Christmas space (Rom Jul)

I like the Norwegian name for the stretch of time between Christmas and New years: "Rom Jul", meaning "Christmas space". This year we filled the space with some nice walks, a visit from our friend Darren, and some serious Nerf battles.

Ready for Nerf warfare!

Back into the car after a long walk in the Ashdown Forest

Rhodri and Darren

We've also watched lots of films on the telly and played some good boardgames and talked on the phone to our family and friends, and the whole week of Christmas space has been bliss. Now we need to get ready for New Years Eve! We have decided to organize a party at the village hall for a few families in the village, so hopefully that will turn out ok.

Riding lesson

Before Auntie Sions left for New Zealand this evening (!), she and Rhiannon went for a private riding lesson at Tremaines. It looked like they both had an enjoyable time and everyone behaved themselves, so definitely a success.

Merry Christmas!

We have been deliberately refusing to get caught up in the anxiety about food preparations and perfect presents for everyone in the run up to Christmas. Nevertheless, a certain amount of thinking and preparation ahead of time is actually required if the event is to be perceived as a success! I think this year we nailed it in terms of striking the right balance. We've also been able to spend good quality time taking long walks in the forest and carving out time to be with some people - not many, though! We did invite Charles and Simon over on Friday night for drinks and nibbles, and that was absolutely wonderful.

Anyway, today was the main event! We slept in until 9am, although the kids were up much earlier (of course). Here is a collage I made from the photos taken throughout the day:

We had a relaxing morning of slowly opening presents and enjoying warm cinnamon rolls with coffee.  Rhiannon got an electric guitar and Tryfan got a Lego set he has been wanting, but the best part was that the kids put real thought and joy into choosing and buying gifts for all of us, including each other. That was truly heartwarming to observe.

All 5 of us pitched in to prepare a lovely meal as well. While the turkey was in the oven, we went for a walk down to the Coach and Horses but sadly arrived just as they were closing. We weren't too sad though because the purpose was primarily to get out of the house and stretch our legs, which we did!

Sions and the rest of us with the Coach & Horses pub in the background

We ended up sitting down around 4:30pm and had a great meal: Nigella's turkey, Kristin's spicy stuffing, sprouts that even Sioned liked (!), and roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Yum!

We followed with some Christmas cake and sour sweets...

 

And then lounged on the sofas until bedtime. Merry Christmas!

Lewis elves

Rhiannon put our faces onto Elf Yourself and here is the product:

Cuddling

It is so great having Auntie Sioned here! She is really fun to be with :-)

Kicking off Christmas for real

This afternoon Auntie Sioned arrived, which meant that we could kick off this year's Christmas for real! As it happened, my friend Lou and some of her kids happened to be coming over this afternoon, too, and it culminated in a wonderful, creative gathering of friends and family. Lou brought a whole bunch of twisted willow branches as well as ribbon, fabric, decorative sticks, and other items of fabulousness.

 It was a little tough getting started and deciding what to create with all these beautiful materials. In the end Auntie Sioned made a wreath, Rhiannon made a different sort of wreath and also a door hanging piece, and I made a chandelier. It took me a few tries to get the balance right, but I'm happy with the product. Rhodri is less convinced, but he doesn't have any better suggestions, so he will have to live with it. Ha ha ha!

Nesting birds chandelier and Sioned's wreath

Anyway, the whole afternoon was just perfect in terms of allowing us to relax and tap into our creative sides while listening to Christmas music and getting immersed in our own projects. I'd love to make a tradition of this!

Elves in the house

Today was Christmas Jumper day at school, where the children were allowed to wear Christmas-themed jumpers over their school uniforms.

We actually don't have any such jumpers in our household, but they do have matching elf pyjamas, which sufficed for today.
Here they are in front of our happy tree.

Festive activities at school

This is the last full week before Christmas, although we still have school Mon - Wed next week! Anyway, that hasn't stopped the festivities from commencing.
Today was the annual Christmas roast dinner (lunch) at school which is always a fun event.

Rhiannon, Sophie, Jed and Tommy with their Christmas hats on

Not sure why our girl is standing on a table!

Then later today - actually this evening - all of the Year 6 students were taken out to dinner in the wide world by their teacher! They went to Cafe Rouge in Haywards Heath and had a lovely meal altogether as a special Year 6 senior student treat. There were some parents there too (because transportation to/from was still required) but they sat elsewhere in the restaurant and kept out of the kids' way.

It's a very busy and fun time of the year just now, but we are really looking forward to the holiday period.

Christmas Fair

Today after everyone woke up, we had some breakfast and then squeezed everyone into lil Jimmy the Green and drove down to the school for the annual Christmas Fair. It was kind of a drizzly day - not the most inspiring for a school fair - but we made the best of it. The event could have been actually quite grim and pathetic, but everyone pitched in to create a festive atmosphere.

The amazing James played the piano outside all day under the sun umbrella which we had decorated with solar powered (and charged) fairy lights. Danni went home and brought back her event shelter which provided cover from drizzle. Rhodri manned the BBQ with a couple of other people, and then there was the whole inside scene which I never did see.

Here I am in my stall - I always do something with sticks. This year we made these hanging stick ornaments in the shape of a Christmas tree that could then be decorated with glitter glue.

Rhiannon and the rest of the Kestrels class put on some stalls in their classroom with games that they thought up themselves. Rhiannon's game was called Santa Flips, which was a challenge to flip a plastic bottle and try to get it to land upright. Apparently it was a huge success and they had some fun too!.

Rhiannon's party - take 2

After the fabulous Tree Lighting evening, all the girls from Rhiannon's year came over for a sleepover. Cat and Bruno came too, which was great. Rhodri was out all evening for a men's Christmas Dinner, so it was just a houseful of girls + Tryfan and B.

Everyone got into their onesies and helped Rhiannon open presents, then we all watched Pitch Perfect 2 and ate popcorn. At 10:30 pm, I sent the girls to bed but they didn't actually go to sleep until closer to 1 am. It was a fairly successful night: no tears, no injuries, no arguments!

Christmas Tree Lighting

We always look forward to the annual Tree Lighting in the village hall, and this year did not disappoint!

Warren was the MC (again) and the evening contained performances by some trusty regulars as well as some newcomers. Danehill school performed several songs, as did the Danehill Handbell Ringers (see video below). We also sang some carols as a group and heard a new trio perform an excruciating 5-song set, which was about 4.5 songs too long! The finale was a poem and comedy sketch performed by Mr Fish and his friends, this year expanded to include his little brother (Diddy Fish), and elderly lady on piano, and of course Charlie Chuckles who was part of the act last year as well.

What I love most about this event is the small village Britishness of it all - the MC leading the audience in a carol that isn't on the program and most people don't know the words (skipping the one that is on the program with all the words printed), the actual turning on of the Christmas Tree lights witnessed through the window rather than gathering round the tree, the moment when the music sheet for the Handbell Ringers fell off the stand and everyone's head tilted to the left simultaneously, the sweet and eccentric Fish teenagers with their funny and heartwarming act, the general chaos of the scene with all the kids aged 2-5 apparently allowed to be free roaming up and down the hall, the older kids escaping to the outside playing tag in the dark and getting muddy in their nice clothes, and finally the mince pies and warm cider at the end of it all. I always come away from the evening with tears in my eyes at the funny, wholesome, loveliness of it all.

Rhiannon's birthday party

Today after school we had all the Year 6 kids over to our house for Rhiannon's party. They are a small year group, so it was only 10 kids + Rhiannon and Tryfan.

First they all went to the Jubilee Woods across the road and played "Capture the Flag" until it was too dark to see. Then they came back to the house and had some food, then decorated mini gingerbread houses and finished with a glow in the dark dance party!

At 6pm we all got our shoes and jackets on and headed over the road to the village hall for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting.

Ears pierced!

Rhiannon's birthday present this year when she turns 11 is for her to get her ears pierced.
Since next weekend looks like it is actually going to be really busy, we decided to go this morning and "git 'er done". We went to "R. Stevenson Jewellers" in Haywards Heath at the recommendation of other mothers in the village whose daughters have had them done. Here she is before the big pierce.

Russell "R" Stevenson was the man for the job, and he did such a good job of making it gentle but special. He did the first ear by surprise - getting her to believe he was going to take a few minutes to get things set up. The second one was a bit trickier since she knew what would happen. Anyway, it was all done pretty soon and now here is our girl with holes in her ears.

Russell showing Rhiannon her ears

After we were all done, we walked out of the shop and Rhiannon felt a bit woozy so we sat in the sun on a bench for a few minutes and then decided to go out for a late breakfast at Cafe Rouge.

 It was so nice to be out and about with my girl.

Quick trip to UAE

I took a quick trip for work to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates this past week.

I left on Saturday morning and got back today. It was a good trip work wise and I got to stay in some nice hotels. I even made sure to get some use out of the beautiful swimming pools which nobody seems to ever be in!

 Anyway, it was fine but I am really glad to be home! The only bad thing is that my computer died a sudden death on the flight home so I have to get that fixed tomorrow.

Birthday with Rod

And yes, I mean "Rod", not "Rhod". "Rod" as in "Rod Stewart", or at least a Rod Stewart impersonator! Oh yes, what a fabulous way to spend a birthday that happens to fall on a Saturday.

By pure good fortune, one of the local pub/ hotels called The Roebuck was hosting a Rod Stewart tribute evening this night, which included a 3-course dinner and the aforementioned entertainment for a bargain £24.95/ person. We decided to make it a Girls Night out in lieu of a more formal Christmas dinner, so in the end there were about 30 of us ladies who are mothers or somehow affiliated with Danehill School.

I did manage to take a few pictures, although they are not the greatest! Anyway, it was a really fun evening.

Bad Bully Blues

Today was the Kestrels' hosted school assembly with the theme of Anti-Bullying.
Kestrels is Rhiannon's class, years 5 and 6 together with Mrs G-J. Since I was working from home this day, I was able to go along and watch it. What a treat! They acted out scenes with bullies and the bullied, and then asked the audience mid-scene for ideas on how to use "the power of good" to change the situation. Kids from the younger years of the school volunteered their ideas, and then the scene actors would choose one of the ideas and then use it to finish the scene, acting impromptu! It was truly heartwarming to watch this, both in terms of the ideas coming from the younger kids and also the nimbleness of the actors to make things up on the spot.

But the best bit was the song that they performed at the end, called "Bad Bully Blues".
I didn't attempt to record this on my phone, but I wish I had a copy to share here. I hope to get a copy in weeks or months to come and then update or submit a new posting. What made it so special was that James (Zoey's dad) wrote the song especially for this event after discovering that there were no good anti-bullying songs out there on the internet for kids to learn and sing. So he wrote one and then the Kestrels class has been practicing it all week.

Here are the lyrics to Bad Bully Blues:

I know you stole my lunchbox 
And you filled it up with glue 
You said my hair looked stinky 
And you locked me in the loo 

You kicked me in the corridor 
Where no one else could see 
But the fact remains and will not change 
You just can't bully me 

Maybe you remember something 
Very very bad 
You never told a soul 
And even now it makes you sad 

Maybe someone picked on you 
And made you feel a wuss 
But the fact remains and will not change 
You just can't bully us 

I feel lonely 
I feel sad 
I feel like hurting 
And do-----ing 
Something bad 

One day did someone turn on you 
And make you feel small? 
You didn't want to face the world 
You curled up in a ball 

You think the pain will go away 
If you just pass it through 
But the fact remains and will not change 
We won't be hurt by you 

I feel lonely 
I feel sad 
I feel like hurting 
And do-----ing 
Something bad 

Courage 
Forgiveness 
Humility 
Respect 
Perseverance 
Honesty 
Friendship 
Love 

So why not talk to someone 
Share the pain that's in your heart? 
A teacher or a grown-up 
Knows that listening is an art 

There's not a single one of us 
Who's not felt pain that's tremendous 
I know this rhyme is awful 
But what matters is the simple fact

We need to help each other
And we won't be hurt by you 
Or anyone 
Or anything 
Ever 
Ever 
Ever 
Ever

Dans le noir?

As part of my birthday celebration this year, Rhodri and I went for dinner last night at this restaurant called Dans le noir? in London, where you are waited on by blind people, dine in total darkness eating surprise menus and are seated at family style tables. A colleague had told me about this place and I was so intrigued that I had to talk Rhodri into coming with me and making a date out of it!

Rhodri met me at work in Westminster and we went for happy hour with my colleagues Bala, Vicki and Gill - none of whom had ever met Rhods, so that was special in itself! We took the tube, walked and then hopped in a taxi in order to arrive by 7pm to the restaurant. We were greeted by a friendly host who sat us in a small table with comfy chairs after we put our bags, coats and phones into a locker. The welcome area is softly lit and serves as a staging place where people prepare to go into the dark, and where the menu is explained. Each person chooses either Vegetarian, Fish, Meat or Exotic surprise menus, and then chooses either 2 or 3 courses, or one of the more deluxe options that involve wine pairings etc.

So we both chose Exotic surprise menu with 2 courses (Rh - starter and main, L - main and dessert), and then when we were ready, our waiter was summoned and we headed to the entry passage. Gao was our waiter, and after meeting him we formed a train with right hand onto right shoulder of person in front (Gao-me-Rhodri). Gao told us that we would be joining a table that had a party of 3 ladies and a mixed party of 4 already seated, then led us to our chairs where we sat down. He then explained that we each had a knife and fork and napkin in front of us, as well as a tall glass for water. And then we were left to settle into the experience. 

It was so, so dark: absolutely pitch black with no hint of light anywhere. We didn't know how big the room was, where we were in the context on the room, or how many other people were there. We could hear other people talking, but without the visual cues to focus our ears, it was strangely disorienting and we couldn't tune into what anyone else was saying (which normally is easy to do, especially for Rhodri).  But at the same time it was very relaxing to allow one sense to switch off and not pay any attention to one's appearance or to maintaining tidy restaurant manners. It was really difficult to use the knife and fork, and Rhods just used his fingers the whole time. But the food was delicious and indeed exotic! 

When it was all over, we went back out into the welcome lounge and relaxed on a sofa to study the menu that showed pictures and included descriptions of what we just ate: Kangaroo with giant couscous, Zebra with green beans, Cobia (type of fish) with mushrooms and baby carrots. The starter that Rhodri had was some seafood tempura in a saffron sauce, and the dessert that I had was champagne-soaked quince with rhubarb mousse, vanilla meringue and blackberries on a bed of crumbs. All very interesting food sensations! We decided that it would be fun to reproduce this experience back at Chalfonts so that the kids could enjoy. Anyway, it was a great evening and a memorable birthday present.

Autumnal loveliness

Right now we have such beautiful autumn colors in the trees across the landscape. I love this time of year, and this part of the world does seem to have nice long autumn season with leaves turning very slowly.

Today I took Rhiannon to Sunday morning hockey, and also brought Bentley with us so that he and I could go for a little scamper. Bents doesn't do much running with me anymore, but today was just so gorgeous I figured we could just trot slowly and see what happened. We started running and came into this section of woodland that was just so pretty I had to run back to the car to get my camera.

In fact, the view from our bedroom is quite nice these days too...

Halloween 2016

We had a pretty straightforward Halloween tonight, but it was good.
For the past two years we have not gone trick or treating, so we pretty much had to this year. We mobilized at Sophie and Oscar's house and set out on foot from there to cover Danehill.

Here are Sophie, Blythe, Rhiannon, then Oscar, Joe, Sam and Tryfan... a fearsome lot! Kids here dress up really scary instead of random and funny as in the US. But whatever. We ended up splitting into two groups - boys and girls - and this was way better actually.

Rugby season

Today was the normal Sunday sports where Tryfan goes to rugby and Rhiannon goes to hockey, but hockey finished before rugby, so Rhi and I went to watch Tryfan play.

Tryfan gesturing "Seriously, Ref?!" (T is #11)

Tryfan about to tackle a guy

T on the ground after tackling someone

It was a gorgeous day, and although I didn't stay the whole time I did get to see him do some good rugby playing. Rhiannon stayed, though, and came home with the boys afterwards.

The Bentley Scare

This summer when we were up in Stehekin and Sioned was housesitting for us, we had a really nasty scare with Bentley. Actually, it was Sioned who had the really nasty scare with him since she was the one with him at the time. It was a Sunday afternoon (August 7th) and she had taken him out of a normal walk out in the forest across the road. The weather was warm - in the high 80s - but not crazy hot. Anyway, he collapsed in the middle of the forest and poor Sioned was in a remote section and couldn't carry him herself, so needed to try and find someone to help which turned out to be really difficult. To make a very long and tense story short, Bentley very nearly died that day. In the end, she was able to get a family to help her carry Bents back to the house where she put him in the car and drove to the emergency vet (who ended up being Bentley's normal vet). Our neighbor Charles kindly dropped what he was doing that afternoon and went with her in the car too. The vet was able to stabilise him and he slowly came back to life. It turns out that his larynx spazzed out and he couldn't breathe, but they never figured out what triggered it.

Since we were 8 hours time difference behind and in such a remote part of the world, it was actually really crazy that Sioned and I were able to communicate at all. It was quite a coincidence that led me to even check my email that morning, since I had vowed to not do any computer work while up in Stehekin. But as it turns out, I had to turn on my computer to try and pay a toll from a few days previous, and as I waited for this toll thingy to register, I downloaded my email and saw that there was an urgent email from my friend Emma, who is also Charles' sister-in-law, asking me to call Sioned.

Of course I couldn't call Sions because there are no phones in Stehekin, but since we both have iPhones, I realised that we could use the WiFi to text back and forth, and then when I got to a different WiFi area, I was actually able to call her using FaceTime Audio. Wow, technology!  Rhodri, meanwhile, was on a boys fishing trip all day so he was blissfully unaware of all this drama.

There was a 30 minute period in there between conversations with Sioned when the vet was going to remove the tube in his larynx and see if Bentley remained stable or went downhill again. If he had gone downhill, that was going to be goodbye. I made my peace with that scenario during that period, but I'm awfully glad that he remained stable and eventually improved. But poor Sioned was very deeply traumatised by the whole episode and spent the next several days by Bentley's side, not willing to leave him for longer than a few minutes.

We are incredibly grateful to Sioned for the care and love she gave to Bentley during this time.
Here she is reunited with him this week.

Auntie Sions in town

Auntie Sions came to visit for a few days, and it was so nice to have her here. I was mostly working this week, but I was able to sneak away for a bit every day and of course in the evenings we all got to hang out together.
Today we all went to play laser tag in Crawley, just the five of us. It was really fun!

Love these photos - thanks Auntie Sions

More from the Gower

Rhiannon took some photos of our camping trip as well, so I thought I'd share them here:

Car packed to the gills with Rhi and Aggie

Honor, Rhi, Sophie and Aggie with me mid-photo bomb

 
 We all worked together to set up the wood stove and it went pretty well

What it looked like inside the lavvo!