A Humdrum Mum

No it's not a turd! It's a chocolate reindeer The time of year has come again The snow has gone but not the rain It's almost Christmas Eve you see Which is the time for you and me To put down our laptops and the like To take out the new bike, scooter or trike To overindulge in food and drink It'll all be over in a wink So now I'll stop blogging until next year And start spreading round the Christmas cheer! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all

Sunday, lazy day, sat on the sofa fiddling with party bag gifts from the two (yes two) parties we'd been to the day before... when Elf starts screaming and rubbing his eyes. I have never heard him scream like that before; even with a sore croaky throat, it was blood curdling. Gathered him up like a soft toy, no socks and in jim jams and rushed him into the car, remembering to turn off the pie in the oven! Drove at speed to the NHS drop in centre near us. Rushed to fill in a form - Reason for visit - a glow stick split and the liquid sprayed into his eye. Called over by a nurse, trying to explain what happened, still with the offending yellow glow stick in my hand, as if for forensic reasons I kept it... By this time, Elf was calmer but still his eye was looking awful. We calmed down too. Now began the hard bit. With accidents like these, a pH level needs to be taken of each eye with litmus paper to ascertain whether treatment is required. OK so how do you get a bent pie...

What do you do all day Elf? Nuffink. Can't remember, grunts Elf. The other day, when trying to find last year's Christmas card list (who's died, who's split up), I came across a piece of paper entitled Reception daily routine. I thought I'd see how this compares to Elf's idea of what he does all day. 8.55am Children are greeted by teacher outside the classroom door. Hang coats on peg and put lunch boxes on the rack in the hall. Check book bag and give any letters or money to the teacher. An activity is set out on the table where learners are asked to find their names and begin an early morning task working independently 9.05am Learning Activity 1 - independent or adult-led 10am School assembly - weekly singing, story telling and collective worship-themed discussions 10.15-10.30am Morning play 10.30-10.40am Fruit and milk time during which the whole class shares news about previous evening at home 10.30-11.30am Learning Activity 2 11.30-11.55am Gu...

My  Elf's project this half-term was on the subject of Fire. He  I decided, no he did actually, to do his friend Mungle's garden, for that is where we had the Beer'n'Bombs party, otherwise known as a bonfire party. (It started at 5pm, a meeting of all the old nursery gang, and all the parents were pissed by 8pm. Or was that just me? No I wasn't the only one.)  So there is Mungle's house, with his garden complete with path and flowers, and garden walls. That's how the project remained for a month until today, the day before deadline day.  Then the panic started. It reminded me of writing essays at uni, starting at midnight on someone else's computer (this was 1996) and then almost crying at 5am because my essay wouldn't print. Then asking what time the computer centres opened, phew 7am. Anyway I digress.  The picture doesn't do the toilet roll-people justice - they are Elf and Mungle replete with sparklers and toilet roll clothes. Mr Humdrum w...

I have just read a fabulous post on  The Sardine Tin  entitled Schools and Working Parents. It warns of a ranty post, and really made me laugh. You can get the idea from the title but please read it.  Whilst I was commenting, I thought Hang on, I'd love to know what our blogging friends' experiences are with schools and communcation and event times. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is trying to work out how she can attend the next coffee morning in the last week of term, with no holiday left, but desperate to attend to show off her Elf's "fire" project (now that you've asked, it's a model of a house and garden with Elf and his friend with sparklers and rockets).  So here is a quick survey.  I'd love to know your answers so please comment. (Please note this is tongue in cheek, but I will post results!) Demographics Are you a working mum or dad? Full time or part time? Are you a SAH mum or dad? Or do you work from home? Do you mostl...

... that on Monday I went to Ikea with my parents and didn't buy anything. I reiterate,  I didn't buy anything . I can't believe it.

Elf shows off his lightsaber skills.

Bored at work today, a colleague sent me a link that his 3 year old daughter had loved - a personalised video from Santa! Go to  Portable North Pole .  I set up one for Elf, emailed it to myself and treated him to the video just before he went to bed tonight.  You get to set the scene, I chose reindeer training, and add personal details such as name, age, photos etc. You then add in a task that he's been asked to do (we chose eating his vegetables) and whether he's been good at this task or not. You also get to upload a photo of a gift that your little one has been wanting for Christmas. Elf was amazed when he saw a picture of Humungousaur! The option to buy is at the end, but we haven't done that bit yet, so I'm not sure how long the video stays live for. Try it and see how amazed your little ones will be! Elf watched the 3 minute video enthralled by the whole thing, completely taken in and now realising of course that Mummy does indeed have Santa's email ...

Elf when tiny... ahh so easy then! A month ago, I posted a war cry -  This week's challenge is Overcoming Attitude in a 4 Year Old . I'd been letting Elf get away with too much (we'd just moved house, he'd just started school etc) and then I caught myself thinking I'm letting him get away with murder, all because I've taken my eye off the ball. I got some lovely advice and support from fellow bloggers (thank you), and friends and family, and I can report that his attutide has certainly got better, thanks to the following strategies: our conker jar (we emptied it half full to buy a Ben 10 magazine) Mickey Mouse (watching MM drives me mad but it's made him forget about watching Ben 10 which is too old for him) a set of rules for a reward chart (getting dressed by himself; tidying up; reading his book each day and practicing his writing) a better attitude from me! I feel much better equipped now to deal with him. He is still tired, so I try to keep ...

Today we were invited to the school for a Family Lunch. Having picked and paid for a school dinner (marguerita pizza) I waited outside the school office with the other mums and dads. Elf came rushing by, thumbs up, saying "I've come to get the dinner register!" Then we were taken in by our own children to the dinner hall and asked if we were packed lunch or hot dinner. We sat in our allocated seats, next to L and his mum, who I'd met at the last coffee morning.  The kids knew the drill. Wait til you're called, then queue up at the hatch - the dinner ladies look at the coloured star on your jumper (just for kids!) - green = veggie option, today's pizza and red = meat option, hot pot today. We then had to choose between half a jacket potato and spoonful of plain pasta, and again between roasted veg and sweetcorn. Add a slice of bread, choose your pudding - jam biscuity thing - and sit back down.  You put your hand up if you have finished your main cours...

Last week (this week?)'s Gallery theme was Before and After . I have to admit I shamelessly copied  emulated The Gallery's own entry, two amazingly identical pictures of her and her daughter. I remembered when Elf started school that I was sent by my FIL a photo of Mr Humdrum, a bit older than Elf, on his first day at school in Dumbarton. How similar are they? As they say In the Night Garden, isn't that a pip?

Elf announced at dinner tonight that he didn't like wet broccoli.  What?????

This week's photo challenge from The Gallery is Seasons. I took this photo a few weeks ago when my parents came up to visit us in our new house for the first time. It is the beginning of Autumn, a lovely time of year for me. It's sunny but cold. My dad had major heart surgery in July and the last time I saw him he looked, well, not like my dad. This time, however, he looked back to normal, like my dad again. We walked over the common opposite our house to the shoreline, and fed the ducks and swans in Swan Lake. Elf loves feeding the ducks and eating the bread himself, he just loves stale bread! Mr Humdrum is with them too. (I love photos taken of the back of people.) A new season, a new start...

Today on the way home from school... Elf: I've been learning about the War. (I NEVER get told what he's been learning, so this must have been special, hence the initial capitals.) Me: What did you learn? Elf: Well, people fighted in the war. Not just soldiers, but people who look aftered soldiers too. And when they were killed or got deaded, we remember them with poppies. I tried to have a longer chat with him about his great-grandad who was a naval CPO in the 2nd World War, about how we should be proud of him and thankful that he fought for us, and that war is still going on in some countries now. I am amazed that teachers are able to get through to 4 and 5 year olds, whose idea of war is a fight between Decepticons and Autobots...

Yes that was an old 80s hit by Rockwell. I used to think I could breakdance around this time. Anyway, I digress. Who can you see in the hedge? He's been put in the hedge opposite our house to look after us. Yes it's Mr Pumpkin! So last week ...

I normally mess up flapjacks. They were the first thing I made in Home Economics (yes it did used to be called that in the 80s) along with fresh orange juice. But my oven in the last house used to not cook them properly, making them crumble rather than slice. I saw this recipe on Netmums www.netmums.com (I can't do links on my ipad) under the heading Healthy Lunchboxes. My friend with her 6 week old baby came to visit today along with her parents, so they were the perfect guinea pigs. Here's the recipe: Savoury cheesy flapjacks 2 eggs; 150g rolled oats; 150g grated cheese; 50g butter Mix together all the ingredients, press into a greased 8" tin and bake for approx 30 mins at 180 degrees C. If I can do it, anyone can! Or rather if my oven can do it...!

Most of you have already done your Hallowe'en blogs but I'm a bit late. Having just moved, we decided to host a Hallowe'en party on Sunday for Elf's old nursery friends, we call them the Puddlers, as his nursery was called Puddleducks. I didn't quite know what a 7x4-5 year old Puddlers' Hallowe'en party would be like, and I organised the following games: - Hallowe'en bingo - pictured - by far the best game of the party (Elf said so!). I spent an hour making the bingo cards and symbols to call out. I was going to get the kids to use a crayon to mark off the symbols but then I thought if I used pennies, we could re-use the game. (We are having a Hallowe'en party every year now after all the decorations we made!) - Musical statues with a scary face - do what it says on the tin! - Corners using frog/bat/pumpkin/cat card images from an Asda decoration set - Dress up like a mummy - involving wrapping toilet roll around a mum to make them a mummy...

Manifestations of aforementioned attitude: (1) Saying HUH when asked to do something (followed by the requested task though) (2) Stamping of feet (3) Hitting mum and dad (4) Case of the I Wants (5) Repeating phrases from Ben10 like "I'm so outa here", "I'm so over this" and "Will you guys just leave me alone" (6) The usual whingeing and whining Locations of aforementioned manifestations: (1) With his parents NOT with any other person (ie Mungles' mum and dad looked after him today and said he was well behaved all day) Possible causes of aforementioned attitude: (1) Watching too much Ben10: Alien Force (2) Holiday and being spoiled too much by grandparents (3) Still being tired after school (he has been full time from day 4) (4) Being nearly 5 (5) All of the above Plan of action: (1) Conkers - a conker is added to a special jar when Elf has been good all day, and removed for a naughty act, a full jar resulting in a reward...

Before I moved in to my new house 3 weeks ago, I'd already decided the house theme was going to be "driftwood and pebbles". I'd also include wiggly sticks (my Dad used to collect them when I was little - I still remember one huge wiggly stick in front of the fire in my front room - where is it now?). Mr Humdrum can't understand having a theme. We are seconds from the shoreline and it seems obvious to me, being a beachy family too. Anyway I haven't even unpacked all my boxes yet let alone worked on the theme. But when I found some stones - we collect stones from every outing - I thought I'd make a start on the theme and you can see the result in the above photo. It was a few days later when I realised I'd copied Macca Pacca!

I have much to thank Wonderpets for. Not only the half hour I get each day while he watches Linny, Tuck and Mingming (are those the right names?) save some dumb panda in China who is stuck up a bamboo tree. Even Elf said yesterday Why can't the panda just slide down? Duh. Anyway, as any mum of a young child worth her hummous will know, the Wonderpets celebrate the saving of every small animal by eating celery. Yes celery. Well what else can a hamster, a duck and a turtle share to eat?  Elf has been into this programme for about a year (a long time in the televisual viewing habits of a 4 year old) but has only just realised that celery exists. I know adults who hate celery (I don't) so I know it's a love it or hate it kinda thing. I am happy that Elf ate a small tree of broccoli today and an inch-long roasted carrot, let alone worry that he hasn't started eating celery. Until today that is. He announced he wanted to eat celery. As Mr Humdrum was popping by a Tesco, he...

Having just returned from a week's holiday in Lanzarote, my most pressing task was to post again! It's been odd not blogging, but the house move plus a family holiday a week later has put paid to my blogging time. No it wasn't really a good idea to book a holiday a week after we move house. Yes it was booked long long ago, before we even put the house on the market. Anyway job done, move was smooth and hols were fab. Back to blogging. I can't actually remember what font I use, so this might be the time for a change... I will post some appropriate holiday snaps later, but the sausage on the left depicts one of the funnier parts (for us). Of course Elf has been obsessed with his willy since birth, that's a given. Apart from the time  he flashed at the headmistress , we've not had many embarrassing moments. Until now. He discovered his foreskin moves! Now being a girl, I'm not quite used to little boys' willies. Big boys, different matter ... Should it g...

What a nightmare. I never ever want to do that again. Unlike Mrs Frugal, I will not be moving ten times. We promised Elf a new bed. One of those ones with a den underneath. He keeps going upstairs to see if his "climb-up" bed has arrived yet! We haven't even ordered it! I'm still not organised enough to get back into blogging and although I have uploaded the odd piece, I've not had the time to read all of your blogs and comment. I will be back soon ... By the way the picture is of our new bed linen from John Lewis. I was going to use red as an accent colour around the house. Since buying that duvet cover, I have changed my mind. The plum colour is my new favourite!

As you may have read in my previous post, I am moving house on Thursday. YES THURSDAY. Anyway I thought you might find the following three facts interesting. Or not. 1. Above is a see-through bag full of Tupperware that I packed the other day. The photo I took amazed me in its dullness despite colour. 2. Just now I found in one cupboard under the sink the following three items: a pot of Nivea face cream, a tea towel and rat poison. Why? 3. A label on one of my boxes - Chopping boards and trivets. This is what my life has been reduced to. I have now lost the will to live, let alone pack. I may be back...

I am moving house a week tomorrow. This means I will be far too busy to blog. It really means I should  be too busy to blog. I'd better excuse myself now in any case. Please don't forget me, come back when I'm back! Love to you all, my little followers. -HMx

At the moment, when I think of labelling, I think of two things: one is the rubbish labels that I bought for Elf's school clothes which have already fallen off; the second is how dangerous labelling a child can be.  We are taught as new parents to label actions not the person. A label can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. "If I am told I'm naughty all the time, I may as well act naughty." I didn't need my degree in Psychology to understand that one. Which brings me to the world of work. In a company where "Customer delight" is our number one priority, and obviously as an employee I am a customer, I am not delighted to be labelled "difficult". My newly promoted manager's manager said at the time of his promotion that "I wasn't to make life difficult for him". This upset me and made me feel like the old dinosaurs, who used to own this company before we were bought out by an American giant, were still at large, labelling a...

This week's theme at The Gallery  is A Celebration. I am somewhat limited with my photos for The Gallery - my iPad only has a few on, no archive back to 2006 like the laptop (which Mr Humdrum is on constantly, hence my iPad purchase); and my iPhone is limiting because you can't take pics in the dark. My camera is the most irritating as it doessn't easily connect to a laptop. However I have found one to suit and to stop all my moaning. This was my birthday this year, in June, at our local cafe where I spent the majority of my maternity leave. All new mums go there, as they are very pram friendly outside, it's near the sea and you can breastfeed in public there quite easily. I have been going for years, but the first time I went on maternity leave was when Elf was about a month old. I started meeting F, Woody and Jessie's mum, there at 2pm bleary-eyed in those early days, feeling amazed that we'd actually got out of the house, have a cuppa and a cake, chat obvi...

Elf was getting very philosophical at the weekend. Must be his first week of schooling rubbing off. We were travelling between grandparents' houses on Sunday in Cornwall, near Landrake to be precise. Elf said "Before anyone was born, before even the dinosaurs, there was a volcano here, but a woodcutter cutted it down and it went into the river." I said "Before anyone was born?" He replied "Yes, well except there was one person here." "God?" I questioned. "No. Dave!" was the response.

It is Sunday evening and for the first time in 5 years, I have the "I have to go to work tomorrow" feeling. And it's a full day 9-5, the rest of my working week is now Tuesday til Thursday 9-1 - proper part time! I skipped the Monday last week, first day at school and all that, so it will be a shock tomorrow. So the first week is over. Phew! Let's see how we did... Elf was a star, in fact the head teacher took me aside and said he was a credit to me. I do know her, and she knows Elf so it wasn't just a flip comment. I am very happy about this, children do the most unlikely things and just when you think they'll sail through something, they go and throw a wobbly. I had a wobble on Thursday. Mr Humdrum was doing drop-off and pick-up Tuesday til Thursday and after diligently copying down the hours for the first week, I was sure he was 9-12 every day except Friday, his first full day with lunch. Mr Humdrum called me at 11.55 saying Are you sure that he'...

Back to school   One is Elf taken this week, the other is Mr Humdrum taken mid-1970s - but which is which?  I am so pleased that this is the subject of The Gallery this week as not only is it Elf's first week this week (day 4 and I forgot to provide lunch!) but it is also MY first day tomorrow. I am going to be helping out during Passport Time after lunch. This is when Years R, 1 and 2 get together to learn ensemble through different media. I am a bit of an academic Nazi I've been told (what's wrong with learning by rote?) so this will be interesting to me. My plan is to help out at first then to hopefully gain a teaching assistant post, then when Elf is older and doesn't need me, I will train as a teacher. I've always wanted to be a teacher - I'd love to teach French and Spanish to juniors. Watch this space!

I was texting a mummy friend: "We can't meet up on Mondays from September because I will be at work." It struck me afterwards that the reason I'll be at work is because Elf will be at school! What a dozy mum I am. If I can't even sort out his social life, what hope is there for me?

This was Elf at one month old in February 2006. It is the first picture I have of him on his personal blog. He went to our childminder aged 1 for a year, and then at 2, he joined his current nursery.  Just under 2 years later, today is his last day at nursery. It is a cliché yes, but it is the end of an era.  And also the end of my having to work 3 long days at work, with matching long days at nursery for Elf. Next week's school start will be emotional, but also it will mean shorter days and more quality time spent with Elf. And maybe some home-cooked dinners eh Elf?

The Aargh to Zzzzzz of Parenting, An Alternative Guide by Joanna Simmons and Jay Curtis Mr Humdrum bought me this book for my birthday this year. It became my Bathroom Book (polite way of describing Toilet Book). So called for non-derogatory reasons, I might add. It's ideal to flip through a few entries whilst ... otherwise engaged. It's not the sort of book you should read straight through. I have savoured every entry and it has taken me from June to the end of August to finish.  I haven't done a book review before, and this certainly isn't a sponsored post (but if anyone's reading this who might want ... ah I bet they won't). This is just a brilliant read.  I've read most of the Fabulous Mummy's Guide to Being a Yummy Mummy range and yes, they were good to read in times of "poor me" and sometimes a little instructive, none of them hit the spot for my humour. Until this one.  Here's one of my favourite entries:  Cooking with your...

The Gallery  this week is about  Blipping  and we have been tasked with taking a photo today! All of us Galleryers. So here is my effort. When I first started blogging, I kept Mr Humdrum and Elf's pictures out of it - for fear of I don't know what. But I've got a bit more lax about it as the months have gone on.  Here we are at the Kite Festival, having given in to Elf buying A Gun.  One of my previous posts  dealt with my issues on the matter, and after lots of helpful advice on how to give in but not give up, I've given in!  Well done to the three UK parenting bloggers going to Bangladesh to raise awareness of  Save the Children .

The Gallery   A photo I'm proud of My iPad, although deliciously gorgeous, has its downfalls. I can blog on it, but the rich text editor on Blogger doesn't work. So I can put pictures and links in but they don't work very well. I always have to use OH's laptop to tidy up my posts! Having looked at others' Gallery entries, I realise I have interpreted the brief slightly differently. I couldn't post a picture that I am proud of because I am not that good a photographer! I have taken this picture with my iPhone and am quite pleased with the clouds. I am proud of this picture, taken at the beach yesterday of Elf and Mr Humdrum, is it shows that we have survived. We have finally exchanged contracts on our new house after 4 months of stress and worry. Usually the lynchpin of the family, as mum, I keep us functioning. Mouths fed and watered, house (sort of) tidied, social events arranged, plans made and kept... The worry of the last few weeks has meant that th...

The other week we attended the firth birthday party of the the son of Elf's childminder. We struck gold with our childminder and she is still a good friend. Her son, we'll call him Blondy, and Elf got on like brothers - they fought a lot but they are better friends now they are older. Blondy is one of the youngest in his year at school and is just about to start Year 1. His party was at the local gymnastic centre, where Elf used to take his trampolining class. We turned up, Daddy in tow too as we know the family. As expected, Elf knew only Blondy and I recognised just one or two friends. Blondy's mum confirmed that they were nearly all friends from school. Lesson number 1: Your child's friend demographic will change dramatically once he starts school. Then, not expected really, all the parents save a few disappeared! I saw a mum handing Blondy's mum a business card saying "Right I'm off, here's my number if you need me." All very well I thoug...

http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com This week's theme at The Gallery is a memory. (Apologies for the link in html etc, blame mobile blogging!) The photo above isn't yet a memory. In fact it was taken just a week or so ago, but it soon will be a significant memory. Elf is due to start school in T-18 days. The Build-a-Bear that I bought him, called Captain Rex Baseball Boots (after Captain Rex from The Clone Wars) (oh and baseball boots cos he's wearing them), was a token to help him through the transition to school. He smartly looked at me and said "Well if that's from you, what will Daddy buy me to help me go to school?" Cute yes. Okay so maybe his innocence has already been shaken off, but the memory will be of him cuddling up to Captain Rex in bed at night, just as he changed from My Little Boy to My School Boy. He at nursery today refused to give me a kiss goodbye. It's already started!

Yes you read my title correctly. My tooth falling out today was The Last Straw. I have been on a one way street to stress this summer, I thought I was coping quite well but obviously I'm not! As I bit into the salami and mozzarella panini in Nerd, sorry Nero today and felt my tooth fasica crack off, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I laughed. It was close though. As you will note in No 6 below, I am fed up with work and so have decided to open a new special chain of hotels. It is called the Stress Hotel, and is a halfway house between your house and where you'd go if you really couldn't cope. You can check out any time you like, or is that from the Hotel California? Anyway, this hotel chain has a no children policy so you will be guaranteed a rest. It will be a no partner zone, so you can stop arguing. You will have a life coach there, you don't really need therapy just someone paid to listen to your moaning and tell you that you Can Achieve Anything If You ...

At the BBQ I attended yesterday, I picked up a kids' food tip that I want to share with you. Mid-summer and I'm fed up already of hearing Can I have another ice cream? Please? Not only is it a snacktime staple, fed to shut up the I'm hungry whining when they didn't realise that th picnic we ate two hours ago was their lunch (or is that just my child?), it is also then an after tea treat, handy when I've run out of yogurts, and also a Treat When Daddy Takes You To The Shop. I counted four ice creams in one day once! The tip is this: Freeze a squeezy yogurt (Yeo or Frubes are our favourites). Make sure when you take off the wrapper that you don't flake off too much of the yogurt-slate. Obviously frozen yogurt is quite soft, so your little one could use it as a teething aid too. Secondary tip: Take out your frozen yogurt and put in lunchbox in the morning. While the yogurt defrosts, it keeps the lunchbox contents nice and cool! Thank you to S's friend, m...

This is a bit of a cheat really. I was at a BBQ for M&S today (Mr Marks and Mr Spencer they are not). M, pictured here, was using my son's grabber and the picture just looked funny to me. I don't want to laugh at missing limbs because it is not funny (I think I am allowed though, my grandad had both his legs off and we used to call him Grumpy Stumpy). I digress - the point is this. I wanted to post a picture of M&S's next door neighbour's 4 year old boy who kept peaking over the wall to entertain us. He put on his sister's red High School Musical dress, on top of his own High School Musical jock outfit, and then proceeded to sing one of the songs from it. It was hilarious. I did take a picture of him but resisted posting after being chastised by Mr Humdrum. It was wrong to even think about it, yes I see. Good job I was sober eh?

You may remember three weeks ago that I took in some home-made chicken soup for my dad who was in hospital following open heart surgery. It seems that Ms Amy Winehouse has been stalking me and was papped doing the same for her dad! I mean, yes it's a good thing to do but stop following around me Amy! Compare the two. Just because she's thinner than me! My post  and  Amy's  (or have I got that wrong?)

Being a dozy big moo at the moment, I am idea-less and have decided to tell this story a la London City Mum  and her people-watching posts  (OK that's a polite way of saying that she posts hilarious pictures of hideous fashion and style crimes!) Here is my version - What the *&%^? Part 1 . I give you: The chav pram Excuse the white monstrous vest creature (I call that disorder Fat Back, and I do have FB myself, that's why I can laugh at others). Look at the baby seat in the trolley! Quite a good idea yes, to put the baby seat inside the trolley  in the supermarket but when you have finished your shopping and are now walking around the streets of a market town, NO! Thanks to OH for this little gem, taken on his iPhone. I hope for more!

This week's theme over at The Gallery  is playtime. I tried to upload this picture and some text with mobile blogging on my iPhone. It posted the picture but not the text! Better luck next time... Here is Elf last week at the new park near my parents' house. I played at this park too when I was his age, and younger. My parents lived, and still do live, just over the road from the park. I remember going to sick way round on the roundabout (was that just us?) and when a girl from school broke her leg because it got trapped under that roundabout, probably when it was going the sick way. Makes me shudder to think about it. The park is way cooler now, with tractors galore (its new name is The Tractor Park) and a skate park. We had our school sports days there too, and Guide and Brownies fetes. Happy memories!

I've lost my marbles. I saw instructions on someone's blog how to make headers out of pictures. It involved going to another photo website and I can't for the life of me remember what that site was, or who it was who posted the instructions! Please tell me!

I am not really getting the hang of this weekly Gallery lark so apologies if I'm making some huge bloggie faux pas. Over at Sticky Fingers , last week's theme was Nature, and today I found the perfect photo opp. Elf and some rhubarb! My Dad has just had open heart surgery and I'm staying with my parents to help them out. Elf has been staying with OH's parents nearby and today he visited with Daddy. A few jobs in Grandad's garden needed doing so we got Elf to work. He has dug potatoes before and puts them in his "gardening truck". Here he is replanting a plant that Nana pulled out by mistake. This boy has green fingers!