Our new book corner

Pip: What was that old chap?

Oliver: Thomas says onflation isn't far away.
Pip: I think if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

For Anne

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Oliver singing his current favourite song, Le Grand Cerf

Classic Oliver Quotes

Oliver: Can you read that Mama?
He points to Mama's open email.
Mama: Of course (reading) Gold is not a hedge against inflation.
Oliver: Inflation? Or on-flation?
Mama: Inflation.
Oliver: No, outflation.
Mama: No, inflation.
Oliver: No, it's outflation Mama.

Ed note: Okay, whatever you say Ol.

The lazy cat that didn't get the rat

At about 6.15pm last night we had an interesting vistor to St George's Road. Jeff was out with the boys looking at their sunflowers seeds, when I got a fleeting glance of a large tail heading off behind the bookcase in the dining room.

Having seen the cat jauntily (as only torturing cats can do) following a massive bouncing rat down the garden only 20 minutes previously we assumed we had a rat in da kitchen. What am I gonna do?

The rat seemed to be very camera shy, and having a very low boredom threshold on waiting for things, I went upstairs to bathe the kids and left Jeff to empty the bookcase, shoo out the rat and then clean up.

Somehow, and Jeff still can't figure out how, the rat crept out silently from behind the bookcase, skulked along the carefully fabricated course to guide him out of the house, and headed full pelt up the garden path. The only reason Jeff knows this is he happened to look out of the window and see the cheeky chappy half way up the garden. Either that or we've still got a house guest.

Please people read the memo

I am very, very bored of getting up at 5am. Pip seems to think that pitch darkness is an appropriate time to rise and quite frankly I'm getting f**ed off with it.

Roll on morning...

Terry and me.

Me and my great-grandma. How tops is that?

Raisins

We have a new word for raisins in our house. "Ray-rays". Pip has forged his own path and not copied Oliver's "rayas".

Spring

Epic Thomas Day Out

Today was a family outing to see Thomas and his friends on the Watercress Line. Not to be daunted by the fat-bellied, bearded men that run the Watercress Line and the fact that we looked like drowned rats from our last attempt to see Thomas, we headed to Alton.

It was a Thomas-tastic event - train rides on Daisy and Thomas, massive bouncy castle slide, and a very short miniature train ride. We even managed a trip into Alresford where we had lunch at a place when you said "can I have a long black?" they actually knew you were talking about coffee! Oliver pretty much spent the entire day looking gobsmacked and Pip wandered around saying "tomas, tomas" and jumping up and down.

Total train rides: 7
Total excitement factor for the boys: 11/10
Total coffee karma for Jeff: 11/10

Oliver summed it up nicely when on the way home from Farnham train station he commented, "I was excited".

The intrepid travellers

The excitement builds...

Only to be suffocated by Sir Topham Hatt.

Tomas, Tomas.

Up the stairs to the slide.