Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

I think at this rate I'm going to have to accept that if I manage to get to the blog every other week I will be doing well. Ever since we came back to Somerset life has been so full, but in such a good way that I just can't complain. Let's face it - having a horse doesn't help - it is such a time sucker. She makes Abi so happy though that I wouldn't change it.  Given all this busyness I made the executive decision this week to more some of the holiday around that I'd booked here and there and take a whole week off around half term. The girls have got the Thursday and Friday followed by a full week, and so I have taken the luxury of having the week off before their full week so we will get 2 days together, but I get 3 days to myself!! I already have about 70 things I want to do so fingers crossed I get one or two of them locked in and achieved! To get me in the mood I had Friday off this week and had booked Mum ages ago to come with me to a garden & gallery i...

Ah - kids are back to school and on the one hand, it's great to know they are being gainfully employed from 8-5 every day, on the other hand it has pushed all the things we have to do to each end of the day and it's been a bit fraught at times this week!  As ever, we do not have a 'back to school' set of photos of the kids standing at the front door, smiling sweetly in their school uniform... instead I got a "don't even think about Mum" from both of them as they headed out of the door looking very smart. I suppose I should be happy they aren't so compliant they will do anything - I am definitely raising independent girls. The school is obviously coming back with a bang post-covid and has started to lay down the rules from Day 1. This means that they are expected to join the various enrichment activities on offer rather than heading home at the end of formal lessons. We went through them and I have some sympathy with their low enthusiasm - most appear t...

Beautiful smiley Elsie  This week has been a great illustration of why we wanted to move back to Somerset. Of course it's still the summer holidays (will they ever end?) and so part of the challenge is finding things for the kids to do., Long gone are days of putting them into kids camp and breathing a sigh of relief that they are someone else's responsibility all day! Luckily they are pretty good at amusing themselves. Abi spends a good few hours every day at the stables - yesterday going up about 2:30pm and getting picked up 5+ hours later, and Izzy s just good at whiling away the hours in her own way, writing lists of things she might someday do or making something - rings, bracelets, cookies or the like.  Pause.... its been 3 weeks since I wrote that - back into the time warp again - how do the days and weeks pass so quickly? Having written 3 weeks ago that the kids were doing well at passing the summer holiday time, they are back to school tomorrow! I'd say there are s...