April 2023

April 30, 2023

After a nice breakfast, we descended to the underground carpark and got on the road. Felt like leaving the twilight zone… Drove down the “Wild Atlantic Way” (as it’s been branded) skirting the Burren. Took it at a leisurely place, stopping for a look at Dunguaire Castle, and a short walk at Murrooghtoohy (think I spelled that right!) viewpoint, with its amazing limestone pavement outcrops.

Made it to to Doolin in time for lunch –seafood chowder and soda bread in a pub.

Shenda and Don are staying in a charming B&B , but there were no rooms anywhere in town by the time we tried to book so we’ve ended up in a bell tent on a campsite. Decided to postpone checking in until after our walk along the Cliffs of Moher. Doolin is at one end of the cliffs, and we walked four gorgeous miles south to the interpretive centre.

We’d been misinformed that there was a regular shuttle bus to Doolin, but it turns out that hasn’t run since Covid so we  walked the four miles back again. Rain was threatening, but held off and my hip was niggling at me, but it was fine and we were back in Doolin by 6pm.

Our tent is lovely, with a little stove, nice enough bed, reading lamps, rugs etc. Tents always give me an enormous sense of well being…

Ate dinner at the McGanns pub. The main room where the musicians were going to perform was packed, but the publican managed to squeeze us onto a table after we finished our burgers and chips. Got the pints in and passed a couple of great hours supping and listening to traditional Irish music before calling it a night. 

April 29, 2023

We either slept through the alarm or it didn’t go off, but fortunately I happened to wake up about when we were due to leave. Our taxi driver had been trying to contact us about leaving earlier as there were major roadworks on the M11, but we didn’t get the messages. Raced around like mad things and were out of the house within ten minutes, but we’d lost any extra time we’d built in and then some…

Another little flurry of excitement when we realised we hadn’t printed our boarding passes and didn’t have them on our phone. Eventually managed to sort it out using 4G and the Ryanair app. Meditating stands me in good stead at times like this..

Did an OJ through the airport, and queue jumped at passport control. Adam had paid extra for priority boarding, which was fortunate. There were shorter queues and we made it to the gate with minutes to spare.

The flight itself was uneventful, and the Irish extended us the courtesy of using the EU passport line, so that was smooth. Don and Shenda had already collected the hire car, but we needed to add Adam as a driver. That was not smooth (car rental never is) but when we finally got it sorted we found them waiting on the curb outside.

Having flown overnight and used to Canadian cars, they were keen for Adam to do the driving. He was pretty tired himself, but it was probably the best arrangement. Headed straight for Galway., grabbing lunch at a nice little place downtown.

After a walk on the waterfront, we returned to the car and set off for Hotel G – a weirdly fancy place on a new retail estate on the edge of town. Too many over-eager staff offer things we didn’t want, though the free glass of cava went down fine.

Had a little rest, then walked into town for dinner in the touristy part of town. There was nowhere obvious to eat, and we ended up in a pizzeria, which served surprisingly good pizza. Stopped for a pint of Guinness, then as it was starting to rain, we caught a taxi back to the hotel and bed.

April 28, 2023

Full on work day in preparation for our long weekend in Ireland. Ploughed through work on the architecture, engineering, and neighbourhood forum sites and managed to send out my invoices as well. Ironic that as I get better at invoicing promptly, clients in general are getting worse at paying. It’s a tough economy here, and everyone is feeling the pinch…

We are leaving Lyra alone for the weekend, which she is relaxed about. She has a shift in the cafe tomorrow morning that she’ll have to sort herself out for, but not much on aside from that. 

Packing light – decided against walking boots (trainers will suffice), no dress-up clothes, and most significantly, no computer. I can’t recall the last time I left the computer behind when I went on holiday. To bed about 1am…

April 27, 2023

What with faffing around with my sourdough sponge and the pressures of work, I didn’t manage to get down to the Pond for a swim. They are moving some furniture in next door today. It still looks like a building site but they want to be in next week when Anna’s parents arrive from Finland.

So… we’ve put in an offer on the place in Crouch End! Our first offer turned out to be lower than the initial bid so we took a careful look at our numbers and halved the distance between our offer and the asking price, which is now sitting with the seller to consider.

Headed down to Sara’s to work on the website refresh. She wants to shift the focus of the business towards sustainability and retrofit, something she has done for years but hasn’t made enough noise about. Worked until 6:30pm, and pretty much got the architectural services page together.

Dinner with Jane and Adam at Zia Lucia, a pizza place on the Holloway Road. The three of us always have a nice time together. The pizzas are nice, though there’s a lot of good pizza in London now, and I wouldn’t say that theirs stands out. Home about 11pm and to bed.

April 26, 2023

Got Lyra up, made her lunch, then saw Adam off the premises. Changed into my running clothes in the hope that would give me the momentum to get out the door. I did end up getting stuck in to some computer work, but broke off at 9:30, meditated for ten minutes then went for a three-mile run.

If we end up moving to Crouch End I’ll have to adjust my running habits. Less Hampstead Heath and Highgate Woods, more Parkland Walk and Finsbury Park (plus maybe Ally Pally). It’s quick to get to the Park Road Lido and Queens Wood as well, which is a plus.

Broke off from work about 4pm to make snickerdoodles – something I haven’t done in ages. Adam was over at Sara’s watching the Man City v Arsenal game, so it was just Lyra and me for dinner – airfried chicken thighs and a couscous roast veg salad. Watched an episode of Shameless, our default viewing when Adam’s not around. Still have about a hundred episodes to go…

April 25, 2023

Happy birthday Kael! I PayPalled him some money for his 16th and got a nice thank you the same day…

I was sad to see that Harry Belafonte has died. He was the same age as mum (96 now) and born on Lyra’s birthday. I happened to purchase a double CD of his music around the time Lyra was born and listened to it constantly for a couple of years. While Nova was very much a Johnny Cash baby, and Lyra was mainly Harry Belafonte.

The weather much nicer today, and I’d hoped to go swimming, but got stuck into client work with my first coffee and didn’t break away from it all day, aside from tossing together a quick salad for lunch.

There was some sort of crisis in the pit today. Not sure what, but I think it might have to do with drainage. I could hear the nice Romanian guy on the phone saying something was “bad, very bad” and to “come now right away”. Another worker was wrestling with something or other under the stairs up to the little strip of grass where they plan to put the sauna.

Went round to see a flat on Avenue Road in the afternoon. It’s on two stories, and is a very good size, but sort of weird. The current owners are Nigerian, and the place is full of air conditioning unit, multiple fridges, wall sized “feature” radiators, and unusual bathroom fixtures. They’d glazed the balcony as well, and the two sets of doors made it quite gloomy.

Had a second viewing of the flat we liked last weekend. They’ve apparently had a “strong offer” now, so we have to think about that. Don’t love everything about it, but it definitely passes the would we be “pleased, proud, excited” to own it test.

It was too late to start cooking the soup I’d been soaking split favas for, but I made a start on it, then tossed together a stir fry and rice. Watched an episode of You that was so ridiculous we made a unanimous decision to abandon the rest of the series.

I had something to do on the battery site, and a navigation issue to crack on the architecture site. With one thing and another, I was up until 1am. Adam headed off to bed long since…

April 24, 2023

I had planned to go running, but it was raining like mad and I couldn’t face it. I have a lot of work on, plus lots of housework. I need to turn the flat around for the McGhee’s next week, and with the cold wet weather it’ll take a couple of days to dry the bedding and towels.

Spent a lot of time sorting an issue with a page on the the beauty website, glitchy that just won’t load properly. It has far too many oversized images on it – but that doesn’t explain why it was working (slowly yesterday) and now won’t work at all…

Late afternoon I popped round Peter (my 85 year old friend) to show him how to use Google sheets before we headed on together to a committee meeting at Alicia’s. Turned out to be one of the most interesting ones I’ve attended. We’ve actually managed to achieve a couple of things – getting a bunch of street trees planted, and some recycled, portable infrastructure for the former Pond Square bus area.

The looming Highgate School development took up a good chunk of the agenda. There’s lots of belated angst, and a pressure group is organising to campaign against it. There’s a protest and photoshoot scheduled for the weekend we’re away in Ireland.

I’d made a pot of soup before I went out, and Adam and Lyra had eaten and were doing maths at the dining room table when I got back. Fixed myself a bowl then watched the latest episode of Succession – great stuff. Some classic writing…

April 23, 2023

Had a little visit with our houseguests this morning when Adam got back from football – he hadn’t met them before today. Matt is also a cold water swimmer, and had considered going for a dip in the mens’ pond, but was daunted by  not knowing how, where etc.

We walked down with them and the guys had a swim. Janet is not a cold water swimmer, so we walked round the pond perimeter instead. They headed off mid afternoon to stay in a hotel in Gatwick overnight before flying to Marrakech tomorrow. Lucky them. I’d be pretty happy to be jetting off to Morocco tomorrow myself. Beats house hunting and a month of houseguests…

April 22, 2023

Pond swim first thing. Started the day’s viewings with a terraced house in Archway next to Whittington Park that we were all optimistic about. It was pretty cute, but a bit small for us and there was evidence of damp in the main bedroom. Great built-in storage though, and the potential to convert the loft if we ever have any money again…

Headed to Crouch End to see three places. The first (Chimes Terrace) is a new-build terraced house that looks quite a bit like our current place. Adam and I really liked it, but Lyra thought it was a bit clinical. Super modern, four bedrooms, under floor heating, a solar panel, little patio area and a roof terrace. It is on a main road, but set back and you didn’t notice street noise at all when you’re inside.

The second Crouch End place was a strange conversion on a side street. There was a bit of front garden for outdoor space, and a strange configuration of rooms. The current owners have done as much as you could with it, but it is still a bit small, dark and weird.

The third place was next to Highgate Wood school. We all really liked it but the bedrooms were small (actually the third one was tiny). Nice and bright, a little patch of terrace out the back, shed storage round the side, off street parking. Pretty close, but still a miss.

Headed to Hampstead too look at a massive fixer upper, which was good value for the location but needed too much work.

Back home, we talked through the viewings over huevos rancheros. Lyra is coming round to the Chimes place. I know what she means about it being clinical – the ground floor is white tile (not my kind of thing), and it’s been completely stripped back in order to sell it. It wouldn’t stay clinical for long once we moved in… It’s quite like our current place, and I guess it makes sense we’re drawn to the familiar.

April 21, 2023

Pretty flat sort of a day. I slept terribly which sucked all my energy and enthusiasm. Didn’t exercise, managed some work (processing the lawyer photoshoot pics, resolving an issue with the patrons page logos, and a few sundry updates). Didn’t even get organised to cook dinner…

Lyra headed over to school friend’s to dye her hair and then to Liz’s for a sleepover. When Adam got home we ordered an Indian takeaway from Shahi Paakwan (his fave). Had an earlyish night – another pile of viewings lined up for tomorrow…

April 20, 2023

Needed to get the flat ready for some friends of Dougal’s who are arriving to stay with us today. Fitted that in between my work.

Matt and Janet arrived late afternoon, and see friendly and nice enough and pretty much our age, judging by the look of them and their university aged kids. Turns out they have relatives in London but aren’t able to stay with them because their 16-year-old has GCSEs next month(!)

This heralds in the month of visitors. After the Powells leave, I have a week to turn things round (some of which we’ll be in Ireland for), then Carolyn and Jane arrive to stay for two weeks. Dougal is arriving a week into their visit, followed by his girlfriend Robin just before Carolyn and Jane depart. Dougal has asked to borrow our camping gear so he can pitch a tent in the garden for the first week, then move into the flat for the second half of his stay. Joy…

April 19, 2023

It would have been mum and dad’s 61st wedding anniversary today…

Spent a chunk of the day working on the architecture site, as the client want a bit of a redesign. Broke off at 4:30 to go to a flat viewing in Kentish Town. Got there ahead of Adam and the realtor. The guy had screwed up we had arranged to see the three bed place, he’d only brought keys for the two bed place that’s also on offer. We look at it, and at the exterior of the three-bed, and I didn’t get a great vibe. The only positive is the location – we’re definitely not going ahead with this one.

Had a quick drink at the Flask on the way home, talking through our budget in closer detail. I’d made a minor miscalculation when worked out everything, and we’re actually a little better positioned than I’d originally thought…

April 18, 2023

Did another photoshoot at the law firm this afternoon. The commute went smoothly and I had time to grab a few groceries before I was due on site. Convenient, as we have Brenda’s daughter Celia and her boyfriend coming for dinner this evening. Not the best evening for it, but the only time we could all do.

The shoot didn’t go as smoothly this time – more shots of less photogenic people, plus a last minute request to do some “candid” group shots in their cluttered, badly lit meeting room. I’m dreading the editing phase…

Doing this job today meant missing the briefing meeting for Lyra’s Ecuador trip. Fortunately Adam was able to attend. She’s going to need a number of vaccinations in advance of the trip, plus some trekking kit. It would be helpful if she learned a bit of Spanish and did some training as well. We’ll need to find time to organise all that in the coming weeks…

Threw together our standby dinner of the moment – lamb burgers, itch, garlic yogurt, plus lemony potatoes, with roasted pears for dessert. After four years away, Celia is moving home to Vancouver tomorrow, which is pretty exciting. She hasn’t told anyone and is going to turn up and surprise people…

April 17, 2023

Back to the working week, though it’s hard to get past thinking and looking at property. There are a  reasonable number of listings around, though I’m sure it partly feels that way because they are all new to us at the moment. Depending how long this takes, it’ll be interesting to watch how places move – which ones hang around, and how they come down in price.

Went over with a belated birthday card for Pasc this evening – in our property viewing frenzy this weekend we completely forgot her birthday. Discussed our property woes over shots of her homemade sloe gin…

April 16, 2023

Slept like a log last night. I think it comes from being so tired after a week of tossing and turning. It was almost 9:30am by the time we got up. Rachel and Richard had expressed enthusiasm for swimming last night, but were less keen this morning.

Had our respective swims and met again at the bottom of the private road. Back home we had brunch with Lyra and reviewed the places we’d seen. Nobody was that thrilled by anything, and despite the realtors pushing us to be quick to make an offer on a couple of places as they were sure to be snapped up, we decided to pass on all of them. 

I quite liked the Nelson Road place – it was relatively cheap, large, had tons of storage and I loved the little roof terrace. Moving from this place after 28 years is going to be a massive job – we’ll have to clear out a ton of stuff and will still be lucky to find anything affordable that will come close to housing the rest…

Met Jane at Japan House for another Ozu film – Late Spring – a father/daughter story that was wonderful. There was flooding on the tube, and I barely made it in time. Went for coffee and a chat afterwards. She’s working as the Modern House now, so is a great person to talk to about property.

April 15, 2023

Devoted half the day to property viewings – with Luna in tow because we’d already agreed to look after her while Richard and Rachel drove to Kent to collect their new car.

Started on Ferme Park road in Crouch End, where we looked at two maisonettes. One was ground/lower floor. On the plus side, it had a little office/shed in the garden, but the configuration was odd and it seemed a bit damp.

The second was on the top two floors and was charming, except that the only garden access was down a fire escape, and you could only use the garden between 8am and 5pm. The kitchen wasn’t that great either, and it had too many bathrooms for the amount of floor space.

The third was a new build condo between Cholmeley Crescent and the Archway Road. It was nicely appointed, but lower ground and ground level meant it was pretty gloomy. I hate artificial light in the day time, and wouldn’t have considered living there under any circumstances.

Place four was a gorgeous mansion block next to St Michaels church – the flat was beautiful but too small for a family of three/four and absolutely no storage. Zipped back to Crouch End to see a place one street off Ferme Park Road. I quite liked it – the three bedrooms were a good size, there was a bit of office space at top of the stairs, and little roof terrace with a lovely view of Ally Pally, and lots of storage space in the eaves. 

The other two liked it less – Lyra couldn’t picture living in her bedroom and objected to the black appliances kitchen, which was definitely a weak point. The final place was a large maisonette in Tufnell Park. It had clearly been divided up as a rental as it had a neglected feel, and again no garden – though you could watch the ground floor people enjoying it while doing the dishes. 

Luna was an absolute trouper all day, reinforcing my opinion that the main thing wrong with most dogs these days is that their owners pander to them. Went for a drink and hotdog with Richard and Rachel at the Wrestlers. They are looking at places in Surrey and have put in an offer on a place in Sevenoaks (or Oneoak as it’s sometimes referred to since the great hurricane in the 80s blew the other six down.)

April 14, 2023

I’m perpetually exhausted these days and finding it hard to focus on work. Did some updating on the art school website, but not much else worth mentioning. 

Spent a lot of time looking at property listings and building my shortlist. There are some reasonable looking places around, and apparently the rise in interest rates, rampant inflation and general fuckedness of the UK is having a flattening effect on the property market. Though London is generally immune from the trend in the rest of the country.

We’ve got some viewings lined up for tomorrow for the three of us. They look alright online but I imagine the reality won’t match the listings…

April 13, 2023

Pulled together a spreadsheet of associated costs with buying a property, based on mortgage payments of different sizes. Ay caramba…

We’re coming down on the side of not selling a flat if we can avoid it. We own them outright, and they are a good source of income which is a good thing given we are both self employed. Plus we’d be hugely hit by capital gains tax as we haven’t lived in them.

This means taking on a hefty mortgage, which I’d be keen to pay off as quickly as possible while still maintaining some quality of life…

Carolyn responded to my email, saying she doesn’t have a schedule for the sale, and no desire to force us out. She’s thinking of her estate planning, and also concerned that the redevelopment of John’s property has damaged her property value. 

I don’t think that’s very likely – there will be plenty of takers for a piece of real estate this size in Highgate Village. The much larger worry is the development of Highgate School going ahead, as the property will be unliveable in for some of the time that is underway.

I really appreciated her reply, but the genie out of the bottle now. We both feel that the only sensible thing for us to do is find somewhere new to live as quickly as we can.

Lyra did an hour of dog sitting for an hour or so, earning another £20 for the Ecuador fund. I’m considering changing careers…;-)

April 12, 2023

Another dodgy night’s sleep. I’m excited about the potential move and buying property in the daytime and worried about it at night…

I spent some time composing an Carolyn to say that the uncertainty around timing was causing me anxiety, and asking if she has a timeline in mind. Adam is away for a few weeks across in May/June, Lyra is sitting 20 GCSE exams, and the thought of both house hunting and having realtors and prospective buyers visit during that period feels overwhelming.

Adam did a talk in Oxford on leadership to about 50 people today. He was feeling a bit anxious – it’s new territory for him, but I’m sure he’ll rock it.

Ran for three miles, instead of the half hour thing I’ve been doing lately. I want to get back to running on the Heath while I have the chance…

Lyra made me breakfast afterwards, which we ate while browsing property listings. It is pretty all-consuming this property hunting. Spent some time working out why Millie’s new email address wasn’t routing correctly and had a meeting our most recent Jx hire in Toronto – a very nice woman from the Domenican Republic, who will shoulder some of the project management burden.

As predicted, Adam’s talk went really well – he’s relieved to have it over. Chicken satay and slaw for dinner. Caught up with Ted Lasso, then spent the rest of the evening discussing finances – how much we should borrow, what we should buy, where we should live. Endless, but feel like we’re getting somewhere in terms of sharpening our thinking.

We’re not quite at the stage of life where we can downsize – I’m starting to see this as our second to last home. We want both girls to be able to live with us – Nova might not need it, but we want her to feel that there’s still space for her in the family home at this stage in her life. In 7-10 years, we could well move again, downsizing to a flat or similar.

I remember mum’s friend Josanne saying that she tried to move home every ten years, like a hermit crab changing shell. Probably wise advice…

April 11, 2023

Happy birthday, Aaron and Marni! Slept badly, plagued by thoughts of finding somewhere new to live and all the moving pieces it entails. Slept another hour past my usual get up time and skipped my run as well.

Lyra had compiled a list of properties to consider, and after Ava left went through them and sent off a few more viewing requests. Adam also spoke to a realtor to get a rough idea of what our property in Archway is currently worth. It’s helpful that there are a number of identical properties to compare against.

Our current thinking is to sell one and use all our savings to get the smallest mortgage possible, aim for the rent on the remaining flat to be sufficient to cover mortgage repayments, and save our current rent to be a lump sum against the principal after the first two years are up and we can overpay. We’ll talk to a mortgage broker this week to get a picture of what’s realistic, given the amount we need to borrow, our age etc.

Had a brief client meeting with my engineering client. It’s still half term and people are on holiday – at least the ones with kids. Typically that would be us, but it’s not a good year for it, what with the GCSEs and Lyra’s Ecuador trip in July/August.

We still haven’t decided what we’ll do while she’s away. Nova’s university graduation service is being held in the first week of August (of all the dumb things to do) and to my surprise she is keen to go and it’s important to her that we attend.

Dog sitting for Richard and Rachel while they did some lawyer stuff. Luna was weirdly pleasant and chilled, though she did sit on my lap like a big booby for a good half hour, which made it difficult to type.

Lyra was invited to a birthday party in Harpenden, so I drove her to Gospel Oak to catch the train. We went to Kiplings for a family birthday dinner for Marni. Beulah cried off as she had a streaming cold, but everyone else was there – including Marni’s boyfriend Sommy (for Somerset). The son of a friend of Doron’s, he’s somewhat older than Marni, a philosophy graduate and fencer – he seemed a nice guy.

Ollie is not at all well – he behaved pretty oddly around the food, got tearful a couple of times, and had a couple of outside breaks. Doron and Antonia were clearly super stressed and barely keeping it together but it all came off somehow. Quite the evening…

April 10, 2023

It’s Easter Monday already, and my intentions to do some work this weekend have fallen by the wayside. It was pouring with rain, which put paid to running. I’m really not into running in the rain these days, though I used to not tmind it. Instead I slouched into Lyra’s room to listen to Beatles albums and exercise my thumbs playing Super Mario Kart, which I’m slowly getting less bad at.

Tackled the leftover build-up in the fridge — Lyra airfried the leftover new potatoes, while Adam and I had a salad of rocket, itch, grilled aubergine, avocado and halloumi. Watched the final two episodes of Blue Lights – what a great show.

Mid-afternoon we received an email from Carolyn saying that she’s planning to sell the house and will be meeting with realtors during her visit. It’s an axe we’ve been waiting to fall for about 25 years – the day has finally arrived.

I opted not to respond straight away – I want to think about what to say and how to say it. It certainly makes sense to sell now. With the school redevelopment next door looming, we’ve seriously been considering moving . The renovation of John’s house is the tiniest of foretastes of what we are in for when Dyne House and the drama block are rebuilt.

I’m sure there will be lots of takers for a plot of land this size in Highgate Village. Of course it won’t be liveable in for the three years that the school reconstruction is scheduled to take, and then you’ll have a constantly busy, well lit, school building effectively even higher/closer than it is now, with windows overlooking the bedroom and living room and (according to current plans) a green roof/garden.

Walked down to the pond for an afternoon dip – in all the excitement, I forgot my suit but was able to borrow one from lost property.  It was a lovely time of day for a swim and very quiet. They’ve just extended the hours to 6:30pm, and it won’t be long before they move the ropes back so it’s full size.

Afterwards Adam headed off with Doron to visit his mum. It’s the four year anniversary of Freddy’s death. at least according to the regular calendar. Apparently it’s common to mark “jahrzeits” using the Jewish calendar, where the date would move around from year to year. I’m not sure why they’d even consider doing that since they don’t use the Jewish calendar for anything else – not even Jewish holidays, which we celebrate on whatever day suits everyone.

Ava came round to sleep over – I made cauliflower sweet potato tacos, which were a big hit. She’s a slip of a thing, but always appreciates my food and brings a good appetite to it. Spent the evening browsing property on RightMove. I don’t think a three bedroom place in the heart of Highgate is going to be possible, but there are some nice looking properties in Tufnell Park, Archway, Crouch End etc that we’ll definitely look at.

April 9, 2023

Easter Sunday… Lyra slept in until gone noon as she didn’t get home from babysitting until 3:45am. Pretty crap, especially as they were a new client and she didn’t know them at all. On the up side, they did pay her £190(!) so she’s not complaining…

Went for a walk on the Heath with Adam, and half a million other folk with the same idea. Over the ridge and round to Kenwood, where we stopped for a scone and a cup of tea. 

Beulah came round for dinner this evening. I did a mini topside roast slathered with mustard and garlic puree, Yorkshire puddings, roast new potatoes and green beans. Adam headed off to collect her, returning about 7pm. In lieu of the flowers she often brings, came bearing a large bottle of rapeseed oil, having accidently bought two.

All food turned out nicely, including the gravy which Lyra made with the beef dripping, chicken stock, red wine and gravy granules. Adam pitched in too – another apple rhubarb crumble, which turned out better than the one he made on Friday night. Reminded me of the way mum would get me to make the same recipe several times in a row (crumble being an example) until I “got it”.

April 8, 2023

Nova is heading back to Bristol today…:-( Did a morning pond swim with Adam, and only ran into three or four people to chat to – not bad at all. The water temperature is stubbornly sticking at 9°C, or else the lifeguards aren’t that arsed about measuring it. At the mens’ pond, they clock every tenth of a degree.

Roasted aubergine sandwiches with coffee sriracha for lunch. Picked up some hot cross buns to tide us over while I roasted the aubergines and peppers. Both were a big hit with everyone.

Adam and Nova popped up to visit Beulah, after which he drove Nova to Paddington to catch the Bristol train. I wasn’t remotely  hungry. Adam fixed himself some leftovers and watched we watched Blue Lights, a Northern Ireland based police procedural which is awesome. The best thing I’ve seen telly wise in a good while…

April 7, 2023

Went for a run first thing taking advantage of the a lovely spring weather. There wasn’t as much spring in my step as I would have liked but I did okay, landing between my two previous runs in terms of time.

Bumped into Gerald and Nick S on a walk together. I hadn’t realised that they were friends – I think it’s due to their kids being at secondary school together. Though a lot of our social capital comes from the primary school, it’s often unclear who’s connected to who. For example, I was surprised to see him at Sara’s birthday party.

Ran into Pasc on the way home – she was going to see Madonna who is down in the dumps about needing an operation on her knee. Last November she fell in Gare du Nord, running to make a train connection, and tore a ligament which isn’t healing.

Ended up inviting them round for dinner this evening. Kept it laid back – lamb burgers, itch, greek salad, yogurt, and a crumble by Adam (his first). I assumed both girls would be out, but in the event Lyra was around, feeling a bit meh and didn’t want dinner. (Though she rallied in time for crumble…)

Adam was dozing in his armchair by 11pm, which they took as a cue to make their departure. We’re such old fogeys now…

April 6, 2023

So the new financial year begins… I’ve earned a couple of thousand pounds less than last year, but I did have a three week holiday in Canada, a generous Christmas break, and a recovery period from my op reducing my work days.

Carried on with the job long-listing. I’m not that impressed with the candidates – I don’t think LinkedIn is quite right for our recruitment needs. A key aspect of the job description is an interest in sustainability and social enterprise, and not a single candidate has mentioned it in the 500+ cvs I’ve scanned. I’m reduced to scouring for people with a glimmer of charitable spirit, work experience at a non-profit or even an alternative-type personality.

Out for dinner in Crouch End with the girls. We didn’t manage to get out for a meal over the Christmas holidays for one reason or another, so we wanted to do it. Went to Bar Esteban, and worked our way through most of their excellent menu and a goodly amount of red wine. 

April 5, 2023

Got out for a run after Lyra left for school. I felt strong, and put in a decent time. It’s so nice running in this weather – no need for a jacket or layers, but not hot either…

Finished my invoicing and set up a new timesheet for next year. Didn’t get much work done aside from some long-listing for Jx. We’re out tonight, but I was hoping to sort something for the girls before I left. They asked for puttanesca – I ran out of time to make the sauce, but left the ingredients out. They are both competent cooks.

Headed into town to meet Adam at the theatre to see the Lehman Trilogy. It was a really interesting performance – and  really long, with two intervals. While I loved the staging, I felt almost no emotional engagement with the three characters. They were all brilliant, and it was amazing how they could switch between middle-aged Jewish business man, to teenage bride, to toddler from one moment to the next, completely convincingly.

Maybe it was because the story was told in the third person. At one point Adam commented that it didn’t differ all that much from listening to an audio book. I’m very glad to have seen it…

April 4, 2023

It’s so nice to have Nova home. She’s got lots of uni work to do while she’s here but will also be catching up with high school friends like Shira.

It’s a beautiful day – the magnolia in the garden is coming into bloom. The workmen next door are plodding on with their work. The new garden seems pretty crap to me, but I suppose it’s a matter of taste…

Had an appointment at the bank first thing, as we weren’t able to create a joint savings account online. Walked down there, and did a bit of food shopping in Archway afterwards. I have a grocery order coming, but with the Brexit-related supply chain issues, I mopped up a few things I couldn’t get from the supermarket, such as cauliflower…

As well as work, I did a good chunk of my invoicing. Wrapping up my work year – another thing off the to-do list… After the groceries arrived, I made a Vietnamese chicken salad for dinner. It turned out too hot for everyone except me.

Watched Michael Clayton – it’s one of my favourites, but the girls weren’t that into it. Lyra abandoned it half way through and Nova paid in only partial attention and then said she found it boring and hard to understand. Strange how that happens when you don’t pay attention…

Afterwards Adam and Nova sat upstairs talking, and I headed down to Lyra’s room to play records and video games. We’re getting a nice little routine going…

April 3, 2023

My sourdough rose beautifully overnight, which was good to see. Meditated and went for my first run in ages – slow and steady. It was a beautiful spring morning, still cold but with more warmth in the sun and some blossoms on the trees and bulbs emerging. Stopped by shops for a few things on the way back.

Lyra got home late from her sleepover at Liz’s looking worse for wear. Apparently the party was fun, but they left early because Ava wasn’t enjoying it. I wasn’t surprised she ended up having a long afternoon nap.

I baked my bread, which turned out very nicely. Cleaned the fridge, made devilled eggs, roasted veggies, and a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

Had to do some last-minute, unexpected amends the power storage and soil stabilisation websites, which limited the amount of invoicing I got through. I have a lot to send this month, as I’m not carrying small amounts across to the new financial year. 

Nova returned home from Bristol for a few days. Japanese tofu curry and rice for dinner and watched University Challenge. I was surprised Lyra had never seen it – Adam and I used to be total devotees. Poor old Jeremy Paxman is a shell of his former self. His Parkinsons is quite advanced now and it was difficult to understand his reading of the questions sometimes. I’m pretty sure he’s retiring this spring…

April 2, 2023

Woke up a few times in the night (the red wine) but managed to doze until 9:30 and felt better for it. Coffee, shower and up to face the day…

Fed my sourdough, which is looking perky again. I’m going to attempt a loaf without adding a bit of extra yeast, which I’ve been doing since bringing the starter back from the brink.

Lyra is invited to a Wes Anderson themed birthday party for a boy called Loki who lives in Hackney. She’s going as the tennis player guy from the Royal Tenenbaums.

Adam and Doron headed over together to see Beulah, and speak to her about fraud thing. The bank has contacted social services, who sent a social worker round to check on her. The social worker has suggested the boys activate their power of attorney with regard to her bank account. I know Beulah would hate that.

Spent an hour trying to find Irish accommodation for our weekend visit with Shenda and Don next month. It’s pretty thin on the ground. I got a room in the fancy/pricey place they’ve booked in Galway, but their hotel in Doolin was full so we are glamping in a bell tent.

Finished my Elizabeth Strout novel in the bath – I enjoyed it fine, but it’s not my favourite. 

April 1, 2023

Rabbits! Walked to the ponds with Adam for a morning swim. We met so many people on the way down – six separate encounters I think – that it took an hour to get there. The water is up to 9°, which feels very pleasant after the winter lows.

One of the people we met heading down was Gilda, a friend from primary school days. We stopped in for a coffee on the way back. They have recently moved into Annie Lennox’s beautiful house in the Grove. She gave us a full tour, which was really interesting. Parts of it are Jacobean apparently, and were the first semi-detached houses built in London – long since filled in of course.

Their view from the garden looks beyond Hampstead Heath – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that far before. Also interesting is the way the former George Michael house (their next door neighbour) wraps around behind their garden at a lower level with a big outdoor pool and terrace.

Witanhurst is a few doors along and you can see its grounds as well. The second largest private home in London (after Buckingham Palace), it was long rumoured to belong to the ex-wife of the mayor of Moscow but is now believed to be owned by Putin. Their grounds step down from the house and extend behind the entire Grove in a huge parklike space. Apparently, they have also bought all the surrounding houses as well. Crazy stuff…

Made scrambled eggs for lunch, then headed off to Crouch End to buy a record album for Sara’s 60th birthday. The party invite suggested bringing an album to play and promised cocktails and food. We bought her a Nick Cave album and brought The The. Fun evening…