... where was I...? Oh yes.
We opted
not to go up the Gloucester Rd Tuesday - it pissed down all day, horrible weather. Instead I spent the afternoon sitting on the floor with Kai while we both drew maps of our dreamscapes. (Has anyone else ever done this? It's really only feasible if you re-visit the same 'places' in your dreams more than once: both Kai and I seem to go back to the same places over and over again - though of course my 'scape is a lot bigger and broader since I've had an
awful lot more years to dream!) It was a lot of fun - been years since I tried it. I had to draw mine as an island to try to fit in all the different sorts of beach/coastline; I seem to spend a lot of dreamtime at the seaside. I also have a lot of extremely steep hills, especially in the cities... Kai's had mazes of streets, rivers and streams, several patches of boggy ground, a tall clock-tower and a ridge/hill with lots of trees - and he gave me a guided tour through it, warning me of all the dangers and areas to avoid!
What intrigued us, though, was the fact that we instinctively drew our maps with south at the
top. Anyone with any knowledge of
feng shui will know that that's the way
feng shui maps are drawn (Ken thinks all Chinese maps are made this way) - even though everyone knows that this is upside down. Turning our maps the other way up, so that south was at the bottom, and trying to continue felt so wrong we really couldn't do it.
I'm wondering why. Could it perhaps be that we instinctively turn towards the sun as the main source of natural heat and light, and therefore it's natural to draw it as looking towards us? (Heh, does that make sense?) Has anyone else found this happening, or is it just us? I'd be intrigued to know!
I decided it was time to have something Kai had never seen on TV while we drew - so we ended up watching
Forbidden Planet. Kai was fascinated, by Robby the Robot initially, but then he really got into the film as a whole. He was interested in the sfx, ancient as they are: I explained the film was made in 1956, before Ken and I were born - Kai's comment? "Ah, the good old days..." Cheeky brat! I pointed out that one day he'd be calling
these his own 'good old days' (he agreed, laughing) And he enjoyed the film, enjoyed the challenge of having to
focus on a film with
meaning as opposed to the shallow shoot-'em-ups that pass for sci-fi these days. I did have to explain the concept of 'monsters from the id' to him, but he grasped the idea very quickly. I love the questions he asks, they're so
searching, they test my own knowledge and ability to explain in a way he can understand, and his comprehension of the progression of history (as regards technology, particularly) is a damn sight better than mine was until recently! He was less sure about the interpersonal relationships and Altaira, but appreciates there are elements of human behaviour he just doesn't have enough experience to understand yet. It'll come, in time...
I made us warmed wholemeal pitta bread stuffed with wafer-thin ham, sliced tomatoes and cucumber for lunch, quite a favourite for the whole family. Dinner was spaghetti bolognaise - and on that note I'll stop noting down the food. You've a good idea now of the winter menus: the only meals I haven't detailed are cottage pie (sautéed mince, onions and mushrooms cooked in a rich wine gravy covered with creamed potato and finished in the oven for half an hour, served with mixed veg) and courgette
provençale (sautéed courgettes and onions cooked in a tomato, garlic and cheese sauce and finished off in the oven for 45 mins or so - one of my favourites but only made if I can get organic courgettes cheap!)
Today was fantastic. We were a few minutes late reaching the Keynsham park (arrived 11.15), and the weather was decidedly chilly, but the rain held off, and the sprogs had a great time, and Ruth and I talked. It was gone 2 p.m. before we headed off to the house, and everyone was ready to get out of the wind. The two boys shot straight upstairs to the Meccano and Lego, while we stayed downstairs and talked. And talked. And talked. I have a sore throat...
Dinner was delicious, ham and cheese filled
crèpes, broccoli/peas/green beans and the tastiest roast potatoes I've ever had, parboiled, thick sliced and roasted in very hot olive oil with garlic and a sprig of rosemary. Fabulous! Going to try it myself for Ken and I: Kai didn't like them. He loved everything else though - never seen him eat so fast! I suppose I'll have to learn to make
crèpes. Heh, if my pancakes set off the smoke alarm, I dread to think what
crèpes will do...
Pudding was apple crumble (oatmeal and brown sugar topping, never tried that before but it was very good) with Cornish ice-cream - wonderful. We didn't get home until 8.30 p.m.: Kai is now sound asleep, bless 'im. The family will be coming over to us after the Eostre holidays, and we're hoping to make a regular thing of it. Will see how we go!
Our shelving unit is finished and being delivered tomorrow at 10 a.m. Fingers crossed the water feature arrives tomorrow as well - then the room is all but finished.
This
link, from Blue Witch's blog, sets out the so-called promises of our three main political parties if they win the (distinctly under-played) upcoming election. Personally I don't trust any of them - they're all liars and hypocrites as far as I'm concerned. But I will
NOT be voting for Poodle Blair, I can say that much! His playing the 'sincere religious' card was just one ploy too many.
In response to the previous post's comments: I agree, Carol, I think 'anorak' as a pejorative term originally came from train-spotters - obsessive train-spotters at that, British
otaku, essentially, sad nerds whose lives revolved around cold, draughty train-station platforms. Now it just means someone who knows far more than is healthy about their chosen (dull, boring) subject and insists on talking about it to the exclusion of everything else... Fair description?
#
Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 12:37 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment