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Poor Lyra…
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A weekend morning…
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The artist at work…
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Back in the saddle…
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A tight curve
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“Look at sis!”
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Going nowhere fast
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April 30, 2010Had the carpet cleaners in for their annual visit, which meant moving everything off the floor so they could do their thing. It was hours before the floors were dry enough to put things back, which was a bit of a pain with Lyra in the house.I took the opportunity to clear out a lot of stuff — and clean and reorganise the rest –before putting it back again. The carpets and furniture look a lot better for being cleaned. I invested my main effort in the girls’ bedroom, and was still at it at 6pm. Ordered an Indian takeaway from Kiplings for dinner. Nova was happy to try everything, but it was poppadoms, rice and bread for Lyra. “You like chickpeas!” I said, offering her a spoonful of channa masala. “I don’t like these chickpeas!” she replied. “You like potato!” I said, putting a bit of potato bhaji on her plate. “I don’t like this potato!” she said stoutly. The girl definitely knows her own mind… |
April 29, 2010At the school assembly this morning, Nova’s class did a series of vignettes on their recent trip to Flatford. Assemblies are definitely less churchy under the new head teacher — no hymns and only the briefest of prayers giving thanks for nature.I was hoping to slope off to join my running class afterwards, but I’d forgotten that parents are now invited back to the classroom following assembly to see the children’s work. We neglected to do that after the last assembly, and Nova felt very let down. So I kissed the running goodbye and trooped off with the other parents. Got an email from Patty today that presented her son Adam’s version of how those school keys came to be in his possession. Sounded pretty far-fetched to me, but she seems to believe it. Mums are like that — I know my mum would believe almost any line I fed to her. She wanted to I guess, and didn’t want to believe that I would lie to her. Unsurprisingly, dad was never convinced of our innocence in the face of evidence to the contrary…;-) |
April 28, 2010A bit hungover this morning… Productive day, but it was probably a mistake to eat those leftover work sandwiches. I was feeling distinctly unwell by the time I got home — no dinner for me…Nova and Lyra had great fun “nursing” me, providing drinks of water, temperature taking and stethoscoping. Nova even whisked up some exfoliant from yogurt, honey and sugar to slather on my face. Hard not to feel loved with those sorts of ministrations… |
April 27, 2010Had to travel to Maidenhead for a quarterly meeting with our key supplier. On the way back to London, I discussed my presentation dilemma with my colleague Donna, who suggested that I do it on photography. Hmmm…Got back with time for a short mosey down Marylebone High Street before it was time to meet Adam at Providores. I got there first, and when a nice looking guy in a suit approached my table it took me a split second to realise that it was my husband. A very nice surprise… Really enjoyed chef Peter Gordon’s New Zealand fusion cuisine, with the potato chilli soup and gingerbread-crusted cod ceviche with crispy squid as particular favourites. Have made a tentative booking to return with Margo and Aaron when they visit next month. Got a call this afternoon from Adam B’s school in Manchester. Apparently he has been suspended for a week for taking a set of keys to the school practice rooms, and as his UK guardians we needed to arrange to get him off the premises. After a series of phone calls it was eventually decided that with exams looming and a scheduled medical appointment, he would stay at school and be punished my withdrawing other privileges. |
April 26, 2010For my course next month, I’ve been tasked with reading “Life And How To Survive It” by John Cleese and Robyn Skinner. Once you get used to the writing style — it’s presented as a lighthearted, quipping conversation between Cleese and Skinner — there’s some sgood stuff in there.My leadership course is starting to loom large again. This session I’m expected to make a ten-minute presentation on what my passion is… Joy… I was full of good intentions to sort it out weeks ago, but I’ve found it impossible to decide just what my passion is. Food would have been an obvious choice, but someone has done food already. I’ve also thought of travel and literature, but not particularly keen on either of them… Went out for my colleague Mike’s birthday lunch at a local Italian restaurant, so didn’t bother with dinner. Adam was out chairing the local Friends of the Earth groups election hustings, and by the time I got the girls down it was too late to be bothering with cooking anyway.
“Mum, I’ve been thinking about what boys’ brains are full of,” Nova said to me at bedtime. “I think they’re full of dust balls, and small stones and picked-off Lego packaging stickers…” Okay… |
April 25, 2010Happy birthday Kael, the big oh-three today! Cooked a Moroccan shoulder of lamb on the barbeque. The recipe claimed it would feed six people, so I was expecting some leftovers, but I would have happily served that amount of meat to sixteen… We’ll be eating lamb for some time to come… Watched an episode of the British Wallander. Kenneth Branagh makes an awfully good Wallander, and the British scripts are better, being based on the novels themselves instead of written-for-TV episodes (even if they were written by Mankell). But the Linda is woeful — I don’t know if it’s because the other Linda is so compelling (and tragic), so it seems wrong for anyone else to play the part, or if the simpering smile the British Linda has glued to her face most of the time works against her… |
April 24, 2010Went for a long run on Heath. Deliberately took it easy, aiming to keep my heart rate in the 140s. Adam and girls had set off for Waitrose by the time got back. Did an hour of essential housework then headed out to the garden to finish my initial clearout work on the raspberries. Ground elder, grrr… I have a pathological loathing for that plant…Lunch was picnic on the lawn, which is so sloping that we had to keep bum shuffling downwards in pursuit of our food. Ended up three feet lower than where we started… Adam headed off to an afternoon match at Arsenal, so I did the girls dinner (meatloaf — which was “scusting!” according to Lyra), and gave them a wash. I’ll be so glad when we’re shot of that cast — it’s not much fun washing Lyra under optimum conditions… I’d asked Adam to buy some fish for our dinner. I was very surprised when I unwrapped the packet to find two tiny fillets of sea bass. That sea bass must have been the size of a sardine. I incorporated the leftover mash from the girls’ dinner, and served fried bass fillets with a creamy sorrel-fennel sauce. I was delicious, but didn’t do much to absorb the bottle of wine we filled up on…;-) |
April 23, 2010Took Lyra down to Hamster Teeth after breakfast to feed ducks. We fed ducks until Lyra was sick of it, and the ducks were sick of us… Lovely fresh morning on the Heath. We moseyed along looking at flowers and buds, spotting parrots, listening for woodpeckers… Lyra really enjoyed all the one-on-one time — made me realise how much less of it she gets than Nova did…Stopped in for coffee at Trish’s on our way back, which meant it was well past Lyra’s usual lunch time by the time we got home. The Stillmans were just setting off for lunch at Lauderdale House, and invited us to join them. I accepted happily — I love impromptu invitations. Had a really nice time — and two bottles of wine — which meant I wasn’t good for much afterwards… Dinner was baked spaghetti, a recipe in the Jill Dupleix cookbook that intrigued me. It was fine I suppose, though it seems like a way to turn a perfectly good dish of spaghetti into leftovers. Works for someone I suppose… Watched Powell and Pressburger’s ‘The Red Shoes’ for movie night. I was struck my how modern it still appears — the film was made in 1948. I had no idea people were doing things like that with ballet back then — or maybe they weren’t? |
April 22, 2010Went for a run first thing, then spent a few hours in the garden. Spring has suddenly sprung and there’s loads to do. The raspberries are only thing I consistently keep on top of and even that’s a struggle, a duel to the death with the goddamn ground elder… Where do people find time to do all the work that gardens seem to require? Or do I have a particularly unruly garden?Etta came round for a sleepover even though it’s a school night, as her parents are off to Dublin on some kind of work jolly. Adam took the two girls to a show at Jackson’s Lane — he’s on a one-man mission to lift their saggy ticket sales. I gave Lyra a quick shower, then did her bedtime routine. For many months it has been:
Recently the singing step has evolved into Lyra telling a long, made-up story, the kind that starts: “Once upon a time… there was a little princess… and she lived in a big castle… and she was so sad… and one day she was playing in the garden… and there was a big TIGER… yada yada yada…” This development definitely didn’t happen on my watch. While I really enjoy listening to her stories generally, lights out is not the right time for them, as it hands control over the length of the bedtime routine to Lyra. I was very firm this evening about doing the singing instead, promising Lyra that she could tell me a story in the morning. “OK,” she agreed, “I’ll sing a song then…” “How about Mary Had a Little Lamb?” I suggested. “No, I have a better song,” Lyra said and started in on a ballad of her own creation, “Once upon a timmmme, there was a littttttle princesssss,…” |
April 21, 2010Work, where to begin…? Or perhaps, let’s not… The only part I found a bit weak was the feedback from the judging panel were of the calibre — “Oh, this is so yummy!” or “A little too sweet for me, but it’s still really delicious.” But then it’s never very satisfying watching other people eat food on telly, as I learned as a young child watching The Galloping Gourmet. |
April 20, 2010Lyra dragged herself out of bed and crawled in to our room this morning… I’m not sure how she managed the doorknobs… As soon as I settled her beside me, she resumed the endless story she was telling me at bedtime. This one featured a mermaid called Amy with feet behind her tail so she could climb her seaweed stairs without sliding down again.Although largely immobilised, Lyra insists on playing hide and seek, and actually it’s not that different to when she can move about. Even then, she would happily sit in the middle of a floor with a towel over her head yelling, “You can’t find me!” Now she hides in the bed beside me and I have to discover her… |
April 19, 2010Mum and dad’s anniversary today — it would have marked 48 years of marriage… I was trying to remember what work was like before the era of email. I guess there would have been a pile of papers and memos that I would have shuffled through, but I would have relied on my colleagues to fill me in on anything important. Dropped round a birthday present for Pasc, who turned 43 while we were on holiday. The sewage saga that resulted in the path being closed for months is still dragging on for them. After laying a new sewer pipe to replace the one that was collapsing, the engineers pumped cement into the old one to seal it off. What they hadn’t bothered to ascertain was whether there were any homes still connected to that pipe. Turns out that Pete and Pasc and the two houses next to them were still using it, and sealing it off left them unconnected to the sewer system. Which meant their loos and sinks backed up and flooded their house… Cowboys… |
April 18, 2010Why is it always so much easier to pack to go home again? Seemed a doddle compared to the effort involved in getting ready… This was a very relaxing holiday, and I think the broken leg likely contributed to that, forcing us to take things really easy. There’s a lesson in there…Noticed a thin film of volcanic ash on the car as I was loading it up. You wouldn’t necessarily know what it was aside from the fact the car was completely clean yesterday. After a final visit to the climbing tree, we hopped in the car for the drive home. You’ve gotta like gravol — both girls were conked out most of the way… (Does that make me a bad parent?) Sailed across the M25 and the junctions for Heathrow — no congestion at all (snigger) and made it back home in just over three hours. Nova pretty much headed straight out to Sophie B’s animal encounter party, and I embarked on an unpacking marathon and four full loads of laundry. The cat was happy to see us, and I was surprisingly happy to see the cat. I always think I don’t much like Cleo, but I seem to be harbouring some affection for her… Pete and Pasc — who had looked after Cleo while we were away — left a massive pile of stuff they’d cleared out in the flat, with a note asking if the girls would like it. My heart sank at the sight of it, but it was like Christmas for the girls, and kept them busily spreading and strewing for hours. There was a card for Lyra waiting in the post, which turned out to be from Greg and Wendy. Lyra was very pleased with it — getting personal mail is a big event for the girls — and especially loved the picture on front. “It’s a fairy AND a ballerina — just like me!” she told me happily. |
April 17, 2010Last full day of our holiday, and yet another beautiful morning — we’ve been so lucky with the weather this week.After breakfast we walked 2.5 miles downstream along the river Culm to Uffculme. Our destination was Coldharbour Mill — a working woollen mill — though unfortunately it wasn’t working on Saturdays. Ate a lunch in the cafe that was a bit better than it might have been, then took the self-guided tour. Quite interesting — the Fox family were another of those benign Quaker employers who provided decent living conditions and schooling. Of course it’s all relative — while the minimum working age at the time was six years old, the Fox family felt it immoral to employ anyone under eight… Lyra was in a state by the end of the day, yelling and screaming about the slightest thing. Heaved a big sigh of relief when we finally got her off to bed. I think she gets frustrated with the broken leg, and she’s still not sleeping all that well, so she’s tired too… Turned on the news to discover the most of Europe’s airfleet has been grounded by a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland. So we’re stuck on this island…;-) Part of me is sorry we’re not stuck at a resort in Lanzarote like Doron and Antonia, but perhaps I wouldn’t feel that way if I was actually in that situation… |
April 16, 2010My morning to lie in… I took advantage of it to finally finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. Glad to get that monkey off my back — it’s one of those books that are impossible to put down once you get stuck in…Took little B-roads most of the way to Axminster, where we ate lunch at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen. The place was rammed full of families with under fives — he must have a big following among that set — and we felt right at home. I haven’t ever watched his shows — or looked at his cookbooks either — but I have the feeling he’s pretty sound. Half way through the meal, the great man himself came in and sat at the table behind us with two other guys. It was obviously a business meeting — Hugh kept talking about how precious the River Cottage brand is. Bought a few bits in the shop before heading for Lyme Regis. The town was packed, as always, but we scored a great parking space and made for the beach. It was a glorious day, with some warmth to the sun for the first time (bright and cold up to now). We walked along the promenade and set ourselves up on the beach. I pulled on Lyra’s waterproof sock, and then wrapped a foffy secured with an elastic on top of that, but I’m still paranoid about getting sand in the cast. It doesn’t bear thinking about the grief that would cause… We met up with our friends Andy and Sue and their two kids (how did we manage this stuff without mobile phones?). Had a visit on the beach while the kids played, then stopped for an ice cream before going our separate ways. Had a lunchy-dinner as the girls call a supper of cold cuts, crudités, cheese and crackers. Knocked back our River Cottage beers, including one made from nettles. To be honest, I could tell much difference from the other two, but I’m not a connoisseur of beer. Adam and I spent the evening playing Mastermind. I recently bought a set on e-Bay thinking it would help Nova improve her reasoning skills. I’d forgotten what a good game it is… |
April 15, 2010We developed a reasonable system for dealing with Lyra in the night. We alternate whose night it is to go in to her first, and that person also gets up with the girls in the morning and delivers the other a coffee in bed at about 8:15. Very civilized, at least when it’s your turn to do the coffee drinking…;-)Apparently people are going to bed an hour earlier than they were two years ago. The researchers blame the recession — people are staying home because they don’t have enough money to go out, then going to bed early out of boredom. Today’s destination was Exeter. Had a bit of an adventure locating the right car park, but scored an amazing parking spot. We’ve had the most astonishing parking karma this week — always getting the most perfect spot right next to the entrance. Started with a bite of lunch at the farmers market, then did a bit of shopping on the high street. It was funny — I kept seeing shops that I was sure had gone out of business (sometimes years ago): Athena, Whittards, and Laura Ashley are still merrily trading in the time warp that is Exeter High Street. Visited Exeter Cathedral, which I was enjoying until Lyra started hollering the place down… Mid-afternoon snack of pasties — damn good ones, especially Nova’s chicken tikka pasty — followed by a wander round the ruined castle. Adam is constantly fiddling with his new iPhone, and we managed to lose him on a little circular walk of the grounds. Met Dave for dinner at a noodle bar, then spent another hour walking round some of his favourite haunts, ending up by the quayside for a pint. Definitely feel like we’ve done Exeter justice… Home about 9pm in time for the prime ministerial debate… |
April 14, 2010It feels like the holiday starts from today — the thought of the hospital visit and cast sort of overshadowed things, and now we know what’s what we can relax…Headed west from our cottage to a tiny village called Knowstone. In the middle of nowhere, the village boasts a Michelin starred pub. Had a bit of a walk first while we waited for the doors to open. There are trails you can take across the moor, but without proper footwear (or Lyra’s backpack) we didn’t want to venture too far. The food was certainly worth the journey… My smoked chicken and pear salad and monkfish in pancetta were both delicious. They cooked a beautiful pasta for Lyra, with a mound of grated cheese and shredded ham arranged artfully on top. And the cucumber she made a special request for, had been carefully scored and carved. Spent the afternoon at Knightshayes Court — the local National Trust pile. Quite a mad Victorian extravaganza of a house, built for a lace magnate by the neo-Gothic architect William Burges. I went round first with Nova while Adam sat with a dozing Lyra in the smoking room, then Nova went around again with her dad while I read the guide book. Didn’t have nearly enough time in the gardens, which look like they’d be amazing. Beautiful swathes of frittilaries in one field — a new flower to me. Surprised not to have noticed them before now:
Bacon and eggs for the girls dinner; cheese, crackers and a glass of red wine for us when they’d gone to bed… |
April 13, 2010Another beautiful day — it was a shame that we had to spend most of it in Taunton Hospital. Dave left first thing, and after breakfast we set off. Personally, I don’t think it’s such a great idea to have your hospital situated right next to a massive graveyard, but maybe that’s just me…Once we parked up, my impressions changed rapidly… Maybe it was our holiday mindset, or being in a smaller centre, but it was a surprisingly nice experience. The hospital was clean and bright, the staff friendly and helpful, the waiting minimal… After removing Lyra’s partial cast, she was examined by the orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Andy. He decided a full cast from her foot to mid thigh was the best course. She’ll need to keep it on for another four weeks. It was interesting to see how they do casts nowadays. One nurse held Lyra’s leg in a slightly bent position, while the other slipped on a padded cotton sock, then wrapped it in rolled of fibreglass tape that had been soaked in a basin of water. Once the cast had set, they x-rayed her leg again and we had another chat with Dr Andy. We looked at the fracture on his computer — turns out it’s a nasty, spiral one, and slightly displaced as well. He assured us that it should heal perfectly well, and that the bone will grow so much that the displacement will disappear in no time. When they volunteered to burn us a CD of Lyra’s x-rays for us to take back to London, we decided that now they were just showing off…;-) While her new cast is unwieldy, I think it will be better in some respects. There’s no way of knocking it and hurting her now, and she feels more confident moving around herself. Made chickpea pasta soup — Lyra’s favourite — for dinner, with strawberry shortcake for dessert… |
April 12, 2010Woke to a lovely, bright morning. I got up with the girls, leaving Adam to catch a little more sleep. We’d arranged to meet Dave in Uffculme, a village a few miles down river. After a couple of false starts that required us to return to the cottage, we’d finally set off on the footpath to Uffculme, when we met Dave coming the other way. Turned out he’d caught an earlier bus than planned…A quick change of plans was required… Headed back to the cottage yet again to drop off Dave’s pack, then headed up to Culmstock Beacon. It was a beautiful day for it, with great views over the Devon countryside to reward our efforts. Lyra was very philosophical about being in the backpack. If her leg wasn’t broken, she would have be clamouring to get out the whole time, then moaning that she was tired of walking. Stopped at the pub for a welcome pint, then back home for a lunch of leftover car sammies, cheese, crackers and tea. Dinner was a taco extravaganza — tacos are quickly becoming a favourite family meal. I’m going to experiment with fillings other than beef/beans next time — maybe something with fish? Watched a quirky and very amusing Belgian (or French?) film that Dave had brought called Rhumba, about a pair of rhumba-dancing school teachers who were injured in a car accident before calling it a night… |
April 11, 2010Happy birthday Aaron! Managed to set off by 1pm, with a crate of sandwiches and other lunch provisions to eat en route. The gravol I’d administered to the girls meant they slept much of the journey. Traffic around Wembley/Heathrow was heavy and there were also a few stretches of roadworks to contend with. Things improved considerably after Bristol, and by the time we exited the M5 only 5 minutes of Adam’s target pace for road trips of a mile a minute. Actually, the whole journey took less than 3.5 hours, which is reasonable going. It was good to see Craven Cottage again. I used to always want to go somewhere new, but there is also something really comforting about returning to a place you’ve stayed before. Unpacked quickly then went for a walk with Lyra in the backpack. We had trouble getting through the first kissing gate — it was tricky to negotiate the tight turning angle with her cast sticking out — but it was okay after that. Walked to the climbing tree, where we unpacked Lyra for a little sit, then headed home for a simple pesto pasta dinner. Once the girls were in bed, Adam spent the evening working. I spent a couple of hours wrestling unsuccessfully with a Rubik’s cube before leaving him to it… |
April 10, 2010Adam B arrived back from Canada and will stay with us tonight before heading up to Manchester. So we had six for dinner — Freddy joined us as well, as Beulah’s gone into hospital for observation. She’s been having some odd pain, and they want to be able to monitor it as it actually occurs…Packing over two days for our forthcoming trip has certainly made things easier. It also helps to be doing it on a day when Adam isn’t working flat out. Things are feeling relatively under control, compared to the state I’m usually in the day before a big trip… |
April 9, 2010Slept until 8am… Lyra was up at 5am, but Adam went into her to allow me the lie in. Much needed and appreciated…As he was out all day, I didn’t have much scope for getting ready for the trip to Devon. (We’ve decided to go after all — as one friend said, “you can always come home again if it’s not working out…”) Though in some respects, Lyra is less trouble immobilised than when she’s scampering about, keen to get into everything. Gave her a shower this evening — her first wash since the incident — and it was a complete nightmare. I covered the cast in cling film, followed by a protective plastic sleeve that Amy’s mum gave us. I arranged a plastic stool under the shower, and let the water run before transferring her to it. For some reason, she became completely hysterical, shrieking about the water temperature and I don’t know what else… She was probably just tired and frustrated, but I was so anxious about hurting her, and the whole experience left my nerves jangling. I had absolutely zero interest in cooking dinner, so it was pizza and beer in front of the telly… |
April 8, 2010Managed to go for a run, although I felt pretty sluggish from the lack of sleep… After a quick shower, I headed into town with Nova, wanted to do something cultural bird thing at Barbican, but we were constrained for time since I couldn’t rely on Lyra to nap with her broken leg, and I didn’t want to inconvenience Adam too much. Poked around the shops in Covent Garden, where we acquired a new “Bee” for Lyra (a replacement glowing, rubbery, spiky worm toy for one that had lost its glow). Went for the usual Chinatown lunch. I had nearly persuaded Nova to go for a sushi conveyor belt experience, but the lure of Gerards Corner proved too strong. The waiters all remembered her and correctly predicted our order before they’d even seated us. We did try a couple of new dim sums this time — the shu mai didn’t go down too well, but she liked the prawn toasts. Next stop, John Lewis for her first pair of lace-up trainers, some school socks and trousers and ice cream cones. Headed home and got Nova ready for her sleepover at Amys. I took Lyra out in the pushchair for the first time. I was worried it might jolt her leg too much, but it was fine. She really enjoyed being outside, and welcomed the change of scene. Swung by the pharmacy to pick up more painkillers for Lyra, a grocers for rolls of clingfilm to protect Lyra’s cast in the shower, and the divydoh store to stock up on Disney films. We were nearly at the front door when Lyra realised she’d dropped “Bad Bee” (the broken one) somewhere. Had to walk nearly all the way back to Archway Video to find it… Made our fourth meal out of the weekend’s leg of lamb — a kind of pilaff thing with tomatoes and rice. I appreciate the economy of cooking one big piece of meat, but I am getting sick of eating lamb… |
April 7, 2010Had a bad night with poor Lyra, who woke at 1am, 2am, 3am, 5am, 6am… Maxed out her painkiller medicine, rearranged her leg and blankets, and simply sat with her until she settled again. I was completely shattered by morning time, and called work to take another day’s carer’s leave.Lyra herself seems a little better today… She’s able to adjust her leg without too much distress, and is content to lie on the couch watching Disney princess movies. She was meant to go round Agata’s for a visit, but I didn’t think she was up to a bus journey, or even being pushed in her stroller, so Agata came round to ours with her girls instead… |
April 6, 2010I’d been at work about half an hour when Adam phoned to tell me that Lyra has slipped on the stairs and broken her leg. I did only the most essential stuff (I have been away from work for over a week) and headed straight home.The poor little thing was lying on the sofa with her broken leg propped up on a pillow being very brave . The sight of that little limb in plaster is an incredibly sad one… We’re wondering whether to continue with our planned week in Devon. Adam is leaning towards yes, I’m less convinced. It’s going to be very frustrating for her not to paddle in the sea, run about in the fields etc. Also, the place we’re renting is in the middle of nowhere and has particularly steep and tricky steps we’ll have to negotiate while carrying her. We’ll see how the next couple of days pan out before we make a decision… I did some reading about spiral fractures on the web, and discovered they are a red flag for child abuse. There were dozens of stories of families who took their child into emergency with a suspected fracture and ended up in police custody with their child in foster care… Christ, I hadn’t even considered that… To add to the general misery, the car appears to be broken. We took it in yesterday after it started juddering violently when it idled. I assumed water had got somewhere it shouldn’t have when it was washed, but apparently some essential wire in the engine is corroded and the garage suggested we spend £800 to replace it. Adam told them to clean it with steel wool and get back to us… |
April 5, 2010I should have gone for a long run this morning, but opted to grab a bit of extra sleep instead. I never feel like going if it’s gone 9am — maybe because I like to run on an empty stomach and it gets too empty…We awoke to discover that the girls had gone upstairs on their own. I found Nova reading Shakespeare (Richard III) and Lyra happily watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Yet again, a vision of the future shimmers like a mirage on the horizon… Devoted the energy I hadn’t spent running to housecleaning instead. I only did one half of our upstairs el — the sitting room part — but by the time I’d finished it was the kind of clean where you can tell there’s not a speck of lint under the sofas without even checking. Adam kept the girls out of the way by getting them involved in cleaning the car. It desperatiely needed cleaning — it was turning into a botany experiment, with various mosses and algae growing in the crevices, and spiders living in the wing mirror. We’ll get it mucky in Devon next week, but be nice to travel down in a clean car anyway. After huevos rancheros for lunch, we rewarded the girls with a trip to the fun fair on “hamster teeth” as Lyra calls Hampstead Heath. Blasted through our twenty pound budget in less than an hour, riding the big wheel, carousel, spinning teacups, inflatable slides, and a few other rides. Dinner was shepherd’s pie with the leftover lamb and mash (from the roast potatoes I overboiled and had to start again)… |
April 4, 2010Happy Easter, everyone! The girls were surprisingly generous about showing each other where to look and giving one another eggs. I don’t recall practicing any of that sort of behaviour myself. I’m pretty sure I tore around at top speed filling my own basket while my little brothers toddled fruitlessly in my wake if the home movie evidence is to be believed…;-) The leg of lamb I roasted for dinner turned out okay. I’m still not confident about cooking meat, and suspect it was a little underdone… The roasted new potatoes and asparagus were both lovely. Made a lurid yellow Algerian Easter cake that I wish I’d photographed, as it was so unlikely looking. I found the orange blossom flavouring put me in mind of cosmetics, but the rest of the family seemed to like it. (Or perhaps they were scared to register a protest after the hot cross bun incident…) Had a long phone call with Wade, David and Ed who are celebrating Easter together in Prince George this weekend. David has returned on a “show the baby” tour, and to attend the Duchess Park high school reunion before the old school building is knocked down… |
April 3, 2010Awoke to a downpour, so I opted to do my run at the gym. The treadmill is good for working on speed, and makes a change from my usual circuit. I did what I call an accumulator — six five-minutes sets composed of one minute slow/two minutes medium/two minutes fast. I increase the pace each set, so if the first one is done at 8kph/9kph/10kph the last one will be at 8.5/9.5/10.5.Sent Nova off to do some shopping for us in the village. She’s made the trip to the corner shop before, but this was the first time she ventured as far as the greengrocers. Another milestone… Took our batch of freshly baked Margo muffins over to Patricia’s house, as I’d arranged with her to do a photoshoot with the girls. I thought Lyra might be more cooperative with a “stranger” behind the camera then she is with me, but from what I could overhear of the session that wasn’t the case… The session ended with a bang when Patricia suggested an action shot of the girls running down their wooden boardwalk. Nova obliged and just as she reached the end her feet went out from under her and she landed with a thump on her backside. Lyra was halfway down at this point, and lost her footing about three feet earlier. Patricia went running down to help them, resulting in the most dramatic fall of all — she was actually airborne before crashing down on her tailbone. Nobody felt much like taking more photos after that, so we called it a wrap… Dinner was a salmon gnocchi bake I found in Delicious magazine. The girls weren’t keen, but Adam and I both liked it. I’ve always had a particular fondness for tomato-cream sauces. Watched Manon des Sources, the second part of the Jean de Florette story. Nova distraught at the end, and I was tearing up as well. It is pretty sad… |
April 2, 2010“Why is it called Good Friday? Nova asked reasonably enough. Although I’ve wondered the same in the past, I’ve never gone to the trouble of finding out. The web wasn’t a whole lot of help on the subject — a range of waffle on how it’s called “good” because it’s good for mankind that Jesus died, or that it used to be “God Friday”…Adam was up most of the night working, so I left him to sleep and took the girls out for a bike ride on the parade ground after breakfast. Yesterday one of our neighbours phoned up out of the blue and accused Adam of “invading his privacy” by looking at his house when he was on the parade ground before slamming the phone down on him. I was tempted to take a pair of binoculars with me so I could get a really good look at the no doubt fascinating antics that pair of seventy-somethings are getting up to…;-) Went to an afternoon matinee of Ponyo — the latest offering from Studio Ghibli – at Screen on the Green in Islington. The cinema had neglected to mention they were showing the subtitled (ie. not dubbed) version. It actually worked okay for Lyra — I don’t know how much she actually follows the dialogue anyway. She generally just asks me loudly what’s going on every few minutes… Omelettes were an obvious choice for dinner with all those blown eggs to use up… I’ve oiled the shells of our dyed eggs, and I think they look really pretty:
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April 1, 2010Remembered to say rabbits for once… Let’s hope it does some good — I could use a month of good luck!Dropped Nova at school for her early gymnastics class then went for a run. I’ve printed off a training schedule for running a 10km. Don’t know whether I’ll be able to stick to it – they are expecting you to fit in a lot more running time than I currently have at my disposal. According to the schedule, today’s run was supposed to be a “quality run”. Still not sure what that means, but I definitely ran faster than normal… Spent an hour figuring out how to blow the contents from an egg without cracking the shell. I remember doing this with mum when I was little, and I seem to remember her just putting her mouth to the shell and blowing, but I couldn’t make that work for me. After a few missteps, I developed a system that involved:
Ended up with nine usable eggs to dye with the girls after school. We each took a bowl of vinegar water and added twenty drops of our preferred food colouring – red for Lyra, blue for Nova, and green for me. As hollow eggs float, dyeing them involved holding them under the surface for fifteen minutes or so until they were sufficiently coloured. “I’ve got frozen fingers, you’ve got rotting fingers, and Lyra’s got burning fingers!” Nova observed, looking at our stained hands. Watched an absolutely awful Ashley Judd movie this evening. I was drawn in by the Vancouver setting (even though they were pretending it was Seattle), and confusion over the title. Called “Double Jeopardy”, I assumed it was a remake of the Betty Grable classic “Double Indemnity” at first. A real stinker… |
