May
16
This week Roxi joined us! She is a nine week old beagle, and in the words of the vet: “You got a BEAGLE?!?! Don’t worry, she will settle down, when she is about 6!” She is ultra-cute though and a real little live-wire. She is doing the typical puppy things, like chewing on everything from shoes to furniture and everything in between. We had to leave Rex and Milo back in SA when we moved to the UK, but Jenna has been desperately in need of a pet to care for and after an agreement with the landlords we were allowed to get a dog.
Roxi is now the ruler. Everyone knows it!! But in all seriousness though, she is as cute as a button and I think that as she grows into a beautiful dog she will certainly bring Jenna a lot of joy.
Jenna attended a taster day at a prospective new school this week. She went for the whole day and absolutely loved it. The entire school, from reception to year-6 only has 135 children. It is situated in the most beautiful old building with new modern classrooms built at back of the property. When she came home and I asked her what her favourite part of the day was, she said, “The two science experiments and the puddings at lunchtime”. She has 1 more taster day to attend this week, at another school and then a decision can be made about when and where she will move to.
Mitchell and his friend Tom have been spending a lot of time together over the past few weeks. They are busy with the plans for a down-hill racer they want to build in our garage. When Mitch came to me this week and said he would need the use of the garage for a few weekends, I thought his new-found band would be moving in to rehearse in the garage, but fortunately it appears that he and Tom need it as an automotive assembly plant. Tom will be one of Mitchell’s room-mates on their trip to France next week and I am just delighted that Mitchell has found such an awesome friend.
Jenna went to her second horse-riding lesson this week, and I remind you that it is the job of the parent to hold the lead-rein and walk (and trot, and sprint) next to the horse. Well last week we had Briar, a very spritely little pony (someone said it looked more like a donkey), but this week we had Scooby. Scooby was about double the size of Briar and it dawned on me that I was going to have to run around next to this giant horse. It is a lot of fun though and the parents end up laughing more at ourselves than anything, especially when you happen to be right behind a horse that suddenly decides to “let go” on the track of the arena, and you don’t see it, and step in it!
Mitchell took a really nasty fall this afternoon, he ran to get something out of the car and decided to jump the low front wall of the property like it was a hurdle in an athletics meeting, but he jumped too late and ended up smashing both his shins into the brick wall and then falling over the wall onto the pavement on the other side. I can’t even try to imagine the pain he felt. His shins are pretty bashed up.
Next week this time, Mitchell will be packed and ready to head off to France for a week. He is so excited about the trip and the list of places he will be visiting reads like the brochure from the holiday of a lifetime.
The garden continues to become a whole new colour-palette each week. New flowers bloom and older ones die off again, some of them you wish could last a little longer, but its almost as if they were only meant to bloom long enough as a message that better flowers are yet to come.
(Roxi is of course adding her bit the destruction of the garden). The weather is letting us down a little at the moment, and although the days are so nice and long now, it is seldom warm enough to go and sit outside and enjoy the setting sun.
