Skip to main content

Catching up

I know some of you appreciate the family news I post on here, so here's a quick summary of what each of us has been up to over the last couple of months.


Toby


- went to his first Cubs meeting on a night when they were eating hot dogs and marshmallows, loved it, and was very proudly invested as a member just before Christmas.



- spends his spare time writing stories, designing vehicles, and playing Super Mario Bros.



- has a large collection of beer bottle caps (any donations welcome, as his primary provider was an ex-work-colleague of Graham's).



- plucked up courage to go on a zipwire at the playground, and discovered it was great fun.



- enjoyed Lego, lots of books, penguin pajamas and a remote control car for Christmas.



Theo


- likes playing on the bikes and in the home corner at school.



- is now right at home with phonics: "I can spell cat!  Cuh, Ah, Tuh."  He's also been telling us about digraphs, at which point Graham and I nod enthusiastically and give each other bemused looks over Theo's head.  All this was out of fashion when we were at school.

- was a very cheerful king in his nativity play.



- enjoyed a new scooter, a car racing track, a chef's hat and apron, and colouring pencils for Christmas.


- is constantly asking how many days it is till his 5th birthday (not long now...)


Graham



- started a full-time management role at a company where he's been working part time for a while.  There's a lot to do but he feels like it's going well.  (Apparently some customers have already commented on the improvements he's made!)

- spent a weekend in Scotland being support crew for a guy cycling in a mountain-bike endurance race.  18 hours driving and 2 nights in a camper van in freezing temperatures sounded like too much endurance for me!  (Read the story here)

- discovered the enormous Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield, so we went for a visit and explored one small corner of it.



Martha




- enjoyed escaping from the kitchen over Christmas - we went to visit Graham's family and then my parents, so we did all of the driving and none of the catering this year!

- thought everyone was going to be trying to slim their waistlines and fatten their wallets in January, so has been surprised that the cafe is actually quite busy.  Bacon and eggs never seem to go out of fashion.


- spent the morning of her birthday taking sons to swimming lessons, playdates and soft play parties, but then got taken out for a delicious Italian meal in the evening (another of Graham's discoveries).


- has much longer hair than she has done for a while, but no good photos of it yet.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sounds like the family are all flourishing and well. I hope you might come and visit in Cairns Road Baptist church in 2019. We have room here to put up the family. Emma Caldwell and family

Popular posts from this blog

A baker's dozen of beautiful moments in 2025

2025 certainly had its times of difficulty, sadness - it seemed like lots of people died - and frustration. But as I read back through my diary, I noticed many moments of beauty and joy, too. I was going to pick twelve, one for each month. But after all, I am a baker: you've ended up with an extra moment tucked into the top of the bag for free. photo: Pixabay 1. Birthday cake in the snow I'd invited some friends to join us for a snowy walk near Cromford just before my birthday in January. At the top of the hill, my friend Jane produced a birthday cake, candles and all! That was a very special surprise.   2. Barn owl and beautiful music It was just a regular drive back from my Thursday Bible study meeting, until a barn owl flew across the road in front of me. I slowed down and watched it soar out of sight. As it disappeared, the haunting strains of Peter Maxwell Davies' Farewell to Stromness came on the radio. The ten-minute car journey had become extraordinary. 3. Songs an...

Portway: Bramcote Hills to Stanton-by-Dale

I parked in the free car park at Bramcote Hills Park and set off, naturally enough, in the direction of where I'd last been. Up some steps through the woods, along the edge with marvellous views northwards, and down past a school to pick up Moor Lane again. At that point I realised I was supposed to be walking this route in the opposite direction. Oops. Well, it didn't make much difference. It just meant that the Hemlock Stone would come at the end rather than the start. Also, I was doing a figure of eight, so I could switch paths in the middle. That sorted, I pressed on along the disused Nottingham Canal. This had varying amounts of water in it. There were good views back up to the double hump of the Bramcote Hills. Nottingham Canal Also Nottingham Canal Just before I got to Trowell garden centre, I crossed a bridge and walked across a green space to a partly built housing estate. The Boundary Brook had been aggressively re-wiggled. I'm sure it will look better in a year...

Derwent Valley: a canal, a cake, and some churches

It was a beautiful sunny day. So beautiful, in fact, that the small car park in Whatstandwell was filling up even at 10:00 on a Monday morning. Still, there weren't too many people around as I set off along the Cromford Canal. The Derwent Valley Heritage Way runs along the canal towpath for this section, so I knew it would be a lot flatter than my previous walk ! The plan was to head up to Holloway and Lea first, rejoining the canal at Cromford to walk back to Whatstandwell. So, after a short section on the towpath, I turned right to join the road to Holloway. This was where Florence Nightingale grew up. I passed Nightingale Lodge and the well-manicured grounds of Nightingale Park. The house she actually lived in is called Lea Hurst. It was a short but steep climb up to Holloway village. Church Street then ran along the ridge, with glorious views across the countryside. It took me past the village post office, the Methodist Church, the public toilets, and the Anglican Church. Post ...