the day with no squirrels
There was a surprisingly nice bout of warm weather about three weeks ago, and of course that meant I would try to take full advantage of it by being outside as much as possible. Monday saw us at Otterspool, at our usual meetup with our friends. Typically, I’m so worn out after that that all I want to do is veg for the next three days, but spurred on by the warm temperatures, I hauled Ares and Raspberry on a train up to Formby, to the squirrel reserve. We’d been there once before, with Carrie and Lucy, back in April. However, during that instance, the kids spent hours playing in the sand at the picnic area and we didn’t get much further than that. I made the deliberate decision to avoid the sandy bit, as I was determined to actually take a walk through the woods and see some squirrels this time around. [Spoiler alert: we didn’t see any squirrels, but we did chance upon two rabbits hiding in the bushes, as we were leaving.]
This was the first of many tree stumps she stood on.
And the first of many blackberries she picked.
We found a den (interestingly, not far from the sand pit I was trying to avoid)! It looked so cool and Raspberry tried to turn it into a yurt, with pots to cook with.
I enlisted a tired, grumpy and clingy Ares to pick up sticks (not for a game), just so I could rest my weary arms.
Oh hey, there happened to be food in Raspberry’s backpack, ready to be cut up and cooked. Ares wanted a turn too. They fought over it and I decided that it was time to move on (as awesome as this den was, I didn’t relish the thought of spending the next few hours there, sitting on a pokey ground blanketed with pine needles and pinecones, while the kids ran around. Next time, I’ll bring a book and we can do that).
Hello, dead tree.
Inspired by Olivia’s attempt to feed the pigeons in Olivia in Venice, Raspberry tried to hold out a handful of blackberries for the birds.
Much to her disappointment, they never came.
We followed an asparagus trail (not its proper name, but we so named it because of the pictures of asparagus next to the arrows), which led us away from the pine forest into the woods. We were under the impression that we might come upon a field of asparagus, but being directionally-challenged, I feared getting lost, so we turned back. [Upon further research, I now know there are actual asparagus fields; we’ll have to go the next time around.]. Also, I liked the pine forest better, as it had a more ethereal, magical quality to it than just a plain ol’ forest.
There were quite a few tree stumps in this area, and we made a game out of trying to climb on to every one. Ares enjoyed it but as one might expect, the seven-year-old lost interest soon enough. She discovered a path lined with brambles, promptly named it “Blackberry Alley” and went to town picking and munching away. This happened to be the day Ares started picking blackberries on his own.
Ares and Raspberry stuck pinecones in the hollow of a stump.
As much as I enjoyed the day and the quietude of the woods, I did get a little freaked out by how isolated it felt. Granted, it was a weekday and there were several other people walking their dogs or hiking with their kids, but there was still an overwhelming sense of solitude that scared me in the if-we-get-lost-no-one-will-find-us-and-we’ll-never-get-home sense. It’s completely unfounded, since for the most part, we stayed on the path, but I suppose I’m just not used to being in such a vast, peaceful space alone. I was quite relieved every time we saw other people, even more so when we finally left and headed back out into the sunshine. I think the next time we go, we’ll go with our friends, just to up the fun factor, and oh, so I won’t have that unwarranted feeling of isolation too.
london in five days (IV)
In my sleepy daze, I somewhat recall the sound of heavy rain sometime in the early hours of the morning. By the time I woke, it was dry and hot again and we were all set for our last full day in London. At 34°C, it was slated to be the hottest day of the heatwave (and I’m willing to guess, of the year too) and what better way than to spend part of it at Hyde Park?
london in five days (III)
Well, the curtain thing did the trick and on our second full day in London, both Raspberry and Ares did not wake at a ridiculously early hour. Yay! Of course, I’m sure all the activity the day before had something to do with it.
london in five days (II)
Our first full day in London started early. Like, “Why are you up?! It’s not even 7am!” kinda early. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I’d forgotten to draw the curtains in the room, which got the morning sun. I learnt that lesson quickly. For two kids who didn’t get their requisite amount of sleep, they sure were perky. Lucas and I were probably much less so. But no matter, because we were in frigging London!!!!!!!!!!
Lucas and I finished the muesli we’d brought, mixed with the granola we’d gotten the day before. Raspberry decided she only wanted the granola because clusters are where it’s at. Ares thrived on strawberries, because he’s a fruit fiend. Breakfasts for him have been complicated lately, as he doesn’t seem interested in what we have to offer, especially when there’s berries available. He took a couple of bites of our cereal, but mostly wanted the berries. We didn’t know it yet, but feeding him on this trip would prove to be a bit of a challenge.
london in five days (I)
As a birthday present for all of us (well, namely Raspberry, Lucas and I), we took a trip to London this past Sunday for five days. Out of the four of us, I’m the only one who has been before, in 1984, 1994, and 2004. Yes, in keeping with the pattern, it would’ve been great if I could’ve made it last year but for some reason, we just didn’t (the fact that we had a cat with hyperthyroidism who had to be fed a couple of times a day had a lot to do with it). In any case, we went and had a a tremendous time.
However, the trip got off to a bad start, as one of the wheels of our brand new suitcase popped right off barely a hundred metres from home. Raspberry, Ares and I had gone ahead of Lucas and as we made it down the hill, Raspberry turned around and announced that Lucas was carrying rather than pulling the suitcase. Of course, that’s not what I wanted to hear and when he finally caught up with us, he confirmed the worst and had to lug the suitcase the rest of the way to Lime Street station. Once on the train, because the luggage space was full, the cursed suitcase occupied the fourth seat at our table, sealing Lucas into his window seat. There was a guy sitting in that fourth available seat when we first boarded the train, but he quickly moved when he noticed we had a lot of baggage (I’m talking about Raspberry and Ares here).
The train trip, which ordinarily takes just over two hours, was slated to take almost three hours on this cloudy Sunday morning. I’m not sure why, as it didn’t make more stops than it usually does, but at some points, it certainly didn’t travel as fast as the Virgin trains normally go. We saw a lot of countryside and kept wondering when we’d see the city limits. Arriving at London Euston twenty minutes later than we should have, we were all excited and antsy to get off and get our vacation started.
mid-week beach day
We made an impromptu trip to New Brighton, where Raspberry and Ares played in the sand, dug through the treasure chest (and discovered dinosaurs, now named Limousine and Desk), climbed on rocks, and eschewed ice-cream. And near the end of it, Ares started actively seeking out sand to eat because he was exhausted and he seems to get a massive oral fixation when he’s tired. We also found a 1972 copy of Enid Blyton’s The Children of Cherry Tree Farm at Literally, originally presented to one Craig Dixon by Mereside Methodist Church in 1974 for his regular attendance. It all made for a pretty decent day.
notes from two beach days at new brighton
– Ares’ first time in the sand. He was so taken by the experience that every time he saw me approaching him with arms outstretched, he’d crawl backward or crawl away as quickly as a baby possibly can through soft sand. He even tried to do a headstand in the sand, something he’d only started doing a few days prior. He kept looking at his sand-caked hands and after I taught him how to brush the sand off his hands, he started doing it himself. No first trip to the beach is complete without the requisite sand-eating and naturally, Ares was no exception, much to my chagrin (you can see him eating sand in one of the above pictures).
– Homemade ice-cream: Ferrero Rocher-flavoured ice-cream beats Turkish Delight-flavoured ice-cream hands-down. There is just something too up-in-the-clouds, artificial about the latter. It must be the pink.
– One of my favourite second-hand bookstores is Literally, in New Brighton. The owner is delightful and charms kids with puppets and sea-faring tales. She also gives them paper boats made from map pages. I’ve found a number of vintage kids’ books there, including an old copy of Dick Bruna’s The Apple (with thankfully non-rhyming verse!), an old edition of Pippi Goes Abroad (yes, Pippi, of Longstocking fame), and a vintage copy of Enid Blyton’s The Naughtiest Girl Again. I’m a sucker for old books. And the best part is, I paid only 25p each for them. Score!
– The second time we went was on a sunny but extremely gusty day. The beach was busy, as unlike the first time, it was Easter break, and the windiness didn’t deter many people from dressing skimpily or in bathing suits. I’m certain they’re insane… or just English. Meanwhile, I’d stupidly under-dressed both Ares and Raspberry and they were both cold. Because of this, Ares didn’t play in the sand for very long, preferring to huddle up against me in the baby carrier. The wind was so strong that I watched as the sand just blew into my bag without any other help. I had to keep emptying my messenger bag for fear the sand would get into my cameras.
– Raspberry lost her fourth tooth (the bottom right incisor) while having her rocky road ice-cream. She accidentally swallowed the tooth, thinking it was a nut, and was in tears. I felt awful for her, as I know she treasures every tooth she loses. I half-jokingly suggested we could make her puke up her ice-cream or search her poop for it. She wisely declined both suggestions. When we got home, she drew and cut out a replacement tooth for her collection.
– We went back to Literally, in search of more vintage Naughtiest Girl books but came up empty-handed. I did, however, find a Little Golden Book (Funny Bunny). Those are hard to find in the UK. We have a collection of Little Golden Books but most of them stayed in Canada, so it’s nice to occasionally come across them here.
sunny otterspool
On a warm, sunny day in early March, Carrie and I met up at Otterspool for what turned out to be a lovely afternoon. We started off at the playground but progressed to a pleasantly long walk along the promenade toward the Britannia Inn, where Carrie so graciously treated us to hot chocolate. Tom and Becky had their bike and scooter respectively; Raspberry tried out Tom’s bike once, with Carrie holding onto her but she wasn’t confident enough to try again. It was an almost three-and-a-half mile walk there and back and Carrie encouragingly gave the kids targets to reach to keep them moving. As they ran and whizzed down the prom, the kids gleefully played a game of emergency, which involved collapsing and playing possum while the others ran over in mock [laughing] panic to save them. Near the end of our walk, Raspberry pointed out that no one had complained about the distance we walked, which was impressive when you’re talking about little kids. We thought there’d be more time for them to play on the exercise machines but as one might expect, things with kids take much longer (even when they don’t complain) so we had to nix that. Despite a moment of disappointment at not being able to hang out with our friends for longer, Raspberry still very much enjoyed her afternoon, as did Carrie and I, as we couldn’t stop raving about it, because really, it was that nice a day.
the day without the squirrels
After hearing about the sand dunes and the red squirrels at Formby, I wanted to make it out to there last summer but for unknown reasons, didn’t. So two weeks ago, when Lucy suggested a trip out to Formby to see the squirrels, I jumped at the chance to go so together with her and Carrie and our collective brood of seven little humans, we hopped a train out to the squirrel reserve.
The funny thing is that at the reserve, I saw all of one squirrel. Granted, I didn’t look very hard (if at all) and most of our time was spent watching the kids dig in the sand and climbing trees in the picnic area, but having never been before, I truly expected squirrels to be running rampant, to be inhabiting every tree hollow, to be perched in every branch (okay, every other branch). But alas, they must all have been on vacation or scared off by the Easter break crowd. Urban squirrels are common back home. When we lived in Ottawa, the squirrels would scamper along the window sill outside, much to our cat’s frustration. Perhaps we currently live in too urbanized an area for there to be squirrels. Beyond the odd sighting in a park on the outskirts, I can quite safely say I’ve seen nary a squirrel in the almost two-and-a-half years I’ve been here. I do miss them a little.
It was more or less a decent day, hanging out with Carrie and Lucy in the sunshine and watching the kids run free. Because we were there with the intention of walking and seeing the squirrels, none of us were prepared for sand play. The kids borrowed buckets and shovels from some others who did have the foresight to bring beach equipment. Beginning with Evie, the girls wanted to be mermaids with sand tails. I was surprised Raspberry did too, as she typically doesn’t care for mermaids. Ares had a ball crawling around and digging in the sand and of course, eating it (well, it was on a stick that he decided to chew). When the sand got boring, he discovered a log to straddle. I felt bad taking him away from that as we were leaving.
Unlike Ares, Raspberry was on edge, and cried repeatedly from the moment we arrived, about various travesties like being startled by a door shutting in her face or a broken stick or accidentally poking herself in the leg or being unable to come down from a ledge two inches above the ground. By the end of our time in Formby, I’d had it and was infinitesimally close to losing my mind. I’m almost certain there was no less than ten instances when she cried or howled. It wasn’t until later that evening when I was unpacking my backpack and finding most of her uneaten pizza, that I realized that her episodes were probably due to hunger (we’d all eaten on the train ride there and I’d thought she’d eaten more than she actually did). Talking it over with Lucas later, we were acutely reminded of the mismatch between her age, her intelligence, and her emotional regulation. We established that the next time something like this happens again, I need to be firm and we’ll be leaving whatever place we’re at, in an effort to remove the triggers. Thus far, nothing on this scale has yet occurred (thankfully!) so we haven’t had to put this into practise yet. Fingers crossed that we won’t ever have to, but I think it’s a pipe dream.
Anyway, obviously we’ll have to go back to the reserve to properly seek some squirrels out. Note to self: it’ll be during term time and it’ll be with a well-rested, properly-fed child.
a print fair and a library
We spent a sunny Saturday in Manchester yesterday, hitting up the Manchester Print Fair and the John Rylands Library. I love going to print fairs to draw inspiration for my own work and the Manchester Print Fair, held only twice a year, never fails to disappoint. It was wonderful seeing and chatting with many of the artists I’ve met at previous fairs. It’s always so refreshing to get out of the parenting headspace (which feels like all I ever do every day) and immerse myself in art for a bit. I find I really need that these days. Raspberry was decked out in her brand new glow-in-the-dark bug shirt, which won her a couple of compliments. There were also workshops at the fair, and she had a good time screenprinting, rubber-stamping and doodling with Posca markers and coloured Sharpies. She drew a purple fox (which I was impressed by, as she hardly ever draws anything besides people these days) and made two drawings (one of a monster under clouds and another of a ghost caught in the rain) for two of the artists we know and got a pocket mirror as a trade, which she carried around for the rest of the day. The workshops served as a nice break from me dragging Raspberry all over the fair. There wasn’t anything similarly entertaining for Ares though and beyond the fact that he was tired (he did nap halfway through), he didn’t seem amused by the fact that I was toting him around to tables and tables of artists selling their wares, and he just wanted to crawl around to stretch his little legs.
I think he was relieved when we finally left and headed over to the library, where he suddenly became very chatty among the tomes and let me tell you, there’s nothing like the shrill shriek of a baby in a dark, echoey public space with people trying to soak up the atmosphere, to make you feel self-conscious. Similarly, Raspberry was more or less oblivious to the ancient books and was determined to complete her trail with the kind of single-mindedness found only in young children. I marvelled at the archaic building on my own. I did manage to get her interested in Later-day Saints, a hilarious exhibition of illustrations of saints situated in contemporary times. We popped in a coin to watch a mechanical dragon and old lady having tea, and were tickled by the unexpected results. Ares alternated between wanting to crawl and wanting to be held and fought tooth and nail against being put in the baby carrier when I had enough of this up-and-down business. He’s in a table-loving phase and after I set him down at a 130-year-old desk briefly, it was quite the challenge getting him away from it after.
Trail completed, Raspberry set to work making a dragon’s egg in the craft area while a fatigued and destructive Ares overturned containers of coloured pencils and sent them flying all over the floor. We left soon after, after the dragon’s egg was sufficiently stuffed with pom-poms, after encountering an older white guy who irked me by saying “xie xie” (thank you in Mandarin) to Raspberry’s spontaneous outcry telling him her locker was occupied, after browsing the gift shop, after I picked up a postcard. All in all, a good day.
sunshine, lebanese food, warhol and hot chocolate!
Friday was a good day. The sun was shining, it actually felt warm (by winter standards), and we all went out together for the first time in forever (I honestly don’t recall the last time we were out together for something leisurely. It’s been that long).
Lucas is on the hunt for new black-hooped earrings, so we browsed around Grand Central and Bold Street with little luck. The initial plan was to have lunch at Botan (apparently voted the best place for kebabs outside London) but it was closed when we went by, so plan B was to go to Bakchich for Lebanese street food instead, after quickly nursing Ares at FACT. I was a little hesitant about going to Bakchich, as the last time we ate there, I broke out in a nasty case of hives that lasted four very itchy days. I suspected it was something in the lamb shawarma that I reacted to, as that was the first time I’d had it (previously, I’d always gone with chicken). The waitress was incredibly nice and offered to find out what ingredients might be in the lamb but her blanket term of “some spices” didn’t exactly help. Oh well. I played it safe and went with the chicken again. Ares had some clementine while we waited for our food to arrive, and loudly demanded each piece every time he’d swallowed the previous one. The lady sitting at the next table seemed amused.
We headed over to the Tate after to see the Andy Warhol exhibition on its third last day. I don’t usually pay for exhibitions but it’s Andy Warhol! It was Lucas’ and my second time seeing an exhibition of his, the first being at the AGO back in 2006 (we went to the gallery late, hung out at Sam the Record Man, watching Charlie Chaplin in their shoeshining chairs, and then caught the midnight bus to Ottawa, where we were scouting for apartments all weekend). Raspberry was most excited about seeing Warhol’s iconic banana, but I think she enjoyed the exhibition as a whole. She seemed unfocused, running from one work to another and then back to me, urging me to come over and see something really cool. There was a darkened room with music and films projected onto the walls and Ares had a good time crawling around in there. Every time I offered to pick him up, he’d crawl backward away from me with a cheeky smile on his face (this is his new parlour trick). I felt bad dragging him away from it eventually, but seriously, I’m not spending the whole time in a makeshift disco. He was wiggly thereafter and while I usually put him on the floor in galleries, it was too busy for him to crawl around. It was a great exhibition. I think I most enjoyed seeing Warhol’s graphic design work, particularly his blotted line drawings. We spent a little time in the Art Dock after, building towers with foam blocks to knock over or in Ares’ case, to chew, much to our chagrin. It didn’t take much to convince Raspberry to leave the Art Dock once we said we were going to get hot chocolate in the cafe. She was especially excited as we each got one this time, rather than sharing, as we normally do. I’d promised Raspberry she could get a Warhol banana postcard, so we did, in addition to several others (they had an end-of-exhibition sale so lots of items were half-off). Postcards are my typical exhibition souvenir. We left as the gallery was shutting its doors and the sun was just setting, ending one of the best days I’ve had in a while.
christmas in nottingham (V)
One last post about our last day in Nottingham last week.
There were so many delicious-sounding recipes in this cookbook. Mushroom curry? The mushroom fiend in me says, “hell yes!”
Neo had cereal. And then Raspberry decided she wanted some too.
“Oh, hurry up and take a picture of my dress!” said a faux-exasperated Aurelie.
She has the best dress ever. I need a dress like this in my life.
Raspberry and Loolapop played Labyrinth. Raspberry was getting a bit snippy. I think it was due to an accumulated lack of sleep.
Loolapop gave Raspberry a tiny teapot and teacup. She accidentally left it behind.
Lucas and Aurelie went out to de-ice the car and clear a path so Aurelie could back out of the driveway. Ares and I watched from the window upstairs before he got bored. When they were done, Aurelie came inside to tell me there was a good picture to be taken, with the snow and ice and blue sky. I popped outside, sans coat, but couldn’t capture what I considered a worthy picture.
Aurelie dropped the boys off at her dad’s and after she returned, we drove into the city centre, parking five floors down in a massive underground parking garage six floors deep. Looking out, you can see what looks like a cliff. I wanted to look at the view and take a picture looking up but circumstances dictated otherwise. We cut through Victoria Centre, a mall rife with post-Christmas shoppers and leftover Christmas decorations. By Santa’s grotto, there were these huge balls with the body of a penguin and an elf (I think) painted onto them. You could climb in, stick your head and arms out and look positively ridiculous. Of course, the girls had to try it for themselves, both of them squished in the enormous ball, providing limbs for the other.
After a quick stop at Wilko, Aurelie took us to Tarn Thai for lunch. It’s been ages since I’ve had Thai food and the restaurant did not disappoint. Raspberry didn’t really touch her baby corn and bamboo shoot meal, which we got to go. Lucas and I alternated hanging out with a very wiggly Ares while the other ate. There were two ponds in the entrance, one with orangey fish and the other with small black ones, and Ares seemed mildly intrigued by them.
I wanted to show Aurelie some cool independent stores I’d visited when I was last in Nottingham but I couldn’t get my bearings straight so that idea went out the window quite quickly. We stopped at Jugglers, where Aurelie got some birthday presents for Neo, and headed back to the car, as we had to make it to the station to catch our train. As we exited the mall, Ares suddenly got very agitated and howled — tears and all — the entire car trip to the station. I thought he might’ve pooped (he gets very upset whenever he does) but he seemed all right once we dashed out of the car and to our train with twelve minutes to spare. As it turned out, he hadn’t pooped at all (although he did within minutes of us returning home). Maybe he’d just been feeling warm, strapped in the carrier, in his pig suit.
It was bright and sunny when we boarded the train but it darkened quickly as the sun began to set. As we pulled out of Nottingham, I realized that we’ve been to the train station a grand total of four times now, and we still haven’t seen the canal right by it in broad daylight.
The train home was insanely busy, probably with everyone returning home after the holidays. We had reserved seating but the slips they normally put out to indicate the reservations weren’t there, so everyone sat wherever they wanted. Our reserved seats were taken when we boarded, so we picked three other seats, and it was quiet enough that we had the luxury of seat-jumping (crucial when travelling with restless kids). However, it was all shortlived as everyone had to play a stressful, grumpy version of musical chairs when tons of people got on at Chesterfield and they all really wanted to sit in their reserved seats. It was such a head-shaking clusterfuck (why didn’t the conductor just put up the reserved seats slips?!). We did end up in our proper seats after much kerfuffle. Ares slept and Raspberry read, and Lucas and I breathed sighs of relief that we were on our way home.
It’s been a week since we were there and I can safely say we’ve all recuperated from the excitement of being with Aurelie and company over Christmas. Time to start planning our next trip!
christmas in nottingham
We’re not Christmas people, which is to say that we don’t celebrate Christmas. The past two years, my Christmases have been spent walking the deserted streets of Liverpool until I either get lost (my first year) or I can’t feel my toes (last year). So this year, when Aurelie invited us to spend Christmas with her in Nottingham, it didn’t take a lot to convince us to hit the road (spending time with wonderful friends? Check! Train trip? Check! The prospect of an unboring Christmas? Check!). We left midday on Christmas Eve and spent a fantastic four days in Nottingham.
A hipster reading The Hobbit. I love it.
Our morning was incredibly hectic and we were rushing to get out. Raspberry tripped on a bag I was carrying and skinned her knee, the blood soaking through her white dotty tights. She put a band-aid on it while we were on the train and I meant to take a picture of her bloody tights, but didn’t. Instead, I got one of Lucas looking at his skinned knee from playing volleyball.
We’ve travelled on the train through Stockport a number of times now. The somewhat aerial view never gets old for me.
The trip to Nottingham is over two-and-a-half hours. I’ve learnt from our previous trips to Lincoln, Sheffield and Nottingham that any trip that long or longer makes both Raspberry and Ares restless. While Ares napped a little near the end of the trip, Raspberry was wiggly and the prospect of reading the books she brought or drawing in her notebook didn’t entice her one bit.
I take way too many pictures of the hilly, sheep-dotted, rural landscape whenever the train goes through the Peak District.
Much to Raspberry’s delight, we once again got the front-and-center view on the double-decker bus to Aurelie’s house. The bus driver, a thin, bespectacled man with white hair, was very friendly. I don’t take the bus very often, but from my limited experience, the bus drivers in Nottingham are way friendlier than those in Liverpool. I learnt that Nottingham bus drivers aren’t allowed to touch the passengers’ fare. Lucas and I had a discussion about how odd it is that the buses in Liverpool give you change when you pay your fare, but not anywhere else we’ve been.
Aurelie has the best collection of mismatched plates.
Ares really enjoyed this rosemary bread. I think he ate more of it than I did.
The antlers didn’t last very long, as you might expect.
Neither did this get-up.
The kids get to open their gifts on Christmas Eve. They were itching for their grandfather to arrive, so they could hurry up and have dinner and open their presents. They did a good job eating really quickly and then hovering over the adults as we leisurely enjoyed our meal, waiting for us to finish so they could tear into the presents. And tear into them they did. Wrapping paper and packaging everywhere. I could barely contain Ares from putting all kinds of choke-worthy bits into his mouth.
I secretly brought presents for Lucas and Raspberry, sneaking them under Aurelie’s tree. I got Lucas a set of Staedtler Point 88 pens, as he’d previously indicated he wanted to get some, and Pea’s Book of Big Dreams for Raspberry, who’s been reading the series a lot lately. Up until today, Raspberry had been under the impression that it was Aurelie who got Lucas and her the gifts, since they were under her tree. I’m that good.
See? Awesome plate!
And there were Christmas crackers! I’d never actually pulled a Christmas cracker before (not that I did this time) nor seen it done in real life. That’s how sheltered I am. I had no idea there was stuff inside in either (now that I think about it, of course! People need some motivation to pull open a cracker, not just for shits and giggles). There were all these lame jokes and small knick-knacks like plastic stencils in them. One of them contained a fortune teller fish. I’d never seen or heard of them before (yes, sheltered!) but Aurelie explained it to me. I don’t remember what my fortune was, but apparently, the fish says that Raspberry is passionate. Why yes, she is.
The kids were so hopped up on excitement (and possibly, sugar) that they went to sleep really late. Raspberry wouldn’t stop talking and keeping the other kids up. From what I hear, she was chatting until two a.m., a trend that was to continue the next couple of nights. Holy hell. Despite all the insanity, I’m glad she had a great time and the company of other kids. More about our Christmas in the next post.
back to the canal
Taking advantage of the rare full sunny day today and the fact that it’s been two months since we were last there, we went to the canal and locks again. I discovered a quieter route there, so it was less stressful than the last time, when I felt like we had to maneuver our way across very busy roads. We walked by the businesses on Great Homer Street, most of them shuttered for whatever reason, and went by lots of new residential developments. I remarked to Raspberry how it’s a shame there’s all these nice-looking houses, but the neighbourhood is less than ideal. We walked beside a church, and as I stopped to take a picture, a woman signed to another older lady wheeling her bag along that I was photographing the church. Part of the route was the same as before, as we wended through the residential area adjacent to the canal. I watched a toddler standing outside his home attempt to pour pop from a can into a Lucozade bottle. He asked an adult to do so and then promptly drank from it.
Raspberry spent a while picking blackberries that were growing right on the edge of the canal and the Canadian geese approached us again, in the hopes that we came bearing bread (nope). At the locks, Raspberry did find a small corner of bread on the ground, which she initially said she would feed to whichever ducks or geese she saw but we didn’t chance upon any thereafter. Instead, she balled the bread up and spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the possibility of selling bread balls in a store (“how do you get stores to sell your stuff?”). Hers are special because you can add whatever toppings like raisins or cranberries to suit your taste. She clutched the ball of bread, manipulating and re-manipulating it until it became a dirty grey-brown (“look, it’s now whole wheat bread!”). She also delighted in throwing handfuls of pebbles from the path into the water, while I suggested directions to two guys with North American accents on city bikes. I was tempted to ask them where they’re from, but I didn’t want to come off as being trite.
We walked on to Great Howard Street and gaped at the tobacco warehouse in awe and I suggested searching for the large Chinese supermarket that’s supposed to be somewhere along the street. We walked one way and came upon industrial business upon industrial business and gave up. Not really wanting to return home just yet, we walked in the other direction and just as I was about to give up and return toward the locks, I saw Chinese characters on the side of a building and lo and behold, there it was. Raspberry and I browsed shelves of various sauces and we picked out two kinds of noodles, water chestnuts, grass jelly and bean sprouts. I didn’t have enough money for the bean sprouts so I had her put them back. As I was standing in line at the checkout, someone working there offered to help me put my stuff on the conveyor belt. He spoke in Cantonese and I gave my thanks in English. In retrospect, I think I should’ve thanked him in Cantonese.
Walking back through the locks, I watched three delinquent teenagers (or twenty-somethings) pitch a television set into the water. Raspberry wet her bread ball again and tossed a couple more handfuls of pebbles into the canal (“I love the plopping sound they make”). Ares, who had already napped twice during our time out, was getting fussy, as he hadn’t nursed in hours. He also seemed to have suddenly caught a cold while we were out, sneezing incessantly and developing a drippy nose. We stopped at the playground to nurse and because it was getting late and we were getting hungry, I had to explain to her that we weren’t going to stay long. She seemed receptive, had her fun climbing the rope structure (she made it to the middle for the first time since last summer) and thankfully, had no trouble leaving. It was a relatively decent morning and the adventurous part of me wanted to go back out again later in the afternoon but the sane part of me thought better of it.
raspberry’s half-birthday
It’s Raspberry’s half-birthday today, so she’s officially six-and-a-half. We’ve been celebrating her half-birthday since she was born, initially with banana bread and then as she got older, cupcakes, but it’s never really been much of a big deal beyond that. This year however, she’d been planning a big day at the beach since December. On numerous occasions (often on our long walks home from a day out), she’d talk endlessly about who she was going to invite, what kind of supplies she’d need, what she would give out in loot bags (at one point, she thought seeds to plant would be a good idea), you know, all the party planning details that I, as a virgin party-planner, am utterly clueless about.
She sort of got her wish for a beach day on Wednesday. Some of our friends whom we invited couldn’t make it, so it ended up just being Zsofi and us going to New Brighton on what began as a very wet day. But it cleared up nicely (even though the wind was relentless), and the kids had a grand time climbing on rocks and playing on the pirate ship. The usual cupcakes were replaced with ice-cream from Caffe Cream where Raspberry picked out a scoop of Sparkle Sprinkle in a chocolate-dipped cone while I couldn’t decide among all the amazing flavours and settled with tiramisu. It was also there that Zsofi had what she considers real coffee, her first in a while. I feel a little bad that Raspberry didn’t get the big beach bash she’d so been hoping for for months, but she did enjoy her day.
Last night, I set out Raspberry’s half-birthday gift on the coffee table, hoping she’d be surprised beyond words when she saw it this morning. For the past few months, I’d been slowly and secretly building up this gift for her. So many times, I was thoroughly tempted to excavate it from its hiding spot so I can look at it. We’ve never done half-birthday gifts before, so it was to be a complete surprise for her. I gotten her a dress, two cat buttons, some glitter glue, a lunchbox, a postcard of the dog from when the giants were in town, a wooden skeleton to put together, and six books (two Ivy and Bean books — The Ghost that Had to Go and Ivy and Bean Take the Case; Illustration School’s Let’s Draw Cute Animals; The Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties; Nicholas; and Free to Be You and Me,which unfortunately hasn’t arrived yet). The unpackaged gift can be seen here. It’s way more than we’ve ever gotten her for her six past birthdays combined and I was really excited to give it to her (I love giving people gifts). When she awoke, Lucas sent her out to the living room on the pretext of getting his watch, and she saw the wrapped gift on the table but didn’t seem to know what to make of it. I thought she’d be bouncing with excitement. Interestingly, she opened the gift in a very subdued manner, quite unbecoming of someone who’s just received an unexpected present, and after examining it, proceeded to alternately arrange it all in piles or spread out on the table. I kept waiting for her to burst out in excited chatter or to start hopping around but neither happened. When I asked her about it later, she said she wasn’t expecting it but she wasn’t surprised either. Well, then!
We spent the morning at the park and picking blackberries, a recent favourite activity of hers. We’d promised her she could pick some yesterday on the way home from Aurelie’s but due to a change in plans, we couldn’t, so we decided to do so today. She even climbed over a fence and got more than usual, filling the plastic tupperware we brought almost to the brim. At the park, she spent a long time working out at the exercise machines (“I’m extracising! It’s different from exercising.”) and at the playground, climbed rungs up to the play structure for the first time ever. She’s never really been physically adventurous and has always been afraid to climb ladders like that. I was quietly surprised and so proud of her. At home, during various intervals through the day, she worked with Lucas to put together the wooden skeleton. I think he was as excited as she was to work on it, if not more. At this moment, the skeleton remains limbless, but it’ll probably be blessed with them tomorrow.
The day went surprisingly swimmingly. It’s the first time in months that I genuinely felt like Raspberry and I had a good day together (I’ve been having a tough time connecting with her since Ares was born… more on that in another post I’ve been meaning to write). Patience came more easily than usual and I actually had fun. I’m not sure how today differed from other days, beyond the fact that it was her half-birthday, but I can only hope this is a turning point and our days will be smoother from here. Cross your fingers for me.
a quick trip to birkenhead
Raspberry and I took a hop, skip and jump over the river to Birkenhead a few days ago to see the Richard Hamilton exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum. This was our first time in Birkenhead. Months ago, I was under the impression that it was a quaint suburban area, but I was quickly assured by friends that it was quite the opposite. Visiting it promptly disproved my initial assumptions. Walking to the gallery from the train station, it reminded me much of walking in some of the neighbourhoods in Liverpool, with abandoned buildings, run-down shops and canine fecal matter (we hope!) on the sidewalk. All in all, nothing special. The only part of our walk over that Raspberry really liked was the fact that a street was called Balls Road. “They should call it Testicles Road!” she shrieked gleefully.
The exhibition was just all right. I enjoyed seeing the famous Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?, and Raspberry really the rolls of toilet paper painted into a few paintings (um, I’m pretty sure it was toilet paper). She kept trying to spot more in other Hamilton works. I often find exhibitions of famous artists’ works just mediocre, nothing spectacular (I saw a Bruce Nauman exhibition in Preston a few months ago and I didn’t think that much of it either). Perhaps I’m anticipating a lot more and then I end up being disappointed by what’s there. Or maybe my standards for what counts as a good exhibition are just too high. I think I see only two to four fantastic exhibitions a year, works of art that I truly enjoy, resonate with me, and leave me wanting more. I’m not sure if that’s usual, but I don’t think it really matters.
Much of our time at the gallery was spent working on a trail in the gallery, whereby you had to locate pictures of cartoon bees pasted onto various objects (including works of art, like pottery). Galleries seem to like passing off scavenger hunt-esque trails as entertaining activites for kids. Sure, it’s a good way to get kids to see the gallery, but if other kids are anything like mine, they zero in on whatever they have to check off the list, to the exclusion of almost everything else. There was one bee in every room, so we had to tour the entire gallery, even though neither of us cared too much for the paintings or textiles or pottery on display (both our preferences leans toward contemporary or modern art). We went into a room plastered with dark wallpaper, with a knight’s armour, ornate sculptures and a dark wood fireplace carved intricately carved with seemingly terrifying creatures that I couldn’t even bear to look at. “Okay, just find the bee and let’s go. This room is freaking me out,” I mumbled nervously to Raspberry.
At the end of the trail, she took her worksheet back to the desk and the person working there offered her a prize for her efforts — a pencil case, a pencil, a ruler, a sharpener and a keyring. She got to pick out the colours of stationery she wanted but at the end, she decided she didn’t need any of it as she already as all of the above, so she gave it back. I was thoroughly impressed and very proud of her for minimalist ways and not introducing extra clutter into our home that I’d end up donating to a charity shop.
We returned to Liverpool right after (stopping to take some pictures that I didn’t on the way there because Raspberry desperately needed to pee) and I surprised her with lunch at Bakchich, the Lebanese street food restaurant where we had lunch on my birthday. We hadn’t had any lunch food at home all week, and since we hardly eat out, I thought she’d like a treat. I’d initially thought we’d split something, since it was almost 3pm, but it cost the same for us to get a chicken shawarma each, so we did that instead. Raspberry’s shawarma was really leaky and made for some messy eating. She really enjoyed it though (possibly because we eat meat only a handful of times a year), but couldn’t finish the last little bit so we had that to go.
Because it was only mid-afternoon, we went to FACT, as I’ve been wanting to watch more of the Sharon Lockhart video that’s part of the Liverpool Biennial. I only got to watch a bit of it a couple of weeks ago — that’s completely expected when you attempt to watch a video with two kids in tow (or even one, for that matter). I figure that if I go a couple more times, I’ll be able to watch the entire video by the time the exhibition closes at the end of October. Raspberry, who usually jumps off the steps on the second floor, decided to climb and jump off the steps on the other side of the bannister on the first floor instead. It reminded me of the time I was younger than Raspberry, and I climbed up the other side of an escalator at a mall and had to be rescued because the escalator’s rail kept going and I couldn’t. Yeah. But I digress. Usually I’m quite happy to have her exhaust herself running and jumping all over FACT, but we needed to pick up groceries for dinner, so our time there was cut short. Besides, after our small adventure to Birkenhead, I was ready to head home anyway.
Dawn Yow 