The Iron Men of Crosby

Over the weekend we visited what is locally known as the Iron Men of Crosby, which is in fact a series of statues by artist Antony Gormley entitled 'Another Place' this piece of art has been on the beach for at least 3years but is one of thoses things that people flock to see but because it is only on your doorstep, life gets in the way and time flies and lo and behold it is 3 yrs down the line.

For those of you who have not heard of the iron men, it is 100 iron lifesize statues of men, scattered along a mile or so of beach some further out than others.

Up until now all we have seen or heard of these iron men is that when they were erected the number of calls into the police and coastguard went up because the public thought that they were people stranded, or trying to hurt themselves, and again when the initial shock of them wore off they hit the news when the lease was up and they were due to be removed there was public outcry that they couldnt be moved and were part of the landscape now (rather like the 'superlambbanana' - which has been adoped by the people of liverpool - the artist has got NO chance of getting that back off us !!) so anyway the iron men are here to stay and we went to visit them.

To look at them you can see why all those calls were put in, they are so realistic that as you get nearer to look you expect them to move like the statue artists that you see in Covent Garden. and the way that some are closer to the beach some further out all looking towards the sea, it is an amazing sight, each one numbered so the kids had great fun running up to them finding out the numbers although the cultural side of it was lost on them because all the statues are 'naked' so kids took great delight in shouting across the beach to us that they could see it's willy, and obviously the tide being the tide brings in all sorts of seaweed, barnacles, and litchen that clings to the most in-oportune places, kids were in hysterics, nothing a quick visit to the iron doctor with some iron tablets wont cure !!!!!!

I can highly recommend it to anyone, may think twice on taking a picnic on the beach, may feel a bit uneasy with all the 'visitors' watching me eat !

Happy Fathers Day x x

Yesterday was Fathers day, and it made me think about the different relationships I have and my children have with the male figures in their lives, Obviously the biggest relationship we all have now is that of my husband - the kid' dad, I couldn't ask for a better more patient man to raise and guide our children along the way, it says it all when a grown man goes between knowing all the words to Bob the Builder to Hannah Montana and who doesn't mind getting down to glue and glitter.

Then there are the grandads, my dad, I have always had my dad there but have never had the type of relationship that you could talk him about anything - yet he has a great friendship with his grandchildren, my stepdad, who I very rarely speak to, who shows no interest in the kids, and that leaves us with husbands dad, who is a complete nutter and again who the kids love dearly.

So it just goes to show,that like most things in life, relationships vary in their intenseness (if that is a word?) and that each relationship whether it is as a daughter, son, dad, grandad, is each unique and brings a special quality to the table.

To all the sons, fathers, granddads, uncles out there I hope you had a wonderful Fathers day and remember that you mean to the world to someone x x x

I know, I know !!

I know, I know I said that I was going to be more organised and have certain days for blogging certain topics, but that obviously didnt take into consideration school holidays, husband being off work and me having tonsilitis ( I honestly didnt have the energy to lift my head off the pillow never mind think of anything interesting to say !!)

So I'm here again begging for forgiveness ! what we have been doing since last writing is teaching our girls how to ride their bike without trainer wheels our eldest managed it last year so only needed a refresher so all efforts were put into our 5yr old, took the trainer wheels off daddy holding onto the seat, we rode along the prom which is a wide open space no cars, she spent the whole length of the prom crying her eyes out (dont forget this was HER idea to ride her bike without the wheels) did this for a few times stopped and rested, asked Aimee our eldest and Holly (5yr old) if they were enjoying themselves riding by themselves both shouted YES !!!!!! (even Holly who had just moments earlier been crying).. so after a rest decided to try again, back in the saddle and AGAIN spent the whole of the prom CRYING AGAIN !!??? - go figure that one ?? very strange .. all this along with out 2yr old son who decided to jump on his trike that very morning

and start peddling away but with no sense of direction Id be merrily walking behind/alongside him then all of a sudden would be sideswiped by a 2yr old with road rage,

so there we all are Aimee whizzing along telling Holly how easy it is , Holly being helped moaning the complete length of the prom and Owen trying desperately to keep up the rest of the family had done 2 lengths of the prom by the time we had got 1/2 way along - Funny days, it was just one of those lovely days, no work or chores to do just a family relaxation day topped off with the obligitory ice cream on the beach afterwards - Holly still hasn't fully sussed out the riding but that can be saved for another posting !! - take care, see you soon