Holidaying in the UK - Southwold

Almost every Summer we spend a week in the Suffolk coastal town of Southwold. This year we went at the end of August and, as usual, the weather was, well - cold and wet!
Southwold is a typical British seaside town of 50 years ago - quaint, old fashioned and a little twee. It has a large ratio of holiday houses to resident's houses, and a large selection of picturesque beach huts along the beach. The weather is always poor when we visit - it's traditional....
This year, as every year, we went to the top of the light house, played penny shove in the arcade, tried to sunbathe on the sandy / pebbly beach (often shivering in our woolies), tried out our putting skills on the putting green, and walked along to the harbour where we went crabbing with bacon bait.
Unlike previous years, the boys were old enough to play happily in the sea without us - they had a go at body boarding, and spent hours in the sea, returning to the shore only for food, and when they had literally turned blue with the cold!
Each year we rent a tiny cottage, this year the cottage was slightly larger, but was lacking in one vital thing (according to the kids anyway...)  - a TV. So our evenings were spent playing monopoly, reading, and (for the kids) playing portable electronic games. Luckily the pub was only 50 metres away, so a trip to the pub for the famous Adnams beer was a regular event (we even took some home with us)

No doubt we'll return next year for more of the same - it's tradtional!

Being 7....

Son number two turned 7 last week, and we had a party at home - movie and pizzas was the theme. Within seconds I remembered why we don't usally do birthday parties at home - 10 six and seven year olds running round the house was an 'interesting' experience! Fun, though, and despite the fact that some of the guests would rather have played football than watch the film, a good time was had by all (I think!)
Football was sadly ruled out by the rather impressive thunder storm and accompanying heavy rain, and the balloons were a big hit. The 'pass the parcel' prize was deemed 'too boyish' by the winner (one of only two girls invited, naturally!) but luckily we had a substitute prize to hand...
Two of his best friends stayed for a sleepover - by 11.30pm I was wilting, but they were still firing on all cylinders. I announced it was time for the midnight feast, to be told there was another half an hour to go. I gave them the sweets, and retired to bed - to be woken at 6.30am by more excited chattering!
It was fun for the kids, but not necessarily something to be repeated on a weekly basis. Getting 4 children out of the house by 8.45am in full football kit was another challenge...

Back to school...

OK, so this week was the first week of term - new year, new start, or so my 9 yr old says!
It was surprisingly easy to get back into the routines - early to bed, early to rise - but of course, as usual we were on the last minute when it came to actually leaving the house. There was no homework for the kids this week, and that was a welcome relief for all of us. There's nothing more tedious than battling with primary age children to get their homework done when everyone's had a long day at school or work, and nobody really cares about decimal places or the religions in India - at least not right at that moment...
Is homework really needed at the age of 6, anyway?

With the term starting, so did the football - so every Saturday and almost every Sunday for the next 8 months, we're up early for the kids' football training and matches. Good result for the under 10's last week, 0-0 draw away against last years league winners. Naturally the under 7s and the under 10's have matches in different places, so we'll be splitting up on Sundays to takethe kids to their respective matches. personally I feel the 'off season' is too short!

Our Carribean Holiday!

Well, we took a risk, booked a last minute deal to St Vincent, and went on our first 'hot' holiday as a family!
Due to hubbie's dislike of heat (he only has to look at the sun through a window to get sunburn...) our Summer holidays are usually spent in the UK, or the French Alps (where he can escape to high altitude to avoid any possibility of heat!)
But this year, the kids were nagging for a beach/pool holiday (without the usual wetsuits), I was desperate for some sun, so we took the plunge and did our first long haul. And long haul is the right description - 3 flights and a minibus, 21 hours of travelling, and we finally arrived. But it was worth it - sun, sea and pool for me, football and tennis for the boys, boat cruises for us all and unlimited cocktails and icecream - what's not to like?
We all loved it, even the other half was (half) converted. The fact that the resort was only half built was kind of good and bad - good as it was uncrowded and the service was fantastic, not to mention a really good deal - but bad in that the food was less varied than it could have been. But it seemed a little churlish to complain about perfectly cooked fillet steak twice a week!

So we loved it, and hope to have another 'hot' holiday in the future. Back to work last week and this lag (jet lag - urgh), then a week in Suffolk - great, but not quite the same as the carribean!

Missing the Alps!

For the last 3 years we've been to the French Alps for our Summer holiday - but not this year (we're trying something more tropical - will let you know how it pans out...)
We usually stay with our good friends at Chilly Powder, and though we'll see them for the ski season, we're missing them in the Summer this year...

So here's a favourite recipe of ours, simple to make and delicious (and filling) to eat - inspired by Chilly Powder - a french tartiflette!

Ingredients:
2kg floury potatoes
250g smoked bacon, cut into strips
1-2 onions, depending on size, thinly sliced or chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 2 teaspoons of garlic paste if you're lazy like me!)
500ml single cream
100ml white wine
a whole reblochon cheese - or try it with a goats cheese for a change.

1) Peel and par-boil potatoes for about 10 mins. Chop the potatoes into thick slices, then chop further until you have flattish cubes.

2) fry up the bacon, then add onions and garlic and fry until onions softened but not coloured.

3) Add potatoes to an oven-proof serving dish (preferably about 2L capacity, reasonably shallow), then add bacon, onions and garlic, and mix.

4) Pour the cream and wine over the mixture.

5) Cut the reblechon (or goats) cheese inyto slices about 0.5cm thick (keep the skin on) and layer the cheese on top of the mixture.

6) Bake in a 170 degree centigrade oven for about 30- 45 mins, or use the baking oven of an AGA to start and transfer to the roasting oven for the last 10 mins (in a 2 oven AGA cook on an oven shelf on the floor of the roasting oven)

Serves 6, or 4 if you're greedy!

Serve with fresh baguettes and green salad.


Yum Yum - just can't wait to be back there!

A 9th birthday sleepover....

So it was son number 1s birthday yesterday. A trip to see the new Harry Potter film in 3D, lunch out (narrowly avoided McDonalds), then a quasar party with his friends, followed by a sleepover for 3 of his best friends - a busy day!
Harry Potter was great (and I'm not a massive fan), the kids got told off for being too competitive in quasar (it was a joint party with one of his more competitive friends, and they may have taken the shooting thing a bit  far...!), then back to ours for a football kickaound, a DVD, and sleepover. They decided to do some dressing up, so it looked like 'Village People' had appeared in his room, as they were variously dressed in Native American headress, cowboy outfit, spiderman attire, and a pair of boxers with a monster mask!
Bed just before midnight, then up before 7am (the kids, that is). We're knackered today, even if they're not!

Beaver camp.....

OK, so I spent the weekend in the company of 18 six to eight year olds, and their parents (largely Dads, just me and one other Mum - glad you were there, Kathy!)
Son number 2 is a Beaver, and Hebden Hey was the destination for the annual weekend away. Son number 1 is a cub and they were camped in the next field.
Oh joy - cloudbursts on Friday evening, though thankfully by Saturday the weather had improved to only occasional heavy showers. Mud was the order of the day, but the kids loved it, cleaning off (sort of....) in the river after a muddy walk which also involved lots of icecream and rabbit poo collecting.
Sleep was in short supply - woken at 2am, 5am and 6am by excited children, and a couple of them fell out of bed (the top bunk, but luckily no injuries...)

So now I'm knackered, so are they, and work/school will be a drag tomorrow - but it was fun,and no doubt we'll do it all again next year!

Starting out

OK - my first blog!
What to write?
My life - a husband, 2 kids (aged almost 9 and 6), a job 4 days a week, a house in a lovely village just north of York - life is good, really, can't complain...