just another morning here

Easter guests have gone home, and now we’re just pootling around getting a few jobs done. I’m trying to keep the children in relatively good habits of not getting up too late etc., so that it’s not such a culture shock when term starts again.

Today was the shoe shop stop; trainers x 2, school shoes x 2, and shoes to go to the prom in (and therefore totally unsuitable for much else). Very Expensive. Still, everyone was happy and if I’m lucky they will last into the autumn term too.

Anna has now reached the same shoe size as me; I’ve been waiting for this for ages! Now at least every pair of shoes I buy for her, I can borrow back if I ask nicely!

Visited DVLA to get tax (oh, and a quick geocache), then I delivered a car to my parents in the afternoon, so drove up to Gordano to meet them half way. I like a good drive, especially on my own, so didn’t mind. The kids sat around watching iPlayer and playing games while I was gone.

Once back I made a quick veggie lasagne for more friends who came for dinner. We tried to watch Heston’s Feasts on replay but it wasn’t working; had to resort to watching it on the laptop after they’d gone (amazing, wish I had been a dinner guest!).

Very relieved on behalf of home educators that the proposals for changes to home ed legislation have been dropped tonight – had a drink alongside many of my friends this evening (any excuse!). On the other hand I’m still praying for the best outcome for a good friend’s baby at the moment; seems odd and slightly wrong to be blogging about normal stuff when life hangs in the balance.

The photo is on a wonk to get everyone in – and even then it’s a bit of a rubbish shot as I only had my phone camera. Perhaps the real ones will appear on the website at some point.

So, while the children were busy playing in the ECO Autumn Concert (which I was gutted to miss!), Steve and I spent the evening at Wiscombe House. Actually seeing inside the house was fantastic, I love looking around houses like that, it was amazing.

We were there for a presentation evening following the 2009 season of motorsport at Wiscombe Hill; Steve managed a respectable third place in what was only his first full year of hillclimbing, so he really should be suitably proud of himself.

However, the real tear-jerking moment was when the main sponsor of these awards, who is also a competitor in Steve’s class, made his speech and mentioned how this year had been a real highlight for him (having been involved since the 1970s!) because of the camaraderie, competition, and friendship that they have built up. And this, I suspect, is why Steve will race again next season. I have been trying to suggest that he do a season of marshalling instead but I don’t think it’s going to work …

The kids and I have had a nice relaxed day; it was good to get back into the swing of orchestra this morning and then we baked, folded laundry, and played games this afternoon – all very boring!

Steve was out racing, and our friend Neil went to spectate. Now, a rare treat. Not only can you see some photos on Neil’s blog, but from there you can also download a podcast featuring Neil’s commentary on the day, including an interview with Steve. I have asked Neil if he’ll do this every hillclimb, as listening to a quick podcast instead of going myself (with children in tow of course!) could save me a lot of time, effort and money!

If you listen to the podcast you’ll hear that Steve had a camera on top of his car for some of the runs today – and if you want to know what it would be like to be strapped on top of an Impreza during a hillclimb, you can see the footage here.

For the third Saturday in a row I have driven south for various activities, you would have thought I would learn that it is a Stupid Thing To Do. Doh.

Still, once we got to the site for Steve’s hillclimb (arrived in their lunchbreak so perfect timing despite delays on the A30) we did have quite a nice day. The event was particularly well organised to fit three timed runs in, which was an added bonus. I let the children have the camera to keep them occupied so ended up with some particularly random shots (and not very many good ones of cars!).

In the morning, the class record for Steve’s group was 27.20 … and Steve was doing times of 27.6ish. During the afternoon he managed to get his time down to 27.25 but the Cosworth was on good form and got the class record down to 27.11! Steve’s staying down there for the weekend; they are racing again on Sunday so there will hopefully be some more good competition

After the hillclimb we set off to find the nearby Helman Tor, as I knew there was an earthcache as well as a geocache there. A very *interesting* drive down tiny lanes which aren’t on Googlemaps (the only map I had available, ok?!), but got there in the end and very glad we did, it was fantastic. Had a nice walk looking for the geocache, and then set to work on the earthcache, for which we were meant to find the ‘Logan’ or rocking stone – a stone which actually moves. Well, for some people. We couldn’t make it move an inch! So couldn’t gather all the info required for the earthcache, but I’m hoping the owner will consider our efforts to have been worthy of a log anyway! It was an excellent location with stunning views, and I have at least logged the trig pillar Gutted to have only had the small camera, but there we go.

Drove home after that – with the A30 looking as it should this time, fairly clear and only a little bit of traffic! Ended up at Pizza Hut (the children’s choice!) for dinner. Fell into bed and enjoyed the clean sheets I’d put on the bed for a night alone in it!