A loud hammering noise took me out into the backyard this morning and I spotted a hairy woodpecker way up high. That's a strange way to live a life, slamming your face into the side of a tree all day long.
We've had an easy day. A trip to the library, dips in the pool, that kind of thing. No complaints. But it doesn't make for very interesting blog material, so we'd better try and do something more exciting tomorrow.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Junkyards
I've just been putting the Boy to bed and fallen fast asleep myself for a while - so sorry if this is a bit blurry.
We've mainly been at home today, with a quick trip to Lowes DIY store for paint. Yesterday we bought a small desk and a bookcase for the Girl at a local yard sale, and we're turning them lilac. The paint costs rather more than the furniture. I could easily become addicted to yard sales - nothing like prodding through other people's junk and making some of it your own!
The Girl made a new friend at camp last week, and she came to play for the afternoon. This evening the little kids from next door trotted round to try out the pool, much to the Boy's delight - he'd been waiting all day for them to come.
And tonight it is tipping down with rain, with likely disastrous consequences for our basement in which we once again have 'damp issues'...
We've mainly been at home today, with a quick trip to Lowes DIY store for paint. Yesterday we bought a small desk and a bookcase for the Girl at a local yard sale, and we're turning them lilac. The paint costs rather more than the furniture. I could easily become addicted to yard sales - nothing like prodding through other people's junk and making some of it your own!
The Girl made a new friend at camp last week, and she came to play for the afternoon. This evening the little kids from next door trotted round to try out the pool, much to the Boy's delight - he'd been waiting all day for them to come.
And tonight it is tipping down with rain, with likely disastrous consequences for our basement in which we once again have 'damp issues'...
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Good clean fun
In this environmentally aware age, being a swimming pool owner is not something you really want to brag about. But I can't deny it any longer, we have a great big pool in our back yard.
How we came to buy a house with a pool is anyone's guess. I put it down to the fact that we bought in the winter when the pool was covered up and didn't seem quite real. Anyway, there it is.
About a week before we left for the UK we had a man come round and 'open' it for us. It looked like this. Inviting, eh?
Weeks of effort and gallons of chemicals later, it now looks like this. And on a hot day like today, it genuinely is inviting.
Today has featured other water-related fun: a birthday party with a sprinkler, and a charity pool-party at a neighbour's house. But mainly we've been splashing around at home. We'd like to implicate more people in our environmental crime, and hope many friends will join us in the water over the next couple of months.
How we came to buy a house with a pool is anyone's guess. I put it down to the fact that we bought in the winter when the pool was covered up and didn't seem quite real. Anyway, there it is.
About a week before we left for the UK we had a man come round and 'open' it for us. It looked like this. Inviting, eh?
Weeks of effort and gallons of chemicals later, it now looks like this. And on a hot day like today, it genuinely is inviting. Today has featured other water-related fun: a birthday party with a sprinkler, and a charity pool-party at a neighbour's house. But mainly we've been splashing around at home. We'd like to implicate more people in our environmental crime, and hope many friends will join us in the water over the next couple of months.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Smashed and trashed
It took the Boy two days at camp to sculpt and paint a clay model of a narrow-boat-on-the-canal-at-Watford. And it took his mother a mere fraction of a second to smash his masterpiece to smithereens. I dropped it. There were tears, oh yes - and the Boy shed a few, too. I have patched the bits of clay together again as best I can with glue.
A fair portion of the rest of the day was devoted to tidying up the garage. At some point (specifically, this point) our lives became overwhelmed by boxes. You'd have thought we'd have got a handle on it all by this time - or perhaps you know us quite well? Anyway, I have finished the job of flattening the empty packing boxes, and also the other myriad boxes that seem to come with any item we ever purchase. A whole carboot/trunkful of cardboard and paper has gone to be recycled. There are about a dozen unpacked boxes still, but they are mostly books and just waiting on us buying some bookcases (which will no doubt come in yet more boxes - just what we need!).
A fair portion of the rest of the day was devoted to tidying up the garage. At some point (specifically, this point) our lives became overwhelmed by boxes. You'd have thought we'd have got a handle on it all by this time - or perhaps you know us quite well? Anyway, I have finished the job of flattening the empty packing boxes, and also the other myriad boxes that seem to come with any item we ever purchase. A whole carboot/trunkful of cardboard and paper has gone to be recycled. There are about a dozen unpacked boxes still, but they are mostly books and just waiting on us buying some bookcases (which will no doubt come in yet more boxes - just what we need!).
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Camp follower
The Boy has stuck to his guns about hating summer camp, making a big fuss every morning when it's time to set off. So today I had a little word on the side with one of the camp leaders.
She confirmed my suspicions. She opened with 'Your son is one of the best actors I've seen, for his age,' and went on to list all the children he'd played with, the activities he'd been enjoying and the fact that more than once he'd been giggling so much he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. 'So,' she summed up with a smile, 'I'd say he's having quite a good time, really.'
Little what-not.
She confirmed my suspicions. She opened with 'Your son is one of the best actors I've seen, for his age,' and went on to list all the children he'd played with, the activities he'd been enjoying and the fact that more than once he'd been giggling so much he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. 'So,' she summed up with a smile, 'I'd say he's having quite a good time, really.'
Little what-not.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Pick of Pics
The Man writes... The Girl, who is not what you would normally call a "morning person", was up at 5am again today, full of anticipation for Day 3 of her Outdoor Adventure Detective Summer Camp.
The rest of us are still getting used to being back here after the intensity of our holiday in England, although it is already a week since we returned. Wonderful memories, but we mustn't hark on. So one last time, here is my choice of photos from our trip that Albaniana couldn't fit in before...
And by way of a contrast, here are some more images of the "new" St Pancras - a visually arresting but curiously deserted destination.
The rest of us are still getting used to being back here after the intensity of our holiday in England, although it is already a week since we returned. Wonderful memories, but we mustn't hark on. So one last time, here is my choice of photos from our trip that Albaniana couldn't fit in before...
And by way of a contrast, here are some more images of the "new" St Pancras - a visually arresting but curiously deserted destination.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
2:30 appointment
Today saw me back at my second home in America – the dentist’s surgery. I was having a crown fitted, and another little filling done while I was about it, because why not? I also had the chance to report the excruciating toothache I’ve been suffering lately (it started coming on during our UK trip and has been getting progressively worse). I am now medicated up to the eyeballs, which dulls the pain of knowing I’ll be paying through the nose for root canal work very soon.
The dentist’s assistant today was a young woman from an agency. She’d been hired because the surgery is overwhelmed with patients this month. My dentist’s theory is that in the current economic climate people aren’t taking summer vacations. So they’re going to the dentist instead? How is that supposed to save them money?
Anyway, I was chatting to the assistant and asked why she’d decided on a career in dentistry. She was way too candid: ‘I always liked going to the dentist when I was a kid,’ she said (sorry, that’s just weird), ‘And also this friend of mine became a dental hygienist and he’s making stacks of money!’
Well that’s reassuring – it's nice to know my life savings are all going to a good cause.
The dentist’s assistant today was a young woman from an agency. She’d been hired because the surgery is overwhelmed with patients this month. My dentist’s theory is that in the current economic climate people aren’t taking summer vacations. So they’re going to the dentist instead? How is that supposed to save them money?
Anyway, I was chatting to the assistant and asked why she’d decided on a career in dentistry. She was way too candid: ‘I always liked going to the dentist when I was a kid,’ she said (sorry, that’s just weird), ‘And also this friend of mine became a dental hygienist and he’s making stacks of money!’
Well that’s reassuring – it's nice to know my life savings are all going to a good cause.
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