Vests, tank tops and Classic FM

When I drive into work in the morning, I always listen to Classic FM or BBC Radio 3 (which also plays classical music). I have been really enjoying this part of my day - watching the sun rise and leisurely making my way across the countryside and through the small villages along the way. It is a beautiful drive but not without hazards! We've had a lot of rain so there are several sections that are normally a bit flooded; there are also some really terrible potholes and tight corners. It normally takes me 25-35 minutes to drive in, depending on roadworks and traffic. I've found the when I listen to classical music, I really feel relaxed and free somehow, and it is a very nice way to start the day!
Classical music also reminds me of Grandpa Bill, who used to love listening to classical music.


And then the other day I wore what I would call a sweater vest (over a button-down shirt), but which Brits would call a "tank top",  into work. I was remembering how Grandpa Bill used to wear sweater vests a lot of the time, and I was happy to have something in common with him this day.
He passed on in October 1999 but his memory lives on! He could be so fierce and stern, but when he smiled, he really smiled. I dug up these photos of Grandpa Bill and Grandma Bucky and scanned them in so I could upload them to the blog, but the color contrast isn't great. Anyway, its nice to see this happy couple!

Plumpton outing with Nain & Taid

We have been so happy to have Nain and Taid visiting for a long weekend with us! We didn't get to see them at Christmas so we had been looking forward to this visit for a long time now. They arrived on Thursday afternoon in time to see Rhiannon and Tryfan at their swimming lessons. Then we had more-or-less a quiet weekend with good conversation and relaxing times together. On Sunday we went on a very muddy walk from the Plumpton racecourse to the Half Moon Inn pub.

Muddy walking on the side of a field

Tryfan getting told off for splashing in puddles and trying to get other people wet

We ended up at the Half Moon Inn, which we've been to a few times before, and were treated to a yummy meal by Nain and Taid.

Tryfan and Taid Trefor with their Sunday lunches

Nain Beryl with R & T

The weekend went by too quickly and we were sad to say goodbye to them.

The Prime Meridian and other great excitement

We've been wanting to go visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for a long ol' time, so when today dawned cold and bright (too icy for Rhodri's early morning cycle ride) we headed out on this adventure. It took us about 1 hour 20 minutes to get to Greenwich and then a little extra touring around to find a parking spot. We ventured towards the Cutty Sark first and the banks of the Thames, then spent a bit of time in the Maritime Museum.

Admiring the art in the Admiral Nelson section

 Highlights included seeing Admiral Nelson's actual blood-stained socks and trousers that he was wearing during the Battle of Trafalgar when he was killed. From there we made our way to the Royal Observatory and admired the Prime Meridian (though didn't take photos) in the Courtyard before going into the museums where all the original "time keepers" were. After reading "Longitude" by Dava Sobel, it was really cool to see that actual artifacts. Then we made our way to the Planetarium to see a really cool show in those wonderful chairs that lean waaay back.

Ready for the Planetarium show to start

We invested in a family year-long membership because we plan to go back and visit more often. There is so much to learn and appreciate, and the location is very special too in the middle of beautiful grounds near central London. Such a great day! 

Work day in the garden

Today we all pitched in to try and tidy up the back garden. It has been really junky looking with the downed trees and archway, plus all the leaves which have fallen and didn't get raked up.

 Turns out that the troops are not very good rakers, but they ARE good - nay, great! - at wheelbarrowing. So as Rhodri kept the fire going to burn some of the branches, I raked and the troops enthusiastically wheeled their barrows full of leaves to the compost pile.

We said that if they worked really hard until 3pm, they would get a nice surprise. The surprise turned out to be going over to Bruno's house to play on his X-BOX for a couple of hours. Good times!

Back to reality

After such a nice and relaxing holiday period, we've been back to reality this week. Fortunately a lot of the after school activities (swimming and gymnastics, at least) don't start again until next week so we've been able to ramp a little bit more slowly to what has become our normal life.

Happy New Year!

Last year we had such a great New Year's Eve at the village hall - it was always going to be hard to match that! This year we decided to invite a few of our neighbors round and just see how it goes. We tried to do a good job of cleaning our house and getting some provisions, but otherwise we had pretty low expectations.

We knew that the Coldbreaths would come, and in the end there were 24 of us here - half that number were kids. So the DFs, Coldbreaths, Bakers, Painters, and M-Ross's were all here. We did some dancing and some karaoke and had a great laugh! The kids were wild, but nobody got hurt and only Tryfan ended up in tears... I found him behind the curtains in the living room curled up in a ball of tears because Rhodri had asked all the kids to stop whirling around their glowsticks before someone got hurt. We know T well enough now to recognize that when he gets really tired and then something upsets him, there is no coming down gracefully.. he just has to get into bed and start again the next day!  Anyway, midnight came around too fast and we were sad to have it come to an end.

Oscar Wii (that is our name for him rather than his real name, to differentiate this Oscar from our other friend Oscar, because this Oscar has his own Wii...) took a photo of all 20+ of us, but apparently it was blurry so got deleted. Bummer! If the photo had turned out, you would have seen a herd of merry-looking party-goers posing in the middle of the living room with kids wearing loads of glowstick necklaces and Catherine and me jumping on the couch in the background. Good times!

Today has dawned a very dark and rainy - often called "miserable" day. Absolutely perfect for sleeping in until 11-something and then watching movies on telly while eating leftover party food! We watched Uncle Buck and then took a break to tidy the house before snuggling down to watch Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan (1984 version). I'd never seen this movie but it was very interesting to watch it as a family. They never did explain how Tarzan got his name, as he is only called "Johnny" during the course of this movie!  Anyway, Happy New Year everyone!

Kittens still here

There was a time when we really seriously started to consider "re-homing" these kittens. They are stinky and cheeky and not really worth the effort. But when I mentioned the idea that perhaps another household would appreciate these cats more than ours, and actually these cats might have a better life elsewhere... Rhiannon burst into tears and pleaded to keep them. 

The two rascals on Bentley's chair

So we've been giving them another chance to be part of the family, and the way we've done this is to invite them into the main part of the house more often so that they can learn the rules of our household (#1: No cats in the kitchen. #2: Use only the litterbox or outside for cat-business...no going poo or pee anywhere else ever. There are more rules too...). We've used the squirt gun a lot to try and train them to behave, and they seem to be getting the message. Anyway, they are really cute and have very different personalities. 

 

Eli is always wanting to play or cuddle. He is ferociously cuddly with anyone that has a lap. The rest of the time, he finds things to play with. He used to be really into the Christmas tree ornaments, then he got hold of a rubber band, and finally the past 5-6 days he has been playing with this pink balloon. He carries it from one room to another and often growls at it before attacking it and tossing it around, then he'll pick it up in his mouth and trot off to do the same in a different space. He loves to play under Rhodri's desk in the office and also under the dining room table!

Sugar, on the other hand, is supremely regal and she acts like she knows she is beautiful and super-mega-soft. She swishes her big swishy tail around and stops to pose with her head tilted this way and then that way, then wraps her tail around and sits properly with proud posture. Her favorite place to be is on top of the stereo/ receiver near the telly where she is up high and the box is often warm if we've been playing music or watching telly. We are sure that box is full of long white hair now though!

They are still very kittenish and race through the house chasing, stalking, pouncing, jumping and fighting together....then they curl up and sleep for hours and hours. Hmm. Sounds like I've warmed up to them...?

We try to make Bentley still feel that he is our #1 pet though - he is the only one allowed up on the bed in the mornings, and he is the only one allowed in the kitchen to lick the plates. The cats adore Bentley (Sugar is especially obsessed with his tail and always tries to catch it and hang off of it) but Bentley still does not adore the cats. Sometimes late at night the 3 of them will wind each other up and Bentley will chase them round the living room and bark at them, but normally he tries his best to ignore these two rascals!

Romjul

If my Norwegian serves me correctly, "Romjul" refers to the period of time between Christmas and New Year's. It's nice to have something to call this stretch of time. Anyway, this period for us has been pretty mellow and gentle. I didn't take any time off during the holidays, so I got quite a bit of work done. (I like working when everyone else is on holiday..) We had friends over for dinner that we've been wanting to get together with for awhile (Leigh, Stuart, Aggie and Honor); we went to the cinema twice (to see Dinosaurs 2D and Free Birds); we went to Anna's birthday party; and we just hung out in our house and took  Bentley for jaunts in the forest. It has been pretty awful weather - very stormy and windy/rainy - but we are all safe and happy.

Boxing Day

We loooove Boxing Day. What a luxury to just be able to do whatever we want for the whole day. The only thing we had on the schedule was the afternoon drink over at Freya and her family's house in the late afternoon.

Since today dawned as the most crystal clear and gorgeous day, we had to go for a walk somewhere, and decided to go to Cuckmere Haven at the base of the Seven Sisters cliff area.
The hour-ish drive to this place was beautiful in itself, and there was just one section through Alfriston that was totally flooded but cars were still able to drive through.
The kids rode their bikes along the path and then we played at the beach for a little bit before making the journey back. Even though we ended up spending only about 30 minutes at the actual beach, it was a really great way to spend the day.

But we did realize that we were running late for our one scheduled event today, so I sent a message to say so, and the invitation turned into a dinner invite instead! Stoked! 

Christmas Day

This morning started really early for the kids (of course!), who came in around 6 something to ask if they were allowed to go downstairs and check if Santa had come (so great that they still ask permission!). Moments later, we heard whoops and shouts and cheers that I hope will stay lodged in my memory bank for the rest of my life.

Rhiannon especially was SO happy and shouted "WOO HOO!! Thank you Santa!!  Yeaaaaahh!" at the mere sight of a big package with her name on it. As they opened up their stockings and found the smaller treasures that Santa had given them -- Tryfan got a book he has been wanting plus some Top Trumps cards about dinosaurs, Rhiannon got a watch she has been wanting plus some Top Trumps cards about horses, they both got quite a bit of chocolate -- their excitement kept boiling over and they simply had to run upstairs to tell us (as we were dozing snuggly in bed) about their discoveries one by one. They also noticed that the Elves didn't eat the yellow sweets again (same thing happened last year), there was a trail of fairy dust from the fireplace to the tree, one chewed end of a carrot plus some stray peanuts must have fallen back down the chimney after the reindeer had been eating them because they were covered in ash at the edge of the fireplace. It was just the absolute best and warmest feeling to be still upstairs snuggly in bed and listening to the kids celebrate Santa's successful visit.

We eventually opened presents (slowly, one person opening at a time) and these morphsuits from Uncle Will and Aunt Rebecca were fast favorites, although they got a lot of nice stuff all around!

T in his Ninja morphsuit and R in her Jaguar morphsuit

In the early afternoon, we went for a walk up and down the road. Rhiannon had gotten her dream present from Santa: a twin baby set for her 2 baby dolls which included a bunk bed, a bouncy chair, and a double stroller. She wanted to take this new stroller out with us on the walk, but in the end opted to just squish both babies into her old stroller because she didn't want the wheels on the new one to get wet and dirty (isn't she sensible!).

While we were on our short walk up and down the road, we called in to say Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to our friend Danni (whose birthday is today) and then we saw our other friends/neighbors who were also out for a walk, and they invited us round tomorrow for an afternoon drink. So eventful! We do love living here on this road - its a very sociable place.

Rhiannon with her "old" stroller which will soon be given away

It was mostly rainy this morning but sort of cleared this afternoon. After our walk, Rhodri and I started cooking a traditional dinner of roast turkey, veg, potatoes, etc and sat down to eat around 4pm. We skyped with our family in Santa Barbara, which was great fun, and then later we had the Coldbreath family (3 doors down from us, with kids Mark and Toby) come over to hang out. We ended up doing a bit of karaoke which was hilarious and fun, and then in for a reasonable bedtime. What a fantastic day!

Christmas Eve

We met Cat and Bruno at The Swan in Forest Row at 4:15 pm ahead of the Christmas "Crib" service at 5 pm.

It was really nice to sit in a church and sing Christmas carols. I always remember my Dad singing carols at the top of his voice in almost complete monotone - sounded so awful - but he just loved singing Christmas carols in church on Christmas Eve. Whenever I think of this, it makes me smile and tear up..

Anyway, after the service we went over to Cat's parent's house for drinks and some fish pie. It was really special to spend this eve with these good friends in a cozy Christmasy home.

Having drinks and playing with Skylanders at The Swan in Forest Row

Tonight the kids got the Welcome Table ready for Santa's arrival and then fell asleep straightaway so Rhods and I could finish preparations. So exciting!

Santa's Welcome Table: milk and mincepie for the Big Fella, sweets for the Elves, and 1 carrot for each of the 9 reindeer plus some peanuts on the side

Crazy storm on the eve before Christmas Eve

We had this crazy storm last night! It was just rain and wind, but the rain and wind were REALLY LOUD and FIERCE. Many trees went down in our area, and it made driving really scary. I was at work during the morning and drove home around 4 pm. The storm got worse through the evening and then the electricity went out around 1 am. Tryfan discovered that the roof above his bed was leaking down onto his head, so he came into bed with us and soon after that Rhiannon came in. Between these two visitors and the roaring wind and rain outside, none of us really slept at all until around 6 am!

Neighbor's tree fell down on our shed

But then it was Christmas Eve morning and excitement was mounting through the day. Our electricity was out until about 1 pm, so we cooked coffee and breakfast over the camping stoves. We stayed around the house surveying the damage outside...the neighbor's tree fell onto our shed, part of the same neighbor's fence fell down onto our side, another tree fell and knocked down the archway in the center of the garden... and then headed out for some last minute shopping at 2:30 pm.

Archway fallen under another tree

Fence down between our house and the mean neighbors

Breakfast party

Yesterday we got our Christmas tree and decorated it, busting out all the holiday decorations and music to start getting into the seasonal mood. This morning while Rhodri was out on his Sunday morning bike ride, our friends Lou, Arnold and Felicity came over for breakfast. We don't see these good people often enough anymore, and it was really special to have a deluxe breakfast.

Slumber party

Rhiannon really wanted to have a slumber party for her birthday this year, so we gave in with the caveat that only the Year 3 girls would be invited (count = 6 including Rhiannon) and we'd let Tryfan invite Bruno so that there was some male presence to diffuse whatever tensions might arise. This turned out to be a good idea because there was a splinter group that declared the movie they were watching to be "lame" and that made the remaining girls feel a bit sad. The boys kept things from escalating.

Watching "Despicable Me 2" before the group on the white couch peeled off

Cat (Bruno's mum) stayed the night too, and she is an expert in painting nails so there was a girly session in the lounge before bed time.

Cat painting nails: Charlie, Freya, Sophie, Iris, Rhiannon and Agnes

 Eventually the 6 girls got into their sleeping bags upstairs in T & R's bedroom (T slept downstairs with Bruno and Cat) but nobody fell asleep until after 1am. We took turns trying to get them to be quiet and go to sleep, but finally Rhodri threatened to have one of them sleep in another room if she couldn't stop talking. They slept after that!

Slumber scene with everyone in their bags.

 The next morning everyone was a bit blurry but had survived the night.

Tryfan, Bruno, Rhianno, Freya, Charlie, Agnes, Iris and Sophie in morning-after mode

By about 11:15am everyone was gone and we could start the day! There were tears and huffs and not much sleep by anyone, but all's well that ends well in this case... Rhiannon was happy with how it all went, and that's the important thing.

Star of Wonder

This year's Nativity play at the school was called "Star of Wonder" and it was a fantastic performance by all of the 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Tryfan was one of the Wise Men, along with his buddies Oscar and Fin. The costumes and stage art were amazing, but it was the acting and dancing that were particularly memorable.

There are always a couple of scenes for the Angels and Stars to shine in, and these girls were just so darn cute. Of course our boy did a great job of giving the gift of gold to baby Jesus, and the rest of the time he was trying to encourage Oscar to sing when he was supposed to. T doesn't like when people don't do what they are supposed to, and O is really good at pushing people's buttons!

Waiting for the performance to start... Elodie, Roxy, Leonie, Tryfan, Oscar, Fin and Oliver in the back row, with Henry, Conrad, Jack and Henry B in the front row.

 Anyway, it was really special to be in the audience watching this performance. Hopefully we will get a copy of the DVD that was made so that we can enjoy it for years to come.

Photo session after the performance - lots of nose picking and eye rubbing

Birthday Girl

Today Rhiannon turned 8 years old.
Last night we went out to dinner to La Casa in Nutley so that we could celebrate her birthday (as this evening I had another event to attend). We love La Casa and it was such a treat to go out for dinner on a Monday night!

Making a wish on the eve of her 8th birthday

She was really happy to be able to open some really nice presents this morning, but then she told me in a small, disappointed voice that she didn't have a Birthday Badge to wear. I had forgotten about this small but special item in my preparations, so I hurriedly converted a matchbox into a sparkly gold Birthday Badge. It took a few iterations of glitter distribution and safety pin location, but she was smiling in the end.

At the end of the day, however, she was less smiley. When Tryfan and Rhodri left for taekwondo practice, Rhiannon and I took Bentley for a walk in the forest and had a little chat. She sadly told me how today was just a normal day, and everyone just treated her as normal instead of special. I understand that feeling, and it is a sad feeling. Anyway, I tried to remind her that she had a slumber party coming up in just a few days, and that seemed to help a teensy bit.

And so, at a full 8 years of age, Rhiannon:

• is very sensitive and thoughtful of others
• has many creative ideas
• has a very nurturing and gentle way with anyone who is younger or smaller than her
• usually has a particular vision for how things ought to go
• is a good dancer
• is really good at drawing
• loves reading
• has good manners most of the time
• loves the kittens (nearly cats now) and Bentley
• has a contagious laugh and sparkly eyes

Friday assembly

Sam, Grace, Tryfan, Oliver and Georgia from Fox Class

It has been so nice to be back home.
Every Friday, a few people from each class get recognized for something they have recently done. Today both Tryfan and Rhiannon got to go up to the front: Rhiannon got recognized for her Level 4 grading certificate in gymnastics, and Tryfan got a sticker for writing especially good instructions to Santa in case the chimney is blocked and he needs to find an alternate route! 

Santa Barbara highlights

Its hard to imagine anyone as happy to be somewhere as I felt to be in Santa Barbara these past few days! I was smiling ear to ear for the duration of my time here.

On Friday morning, I got to play golf with my Mom and her good friends Dorothy and Butch. It was raining when we were supposed to tee off, so we went out for breakfast instead but then the skies cleared so we played the back nine at the local favorite, Glen Annie.

 

Then I went for a walk on the beach by myself before I picked up my dear friend Denise and then both of us visited our other dear friend Polly and Polly's new baby Skyler (who was born on my birthday!).

 

Then on Saturday morning, I got to have breakfast with my other dear friend Amy and then went down to State Street to meet Eric and Kristin, who were working up in the office for a bit. We visited Chip and Georgia, my Dad's close friends who Eric now works with, and then I met Libby, Phil and Wheeler for a walk on the beach.

Georgia, Kristin, Eric and Chip

 It was the most beautiful warm sunny day, and More Mesa off Patterson was a great place to spend a couple of hours.

Phil, Libby, Wheeler and Pache (Wheeler's dog)

View from the top of More Mesa looking out at the Channel Islands

I raced back to pick up Grandma Bucky so we could make it to the Lady Gauchos basketball game. She has season tickets to the UCSB Thunderdome and the seats were fantastic! The UCSB Gauchos lost in the end, but it was a close game and really fun to watch, especially while nibbling on nachos with G-Buck.

Grandma Bucky

Self-take of me and "G-Buck"

 In the evening, I went out on the town with "the Wolf Pack", consisting of Eric, Kristin, my cousin Ryan (with the moustache) and my other cousin Wheeler. Ryan makes the rounds nearly every weekend, so it was nothing new for him. It was pretty fun.

The "Wolf Pack Hunt Mode" look

And that was my whirlwind trip to SB! I left this morning to fly to Houston for a couple of days work before going back to London, but it was so, so good to spend a few days with my beloved family and lifelong friends in this beautiful place.