Busy week, but probably not a whole lot noteworthy.
Liam has been tagging around with mum a lot this week for work, which is making him kind of bored and grouchy… and mum kind of exhausted and unproductive. Add to the mix the fact that we’re trying to get him earlier to bed, earlier to rise before school starts, and we’ve been dealing with a whole lot of unprecedented, uncontrollable temper tantrums. On both parts, I think… hopefully this will pass soon enough, we are seeing some improvements, but we’ve had to take a heartlessly hard stand against it.
We’ve suddenly realized that school starts just around the corner… it always seemed to be a safe few weeks away, but in fact, in only 8 days he’ll be starting a whole new adventure. 8 days. My anxiety dreams have started already.
Speaking of dreams… one significant improvement in the Ferguson house. We’ve got a new bed. Our bed (a double) was too small and too soft for us anyway, and Liam has developed a adorable/annoying habit of coming to our bed in the middle of the night. Every night. So there’s definitely been not enough place for 3 of us, and mum and dad have ended up perched at the side of the bed while King Liam snoozes away until the sun comes up. But that extra 20 cm of width (queen size, hurrah!), plus the firmness, is EXACTLY what we needed. In fact, he’s in there now. Tiptoed in when he thought I wasn’t paying attention, and fell asleep on my side of the bed. Funny monkey!!! I’ll carry him back to his bed shortly… but he’ll be back in the wee hours!!
The other improvement in our house is that daddy installed a new bathroom cabinet (the old one fell of the wall and smashed into pieces), complete with the wiring for the lights. It was a bit complicated, but we’re pretty proud of his handiwork, and must look at other things for him to do!!!
Yesterday was a complete ‘home’ day… getting the new bed, getting rid of the old bed, 9 loads of laundry, baked banana bread… and I’m sure it was a bit boring for Liam. So today we asked him what he wanted to do, and he chose ‘villages’. Okay, mostly he chose ‘villages’ because he knew he would get some kind of a toy or trinket from it… but it was a good idea for the day.
We started in Biot, as our champagne glasses have finally had it, and mum wanted to get some more before our 5 year wedding anniversary this year. So we went to the glassblowers and picked a nice set of 4 glasses.
Afterwards we headed to the medieval village of Tourrette-sur-Loup. One of our favourite villages, we haven’t been in a year or so. It’s tiny, but so charming, with none of the tourist crowds of some of the larger villages in the area. We enjoyed a casual pizza-lunch in the main square, and then took Liam down to Tom’s Ice Cream Shop where he sampled the local specialty: Violet ice cream. He liked it! 🙂
After lunch we drove a bit further to the Gorge de Loup to visit the Florian Confiserie (candy makers) — a bit of history: It was founded in 1948, along the banks of the Loup river close to Grasse. Eventually a second location was opened in the port of Nice. Their specialty is candied fruits and crystalized flowers, all sourced from various regions in the french riviera: Clementines from Vaullauris, lemons from Menton, bergamot oranges from Nice, and roses, jasmine and violets from the backcountry around Grasse. They offer tours of the workshops to allow people to see how these artisanal products are made, and of course they have a well-stocked shop at the end of the tour. Sir Liam chose the lollipops — the rose lollipop had a special taste. I’m not sure I really liked it… which is fine because he swiped it from me!!!
Another busy (and probably less productive thanks to Liam) workweek ahead. And a full weekend planned next weekend with playmates for Liam… And then things will get tough. I’m stocking up on tissues now.