My Mum's next door neighbour

THE distraught owner of a pedigree cat which was killed by a car left his pet on a shrine at the foot of his driveway in a statement to "heartless" motorists.



The cat has now been removed from the four-foot high grass mound, which is marked with a wooden crucifix, from which a sign hangs bearing the message: "You will never know the terrible grief you have caused through your heartless driving."



The owner, who asked not to be named, said a new generation of drivers in Church Lane, West Parley, had made the road dangerous for his remaining pets.



"There are crazy drivers in Church Lane. Whoever killed my cat is very heartless and irresponsible."


The five-year-old cat, Spandau, was a British shorthaired tabby born to champion parents. The cat's father still lives with the owner.



"The only way he can be safe is to be kept in a cage, but I cannot do that. This area is paradise for a cat," he said.



But some users of the road complained that the shrine was a danger to motorists.
One man who uses the lane to drive his wife to the Osborne Centre for multiple sclerosis sufferers told the Daily Echo the sight of the decomposing cat was "horrific".



The man, who asked not to be identified, said: "The cat was laid on top of the shrine with flies buzzing around it.



"It wasn't very nice, especially for young children."



East Dorset District Council said the shrine was beyond its control. "Officers from our technical services directorate attended the scene. The shrine is on private land," a spokesman said.



The AA's road safety chief, Andrew Howard, told the Echo that roadside shrines required caution.



He said shrines could give a misleading impression of the safety of a particular road, and added that shrines which obstruct the pavement can force pedestrians into the road.

The joy of being able to read

It's been almost a year now since Levi decided he wanted to read. When he left school in 2005 he could barely read a thing and became quite traumatised at the suggestion of reading anything. Because he became so distressed whenever I even mentioned reading I decided not to attempt it at all. Slowly I noticed he was picking up words and reading signs, things on packets and on the computer but if I tried to get him to read a book or even a small paragraph of writing he'd lose it. Then one day he walked into the lounge and started to read the twits by Roald Dahl and he hasn't looked back. It makes life so much easier, today he got on and did 8 pages of reading comprehension by himself.

Baby Martha

I finally got to see Lucy's new baby last week. She is the tiniest little thing as she was only 6lbs when she was born. I can't imagine having a baby that small as mine were 8lb 9 and 8lb 2. She looks just like her Dad.

Levi's first lecture

Levi went to his first lecture at the natural science society today. It was about birds of prey and was given by the people from the Wessex bird of prey rescue centre.

http://www.wessexbirdofpreyrescue.eu/

I think this bird was either the American red tailed or red tipped buzzard.

I forget what this bird was called. As soon as they got it out of the box it screamed it's head off. It made Gonk sound really quiet.

Buzzard

Eagle Owl

I think this was an eagle owl.

Barn Owl

Theo's Rocks

Lots of our friends have been abroad this year and they very kindly collected rock samples for Theo. He now has samples from Norway, Sweden, Syria and someone has a sample from Italy to give him.

Another friend who lives in Kinson managed to dig up some fossilised wood, a sea sponge, a piece of Celtic pottery and the jewel in Theo's collection a piece of fossilised poo!

Tennis for free

A little while ago we found out about a new scheme to enable children to learn how to play tennis for free. We finally got around to going this week and Levi really enjoyed it.

www.tennisforfree.com/

Grampy

A few weeks ago we went to Devon for a few days. One of the main reasons we go is to visit my grandfather, Grampy.

He's 80 odd and full of interesting information. He was a Royal Marine and spends hours talking to Theo about the war.

Last time we went he 'very generously' gave Levi a huge stuffed toy leopard, Levi then decided he quite liked stuffed animal toys and started collecting them. He now has a huge heap of them piled on the end of his bed. Having them on the bed is not too much of a problem but he sometimes decides to bring them all to sit on the sofa in the lounge.

Grampy informed us that he'd entered a prize draw to win a life size stuffed tiger teddy for him but had lost. I informed Grampy that if he gave him anymore toys we would not be coming to visit again!

The Wishing Stone

This is the wishing stone. It's stuck in the wall on Totnes Road in Paignton, Devon. When we were children we used to walk past it on the way home and my mum used to tell us that if we touched it and made a wish it would come true. I always thought it was the bottom of a bottle that someone had stuck in the wall but as you can see it's a big lump of amethyst. Funny how we remember things differently. Unfortunately someones given it a good knock with something and it's chipped.

This was one of the first things I showed my children when we went back to visit Devon. They've both made wishes on it and this time I didn't even mention it to Levi but as soon as we got to the wall he remembered and started looking for it.

Cockington

This is my friend Sarah who's house we stayed at. We drove to Cockington and spent the day being followed by these awful children who just decided they didn't like our children and were going to harass them.

We found this amazing organic garden. On the way out they had a little stand selling produce. I bought a fresh fig. At first I thought it was a pear, it was the biggest juiciest fig I've ever had, yummy!

They have lots of horses and carts giving people tours of the village.

Not sure what this is called but it's pretty.

These ducklings were so cute.

Totnes Castle

We went to Totnes castle. I think I was 10 when I last went there on a school trip.

At the beach with Maria

Maria came over today and we made a picnic and went to the beach. The children had a lovely time in the sea but it didn't last long as it was so windy that the lifeguard got everyone out of the water and put up a sign saying no bathing due to extreme weather.

As soon as we started eating Maria's eldest son Gary appeared, he's working on the pier at the moment.

The boys had a lovely time running around and then they buried Theo.

They decided a bit of remodelling was needed so they added a pair of breasts and various other little extras.

Fly Lady!

Lisa, http://lisanorthover.blogspot.com/ , posted a link on her blog to a website called Fly Lady, http://flylady.com/ . It's basically a really good site for people like me who really struggle to keep the house tidy. I stayed up really late reading it and couldn't wait to get started today. I showed Maria the site when she came over this morning and she got very excited too, so we've sort of challenged each other to give it a go.

If you sign up to her e-mail list she sends you daily tasks and tips. This week we're in zone 3 which is the bathroom and one other room of your choice. The task for today was to clean behind and around the toilet and to tackle a hotspot in your other room. A hotspot is any place that is always cluttered, it's like a forest fire, if you don't tackle it when it's small it very quickly spreads and gets out of control.

I have four hotspots in my house, the computer desk, the dining table, the top of my herb cabinet in the hall and the worktop in the kitchen.

The main thing she tells you to do above everything else is to clean and shine your kitchen sink.

I haven't had a lot of time today as I've been out with Maria but my toilet is sparkling, my dining table is spotless and Maria tells me she's done her kitchen sink.

A Visit To Christchurch

I took the boys to Christchurch today. We walked along the river and saw some swans with their cygnets.

A couple of days ago Levi was asking me how they make flour so finding Place Mill today was perfect timing. We went inside and a very nice lady gave him a guided tour. I'd already answered his question but you can't beat actually seeing the thing you want to learn about. The mill still works but part of it was away being repaired. The upper floor has been turned into a little museum and gallery and one of the mill stones has been made into a table which is what Levi is sitting on.

We found this interesting statue in the grounds of Christchurch Priory. We also found loads of lovely herbs growing all over the place. I will definitely be taking my scissors with me next time I'm over that way.

As we were walking into the priory we saw a swallow feeding her babies. You can see the nest above the leaf/flower thingy in the middle of the picture. We sat down and watched for a while and we counted four little babies in the nest.

The boys wanted to light a candle, although I think it was more for the sake of lighting a candle than praying for Jesus to be the light of the world, which is what the notice on the wall said they were for.

We walked through this lovely tunnel of trees. Even Theo said it was pretty and he's a teenager.

Then they climbed up to Christchurch castle.

A Visit To The Sea Life Centre

We went to the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth with Kym and the girls. When we arrived they were giving a talk about crabs.

Levi never ceases to amaze me. I thought he'd freak at the idea of holding a huge crab but he loved it!

Levi and Catherine Star on the boat ride.

Lilly Rose looks so cute but you should see her after she's had a jam tart!

Watering The Garden

As you can see Theo loves having his photo taken.

Hail Stones!

I've never seen hail stones as big as these. I think you would have been in real trouble if you'd been caught outside in this.

Look what we saw in the garden

We were watering the plants last night when Theo saw a huge bug flying around. It was really pretty and when it came closer I realised it was a stag beetle! I didn't even know stag beetles could fly, we looked it up on the computer and it said they fly around in the evening because they're looking for a mate. It was flying right up to us which I found slightly unnerving as it was so big and I don't really do bugs. Levi came out to watch too and I was expecting him to freak as he's afraid of flies but he thought it was great and followed it round the garden.

Cafe Boogaloo

After a long wait Cafe Boogaloo finally opened this week so we all went for lunch. Isaac kept stealing the froth from Julie's latte so the nice lady in the picture made him a frothy milk with chocolate sprinkles. As you can see he waited very nicely while she made it and thoroughly enjoyed it too.

Our first Sunnyfield's Delivery

Last Thursday we had our first delivery of Sunnyfield's organic fruit, vegetables and eggs. Co-op members can now order from us and because we have a wholesale account we get a discount off the usual price.

Julie was very impressed by the size of that pepper!

Roumelia Lane

TV's a turn-off
By Emma Joseph

Comment

TV viewers are switching off
MY weekly TV viewing schedule consists of a handful of soaps, some reality shows and a few American dramas thrown in for good measure.

Then there's the odd half-hour here and there spent flicking through the music channels, and breakfast just wouldn't be breakfast without GMTV.

Yet as I struggle to keep up with the ever-increasing number of new channels being offered, more and more people are opting to turn off their TVs in favour of a better life.

In fact, as many as five million people shunned their televisions during this year's TV-Turnoff Week, which ran from April 21 to 27, and organiser White Dot is urging viewers to use the opportunity to start a new, permanently TV-free life.

The TV-Turnoff was first proposed by Marie Winn in her 1977 book The Plug-in Drug. Non-profit group the TV Turnoff Project took up the idea and it became an international event, which has now been running for 10 years in the US, with White Dot organising its first British TV Turnoff in 1997.

While millions are signing up to White Dot's vision of a TV-free Britain, others have been switching off of their own accord.

Mother-of-two Vicki Skinner, from Boscombe, said: "I have an older son and I gave it up when he was about two - that was seven-and-a-half years ago.

"It was mainly the adverts.

"Children are so susceptible - if it says something in an advert they don't have the ability to judge it for themselves.

"My oldest son told me he was going to get a bank account at Halifax because they gave you extra, and he was upset because they didn't do tampons for boys, because the advert was so cool. I thought it was getting silly.

"It's a shame - because of the way it is, I've had to get rid of it completely. But I have bought some DVDs - the kids love it and there are no adverts. But even then, it's something to do as a treat - it's more special then.

"We are in the community doing things rather than stuck in the house.

"It's out in the community that Vicki, 31, and her family do most of their socialising - with fellow non-TV watchers Lisa Northover and Julie White.

The trio are also involved in running the Boscombe Wholefood Co-operative together.

Lisa, a mum-of-four, hasn't had a television for the last 10 years, while Julie doesn't have one as she and her family live in a church community which chooses not to have a TV in the house.

"I just found you can sit in front of it and it just sucks you in," said Lisa, 30.

"I know if I had one, I would just watch it all the time. I think there's a lot to be gained from giving it up. You can have more of a life.

"Lisa said not having a TV enabled her and her family to fully embrace community life.

"We're all out of the house quite a lot, out and about doing stuff. We're involved with a lot of community initiatives.

"I got rid of the TV when my eldest was still a baby and that made a big difference, because he had never had it at all.

"My daughter only recently knew what Barbie was, and she's seven. It's great because she was able to see it for what it was and didn't think it was that great, whereas if she'd seen all the hype from the adverts she would have thought it was amazing.

"And my kids have only just learnt what McDonald's is - they thought it was Old McDonald's and they thought it was something to do with a farm.

"Mum-of-two Julie, 30, agreed her family was much better off without a TV.

"You find other pastimes," she said.

"I couldn't go back to watching TV now because I don't have the time. I like not having to arrange my living room around the TV, and mealtimes are really important - we've all got dining room tables and we all have dinner as a family.

"I talk a lot more to people as well - our community is about real people rather than fake people on the TV.

"Vicki, Lisa and Julie are urging people to turn off their televisions, not just for a week, but for good, and to get out and enjoy life in their own communities.

"We've got the beach, we've got the park, we've got shops, just get outside and enjoy it," said Julie.

Lisa added: "Turn it off and live."

To find out more about White Dot and TV-Turnoff Week, visit whitedot.org.

Our children getting a well deserved telling off at our home education group after an argument with another child.

On Saturday we had quite a busy day, first we went to the fun day at Butchers Coppice. There was a display by the no limitz junior motorcycle display team.

Highlight of the day, I finally got to meet Kenny.

My Mum had some fun with a gun!

Then we went to the Pavilion to see the Horrible Histories stage play of the Rotten Romans.

In the evening we met Julie, Chloe, Norman and Becki and we all went to Merick Park where this art company were putting on a show. We had to wait for ages for it to start and Norman would not stop moaning as he was hungry. We really liked these giant meerkats who were all wearing trainers and hitting young ladies with their tails.

Levi, Taegan and Reuben played one potato two potato with some children they met.

Afterwards we all went to the nearest take away to get Norman a pizza.