Last
year we took the plunge, and three guinea pigs joined
the family. James' is called Nibbles, Matthew's is
called Abby, and Bridget's is called Lily. Malcolm
doesn't have "his own" - he just shares
the three of them.
The
boys take great delight in cuddling the little furries,
although from the sound of the squeaking the hugs
may sometimes be just a bit too robust. This does
mean James is keen to venture into the garden more
often, no bad thing.
One
of the great things about the Chilterns is the countryside,
the views and the hills. At the top of Coombe Hill it's
nearly always windy, so a great place for kite flying.
We've acquired a few kites, some with just a single
string, some with two which makes the kite more versatile.
It also means that it's much easier to crash. Both James
and Matthew managed to fly the kite for several seconds
between each crash. It kept us fit, running backwards
and forwards to launch it again.
James
has been learning about electricity at school, so
Malcolm thought it was high time the two of them did
some experiments at home. Actually, he's been itching
to play with gadgets since packing up all the radio
gear and storing it in the loft.
The
local Maplin store still sells 6v batteries with real
screw terminals, light bulbs and batten-type holders.
As well as discovering what conducts electricity and
what doesn't, we made some hydrogen using electrolysis,
collected it in a test tube and set fire to it - pop!
During
our trip to Malcolm's mum's, we all went to a social
evening organised by her church. In a separate hall
from the grown-ups, there were games and activities
for the not-grown-ups. Malcolm attempted to teach Matthew
the finer art of pool, whilst true to form, James drew
all his favourite animals on the balckboard. Can you
see what it is yet?
January
is of course pantomime time, and although we were
not involved in the Prestwood
Theatre Club panto directly this year, we all
went to the second matinee performance, together with
one of Matthew's friends from nursery and his parents.
As
usual it was a real hoot, with plenty of audience
participation right from the start, and a few lost
characters (like Dopey and Shrek). James complained
that the principal boy was played by a girl and not
a fox, or even a boy. Ah, the traditions of panto
are so lost on the young of today.....
