Friday 2 September 2011

a good GRAND weekend

Well spring is sprung and the spring flowers are beginning to put on a display, but only beginning to. The temperatures are still down there in winter mode - it is almost midday and only 7.5 at the moment. The jonquils have been out for several weeks and continue to put on a show, the trees are bursting into blossom and look lovely, I have a feeling I will miss the best of them while I am on holiday - we have a lot of blossom trees on the grass verges around town and they are beautiful when they come into flower together. I need to get out for a walk and have a look at peoples gardens in the next few days. If only the wind would drop, it's coming off the snow...

Last weekend was a weekend for catching up with all of my gorgeous grandchildren - all those who live in the vicinity anyway. A bit hard to catch up with the two based in Wellington and Japan but it was still a good GRAND weekend. Friday afternoon brought a text, C. wants to go to youth group tonight, can you pick her up please and can she stay the night. So of course I said yes and went in to town to pick her up about 4 in the afternoon. In the car we had a good old chat about what she is doing  and how she is enjoying her first year at secondary school.

  The next morning youngest grandgirl was playing netball and had her prize giving a couple of hours after her game so she arrived with her mother to have lunch with us before they went back up to the hall. I have to confess I haven't been to the games so much this year, what with everything else I've had going on. Sometimes Saturday is the only time to have a lie in.

On Sunday morning it was time to go up the hill and pick up the two youngest grandboys and bring them over to Sunday School. Then to Granma and Grandads for lunch where we are always joined by Great Granma as well. Grandad (the GKB) always makes hot scones for Sunday lunch in the winter and always checks on who is likely to arrive at lunchtime before I leave for church, so that he makes enough There could be up to 10 or 11 if everyone decides to come. Hot scones and 'red' jam, yuuummy. The grandboys get very disappointed if by chance Grandad decides to do something different. Then after lunch we settle down for some family news (?gossip or sharing?), watch some telly and play some games with the two wee boys. Since Granma and Grandad do NOT have any electronic games they have to amuse themselves, either by watching telly, or playing outside when it is warmer, or not so warmer as the case may be. Lately though they have discovered the joys of board games and are really quite enjoying things like snakes and ladders, pick up sticks', old maid and draughts just to name a few. It has been fun teaching them, although old maid is not much fun when you have just turned 5 and somehow you keep ending up with THE card at the end of the game. 

On Sunday afternoon another text, can I give C. a lift home because blah, blah. I have to say I didn't receive this text with a lot of grace but as it turned out it gave me an opportunity to catch up with beautiful eldest grandgirl and her boyfriend. Of course I had to then be introduced to the newest additions to her menagerie - she now has a couple of rats and several mice, having sold her rabbits and guinea pigs. Oh, there are also a couple of cats in the household and previously there has been a young dog who bounced around all over the place and who now lives on a farm!  All of the grandkids have had a variety of pets over the years and eldest grandgirl has also helped with riding for the disabled. So a really good grand weekend it turned out to be.

I see a daffodil from my kitchen window!