Happy Autumn days
The sight of the first lebkuchen in the supermarket was the sign that Autumn really has arrived. The start of October seems to be the moment when the shelves suddenly fill with - I hesitate to use the word - Christmas.
But we are not anywhere near that yet ourselves and as a child of the Autumn, I enjoy the shorter days, the weak sunshine and the chance to snuggle in and keep warm. We were headed down to Exeter last week when I snapped the sunlight from the motorway, because on so many days recently, we’ve seen so little of it.
We spent the day with Arthur whilst his parents completed their house move, bringing the last few things from their rental property to their newly renovated home. It was a delight to be with our Grandson who continues to discover the world around him.
In the sunny sitting room, it was the shadows that intrigued him more than anything this morning and we loved watching him puzzle over the shapes that appeared on the floor. He is so close to crawling and last time we were here I decided I’d find him a set of stacking cups to build, to tempt him to come and knock them over. Little did I realise how life has changed since I was last in a toyshop.
Sadly, the small family-run toyshop in Cirencester has recently closed and we found ourselves in Cheltenham, visiting a rather larger place. Overwhelmed by shelves stacked tightly with so much, I found myself feeling rather lost and looked for a member of staff to help. The young man led me straight to the stacking cups, on the bottom shelf beneath a huge array of elaborate and rather more complex toys aimed at the youngest babies and children. Another family with a baby in a pram and a small girl sitting on a seat alongside were looking around the same shelves. “Wow”, I said, “I had no idea about all of this!”. “Oh yes”, said Grandma, “Too much, really” Their baby was about the same age as Arthur and, spotting the stacking cups in my hand, their Grandma said that such simple things were always popular. I explained that I was hoping to encourage Arthur to crawl, prompting the baby’s Mum to point out a couple of things her daughter had loved at that stage; a wobble ball which makes silly noises and moves at random when touched, and a simple, easily activated spinning top.
So I came home with rather more than I had intended, though that’s probably pretty characteristic of “Grandma shopping”! I’ll admit to them all being more plastic than I’d have liked, but again, perhaps that goes with the territory. We’ll see how we go…
The thing is, he really is such a delight, finding everything so interesting right now and of course, we are lucky to have the time to spend with him. One of the books I brought with me last week has proved a particular hit and we lost count of how many times we read it with him.
What better way to end a day filled with such fun than with fish and chips on the common on the way home?
Unfortunately, the following morning’s weather wouldn’t have allowed Arthur to play with the shadow of his hand, for the rain began again and didn’t stop.
I checked the barometer in the hall and remarked to my Hero that it was about as low as it would go.
I was wrong. At least we don’t have hurricanes to worry about. Except, for a while this morning, it appeared that we did… Thankfully, that was a fault in the system and all is well - still very wet but more or less ok. Not too bad, as we say.
So whilst Google helpfully sends me a reminder of where we were in September and I sort through photographs and ephemera collected along the way, I can plan and gather information for our next short trip, which is going to require a few more special characters on my keyboard 😉
Oh, and how did Arthur enjoy that wobbly ball?
Quite a lot, actually!
Whether it was the tower of stacking cups, the wobble ball or pure chance, this morning we hear he’s on the move. Welcome to the next step of independence, Arthur!
