|
Click on the images to make them larger…
|
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Thinking… |
Celebrating with my job share Susan
|
Nursery Christmas concert
|
Nova, mommy and baby Rollo
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Grandpa Ed |
Funny face
|
Uncle David
|
The Weather Project
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| My autumn look |
Helping Grandpa Ed
|
Playing with Ruby
|
Gypsy fortune teller
|
| December 31, 2003 Nova woke in the night, but settled herself again without parental intervention. In the morning I discovered her wedged down the crack between the air mattress and the wall — I hope she didn’t spent the night that way… After breakfast, Pete, Nick and I drove into town to do some shopping while Liana and Adam took the little girls for a swim. The Carmarthen Tescos is impressively stocked, and we had no problem filling a list that included marsala wine, creme fraiche, pine nuts and cous cous. We’d agreed last night that this year’s dressing up theme would be Russian peasant/gypsy. Each person has £5 to spend in the local charity shops putting a suitable costume together. I bought a tweed hat, nasty looking brown shawl, and ratty vest before I ran out of money. My main mission was to buy a pot big enough to cook this evening’s lamb stew in. I did find Nova a little stuffed Tigger in Woolworths, which should improve her toy bargaining position with Martha. (In fact, as soon as Martha saw it, she said, “Share Tigger.” I said, “That’s a good idea, Martha, and share Roo and Kanga too.” “No, just share Tigger,” she said firmly.) Once the girls were down, we got into our costumes and convened in the livingroom for a champagne-sloe gin cocktail. I was cooking dinner this evening: a moroccan-influenced lamb stew (a Nigella recipe), cous cous, roast squash and green beans. I was a bit nervous about the main course, having never cooked lamb before (I’m such a meat virgin) but it was delicious. We seized every opportunity for vodka toasts, delivered in character. Pudding was an amazing banana-rum-marscarpone trifle, courtesy of Vitali and Olga (previously Nick and Jane). By the time we finished off the vodka, we were all pretty drunk. “What time is it?” Svetlana (Liana) asked. When we discovered it was only 10:30pm, we knew we’d have to think of something to keep the momentum going. Somehow, we decided to venture out into the elements. We ran the 100 yards through the lashing rain to the end of the drive, improvised a little Russian folk dancing and polished off the rest of the sloe gin, before dashing back to the house. The rest of the time before midnight was spent playing “Who Am I?” Each person writes ten famous names, real or fictional, on slips of paper and puts them into a hat. The group divides into two teams and each person gets one minute to pull names from the hat and help their teammates guess until all the names are gone. In the first round, you describe the character. In the second round you can use only one word to describe the character. In the third round you must act out the names. Quite a laugh to watch someone trying to act out Dostoyevsky… We broke out more champagne at midnight and quaffed a couple of bottles before calling it a night…
|
| December 30, 2003 We stayed up too late getting ready last night, and it was 7:30am by the time we set off. Fortunately, there was no rush hour to speak of, and the journey took less than four hours, including two stops: one to reload the nursery rhymes CD that Adam had unwisely removed from car’s CD player, and once for gas. The cottage was empty when we arrived — the others were out on a day walk in the Brecon Beacons. It’s an absolute palace compared to the place we rented last year: massive livingroom with fireplace (and Christmas tree); well appointed kitchen; large dining table; bathroom; three bedrooms (one with en suite). Of course, we had the pokey little bedroom with two single beds squeezed in at right angles to one another, but that’s a small price to pay for not having to do any of the organising. The cottage rental includes free access to the swimming pool at the country hotel down the road, so after lunch we headed off for a swim. Nova had a great time falling in off the side and is a good little kicker. She still refuses to lie on her back in the water. I don’t know what they tiled the deck with, but it was so slippery that Nova couldn’t take two steps without losing her balance. They had the same stuff in the change rooms, and I had to shower holding Nova in one arm while washing my hair with the other. (Another one of those things that you don’t realise is possible until you try it…) Even so, Nova and I were back at the (locked) car long before Adam emerged from the men’s change rooms. Standing there, I pondered how he could possibly have taken longer to get ready than it took me to wash and dress myself and Nova. It turns out he got into conversation with a Welsh guy which explains it. They are rightly famed as a nation of talkers… Martha was playing with Nova’s toys when we returned. As soon as she saw us she immediately made a big pile of all the desirable toys and lay on top of them. This season’s most coveted item is the stuffed Kanga with insertable Roo. Martha actually got upset with Nova for looking at it. Nova refused to be fobbed off with anything else, and it got so fractious I was starting to wish we’d never come… At last the enchanted bedtime hour arrived. We settled the girls in one room — a corrider really — Martha in the cot provided, and Nova on an air mattress and heap of blankets on the floor. Joined Pete and Liana, Nick and Jane in the kitchen for a delicious cannellini bean soup, followed by rice pudding and sloe gin for dessert. Pete and Jane’s dad makes his own sloe gin, which is absolutely delicious.
|
| December 29, 2003 Dad and David flew home today. We set off for Heathrow about 10am, and made good time. The temperature was hovering around zero and it was almost snowing — those big, wet flakes that melt as soon as they land. But traffic was very light, and we were parking up about 2 1/4 hours before departure time. It took a half an hour for them to check their bags. We spent awhile faffing about in the shops before saying our goodbyes. It’s always sad to see someone disappear through those departure doors. It’s usually me doing the departing — I’m not used to being the one left behind. I felt pretty blue after they left… Spent the evening getting ready for tomorrow’s trip to Wales (and another of our famed early starts). A fair amount of time was spent dealing with the turkey mountain. I made a big batch of turkey soup (which I froze) as well as freezing a number of baggies full of turkey meat. Not that we have much call for frozen turkey meat round these parts, but it would have seemed too wasteful to throw it away. I wasn’t overly impressed with David and Ed’s turkey-eating prowess. I bet Greg and Wendy would have picked that bird clean by now… 😉
|
| December 28, 2003 It’s dad and David’s last day. We’d arranged to visit the Steedmans this afternoon. (Al and Joc, Judith, her baby daughter Stella, and husband Patrick have all travelled over from BC for a London Christmas.) We all wedged into the car for the journey to Highbury: Adam and Ed are comfortable enough in the front seat, but it’s a real squash for David and I with Nova’s carseat taking up so much room in the back. It reminds me of those years when we still had the little Honda Civic, and three teenagers to shoehorn into the back… We hadn’t been at Jane and Gerry’s for five minutes before some bright spark suggested a walk in Clissold Park. It was a freezing cold day, with a bitter wind that could peel paint, and Jane’s girls (and Joc, Judith and Stella) begged off. Nova seemed to enjoy it despite the cold, and did lots of running around before travelling home in style on mommy’s (and later daddy’s) shoulders. We had tea and Christmas cake upon our return, and left about 5pm. We had about 20 minutes at home before we were due for drinks at the Stillmans. Ann put our her usual slightly alarming array of canapes (including some toast rounds spread with both smoked salmon and liver paste). Nova sensibly focussed her attention on the crisps. I feel like a pretty crap mother today — Nova’s eaten:
Not that our diet is much better these days… Served leftovers for dinner: shrimp cocktail, Ed’s spaghetti, cheese, grapes, and Karamel Sutra ice cream. Another late night…
|
| December 27, 2003 This sinus infection just won’t let up. I can’t breathe, can’t taste anything, and have stabbing pains in my cheeks and around my eyes. It is so annoying and uncomfortable that if the only remedy was to have my nose surgically removed I think I’d be tempted… We finished off the last of the melton mowbray for breakfast. Now there’s just those 7lbs of turkey to go… Drove to Kenwood where we had a bite to eat before walking on the Heath. We dropped the broken video machine off at the shop where we bought it in Golder’s Green, and while we were in the neighbourhood, picked up a bag of bagels from Carmelli’s. Stopped of for a couple of pints at the Spaniard’s Inn on the way home (apple juice for Nova). They’ve installed an automatic dog washing machine in their car park. It’s just like a car wash: you strap the dog onto a conveyor belt and it is soaped and rinsed and blasted dry. So many people stop at the Spaniards after walking on the Heath, you can see how it might appeal. I wonder what the dogs think of it? There was a message on the answering phone from the video store. Apparently there is nothing wrong with the video. Adam headed back to Golder’s Green to pick it up, and I took a Sinutab and collapsed on the couch to watch The Towering Inferno. Turkey bagels for dinner — only 6 1/2 lbs to go…
|
| December 26, 2003 The sinus infection has completely commandeered my head. I didn’t get out of bed until 10:45 when Adam and David off to see Arsenal play Wolves. I sluggishly did most of the prep for tonight’s dinner with Dave — a vegetarian Christmas meal closer to what we’ve had in previous years. The menu:
Went round to Jenny and Paul’s for pre-dinner drinks. The guys knocked back a number of beers. I wasn’t in a fit state to drink anything, but was induced to try something called a snowball — avocaat, brandy, lemonade and lime juice the way Jenny makes it — and it didn’t seem to do me any harm… I left at 5pm to finish the dinner preparations, followed shortly by Adam and Nova. Ed and Dave turned up about half an hour later. Apparently Jenny had to ask them to leave as the roast goose was on the table. (I can’t remember a social gathering we went to as a family that we weren’t the last to leave.) Dave arrived promptly at 6pm, with gifts for Nova (a lovely outfit, and three new books) and Ivor Cutler tickets for us. The meal turned out really well, always a bonus when you invent your main course… Settled down to watch The Dead afterward, and before long Ed, David and I were all fast asleep. “It must run in the family,” Dave said to Adam.
|
| December 25, 2003 Merry Christmas everybody! I was the first one up this morning. I showered, dressed, tidied up upstairs, turned on the Christmas tree, baked two trays of overnight rolls, set the table for breakfast, and still not a peep from the rest of the household. I eventually had to hasten Nova along a little bit… She knew what day it was the minute she woke up though. “Get my stocking now!” were the first words out of her mouth. While the grownups got through their stockings and presents in about half an hour, Nova still hand a mini-mountain of gifts when we broke for breakfast. The melton mowbray was excellent (although the pastry was pretty tough in the corners — I secretly feared for the silverware). We ate it with pickled walnuts, gherkins and onions, rolls and butter. Got through a bottle of champagne proposing toasts to family and friends. Nova resumed her unwrapping after breakfast. It took her all day in the end — each time she opened something she’d go off and play with it for awhile before remembering there were still presents to open. In the end, her haul included:
Adam took Nova out for the afternoon while we prepared dinner. I’m so glad Dad was there to help with the turkey — there’s a lot more to it than I expected. He spent a good hour plucking rogue feathers, removing unmentionables from the cavity, stuffing and skewering it all together. I felt on safer ground with the vegetables, cranberry sauce and bread sauce… Everyone dressed for dinner, and Nova and I got ready together, putting on our best dresses, tights, lipstick and perfume. She looked so pretty and grownup and behaved so well at the table, drinking her milk from a wine glass, joining in the toasts and eating her turkey dinner (mostly bread, butter and cranberry sauce). It breaks my heart that mom can’t see what a wonderful little person she’s becoming. The rest of the family called from Prince George just as we were finishing up. They were still on the phone when I came back, and I had a chat with everyone. Ate our Christmas pudding in front of the television, while watching the final two episodes of The Sopranos. I’ve developed a vicious head cold over the last couple of days. My sinuses feel like they’ve been cemented shut. Before going to bed I steamed my head over a bowl of boiling water and eucalyptus crystals. Seemed to help a little bit…
|
| December 24, 2003 Jenny was at the door at 7am for our surgical strike on the food shops. I’d woken up at 6:55, but had just about managed to throw some clothes on, find my wallet, brush my teeth etc before she arrived, but was still feeling pretty comatose on 5 hours sleep. Our first stop was the butcher’s on the Archway Road where we picked up the Norfolk Gold turkeys she’d ordered last month. It was still completely dark out, and it felt quite surreal — nightmarish, even — to be standing in a surgically bright butcher’s shop clutching a dead bird ten minutes after climbing out of bed. Next, we drove to the Marks and Spencers in Muswell Hill, where Jenny convinced me to buy a carton of their luxury custard. I bought an emergency tin roasting dish as well in case our monster of a turkey won’t fit into our existing one. After that we zipped down to Dunn’s Bakery in Crouch End where Jenny bought a heap of bread, and I bought four luxury mince pies (to make up for the nasty mince pies I’d baked earlier) and a jam doughnut for Nova. Apparently, Jenny does this dawn raid on the shops every Christmas Eve, and was sportily dressed in tracksuit and trainers, the better to dash from shelf to shelf. She was perky and bright, and chatting away a mile a minute, while I was still having trouble stringing sentences together. I consider myself a morning person, but not this morning, not compared to her, not when shopping is involved… Back in Muswell Hill, the cheese shop had yet to open (what sluggards, think of all the pre-8am trade they were missing out on!) We broke for a welcome coffee in the cafe across the road, with a clear view of the cheese shop entrance. When they opened about 8:30am, and we were the first customers through the door. Jenny had pre-ordered a big pile of cheeses, which were all packaged up and waiting for her. With a double cappuccino running through my veins, I was starting to get into the spirit of things, and took the opportunity to buy a nice wedge of Stilton, a piece of award-winning Montgomery cheddar, and a gorgeously runny slab of Vacherin d’Or. Our shopping pentathalon finished at the kitchen store with the purchase of turkey skewers, and I was deposited outside my door by 9:30am, half wondering if I’d dreamed the whole episode. David and I made a melton mowbray pie this afternoon. Aside from one inexplicable year where panfried trout featured on the menu, mom always baked a melton mowbray for Christmas breakfast. I’ve never tackled one before (I bought ours last year) but David has, so he took the lead. The pork filling went off without a hitch, but we had some trouble getting the pastry to behave. We managed to wrestle it into the dish eventually, fashion a cover, construct a vent, and decorate it with pastry leaves and this year’s date. At some point during all this excitement, Ed and Adam slipped off to the pub and an unsupervised Nova jammed her Maisy video in the machine. David managed to extract it with a pair of knives, but it refused to play any more videos. (Try explaining that to a Winnie-the-Pooh-obsessed two-year-old.) We had the traditional Horth family boiled ham and vegetable dinner, which went down a treat with Nova. We hung up the stockings before putting Nova down for the night. Once she was settled we watched A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim, before winding the evening down with the obligatory double episode of The Sopranos.
|
| December 23, 2003 We’d planned to go to Borough Market to do our Christmas food shopping today, but it was pouring with rain, and David and I both have nasty colds, so we decided to get everything at Waitrose instead. Had fun filling a shopping basket to the gunwales with tasty treats. We hadn’t eaten lunch yet, which always increases the impulse grocery purchases. Ed said he’d never bought that many groceries in his life, but I can remember a family Christmas grocery shop where they filled two buggies. Neusa, our Brazilian cleaner, was working upstairs when we got back, so we ate a late lunch of mackerel paté, cheese, crackers and beer in the flat. In the evening Pete and Pascale and the kids came over to meet dad and David and for the kids to exchange gifts. Sid loved his fossilised shark’s teeth, and Fay spent the whole visit prancing around in her fairy slippers, so that was a hit as well. Better result than last year… After they left, Ed made his spaghetti for dinner (no problems with that recipe), and we spent the evening watching more episodes of the Sopranos.
|
| December 22, 2003 David and I had a play with the DVD player and managed to get it working within minutes. Nova was a bit sick this morning, but not too sick to go to nursery… Once she’d left with Adam, we headed off for another day’s sightseeing. We visited Westminster Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in England. I think it’s one of London’s hidden gems. The first time I saw it I was hurrying down Victoria Street for a job interview at BT Internet. I came around the corner and there was this massive Byzantine cathedral squatting in a vast piazza. It looked nothing like any of the other English cathedrals I’ve seen, with its candy-striped bell tower and domes. I couldn’t believe I’d been coming to London for 10 years and never known it existed. Inside the walls glitter with mosaics and the floors are covered in intricate tiles. The ceiling itself is dark and undecorated. I don’t know whether the cathedral is a work in progress and there are future plans to decorate it, but it is strangely effective the way it is. We’d planned to visit Westminster Abbey at the other end of the street for the contrast, but there was a line of tourists snaking all the way across the grounds to Parliament Square, so we passed on that idea. (Apparently David’s guidebook advises that one avoid Westminster Abbey in the morning and St Pauls in the afternoon, as that’s when the tour buses descend.) We caught a bus to Piccadilly Circus and ate lunch at Chowki, an Indian restaurant I’ve been wanting to try. We had a few large Cobra beers with our meal of: papadoms, onion bhaji, lamb rogan josh (Ed), prawn curry (David), fish curry (me), pilaf and naan. The food was very good and it was nice to get in out of the wind for a bit. After lunch we window shopped our way up Regent’s Street, checking out the lavish Christmas displays. Hamley’s Toys had a working fairground built from Lego — carousel, roller coaster, flying swings, the lot. Wedgewood had constructed gigantic Christmas baubles from china and silverware that looked amazing. Dickins and Jones had a series of outlandish tableaus featuring mannequins in designer dresses getting up to all sorts. We had a little look round Libertys so Ed and David could see the amazing interiors, before getting the tube home from Oxford Street.
|
| December 21, 2003 Had lunch in a Turkish oçakbasi on Green Lanes. It was a simple, unpretentious place that does take-out doners as well as sit-down meals. We’ve never eaten there before, but TimeOut gave it a good review. Ed and I both had the chicken shish, while David and Adam had different types of lamb kebab. Nova stuck with the hummus and bread. She quite enjoyed herself, and managed to completely paint my sleeve and the leg of my jeans with hummus while I was distracted with my lunch and the conversation. We drove to the Geffreye Museum afterward. The Geffreye is devoted to the history of domestic interiors, and they do an annual Christmas exhibition showing how people would have decorated their homes throughout the ages. Nova and I zipped through at top speed leaving the others in our dust. Lingering wasn’t a safe option, as she had a strong inclination to scale the little barriers and get her hands on the tempting presents and toys. Eventually Adam came and found us hanging about in the foyer and I left Nova in his care and worked my way backwards through the exhibition until I met up with Ed and David. Later Adam confessed that while in his care, Nova had clambered into Christmas 1960s-style, yanked a piece of tinsel rope off a coffee table where it had been artfully woven between the Christmas cards, and thrown it on the floor. I made spaghetti with chilli and parsley for dinner while David and Adam tried to set up the DVD player. What should have been a straightforward operation took the best part of the evening, and the closest they got to getting it working was sound with no picture. We might need a special adaptor so that the DVD can plug straight into the back of the TV instead of going through the video machine.
|
| December 20, 2003 David stayed home with Nova while Ed and I went back to Costco for a refund. Apparently this has happened to a few customers because there was no trouble with the refund. We bought a half case of Freixenet for a fraction of the cost… Ed wanted to buy us a DVD player for our Christmas present. We looked at the ones on offer at Costco, but none of them were multi-region, so we went to the Currys up the North Circular and bought one there. According to the salesman, you can download a pin code from the manufacturer’s website that will allow the machine to play North American DVDs. It seems so stupid not to just standardise these things. I guess there must be money in it not to. They don’t bother with all this regional nonsense with CDs though… After lunch we walked down the hill to Archway, and bought a couple of DVDs to use with the new player. Ed bought some handmade pork and leek sausages from the butcher’s and I grilled them for dinner, accompanied by mash, broccoli and fried onions. Nova’s mood deteriorated throughout the day, and by bedtime she was in a foul humour. When I was wrestling her into her pyjamas she gave me a vicious kick on the chin, which caused me to bite my tongue so hard it bled. I managed to keep my temper, mostly because any scene would just have made settling her for the night even more difficult. I was pretty happy to close her bedroom door behind me… I dragged the ironing board and mountain of wrinkled laundry upstairs, and did three hours of ironing while we watched the first five episodes of the first series of The Sopranos. Adam got back about 11pm. His trip to Washington had gone well, and he’d been upgraded on both his flights (lucky sod), which meant he was reasonably well rested. To bed about 1:30am…
|
| December 19, 2003 We had another quiet morning around home, or at least as quiet as mornings get with Nova on the scene. I think she’s feeling a bit better today — she isn’t as cantankerous as she was yesterday at any rate… After lunch (broad beans and bacon again) we drove to Costco so Ed could finish of his Christmas shopping. I picked up a few things as well: a bumper box of grapes, double pack of fresh apple juice, a bottle of champagne, some toothpaste, the book that I’d grabbed to keep Nova distracted as we went round the store… Dad hadn’t brought his card so we rang our purchases in together. I thought the total seemed a little high, but in between loading the cart and coping with Nova I didn’t really look at the bill until we sat down to work out how much dad owed me. To my horror, I discovered that instead of charging me for a bottle of champagne (£13 or so) they’d charged me for a whole case (£70). I got straight on the phone to them, and although I was tempted just to drive straight back and get a refund, it was almost Nova’s dinner time, and it made more sense to do it in the morning. I made a Szechuan chicken recipe from a Chinese pocket cookbook that dad brought. There were a couple of cooking techniques I was unfamiliar (and unconvinced) by. You started by marinating the chunks of chicken in a mixture of egg white, cornstarch and water, and spiced the dish by stir-frying six whole chillies in oil until they were charred and then removing them. I thought this might leave a bitter taste in the oil, but in fact the heat of the chillies turned out to be perfect. The marinading didn’t work out so well. As soon as the chicken hit the oil the egg whites curdled into little lumps that no amount of stirring could dissolve. They tasted fine, but I don’t think it was supposed to curdle like that… Once Nova was asleep I divided my attention between Law and Order and present wrapping. David got back from Cornwall about 10:30pm — sounds like he had a really nice visit, and packed quite a bit of sightseeing in as well. He tucked into a big plateful of broad beans and bacon which finished off the last of it.
|
| December 18, 2003 David and Adam both set off on their respective trips this morning. David’s off to Cornwall to visit some friends from Regina who’ve settled in Falmouth. Adam has a meeting in Washington DC tomorrow, and will be away for three days. I took Nova to the GP to have the lump in her throat examined. I was mucking around with her the other day, holding her upside down. She threw her head back laughing and I caught a glimpse of a huge yellowish lump at the top of her throat. It looked like a kernel of corn, or even a misplaced tooth. I’ve been keeping an eye on it since, and it hasn’t gone away, and I wanted the doctor to take a look at it. Nova was less than cooperative during the examination, and kicked a pile of papers off Dr Chesshyre’s desk while I struggled to hold her in his preferred viewing position. He got a look at it eventually, and pronounced it a blocked duct on her tonsil that had swelled up with pus. I’m to come back in the new year if it hasn’t disappeared. Dad and I spent the rest of the morning writing Christmas cards, then went out in the afternoon to the local shops: we picked up our photos, bought a couple of things for dinner, and posted the cards. Tried out the broad beans and bacon recipe this evening. Dad had written it down as best he remembered it, and while all the ingredients were right, he was a bit out on the quantities. We ended up adding so much flour to the sauce that we had to make a bathtub full of the stuff to get the thickness of the sauce right. It tasted lovely, although it’s not the sort of dish a kid would like… Nova’s been out of sorts all day. She’s not eating much, and is very cranky and prone to tears. I had a tough time getting her down. I was so bagged by the time she finally fell asleep that I did nothing but doze in front of the telly for the rest of the evening. I’d like to go back over my entries for the past few months and see just how often she’s been sick. It feels like a lot…
|
| December 17, 2003 It was our directorate Christmas lunch today. Ed and David travelled into work with me, with plans to visit the British Museum. Our first stop was the Cittie of Yorke pub across from my office for a swift half (it was 11:45am…) I had previous plans to meet up with my colleague Tonya, so I gave her a call on my mobile and she came over and joined us. I went to the bar to buy a second round of drinks. After pulling the pints, the barman rang up the order, turned to me and said, “That’ll be £6.66.” “Are you serious?” I asked. He assured me he was, and said it wasn’t the first time this had happened to him. Apparently, he used to work at Marks and Spencers in the children’s department. He rang up some purchases for a customer, and the total came to £6.66. He looked up to tell them the amount, to be faced with a young couple holding an albino child, whose bright red eyes were burning into him. He gave an involuntary yelp, and after he’d finished serving them he had to go on a break to settle his nerves. It was a pretty good story the way he told it… Our lunch was at the Babington Hotel on Southampton Row. Zero atmosphere, mediocre food, but at least the company was good… We’d all agreed to wear wigs, and I’d borrowed a white pageboy wig from Jemima. Picked at my ricotta-stuffed cannelloni and pepper crusted cod (which was really pretty lousy) while having a couple of glasses of wine. It was much more subdued than last week’s event, and we all left, reasonably sober, about 3:30. Most people went back to the office, and I headed home. I made kedgeree for dinner this evening. David hadn’t had it before, but Ed said his friend Bill made him something similar. Watched a double dose of Law and Order — it’s great to have a fellow fan to watch with…
|
| December 16, 2003 Set out after lunch today. Took the tube to Leicester Square, bought David a ticket for tonight’s performance of Stones in His Pockets, then had a wander around Seven Dials and Covent Garden before stopping for a pint at the Lamb and Flag. We had dinner reservations at the Criterion for 5:30 (to take advantage of the pre-theatre menu — £17.95 for three courses). I love eating at the Criterion — it must be one of the most beautiful restaurants in London, and the food is always very good. We started with a pre-dinner drink: martinis for the boys, a sherry for me. We all had the raw oysters with lemon and herbs to start, then David had the roast pheasant, I had the salmon with butter sauce and brown shrimp, and Ed had the Lancashire hotpot, accompanied by a nice bottle of Cotes du Rhone. For dessert, David had the pear-almond tart (delicious), I had the cheese of the day (Brie) served with raisin bread, and Ed had a coffee. Headed back towards Covent Garden, parting ways with David near his theatre, then Ed and I carried on to the Royal Opera in Covent Garden. We had tickets for Lucia di Lamermoor, which was our Christmas present to Dad. We were in our balcony seats a few minutes before the performance started, and had time to enjoy the beautiful setting before the lights dimmed. The critics haven’t been that impressed with the performance, but I found nothing to fault. The singing was exquisite, especially the man playing Edgardo, the jilted lover. They’d updated it to 1930s Germany for some reason, so the sets were particularly lavish, but I thought they worked quite well, especially in the second half. Ed dozed a bit at the beginning, but I only had to jab him once, when he let out a strange, gargling sort of sound. We both thought it was terrific, and the rest of the audience seemed to as well. There were shouts of “Bravo!” at the end, and they took any number of encores before leaving the stage. There were dozens of people milling about outside hoping for a taxi, so we walked back to Leicester Square. I managed to nab a cab just outside the tube entrance, and we travelled home in style (and at breakneck speed). Had a large Baileys for a nightcap with Adam and David, who arrived home a few minutes behind us. A really nice evening — Mom would have loved it…
|
| December 15, 2003 Nova was at nursery today, and Adam was working flat out on his two CSR projects, so Ed, David and I headed into the centre of town for a full day of sightseeing. We started at St Paul’s Cathedral, but it was covered in scaffolding, and as they are now charging £7 a visit, so we decided against it. There was a viciously cold wind blowing, but it was bright and sunny. I’d take cold and bright over warm and gray any day… We walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern, and checked out one of the permanent collections — Nudes and the Human Body. (For some reason everyone we visit the Tate with seems to opt for this floor…;-) ) We went for lunch in the restaurant upstairs. Ed had the white bean soup with truffle oil, I had the roast pork and rocket salad, and David had… a bottle of sparkling mineral water. The night before he left for London his ex-wife Lynette brought round some leftover turkey casserole she’d made for an office party. David ate a big bowlful and has been sick as a dog ever since… There’s a fantastic installation in the Turbine Hall at the Tate. Called the Weather Project the artist has projected a huge yellow “sun” against the back wall of the space. The ceiling has been mirrored, which makes the interior look about 100 feet high. Mist is being pumped into the space, and drifts in cloud-like formations through the gloom. We stood for ages looking at it… Walked along the Thames to the London Eye. It was a beautiful day for riding the Eye — both the other times I’ve ridden it the weather was overcast. We lined up to step onto a pod, and just when we were at the front I thought the attendant waved us into a passing pod. We were just about to step onto it when I noticed there were only two people in there as well as an attendant who was unpacking a picnic hamper. “Are you sure we should get on this one?” I turned and asked. “No!” the attendant cried, and waved us back. A couple of seconds later and they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it — the Eye never stops moving, you load and unload on the fly. It turned out a couple had rented a whole pod for a private ride. The views were terrific as we rose, and we were busy pointing out London landmarks. As we crested the top, we noticed that most of the people in our pod were gathered against one side. The guy in the pod ahead of us was down on one knee proposing to his girlfriend. She must have said yes, because she flung his arms around her. Everyone in our car started clapping and cheering. I couldn’t help thinking how embarrassing it would have been if she’d said no and they’d had to spend another 15 minutes of awkward silence in their pod before they could escape. Once we were back on the ground, we walked across the refurbished Jubilee Bridge to Gordon’s Wine Bar, where we sank a bottle of South African cabernet sauvignon (David managed a couple of sips) before catching the tube home and picking up Nova from nursery. Made chicken quesadillas for dinner using Wendy’s recipe. I think I’ll get a fair amount of use out of the family cookbook actually… Once Nova was down to bed we watched University Challenge. The four of us were a much stronger team than either of this evening’s sides.
|
| December 14, 2003 Adam headed off to Heathrow after breakfast, while I handled the last-minute preparations: cleaning the flat, trying to keep the worst of the Nova mess under control, making some lunch etc. It turned out their flight was a bit early, which is always a bonus. They turned up laden with Canadian food supplies — practically everything on my “unavailable Canadian food” list — and duty-free alcohol as well. Had a cold cut type lunch accompanied by a couple of bottles of beer — both Ed and David crashed out immediately afterward. Dave woke up after an hour or so, but Ed slept all afternoon, while we hung the outdoor Christmas lights and set up and decorated the Christmas tree. He woke up in time for dinner — pasta with chickpeas and a bottle of red wine. Of course they were both going strong at 11pm, when Adam and I were flagging. I find the jetlag coming back to London much harder than when we fly the other way. You can’t get to sleep at night, and just when you are finally feeling tired it’s time to wake up again…
|
|
December 13, 2003 Went down to Oxford Street for a spot of Christmas shopping. Needless to say, the crowds were insane, but I managed to make a pretty good dent in our shopping list. Adam and Nova were battling their way around Waitrose. We all arrived back at the house about 3:30pm for a restorative cup of tea and a sandwich. This evening, Doron came round to babysit for us, and Adam took me out to dinner at Moro, an African-influenced Spanish restaurant we’ve been wanting to try for a while. Our table was for quite late — 9:30pm — but it had been such a hectic day, we ordered a glass of dry sherry and a few tapas to unwind a bit first: cayenne roasted almonds, baba ganoush (a smoked aubergine pate), olives, and pimientos de padron, which were little chillies that had been simply fried, causing them to soften and crisp. The bread was fantastic, dark and toothy and served in hunks. For our dinner we had the wood roasted sea bream with leeks braised in yogurt and chickpeas, and the charcoal grilled lamb with parsnip and date salad and pumpkin pilav. Both dishes were great, as was the bottle of Rioja we ordered with them. Instead of dessert, we shared the cheese plate — a manchego and a blue cheese served with quince pate, and finished with a couple of espressos. Got home a bit after midnight. I’d happily go back there again…
|
| December 12, 2003 Felt pretty ropy this morning… That port was definitely a mistake… Didn’t manage to accomplish much today. There’s a lot I wanted to get done before Ed and David arrive, but I just couldn’t seem to summon the energy. Did a little shopping in the village, and grilled some salmon for dinner, which was about the sum total of my achievements… |
| December 11, 2003 Adam had to leave for a business meeting at the crack of dawn. I had breakfast with Jules, then coffee with Pasc, all before my 10:30am date with Jemima. It was the day of the girls’ Christmas concert at nursery. Nova has been adamant all along about not wanting to go, in spite of enthusiastically singing the carols they’ve been practicing from morning to night. She made quite a scene at door, but I finally prised her off and took a seat on the tiny little chairs they’d arranged for the audience. I sat in the front row, camera poised, ready to snap the minute the doors opened, so I’d have at least one photo of her at the concert before she ran crying into my arms. When the curtain rose, there was Nova sitting on one of the attendant’s laps. She looked pretty miserable but sang bravely, did all the hand gestures, and clapped vigorously between the songs. The kids sang a dozen or so songs, then any child who wanted to sang a solo, which resulted in a lot of renditions of Rudolph… I was so proud of Nova I could see how hard she found it, but she stuck it out. Afterward she seemed quite pleased with herself, and had a number of things to say about the concert. I took her to a cafe on Archway Road to celebrate, where we had a ham sandwich, fries, and two boxes of apple juice, while mommy had coffee and an omelette. It was the office Christmas party this evening. I left when Adam got home, and got into the West End for 5pm. The party was held at Staples Inn, a few doors down from our building, which was one of the original Inns of Court and a lovely old venue. Only about half the staff turned up (a number of people had got their knickers in a twist over having to pay £5). But as always with these things, it was the right half. We had a few glasses of wine before tucking into a lovely meal (the apricot stuffing that accompanied the turkey deserves a special mention). Dessert was a chocolate fountain — a four-tier waterfall of melted chocolate, with plates of strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, and fudge (oddly) for dipping. The disco started up as soon as the plates were cleared and within a couple of songs there were people out on the dance floor. Had a really good night, drinking, dancing and talking nonsense with colleagues. One woman who’s always a bit of a loose cannon at these events, overstepped the mark with the chocolate fountain guy (a teenage kid) — dragging him out on the dance floor for a drunken tango, then up onto a table for a little gogo dancing, then climbing onto his shoulders and riding him around the room, before finally tumbling ass over tip. When our manager asked her to tone it down a bit, she ran off in floods of tears, then spent the rest of the evening haranguing anyone who would listen (including the new CEO) about how she’d been hard done by and badmouthing our line manager. A typical cringy office Christmas moment… Home about 11:30. I’d managed to pace my drinking over the evening, and alternate glasses of water. Aside from an ill-advised glass or two of port, I should have reason to feel too bad the next day… |
| December 10, 2003 Today is my last day at work until January 5th. I brought some baking in to share with my team. It was a big hit with everyone, you don’t get butter tarts in the UK and everyone was wowed by them, even though they looked pretty scruffy… We received the following letter from Air Canada this afternoon:
Now she may be a precocious child, but she’s not quite at the ” able to inquire into policies” developmental marker yet… That minor screw-up aside, I just about hit the roof when I read it. When I bought the second emergencies tickets for Nova and I, I was assured that although I couldn’t just transfer the date of my original tickets (that would have been too convenient for all concerned…) it would be a straightforward matter to reclaim the first tickets under their bereavement policy. The refund office had cunningly left their telephone number off their rejection letter, but twenty minutes of investigation on the web unearthed it. I called them up to discover that they’d actually approved the refund, but instead of sending a letter to that effect, they sent one referring to a small portion of Nova’s ticket that wasn’t refunded for some obscure reason. All’s well that ends well, though I have yet to see the amount credited on my Visa card. Nova is terribly stuffed up. I Calpoled her at bedtime, but it was still 9pm before she was finally asleep. I wasn’t far behind her, crashing out by 9:30… Adam was out at an Arsenal match with his brother, and arrived home flushed with victory about 11pm, minutes before our friend Jules arrived. Jules had arranged to stay the night — his company had a Christmas party this evening, and it finished too late for him to commute back to Suffolk. Sat up chatting until about 12:30, so it’s just as well I had my power nap earlier in the evening…
|
| December 9, 2003 Nova woke up just before 7am, and I had no qualms about nudging Champagne Charlie out of bed to do the morning shift so I could get to the office on time for a change… I may have got in early, but I left early as well… Adam’s colleagues from Ethical Media (one of the places he does consultancy work for) were all meeting at Somerset House to go skating on the outdoor ice rink. I’d arranged for Pascale to pick Nova up from nursery and give her dinner so I could join them. We met at 3:45, checked out bags, and exchanged a pair of skates. At 4pm they opened the gate and let us out onto the ice. Honestly, it was one of the funniest sights I’ve ever seen… Although there had been dozens of us lacing up our skates, the rink was practically empty. Everyone was creeping round the edge of the rink, clutching the boards for dear life. And Londoners just hate to look uncool… Everyone was greatly improved after an hour’s skating. Adam had started out shuffling like a penguin, but by the end he was making cautious little gliding movements, at least with his right skate… He only wiped out once as well, which is a considerable improvement from the other time we went skating… All the Ethical Media folk were going for mulled wine afterward, but I headed off to pick up Nova. I arrived at Pasc’s to find a tearful Nova sitting on Pascale’s lap and woefully mulching a mouthful of salmon. Apparently she’d been upset the whole time and was just barely holding herself together. Poor little thing… I took her home and even though it was already 7pm we lay on the couch together watching Winnie-the-Pooh for an hour before I put her to bed. Yet more Christmas baking… I tackled butter tarts this evening. They were a fiasco… The butter tart filling overflowed the top of the pastry, and we had a hell of a time chiselling through the burnt sugar to extract them from the tart pan. There were a few casualties which we ate on the spot… I now have even more respect for Wendy, and the effortless way she turns out batch after perfect batch of this stuff…
|
| December 8, 2003 It’s my last week of work before I begin my Christmas holidays. I’ve got so much to do, but managed to arrive an hour late neverless. Liana had forgotten her mobile phone at our house yesterday, so we met up for a quick lunch and chat. Adam was out this evening for Body Shop drinks and dinner. I came home and had dinner with Nova — crystal chicken (which is becoming a real staple around here) and a rice noodle salad. Once Nova was settled, I returned to the Christmas baking. I made a white chocolate version of the no-bake chocolate squares with cranberries and pistachios, which didn’t quite set properly (white chocolate doesn’t behave like dark chocolate), and a couple of loaves of merry mince teabread, which came out okay. Got my fix of Law and Order, finished my Henning Mankell novel (I am getting so in to this detective series) and went to bed. It was 12:30am by this time, and Adam wasn’t home, so I gave him a call on his mobile. Turns out he was in a taxi with a tipsy marketing girls giggling in the background…
|
| December 7, 2003 Jenny came round about 8am so we could go to the Laboratory together. Adam had spent the night crashed out on the couch in his glad rags, and was looking pretty green around the gills, but he gamely got started on his Sunday pancake routine while I went off for my workout. We were a bit pressed for time, so I ran a mile and half at a slightly faster pace than usual, and then did some weights and abdominal exercises. Had a quick shower, bought a juice to go and was back home before 10am… Adam was crashed out on the couch, but Nova was fed, and washed and dressed, so I had no complaints. Set off for Golder’s Green to buy bagels and do the grocery shop before Pete, Liana and Martha arrived for Sunday brunch. It was a bitterly cold day, but nice and bright, and after eating we took the girls to Waterlow Park for a swing and a run around. Stopped for coffee and cake on the way home, where Nova demolished a huge slice of chocolate cake we’d bought for the three of us to share. There wasn’t much point in cooking her a big dinner after that — I put together a plate of carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus to dip in, and that was that. After she was down for the night, I tackled fudge making for the first time in my life. It’s not as easy as I would have assumed… Even stirring constantly, it was almost impossible to prevent it from scorching, and rather than pouring the butterscotch fudge into the pan, I had to mold and stretch it to fit. I still tasted nice, but the consistency left a bit to be desired. It put me in mind of a recipe I’d found when going through mom’s cooking cards for Pat Drexel’s “never-fail” fudge. “HARD AS A ROCK!” mom had scrawled crossly across the face of the card. I know how she felt…
|
| December 6, 2003 Went to the Laboratory with Jemima this morning. We’d booked beauty treatments, and I had my second-ever facial. To my surprise, as well as being a pleasurable and relaxing experience, I thought it made a difference to my appearance as well. I looked younger and better rested, and my skin felt great. I was so pleased with the results, that when we met up in the pool afterwards, I swam all my laps with my face out of the water to avoid chlorinating my skin. Finished off with a long session in the steam room followed by the jacuzzi.Tonight was Pete and Pasc’s long-awaited drinks party. I wasn’t really in the party spirit, but we’d committed to going so long ago I wouldn’t have dared cancel. Jemima had agreed to babysit for us, when she showed up about 8:30pm we set off. The party was well underway by the time we arrived. Pasc had made a big pot of mulled wine, and I started off with a glass of that. Of the dozen or so people there I vaguely knew two (although Pasc being Pasc, we all knew all sorts of inappropriate personal things about each other, even though we’d never been introduced, which was a bit surreal…) While I hate having to make small talk with strangers, Adam was like a dog straining at the leash, and within minutes he was off and striking up conversations here, there and everywhere… He was also drinking a lot more than I was, as were many of the other guests. By the time I left at 12am, a few were looking worse for wear. Adam decided to stay and “finish his drink” and he must have still been working on it when I went to bed about 1am… |
| December 5, 2003 Off to the Laboratory first thing again for a workout. I did 20 minutes of stepping this time (not my cup of tea at all) and some sets on the weight machines. I had to cut it about short as Mary was coming down for a visit and a bit of shopping. She arrived about 11:00, and we set off, leaving Adam at home with baby Rollo and Nova. I must admit that when Mary started unpacking all the jars, bottles and equipment involved in looking after a 7 month old baby, I was glad Adam was in the hot seat instead of me. It’s amazing how quickly you forget… We drove into Crouch End for a bit of shopping and some lunch at Banners: Virgin Marys, ackee and salt fish for me, jerk chicken with rice and peas for her. We sat at the very table Bob Dylan ate at when he visited in 1993 (there’s a little plaque). It was great to have a (kid-free) visit with her, and even managed to buy a few Christmas presents as well.
|
| December 4, 2003 Started my five-day guest pass at the Laboratory (a lovely private gym and health spa in Muswell Hill) today. Jenny gave it to me when she was round the other night. I set off first thing before I found a reason not to exercise. Ran 5km on the treadmill, and did some weights before changing into my swimsuit and… sitting in the whirlpool for 15 minutes. After I got changed I stopped in their cafe for a freshly squeezed juice before heading home. Did me a power of good… Adam headed off to work when I got back, and Nova and I spent the day together. It was the usual, full-on mix of activities: reading, dancing, fingerpainting, cookie baking, singing songs etc., interspersed with bouts of video watching. She’s back on form, full of energy, and I was a wrung-out dishrag by the time she was ready for bed. Made a quick dinner, then Adam went off for an evening at the Laboratory with his complementary pass from Rob. I changed into my pajamas and spent the evening watching Law and Order and reading my current Kurt Wallander novel.
|
| December 3, 2003 Our new all-singing, all-dancing printer is giving us some grief. It refuses to scan from Adam’s laptop, and won’t print from the web on mine. We called the Epson helpline, and according to the girl who took the call, it’s an operating system conflict with my type of Mac, and there’s currently no solution. As you can imagine, that didn’t go down very well with me… On the way to the tube I called Adam at home just to make sure that he wasn’t under the impression that it was somehow his fault that our CX5200 wouldn’t print — definitely a possibility with him. It turns out Adam fixed the problem, or at least has identified a neat workaround. What a guy! Pascale and I went to the Holloway Odeon this evening to see Intermission — an indie Irish film with Colin Farrell. The Guardian review described it as a cross between ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’. Actually, I think I preferred it to both. It was one of those stories that follows a group of characters whose lives end up intertwining. It had its rough edges, but the writing was brilliant and all the actors were terrific. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film with Colin Farrell in it, but he gets so much exposure over here that I was already sick of him. Seeing him on screen it’s obvious what all the fuss is about. He’s one of those people you can’t take your eyes off…
|
| December 2, 2003 Just one day after writing about the different foods you can’t buy in the UK, I received a parcel in the post with Wendy, with all the missing ingredients I need to make her butterscotch fudge. I’m planning to make a batch this weekend…
|
| December 1, 2003 I remembered to say “Rabbits” today, for the first time in ages, so fingers crossed for a lucky month ahead. We could use one… Nova opened the first door on her advent calendar this morning, a ritual I always enjoyed as a kid. I chose not to get her a chocolate filled calendar. No need to establish the habit of eating chocolate first thing in the morning… Work was alright — my eyes are feeling better, and there was plenty to keep me busy. Went out for a coffee with my friend Lorraine instead of a lunch break, and had an eggnog latte in honour of the season. Eggnog isn’t really part of Christmas over here. At least you can’t buy it by the carton the way you can in Canadian supermarkets. Other food you can’t buy over here:
Not the healthiest list I guess, and nothing I can’t live without, but still… We had Margo’s crystal chicken for dinner again tonight. I could see that recipe becoming a staple. Nova wasn’t that hungry and barely ate a thing. They stuff them up at nursery — one of the ways to keep them happy.
|
