field and stream and other things.

We went to Rosemoor yesterday. One of those lovely gardens you can spend a whole day exploring. My Mother in law, my sister in law, and I ended up discussing other gardens worth checking out/taking the kids to. Maybe in the Spring when things are gorgeous again.) The kids had a great time. I think one of the things that made it work really well was letting the kids lead us around. My nephew E, has been there many times as it is one of those places that is popular with school groups.( I think everyone recalls certain places that they went to on a yearly basis when they were in school.) He had some favorite places he insisted we see. One of those included a waterfall. You can never go wrong with a water feature. (of which there were many.) There were many huts, summer houses, green houses which proved to be useful when there were periodic downpours. They would only last a couple of minutes but we would be looking at something and then we had to rush under cover with a bunch of other people and watch the weather. This is another fun English hobby. Talking weather with complete strangers. I feel at home.

A couple of years ago when I was visiting I saw a program on the tv about Rosemoor, so I've been keen to visit. I saw an advertisement that they had an exhibit of Quentin Blake drawings, and it was ending soon. An excuse to get there sooner rather than later. I think the exhibit could have been done a little better by having some pictures at a child's eye. They did have an area where kids could color. They had these coloring pages that had been half-done by Blake, and then the kid could add their part. The idea being that the child could say they did a drawing with Blake. There were some limited edition prints. I was tempted by the cheapest ones. (just under 100 pounds) BUT it was still out of my price range. It was really cool to see some drawings from books he illustrated. A very British experience.

Afterward we stopped at ASDA as I hadn't had enough stimulation for the day. I found a few things for the kids. The problem with that place is that there is so much going on, that it feels nearly impossible to concentrate on the task at hand. "Do I want this? I don't know...WHY MUST THEY KEEP PLAYING THESE ADS WHILE I AM TRYING TO SHOP OMG..." I think their whole approach is to make you feel so disoriented that you either buy something you don't want or you give up and run away screaming. I did find a few things for Miss Biscuit's tea party.

We went home, I made meatloaf, we had a chat with my Mom via skype. I am looking forward to those chats. The kids climb everywhere and make a lot of noise and somewhere in there we chat.

Today I have done many loads of laundry, searched for things we need for our trip, and figure out all those tiny details before we leave. I've come up with some things to stop and look at on the days we have to do a long drive. We will see things that are ancient and admire natural wonders. Because that is what you do on drives like that.

I also made brownies. I may eat them all.