Norwich Castle

On Friday Misha was at work and I took the boys to Norwich castle. I was very grateful for the extra pair of hands provided by Melanie, my cousin's daughter, who's also still on school holidays.
Here's Gregor posing below the castle, which dominates the skyline of Norwich.

Inside the keep and Alastair proved to be a reluctant king. He sat on his throne, wore the gown but refused to put on the crown!

It's a great place to visit because it's not very large so the kids get a good sense of the space. We didn't visit the dungeons or the battlements - both are parts of special tours - which was just as well since there was plenty of stuff to keep them occupied. Gregor and I particularly liked the exhibit showing how the castle was built with no diggers.

There were examples of wooden scaffolding, levers and pulleys and a model design of the journey to transport the Caen stone to Norwich by boat.

You had to load the little stone blocks on and off the boats, and we liked that it all came in at the port of Great Yarmouth and then taken upriver to Norwich.

Once delivered you then had to build the castle and if you ran out of stone you had to go back for more. Alastair liked the spiral staircase and the series of passages and chambers.

He managed the steps really well and is getting quite ambitious with his climbing nowadays. He doesn't always have to hold on to something and is less likely to ask for help, something which Meli intuitively understood.

Once done with the keep we discovered some of the other galleries and exhibits on show at the castle museum. The natural history section looked a bit tired generally but Alastair didn't mind.

I soon realised you'd need at least another day just for the art galleries. There are wonderful paintings by artists of the Norwich School, some of which we saw briefly.

Gregor was spoilt by the array of paintings of ships in storms.

We'll leave the porcelain and silver and, apparently the largest teapot collection in the world, for another day. We met Auntie Judy for lunch and here she is kissing the boys goodbye and packing them off with a special halloween chocolate.

On the bus ride back to the train station Alastair couldn't contain his glee when the brakes creaked noisily to a stop every 30 seconds; Norwich is full of traffic lights.

Once back on the train for the short journey home the boys tucked into their chocolate cats with silent delight.

When I asked them what they liked best about the castle, Alastair said the train and Gregor the bus!

Give them a box...

After all the excitement of the past week Alastair and Gregor were just as gleeful about the aftermath. Here they were delighting in playing with an old box that was about to be chucked out.

Jack in the box. The funny thing is, although we never really call them twins and forget they are most of the time, sometimes when they are having fun like this their expressions and mannerisms are so similar.

I don't know if they'll ever feel the other one's aches and pains

But good moods usually rub off on one another in a nice way.

The weather continued to be kind and Gregor wanted to see a windmill so we took a trip to my favourite Thorpeness. My Grandma's house was the one to the left with blue window frames.

The windmill was all closed up, unfortunately, and the sails were all gone. But here's a good view from the golf club of the windmill and the wonderful House in the Clouds.

It was one of those crisp and bright autumn afternoons where the cold and damp is racing to get you once the sun goes down lest you hang around too long.

Born 1958, not North Korea

No sooner than the paint was dry on the walls than we opened the doors and windows for a little get-together to celebrate Misha's 50th (and actually our 90th, since I will be part of the 40-somethings club very soon....eek!)
Logistically, it all worked out quite smoothly and everyone pitched in perfectly to help with the effort. Roman has been seen on this blog before,

but for Zuzana its a first on our turf. We first met at Dana and Brian's wedding in Vysehrad in autumn 1992. She remembers me but all I remember were the colours of the leaves and the army of grinning Irish relatives bigging up the side for Brian. And millions of kids.

Before long I was teaching at the same language school as them all (not the Irish relatives) and have been firm friends with Zuzana ever since.

On Friday morning we went with the boys to the market while Misha got Roman shifting furniture and sorting out the important stuff - beer, ice. At Stansted meanwhile, Barbara and John were picking up Bulov (Misha's big son) who was arriving with his girlfriend, Martina. After lunch they all went off to Duxford war museum for the afternoon, which is on their doorstep, and would make their way to us the following day.

Later that evening the Lowestoft posse set about trying to get a bit done in advance. Ha! Here's me about to turn Silly and Billy the lobsters - as Gregor had named them - pink!

Ooh, come on now, just a quick wash around the pincers.

There we are, hope it's not too salty for you.

Sshh, what's all the screaming about, it's not that hot!

A few hours sleep later, and according to schedule, Barbara, John, Bulov and Martina arrived and Misha officially felt 50!

First the boys were treated to some early Christmas presents. To begin with Alastair was a little apprehensive about his chainsaw(-cum hedgecutter-cum strimmer), but we soon realised that he just needed a little time to make its acquaintance properly.

And once Gregor had showed him its true potential with daddy's vines (check Misha nervously peering out the window) he couldn't put it down (and even had a Bosch imprint on his cheek the following morning!) Then the party started.

Actually, it was all very well behaved. And the timing was more respected than at our 70th, 10 years ago.

There were a few nervous moments with Silly and Billy (which for me seemed like hours since I was the one with no foresight as to how to serve the damn things, just cook 'em), so if someone has managed to document it then you'll see what I mean. But suffice to say Misha displayed a previously hidden talent for cracking them open - and didn't need the hammer and barely used the nutcrackers - but you have to agree the colour is divine!
And from there it progressed.
Without photos it's difficult to convey the rest;

We walked along the coast to the Jolly Sailors. Misha tidied up and moved events to the next room. He even put on a jacket and tie for the venison steeped in juniper and wine. Alastair came down, whirring and sawing, for second dinner, happy and yawning. When time was nigh, Barbara and John said goodbye, and hopped next door to their B&B, to their palatial, sea-view Mozart suite. We all breakfasted well next day. Barbara and John went on their way, via Snape, while Roman caught his train. In Norwich having dropped him off, we visited the cathedral then back for Borscht.

On the Monday we hit the beach before the off.

For a few pics with Bulov and the girls.

Martina's first encounter with the cold North Sea.

We'll get them eating fish yet. You'll see.

Still 49

The day began at 1am with a glass of champagne while we decorated.

Then the boys excitedly presented daddy with their cards and pictures they'd made.

And I brought him breakfast in bed!

DIY

We're having a few rooms skimmed and decorated in our house. The previous owners - identical twins who had their own language that noone else understood when they were young girls - put their stamp on the house, which we are now in a position to change, after two and a half years. Incidentally, I see Rosie and Wanda every day since their boys go to the same school as ours.

This is Andy the Plasterer, doing the dining room. Dean, his partner, rushed out of the room as soon as he saw me with the camera.

Misha stripping the skirting board in our bedroom of the dreary brown gloss paint that adorned almost all that is wooden. We've stepped up the pace a bit in the last few weeks and we've both been working flat out to get rid of the brown. Misha's been coming home from work at 9.30 at night and working on the house till the early hours.

We've a deadline, you see. But this little chap is innocently oblivious to all our concerns. He's just proud he does the "green man" byself nowadays.....

And no stroll down London Road South is complete without a long old browse in the window of the model shop. Trains are our latest fad for Alastair. He's just mastered putting the little Brio trains onto the track and delights in seeing them roll down the hill.

Gregor is very into his bike. Assiduous readers will note that he can ride his bike "with just two wheels"! He still feels the need to stop random people in the street and announce this fact. But not to confuse, I have jumped about 3 months and will update the last quarter as I go, but for now, this is aktuel. Here we are outside B&Q.

Hockey

Last weekend we took a break from decorating and went to watch my nephew Will play hockey against a local team. He's pretty serious about it and this was a men's team. He's 14.

Alastair kept a low profile - wasn't sure about it all, whereas Gregor wanted to be indulged at every turn.

Which Will was happy to do.

One of the down sides of being a goalie is the amount of kit you have to lug around but Gregor soon turned this to his advantage. Desperate to get his hands on that mask again.

I took Will back to Ipswich later that day and us and his sister Allie went to the theatre that evening to see Birmingham Rep's version of At the Gates of Gaza, about West Indian soldiers during the first World War. While he was getting showered Alastair and I popped round to see Ann and Colin, our neighbours who have opened a B&B in the house where Benjamin Britten was born.

Alastair was trying to persuade Ann that he needed the spade indoors.

It's a miracle!

Today, for the first time, Alastair said "Mama".