Another good night's sleep and up relatively early to get packing. Gill was somewhat better and soon after 10 Dankie drove us down to Norwich station so we could get the train to Peterborough. Nice chat with a youth worker called Alex who was heading back to Birmingham. When we got to Peterborough, a train to York pulled in which was about 10 minutes late, so we had no wait at all and although the train was full, we got seats in the same area of the carriage and we got to York about 15 minutes sooner than expected. A bus drew in just as we got to the front of the station, and we were home soon after 3pm.
Good to be home! Opened letters, read the Press, made some phone calls, lit the stove, did washing up. Just usual stuff, back to normal.
I went to Country Fresh to collect what they had got put aside for me, and Somerfield to get a job-lot of pasta. They have a good 'two for the price of one' deal; I spent £11 on about 12 bags of pasta, lots of different sorts. Had pasta and home-grown purple sprouting broccoli for tea.
A peaceful evening.
Showing posts with label Norwich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norwich. Show all posts
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Sunday 12th April 09
A very lazy morning reading NewScientist and a good book Ali lent me, keeping out of the way of all the children who were running around like maniacs... nothing to do with chocolate overdosing of course?
Helped Linda in the garden, digging up a dying Rosemary bush and replacing it with a lovely-looking small tree or shrub which I could not identify. The children were persuaded to go on a slug and snail hunt. These were put in a bucket with something to hide under, ready for relocation.
Gill was having a migraine, poor thing, so stayed in bed all day, and Linda looked after her when the rest of us went out for a walk with Sophie, Dankie and all the children. We drove, in two cars, to Mousehold Heath, an area of woodland and heathland which has seen lots of gravel extraction, and therefore has lots of hillocks and dips, great to run around, and we found a rope swing and had fun on that. Other members of the group started making a den with sticks and branches, and after energetic rope-swing activity, everybody joined in with this. We climbed trees and threw sticks, I pushed over a large rotten silver birch tree. The snails were released, and we heard woodpeckers drumming. I collected litter in the snails' bucket and some polybags I found. (33 pieces of recyclable can/bottle type litter, plus lots of throw-away stuff) After all this activity we had an ice cream and borrowed some young adults' football and had a kick around. Most of the children had a fabulous time and we all enjoyed this place. What a pity Gill couldn't see it and join in.
After tea, I did a balloon show and workshop for the children which they mostly enjoyed and I was delighted to see how good some of them were at making a bird model! We got the sleeping arrangements organised sensibly and I had a much better night's sleep.
Helped Linda in the garden, digging up a dying Rosemary bush and replacing it with a lovely-looking small tree or shrub which I could not identify. The children were persuaded to go on a slug and snail hunt. These were put in a bucket with something to hide under, ready for relocation.
Gill was having a migraine, poor thing, so stayed in bed all day, and Linda looked after her when the rest of us went out for a walk with Sophie, Dankie and all the children. We drove, in two cars, to Mousehold Heath, an area of woodland and heathland which has seen lots of gravel extraction, and therefore has lots of hillocks and dips, great to run around, and we found a rope swing and had fun on that. Other members of the group started making a den with sticks and branches, and after energetic rope-swing activity, everybody joined in with this. We climbed trees and threw sticks, I pushed over a large rotten silver birch tree. The snails were released, and we heard woodpeckers drumming. I collected litter in the snails' bucket and some polybags I found. (33 pieces of recyclable can/bottle type litter, plus lots of throw-away stuff) After all this activity we had an ice cream and borrowed some young adults' football and had a kick around. Most of the children had a fabulous time and we all enjoyed this place. What a pity Gill couldn't see it and join in.
After tea, I did a balloon show and workshop for the children which they mostly enjoyed and I was delighted to see how good some of them were at making a bird model! We got the sleeping arrangements organised sensibly and I had a much better night's sleep.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Saturday 11th April 09
Woke feeling achy. The bed we slept on wasn't the same as ours, and I was reminded of our previous bed, which led to me having backache lots. But it soon wore off.
A slow start to the day, but then walked into town to go to a museum or two. We first went to one with lots of animal skeletons, but it was closed. However, there was a huge whale skeleton displayed outside, and this was fascinating. We would have loved to go round this museum as it looked brilliant... through the windows! There was even a narwhal skeleton with two tusks... they usually only have one!
So we moved on to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences which was stuffed with fossils and rocks, I could have spent much more time there but some of the group needed to move on. So, in the same building was the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which was excellent. Again, I could have spent quite a bit more time here but my concentration span is considerably longer than the children's. I do really recommend visiting these museums.
We walked back to Elissa and George's house, and then George drove us to the station where we got the train to Norwich, where Gill's sister (and George's mum) Linda lives. We are all very fond of Linda as she is very like Gill, and it was lovely to see her. She collected us in her tiny car... quite a squeeze. One of Linda's other offspring, Sophie, and her husband Dankie, and their three children were already there, so it was quite a houseful. Fortunately, there are a selection of futons and extra beds, and a converted loft-space. But this didn't mean a settled night for me as the excitement with all the children charging round meant that their bedtime was late... too late, and this meant a case of 'musical beds'/bed hopping to try to get people settled and I therefore I slept on the sofa downstairs. I had a quite uncomfortable night.
A slow start to the day, but then walked into town to go to a museum or two. We first went to one with lots of animal skeletons, but it was closed. However, there was a huge whale skeleton displayed outside, and this was fascinating. We would have loved to go round this museum as it looked brilliant... through the windows! There was even a narwhal skeleton with two tusks... they usually only have one!
So we moved on to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences which was stuffed with fossils and rocks, I could have spent much more time there but some of the group needed to move on. So, in the same building was the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which was excellent. Again, I could have spent quite a bit more time here but my concentration span is considerably longer than the children's. I do really recommend visiting these museums.
We walked back to Elissa and George's house, and then George drove us to the station where we got the train to Norwich, where Gill's sister (and George's mum) Linda lives. We are all very fond of Linda as she is very like Gill, and it was lovely to see her. She collected us in her tiny car... quite a squeeze. One of Linda's other offspring, Sophie, and her husband Dankie, and their three children were already there, so it was quite a houseful. Fortunately, there are a selection of futons and extra beds, and a converted loft-space. But this didn't mean a settled night for me as the excitement with all the children charging round meant that their bedtime was late... too late, and this meant a case of 'musical beds'/bed hopping to try to get people settled and I therefore I slept on the sofa downstairs. I had a quite uncomfortable night.
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