Getting ready!!!!

In case you hadn't noticed, the Ashes series starts tonight. Just as snow is falling across northern England too!
I'm going to stay up and watch the build up and the start of the match, it begins at midnight. Quite how late I stay up depends on what's happening before the lunch interval, but I'll have a few beers and some popcorn ready. I suspect Olga will have an early night, her excuse is she's working in London this week at a trade show and has to get up early (I do too!). I don't know why, I'm sure she had a great time when we went to Day 4 of the 5th Test at the Oval in 2005...

Finally found a cottage!

Phew. After nearly a month of searching, I finally found what I was looking for:
Caldbeck self catering holiday cottage: Nuthatch Cottage near Wigton, Cumbria
(and at a good discount too :-) )

Pudsey Day & Curry Night

Firstly - Happy 3rd Birthday to our friend Eve for yesterday, and we're looking forward to the party tomorrow!

Today is Children in Need day, and the nursery has suggested the kids go in wearing fancy dress, or something spotty, for the price of a small donation. Lara actually hasn't got any fancy dress outfit at the moment, at least not one she can fit into, so Olga made a Pudsey top for her:

 

I'll not be able to watch the main TV programme tonight (including the Eastenders / Coronation Street mashup, I hope it'll be on iPlayer!) because we're having the Littlewick Green Cricket Club 2nd XI Annual Curry Night (LGCCSEACN doesn't trip off the tongue, does it?) in Hounslow. By a handy quirk of the Club rules, I won the Batting Averages Trophy (averaging 34.67), and tonight I'll be handing out the Bowling Trophy, and trying to give a rousing speech about how we'll not finish bottom of the league next season... 

It's a nice trophy, I can't keep it, it lives in the pub at The Green, but Lara and I had to pose with it:

Suuuperrrmann!

It happens to all kids at some time, and now Lara has taken to running around with her coat dangling from her head, pretending to be Superman. Not bad since she's never seen the film or comic book - the things they learn at nursery these days....

Writing of nursery, it's Lara's Parent's Evening tonight...

Bucks Little Stars Children's Photography Competition

The local paper round here, the Bucks Free Press, is running a free-to-enter competition that is effectively a kiddies' beauty contest, and we couldn't resist entering Lara. As much as anything else, it was a chance to have some professional photos taken of her for free, and why not enter her in the competition while we were there. The photographer took about 30 photos, and a few days later we had to pick one from the best 6 that they had printed out, and this has been entered in the competition. The kids' photos are in the Bucks Free Press this week, and here she is...

We did buy four of the six best shots, on one of them she looks sooo grown up, we had to look twice to make sure it was really her. It wasn't that she looked 12 years old, but it made me think that that is how she will look when she's 12, it was wierd.
The public can vote by phone or text between the 5th and 12th November, and the top 5 kids in different age groups go through to the final, and the winner in each age group will be chosen by the photographer's company. The winner gets a framed print worth £150.

Not that we'd try to influence the vote, but if you've nothing else to do and 50p burning a hole in your pocket, text LSTARS [space]2266 to 80360 or just call 090 1159 2266 (50p from a BT landline) Surely better than voting for someone on The X Factor or Strictly!!