Mowing Madness

Summer is here, well temporarily, this being the UK of course. The weekend was filled with the sounds of squealing children as they dipped in and out of paddling pools, the smell of barbecues and the sound of lawnmowers. We were no exception. We called the barbecue into service for the first time this year and Mr T declared, quite rightly that the lawn needed mowing.

It is getting mown more regularly at the moment, this is partly due to the fact that Mr T has recently purchased a shiny red lawn mower, petrol is now on the premises and when it starts you'd think there was a motorbike roaring around in the garden due to the excitement it causes in the children.

It was all going so well, the top of the garden was neat, Mr T had even cleared the rather huge weeds that had taken over underneath the children's picnic table. Then it came to the last bit and try as he might Mr T just couldn't get the mower to start. Petrol was put in but still nothing happened.

'Is your lawn mower broken?' was the constant refrain from Matthew much to the mounting displeasure of Mr T. Apart came the lawn mower and various prodding and muttering, a few consultations to the instruction booklet and soon the lawn mower was being pieced together. We all held out breath and were relieved when Mr T's hard work was rewarded with a throaty roar and a huge puff of smoke as the lawn mower decided to work again.

Over dinner Mr T said how pleased he was to have found the root of the problem;
'I could see there was something blocking it starting,' he said ' and when I pulled the handle up it moved, and then I remembered that you're meant to pull the handle up when you start it.' Still at least he had fun.

To balance the post however I should comment on Mr T's achievement of the weekend. He has produced a great cake for our son's third birthday, Matthew is a fan of Roary the racing car and one thing we have liked to do is bake the cakes for the children ( I am pencilled in to produce a fairy castle for Heather in August!) We bought a book telling us how to produce the various cakes and following the racing car model and adapting it for Roary's shape Mr T had made a cake that is the same colour and shape as him and I know Matthew will be delighted.

A Tale of Two Birthdays

Isn't it amazing that sometimes the smallest things, perhaps things that we take for granted can bring us the most happiness. It was my birthday on Sunday and I was delighted to be able to spend the day with my family. We didn't do anything other than enjoy each other's company. We all went and watched Matthew participate in Little Kickers, I marvelled at how much he has improved since starting in September.

Then we went for a picnic at a local park, the children had great fun playing on the bits and bobs and running about enjoying the facilities. There were the sounds of people having fun, the day was warm and bright and as I watched Lucy endeavouring to crawl up a grassy bank, grass staining her new shoes I realised that this was what life was all about. My best birthday present this year (other than the new iphone of course) was spending time with the family.

We topped the picnic off with a visit to the garden centre where we all chose new plants for the border in the front of the house. This perhaps was made all the more pertinent when Mr T had to work through his birthday. The children spent time on Monday making him a cake;
I served breakfast in bed and then the cards and presents followed. As he left for work we all felt a little deflated and as we sang Happy Birthday to him as loudly as possible in the vain hope that our out of tune singing was penetrating the office windows. Sometimes we take it all for granted and perhaps the two contrasting birthdays have helped to sharpen the mind.