Its a cats life

There are times in life when I look around and wish that things were simpler. Sometimes I watch the kids and think it would be nice to be a toddler again, where the worst thing in the world was not getting to chew on the car keys or some other such thing or maybe a cat, specifically a domestic cat. Now there is no doubt that these guys lead a charmed life, getting fed and watered and then just doing whatever you fancy, which generally seems to be sleeping, something I could happy do all day!

Yes, its a cat, a very comfy cat at that.

Looking grumpy after being disturbed, all because the silly human wants a picture.

Of coure, its not always time to sleep, occasionally its bath time

The Wooden toy incident

There is something about wooden toys that I like. They are crafted from something, not just poured from a mould or cut out in a machine, although I grant you that there probably are many wooden toys that are just that, cut out using a machine. These toys though are a little bit different, they are far more hand crafted, still made with machines than with hand tools, but there not made by computer controlled devices, but by hand controlled ones. 

One thing I do not like about wooden toys however, is there price. This one cost far more than the equivalent metal or plastic toy, and also came with a broken wheel. Granted, we broke the wheel, which was why we had to buy it but that's beside the point, its was still extortionate.  

The offending item

This all occurred when we went out for lunch together, as the wife was off work for the day, using up some left over holiday entitlement, and we chose a nice little café down the road. The café in question also has a craft area, where local crafts men and women can see off there items to the local visitors and café patrons. Unfortunately, these sort of things also have a habit of attracting little hands, as was the case here. The car fell off the stand and the rear axel cracked in two, not a major problem and one that was easily fixed by some wood glue and if that doesn't hold, I can easily replace the whole axel, it being made of wood and all.

Being fixed

Now, personally, we have gotten away with a few little incidents in the past, broken china, damages boxes, smashed bottles of wine, that sort of thing, the things that tend to happen when little hands and delicate items come in to contact with each other. Every time these things have happened , I have always been honest about it and as I said we have gotten away with quite a bit but not this time. Now I honestly don't mind paying for it, after all, we did break it, and the café is actually pretty good and very reasonably priced, but it does put a bit of a dampener on things when you've just popped out for a nice, cheap lunch together to come home with something extra. 

Anyway, its all fixed now and in regular service with the kids, I just wonder how long before its going to be back on the work bench for more running repairs!

potty training

Well, it that time of life again and the potty is back. Well, when I say back, I don't actually mean back as its a completely different potty. The little man had a red Disney cars one, we still have the little stool thing but the potty is gone, possibly to Grandma's?  The young lady had a white winnie the pooh one, featuring eeyore, which is cool, cos hes my favourite. Unfortunately this potty, beloved as it was by the young lady, was left in a child's play park over night and went missing. Even more unfortunate, we were south at the time and leaving a friends house to head to the hotel when we discovered the fact that we had lost the potty! Being south gave us the option of a 24 hour supermarket, a rare and special treat. As you would expect, we couldn't get a replacement, so a similar one was acquired, plain white with blue rubber feet, needless to say it didn't go down well.

The original

So, it was a bit of a rocky start to the potty training, but we've pretty much got it cracked. The young lady has got use to the new potty and even had a little dalliance with a Peppa Pig potty and the little mans only Disney cars potty (yes, it had gone to Grandma's).

Now, the little man got off to a slow start with the potty. At first he was quite happy to just stand and watch, usually as he wee'd up the side of the sofa, but once he got it sorted, he went from nothing to everything literally within a week. It was about two or three days in to the potty training, he decided he didn't want a nappy on over night and went dry the first night. It didn't last, but he was dry more often than not. The young lady on the other hand, took to the day time potty training like a duck to water, there were a few accidents, as there always is, but she was pretty good. The night times however are not quite so good. We've tried a few nights without a nappy and they haven't gone to well, and she still likes to have her nappy one (her "night night nappies"). She'll get there, of that I have no worries, she's dry during the day and she's still some way off nursery.

One thing that has struck me again, going through the process again with the little lady, is that some of the ideas that people have about potty training. Ideas that vary from it being a lot of trouble, to it being very dirty. There are also some funky potties out there.

Now, I really don't get this. Why do you need to have a potty like this? The young lady is already progressing on to the toilet and so the potty is starting to become redundant after just a few weeks. And would you want to the toilet to start playing classic Disney tunes when your trying to pee? Also, why does it need to flush? Lets just sort one thing at once shall we.

Also, I'm not surprised that people think that carrying around a potty is a pain, if we had a potty that was anything like those above, I'd find it a pain as well! Plus, neither the mother in-law, nor my mum would be able to carry it around in a plastic carrier bag, which they both insist on doing for some reason, not entirely sure why though.

Potty training is just one of those phases in life that you just have to get on with, it takes some courage to start things off, but things always work out, after all how many of us are walking around wearing nappies? 

Beach BBQ

The other day, the wife came home from work and decide that an impromptu visit to the beach, including a BBQ. It was a nice sunny day and the wife had been stuck in doors all day and decided she needed so time out in the sun. We made a quick stop at Tesco's, to pick up supplies and a disposable BBQ. The disposable BBQ's are brilliant, they are cheap and cheerful and can take it anywhere. 

The picnic area

The BBQ

Its not a bad view for a impromptu BBQ, sitting on the beach, just a few minutes down the road. The place was completely disserted, not a soul insight, not something that you would find down south on a beach on Friday night. While the skies weren't clear and blue, it was certainly pleasant sitting there, munching on a sausage sarnie, watching the bairns playing. There are not many days when its possible to do this sort of thing up here, so sometimes you just have to get out and do it, and i'm sure that this wont be the last time we try such a thing.

The bairns playing 

It really is one of the biggest advantages of living up here, there are so many different experiences and opportunities that just aren't available down south and certainly weren't available back in London where I grew up.