sailing takes me away . . . .

despite the calendar, i am a bit behind on posting since we moved to our permanent flat & i was caught up in my own personal tetris game AKA packing up 4 people.

at the end of the first week here, jet lag was starting to set in & kids were beginning to turn on each other. did i mention i was tired too?

it's friday, typically a day of celebration for most but to us, signaled the end of what seemed to be a colossally long week. finally. dignan & gemma were tired too and just wanted to sit around the flat but the flat was so small that they were literally on top of each other so a fight would break out & need refereeing like every 30 seconds.

like donna summer so aptly put it, enough is enough.

we donned shoes & hoodies & headed to the harbor - which is like 500 feet from our flat. i prayed that the serenity of watching boats, ferries, & kayaks would have a calming effect on my 2 cranky children & allow me a few moments of silence &\as well as a well deserved break from playing ref.

walking in the fresh air & letting kids run amuck gave digs & gemma a chance to blow off some steam & get out of each faces. i get a call from joe on my phone, who has a little down time because of computer issues at work & he wants to know what we are doing.

at that moment, i spy a funny little boat that is going back & forth between the 2 sides of the river, piloted by a young lady my kids will later dub "pirate girl". this is the ferry, (if you can indeed call it that as it is sooooooooooooo small) that joe takes to aardman every morning. this tiny river worthy ferry it is captained by some salty characters whose job it is to carry passengers back & forth between the 2 sides of the harbor.

and it costs all of 60 pence.

that's right folks, just under a buck twenty.

we have a bona fide amusement park ride right here not 500 feet from our front door & it's a whole 60p. what took me so long to discover this little gem of distraction? i break out the 60p & usher the kids on board. diggy is supa skeptical about the safety of this craft & even now asks me about the bright orange life preservers that adorn the sides of the ferry. we make it across, no sweat where we meet up with joe who has come out to meet us for a quick hello.

as mentioned, this ferry is captained by some interesting sea folk. the gentleman who has taken us across several times since that initial trek, is one smooth sailor. the ferry has this little square hook that attaches to a pole at the end of the dock. said gentleman can tap & attach in one fell swoop. all net, every time. another ferry captain, this one a lovely young lady who g & d have dubbed "pirate girl", is one who gemma just cannot take her eyes off of. pirate girl is an interesting study in fashion and if i can somehow snap her pic inconspicuously, i will do so & post it here. she literally dresses like a pirate girl but not because her job requires it, but because i honestly think this is her preferred style of dress. she has a uniform, if you will that does not vary from day to day. here's a typical breakdown of her daily pirate uniform:
- skinny jeans (bless her, she is tiny-tiny & looks fabulous in these)
- long sleeve appropriately torn up shirt
- also appropriately ripped up short sleeve t-shirt, a tad bigger, over the long sleever.
- a natty, buttonless long sleeve cardie. usually worn askew, off one shoulder.
- a pair of oxblood doc martens that were probably around when i was in high school since the zipper function has long expired. pirate girl holds the shoes together using a yellow ribbon tied gladiator fashion up, around & over said doc martens.
she plays her little iPod whilst driving, listening to the likes of billy bragg & patsy cline on any given trip.

after this little refresher & some lunch back at the flat, i decide to head back out to park street, get the skinny on my blackberry & why it won't get internet, despite the salesguy's promise that it would.

the weather here has been unquestionably warm since our arrival & luckily, i packed us all some short sleeved tees. water, snacks, camera, & stroller & we are out the door some 45 minutes after i decided that this was going to be our afternoon.

the peanuts have decided to go on strike with the whole walking thing & again, we are lucky that we thought to bring one stroller. after convincing both children that they will each get a ride in the stroller - one there, one back, we set off for the carphone warehouse & if my luck holds, the sainsburys.

after walking about halfway there, gemma feigns tiredness so we stop at starbuck's for a rest & a little drink. plus they have free wi-fi, so i can check the status of my blackberry browser since i get no internet love back at the flat.

after discovering that the english don't offer any chilled teas in their version of our beloved starbucks, i decide on a mango passionfruit concoction that hopefully will suffice until i can get home & brew up some green tea myself. when i bring it back to the table & my waiting children, gemma promptly asks "what is that?". and rightly so. my girl knows me & knows that my drink of the day is always always, green tea sweetened. thank the heavens above i had the sense to get one before we boarded our plane.

not at all swayed by my argument that this new drink is even better than the usual green tea, gemma looks around and says "hmmm. that's strange. it looks like the starbucks back home. so why don't they have green tea? are they crazy?"

exactly, my girl. exactly.

she also points out that everyone has an english accent. that lady over there. that guy. the girls walking by. the lady who took our drink order. everyone. not much gets past this little girl, i tell you.

so drink, drank. brownie treat consumed, we hit the road again & set off for the carphone warehouse.

no love at the carphone warehouse. a different saleguy says that blackberrys are not very compatible with overseas internet & checks my settings anyways to see if there is anything he can do. nope. nada. zip. zero.

very disappointing indeed.

the kids are distracted, so we duck across the street to the sainsburys to get the fixins to make bangers & mash for that night's dinner. it turns out to be a disastrous - they touch everything in sight, hit each nonstop in the cart & yell. yes, shoppers, i have THOSE kids. i hurry them the heck out of there lest i am commited to memory by sainsbury staff & fellow shoppers & forbidden to shop there for the remainder of our stay here.

gemma falls asleep & dignan stomps his feet all the way home.

what time will joe be home again?