They shut the road through the woods...

'They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods...' 

~ From 'The Way through the Woods' by Rudyard Kipling

We went on several lovely walks when I stayed with my parents. The nice thing about dogs is that they have to be walked every day, so you have a good excuse to go out whatever the weather! My favourite walk from our week in Devon started out in the wood I played in as a girl. Since I left home they have opened a path through the woods to nearby Tamerton Foliot and I thought it would be nice to take the Podlings along it. Unfortunately, a fallen tree blocked the path not very far into the woods and we had to change our route.

We followed the path that runs alongside the woods and were lucky enough to see a lady in her garden who had some baby newts in her pond. She invited the Podlings in to have a look at them, which they found quite quite exciting.

We followed the path round to what, in my day, we called The Big Park. It used to be a wonderful playground with lots of swings, roundabouts, see saws, huge slides, climbing frames and the most wonderful fort. It is now called The Millennium Park. Rather a grand name that promises something quite exciting. On the contrary, they obviously decided that the best way to commemorate the arrival of a new century was to rip out all the play equipment, grass the whole area over and rechristen it. I'll grant you it was peaceful, but that was because despite it being a sunny afternoon in the summer holidays there were no children! When I was a child, this park was teeming with life in the summer holidays. Oh, it used to be such a fun park for children. How sad that life moves on!

Despite me getting rather nostalgic and being painfully aware that quite a few years had passed since my own childhood here, it was wonderful to be able to take my children to the places I played in as a girl. A little surreal perhaps, but it is nice to have a connection to a place and to be able to say 'this is where I am from'.

Tom and Emma wash the mud from their wellies in the stream

Our path was blocked by this fallen tree, though even if it weren't the ground was so boggy I doubt we could have continued.

A number of houses back on to the woods and it seems to have long been the practice of many residents to empty their garden waste into the woods. These roses and fuschias were growing wild together, deeply entwined and beautiful in their unexpectedness. Judging from the size of the plants, they probably grew from waste cuttings thrown here many, many years ago.

The trees in the background of this picture made me feel so old. When I was a girl they were mere babes of trees and this was more or less an open field. Now they are big, big trees and the 'field' is now part of the wood. Surely that much time can't have passed. Wasn't it only yesterday that I was playing games of hide and seek in the long grass here?

A game of chase with the Grandad Monster 

Caught!

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We're home!

The view out to sea from the cliffs at Tintagel

We're back home again after a lovely fortnight away. The Podlings and I spent a lovely week at my parent's house in Devon, sadly without Mark as he had to work. We had lots of lovely walks with my dad, ate lots of my mum's lovely home cooking, enjoyed a visit to Plymouth Marine Aquarium and, in the case of my mum and me, talked a lot!

After the week in Devon, Mark came down to collect us and we enjoyed a wonderful week in Cornwall with Mark's parents, who very kindly took us on holiday this year. We all stayed in a mobile home in Widemouth Bay and had the most splendid time swimming, going to the beach and exploring the area. Our proximity to Plymouth meant that my parents came across to meet us on two of the days and Mark's aunt and uncle, who also live in Devon, also came down to see us.

It has been a wonderful holiday and it probably won't surprise you to learn that the blog will shortly be inundated with the many pictures I have taken. However, blogging may well be sporadic as I have a great deal of laundry to get done and three Podlings who are suddenly finding themselves with far fewer people to play with than they have enjoyed over the last fortnight. We are slowly adjusting back to 'real life', but I am likely to be blogging our holiday photos well into September!
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Tower Bridge, London 2012

While we were in London I particularly wanted to see Tower Bridge whilst the Olympic rings were still on display. I've seen Tower Bridge before and I am sure I will see it again, but the rings won't always be there and I really wanted to see them and get a photo (or three). After all, they spent over £300, 000 on them, so it would be rude not to take a photo!

After the wrestling finished we headed to Tower Hill on the underground and walked past the imposing Tower of London to get to the bridge. We took a leisurely walk over the beautiful Victorian bridge and then walked up the river a little on the other side in order to get the photos I wanted. I am so glad we got to see them!

The rings are 25 metres wide, 11.5 metres tall and weigh three tonnes. They look pretty too!

 Obligatory tourist shot number 1: Mark in front of Tower Bridge

Obligatory tourist shot number 2: Me in front of Tower Bridge 

The Tower of London from across the Thames 

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Olympic Graeco-Roman Wrestling, London 2012

On Sunday, Mark and I had a rare treat, a day on our own without the Podlings. We very rarely get out even for an evening on our own these days, so to have an entire day of just the two of us was very special indeed. We took the Podlings round to Mark's parents and put them to bed there on Saturday night and then came back home as we had to leave early the following morning.

On Sunday, we got up early, drove down to London, parked on the outskirts and caught the Docklands Light Railway to the ExCeL Centre where we were going to watch the Olympic Graeco-Roman wrestling. I was really expecting to be bored out of my mind and was just seeing it as a pleasant opportunity to spend some quality time with my husband. Imagine my surprise when I found I quite enjoyed it!

Graeco-Roman wrestling is not very big in this country, where apparently freestyle wrestling is preferred. The commentator quickly caught on to the fact that not many people in the crowd had any idea what was going on and did a brilliant job of explaining the rules as they went along. I am deeply indebted to that nameless commentator as without him I don't think I would have enjoyed it anywhere near as much. He did a wonderful job of explaining what was going on without being patronising and was able to psych up the crowd to cheer the matches, even though there were no homegrown wrestlers to cheer for. So, a big 'thank you' to the anonymous American wrestling commentator.

Mark and I really enjoyed our time at the wrestling and both came away knowing all sorts of useful things about a sport that we will be unlikely ever to see again! We were rather disappointed that all the finals were in the evening session as I think we would both have liked to have seen them. Who knew that a professed 'girly girl' could actually enjoy watching wrestling!

Olympic Graeco-Roman Wrestling at the ExCeL Centre, London 2012

Would you look at me enjoying the wrestling! Who'd've thunk it! 

Mark has a lightbulb moment at the ExCeL Centre! 

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Tom and the Bugatti

Tom loves cars and knows all the badges and makes. He loves to look at Top Gear and other car magazines and Mark has to stop in Tesco on his way home from work every Friday to pick up the free Auto Exchange paper for him. One of Tom's greatest pleasures is being driven around on what he calls 'a toy ride'. This involves him sitting in the back of the car with his favourite stuffed toys around him, writing the names of the car garages they pass on a sheet of paper as Mark drives around. Mark is wonderful and usually looks up the location of several garages when they go out so Tom can have a nice long list to show for his toy ride.

One of the garages that Tom has really wanted to see, but has been missing from his list is the Bugatti. This is a rather exclusive car and the only Bugatti garage in the country is in Mayfair in London (as far as we know). Taking Tom to see it while we were in London on Wednesday was a must, so Mark looked up the address and after we finished at the Natural History Museum we hopped on the tube and headed to Mayfair.

It turned out to be a two for the price of one deal for Tom as right next door to the Bugatti was a Rolls Royce garage, also missing from his list. I couldn't believe the Rolls in the window cost £100, 000 more than our house! We won't be getting one of those any time soon then!

Tom was thrilled to see all these lovely cars and it was a rather happy little boy that posed in front of the Bugatti in the window. There are now only about two garages left on his 'must see' list, so the quest continues.
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The Natural History Museum

The Olympic volleyball finished at 12.30pm, which left us a whole afternoon to spend in London before we had to head back. Lily has wanted to see a dinosaur skeleton for a while now, so I wanted to take her and Tom to the Natural History Museum. I love this museum and spent many a happy hour here when I lived in Guildford and could get up to London a lot more easily than I can now! I miss London's museums and art galleries terribly, but nothing would induce to me to live there! London is a lovely place to visit, but it always feel rather like I am going to another country. The rest of England is nothing like London!

The Natural History Museum is itself a work of art. If the building were completely empty it would be worth a visit. The interior pillars are covered in carved birds, plants and animals and there isn't a portion of the building that doesn't seem to be worth a second glance. It is a spectacular piece of architecture and I always worry that people don't really notice it because they are so busy looking at the exhibits. I probably drove Mark and the Podlings nuts pointing out all the carvings and paintings on the walls and ceilings, but I get so excited when I am there!

We only really had time to see the ocean and mammals exhibits and the dinosaurs, partly because of time and partly because the Podlings were tired. Lily, in particular, was in her element here running from one thing to the next in great excitement. In some ways, the museum is better than the zoo as you can get a really good look at an animal if it is stuffed and can't hide behind a tree! The museum only uses historical specimens and no longer acquires new ones, so it is nice to be able to see things up close that you wouldn't otherwise see. I particularly enjoyed seeing the angler fish specimens they had as there isn't much chance of me seeing one of those in its natural habitat. Seriously ugly fish, but absolutely fascinating.

Tom had me amused in the dinosaur exhibit as we simply couldn't convince him that the skeletons were real. We tried to explain how they came about, about how the dinosaur died, how fossilisation happens, how archaeologists dig up the skeletons and piece them back together like a jigsaw. No, he wouldn't have it to be! He is utterly convinced we were making the whole thing up and that dinosaurs are not real. I'm in the 'intelligent design' camp when it comes to evolution, so he hasn't got it from me! I really don't know how we could convince him that dinosaurs were real as he is clearly under the impression that we were having him on!

We did have one rather scary moment after we left the museum when we realised that Tom had left his favourite toy (Be Mine the ladybird) in the dinosaur exhibit, but thankfully he was where we left him when we rushed back inside. It would have ruined the whole trip for Tom if he got lost! Other than that, we had a wonderful time at the museum and I am so glad we had the time to take Tom and Lily here.

The entrance to the museum

One of the many beautiful windows. Note the stone Pterodactyl checking out the pigeon...hilarious! 

The pillars inside the museum are adorned with stone birds, animals, plants and insects. There is something to see everywhere you look. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in and it was such a treat to be able to go back there with my children.

Tom and Lily in the museum cafe 

Lily in front of a Mammut skeleton. In the background is a portion of the life size model of a blue whale. 

Tom in the mammal exhibit

Check out those teeth on this model T. Rex! I learned that if a T.Rex ever fell over, the fall would probably have killed him. You'd have to hope for a clumsy one if you were potential prey!

A lovely photo of Tom at the museum

The impressive entrance to the museum

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Olympic Volleyball, London 2012

Mark managed to get us some tickets for the Olympic volleyball in London, so Wednesday morning saw four of us sat in Earls Court watching some incredibly tall ladies playing volleyball. The original online ticket booking system allowed no more than four tickets per booking and despite Mark's best efforts to get through to the ticket line, we were unable to get a fifth ticket. Thanks to the powers that be deciding that a family could only possibly have two children, we had to leave little Emma with her grandparents for the day while the rest of us went to London. Emma, it has to be noted, had the most fabulous time with her Nanna and Grandad and although we missed her I know that she had a better time with them than she would have had at the volleyball, so ultimately no harm done. It felt so strange being separated from her though as we always do everything together.

I know absolutely nothing about volleyball, so I have to admit that much of what went on went over my head. Not much went over the head of the incredibly tall Russian ladies we saw playing the rather shorter Algerian ones. I have never seen anyone that tall...one of the Russians was 6'8". It was a bit of a whipping, it has to be said. I was suitably distracted by the sheer height of the players and the energetic cheerleaders not to be too concerned by my total ignorance of what was going on! Mark had the good sense to learn about the sport before we left, so I think he got more out of it!

It was fantastic to be able to be there though. To be able to say that we were at the London 2012 Olympics is a wonderful thing. Mark and I will be heading to London one last time on Sunday without the Podlings to watch some Graeco/Roman wrestling (Mark's choice, not mine!)  I think I might try and learn something about the sport before we go this time!

The Olympic rings 

Lily wore her Jubilee skirt one last time. 

Russia vs Algeria, Earls Court, London 2012 

Tom with his DS...again! We brought the earphones this time, which helped him to switch off from The Loudest Woman In The World who was sat behind us. I didn't think any human being could cheer that loudly...how wrong I was! At least she was enjoying herself, which is what it is all about after all.

Lily loved watching the cheerleaders

A kind American lady offered to take a photo of us, but unfortunately Lily had one of her funny five minutes and refused to be in the picture. Luckily the lady was cunning and managed to capture the hiding Lily in the photo anyway! 

Later in the day we found this statue of Wenlock, one of the Olympic mascots, across the road from the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair. Photo opportunity, naturally!