Not long ago, the monthly weather forecast made rather damp, depressing reading. Even this past bank holiday weekend was meant to be wet. However.. things have changed, and spring is most definitely with us! The rain has stayed away, the sun has tried it’s hardest to come out, and it’s been pretty warm.

So, hubby has been sent up in the attic, and the girls have tried on the summer clothes. The good news is that they have quite a few clothes that still fit. The bad news is that we had loads of ironing to do! Still, it’s done, and the cupboards have been reorganised.

The dry weather is meant to continue, and later in the week we’re predicted 75 degrees. Let’s hope it doesn’t switch round again!

Well, hopefully it has! The weather has been so changeable recently.. and wet.. but we’ve had a couple of nice days, and even today it’s warm, despite being overcast. Anyway, I’m determined it IS spring, so this morning all the winter coats went away, and the summer ones have been freshly washed. Amy has quite a collection, now that many of Beth’s old ones fit her!

In addition, the windows are open, and at the moment, even the patio doors! I feel the cold, so for me to do that, it’s gotta be warm! I’ve even got a skirt on! LOL

Glen has finished stripping wallpaper and paint, and has today started painting.. in his own unique way, of course. (For those who I haven’t moaned to before, he has a strange way of decorating.. I just leave him to it these days!) He must have been feeling brave when he started.. he even let the girls help! Amy soon got the roller taken off her, but I think Beth managed to do some.

Oh yea.. sort of connected to spring, I tend to get myself a little stressed over mess. It’s not that I’m particularly neat myself, but I have little phases of getting annoyed, and tidying every up.. then getting even more annoyed when it’s messy again within a matter of seconds!

I’ve had two very experienced mums tell me that with children running around, they gave up - other, more important things took priority, and they’re much happier for it. So, what’s your philosophy.. especially if you have kids.. do you keep things tidy, have you taught your children to be tidy, or have you given up, and left your house ‘lived in’? {grin}

Today was the long awaited visit to London, to see the Dr Who Exhibition. I booked the tickets back in Feburary, and have somehow managed to keep it a secret from Beth.

Anyway, after a couple of hours travelling (some silly idiot decided to schedule engineering works on both the District and Circle lines!), we spent a wonderful hour wandering around, looking at exhibits from the various shows.

You can find the photos I took here, and some point I shall try to upload some little videos to YouTube soon.

The best section just had to be the animated Daleks - we both loved it!

Well worth a visit!

The girls and I have been busy.. we stripped all the beds, emptied out and cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the whole house, did TONS of washing, drying, putting clothes away and ironing, and tidied. I also cooked a nice casserole for dinner, and the girls and I made some rather yummy cookies.

Ok, so when written down, it doesn’t sound much, but believe me, it took up most of the day!

Oh, and when I say ‘we’, that’s quite a loose term of course. The girls did do a little, but they kept wandering off to do other things. Funny how a DS seems more attractive than cleaning!

Tomorrow I’m hoping to do very little - some reading would be good!

Yesterday we took a trip to Chessington. I’ve been before, a few years ago, but it seems to have expanded and developed since then. The first area we entered into was Land of the Dragons, which has the most amazing ride, Dragon’s Fury.  The cars on this one actually spin round, so you never know if you’re going to go backwards, front-ways, and side-ways! There was no way in this world I would have gotten on it, but it was great to watch!

The girls enjoyed the Flying Jumbos, Tiny Truckers, Toadie Cars, and the Carousel, all found in ToyTown. Beth loved the Runaway Train, and Amy was quite upset that I wouldn’t let her have a go! Unfortunately I couldn’t persuade Beth to ride The Vampire.. but given a couple of years, I think she’ll give in!

My other favourite ride to watch is Rameses Revenge.. although I can’t understand why people would want to put themselves through that! LOL

Of course, the nice thing about Chessington is that it’s not all about the rides. We enjoyed seeing the big cats and the gorillas, and the new Sealife Aquarium is a great addition.

All in all, a great day out.. but a very tiring one!

So, last night saw the first episode of the new series.. and we were all sitting there at 6:20, ready to watch! My general thought was that it was set a little too ‘young’.. it reminded of a Sarah Jane episode. However, as an opener, it was great fun.. and they have the rest of the series to develop the darker episodes.

Mr David Tennant was as sexy as ever.. it’s strange to think that I was upset when Christopher Eccleston left, and now I just adore his successor.

Catherine Tate.. she still annoys me, but she wasn’t as bad as I thought she would be. I hope she keeps the comedy stuff reined in a little.. although the suitcases were funny.

Best bit for me.. when The Doctor and Donna were trying to communicate through the glass, and Miss Foster spotted them. Plus, of course, every moment with the Adipose.. does anyone else think they’ll be in the shops soon?!

I’ve had to come back to this, because I forgot to mention the ending.. Rose! I hated the idea of her coming back, when I first heard it.. but I’m beginning to think that if it’s well done (by that, I mean a very good explanation for her getting back, plus it not being permanent) I think it might be good. I believe she’s not going to feature properly until the finale.. I wonder how many brief glimpses we will get before then?

Bring on the next 12 weeks!

As I mentioned previously, we went to see this quartet of singers at our local theatre.. what a fabulous evening! They take songs from various musicals, ranging from Phantom of the Opera, to Spamalot, so there is a variety to suit everyone. The four voices are very different, so they are capable of presenting this wide range. It’s great to hear favourite songs, and also interesting to take a listen to some I haven’t yet heard.

The evening culminates with a selection of songs from Les Mis, which I just adored. I was, however, very disappointed that they didn’t include Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. For me, the highlights were Bohemian Rhapsody and One Day More. I shall be watching out for them to come back!

Official Site

In April, I am going to see Beyond the Barricade, at my local theatre.

Les Mis captured my heart when I went to see it in London. I adore most of the songs, but if they sing this one at the show, I just know I’ll be blubbing like an idiot!

Haahoos

Ninky Nonk

Pinky Ponk

Upsy Daisy

Igglepiggle

Tobliboos

Makka Pakka

Of course, every parent of a young child knows that these are the ‘characters’ from ‘In the Night Garden‘. Amy loves it, as do, I believe many other youngsters. Everytime I watch it, however, I find myself wondering if the writers were smoking something they shouldn’t when they came up with those names!

I haven’t posted for a few days, so I thought I’d share a few random happenings, and thoughts.

~ I went to Beth’s ‘parent consultation evening’ last week, and she was once again highly praised. Not only is she still well behaved, and working hard, but she’s also showing leadership, and is very thoughtful.

Something tells me that Amy is going to be a little different… lol

~ We’ve been doing a little baking around here. First came the little fairy cakes (cupcakes), which the girls love decorating. Today Beth and I attempted an apple crumble.. and it was actually pretty good! Apparently Beth wants to try scones next!

~ We’re not a very healthy household atm.. both girls have had bad coughs, and I seem to have the sore throat that’s doing the rounds. Lovely!

And finally…

~ Demi Moore has been using leeches to ‘detoxify’. She says.. “It detoxifies your blood… generally you bleed for quite a bit and your health is optimised, and I’m feeling very detoxified right now!”

Words fail me!