August 2019

August 31, 2019

I had vague thoughts of going for a run this morning. However, I’d accidentally arranged a meeting with Helen to discuss the Festival website at 9:30am (think that I’d made it for Friday), and I didn’t shift myself in time to fit it all in.I expected we’d be talking about archiving and moving forward, but Helen was keen to discuss minor functionality points of the existing site. I’ll file most of her feedback away for next year — not much point in tweaking the site now…

Bought a sausage roll from Gail’s on the way home, which Adam and I ate for lunch with some salad (Nova still being abed).

Nova was at a party this evening, so it was just the two of us for dinner as well. Shades of things to come… I fixed us a simple supper and watched Inception, which we both really enjoyed.

I remember being totally baffled the last time I saw it. It definitely helped to read about the film beforehand — and also to watch it on a telly you could pause and replay things when necessary.

August 30, 2019

It’s the end of the working week, but having accomplished next to nothing while Pat and Patty were here it feels a bit pointless to get stuck into things now.
Haven’t heard a peep from Lyra in Norway, though Lottie’s dad Rick has been keeping us informed. Apparently, she’s going on a climate protest with Lottie and her friends.

Instead of work, I focussed on the multitude of house things that need sorting out, now the holiday phase is ending and we’ve got the place to ourselves again.

Pat talked a lot about the Christopher Nolan film Inception which has made me keen to watch it again. I remember being completely baffled the first time I saw it, but having read about it online, I’m better prepared to understand it this time…

August 29, 2019

Lyra’s off to Trondheim today to spend the weekend with her friend Lottie. Adam drove us down to Archway, where we met Millie, Lucia and Rick (Lottie’s dad). Millie and I handed over our very excited girls and then headed to Starbucks for a quick coffee.Her mum is on life support at the Royal Free after choking on a sausage roll. By the time paramedics arrived, she had been starved of oxygen for several minutes, so it is likely she’s experienced significant brain damage, which they are scanning for today.

Walked home and hooked up Pat and Patty, who are setting off for the continent today. We headed into town, with the vague plan of leaving their bags at London Bridge station while we explored. Turns out that there are luggage storage facilities only at Charing Cross and Waterloo.

Not that surprising, with the UK’s history of terrorism. When I first moved to London there weren’t any rubbish bins…

Walked through Borough Market and along the Thames, stopping at a pub overlooking the water for a pint and a bite to eat. They’ve reopened Blackfriars station after a major refurb, so I waved them off on their trek to Stansted from there.

Carried on to the Southbank, then crossed to Embankment and caught the Northern Line home. I was hot as Hades on the Tube. I’m so glad that a daily is no longer part of my life.

Greek salad with Nova for dinner, while bingewatching the TV version of What We Do In The Shadows, a vampire mockumentary — silly but entertaining.

August 28, 2019

Knocked off a bit of essential client work in the morning, then headed into town with Pat and Patty to go to the British Museum.
Ate lunch at a pizza café in Russell Square first where Pat and I got into a heated discussion about the climate crisis, Brexit and Donald Trump. Essentially he was saying that instead of locking horns with the people holding those views we should examine where our own thinking is flawed and the ways in which they are right.

I think that fine in theory, but it depends on the motives of the people peddling their ideas and that at some point we should be able to say there is overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is happening, and time spent arguing with people whose ideology suits their own agenda is a waste of time.

Cooled our tempers in the Chinese rooms, then travelled to Japan before hitting Mesopotamia — my favourite galleries in the whole place.

Ordered curry from Kiplings for dinner, and afterwards we followed through on our promise to Lyra last night that we’d all watch Ten Thing I Hate About You — a surprisingly good teen flick that brought Heath Ledger to the world’s attention.

August 27, 2019

Despite our late return last night, we were all up early to ready the flat for Pat and Patty’s arrival this morning. Visitors from western Canada seldom arrive before noon, but I wasn’t sure where they were flying from — I had some idea they might be coming from Italy…
I’d explicitly asked Nova to leave the flat in reasonable shape before we headed to Denmark, but I would have had better luck trying to convince Cleo to do it…But eight hands make pretty light work, and it was sorted by 10am.

They turned up just before noon, having flown overnight from Calgary. After a bit of a visit, they decided to take a little nap, and I didn’t see them again for the rest of the afternoon…

Made a trip to the supermarket to replenish our food supplies post holiday. Dinner was yakitori on the barbeque and a sushi rice salad. Nova was out for the evening, but Lyra was happy to spend the evening visiting with us.

August 26, 2019

We’d pretty much packed up the night before so it was pretty straightforward sorting out the cottage and heading for home.The ferry was half empty, though Ystad harbour was teeming with the next crop of high school students. I’d worried that we’d be running into gangs of teens wherever we went on Bornholm, but I can’t recall seeing any at all…

Caught the train to Malmo, then changed for the Copenhagen train and crossed the bridge. We left our bags in luggage lockers, then set out to spend a final day in Copenhagen.

We’d brought our last bits of food from the cottage, and all that was needed was some fresh bread to make a little picnic lunch, which we ate in the garden of the National Art Gallery.

Did an hour-long boat tour of the city. I really enjoyed seeing it by water, though it was almost too hot and sunny to be sitting out for so long. What a difference to our previous weekend.

There were people leaping into the harbour everywhere we looked. I did notice a fair few jellyfish in the water, but that wasn’t putting anyone off — so I don’t imagine they are particularly dangerous. It was mostly the sheer volume of them that was disturbing…

Back on land, we made tracks for the kayak bar we’d scoped from the water. Had a couple of rounds and ended up eating a bit off dinner as well before heading back to the station and catching the train to the airport.

Our flight was a bit delayed (it’s Bank Holiday Monday in the UK, which won’t have helped).

Almost 1am by the time we got home from Stansted. The house is still standing, we’re down a fish and the cat is rather fat (those last two are not connected…)

August 25, 2019

Our last full day on Bornholm… The time has gone by both quickly and slowly somehow…Made a morning trip to Gudhjem — the last proper town on the island we had yet to visit. Turned out we saved the best for last. It was a charming seaside village with lovely shops and cafes, and we spent a couple of hours poking around.

Our next stop was the agricultural museum on the edge of town. We walked through original farm buildings from centuries ago, where people in traditional dress prepared food using traditional methods. I particularly liked the woman making mustard — she ground the seeds by rotating a steel ball the size of an orange round a mixing bowl.

We bought provisions in the farm shop and stayed for some traditional dancing before heading back to our house for lunch.

Cycled to our beach for one last swim.

The girls and I carried on to the bike rental place, while Adam returned for the car so he could drive us home.

 One last supper, a final sauna and to bed…

August 24, 2019

The girls are getting mightily sick of meusli, fruit and yogurt for breakfast, but it really doesn’t make sense to buy more food then you’re going to get through in a week. Plus, when in Denmark and all that…

Today’s outing was a trip to the north of island. We started by parking up on the edge of Sandvig, and going for a 7km walk round the promontory. It was the hottest day so far, and the route a challenging one, but we were rewarded by stunning views across the sound to distant Sweden.

Managed to inadvertently tack a few extra kilometres on by getting a bit lost towards the end, but were still in reasonably good spirits by the time we found the car.

Ate a late lunch in the first decent-looking restaurant we came to. Both Adam and I wanted to try to herring platter, but in the interest of variety I went for “sol over Gudhjem”, Bornholm’s most famous dish, which turned out to be smoked herring smorrebrød with a raw egg yolk… meh…

The girls were keen to head back home, but I wanted to take a look at Hammershus castle, which is Bornholm’s main tourist attraction — and apparently, northern Europe’s largest castle ruin.

(I’ve noticed the “northern Europe’s oldest/biggest/longest” think trotted out a few times on Bornholm, making me wonder just what constitutes northern Europe. Turns out it’s this: “Northern Europe is the geographic region that covers the northern part of the European continent. It consists of eight countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.”)

Built with conscripted labour, the castle was a hated symbol of oppression for most of it’s history. Serving as a seat of power for a string of conquerors and as a prison, it is only belatedly benefiting the people of Bornholm.

Stopped for an afternoon dip at Boderne beach on the way home, which was delightful but ended up making us too late to pick up groceries for dinner. Just as well, we need to work through what we already have, even if it did make for a mishmash of a dinner.

Played cards afterwards, then ended the evening with a leisurely jacuzzi and some stargazing (the night skies are incredible) before bed.

August 23, 2019

Having finished Milkman (which I absolutely loved), I’m now reading Conclave by Robert Harris — one of those authors I didn’t think was for me.The novel is about the process of choosing a new Pope, all the intrigue and politics that goes with it. Firmly in the airport fiction category, but definitely a “page turner” as billed on the cover.

Today’s outing was to Havle, a harbour town on the west coast of the island. We stopped at Nylar on the way to visit one of Bornholm’s four round churches. About a thousand years old, it was built both as a place of worship and of refuge in the event of pirate attacks. The nave was perfectly round and supported by a thick central pillar, decorated with paintings from the book of Genesis.

We’d intended on swimming in the new harbour pool at Havle, which has platforms for plunging into the deep, but unfortunately it was closed due to a water quality issue.

Did some grocery shopping and had a sandwich in a little café before heading back to our cottage. The girls are cooking for themselves tonight, as we are going to Kadeau to experience some high-end Nordic cuisine.

We gave them carte blanche to buy whatever they fancied for their meal. They ended up with: olives, salami sticks and gouda cubes for starters with their mocktails; pesto gnocchi and garlic bread; and coconut macaroons and chocolate for dessert.

Adam and Lyra cycled off to our local beach for a late afternoon dip, while Nova and I sat on the deck and read our novels. I’m not happy with the end of Conclave, which seemed unnecessarily gimmicky and cheapened what was a pretty good book.

Our reservation at Kadeau was for 8pm, and given we are staying about 500m from the place, we set off a few minutes beforehand. We’d thought about walking but figured it would be pitch black by the time we left and without streetlights, it might be a challenge to make it back home again.

We arrived at the restaurant as the sun was starting to set. Despite its Michelin star, the mood is casual — though the clientele were smartly dressed. I was glad I’d thought to pack my Arket dress.

For the next few hours, the food came in a procession of small plates:

Garden plate
Herb-cured turbot, water mint and dried strawberries
Raw shellfish, meadowsweet and pickles
Oyster, blackcurrant leaves and wild herbs
Sun-dried tomatoes, baked onions and dried lamb heart
Peas, herbs and fig leaves
Fried cabbage, walnuts and blue mussels
Scallop, horseradish cream, hemp and chewy carrot
Hot-smoked salmon, lavender and Havgus cheese
Firebaked onion, lovage and angelica
Palthest, herbal butter and seasonal flowers
Kohlrabi, rose pollen, wood ants, chilli and lyme grass
Pork neck, grilled blue cheese and green tomatoes
Ice cream and pinales (varieties of pinecone)
Berries, blossom honey, rhubarb root and cream
“Kommenskringle”, pretzel, cold butter and jam

Things started good, and just got better and better. The first “holy fucking Christ that’s delicious moment” was the pea dish. The oyster, cabbage, scallop and berry dishes were also transcendent.

Having learned from past experience, we passed on the wine pairing, selecting a lovely bottle of Domaine de la Tailles aux Loups which lasted until the pork neck, at which point we ordered two glasses of red.

It was interesting to watch our nearest neighbours — who had gone for the pairing option — get drunker and drunker. By the end of the meal, we were chatting away like old friends.

A pair of Norwegian optometrists from the Lofoten Islands (in the Arctic Circle), they were offering to host and show us round should we ever visit their neck of the woods, before toddling off into the night.

A safe bet with many, we are actually the rare couple that might rock up in the Lofoten Islands some day, at which point we’ll make a beeline to the optometrists… 😉

August 22, 2019

Started the day with our usual breakfast of coffee, muesli, fruit and pouring yogurt. When in Denmark and all that…Today’s outing was a bicycle trip west along the coast to Arnager (about 15km each way.) There were a few proper hills, but we had a strong wind at our back and it was pretty smooth cycling.

Pedalled through town and down to a little trail that led to the beach. Locked our bikes and made our way along the strand until we found a nice spot to spread our towels.

Ate the packed lunch I’d made, then went for a swim to cool off, before spending the next couple of hours reading and sunbathing. Stopped at the local smokery for a drink before cycling back.

It was much harder with the wind in our faces, but it seemed shorter too, as it often does when you know a route. Lyra and I were at the front, and apparently a little hedgehog darted out of the undergrowth just behind my bike, which was a thrill for her.

We ate dinner out at the local vineyard, who advertised a buffet roast dinner with live entertainment. It was definitely a popular option — the communal tables were pretty busy by the time we arrived, and the salad bar had been ravaged.

The owner was interested in what had attracted English tourists — to the meal and to Bornholm itself. Apparently, we are quite a rarity in these parts, and had a similar conversation with a woman in the supermarket the other day who overheard us speaking in English.

The food was great (especially the roast pork), local red wine most palatable and the girls were most pleased with the all-you-can-eat ice cream chiller. I really enjoyed the singer as well, who reminded me of Terry Brochu.

Since we’ve been on Bornholm, Donald Trump has managed to cause an international incident by throwing a hissy fit when the Danes refused to countenance his offer to buy Greenland. He’s rejected the Queen’s hospitality and cancelled his visit to the Danish parliament.

Words fail, but this video response isn’t bad:

August 21, 2019

Woke to rain, which was a surprise as the weather forecast hadn’t predicted anything of the sort. Fortunately, Adam had got up early to do some work and brought the laundry inside before it got wet. It had cleared by 8am and I hung it all out again before we set off to explore.Drove up to Svaneke on the east coast today. Voted Denmark’s prettiest town, Svaneke has preserved its medieval character. Its half-timbered houses painted orangey-yellow contrast beautifully with the deep blue Baltic.

Ate lunch at the smokery (all manner of smoked fish with potato salad or rye bread), then wandered about the place.

The weekly market was nothing to get excited about — people selling handknitting and honey, and we were on our way before long.

Our next stop was Paradisbakkerne (the Paradise Hills), where we did a 6km hike. Took a while to get on the right path, plus I’d managed to leave my walking shoes by the front door, but it all worked out in the end. Very pretty, cleft valleys, heather and wildflowers in abundance.

We all fancied a swim after that, so we made for the coast at Balka Beach. A few families were still about, but it was late in the day and there was only one old guy in the sea a good way down.

The water was very calm — no waves at all — and there was a large flock of seagulls floating lazily a hundred yards or so off short. It was also rather shallow. First in the water, I waded in a good 25 metres and the water was still only mid-thigh.

That was when I noticed my first jellyfish. Not keen on that, I turned and headed for the shore. Almost immediately, I noticed another and then another… There were hundreds — even thousands — of them, from titchy little things to chunky ones the size of dinner plates.

I have no idea how I managed to get so far out without noticing them. Maybe the angle of the light made them more obvious when I was facing the shore. Picked my way gingerly back to the beachdoing my best to avoid the thickest clusters.

No one else fancied a dip after that… Hopped straight back in the car. Made a quick stop in Snodbaek for a few groceries then headed home. Cheese and crackers and salami for dinner…

August 20, 2019

Managed to get everyone out for a swim before breakfast. It was cold but not freezing — I’ve definitely been colder in the Ponds than I was this morning. Felt great for it afterwards as well.Carried on the Samark Oesterbro, a little hamlet near to our cottage to hire bikes for the week. I cycled home with the girls, while Adam stuck his in the back of the car and drove.

Bacon, eggs and rye toast for breakfast instead of our staple meusli, fruit and pouring yogurt.

Afterwards, the girls wanted to have a jacuzzi. Left them to it, and headed into our local town Pedersker to fill some gaps in yesterday’s grocery shop.

I didn’t want to buy things we didn’t need, and wanted to see what we found at the cottage first. Turns out it isn’t one of those place where there the previous people’s provisions are hanging around — there was nothing in the cupboards except a couple of bottles of salt.

Having seen what Pedersker had to offer, we carried on to Nexo, the nearest to get cash for the bike lady. Also bought string and pegs to rig up a clothesline, as we have a washing machine but nowhere to dry things.

Did a family bike outing to Duoedde in the late afternoon — about 20km round trip. My bike gears aren’t great — basically I don’t seem to have any. Originally I thought we’d swap it for a better one, but have decided to see it as an opportunity to increase the amount of exercise I’m getting.

Parked up and hiked along the boardwalk to the beautiful white sand beach on the southernmost tip of the island. The sand is so fine it was once imported around Europe to be used in hourglasses.

Had a swim then a bit of time to dry off before heading home. It was more uphill on the way back, but not as bad as I’d feared.

Did was a big curly traditional Bornholmsausage, potato salad and corn on the cob, with ice cream for dessert.

August 19, 2019

Up at 7:30am to sort out the flat before catching our train. In reality, not that much to do. Kept it pretty tidy throughout our stay. Wiped down the bathroom, ran the dishwasher, emptied the bins — easily on our way by 9:30am.To my surprise, Danish public transit has not been great. Buses have been patchy all weekend, and at Copenhagen Station we discovered that our train to Ystad was running twenty minutes late.

The triggered a cascade of consequences — we missed our connection in Malmo by one minute, had to take the train half an hour later, which got us to the ferry terminal two minutes before the ferry to Bornholm was scheduled to leave.

Adam called the terminal to see if the ferry could wait for the connecting train, but they said no. When we pulled in to Ystad harbour right on schedule, a group of about twenty power walked to the terminal.

The ferry was still there, the clerk made a quick radio call and then said if we hurried they’d let us board. The ferry was completely rammed, largely with groups of teenagers. School has started and they were on a class trips.

There were no seats, though lots of seats with bags. We eventually found places scattered around the same area. The girls took single seats, and Adam and I the middle two of a six-seater, resulting in two disgruntled elderly Danish couples on either side.

They warmed up eventually and we got chatting. I could see Lyra doing the same, and her woman gave her a big hug when it was time to disembark.

Collected our hire car, hit a supermarket in Ronne then drove across the island to where our cottage is located in the southeast.

It’s pretty isolated, up a dirt track with a couple of other cottages, then woods and fields.

I think I’ve consumed too much Nordic noir — it was easy to picture Wallander, Harry Hole, or Saga discovering our dismembered bodies next week arranged in some grotesque and mystifying tableau.

I was surprised to learn that Danish holiday lets typically don’t include bedding or towels — you need to rent them specially. I’d done this, but when we arrived there wasn’t any.

After a flurry of texting, a girl showed up with some ropy duvet covers and towels and the wrong size of fitted sheet. More texting eventually produced young man with some strange terry-towel double sheets.

Bedding situation resolved, Adam and I went walk while the girls made dinner. Headed down to the local beach, which is beautiful, and along a ways before heading back inland.

Came across Kadeau, the Michelin starred restaurant, where Adam and I just might be going for dinner on Friday night.

Our cottage is pretty big. There are lots of sitting areas inside and out — two picnic tables, an outdoor table, dining table and a kitchen table. Three decent sized bedrooms with generous double beds, plus a sauna and a jacuzzi tub.

Still, it has an unloved feeling to it and little interest has been taken in the décor…

August 18, 2019

We were always going to spend a good chunk of time this weekend at the Tivoli, the only question was when . With the weather forecast so iffy yesterday, we put it off, but today’s forecast wasn’t any better…

Morning seemed our best hope, so we ate some yogurt and granola then caught a bus into town before the park opened. Bought four entry tickets and two limitless ride passes for the girls.

We made a beeline for the original rollercoaster when they let us in, and were in the first train to set off down the tracks. Apparently, the Tivoli rollercoaster is “one of the world’s oldest, wooden roller coasters, still in operation, and one of just seven attractions in the world, operated by a brake man on each train.”

Adam and I left the girls to their own devices after that. We wandered the park then went for coffee until it was time to meet for lunch.

Too much new Nordic cuisine…

We went on one of those high swing rides afterwards, after which the girls had a go on a terrifying contraption called the TikTak and one last spin on the rollercoaster before we called time.

Next stop, Christianborg Palace, where we were just in time for the 3pm tour of the reception rooms. Home to the Danish Parliament (and familiar to us as dedicated watchers of Borgen), the rooms are also used by the royal family to entertain official guests.

In fact, we were told that Donald Trump would be walking those very halls in two weeks’ time, at which point an American tourist piped up with an embarrassed “sorry”.

Our Danish tour guide responded by saying that as such a small country Denmark was careful to maintain good relations with larger, more powerful states like the US, China and Russia.

The highlight for me was the Queen’s tapestries. Designed by Danish artist Bjorn Norgaard, and woven at Gobelins, they tell the history of Denmark. Modern, colourful, and almost cartoonish, they are layered with portraits of world figures, historical details and humorous touches.

It was properly raining when we emerged into the courtyard. I wanted to take a long at Nyhavn before heading back to the flat. Our walk was complicated by the wretched weather and Copenhagen Ironman which was in full flow, but we made it eventually. Huddled under blankets at one of the many canalside cafes with hot chocolates before catching a bus back to Vesterbro.

Ventured out in the evening to eat dinner in cocktails and organic pizza place in our neighbourhood (called Neighbourhood) then home to bed…

August 17, 2019

Rain was forecast for today and rain is what we woke to. It looks to be rainy for the rest of the weekend – I  can only hope they’ve got it wrong.

Years ago, Adam and I came to Copenhagen for a mini-break at the end of June. It rained so hard and so relentlessly that it’s pretty much all I remember of the visit. We had to buy umbrellas and plastic rain ponchos,  and spent ages doing laps on one of the circular bus tours not bothering to get off and look at anything…

After a breakfasr of pouring yogurt with raw oats and raspberries, we set off for the National Museum. There’s a main road a few minutes’ walk from the flat, with buses running along it.

Unfortunately, the one we needed never arrived… I think it may have been on diversion for today’s Pride Parade. Walked a few blocks to another stop and eventually caught one heading into the centre.

Spent a couple of hours at the museum working our way through the Viking, Bronze and Stone age exhibits. Such a wealth of Viking gold, implements, bog people, flint axe heads…

Unfortunately we ended up going through the rooms in reverse, which I didn’t realise until we were too committed on our route to turn around, but make it difficult to grasp the narrative.

Walked up to the covered market at Israelplatz for lunch – a small-scale Granville Market of mainly Scandi food. We ordered four smorrebrod sandwiches, then let the girls go off on their own to find something for dessert. Adam and I bought cheese, meat, paté and rye bread to have later for dinner.

The girls wanted to do some shopping afterwards – Lyra bought a few things in Flying Tiger, and Nova picked up a stunning red bikini for half price in a clothing shop she remembered from her last visit.

Crossed the bridge into Norrebro, but shops were starting to close by this point. Ended up at a pavilion on the lake. We bought the girls half an hour in a swan boat, and ourselves half an hour with a pint of Carlsberg in the teahouse.

The rain set in again at this point, and we made tracks for the flat. Chilled out for a bit, then had our delicious cold cuts and cheese supper, with some of the rosé that our landlady left for us. We were all tuckered out and went our separate ways and eventually to bed before midnight.

August 16, 2019

Didn’t feel as tired as I expected when the alarm went off at 5:30am. Four hours isn’t much but it’s better than Adam, who stayed up all night working…Got the girls in gear, worked through the bottom end of the trip to-do list and were in a taxi to Stansted at 6:30. It was rammed with travellers, but running reasonably well and we got through security and to our gate in good time.

Our seats were scattered around the plane, but I was able to get the girls sitting together with me a row in front. I even had a free seat beside me, but Adam had disappeared down the back of the plane and didn’t reappear when the seatbelt sign went off. (He’d immediately fallen asleep.)

It’s only a 90-minute flight, and we were on Danish soil by 11am local time. Caught a train into town and struck off in the direction of the flat, stopping for lunch in a taqueria. Not my first choice, but the girls were getting hungry and we hadn’t had it confirmed that the place would be ready early.

It’s a very nice flat and clearly someone’s home, which I prefer so long as it’s clean and there’s enough room for you. Left the girls to shower and chill out for a bit, and headed out to explore the neighbourhood.

We are in Vesterbro, a trendy area with lots of interesting shops and cafes. Got our bearings, grabbed a beer and picked up a few groceries (even by London standards, Copenhagen is expensive), before heading back to the flat.

Made an outing to the Round Tower before dinner. Built in the 1600s, it is the oldest functioning observatory in Europe.  it has a wide cobbled spiral walkway that leads to a viewing platform at the top. The hollow core it is built around marks the geographical centre of Denmark from which all distances are measured.

Ate dinner at Fiskebar in the meatpacking district. Nova went last year on her trip with Shira’s family and said how delicious the food was.

It was a fabulous meal that tended into new Nordic cooking, such as my raw brill medallions with smoked mussel, seaweed, pickled burnt onions and rye. Adam’s mackerel with tomato, pinenuts and elderflower was delicious as well as being a textural marvel.

Walked home afterwards and pretty much straight to bed.

August 15, 2019

Today is the day every high school graduate in the country receives their grades Nova got As in her four subjects — English, History, French and Spanish — and has been formally accepted at Bristol University! Well done her — we are very proud!
It such a stupidly complicated system. Students are offered university places based on their predicted grades. If you achieve those grades you get the place, if you don’t you hope to hell that you’ve met the grades for your back-up place.

If you don’t meet either, you enter “clearing”. This involves phoning around frantically trying to find a course you want that will accept you.

Nova heard at 7:30am that she had been offered her first choice, but had to go to the school for 9am to find out what her grades actually were. Her friend Shira who was hoping to go to Bristol with her, didn’t meet her offer and spent the day in clearing hell…

Spent the morning giving the British Beauty Council website a facelift, based on the meeting I had yesterday. Got it to a good place by early afternoon, put it live and sent the invoice.

Made a few tweaks to the Junxion website, flowed some content into the insurance company newsletter template I built last month, then shut my computer and focussed on getting ready for Denmark tomorrow.

Lots to do, especially as Adam has been glued to his computer from first thing in the morning until gone midnight…:(

August 14, 2019

Horrible night’s sleep and pouring rain killed the thought of going for a run… Did some housework and paperwork instead…
Adam called the bus terminus when it opened — Lyra’s pass and bank card has been handed in, thank heavens. He hopped in the car and went straight down to collect it in Kings Cross.

Lyra returned from her sleepover and morning outing to a carboot sale in Peckham. She wasn’t home long before heading off to Margaux’s for yet another sleepover…

I had a meeting with the British Beauty Council about helping them to freshen up their website. Sloshed off to Goodge Street to see them and work out how much I could do before we go on holiday.

Carried on to Oxford Street and bought myself a camera and telephoto lens. After much deliberation, I went for the same camera that I bought for Nova. I was thinking of getting something higher spec, but I decided the EOS M50 is plenty good enough.

Dinner with Millie and Bryn at Del Parc, where the food was up to its usual excellent standard. My favourite this evening was a dish of steamed tenderstem broccoli with a blue cheese and ground almond sauce, toasted almonds and Aleppo pepper.

I was exhausted when we got back and headed straight to bed…

August 13, 2019

Started straight in on the video again as soon as I had my coffee. I could see some things that needed to be improved, and by noon it was in a pretty good place. Sent it to Kate who’s going to show it to the head honcho and get his feedback… Fingers crossed…
Put in some work finalising the teaser videos — improving the outros, basically — then decided to call it an afternoon. Lyra headed off with Lucia and Ellie for a sleepover at Iris’s house, and I relaxed on the sofa with my novel for a break.

Within 20 minutes, Lyra was on the phone in a state because she’d managed to lose her travel pass and bank card between our house and Gospel Oak. She probably dropped it on the bus — wouldn’t be the first time…

Nova was out somewhere or other, so Adam and I had a quesadilla and a beer for dinner and watched an episode of Catch 22 before bed…

August 12, 2019

Happy birthday, Greg! Finished off the engineering website updates — I’ve done enough amends for them now to trigger an invoice at the end of the month…:)
Most of my day was spent video editing. I re-cut the “future of insurance” video, replacing the still images with royalty-free video clips I found online and adding text at regular intervals to reinforce the story.

Nova got back from Edinburgh about 7:30pm, tired and happy. Stopped working long enough to make everyone a veggie curry and sit down to a family meal, then carried on until gone midnight.

My head was spinning with work when I finally came to bed, and it took ages to fall asleep…

August 11, 2019

Started my morning with coffee in bed and Johnny Cooper Clarke sharing his Desert Island Discs on the radio. Actually it was a podcast — the show aired a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to catch up with it. I’m a major fan — and he came across as a lovely guy.
Did a four-mile run run with Adam down the Parkland Walk to Finsbury Park and back. His knee was giving him some trouble, but with a couple of short walk breaks and some intervals of sideways loping, he managed to last the distance.

Once again, it was very humid. It felt pleasant and breezy when we left the house, but as soon as you get into that leafy corridor, it was sweat city…

In the aftenroon, we went to the Lee Krasner exhibition at the Barbican with Millie, Bryn and Lucia. She was nothing more than a name to me — I hadn’t even remembered that she was Jackson Pollock’s wife.

I was bowled over by her work:

Went for some food afterwards. As it was pretty much a burger joint, I went with chicken this time to mix things up. Lyra and Lucia had oreo milkshakes and split an order of nachos:

No need to cook dinner tonight. All the more time to watch the final two episodes of Ray Donovan, which were excellent (I’m such a fan of that show). Left Adam watch football highlights — I blinked and the practically non-existent summer break appears to be over…

August 10, 2019

Lazy start to my day. I had no plans to run, no kids to feed. Eventually moseyed upstairs about 9:30am and made a batch of apple cinnamon muffins for breakfast.
It was getting on for noon and I hadn’t heard anything from Lyra. When I checked in, it turned out everyone was still sleeping off their jetlag post LA. That put me in mind of our Denmark trip, which is next weekend. Pulled together a packing/to-do list for everyone.

Headed into town to with Adam and Lyra for an early dinner at Patty&Bun. Apparently, Saya’s dad Raphael who is a top-tier chef considers it one of the best hamburgers in London. Ever since Lyra told me that, I’ve been wanting to give it a try. I was definitely impressed with Smoky Robinson burger.

The Smokey Robinson (not my pic)

Walked down to Covent Garden to catch an early showing of Blinded by the Light. We wanted a film that would appeal to all three of us, and this was a good choice. The story of a Muslim teenager growing up in Luton in the 1980s and his love for Bruce Springsteen. Funny and touching, we were all dabbing our eyes by the end…

August 9, 2019

It started pouring with rain at 8am, as it so often does these days, putting me off my run. Decided to sort out the plane tickets for Lyra and Lucia’s trip to Norway at the end of the month while I waited to see whether it let up.
It was done by 10am and it had stopped raining, so I headed to the Woods to do my 3.5-mile route. While not particularly hot, it was insanely humid. I was dripping with sweat by the end. I wore the new shoes again, taking care to lace them better and very happy with them .

Gilda popped round with bags of clothes for the girls. With Nova away, Lyra got first pick. She’s nearly the same size as Nova now, though quite a different build. Gilda’s shoes are just her size and she also nabbed a pair of Diesel jeans.

Surprisingly, there was another pair of Diesel jeans I thought might fit me and sure enough they did — and feel and look great. Result!

While I was in the shower, Adam flew into a rage at Lyra about her general laziness and bad attitude. It was hugely disproportionate and turned into a major three-way incident. So much for my running endorphins…

I realise that Adam is under a lot of stress keeping his business afloat in this uncertain economy. And yesterday his junior consultant asked for a meeting this afternoon. We expected she has a new job and was serving notice, which would be a major headache. But whatever’s going on in his work life, it’s just not right for him to fly into rages with us…

(We were pretty close. Turns out she’s been accepted onto a development programme where you do two six-month work placements to develop your business and leadership skills. She wants to continue working with Adam, but as an associate and more like a half day a week, rather than full time.)

Put in a couple of hours on the engineering website, tweaking their People section and adding project images, then backed up the site and updated their theme and plug-ins.

I moved on to my finance client next, installing Google Analytics on their site, then did some retouching work for the insurance client and called it a day.

Lyra had headed over to Lucia’s in the afternoon. At 7pm Millie called asking if Lyra could sleep over. I was happy to say yes, and give her and Adam more of a breather.

Made fish tacos for the two of us and watched a couple of Ray Donovan’s — always good for making your own problems seem paltry in comparison…

August 8, 2019

Nova’s mouth is feeling a bit better thankfully as she’s off to Edinburgh Festival this afternoon with her friend Iris.
She got herself down to the doctor for more acyclovir and antiseptic mouthwash and over to the optometrists in Finchley to have her glasses adjusted. They were bent out of shape while she was travelling.

I had a meeting with Kate to talk about the insurance videos I’ve blocked out, and get some feedback on Tuesday’s pitch meeting. Apparently I went down really well. The main issue is that the other candidate for the work claims to be an SEO expert, whereas I said I have a working knowledge of how to build a solid, searchable site and recommended hiring a specialist to do an audit and make recommendations if they want anything more than that.

Kate is convinced that I know as much as he does, and that it’s that male-female thing where men over claim and women downplay their expertise. I’m touched my her confidence in me, and thing it’s entirely possible that he’s making more of his knowledge, but I definitely didn’t downplay my SEO chops.

Left Lyra making chocolate chip banana bread and drove Nova to Golders Green to catch her bus. It’s a overnight journey with a two-hour stop in Birmingham. Rather her than me, though I do envy her a weekend at the Edinburgh Festival — I haven’t been in years.

Tofu stirfry and rice for dinner, I’m trying to run down our fresh food supply in advance of the trip to Denmark. To Lyra’s dismay, we watched the final third of Pelle the Conqueror while we ate — a beautiful, heart-rending piece of film-making imho.

Lyra accepts that it’s a good film, but maintains she just doesn’t like it. Furthermore, it makes her even less keen to go to Denmark — and she wasn’t keen before watching the film. I concede that it is not a great advertisement for the people of Bornholm…

August 7, 2019

Nova woke in good time for work this morning. She’s not feeling great though — that mouth infection she had when we were in Canada a couple of summers ago seems to be returning. Started her on some acyclovir that we have in the house and nurofen, and will make an appointment with the doctor tomorrow.
Went for a five-mile-run on the Heath in my new adidas trainers. It’s a risk running so far in new shoes, but in all my decades of running, the only time I’ve ever had a problem with my feet it was largely caused by my one and only pair of Sauconys. I’ve been loyal to adidas ever since.

Not a very productive work day — I spent a fair amount time on the computer (mainly email, updates and filing) but didn’t end up with any billable hours at the end of it…:(

Banh mi for dinner with the girls (Adam was out at a work event) and a mini Stranger Things 3 fest. They both contend that this is the best series so far, but I remain unconvinced.

Finished my novel this evening. I think A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the best books I’ve read in a good while. No surprise it won the Booker prize. I struggled at first to get into it — there are numerous voices, patois, stream of consciousness — but it was well worth the effort. Next up, The Portable Veblen…

August 6, 2019

Nova is nannying for the Bystrom’s today and tomorrow. Had a panic when we realised she’d slept in and needed to be at their house in eight minutes. She leapt out of bed and into some clothes, and Adam ran her down there in the car…
Too busy to run… I had a presentation to prepare for a meeting with the insurance company this afternoon about updating their website. We’d done the initial meeting over the phone, and arranged a face to face for today.

I’d intended to develop my thinking further so that I could give them something new, but what with all the work I’ve been doing on the Junxion website, that never happened. Just enough time to throw my notes into a PowerPoint presentation before I had to head into the City.

It went well, and they didn’t bat an eye at my estimated budget for the work. I don’t know whether I’ve got it yet, but will meet with Kate on Thursday and find out more then.

Lyra is on screen restriction for the next few days — the result of a serious amount of rudeness and attitude on her part last night. I’m allowing her to check her phone a few times a day so that she can keep in contact with her friends and make plans, but her phone and laptop are otherwise off limits.

She spent the morning lying around staring into space, but by the time I returned from my meeting, she was doing Just Dance routines and systematically knocking out other people’s high scores.

Had a late dinner of penne amatriciana and watched the final episode of The Brady Bunch. That project has been a long time in the making, and can’t say I’m sorry it has finally ended…

August 5, 2019

Too rainy to run… It started pouring the minute I put on my running kit and didn’t let up until I changed out of it again and sat down at my computer. Then the sun chose to shine…
Sorted out our train/ferry travel from Copenhagen to Bornholm this morning and arranged for a hire car on the island as well. That’s all the major pieces of the trip in place — now it’s a matter of figuring out how we’re going to spend our time.

I was hoping to finish the Junxion website work today. My main outstanding task is to ensure my design is responsive (works on different sized screens). I had to figure out how to do that with their theme, which took time. Unfortunately, it isn’t working as it should — maybe due to a plug-in clash. Frustrating…

Lyra went dog walking with Sissy and Saya in the afternoon, then had them back to ours to make face masks and hang out. Produced a strange concoction of yogurt, honey, coffee grounds, egg, cinnamon and I don’t know what else and retreated to her bedroom.

Broke off work about 8pm. Nova was out and Lyra not hungry, so Adam and I toasted a bagel for dinner and watched a couple of Ray Donovan’s before bed.

August 4, 2019

Lousy, alcohol-affected night’s sleep that left me in no shape to seize the day… My long run went by the wayside, and getting ready for having Beulah over for a bagel brunch was about all I managed.
Nice enough time, though she said some rather thoughtless/rude things about Lyra’s hair colour that she found upsetting. She did the same thing when Nova dyed hers last month…

Adam had some support group thing arranged for the afternoon and Nova was off hanging out with Evie. Lyra and I read some To Kill a Mockingbird and generally took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner was salads, hummus and a couple of Brady Bunch’s — only one more episode to go…

August 3, 2019

Made muffins with Adam before heading out for my two-mile run this morning. Lyra had said she wanted to come with me, but when I woke her up at 8am she was less keen. I ended up hanging about until 9:30am in case she emerged, but ended up going on my own.
Lyra is having a real growth spurt this summer. I’d noticed it already, but seeing her next to Nova makes it obvious how much she’s shot up. There’s not much more than an inch between them now.

Home-focused day — laundry, hoovering, other housework, budgeting, etc — though we found time to watch an episode of Stranger Things with Nova over lunch. Both girls insist that series three is the best one so far — I remain to be convinced.

Out for dinner with Richard and Rachel this evening, kicked off with a couple of rounds at the Wrestlers. Made a point of not drinking too much — ordered a half instead of a pint for my second round, didn’t touch my glass of wine until the food arrived.

It was the final (small) glass of wine at the Wrestlers that did for me. Definitely not my idea, but no need to twist my arm by that point either…

August 2, 2019

Nova’s coming home today! Interspersed my client work with tidying up her room and food prep. Made some mango ice cream, hummus, sourdough bread, and fixings for tacos (her requested homecoming dinner).
Lyra had an ambition to read some classic novels over the summer, but quickly became bogged down in Wuthering Heights. I offered to read some with her, but she’s taken against it so I suggested she switch to To Kill A Mockingbird.

We read the first two chapters together out loud — one each — and she’s happy to continue with it. I’d happily read the whole thing together, but we’ll see how it turns out.

Knocked off about 5pm and went for a walk with Adam, as neither of us had been outside today. Down the private road, up West Hill and into the Prince of Wales for a pint to mark the end of the working week.

Nova arrived about 7pm — it was so wonderful to have her home again! She had little gifts for everyone and lots to tell us about their travels over dinner. Her highlights were Slovenia and Vienna — Lake Bled, the Museum of Communism (Prague) and the Albertina (Vienna).

She’s with us until Thursday night and then off to Edinburgh to spend a few days at the festival…

August 1, 2019

Rabbits! Actually, I forgot to say it this month… hate it when that happens. Not that I’m superstitious or anything…;-) When they lived in Kelowna, mum had a big papier maché rabbit she’d position at the end of the bed on the last day of the month to remind her to say “Rabbits” first thing. Maybe I should look into something like that…;-)
Four mile run down to Finsbury Park and back. Felt pretty good aside from my ankle, which is still unstable. Putting in more time on the wobble board every day, as that’s what sorted it out after I tore my peroneal tendon a few years back.

I’ve been neglecting everything but client work for the past few days, and needed to correct the balance. Did a bunch of laundry, cleaning and trip to the supermarket, by which time the work day was pretty much over. Oh well…

Moqueqa de camarones and rice for dinner, while watching the second installment of Pelle the Conqueror. Lyra is unconvinced, insisting that it’s “boring”. When pressed, she said can see that it’s a good movie, but it is slow and makes her feel sad. Which is fair enough…