We went to see our friends in London this weekend and had such a lovely time. Oh, I just love those kids! The youngest one is talking now and he's the most polite, wellspoken 2-year-old I have ever met. I kept expecting one-word-sentences in the form of commands but got: 'can you push me in please', 'excuse me' and 'can you help me please Caroline' (he couldn't climb up the slide himself without some assistance from the rear). He's the sweetest little red-head kid, smiling all the time and coming up to me regularly to show me this and that: 'Caroline, look at this! I made that!', or to have a cuddle.
They've got a climbing frame in the back garden with a soft floor for landing on and all three of the boys are clambering and hanging upside down from it. The little one will chant 'You tan't tat me! You tan't tat me!' (You can't catch me) while standing on the lower rungs. Bless! :) They're all excellent with climbing by the way, their parents trust them to know what they're doing so they've gotten really skilled, knowing they have to depend on themselves.
The middle brother who is five is the rowdy one, feeling he has to be loud and mischievous to gain attention we think. I just grab him whenever he passes by and hug him hard and long while he struggles unconvincingly and curses all girls. We had so much fun making up games with the oldest brother, like rolling chestnuts down the slide into a plastic bag (they make the most satisfying sound rattling in) and doing monkey bar tricks.
They live in one of those typically British houses with a thin facade facing the street, a tiny little front garden behind the fence filled with pots of lavender, ivy and geraniums, a narrow two story house and a small strip of back garden with a tall fence. Airplanes fly past low in the sky, green parakeets shriek in the trees and you hear some sounds of the city although they live in a very quiet corner. I love going to their house, I always feel safe there and I enjoy the city vibes for a while. I would like to live in a house like that sometime and it's one of my favourite things to look at the back gardens of those kind of houses from the train. I didn't bring my camera or I would have taken a picture of the house, but I took some of autumn leaves today instead.
Wonderful story. I love hearing about English houses. Perhaps about all that's lovely in England, we yanks have a "motherland" sort of connection that makes us all a little bit Anglophile inside. Could be that most of our towns are named after your towns, or that we don't have any really old books of our own so we must claim Austen in our common heritage. Anyway, made me smile to hear about happy life in a narrow house.
Posted by: Aidan Laura | Tuesday, 25 September 2007 at 03:36
I love the way you describe the house. Nice photos too :-)
Posted by: Angie | Tuesday, 25 September 2007 at 13:43
Hej syrran! Fasen vad duktig du är! Vet att jag sger det hela tiden men jag är helt faschinerad! Vackert så man kan gråta. Kikar in lite då o då. Härligt updatera sig lite på vad du har för dig. Puss o kram, saknar dig / Carl Henrik
Posted by: Brorsan | Tuesday, 25 September 2007 at 21:55
I love the middle photo of the blue sky and beautiful almost geometric red leaves..
Posted by: Abbey | Monday, 01 October 2007 at 18:30
Thank you Angie and Abbey :)
Hej Carl Henrik!! Tack för att du tittar in, jag blir så glad att höra från dig! Ett brev är på väg ditt håll :) Glad att du tycker om mina foton också! Jag saknar dig med, mycket... Vi ses i jul va? Puss o kram! Caroline
Posted by: caroline | Wednesday, 10 October 2007 at 21:56