with annoying folk who don't know how stupid they are?

Does that slow little old lady meandering down the street in front of you make you want to scream?

Are you getting stabby?

Well, here's a post for you!

Before I moved to England, I was able to do a pretty impressive Scottish accent. And a not too shabby Irish one.

But then I stepped off the plane and arrived in Old Blighty and realised that what I thought was pretty amusing - wasn't. And that also - England is a land of absurdly complex and varied accents, which can't be generalised under the main headers of "posh toff" or "cockney herbert".

In the early days, when I still behaved like a tourist, and did silly things like going and getting really drunk at The Church - or worse, getting really drunk at somewhere NOT The Church because The Church was full, and we didn't get in - I often got into arguements with people who were insulted that I didn't recognise their accent.

Invariably, these people were - almost without fail - Welsh.

I start so many blog posts in my head, get to about the third paragraph, then forget the entire thing. Which is a real shame, because I am hugely witty in my head. Words flow very easily in my mind in a way that they don't necessarily do if I speak them out loud.In my head I am very eloquent. But really, it's only relevant to an audience of one. If I can entertain myself, then job done! That's probably why when I'm alone I hold conversations with myself and monologue in silly voices.But the trick is not knowing how...

Photoblog

Rocky shore

filed under: photoblog

from green spayce...

Like real vegetables, only smaller!

filed under: harvest time

After weeks and weeks of rain, I finally got a chance to go and do some work on the allotment, beyond the snatch and grab harvesting that I've been doing. The weeks of rain had given a rather needed benefit of very soft diggable soil, so I was able to turn over and smooth out the ex pea bed, and the dwarf end of the beans.I also turned over the middle slot of corn, as we've eaten all of those. They were golden nugget, and extremely sweet! We're now onto the second lot to ripen, and these are a paler...

Read on...
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