Families!

Families! Aren’t they just precious!  I mean really…I absolutely love my family and I do know how incredibly blessed I am.  I had a lot of fun with my relatives…lots of laughing, lots of food, lots of music.  But I have realized that since I left home twelve years ago, in small ways I have changed, as have my family members, so that now living together for more than a weekend is kind of hilarious.

I had such a great time with my family…but after two weeks I also had that feeling that if I stayed a moment longer I would go crazy!  Everyone is different, every home is different – it is just funny seeing habits that have developed in my family members since we have lived apart.

I don’t know, maybe I am the strange one for not understanding some of these habits that I never noticed before in my family.  Now some of these are really cute, but they were never there before I left home and now I really notice them:

• Talking to animals 
• Talking to plants
• Bizarre culinary tastes – they don’t eat proper meals anymore
• Questionable choices of clothing -especially footwear
• Controversial door closing policies
• Odd central heating battles
• Being offered a cup of tea every fifteen minutes
• Obsession about windows – have we checked them all twice before going out?  A burglar might climb through a window while we are sleeping!
• Excessive quantities of Wensleydale cheese with apricot and Brie taking up the entire top shelf of the fridge – ten blocks of cheese is too much for two people.
• Lectures about vitamins and health foods
• Wittering about people I have never met – sharing very personal details, that I don’t think they would want others to know
• Creaking rocking chair – aaaaaagh!!!!!!!
• Karaoke crooner craziness

When I refer to karaoke craziness…what was bringing me closer and closer to running out of the house in despair was hearing the same song over and over…but sung by one of my male family members.  He was singing at the top of his voice “I’m Your Lady” and telling us how amazing Jennifer Rush was.

I mean there is nothing at all wrong with any of this – and I guess it makes my family that much more lovable that we all have our own little ways!  But, it has been a while since I have been with them for so long, and it all seemed a bit bizarre at times.

Back in London – everything seems relatively normal at the moment.

But you know…families are great!

Life Is One Big Adventure Of Discovery When You Are Only A Year Old

My niece seems to be developing certain little personality traits that make me wonder with fascination about her future.  At the moment she is collecting things -, all sorts of things – and is investigating everything in the hopes of making acquisitions.

I first noticed it when we were at the beach a couple of days ago.  She was picking up large round pebbles and piles of gritty stones to take home.  Alarmingly, after filling her pockets she decided she would pop a pebble into her mouth to carry it.

But now it is getting a bit personal.  She is always trying to grab my phone and the tablet I borrowed.   I have warned her that if she drops the tablet and smashes the screen, I am claiming her pocket money (whenever she starts to receive pocket money) as compensation.  She has even taken a fancy to my new sandals and she snoops inside my bag whenever she has the opportunity.

She is highly curious and seems to enjoy having her own little back pack to keep her findings as she is running out of room to keep her discoveries tucked into her socks.  Today she seemed to be collecting sticks.  When she is especially proud of her discovery, she presents it to her Mumma with great enthusiasm.

Today we decided to avoid the rain and watch “The Peanuts Movie” with her.  She grabbed the remote control and pressed pause and then ran off giggling.  She also absconded with the bucket of popcorn.  I love the little mischievous ideas that pop into her head.

Love her!  She has so much energy and is always investigating people and objects wherever we go.  Such a little adventurer.

I Cannot Compete With A One Year Old Child Who Can Walk Over Hot Coals

For the first time this summer I was at the beach today!  This is something my sister plans to correct this week so we have more days at the seaside planned.  Normally we are walking up mountains when I visit my sister, but partly because of the glorious weather and partly because of the addition to her little family, we are not being so ambitious about fell-walking right now.  I will be squeezing some walking in to the trip though.  You can’t really visit Snowdonia without paying your respects at some point to the hills!

Back to the beach though:

Empty beach, looks perfect.  Little One was so excited!

As we stepped on to the beach though and my feet started to sink into what at first I though was sand, I realized it was more of a stony beach – a  mix of larger pebbles and tiny sharp gritty stones.  New sandals had to come off immediately as the stones would have scraped all of the rose gold from the leather straps.

So that left me and Milly walking bear feet and as Little One had shoes and socks on and her feet were also sinking into the stones, we allowed her to be bare footed also.  She loves walking.  She is so fast.  We were trying to keep tight hold of her which frustrated her in her excitement to get down to the water.

But this beach was not for the faint footed at all.  Warning: another feet photo ahead:

All complaints about my feet can be forwarded directly to   Stephen T the creator of Armageddon Cafe.  Stephen is now Official Visual Feet Complaints Handler.  He set the standard when he was brave enough to publish a photo of his own fine feet for the whole blogging world to see in his post below:

https://revelationsend.wordpress.com/2018/07/02/simple-things/

Now, I found walking on that beach excruciating, it just would have been more painful to ruin my beautiful sandals.  First there was the heat as the stones were baking hot with the sun’s scorching heat.  Then there was the sharp gritty material.  It was beyond any degree of beneficial exfoliating – it was torture!  I had to go slow!  I was gently nudging my feet into the stones so they were not on the hot surface but cooler stones below and then let the pressure of my body lean apply slowly so that I was not in too much pain.

But Little One!  Oh my goodness, her feet be made of steel or marble.  She was not bothered in the slightest either by the heat or the sharp stones, she was running and jumping and bending down and picking up handfuls of stones to collect.

I cannot comprehend how tough her feet  seem to be.  She was loving every moment and I was in agony all the way down to the sea.  I have a niece who could join the circus as a “Walking Over Hot Coals” act – do they have those in the circus?  It is so long since I went to the circus, I really am not sure.

The sea water was gorgeous.  A little cool to refresh us, but not at all cold.  Little One loved it!!!  She was so excited every time a wave came in towards us.  Squealing with delight as the water rushed over her toes.

I feel a bit teary eyed that I am based in London so far away from Milly and her lovely family.  I would love to be around to see Little One growing up.

Aaaaaah sigh!