February 2012

February 29, 2012

Being a leap year, I have an extra day’s grace to get on top of the Lyra birthday preparations. Pasc came round for coffee after breakfast, and we ended up making a quick trip to IKEA together.In the girls’ bedroom at the holiday cottage in Wales, there was a cosy little nook with brightly coloured floor cushions where the girls could sit and play. These cushions caught Lyra’s imagination, and she asked for some for her birthday. Beulah had tried and failed to buy some at Brent Cross, so it was either IKEA or running something up on the sewing machine.

There was a selection of large patterned cushions, none of which grabbed me. In the end I opted for a pair of white fluffy ones that I think she should like…

Nova, dad and I travelled into town to see Tales of Hoffman at the ENO. Ate dinner at Côte first, as they were doing a pre-theatre deal that included a free Kir Royale. Nova and I really enjoyed the production; dad liked it too, although he pretty much slept through the second tale, which I thought was the strongest.

Caught the tube home afterwards. Poor old Nova was pretty tired — she’s not accustomed to staying up past 11pm on a school night. Had a glass of the chartreuse dad bought for a nightcap, then headed to bed…

February 28, 2012

Went for a quick coffee with Christine after drop-off to talk about the girls’ joint party this weekend. We are such old hands at birthday parties now, it took about five minutes. I’m doing party bags, decorations and cake this year to mix things up. Spent the rest of the time gossiping about who’s got which school places. I struggle to remember what school parents used to talk about in the old days, or what we’ll talk about in the remaining few months of year six…;-)The presents I ordered on Amazon for Lyra arrived in three separate deliveries this afternoon, so that’s all sorted. Phew… I was feeling stuck for ideas a couple of weeks ago, but am pretty happy with what I’ve come up with. It’s much more difficult with a second child — you have so much already, and it seems silly to buy things just for the sake of it.

Another thing that arrived in the post was a dvd from Uncle Bernard with a collection of Horth family photos and recordings of dad’s Uncle Doug Horth performing as Carl Horthy. Doug had a international career as an opera singer after WW!, performing at La Scala and making recordings. First time I’ve heard his voice, and even on a scratchy old phonograph record, it was pretty impressive. It’s also impressive the way my eighty-something uncle has mastered the computer, and is able to produce movies and slide shows.

Had parent-teacher interviews for both girls this afternoon. It is pretty nice going to those when your kids are such great kids. Just sat and basked in the praise for their reading, writing, maths and social skills…;-)

Dinner was spaghetti with a sauce made from the soya mince leftover from our taco meal. It was nice, and made me think I should buy soya mince more often. I’d followed a chocolate ice cream recipe from the internet, but wouldn’t call the result ice cream. It was too thick, almost like truffle filling or a very dense mousse…

Another part of Nova’s homework was to write a short biography of someone she admired. She chose Adeline Yen Mah, author of the autobiography Falling Leaves. She’s also written a children’s version of her story called Chinese Cinderella, which Nova has reread a few times. We’re now reading Falling Leaves together, and encountering a number of new vocabulary words, such as “prostitute” and “syphilis”…

February 27, 2012

Dad and I took the bus into town today to see The Artist, which has been hoovering up the awards. Apparently, it’s the first silent film to win an Oscar since Wings in 1927. My original plan was to eat lunch at the Foundling Museum at Coram Fields and maybe have a look around before the film. Unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays, so we ended up eating at Strada in the Brunswick Centre. I had the mushroom risotto, dad went for the Italian clam soup. We each had a glass of wine and split the pistachio cheesecake.I really enjoyed the film, and have no problem with it winning the Oscar, though I haven’t actually seen any of the other contenders. Dad remained wide awake throughout, aside from a single snore/snort early on. There were only eight people in cinema. I love going to the cinema in the afternoon — it still gives me that “playing hooky” feeling…

Walked up to Euston station afterwards, then got off the at Archway and took a bus up the hill. Arrived just in time to pick up Lyra from her drama class. I made jacket potatoes for dinner, as I wanted to try something dad remembered his mum making him when he was a little boy. You remove the inside of a hot baked potato, then mash it up with a raw egg. I was expecting something more like scrambled egg than mashed potato, but a hit with everyone. As was the apple crumble I served for dessert.

Nova finished her autobiography homework assignment this evening. I spent a couple of hours dropping pictures into it for her. The family journal was a godsend for this assignment, and it was very easy to find appropriate images to accompany her text. Even so, it set my bread baking schedule back, and it had gone midnight by the time I removed my freshly baked loaves from the oven. Wholewheat instead of rye this time…

February 26, 2012

The girls slept until 9am — I was up and dressed before they made an appearance. Adam whipped up a pancake breakfast. I even had a couple myself — Adam makes pretty nice pancakes.Headed down to Greta’s afterwards to pick up Lyra. The sleepover appears to have been a great success. Stuck around for a cup of tea and cuddle with baby Toren before finally winkling Lyra out of there.

Made green soup for lunch, secretly incorporating a large bag of spinach. Declined to mention that, as it would have alarmed the kids. It proved a big hit — Lyra’s spoon was actually clattering against the bowl as she shovelled it in.

We’d thought of going for a walk, as it was a lovely sunny day. The girls weren’t keen and Nova had a lot of schoolwork to do, so we settled on a midafternoon stroll to the pub instead. Sat outdoors behind the Prince of Wales with our pints while the roast roasted at home. I tried Margo’s yorkshire pudding recipe this time. The puddings rose beautifully, but they still stuck in the pan, which left them a little mangled by the time I wrestled them out…

February 25, 2012

Finally managed to sit down with a bank manager and set up a new account. According to him, had the fraudster received a working card and pin number, he would have most likely used it to apply for instant loans, and not to take money from the account. The first we would have heard about it was when payments started being missed. Given the way our bank allowed him to change our mailing address over the phone, I’m not completely confident that he won’t manage to apply for loans in Adam’s name anyway, but now we’ve reported it, we won’t be liable for anything if he does.My next home improvement job is tackling the nasty silicon sealant behind the kitchen sink. In removing the old stuff, I managed to dislodge a bunch of crumbly old grout as well, so it makes sense to regrout it as well…

Today was Lyra’s long-awaited sleepover at Greta’s house. We’d timed it with Nova’s sleepover with Amalia, so the big girls could use Lyra’s bed. As Amalia’s a vegetarian, I made tacos for dinner using soya mince. Her mum Talia and brother Devonte ended up staying for dinner as well. Sunk a couple of Coronas each, and had a nice time.

Adam had picked up Freaky Friday at the video store, which proved a big hit with the girls. I could hear them giggling away upstairs, as we hung out in our bedroom. Managed to geet them in bed by 11pm, which is reasonable going for a sleepover…

February 24, 2012

Nova’s school results arrived today. She has been offered places at both Channing and City of London Girls, which is a stellar achievement, especially as she has had no tutoring. We don’t know of a single girl in her class who tried for private schools that didn’t have at least two years of exam tutoring. Unfortunately, we weren’t offered a bursary in either case, so it’s very unlikely she’ll take either of them up…My sourdough was so slow to rise yesterday, that I ended up sticking it in the fridge overnight. When I looked at it this morning, it was beautifully risen and ready for punching down and forming. This batch of bread has been quite a production, but it worked eventually. I’m going to keep the starter out of the fridge and use it as soon as possible to try to invigorate it. So lunch was freshly baked bread with homemade tomato soup — very tasty.

Dad pruned the apple trees for me this afternoon. He seems to know a fair bit about it, and confidently distinguished between fruit spurs and growth spurs. I attempted to move the rogue raspberry canes that have sprung up outside my cordoned area. I don’t have high hopes that it will succeed, but worth a try as I was going to rip them out anyway.

Made mac and cheese for dinner, and added the last of the ham to the cheese sauce. It was pretty nice — that ham has contributed to five meals now. Feeding dad has made me aware of how many vegetarian meals we eat — more than I would have expected…

Adam won the backgammon trophy at the pub last night — and scored a pretty good hangover as well…;-) So that’s Adam, Nova and dad in the brilliant book for their backgammon, school place and gardening achievements. “What about me?” I asked Lyra. “You just don’t do anything brilliant, mum,” she informed me, before racing off to make brilliant badges, which I helped her attach safety pins to. She then wrote me in the Brilliant Book herself, for helping make brilliant badges. Bless…

Her writing is pretty interesting, and relatively readable as long as you can manage with next to no vowels. So my entry reads: “Mum for mkn bdjs.” She’ll be all set for text messaging in a few years…;-)

February 23, 2012

Today is the start of Lent. I found myself pondering whether to give something up. Is there any value in participating in this Catholic tradition as a non-believer? What might going without something I enjoy for forty days teach me about myself and the world I live in? Is it a way to connect with the vast majority of the world’s population who go without so much as a matter of course? And what would be an appropriate sacrifice? I could care less about chocolate, but alcohol would be tough. And caffeine would be an inconvenience. Email? The internet? Television? Butter? Amazon?? Did nothing in the end…The unseasonally warm weather turned my thoughts to gardening. Headed to Sunshine Garden Centre with dad to buy supplies to rebuild raspberry stakes and wires. Every spring we do a shitty job of restoring the old ones, and I wanted to do it right for once. Dad was an excellent person to tackle this with, and ensured I got the right sort of posts and wires. Adam helped him pound the stakes and run the wires, and the final result was pretty impressive.

Lyra got in the brilliant book for art work this week — her third time this year. When I was prepping the sausages and mash for dinner, little Lyra insisted on peeling all the potatoes herself. “If we had a Brilliant Book at home, I’d put you in it,” I said. Five minutes later she presented me with a couple of sheets of A4 roughly folded into a booklet, with a hastily drawn star on the front.

Adam was out playing backgammon this evening with group of school parents who have formed a little club. No doubt there is lots of drinking involved as well. No sign of him when I went to bed at 11:30pm…

February 22, 2012

Dad and I visited the Cabinet War Rooms this morning. Took the tube to Westminster, emerging at the foot of Big Ben. I love that view, and am always surprised that it is thicker and shorter than I expect from seeing it on screen or in pictures.

There was probably too much walking involved, especially as the down escalator was out at Highgate station, and dad had to work his way down a massive flight of stairs. Like me with my dodgy ankle, he finds it harder going downhill than uphill.

The war rooms were very interesting, and have been left pretty much as they were in the 1940’s, aside from the odd waxwork. Half way along is the new Churchill Museum, which looked great, but was too much of a good thing at that stage. We only spent half an hour there (a fraction of what it merits) before making tracks for the café.

Fortified with carrot soup and a hunk of baguette, we finished the war rooms tour. We saw Churchill’s bedroom (surely they could have managed a bigger bed for such a large man — no wonder he only spent two full nights there in seven years. My favourite was the map room, with its coloured pins and trails of thread marking the various fronts. It has sat completely untouched for 60 years, and only now are they doing some restoration work to preserve the paper.

It’s quite something to be it the exact spot where such momentous events took place. I think the weight of history is stronger (or purer) than visiting the Tower of London for example. There were seven years of intense history played out in those cramped rooms, and nothing before or since to dilute it.

Walked back through St James Park and the pelicans, through biting wind to catch the tube at Charing Cross tube. Flew into dinner making mode straight away — penne a la vodka and a salad — so the girls could eat before swimming. Dad tuckered out from all the exercise but Adam came along to watch.

The girls are both doing so well — the week in Wales has really helped Lyra with her diving to the bottom. Nova’s strokes are looking really good, though she needs some practice in diving off the side. Instead of pushing off with her legs, she’s just sort of tucking them up to her chest and plopping flat onto the water…

Adam headed out to play football, and dad didn’t resurface. Once the girls were down, I watched “My Social Network Stalker”, a documentary about a woman tormented online by an unknown person. This person posted nude photos, created false accounts in her name, and posed as her in exchanges with her friends. It turned out to be her creepy boyfriend — no big surprise to me, but it took her three years to figure it out. She didn’t want to believe that someone she loved, and who claimed to love her back could do such a thing. And who would…?

February 21, 2012

Spent the day around the house, to give dad a chance to recharge from his journey. I made ham soup for lunch, just like mum used to make, with carrots, celery, onion and pearl barley. Dad recognised it immediately. It’s like time-travel-in-a-bowl for me. I sometimes tease the girls that they are built of weetabix — following that logic, I’m built of ham soup… and hamburger mince and mash…;-)Picked up Lyra after school and delivered her to ballet, but left Nova there to bring her home. In honour of Shrove Tuesday, I made crepes for dinner. Unfortunately my timing was a bit off, and they dried out a bit while we waited for Adam to return from a meeting. They were still pretty good, especially the sauteed mushrooms with melted pepper Boursîn. Cooked some fresh ones for dessert, which I served with lemon and sugar.

February 20, 2012

Adam went straight up to bank this morning, but our little branch is so crap that they weren’t able to do much. There isn’t even a manager on duty until Saturday, so we’ll go back then to set up a new account. He has managed to change the address back, cancel the issued card, PIN, and security code, and freeze the account so that only regular, scheduled ingoings and outgoings are permitted.He has also investigated the address the post had been rerouted to. Turns out it’s a Turkish estate agent in Green Lanes, a couple of miles from here. Which makes us think that the fraud is likely connected to the flat purchase, as the realtor, letting agent and seller were all Turkish, and our bank details were involved. Adam pointed this out to the bank’s fraud squad and police, and suggested they would have a great opportunity to catch the scammer in action as the person is still expecting the card to arrive this week, but I doubt they have the time/energy to follow it up.

We both headed out to Heathrow to meet dad’s plane. I’d imagined we’d have lots of time, but dad was one of the first passengers through. The drive home was smooth as well. That’s one of the realities of London — that journey can take anything from thirty to ninety minutes, and there’s often no way to predict.

Made meatloaf for dinner in honour of dad’s arrival. I didn’t do the ketchup on top, as that seemed to put kids the off last time. They seemed to like it okay — no complaints anyway. Maybe they were putting on a good show for grandpa…;-)

I was surprised that dad lasted until 9pm without sleeping. He seems really well actually, and fitter than last time he visited. Which is a result when you’re eighty years old…

February 19, 2012

Our day to get things organised before the girls go back to school and dad arrives… Laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, the usual routine…It looks like Adam has been the victim of identity theft. I had a letter waiting from the bank where we have our joint account telling me that Adam had changed the address and all future correspondence would be sent there. He didn’t know anything about it, and when he called the bank it turned out that not only had the address been changed, but a new debit card and online banking security number had been posted out as well. He put a stop to all that, but we’ll have to go into a branch as soon as possible to sort it all out…

In the afternoon, Lyra headed off to Danny T’s birthday party bearing a wrapped Lego kit and a handmade card. “Danny T loves spiders!” she explained when I asked why his card was crawling with large black spiders…

Made a nice carrot soup with miso and sesame oil for dinner, served with one of our Welsh cheeses.

February 18, 2012

This morning was all about getting ready for the journey home. Ordered a final loaf of bread for sandwiches, packed and tidied, and all by 9:30… “Don’t forget your Walkman,” I said to Nova as I was loading the car. She had no idea what I was talking about — a momentary lapse into the 1980s…Nasty weather, cold and wet. We wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything outdoors, as it rained relentlessly the whole journey. The girls were pretty good — the gravol meant they were able to play games on the phones, which kept them happy.

No sign of the cat… The catsitter had set up a litter tray for her in the laundry room, which suggests there must have been Bobo issues. But there was evidence of what she thought of that scattered about the house. In addition to unpacking, I had to disinfect surfaces (the dining table? really Cleo?!) and hoover throughout.

Made bibimbap for dinner at Nova’s request. I wasn’t going to drink — I’m trying to do that not drinking a couple of days a week thing, but a Corona once the girls were in bed was just too tempting…;-)

February 17, 2012

Adam let me sleep in a bit, for which I was grateful. I’d promised the girls their bedtime stories in the morning — a chapter of Pippi in the South Seas for Lyra, followed by two of The Westing Game for Nova, before getting up.Drove out to Dinas Head just north of Fishguard. After a pub lunch, we followed the coast path up onto the headland. The views are stunning, though it was a bit misty. Windy too. I was very grateful for the stick, which helped me keep my balance, especially on some of the trickier descents.

The path was clinging to the edge of the cliff at points, with a sheer drop to the sea below. You had to be pretty cautious where you stepped — on false step could send you tumbling. Both girls did really well, with an absolute minimum of grumbling, on what must have been a four mile walk…

Went Mexican for our last night in Wales: chicken wraps and tortilla chips, washed down with local Welsh beer…

February 16, 2012

I’m sleeping later now that the heating has been adjusted, but it does mean it’s colder when we get up in the mornings. Made the girls porridge with grated apple for breakfast. Adam has managed to lose a vital bit of the cafetiére, so we had to settle for redbush tea instead of our usual cup of coffee.Today’s outing was a trip to the local castle, but we managed to miss the turning, mainly because we were on the right road already. Instead we ended up belting back down the A road to Fishguard. By the time we realised our error, I noticed we were only eight miles from a highly awarded Welsh cheese producer, Caws Cenarth, and adjusted our plans accordingly.

Although it was only eight miles, the roads were small and windey, and there was the inevitable vomiting incident before we arrived. The countryside around here is pretty scruffy looking, not chocolate box pretty like so much of Britain. Actually, you could equate Cenarth with something like Red Rock…

The farm itself was pretty unprepossessing as well, but we were invested by this point. Followed the signs up a flight of stairs and into a long, narrow room in the eaves of an old house. This was the “shop front”, with the actual cheesemaking taking place on the main floor below. There was a little plexiglass window set into the floor, giving a view of the two vats where they produce 100kg of cheese a day.

After a quick run through of the process, we dove into cheese tasting. Personally, I liked everything, but the girls had a definite preference for the more cheddar style ones and the caerphilly. Turns out it’s a bit of a mecca for British foodies, with photos of celebrity chefs and other famous folk (I noticed Keira Knightley) on the wall.

Proceeded cross country to Cilgerran castle. It’s in ruins now, but still interesting to clamber around. Wales always seems remarkably heavily defended for such a lightly populated and frankly uninhabitable country. I should find out more about the reasons for that…

Returned home for a lunch of cheese, crackers and crudités. The cheese tasted even better than it did when we were sampling it. Adam and I split a beer, which set us up for an afternoon nap before family time at the pool.

Ate our first dinner out this holiday, at a nice little restaurant in Newport. Not the sort of place that does a kids’ menu, but we’d spoken to them beforehand and arranged for the girls to have roast chicken and vegetables, which they happily devoured.

When a pianist started playing Bach, Lyra went over to watch. Before long, he got her involved in a bit of a “duet”. I was sitting with my back to the action, but he came over to speak to her after his set, and a couple of other diners complemented her performance…

February 15, 2012

I’ve been waking up too early in Wales. The radiators make funny little clicking sounds when the heat comes on at 6:30am, which have been disturbing me. Now we’ve changed the timer to come on at 7:30, I woke up then instead. Much more civilized…Adam did the animal feeding, and I did the morning swim. Owing to a mix-up during egg collection, one family was given all four eggs, which left us with only three for lunch. Scrambled eggs it was…

Went for an afternoon walk on Poppit Sands, the closest stretch of beach. It was bloody cold, and we quickly abandoned our plans for a walk on the headland afterwards. Wandered a long way down the beach, the girls stopping to dig in the sand. Lyra made a little sandcastle but when she ran over to fetch me, a big golden lab sauntered over and shat on it.

Headed back through the dunes, then stopped in the nice little cafe for tea and cake before heading back to the ranch. the girls were keen to visit the rabbits, but it ended badly when Snuffles gave Nova some deep scratches on her wrist. Rechristening it Shredder got a gulpy laugh out of her.

Dinner was ham, mash and peas for the girls, and a kind of jambalaya thing for Adam and me. Apple crumble for dessert — made the topping with brown sugar, which was quite nice.

After watching (or more accurately, listening to Adam watch) Arsenal get pulverised 4-0 by AC Milan, we watched an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent before bed.

It’s interesting the way the Law and Order franchise has developed so differently to CSI, going for different departments instead of localising it to different cities. LAO is belatedly catching on to that idea. As well as Law and Order:UK, I’ve noticed Law and Order:LA in the TV guide, though I have yet to watch it…

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day! Over the years, celebrating Valentines has evolved into a breakfast event. Heart-shaped toast, hot chocolate and Lindor truffles are required (the rest of the menu can vary), and we exchange cards and little gifts. This year I bought Adam a hot water bottle with a red fuzzy cover, Nova a tomato red Sisley jumper (from Oxfam) and a lip gloss, and Lyra a little trivia game and a candy necklace. Adam bought me a beautiful silver bracelet that looks like a branch coming into bud.

Spent the morning in. Nova is becoming a backgammon fiend. Lyra didn’t want to do animal feeding, but we went out for a bit of a wander and a spot of recycling. Had ham and barley soup for lunch, made with the water I boiled the ham in, plus a delicious loaf of bread you can order delivered to your cottage.

In the afternoon we drove down to St Davids. Nova refused to take a gravol, and ended up vomitting minutes before we arrived. God bless that Tim Hortons coffee can. The parking lot was on the edge of a wood with a little stream, and I just clambered down the bank and rinsed the can out. Ready for next time…

Visited St David’s cathedral, which must have the most beautiful setting of any cathedral in the world. The interior is quite austere, at least compared to the European churches we generally visit. Lyra found it all very interesting, particularly the effigies on the tombs. She wanted to know why some had their feet resting on a lion. The steward didn’t know the answer, so another one for Google when we get home…

Didn’t feel like spending £10 to visit the ruined Bishops Palace, so we admired it from the outside. Walked up the hill into town and bought a glue stick and some cake and tea before heading home.

It was Lyra’s turn to hork on the return journey. I honestly can’t remember any of us ever throwing up even once during the thousands of miles we spent in the car. Must be a Garfunkel thing…;-)

Had a swim and a sauna before dinner, which was frozen pizza and champagne. Works for me! Watched a Clint Eastwood film called Heartbreak Ridge this evening, about a crusty old marine who kicks a bunch of lazy, unfit recruits into shape. I’ve got a lot of time for Clint, but that is one shitty movie…

February 13, 2012

I took the girls animal feeding this morning. It was bitterly cold, and Lyra lost heart part way through. Nova stuck it out and earned us another egg for her efforts. I put it in my pocket for safekeeping, and was amazed at how it held its warmth, like a little heated stone.Those pigs are pretty impressive — I can see why the little children were too nervous to feed them. They make some alarming noises, and one of them has some nasty looking tusks. The way they snuffle through the thick mud for food pellets, burying their nose up to their eyes was something to see.

Spent a relaxing morning in our cottage. I finished the first of my fishnet ankle socks, while Adam taught Nova how to play backgammon. She seems to be a natural — she beat him both times at any rate. Made eggs and toast for lunch, and ensured that each girl got to eat “her” egg.

Headed into Cardigan to top up our groceries — milk, butter, and a few bits and pieces I’d forgotten when I did our online order. I wonder if there’s some association between the town and cardigan sweaters — maybe it was the first place to have the bright idea of knitting a jumper you can open in the front? The internet access is so flaky out here I won’t be able to google it until we get home…

Cooked fried rice with leftover ham and peas for dinner. Played a version of pictionary tonight, where I whispered to each person what they should draw and the others took turns guessing in age order. We generally let Lyra have the first guess/go/whatever to level the playing field a bit, but we are all such gifted artists(!) that Lyra was able to win easily.

Once the girls were in bed, I retuned to my Norwegian crime novel. I’ve been sucked into the vortex and my life is no longer my own until I discover who has been killing the women of Oslo with a bizarre instrument of torture from the Congo…;-)

February 12, 2012

Adam took the girls animal feeding after breakfast. They returned an hour later clutching an egg and both claiming rights to it. They’d fed angora goats, sheep, pigs (apparently all the kids were too scared to feed them), horses, donkeys, rabbits, and chickens.I took the kids for a swim while Adam did some work. I didn’t actually get in the water — it was too cold a day for that. Lyra is learning to dive, and spent ages retrieving the little “pool plants” we bought in Provence a couple of years ago. Actually, it’s an ideal pool for her. It’s shallow enough that she can stand up in two thirds of it, but even when it’s over her head, she can still touch with her toes.

Nova being Nova, she read the enormous poster listing all the hot tub rules and discovered that kids eight and over are allowed to use it. I wasn’t going to mention that to her until part way through our stay. We certainly didn’t book a place with a swimming pool so that she can lounge about in a hot tub…;-)

Made sandwiches for lunch, then set off for a walk. Parked in a nearby town called Moylegrove then struck out for the Pembrokeshire coast path. We missed the initial turning, but one nice thing about coast walks is there’s a limit to how wrong you can go. Once we hit the water, we hung a left and were back on track. There was a fair bit of climbing, which were rewarded by great views.

The focus of the walk was a natural formation called the Witches Cauldron. The sea has created a land bridge with a scooped out bowl behind, which fills with water at high tide. It’s quite an impressive sight, and even more amazing was the sight of a family who’d passed us earlier stripping down and actually swimming under the bridge to the pool on the other side.

After climbing up the other side of the cauldron, the path took us through the woods, across some farmland then down the road and back to the car. I’d estimate it was about three miles, and was very proud of the girls who managed the whole thing with a minimum of complaints, and no carrying.

Cooked a honey-mustard glazed ham for dinner, with mashed potatoes, corn and baked onions. It’s always a challenge cooking in a strange kitchen with unfamiliar pots, but it turned out okay.

Played games after dinner — Bananagrams and Pass the Pigs. Lyra threw a massive strop when she lost, in spite of announcing at the beginning that she wanted to lose. “You did such a good job of losing, you ended up with no points at all,” I said, hoping to make her laugh. “I wanted to come third, not last!” she yelled. Definitely bedtime…

February 11, 2012

Bloody freezing in London this morning. The car thermometer read -4°C when I was loading the car this morning, and the girls’ car doors were frozen shut. We’d hoped to get away by 10am, but it had gone 11am by the time we were pulling out of the driveway. And it was 11:30am by the time we’d filled up with petrol, checked the air pressure in the tires etc.Fortunately, the journey was smooth sailing. I kept the girls topped up with sandwiches, fruit and chopped veggies, and their ipods kept them quiet. The countryside was lovely with its coating of frost, and the sky was brilliant blue. The kind of blue that has Lyra arguing that it must be a hot day today, because look at the sky!

The going was much slower after Swansea, where we left the motorway to cross the Welsh interior. Bumpy and undulating as well, but the gravol did its thing. We pulled up at Croft Farm at 3:40pm, a mere ten minutes after check-in opened. You make so much better time when you don’t break the journey. Each stops seems to add roughly half an hour to your travel time.

Dairy Cottage is very nice. The girls have a lovely little loft area to themselves, and our bedroom is tucked away the other end. There’s a nice enough kitchen, comfy sofas, and a wood burning stove. All very tasteful, or at least there’s nothing tacky. The facilities are good too — a swimming pool with hot tub and sauna, exercise room, pool table, playbarn with other games, and lots of animals to look at and feed. There are even rabbits and guinea pigs that you can play with.

Once we’d unpacked, we headed over for a swim before dinner. There were two other families in the pool, with a boy and a girl each. Adam got chatting with one of the dads, and it turns out they are farm families from Norfolk. A bit of a busman’s holiday, I would think. Wonder if we’ll see those kids out animal feeding tomorrow morning…;-)

Made spaghetti carbonara for dinner. I’m glad I brought our big soup pot as there was nothing big enough to cook pasta in, but wish I’d packed a decent knife as well, as I generally do. The knives here are particularly awful, and veer sideways when you try to cut anything. Shitty knives more dangerous than proper, sharp ones. And a lot more expensive too, which is probably why you never find them in holiday cottages…

February 10, 2012

Final day of getting ready for our Wales trip. I’m in a pretty good place with the packing, and have been chipping away at the to-do list as well. Most of the things remaining are those to be done on the day.Did a spot of Valentines shopping in the village, so I’ll have cards and little presents for everyone. Adam didn’t come home with the kids after the school pick up, so I assume he did something similar.

Frank came round to babysit this evening, and Lyra got into a big huff about it. She’s really hard on poor Frank, and I don’t think he’s done anything to deserve it. I can appreciate he’s not a glamorous teenage girl like Zoe and Elsie, but he’s a very nice kid. And unlike those two, he lives in our street so there’s no issue about getting him home afterwards or letting him sleep over.

Caught the tube to Camden to meet Ben Schneider at a tapas restaurant called El Parador. It doesn’t look like much, but the food is great. Everything we tried was tasty, though the grilled fennel and the broad bean dip with rosemary really stood out. For a tapas bar, there was an excellent range of veggie choices. Good wine too, though we drank too much of it… Home about 11pm, so at least we got a reasonable night’s sleep…

February 9, 2012

Lyra went round to Lucia’s after school, and Nova was busy with her Thursday drama/ballet activities. It would have been a perfect day for lunch in town at Benares as we’d planned. (Un)fortunately, Adam has too much work on, so we decided to cancel. Spent the day tackling the laundry mountain, tidying the bedrooms, and packing for our week in Wales instead.Picked up Lyra from Lucia’s flat in Highpoint at 6pm. I’ve never been inside this iconic building, though I’ve flipped through Jemima’s glossy coffee table book about it. What I saw was pretty nice, and I know it has a beautiful swimming pool and private tennis courts.

Made a very night meze dinner from the random ingredients in our fridge and freezer: roast red peppers stuffed with couscous, feta and pinenuts; sweet potatoes simmering in honey, cinnamon and chilli; kofte meatballs; potatoes in salsa verde; beetroot hummus (unexpectedly delicious); Greek yogurt; olives; pitta… Adam and I both loved it, though Nova was less impressed. I find it creatively satisfying to cook this way, instead of buying ingredients for specific recipes.

February 8, 2012

Went round to Veronika’s for coffee after drop off. I’d forgotten how relaxing it can be when you’re looking after a baby, and you spend long stretches of time just sitting on the couch cooing at them. Meanwhile, Veronika waited on me hand and foot, delivering coffees, juice drinks, biscuits, and chorizo breads. No need for lunch when I finally got home around noon…;-)Greta came back with Lyra after school for a playdate. I’d made chickpea pasta soup for dinner thinking it was a safe bet for kids. But the look on poor Greta’s face after her first bite made it clear it wasn’t. Assuming it was the garlicky stock she objected to, I took her bowl away, drained off the broth and rinsed her chickpeas and pasta under the tap but she still hated it. Put together a little plate of crackers, cheese and cucumber for her instead.

I was reading the two little girls a story when the doorbell rang. While I was downstairs letting Howard in, Greta hid from her dad (a classic playdate extending maneuvre). Her dad eventually found her in our far too messy wardrobe. She somehow managed to sneak off again when he was putting on his boots. This time, he ending up wriggling half way under our bed to retrieve her. I was so hoping that the cat, or Adam, hadn’t left something unspeakable under there… You just don’t expect your grown-up acquaintances to be rooting around in your bedroom like that without warning…;-)

February 7, 2012

The weather has turned colder again. I should have done more gritting when I had the chance — the forecourt is covered in ice now. I hope the weather doesn’t impact on our trip to Wales at the end of the week…We had the big idea of getting the council to come round to pick up some ancient laptops we no longer use. But when I started them up, I discovered they were full of files we’d want to remove before handing them over to anyone. And once I started looking, I found all sorts of stuff that hasn’t been transferred to the current computers. And when I started thinking about how to do that, I realised that we don’t have the right technology to move the files. Grrr…

I’m trying to get through the week buying the bare minimum of groceries. I picked up some basil for pesto pasta while Lyra was at ballet, which I ate with the girls. Adam had the rest of the Alsatian onion tart I made for dinner last night. The filling was very nice but the pastry was pretty leaden.

City have emailed us for further financial details, which suggests they would like to offer Nova a place, and are considering how much of a bursary we might qualify for…

February 6, 2012

In spite of the girls’ fervent wishing to the contrary, school not cancelled this morning. However, there were special snow measures in force. The entire school had to gather in the little top playground, and Lyra’s class followed a special route to the classroom the avoided the uncleared infants’ playground.The school just isn’t set up for winter weather, and it was pandemonium trying to get sixty four and five year olds out of snowboots, coats and scarves in the pokey little coatroom. Made me think of KGV, where I went to elementary school with its enormous mudroom with its concrete floor, rows of pegs, and benches to sit on while you changed out of your boots.

I’m happy that the Canadian snowboots I ordered online for Lyra last year still fit. Nova can manage with her wellies for now. Lyra’s nasty cough has lingered so long I felt it was time to take her to the doctor. Managed to get an appointment for after school. When we arrived, two other kids from her class were waiting with their mothers. There are always a lot of bugs around at this time of year.

The doctor listened to Lyra’s chest and pronounced it clear. I think she’s probably right, though I remember from Nova’s bouts of pneumonia, that it can be very difficult to detect chest infections in small children with a stethoscope. Her throat is inflamed, and the doctor prescribed an asthma puffer to reduce the violence of her coughing. Let’s hope it does some good — the poor little thing has been having a rough time of it with this cough…

February 5, 2012

London has been transformed into a winter wonderland. The trees and hedges are heavy with snow, and cars and rooftops sleep under a thick blanket of white. The usual Sunday quiet is quieter than ever…We had a deliciously lazy start to the day, hanging out in pyjamas under blankets, eating breakfast on the sofa while we watched Rango. At 1:30, I headed up to the school to help with the clean up and breaking set. I learned last year, that the thing to do is get your hands on a broom, and even better a dustpan.

When I got home, I spent twenty minutes building a little snowman between the car and the house, moulding a nose, brows, ears and arms out of snow. “Did you girls make that snowman outside?” I asked when I came indoors. Nova wasn’t fooled, but Lyra was captivated by the idea of a snowman turning up on its own.

Made red lentil soup for dinner, adding noodles in the last ten minutes of cooking. You couldn’t actually see them in the lentilly thickness, but the provided an interesting contrast of textures…

February 4, 2012

Not feeling so good…:-{
I’m sure it didn’t help that I stayed at the pub until almost 2am. I was sleeping fully clothed on the sofa when Lyra woke me up at 7am. I staggered downstairs for a bit more sleep, and woke up a couple of hours later feeling even worse. My cold has now settled in my vocal cords, and when I tried my lines they came out in a gravelly croak. Hardly the munchkin effect I’ve been aiming for. Singing and high-pitched tittering are out of the question…After a bit of research online, I learned that I should drink lots of water to lubricate my vocal cords, have spoonfuls of honey and steam them over a bowl of hot water. None of which made the slightest bit of difference.

When we headed over for the matinee performance, I asked Leslie — last year’s witch, whose voice struggled with all the evil screaming and cackling she was required to do — if she had any advice. She recommended something called Vocalzones, which she relied on last year and drinking hot port.

Adam kindly popped to the pharmacist for me, but they didn’t have any in stock. He dropped some extra-strength throat lozenges round for me, but my throat doesn’t actually hurt. Took one anyway, just in case they made a difference.

When the moment arrived, I managed to deliver a passable version of my line, but mouthed the singing and the high pitched giggles. We had an hour at home between performances. I took the opportunity for some more steaming and a glass of hot port.

The evening performance was being film, plus Adam, Lyra, Freddy and Beulah were in the audience, so I wanted to give it my best. It went pretty well, aside from Nova missing her entrance in the first scene, and was definitely the strongest munchkin scene. Frustrating not to have my voice though — that’ll learn me to go out on the tear mid-run. Though I definitely wasn’t in that pub on my own…;-)

It started snowing in the early evening, and a good four inches had settled by the time the show was finished. Took the girls home with Adam and settled them for bed. Once they were down, we headed up to the Wrestlers for the cast party. Gone are the days when I can drink two nights in a row. I sipped gamely at a couple of glasses of white wine, but my heart wasn’t in it. Plus it was hard to contribute to the conversation with my voice in my shoes. Home about 1am through the magically snowy streets…

February 3, 2012

Had a surprisingly good Friday night performance — I recall it being a tough night last year. It’s funny how you get the measure of the audience even when you are waiting in the wings for the show to begin. Did a much better job of skipping off to We’re Off to See the Wizard tonight as well, though there’s still room for improvement.While I love being on stage with Nova, it’s a very different experience from last year. I can’t just think about my own costumes and make-up, I have hers to worry about as well. And her station to keep organised…;-)

Foolishly agreed to go to the pub afterwards. I was only going to have one drink, but ended up drinking much more. I could feel that I was weaving when I made my way home sometime in the wee hours. It’s not always a good thing to have a pub that does lock-ins on your doorstep…;-)

February 2, 2012

Made the girls “smile” toast this morning, with yesterday’s bread that failed to rise properly, opting to sprawl lazily across the baking pan instead. I covered it with an array of toppings: first marmalade, then honey, chocolate spread, blackcurrant jam, and last of all, peanut butter.

Took Nova to City School for Girls for her interview. After waiting a few minutes, a teacher came to collect Nova, and we were deposited in a meeting room with the head teacher and several other parents for a half hour of awkward conversation. Nova joined us eventually, and even asked a question of the head herself before we said our goodbyes.

Sounds like the interview went well. Very different questions to Channing, who seemed mainly interested in probing her about her family’s income and politics. She was asked what animal she’d like to be and why (a mouse, because she’s shy but curious), whether she’d rather live in a valley or on a hill (a hill), and to analyse two paintings, among other questions.

Ate lunch in the Barbican — a three tapas and a glass of wine deal (x2) supplemented with some chips and hummus. Everything was delicious, and the chef’s passion and attention to detail was evident. Came to exactly the same amount as that dog’s dinner we had yesterday.

Adam and Nova headed back to Highgate, and I went to Oxford Street to do a bit of shopping: a beige teeshirt with longer sleeves for Nova, some knitting needles, makeup removing wipes, and a portable mirror. Got back just in time to pick up Lyra. She’s really feeling dragging her tail feathers at the moment, and we had a long couch cuddle when we got home.

Nova came dashing home from ballet with barely time to gulp down a bowl of soup before time to head off to the panto. It was funny to observe that a number of the opening number kids had changed their outfits to shorts and wellies, and most of the girls had their hair in plaits as well. First they laugh at you, and then they copy you…;-)

I thought the performance went off pretty well. I watched a lot of it from the wings, and the audience seemed to be enjoying it too. Some of the technical stuff isn’t sharp enough yet — curtain positions and so on — and it’s surprising how important that is. And the teacher playing the Wizard of Oz completely forgot his lines in the penultimate scene. But overall it wasn’t a bad effort, and opening night tickets are significantly cheaper because a few hiccups are inevitable…

February 1, 2012

January has just whizzed past — I can’t believe it’s already less than two weeks until half term. I must be feeling better, as I had loads of energy for laundry, making marmalade, baking bread, and hoovering the house. Quite the little domestic goddess…:-)

Went out for lunch at the Bull, which has reopened after a couple of years downtime. It’s not a great location for a restaurant, and I’d joked to Adam that “we better support them before they go out of business again.”

The latest owners are trying for something less upmarket, and the menu looked reasonably promising. We were the only customers, which is never a good sign, but it was a midweek lunch in February. But the food was genuinely bad. You could just picture the apathetic, minimum wage teenager they undoubtedly had in the kitchen inepting microwaving our food. Even Adam’s steak bore signs of having been microwaved…

Etta came home from school with Nova — I’m pleased to see them hanging out a bit more, especially as they both might end up going to St Marylebone together. Made a pot of chicken noodle soup for dinner. I had a couple of egg whites in the fridge, which give me the big idea of clarifying the stock. It all went swimmingly until I tried to remove the raft of scum that had built up on top without cooling the soup first. The damn thing broke apart, and I spent the next half hour picking shreds of scummy egg white out of my soup before it was fit to serve.

Dress rehearsal for the panto this evening. For the first scene we are meant to be in sepia clothing, and I thought Nova looked great in her beige shorts and suspenders, with wellyboots and her hair in plaits, but apparently Evelyn teased her and a few others joined in. They were all playing it safe in jeans and shirts with the sleeves rolled up.

The opening chorus went well, but discovered that there isn’t much time to change from sepia farmwear into our munchkin clothes and outfits before we need to be in our hiding places. Rushed into position with seconds to spare… “Oh, no!” Nova whispered in a panic, “I’ve forgotten my handkerchief!” Which is essential for her big moment when she hands it to the sobbing Munchkin Maiden.

Fortunately, I was wearing a colourful headscarf, which I whipped off for her to use. The rest of the scene went smoothly, until it was time for us to skip off along the yellow brick road singing. We’ve never really practiced that bit with everyone here, and several of the munchkins don’t seem to know the song…

Nova and I stayed until the first act was over so we could practice the walk down. The planned medley of WOZ songs proved too challenging — all those songs are surprisingly difficult to sing, with a wide range and odd key changes in the middle. Overall, the production felt pretty ropey — it’s hard to believe we are going live tomorrow…

Both our girls got into the ‘Brilliant Book’ at school today and were rewarded with a sticker presented on stage by the head teacher. Nova for brilliant storywriting and Lyra for brilliant reading…:-)