Blown over

It was windy here last Thursday, so I took a trip over to check on the boat. Ty Dewi had been sat happily in the water all through it. The marina staff said that they had had 100 mph gusts but our boat sat there hardly moving whilst all the others bobbed like corks.

Surprisingly little damage to anything, except poor SailAway, a 43 foot boat up in a cradle for the winter. She had been lifted up on the cradle, which had twisted badly and punched a hole through her hull. Luckiy she came down on the grass, not the concrete, and didn't roll down the bank in front of her. She also only grazed the little boat next door, but there's still going to be plenty of repair work for someone.

Back on Ty Dewi, you wouldn't have known anything had happened - not even a trace of chafe on her lines. Rather reassuring, really.

Issieism

Act 1, scene 1.

A dinner table. Max bangs his knife off the table for the nth time, Gesa tells him to stop.

Gesa: "Max, which part of 'No' do you not understand?"
Issie: "I think it's the 'n', Mummy"

Parents dissolve into giggles. Issie is bemused and offended and demands that we stop laughing at her.

Exit stage right for bathtime.

Bicycle breakthrough

Proof that when they're ready to do something, they just do it - Issie has had two little tries on her bike without stabilisers and suddenly she's off - riding round in happy circles on the playground.

The rough and ready pavement is going to take a little more practise but she's got it.

Teaching your kids to ride a bike is a special Daddy moment.....proud father and all that. 

Deep midwinter in the UK

It's mid-January, usually the time of hard frost and hopefull children looking at the sky for signs of snow.

Instead, we've had 2 very light frosts before Christmas and temperatures in double figures most days since then.

The garden doesn't know what to do, so the primroses have flowered and the crocuses are having a go. Very strange.

And Gesa's parents have lived in Montreal for over 40 years - this year was the first time they have had no snow at Christmas. What have we done to this planet? Or is the warmest year on record just one of those little statistical wobbles? Answers on a message in a bottle please.