well, cole has badgered and felt the burn, hit the wall and lots of other endurance type speak after the mile stroll around the meadows at work – the weather was lovely and had good companionship as well as raised a fair few quid for the badgers. thanks everyone who chipped in for a good cause.
it has been a fun couple of weeks in the henley household where, as usual, it feels like we haven’t stood still. last weekend we hit linlithgow fair where a very tired and grumpy gethin wasn’t at all impressed by the police car and fire engine (though daddy was – quite glad to report have never been in a police car before).
it was a packed weekend of outdoor activities with sunday seeing us head into edinburgh for the treefest, a weekend-long festival at Inverleith park celebrating trees, wood and sustainable living.
It reminded Cole of the peace festival that his parents used to organise back in Leamington many moons ago. A lovely atmosphere for all ages, although there were a few too many trustafarians for my liking. Gethin was utterly transfixed by the age old Scottish pursuit of axe throwing, much more than by the hippy drumming or wood craft, plus proved an able climber and clamberer at the play park, although he had to contend with plenty of feral children clambering over the swings and slides with scant regard for the toddlers that were using them.
elsewhere we have just enjoyed a lovely weekend with the elmores up visiting. Peta’s folks and brother arrived on friday and the weather just about held for cole to take charge of his first ever bbq. the sausages were a bit black but good tucker and a few beverages was had by all
on saturday we had a lazy day as moomin and gramps headed off to glasgow for a wedding, so the henleys and martin headed into lintlithgow for a spot of coffee and cake, some goodies for an evenings fancy dress (more of that later) and catching the tail end of the linlithgow marches (consisting of a mdf castle in the palace grounds). denise popped over from edinburgh to babysit bairn whilst cole, peta and marting headed off to edinburgh for an evening’s fancy dress to honour friend shelley’s 30th birthday. cole donned a top hat and some finely cultivated whiskers as daniel day lewis in gangs of new york. p hit the mak-up and retro garb as andy warhol’s muse, edie sedgwick and martin wore a toilet seat and book as lou reed (boom boom).
we had a great night and it was lovely to go out together – something we have only done a couple of times since gethin was born. sunday was quite slow and we headed off into livingston for lunch and bowling at deer park. gethin took to his first time bowling admirably, getting a full strike on his second ever go (allbeit with a bowling aid) before being distracted (and completely transfixed) by the outrun 2 arcade game there. we headed back and settled down to watch a film (whilst cole hit the headphones to listen to the spain quarter final).
gethin has been quite introverted and clingy lately but he is coming on in leaps and bounds with ever hilarious comentary and Gethinisms. this evening i asked “son, who is your favourite person in the whole wide world?”. His reply, excitedly: “Me!”
PS if any of you are charitable sorts, Cole shall be partaking of a sponsored mile long walk (that’s almost 4% of a marathon ladies and gentlemen) in aid of the Badger Trust next Wednesday 18th June.
So if you feel the need to give and in awe of this selfless piece of exertion, then do please pledge a donation at www.justgiving.com/colehenley
Well, it has been far too long and after a few nagging emails from friends and family thought had better let you know what we have been up to.
The Henleys 3 have all been faring well but o so increadibly busy these past couple of months. So, a potted history of the Henley’s since early april:
G is doing really well. He is fiercely stubborn and free-willed but delights in the simplest of things like reading, putting a bucket on his head, dancing (or boogy woogying as he calls it), having his hair scuplted by the vacuum cleaner, mowing hte lawn (more of that later) and playing with his toy cars. He is quite the chatter box and enjoys pointing out all that he sees and knows, especially if it has wheels and an engine. There have been a few gems along the way too. G thought double yelllow lines were ‘baby roads’ and upon seeing a house being built thought it was a ‘broken house’.
Lately, he has developed an unhealthy yearning for chocolate and cake which is a bit worrysome. He even uttered the word “cake” aloud in his sleep one night.
The poor fella has been unwell quite a lot lately. He has had a perpetual cold since spring and recently ear infections in both ears which a double dose of antibiotics doesn’t seem to have shifted. all leading to a sporadically grumpy child.
G likes his routine which is a good job as our weeks are pretty structured now. P has been working Sundays the last few months to bring some extra cash in (much needed since jumping on the property ladder) so Sundays are Daddy day, always starting with the weekly shop at Asda. It’s strangely surreal going shopping at 9am on a Sunday morning but nice and quiet – the only down side being the inability to buy booze (actually, probably a good thing).
Most Sundays are spent at home although the last month cole and G have tried to go into Edinburgh to lap up the summery vibes before it gets too busy with the fringe. Cole took G to a bairn disco the other week, as part of the imaginate festival. Sadly, boy did not enjoy the fab hour or so of dance music for the babies and toddlers, complete with dancers and chill-out room. Oh well, dad had fun.
Saturday’s are lazy days, although with the (relatively) good weather we and the longer days we have been spending a lot of our time in the garden. P has been a diva with the seeds and compost and we have a healthy crop of courgettes, carrots, beetroots, potatos, beans, tomatoes and peppers on the way, plus gooseberries, strawberries and more raspberries than we know what to do with. Half of today was spent harvesting the gooseberry bush and now have 3kg of the blighters. Fool and jam galore this summer me thinks!
The house, and garden are beginning to feel really homely and, having moved in to the house late summer last year, it has been lovely to see the place in prolonged periods of sunshine. The previous owner obviously took good care of the garden and we seem to have been constantly treated to new flora with the passing Seasons.
With such lovely surrounds then it is great that we are going to be having a few visitors over the coming summer months. Can’t believe we have been here for 9 months now – time has flown by and there never seems to be enough time (not money) to do what we want to the place.
Anyway, that should be enough to keep you in the loop for now. Any more and won’t have anything else to write for the next couple of months. Will try to stick some snaps up over the next couple of days and maybe even a video or two.
This here blog is in honour of the esteemed Gethin William Albert Henley Esq, 5162 days old, who was born on 3rd April 2006 at 18:04 weighing a healthy 9lb 11½oz.
Daddy Cole is enjoying a career as a web developer whilst mummy Peta is juggling working part-time with being an all-round top mum