The best of friends

So this is the post I meant to write last weekend and then for various reasons I didn't manage to. Given I still want to write this week I decided that at the very least I would add the photo and say something...

So - end of exam week, both girls knackered but Abi still had Emma and Eloise to stay which initially ran the risk of Izzy being excluded but very quickly they all sorted themselves out and had a lovely evening. As did we incidentally as their parents came over for tea and we sat in the summer warmth making the most of good company, great food and wine and happy kids.

Quick update on Abi's results - she did brilliantly! Her English teacher pulled me to one side in school and said how pleased he was with her comprehension - she came top in her class! For a child that used to struggle with her writing, hated checking her work and found reading fiction really hard she's come so far and we are chuffed to bits. She also did well in all her other exams - a real credit to her hard work. Izzy was also tested in a smaller number of subjects and her teachers also really pleased. Her teacher apparently was very happy with her reading test, despite the fact that we've got stuck on a reading level and she's not yet been granted 'free reader' status. This is a bit silly given how much she reads but its my fault. Izzy reads in every spare moment but has her own preferences and so getting her to go back and read what are frankly quite boring school reading tree books is really hard. I also don't enjoy listening to it because she doesn't enjoy reading it - vicious circle. We just need to bite the bullet and get it done.

This week has been a fun week - I think they've already started to capitulate before the end of the summer term even though its still 3 weeks away...

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Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...

Showtime!

It's that time of year again, the Newbury Show, and this year I made a point of not planning on going with anyone else as that always results in dissatisfaction as we don't get to do the things we really wanted to do. The weather forecast was a tale of 2 halves this weekend, with glorious sunshine and summer temperatures on Saturday, followed by torrential rain and lightening for Sunday. Of course this meant that anybody contemplating the show made the decision to go on Saturday, us included. Given we knew the A34 would be a car park we took the back roads and despite the traffic being heavy it wasn't too bad - helped by the fact that we had already resigned ourselves to a queue. On getting there it was clear that the weather had brought out massive crowds and everywhere was packed, with the tents steaming and the poor animals looking like they'd had enough by lunchtime. We went into the pig tent and half the pigs had sensibly knocked their water buckets over to have ...

Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

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