Daisy Suzanne Allen
Born Sunday 6th March 2011
7 to 7½ years old
Her life: 4 to 4¼ years ♥ 4¼ to 4½ years ♥ 4½ to 4¾ years ♥ 4¾ to 5 years ♥ 5th birthday ♥ 5 to 5½ years ♥ 5½ to 6 years ♥ 6th birthday ♥ 6 to 6½ years ♥ 6½ to 7 years ♥ 7th birthday ♥ 7 to 7½ years ♥ 7½ to 8 years ♥ 8th birthday ♥ 8 to 8½ years ♥ 8½ to 9 years ♥ 9th birthday
In summary: Index ♥ From birth to four years old ♥ Four years old to nine years old ♥ Nine years old onwards
Special features: Golden Bear (reprise) ♥ More cookery
Let's start this page with Daisy being pretty pleased with herself having made a long-legged character out of tinsel wire (glittery pipe cleaners, maybe?).
It's soon Mother's Day, relatively early this year, and Daisy has listed five things she loves about her mum, including the fact that "she's abouslooty beautiful" and that "she lets me wake her up in the night when I'm poorly or sad". I'm sure Gregory did the middle one and maybe the one on the left too...?
As can quite often be the case in this country, we get snow in the spring (it's mid-March), and we duly make a snowman (and a snowdog - not pictured: see Gregory's page for some more photos of this).
Daisy with her Rainbows crew at a charity event. Not sure what they were actually doing, mind.
Daisy's ditties #137.
As also recounted on Gregory's page, there was an Easter Bonnet Parade taking place on Good Friday in Stockport town centre. The first task for the children was to make their very own Easter bonnets...
...and then to showcase those freshly-made hats.
What we weren't prepared for, though, was to be filmed as then took part in an Easter Egg hunt, the video of which is available on YouTube here.
Afterwards, Daisy was rewarded with a unicorn made of balloons, which she seemed pretty happy about.
We then took part, rather reticently, in the parade itself, featuring a giant bunny (and also the mayor at some point).
The Easter fun was not over, though, as we had an Easter orienteering event in Woodbank Park, organised by Stockport council and sponsored by Life Leisure. Gregory seems keen to survey the land while Daisy appears somewhat more eager to get going to the next checkpoint.
Around this time, and for a reasonable period of time, Daisy was in a phase of having engaging in written conversations with her parents. We were obliged to write back to the (sweet) notes that she left us. She does like my risotto.
Easter Sunday fell on April Fools' Day this year, but there were no fools in this household, especially not the children. As is tradition at 8 Denby Lane, they arrived in the lounge to find some Easter gifts, largely (but not exclusively) featuring chocolate.
The Allen girls were cordially invited round for some roast gammon, accompanied by roast potatoes, cheesy leeks, Yorkshire puddings, peas and, er, daffodils. I seem to be on Kronenbourg and, er, Pritt Stick. (Just say no, kids.)
In the Easter Monday, we popped to the Light cinema to watch Coco, an enjoyable Pixar film inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.
A lazy Easter holiday morning before everyone (but me) heads up to Haddington for the first week of the two-week school break.
A creative owl effort from Daisy. They don't do stain glass windows like this, but they should.
After they got back, it wasn't long before it was the Boy's birthday. Daisy turned into helpful big sister, hopefully suppressing her disgruntlement about watching someone open a lot of presents when she doesn't have any to open herself.
As we move further into April, it's evident that we have had a spell of warm weather, which means of course heading outside into the garden for lunch and large, refreshing drinks.
Oh and ice-creams and ice lollies.
It must have been warm as we decided to get the paddling pool out. Gregory takes filling up duty.
And then the begins, with Gregory chasing Daisy around with the cold water that flows from the hosepipe.
They then seemed to be participating in a game of shove-each-other-in-the-pool. First up, Gregory pushes Daisy in head first.
Then Daisy launches Gregory in. I'm sure much hilarity ensued.
It is April and thus probably not an absolute scorcher: they do look a little bit cold here, particularly the all-ribs Gregory.
The following weekend, we headed to the Arc (Arts for Recovery in the Community) Centre in Reddish for some clay making action.
Can you tell what it is? Me neither.
This looks a bit more obvious, although still not completely distinguishable.
Afterwards, they had chance to make hanging things (apparently they are called "dreamcatchers").
A Sunday afternoon at the end of April saw a trip to Reddish Vale farm, where Daisy let a goat nibble carrots out of her hand.
Daisy then watches on a Lynne feeds an Alpaca (maybe), who seems to be eagerly attacking the small bucket of vegetables that is being offered to it.
The children's play area had a zip wire which always has Daisy keen to have a go, adventurous soul that she is these days.
A combination of fair weather and a chalk set meant some self-styled paving stone art.
It's early May and it looks like another lovely weekend, so time for the paddling pool to be painstakingly blown up (it takes ages!), filled (this doesn't take anywhere near as long) and cool drinks distributed to keep the young splashers well hydrated.
The nice weather naturally prompted me to get the BBQ out and lay on a spread. Dining al fresco - nothing beats it.
This is not typical - outdoors brunch (me: bacon & egg barm, Gregory: bacon sarnie, Daisy: sausage & beans) when they have already been in the paddling pool today,
During the May bank holiday weekend, Matt and I had a joint birthday meal at the Kingfisher, before we all headed back to Matt and Nic's for some further drinkage.
On the Bank Holiday Monday, we took a trip to Formby, since the weather was nice. The weekend saw lovely weather and everyone else seemed to have the same idea us: head for the beach. As we got close, the traffic suddenly snarled up, as we got stuck in the local estate (amongst many others). Lynne found us a parking space and, rather than try to get into the car park that was already full, we walked. We probably found one of the last few spaces (for which it was dubious as to whether we were allowed to park there, but the line painting was sufficiently inadequate that we felt that we would be OK - that turned out to be the case). On the walk through the national park to the beach, Daisy found solace in some kind of hut construction.
Hurray! We finally made it to the beach! Time for some sandcastles.
More soon.
How soon is now? Well, it's mid-May 2018 in picture terms, but it's almost two years later, in partial COVID-19 lockdown, that I write this. We start with a fairly alarmist set of instructions. I don't recall my clothes ever being on fire, nor knowing anyone whose clothes were ever on fire. It's good to be prepared, I suppose, but this might cause more panic than is strictly necessary.
Daisy's creativity knows no bounds and she comes up with some crazy creations. I shared a photo of her latest one, which seems to be some sort of deformed face with a little hat on top - I know not why, with Uncle Matt, who very swiftly prepared his own creation, which was a little more ordered but with a strong resemblance of Daisy's.
It was the Sunday the day before my birthday, so we headed to the bowling alley for some bowling action. Daisy tucked in with glee to a big slushy.
And, of course, with my choice of evening meal being curry, we headed to the Heaton Tandoori. Daisy went for chicken tikka, rice and naan bread, which has now become an absolute classic. I doubt she had any of the sauce.
As we left, or while we were still in there, we got an offer of a red rose. I presume we paid for it - not the usual thing we do - but it was my birthday. Daisy duly did the obligatory pose, whilst also clutching her post-curry chocolate.
A couple of weeks later, and the other side of a cycling trip to Nice (for me, not Daisy), and we headed to the park for Daisy to show off her monkey bar skills in the sunshine. Note the temporary barriers which were slowly encroaching on the obstacle course. That carried on happening over the next year or so, as they were doing some work or other, and eventually they had to take some of the obstacle course down. (I write this during the [first?] great lockdown of 2020, so the parks are closed at the moment anyway, but y'know it's nice to remember.)
After a warm trip to the park, and it must have been warm given the shorts, thoughts turn to heading to the pub on the way back for the World Health Organisation's recommended combination of salt and fluids to combat dehydration.
The lovely weather continued into the late afternoon and so the inevitable BBQ was had. On the menu today, marinated chicken (probably tomato & garlic, but possibly tikka), sausages, corn on the cob and sausages.
That was the Saturday. On the Sunday, I was at it again, adding burgers and cheesy stuffed peppers to the mix, laying it on as the Allen ladies were in visitation.
Well knock me down if it isn't some Bank Holiday Monday breakfast bagel in the garden. What a splendid weekend of weather. This was just a hint at the forthcoming heatwave we encountered in the summer of 2018. Both bank holidays had been lovely, but it really took off over the next couple of months.
Later that day, we headed to Alderley Edge for the Wizard Walk, which gave us views of the Cheshire Plain (it says here).
The intrepid explorers set off marching along the path - they clearly know the way.
The cap-wearing adventurers gazed wistfully over the aforementioned Cheshire Plains. What a beautiful sight, as far as the eye can see,
Hurray! We've conquered the mighty, er, rock.
There is unfortunately a piece missing from this plaque but it would normally say "SITE OF ARMADA BEACON". The beacon was apparently built as a form of communication, as part of a chain up and down the country, in order to act as an alarm system in case the country was invaded. They were placed on elevated positions to make them easily visible for miles around. See here for more (since this is a page about Daisy, not the history of the Spanish Armada).
We came upon an uninviting cave entrance. It must have been warm as we all have our knees out today. They seem to be debating whether or not to go in. 'What lies in there?', we wonder....
Well, bravery overcometh doubt and they both made it into the cave, where the flash captures their looks, which vary from slightly surprised to quite happy.
After a trip to the Wizard Tea Rooms for lunch, we headed back to our homestead, where Daisy, increasingly a budding (haha) gardener, planted a hanging basket.
We leap forward a couple of weeks, following a trip to Center Parcs in Longleat, and we have sent Daisy outside for her painting activities. If she makes a mess, we can just hose everything down.
With Lynne heading out this morning, it was Daddy's rules. This was early enough (8.30am or so) that they weren't quite fully dressed - remnants of bedwear certainly remain, but it was obviously so warm that it didn't really matter.
Later that morning, I took them to the park for some high-paced scooter action, with both of them rocking the look.
This looks very much like a Question of Sport-style "What Happened Next?" competition, as Daisy appears to be planted in the mini-roundabout, if you can call it that.
From there, we headed to Whitehill Community Fire Station, which was laying on a fund-raising event. It was a warm day, so we headed straight for the ice-cream van. They seemed pretty happy with that.
After having an ice-cream, it is time for some physical activity in the form of a bouncy castle slide. That looks like the top of Gregory's head at the bottom of the first photo.
On Monday 11th June, Daisy had her last Rainbows, the day before she started Brownies. Here she showcases her uniform, which seems to be the summer variant, based on the shorts. She seems pretty happy with this development anyway.
Next weekend, Daisy showed a keenness to learn to ride a bike. Properly, that is - i.e. without stabilisers. I removed said support device and I took her onto the lawn (for a softer landing) to practise trying to get her balance. The bike is getting too small for her, but that at least makes it easier to stop herself falling over. It's early days anyway as I spend most of the time holding and pushing her, as she manages to balance for short spells at at time.
With Lynne out for Suze's birthday, I took both kids to Lucie's birthday party, although it was only Daisy who was allowed to dress up as a mermaid (out of the two of them), so Gregory stayed with me in the seated area. This was the second mermaid party of the year, following Sophia's at the same venue back in January. It seemed a popular choice.
For some reason, I treated them to Sunday lunchboxes, which they always enjoyed.
For reasons that are not clear, we decided to treat ourselves by going out for tea at Pizza Hut, where I had not been for an absolute age, followed by Ten Pin Bowling (maybe there was a deal on, or something). My large head unfortunately obscures Lynne somewhat, although maybe she requested this. Key Pizza Hut features include deep pan pizza and the infinite salad bowl, as well as the obligatory beer (for me, naturally).
Those crazy young hooligans like to party in the bowling alley, that's for sure.
Here's how the game finished - actually quite a close affair, with Paul narrowly beating Dais, Gerg and Lynn (the advantage of a four-letter name is coming home to roost now). Always a bit disappointing to not break the 100 - I had a purple patch quite a number of years ago when I could even get up to 140+, but those days are long gone. The kids did impressively to get 80+, doing their best to utilise the ramp and barrier combination.
Daisy is very proud to be the recipient this week of the Golden Sweatshirt, which unfortunately seems a couple of sizes too large. But, no matter - she has it and that's all that counts.
The next weekend, Kate invited us round for some fun in the sun. On display here: Gregory trying (I think) to hook some ducks, Nana Sue and Aunty Katie watching on as Daisy legs it, and the table tennis table waiting for action (even the balls are still wrapped - this is probably Katie pretending that she hasn't been practising).
It's all too much for some, so they find a large, comfy cushion and sit back and chill with some work books.
The summer of 2018 was, of course, home to the Football World Cup. The kids were of the age that they were beginning to get into such things and so, with England vs Panama the enticing Sunday lunchtime fixture, we laid on a party spread, featuring sandwiches, sausage rolls, onion rings (the crisps, not actual onion rings), cured meats, salad vegetables, strawberries and, er, sweets. In the end, England won 6-1, after being (a more or less unprecedented) 5-0 up at half-time. We had a time persuading the children that it wasn't always like this, and I think they got a bit bored in the second half given the lack of a contest and very probably went off and did other things.
Daisy is very pleased to have picked a couple of pea pods from the vegetable patch, then slightly perturbed that there seem to be peas in one of them.
Well, if it's sunny, it's more paddling pool time, although that not much actual action here. Do something! It takes me so long to fill with air that they better had do something with it.
Now this is the way to travel to school. No moping or meandering, pure push power, with uniform, pigtails and cap completing the school look.
That afternoon/evening, we had Charlie Roberts round for tea, so he joined in with the action. The weather (in late June) was so dependably warm and dry that we could leave out the paddling pool almost indefinitely (not good for climate change progression but good for that - swings and roundabouts, innit).
Of course, when it is so warm in the midday sun, it's wise to find some shade, certainly when you're having your lunch. Always nice to eat your lunch outside. Sandwiches, crisps and accompanying vegetables (carrot sticks for Daisy, cucumbers and olives for Gregory). Standard.
Either there was a chocolate charity collection at school or someone had gone a bit crazy on the weekly shop (and randomly left it in the school playground).
On a Friday morning in early July, Daisy had her class assembly. I'll need to consult her on what this was about. I think it was maybe favourite books that they had been reading?
The next day saw a rare (i.e. I don't ever remember one happening before) open day at work (PwC), seemingly to showcase our new offices (I say "new" - we had been in them for about 8 months by this point). The lovely weather certainly gave an opportunity to use the outdoor section.
Work had laid on a magician, called Philip (as the keen-eyed amongst you may have spotted). Daisy was keen to be up there and was selected.
So that made her happy, as did getting a couple of balloons.
Feedback was encouraged, via a freestyle whiteboard, and was thus given.
Afterwards, we met up with the Wards, got some sandwiches and other snackage from M&S, and sat in St John's Gardens to eat it, along with about forty pigeons. Following this, we headed to their house in Chorlton to watch a solid 2-0 victory over Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals. The dizzy heights of the semi-finals awaited.
And that is a place to stop for the time being. Not long to go until September!
Right then, we move on with a nice little picture of a puppy, evidently called Frankie, produced by Daisy.
On 11th July 2018, it was time for England's biggest football match since 1990. They had reached the semi-final of the World Cup and were playing against Croatia. The kids were excited and we put on the usual party spread for a relatively late tea (hence they are in pyjamas to enable a swifter transfer to bed). Typically, the match went to extra time, following Croatia's equaliser, which meant that they could not stay up to the end of the match. Sadly, it wasn't to be, and Croatia took control of the match and ran out 2-1 winners, although they lost to France in the final. Ah, it was fun while it lasted.
Generating significantly more excitement was the bug circus a week or so later, at the unusual time of 40 past 6. I can't actually remember what this involved. But, a bug circus!
With Lynne out in town having lunch with Jessica, an old work friend of ours, I did some cooking with the children. We made rice krispie cakes, with added sprinkles. The best bit about making chocolate desserts is, of course, the cleaning out of the bowl afterwards.
And suddenly it was the last week of school. They both get their school reports, and they were excellent, so we were very proud of them.
Daisy was always being constantly creative, as illustrated by this rabbit made out of a small box.
School has finished now, so we head into the vegetable patch to dig up some of this year's potato crop. They seem pretty happy about it.
Around this time, Daisy was very much getting into using Powerpoint, presumably triggered by doing ICT (information and computer technology - used to be just IT in my day...). Here she takes us through a presentation of things that we should like. Presumably this includes sweets and/or chocolate. I have wired up my laptop to the TV to help.
We leap forward a fortnight, following the kids spending some time with Avis & Graham in Haddington and then a family holiday to Harlech (which, as yet, is not featured on this website). We take the kids round to Boothstown a couple of days in the week to enable Lynne and I to work. On the Friday, they spend the day at Aunty Katie's, where sticker anarchy reigned, after a day at Nana Sue's earlier in the week.
We jump forward another fortnight, after a Alnwich / Haddington double-header (will I ever get round to putting these photos up on this website?), where we gather in Harrogate, at Mark & Helen's, for a kids' day in early September. It looks like the Matt tree has a large fruit ripe for picking. Either that or Matt is stood just under a branch. The kids seem to hang on his every word, since he is effortlessly able to talk at their level.
Later, Daisy takes control of Matt's phone, for reasons unknown, as Gregory looks on.
It then descends into utter carnage, with a mass pile-on ensuing, as Daisy, Gregory and Aunty Katie pin Uncle Matt down.
And the last in the series of Goofing Around With Uncle Matt, it's time for some sort of swinging action.
The next day, we chilled out in the sunshine, once more eating al fresco (it was the year for it, really). It's the usual sandwiches, crisps and vegetables combination.
And, blink and you miss it, it's time for the next school year! Granted, they only have five weeks' summary holiday at Stockport primary schools, but even so that flew by with our pair of holidays with Haddington tag-ons. Daisy poses happily for her first day at school.
She is then joined by young master Gregory,
This is a very rare photo as it features them both doing fairly normal poses. Almost unheard of.
And that, most assuredly, is that. Well, for this six-month period anyway.
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