The Time Bubble

Because of the relocation of the school, we have a longer Christmas holiday than usual with several extra days tagged on to the beginning and the end. Fortunately the weather has been kind so with the mercury nudging up towards the mid teens in recent days we've not had to be confined in the house as can happen in the winter months. Just as well really as there's over a week until Christmas still and I do like to get out and about when the weather allows - just as we did in October when we made it on to the beach at Skegness. Today Claire was working and I didn't want to be cooped up at home all day so we decided to go to Towcester for a day out, one of the places we've been considering moving to if we don't make it up to Louth or can't get a decent place near the new school. We got there late morning and went for a walk up the Bury Mount which is the remains of an ancient castle, now just effectively a big green hill. You can wind your way round this read...

Yesterday, Claire & I walked up to the new Kingsmere estate to see the brand new school. It has been built to accommodate children from the new estate and to replace the 150 year old St Edburg's site, the oldest school in Bicester. A random picture of some houses on Kingsmere (I couldn't find a picture of the new school). As long term readers will recall, I was an opponent of the original plans to do this. Not only from the selfish point of view that the old school was practically on our doorstep and the new one is half an hour's walk away, but from a traditionalist point of view too. The thought of the lovely old building , which so many generations of Bicester children had passed through being sold off to become offices or something filled me with sadness. We've known this was coming for a long time and it's been a major influence on our long term plan to move home, but here we are, still here deliberating about where we are going to live and the new...

I tend to look forward to the Easter school holidays more than most of the others because they fall at the beginning of spring. After months of cold and darkness, suddenly the weather is getting better again (in theory), the days are longer and there's suddenly lots of places we can go and things to do. Since New Year, I've been more or less sat at my desk 24/7 writing my latest novel which came out in March. The kids have been at school every week except the half-term break in February and there's not a lot going on at that time of year. So, here we are in the Easter holidays and I'm determined to shake off the chains of winter hibernation and get out there and do things. The children are getting older now which increases the range of things we can do. There are all sorts of days out we can now have, however, like most families there are budgetary limitations. Much as I'd love to spend all our days out at theme parks, all of those things cost money. There are p...

What have Towcester and Perth got in common? Answer - they are both towns that are home to National Hunt racecourses - one here just 20 minutes drive from Bicester and the other up in bonny Scotland. Towcester - on a sunny and somewhat warmer day than we had For the non-converts to the glorious game, National Hunt is the name given to jump racing here in the UK, just in case anyone starts accusing me of killing foxes. Ha ha - bet you thought I was talking about the other Perth, in Australia, well I will get on to that in a bit. First - Towcester - UK. A nice little town, straight up the A43. And what makes Towcester's racecourse different to all the others in the UK - simple. For most meetings (except very big ones on Boxing Day and Easter Monday) - it is free to get in! Get that - a free day out? Compare that to the cost of getting in to other racecourses - £25 last time I went to Cheltenham. And not to mention other sporting things you might like to do - £25 is the g...