Davies Express

After work I had my Brownie meeting, it was a lovely meeting, we are doing our Healthy Heart Interest Badge, One group of girls planned a Healthy Packed Lunch, while another group of girls planned a game that made the heart beat faster, then we swapped over, which meant we had 2 games at the end, where we took our pulse before and after the games, the brownies were fascinated by having their pulse read, especially seeing how it changed after the game, before the game they had difficulty finding it then after the game it was easy to find.
We finished singing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, it was a lovely meeting, very friendly and fun.

Today Andy, Jenny and Me  visited a The Ethel Tipple school in Kings Lynn for children with learning difficulties as it may be something we need to consider in the future, it was a nice school, the largest class is 12 and the smallest is 5.  We met the teacher who would be Sophie's,  Mrs Quigley and she is going to arrange to meet Sophie.  If this is thought the proper decision for Sophie

www.etheltipple.co.uk

Today Kevin started a new job as Kitchen Porter at the Golden Lion.

I finished reading
Rumpole a la Carte by John Mortimer
It is interesting to read a book that a TV series is based on.
It was a book of 6 short stories.
Rumpole a la Carte
Rumpole and the summer of discontent
Rumpole and the right to silence
Rumpole at sea
Rumpole and the quacks
Rumpole for the prosecution

Below is an excert from the Summer of Discontent, which i found very amusing.

Hilda, She who must be obeyed, goes on strike.

Women, it seemed to me, make a great mystery about such simple tasks as cooking the dinner.   After Hilda withdrew her labour, there I was in the kitchen, peeling the potatoes with a saucepan of water bubbling, ready to receive them.  (There is after all no great skill required in the boiling of water).  The chops were warmly ensconced under the grill and cooking well. Another saucepan was steaming for the inundation of the frozen peas.  I took these out of the fridge and it would be a matter of moments, I thought, before I had them open and swimming.  The I ran up against a problem, in what, upto then, had seemed the simple art of cooking.  Those selling frozen peas clearly regard them as being as precocious as jewels, enormous precautions are taken to prevent a break in and the packet is covered with tough, seamless and apparently impregnable cellophane, I tried to rip off this covering, I tore at it with my teeth, I worried it as a dog worries a bone, but all in vain. Finally, I stabbed it with a sharp knife, causing a fusillade of little frozen green bullets to ricochet off the cooker and the adjacent walls, one of them hit the overhead light with a most melodious twang.  At last I got a reasonable proportion of the elusive vegetables into hot water, but I was distracted by a whoosh and a sheet of flame which shot out at me from under the grill.  Naturally, I had covered the fat with oil to ensure a sound cooking and, it seemed, that this substance was dangerously inflammable.  I had never invested in a fire extinquisher, but, with great prescence of mind, I remembered the siphon on the sitting room sideboard, it was a matter of moments to search for it and, returning to direct a powerful stream at the blaze.

Strangely enough the soda water also appeared to be inflammable, because it strengthened rather than diminished the blaze.  Then it occurred to me to turn off the grill, and I was beating the dying conflagration with a wet dishcloth when Hilda, who had been out when I started cooking, arrived upon the scene, coughing at a cloud of smoke in what I thought was an exaggerated manner and asking if she should call the fire brigade.

‘No longer necessary’ I assured her ‘ I was just cooking dinner’

‘Oh really,’ she said examining the charred chops ‘ I thought you were arranging your interesting collection of fossils’

This was my favourite poem as a child, i was discussing it with Mum today, and it bought it to mind.

Today me and my family went to Bawsey for a lovely walk, I  had a yummy lunch and I walked my dog Spot {our family dog}.I took lots of pics and my cousin Dylan was so cute  when he was eating his BBQ flavoured crisps.

Kira Davies, age 9

Well today i put some food in the crockpots, and we went a walk. included was Me and Bob, Jen, Andy, Dylan and Spot, Jude, Kira and Charlotte, Steven couldn't go because he was working, and Kevin didn't go because he is 17 and unsociable.

Bawsey Pits is just East of Kings Lynn, it is common land, with lakes, Kira was our official photographer, the sun was shining bright and it was lovely and warm,  we had a picnic.

Kira and Spot

Bawsey Pits

Tonight we went out with our torches and had a Penny Hike, which is where we get to a corner, toss a coin heads we go left tails right and see where we end up, then we go back to HQ and have Hot Chocolate, we finished with a game of X Factor, Jude was Simon Cowell.

I finished reading
Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs
A Temperance Brennan Novel
The Sky One series Bones is based on these books.

This morning while walking Spot it was a lovely clear morning, still dark, full moon, high dramatic tide.

On Sunday all the family came round for tea as per usual.

I have finished reading
Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich
Not a bad book, it was based on the film

We have serious problems with Sophie, she really hates school and does not wish to go, for the best two nights, she has spent hours, screaming, banging on walls, making a mess in the bathroom, she empties a full bottle of shampoo over everywhere, she is refusing to go to bed, everything tried does not work, and she is stopping Dylan getting any sleep, it is not good.  We are convinced it is because she doesn't wish to go to school, and her problems with communication, it is very very difficult.

I went to Norwich this evening for a PR meeting, I am the Norfolk County Public Relations Advisor for GirlguidingUK, it was a good interesting meeting which i enjoyed, I chaired the meeting.  Unfortunately, it was a 3 hour round trip and as the meeting didn't finish till 10.30pm, it was midnight before i got home.

I have finished reading
Ice Run by Steve Hamilton
A very good book, I loved it.

Today Jenny and me had an appointment with Sophie's Speech Therapist, in a way she was quite brutal, she said there is no guarantees in her business however, at this time it seems unlikely that Sophie will gain understandable speech, we then asked did she feel Sophie could cope with High School she said it was unlikely as things stand and we may wish in the future to look into a Special Needs School, this was disappointing but i felt not surprising, we do feel that Sophie is struggling getting to grips with Junior School.

Listening to the radio today, I found out that it was some anniversary of Winnie the Pooh, and Winnie the Pooh got its name from the Canadian Town Winnipeg, which is where Bob's sister lives.

First Brownies on Wednesday.
We had a Sponsored Kims Game, our funds are a little low at the moment so we are trying to raise some funds.   A Kims game is a memory game, put some items (we had 50) on a table, the participants look at them for so long, then they are covered and they have to remember what was there.

Yesterday was Kevins 17th Birthday, we bought him a  Highway code, Theory test book and CD Rom and a promise to pay for his Theory test when he feels ready.  Although now calendar club has finished he needs to look for a job at weekends to help pay for driving lessons.
In the evening we took Kevin and his girlfriend Louren to Frankie and Bennys for a meal, we ordered the birthday package which included balloons on the table, candle in the dessert and them playing Happy Birthday and Congratulations, Kevin's face was a picture he was so embarassed.
Kevin and Louren were all over each other, they had pizza to share and then a shared dessert, cookie sandwich.
It was a lovely evening.

It was torrential rain this morning while taking Spot for a walk, the rain was pouring through the storm drains from the town, all along the beach looked like waterfalls.

After having Sophie for the weekend, she will be going home after school, on Sunday night Jude offered to have her overnight to give me a break.    She has not been too bad, we have had our differences of opinion and to her surprise her grandparents won.   One day for pudding i offered her a banana or ice cream or bananas and custard, she decided on banans with ice cream on topped with custard and sprinkles, me being the softie agreed, she loved it and had to have it every night.

On Sunday Bob took Kevin to look at beds, unfortunately while he was out David Bancalari, his friend from his computing days in London visited, but he couldn't wait for Bob, he now does Bee Keeping professionally, a far cry from computing.

Today Kevin cuts himself with a Stanley Knife in DT (Design Technology), it was quite bad and sore.

I have finished reading
Blood of the Innocents by Chris Collett
A DI Mariner book set in Birmingham.
The author was born in East Anglia and is a new author to me, it was a very good book,  this was a Christmas present from Vanessa at work.

Had Torrential rain all day yesterday.

Yesterday Jen and Andy went to Sheffield with Dylan, to attend his Nan's funeral on Monday, because of difficulty with trains at the weekend, they won't be back until Tuesday, so guess who's holding the baby, or is that Sophie.

Yesterday, Kevin had a doctors appointment to check his ears after the infection in case his ear drums had been damaged, and he got the OK.

Yesterday, we got our first delivery of Sandals at work.

At work today i got a phone call from Bob, apparently Sophie and Bob had fallen out because Sophie wanted to watch DVD's all day, and Bob wouldn't let her.

Kevin and Bob also had words, Kevin wants a double bed and his room is not big enough, a possibility is a sofa bed or futon, however the ones he chooses are very expensive, oh what fun.

I finished reading
The Innocent by Harlan Coben
A brilliant read, another Christmas Present from Vanessa at work.

Start of a new term, tonight we started working on our Healthy Heart Interest Badge, and we played Twister.

I finished reading
Quentins by Maeve Binchy
A different, type of book for me, and i enjoyed it a enormously. it was a christmas present from Vanessa at work,

Saturday was the last day of trading, so Yesterday was the Closedown, Bob, Me, Andy, Jen and Kevin, worked extremely hard, the lorry arrived at 5pm, for loading, is was a very tiring and exhausting day.

So That is it for another season, we had a very good season and beat all the targets so can't complain.

This evening Bob had a bath and fell asleep reading his book, he woke up to find his book floating in the bath.

Today

After work, Me, Jude and our Pack Leader Kayleigh, went to the HQ (Brownie Meeting Place) and sorted out the Brownie cupboard, then we went to Jude's to plan the terms Brownie meetings, i got home gone 8pm, exhausted, it was a bit much after yesterday.

Well, we were promised it, but where is it, not even a flurry did we get.

My car wouldn't go this morning, flat battery, so i was on shanks pony.

We had our first delivery of Spring Shoes today from Padders.

Getting tea ready, i asked Kevin did he want Garden Peas, he said No, he would prefer House Peas, it took me a moment to catch on.

Steven went to Wigan today to collect Charlotte and Jude.

We have had some sad news, Andy's Nan passed away yesterday, in hospital, of the Norovirus which she was too weak to fight,

Yesterday, I finished reading
Shadow Hunter by Geoffrey Archer
This is the first book i have read by him, I was very impressed, very well written and a good story line.

2008 is Jacksons the Shoe People Ltd 70th Anniversary, as our Grandad George William Jackson started the business in 1938. www.jacksons-shoes.co.uk.

I have got today off, for a change, with no children to look after WOW!!  
So i have done some card making and watched movies on TV, unlike me to have some me time.  About 3.30pm i went to walk Spot, it is amazing the amount of people there was, the car park was full, there were loads of people walking on the prom eating hot donuts and fish and chips, children on the beach building sandcastles, it is like a summers afternoon, while walking, Kira ran up behind me and took Spot off of me, she was walking on the Prom with her Mum, and we walked for a while together.

Well, it is a new year, for the past 8 years every year has been terrible, maybe it is time for some good luck in my life, but i doubt it, when i think things can't get any worse, they do.  In my life you don't need to eatch soap operas, you just live them and struggle on day by day.