Marie's Web Log

I know, I've been slack. Sorry. I've got this new work contract which means driving up to a place north of here for two days a week, about 45 minutes to an hour each way. Takes up more of the week, plus busy with other stuff as well. (I know I won't get any sympathy from those of you who get up at 5 to get to work at 7 so they can work four days a week so they can spend the other three with their kids!)

Has been raining a lot lately, though quite mild. There's been quite a bit of flooding around. Forgot to say earlier that I've had crocuses coming up in one of the pots in the back since October (!) The strawberry plant looks like it has new leaves on it. Everything is so confused. Very dark in the evenings though - dark now by 4:30. Those of you living closer to the equator, in the tropical climes of Ontario and the Maritimes, be glad of it.

Can't think of much else to say. Amelia has a cold. One of my closest friends paid an unexpected visit to England on the weekend and I got to see her for a few hours, which was fabulous. We went to IKEA (not as simple as it sounds, as the closest one is an hour away) and bought a shelf to hold Amelia's growing toy collection.

That's all for now.

Posted by marie at 09:59 PM | Permalink

Guess what? The English winter illness season has officially started. I have a sore throat and a cough. Yes, a cough - do you remember how I coughed for so long last winter (despite three rounds of antibiotics) that I pulled a muscle! Bleah!

Did I write about Bonfire Night? I can't remember. It was very loud around here - lots of our neighbours setting off professional quality fireworks in their back gardens. Smokey too. Seems kind of dangerous to me.

Will put a couple of Halloween photos below. What other news? Oh yes, Amelia's birthday last Sunday. We had gone the previous weekend to the Aquarium in Plymouth with friends who weren't available this past weekend. Amelia had chosen to go there, rather than the zoo. She enjoyed it and we let her buy something from the shop with the money Ian has been putting into her piggy bank. Then we walked across the bridge to the other side of Plymouth harbour and had lunch.

Last Sunday we had Mandarin playgroup here in the morning, so we had her cake then. (Homemade chocolate with white and pink icing, specifically requested by Amelia.) She's had 14 cards in all, and quite a few gifts - including the main one from us, a baby doll that she can take in the bath with her and that will also drink and use the potty, though we haven't tried that feature yet. After playgroup we went to some friends' for lunch, and then for a walk at a place called Haldon Hills Forest, which I get confused with Halton Hills in Ontario. It was the first time we'd been there, and actually it was rather like a Canadian provincial park, with a proper laid out trail through some stunning scenery.

Speaking of scenery, the colours have been lovely this year. Not many bright reds, except for the occasional patch of that shrub of which I've forgotten the name, but lots of golds and oranges and russets, and they've lasted a long time. It's mid-November and they're just starting to die out.

Below are the photos.

And another one I thought you'd like:

Posted by marie at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here I am again. Halloween photos of Amelia coming soon. Her tantrums seem to have calmed down in the past week. The 'quite stair' tactic seems to be working, though I'm not taking it for granted just yet. Last Wednesday she had a major one on the way home from the bus stop, including the classic 'sitting on the sidewalk and screaming and refusing to budge'. Luckily this was in our development where there isn't much traffic, so I walked around the next corner and waited until I heard her footsteps and the screaming and wailing coming closer. According to a programme I saw, you're supposed to put them on the step for a minute for every year of their age, but so far she hasn't needed that long. And she's so cute when she says sorry.

To end on a funnier note, the other week Amelia was playing with her doll Mei Mei and had wrapped her in a scarf and then pulled her out. She started saying, 'Mei Mei being born. She being born.' I was a bit startled, and said - somewhat stupidly - 'Born from where?' And she said, 'From China.'

She has a picture book that shows a baby being born, but I think we have a bit more explaining to do...

Posted by marie at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)