Google "Large Animal Making a Moo Sound"

Very little of note today.  Admittedly, very little of note any day, but I somehow manage to drag something out of the embers to present to you all. Today is looking bleak, however. 

The highlight has been the most DELICIOUS mid-day nap.  MY grandmother, who died a whisker (5 days) short of 100 took a nap every single day of her life (possibly apocryphal).  She knew  what she was doing, that lady. 

The lowlight has been online toy-finding.  The Girl has decided that she wants a Cinderella Castle (“with the prince and her dresses and fairies and everything”). Usually I’d dismiss such girly requests as the by-product of effective (and morally questionable) advertising, however she asked for one last year too, and it seems the knights and dragons castle she got instead didn’t scratch her Disney Princess itch.  So, when I’m not whispering “how about a bike?” to her while she sleeps, I’ve been torturing self by finding all manner of cheap castle-cack online.  The closest to it I can find is crappy parlour thing, which, according to the blurb:

“is really fit for a princess with everything you need to bring the fairytales to life! This stunning castle playhouse features a living room with a cosy chair, a stylish kitchen with stove, and a master bedroom complete with a royal bed and en suite bathroom with an adjustable shower.”

What they don’t tell you is that it’s about 4 inches high and 2 wide, and made from little more than a plastic bag.  It is less Castle, more Refugee Camp.  It’s cheap and awful.  (Unless you’re buying it in Singapore, in which case it’s twice the price as in England (from the same shop!!), and as such just  plain awful. )

Other than that, today is heavy with reminders of our Olde English Life.  It’s raining heavily and the children are glued to Scooby Doo. A deviation from my usual NO TELEVISION MIDWEEK rule, but I’m trying to be more flexible. (And there’s the small matter of wanting some quiet. Peace to all men, etc.)  

I’ll leave you with something which is either amusing or depressing (possibly depending on whether or not you’ve had a two hour nap at lunchtime).  Researching an accompanying photo for a piece about day-breaks from London I’m doing, I put “children in countryside” into a photo bank.  Most of the photos were of this variety. 

Ah. Nothing says Family Day Out like the kids surfing the net in the middle of a field.