Playing catch up.

So these were actually taken a while ago (last week and before...) but I like them so they're being uploaded!

This is the walk home from school.  It's a 4 mile round trip (though obviously J only does 2 of those, as he's only doing one direction...)
We did the walk over the Christmas holidays, and he managed absolutely fine.  It probably helped having relatives and a dog to make things less boring. 
I figured that it wouldn't kill us to do it every now and again.  My hope was at least once a week, preferably twice (which would mean 8 miles walking for me).  So last week, we decided to give it a crack (earlier in the year and we'd have been making some of the journey in the dark.  This is roughly how Wednesday's journey went, starting in the nursery room itself:
Me:  Do you need a wee sweetheart?
J:  No.
Me:  We're walking home, so it will be a while before we can go to the toilet.  Are you sure you don't need a wee?
J:  No thank you.
Leave nursery, cross car park, walk towards swimming pool (last loo before the open road)
Me:  Are you sure you don't need a wee sweetheart?  It's your last chance.
(I'm sure you can see where this is going...)
J:  No.  (It was actually more of a Noooooooooooo)
Continue walking, past swimming pool, through garden and across cricket pitch.  Get to the little bridge over the stream...
J:  Daddy, I need a wee.
Me:  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH That's why I asked you.  You said you didn't need a wee - I said we were walking and you said you were sure you didn't need one.  (That should probably all be in capital letters - that's the commonly accepted way of shouting online isn't it?)
J:  But I didn't need one when you asked.
Me:  (Well, to summarise, we agreed to disagree on this point...)
Cross over bridge, find tree and have a wee.  (Wise advice offered en route and throughout the operation)

Walk past church, across farm track and into the field (don't worry, there's a footpath).  Approach the copse, begin to think what a lovely thing it is to be walking home from school across the fields...

J:  Daddy, now I need a poo.
Me:  (At this point, assume a load of capital letters - I asserted that pooing, unlike weeing, was not something we were going to be doing in the open)
J:  Ok, I'll hold it in.
Me:  Good - you're a big boy, I should hope so!

Continue across fields, down hill, over the very narrow bridge (assure J we'll bring boots next time so we can go through the stream rather than over it)

J:  I still need a poo.
Me:  Do we need to be rescued?
J:  Yes.
'phone Anna and request urgent rescue mission.  Walk up hill to the road, wait for a few minutes for car, which miraculously appears to take us home.
Oh, and you know he said he'd hold it in?

He didn't.

Happy New Year.

I don't actually have time to blog at the moment.  But it's been over a month since I last did, and I keep thinking I should, and then don't, so I thought that, even though I don't have time in the next five minutes, I'd do it anyway...  Just to get back into it.
I've done a blog on the outdoor blog, and just done one on the book blog, but nothing here for ages!
So here I am.  I am still alive, and had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  I'm now back into the 'writing the book' bit of my life, which is going ok.  I've only got two chapters to finish and one to start and finish, then I'll send it out to various people for checking (it'll probably be a tight timescale...) and re hash it.  Then it's a question of finding a publisher...  (If you would be willing and able to read and comment on it, I might be able to send you a draft - as I say, it'll be a pretty tight turnaround in all likelihood)
Teaching last term was fun, but seriously time consuming.  Way more than I'd envisaged, which of course meant another deadline move for the book.  The new one (and feel free to keep tabs on me) is to have it finished and (ideally) sent out, commented on, rehashed and ready for sending to publishers by Easter.
That's Easter this year, by the way.
Anyway, as I said to start, I don't really have time to write this blog (the last couple of days have been productive but full) so I'm going to push off again.  I'm now too late to walk to school to pick J up, so will have to drive.  (Don't worry eco warriors, it is a 2 mile walk, I'm not just popping round the corner!)
Feel free to comment on this blog - it's always nice to have people respond, even if it's only a line.  I do sometimes wonder why I do this when no comments are forthcoming.  (I know, I do it as much for me as I do for you (in fact, probably more!!))

Christmas.

Needless to say, it's been a busy day.  But here are some of the highlights...
We kicked things off at about seven, with the boy getting up to see if anything had arrived by overnight reindeer.  This was perhaps a little early for some of our houseguests, but they played along!  Sure enough, the stocking had landed.  We did his presents, and one of ours each before breakfast.  We hit church at half ten (well, ish...) and were treated to a tableau.  We went to the village church today, as it's a little more convenient than driving into Burton, and possibly more what Anna's family is used to.
Then it was home for lunch.  We have the advantage of two kitchens (one industrial), which made cooking large amounts of food much easier.
I dug a couple more parsnips this morning.  Two of them were intertwined, thus:

 Once peeled and trimmed, they looked almost architectural. 

What's more, they doubled very nicely as a fine piece of headgear.

We had an amazing lunch.  Turkey and ham, spuds, parsnips (honey roasted, freshly dug, that is!), red cabbage, sprouts (yuck), carrots, pigs in blankets, great stuffing, various other 'trimmings'.  All in all a great deal of meal!

Joshua's spent a fair amount of the day riding around the house on his new bike.  This has been great fun (he put his helmet on after his first fall!) and he's loved it.  He's also enjoyed all the other things he received today, and they've all had a decent amount of play time!

I've had some really fab presents today, including an all-singing-all-dancing meat thermometer/timer/general kitchen tool from Anna, which was used a lot today!

Really grateful for lovely family to share the day with, and looking forward to seeing my side of the family as they descend over the next few days.

Tonight, Joshua and I talked about why Jesus came to earth.  He told me that Jesus came because there were some bad people, who were doing what God didn't want them to do.  I filled in the gaps and we got there pretty quickly.  A distinct improvement on last night's conversation, which went

Me:  What's the nicest present that God gave us at Christmas?

Joshua:  Uh, Buzz, Buzz Lightyear?

Oh dear :)

But seriously, what an amazing gift He did give.  I think of the explosions of angelic choirs heralding His arrival, and the sheer enormity of His coming to earth, but tinged with the knowledge of the Father about the destiny of His Son, for the sake of His children.  I think back to just before Christmas four years ago, looking at the very real possibility that we might lose Joshua, and I just can't fully grasp how God made the sacrifice He did.  He must love us a great deal indeed.

Dig it.

  So, here's what happens when you've planted some lovely parsnip seeds way back in who-knows-which-month, and you think to yourself, "I know, I'll leave them in the ground until we need them.  Because they do fine just left in the ground.  In fact, the consensus is that these things actually taste nicer (sweeter) if they've been subjected to the odd frost."

So, the odd frost comes and goes.  Then, all of a sudden, you're in the middle of a 'cold snap', which includes temperatures below -10C.  And it's almost Christmas, and you desperately want to get some parsnips on that table that haven't come from Tesco.  And so you have to dig.  

 But, looking on the bright side, I've learnt a few things from this.  First of all, there's the fact that it may be worth taking the parsnips out when the ground isn't frozen solid.  Secondly, there's the knowledge that it is actually perfectly possible (and, to be honest, slightly easier than I had first feared) to take parsnips out of the ground using a pick axe.  Thirdly, (and this was more of a reminder than a new gem of knowledge, having spend my youth doing cross country runs in the snow in the foothills of the Himalayas) there's the fact that it is quite easy to work up a sweat, even in sub-zero temperatures.

 And here's the end result.  We'll probably take another row up (this is less than half a row really) before Christmas, so that we can have really freshly harvested parsnips on our Christmas table.


In other related news, we were given an awesome present today.  Some friends of ours gave 'us' a gift of seeds and tools that, through Oxfam, they had sent to a family in need (probably in Haiti).  Given how much they know I love doing stuff in the garden, I thought it was a fantastic present.  I'm hoping that the Haitians don't have the same problems with their parsnips though!

Birthday Boy.

That's what I called this post last year, and it seems apt, so I'll stick with it.
Four years on. Every now and again, I try to think what I was doing four years ago. I have to say, it's got less pleasant as the day's gone on, but the outcome was ok :) Still can't believe it's four years. (I know, a bunch of you say the same, but with bigger numbers!)
We had a party today, which was more low-key than last years mammoth. No inflatable ball pool for starters! We did, however, have a cake. This time it was Rex, and I've written all about it on the other blog, so won't go through it all again.
There were no friends from nursery this time (he's increasing his time at school, so nursery will be finished at Easter). One from church, a couple from (his) school and a bunch from (our) school.
Anna did loads of amazing stuff for it - craft table, biscuit decoration, huge spread of food, pin-the-tail on the very old donkey, pass the parcel. Everything to make the perfect party.
Once again, we failed in the 'blowing out the candles' shot. We have a before shot, an after shot, but no 'during' shot. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Today I've been more conscious than I think I was last year of the blessing of having him at all. After the horrendous first few days, it seems all the more precious to have time with him, and to celebrate birthdays and other big events. He's amazing, and such a gift. Thanks God for giving him to us, Anna for having him, God again for keeping him with us, and Joshua for being him! Love you all.

Oops.

Done it again. Posted elsewhere when I meant to post here...
Oh well, check it out anyway!

You can really go off people...

Joshua's going through a moany couple of days. A lack of sleep is the most likely cause, though he sadly doesn't believe me on this, and thinks that 6ish is the right sort of time to get up. This makes for a grumpy daddy... It is also coupled with him being annoying (I know, this from the cutest boy in the world does seem unlikely, but there you have it...). Yesterday it was this:
I'd started one of those 'photo mosaic' puzzles. It's Homer Simpson and I'd got as far as doing the edge and his face and both arms. Can you tell? No, that would be might sweet son 'helping'. Mind you, it's difficult to stay cross when within half an hour, it's all gone quiet and you find said son thus:
How can you be cross with that?
We've had a bit of snow recently. I have to emphasise a bit. A tiny amount has settled, not nearly as much as most of the rest of the country has had. Much to our disappointment. Anyway, it was enough to build a snowman.
Joshua, somewhat unnervingly, kept referring to him as 'little brother'. (I wouldn't say there was that much family resemblance myself). Particularly disturbing when he was blithely saying that, when it got hotter, little brother would melt. Odd boy.
If you're wondering about the scale of this snowman (which you probably weren't, but hey), then this next photo will give you a fair idea.
His eyes were raisins. Oh, and this is a shot of 'little brother' as his head fell off.