Fruit, cafe kindness and swing

1. It’s a beautiful morning so I give Doris a basket and she heads out into the garden to pick raspberries. More go in her mouth than in the basket of course. While Isla’s asleep she ‘helps’ me make some blackberry jam, ie eats the wrinkle test splotches from the plate.
2. At Dunorlan park cafe we arrive just after the kitchen has closed but the lady takes pity on our forlorn faces and knocks up a toasted sandwich for the girls’ tea.
3. There is always a massive queue for the big swing but, after tea, we head back to the park area and all the other children have gone home so we go straight on it. Walking back to the car, all the geese start come off the lake, the squirrels come out to forage and the park begins to take on a calm, back-to-nature feel.

Dental buddies, 70’s classic and GBBO catch up

1. Both girls tag along for my 45 minute crown preparation appointment at the dentists. I manage to look up at them a few times through my plastic specs while the dentist drills away. Isla is chuckling to herself and drinking milk in the pushchair and Doris is playing Robolab on the iPad.
2. The girls also tag along to school to ‘help’ me set up my classroom. They chase each other Benny Hill style around the room until I crack and put Postman Pat and the Flumps on the projector screen. Doris sits in my chair with her feet up on the desk marvelling at the ‘rain cloud’ episode. 70’s programming at its best.
3. All I’ve eaten today is a bowl of soup as the dental injections made me a bit dribbly, so the glass of wine I drink whilst watching the Great British Bake Off on catch up while waiting for Mat to get home goes straight to my head. I eat the homemade burger and chips on one side of my face only but it still tastes good.

PO pair, club meeting and the smell of burning

1. Doris and Isla brighten up the queue at the Post Office with their giggles and make several customers smile.

2. It’s raining but, hallelujah, buggy club is on at the church hall opposite the house.  Tea, biscuits and toys.

3. Laminating things for my classroom. I love the smell of the pouches as they melt through the machine.

Pearly whites, noo shoes and t in the park

1. After screaming last time, Doris is a picture of calm at the dentist this time round, allowing him to count and slightly prod her teeth. Even Isla has her two teeth looked at and they are both pleased with their stickers at the end.
2. Next stop to pick up Doris’ school shoes which are on order from the local shop. Her new school socks are massive and slide around but she still manages to canter up and down the store in her new footwear.
3. I batch cook a load of food for the freezer ahead of next week’s return to work before tea in the park with Doris’ bezzie mate Charlotte G. Isla spends most of the time rooting around in the sandpit.

Shop, labels and blackberries

1. Doris and Isla help me with the weekly shop. BH Monday but it’s blissfully quiet and Doris is extremely helpful. She takes along her mini shopping bag and packs in fish fingers, butter and a packet of smoked trout as well as lifting a heavy bag of potatoes into the trolley.
2. Ironing name labels onto Doris’ school uniform. Can’t believe she’ll be a school girl in just over a week’s time!
3. We scour the hedgerows for blackberries and pick a good kilo’s worth before heading for home. After initially pulling a face at them, Isla is a fan and Doris’ hands and face are purple from shoving them into her gob.

NBF, big pig and jam

1. Off to Minor Mania for Zach’s birthday party. ‘Meet my new best friend,’ shouts Doris a few minutes in as she encounters Emily and spends the next two hours running around with her. Isla has a blast throwing sponge balls around.
2. Next stop the Tunbridge Wells Festival, which involves candy floss, hot dogs, a coconut shy and a giant inflatable pig with removable nipples for children to watch the show inside.
3. The jewel red of my strawberry jam bubbling away on the hob.

Tea, croque and home

1. Fiona gives us a flask of tea and some biscuits to ease the pain of the morning wake up and departure.
2. The first and last croque Monsieur of the trip in Neufchâtel-en-Bray plus a coke from a bottle – I swear it tastes better than from plastic or a can.
3. It’s quite a rough crossing home but, after being in the car for six hours, Isla relishes the chance to crawl around the family deck. She starts stroking the sparkly shoes of a young girl. A couple of hours later we are back in RTW. Good to go away but equally good to come home.

Pack, nose and meal out

1. It’s raining hard so it’s a perfect time to pack and clean. Isla picks up the sweeping brush and jiggles it across the floor, trying to ‘help’.
2. The girls and Mat are sleeping in the Super U carpark so I have twenty minutes to have a nose around and pick up a few bits.
3. We go back to The Fat Chef en masse for our final night’s meal. After an undesirable brush with a chicken liver salad over ten years ago, I tentatively order one and it’s delicious. We have another flaming steak and chips. The children all gather round to watch the spectacle. Isla chews on a bit of steak and a few chips.

Flutterby, paddling and jumpers

1. A bluey-purple butterfly flutters by as we cycle along.
2. Paddling in a borrowed canoe with Mat, Doris and Isla.
3. The adrenalin as I jump off the wooden bridge into the salt marsh below.

Flirting over food, Mrs Slocombe and beach bliss

1. It’s the girls’ turn for a day out. Lunch and minor flirtations with the handsome waiters at the stylish and delicious Fleurs du Thym restaurant on the waterfront at Les Sables d’Olonne, followed by a poke around the shops.
2. In the lingerie shop, I encounter the French equivalent of Mrs. Slocombe. She prods and pokes me, whipping the curtain back to wrestle my boobs into lycra, proffering bikini after bikini, determined not to let me leave without a sale. At one point she tells me I have a great chest (think she was getting desperate for a sale at this point!) The last bikini is the one, it fits a treat, is a posh brand and is 50% off in the sale. Mrs Slocombe is satisfied. Thanks Fi.
3. We end the day body surfing and reading on the almost deserted beach before heading home to find the children are all in bed and the BBQ is ready.