And more sunshine.

The weekend was skin crisping hot.  Rye initially refused clothes but came around more to my way of thinking as the day progressed and more and more of the garden was in full glare of the sun.

I am forever amazed how a wooden box filled with sand can provide endless enjoyment.  Rye plays in the sand pit most days... and often when C has gone down her nap, he will lay down in the pit and just play quietly with his cars. 

This garden is not my dream garden.  I am no gardener either, so no cottage gardeny visions for me.  I like wilderness and overgrowth, trees, shrubs and flowers.  I'd love a garden with a good balance between sunny and shade, that doesn't have the constant hum of the M20.. and has a bit of soul.  I did have plans for this garden but lack of funds the first year meant those plans were never realised and this year, when I do have a bit more cash - I'm conscious I may well move sometimes next year because I'm beginning to yearn for a bit more space, and a place where friends can visit without us all tripping over each other, and I never feel 100% at home in new builds.. I like a property with a bit of history.

Still, in the meantime the garden is providing a space for the children to enjoy... and at least I have wonderful spaces like the Rec Grounds, where we can go when my little subhurban garden starts to feels a little claustophobic:

with the lovely new wooden play equipment - and look, the swings are back :-)

And a handy tree right next to the swings and slides, providing lovely cooling shade:

This visit, the swings were favoured play thing and Rye is beginning to grasp how to swing himself - although of course it is much easier to yell at mama to push :-)

The rest of the week, so far, has been spent at home.  The heat hasn't encouraged me to move much further than the garden.   We went out for a walk today and by the time we got back the children were grumpy and exhausted and I was sweaty and grumpy too.  On the one hand it's lovely to have such sunny and bright days... and the other hand I am wishing for cooler weather because its so draining. 

Rye and I have been going to bed for a nap when C does, in the afternoon, if we don't, both of us can barely stay awake past 5:30 when C is picked up.   Which is fine, there's nothing stopping us from having a nap when C does - I just find it frustrating as I don't really like sleeping during the day and besides, I want to finish that flipping dress - this week I've managed, so far, a row and half!  I fully expected to have it finished by Sunday.. and there's such a piddling amount left to do too.  A few hours that's all I need, but when I have picked it up I've found my eyes growing heavier and heavier and loosing track of stitches.   Like I say though, there's not much left to do, so I will have it finished by the end of the weekend - somewhat fortitiously, Rye's father has decided he will not come to Rye's b'day party tomorrow and instead, will come down on Friday to pick up Rye and have him until Saturday evening, which should give me the time I need to get on and finish the dress.  Rather perversely, I 've started enjoying doing it and I am really looking forward to seeing it finished, the stripes work lovely and it is going to be a very pretty dress.

Anyhoos, time for bed.  Need to be up very early in the morning to finish off bits for the party tomorrow and decorate the brownies :-)

Toodlepip.

Tooooooooooooooooooooo hot.

Past few days have been spent indoors mostly trying to stay cool. This heat is killing me and I also feel horribly guilty that we aren't out doing stuff when the weather is "lovely".. 'cept to me, it's not lovely, it's absolutely horrendous.

Me and Rye have spent a lot of time in my room because it feels the coolest room in the house - probably because I have the windows open upstairs pretty much constantly at the mo, where as downstairs everything has to be locked up at night.

I really want to take Rye to the beach but the heat is really putting me off, especially with Rye being scared of the sea. He loves to play in water but the waves scare him and he become quite hysterical if I try to coax him down there. Even in the sling he becomes distressed and clings to me saying "No mummy, no" I did manage to elict a brief smile and tentative giggle when I dipped his feet in the water and the immediately lifted him back out and ran out of the sea saying "ohh, run, run". Trouble is, the heat has gone through the roof this week; yesterday I made sandwiches for lunch and cut up some fruit - all of what ten minutes, I was drenched.

The heat also means Rye hadn't been sleeping. Monday night he didn't sleep at all, he eventually dropped off around 6am Tuesday morning for a few hours. I expected him to sleep most of the day - but no, he was his normal active self. So Tuesday night I accepted an invite to my local pub because it has a large garden and a climbing frame/slide. Rye had a lovely time running around and as the sun went down it was wonderfully cool. And yep - Rye slept well that night.

I feel a bit sorry for him, he must be fed up of being cooped up indoors but even he's not going out into the garden - every now and again he pops out, maybe for ten minutes then comes back indoors. There's even a breezy breeze down here which is helping slightly.. but still, when I walked out the back door earlier it was like been hit by a wall of heat.

We are going to Essex at the weekend to visit a friend; who blissfully, has a pool so I'm hoping Rye will enjoy the pool; although I think I'll take the little paddling pool I have too, V's pool is an above ground one with no shallow end so it's too deep for Rye to play in without support and I think he's probably too big for the swim seat I picked up last year for him. I do hope it cools down a bit soon.

I'm also not going to HESFES, I;m really disappointed but I just can't afford it. When I booked my place I had thought I'd be childminding and have had time to put a bit of money away - but that's not happened and I'm barely meeting all the bills as it is - to spend money on, what is essentially a luxury would be foolish. Paddock Wood isn't too far so maybe I'll pop over for a day during the week so it doesn't feel like I've completely wasted £60 odd quid buying a ticket. Mind, if this heat continues, I suppose my finances dictating like this to me, is a blessing in disguise - if it's this hot next weekend when HESFES starts, I would be miserable, sweaty and very uncomfortable indeed, and very self consicous.

Blah.