Rachel 的个人资料The Fort Family照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
Friday 27th MarchPeter & I took the girls to Fountains Abbey today in spite of the poor weather (I had the idea that it would be nice and quiet and it was!). In a nice surprise, they gave the girls an Easter egg each which was lovely. The girls were dressed head to foot in waterproofs which proved invaluable until we realised Lauren's wellies had started to leak, by that point her feet were so wet that they couldn't get any wetter so we carried on! The girls ran around and had a wonderful time, Peter & I spent most of our running after Martha who had decided to run in the opposite direction of wherever we were! We all came back home, happy and tired. I've uploaded a few photos of the day at the start of the March album. Example of the Day: First prize has to go to whom I presume to be the mother in this clip, for keeping her cool when I know that I for one would have flipped!
Wii Sports Accident Thursday 27th MarchIt's so nice to have Peter back home safely. I was slightly jealous that he spent time with Jan and family but glad that they saw each other. Hopefully we can accompany him next time, fingers crossed!! I really enjoyed last night's The Apprentice, they did seem to make a mess of what appeared to be a straightforward task - why oh why would you think selling fish to solicitors is a good idea?!?!? Surely there was a better option! I also watched the first episode of the new series of Desperate Housewives, again I enjoyed it but wonder if it's going to be as entertaining as the last seasons. We've had no word from either our new tenants or letting agent so either that's a great thing or the tenants have already done a bunk!! I'm being optimistic and assuming that things are tickety boo!! Lauren and Martha seem to be changing at an almost daily rate at the moment. This morning at breakfast, Lauren recited perfectly (with actions) "fly away Peter". It's probably not the fact that she can recite the rhyme that makes her seem older but rather the way she recites it! Martha has developed a funny but cheeky new thing - when I talk, shout, sing (alright this is understandable!) for any length of time, she places her tiny finger to her mouth and very softly goes "shhhh". I wondered where that had come from, I am certain I don't do it - the mystery was solved when Peter returned home - need I say more!! The girls are becoming closer than ever before and kiss, cuddle and hold hands quite a bit now which is lovely - previously, they spent more time apart and fighting, please please let this continue! I got a great link from Jan's site....Toys from Trash. I tried for over 30 minutes to make this...Newspaper Box...but got stuck! It looked like it but the sides kept flapping, I couldn't work out how to tuck them in plus I didn't get a triangle at the top - I've never been good at origami unlike Jan!! Sunday 23rd MarchHappy Easter!!!!
Our morning started very early with Lauren and I leaving the house at 0550 to attend a Sunrise Service. It commenced outdoors around a lovely bonfire and finished in the church, afterwards we enjoyed hot cross buns, coffee and warm juice! When we awoke there was so much snow, it was an amazing sight. Normally our track is horrendous to get down so I was prepared for it, however upon reaching the main roads, where I expected them to be far clearer, I was greeted with more of the same! What would normally be an 8-10 minute drive turned into over 25 minutes!!
When we returned home, Lauren opened an Easter Egg with Martha and both girls munched them up!! We then decided to go outside and play in the snow. Peter and I attempted to build an igloo whereas the girls seemed more intent on knocking it down!! In the afternoon, we cleared some more stuff from the biggest shed and I found some old (and slightly embarrassing!) photographs and more importantly my baptism record!! We found some really interesting things that we forgot we had and took several trips down memory lane!
I've uploaded some photographs into a new March album. Friday 21st MarchIt's been a mad week but an enjoyable one all the same. On Wednesday morning, my friend Heidi came up for a coffee after we'd dropped Lauren and her daughter off at "big school" where they took part in an Easter Activities event. The relationship between the local schools and playgroup are very strong and it's lovely that the playgroup were invited to join them for the fun. Whilst the girls were having fun, Heidi and I were doing likewise!! It's so nice to just sit, chat and relax with another adult (especially when having trying weeks like this one!). Once Martha had settled for her nap, we went out for a stroll around the place and picked some daffs which was lovely and refreshing. In the afternoon, Peter's mum watched the girls and I undertook my first solo clean of the Church. I took me about an hour and a half and on Thursday the front of my thighs were really sore as if I'd done loads of exercise!! Honestly, I do housework in my own house constantly but don't get sore muscles like this!! I put it down to the fact that my house doesn't consist of pews upon pews which involves lots of bending and stretching! Hmm, shame I only do it 1/month, it's cheaper than a gym!!! When I came back, Lauren, Martha and myself made some Easter Nests for her to take to playgroup on Thursday (thank you Marsha for the Shredded Wheat!!)
On Thursday, Lauren proudly took her Easter Nests to playgroup together with a bag of daffodils that she'd picked herself for Marsha. I managed to create a reservoir of water so the flowers would be ok in the playgroup until Marsha got home. It consisted of a Tuklok sandwich bag filled with water, sellotaped around the stems then another two "dry" ones over the top (in case of leaks!) fastened with sellotape in the same way. The good thing is it managed to stand up on it's on which was handy, but we decided to put it in a little gift bag and it looked really pretty, not just a bunch of daffs! On Thursday night, I joined some mums from playgroup and enjoyed a meal at The Wellington Inn (where we had our wedding reception if readers recognise the name). Unfortunately this was overshadowed by Lauren slipping and cracking the base of her head on the very solid coffee table just before I left. She was so understandably distressed and she sported a cream egg sized bump within about 2 minutes. I had head bumps and wish I could take it away from her.
Today, our new tenants move in. Yes you did read it correctly, after nearly 7 months of being tenantless we finally have some!! The house had an inventory taken on Wednesday and I was given the report late on Wednesday afternoon - eek!! That doesn't give a lot of time to address issues that came up especially over Easter Bank Holiday!! Thankfully I managed to get a lot sorted out and Peter managed to get some things yesterday before he drove back home. We drove over early this morning and cleaned, fixed, installed and prepared the house. I hope they are good tenants and that the house behaves itself at least for a while!! We had no food in the house so were forced to battle with the masses in the supermarket which was hideous!! Martha kept climbing out of the trolley, at the checkout she was really playing up so I took her back to the car only for Peter to realise that he didn't have his wallet and he had to track me down! Oh well, it can only get better! We enjoyed some yummy pizzas for dinner for a change and the girls have gone to bed and zonked out pretty much straight away. I'm off now to enjoy a relaxing bath with some new bubbles!! Tuesday 18th MarchPeter left yesterday morning and is away all week. I'd love to be able to write so far, so good but that is soooo far from the truth!! It all kicked off around 2am this morning when Lauren woke up "MUM, MUM, I'M HUNGRY!!" (she'd eaten more than me yesterday so surely that can't have been true!). This outburst then woke Martha up who wouldn't go back to sleep. I felt very, very sick all night and had really bad pains across my chest (I think it was indigestion!). They wouldn't settle down and after about 15 minutes of crying (Lauren copying every little crying noise, shout that Martha did, tres annoying!), Lauren marched into my room saying "Me and Martha are crying", "oh really, I didn't know!". A bad combination resulted in my getting out of bed, going to their room, switching the lights on, putting laundry away, giving Lauren a drink and a "cow" biscuit (Malted Milk), singing twinkle twinkle and leaving them again. Whatever happened it seemed to work, it was like I had to put them back to bed again and I hope that it doesn't happen again for a while! They both woke this morning at 6.45am which wasn't ideal but at least we managed some sleep in our own beds!!
I spent the morning with another mum who came up to the house. She's someone I've spoken to for a couple of years and is really nice, we've actually discovered a few friends in common which I suppose isn't too surprising bearing in mind the size of the place! Her little boy Benjamin (9 months) and Martha played really nicely together. I'm looking forward to doing it again. Friday 14th MarchHurrah!! Received confirmation today that our new tenants will be moving in on Friday at 1200. Ironically, I opened the weekly local paper today and pulled out (as usual) the property supplement. I was shocked to see our property splashed on the front page!! The house is still on the market (until noon on Friday!) so it'll be interesting to see if it creates any interest! I've placed the page below...
Wednesday 12th MarchI met up with my friends tonight and we enjoyed a wonderful evening at Harrogate's Turkish Baths. This was the first time for any of us, so we weren't really sure what to expect. We started off getting into our swimming costumes. The first "step" of the experience is to have a warm shower, afterwards you relax in the steam room which is enhanced with eucalyptus (perfect for sinus problems - I wish I'd gone a fortnight ago!), following that, you shower again then go into the plunge pool. This was sooooo cold, it was horrid but once we'd got our shoulders under the water it was bearable!! Next step is to dry off and work your way up 3 hot room chambers (warm, hot, hottest) or for latin lovers, Tepidarium, calidarium and laconium. After this was another trip into the plunge pool, which this time round was very refreshing! The cycle is then repeated followed by a period of "cool down" in the Frigidarium (Relaxation Room). The brochure reports that "many of our clients report a feeling that combines exhilaration, euphoria, total relaxation and absolute cleanliness". I can say that I did feel wonderfully relaxed, my skin felt as if it was glowing (in a good way!) and that night I slept more soundly than I've done for a long, long time. The whole experience cost £13.60 which is very good value compared with the cost of salon beauty treatments (that make me feel about the same!). Monday 10th MarchWell the forecasted storm hasn't touched us thankfully, but my thoughts go to Kim and Art who live in the Isle of Wight where they recorded winds of 95mph! The sky was very dark this morning and Lauren & I watched for the expectant downpour which seemed to skirt around us, we could actually see the rain falling in the distance but although it was raining, it wasn't that bad. Lauren went into her bedroom to get dressed whilst I cleared up the kitchen (opposite her bedroom). She flicked the dimmer light switch on and not on purpose it came on then went off again (if you know what I mean) Lauren declared in such a serious voice "Mum, we've lost electric". It was so funny, I was stood in the kitchen with the lights on and dishwasher whirring!
This morning Lauren's playgroup held a "Messy Morning" where parents and their child(ren) from the community were invited to come along, get messy and see the playgroup. Lauren has been looking forward to it for over a week as both Martha and myself would be attending. Although I'm on the Committee, I wasn't involved in organising the event so a few activities were a surprise to me. The best one I discovered (and Lauren adored) was coloured cooked spagetti, so simple yet so much fun for the girls. The other things were gloop, playdough, painting, foot painting, coloured water, card making and present wrapping (the session was themed around the book Kippers Birthday). Saturday 8th MarchWe decided against getting the fencing up in light of the forecasted "big" storm. It would be awful to see our hard work blown away!!!
We've had a fairly quiet weekend really. Peter spent some time outside tidying things up and I spent time inside tidying things up!! I've changed the livingroom around again, which Peter is happy with as the room is more "zoned" but personally I think the room is a bit too small to accomodate effective zoning. It is nice though to have the dining table out (I replaced my huge monster one with my little pine set) permanently so we no longer have to pull it out each mealtime.
On Sunday Lauren made me laugh out loud. We were getting ready for Church and Lauren chooses her own clothes every day now. She pulled out an inappropriate t-shirt (it's soooo cold!) and I said "I don't think you can wear that today", Lauren replied "No, it's a bit too funky". Hmmm, do I use the word "funky"? I don't think so, but I think perhaps I shall!!! Friday 7th MarchWe have been lying low this week trying to get ourselves better. Last night, Lauren slept in her own bed (mattress actually on the bed!) for the whole night (well she came in to our bed at 0620 which I don't class as being that unreasonable now). Martha woke around 0645 having too slept all night in her cot. The energy I feel from having a decent nights sleep is unbelieveable.
The behaviour from all 4 members of the Fort family was wonderful today and I'm convinced that misbehaviour stemmed from general tiredness, grumpiness resulting from aforementioned, upset caused by previous two etc.
It's been an emotional week, I found out on Wednesday that someone I recently became reacquainted with after many, many years passed away suddenly on Tuesday. I have been upset by am grateful I had the opportunity to be in contact with him again.
We have an exciting weekend planned - on Saturday (weather permitting), Peter & I will be erecting some fencing around part of our house to allow the girls to play out virtually unsupervised. We're all really looking forward to it. They both love being outdoors and it's such an operation to do it just now - we all have to go out which would be wonderful if I could do it every time but there are so many jobs that need to be done in the house that I can't spend hours out there as the girls would like to do.
It's funny here, we've got a lot of land and it looks like the girls have so much space to play in which is true to an extent when they get older, however just now there are so many hazards and expanse of space that they can wander off into that it's needs some "control" elements in place. Monday 3rd MarchFingers crossed we have tenants for Ripon. They have returned their paperwork and want to rent it for 12 months initially. We have to wait now for the referencing to come back. It'll be such a weight off our mind (and bank account) to have it rented out again finally! I'm not relaxing until they've moved in and paid at least a few months!!!
We had the snow return again today much to the girls delight! It's such strange weather at the moment - we lost a few trees (quite big ones) a few days ago in the gales so Peter has been busy with the chainsaw tidying them all up. I am seeing a few more daffodil heads coming now and even some new lambs so am feeling happier that Spring is only around the corner! Sunday 2nd March  Happy Mothers Day I enjoyed a lie in and a yummy breakfast in bed complete with flower. Lauren made the fresh coffee and chopped the mushrooms. Still feeling a bit grotty but the treat made me feel better! I recieved a lovely card that the girls both helped to write.
We joined Peter's parents, his sister and her family for lunch in Skipton and we all enjoyed a walk by the canal afterwards. We fed the swans and ducks and Martha got a fit of the giggles which was really funny! After everyone else left, Peter, the girls and I stayed in Skipton for a bit longer and continued our walk around. I took Martha back to the car whilst Lauren and Peter went off to do a secret mission, Lauren had earlier found some "treasure" (1p) and wanted to spend it. They came back to the car armed with 10 beautiful red roses and an exquisite box of swiss chocolates! Thank you all!!!
The hosue was a bit like Mother Hubbard's as I've not been shopping due to me feeling so rotten but I managed to rustle up a fab dinner of smoked salmon served on fresh spaghetti with a creamy mushroom sauce - delicious!!
By Lauren's request after dinner, I had a bath with the girls which was actually quite fun (although a bit too cold for my taste!). It's the first time I've had a bath with them. Peter collected Martha first and got her dressed followed shortly afterwards by Lauren. Once they were both ready for bed, Lauren came back in and washed my hair and back, it was lovely. I went to bed very happy and contented. The girls had behaved brilliantly for the day and it was such a treat!!!
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