Little Boy Cousin (aged 2)

Lovely Sister-in-Law
Have you been jumping in puddles?
LBC looks shifty
Which shoes are you wearing?
LBC looks down at feet
Are they your Wellies?
LBC shakes head
Or are they your Posh Shoes?
LBC is silent
Look very carefully.
LBC is silent
Wellies or Posh Shoes?

LBC says in a teeny, tiny whisper

Posh Shoes

And MrsM tries very, very hard not to laugh.

Shopping with MrM

It is a wet Monday afternoon in Chagford

MrsM finds herself in a hardware shop

MrM believes this is a "Retail Opportunity"

MrsM thinks that MissM might not agree...
brown fleece tops and thermos flasks
do not ever feature on her wish list

MrsM is grateful that MasterM is not there
to try out the handcarved walking sticks
because it is many years
since MrsM has been asked to leave a shop...

MrsM hears MrM trying to decide
which penknife to buy

MrM is enthusiastic

There is far too much choice

MrsM sighs

And then MrsM remembers that,
a long time ago,
she promised bb
that she would post photos of tweed caps

And MrsM smiles

wet, wet, wet

I would like to say a heart-felt thank you
to everyone who commented on the post yesterday
I was so touched by your thoughtful responses
and glad that I had written about the problem.
I will now put it out of my mind and move on.

Thank you for ALL of your comments
since I started writing again
It is difficult to explain what it is like
to receive such a tidal wave of friendship
but I am very, very grateful.

Right, down to business...
where are we?

MissM was last seen outside a vintage clothes shop in Prague.
She has bought another interrail ticket
and is somewhere in Europe with the Sassy MissS.

MasterM spoke to us from Zambia on Friday.
He said that he was walking along a beach in Zanzibar
when he heard his name being called out
and turned around to see friends from Cape Town.
"It was so cool - the world is a small place, isn't it!
They were so glad to see me
that they immediately organised a party."

MrM and MrsM are in Cornwall.

It is wet.

VERY wet.

MrM has decided to devote his week off
to the twitter-craze for "Animal Chat-up Lines"

Here is the one he dreamed up for Mr. Mink:
"Well, hello there, Miss Mink!
I do like a girl who is all fur coat
and no knickers."

The ones for monkeys, camels and dolphins
are not suitable for a family blog.
I will be spending the week in Cornwall
with my finger hovering above the delete button.

We are back on Planet Normal.

The Blogger's Dilemma

I have been fortunate over the past four years: I have written what I wanted to write, my family have permitted me to write about them and encouraged me when I have faltered and my readers have contributed their own dazzling array of comments. I have made good friends and the correspondence has continued by email and on rare but precious occasions by actually meeting up.

I rarely get genuinely anonymous comments – they are mainly MrM trying to avoid responsibility for a lurid pun and these get deleted immediately.

I would like to put the following recent anonymous comments forward for your consideration:

"Yes your children are brighter than all of our dim wits. Obviously. Apparently destined for heights ours cannot even dream of. The shame of having ordinary children."

"Such boasting is upsetting to us and our children - have you thought of that? Why do we have to think it is ok to have inplied (sic) critisism at us but not for it to be returned? "

I would have hoped that it was obvious to anyone who has read this blog that every family, and ours is no exception, has ups and downs. I choose not to discuss difficult family issues in a public forum and I have made this clear on a number of occasions. As a result I still have permission from my family to write about them and I try hard not to push the boundaries of that permission.

My view is that anonymous comments like these – presumably by the same person – do not have a place on this blog. I assume that the anonymous writer feels they have the right to write whatever they want in this public space but it is my blog and I choose what gets published. If that person wishes to discuss the perceived inadequacies of their children they should do so on their own blog.

The saddest thing about these comments is that there is no such thing as an “ordinary child” –every single one of them has extraordinary gifts that make them special and it is the responsibility of the parent to help their child discover those gifts and celebrate them.

Graduation Day

On Graduation Day
there is a reception in the Department
for the graduands and their guests.

Everybody has a job to do:

there is someone to polish glasses
and wash them up afterwards

someone to lay out the envelopes
and welcome the guests

someone to make the labels
and the fabulous poster display

someone to unwrap the catering
and someone to open the bottles of bubbly

someone to address the graduands
and present the prizes

someone to play the trumpets
(that is a specialist job)

someone to organise the procession
and someone to take the photographs.

It is a pleasure and a privilege every year
because it is such a special day.

MrM

It's his birthday today.

There is coffee cake.

~ The end ~

Living the Dream

Any dream worth having
is going to involve hard work...

moving to Provence means:
leaving jobs
selling a home
packing up
saying goodbye to friends and family
viewing multiple unsuitable houses
until you find the one with the view...

but when you sit on the terrace
looking out over your own olive grove
and relax in the Provencal sun
all the challenges melt away
and you are living the dream.

A number of my friends
have been making their dreams come true:

Glen and Mary, who have moved to Provence
Rachel, who has found "The House"
Emma, who is making her jewellery business grow
Kim, who has successfully defended her thesis.

You have to be brave to dream
and then work hard
to make your dream become a reality

Their stories are inspirational.

As Kim said to me the day after:
"Wow - it actually happened!"

Many thanks to Glen and Mary
who made us so welcome in their beautiful home.
They are the most generous and thoughtful of hosts.
I am too embarrassed to admit how much I slept.

MissM : update!

MissM
Hello!
I have arrived in Warsaw safely.

MrsM
Hello!
Is your hostel nice?

MissM
Yes!
Have you seen my ticket?

MrsM
What ticket?
Your INTERRAIL ticket!

MissM
Yes!
I can't find it.

MrsM
We will just check your bedroom.

MissM
Thanks!

MrsM
D found it.
In the bin!

MissM
Oh!
What do I do next?

Catching Up

Thank you for all of your messages yesterday...
every single smile reached me
and brought sunshine to my desk.

I am behind with my replies already
so no change there, I'm afraid.

Anyway, where were we?

Well...there were exams
and they finished...
and that's just about the best thing
that I can say about that.

MasterM and MissM came back home
and then went away again.

And then we went to France.

We drove all the way to Provence.
Actually, MrM drove and I sat still.
All the way there and back.
We have discussed this.
Ahem.

Moving swiftly on...

we stayed in a Normandy manor house,
a medieval coaching inn near Chablis
and a selection of chateaux:
deliciously fabulous at one end of the spectrum
and wildly eccentric at the other end.

We ate in all sorts of restaurants
but I think that this was my favourite:
a tiny place in a Provencal village
run by a charming young couple.

The menu was perfect for a hot day in summer
and every detail of the service delightful.

As we sat in the village square
drinking peach kir and talking with our friends
the holiday finally settled upon us.

Lupin Blanc at Revest-des-Brousses

*****

All of the doors in the post yesterday
can be found in Revest-des-Brousses.
It would not take you long.

A Sunlit Space

If you ask me why I write this blog
my answer varies...

sometimes I say
that it is to record details of my life,

sometimes I say
that is an attempt
to capture the sound of the voices
of people I love,

sometimes I say
that it is a way to communicate
with family living all over the world

but I also write for you
because your generous friendship
has made this blog
a sunlit space for me

and if I can make you smile in return
that is a good enough reason.

*****
Note to Anonymous:
My rule of thumb is that if your comment
is unsuitable for my children to read
it gets deleted.