Twang

The twins went to a birthday party in the village hall on Saturday afternoon. Bouncy castle and cake. They had a great time. It was a faries and pirates theme which L dressed up for as a fairy but C wouldn't put his pirate outfit on.

One of the mum's there was wearing a gold thong that had crept halfway up her back and she seemed to spend the whole time crouching and bending to show it off. Every now and then you see someone who has no idea...or maybe she did?

Garbage man

Last Saturday I had planned to pick up a sofabed from Freecycle. I drove up to Chatham for 11am and met the kindly donator outside her house. We went around the corner to the garage where the thing was stored.

Usually I ask for photos before I go and now I'm going to make it a rule. I'm not sure if she really meant for it to be used or if she was just trying to get it to the tip without paying someone to take it away. The frame was OK-ish but the matress was wet, mouldy and it stank.

As I was texting my wife "Going to tip, this thing stinks" I thought about GC at work. He's going to piss himself when he finds out I've driven 50 miles just to take out a stranger's trash. Oh well.

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

From Laura's blog:

I quite like this.

Stay calm

Yesterday afternoon I sat at my desk bored out of my skull. Resting my chin on my hands I felt my pulse.

I haven't been running for a while now so I decided to take my pulse to see how much the resting rate had increased. It used to be about 60 but it's 68 now.

Then I noticed something unsettling. My heart seems to skip a beat every now and then. Thump, thump, thump, pause, thump, thump, thump. There's no fixed pattern to it, sometimes two skips in the space of 10 beats sometimes a gap of 70 beats.

I read something about PVCs, premature ventricular complexes, on the web and this seems to fit but then I'm no doctor.

I've checked again today and it doesn't seem to be happening now. I'm going to the doctor's about it next Friday just to be sure. Probably nothing but I don't want to be in the hospital in 2 years time listening to, "Well Mr. *, if you'd come to us sooner we might have been able to save your legs."

I can see the moon

This weekend was the last chance this lifetime to see the Orionids meteor shower. The next visit won't be until around 2061. So my friend from work, GC, decided to let his kids stay up to watch them.

He did a little research on the web and found a few recommended local sites that would have good views without too much light pollution from nearby buildings.

Around midnight they got in the car and drove to a local park. He turned off the lights and got out of the car first to see where they might stand.

It was pitch black outside, no light at all....
...until another car's headlights were flashed and he saw some others enjoying the late night solitude of the car park. Only they weren't exactly stargazing, they were gazing at something though.

He dives back in a car mumbling some excuses to the kids and drives straight home.

That's go to be a first, taking your kids dogging.

Here we go gathering nuts in October

We stayed at a friends house on Saturday, just a chance to catch up with them.

We arrived in the afternoon and they led us to a County park nearby, Shorne Wood. The rain had been thumping down in the morning but it was quite sunny when we went out so a walk around the woods seemed a good idea.

I haven't been there before but it was easy to see that Shorne Wood has had a bit of a facelift recently. There's a new gift-shop/cafe there with a few interactive display cabinets. They're very keen on green energy so the displays had some narration that was powered by turning a crank in the wall, quite clever and the kids liked it. Solar panels on the roof and a wind turbine int he car-park too.

We strolled about and the kids had a quick go in the playground before we went deeper into the woods. Chestnuts everywhere so my friend (A), my daughter (L) and I collected about fifty to bake and eat later. L loved this and stuffed her pockets with them. There we're loads of mushrooms too but yu're not allowed to pick them in this wood.

Near the car-park there's a small garden and in there is a wooden carving called 'The Green Man'. Apparently you stick you hand in his mouth and make a wish, a bit like that thing in Rome. Anyway I had a go and made a wish, still didn't get any this weekend though. Oh well.

Assembly

F (5) had a class assembly yesterday that parents could come to, I couldn't go, work, so my wife and Mum went along. All the kids were doing a little piece about themselves and it focus on personal attributes.

"I have blonde hair," say some of the kids together.

"I have brown hair," say some more.

"I have ginger hair," says one little girl.

F gets her turn, "I have brown hair and I wear glasses," shes quite proud of this as she's the only one in her class with specs.

Then, "My favourite colour is indigo, my favourite food is grapes and when I grow up I want to be a fairy."

Could you get any cuter?

Blow your nose

The kids have all had colds recently.

"Dad, I got a runny nose," says L.

I turn around to see two thick streams on her top lip. "Well, get a tissue and blow it then."

F's a bit older so doesn't need the prompting.

C, however, spends the whole day sniffing. "C, blow your nose," we repeat time and time again.

"Alright then," he answers before tottering off sniffing away.

About 9pm last night he wakes up groaning and empties his stomach all over his bed. It's like a scence from Ghostbusters.

Well, that's what you get with a belly full of roast potatoes and snot. BLOW YOUR NOSE.

Christmas lists

So we're talking to our three little charmers about what they want for Christmas.

C (3) comes out with the usual; dinosaurs, cars, chocolate.

F (5); Sky-dancers (no idea), costumes, Dr. Who stuff.

L (3) says, "I want a fairy sky-dancer, fairy costume, fairy Dr. Who and a cactus."

"Huh, a cattus? What's a cattus?" asks F.

Hands on hips, L replies, "Duh! It's a plant with spikes on," and then rolls her eyes.

3 going on 13.