Here's to 2008

Happy New Year to all my readers - well all four of you! Hopefully 2008 will bring some bigger and better things for the Kershaw-Moore clan but in the meantime let's remind ourselves of the fab festive season that's just gone ......

Announcing .....

The Kershaw-Moore's new sofa! (bear ensconsed - sp?) Old sofa taking up lots of space in front room. And there's a chair too!

This ship is sailing

professionally that is. Yes the time has come to make public what I think most of you already know......

I am leaving Merrett & Co - hurray!!!!

I have a new job with ...... Mendip District Council who are happy to let me work part-time and hopefully won't see me as some kind of administrative burden who should be bled for every penny that can be made out of me.

Dont get me wrong I am very grateful to Tracey for giving me the opportunity to qualify and to become a good local authority lawyer but to carry on working in that climate, feeling the way I did - not good.

I have a 12 week notice period so nothing will be happening that quickly - but here's to 2008 :-)

Its finally here

Yes after much debating, heartache and the rest, we have a full sized second bedroom. The builders have been in and look what they left us with
But then they came back and plastered it and gave us some new doors. This is the result ---->

(and Dan showing off his "partywear" for his first children's party yesterday!)

Anyone like to come and redecorate for us? ;-)
And of course we need a new carpet!!
And these are the new bedroom doors. There are new doors downstairs too but I don't seem to have photographed those yet!

Updating our news

You may have been wondering why Dan's Doins has been silent for so long. And that's even taking into consideration my terrible lack of interesting news to tell you - how do these bloggers do it?

Anyway, the reason for the latest silence is about to become very apparent. On 01 September 2007 the baby that never quite was decided it definitely didn't want to be and I ended up at my local maternity hospital at midnight that night with a reported complete miscarriage. Unfortunately Rik was away and uncontactable which was not great for either of us but thank God Sonia was staying with me. Sonia, I know I've said it before but really I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there. Thank you sooooo much.

So that was all great fun- and not much to recommend it to friends. Just when I was getting used to that I end up back at said hospital as it is discovered that the miscarriage was not complete and there is something still in there. That was two weeks ago. We have given it this time to see if it wanted to come out on its own. It has stubbornly refused to move. So this is where we are. I have been given tablets to try and make it move but if they don't work (and my medics seems to think probably not) I shall be back at hospital to have it surgically removed on Friday afternoon. What fun. At least then we can GET ON WITH OUR LIVES!!!!!!

Hopefully we'll be able to post better news about Baby no.2 before the end of the year but in the meantime here's a lovely shot of my two lads enjoying September sunshine

Dan's Doins Vol 11

Summer fun in the sun!!
Yey-hey finally some lovely sun to play in the garden....... like this. Here is me splashing in my
paddling pool under the gazebo (so as not to get too hot!)


or maybe just snooze ..... mummy says I used to do this all the time last year

Mummy seems to be feeling very tired and a bit icky a lot. Daddy says this is because I won't be getting everything my own way for much longer. I don't understand ......I don't get things my own way now!!!

bye bye
dan xx

Alex's ........?

[find me an appropriate word beginning with "A" I'll use it]

I've been thinking over the past few days about something that happened in Winchester Cathedral last month. Dan and I were wondering round (him climbing on everything he could) and got talking to one of the tour guides - this seems to happen a lot when you have a small child! As we were chatting an elderly American tourist came up with a camcorder and Dan started smiling and waving. We exchanged a few pleasantries and the tourist decided to take a picture of Dan. Dan stood to attention and smiled.

And then the tour guide stopped this and said that photographing and videoing children wasn't allowed. At the time I said nothing; feeling slightly nonplussed by this woman's comment and wondering if this was some kind of policy the Cathedral had. But the more I think about the more I think what right had she to decide that for me? Okay the guy didn't exactly ask if it was okay to take Dan's picture but it was all perfectly innocent and fairly obvious that I was relaxed about the whole thing. It's not illegal to take pictures of children - though I know in this paranoid, nanny world we live in it's getting banned more and more often. But that's not the point.

I got the impression that the tour guide was saying it was illegal rather than it was against Cathedral policy: which it just isn't and surely it's up to me whether I allow people to photograph my son??? Should I have said something? Rik said he would have (unfortunately he was in another part of the building at the time) and the more I think about it the more I think how ridiculous she sounded!

ah well, thank god for Mica :-) [big girls "we" are beautiful ...... apparently]

Dan's Doins Vol 10

Hello, yes it's us again. Well I did mention in my last post that you wouldn't be hearing from us for a while. I'm afraid May was a very dull month and the beginning of June was not much to write home about (particularly as we forgot to take our camera to St Ives! though the weekend itself was fab - many thanks Sonj & Tim) but then we went on holiday!! Yes we've just returned from a week on the Isle of Wight and three days in Wiltshire and Hampshire. And they were all delightful - despite the sometimes questionable weather.
So here we have (no particular order) Dan in the cottage at Freshwater, Dan at the Garlic Farm, IoW and Dan n me at Salisbury Cathedral ......
.
You will note on the picture of him at the cottage that he is sitting on the stairs - he is actually in the process of coming down these stairs; a trick he mastered using the split levels and shallow treads of the cottage.
No pictures of Winchester Cathedral unfortunately as heavy rain and several thunderstorms prevented standing around outside much! But I can confirm that the Cathedral is magnificent and Winchester a very nice city - yes we did manage to get to it. Also no pictures of Stonehenge which we did not make: Why? Well when we went past on the 21s June at midday it was still closed so unable to visit that day. We said, ah well we'll be coming back this way on the 30th so we'll do it then .... except it was raining. We're just gonna have to make a special visit!!

Despite the weather we did have a wonderful time and when the rain stopped the weather was fantastic - not particularly warm so no beaches and shorts but enough to enjoy views like these (taken from the Needles headland)

The shadows on the horizon are the seaside towns of Dorset!

And finally ....

I know what you're thinking; you're thinking we've never seen so many posts from the KM Clan in such a short space of time! Well enjoy it cos it probably means there won't be any for a while after this!

However, we had to share this - since we managed to capture it on film ......
All under his own steam!

And finally - finally - we hear on the grapevine that Gran'ma Rozzie has found her way back to the Blogs (though if she was on Aunty Sonia's, it's just a question of clicking on the links)
Anyway, this is for her.... The WTP ride-on has suddenly become transport of choice!

Byeee

The Fireplace

Evidence has been requested, questions have been asked ... so here it is - our new fireplace


Not quite what we were expecting and - if we had known we were getting that, I probably would have gone for something a bit more ornate - but hey. The wooden surround and mantelpiece is lovely though

Dan's Doins Vol 9

Hold the front page! Baby Dan is a baby no more; he's a toddler Yes as of almost one week ago, walking has commenced. And by walking I mean definite getting from one place to another with an objective, repeated under encouragement - as opposed to random lunges and staggers. You have to get him doing it without him noticing as if he thinks about it too much, it gets too hard but he is definitely upwardly mobile (when there's someone to catch him at the other end). unfortunately we have no pictures of this achievement - it all happens rather quickly; Rik says imagine how a chimpanzee walks and you'll get the general idea!!

So instead, here's some pictures of Dan enjoying the sunshine over easter .....so many pots; so little time!

Dan's Doins Vol 8

Daeeh Eehhh booeu [baby translation on]

Hello, Dan here - again. Seems to me it's time for some more of my doins'.
Aunty Helen and Cousin Bella-boos came to see me. Boo is very funny but she keeps chewin all my toys. I had to keep taking them off her!

I have been growing lots of teeth which has been a bit sore but is alright now.

I surprised mummy when I went outside all by myself. By the time she noticed I was on my
way to the garage.
It's alright. I'll stand guard!

I still enjoy walking around holding onto things. Daddy has suggested I try it without holding on but I'm not sure that sounds like fun. I am also trying out milk from moo-cows during the day rather than from a tin. It's quite fun but sometimes it feels a bit too cold on my little teeth - I am very particular about these things.

Nothing more exciting to report at the moment. I am looking forward to spending more time outside and eating lots of gravel and grass! [baby translation off]

ahh-Ber!! Eh-derr. Boooo dah ey-yay

HERE IT IS

We appear to be up and running again so here, for you all, is our new kitchen

Enjoy! (please ignore the washing ..... a new floor will be going in in due course!)

Kershaw-Moores offline

Hiya everyone. Now that I have remembered my Google Account log-in details and not the old Blogger ones and that I'm in work for more than 5 minutes; I can let you know what's happening.

If you've been wondering why it's all been a bit quiet from Bristol vis e-mail / blog etc it's because we appear to have been suffering some serious IT problems which resulted in me not being able to send e-mails for nearly three weeks and, more recently, being unable to obtain any internet connection for nearly a week!! And I now can't receive e-mail either: apparently it's something to do with a network router or something.

Hopefully access will be restored soon and in the meantime I am online at work between Tues & Wed (alex@merrettandco.com)

And yes, if you're wondering the kitchen is in - that took the best part of two weeks too! And yes it looks fab and, once internet is back and running I'll let you have piccies.

until then, our phone is working ..... I think!

Daniel Update

It now appears he doesn't have chicken pox after all!
It's all very confusing

Not so cheerful

Dan's cold seems to have turned itself into chicken pox. :-(

So he's spending quite a bit of time sitting with us sucking his thumb and watching TV (I have been digging out suitable baby-friendly "poorly DVDs". But he still manages to spend a bit of time crawling round the room, shaking his rattles and bashing his bricks

How long do these chicken pox thing last anyway?

Reasons to be cheerful

1. It's not January anymore
2. It's definitely not dark at 5pm anymore
3. It was very nearly "not dark" at 7.15 am this morning
4. It hasn't rained (really) for quite a bit
5. The weekend is looking sunny and fresh
6. Our new kitchen is coming a week on Monday

"Yaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy" (Kermit style)

It even makes the fact that Dan and I have colds bearable! (he didn't have one in this piccie!)

Dan's Doins Vol 7

Greetings all. Dan here. Now that Daddy has shown me how a keyboard works and what a computer is for I thought it was hi-time I sorted out Mummy's appalling posting record. You've not heard from me since before Christmas and no Dan's Doins for ages!!

I will put this right
So I AM ONE .... one what?? - this is apparently a good thing (and Daddy says quite an achievement) Here am I eating cheesy scrambled eggs on my birthday.

Daddy has a new job which he is starting in the middle of March (not sure what that means but apparently it's important). He's going to work for Thales in Wales: no that's not right it's Trellis in Wellis ..... no, no, no, it's IN Wells and the company is called "Thales" but it's pronounced "Tallis" ??? Mummy says he will be paid lots of money - does that mean I can have lots of new things? Toys do get boring after you've played with them twice.

Mummy & Daddy have been spending lots of money on a new fireplace - you wouldn't believe how quickly I have to keep moving in the sitting room to prevent getting cold - and an extremely lot of money on a new kitchen .... which might have to be cancelled if Mummy is offered and accepts the job she interviewed for in Yeovil today.

What else? I am standing upright and pushing things around as fast as I can. It is my favourite game. And apparently Mummy is trying to organise a different sort of game called "Charade". I don't know what it means but she says it's something to do with "a play". I don't see what the problem is, I play all the time and it's no effort.

Just before I go, here is a picture of my birthday cake which - in case you can't tell - was a drum. But I wasn't allowed to hit it .... perhaps just as well since it didn't make the usual nice bang noise that drums do make. (and I don't know where the drumstick has gone!)


Bye bye; love Da-da-da-Dan xx

Christmas Time; Santa trains and wine

For tis the season to be jolly
take a trip, it won't be folly
on a steam train, with Mummy & Dad
this is bound to make me glad

... especially if there's some sherry in it too!

West Somerset Railway
Saturday 9th December 2006 (the one sunny day in December!)

A frosty start

Our back garden
Thursday 02 November 2006
about 7.20am
First frost of the autumn


all gone by midday (mostly!)