Oh weather, what are you doing?  Two weeks ago I posted some pictures of my son galloping across the fields in blazing sunshine.  This week we managed to lose a welly next to a river and when we went back the next day the whole area was flooded.  This didn’t stop us though, and my son went charging through the deep puddles, often paddling up to his waist in water.  At one stage he took a tumble and ended up floating, kicking his legs and staying afloat whilst I helped him back onto his feet.  I was very proud of him because though he did look a bit worried, he had remembered the ‘kick kick kick’ thing that I have been teaching him in the swimming baths, and stayed afloat.  He still didn’t want to go back to the car though so soaking wet from head to toe onwards we went on our welly hunt until the water got a bit too deep, and I insisted on a return to the car, where I stripped him and wrapped him up in my coat for the journey home.

Earlier in the week I’d had some things to take to the tip and decided to explore a bit further afield and ended up on Baddesley Common, which is where I lived when I was born.  I thought i might be able to remember the area – we moved away when i was two – but it all seemed new to me.  It’s all ferns and trees and mud and puddles and slopes to run up and down again.  The dog went belting off through the undergrowth after squirrels and we meandered through the many tracks through the bracken.  It was so quiet, and my country kid got very muddy indeed, which I always take as the measure of a good time had.