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Sunny days and rainy nights

 

Having had a beautiful week of sunshine, perfect for Izzy's week of den building and camp out, the heavens have opened this weekend and it has poured with rain. This of course is bad timing, not just for Izzy who was camping out in the shelter she and Grace had constructed, but also for Glenn who this weekend is riding from Newcastle to London - 315 miles - in 24 hours. Yuk! Not only is it wet but windy as well - poor Glenn.


Oh well, its Sunday morning, we haven't heard from him yet but we are working on no news is good news. I'm sure he will come home having enjoyed the experience.


While Glenn has been away we have been making the most of a girls weekend with Izzy and I sitting down to watch The Golden Compass while Abi was  at a sleepover at Mia's, and Abi and I having a lovely mooch through town while Izzy was at camp, followed by roasting of marshmallows on the fire pit in the sunshine.
Izzy had an amazing time at camp, albeit it was very wet on the last day - they managed to stay out all night (Grace and Izzy were the only ones in their 'natural shelter', i.e. no tarpaulins) and sleep through until 6am when the rain started in earnest for a thoroughly wet day. This meant she packed up in the wet and came home smelly but smiley - happy girl!


One challenge when there is only one of us here is getting in some exercise - this is where our gym comes into its own. On Friday evening I put Izzy to bed and then headed off to do some miles on the static bike. After about half an hour Izzy appeared with an "I cant sleep..." typical! You can tell its the summer holidays - rather than pack her back off to bed I decided that it would be easier to just let her bed down in the gym while I finished off - so I pedalled while she made a bed on the treadmill - looked pretty comfy actually - an everyone was happy.


So with a bit of individual time with both girls it stuck me again that while they get on very well together for the most part, they are quite different. This shows up in many ways, including what they do for quiet time and indulgent relaxation.


With Abi she loves nothing more than for the two of us to lie on her bed, cuddled up with me stroking her head in just the right way while telling her stories ("tell me about a time when you..."), while with Izzy, she shuts herself up in her room and loses herself in her book - currently it's Warhorse which has led to a few tears along the way. Izzy always has at least one book on the go and loves to read. Abi has finally found a way of getting into reading, via the Kindle, and has finished her first 'proper' book - The Yorkshire Shepardess. She has loved reading about Amanda Owen, her 8 children and life in the Dales and has decided she will be a Shepardess when she's older with 1000 sheep, 5 kids and 4 Sprollies to keep them all in place. She's also going to have a Boxer as a pet and various other animals... This has lead to a number of discussions about where she should go to school after Thorngrove in order that she can learn the right skills. I've obviously pointed out that GCSEs and A Levels are good for all seasons and needed whether you are a farmer or an accountant, but I'm not sure she believes me at the moment. She'll need them to keep count of all those children she's planning!


This week they are off to a baking camp for the week so no doubt will be bringing home loads of cakes and biscuits for us to taste - bang goes the post holiday diet then... the holidays seem to be passing so fast - back to school is just round the corner. At least they've been reading - I'm not sure either has written more than a sentence in months - bad Mummy!








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