Car, and Week, Update

The car? Martin the mechanic guy came round, and it was merely flooded. He was very good at not making me feel ridiculous, and checked several things and ran it around the block a bit as well. All is well :)

Yesterday, we hopped into the car and took a friend and her daughter along to Norwich Castle Museum. Much fun for kids, all packaged in a 900-year-old castle.

Today, it's the morning social for squadron spouses. I need to get the crockpot crocking, me dressed, and laundry added to my carload o' stuff so we can get down there to set up!!

Best-laid Plans and All That.

We've had a really nice, quiet weekend here. Enjoyed the first day and a half of sunshine and outdoor grilling. Sunday and Monday were pretty grim and rainy, but we hung out and enjoyed the break.

Today brought a screeching halt to the rest of this week's mild plans for half-term fun, however. Lily's friend is over for a playdate, and because it's raining, my idea was to head to a local indoor play place.

Bad news? As I started out the driveway, the car just...died. There's no re-starting it.

Good news? It happened literally 10 feet from the driveway entrance so we could all easily return home.

Bad news? No idea what's wrong and the car is actually IN the road, although far enough to the left that cars can get around easily.

Good news? Our little lane is VERY lightly trafficked.

Bad news? I have car-inclusive plans for tomorrow AND Thursday.

Good news? The mechanic can come here and have a look today.

Bad news? Not until later...much later.

Good news? Kids are still happy to stay home and make/eat cupcakes and play.

Bad news? No more really. Just have to stay tuned and see what the problem is, and hope for the best...

Lovely Views

This is a pheasant's nest that Simon, the gardener, found. He's leaving that flowerbed unweeded until the eggs hatch. I saw the mother pheasant nesting this morning, but she must be off hunting for food now, so I got this shot. Aren't those eggs a lovely shade of blue?

And here's a view from the nest, across the garden. Check out that table and chairs...cute, no? Did I mention that I am blogging from that table at this moment? The wireless reaches outside...whoo hoo!!

Yarn Money

American economic stimulus package = yarn money. Right?? Kris at Sonny and Shear (my fave on-line yarn store) is very convincing about it. Here's her note, and a code to save 20% on your purchases from the shop until midnight on Friday:

In honor of our little economic stimulus checks that we’re all receiving here in the states, we’ve decided to have a little sale. If you’re anything like me, the first thing that came to mind when you heard about our stimulus package was “yarn money”. Therefore, what could be more perfect than a yarn sale??!!!?

For the next few days you can save 20% on all of your yarn purchases at Sonny & Shear by entering the code GeorgeGaveMeYarnMoney at checkout. The coupon expires at midnight on Friday, May 23, 2008.

Feel free to share the code with your friends, your Ravelry groups, your blog readers, your cat, whoever. The sale is open to everyone and anyone. Enjoy your “economic stimulus” yarn.

Things That Make Me Happy Today..

A post in pictures (and some words, too)...

First, no picture, but the knife grinder came back through town. He sharpened my short branch loppers and long ones (secateurs?), and showed off his lovely spaniels. All five of them. What yummy dogs... I didn't take a picture because it seemed rude, somehow.

This morning, after the school run, I went to the car wash. Parking under the horse chestnut tree provides wonderful shade, and protection from rain, but the down side is poop. Lots and lots of bird poop. You might as well paint a huge target on the car...it was encrusted with nonprecious gems. One Deluxe Wash later, it looks like this:

Those of you who've been here may note that Little Blue Pogo is parked off to the side, NOT under the tree. I think I will keep that up for a few days at least!

After the car wash, I had a quick wander through town and bought the cheap-o garden set that I thought about all last summer and saw again this past Saturday. It's plastic, but pretty, and for 29 pounds, I won't find anything nicer. Two chairs and a little table, perfect for mornings out in the front garden or afternoons in the main garden. It may have been plastic, but schlepping the box back to the parking garage from QS was a major pain! I should have brought my shopper to balance the box on.

Here's a chair, before assembly. Hmmmmm:

Now, here's the chair, after. Nice, I think...

Critical Mass

Be careful how you boast about your immunity to this season's allergen. Why? Because when the pollen count then skyrockets to One MILLION the next day, you will be the sheepish, drippy-nosed, sneezing fool.

Rapeseed - it's gorgeous, but deadly....

Mud Is Good

Today is the May bank holiday here in the UK, meaning the kids and I are home but David had to work. Originally, I thought of heading to Ely to see the cathedral and the haunted Pizza Express (Nell Gwynn, I believe) but it is sooo glorious out that we chose the beach instead. We drove over to Snettisham, which is the closest beach, since traffic was getting heavy. It's a bit stony, the tide was waaaaaaay out, and the black flies were incredibly heavy.

At first, I thought we'd have to turn right around, because Lily's Crocs caught some sand and gave her a blister and then she was flipping out about the flies. However, after she had some snuggle time with me on the blanket, she was ready to check out the mud flats where David was busily digging.

We had some snacks, lots and lots of mud walking, and an ice cream to finish up. The kids had a glorious muddy day!

Now that we're home, I filled a huge Rubbermaid container with soapy water so they could play and rinse off the last dried mud.

Too bad I didn't bring my camera!

A Pleasant Sunday, After All

As the song says, "Always look on the bright side of life..." OK. Lots of times, it's not what I do, despite my reputation for cheery thinking. Sometimes, I get wrapped up in the negatives and can't find the positives for my disappointment. Many times, though, looking at the good can make the rest of a day not so bad.

It's not that today WAS a bad day, as such, really. Kids got bathed and dressed, we went to church, the sun was shining. It was just little disappointments, like not really "feeling the love" for church today, not getting much personally from the messages, not having David there with us. Then, at home, he was feeling under the weather (allergies kicking butt around here, with both Davids, actually) and neither of us were at our best.

But lunch happened, D soaked in the tub awhile, and small D took an allergy pill (which zonked him so much that he's now gone up for a nap at 4:30 PM and may be done for the day, I'll bet).

And then we all went for a walk-about in the village. We stopped at Linda's and had some cake, then passed the newly shorn sheep and the big pigs on one of the footpaths. We found some "archeology" as Time Team call their finds - little shards of old blue and white ware. Then we looked for, and I think we found, the circle you can see on Google Earth in a local field - maybe it's a Roman remain! Then it was up, past the cricket pitch and the cricketers, to the bigger footpath. By this time, small D was very drowsy and rather cranky, but we still saw some interesting flowers and things and even answered a call from Grandma Doe!

Being outside, and being together as a whole family, just recolored my day in the nicest way. I'm so glad for it.