France, Friends, Food, Wine

Memories of a wonderful time in Dax, France with the Soqueta Family, thankyou x

We loved the company, the rugby, the kids, the food, the Bordeaux, the Medoc, the champagne cocktails, the pate, the massive cooked breakfast, the change, the rest and the French fresh air x
 

Inspiring evenings without TV

Oh what a lovely weekend, apart from the sibling squabbles and the remnants of colds all has been well.  The Children have found new and exciting resources as we have all but banned TV, the world of imagination has opened up again and I am so pleased for all of us.

The boy is grounded, well this is all we can do that we feel will make him notice that what he is doing is wrong, he forged his exam results in the official book the school gives us, this is not the first time.  He just wants to be seen to be doing well, but he is also a tad sneaky when not doing homework and blaming it on other things and fobbing us and the school off with crazy reasons for not studying.  So we have removed the things that we feel take his attention away from his homework, TV, computer, phone, Rugby etc and hope that he tries harder.  In fact we are all trying harder to focus on the important stuff rather than the trivial, distracting and pointless.  So a week and no TV was wonderful, no murmuring chattering noise, no arguments about what to watch, no crying when it turns off etc.  We have never watched it much but always sat down after supper for 1 hour together to watch something such as a DVD in English etc as Italian TV is dire.  So what did we do instead….  We read a lot of books, we planned the summer, we sorted photo albums, the kids dressed up as rock stars, TT drew, the boy skulked a bit, they played games, they played Xmen outside charging around the garden hiding and shrieking, they fought with bamboo swords, we walked, we talked, we planted seeds, bulbs, plants, veg, flowers.  We played with puppies, we played with puppies some more, we cuddled our new Mummy dog, I sorted wardrobes and clothes, I mended clothes, we cooked, the Man enjoyed Rugby at Prato, the lawns got mowed, the garden got watered, I made flatbreads, Farmhouse bread, muffins, cakes and buns and most of all we enjoyed life, in the sun, in the spring, in Tuscany.

springing back to life

Well its been far too long since I posted an update on my blog but it feels that now is the time to get back to it.  The last few months have been full to overflowing and the highs and lows have been huge.  Most significantly we took a trip to France which was wonderful and took in time with friends, fab food, fantastic wines and some great Rugby matches.  Then we took on the responsibility of fostering a Mummy Boxer Dog and 7 puppies and we have had a house full ever since, now we are down to 4 puppies and Zoe the Mummy, she and Little Bear will stay with us when the other little boys find homes.  It has been so nice to see this doggy family growing and learning to climb, bounce, chew, escape, scrap, chase and wiggle.

I have been waiting for a hernia op which was all set for Thursday last week, then postponed at the 11th hour, so upsetting and fustrating.  To combat my annoyance at not having the surgery and getting better I set about working on the garden the best I could with my old lady hernia.  We moved plants to new homes and planted lavendars, roses, climbers and seeds.  Split pinks and moved them to pots and watched in awe as the Passionflower took hold of the old stone wall before our eyes.

Family life is a struggle at times, the boy is just not trying at school, forging sigantures on school reports and faking exam scores - at 11 years old.  He is lovely sweet and kind but just isn't interested in lessons and hates studying and now it is all getting serious and he needs to put some effort in.

The girl is growing up so fast big new teeth coming through rapidly and we are all enjoying warmer, brighter weather, perfect for puppy play in the garden.