1. Swimming By Dozens
2. A Nine Turtle Stack
3. The King Of The Pond
A very tired Son 1 aged 4y 11m was in bed with me when I woke. No idea when he arrived. We had a vague plan to start getting the fish tank ready for fish. But a friend texted… partner working and in the market for a trip. We decided crabbing on The Boat. The Man went down to the shops to get picnic stuff. Son 1 watched telly. Son 2 aged 23m came in the shower with me. He’s grrrr-reat.
We chugged for about 45 minutes, then The Man anchored and we got out the crab lines. Our Friend had brought with a vast pile of saved washing tablet net bags. “I knew they’d come in handy one day,” she said. They are just the best thing for crabbing. You fill them with bacon, add a stone, chuck it overboard and wait. We caught 61 crabs. Son 1 was fab, he’s so confident now, he was hauling them in, catching them in his net and plopping them in the buckets without any adult help. Son 2 was weeping with frustration because Son 1 wouldn’t let him hold a net with crabs in. Poor little titch. Living with us has taught him that he’ll always be left out and treated like a baby, and he’s responded by barging into everything without caring if he’s physically big enough to Have A Go. In the end he got so tired we had to put the engine on to get him to sleep. Which meant emptying out the crabs. Hmmm. We had our 60+ crabs in four beach buckets. The ones at the bottom of the pile did not look happy. I think we re-created Yertle The Turtle. In my role as official animal welfare inspector I think next time we need either bigger buckets or fewer crabs.
Both boys fell asleep in the cabin on the way back, and Little Friend eventually passed out in his mother’s arms. Back on the mooring, The Man switched the engine off. Son 2 woke instantly and sprang into action. The other mother couldn’t believe it. Happens every time, we told her. Back home, the boys were tired, we were tired, but Son 1 was determined to Wash Gravel to prepare the Fish Tank. “I’ll make the tea,” said The Man. “You wash the gravel with them.” “No, no, it’s ok,” I said. “I’ll make the tea, you wash the gravel.” Son 2 insisted on being involved. I listened to the sounds of a bucket of gravel getting washed in the back sink. “Son 2!” “No, Son 2!” “No!” The Man was more patient that I’d've been. They both ate their stir fry, with Son 1 proclaiming:”This is the best chicken I ever tasted.” Farm shop chicken, ridiculously expensive. He can spot the bad stuff at 20 paces too.
Tags: crabbing, fish tank, picnic, The Boat, washing gravel, washing tablet net bags, Yertle The Turtle
