This time last year I was on holiday in Maine, New England, staying with friends in their beautiful home, all wood and light and airy, one evening they even introduced me to Lobster….I’d never had it before and it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted, we even had special wine from a lobster shaped bottle! It was something I hope I’ll remember forever, and if I ever do taste lobster again I doubt it will taste as amazing as that first time!

Saturday my boyfriend and his boys came over for a sleep over, we had a nice roast dinner in the garden, kids were on the bouncy castle it was a lovely evening,my boyfriend reading the paper to me ( he is used to reading to me now…he never comments on whether or not it is strange, he just does it! In fact if I can’t sleep he will read to me from “The Faber Book Of Science”, guaranteed to seen me to sleep!) Oh, and before certain people start telling me how lucky I am…I know ok! I do also read to him, I don’t know if that does his head in? I’m reading “The Descent of Woman” by Elaine Morgan at the moment, it’s a sevewnties feminist classic, promotes the aquatic ape theory of evolution and basically craps all over the androcentric theories of evolution, where from Genesis to Darwin woman is just an after thought! Now my boyfriend is a scientist and I dodn’t know how he really feels about my getting excited about the idea that pre human beings spent some millions of years living at least part of the time in the sea? Well maybe he enjoyed some of her theories on the female orgasm, clitoral versus vaginal? But the book I read before that was  a book he bought for me, “Trick or Treatment” about the truth behind alternative therapies, I really enjoyed reading that, and while I would still use the therapies I have experienced before I’d never chance Chiropractors now! “Birth” by Tina Cassidy was the book before that, that was a total page turner, birth throughout he ages, how and why it went from a personal woman centered experience aided by midwifes to a medical procedure run by men, I read lots of bits from that to him….maybe at the wrong time, cuddled up in bed, reading about forceps or episiotomies? Well I enjoyed it anyway!

Anyway, Saturday was lovely, and although Saturday night wasn’t the most peaceful of nights, five kids under one roof there is always gonna be ups and downs, ins and outs. But Sunday I got up and made a yummy brunch of pancakes, bacon and fruit, again eaten in the garden, the lovely weather just makes life so much nicer! So after breakfast we sat trying to decide what to do, Park? Seaside? Farm? I just wanted to stay at home, and I remembered the ten foot circular pool we bought two years ago but never used! out it came from the shed and while I went to woodies to get an adaptor for the hose my boyfriend set it up.

We all got changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the freezing water! Now the sun had gone in at this stage so I didn’t do sun cream……big mistake! When I got out and showered several hours later, felt ok, bit stiff! OH MY GOD! Lobster back (halterneck swimsuit so no strap marks at least)! Had a great day, we had fab water fights and great craic, all the kids loved it, even the baby! But even a thick layer of Aloe Vera couldn’t soothe my poor skin and I had a horrible nights sleep!  Today we walked the pier in Dunlaoghaire but I was SPF 50 and covered up! I’m gonna need to really watch myself in Spain….only twoish weeks to go!

So this time  last year I was enjoying lobster, this year I am a lobster!