And we were really looking forward to the Creative Peninsula event in Conway Square tomorrow too.
Its absolutely glorious outside today, the sun is shining, the grass is drying out and the temperature is perfect. However, I've just checked the forecast for tomorrow and it's to rain. All. Day. Long.
Toots is going stir crazy at the minute being couped up around the house. Don't get me wrong, even if the weather's a bit miserable we still play in the garden or go for a walk reasonably close to home, because there's little more fun to be had than having to carry a drenched four year old more than a mile home in the pouring rain. I try to keep her as busy and occupied as I can while we're at home but the poor child just needs to stretch her legs, to get outside and run like the clappers.
I was kind of banking on tomorrow to pick her up a bit. Admittedly, it isn't going to be a hopping, skipping, jumping kind of day but she'll be able to take part in loads of arts and crafts like painting and pottery to name a couple of things. I'm not hugely concerned about rain to be honestly as I can always put her wellies and raincoat on and just bring an empty bag to lug around the wets while we're in the tents, but if the wind picks up then I'm worries they may have to cancel the event.
Roll on school term is all I can say. At least then Toots will have something everyday to enjoy and she'll be back in the company of other kids on a daily basis which I know for a fact she has missed terribly since leaving daycare. I just hope the teachers can keep up with her.
In the meantime, I'll organise a bag tonight with a spare empty one tucked in and our raincoats and just hope for the best tomorrow because come hell or high water, I need to get this child away from the house for more than an hour.
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
When I really should have done nothing but eat brownies all day...
Toots and I spent three hours, three whole hours, cleaning and tidying the wreckage that was once our garden today.
We're a bit famous in the UK for talking a lot about the weather, but there's a very simple and logical reason for that.
It's because we get so much of the stuff.
There has been a lot of flooding in Northern Ireland the last couple of days, now not the Westlink (spectacular demonstration of DOE workmanship flooding), but flooding nonetheless.
I had to leg it out into ankle deep water in my little back garden yesterday morning to save the cat.
The poor cat who was more than a little confused by my attempts to grab her and get her into the house and out of the rapidly rising water. She scratched, spat and bit before finally scurrying past me and straight up to her armpits in the swimming pool that was now my patio.
And even though I'm convinced that by that point she must have realised that my trying to get hold of her were in her best interests in the first place, she still managed to give me a dirty look, like it was all my fault she now resembled a drowned rat.
We dried off and stood at the kitchen counter with hot coffee watching the torrent of water pour down the steps in my garden, resigned to the fact that there was absolutely nothing we could do but watch and wonder why we'd bothered paying a guy to install a second drain in the back garden (which clearly wasn't helping at all) when we first moved into the house and woke one morning to watch a full sized wheelie bin float past the kitchen window.
And I'm not sure I'll ever forget the sight of my husband wrapping a freshly laundered fluffy bath sheet around the cat, scratching her under the chin and asking if she was ok, while I stood there soaked to the bones, with actual leaves (I kid you not) stuck to my shins, dripping on to the door mat without so much as a thank you to be heard, wondering;
So today we dealt with the aftermath.
We unblocked the drains, scooping out entire plants never mind just leaves, we shovelled large quantities of mud and gak off the stone path at the front of the house, we lifted entire land masses out of the gutters, poked holes in the lawn to allow the water to drain away and brushed in sand and finally swept up the debris lying all over the place.
Finally, Toots and I were finished. We got a shower, jumped into to some warm clothes and settled down on the sofa with a hot cup of tea just in time to watch the heaven's open!
We're a bit famous in the UK for talking a lot about the weather, but there's a very simple and logical reason for that.
It's because we get so much of the stuff.
There has been a lot of flooding in Northern Ireland the last couple of days, now not the Westlink (spectacular demonstration of DOE workmanship flooding), but flooding nonetheless.
I had to leg it out into ankle deep water in my little back garden yesterday morning to save the cat.
The poor cat who was more than a little confused by my attempts to grab her and get her into the house and out of the rapidly rising water. She scratched, spat and bit before finally scurrying past me and straight up to her armpits in the swimming pool that was now my patio.
And even though I'm convinced that by that point she must have realised that my trying to get hold of her were in her best interests in the first place, she still managed to give me a dirty look, like it was all my fault she now resembled a drowned rat.
We dried off and stood at the kitchen counter with hot coffee watching the torrent of water pour down the steps in my garden, resigned to the fact that there was absolutely nothing we could do but watch and wonder why we'd bothered paying a guy to install a second drain in the back garden (which clearly wasn't helping at all) when we first moved into the house and woke one morning to watch a full sized wheelie bin float past the kitchen window.
And I'm not sure I'll ever forget the sight of my husband wrapping a freshly laundered fluffy bath sheet around the cat, scratching her under the chin and asking if she was ok, while I stood there soaked to the bones, with actual leaves (I kid you not) stuck to my shins, dripping on to the door mat without so much as a thank you to be heard, wondering;
- Why I'd even bothered to put shoes on before running out the back door, and;
- Why, when there was a perfectly good pair of riggers lying beside said back door, I'd chosen my cute new pumps.
So today we dealt with the aftermath.
We unblocked the drains, scooping out entire plants never mind just leaves, we shovelled large quantities of mud and gak off the stone path at the front of the house, we lifted entire land masses out of the gutters, poked holes in the lawn to allow the water to drain away and brushed in sand and finally swept up the debris lying all over the place.
Finally, Toots and I were finished. We got a shower, jumped into to some warm clothes and settled down on the sofa with a hot cup of tea just in time to watch the heaven's open!
Menu Plan 1/6 to 7/6
If this weather holds out and I really hope it does, I'll be having a nice light week, with soups and salads and fish.
I really can't stand the thought of heavy food when its this hot and red meat just gets kicked to one side on the really hot days.
Monday
Steamed mussels with butter and parsley and a side salad.
Tuesday
Smoked white fish with tomato salad and crusty bread.
Wednesday
Chicken noodle soup made in the crockpot.
Thursday
Frittata made with cheese, sauteed onions and potatoes.
Friday
Baked cod with Spanish rice.
Saturday
I bought a pack of frozen wonton wrappers when we went to the Asian supermarket so I'll use those to make crispy chicken wontons and mini prawn and vegetable spring rolls along with some dips, salad and maybe some steamed rice.
Sunday
Roast chicken, because I'm a creature of habit:)
Baking
My freezer supply is running very low so I'll need to make some peanut butter cookies for freezing Toots is going to have to get her fill of them before she starts school in August. I think that will be the hardest thing for her when she starts school because she usually eats nuts of some description at least once a day and she won't be able to have any until she gets home.
Cake, I don't know what kind yet but I want a cake in the house. Probably a nice tangy lemon.
And oh my good flah we went and bought Toots school uniform on Saturday because the place in town had a half price offer on for her primary school.
There is a school uniform for a child old enough to be going to school hanging in my wardrobe.
That can't possibly be for my child, can it?
And is it really June already?
I really can't stand the thought of heavy food when its this hot and red meat just gets kicked to one side on the really hot days.
Monday
Steamed mussels with butter and parsley and a side salad.
Tuesday
Smoked white fish with tomato salad and crusty bread.
Wednesday
Chicken noodle soup made in the crockpot.
Thursday
Frittata made with cheese, sauteed onions and potatoes.
Friday
Baked cod with Spanish rice.
Saturday
I bought a pack of frozen wonton wrappers when we went to the Asian supermarket so I'll use those to make crispy chicken wontons and mini prawn and vegetable spring rolls along with some dips, salad and maybe some steamed rice.
Sunday
Roast chicken, because I'm a creature of habit:)
Baking
My freezer supply is running very low so I'll need to make some peanut butter cookies for freezing Toots is going to have to get her fill of them before she starts school in August. I think that will be the hardest thing for her when she starts school because she usually eats nuts of some description at least once a day and she won't be able to have any until she gets home.
Cake, I don't know what kind yet but I want a cake in the house. Probably a nice tangy lemon.
And oh my good flah we went and bought Toots school uniform on Saturday because the place in town had a half price offer on for her primary school.
There is a school uniform for a child old enough to be going to school hanging in my wardrobe.
That can't possibly be for my child, can it?
And is it really June already?
The calm before the storm
The whole house is very quiet.
The husband is having a well deserved lie in and Toots spent the night at her Nana's house having a sleepover with her little friend.
Yesterday went very well. Toots enjoyed her gifts and even my mum managed to restrain herself this year so all together we only spent about 15 minutes opening presents and half of that was due to the fact my brother wrapped half a roll of sticky tape around a jigsaw puzzle.
Toots really enjoyed her day yesterday, she didn't get tired or frazzled by the attention. When she was asked to blow out the candles on the little cake my mum bought, she happily complied and laughed and cheered when she blew all four out at once.
I've spoken with my mum this morning and by all accounts the girls had a good night too.
They spent some time playing with her V Smile (from my brother, a compromise on the Wii), then they went to McDonalds for something to eat, followed by a run down to the beach as the weather was so beautiful yesterday afternoon, before arriving back at my mum's house for an evening of popcorn and the tinkerbell movie.
Then they went to bed shortly after 9.00pm. I was amazed but my mum said she could see the sleep hanging over them, by that time they simply looked exhausted.
My mum will take the two of them to the park after breakfast before taking her friend home, although they'll see each other later at her birthday party.
So I sit here. The house is quiet and I'm soaking up as much of it as possible before the party. The guest list has grown slightly so now we have ten kids and at least as many adults.
The cake is made (pain in the bum that it was), the gift bags are ready along with a little pass the parcel game. I'll chop some fruit for snacks for the kids later but for the meantime I'm just sitting here doing a bit of this and that, a bit of sewing for a friend, some knitting for Toots and trying to work out how to make a few other bits and pieces I have floating around my head.
I think I'll have another cup of coffee and just enjoy the quiet.
The things we do for our kids
We woke this morning to find this...
Yet another dismal Irish morning.
Weather like that just doesn't fly on my daughter's birthday.
Somebody will be pretty pissed when they go to cash this in and find a queue. Ha.
Still...
And, yes, the pencil did break once I finished writing.
It actually made me go all "oooooh" for a second.
Do you think they have pino noir in hell?
Now back to the birthday cake with me.
Feck, this things taking longer than I thought.
Told you. Famous last words:)
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