Monday 5 October 2015

Me on an October Monday


The dynamics of the home changed this weekend. Our son came back for the weekend. He took over the remote control, politics was discussed, football scores were under discussion and rugby was watched.  The less we say about the last one there the better ...
Strictly Come Dancing was recorded to be enjoyed at a later time when conversation about the new leader of the Labour Party and the worth of the footballer who scored five goals in 20 minutes is over. It's amazing how different things are by adding one 25 year old male back into the fold. I think my husband relishes these changes in conversation subjects and I love hearing them discussing things that I either know little about, or don't enjoy discussing.  I was happy to listen to their chat in the background while I made a big batch of chilli con carne and jacket potatoes, and wait for our daughter and her boyfriend to arrive to complete the family reunion

Sunday dawned bright and sunny and a long dog walk turned into a fruit picking event.

Blackberries harvested and sloes picked ready to make the annual sloe gin.  We hadn't gone prepared with containers but ever the resourceful family, fortunately each of us found spare poo bags (clean and unused) in our pockets which were soon used to carry our goodies home.  An unexpected benefit of being a dog owner. We must have made a strange sight on the way home though, each of us carrying a couple of full bags - the neighbours must think the dog has some odd and unpleasant digestive trouble!
It's a busy week for me at work, so Me on Monday saw me at my desk drowning in a sea of letters and excel spreadsheets.  Ours is a very popular school so people are desperate to get their daughters admitted.  Each year we have an intake of 160 and we offer 10% of places to those who gain the highest scores in musical and/or sport aptitude tests.  That's 16 places in total - 8 for music and 8 for sport.  But I've had 248 applicants to take the tests!  Some take one, some the other and some take both.  Plus I have to find out if they've applied to any of the other local schools who do the same tests so we can make sure they are only entered once.  It's a logistical nightmare but I think we're almost there ...

Remember those blue skies and sunny days we had last week?  The bright but warm autumnal feel to the air?  Well it's gone.  We woke up to drizzle this morning, which turned to heavier rain and I've nudged the temperature up on the heating thermostat.  Lunch was a warming leek and potato soup and a hunk of bread, whilst reading a magazine. 
 
Now I've warmed up a bit I'm giving up a wave to SianWhy not pop over to her blog and see what she is up to today!


11 comments:

helena said...

I know what you mean about the lovely changes in conversation when a younger adult is added in - have a great week

This West London Life said...

A lovely weekend for you ... had to smile at the antenna (?) growing out of your son's head! Today's weather? What a shocker!

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I had to go back and check out the "antenna"! It's been all about the rugby in our house over the last few weekends so no Strictly watching at all here. I don't even know who half the contestants are this year. What a lovely weekend with your son back in the fold. Ours was home too, but rather unexpectedly.

Sian said...

That sounds like just my kind of weekend. My two men had to resort to texting each other during the rugby. But you probably don't want to talk about that..

That sounds like an admissions nightmare. Best of luck with it!

I'm glad to hear that the sloe gin will be in production again this year. Have a great week.

alexa said...

Out and about foraging for free, with the prospect of nice things made later on, sounds a great antidote to male repartee :). Hoping you get the admissions stuff sorted - sounds very tricky; here's to lovely soups and soggy walks! Hoping your week goes really well ...

Louise H said...

Oh I do love a good forage for natures bounties - and how inventive to literally use 'doggy bags'! What a lovely weekend you had. My sons are in Y11 but it feels as though we rarely see them (and speak to them even less!) Perhaps they are training us for when they leave home? Have a good week x

Patio Postcards said...

Lucky you with free usable fruit :) We have been gathering up apples from some of the empty lots with old trees still standing, none of them are really good for human consumption so we feed to the horses. Admission forms can certainly make you cross eyed after a while, so many boxes to complete. Hope you have a great week

Sandra said...

I honestly laughed out loud at the poo bag bit

Cheri said...

A bit similar here this weekend - actually had all five of us together for about a half hour - Sarah coming home for two nights while Rachel and Becca were headed back to school. And yes, the conversation definitely changes when the kids are home!

Lizzy Hill said...

Nice to have a family reunion - but I'm the same .... Really have no interest in politics or sport...& yup! We're deep in the World Cup at the ODDEST times of night time rising because a replay, apparently, is not same!!! Sounds busy at work. Uggh! And the fruit picking sounded lovely... Waving from Sian's...

Gail said...

Being the former owner/parents of a dog I had to laugh at the always handy poop bags. :) Ok, I'm off to check out what sloe is/are. I've heard of sloe gin but never thought to see what it is. Nice having everyone home! It's soup making weather here too - ours was Fennel & Squash although come to think of it I do have some leeks in the fridge so potato & leek will be next.