25 July, 2015

Le Creuset

We had an interesting mealtime incident the other day. We were celebrating a family birthday with a fondue at home. At the end of the meal, one of the children present at the table looked at the fondue pot and commented, 'That's Le Creuset, isn't it?'

It was.

It struck me as amusing somehow that this young person was familiar with Le Creuset tableware. I mean, how middle class is that?!

18 July, 2015

The end of term -- and the end of primary school

We finally reached the end of term on Friday. Not only was it the end of term, but it was also the end of primary school for my youngest. So, no more primary school, ever. Hurrah!

However, it's been a hectic run up to the end of primary school. Over the past two weeks, we have had the following: the school disco, sports day, the leavers' performance (two nights), Fun on the Field (a social event that takes place on the school field on a Saturday evening and involves brining a picnic supper and listening to local bands playing), the leavers' picnic, the leavers' service, and the leavers' party (an evening event at the local open air pool, requiring a parent to be present with each child).

I think we're going to need the six weeks' break to recover from the welter of primary school leaving events... Here we come, secondary school -- refreshed, I hope!

11 July, 2015

Roll up for the circus!

Around this time last year, we went to Giffords Circus for my daughter's birthday. That was our first time at Giffords and we loved it. I wrote a blog post about it at the time.

We now seem to have become regulars, and we went to Giffords Circus again last weekend, this time to celebrate my husband's birthday. We found the show to be as good as last year, if not better. Many of the acts had changed and there were lots of new stunts to thrill and amaze. We particularly enjoyed the acrobatic troupe from Ethiopia, and the "girl with the golden rings". Clown Tweedy remains a constant and he really is fabulous, bringing something quite unique to the role of circus clown, a far cry from the humdrum, tired jokes that usually go with the turf.

After thoroughly enjoying ourselves at the circus, we wandered across the park to the Cotswold Lodge Hotel for a cream tea in the sunshine on their terrace. Lovely!

04 July, 2015

Partners for life

I heard two women chatting in a cafe the other day. They were talking about a friend who was changing her hours at work. One option for the friend was to work on Friday mornings, but not Friday afternoons. She declined this option, however, because her husband didn't work on Friday afternoons and she "didn't want to spend any time with him".

Similarly, I remember years ago, when I was doing a holiday job at the Royal Mail sorting office, getting talking to a female co-worker who worked full time at the sorting office. She worked nights. Her husband worked there too, but he worked days. She commented that they were like ships passing in the night, but that this situation suited her perfectly as she didn't want to spend time with her husband.

I wonder how people end up in such sad, unsociable relationships, especially in this day and age when it is usual to test the waters by living together first. I am lucky enough to have a husband who I actively enjoy spending time with -- and that seems to me how things, ideally, should be. After all, your spouse is meant to be your partner for life and someone who you don't talk to and don't want to spend time with isn't much of a partner. I know that my life would be much less rich in the absence of the relationship that I have with my husband.