Race For Life... run

Caryn did The Race For Life this morning. She was a bit anxious at the thought of running 5km, because 1) she'd only been out on two practice runs and 2) we didn't know how far 5km was or how long it should take you.

Turns out she was pretty good, clocking 29 mins, 10 minutes behind the winner. She could be fairly decent at this running lark if she manages to put in the time. Next run is one in London in September, we've decided she's aiming at 25 minutes for that one on the back of perhaps three practice runs.

The Tooth Fairy Cometh... tonight

Finally, after what seems like having a wobbly front tooth since Xmas, it came out today. Apparently it happened in assembly much to Olive's delight. There's something amazing about having teeth fall out at school. Don't quite know what, but just glad this one obliged. So, it's under the pillow now in the hope the tooth fairy will arrive with a shiney pound coin. Inflation eh? When I was losing teeth, admittedly a long time ago I got 5p. They were always very shiny though... and you could actually buy yourself a comic (2p) and 3p-worth of sweets for that.

I love how disheveled our wonderful daughter looks when she comes out of school. She just looks likes someone who has filled the day properly and lived to the full, even though she is only six. Must scan our favourite picture of O and put it up here sometime. It's a pic of her at school taken by her teacher. It is brilliant.

Tooth fairy fund - running total £2 (£3 tomorrow).

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Start your engines...

Boosters to full power...

We have lift off!

We were out in the sunshine this afternoon trying out one of the new toys. We managed a decent amount of height with a good stomp. Very entertaining, thanks Uncle Chris. Think we might be looking around for something more, erm, 'industrial'...

Happy Birthday to you

Here's Luke scoffing jelly and ice cream at his birthday party yesterday. Four, he is. Four. How does that happen? This year he got the works, the hired hall, the entertainer, hotdogs, jelly and ice cream. Smart new bike from his generous parents.

Lukey is so full of excitement on a normal day, we thought he might explode on his birthday. It was a great to watch him all day. None of the materialism his big sis revels in, he just soaked up his special day. He even loved opening his cards, taking time to look at each one, which is a bit weird.

The party was great too. We hired Dave Doughnut again, we've had him for so many birthdays we get discount. He was as entertaining as usual. The children laughed from start to finish, which is a joy to watch.

The chats we seem have afterwards are always as odd you'd expect from someone claiming to be called Dave Doughnut, he specialises in tales from the darkside of children's entertainment. This year, out of nowhere, I heard about a boy who filled his pants halfway through helping with a trick. I did wonder if maybe it was pure fear.

One milkshake, as big as my head please

Unbelievable as it is, Lukey is four on Saturday. Four. Starts school in September. How does it happen? We will see you at the party on Saturday.

looking at how lovely our children have turned out, I think it's time for another one, number three, Caryn is 100 per cent sure it isn't...

Lost cat

Sage went missing on Monday, he went out early evening and we've not seen him since. One or both of the cats do the staying out all night thing quite often, but they're always waiting at the back door for their breakfast when we get up.

Onion has vanished for a night and morning, wandering home at lunchtime on a couple of occasions, but Sage likes his food too much to wander too far.

We've put posters up, featuring the above pic by Olivia, and we're really hoping he'll come home soon, so he can continue to annoy us in only the way Sage can.

Big mud

Every Easter there's a duck race in town. We've not managed to make it in the four years we've lived here so I was quite looking forward to it this year. I think the idea is you sponsor a rubber duck, they chuck them in the Tiffey and first one to the Becketswell Bridge wins. We arrived, hung around for a bit and discovered it the race was cancelled. The river was looking a bit wild though.

Anyway, the second part of our outing involved the grand unveiling of a new sculpture over looking the Abbey. We squelched through the huge amount of mud and pond-like puddles with the usual warnings about not messing about, watching your step etc. You can see what's coming, really.

We saw the unveiling, the work is a living willow construction by local artist Kate Munro. There's an observation tower that I've mentioned before on the other side of town pretending to be art, but this is different. It is actually real art. A swift google and her work is rather wonderful. This is no exception.

It's very simple and frames the Abbey in the distance, echoing the windows in willow. The real beauty is that it's alive and will grow and change over the years. Not sure if her fee involves maintenance though.

Anyway, just as we were leaving, our friends Simon and Louise arrive. Turns out the artist is pals with Louise. Of course. They went to school together. I take my eyes off Luke for about five seconds when Louise introduces to me to Kate, "I like the arch," I say, "thank you," she says, as I glance back in Luke's direction to see him walking towards me covered, absolutely covered, in mud and crying his eyes out.

So that was us. Off home, washing machine on. Culture on the back burner.

Fish and Chips

Good Friday and we headed out to the coast. The plan was to visit a windmill... which we did, this one, scared the bejesus out of me. How many floors do windmills have? Five. And how windy was it exactly? Veeeeeeeery. Shame it wasn't working, but it'd have probably taken off if it was. Still, we got a sticker for making it to the top.

On the way though, we stopped off at Wells-next-the-sea for fish and chips. We ate in for a change. The fish was amazing, the surroundings less so. I find it odd how a place can look like a fast food joint - the illuminated price list above the counter, the horrid wipe-clean plastic tables and metal chairs - and yet they serve the most sublime food. What ever happened to big wooden tables and a bit of seaside charm?

Or perhaps they need to look this garish to attract the customers these days. Which reminds me, we must visit Mrs T's in Southwold again soon. Fish and chips served from a wooden hut by the quay. Proper.

The wife is going to kill me

When I was at NME, we did some work with a label called Wall Of Sound. Fine upstanding people who we all liked enormously. One day they turned up at the office with a pressie for me. It was a piece by a graffiti artist they were mates with sprayed on the back of fly poster. He did their record sleeves too. I never got round to taking it home.

Anyway, when I left NME it was still on my desk so I bequeathed it to our web designer. I mailed him recently to see what became of it because it's been bugging me a bit recently. Here's what he said...

"I held onto the Banksy until late 2004 at which point I decided that it really needed framing to do it justice but at the quoted £200, I couldn't quite afford it. After much debate and a desire to invest in some desperately needed equipment, I made the decision to cash in on what I perceived to be the peak in Banksy's popularity by auctioning the artwork on eBay. The auction fetched a pretty reasonable £450."

I'll pause for effect at this point.

He went on to say, "Obviously in hindsight it ranks up there as one of the dumbest things I've done, since the value today doesn't even bear thinking about."

It doesn't. To discover the ballpark value of something I gave away, click here. Bear in mind this version is on canvas, of an edition of five, signed. Mine was from the same stencil, but unsigned and on paper.

Doh.

Chicken, chips and peas

We had one of our favourite teas tonight, cold chicken from yesterday's roast with chips, peas and all manner of bottles and jars from the fridge. Luke's favourite is beetroot, which tonight he smeared all over his face and declared he was wearing lipstick and was it too much, before deciding he was a clown and proceeding to tell us 'I'm clown' about 50 times.

He is changing is luke, he's becoming very cheeky. I guess he's discovering what being a boy is about. He not only insists on running absolutely everywhere (and falling over a lot, you should see the bruises), but he really makes us laugh, I guess this must be what it's like having a monkey in your house.

Not so happy Happisburgh

We headed for the coast today and ended up at Happisburgh. I've been going there ever since I could drive a car (which, as I've just insured a car I know to be 22 years), but every time we head that way I can never remember quite where it is. I think my brain is now full, so to take onboard new information it has to lose information, like routes to the seaside.

It was the first Norfolk beach Olive went to according to Caryn, which is probably right as it's always been one of my favourites. I thought we took her to Wells first, but my memory is currently dumping that sort of information. Have I mentioned that?

Anyway, Happisburgh was a sorry sight today. It's very rapidly disappearing into the sea. Costal Concern Action Group have a fantastic website which is well worth 15 minutes of your day if you'd like to know more. You hope something can be done, but you fear it's all a bit King Kanute.

The huge wooden groynes - erected in the late Fifties - have completely failed. They were still intact when we moved here five years ago, as was the slipway down the beach. The lifeboat station is still at the top of the rapidly receding cliff with no way to the sea. Bizarre.


To get to the sea on our first visit with Olive, you had to climb wooden steps over the groynes. I guess they'd have been eight, maybe 10 feet tall. Today, the top of them are waist-height, the rest is buried under beach. That the whole lot is going to be gone before our daughter makes double figures is a sobering thought.

Bicycle weekend, part two

After Luke and Daphne's high jinks in Waitrose the other week, it seems that this has become the way to travel - Luke on the bike, Olive on the back.

Bicycle weekend, part one

We made our first trip of the year to High Lodge this weekend. The glorious sunshine made for perfect biking weather and as Olivia does swimming lessons on Saturday morning (in the pool, 8.30am, we are revising our thinking on that one after Easter) and Caryn tends to work now on Sunday mornings (7am start!), I'm not getting out on the bike so much. At all actually.

We pootled round the 10km track which was very pleasant. Really must go on my own and try the red run, and when I'm not so fat and unfit, the black run which actually sounds quite scary.

Anyway, artful picture of the wife I thought.

Good post? This way please...

We're getting terribly lazy.

Click here...

thank you.

The bucket has landed

We are a two-car family once again, well, a one-and-a-half car family. Despite our attempt to manage with just the one motor (it's been a year and half!), we spent the very last of our uh-oh fund (which really does mean uh-oh now) on this little bucket off of eBay.

Can't say I'd recommend buying a car, unseen, off eBay. Can't say I'd recommend buying a secondhand car full stop. But on the whole, I'm quite pleased with it.

It's got a 1.1 litre engine, which you can't help feel is a little excessive, but that's the point. Hacked around in it today and it drives like a go-kart. All I need now is my mechanic to give it the once over and not suck air in through his cheeks and tut at me for buying a heap.

Ask Caryn about it when you see her, she's been telling everyone it's a Fiat Concheekie... I wondered why the butcher was asking about it yesterday.

Holiday booked!

Holiday booked then. We're going to the Isle of Wight to stay here for four nights in the summer. Won't tell you when in case you're a robber and manage to work out where we live and steal our cats while we're away. Then again... let us know if you are planning on stealing the cats and I'll bring them round.

The Shack is quite find, and it's quite literally a stone's throw from the sea, it doesn't have electricity (there's some solar power for lights for a couple of hours, and a wind-up radio is provided!), but has running water. I've not told Caryn about the chemical toilet yet...

We used to go to the Isle of Wight on hols. Wonder what it's like now? Just booked the ferry. Can't wait. To go on holiday that is, not tell the wife about the chemical toilet.

The people who own The Shack also own a bunch of amazing Airstream caravans. Have a look here.

Two wheels good, three wheels good too

It's all about the landmarks isn't it. You wait for them them to sit up, then crawl and finally walk and then, once that's licked, it's on to mastering four wheels, then three and then two. Then motorbikes, cars, and so on...

Olive is very much on two wheels and already pestering heavily for a bigger, better bike. Luke hasn't shown too much interest until today. It's always too much bother, and what with him being a boy, why pedal when when you can travel under someone else's steam?

But today he was off. Pulled the trike out of the shed on his own, didn't want any help, and up and down on the road outside like he does it every day.

Amazing things children. Tomorrow, if we suggest he rides his bike he'll moan like mad and point blank refuse. Sigh.

A lovely

Just thought Olivia looked especially lovely yesterday.

The Grand Tour: Cromer

Got out to Cromer today to see my old college pals, Whilhelm and Ruth, and their three boys... and Hector, the dog, much to Olive's delight. Whil was saying it's 20 years since we started college. 20 years. It's probably because of the 40 thing, but we all seem a bit sensitive to time at the moment.

Anyway, always enjoy a trip out Cromer, and even though we've not seen each other for, oh, 18 months, it doesn't seem to matter. We pulled up outside their house to be greeted by Whil like we'd seen him last week. I love friends like that - I have to, it's the only sort I've got.

Had a nice stroll at Overstrand, not been there for a while. Hector loves the sea, as we all do, and Olive loves dogs (at least she started loving them when we got her the flippin' cats) so she had great fun playing with him digging up and burying stones.

I guess this would be her perfect picture... if he was her dog. Note the stone between his front feet and the 'I am ready for you to throw this stone so I can bury it in a big hole' look on his face.

Smile please

Grandma and Pops were babysitting yesterday and they took the opportunity to get some photos of all their grandchildren together. This is one of the less formal pictures, it really made me smile.