Charlie Takes An After Dinner Nap

Slightly strange way to do it, but hey.

Ollie Bowling (cricket!)

He is a few seconds of Ollie bowling at the Leverstock Junior 'Ashes' a few weeks ago. I am rather pleased Ollie is into cricket, and what's more is that his bowling action has some potential.

The Wooz On Flickr

I have already posted on The Wooz and I going on a boy's weekend to Paris, here. At last I have posted all the pix to flickr, here. There are too many pix, certainly too many duplicates, and no labeling of the shots. I will have to go back to edit and label. At least they are up. Narrow boats next.

Ollie's Contrasting Weekend

On Saturday morning Ollie had his first football practice of the session which meant he could wear his new Nike boots, see here. And on Saturday afternoon he went and bought an iPOD Touch, 32g, with his own saved up money. Very exciting. He also needs a new tennis racquet - his coach says his current one is too small for him - so we bought him a new tennis racquet as well. Also very exciting. We also went to Tesco's and Ollie, for a little treat, chose some chocolate custard. Again very exciting. What a top day for Ollie.

It is funny how things turn, because today, Sunday, has been a little different for Ollie.

I took all boys for a sail today. They haven't done it this year, apart from with Rupert in The Solent which is not quite the same as dingy sailing, and I think it is important for them to keep their hand in. George was fine and enjoyed himself. The Wooz thoroughly enjoyed his crewing and didn't want to get out after a couple of minutes, but Ollie, a little nervous to be back in a dingy, managed to capsize! He wasn't happy. He got a soaking and didn't want to continue sailing solo so joined The Wooz and I, shivering and unhappy.

To make the contrast between Ollie's Saturday and Sunday even more dramatic, we returned home to have have salmon wrapped in prosciutto with herby lentils and spinach in yoghurt. Ollie was VERY unhappy at that.

At least he got to listen to the community shield on Sunday afternoon, play some tennis, watch Sherlock Holmes and eat pasta for the rest of the day.

Ollie's New Boots

They are Nike T90 Laser IIIs. Needn't say any more. 

Narrow Boat Week

We have just spent a narrow boat, gently taking in the delights of the Stratford and Warwick sections of the English canal network. For those of you who don't know much about narrow boats, they are very long (ours was nearly 70 feet) and very, well......narrow (less than 6 foot wide I would guess). They were originally built for moving cargo but today are generally pleasure craft, hired for holidays or owned like a mobile second home. If you are very interested, have a look here. This was our narrow boat.

It is slow going. There is no point even trying if you want to do something fast. Speeds are 2-5 mph (max), and what with having to negotiate the locks it is quicker to walk if you want to go any distance! Our longest day we did probably 5 miles including 17 locks. Here is a short 'flight' of them.

It is a great holiday for taking things very slow, and doing very little, though you need to keep your eye on the steering, as the canals are often narrow, the locks and bridges really tight and the bridges very low.

We chugged through some lovely English countryside, the stuff you forget about caught in the endless commuter existence.

 

We ate at some good pubs and saw some lovely village houses.

Including where Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, supposedly lived as a child.

We also went to Stratford-upon-Avon, home of Shakespeare.

And the castle at Warwick.

I will put the entire collection of pix up on flickr, hopefully, before too long.