December 2019

December 31, 2019

Margo and Aaron left this morning. There taxi was booked for 11:30am, which left time for several rounds of elf hijinks before they were on their way. The house feels very empty without them…

I felt a bit mopey after they’d departed, I think we all did… Pulled up my socks mid-afternoon — showered and tackled some laundry and housework. We’re going round to Will and Sara’s for dinner. Just the four of us (five once Lyra joins u)s.

She’d arranged to hang around with some Fortismere kids in some vague capacity. We agreed she could stay out until 8pm. In the event, she arrived at 8:30pm, having waited to get a ride from Saya’s dad.

They’d made a lovely dinner — squash soup, coq au vin, with mash, carrots and broccoli, then a pear cake and Adam’s sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

Had a model making challenge (assembling cardboard cutout dinosaurs) then played a game with dice called something like Perudo, the Peruvian cheating game. That was pretty good fun, and took us to midnight.

Craig David was doing the main concert in Parliament Square — I didn’t know he was still in the music making business, and I’ve never been a fan. I was happy when Will switched over to Jules Holland after the fireworks and champagne.

Left about 1am. I had drunk very little, so although we’d anticipated leaving the car I was happy to drive us home. The roads were surprisingly busy — lots of folks heading for home after their celebrations…

December 30, 2019

It’s Margo and Aaron’s last day. Working on a two-meal strategy, we had an early lunch of turkey soup or sandwiches (or both, depending on appetite) before travelling into town on the tube to visit an exhibition on food photography at the Photographer’s Gallery.

Had a little mosey through Liberty and into Carnaby Street on en route. I never shop at Liberty (or Carnaby Street either for that matter), but am very glad that such a beautiful store exists for those who can afford it.

Wandered through Soho after the exhibition, grabbing a snack and a cup of tea at Prinzi before catching the 24 bus to Camden (past the Rothman cats) and then a 214 right to the village.

Adam and Aaron made a detour to the Prince of Wales, but Margo and I headed back. She fixed a round of martinis before we set off to Kiplings for a farewell dinner.

I was a bit full afterwards — too much beer, I think we got the food about right.

December 29, 2019

Another slow start to the day, so different from my normal routine… Adam has tickets to the afternoon Arsenal match. He’s taken Margo and Aaron with him on previous visits, but there were no spare tickets this time.

We headed out en masse for the Bull to meet Sara and Chad (who were going with him), plus Will and Thea. The pub was gearing up for Sunday lunch, but there was a table free for an hour where we could have a drink and a visit.

More drinking on the cards this evening — Jane and the girls are coming round to ours. I made some food with Margo’s assistance — a repeat of the prawn avocado blini, some smoked salmon blini, Thai sausage rolls, some raw veg as well.

They arrived about 5:30pm, I haven’t seen Elsie in a couple of years, and was surprised to see that she has coloured her hair platinum blonde — it looks lovely. Both girls are definitely smaller than Lyra now…

Once again, it was easiest to gather round the dining table. I’m so pleased we invested in a new table — it used to be such a palaver getting everyone seated.

It was a lively evening, with lots of conversation and laughter. I thought Jane’s girls were a bit harsh on her. Mine can give me attitude, but I’d be pretty hacked off if they spoke to me the way Ray and Elsie do to their mother.

They headed off about 11pm. We tidied up and then sloped off to bed ourselves after a sloe gin nightcap…

December 28, 2019

I dodged a bullet somehow, and woke feeling completely fine. A nice set up for the day…

Came upstairs around 10am for coffee with Margo and Aaron. None of us felt like breakfast, and after they set off to explore (the 210 to Finsbury Park), Adam and I cranked the music and put in a couple of hours hard cleaning.

He hoovered, did the coffee table, tidied the living room, shifted stuff from the landings to the garage, put on laundry and washed the kitchen floor. I scrubbed the table, tidied the dining room and deep cleaned about a quarter of the kitchen. Satisfying…

We were both hungry after that, and made short work of our turkey sandwiches when we sat down to eat about 2:30pm. The doorbell went soon after — Lyra’s Christmas trainers have landed!

She’s dead chuffed with them, and I have to admit they are pretty cool — white with black and yellow features, and contrasting orange and red laces. They fit just right, so I hope she wears the heck out of them before her feet grow…

Watched the final episode of Spiral with Margo and Aaron. So very good, at least for those of us who have watched the previous eleven hours, not to mention the previous six series…

Had an early dinner of turkey soup and toast before we tubed it into town. We bought Margo and Aaron tickets to Come From Away. We were able to get better seats this time, now that some of the hype has died down, though the theatre was still packed.

The show was as good as last time, in my opinion. Had a pint afterwards at the Salisbury, then on to Five Guys for chips (and burgers for the boys).

Ate too many chips and had to lie on the sofa when we got home. Fried food doesn’t agree with my system any more…

December 27, 2019

We had a cinema outing planned for this morning. We left the house at 10:30am, and tubed it to the Picture House in Leicester Square. Everyone but Nova and me were seeing the final Star Wars movie. Nova wasn’t keen, and I was perfectly happy to see Little Women with her instead.

I must confess I was never a fan of that book. I was very surprised when both my girls enjoyed reading it. Though it turns out there are different versions of the story in the US and the UK.

Over here they break it into two parts — Little Women and Good Wives I think — while in North America it is one long book. The second half is quite dreary and moralising as I recall, plus Beth dies…

Went for Chinese food at Gerard’s Corner afterwards. Five different types of dim sum, some Singapore fried noodles and half a duck. I fucked up the duck, ordering it braised instead of crispy. When we realised what had happened, we got them to bring us some steamed pancakes and fixings — for myself, I think I actually preferred it this way.

We all needed a bit of downtime when we got home before Millie, Nanny and Lucia came round for a drink. I wasn’t in the mood to be honest, but roused myself about 6:15pm and fixed some party food: puff pastry with a smoked salmon and cream cheese topping, blini with guacamole and prawns, crisps, and baking.

They arrived on schedule with Bryn in tow, which was a nice surprise. (I knew they were talking again, but didn’t think things had progressed to socialising…)

I fixed a round of Wallbangers to get the party started, having learned from experience that cocktails have a livening effect. Our friend Liana used to swear by a double brandy & Coke to kickstart the evening. Not a drink I’d ever go in for, but the principle is sound.

We ended up sitting round the dining room table. Lyra and Lucia disappeared downstairs immediately, returning only to grab the big bottle of Coke and some crisps. Didn’t see them again after that.

Millie left Lucia with us when they headed off around midnight. Nova was over at Izzy’s for the evening. When she got in at 1am, she opted to crash on the sofa rather than join their slumber party, which was still going strong…

December 26, 2019

I love Boxing Day — all the pressure and performance of Christmas is over with and I can do exactly what I want.

Last week, Richard and Rachel had floated the idea of a Boxing Day walk across the Heath and lunch at the Wells Tavern. It was always going to be tricky with ten people and their no-booking policy, and in the end we agreed not to. Plus the weather was foul.

Made a round of turkey sandwiches for lunch, but otherwise devoted the day to working on my Vancouver puzzle with Margo and Nova. It was a gift from Margo and Aaron on their last visit, and has also become part of my Christmas tradition. I do precisely two jigsaw puzzles a year, which is just right for me…

Aaron and Adam headed off to the Wrestlers for a couple of hours to meet Richard and Rachel and their mates. I opted to stay home and keep puzzling. When they got back, we set out the cheese and leftover Melton and watched the rest of Love Actually.

After that I returned to the puzzle. There was a tantalising amount left to do. Eventually Margo called it a night, but Nova was keen to knock it on the head and we managed to finish it about midnight…

December 25, 2019

Merry Christmas, all! True to her word, Lyra burst into our room at 6:59am, then set off to rally the rest of the household while we got our ducks in a row. When everyone was assembled on the landing, we trooped upstairs together.

Stockings first, then to the presents. There were a goodly amount this year, but not over the top. Aside from me, actually — I made out like a bandit: a gorgeous camel turtleneck jumper, a beautiful orange top, another pair of yoga leggings, books and magazines, a lovely box of spices, jewellry, a Diptique candle, salted caramels, a wireless CD player, three CDs, a DVD from Dave, Portuguese sardines, a gorgeous little side table. I may well be forgetting things…

As Lyra’s fancy Nike trainers hadn’t arrived, I’d cut out two life-size replicas on paper, put them in a shoe box and wrapped it up. I could see that she was disappointed, but it’s one of those things.

It was in the balance whether I’d buy them or not, but when we laid out everything earlier this week, it made sense. Easier said than done… there appeared to be only two pairs in the country in her size — one in Bournemouth, the other in Lincoln. It would have been a Christmas miracle if they had arrived on time…

The girls and I headed up to church for the nativity service. We arrived just as it started, and found seats upstairs. Our view was partially obscured by a pillar, but for the minute the Angel Gabriel ascended to the pulpit and started cracking jokes, I could tell something was different.

It reminded me of the school panto, and sure enough a few minutes later, the “grandfather” piped up, and I recognised Kenn’s voice. He directed the first four pantos I acted in, and had clearly taken charge of this year’s nativity, which was much the better for it.

Christmas breakfast was all laid out when we got back, and Doron and family arrived soon after. We sat down to eat promptly, and didn’t linger overlong as they are cooking a turkey at their house as well.

After I got our turkey in the oven, Margo, Aaron, Adam and I went for a walk in Waterlow Park, then on for a drink with Richard and Rachel and two Australian friends who are visiting for Christmas.

Back home, I moved the food along again, then sat down to watch A Christmas Carol. It was much better than trying to watch it at the end of Christmas Eve, which we often do then snooze through most of it.

David called as we were putting the final touches on the meal. It’s great to have four people sharing the work — Adam got the table organised, Aaron carved, Margo did the gravy and excavated the stuffing, while I finished the vegetable dishes.

Sat down everything hot, and without that sense of being completely sick of the food before I’ve eaten one bite. Even had the presence of mind to take a few photographs.

We were all too full to go straight onto Christmas pudding. To a break to listen to A Child’s Christmas in Wales. I love doing that, both because of how much I enjoy it and for the connection with my childhood Christmas. The girls aren’t big fans yet, but it took several applications at an early for it to grow on me as well…

Once we’d flamed and dispatched the pudding and eggnog ice cream, we started watching Love Actually. I knew I didn’t have a whole movie in me, and neither did anyone else. We stopped it about half an hour in and waddled off to bed.

December 24, 2019

Christmas Eve always involves a morning outing to Borough Market. The girls were tired and grouchy with one another, but we got out of the house pretty much on schedule and made it to London Bridge without a major incident.

Our first stop was Mrs Kings for the Melton Mowbray pies. There were no large pies left, so we opted for six mediums, which Margo generously bought. After that we split into two teams — I went to Neals Yard Dairy with Nova and Margo to sample and buy cheese, while Adam, Aaron and Lyra went to Monmouth Coffee.

Breakfasted on bacon and egg baps at the little café in heart of the market, before finishing our shopping — saucisson and olives. It was getting pretty crowded by then, which is my cue to head home.

I broke out my Night Before Christmas puzzle, and made a start on that before lunch. Even with four of us working diligently, it’s a big undertaking to finish it in one day.

Broke off at 4:30pm and headed up to Pete and Pasc’s for our annual exchange of gifts. Put the fake souffle in the oven when we got home. It always takes longer than I expect to firm up properly. Mixed up a round of Wallbangers, while it cooked, and then another…

After dinner, the girls unwrapped their Christmas pyjamas, and changed into them to watch The Polar Express. It’s part of their Christmas tradition, but must admit it leaves me cold.

Finally finished the puzzle about 10:30pm. I still had most of my wrapping to do, and it just wasn’t feasible to watch A Christmas Carol this evening. Something had to give…

Wrapping done, and to bed at midnight…

December 23, 2019

I’d planned to do some work today, but ended up spending most of my time on household jobs. Adam worked from home, which was nice. Margo and Aaron set off exploring after breakfast — taking the 214 bus route through Camden into the City.

Made a trip to Waitrose before lunch — quel fucking zoo. There was a ten minute wait to get into the parking lot, and when I finally located a shopping trolley it turned out to be unsteerable when full.

Unloaded the groceries, leaving them for Adam to put away, and headed straight out to meet Millie for a walk on the Heath. She’s still stuffed with a nasty cold/flu so we didn’t do anything ambitious.

It was very wet, with all the rain we’ve been having. The paths were mucky and impassable, and the grass so waterlogged my feet sunk so deeply the ground nearly covered my shoes in places. Still, it was good to get out and clear the cobwebs from my head. Stopped for a bit of lunch at Pan Quotidien before heading home.

Tonight’s dinner was chicken soup with rice, a specific request of Lyra’s. I hesitated to have chicken a couple of days before the turkey (and subsequent turkey soup), but decided to go for it in the end. Bought a rotisserie chicken at Waitrose to simplify things. Anyway, my chicken rice soup is very different to my turkey soup, being Asian-influenced and more akin to congee.

Watched Elf afterwards. Nova had to head off part way as she’s babysitting for a family in Castle Yard. It’s her fourth time sitting for them and she has yet to meet the children, who are always in bed asleep by the time she arrives. They’d get a nasty shock were they ever to wake up…

December 22, 2019

Another crappy night’s sleep…:( I was too hot again — burning alcohol no doubt, but I think the weather has warmed as well. We should probably adjust the thermostat…

Aaron brought us coffee in bed, which was a nice treat. And when we got up Margo fixed scrambled eggs and toast for everybody. In the meantime, Aaron had done the recycling, taken out compost and emptied the bin — I could get used to this…;-)

After an assessment of the Christmas presents we’ve bought so far, I could see that there is a little adjusting to be done. This involved some last-minute ordering. I’ll be lucky to get one of the gifts in time for Christmas , but hey ho…

To get into the zone for my Hannukah wrapping, I searched for a Spotify playlist of appropriate music. It’s clearly not a holiday that inspires music. The best song by far was an Adam Sandler novelty effort…

I read something on Facebook yesterday making some kind of jest about the fact that it was a Jewish guy who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The comments were full of people managing to take offence but I didn’t have the heart to read them and work out why.

Wrapping out of the way, I then knocked the Christmas cards on the head. None of the international ones will arrive on time but the UK ones might still be okay. Adam headed out straightaway to post them, which I appreciated.

Margo and Aaron off to the Southbank to see the 1903 Circus, and we swung by Willesden to collect Lyra from yet another party then on to Beulah’s for Hannukah.

Just immediate family this year. After an impressive spread of sandwiches, sausage rolls, coffee cakes, and other desserts we trouped into the sitting room to do gifts.

It went off without incident, aside from Marni receiving a bumper pack of chalk crayons clearly aimed at much younger kids from her grandmother. She wanted the kind of chalk crayons you can use to graffiti on glass, and made no effort to hide her disgust at her Chalk-a-doos.

Our vintage French tourism poster clearly fell wide of the mark as well…

Tant pis… Home about 10:30pm…

December 21, 2019

Had a very poor night’s sleep… I was too hot and tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Managed to doze again once it got light, and didn’t get up until 9am.

Put in a bit of time organising what we’re going to do over the next week and a half. It seems like lots of time but the days can slip past by pretty easily. No plans for this morning, which was just as well. It was pouring with rain several times, then would suddenly stop as if someone turned off the tap.

Margo pulled together a cold cut lunch. They’re my favourite type of houseguest — ones who feels comfortable enough to make a pot of coffee in the morning or organising a snack or meal.

Made an outing to Muswell Hill in the afternoon. Adam and I had boring stuff to do — a grocery top-up, fish tank chemicals to buy, cards to post, etc, so we arranged a meeting time and point, and left Margo and Aaron to do their own thing.

Reunited, we shopped our way back to the car, then headed home. There was enough time for a beer and some empanadas before the guys went off to Handsome Man to get their hair done.

Lyra headed down to Ellie’s to get ready for the Lucia/Saya party this evening. Nova, Margo and I played a few rounds of Bananagrams and had another drink. Stiff competition from those two wordsmiths — I think we won one round each.

Dinner at Moro — taxied down there for 8pm. They was a special Christmas menu for December: cocktails (Aaron’s negroni was the standout); wine; starters (Aaron’s seared venison with beetroot, almond, horseradish & sherry vinegar dressing just trumped my charcoal grilled squid with harissa; and mains (my wood roasted cod with red tahini sauce, spiced cauliflower & crispy chickpeas was the definite winner imho).

The three of them shared a cheese board for dessert, while I had the Malaga raisin ice cream (I always have the Malaga raisin ice cream).

It was more fun than this looks…

Adam held back on the drinks as he was collecting the girls from Crouch End and delivering them to Ellie’s house for a sleepover. When he got back, we had a night cap and then headed to bed. I’m not drinking tomorrow…

December 20, 2019

Today is my last full day’s work before I shift into Christmas mode. I may have to do a bit on Monday, but will avoid that if possible. Aaron rehung the door the repaired door this morning, and it works like a charm…

Thought I’d seen the last of the corporate guidelines but there was more that Kate wanted me to do. A mishmash of little things — some of which were time consuming — and I ended up putting in three hours.

I also issued my December invoices and finished a piece of web work for Junxion that I’ve been meaning to do for a couple of weeks — a page for their latest report that requires people to provide contact details before downloading the document.

Lyra finished school today, and went for lunch afterwards with two friends. She came home upset — there had been an incident, somehow triggered by her GoHenry card not working and the waitress not charging her. I couldn’t figure out how this had upset her friend, but it always seems to be the same girl in the centre of these problems.

Went up to the village with Aaron to pick up groceries for dinner, most of which he insisted on paying for. I made a big pot of goulash which we ate with the sourdough bread I baked today.

While waiting for Adam to get home, we had a first round of the Empress Hotel cocktail with the blue gin and Lillet. Had another round when he got in. Even with eating dinner afterwards, I was too whacked to go to Doron and Antonia’s drinks party afterwards. Adam headed off about 10:15pm, and the rest of us headed to bed.

December 19, 2019

My last packed lunch of the decade — zippity do dah, zippity ay! Ran Lyra down the hill then headed straight out to meet Kate for a walk. Just the two of us this week, and we only had the one coffee before heading back to Highgate. Talked a lot of work as well…

Put in more time on the corporate guidelines afterwards, managing a couple more hours, and managed to ship them before heading out for the afternoon with Margo and Aaron, who had kindly the morning repairing our broken living room door.

He took it off the hinges, disassembled and rebuilt the handle mechanism, removing some coins and and crap the girls had posted through the keyhole and glued the ominously long crack that was developing. It is now lying on its side clamped in a vise until the glue sets.

Headed down to Warren Street on the tube, and made a short visit to Wellcome Collection to see their exhibit on Being Human, which I thought Margo might find interesting.

Grabbed a quick Vietnamese meal at the Bang Bang Canteen behind Warren Street station, then caught the bus to Lyra’s school. We were there in good time to secure decent seats on the right as advised by Lyra, and save a place for Adam.

She’s never been super strong on her left/right, so I was glad she also told us to sit on the side with the podium, until I realised that there were two podiums (podia?). Opted for the side with the pulpit as it was bigger.

The music was lovely, especially the singing. Lyra’s choir did a Welsh hymn that was unfamiliar to me, but very pretty. Turns out she was on the opposite side of the aisle to us, but I could see her okay. Also turns out she wanted us to sit in the right hand balcony, which she might have mentioned…

Travelled home together on the tube, I stopped in at the Woodman to meet Veronika and Ros (another invigilator) whose husband plays in a jazz quartet. Sipped a pint and watched one and a half sets before calling it a night.

December 18, 2019

I spent the morning at home, putting in more work on a set of corporate guidelines for my insurance client before heading down to the high school to invigilate for the afternoon. That’s it for invigilating until 2020…

Today is our cake and tree decorating evening. I’ve mixed the order up to accommodate Adam and Nova’s arrival home from work. This year’s cake design is inspired by the Grinch, and sports an impressively-sized Mount Crumpit, a row of who-houses, and a Grinch.

I managed to overcook the roast for the baron of beef, but not as much as I feared. Yet more evidence that the oven is running hot…

Decorated the tree afterwards, with everyone chipped in. It always looks like too many ornaments, but we had no difficulty fitting them all on. There’s a story to many of our ornaments, and many evoke memories or people or places we’ve travelled.

Like the wooden reindeer from my friend (and former boss) Sheila who died last month. She sent it to us the Christmas that we married. Or the golden dove from Anne next door that she had bought in Prague. Or the Finnish Santas, or the little house from Boston…

One year when I still worked at NICE, a conversation sprung up between two colleagues about how they were planning to decorate their Christmas trees. “What’s your colour scheme this year?” one woman asked. “I’m doing purple and silver.”

Turns out that they threw out their decorations at the end of the Christmas season and bought new ones the following year. I can think of nothing I’d be less likely to do. Helps explain all those Christmas ornament stores…

Afterwards, we sat down to watch The Snowman, though only Lyra, Aaron and I saw it through to the end. To bed soon after…

December 17, 2019

Margo and Aaron arrive today! Adam worked from home this morning and headed off to Heathrow to meet them about 11pm. Aside from sorting Lyra, I got the laundry out of the flat, gave it a final spit and polish and finished the Christmas baking (nanaimo bars and cherry slice) before they turned up about 2pm.

There was some minor delay with their flight, but nothing too terrible. I must say they look exactly the same as they did the last time we saw them two years ago. Sometimes when you see people after a few years, you’re struck by how they’ve changed and then get used to it. No need for any of that in this case…

We had a simple lunch — cheese, toast, veggies and hot smoked salmon fresh from Sproat Lake. Afterwards, Adam retreated to the bedroom to work, Margo had a little nap, and I finished my first batch of Christmas cards before heading out to the village with Aaron to post them.

Nova checked in by text in the afternoon. She’s hating her job (tackling a mountain of customer emails for a merch company in Camden). Not overly sympathetic after my invigilation day of hell yesterday. Welcome to the world of work — it’s a bonus if you have a job you enjoy…

Margo brought us some Empress gin which is a beautiful blue colour, unlike my great disappointment when I cracked my first bottle of Bombay Sapphire and discovered the blue was all in the glass.

The Empress Hotel house martini calls for Lillet, which I have seen before but never purchased. Aaron and I headed up to the village to see if we could buy some. We tried Oddbins, Brooksby and Limoni without success. Next we headed down to the Archway Road to check Hops n Pops, but no joy, or at North Hill Food and Wine.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it at Waitrose, but it wasn’t listed on their website, so I’ve ordered it from Amazon. I like to give the local shops the first crack at things, but wonderful to be able to magic up some Lillet on the internet as well…

In the meantime, we settled for vodka tonics. When Adam broke off for the day he and Aaron made a start on his beer advent calendar. They have some catching up to do — though I don’t anticipate it being a problem.

Made a lasagne and green salad for dinner, with Christmas baking for dessert. Settled down to watch Nativity for the evening’s entertainment. We’re short one seat in the livingroom — I’m considering moving the sofa in front of the balcony door for the holidays so more folks can face the telly.

Nova had some amusing stories of her day writing appeasing emails to pissed off customers from around the world who haven’t got what they wanted. It sounds like the company isn’t usually to blame, more that people’s expectations are completely unrealistic…

December 16, 2019

It was my penultimate invigilating shift today, and how very bad it was. One of those days that make you question your career choice…

There was a big English paper in the morning, which was bad enough, but at least we had five invigilators to keep a lid on the worst behaviour. In the afternoon, there were only two of us in the afternoon for a smaller group.

That meant we couldn’t do toilet breaks, which they had been told up front (and really shouldn’t be an issue for a 90 minute exam), but that didn’t stop them pestering us. When the bad behaviour really kicked off, neither of us wanted to leave the other person alone in that bearpit to go for backup.

I ended up reporting eight boys for misbehaviour, which is a personal record. I never report someone unless I was 100% certain that they were misbehaving, but this was so blatant. There were plenty who deserved to be reported, but you have to catch them red-handed.

Home for some recovery time then headed off to meet Jules at the William Blake exhibition. He had tickets to a corporate freebie for clients via his company. Blake was a printer for most of his career, and a lot of the exhibition was about that.

What came through clearly was how peevish and disagreeable Blake was. He managed to fall out with pretty much every patron and friend he ever had. Had a pint afterwards then headed home.

Adam has found Nova a few day’s work doing customer service for a pop music merchandise business in Camden Town. She’s not overly pleased but will be glad of the money…

December 15, 2019

Prepped a batch of muffins before heading out for a run. Did my four mile route to Whitestone Pond for the first time in ages. I was trying to go a bit slower, as it’s a longer distance than I’m used to, but my legs felt strong and I was clipping along pretty nicely.

As I ran past the Whitestone Pond bus stop, I noticed a woman sitting on the wet pavement, which seemed a bit odd. It was near the point where I turn around, and when I passed her again five minutes later, I stopped to check that she was alright.

Turns out she’d been cycling and become terribly dizzy — she was keeping still until her head cleared. I offered to wait with her or to call someone, but she insisted she was alright.

Even with that stop, my pace was better than my Ally Pally route, so maybe the mud is a bigger factor than I realise…

Lyra and Saya headed off to Muswell Hill for the afternoon. I’m pretty sure they’re meeting Fortismere boys, though Lyra was a bit cagey about that. I’m fine with if they are — when you go to a girls’ school, you’re going to have to put a bit of effort into mixing with the opposite sex.

We ended up in Muswell Hill ourselves — didn’t bump into them, which would have amusing, at least for us. Did a bit of Christmas shopping, plus Adam bought me some smart yoga leggings “just because”.

Treated ourselves to a festive vegan chai latte and mince pie at Planet Organic — I didn’t notice any difference in the mincemeat, but the drink was sweeter and less creamy than if it was milk based.

Adam went to the Woodman for the Christmas tree, and we got it set up in the living room before dinner. Made Korean food — rice sticks in a spicy sauce, miso soup, sautéed courgettes and kimchi.

Watched an episode of the new BBC production of His Dark Materials — it looks very promising…

December 14, 2019

Slept wonderfully well, waking fully refreshed at 8am. I went to bed at 11:30pm last night. What a rare treat that is… I avoid running two days in a row now, so opted to do a good yoga session instead. Lyra was up and out walking Saya’s dog, and Nova was sleeping like only a teenager can, so I had a nice quiet block of time to myself to go through the whole routine.

Adam texted to say that his train had been cancelled and they might not be able to travel back today at all. That turned out to be overly pessimistic — his whole train was crammed onto one that left two hours later, and he was home mid afternoon.

We headed out pretty sharpish to hit the supermarket. When we got back, I put away the groceries and made dinner, while he drove to Kensal Rise (or wherever it is that Iris lives) to collect Lyra, Lucia, Sissy, Ellie and Saya from the party.

Ellie is sleeping at ours tonight, as her mother and little sister are in Kent overnight. Thinking the girls would be eating at the party, I’d made a mushroom-Guinness stew for dinner. Fortunately Ellie likes mushrooms, and I had some chipolatas to add to the mix for for Lyra.

Watched a few episodes of Glee with the girls, then called it a night…

December 13, 2019

What the fuck is wrong with people…>:( The country has gone and returned a Conservative majority — the largest since 1987 or something. The knives are out for Corbyn, but I don’t share that view. He’s a decent, well intentioned man who campaigned with commitment and integrity. It’s not his fault if the fucking turkeys opted to vote for Christmas and fascism is on the rise around the world. Too depressing to dwell on it anymore…

Went for a run — another one which clocked in strangely slow. It was very mucky underfoot in spots, and I was picking my way along, but doesn’t explain all of it. Maybe I’m just slowing down with age…

I was hungry, not having eaten dinner last night, so I made myself a poached egg and toast then did a couple of hours computer work before taking a yoga break.

I intended just to do the warm up, stretching bit, but ended up doing some asanas afterwards. My back is already thanking me for it, and I am noticeably better at the double leg lifts as well.

Nova got back this evening. She was meant to be here at 7pm, but ended up getting a later coach so Lyra and I ate our Thai yellow curry together in front of The Grinch, and I heated some up for Nova when she turned up at 9pm.

Lyra has a 90s-themed party tomorrow, so afterwards the three of us went down to my room and helped her work out an outfit. It’s so weird the way our sizes are converging — a pair of jeans that I can just about squeeze into when I’m feeling trim are pretty good fit on Lyra…

December 12, 2019

Adam is off to Brussels for a couple of days with his brother this morning — a 50th birthday jaunt. They’d originally planned to do it in November and should have stuck with that plan. Adam is too busy to take the time in the lead up to Christmas, and Doron has just heard that his job is at risk — so not ideal timing for either of them. On the plus side, they have tickets to the Arsenal match this evening, though they can watch them lose at home for a lot less effort and expenditure…;-)

Dropped Lyra at Gospel Oak, parked up back home then jogged down to the Woodman to meet Kate, Lynne and Helen. The pool still closed for resurfacing, but we walked through Queen’s Wood to our favourite coffee shop, same route as last week.

Back home about 9:30am. I tidied the house, did my yoga routine, then put in a couple of hours work before I’d arranged to meet Sara for lunch at the Gatehouse.

Her younger sister died of cancer last month, and she’s still very raw. We talked a lot about that, and then ordered our food and a glass of wine and moved to other things. I didn’t know Helen, though I’d met her on a few occasions and thought she was a lovely person.

It’s the general election today, and we swung by the polling station on the way home. The weather is absolutely foul, which cant help turnout. It was same thing on the day of the Brexit referendum…

Chickpea pasta soup for dinner. Antonia texted saying she had a spare ticket to a show at the Hampstead theatre. I caught the bus and met her there, along with Ollie and his new girlfriend.

The play was called Ravens, and was about the Bobby Fischer v Boris Kasparov tournament. From what I remember of it, Bobby Fischer was presented as a hero for defeating the Soviets. When he was revealed to be such a loathsome individual I wondered what had happened to him. Turns out he was always like that…

Took one look at the exit polls when I got home. It was looking bad, so I saved myself the heartache and went to bed…

December 11, 2019

Woke Lyra at 6:45 as usual, but she fell back asleep and didn’t have time to meet Ellie at the bus. She took the tube instead, which transformed my morning. Despite needing the be at the high school for 8:30am, I had time to do my yoga warm up, form my overnight-risen bread dough into loaves, then walk the 1.5 miles to the school. I was lead invigilator for a day of year 11 mocks. It’s the first big one (English language) — and they were remarkably well behaved. We’ll see how long that lasts…

It was a smaller group in the afternoon — 40 instead of 115 — a somewhat naughtier too. There was some coordinated coughing, deliberate dropping of pencil cases, and superfluous toilet trips, but they’ll need to up their game to measure up to some of the shit that previous years pulled. Plenty of time for that…

I have yoga on the brain, what with the regular practicing. I viewed the four hours standing I put in today as tadasana practice. I thought about how I was balancing on my feet, engaging my core, aligning my spine and hands…

Got home just after 4pm. Turned the oven on straightaway and managed to bake both loaves before I needed to head into town to see Pete in his drama group’s production of Dracula.

Whizzed up a quick kale and walnut pesto, ate some myself left a portion for Lyra when she got back from netball training. Caught the train to Blackfriars and met Adam . We eventually tracked down the theatre, which was in a little back alley.

There was a surprisingly large audience and we found seats about ten rows back. I sat on the far end of a row, put my bag down, and accidentally dropped it off the edge of the bleachers.

The narrow gap between the bleachers was too small access easily. I thought I might have to crawl underneath them, but managed to retrieve it by wriggling under the blackout curtain to the dressing room area then groping with my arm underneath the curtain until I touched it.

The play was initially promising, but soon went off the boil. Pete was the star of the show, playing Dracula himself, and was excellent. Otherwise the acting was indifferent. The main problem was that the play was too damn long. There was four blood transfusions in one scene, which was three too many.

The first half took more than 90 minutes. Pasc was sitting in the row in front of us with a group of Channel 4 people. They all sloped out at half time and didn’t return, and they weren’t the only ones.

All things must come to an end, and we finally staggered out into the night at 11pm, having started at 7:30. Shared a cab back to Highgate with Nick, who was there with some work colleagues…

December 10, 2019

Got Lyra sorted and off to school, then opted for a good yoga session rather than anything cardio. I started practicing daily last Friday and can already feel the improvement, which is a pleasant surprise.

Baked the shortbread today. I wasn’t my best batch — I think our oven might be running a bit hot. At any rate, they browned too quickly and also spread more than usual, despite the dough being well chilled before I cut them.

Worked on a CSR report chapter for Adam all afternoon. When Lyra got home, I broke off and fixed us some dinner — New Mexican stacked enchiladas and salad. Watched that in front of a BBC documentary about a lone wolf called Takaya who is living off the coast of Victoria.

Did another three hours work on the report after Lyra retreated to her room. Just finishing up and heading to bed when Adam got in at 11pm…

December 9, 2019

I got Lyra dispatched on schedule. I was back by 7:30am and just about to set off on a run when Adam came downstairs to report that he’d accidently smashed my baby cactus pot. I don’t usually stress that much about things getting broken, but I was sad about this one. I was a present from Birgit and I loved it. Three little baby cacti arranged in an antique teacup — it was a really pleasing object.

I postponed the run and set about trying to repair the teacup, which was in four pieces. It took a while to get it to hold together — as it’s very fine and very fragile — but I eventually managed it.

Knocked off my 5km run to Ally Pally then carefully repotted my poor traumatised cacti in what’s left of the soil. Two of them seem okayish, but the third was snapped off close to the base.

I repotted the bottom bit, and will let the body piece dry out for a day or so, then try potting it again. I’m not confident that will work — the bit of reading I’ve done about succulents say that you should include some root with the cutting…

Spent the day on a miix of house and client work, mostly small stuff, that kept me busy until it was time to collect Lyra from violin. She had a quick turnaround, with just time to scoff down a quick dish of broad beans and chorizo before Millie collected her to go see Lucia’s school play.

I waited for Adam to get home, and we ate our supper in front of Spiral, which is getting really tense now. I baked date squares this evening, so we had a piece of that while it was still warm. In bed by 11pm…

December 8, 2019

Adam was up and out by 8:30am to play football. I’d thought of going for a run, but didn’t feel much like it, and instead I mooched around and let the morning get away from me. I did put in a good yoga session with Lyra, after which we had breakfast burritos for brunch. Too much partying this weekend — I welcomed a quiet day to get my ducks back in line.

Lyra met up with Ellie for the afternoon to do homework and hang out. I finished reading the Guardian, made progress with Sapiens, and investigated yoga apps.

Dinner was leftover curry from earlier in the week. I got myself organised to make a batch of butterscotch fudge, so we had a piece of that too.

Started watching His Dark Materials with Lyra. It’s very good — the state of live animation makes it possible to portray daemons so convincingly. Bath and bed by 11pm…

December 7, 2019

Bit of a headache this morning. I feel like I’m paying a high price for a couple of glass of red wine… Running was off the menu. Annoyingly, our newspaper not on the mat. Adam called up and the guy brought it round.Doron came by in the morning to collect Adam and head up to Beulah’s. The police came round to take her statement and open a crime report. It took most of the day somehow, and midafternoon by the time he got back.

Lyra off with Sissy for much of the day, hanging out, then helping her get ready for her birthday party, then attending the party itself.

Potato corn chowder for dinner in front of Spiral. We have two Christmas parties tonight, and I wasn’t feeling particularly up for them. We donned our glad rags about 9pm and headed over to Pete and Pasc’s.

The usual suspects were already assembled — it’s exactly the same line-up every year. They aren’t our good friends (different school years) but we’ve come to know most of them pretty well.

Madonna and Lawrence arrived after us, having been to Gilda and Steve’s already. I got feeling bad that we were planning to blow them off, so Adam called a cab and we headed down there about 11:00.

The party had probably peaked, but the champagne was still flowing and there was an array of canapés on the kitchen island. Again, there were a few familiar faces from previous years, but no one we particularly knew. Managed to spend a couple of hours chatting and quaffing before heading home about 1am.

December 6, 2019

I can feel yesterday’s walk in my legs. It’s funny that a two mile walk leaves me stiff and a three mile run doesn’t, but I guess it’s what you’re used to. We did really plow along on the way back, and there are some very steep hills, so that’s probably part of it.

Worked on some CSR report text for Adam this afternoon. Rachael had started working on this chapter, but it was still pretty patchy. I spent a couple of hours editing and tidying up the flow. Aside from some information gaps, would say that it’s ready to go to the client.

Made Lyra a box of Kraft dinner for her supper that Pat brought when he visited. She’d never eaten it before, but quite liked it. Funny to think how many boxes of the stuff I would have eaten by her age — 100? 200?

Met Richard and Rachel for dinner at the Flask. Turns out it was a birthday celebration, which they hadn’t mentioned in advance. Nice evening — shared starters, hamburger and chips, shared dessert, and split a bottle of rioja with Rachel.

Lyra was keen to watch The Grinch when we got in, but what with the wine and a week of early starts I couldn’t keep my eyes open. She gave up whacking me after an hour and stropped off to bed…

December 5, 2019

The most amazing sunrise this morning. It was so beautiful that I stopped the car at the top of our road to take photographs.

The lido is closed for cleaning this week, so Kate, Lynne and I met for a walk in Queens Wood instead. Hit our usual coffee shop for a couple of their excellent cappucinos then walked back again through the other side of the Woods.

Had a pastry with the Boeker boys (that pair love their croissants) before the cab turned up at 11am. Had a bit of time to sort the house out before I had to head off for our team lunch in Aldgate East.

We went to the Indian restaurant next to the office, which bills itself as modern Mumbai fare. An attempt to cash in on Dishoom’s success perhaps. Not in the same league at all, but the food was nice enough. Shared starters, then had our own main course. I went for a dosa — I find it hard not to order dosas when they are on the menu.

Our shared work space was holding a Christmas party this afternoon, but I didn’t stay for that. I had a proposal to work on, which I managed to make a start before falling asleep. A pint of beer at lunch will do that to you…

Lyra was at Iris’s for dinner. Jess kindly ran her home afterwards. Had a long phone call with Nova this evening. Adam was at the Arsenal match (another loss, to bottom-of-the-table Brighton). I was tucked up in bed by the time he got in…

December 4, 2019

Dropped Lyra at the bottom of West Hill at 7:15 as per usual. I was just back and getting ready for a day in the office, when Adam B popped upstairs. He said he was going out to buy breakfast croissants and asked what time we were leaving. I told him we had to be off by 9am, which was in about 40 minutes. He set off, never to return. We were a bit worried, as it seemed strange he wouldn’t come back after agreeing the time, and he has been feeling very low.

He still had not returned when we eventually left at 9:20am. I texted Pat (who was still sleeping) just in case. I didn’t want to alarm him, but I didn’t want him waking up and having no idea what had happened to Adam either.

I heard back from him after we got to the office. All was well — Adam had ended up wandering down to Archway and “lost track of time”. I’m just relieved that he’s turned up and is fine.

Spent most of my time in the office working on the Junxion website — sorting out the team page. There were two problems to resolve — one I sorted, the other I couldn’t crack. Frustrating…

Met Ben and Michaela for dinner in Victoria after work. There was some horsetrading around the location. Victoria’s not that convenient for us, despite it being on the District Line. Ten stops then a good hike down Wilton Street…

It was nice once we got there — a Turkish place called Kazan. It was a little on the fancy end, which I don’t think Turkish food needs to be, but the wine was good and it was great to see them both.

Got home just after ten. Pat and Adam were in the living room watching Stranger Things, which Lyra had got them going on. Stayed up for an hour or so visiting — they are heading to Hamburg tomorrow, flying out of Luton, so we booked a mini cab to collect them…

December 3, 2019

I had my follow-up doctor’s appointment for the cyst this morning. It has responded well to the antibiotics and both doctors seem satisfied there is nothing to worry about. Easier to do when you’re not the one with the cyst… I’m meant to keep an eye on it, and if it flares up again to come back for further investigation. Fingers crossed that’s not necessary…

Started my run from the doctor’s office, which knocked a third of a mile off my Ally Pally route. Felt no interest whatsover in tacking on an extra loop to make up the distance.

There was coffee and croissants waiting when I got home, courtesy of Pat. Had about forty-five minutes to look at my computer before we had to leave for Lyra’s ARD appointment (no idea what that acronym stands for). Set off just after 11am and arrived right on time.

Lyra’s form tutor Ms Carroll seems very nice. She’s a big fan of Lyra, as all her teachers seem to be. They have a system at the school of giving out official praise and concerns, both of which are recorded on each student’s record.

Lyra been managing my expectations on the journey, hammering it home that that it was much easier to accumulate concerns than praise. As it happens, her tutor confirmed it. That said, Lyra had five praises and four concerns on her record, and was the only pupil of the fifteen Ms Carroll seen so far who was in credit, as it were.

I parted from Lyra at Warren Street tube. She travelled home on her own and I walked down to Charing Cross, picking up a few Christmas presents. Also got Lyra a little pressie from the Glossier pop-up shop for her stellar school performance.

What her teachers all seem to like is her willingness to participate in the learning process — ask and answer questions, contribute to discussions and generally put herself forward. Must have got that from her father…

Got a phone call from Wade this evening. Heard all about his fiftieth birthday trip to Vancouver, which sounds great. There was a good crowd of them, mainly high school friends, who’d travelled from round the province to meet up. He had me laughing so hard that Pat came downstairs to check that I was alright…

Pat bought a takeaway curry dinner from Kiplings. We sat down to eat about 7:30, then spent most of the evening talking politics — a pointless exercise. We’re going out with Rachel and Richard on Friday — definitely want to make that one a politics-free evening…

December 2, 2019

Pat was meant to be arriving this afternoon. Once Lyra and Adam were out of the way, I gave the house a quick tidy, scrubbed the kitchen and ran the hoover round again. I was just finishing my lunch, when the doorbell rang unexpectedly. It was Pat whose plane had landed two hours early. There was a ferocious tailwind or something that blew them across the pole at record speed…

He arrived bearing almond croissants. I made a pot of coffee and we had a little visit before he headed downstairs for a nap. I got back to work and managed to get a few things done before I had to collect Lyra from violin.

Made mung bean curry, rice and raita for dinner, which we ate it in front of Love Actually to kick off the Christmas movie viewing season. Adam B arrived from Hamburg after we’d gone to bed…

December 1, 2019

Managed to get a run in this morning, though I was late setting out. I’ve got this idea in my head that I want to be off on my runs by 9am, but there’s no real reason why, especially on the weekend. There are always lots of people out running whatever time I go, as was the case today, despite the cold and muddy trails. Did the Ally Pally 5km, in an underwhelming amount of time. I’m running a minute per mile slower these days, not sure why…

Beulah was meant to be coming for brunch, but we had a strange phone call from her last night crying off. She said she’d had the most awful day and wasn’t up to coming, but wouldn’t say anything about it. She also asked Adam to accompany her to a mysterious appointment on Monday morning during work hours. All very odd…

Adam headed up there after our egg mcmuffins, while I stayed home and baked my sourdough. It had a cold overnight rise, which often produces good results. Popped round John’s at Andy’s request to collect his postal vote.

He’s settled in a home in Dorchester now, so the house is sitting empty until they get it cleared out to rent. Removed the perishable food from the fridge, turned on his Christmas lights, and a few lights to make it look less empty.

When Adam got back late afternoon I found out what has happened with Beulah. She was called by fraudsters who convinced her that she was already a victim of fraud and that they were the police. (They also convinced her not to talk to anyone about it, which was why she was so weird on the phone yesterday.)

Over the course of the day, she spent hours on the phone talking to them, went off to a couple of high street money exchange places and withdrew lots of cash (as “evidence”), then handed thousands of pounds and her bank cards to a “police courier” at the door late that night. Monday’s “appointment” was supposedly for her to appear in court to testify.

Adam was pretty upset, realising how vulnerable Beulah is living on her own, especially with these bastards knowing where she lives. He called the police and the bank while he was with her and has arranged for a police officer to come and open a crime report next weekend.

Tomato soup and bread for dinner. Started watching Spiral, which is a worthy follow-up act to Giri/Haji. One episode and an early night…