You've heard a bit about the trip on L's blog, but here are some pictures...
There was also a bit where kids could put on a climbing harness and climb rigging...which Sherlock loved, as you might imagine. Although he did argue about the climbing harness for about five minutes before he agreed to put it on, on the grounds that he wouldn't have had to if he'd gone to sea a few centuries ago and he'd have been in battles and everything and he bet there were pirates somewhere in the world right now that would let him climb things without a harness, which he didn't need, at all.
I told him that poem-- All I need is a tall ship and a star to steer her by -- and he decided John Masefield was obviously a pirate. Nothing I said could convince him otherwise. Are you sensing a theme?
L and Mycroft and I have heard the word pirate so many times since that day that I think it's lost all meaning for us. Piratepiratepirate. He was so quiet in his room after school yesterday that I went up to check and was shocked to find him doing his homework and not, as I had suspected, making pirate hats for the degus.
95 comments:
All good little pirates do their homework, right? Or they put in the brig.
Quite right. And don't get any cake.
Lovely photos. I know nothing about sailing ships, but I love watching them against a cityscape and imaging how things looked the same and different a couple of hundred years ago.
Sherlock is growing up, which is possibly as ominous as it is thrilling, from a parenting standpoint. Good thing you all are keeping fit.
fA
Am now imagining pirate nannies sending little pirates to their hammocks without any rum.
Of course he was doing his homework, he's just continuing as he's begun. (Although degus in pirate hats would be ADORABLE!)
Those are beautiful photos of breathtaking ships, it must be a real thrill to set sail on any of them. (And now I want to!)
I could be a pirate there are still pirates now
We will talk about that.
I want to walk across the top of Niagara Falls on a tightrope too.
those pictures are amazing John, it looks like you had a really lovely day :-)
I find myself quite worried about the idea of strangers walking across a tightrope over Niagara falls Sherlock without adding the thought of you doing it! Maybe you should probably let John or Lestrade try it first ;-)
See, parental controls on anything are pointless because a. we need kids to show us how they work and b. we'd never guess what the kids'll find next to block it! (He has announced he will obviously go over the falls in abarrel first. And that a small boy once went over and was fine. Not in a barrel.)
he has some very scary ideas that boy!! his future years could well involve many bruises and broken bones but they'll certainly be filled with excitement :-)
At least your life will never be dull! Those are lovely pictures. It looks like you all had a good time and I hope I can do something as fun when I visit that side of the pond next year.
AnonyBob - all we can do is remind him how boring a simple fractured arm was, and give him dire warnings of how much MORE boring worse injuries are.
Piplover - there's always fun to be had. You know what they say, bored of London, bored of life. ;)
Alas (if that's the right exclamation), the Niagara Parks Commission is very, very diligent nowadays about preventing people from doing any sorts of stunts on, in, and around the Falls.
They DO give permits to about one professional per generation to perform a stunt, though, so you might be able to persuade them to give you the next permit in 18 years or so, Sherlock! (There's a whole list of Niagara Falls stunts at their website: http://www.niagaraparks.com/about-niagara-falls/niagara-falls-stunting-history.html.)
As a distraction, what about fencing? Strict rules & both physical and mental skill involved. I don't know when Sherlock will be old enough to appreciate working within strict limits to exercise mastery over one's mind and body simultaneously, but when he is I imagine it would be right down his alley.
(Also: swords.)
fA
fencing sounds like a great idea, plus it's a skill a pirate would need. ;)
those ships are beautiful, so glad you guys got to see them. I loved the few chances I had to be on sailboats when I was young. I know being on one of those tall ships on a long voyage would not actually have been quite so romantic, but they are still lovely to look at and dream about!
S
Problem is Sherlock leads a very busy life already. I guess when he starts secondary school he might...refine his interests?
Sherlock leads a very busy life already.
Plus, now, cookery lessons. (Does this replace the art classes, or are they in addition to?)
Look, we coppers will face any foe to keep the residents of London safe.
http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2014-09-11/met-police-boat-comes-face-to-face-with-giant-hippo/
My heroes!
Could you imagine just walking by the Thames and spotting that, it would be so cool. :)
I meant to say that we found your garden when we were down last week, Greg, it was gorgeous, very peaceful place to enjoy our lunch and just relax, I can see why you like it so much. :)
How did the meringue cooking go the other day, Sherlock?
The church? It's just amazing, isn't it? Who'd have thought two of my least favourite things - churches and bombs, could make something so beautiful! (Not that I'm advocating the two of them being combined again!)
RR - his cookery lessons are in school time. I'm not sure what's going on with art club, if it changes now he's up a class or what.
Thanks, L--and what a great idea, to work cooking lessons into the curriculum!
This week seems to have gone on for ever!!
Does anyone have any tips for getting a kid who has been wiped out by her first four days at school to eat her breakfast and go to school for a fifth day? Knowing Sherlock I'm guessing it isn't a problem you gents have actually had is it? ;-)
Good luck with whatever the day ahead holds for you all.
Can't help you there Anonybob. But if you do find out, let me know, you are certainly right about this week going on for ever.
All change now SH now I need advice on how to get kid one to school while kid two is being sick and kid three is trying to crawl in it!! A long week ends with a VERY long day it seems ;-)
Definitely can't help you there I'm afraid. My transporter has malfunctioned and I'm still waiting for the repairs or I would have come up to give you a hand.
Damn that technology SH ;-)
Oh dear, has the circulation of new germs that comes with a new school year started already? Hope things smooth out pandabob. Caring for children is not for the faint hearted!
fA
Hope your day improved, Anonybob
Now that I have all three kids home again the day has improved greatly, there's nothing quite so annoying as other parents telling you're kid off for not wanting to walk when you know the poor kid was asleep five minutes ago and really should still be in bed!
Days like these make me think I should move somewhere less than 100miles from someone who could help me out ;-)
I hope the day has treated everyone well and that the weekend is looking welcoming :-)
I feel your pain, Pandabob. We're 9 days into the school year, and my middle one has missed 3.
AnonyBob - I can't imagine managing one kid on my own, so people like you deserve some sort of gigantic medal in my book. And also a complimentary cook and cleaner ;)
Aaahhh...Friday. Except I'm working tomorrow too. But then three days off! Two whole days with John - the thought makes me very happy!
99% of the time the four of us cope no bother at all Greg but I would never say no to someone who would cook me a meal and wash up after ;-)
yay to three days off even if you have to wait just a little longer.
Do you have many plans for your weekend Sherlock or are you going to let John decide what you do?
We might go to Kew... we should make better use of our membership! Plus there's a great bakery stall by the tube where we always seem to buy some amazing food to take in...giant apple-filled doughnuts!...which I won't eat, obviously, because of this run we're doing...
I'm not sure what Sherlock has planned for John tomorrow though ;)
He'll likely spend the day 'being a piratical maid of all work, a life not bad for a hardy lad'. Sorry two quotes jammed together, but seemed appropriate!
Nothing like a sentence that actually seems like a punishment to cheer up an office full of rozzers :)
It's a tidy length of sentence if you're talking about the case I think you're talking about. I can't conceive of being able to do that to anyone
Actually, while I'm about, L can I ask you an ethical/legal question?
You can.
Ok, then. Would you feel different about your job if Britain still had the death penalty? I mean people would still need catching, and sentencing isn't your problem, but I just wondered
That is a tough question, given it's not a situation I've ever had to deal with. It's hard to know how I'd feel, if we lived in a place where that was the norm.
I think I would feel different though, yeah. I'm certainly against the death penalty. I do also think we need a complete revamp of the sentencing and prison systems.
For a start, a life sentence should be just that. For life. And should be used sparingly. If it's not a sentence that will last for the rest of your life, we shouldn't call it so, we should call it a - for instance - 37 year sentence. The number of families I've had to explain that the person who killed their loved one could, potentially, be released in 15 or 25 years, it just makes a mockery of the system. It gives people a lack of trust.
I think whole life tariffs do...well, what is there to live for? To strive for? There's no reason for that person to improve themselves in any way, if they know they'll be fed, clothed and housed with no hope of anything else. It won't make any prisoner want to work with the system if they have nothing to lose. So yes, used very sparingly, and for the protection of the public, more than the punishment of the offender, really.
And other sentences should be far more focussed on rehabilitation, teaching, all that. Not just locking people up then letting them out again straight back to the life which led them to offend in the first place. People need tools to get themselves out of those situations.
But to answer your question, my job is to catch and punish people who have committed the most terrible crimes - including taking the life of another. I do not want to then be responsible for them losing their own life, no way. I can't imagine how it would feel, to a family, to have someone they loved killed by their government. But I can't imagine it ever ends well.
Sorry if that was rather more than you wanted. ;)
No, that's pretty much exactly what I wanted :)
I find the concept of the death penalty very hard, if killing is wrong then it's wrong, and you're very right about life sentences being misnamed. I think you're right, the whole of life tariff should probably be used only when a person would still be a danger whenever you let them out. Prisoners on a whole of life tariff must be impossible for the prison system, they have so little leverage in that situation.
The problem is, I suppose, that any government that rationalised the sentencing rules, even if it was just the name would be portrayed as soft on criminals by the press.
I genuinely think that all politicians should be put on a mandatory press blackout as soon as they're elected, much less law making by the Daily Mail would take place! And don't even get me started on creating new offences when something is already illegal!
Thanks for taking the time to answer :)
I'd like to make the Daily Mail illegal ;)
It's like so many other things - you just can't win. Sentencing is too soft, jail conditions are too soft...but change it and you'll be too soft too ;)
I'm too soft. I've been talked into making pizza and fruit fool for pudding. Too soft in the head, too soft around the middle!
not soft in the head just happy to be at home :-)
You might need to spend some of your two days with John working up a sweat to burn the calories off though ;-)
For what do you live if not making pizza and fruit fool & then eating them with your family? Not much, I say!
Coming from a place where we do have the death penalty, the best argument I know against it is that re-investigation (sometimes with better science but often just with a new perspective) shows alarmingly frequently that people who are not only not provably guilty, but those provably innocent have been convicted.
Enjoy your days off!
fA
Yes, there have been terrible miscarriages of justice here, but at least those once found guilty can be freed when pardoned. They can never get those years back, but at least they're alive to return to their families/friends.
AnonyBob - there will be running! Nothing too extreme, but definitely a few miles.
running might work I guess ;-)
how was the pizza?
I've been thinking since events here recently (specifically, police officers killing unarmed black men and the subsequent protesting, and more broadly, the general militarization of our police forces and how scary that is) that I'd like to understand better how police forces in other countries work, especially countries like the UK, where police don't carry guns. It seems like the police would have to have more options for subduing or talking down a subject.
I should be running. Instead I'm eating marshmellows. Oops.
Ella
I think I meant to say "suspect," not "subject." Though I suppose subject also works.
Ella
I'm the sort of woolly minded liberal that thinks it's better that some guilty people get off, than an innocent person should be put away, let alone dealing with the concept of capital punishment.
I'm with you on the subject of the Mail, occasionally they've been giving something away I really wanted, but I still couldn't bring myself to buy it.
Ella - to be honest, I think the US should look more towards places where people do own guns, and where the police are routinely armed - like Germany - but where there are so few gun deaths, and the police use their firearms so rarely. It's a far better comparison than the UK.
Sadly our forces are slowly becoming more routinely armed - not always with guns, but with sprays, tasers, and if BoJo gets his way, water cannon. Slippery slope.
Lancs. - I wouldn't even eat my chips from it!
Hope you're having fun at Kew if that's where you've ended up today, guys. Is the weather ok, but I suppose you could always stay in the hot houses if not so it's a good place to be whatever.
Were you choice of pastries delicious too, plenty of time to work off any extras over the next two days. ;)
Have fun everyone. :)
We are having a nice walk. Sherlock is running about like a maniac. And yes, had a coffee and a selection of delicious pastries to set us up for the walk :)
I'm getting evils from Sherlock because we stopped in town to watch the cycling, and someone has a commentary on next to us. The commentator just said 'And Cumming is all over the back of him!" And I snorted with laughter. I can't explain to him why with so many people to overhear...
It's not fair I bet I'm old enough to understand and you still won't tell me
Sherlock, I think you'll have a better shot of getting an answer at home, where he doesn't have to consider what random strangers might think. ;)
We ARE at home and he still won't he just giggles
He'll have to stop giggling some time!
Ahh, Sherlock, I doubt you'd find it funny or interesting. Grown ups are silly sometimes. Sounds like a nice day out, though!
fA
Grown ups, sadly, are often not funny or interesting, as Sherlock well knows ;)
But we make up for it by being easily amused...
And thank goodness we are, RR! If I weren't easily amused, how the days would drag sometimes.
fA
That's for sure, fA. :)
I swear today has lasted forever.
Forever-good or forever-bad or just forever-I'm exhausted?
Doesn't matter, hope you're asleep by now!
fA
Hope everything's OK
Have you had a nice day together gentlemen? Lots of running?
How was school Sherlock? Has cooking class started yet?
Very nice day. Some running ;)
I keep dreaming about the flat burning down. Waking myself up, then obviously have to have a walk around and check everything and then can't get back to sleep. Had it three or four times now. No idea why.
And even nicer - another day off tomorrow!
Hope your dreams settle down.
fA
Ugh, if I dreamed about fire I'd never fall asleep again--not that night, anyway. I hope your sleep tonight is untroubled....
That sounds rather terrifying Greg, I hope writing it down helped keep it away last night and you got a reasonable nights sleep.
Good luck with the day ahead all of you :-).
Hope everyone has a good or at least productive day, including all the kids back in school and those of us at work. And that you sneak in a nap, L., if you had another disturbed night.
September is half over. That's terrifying! Onwards,
fA
John has learnt not to trust a cup of tea next to him in the morning. I always make him one when I'm up in the night, on the assumption I'll wake him. On the odd occasion I don't the mug sits there until he takes a sip in the morning... And spat it over Maf, the other morning.
Your tea making skills are better than that! Or did he just not expect it to be cold?
fA
I guess a mouthful of cold tea is not too bad a conversation starter ;-). I'm sorry you struggle with sleep sometimes, caffeine just isn't the same is it?
I hope it was surprise at the temp, not a comment on my tea making!
I have a very achy left leg...the right one is fine. Odd.
I doubt that Maf was impressed either.
She likes cold tea even less than John, it's true. And tries to push cups off furniture onto the floo, little fleabag.
how goes the evening guys? a relaxing end to the day or some kind of Sherlock madness followed by hours of tidying up now he's in bed? ;-)
Listen to the doc about the leg!
Pandabob, you are the admirable kind of parent, aren't you? That tidies before you go to bed? By the time the kids were in bed, I was always too tired. Much easier to get up earlier next morning. And if that wasn't enough time, the mess just sat there till we all got home from work & school. So, yeah. My house was a wreck half the time!
fA
I'm an awful mother to be honest fA because I make the kids tidy up before they go to bed! the older two know if they leave anything around after bedtime that's unsafe for the baby, who stays up later than them, its likely to have gone in the bin by morning ;-)
He's being remarkably calm at the moment. Has even said we should do things for his birthday the following weekend, when Mycroft's home.... miracles will never cease!
(Of course, 'things' means cake. But we also have to have cake on his birthday...so he's getting double cake, at the very least, from this deal.)
we always have cake twice, once on the actual day and again on designated birthday day so it seems like a very reasonable plan to me and it is very nice that he's reached the age of wanting his brother involved in his special day :-)
Double cake is a wonderful plan!
My methods resulted in one who's a better housekeeper than I, and one who's far, far, worse (in early 20s) - so I am not the pattern to go by!
fA
I congratulate Sherlock for reaching the age that he can come out and say he'd rather have Mycroft there. Double cake or no, it's to his - and his grown ups' - credit.
fA
I think living with Sherlock has taught Mycroft to tidy everything all the time, to keep precious items away from grasping hands.
Sherlock, on the other hand, makes the place look like a tornado has passed through. And it's not just mess, it's probably poisonous or decomposing. I fear for his future dwellings and potential housemates.
Yes. My messy one just moved in with his girlfriend. I warned her if she thinks they're in it for the long haul to hold the line she needs for her sanity - we messies can pick up if it becomes a habit, but if you think we're going to come up with the thought ourselves, you're dreaming, no matter how many times you've talked about it.
As far as toxic waste, one can only hope that instilling good scientific procedures will help. And maybe hazmat suits for housemates?
fA
How goes the day people? Wednesday is always a funny one, I can never decide if it's the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end ;-). I guess shift work means that really it's just a day!!
I hope it's going well for you all.
It's been beautifully autumnal here the past few days, I hope it's been as nice for you all! (It's also been very ragweedy, but then there's always something... ;))
Autumnal my lungs! I ended up on an extra inhaler for my asthma and then barely slept for two days after a single dose. Remind me why people do stimulants for fun?
Ouch, Becca. I hope you're feeling better.
And I don't get it myself. I tried decongestants for seasonal allergies once, and they worked beautifully--and I was up clinging to the ceiling after about an hour of sleep. So I know just what you mean!
I think some of us just have more drug-seeking biochemistry. Or are more drug resistant? Or sometimes both.
Sorry you had such crummy side effects, Becca. Hope you are asthma free & sleeping again. And RR, I hope your antihistamines work with you if the decongestants don't!
I hope everyone who's trying, is sleeping well, actually. Good sleep is such a wonderful thing.
fA
Morning all. Hope everyone is ok today.
I see the birthday rapidly approaches, have you decided what you'd like yet, Sherlock. I think it's very nice of you to want to wait to celebrate with Mycroft too. Are you all going away somewhere?
Hope everyone has a great day. :)
Yesterday was 100% meetings and paperwork.
Maybe today will be better...
But foremost in our minds here is that it's two years since Nicola and Fiona were murdered while carrying out their duties in Manchester. We will remember them and countless others killed as they serve.
Post a Comment