busy busy

Phew what a busy few weeks it has been. I went to Stubbers (web page www.stubbers.co.uk/)yesterday as part of a team building day for my ILM 5 Leadership and Managment course. It was really great fun. The staff were fanastic and everyone who was there had a great time and worked really well together. I was in a team of 7, Lisa, Ali, Sarah, Jessie, Diane, Natasha and me.

This is a picture of the whole of the ILM 5 just after the raft race.

Our first task was to try to cross a pond by using ropes and two logs. It took us a while to figure out what to do with all the available equipment, but we got there in the end and we all managed to get across safely without getting wet. Once on the other side of the pond we all pulled on the rope to get the next person across, so by the last person there were six of us pulling and she went really really fast along the rope across the pond. It was really cool.

The second task was to build a tower out of milk crates, as high as we could with two people standing at the top. It was really great fun. Again it took us a while to figure out the best plan but when we got it set up we really whizzed along. Natasha had a great time at the top. We managed a height of 21 crates, but the next team managed 25. Still we were pleased with our achievement.

We had a very well earned lunch break and then went on to a third task which involved moving along tightrope wires using ropes to help us and getting across from one platform to another. Then we had to balance ourselves on a large seesaw. Then finally we had to get each person in the team through a spider's web made of rope. That required a lot of trust in each other as we had to lift a few people and guide a few people through.

The final task involved all three groups racing to make a raft out of empty barrels and poles and ropes. We were offered an optimal design and went with that. I learnt how to tie a great knot. Just need to practise it otherwise I will forget how to do it. We all finished making the rafts and went into the water at the same time. We had to get to a platform in the middle of the lake and rescue our "damsel in distress" and row like crazy to a buoy, touch it and turn back. We were well in the lead the whole way. It was really exhausting and my arms still ache from rowing so hard, but our team got back first. But the race wasn't over, we had to untie it all and put it all back neatly. It was a great laugh and we finished well ahead of the other two teams. Several people got very wet but I think everyone had a great time. That was the end of the day and we all finished on a high. Fortunately the weather was really good, sunny with some cloud, so it was not too hot or too cold.

WE WON THE RAFT RACE! YAY

Ducklings

The accommodation block where Sarah is living is full of about 1000 18/19 yr students. There is a pond there and two ducks have had ducklings, one has 11 to look after and one has 2 to look after. They have become the talk of the whole complex and even have a facebook group for everyone to follow their daily exploits. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=83652563387&ref=nf There are some great photos and stories on there.

Air Show

Andy and I had a great afternoon watching the Air Show today. We booked a table at the Cliffs to eat and watch the show. We had a great view and watched the whole thing in comfort. It was a really hot day so I was glad to be inside. The food was really lovely. We had canapes to start and some champagne. Then we had pate followed by cold meat and salad. After being absolutely stuffed there was georgeous profiteroles to follow and then cheese and biscuits. All the time we were eating there were planes flying by at about our height, so it was cool to get some photos. We were able to get out on to the balcony to watch the show.

With this picture you can see the pier in the background.

One of my favourite of the planes is the Sea King Helicopter which is used for air sea rescue and also here are the parachutists that all land in one spot on the beach after spiralling down in a line. An amazing finale today.

Everyone's favourite, the red arrows.

today

Today we went to South Weald park which is very near the parents in law. It was huge and had a lake in the middle of it. We took the dogs and Millie and Barney had a little dip!! LOL Barney's "dip" was accidental, we think. We were busy watching Milie worrying about her going into water after the ducks. A swan gave her a warning sound and she backed off, but Barney being dippy, jumped right in! Andy had to pull him back out as it was very deep and there was no easy slope to get up on. It was quite funny. As we walked round we threw sticks in for Millie to catch. She loved jumping straight in the water to get the sticks and kept barking for more. Poor old Barney's back legs were giving way after a while, so we went off to sit down for a bit. It was a lovely trip out. Then we popped in to see parents in law and brought back the Karcher (to clean stuff) and Andy invited them all round to ours for a BBQ in the evening. It was a bit chilly by the evening though, but it was nice.

Just finished watching De Vinci Code. We have already read the book and watched the film at the cinema. It certainly has an interesting twist. Looking forward to see Angels and Demons next week at the cinema.

101 things to do in 1001 days

No 47 - don't buy craft stuff for one month. Well it is day 8 and i am doing ok so far!! lol. The first week was the danger week, hopefully I can last another 3 weeks. In my opinion the balance of a craft weekend doesnt count, nor does postage of ATCs!!! LOL

Have managed finally to put in all the potatoes and onion at the allotment. Quite a mammoth task. Just have two patches of long grass that need turning over which shouldn't take too long. Also really must get my seeds planted so I can put them out at the end of the month. April, May and June are always so busy in the garden. I think I might give up the allotment when the rent runs out in September. I keep changing my mind about it as I love being out there, but I just can't do the heavy digging which is needed in the early Spring. Will have a think about it over the summer and if I really am not enjoying it then I really should give it up. But being out in the sun with the birds singing along whilst you work, and others working in the background is a really lovely peaceful time. However, I just usually end up in so much pain that the after effects of spending time there is not good news. i will get some photos of the allotment next time I go, probably at the weekend.

Andy has become obsessed with cutting the grass at home. Whereas when he first came to live with me five/six years ago it was hard enough getting him just to do the front lawn. He has been cutting both back and front nearly every day. We got a new lawnmower that cuts shorter, so he has cut back on that now thank goodness and given the grass a chance to grow! I put some weed killer and grass feed out on the front lawn this evening so he can't cut the grass for three days.

Went to my managerial course today. Everyone seem tired and hardly enthusiastic. We were left to our devices for two hours so that we could put together a questionnaire that we are going to ask our colleagues to complete. The intention of the questionnaire is to measure the opinions of others about our quality of written communication, namely emails. So that will be interesting to send out! Haha. If 15 of us send out 20 questionnaires and get back say 10 that will actually make 150 for our results, which is quite good. And it would be a great cross section of levels of staff. So you never know it may actually work out to be useful as a tool to measure written communcation within our group.

I have been making ATCs like mad again. There was a collage-a-thon on ATCs for all website last weekend so I made about 1o cards and have sent out 8. I still find it quite amazing that people actually want what I have made! Very strange concept to get used to. I want to make about 5 or 6 cards to send to a Facebook ATC group that is UK based. Not many people do this strange hobby in the UK, so it is always difficult to keep postage costs down. So any opportunity I can find to send within the UK the better.

I had a few positive contacts re the family tree over the past week, which is quite exciting. Have managed to extend the tree on one side and need to check an interesting story to confirm another relationship. But from one of the contacts we have actually ended up being friends on facebook. Alice wanted to talk to someone she was related to, no matter how distantly that was her own age. Her FIFTH cousin is a year younger than her and lives in Australia. So we will see what develops from that.

I am going to have to tell Sev that he can't play on his xbox war game for a few days, Sunday to Thursday as he has four exams next week and really needs to concentrate on revision. He absolutely hates revising but if he is to get good enough grades to be an officer in the Navy this year, then he will have to put some work into it. So that is a battle I am not looking forward to. he will probably be grumpy the whole time, but it will be worth it, I hope.

Sarah tells me she isn't doing too well, has had a cold for 4 weeks now. No it isn't swine flu. she is just run down and not eating properly or sleeping properly. She also has exams coming up so needs to look after herself a bit better. The photo below is of her rock climbing. Her boyfriend teaches people how to climb so four of them spent the day doing that. I am glad that she managed to get out and get some fresh air and exercise in the lovely Peak District.

Sarah Sev and Alice

randomness

I really must change the header of this blog - the black is much too depressing for Spring. Not actually growing anything as yet on the allotment, except rhubarb. James, my brother, very kindly helped me to dig over and prepare the ground for the potatoes. I will put the potatoes in at the weekend. I have bought some seeds so I really must get those done as well, might do sew some seeds tomorrow and put them in trays in the greenhouse. I am seriously considering giving up the allotment when the rent runs out in September. My knees and back ache too much and I just cant manage the heavy digging. It will be a great loss, but unless I suddenly lose a lot of weight and get very fit I can't see how things are going to change in that respect.

My brother was visiting us so he could start the prep for our new kitchen. He has pulled out the old larder and lifted the tiles off the floor. He has also nicely boarded up the door that did lead to the hall from the kitchen. The kitchen fitter came round yesterday to check the kitchen designer had done his calculations right. There is a bit of an issue about the fridge. it is too big to go where we wanted it to - where the larder was. The larder was under the stairs so there is a lintel in the way. We cant remove the lintel otherwise the stairs will fall down. So he has left the lintel and had to leave a supporting pole as well.

I was pretty upset about the fridge as it is only a year old and I really like it. However Andy's parents asked if they could have it and we have said that is okay. mainly because when they move in 6-8 weeks time they are giving us their range cooker, a double bed, two bedside cabinets and a drinks cabinet. So "fair swap" I guess!! We will just have to buy a similar fridge which is smaller. The kitchen designer said the kitchen would be fitted beginning of July, but the fitter said it wont be until August!! So not happy about that as we have the floors bare now. Oh well, it is always stressful having works done or moving, but things are bearable so I shouldn't complain. It is not like we don't have any or minimal use of the kitchen.

The kids are soon to start their exams so we have exam papers everywhere and revision timetables to keep an eye on. They both seem okay about it, though i think Alice wishes she had lots of time in between each exam. Sev actually did some revision without being reminded today! I was amazed and pleasantly surprised. He is so annoyingly laid back about his studies, although acutely aware now of how bright he is now that he is in main stream education. He says if he doesn't do well enough in his exams to get in the Navy as an officer he will just go in as a rating. Oh he is so annoying. Why can't he have a bit of motivation! Just an ounce of the motivation his sisters have would be something. But I am sure he will do well no matter what he does - he just seems to be lucky in that respect. Time will tell.

I took Alice to the supermarket to buy a little book that she can use as a school leavers book. She has decorated it and is going to take it into school for her friends to write in and decorate. I dug out an autograph book that I had when I was 14 - it is exactly 30 years old! Can you imagine that. I am surely not old enough to have a book that I have kept for that long. I couldn't remember some of the people who had written in the autograph book, mostly school friends, but it was nice to read through it. I am sure she will cherish her leavers book for 30 years too. LOL We talked about her last day/exam and how she and all her friends will probably cry. They will probably see each other during the holidays and beyond I should think. Six of them are arranging to spend the weekend camping together which is a great idea as a final get together. She unfortunately will be missing the prom. I think she is more disappointed about not getting a dress than actually going to the prom. I might just let her buy a dress just for the hell of it, I am sure she can find some opportunity to wear it this summer - maybe for her 16th birthday party.