365/88 9am..

Not quite a normal day in the Jones household. Usually I get up, make the porridge and something cooked for the youngest, then harrang her out of bed to eat it!  After she and JB have gone off for their daily dose of education, usually about 8am I sneak back upstairs for my coffee, a laze in front the TV for half hour and then quick shower, gather up the washing and get out to the office for just after 9... so maybe a snapshot of Frasier or Lorraine would be more my norm for that time of day.

Today I did the pre-school run for the babe and it was a lovely sunny morning, certainly more pallatable than dodging the rain... so here she is, off to Paradise Park for a trip.. proudly showing me her Darth Vadar Lego torch.. what's that all about!?

What fabulous weather.. off to Penzance harbour for wander and then some eats at the Dolphin.. sorted!

Perfect days...

.. all round, I think everyone got something they wanted already this weekend. Us two laid in til almost lunchtime today and I got a long lazy bath. Two lots of motor racing for the boys (and me to some extent), F1 and Moto GP and a nice brunch on the .... decking, afterwards! (well it was a meal between lunch and dinner / tea, but I'm not sure what that's called?)
...then Pop's returned home from his little sortie to South Devon with tales of salsa and singing in the rain!

I finished the afternoon off with a nice hour in the sun, settling well into another Anita Shrive book...The Pilot's Wife'  I really like her stuff but you have to get stuck and read them in a frenzy as they are so engrossing... as Ross' gf April found out on their flights to Palma this weekend.. gave her my last Shrive holiday read and she was well stuck in by lunchtime day1!

Jordan & Col returned unscathed from their day at the Reading Festival, with tales of rain, other people's shoes abandoned in the mud and the fun people they met.  Jordan reckons she can almost die happy after seeing The Offspring; only GreenDay to see now and she's content.... ahh, I remember those teenage days when life was that simple!

This is one of Col's pics which is this week's desktop image...til Ross comes home with his super yacht pics from Palma next week..

Mud, glorious mud..nothing quite like it..

 ...but I particularly like this one Jordan took... from the perspective of a muddy Show-Zone wellie!

All hail to the Shoe-Zone Wellies!

'Flat as an omlette' setting..

I am currently reading Dawn French's novel 'A Tiny Bit Marvellous' featuring dialogue from 3 corners of a somewhat dysfunctional (or is that normal 21st century) family: a 50yr old chld psychologist, her Katherine Tate-like 18 year old daughter and her Oscar Wilde-like 16 year old son.  It's very easy to enjoy and quite amusing when you find her describing situations and thoughts you imagined were unique to your own head, then you realise it could be the cries of pre-menoapausal women almost anywhere, in this era and many long gone I should imagine!

Well a couple of weeks ago I got confirmation of my post-50 year old status as the envelope landed on our doormat inviting me for my first breast screening appointment. Interestingly I was invited, rather than summoned, but why anyone would refuse this kind offer I cannot imagine.  Generally these days we hear that we will have to beg, borrow and steal a freeby  from the NHS but here it was, up for grabs! And grabs appeared to be the operative word...

Dawn French made me slightly nervous as she related the choices of setting the nurse would have this afternoon.. well I am glad to say she didn't opt for 'flat as a crepe' and chose the 'flat as an omlette' setting and lucky for me it was about 3 eggs on fluffy setting she chose too.  Not a bad experience at all and hopefully I won't be revisiting this blog entry in a few weeks wondering how I was so laid back....

(Sparing a little thought for you Yvonne as I'm sure you've had your share of 'flat as anything less flat than a boob' type settings! Love to you x)

Back to reality...

.... a seaplane trip, a BA flight of ten hours and then a jump down to Newquay, the Gods conspired to leave us without delays and in good spirits, and finally after 24 hours travelling we arrived home late last night.

The plan was to have a cup of tea with real milk and some polite chat with the kids then scoot off to bed, but it was just so good to see them the energy flowed and we yapped away to catch up on all the news, theirs and ours,for at least two hours before bed got the better of us..

Yes, the house is still standing, the kids show no ill effects and Jordan says she has a new found respect for me, running the house, catering and laundering for everyone.. ahhh.  I hinted about whether there had been a party, but they admitted they really couldn't be bothered, and in fact had been so busy with school stuff and all that they hadn't even had the 'night out' they had planned. I'm sure crappy weather adds to that and we'd be more likely to hear of raucous happenings if it was July!

As we travelled away, a celebration for my 50th combined with the never before taken 'honeymoon', there were lots of things I put on a mental list to blog and share, but now it seems a bit 'you had to be there', but maybe over the next few days they'll come to mind and I'll keep you posted. 

It was a great ten days, we lazed and lazed, ate and drank, and most of all we slept as long as we wanted. In some ways we were lucky in that the snorkelling off the beach wasn't 'all that' so we had even less reason to muster ourselves and so even more relaxing got done.  I took 4 or 5 books, it took me a day or two to crack the first, it was okay, but not okay enough to keep so it was left behind on the library shelf in island reception, but then I ploughed through Anita Shrive's brilliant 'Testimony' and then Patrick Gale's 'Notes on an Exhibiton'

I loved both of these, the latter was based around Penzance and had so many observational passages about places I know, it had me smiling broadly (as you can imagine, old nostalgia queen).. anyone who's read it must appreciate the description of the Savoy Cinema in town is.... though not sure the owners would be so amused.  Kate relayed to me when we got home how she lost her purse there one week and found it in the upturned seat at least a week later...a testiment to the cleaning routines eh?

It's been a nce day today, just catching up, few people to see and things to sort, but the wash pile is definitely a job for another day. I can't quite face putting on proper shoes just yet, and made the most of my slight tan and got JB to take my pic for our Scrapbook Girls Calendar (don't ask, but suffice to say she says she is scarred for life.. but smiling.. especially if her school mates ask her what she did at the weekend..!!)

All my own work!

.. with a little photography help from Jordan & Helen.

You might recall my excitement at taking Ross, Jordan and Ross' friend Helen on the nostalgia trip? Well for Helen's birthday, and to say thanks for being so kind and listening to all my stories, and (sounding like) she enjoyed my scrapbooks, I have sent one to Helen for her birthday, a small momento of her stay last month.

I used the CD wallet / mailer format I used on the Maldives album and it actually went really well..although I have made mental note to be more organised and to prep the pages before I stick them in.. it really isn't so easy to stamp after the pages are 'in'.

Click to view mini album





At Linda's class a couple of weeks ago the theme was journalling and writing, I really did want to use pens and handwriting more, but they just didn't quite happen, so I used some lovely ink techniques to colour printed texts..on my usual double page layout.

I also managed to do the layout for my new found photo of me with my Mum & Dad in 1962...I used some words from Fields of Gold, which I know some people find a little depressive.. but somehow I don't, the song even wakes me on a weekday morning and I haven't tired of it in about a year!

Nice day...

.. despite it being warm drizzle pretty much all day it panned out okay...didn't do much, but what we did do was just nice...finish it off with Indian take-away and that was cool.. no roast, not much washing up..

Zac & Tom away paintballing, Col & Pops travelling north to visit some more of the Jones clan for day or two, and me hanging out at home with the girlies.. including eldest and the babe, though at almost two she's not much of a baby any more!   Such a sweetie, she is so clever (there speaks a proud Nan if ever there was one!)...she knows all her colours, lots of numbers and pleases and thankyous too! 

So often I find myself doing things just like my Mum would have... like after her bath, putting on her jammies and tucking in her top, with the bottoms pulled up to her armpits.. yes, we've all seen our Mum's do it, and I even said..'just like Great Granny would do!'

I can't believe how emotions and physical feelings can be repeated in yourself and suddenly you see exactly why or how your own mum felt.

I read a book this week.. the 'Private Lives of Pippa Lee', picked it up at Mazey Day.. turns out it is a film too. Interesting as it charts the life of a woman and she talks quite a bit about her relationship with her Mum and with her own daughter.  She thinks that every generation tries to raise their kids in a way to put right the wrongs of the previous generation, and in so doing may even do the opposite...

... not sure about that, I feel so often that I am walking in my Mum's steps (even the ones I 'bused her for being /doing in my own time)... guess we just all do the best we can...

Book worm.

Maybe it's a sign I've had too many holiday-days this year, ... or just that I have become a better user of my time, .. or most likely that I am saying Sod It! to stuff I really should be more bothered about.... but I am loving my books at the minute!

In the Maldives I read the teenager book Elsewhere (read it.. no kidding, it was a lovely lovely book..about death, but simple clever idea and a beautiful thought when you've loved and lost), followed by Perfect Day (fodder and easy but interesting formula, all set in one day)..and then an autobiography from Frank Skinner..yes, it's amazing what you read when the choice is the hotel bookcase!

I also tried a bit of Maeve Binchey, but it was short stories and I was a little disappointed. Not one to be defeated I am now reading her Evening Class.. partly cos Linda told me about it when we were discussing the reasons why everyone gets a buzz from scrapping..(I think it's a bit like a therapy.. hello, I'm Kathi and I'm a scrappaholic!) But, anyway, it's quite nice, needs reading in binges as each character is pages long and you need the run at it.. but looking forward to the next installment.

At Centre Parcs I read Perfect Day by local Cornish author, slow but sure, another single day theme which I like.. and Lovely Bones, recommended by great friend Michele in the States and applauded by Lisa too. It didn't let me down, compulsive reading, and I cried buckets!

I really like biographies and have several stashed away.. everything from Jayne Fonda, to David Cassidy and Kate Adie...but they deserve a proper holidays attention!