Chez Spud

Nearly a month since my last post? Well, that’s a month of Photo A Day to catch up on…above ‘Tea & Sympathy’ on a day that bucketloads of both were dished out.

‘Sundown on the City’ – Last rays of sun from my office….waiting for a lawyer to provide final comments on a document. YEARS of my life have been spent doing this. Still, at least there’s a wonderful view to help pass the time…

‘Born to run’ - I had to use this shot. It’s so, so rare that we go anywhere with Diggy in tow and he actually moves in a forward direction at anything more than a snail’s pace. He walks really, really slowly in the hope of being carried. Infuriating.  During a walk along the river he voluntarily RAN and wanted to be ahead the whole time. Loving the zoomy nature of the Lensbaby here.

‘Restful’ - MrSpud in a very very rare moment of inactivity. Here he is having a sneaky sit down, exhausted by a long day of yet more house move related chores. And more flatpack furniture fun. Poor man…

‘New hair’ - Well, same hair cut and coloured differently…but same hair, head etc

‘Withered’ - Dried flowers on my dining room table. I live in the country and it is The Law that all country houses must have dried flowers in them. They smell gorgeous. I never knew that dried flowers smelt so divine. Or left little crumbly bits all over the table. Or that cats eat them. Grrr.

‘Contemplative’ – Miss Phoebe cat finally emerged from under the bed after 4 weeks in our new house. She doesn’t really ‘do’ change and has found the first month in our new place rather tough. She’s been venturing out once the boys have gone to bed but  she finally braved it during daylight hours. Although it was only me in the house at the time…she’s so charming, if elusive…but, GET OFF MY TABLE!

‘Small’ – Mr Diggy’s fingers…sleeping…needs his nail’s cutting…

‘Bookworm’ – Taken on Save Our Libraries Day. I’m surprised at how passionate I feel about it, to be honest I got a little tearful contemplating our little town without its wonderful library.

I was a very eager library go-er as a child and teenager, when you were limited to 4 books at a time and your library card was actually made of card…a small pink square (blue for adults), handed over to the librarian who slotted the card from the book you were borrowing in to it and filed it away. These days I can borrow 20 books at a time, and I always ALWAYS have 20 books out at any one time. There hasn’t been a day that I’ve not had 20 library books in the house since the day I joined the library soon after we moved here.

We’re lucky to have a brand new library, opened only last year. It’s a converted Victorian school with high ceilings, large windows and has a very light airy feel to it. It’s a really vibrant place and I’ve never, ever seen it empty. Yesterday there were people studying, using the internet, chatting (naughty), reading the paper, having a knitting meeting (in another room) and having a snooze.  Here’s Bertie ploughing through one of our current library books. Save Our Libraries!

And God Bless my wonderful boy who drew a ‘Rainbow of Hope’ for his much loved and missed Grandfather ‘Batman’ at school the day before this shot was taken, to remember him by. He asked if Batman would still have died if he’d drawn the rainbow while he was still alive, was it too late? The simplicity and complexity of being 5 years old is sometimes overwhelming. xx

‘Party!’ – This is such a cheat shot! I didn’t take it, the Wife did. But it was taken on my camera, in my house and was processed by me so…it’s mine…right?

Diggy’s 4th birthday party, witha magician who was a huge hit as you can see from all the smiles. I endure my children’s birthday parties if I’m honest, it’s such a lot of work and hassle but they LOVE them and it’s so special having them at home.

Birthday Boy not shown as he was up the front doing MAGIC.

‘Diggers’ – Diggery Diggers…on his 4th birthday…rosebud mouth…button nose…lashes to die for…verging on the cherubic you might say…when did you leave heaven MrDigs? And did they slip you a little extra attitude on your way out? Feel free to lose it any time soon…

Happy Birthday DiggyDo. x

‘Playing out til it’s dark’ – Remember how that felt as a child? Here are my boys out in the garden, holding on to the last few minutes of light for ‘just one more score Mummy before tea…PLEEEEEEEEEEASE?’.

‘Paved with gold’ – Streets of our local town are paved with gold. And bokeh.

‘Four walls’ – Plans for the extension to our new house have been shelved since the boys have taken it upon themselves to design it themselves. They aren’t bothering with drawing up plans, getting planning permission or any of that boring stuff. Instead they are taking a very hands on and practical approach. Current thinking is that they will model it with Lego and then hand it over to the builders and get them to build it. Easy.

Alas my children are very literal. So, if you happen upon a period property in deepest Suffolk with a one walled ‘extension’ in rainbow colours with a blue staircase leading to nowhere…you’ll know you’ve hit Chez Spud. Knock on the [red plastic framed perspex] door and come on in for a cup of tea.

‘Books do furnish a room’ – I’ve wiffled on about books and the lack of them in our home before. Most have them have been in storage for a couple of years but are gradually making a reappearance. It’ll be another couple of years before they all get on to shelves but a couple of boxes made a break for it today, and I was glad to see some old friends.

‘A stitch in time saves nine ‘ – Technically VERY wrong as crochet isn’t constructed from ‘stitches’ at all, it’s just all one big loop. But who’s counting [stitches]? My boys indulging in a spot of crochet. Love how they co-ordinated their work with their outfits.  Not seen: MrSpud kipping on the other sofa. Even managed to keep the boys quiet enough to allow him a well deserved afternoon nap.

‘Valereen’ – Valereen … the lesser known twin brother of St Valentine…a combination of Halloween and Valentine…as created by Bertie and not corrected by me because it’s so charming. Other such delights I’m holding on to:

‘Washing mean’ (washing machine)
‘Wind wipers’ (windscreen wipers)
‘What is on earth going on here?’ (What on earth is going on here)
‘Ploblem’ (problem)
‘Best’ (vest’)

He’s 5. I should correct him I know but all things in good time, right?

‘St Paul’s Cathedral’ – Snapped with my phone en route to dinner. Sometimes it feels like St Paul’s is the touchstone of my City working life…apart from a brief and unhappy stint in the West End I’ve always worked in the City, and within a stone’s throw of St Paul’s. Oddly I’ve only been in it twice, I think. Once for a concert and I ‘think’ once just to admire it. And I’ve had lunch in the crypt. Bit odd given I’ve worked around it for 19 years…

My first job in the City was just behind the cathedral. I spent 6 weeks getting off at the St Paul’s tube stop, and walking past the ‘huge church’. One lunchtime I said to a colleague, ‘You know, that church looks JUST like St Paul’s Cathedral doesn’t it?’. I never lived it down.

I could tell some tales of riotous nights out in the bars and restaurants which surround St Paul’s, bore you with tales of how Paternoster Square was just a windy cut through before it got all fancy, how the arrival of M&S Simply Food transformed my life…

What I mostly remember about this area is a service of remembrance held at St Paul’s just after 9/11. You couldn’t get in to the cathedral or even near it. I stood in the middle of Ludgate Hill, shut for the occassion, with thousands and thousands of City workers..in total silence, listening to the service which was broadcast down the street. I remember the silence, watched the police marksmen on the roofs of surrounding buildings, the buzz of police helicopters up in the blue blue sky and wondered if everything had changed forever.

‘All in a row’ – railings by night

‘Crafty’ – power crafting after school today. Floor may never recover

‘Bokey’ – Geddit? Bokeh keys? Bokey…oh if you don’t get it, forget it…

‘Toy Stor[y]age’ – It’s not a thing of beauty, but it’s tidy and accessible and that’s about as good as it gets. I suppose. Anyone needing to see what’s in each box go here

‘Cheeky’ – Mr Bertie, seen through a tower of dominos

‘New shoes’

‘At the bottom of the garden’ – Fabulous February sunshine. We played out all afternoon and, as the sun started to sink, the boys started work on a den at the bottom of the garden. Bertie did the work while Diggy sat in a tree, singing very loudly. Dinner was eaten at breakneck speed and off the hared again, torches in hand, to finish the job.

Playing outside until bathtime, without coats on…what a treat…and a little glimpse of Spring.

Anyone still reading? All up to date now.

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