A frugal life is an easy life!

I have been teaching sprog2 little bits of baby sign language since she could open her eyes, in the same way I taught sprog1 to play chess when he was two years old, I figure if I get them young enough they'll find it easier to pick up.
Imagine my total delight when sprog2 woke up in her chair from a snooze, saying "yes" whilst clenching her fist and making it nod!

I checked again to make sure and sure enough. she says yes by using her fist to nod!
Ok, it's not a major event, but it's a start, at 11 months old, I think it's cool.
I hope as she gets older, sign language is a skill she will have instictively.

Things have settled down here at hoovertowers, visitors have all gone home, no more driving jobs lined up for a while, we've been chilling out doing odd jobs.
The two wall cupboards, that I obtained for free, are now up and have stayed up so far. The 6 foot tall, wonder fridge that my better half wanted (to replace our 15 year old electric showrooms broken one) was so tall, it had to have a restraining bracket drilled into the concrete floor to stop it falling over when you open the door!
Then I managed to melt the entire plug of our dryer and fused out both the washing machine and the dryer, which of course came without warning, until I "checked" the plug by touching it and burning my finger!
All my expensive tools are now stored away, not thrown away as was suggested by the wife.

Sprog2 has leaned how to strop... refusing to be fed without a remote control to push buttons, but it has to be a working one, she has already sussed out that the ones we give her to play with don't work, so now ignores them.
Thanks to her intelligence we have now gone forward to the year 2034 by way of the video clock settings (yes, we still have a video).

Now the hosepipe ban has been lifted (It has rained everyday for six weeks since it was introduced) we had a much needed glorius sunny afternoon, which allowed me to finish cutting down the overgrown grass borders around tomato plants etc.
As I am an amateur potterer around the garden, on my way to empty the grass cuttings and weeds into the recycle bin out front, I spotted the now huge purple and pink flowered weeds that frequent my border in the front garden. I know, I'll pull them up I thought... unbeknown to me, there was a huge nettle plant right in the middle of it.. OUCH!
I am very proud of the fact that I have never been stung in my life (Mum tells me that my grandad used to rub pollen on the palm of his hand and stroke bees when they landed on it) I have been bitten by dogs more than any insects, as indistructable as I am, nettle stings, my super powers cannot fight off.
Luckily, there are doc leaves also growing alongside the nettles which provide the antidote (why is that?)
I buried the nettles in the recycle bin - another reason why you should never buy council made compost, everything I put in the recycle bin for the garden is weeds and slug guts - so that someone else could share my pain.

Today is the first day back at work for the wife, as life gets back to normal, the never ending cycle of feeding baby, washing, changing baby, entertaining baby and communicating with the wife on the phone.
Some weeks I can go almost a full week without having face to face contact with an adult, sometimes that's a good thing though.

Summer holiday tasks completed:

• Flown a kite - In the street, can you believe that some kids have never flown one!
• Climbed a tree - After being laughed at by other adults because I was slow getting back out of the tree, they tried it and failed to even get off the ground!
• Picked conkers, apples, peaches, strawberries and onions - with potatoes, blackberries and tomatoes to come, yum.
• Danced in the rain - great fun, if a tad damp!

Little acorns and all that...
Of course we have been to the countryside, the seaside, cheered at the world cup (and shouted at the tv), spent time with the family and welcomed the birth of my little nephew Ian. Sadly we have said goodbye to one of our family friends.
There is still a week of the holidays left, who knows what's around the corner...