Author: seasidesparkles

Today was one of those impromptu days which ends up just perfectly.  Last week, I was thinking of an old friend who recently lost her Dad after a long illness.  Sadly these days, we are no longer living around the corner from each other and it is now more than a 100 mile difference between our homes, yet I really wanted to see her and let her know I was thinking of her.   So, I typed out a quick email along the lines of I know its unlikely and really short notice but do you fancy meeting up during the holidays  and amazingly today we managed it.  It was wonderful to see her and her two boys, how did us teenage girls manage to mature into mothers?  In the nicest possible way, thirty years later we still seem to have the same friendship we shared as teenagers, no matter how much time has passed I feel relaxed and myself in her company.

We chose a venue half way for both of us, a fantastic motor museum and after the initial shyness and hesitation the children got on brilliantly and played happily whilst we were able to catch up.  The museum was one of the best I have visited with the children, there were lots of activities for them to try, brass rubbings of the cars, motor bikes and cars to sit in, spray painting a mini and an Easter bunny hunt which meant they had to really carefully look around the exhibits.  There was also a really impressive outdoor play area and with the perfect weather today was one of those really happy days.

Sadly we don’t have a permanent ice rink in our neighbouring towns and cities, but one of the newer Christmas traditions has seen a rise in temporary rinks to allow ice skating over the festive season.  Whilst most of these are outside and located near Christmas markets, the one local to us is inside at a large conference centre and rather than closing at the New Year, remains open until the end of the February half term holiday.  This gave us an ideal opportunity today to introduce the children to ice skating in a quieter session.  I love ice skating, from my childhood memories of Torvill and Dean dancing the Bolero to the best  student job I ever had as a receptionist at our now demolished ice rink, ice skating has always seemed a special activity.  Today’s visit to the ice rink only emphasised my delight for the sport.  The hall with the rink has been decorated beautifully, blue lights sparkle against the snow white ice and a great play list only enhances the experience.  The little ones took their first tentative steps in the mini rink and supported ably by the penguins (such cool names including Barry and Mark) they were soon whizzing around the ice, I think Daddy could have done with a penguin too as he clung to the side, adults don’t have the fearlessness that young children possess.   Once our confidence and skills grew we progressed to the main rink, which was lovely to skate around.  Our session was for an hour and I was so impressed by the children’s enthusiasm and interest in ice skating, nobody noticed the time and we were all a little sad to come off,  full of ideas of what we would try next time.

After the New Year’s Eve revellers have all returned home, January is a ghostly month in our town.  Many shops and businesses shut for the month or only open a few days a week or with much reduced hours.  It is essential to plan shopping for daylight hours in January!  The town is full of road closures too as the authorities choose our quietest month for essential works. It is a quiet and eerie month.  However among all the hush and stillness, the local drama company put on the annual pantomime which provides much needed laughter and sparkle.  This afternoon, Little Miss and I went to the pantomime which this year is Cinderella.  It is amazing how a small town like ours can put on such a professional and quality show purely from talented volunteers.  It is not simply the actors who are talented, the scenery, lights, sound, costumes were all stunning, Cinderella’s carriage was so breathtakingly beautiful and it was clear to see how much work had gone into it, yet it was only on stage for minutes.  The level of attention to detail was so impressive in all areas of the show.  The play itself was excellent, a traditional pantomime full of humour, songs, witty asides and lots of audience participation and a perfect way to spend a Winter’s afternoon at the theatre.  I hope that as the children get older they will participate in some way to the richness of our community life, clubs, societies and activities are so integral to our town.