A Boys Own adventure

J hit the back of the shed today - drove the tractor straight into the wooden shack!

The tractor is now called Jack. The family put names into a hat with the agreement that unless all 4 of us agreed on a name it would not be considered. Charlie held his hands firmly by his sides and refused to vote until the very last name came out. You guessed it - Jack. One day he will have to negotiate for the UN as his poker face remained in place until the last bitter moment when his choice of name appeared. Alfie did the perfect big brother role and congratualted him heartily. Gone by the wayside were my choices - Claude and Keith, dismissed were Jeff's Fergus and Bob and with 3 votes Alf nearly had a victory with Bertie and Tommy, but Chas was having none of it. Jack he was after his 20 mile slug home and Jack he is now!

Back to the smashing of the house...

We have had a weekend of little visitors.

First arrivals were Amy, Ben and Emily who we know from the caravan. Ben was treated to the tractor ride of a lifetime. To begin, Alfie and he sat in the bucket of Jack and were driven around the land, being finally lifted as high as the tree branches to pick their own leaf - who says leaves can't be special. Ben was still clasping his on the way home... They were then moved to Jack's cab and driven at quite a lick around the garden. Ben's face was frozen somewhere between fear and sheer over-the-top excitement. His mum, Jennie, was leaning more on the side of fear!

Today Brendan and Dominic came for all the fun of the farm...Dom at only 3 opted to sit in the bucket with Charlie and Alf, as Jeffers drove them low to the ground and through the long grass. Brendan hopped in the cab with Jeff. Tonight they were driven royally around the garden and delivered to the back door. At this point Jeff misjudged the side of the shed...

I won't over egg it - it is a small divot, but when you live in a shed every wooden wall is important!

As to me...

I have bumped Jeff off Jack a couple of times - it seems only fair as he has all the fun!

I did not have any work to do with the tractor...so just drove Jack round and round the garden and getting faster and faster. How brave I felt - top gear and 3rd gear...speedy has nothing on it!

My godness how empowering, and I have convinced myself that with the amount of physical effort it tkaes to use the clutch, I will never need to worry about going to the gym again.

I was laughing last Sunday as I drove around the back garden, I was power-scraping mud off the garden with my trusty tractor. So, at night I was driving Jack, ploughing my field and the next day I would be back in London discussing brand equity and data driven marketing...could my two lives be more removed from one another!

all well, happy and full of fun!!!

A new baby

We are now the proud owners of our first tractor! A 1958 Massey Ferguson and even though he is in his 50th year he is a fine old gentleman and addition to the family. J travelled 20 miles to bring him home going no more than 7 miles an hour through the countryside and down every B road he could find. He has been named Fergie, Jack and Tommy dependent on the member of the family you are talking to, but has revolutionised moving stuff around. Life will never be the same again.

I have had my first lesson on Fergie and although I was feeling awful with the tummy bug that is doing the rounds, I was having so much fun I forgot all about the knot in my stomach and stayed on board for an hour. J was relegated to 'ganger man' and had to make do with a shovel and spade as I moved earth and broken brick around. The boys love him and on the first morning we had him were out in the front bucket in their school clothes getting lifted above the fence to wave at me in the shed. A has mastered the art of lifting the bucket up and down but C stayed on his dad's lap and pretended to drive.

we now nearly have a driveway and my car exhaust should be able to last a bit longer now as it does not have to take a daily beating across the rock filled mud.

Sunshine was out again and J and I once more took up our seats in the sun, glass of wine in hand and imagined we were on holiday.

We have (or rather Fergie the tractor has) managed to losen the old football net out from the overgrown trees and brambles and so already A and J have been out for a game of penalty shootout - needless to say A put 9 goals past his old man.

Sunshine

My goodness, what a wonderful weekend, and all down to the sun beaming down on us! Spent all day yesterday outside...either perched by the river bank with J, sat on my chair eyes shut to the sun and just relaxing, or playing raiders and tree climbing down in the woods with the boys. The sun was warm and so welcome.



We rumaged around in one of the sheds outside, which up until last week has been covered in thorns and brambles and discovered 3 old bicycles. armed with cloth, foot pump and WD40 we began putting them back into working order. J has laid half a new driveway using stones and tarmac chippings from the local recycling plant, and so A and C could pedal to their hearts content up and down outside the front of the house. A was especially delighted that his new found bike had BMX written on it and whizzed around until the chain came off. Having rediscovered cycling we got the blue one that Mighty and Grandad bought him out and challenged him to cycle through the bumpy back garden down to the woods and along the river bank. Strong legs powered him all the way down.

At 9am this morning A got in a grump and announced he was leaving home. Within 10 mins he had packed a bag(a bug catcher pack) with soft toy, crisps and snack bar and persuaded his little brother that they should move to their holiday home. Sad to see them leave of course but delighted when the new home turned out to be the den! They found some green wire and have rigged this up to a tree in an attempt to bring electricity to their camp. It is great watching a 6 and 4 year old imagination running riot. The grump lasted about a minute the game far longer.

Sat again in the sun today and had Sarah, John and the boys over for lunch. Very relaxed and calming. Just great fun all round.