Touring around Houten

We have been taking advantage of the lovely weather to do some sightseeing around Houten.

These are very smart (and expensive) houses which border the small lake. There is even a bike path over the lake.

The beach on the edge of the lake - lots of imported sand and secondary school students enjoying an afternoon off school.

Here I am pulling the trailer, with an appreciative Raphy in the back. I am not confident enough to use the bakfiets, which only has two wheels and a box arrangement in front. The trailer is very easy to tow.Raphy posing and pretending he wants to get out!This is actually a restaurant, not a castle!A very shady bicycle path.A view from the path.

Embarrassed

I feel embarrassed! Really embarrassed! On Sunday I reversed the car into Alex' car, and our towbar dented the front panel of his car. I then had to inform Alex, who lives in the apartment above ours, that I damaged his car, and he was so good about it. Unfortunately this is the fourth car I have damaged a car in the street.

The first car was owned by the mother of a neighbour. I reversed around the corner and straight into her car, which was stationery. The poor lady was in such a state of shock I invited her in for a cup of tea.

The second car was a neighbour's van. I swung the car around too quickly and scraped the side of his van. He was also very understanding about it.

The third car belonged to elderly neighbours who found that it was easier to leave their car out on the road, rather than try and open the garage door each time they needed to use it. This was certainly a mistake as I reversed into their car in the dark, and dented the front bumper bar. They were so lovely about it, and thanked me for letting them know that I had damaged their car.

I have also reversed into a wall, and our neighbour's rubbish bins but I prefer not to count them.

I wonder if the neighbours compare notes. I wonder if I am getting a name for myself as a 'demolition derby driver'. It is very difficult to hold your head up high (perhaps that is my trouble), when the cars you have damaged are there for me, and everyone else, to see every day.

I can remember I had similar bad luck, or lapses of concentration, back at a school in Adelaide. I reversed over a tap, which then got stuck under the van and the groundsman had to lift the van off it, so I could drive away. I reversed into a netball pole and it snapped off and I was very unpopular with the Parents' Association because they could no longer use the netball court. The netball pole had been cemented into the ground and could not be replaced. I also reversed out and scraped a car parked alongside mine. But then I was driving a VW Combi van, which had many blind spots in it.

But thinking about it, I have had other lapses in judgement, such as the time I drove the front of the car over the edge of a retaining wall. The front of the car was left hanging in mid air. Some lovely considerate and understanding builders, lifted the car back over the wall. I was attending a Headteachers' Conference in Hythe at the time, and certainly needed a lie down after that incident. The few Headteachers who saw the car hanging in mid air, never said a word to me about it afterwards. Mind you I can imagine what they thought!

In the meantime I will have to continue to eat humble pie, be very nice to my neighbours, and try to be extra careful in future. Otherwise my reputation as a competent driver will be completely in shatters, if it isn't already!

Sports Day

Today I went to Isabel's sports day, which I enjoyed very much, especially as I could enjoy it without worrying about the organisation, weather and parents. Isabel had a ball, and joined in all the activities with lots of enthusiasm.

Isabel is the one in the picture, shouting out hurray!

And carrying the ball in the net. Lots of concentration needed there.I thought the red sports outfits were very snazzy as they had the school motif on the T Shirt and the shorts.

People who lunch!

During the past week, we have become the people who lunch. It is so lovely to relax without feeling guilty about taking time out of work. And to catch up with people of course.

First we met up with Yvonne in a trendy pub opposite the Portrait Gallery in London. We spent a leisurely couple of hours catching up on all the places we have visited during the past two years.

Then we met Kathy and Fred in a cafe in Bexleyheath and caught up with all the news about holidays and families. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of us in the cafe.

And today we met up with Karen, Judy, Barbara and Arnold in the restaurant of the new Premier Inn in Swanley. Lots of catch up with on recent events, including Judy's successful completion of the London to Brighton bike race last Sunday.

After lunch today we came home and snoozed in the sunshine. Lunching out can be a very tiring!

Birthdays

Well, my birthday is now well and truely over. It was a lovely few days, birthday messages on Facebook, emails, skyping, cards, presents, breakfast in bed, lunch out, shopping and finally a birthday party with the family. A perfect birthday and one I enjoyed very much, especially as I could relax as there were no work distractions.

Lucy busy making pastries for the party (yummy).

There was still painting to do at Donna's house though! Scott hard at work painting the stair well, once we managed to get him out of bed!

All those spindles on the stair railings were a pain to paint!The birthday cake! Walter very cunningly made up tall and short candles so that they represented 66 years. You can only see my blouse and cardigan as the full photo was not flattering, due no doubt to the number of glasses of wine that I had consumed!I shared the cake with Jackson, who will be 9 in a weeks time. The 9 candles also represented his age!

Walter and Scott looking thoughtful!The girls in a party mood!Back to normal again now, that is once I get back down to earth again, after all the excitement!

How to not to win friends and influence people.

Donna, has a new friend and is trying to impress him. And she was doing well until a week ago when she lost his front door key in the most bizarre circumstances.

Her friend went off to work on a Sunday morning, leaving Donna with his front door key. She decided to go for a run, as you do when you have time to spare. As she was running along, she tried to change the song on her ipod and the key flew out of her hand, bounced on the pavement and went down the grate of a storm water drain. Talk about bad luck! She then lay down on the pavement and tried to retrieve the key with her hand, which of course was unsuccessful because the grill bars were too close together. The traffic meanwhile whizzed past her and she got some very strange looks from the occupants of the cars as you can imagine.

Then it started to rain so she went to Tesco's supermarket, which was the only warm place around, and spent the next hour wandering up and down the aisles looking like she was interested in the items on sale. She had no money and was dressed in running gear of course.

Finally, she managed to contact her friend who told her how she could get back into the house in a most interesting way (secret).

It was the only key to the house and yes he is still talking to Donna.

Donna, luckily, still can laugh about the experience!

Birthday Party

Last night we went to Anne's 70th birthday party (Anne is second on the right). It was a delightful occasion, warm sunny weather, sitting outside, talking to people, good food and drink

People sitting around talking.
A line up of some of the previous staff of St John Fisher school. Great to catch up with people.Thank you Anne, for inviting us to your party. A great privilege to be there.

Cray Meadows

On Friday I took Lucy, Jackson and Isabel to the Cray Meadows. The area is at the back of Joydens Wood but separated by a dual lane road. Once in the meadows you would hardly know that you were so close to London. It has open grass land, wooded areas and a stream (Cray River) running through it. The stream is sparkling and I hope clean but it is full of water life. The children and dogs love the water too. Lucy and Jackson paddling in the water.Looking for insects and water life in general. They tried to convince me that Isabel had a leech on her hand! Ugh!

Of course a visit to the playground was also essential.

Next time we will being nets and see what we can find in the water. Sounds like a good science lesson.

Godstone Farm

Today I took Jackson, Isabel and Lucy to Godstone Farm. A fantastic place to take children, lots to do, a relaxing place for adults and you don't feel that you are being ripped off every penny you own. Ice creams were cheap, coffee was cheap, even the souvenirs were cheap. The only downside was the continual washing of hands - after touching the animals, before and after playing on equipment, moving from one area to another. Our lot even washed their hands before they started in case they infected the animals! All the current over the top health and safety measures are due to an outbreak of e-coli there, probably due to the grubby hands on the soft play equipment. The animals were blamed of course!
The photo shoot before we started, interestingly Jackson chose to be the lion, Lucy the lionness and Isabel the cub!This little guinea pig piddled on Lucy, as a thank you for holding it so carefully.

The inside soft play area and the outside play equipment was very impressive and a great hit with our three children.

Isabel sliding down the grass toboggan run.

People really enjoyed eating their picnic lunches outside in the sun. A lovely setting.

When we got home, Isabel went to a birthday party at the flumes at Swanley Swimming Pool so I took Lucy and Jackson for a swim in the main pool. A very relaxing way to finish the day.

Swanley Market

Wednesday is market day in Swanley. People come from surrounding areas to shop in this market, and I can see why as there are bargains galore and a wide variety of stalls. Now that I have time to spare, and have visited markets in other countries, I have come to appreciate the market in Swanley as it is certainly one of the best around.
Swanley town centre started off as a place without character, due to the knocking down of old buildings and the building of a huge ASDA supermarket, twenty years ago. The developers paved the area in front of the supermarket and built a line of shops, which struggled to survive. The whole area was bleak, cold and windy.
When we arrived here I detested going anywhere near Swanley town centre, and especially on Wednesday as the market was dreary (even more so than the Dartford market). But over the years this has all changed, and Swanley town centre has blossomed, along with the weekly market. Even the trees have finally grown tall.
It felt like a mediterranean market yesterday with all the sunshine. There are even areas now where people can sit outside, have a coffee or some food and enjoy the sunshine.

Well done, Swanley!

Back Home

Well, we are back home again, for a month anyway. The first task facing me on my return, was the garden. Luckily there had not been much rain so this meant less weeds. But the hedges and flowering shrubs had grown so it was out with the hedge trimmers. Luckily they are battery operated so I cannot do much harm to the plants, or me. In fact Scott was in charge of the trimmers, as he has a much better eye for straightness than me.
I am also preparing myself for plenty of fruit picking, and jam making. Actually I will leave the latter to Walter as he obviously has better skills than me, and I still remember the disasterous attempt at our combined effort when making the first batch of rhubarb jam.
One of the plum trees, which has a good crop of plums, will be really lovely as long as we get some rain to make them nice and juicy.
A good crop of potatoes in the bags, and the rhubarb is beginning to look like a rhubarb patch. Still not as lush as the patch at Emma and Steve's house.

The blackcurrant bushes are full of plump fruit, which will need to be picked soon. I top and tail them before Walter makes the jam but have been told this is unnecessary. It is a tiresome job!

The mole hills have now been flattened (by Walter). The moles have gone deep underground as it is so dry. I have half heartedly sprinkled grass seed on the bare earth, but experience tells me that once I water the bare patches the moles will come up from their subterranean tunnels and make new hills again. Persistent blighters!