Summer 2011: Royal Cornwall Show

At long last, a post about our trip to the UK. There will be more, I promise...

The Royal Cornwall Show is a big deal in Cornwall. It's a 3 day agricultural show usually held at the beginning of June and I used to go there every year when I was growing up. Since leaving home I've only been once, when it was rescheduled due to terrible weather, so it was great to be able to go this year and to introduce it to H and the boys.

I don't think H was really prepared for the scale of it all, judging by the number of photos like this that he took...




While it's termed an agricultural show, there's a lot more to it than that. We started with the Flower Tent, a mix of trade displays and competition entries. Flower arrangements, obviously...

... but also children's classes. I remember entering collages, miniature gardens and, yes, flower arrangements when I was at primary school.

This year, with a 3 year old in tow, we mainly looked at the animals. We spent some time sheltering from the rain in the poultry tent...







... and saw other animals including (but not limited to) cows, goats, sheep...



... dogs, horses, pigs...



... bees, donkeys, rabbits...

... birds of prey, and alpacas! Do you know much about alpacas? They are like llamas, but generally bred for their wool. They seem to be the latest thing in the UK now, we saw them everywhere. They look rather comical when they've just been shorn...

I always like to visit the Women's Institute and Young Farmers Club tents. Each branch within the county competes against the others to decorate a booth on a set theme. The display must include elements of handicrafts, cookery and flower arrangement. This year the YFC theme was 'Disney' and here is the winning 'Alice in Wonderland' display:



I think that H was more interested in the 'Animal Made From Vegetables' contest though...



Of course there were also lots of things to watch in the show rings throughout the day, including the judging of the various animals, show-jumping, dog agility competitions, a motorbike display team, parachuting (sadly cancelled due to the weather) and the rather disappointing camel polo:

Now then, what else?

Well, food; all kinds of yummy and generally unhealthy fairground-type delicacies. Crafts; lots of stalls selling wonderful handmade goodies. A fairground, a collection of traction engines, displays of falconry and fly fishing, horse whispering and Cornish wrestling... and then there are all the things that I didn't see!

And don't forget the trade stands of machinery, great fun for a little boy...

Just look at the size of this combine!

K collected lots of stickers, had a go at milking a (not real) cow and even got to sit in the air ambulance...

We spent a very full day at the show and must have walked miles, but K never flagged and even ran back to the car at the end of the day.

Oh, and T was there too, poor little un-photographed baby...

The boys

I thought that maybe those of you who haven't seen us for several months might like to see some pictures of the boys...

Lovely, smiley little T is almost 6 months old now!


He likes to roll over onto his tummy, but hasn't quite mastered rolling back again yet so I spend a lot of time rescuing him and turning him over. He's quite happy to have a cuddle with anyone, but really doesn't like to lose sight of me nowadays - definitely Mummy's Boy.


Just a few days ago we started him on some solid food - very wet, soft rice. The first time he looked a bit bemused; the second time he was leaning towards the spoon with an open mouth; the third time, he was grabbing the spoon himself and pulling it towards his mouth!



K is now 3 and a half, and is really into drawing and writing. Before we went to the UK he wasn't really interested in that kind of thing but now he's very keen and can write a lot of letters without any help. He does like to deliberately write 'strange letters' too though...



When he's concentrating he can do some quite good faces too...



I'm not sure if it's the current haircut, or just in comparison with T, but K seems to have suddenly become a Proper Little Boy in my eyes. He's definitely grown taller over the summer, and naughtier too I'm afraid...

Here he is pointing out a big spider in the garden:



Can you see it? Have a closer look...



And while we're on the subject of boys, here's H. He may look different to you too, because he's been cultivating a beard while he's been on leave. I think it was more of a 'I don't have to shave' thing than a conscious beard-growing policy, but I think it suits him...



When we had some hot weather in the UK he wore jinbei, traditional Japanese clothes that are often worn nowadays by artists and craftsmen. Along with the beard and sandals I think he looks as if he's just stepped away from the potter's wheel. I think he'd be too embarrassed to dress like this here in Japan, but I rather like the look - what do you think?

We're back!

You may have noticed that I didn't quite manage to follow my plan to post once a week during our trip to the UK.... But, if there is still anyone actually out there reading this, I thought that you might like to know that we went, had a great time and have arrived home safely again.

We got back here on Thursday night but so far have managed little more than unpacking, laundry, going out to eat and avoiding the typhoon. We've all been hit by jet-lag and of course when the little boys don't sleep, neither do I. K is fast asleep in bed now though, so keep your fingers crossed for a good night tonight.

And as for our actual trip? Well, I do intend to show you lots of pictures and tell you all about it in excruciating detail but just in case I don't (imagine that eh?), here's a little summary...

We spent three months based at my parents' house in Cornwall, visiting lots of friends and family and showing off lovely baby T (and his big brother too of course). While we were there, H, T and I went on two little mini-holidays, to Edinburgh and to Prague, leaving K at home with his doting grandparents. We also spent a few days in Wales visiting my sister and her partner, stayed with friends near Oxford for a while, and met up with another old friend in Gloucester. We had lots of lovely days out with Mum and Dad, H and I went out for dinner together a couple of times without children, I went to my school reunion and sometimes the weather was even good enough for a barbecue! And of course there was lots of shopping: clothes, toys and books for K and T, and an extra suitcase to try and get some of it back to Japan...

Golden Weeks

Last week was Golden Week, a string of 4 public holidays in the space of a week. It's my favourite holiday time in Japan because of the weather; usually warm, sunny and great for being outside, unlike hot-and-humid summer holidays or cold-and-snowy winter ones.

This year though, we didn't really do much. We met up with several friends - a barbecue in the park one day with Cian, Yoshi and gang, visited the Oyamas in their 'new' house (which was finished at least a year ago but it was the first time we got around to going there) and met up with the Kuchitas yesterday for lunch at a new child-friendly restaurant. H has spent 3 days out in the garden staining the fence (nearly finished now!), and we had the one month ceremony and photo shoot for T. Actually, when I write it all down, it seems like quite a lot!

Anyway, I don't mind if we didn't do that much, because we will have lots more days like that this year. H is taking extended paternity leave, a very unusual thing among employed Japanese men! The rules at his office have changed since K was born; previously, a man could only take extended paternity leave if his partner was working, but now anyone can take up to a year off even if their partner is at home. I think that many men are still put off by the idea that they will be inconveniencing their colleagues and may be considered lazy (not to mention the substantial drop in pay, gulp), but H's boss reassured him that he is entitled to take this leave and he should go ahead and do it. H works hard but he also always takes all his holiday each year and generally comes home on time; definitely a work-to-live rather than live-to-work kind of guy!

So, as of Monday, H is on paternity leave and, throwing in summer holiday and annual leave too, he'll be off until the end of September! One of the reasons he's doing it (apart from the simple fact that he can) is so that we can all take a long trip to the UK together. When K was a few months old I took him to the UK for 2 months in the summer but there's no way I could manage the trip with K and T without another adult. It's the only time that H will be able to make a long trip, probably until he retires!

We've got T's British birth certificate, his passport should be ready next week and the plane tickets have been bought. We leave here on May 31st (in 3 weeks time!) and come back again on August 31st, making the most of that 3 month ticket... So if you are in the UK and would like to meet up over the summer, let me know! I'm now, very slowly, getting in touch with friends and trying to organise some get-togethers. I know that, unless I take action, even 3 whole months in the UK could easily pass in a blur of lounging on the sofa eating salt and vinegar crisps and watching The Weakest Link...