Categories: uncategorized
Date: 05 September 2004 20:47:29
So, here's the end of the school holidays. Like every year, I marvel at how much we fit in and equally at how much we missed out. There was so much I planned to do but somehow there just wasn't a moment's space in all those six weeks to squeeze any more in. In fact, I could even say that we're tired of enjoying ourselves so much and are now ready to get back to school for a bit of mundane routine and longed-for boredom. Although I have to admit that a week at home once the Smudgelets are back in school wouldn't go amiss.
We've just got back from our "final fling" of the summer - a trip up to see my sister in the Midlands. It was supposed to be a two-centre break with us calling in on my childhood friend, but strangely their trip South to the New Forest coincided precisely with our trip north to the Midlands. We could have waved, I suppose, as we passed each other on the motorway. But the visit to my sister was wonderful. We did so much and I was able to spend some real good quality time with my sister too - something we rarely get to do these days.
We went to Carsington Water - wonderful place - to cycle round the edge of the reservoir and go out rowing for half an hour.... better than any trip to the gym! I was rather pleased to discover that I still remembered how to do the rowing bit. Smudgelet, of course, had a bit of a sulk because he wasn't allowed to row, but two seconds of him holding half an oar convinced me that I'd made the right decision and he was banished to the prow of the boat to be our chief lookout. Tiddles, on the other hand, has the makings of a fine oarsman. Anyone know of a galley looking for a spare slave at a reasonable price?
Second day we visited a bird park. Smudgelet had another sulk because he'd decided he'd rather go climbing the Roches, but soon discovered that, given the choice between going to the bird park and staying at home on his own, the birdpark suddenly gained innumerable attractions... and then when he remembered that this was the park where, last year, he had made friends with one of the pheasants, he was even keener. Would you believe it? The pheasant in question was still there and still attracted to Smudgelet. Just like last time, whenever Smudgelet went anywhere near the cage, the brown eared Pheasant would come from the back of the enclosure and stand gazing at him and chattering to him, and Smudgelet would beam and chatter straight on back. None of the rest of us, nor any other of the visitors, got this special attention!
Delights of the visit there included watching a tapir and two capybara's playing in the lake; watching a little yellow fish uncover (by swishing its tail) the ray that was hidden almost invisibly under the gravel at the bottom of the fish pool; stroking a tiny scheops (sp?) owl; choosing which rabbits and guineapigs we'd like if mummy were mad enough to let us have one; and best and most memorable of all was watching the snakes being fed. Huge (dead, thank goodness) mice were held in front of the snakes on a pole to see if the snake was hungry. If it was, it would snap at the mouse like a streak of lightening and gradually swallow it down in one - you could follow the progress of the lump in the snake's body as it travelled down inside!
Yesterday was the biggest adventure with a trip to Matlock. Up the cable car to the Heights of Abraham (one extremely frightened Tiddles, one extremely excited Smudgelet, one extremely annoying brother-in-law who hid his own fear by telling the boys scare stories about the fragility of the cable and the preference of falling into trees than into the river, and me and my sister trying to calm and silence the three!). Then the excitement of going down the lead mines. Tiddles overcame his fear of steps sufficiently to go in and absolutely loved the experience. The guide was so impressed with his questions that he took him on one side afterwards and gave him some rocks containing various crystals and minerals, including a seam of lead. Thank goodness he didn't hear Tiddles, at the end of his explanation of what the different layers of rock and mineral were that you could see in one exhibit, ask how the miners managed to put the lead in between the rocks! Needless to say, the assembled "museum of rocks and minerals" accumulated during our visit, somehow ended up travelling back up the hill in mum's rucksack. Hmmmm... !
This morning we went to church on the way home from the Midlands - the church where I grew up. Still lively and growing and doing good work, and still full to the brim of well loved people who inspired me through my teenage years and who fill me with such a feeling of being loved. They were so pleased to see us, and there was only one who didn't recognise me at all. The boys were made welcome too. It's very telling - they were drawn in with open arms and immediately loved because of the love that was held for me.. as I was immediately loved because of the love that was held for my parents. It struck me as worth remembering - do I always remember to love people because God loves them rather than just judging them by how I react to them as people? Also interesting, the sermon this morning was fairly well written for me. I was so glad I heard it. God works in mysterious ways, sometimes.
By the way, I forgot to mention, Tiddles absolutely adored the two Shakespeare plays we took him to see. He's already planning the next one. Mind you, they were superb, even if we were frozen stiff by the end of them, despite being wrapped in sleeping bags and our winter woolies.