Spring Cleaning

Not that I do a thorough spring cleaning each year or anything, but today is one of those days where I just need to get stuff sorted out - miscellaneous drawers, the top of Alex's cupboard, stuff like that. It's always nice when you get that stuff done... And of course, there's the general hoovering. I'm trying to get the kids involved in doing some of the cleaning, but there's a limit to what they can really help with and what just gets annoying. As you can see, I'm procrastinating going back to it...

Easter in Barrow

Along the canal in Barrow over Easter - one of the nice things about Barrow is walking along the canal. Here we are perched on and around one of the lock gate handles (or whatever they are called) - we had just watched and helped someone go through the lock. Barrow is on the Grand Union Canal (Leicester Branch) and has a nice deep lock and a canal basin. The canal side of Barrow is rather pretty, actually...

It's fun, Mummy, but is it really art?

It's a good question, isn't it - and one which I didn't really answer, just something neutral along the lines of there are a lot of different kinds of art, which are interesting or important for different reasons...

Yesterday I took the girls to the Tate Modern, which is in the most fabulous building, an old power station. The bulding itself is worth a visit. In the main hall, which used to be the turbine hall, they have an installation piece, which changes periodically. At the moment, it's an installation by Rachel Whiteread, which is just the kind of thing that kids like. I know they'll remember it for a long time...

To sleep or not to sleep

The irony of course is that the past three days or so, I've had to drag Alex out of bed to get ready for nursery or the school run. Today, Saturday, he bounces out promptly before 7.30 - how does he know to do that? He's only 3, he's got no concept of days of the week... At least with the other two (and Geoff) still asleep I can have some quiet time on the computer. Tomorrow, though, I'm kicking Geoff out of bed and making him come downstairs while Allie watches telly. (You can't leave him completely unmonitored anymore - he gets into stuff too much).

However, the day looks to be a nice one shaping up - no rain predicted, so we're going to finish sorting out the garden for spring (and the shed) and I've promised Alex to take him out to buy some new sand for the sandpit if we get it all cleared up. He's excited about that, that's for sure. Sand is one of his favourite media.