Bingo and Bunnings.

Brian has beeen in Singapore for the last 3 days. We've been to Bunnings (/B&Q) in his absence and bought a few more plugs, a lawnmower and a lemon tree with large pot. Well, to be precise mum and Dad bought us the lemon tree as a sort of housewarming. It's a dwarf tree called "Lots of lemons" and apparently it produces just that- and even better they're normal size, it's only the bush that's dwarf :o)
I must say they've got the right idea for keeping the children happy too. There's a childrens playground area actually in the store which allowed me to drop them in and leave one or other grandparent sitting watching over them. It makes life far easier from a shopping point of view and I'm sure it makes sound commercial sense too. I have before now had to leave a trolley load of stuff in B&Q and just leave when I could no longer control my childrens desire to run (and I guess my own).
It's been distinctly cooler here and indeed it rained and blew on Wednesday both day and night. We joked about needing to make our own entertainment as the boys couldn't go out, and they had great (albeit fruitless) fun chasing a fly round with a newspaper for about 20 minutes.  Apart from the light relief afforded by the trip to the DIY shop we actually made and played bingo as Alfie absolutely loves it and it's great for his familiarity with numbers. I also decided we'd make some "letter" bingo so that he gets good practise with his alphabet too.

Homemade bingo game. Numbers 0-20.

Lower case letter bingo. More than just a fun game (but don't tell the boys!)

Yesterday too was much cooler, although the monsoon style rain showers had stopped. The boys were delighted to get back out on their bikes and scooters and work off some energy and Alfie is getting used to his stabilisers being much looser as Brian altered them last weekend. He really needs to do some straight runs to get his balance as mainly here he's doing circles which does make it harder. Down to the cycle path along the river at the weekend I think.

Last night I made a Thai green curry for our dinner. The boys loved it and came back for more which is a true compliment for my boys who are by no means fantastic eaters. I used a bought paste as the base I must admit, but added extra kaffir lime to the mix which made it smell really amazing. This was courtesey of Brian's cousin and her partner who live in the hills to the East of here and have lots of citrus trees in their garden. I must admit it had never really occurred to me that a kaffir lime was a fruit tree, it was just a name for a recipe ingredient. They're funny looking things though, and you don't eat them but can use the zest as well as the famed leaves. I did both and the kitchen was filled with an incredible lemon-grassy aroma.

A fresh kaffir lime. Wrinkly as a bulldogs face but full of heavenly scent.

Thank heavens it's been much warmer today, to the point that Alfie even went for a dip in the pool. Ru was less brave and made his own sport filling a bucket and tipping on Alf as he swam underneath. I waited with bated breath for war to break out but Alfie thought it was great fun so they played that way for a while. Later when Mum and I went to the supermarket we invested in some baking ingredients so that we can bake some fairy cakes and bread in the next few days. Can't wait I must say.

Doing time.

Easter monday we headed off down the Canning Highway to Fremantle. Fremantle is the port city for Perth and has loads of history and lovely old style buildings, not to mention massive container ships with big cranes for the boys to enjoy. Mum and Dad got new hats and then we took a guided "tram" tour to see the sights. We'd done this before but it was a good way for the new arrivals to see round and this time we also included a tour of Fremantle prison. It was a scary place and although really rather beautiful on the outside it certainly looked a pretty desolate place to have to spend time.

The Prison Gates from outside....

...and from inside....

Just like in the movies.

The excercise yard. At the far end were the washbasins and loos-outside in the yard itself.

It was a fascinating but rather disturbing insight into a place that must have been really desperate to inhabit. Although built by convicts in 7 years the 1850's it was astonishing to find it was only decommissioned in 1991. The cells were originally just 7 feet by 4 and as many as 50% of the convicts died overnight by simply suffocating. Eventually the authorities cottoned on to why so many deaths were happening and the cells were widened and given ventilation which solved the problem.
After our tour we were lucky enough to be let back out and went for some very welcome tea before hopping back on the tram and seeing more of the city. The war memorial was decked out in flowers as the Anzac day service had taken place during the morning, and the views from there are beautiful.

The top of Alfie's head dwarfed by the obelisk.

Alfie was so tired he fell asleep for the rest of the tram ride, poor thing, but woke in time for an ice cream at the end.
Probably because of this nap (I don't know what Ru's excuse was) the boys were still full of beans when we got home so B took them out on our newly reassembled bike trailer. My bike has the best gearing for pulling it so he took that, but heaven knows I don't think I'd be fit enough to pedal those two hefty monsters around!

Where did they go but yet another playpark?!

By the time they got back it was nearly time for dinner and soon bed beckoned both adults and children alike.

Today was still bank holiday here ( Officially Easter monday as yesterday was Anzac day) -so we headed for the beach. Hillarys harbour to be precise with its lovely safe inner beach which is great for the kids. Both boys were very keen to get in the water and see if there were any fish to be caught. Sadly there weren't today but they still enjoyed splashing about. Then Alfie set about making a sand castle, which turned into more of a fort, and I helped a bit to get the moat dug. Before we knew it there were 3 other boys asking if they could join in the fun cos the castle was "really cool" and Alfie, who's incredibly sociable, was thrilled with himself  :o)

Brian decided he'd make the most of the opportunity for a dip too and headed out to the deeper water for a swim. He came back more quickly than expected and it turned out he had found a different sort of fish on his travels- he'd been stung by a jellyfish across his face!! Fortunately it wasn't too serious and he put some vinegar on it at the fish and chip shop as we had lunch later, which helped a bit. As we walked along the quay afterwards we saw lots of  tiny jellyfish, only about an inch or two across and I guess it was one of those that got him. Poor Brian- he was only just getting over the tummy bug I'd given him!
Also on the quay was a special Thomas the Tank engine "train" ride. It only took about 3 minutes around the quay but the boys were entranced. When we asked it turned out to be free -so on they hopped!

Sitting in the troublesome trucks.

Choo choo, off we go!

Even better, they got a Thomas stamp on the back of their hand, and were allowed to keep their ticket, one of Alfie's treasures which he'll keep safe.

We got back home in time to iron a shirt or two as Brian's off to Singapore in the morning. He'll be back Saturday but it's still a shame when he has to go. It'll be lovely for me to have some company here on this occasion though.

Easter Weekend.

The Easter weekend this year is 5 days long here. Good Friday and Easter Monday were stretched further by Anzac day falling right at the same time and adding an extra holiday into the fray. So we've made it through the first few days quite well really. And despite mad panicking at the supermarkets due to the number of days they'd be closed for, we didn't even run out of food. Friday was a lazy one as Mum and Dad were still a bit jetlagged so we strolled up to the local pirate ship and had ice creams (as is our habit these days).

Ruairi did some running...

and some jumping.

Saturday our friends came over for a BBQ bringing the boys first Easter gifts- beautiful baskets with chocs and gifts which they had made and decorated themselves.

Then overnight the Easter Bunny sneaked into our house and garden and left colour-coded trails for each of the boys. Alfie had blue arrows to follow and Ru had yellow.

Each of the boys had his own basket to collect a few mini eggs along the way...

Alfie had made his of papier mache at school.

Both lots of arrows led to a fab table and chairs which just happened to be very cheap in a sale last week, and their eggs were waiting on top. Sadly both children and eggs were were long gone by the time I got to take a photo!

Next stop after Easter Mass was a trip to the zoo. We met a very friendly kangaroo who was quite happy for the children to stroke her. Never before have we seen them closer than about 5 meters away so this was a real treat.

Honestly, that's just a bit of rope behind them, not a fence or anything.

After a picnic lunch we wandered down to the elephant enclosure just in time to see a daily talk and display they do with their two female elephants. They take the older, steadier one walking round the park often in the day, but the younger one can only go out when it's not open as she gets spooked more easily- and one thing you don't want in a crowded zoo is a spooked elephant on the loose!! They do lots of tricks and excercises to keep them agile and to keep them from getting bored and it was amazing to see them painting with their trunks. Apparently they seem to love it and if they try to have only one of them painting the other one tends to try to pull over to get to the paints, so both were at it yesterday..

Grandma asked Ru if he could do what those elephants were doing and he looked at her as if she was completely mad. "No. I don't have a trunk" he explained.
We saw loads of other beautiful animals and Ru decided to try to be as tall as a giraffe by going up on his Grandad's shoulders.

By the time we got home I was feeling more than a little tired. In fact I was feeling distinctly sick and poor Mum ended up doing the vast majority of cooking of our Easter lamb roast. Turned out I had a bug and was very poorly for the night- and I hadn't even had any chocolate yet!  Upside is it's only a 24 hour thing and I'm pretty much over it now. Downside is that, as of this afternoon, I think I may have given it to Brian. Ooops. :o/

They're here! (just so you know)

I got to the airport 40 mins after my parents' flight landed and bought a cup of tea and a muffin in the full belief I was in for a bit of a wait. No sooner had I started dividing the muffin between myself and the boys than they appeared through the arrival doors. The boys ran to greet them and after a quick hug Mum grabbed my cuppa and downed it! She had been in transit for a whole day and with the added stress of the "interview" by immigration she deserved it mind. It seems they couldn't have been nicer or more sympathetic at this end. It's all to do with electronic visas -apparently tourists shouldn't have them but it's not their fault. Don't know the full details but all is well and they even let her keep all the tea, calpol and bottle of vodka she had stashed ( and she brought enough tea to set up a tea shop so I'm glad they were distracted by the visa debacle). Even better their bargain Thai airlines business class flights were excellent with yummy food and drink a-flowing, lie flat seat/beds and staff that couldn't be more helpful. Marvellous outcome all round I'd say :o)

Today was warm so Alfie and Ru were busy showing off their new house and their skills in the pool to Grandma and Grandad. While showing them that we have an orange tree they discovered one of the fruits had fallen off. It was ripe!! and it turned out to be delicious too.

 Also Alfie raided the recycling bin again and made a robot from all the things he found. I have to admit it's a bloomin good job, although I had to help a bit with the sticking of sellotape to hold limbs on.

Note that he already signs all his artworks so that we can sell them at huge profit in the future ;o)

It shouldn't happen to a Grandma....

Mum and Dad are coming tomorrow for 5 weeks. Their flight is around midday but the taxi was picking them up at 5am (!!) in case of hold ups on the M25. They said they'd rather be sure they got to Heathrow in plenty of time than be rushing at the last minute. I, of course, said something along the lines of  "Nobody ever gets there the full 3 or 4 hours ahead of time, you must be crazy", but parents being as they are were not to be put off.
I'm so excited that I couldn't wait so decided I'd ring them at the airport to make sure they'd checked in safe and sound -thank you skype for making international mobile calls so cheap. I caught them in the Thai airlines business class lounge (if you don't mind !) waiting to board. Mum sounded distinctly subdued and I was worried they were already disappointed with their splash out on business class :o(
Turns out she was nearly turned away at check-in. The travel agent applied for their visas for them when booking their tickets, but although Dad's is fine, there's some irregularity in the way Mum's was put through and it came up "invalid" on the computer. They honestly thought she was going to be turned away from the flight but, as they were checking in hours early, the airline had time to put a call through to the Aussie embassy who told them to let them board but she'll have to be interviewed by immigration at this end. Poor thing - it's really taken the wind out of her sails, and she was so excited to be coming. I'm seriously hoping all will be fine. Western Australia is abbreviated to WA and it's nickname is the "Wait Awhile" state cos they tend to be pretty laid back. I'm hoping their immigration dept will live up to that and give a 69 yr old woman a break. Worse still she's bringing all sorts of "contraband" in the form of 2 types of tea and some calpol for us. She was always going to declare it anyway, but what's the betting they'll take it all off her now and she'll have wasted her money. Really hope their holiday can only improve from here. I'll let you know what happens, but in the meantime, remember she only got on at all cos she got there in loads of time. I might change my check-in habits in future.

Living in a time warp.

The thing I've noticed about the climate over here is that things tend to age more gracefully. Not all things of course. Some of the people probably age fairly disgracefully and others have leather where their skin once was, but many more look very well on the sunshine and outdoor life. It's really the inanimate items that have come to my attention. We've been passed on the road recently by an absolutely immaculate Sunbeam Alpine and an Austin Healy (classic cars for those wondering), both looking like they were fresh off the production line rather than 50-plus years old. The same is true of lots of cars from the seventies and eighties. When did you last see a smart looking Ford Capri for example? They're here and going strong, and even the VW campers have managed to dodge the rusting process.
Mind you, it sometimes feels like being in a bit of a time warp. The radio presenters still call women "love" all the time and I have without a word of a lie heard Kim Wilde sing "Kids in America" at least 5 times this week. Eddie Grant and "A Flock of Seagulls" have been heard on more than one occasion, Tracey Chapman's still Talking 'Bout a Revolution a fair amount too, and I've come to the conclusion that Dire Straits must have a sponsorship deal with our local station as the whole of their back catalogue is played ad infinitum. Mind you, it was almost a surprise to remember that it was Yazoo who originally sang "Only you" (3 times in the past couple of weeks). I used to really like it first time round. Only trouble now is I find it hard to resist doing the Flying Pickets' "Ba Da Da Dum" version over the top. Must be showing my age...

Surf City

Today B had made a plan to go with a friend to the beach and finally get his surf board in the water. In contrast to the recent cooler conditions (only mid 20's this past week) it was up in the 30's again today so we decided we'd all go and enjoy the beach and the company. It was a stunning blue sky day and the boys had so much fun in and out of the water. The sea is a beautiful temperature, the like of which I have never experienced in the UK and Ireland despite all our talk about the warm gulf stream. I paddled, watching over the kids as there was quite a swell even in the shallows. At one point Ru got knocked down by a wave, dropped his beloved bucket and his hat got washed off his head. I grabbed him and ran after the hat, he wailed after the bucket and two ladies who were taking a quiet stroll got roped into the palaver thinking something truly precious had been lost. Heaven knows the surf rescue people who watch over the beach must have been laughing.
Unfortunately I allowed B to talk me into wearing a bikini. "You look great. Besides, everybody wears them" he said. This, in fairness to him, is true( the everybody wears them bit, not the looking great bit). You look more odd in a full one-piece here, whatever shape or colour you are - and I am that slightly fluorescent shade of white that marks me out as a Brit. I had my hat on too, being sun aware, but foolishly I applied my sun cream with my shorts still in place. I now have a line of bright red about 2 inches high across my low back, thus failing for the first time since arriving in my "trying not to get sunburnt" motto. By the time the men finished surfing the boys were starving and our friends offered a bbq lunch back at their house. Great food followed by scrummy homemade chocolate cake. Over lunch I mentioned the helicopter that had flown along the coast when the guys were in the water. Its job is to keep an eye out for sharks and send a warning down if one is spotted. On hearing this Brian blanched slightly and told us in amazement he had thought it was a pleasure flight. I'm not entirely sure whether its presence is a comfort. Although it is good to know that someone is watching out, it's a rather stark reminder that somebody needs to be! In all we had a lovely afternoon and the boys were exhausted by the time we left.
Having slept on the way home Alfie did a jigsaw with Brian in the evening, and Ru took to his bed. We've been trying to cut out the telly and it's so apparent that the simplest things are the best for them. I don't know when I last saw them laugh so much (and not be fighting) as when we were in the water today, and this evening there is a bright, round moon which they loved.  "Daddy, Daddy come and see the full moon, it's so beautiful" called Alfie when he saw it. "It's breathtaking." !!  Gorgeous.

More cycling and my new kitchen

Sunday brought a further trip to Bunnings to return half the stuff we bought on Saturday. We're on the other side of the world and it's almost comforting to know some things don't change. We still managed to come away without 2 items that were on the list, but did have some rather scrummy hot dogs that were being peddled by the local lions club outside the door. This seems to be very common here. Rather than the traditional "greasy spoon" caravan that seems to be in many a B&Q car park, they have local charities raising funds by putting on a barbie. The smell is too tempting for all but the hardiest soul and, safe in the knowledge that its all for a good cause, virtually no-one walks on past. They must make a fortune. Meanwhile, the cafe inside the store is empty with a green-aproned teenager lolling on the counter waiting for something to do.

Once home we abandoned the DIY idea and went up to the playground with the boys.

On the way we saw some more of the local parrots.These ones are called Rainbow Lorikeets.

The boys had ice creams....

Alfie's one turned his tongue a bit yellow....

...and I had a coffee and a muffin.

Then the boys cycled some more.....

..with a quick go on the biggest slide before we went home.

**********************

The newest challenge for me is using our kitchen to the full. I am not on this occasion talking about cooking either. Now that we actually have all our own belongings rather than the half dozen cups, plates and cutlery settings which we hired before, I have to store the things. This involves using most of the cupboards in the kitchen. So what?? I hear you cry. Well, whoever designed the kitchen in this house was either a) a giant or b) spiderman. There is a c) option but I'd get done for sexism so I'll leave it out. Basically all - and I do mean all- of the wall units are so high that I hadn't been using them till now. Even one of the removal men on Friday commented on the fact, and he was just over 6 foot, so imagine my dilemma at 5 foot 3! Since I no longer have a choice but use these cupboards I am reduced to using the boys ikea plastic step which was bought so they can reach to wash their hands after the loo. I kick it from place to place around the kitchen and periodically trip over it when my tea levels are getting low. For the top shelves I actually have to get the steps out so I've only put things up there that we basically never use. I did think of one massive advantage in all this. At last I will have somewhere to put stuff the boys aren't supposed to find ( treats, chocolate, toys that have been confiscated due to beating the sibling over the head with them etc). Only problem is, they take after their ex-mountain rescue Dad in the climbing department so I could, as ever, be fighting a losing battle.....

Our stuff arrives.

Well the removals men came and went, both lots of them. I'm fairly sure at this point that pretty much everything that came in the door stayed here. The boys watched much of the comings and goings from the back of the car. This house, you see, doesn't actually have any road facing windows. The majority of the frontage is a double garage. I actually recognised this slight fault with the place last week when I had to sit in the garage for over half an hour with Ru. There's a house being built over the road and a crane was working, then being packed up to leave. Ru couldn't bear to go indoors, and I couldn't leave a 3 yr old on the front drive. I think the builders thought I was having an ogle at them, but sadly none of them was really worth the wait. So, anyway, back to yesterday, the car boot it was for the boys.

Ru watches with a sunshade styled from our picnic blanket.

How cool was the truck? No wonder the boys couldn't leave.

Just some of the boxes.

The men helped unpack the boxes but it was very much up to me to try to find places for everything. I'm still working on much of it 24 hours later but no matter. In theory the service included reassembling beds, sofas etc that had been taken apart for the move. In reality they "don't have a long enough socket for those legs" (sofa), "don't do ikea-type furniture" (Alfie's Flexa high-sleeper) and I think the truth was they generally couldn't be arsed taking the boxes of books upstairs to the room pointed out as the study. Never mind, the boys were so delighted to have their beds, bikes and toys back it was very sweet.

Ru's beloved Noddy car bed that the men did assemble...

...and Alfie's mid sleeper that they didn't!

Come evening we had the obligatory take-away curry that one always has on moving-in day and I must say it was great, so coupled with the fact that we all had our own bed to sleep in things didn't seem bad at all.

The only slight hitch was a mad search for my set of keys this morning. I knew I left them on the hall chair, and they weren't there. We tried ringing both companies in case they'd been picked up by accident, then B started researching replacing them all. After 2 hours of searching house and car and me worrying about the consequences ( car keys, house keys and garage door remote thingy were all on the bunch), they turned up in a previously undiscovered cubby hole inside the car itself. Clearly it was only we adults who had not previously seen this hiding place, but at least one little boy must have. No idea which boy, and by that time we were so grateful to have them back that we didn't care much.

After a trip to "Bunnings"  (think B&Q, with green writing rather than orange) for electric plugs to replace our UK ones, we headed out for a trip so the boys could enjoy their newly arrived bikes. They practised first on the drive, to get back in the swing of it:

Then we went up the road to the local playpark and football green (not the big pirate ship I've mentioned before).

On the way back we saw some of the local parrots. There are some white ones which are very common, some beautiful green ones with red/blue and orange markings around their head, and then this kind which I have seen a lot around our area. They're grey with very pink necks and white heads and they're called Galahs. They're renowned as being rather stupid, though heaven knows if they deserve this claim.

(not the best picture I know)

The last 2 days have also been somewhat cooler. The morning and evening are really the only time you might notice this, but the boys happily had a bath this evening for practically the first time since our arrival ( they have been showering before you ask!).  It's also been just a little too breezy to tempt the boys in for a dip, but they've always been desperate to play with a sailing boat Brian got for Fathers day last year, which we've never tried out for one reason or another. So when the guys unpacked it yesterday at last they got their chance to use the pool in a different way:

Ok, I'll sign off at last. But before I go, I'll share this. Because I was tired I made the simplest pasta for dinner tonight. Literally 4 ingredients. Pasta, garlic, spinach and olive oil. Both my kids came back for seconds and said how much they "love this dinner". I think I'll give up on anything more complicated in future, clearly I'm wasting my time!

The chaos begins.

Friday morning here and we've been up since 6am as there's work ahead. Our container arrives today with all our stuff from home, so all the stuff we've been hiring (beds, sofas, kitchen equipment) is being collected. Both companies have said to expect them any time after 7 so we've dressed, had breakfast, and stripped beds to await their arrival. Thankfully the men to remove stuff have just arrived in advance of the men to deliver stuff. With any luck they may even be off the premises by the time the others arrive and it won't be quite the headache it could be( one guy puts down a chair, next guy takes it back out to his lorry is the scenario I envisage). Hold on- I spoke too soon. Got to go and let the next guys in. No room for 2 lorries is going to be the next issue I suspect. More later.....

Whats in a name?

Today I've been out and about doing a few jobs in the car and I had the radio on. Nothing unusual there. The music choice is fairly ok if your an eighties child like me, but the ads definitely highlight a few cultural differences.
First was the McDonalds ad that didn't actually use the word McDonalds at any point. Remember this is a radio ad, so there was no discreetly placed big yellow "M" either. It's just that, this being Oz, they called it by a nickname throughout- so "Maccers" it was, start to finish. I suspect there aren't many other places in the world where The McDonalds Corporation would even tolerate such a casual attitude!
Then there was the ad for the home store with a massive sale on. Doonas and Manchester were among the items marked down. What?? Doona is the Aussie word for a duvet it seems, but manchester is a mystery. From the context I suspect it is a collective term for bedlinens and towels etc. But I'm not sure.
On a similarly geographical note, it would appear that one of the local Aussie rules teams has changed its sponsor. I couldn't really care except that apparently the players "guernseys" will now carry a different logo. Guernseys?? Well, I guess why not?- after all we call them jerseys. I do wonder why the Channel Islands have been singled out for such attention in the jumper department though, and am intrigued to know whether there's a country somewhere else in the world that dons its Sarks or Alderneys on a chilly day.....
So, from doonas, guernseys and manchester to stubbies (bottles of beer) and eskies ( for keeping your stubbies cold in), it seems that there's more to this Aussie language lark than just watching "Neighbours" for a few years in a misspent youth. I'm getting there, but I'm not entirely convinced. To me Manchester will always be a city in the north of England, and towels will remain, well, towels .

The new religion.... followed by an older one.

We heard at the end of last week that our container will be arriving next Friday. This is big news as it means we will at last have our own beds/ toys/ bikes/ kitchenalia etc. Obviously some of this stuff is more important than others, and in some ways it helps to clarify what actually is. Ru and Alfie are very keen to have their toys of course, but interestingly, also want their own beds back (Ru's is particularly worth having as Grandad made it for him in the shape of Noddy's car). Brian will be pleased to have his surf board, although whether he'll feel brave enough to use it much with the threat of sharks in the water remains to be seen. What will I be most pleased to see I wonder? I suspect that my teapots (yes, that's a plural!) will be high on the list, along with our pictures and paintings. Maybe my bike might get a bit more of an airing in this climate too...... well, that's what I'm currently telling myself anyway.

Anyway, with the imminent arrival of the container came the realisation that some stuff won't be coming because we left it behind. You see, we have been renting all the basics in the meantime. That'll all be going on Friday and we'll be without a fridge, freezer, washing machine, kettle, and lawnmower, to name but a few. I'm hoping to pick up a second hand washing machine and drier by scouring the local paper and "gumtree" but I don't fancy putting my food in anything less than a new fridge. So I had to convince B to not only go into some shops, but also to actually buy stuff in them. Never an easy task, it took quite some time to complete and left him so shaken that he very nearly crashed the car on the way home! The poor boys had had enough too by the end of it, so we went back to the lovely playground near home and Brian treated them to an ice cream and steadied his own nerves with a coffee.

On Sunday we decided to go to mass at the church next to Alfies school down in Myaree. We haven't been for a few weeks and the last visit was to our local church here in Applecross. Oh my, that one was sooo happy clappy that we were itching to get out. The musical leader played guitar and warbled "Hallelujah" till our eyes nearly rolled back in our heads, and we knew that it was not to be the place for us. So this week we tried Alfies school and it was good. 1) not too long and drawn out. 2) they have a childrens liturgy which involves sending the young ones to a soundproof room down the back to hear a reading and do drawings  3) one of Alfie's school friends was there so he had someone to play with  4) they serve tea and biscuits after. HOWEVER, I managed to disgrace us on our first outing. Not the boys, which is my usual fear as they get bored, but me. My phone, which it didn't occur to me to switch off because the only person who usually rings is Brian (and he was with me) rang loudly in the middle of mass. Arrgghhh. And, worse, it was only someone calling me back to tell me their bargain washing machine was already sold. Two blows for the price of one.

In the afternoon our friends came visiting and we conjured up hot dogs and ginger beer -in retrospect it sounds like a Famous Five picnic. I discovered from them it is Mothering Sunday in the UK (it's not till May here) and panicked that I hadn't sent anything to my poor Mum. Then I remembered that she's only due back from a mad "girls" trip to Vegas tonight, and didn't feel quite so bad as she wouldn't have been home anyway. I rang Dad and left a message for her and I'll call her tomorrow, wish her a belated one and see how it all went. Might even have time to send some flowers. But I won't ring her mobile in case they decided to catch mass en route!!

A nice cuppa tea.

Friday comes again and Alfie had to do "news" this morning at school. They have to draw four pictures and then do a little presentation to the class, recounting a story that has happened to them recently. Alfie decided to tell about the chicken from last week, and I must say it went down a storm. He's been struggling a little as he missed the first 6 weeks of term and he's been exhausted from all the moving around and the heat. We get to stay and watch on these mornings if we want to and I have to admit I was feeling a bit nervous for him, but by the end I felt really proud of him.
On the way home I went to get Ru some passport pictures taken at the shopping centre. While we waited for the pics I gave in to Ru's regular cries of "I'm hungry" by going to a department store cafe . I had a pot of tea and Ru a "babycino" (which here is a milky hot chocolate in an espresso cup with lots of froth). Between us we shared a blueberry muffin. Very civilised and he behaved very well, but he made me (and the people at the next table) chuckle when he put down his spoon, picked up his cup and announced with a grin "I drinking it like a cuppa tea"  and swigged it back like a navvy with a pint.
After school I let the boys do some crafts. I'm always a bit nervous of such things in a rented house, so we went into the little internal courtyard off the kitchen. We do have to live here for 2 years after all so I can't draw a total halt to such activities. Anyway, as predicted, the boys and I all got thoroughly covered in paint and the recycling box was raided of any interesting looking items. Ru made an aeroplane out of an egg box and some card, Alfie made a fish out of an old milk carton. I'd love to post pics of the finished products, but you may not recognise which is which so I'll just let you see the work in progress!!

A serious job to do.

On a final, and completely different, note, I have an observation to make. You know you've been watching too many cooking programmes on TV when your kids start referring to you as "Chef"...... (Oh for the talent....) ;0)