Medieval times and one good day at school

Because we had a medieval wedding (in my opinion taking a look at the page on the link is worth the effort), all things medieval have a special appeal to Marie and me. So, when we saw signs advertising a Medieval Fayre at a nearby village, we were both intrigued, and determined that we would have to attend.

That was 3 years ago. Due to its success, the event has become an annual event, but Marie has never felt able to attend.

The Fayre took place last weekend. Marie decided to go to her parents' house alone - by which I mean that she decided to leave the children and me behind. She didn't travel by herself, of course - her father adopted the role of chauffeur for the weekend. So the children and I decided to go and see what was on offer.

The event, held in the grounds of the magnificent Cothelstone Manor, was quite entertaining. The main attraction was the fighting and jousting team. They provided excellent theatre with their medieval fighting re-enactments and jousting sessions. For the latter they used some very well trained horses. Click below to get a utube sample of the action (not my work).

There was also climbing (that's Joseph at the top of that climbing wall), shield painting, archery, a medieval street and encampment, a falconry display, beer and cider tents, tea and cake tents, crafts, food, the ubiquitous bouncy castles and more.

Joseph and Orla joined in many of the activities, and below they are taking part in the pre-jousting parade.



The perfect weather and spectacular setting contributed to a very enjoyable day.

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Marie's agoraphobia remains little changed over the last couple of weeks. She has reached a comfortable (for her) plateau.

However, a week ago, she did make the effort to visit Orla's classroom. Now she's in "the big school" she's very proud of her classroom. It was wonderful to see the joy on Orla's face as she was presenting her mum to he teachers and classroom assistants.

Children, dogs & beaches

I love living near the coast. As do the children. Here's why...

During the past week, the children and I visited three different beaches. They're all within a couple of miles from our home. None of them are signposted or accessible by car; so the vast majority of tourists holidaying in the area don't even know they exist.

Firstly, we have the 20m waterfall beach. The waterfall flow depends on the weather. The kids love to stand underneath it, usually naked, but I forgot to bring towels on the day we visited here.

Then we have the surfing beach. Only good on windy days - not a very frequent occurrence here. I haven't tried surfing yet, but if Joseph or Orla were to want to have a go, then I'd join them.

Dogs love our sparsely populated beaches too. Collette's dogs are boarding with us while she's off to Turkey (with big sister Carla and their husbands). Dog lovers might enjoy the video clip. Here the dogs are frolicking in and out of the waves. Btw, there's a lot of wind noise on the video.

Sadly, Marie has never seen these beaches since they are inaccessible to her. But maybe one day...

Agoraphobia lessening?

It's been a tough couple of months.

Marie has mostly been very anxious or depressed or sick or any combination of those three. I have been primary carer to our two children during the school holidays, while coping with the day-to-day running of my business at a peak trading time, dealing with the negotiations and logistics in the acquisition of another business and trying to solve complicated legal issues around the purchase of a small, neglected property. As if all that wasn't enough, we hosted two pairs of Austrian students attending an English language summer school.

I'm exhausted.

But there were lots of good times too. Happy family times. Lots of love from my little children and amazing support from my three older girls. Incredible assistance from my staff. I'm a lucky man.

And...

.......................just this week...

...Marie started to get out and about again, driving her car, walking short distances...

The worst is over, school starts again next week, Marie's rising from depression and we're all looking forward to better times.

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We had pretty good weather this summer, so we spent as much time outdoors as I could manage. Here we were sharing an al fresco tea with the first pair of Austrian students. Soon afterwards, they were playing football - quite well! - with Joseph, Orla and me. Marie took the photo.

Even wet days didn't dampen our enthusiasm for the outdoor life - as long as it was warm. We even had a family party and barbeque on a showery afternoon. It was a brilliant afternoon for all!

We visited Lilstock Beach Hut several times. There's a blog about it at...

http://lilstockbeachhut.blogspot.com/

where one can learn more about this.

I took the Austrian students here and they were fascinated!

Beautiful, warm, sunny evenings encourage one to stay at the beach until sunset. The Austrian students loved it!

Orla and her niece Elisha have birthdays in July only 13 days apart. It was logical, since Jenna, her husband and Elisha were on a very rare (and very enjoyable) visit to us in July, to have a combined birthday party. It proved to be a good decision!