Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 37 Comments

Somethings are written in Stone

It’s been hot here, well hot for Yorkshire. Touching 30C for day after day. On top of that, it’s been seriously dry this year. Our area was the first in the country to get a hosepipe ban. Hardly a drop of rain for weeks, the reservoirs are no more than a third full. We do need RAIN.

Some things are just written in Stone…..

Hawklad loves F1 motor racing, so this year he got his first taste of seeing it for real.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone. 165,000 fans about to get VERY WET.

Even the Drivers getting very wet….

One support race Red Flagged and stopped as the track was too dangerous.

Talk about four seasons in one day. Blazing sunshine, fork lightning, sudden wind storms, torrential rain.

But thankfully there was just enough blazing sunshine and three of the biggest sponges ever…

Hawklad got to see his first live F1 race.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 19 Comments

Dress Up

That was a bit of a downpour….

Several decades ago, it was similarly wet when the University Rugby Team I was playing for travelled to Oxford for a cup game. What a mud bath. Damp must have got into my system as our huge shed of a Prop and the normally mild mannered ME decided to have a fight with the Opposition Front Row. The end result 5 SENT OFF including ME.

Our team operated a FORFEIT system for disciplinary breaches. The Coach had acquired a huge pack of adult party cards listing various odd punishments. My punishment was to ‘Taste Perfume’. Talk about Eye Watering. Trust me with some of these forfeits, I got off lightly.

On this occasion, my fellow miscreant was forced with his Forfeit Card to dress up for a day. He walked about the campus and city centre dressed as a GIANT PARROT. Biggest Bird you have ever seen. Very impressive and yet a nightmare for him. The costume cost him a fortune to buy, it was heavy, uncomfortable and almost impossible to do anything in. At one stage he even got stuck in some revolving doors and caused a bit of a scene in the local supermarket. He had a truly miserable day.

But here’s the thing. He misheard the challenge. He was supposed to dress up for the day as a PIRATE. No one had the heart to tell him. I guess it was his way of Expressing Himself.

The EXPRESS YOURSELF Great Bloggers Bake-off is THIS WEEKEND….

If you fancy having a culinary go either wonderfully well or worryingly woefully, you can send photos of your creations or monstrosities to

crushedcaramel@gmail.com

Check out Mel’s wonderful site for more information and the latest baking creations. 

Express Yourself In Baking Form

YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 28 Comments

Hay

The farmer has been busy…..

But one question. Why is this one all alone…..

No one likes to be the odd one out. Or is it in the ‘roll down the hill competition’ one clever hay bale has picked the better racing line. I certainly would need a mighty fine racing line to win any race. The pinnacle of my athletics career was at school. For some reason in the inter schools tournament I had been picked for three events.

Cross Country – that was purely on the basis that in the school trials most of the other boys absconded just after the start and headed for the sea front amusements. I didn’t abscond but I did manage to get lost. However that feat still got me a place on the team as unbelievably getting lost still got me third place. Yes it was a rough school…..

Shot Put – I was the sole representative from the school as I was the only boy apparently trusted to not use the heavy ball as a weapon…..

And then there was the 100 yard sprint (not metres as the caretaker didn’t have a metric measuring tape). Can’t remember what possessed the teacher to pick me as I have the acceleration of a sleeping snail who has been superglued to the floor. We practiced starts and I remember the teacher screaming at us to remember to ‘GO on the B of the Bang from the starter gun’. I never found out how the school got hold of a gun – I assume it was confiscated from a pupil…… The three boy sprint team became a finely drilled starting unit. Unfortunately on the day of the school tournament, the sprint was started with a whistle and us three boys just stood there like lemons as the competitors from other schools raced across the finishing line.

At least I was not stood alone ….

AND I’m not alone as a single parent. Currently there is something like 2.8 million other single parents in the UK. I’m also not alone in being a widow. 6.4% of the UK population are widowed.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 34 Comments

Bank Holiday

A British bank holiday and its chucked it down. This is not today. This is today….

Not really perfect outdoor table tennis conditions.

We played footy in the garden, in the rain. Great fun. Then I noticed something. Maybe it’s the effects getting older. Hawklad took a shot heading towards the top corner of our goal. A cat like goalkeeper launched himself to tip the ball over the bar. I landed. And wow did I land …. Gravity was definitely working well. It didn’t hurt but here’s the thing. Years ago as a goalkeeper I never dented the ground on any of my dives. Today I did. A huge indent in the lawn. Think ‘The Great Rift Valley’. Maybe I should stick to table tennis.😂😂😂😂