Diary of a father - Year 2006
Collected here are the ramblings of a father during those few moments of peace in an otherwise hectic and very enjoyable life as our family travels through his fifth year and her twelfth; and their parents' middle ages.
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2006
December
And it is here again. I swear one minute it is months away and then suddenly you have three days to buy and wrap all the presents. Actually I was done with a couple of days to go. No snow but my parents join us for a lovely day and great traditional food. We had a nice Christmas cut short by my need to go down south on a training course.
Weather has served up wind and rain rather than frost, not nice. Can we please have snow and frost?
November
It is dark, miserable and wet. But fireworks night brightens things. We take the young man to the one on the local green. Too much waiting around and not enough running around seem to be verdict. The sparklers in the back garden appeared to be a bigger hit! The rest of the month means some whinging about school for small man; so soon!
October
This month usually brings the joys of fireworks; not a joy for us because I mean people letting fireworks off at all hours and not as part of any display. Given the power of modern fireworks these can be very disturbing. They also set the neighbour's dog off barking; scares the poor thing witless I shouldn't wonder.
We enjoy a break at half term and in particular a trip to the 2008 european city of culture, Liverpool. We wandered around the many floors of the World Museum and dozen rooms in The Walker Gallery. The city is looking better and worth a visit. And just to remind us it is supposed to be autumn we get a near frost for a change from the rain.
And with school you get nits. Not nice for anyone but you get through it, eventually.
September
Back to school! And some sunshine returns - typical British weather say I. The month ends in rain and celebrations, well we had a party for David's fifth. The in-laws came up to help out - many thanks. Besides a massive slide and bouncy castle we played pass-the-parcel and hoops onto the pig.
The calves in the field behind are getting big, and smelly! As the rains arrive in force the ground under their feet is getting very brown and muddy - mootiful. We still find frogs and toads hiding in the shadows of our garden.
This month is always one that flys by and all too soon we have gone from summer long nights to darkness when you come home. I know that it only gets darker by half an hour a week but it still seems to rush. I guess it is because at this time of year it is happening around tea time!
August
Early on we went holidaying in Scotland, nice! We return to England and unbelievable, it has not stopped raining! The wind is furious and so too are many holidayers - where did the sun go? For most of the time it seems more like autumn. At least the plants are enjoying the water.
July
It is too hot. I know we are never satisfied but personally I am consistent - I do not like anything above 25oC. The grass and several plants are with me and not coping well. We may have lost as many as 2 or 3 in this mad hot summer spell. Where is the rain?
David had an emotional departure from his nursery school, the teachers not David. Claire had an excellent school report at the end of the year in high school. And Elizabeth also gets a certificate to crown her achievements. My achievements are not important.
The frogs have hopped off. The cows have calves. The sheep are elsewhere. Our broccoli did not flower but the lettuce was lovely. My trees are too young for fruit though there is one plum and an apple reached half an inch in diameter before dropping! The trees are losing leaves too. A defence against the lack of water.
We all trained it down to London for a hot weekend. And then as July leaves us - a deluge of water!
June
And we get some very hot weather and then as soon as I put the gazebo up - it rains! Here comes summer. David is having football training at Nursery school and is to play in a tournament! There are cows back in the field and our tadpoles have legs. Claire got en excellent school report - so proud!
May
The English weather is surpassing itself at present. One week we had temperatures in the high twenties and now we are back to heavy rain and twelve degrees. Thanks to some thirty year cycle the south of England is suffering water shortages. Not so around here, there's buckets of the stuff!
The fruit trees I have planted are doing nicely. Claire is doing some serious horse riding and has her mucking out badge. They are due to head off for a three hour trek soon.
David continues to do well at his swimming. We went along to an evening for new parents at the school he starts at in September.
April
You hope that the arrival of easter means some warm weather. Well, a little warm weather and some more snow in parts of the country. Mostly here it is rain, rain, rain. In between David has enjoyed getting out again. He has managed to puncture his bike tyres twice. Claire is still horse riding.
And he is swimming! The stuff they put in the water isn't nice for his eyes hence the goggles but he is enjoying swimming and going under the water. He is ahead of me. It was secondary school before I went swimming often enough to actually learn to stay above the wet stuff.
March
With Easter just around the corner of course it's going to snow. We make a snowman. Mostly though we huddle inside out of the cold, wind and rain. All of us go down with colds and miss school or work. I managed to squeeze in one blood donation.
February
It is definitely winter here. Not winter enough for snow but definitely cold and unfriendly when you go outside. We visited Beacon Fell on a lovely fresh but clear Sunday morning. After tramping through the trees, David acting as a Dinosaur, we enjoyed some hot food on the benches outside the visitors centre.
Becky came down with Claire for a couple of days. We went down to Martin Mere again, joined by my parents, for a nice day out and some gentle exercise.
January
The cold spells continue but still no snow. Unfortunately winter viruses have laid low David and Elizabeth. We have not managed to do much this month. David has taken to his jungle bike and even claims he could ride without stabilisers. This is a bold boast as he manages to topple the bike even with the extra help.
We went up to Fairhaven in the early new year. Boy was it cold. We were very glad of the warm and hot food provided by the cafe on the lakeside. And it was one of those episodes that proves the old adage - you can never gauge the joy of a toy from its price. We bought a toy train set for £1.25 and he is still playing with it to today! We are back to the wrapping attracting more attention than the gift inside it! Kids hey! don't you just love'em.
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