30th and 31st August

I can't believe that yet another weekend is here, we just seem to have started the week when it is gone in a flash and we are busy planning another outing. My mom has been here a month already and is really settling into life with us, although I think sometimes when Nicholas is doing his best impression of a horror child and screaming his head off she wishes she was safely back at 20 Nelson Road with Dad, Boompa, Hobbs and the dogs (lol)......my dad has been absolutely wonderful about mom staying so long and it is now confirmed that she will only return to SA after Nicholas has completed all his tests and is 2 months old which will be on 28th

September 2008, so I am a very lucky girl.

Saturday dawned to bright blue skies and warm weather and we quickly decided that an out door outing was in order.....having consulted the "ABC" (a magazine printed here twice a year including absolutely everything to do with children and handed out free of charge), we settled on Amberley Working Museum in Amberley about 50 minutes drive from us on the way to Arundel.

Amberley working museum is an open air museum situated on 36 acres and is dedicated to the industrial heritage of South East England with a special interest in communications and transport (right up Simon's alley as you can imagine). The museum is sited in a former chalk quarry where the chalk was converted into lime for use in cement and remaining on site are several kilns, including a De Witt set, and associated buildings including offices, bagging shed and locomotive shed. Also to be seen is the quarry tunnel (which appeared as Mainstrike Mine in the James Bond film A View to a Kill).

On arriving in Amberley we discovered that the museum was also hosting a food and drink festival so while Simon and the kids explored some of the exhibits, Mom and I took a gentle stroll around the food stalls tasting the wares.....came home with a bottle of delicious lemon curd, a bottle of rhubarb and ginger jam and a bottle of raspberry and walnut salad dressing, all home made and to die for. I also tasted a piece of Rhubarb and Ginger cake and let me tell you it was a life changing moment......carrot cake has absolutely nothing on this experience....this was right up there with Bramble Jam.

The highlights of the day for Megan and Phillip were learning Morse code and being able to send a message for which they were both awarded a certificate for their efforts, and being allowed to spend some time playing with the potters clay and creating masterpieces for the garden. Mom just enjoyed being out doors in the sun and kept mentioning how civilized everything was....she is becoming more British everyday, although she admits to missing SA every now and again, especially when she smells lamb chops cooking or thinks about her comfy bed (she is sleeping on the bottom bunk of Megan's bed at the moment).

After 6 hours at the museum, we finally (and the children and Simon very reluctantly) decided it was time for home and as usual the trip through the beautiful country side on our way home made the perfect ending to another wonderful day.

Sunday dawned cold and overcast and apart from a little bit of housekeeping, was spent in doors cuddled under warm blankets.