Thursday, June 15, 2017

to sit with elders of the gentle race

hello there


one of those updates for friends and family really, but as it is on the web all are welcome. just so long as you are not one of those weirdo types, look you see, to be sure.

in recent times James has been away on a camp sort of thing with school, or if you like one of them school camp sort of things. they are tremendous fun, and perhaps some of my musings which follow shall recall mine own experiences. but that's not the point of this post.

with James being away we had William home alone. in order to keep him entertained, for we knew he would miss his brother, i thought it might be fun to create a sort of diary thing for him to keep. something to showcase all the wonders, excitement and adventure which he got up to whilst his brother was away.

he agreed with this wholeheartedly. and so i created the images whilst he wrote the story. and, for those of you with an interest in this, here you go.



yes, yes, i know i should encourage William to spell words correctly. but i do so dearly love his mostly phonetic spelling of words he is unsure of, such as "planit" above. besides, he scores 10 out of 10 in spelling tests as and when required by formal education; or close enough.

i suppose this sort of thing might be useful for some of you to consider doing, to be sure, if you are looking at how to keep one child busy and happy whilst their sibling/s is/are away. whilst i doubt this would be much effort with all that there "photoshop" stuff i did this quasi "old school", using scissors, a printer and a scanner.



my own times away on school camp, or if you like camp with school? i went all over the place, really. the earliest i can remember is some sort of "outback" thing in Australia, i think Queensland. it was ace. i can recall seeing a kangaroo and a koala in their natural environment. also, the ostensible "school bully" (although he was a decent lad and no trouble) woke up the camp crying one night, scared senseless as a snake had got into his tent. it was the ostensible "school nerd" who went in, picked it up and sent it on its merry way. a game changer of an event, most probably.

but, yes, you are more interested in the splendid adventure diary than my memories, so here we go with another page.



i don't think my school trips around Europe count or otherwise constitute as "camp" for we stayed in a variety of hotels, hostels and so forth. most were splendid. one impromptu stay, however - i think it was Belgium, perhaps Luxembourg - saw us stay somewhere what made tents seem far preferable.

a brief break from William's diary now for you so as you may see what James returned with from his school camp / camp with school.



the children going away were allowed to take a set amount of money with them for the tuck shop. i, as i suspect other parents would have, gave him a bit more and made the wildly optimistic request that he "try not to spend all of it". when he returned and i requested from him the change, i was presented with 12p in real money and the above items. with the above items being 2 stamps and an unwritten post card. he informed me that he used the change to get these instead of giving me the money, as he "thought that i might like them".

back, then, to William's adventures. as you can see, though, the middle two pages of his diary got a little bit repetitive.



camps away with school that were actual camps? i don't think they count as we stayed in a most splendid manor, but the fondest memories i have are of the Lake District. amazing times were had. memories were forged that will remain with me forever. also, i bought one of my Motorhead lps on the of the trips; Orgasmatron unless i am mistaken. actually could be and it might have been Rock And Roll. i think Mum & Dad might have got me Orgasmatron for one Christmas.

and so back to the diary, then, as it reaches a thrilling and most splendid conclusion. one filled with opportunity, excitement and adventure.



other than that, whilst of school age and at school me and my mates, or if you like my mates and i, or if you are of such an opinion of me myself and those that would mildly tolerate me, did go off and camp. back gardens, usually, but as we approach college age also off into the woods.

and here we have it, the grand finale of William's diary. well worth scrolling past all the stuff which i have written in between to get to, i think you will find.



and there we have it. i can but hope that this was all as entertaining and fun for you to look at and read as it was for us to make!

more as and when it happens, dear reader. although i suspect next will be the latest episode of random bowie, for those who are of a mind to enjoy such articles.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






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