Emerging personality

I have been struck today by the ways in which Rachel's personality differs from my own.  I know that sounds obvious, but everyone who knows us is amazed how similar we are.  

And we are, mostly.
But in one main way we differ.
I am all about detail, I'm a completer finisher.  I set my mind on something and I don't deviate until I'm happy.

Rachel, on the other hand, is more creative.  She gets an idea and starts it, but will happily start another project if one pops into her mind.  In the end all have to be completed to her satisfaction, but she never shuts out new ideas.

I have tended to say she's "easily distracted".  But watching her in the forest today, collecting materials for a picture, or two (blog post to follow); I realise that she is always generating new thoughts.  More than that, she can hold and work on them all at one time.

Yes, she can appear to be easily distracted, but from now on I will comment on it positively.  

Rachel is "creative and imaginative".



proof: this is a collage of a cabbage she made from seaweed yesterday whilst we were Crabbing 

Silent Sunday

Crabbing

We went to Mudeford Quay with buckets, nets, Crabbing line and bait and hoped to catch some crabs.

Before - boredom and frustration


During - excitement and action



After - fascination and elation




And even some close encounters



We managed to catch 8 crabs but only got 4 into the bucket.  We were all happy though; it appealed to my chillaxing, Mike's competitive instinct and Rachel's animal fascination.

The joy of reading

Life has changed so much since Rachel has become a confident reader.  She is so much more content to have unplanned time.  She spends hours with her nose in books, any books.  She loves Roald Dahl and Beatrix Potter but anything will do.  

She hunts out factual books, leaflets and papers; anything that helps with her endless quest for knowledge.  (Its a relief to have her answer her own 'why' questions which started at 14months old.)  She'll even read instruction booklets if there's a new one around.

Right now she's reading an encyclopaedia of dinosaurs; I'm sure she'll be sharing all manner of facts with me through the day.

I have always loved to read, fiction books all the way; I consider myself a bookworm.  Mike could count the books he's ever read on his two hands, but he devours the Internet looking for news and information.

It's so fantastic to see Rachel able to experience joy and seek knowledge through reading; her life is now open to all that is ever written.  She can never again utter the awful words "I'm bored!"

A day at the beach

Yesterday we set out to spend a day at the beach.  We've never done this before, not with the sole aim of being a family at the beach all day.  It was a first for us.

We decided to drive to Boscombe and enjoy the quieter beach experience there.  It was a good choice.  We had the beach almost to ourselves at 10am and found the perfect spot to set up.  We brought chairs, a picnic, swimming stuff, a bucket and spade and my kindle.

Mike and Rachel immediately set about digging a massive hole or "trap".  They made it deep enough to hold Rachel.



They then decided to decorate it. First with sand castles and shells; then with a protective wall and gate.




I'm mighty impressed by their creation.

After that Rachel decided to brave the sea.  After a few screams she eventually aclimatised and spent the next hour playing in the waves and splashing Mike.

I was safely guarding their castle creation and reading http://llmcalling.blogspot.com/2011/07/sister-by-rosamund-lupton.html on my Kindle!

Three hours flew by before we had our picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches, crisps, bananas and a drink.

There is a fabulous little land train that runs up and down the front from Boscombe to Bournemouth.  

 

After lunch we rode the train to Bournemouth. There we walked along the front, took the west cliff lift, walked along the cliff top and then back to the pier.  We meandered through the gardens, had an ice cream and after a few hours caught the train back to Boscombe.

The day was topped off with dinner at the restaurant on the beach at Boscombe before we drove back to the flat properly exhausted and a little sandy.

If ten years ago you'd told me that one day I'd enjoy a day at the beach just chilling out, I'd have thought you were mad.  But we had a fabulous day and might just do it again soon.

How to balance the US finances

As explained extremely well by Roald Dahl in "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator".



This step by step process is included in the chapter entitled 'The President'.

1. Bring the chief financial advisor into the Oval Office of the White House.

2. Give him the book full of financial documents.

3. Get him to balance the book on his head.

Easy as Pie.

I can't see what the problem is!
Roald Dahl provided this step by step guide over twenty years ago.  

It just goes to show that everyone needs a good literary grounding in life.

The simple joys of motherhood

What more could I ask for?

New forest show revisited

Today we returned to the New Forest Show for a second day.  We were struck by how much busier the show is on Thursday than Tuesday; or at least that's how it seems.

We headed straight to the animal areas when we arrived today.  We toured the animal, pig and cattle tents before spending an hour watching the sheep judging.  We especially liked the curly woolled varieties (obviously not their official classification!)


We spent an hour in the Longdown Farm Tent meeting the goats,

calves and chicks.

 

Rachel even got to bottle feed a calf.



In the tent we met an illustrator, but that's all blogged here http://majorloveoffilm.blogspot.com/2011/07/interview-with-illustrator.html


After a lunch of a hog roast roll, perfect, Rachel had a go at spinning some wool.



I was surprised how successful she was at it, she managed to spin enough to wrap this sheep.



From there we returned to the forested discovery area and Rachel did some more craft activities.




The draw of the Eton's mess in the kids kitchen was impossible to resist.




And we signed the huge red tractor tyre in support of the British, fairly farmed and traded products.



Then it was back to the main ring for meet the hounds, heavy horses final, a massive parade of tractors, and some wonderful show jumping.





It was a completely different day today, a chance to see another aspect of the show, and just as enjoyable.



Well done new forest show, see you next year.

Interview with an illustrator

Completely by accident, at the New Forest Show, Rachel sat down at a colouring table in the Longdown Farm tent next to the author and illustrator Simon Chadwick.  He was chatting to the kids who were colouring and his books were near him, but it wasn't obviously a book signing.

I was looking at the books and eventually decided to buy " Pony Pests" for Rachel; that's when Simon asked if I'd like it autographed.



Not one to turn down a good offer I of course accepted and we now have a signed copy of the fabulous New Forest Friends Book.  Simon went on to draw a pony for Rachel and chat to us about his life as an illustrator.



Simon wrote his first book of the 'New Forest Friends' series whilst studying for his A-levels.  It was spotted and published by the New Forest District Council and went through two print runs.  Since then he's written two more books which he publishes himself for sale purely in the New Forest.

He told us that the way to get into illustration as a career is to draw, draw and draw some more.  He told us to never give up but to keep drawing and perfecting your individual style.

After talking to Simon I cheekily asked him if he would draw one of his illustrations for this blog.  Look what can happen when you ask. 



So now I'm wondering what I can do with this fabulous illustration.  I could use it as a prize for a competition on the blog, or donate it as a raffle prize for one of the charities I volunteer for, or auction it for the new Berkshire Babyloss Support Group I'm launching in October.  Choices, choices; if you have an opinion or idea then please throw it into the mix.

Adventures in Wonderland

We were planning on going to Paulton's Park today but after nearly passing out at the price, realising it was half way home and then hearing of one hour queues we changed our mind.  Instead we headed quarter of a mile down the road to Adventure Wonderland just outside Bournemouth.

This park is twenty years and wonderfully quaint (as opposed to dated).  It is designed around the theme of Alice in Wonderland with space and fun in mind, which makes for a really relaxed day.  There are rides, about a dozen, all for kids under about 9 I reckon; including:

Pirate ship


Polly Drop


Runaway Train


Miniature Train


Giant Yo-Yos


There is also a theatre show; 


petting zoo area with pony rides; 



trampolines and loads of bouncy castles; climbing castle, swings, ropes and zip wires; a massive maze; 


passage of distorting mirrors; 




croquet; lots of outside seating AND an indoor playzone!  Oh and there are two places that serve food if you don't bring a picnic.

For half the price of Paulton's Park it's a bargain.  On a sunny day in the school holidays we never queued for a ride, found places to sit wherever we fancied and came away feeling like we'd had six exhilarating yet relaxing hours.

If you live or come to visit the New Forest, Bournemouth or East Dorset then we really recommend Adventure Wonderland for a day out.

The New Forest Show

Yesterday we went to the new forest show, we rocked up at 10 and stayed all day.  We had a fabulous day, here are the highlights.

New Forest Fun Zone
Whilst listening to the new forest rock choir Rachel got ready to rock climb 


She was nervous for the first ascent


But quickly got into the groove



East and West Ring
Tractors


Horse and Hounds


Heavy Horses





Motorbike stunt men





Kirsty Allsopp



new forest national park tent



forestry commission area




Kid's Kitchen Making Eton Mess



and lots of animals




The new forest show continues today and tomorrow, if you can get there then do, it's fabulous.  We'll be back tomorrow.