Rackham Fete and Flower Show

So for the past 100 years I have heard tales of the Rackham Fair which is actually the
Rackham Fete and Flower Show.

Its in the middle of nowhere, mum and I never had a car when we lived on the south coast so wouldn't have been able to get there without a whole heap of troubled traveling.
My oldest family friends who lived chaotically round the corner and loved me dearly usually went every year but not with much planning as it was the event that sort of jumped out at you from the calender. There are also six in their family it could have been an unsafe squeeze with me in the car although I did travel to Thorpe Park in the boot with them once when I was about 10.

Stories of the fairs wooden slide that travels through the trees have stayed with me forever.

On Sunday my oldest friend said "tomorrow it's Rackham"
I am not sure if she was inviting me but I was going.

Bless her she sent me the post code and a message to bring coins and I bundled us into the car and off we went.


It was amazing for lots of reasons
These are the photos that I managed to take. Crappy overcast weather didn't help and then the battery ran out.

The approach from the free car park

LOOK! The slide and isn't that Peter Rabbit

Is anything 30p and more?

This print was a great distraction from all the Cath Kidston walking around.

The Pre War Tea Tent

So much bunting

Lots of stalls lots to win but nothing to buy. Refreshing

I thought that the slide was about 100 meters long, it's not, but it is great and I could go on it 100 times. The tea was fantastic and it looked like everyone had baked a cake we had a slice of everything......still exaggerating.

At 3pm they have the children's races, potato, egg and spoon, sack and straight running.
T was up for winning the under 5 running. She had two attempts. The first race had all children under 5 so there were children everywhere and it was a disaster so they tried again and she and I were up for winning.
Unfortunately I had told her to run striaght to the end and stop at the bunting and didn't add the information about running around slower children and she ploughed straight into a boy.

MY ANKLE!! she cried I WANT TO GO HOME!

A couple of turns on the slide soon fixed things but an an ice cream which turned out to be the wrong flavour and then you add in a bit of misery and miscommunication and before you know it you can see the end of the afternoon appearing on the horizon.

G wanted a turn at the coconut shy - 3 balls 50p - but was unsuccessful but I think that was because you had to hit them at 15 meters at least! He was a bit of a disappointed looser a bit like his daughter, peas in a pod actually so with two lollies I packed everyone back in the car and promised to come back again next year and headed for home.
Maybe next year we will enjoy flower display then and have a crack at the tombola.

We unpacked two sleeping sticky faces and all had a peaceful evening.

Today I sound like Mariella Frostrup or that other one who's been around for years who's name I can't think of.

Busy week going to clean house.
CM

It's Summer But Only Just!

My health related anxiety has relaxed as my throat has flexed. I have a throat and tight chest none of which is painful but is annoying and knackering.
Yesterday I took to the sofa and watched most of Runaway Bride with Richard, Julia and Joan.

It all felt a little bit like Autumn, there was a cool breeze outside and I wanted to get my woolens ready!

In the morning we got out in the garden and just started to move a few plants around and have a bit of a chop back I think the Autumn seed was planted then, started thinking about having a bonfire party in such limited space and how much of a firework display we could arrange. Not much says G.
To be honest building a launch pad on the roof might be safer although not for G who would be in charge of lighting the fuses.
In my mind I filtered through my memory of Halloween/Bonfire recipes and carved gourdes and cake stands made from tree trunks and what bowl could I pour a punch into. I pictured our friends in winter scarves and cosy coats and twinkling lights in the trees.
I am so ready for TV version of small town America in the Fall.
Doesn't everyone think like this? I am sure it's half way organised.

So this is what it looked like Sunday morning. All very grey green and purple.

Trimmings

Moving Soil

They finally like each other

Still to make a decision - where to put stuff

Cutting it all back

Getting ready for Grand Prix - Hamilhead! What are you doing?

Today we are off to a country fair that I have wanted to go to for YEARS maybe today is the perfect day to visit

Speak Later
CM

Sticki Brix

Picked these up in a shop locally, used, but clean and in a nice bag so they can be cleared and stored away nicely at the end of the day.....or not as I am still looking at the butterfly palace T built yesterday afternoon.

I always loved these as a child but I don't think I played with them that often.
I love the shapes and colours.

She has been, ON ONE! as some might say. T cannot stop talking, today or yesterday asking all sorts of questions, asking for me to LOOK Mummy! or insist that anything she requests be done a different way to which she has asked.
Not angry or rude,  just FULL ON.

I think I have had it up to here
As I type this she is practicing her hopping
Fine
But does it have to be so loud?
Apparently so

I am yelling a bit as I am so tired
It's like an elephant hopping.

Last night both girls slept in their own bunk beds. For one reason or another they have been sleeping/camping in with us for some time and to be honest I still missed them terribly but I can't keep them in there until they are teenagers.
It all went rather well except for when I decided at my bed time to swap T's choice of bed time toy, a pink furry puppy that screams flammable in appearance with a nice brown bear that I thought she might like to wake up to.

Nope

At 04:15 she woke me up with her torch and quietly explained that there was some confusion with her puppy who was missing and a brown bear was in its place and could I come and sort it.

Which of course I did because I felt guilt and now I am knackered and really I should have known better to meddle in the inner workings of her mind.

She went straight back to sleep, but Oh my! 

Oh well. Make dinner and a bit of crochet in front of a movie for tonight I think
CM

Some Thoughts

Yesterday we had a play date with the most perfect family, another one! I know!
But it was cut short as T took her second tumble of the week and landed on the same knee and although its not broken it is busted.
Bloody Scooters

This is her this morning cleaning the wound.
That is a Liberty Print Lacoste Dress that was a gift from her uncles and P has one too. Super Cute.

It took a life time to get the plaster off and she was being a real woos about the whole thing but she cleaned it up herself and really impressed herself at her capabilities in the end.

So yesterday when it came to cleaning the knee she wouldn't let anyone near it and tried everything in her spell book to distract us. Anyway I lost it BIG TIME and administered first aid using the sink the kitchen table and finally the sofa where she yelled I hate you.
As the afternoon dragged on and I could see all the cracks in my parenting it pretty much worked out to be one of those days where everything is rubbish.
Thankfully G made dinner or that could have been the icing on the cake.

This last week or so I have walked round with a cloth bag from a shop that I am to fat to shop in, there was no first aid kit packed when I really needed it. I always thought I would be prepared with the most excellent stuff to make any situation better.

In fact the last time I saw the plasters was when they were all attached to the legs of the dinning room table after T asked me if she could have one for her bear and in fact couldn't control herself and opened them all. I suppose at the time I wasn't that bothered because I had bought them when she was born and we never really needed them.
That time has now changed and I feel like crap.
Because I feel disorganised.
I think about times I have felt rubbish as a teenager through till now and its because I have been unable to organise my self and then I have tripped up.

So I am having a bit of a mope which of course I know will do nothing so in about half an hour I will pull myself together. Grab the reins, saddle the horse get my gun what ever. Probably buy a really lovely expensive saddle bag to carry stuff and get on with it.

I took these of the poopster last week. she is learning body parts.

She is pushing four painful teeth at the moment and enjoying making noise about it.

I think that is enough talk of children for a while.

Yesterday marked one year until the London Olympics and I thought of writing a list and seeing how much I could achieve to change in my habits/daily living by the time I reach the opening ceremony. Eddie Izzard was on the radio this morning saying we could all achieve more this coming year.
He probably meant something a whole lot more than the route I will be taking but it's a thought anyway!

Off to get pen and paper
CM

A Quick Trip Out

Try to get out every day and trying not to make that outing a trip to the bakers for gingerbread men everyday. Also want to watch the pennies.

Here is what it looked like this morning. Lovely.

What these don't show is the £1:50 for an hour parking, £2.20 for the smallest pot of home made ice cream and the most amazing tumble and scrapped knee from a scooter. 

Which resulted in IronMama carrying one nearly 5 year old on a hip whilst lean-pulling the toddler on the scooter for quite some distance.

I told T that if she kept her knee bent then she would turn into a flamingo.

Whenever T has fallen and banged something I always give her the biggest set of cuddles and love you could possible imagine but has this stopped the stiff upper lip brave gal she could have grown into?

Its a coin toss over which one you want them to become no half measures.

This year I started to tell her that she would have to start finding her own ways to deal with the hurt because if she stumbles at big school the teachers might not be able to do all the stuff that mummy does to make it better. She seems to be on board maybe she deal with it on the day, probably knowing her.

She said thank you for the carry to the car which made me melt a bit

Its cloudy but still warm might try for some gardening this afternoon

CM

Huurah! We Can Play!

Play date done.

I decided to make an activity for the girls to do so I printed off the templates that feature in this film and cut some twigs got all the pencils and colours out.

This is a really nice tutorial, don't just think that it is for kids these would look lovely in any neat and tidy home!

The girls looked at the craft set up, lasted the time that it takes to get a pen lid off before running upstairs playing with everything and dressing up squealing.
They couldn't even chew at lunch they were so busy.

But I made one in rather loud colours not something that I would usually favour.

I realised when they were playing that Truly didn't want to get a particular toy down and share maybe I hadn't done enough pre play prep, so I freaked for a minute but actually it all worked out fine.
They took care of themselves because they already know each other well from preschool and I could just stand back and watch what they had learned to do over the past year which was play very nicely together.
G took P swimming which was great because although T did really well I think she probably would have had a melt down with P here.

This was our first play date with a child who's mother I wasn't already friends with and that's why I was nervous. T has been on a couple of play dates with older children so she clearly has taken on board the etiquette.
But I am still going to go off and have a panic attack about it all!

Yesterday I took these photos and I think they are great.

I have friends in the North who are having a new baby soon so I thought I might make a little something so I tried out a tiny toy for small hands.

 

This is really too small to make without cursing or giving myself an eye headache also the soft white pillowcase that I cut to make the body is too vintage and pulled apart when P put the ear in her mouth and gruesomely tore through it with her teeth.
Back to the drawing board for something more sturdy.

But in the mean time its jacket potato and salad for dinner.
And a peppermint tea to keep away the panic of today

CM

A BIG Friday Round Up

Brains all over the place.

Being at home with the ankle meant that I didn't need to do anything which also meant that I wasn't keeping that part of my brain active that keeps those things happening over the next six weeks of my life in that hazy fog where I could glance at what need to be thought about or organised!

So everything feels like it's going a bit to pot at the moment and I ask myself is my lack of concentration and forgetfulness a result of the big dose of anesthetic, premature dementia or just not being strong enough mentally to stay organised and focused?

In other news here is are random pics of the last two weeks.

Returning home from my oldest and dearest friends house last week the baby fell asleep in the car so I decided to take the Ford off road and drive into the country. How nice is this.
Must remember to do some research into legality of walking on private land. It would be so nice to take the girls up away from the traffic.
Was running more than low with fuel actually very lucky to get back home.

This is for sale in California it could hold all my crap. Nicley knackered.

 

 

We have a shed now and it has a roof and lives under our back steps.

Truly's last session at the Oasis play group and the children off to big school were given a gift. Let me tell you I was a bit teary but I love the dots on wrapping paper I am so doing this at Christmas along with all the other stuff that needs doing. Priorities!

Two cleaning projects this week.
The pile books and general junk on my side table dresser thing was hazardous.
The fridge still had green icing in it from T's 3rd birthday cake and she is now nearly 5.

 So I am done with P drinking my morning tea and I am just making her a cup of her own. She is still working the most effective way of getting it in her mouth.

 Most of the day she just wants to be helpful at the end of the meal she hands me her plate. She really loves watering the garden so at 19 months old P has her first chore. It's not completed with the precision that I would like and it is easier if T is not in the garden at the same time because everything is RUINED if she or her stuff gets a drop of water on it.


I do worry about the dementia. It feels more of a problem than when you go up the stairs and forget what you went up there for. I don't always remember what year we are in or who our Prime Minister is. I can see his face but can't always name him (I watched everything with the general election by the way). Maybe its because I don't get a chance to see the news all the time or read the paper and it's just a faze and when I am not so focused on mummy things it will all fall back into place again.

Yesterday this beautiful woman who lives locally asked me if I was arty, apparently I look arty. I said I was once but now I am in household logistics.

Sometimes occasionally you forget a name but I bet you anything at Christmas I will remember to put sticky paper dots on my brown paper wrapping.

CM