The sun beat down at Sundown.

Friday i just worked; i’m deeply engaged in a bay by bay audit of how everything is being sold; i’m now half way round the first room 🙄 Still, i have also sold off a load of stuff to my workplace comrades, who can’t resist a bargain and despite the fact that business is utterly and completely dire at the moment, May is not a good month, i do at least feel as if the place is paying it’s way, shelf by shelf. It is an excellent lesson in ruthlessness because i’m having to learn to evaluate each product on a “have i done it justice, does it deserve it’s shelf space?” basis. Focuses the mind nicely. (i’m NOT ever, not NEVER going to do it on my HE resource shelves!)

Everyone else accommodatec Max being on the phone to somewhere in Asia for an hour, Fiver having his balls snipped off and got back to dancing and musical theatre as well as doing some work. Max and Fran, i believe, had a monumental stand-off over her being a prize cow over a bandana and she got sent to her room. Nice 🙄
Saturday we went on a Rainbow, Brownie and Beaver (my there were some big scary Beaver ladies there, i wonder if as round as tall and deeply sarcastic is a prerequisite for the job? Deb?) day out at Sundown Adventure Park .All 6 of us went, me because in a fit of “giving something back stroke convinced 3 of my daughters would be in a coach crash” enthusiasm, i’d offered to be a grown up for the day and Max and Josie because the coach had spaces and we thought she would be cross to be left behind.

I had a panic 2 days before at the thought (slightly belated) of having 20 Brownies to herd around on my own but in the end i got Maddy and Amelie (who chose to stay in my group), Linzi’s 2 and one other who was feisty but adorable and who Amelie and Josie both fell in love with. Grey Owl had phoned me to ask if i thought my girls would want to be with me or someone else for the day, to which i felt compelled to suggest that since she was currently in the same room as them while i was 8 miles away, perhaps she ought to ask their opinion! Fran chose to go in a different group, which i rather admired her for, even more after i had spent some time with the 2 younger girls in her Six, who she occasionally mutters about as being slightly difficult to control. Rather her than me, that’s all i can say! (Blimey!)

The adventure park was lovely; it was a funny place, oldey worldy, sort of home spun, very non-commercial, childish, simple and just enough to do in a day. For all that, it was lvoely; no merchandise being thrust down your throat, a positive hunt for an ice-cream lace, simple pleasures like rides that just take you on a trip round a circle, being squirted with water and laughing at silly japes being acted out by models. A bit like the nursery rhyme ride at Legoland but all over. What was extra-ordinary was that all these kids, sophisticated as they are and up to age 11, adored it. It seemed to give them licence to just be kids and i never heard a single moan about the rides, the level of fun or anything else. They all loved proessing the buttons that made the displays work, laughed at being squirted and bought right into the nursery rhymes and generally cuteness. It was uncanny and incredibly refreshing.

I didn’t take photos, far too fraught trying not to lose people and avoiding snapping kids i should have snapped. We’ll go again though, i liked it and the kids have NOT. STOPPED.TALKING.ABOUT.IT.

Josie had rather a lovely day too, either monopolising daddy or being with “big girls” 🙂

Sunday i worked in the am as Sue and MF had a funeral the next day 🙁 When i got home they were both at ours and we all had lunch and sat in the sun. The girls and LF chased rabbits round the garden and generally indulged in pet worship. Clover is rather adorable and extremely happy to be living with us 🙂 Fran gardened the herb patch, which she is taking over as hers, i cleaned out my bedroom cupboard and made myself a little workshop in there. Went for a cycle in the evening, leaving the kids all gymnasticking in the garden.

Today me and the big 3 set up a list for each of them to use so that they can plan out their work and tick it off – this was mostly their idea, Fran and Maddy are both keen for a bit more structure now and this seemed to be a good way of making sure either they, or Max, can instantly think of something to do. Now that Fran is having cello lessons, i really want her to be able to tick the box each day for that; she is quite happyy to do 1/2 an hour or so at least, but sometimes she just forgets to sit at it. I really want her to have an encouragement to remember to be consistent.

Her other stuff today was Meleto (long multiplication, perfectly do-able but set out oddly and she got angry and started yelling… blaaaah, this is going to stop soon, right?) the intensive practise book from 4A (data) where she did the work fine and then insisted on doing the adding bits at the end in her head, got them wrong by being daft and then yelled some more, a book on medieval continental differences and something i’ve forgotten. Oh yes, drawing. (I looked at the ticks!)
Maddy did maths (division) read a book on microscopes, which she is very into and she and Max did some proper “looking” with one on friday (salt and sugar i think), several DWN pictures and guitar.

Amelie did several Roger Red Hat books, some 3x tables and um… can’t think… lost list.

Later on we nipped to work then took the big 2 to Jazz, then all the big 3 to gym; Fran got moved up into the gold group (thought she would) and is consequently thrilled and nicer to know this afternoon. Me and Josie legged it to PCWorld, bought an armful of laptops (i’ve never left a pc shop with a trolley before!) and to the bank to pay in Max’s money. “Do you have plans for this money?” said the cashier… “OH YES!!!!!!” said i!
Back home, neighbour kindly brought kids back for me as i got held up, fed everyone and finished off The Borrowers Afield – and no, 2 hours too late, i better go to bed!