Diary of a father - 2010
2010
December previous« »next year
Wow, we get snow, serious snow. The nation suffers and locally we loose buses, trains and only the end of term saves our schools. The month though starts with the thought that Christmas is close and we should think about what needs doing. Not that we do them before the weather makes it difficult - oh joy!
David catches a bad cold or virus and has to miss school. Even when he returned there, it became clear he still wasn't well and with days to Christmas, he finally returns to better health. I did manage to get my blue belt on a day when my own health was sub optimal, as they say. It is getting hard and the session ended with me sparring two senseis simultaneously.
Admist this E decides to start painting some walls red - they look good. We somehow fit in some Xmas shopping when we can and I enjoy early Christmas meals in the first week of the month; a bit early but the result of late planning :-(
Another snowy lane walked along
November previous« »next month
The fireworks continue as others carry on celebrating Bonfire night. I am told I am to go up for grading (Karate) next month - argh! David gets his orange tab.
I have been having refresher lessons on a 500cc motorbike, a twin. By lesson four I am feeling confident but still uneasy on my machine with its dropped handlebars and sports ride. Then the weather turns nasty and it gets dark early so I put it on hold for now.
October previous« »next month
Autumn is here. Always find it difficult catching the trees, or more specifically the leaves, just at the right moment - when the leaves are showing all the various shades of orange, red and yellow to their best. Still each year I try, usually seeing the best scenes when no camera do I have to hand!
So for only the second time we enjoy the local fireworks and fun fair. Very happily they hold it over half-term so no problem with late nights for the kids. And, by month end, we visit the northern family for a catch up and a wander down the Lune.
There is a brilliant Lego Show not far from us we enjoy. Numerous major pieces, some interesting vendors and the added bonus of a few trains thanks to the venue. The aircraft carrier was awesome!
Local fireworks show
September previous« »next month
And back to school and the nights creep in but the gardening continues. We have three patches of grassed garden all looking different because of the seed and timing differing. Visitors joined us for the local food and drink festival while others enjoyed some localise football.
I continue my quest to visit the 92 English league grounds and visit Oxford, Burton and Yeovil. Other weekends days are spent trying to wrestle a garden from the remains of a car park by digging up the stones and sewing grass. We are up to about three quarters of our planned lawn as being planted and half being available to play on.
August July« »Sept.
And more normal weather arrives, i.e., we get some rain and the lawn needs it. We found a slow worm (looks like s snake) when setting up our compost bin. Never seen one up close before. Rather large thing, for a worm (we never saw it again).
David got his yellow belt at Karate and won a competition in our local C&G branch - well done kid. The garden is still yielding wonders to eat; thanks to E's efforts. Minimal input from me. It begins to look like a real garden as the lawn grows and the patio takes shape.
July June« »Aug.
Mid July and we go to the local Country Show. Lots of lovely farm animals getting prizes, clubs, hobbyists and some fair ground side shows. David and I both had a go at a penalty shoot out; each managing a mere 1 of 5 but enough for a prize. The sheep are a riot with great hairdos. The tent full of chickens and cockerels is very noisy and some very interesting varieties. Even the pigs are cute. The large animals, cows, are impressive and beautiful beasts.
And after another hot week we finally get rain. Maybe it was the gazebo effect; up it went and down came the rain before the wind blew it across the garden.
Local Country Show
June previous« »next month
Summer? okay some sunshine then here comes the rain again before we get heat that has me seeking out the shade and glad of the world cup for some sedentary entertainment. The lawn continues to be a lawn of two halves and too many weeds. We struggle to do much in the heat and worse struggle to sleep well in the hot nights.
May previous« »next month
A family get together saw us all celebrating a birthday in a lovely Italian. A nice evening worthy of the occasion. Great to see all the younglings and a few generations in one place. The food was good and the chat lively.
May the lawn be with you!? Well we have some grass showing in the back garden but the weeds are winning in some patches. E's vegetable patch though is looking great and recognisable plants are emerging into the light.
We went down to the local Nature Festival and enjoyed a picnic in the park. There are numerous stalls and a nice setting amongst the trees next to the pond.
Celebrating at Italian
April previous« »next month
Still cold but the rain has arrived with vengeance. We can see the flowering of a few bulbs Elizabeth planted out last year; so we have some colour on view in the front garden.
And now another ten TV channels and one of them is Five so we get NCIS and CSI back! The pressure was building as all our neighbours have satellite dishes, some going up before they had even slept in the house. I didn't foresee this before we moved. A small wait for the basic modern utilities, yes, but not the dodgy digital radio signal and only four TV channels.
March previous« »next month
Lot of effort going into the back garden to try and make it suitable for some grass and vegetable planting. We have been staring at a vast wasteland of mud for months now. Even planting trees last year hasn't yet added greenery - spring is late around here.
By the end of the month though we are very excited by the start of the Digital TV broadcasting in our area. We now have 8 Freeview channels but presently only BBC channels are digital. And we get digital radio too!
From our lounge we can see a hill so naturally we were desperate to go to the top of said hill and look back at our house. Yes, it was worth it! And while we were out, and childless, we visited a pub for some excellent food and one drink.
February previous« »next month
Still cold but David starts by winning a competition at school. We visit Coaley View for some stunning views of the Severn valley. And the snow returns! Still too early to start on the garden except for tidying up and raking over - yawn.
It is still just a little over twelve months since my mother left us but it seems so long since I last spoke to her. Still miss her and it is strange how some things remind you of others. I regularly get caught out when some event or smell unexpectedly reminds me of a missed loved one. They say smells are the strongest memories and moving has brought some old ones back, and the memories with them. Isn't life weird?
January previous« »next month
We started the year with a guided tour of our local park and ended with a hot spiced berry juice drink. Though it lasted an hour the walk was not exerting but was interesting and over fifty of us made the journey locals of all ages. And then we pack away Christmas for another year - so slow to arrive so quick to depart.
So it gets cold, very cold, so cold the schools close and people are abandoning cars all around us! Even by sun up it registers minus 9 in my car one Thursday morning. Our snowman is small but armed (ha ha!). We are told to expect two more weeks of this - oh joy!
These erratic weather conditions are here to stay - well done humans. I use the train to get to work but few others are even bothering. When the school is open the streets are deserted as we walk up the snow bound hill.
After two weeks of snow it finally clears with some rain. We have a weekend of colds. This month seems very long; Januaries usually are of course but I suppose I mean more than just the days. We walked to our local supermarket to do our weekly shop! We never did that in Preston.
