I like Hammocks.

[v-ness]

Think you're animations look brilliant!!!

I wouldnt have a clue how to do that

Keep up the good work :You_Rock_

And the idea with the wallpaper- yearplanner and the diaries is ingenious. What a lovely thing to have for the kids when they're older.

Cheers
Ness

 

[No Idea]

Thank you V-Ness

The secret to getting the kids to do their diearies is to do yours with them in a cafe somewhere over lunch.

Because you are doing it, they see it as something they should do.

The diaries contain pics of their adventures, tickets to films, their chool reports (which are worth a lego car each if they are good),

I also expect a line of writing a day during holidays, which stops their handwriting deteriorating so much on the breaks.

On pages where nothing has happened, I have a How to draw cartoons book and a how to draw anything book, which they copy.

Their sketching is pretty good after so many years.

The diaries go back to 2004 on my bookshelf.

This was the last evening of their summer hol this year - Hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows with bowls of chips while doing our diaries

First day back to school...

Teacher asks

"Whad did you do during the holidays?"

"Heres my diary! I did this look! and this and this and we went there and dad crashed......"

 

[Highbinder]

That is awesome No Idea! Such a good idea (), I'll try and remember that one for when I (maybe?) have kids

 

[No Idea]

They kept saying they didnt want to go out on the boat......

Irritating as I wanted to go hammocking and the other side is much nicer...

No Trains, no screaming kids - except mine, no traffic, could do with a gun for the noisy pigging birds - especially in the bird sanctuary..

The boat is big.

Its 18 ft long and it was origionally designed to have a crew of 3...

The sails on it are huge and the wind tries very hard to blow it over.

The boat has wires hung from the top of the mast so you can hang the crew on them to get their weight off over the side to help stop it tipping over.

 

[No Idea]

He spent a lot of time practicing with it...

 

[No Idea]

Not sure I really agree with the Idea of hanging off the side of a perfectly dry - ish boat, over the water...

 

[No Idea]

This is called trapeezing.

 

[No Idea]

Still....

So long as I dont have to do it, and they actually want to....

 

[No Idea]

However, they didnt want to...

but I did.

 

[No Idea]

Of course,

I spent some time carefully considering my options

 

[No Idea]

....and decided that I would go sail it on my own.

I weigh as much as a crew of three and, lets face it many people have sailed boats all the way around the world single handed.

It really cant be that difficult.

er......

Have you ever tried to get a 40 stone boat off a trailer on a wet slipway all on your own?

I suppose I should have reconsidered at this point.

Still....

I have my towering optimisim and ignorance to fall back on, so Im sure nothing can go wrong.....

 

[No Idea]

Do you remember that if the sails are pulled in too far and the wind hits them too hard it tips the boat over....

Thats why you dont put the sails up and tie them in tight before you try to get the boat off the trailer.

There wasnt much wind....

But it seems there was enough.

 

[No Idea]

I decided I was going to sail up the harbour and get some tea in the park I hammock in, then cross over and go hammocking.

er.....

The wind was blowing the wrong way.

So was the tide.

I sort of changed plans as I went past the chain ferry out into the English Channel.

er.....

Backwards.

 

[No Idea]

I had squirted some more bath sealer around the bailer holes in the bottom of the boat, and for the first time ever, it wasnt leaking.

I had my sawn off 6pint milk bottle tied on just in case I needed to bail, furiously.

The waves were about 3ft tall and quite long.

I was trundling along happily.

I got all the way to Bournemouth pier, before I decided to try getting back in.

 

[No Idea]

Hi Highbinder

Sorry I missed your post.

Wait till you have kids?

NO!

Start now!

As an adult, I cant remember what I was doing last week.

With my diaries, I have all the memories of all the good stuff whenever I need it.

The planning at chrismas is something I so much wished I had started to do as a kid.

I would have achieved soooo much more in my younger life.

Dont leave it, start from this xmas.

Its one of those things you will never regret.

 

[No Idea]

Having thought about it,

If any of you are interested, get yourselves and your kids diaries and a roll of wallpaper backing paper and some post its when you are out and about, and when we do our planning at the end of the year, I will post what we do with some pics.

Obviously, some of our planning is private, but we can share most of it.

 

[dave53]

hi no idea i am only on page 10 i am aching from laughing my daughters looking at me strangely as i sit here with my headphones on music playing and laughing my head off regards dave

 

[No Idea]

Hi Dave

Pleased to share happiness and laughter as it makes the world a nicer place

 

[No Idea]

Oh dear....

There was this party last night.....

Oh dear.....

Think Im going to have to go nail the door shut and go find my hammock for a few hours....

No headache, aching feet, rib is aching from laughing and sleeping on it, need sleep as I didnt curl up till 4.30am.

THe kids got me at 8am.....

Might see if I can focus long enough to share a few more pics first though....

 

[No Idea]

It was lovely out here.

That blob on the horizon is the Isle of Wight.

You know in those blue air animations I made, the wind was sort of sliding across the sails to move the boat along,

If you look at this pic, the front sail on the boat has two bits of string hanging down on each side to help you see whatthe wind is doing around the sail.

In this pic, the wind is just hitting it, so the strings, or tell tales are just hanging. If I was sailing it properly, they would be pointing back.

Not admitting Im doing it all wrong though.