January 2011

January 31, 2011

Nova’s film review of Planet of the Apes won best review for her school. Her prize was a bag of sweets, and a film club pen and badge. She was very pleased about it, and rightly so — there are a lot of kids in film club, and nearly all of them are from the year above.Auditioned for the school panto this evening. I don’t think I covered myself in glory, but then I’ve never auditioned for anything before. I had no idea what to expect. In the event, we sat in a circle with the directors and script writers, and took turns reading the same passage. The woman beside me was a former professional actress — felt a bit stupid reading directly after her, but what can you do… I’ll know in a week or so if I’ve been given a speaking part. I’ll probably get cast as a tree or something…

January 30, 2011

Still not feeling that great… hope I’m not entering the age of two-day hangovers… Had a family outing to the multiplex to see Beezus and Ramona. At £1 a ticket, it didn’t matter that it was filled with B actors, and several years too advanced for Lyra. Actually, I thought it was reasonably good, and relatively true to the books, aside from the decision to cast a hot Latina pop tart as Beezus.It meant missing Andy Murray in the Australian open final, but it turned out to be entirely missable — Djokovic made mincemeat of him. The British press are now making much of the fact that Andre Agassi lost his first three Grand Slam finals before going on to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Clutching at straws, methinks…

January 29, 2011

Feeling pretty dire this morning… I really went for it last night — I knew I was going to, once I’d withdrawn that appeal. I’m glad to have finally made a decision — it was hard one to make. I didn’t want to give up the fight, but eventually realised I wouldn’t be happy with any of the outcomes.For one thing, it was becoming apparent we that we had a very good chance of winning on one of the two grounds. But if we won, there was a risk I would have to stay. I know I don’t want that. My job share, who’s old enough to qualify for a very sweet early retirement package, certainly doesn’t. And losing the appeal would only make me madder than I already am. Plus an appeal is time consuming to prepare and gruelling to go through. And my jobshare’s mother is very ill — she needs to be in California looking after her, not worrying about this crap.

In a fog all day. At one point I noticed Pasc’s pendant earrings lying under the coffee table. “I’ll take them back to her,” said Lyra, hopping off the sofa and heading straight downstairs. The front door was slamming by the time I got to the phone to alert Pasc she was on her way. She’s one independent three year old…

Went to Dina’s birthday party this evening. I can’t think of anything I felt less like doing, but we’d accepted the invitation a long time ago. The house was full of people we didn’t know. I wasn’t in the mood for socialising, and definitely wasn’t going to drink anything. Home and in bed by midnight.

January 28, 2011

Spent a couple of hours in phone meetings with my job share and union rep. Lots of back and forth on the wording of the email withdrawing our appeal. We wanted to talk through whether to negotiate on things like gardening leave before letting management know of our decision.I haven’t been very impressed with the union support we’ve had throughout this process. Our rep is a personal friend, but I think she’s been overly cautious about pushing our case. She’d say that she’s learned from experience how best to handle management. But in my opinion they’ve been allowed to get away with shocking breaches of process, and don’t pay a blind bit of notice to the union’s gentle bleating from the sidelines. Anyway, it’s done now — the appeal’s withdrawn, we’ve let the bastards win…

Hosted a Burn’s Night supper for eight this evening — Alicia and Paul; Pete and Pasc; and Steve and Jane. Just as well it’s an easy meal to pull together, as I wasn’t able to turn my attention to preparations until about 6pm. Cracked a bottle of Taitinger I’ve been saving to start the evening off in style, and had a private toast to the end of my career at NICE.

The evening picked up speed from there… More champagne, prosecco, sparkling rosé with the appetizers; red wine and whisky with the haggis, neeps and tatties; Alicia’s boozy cranachan; cheese and chocolate; more wine, more whisky…

At 3am we were gathered round the piano bellowing along to Paul’s medley of Queen songs, drunken Bohemian rhapsodizers… Can only hope that the poor Stillmans asleep on the other side of the wall somehow managed to stay that way…

January 27, 2011

Went to the cinema with Jane this evening to see The King’s Speech. It’s been causing such a buzz, and is predicted to sweep the awards ceremonies this year. I thought it was a very good film, but for me, Colin Firth is always Colin Firth. Fortunately, this role is perfect for a Colin Firth-like character.Helena Bonham Carter was very good as the Queen Mum (to be), and I thought Guy Pearce made a great Edward VIII. He’s such a chameleon, unlike solid old Colin…

January 26, 2011

Went for a run first thing before heading into work, where I had absolutely nothing to do. The reality is we’ve been constructively dismissed a few months ago, and work that should be ours is now circumventing us.Spent most of the day clearing out old emails and sifting through my filing cabinet. Also drafted my email pulling out of the appeal — I feel ready to let that all go now. I just don’t want to play any sort of ball with these fuckers anymore. Been a hard decision to make, job share’s situation

Went for drinks after work with a few colleagues, that turned into a bit of a session. Home drunk and late…

January 25, 2011

Worked from home — it was yucky weather — bitter, windy and wet — and I was happy not to have to make the trek to the West End…Met Adam’s family for dinner in Finchley to celebrate Beulah’s birthday. The girls opted to wear their lovely new Christmas dresses from Grandpa Ed. They were somewhat overdressed for the Durum, which is little more than a glorified kebab house. But it was certainly nice for their grandmother to see them looking so beautiful.

For her presents, we gave Beulah a framed photo of the girls from the photoshoot with Patricia, and a bookmark made by laminating one of Nova’s drawings. Both were well received:

January 24, 2011

Lyra came padding in at 5am. “What are you doing here?” I asked groggily. “Somehow I heard tremendous loud snoring and the hooting of owls,” was her reply.Felt very glum at work today. I’m losing the emotional energy to continue with the appeal. Which makes me mad because that is precisely how the bastards get away with stuff like this, but I just don’t want to engage with it any more.

Took myself out for lunch at a little Vietnamese cafe on Theobalds Road. Had a big bowl of chicken pho. Spent the afternoon checking out job adverts, which was actually quite encouraging. There will be life after this job…

January 23, 2011

Got up with the girls at 6:30, so that Adam could have a lie in until it was time for church. Nova made blueberry muffins all by herself this morning. I sat in the next room so she could consult me as necessary, but otherwise I let her get on with it. I thought they turned out really well for a first effort — Nova was rightly pleased with them.Managed to read the newspaper this afternoon — a rare occurrence. There has been some political turmoil and the health minister has resigned. Wanted to read what the pundits made of it, and the impact on the Labour party. Nothing I hadn’t thought of myself, as it turned out…

January 22, 2011

Went to the cinema with Lyra this morning to see ‘Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue’. I thought I’d misheard the cashier when he said “£2 please” and handed over a £20 note. “Do you have anything smaller?” he asked. £1 cinema tickets — a weekend morning, recession busting promotion. Next week, they are showing ‘Beezus and Ramona’. I’ll definitely take Nova along to that. She loves those Beverly Cleary books as much as I did.Adam did the grocery shop while we were in the cinema and picked us up on the way back. Felt like a very efficient use of the morning. Spent the rest of the day on home stuff, including a deep clean of the livingroom. I love the way when a room has been thoroughly cleaned you can just tell somehow that there isn’t a spec of dust behind the sofa…

We’ve been operating a zero tolerance policy on the coffee table for the past few days as well. The kids are free to do their thing on it during the day, but at bedtime it is completely cleared. Makes a nice change — it had been accumulating teetering drifts of drawings, magazines, toys and art supplies for several weeks, which was really winding Adam up. From my perspective, it’s the girls’ house too, and in an open plan environment, it’s just not reasonable to ban their belongings from the livingroom. It’s about getting the balance right…

January 21, 2011

Spent the morning in Lyra’s classroom. First time I’ve done that — it was fascinating to see the kids in action. The main perk of having your parent helping in the class is that at together time you can sit on sofa with your mum instead of on the carpet with the rest of the class. Lyra’s too much in demand to take full advantage, and eventually gave in to Greta’s entreaties to sit beside her. There is a display of painting the children have done of their best friends up on the wall. Lyra painted a picture of Alice, and Alice painted one of Lyra. Four other girls painted pictures claiming Lyra was their best friend as well…

January 20, 2011

Got into my running gear so I could go for a run after dropping the girls off. But when I stepped outside, I it was really slashing it down. Nasty, icy, sleety sort of rain. “I know,” Nova’s suggested, “Why don’t you let all the other mums see you in your running clothes so they’ll be really impressed at how sporty you are, then creep back home and have another breakfast?” Top suggestion, but in the end I opted for the exercise…;-)Just as well, as I made croque monsieurs for lunch. I’ve had them on the brain since we watched “It’s Complicated” the other day. (Very funny film, by the way.) I made proper ones, with grilled bechamel on top. Lyra was very taken with hers, and scoffed the whole thing down, all 500 calories of it…

Spent the afternoon checking out the Glasgow Boys exhibition at the Royal Academy. I’d never heard of the Glasgow Boys before — a group of a dozen or so Scottish artists who were working in the late 19th and early 20th century. I didn’t have any idea what to expect, and was really impressed with their work.

Went out for dinner to a restaurant called L’Absinthe — a neighbourhood French place in Primrose Hill. I opted for the wrong starter, but my duck main course was excellent. The owner is a big personality, and makes the place, greeting all his customers with great enthusiasm. He was a former front of house for Marco Pierre White apparently…

January 19, 2011

We’ve started a little lunch club at work to try to eat at a few of the nice local places we’ve haven’t taken the opportunity to eat at before we’re all out on our asses. Today’s choice was Hawksmoor, which has recently opened a second branch in Covent Garden. Known as a temple to beef, Donna assured us that the burgers were the best she’d ever tasted.No one needed further convincing — we all opted for one of the three burgers on offer. I chose the kimchee burger, and wasn’t sorry. Who knew that kimchee and hamburgers are made for each other? It was absolutely delicious, the kind of hamburger that makes you think there’s no point eating hamburgers anywhere else ever again…

Lyra was messing with Adam’s head this evening. At bedtime, she gave me an enormous, all embracing cuddle. “Can I have a cuddle too?” Adam asked. “Nope,” Lyra said, “I’m all out of cuddles!” “Oh, I have another cuddle!” she said, a few minutes later. “For me?” asked Adam hopefully. “Nope, it’s for mum. And now I’m all out…” Wash, rinse, repeat…

January 18, 2011

Worked from home today. My work is steadily dwindling — in fact a significant amount of my time is spent on opposing this restructuring. If I decide not to pursue that any further, I’m not sure how I’ll be filling the remaining work days.Put my first ever item for sale on eBay this afternoon — 5 balls of green baby wool. My colleague Donna is always coming into the office with eBay parcels to post at lunch time. She mostly seems to sell bike parts and electrical bits and bobs, but recently got £80 for a pair of boots she’d worn for two winters. I don’t know if eBaying will turn out to be for us — it seems a lot of faff to earn a few quid, but I’m willling to give it a try.

“You are a bad cook and you make me eat disgusting food!” Lyra informed me at bedtime. Ouch! And especially harsh given that I haven’t even cooked her anything in four days. She must have been dwelling on some previous muck I’d insulted her palate with…

January 17, 2011

According to the news, today is supposedly the gloomiest day of the year. This is because of the rotten weather, bills coming due, holiday-free calendar, and lack of daylight. It’s dark when you leave for work, and dark when you leave the office to come home…Had a timely session with my counsellor. I talked through the decision I’m facing about whether to continue with the appeal. She doesn’t say a whole lot, or offer much in the way of advice, but it’s a useful way of hearing myself think…

January 16, 2011

Woke up with heartburn and a pounding head, though I appear to have got off lightly compared to Adam’s hangover. All that real ale he knocked back before dinner was playing havoc with his digestion. A couple of nurofen and a shower pretty much set me right…A visit to Jules and Mary’s always gets us thinking about all the stuff we don’t have, such as iPads, 60″ televisions, and £400 Culinart freestanding mixers… The girls were very taken with the iPad, and have spent far too much time mixing up virtual baked goods in CookieDoodle. It was striking how much time everyone spent staring at myriad phone, computer and television screens over the weekend. Modern life, I suppose…

I couldn’t be doing with breakfast. Just as well, as shortly after the breakfast dishes were cleared, Mary turned her energies to brunch. We were joined by Sarah, her husband and their three kid. Sarah is an old university friend of Adam’s, and at one time professed to be his “soulmate” though I think they’re both over that now. Needless to say, our friendship took a while to establish itself — girlfriends and soulmates don’t generally see eye to eye…;-)

Lyra is the same age as their twins, and had a grand time hanging with them, while we applied ourselves to eggs benedict, croissants, fruit, champagne and a triple layer coconut cake. Eventually, we gathered our stomachs up in both arms and staggered for the car.

The Stoddards had arrived by the time we got home, so we spent a while chatting with them. They are spending a few days in London before flying to South Africa to spend a month on safari.

No dinner for anyone — strictly baths and bed…

January 15, 2011

That second run is so much easier when you’ve done the first one… That out of the way, I spent the rest of the morning getting organised for our overnight visit to Jules and Mary.Set off as soon as Nova’s pottery class was finished, even eating lunch in the car. Reminded me of all those family car trips we used to take. Mum handing out baloney sandwiches she’d assembled on the glove box, kids bickering in the back seat. It could have been 1973 all over again. Of course, my parents didn’t have the escape route of headphones…;-)

Jules and Mary have moved to an amazing new place in the country. It’s a little farm really, with an orchard, paddock, two gardens, sheds and flock of chickens strutting around the place. The house itself is three rambling storeys of sloping floors, flagstones, and exposed beams. There are two staircases in the centre of the house that are side by side, and confusingly sometimes lead into the same room by a different door. I suspect there are parts we didn’t get to on our self-guided tour.

As always when we visit Jules and Mary, the evening was devoted to an abundance of lovely food and wine. Two particular highlights were Jules’ homemade sloe gin and Mary’s main course of Roman gnocchi. It was all too much, and much too good to pass up…

January 14, 2011

Adam did the morning routine to give me a break after his days away, while I drank coffee in bed. That’s more like it, and just as well, as I’m feeling a bit meh after my excesses last night…Spent the morning deep cleaning the flat. It’s funny the way you can suddenly notice something like how dirty the light switches are, and barely believe you were oblivious to it before. We have friends of Carolyns arriving on Sunday. I knew the Stoddards vaguely from Prince George, but I don’t think I would recognise them now.

Dinner was sausages and celeriac remoulade. I added grated beet as well, which turned it a lurid chartreuse. Tasted nice enough, but don’t think I’d do that again. Nova ate it dutifully and even claimed to like it, while Lyra flatly refused.

Booked a cottage in the Yorkshire moors for our February half term break. It has a wood burning stove, an indoor pool the guests in the five cottages can share, and is well placed for country walks, and visits to York and the coast.

January 13, 2011

Changed into my running clothes first thing, before I had the chance to talk myself out of it. Do that and the rest often just follows… It wasn’t the greatest run, but it puts the marker down, and makes the subsequent run easier.Too often I plan my day around whatever I’m feeling guiltiest about — in this case, the budget, my overflowing email inbox, Nova’s laddered ballet tights, and the fish cooking course I’m meant to have booked with Lou…

I’m trying to make headway into the piles of stuff that lurk in every room of the house. I am slowly making progress… the house is tidier and cleaner, and we even sold a few items last week that had been cluttering up the garage — Lyra’s old car seat, the kids’ backpack, and hauled a few bulky toys off to Oxfam as well.

Opened a bottle of wine at dinner and drank a glass with my bowl of soup, and another one afterwards… I was unexpectedly drunk by the time Adam returned from Germany at 9pm. That soup wasn’t much good at absorbing alcohol…

January 12, 2011

Attended a careers workshop with my team this morning. It was put on by the staff support service that I’ve been getting counsellling and pensions advice from, and was largely a waste of time. Partly because the woman wasn’t very good at delivering it, partly because my team are feeling bitter and cynical, and partly because the material didn’t seem all that relevant. Of course I’ll spend time getting my CV in order, but I would have much rather learned about online recruitment, how to use LinkedIn etc.Once the girls were down, I watched The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. He was perfect for the role of an aging All Star wrestler — a ruined hulk of a former prime specimen. Aside from a slightly cliched ending, I thought it was a very good film.

January 11, 2011

Started my day with a visit to the doctors where I explained the situation with HR. While he couldn’t issue a formal sicknote for an illness I’d recovered from without medical attention, he cheerfully wrote a letter telling them I had experienced influenza symptoms, responsibly followed current medical advice to avoid visiting the GP, and reminding them that I was entitled to self-certify any illness of less than a week. Looking forward to handing that one in…Adam headed off to Germany about noon. He’ll won’t be back until Thursday evening…

January 10, 2011

Dropped the girls at school then travelled by tube to King’s Cross with Martha, where we met Pete and Ellie. It was easiest to walk to the office from there. Ended up taking a slightly different route, and was properly lost in no time.I kept getting steered into squares, which is a hazard of trying to navigate your way across central London. I even came upon a small herd of goats, 18th century historic graveyard, now called St George’s Gardens. I love the way that London has an inexhaustible supply of interesting nooks and crannies to offer up.

Submitted our intention to appeal and the grounds of our case this afternoon. I’m still not sure if that’s the route I want to take, but we haven’t committed irrevokably to anything yet…

Made a nice salad for dinner: steamed salmon, potatoes, green beans and lettuce tossed in a pestoish sort of dressing. Adam couldn’t eat his, as he was dashing off to a Jackson’s Lane meeting, but Nova thought it was really nice…

January 9, 2011

An incredibly bright, cold winter’s morning. We took our lively kids and aching heads to the park for an hour. I left a bit early and pulled together a cooked breakfast for nine.Adam B left after lunch, and Pete and Ellie headed off mid-afternoon. We kept Martha for another night, which was nice for Nova as they got to spend some quality time together.

Also fitted in a visit to Veronika’s studio, where five little girls had fun playing with clay, and Adam bought an interesting sort of ceramic pillow/table/tray from Veronika’s husband Basil, who is a ceramicist.

Dinner was pesto pasta and leftover lime tart. This tart makes my mouth cry,” said Lyra after trying one bite. We’ve got a budding food critic on our hands…;-)

January 8, 2011

Adam headed off to another Arsenal match after breakfast — two games in a week seems a bit much to me. “Have fun around the house!” he said as strolled out the door, his nasty acrylic Gunners scarf knotted at a jaunty angle.There was a lot of housework to do in advance of our weekend guests. Adam B arrived back from Canada at noon and headed straight to the flat for a nap. Pete, Martha and Ellie arrived at dinner time, bearing fish and chips. (Actually, Adam fetched them in the car from Columbia Road where they have been staying with Nick and Jane.)

It was great to see them. It’s their first trip back to the UK since they emigrated to New Zealand, and it was a shock to see how the girls have grown in that time. Fed the kids, then got stuck into a couple of bottles of wine. Around 9:30, I threw together a Thai yellow curry and a batch of rice. Dessert was a delicious lime tart I made earlier in the afternoon.

Stayed up far too late, drinking far too much wine…

January 7, 2011

At drop-off this morning, the mum of Lyra’s classmate Harry told me he’d had a “beautiful dream” that he married Lyra last night. Sweet… I wish Lyra would do more dreaming herself — I was up three times with her in the night.This evening’s winter vegetable crumble was not a hit with Lyra: “This dinner tastes like custard beans what worms eat!” she said crossly. Personally, I thought it was delicious. It was a mixture of parsnip, sweet potato, carrot and celeriac tossed in a creme fraiche based sauce, and covered with a topping made of flour, ground almond, parmesan cheese and rosemary. I eventually had to remove the dish from the table to stop myself from picking away at it…

January 6, 2011

Saw an ad on the telly for Special K claiming that they now make ten varieties of the stuff. Turns out the varieties involve adding nasty little pieces of “red berries” or “purple berries” or “chocolately delight”. Gives me yet another reason to hate that cereal.I’ve never been much of a breakfast cereal eater — I left that to my little brothers. For one thing, I’ve never much liked milk. Unless it’s icy cold (or well heated), I dislike the taste of it, and sugary milk is truly nasty. We were never allowed any of the more dubious breakfast cereals like Lucky Charms or Count Chocula in our house — it was strictly Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes or Puffed Wheat for us.

Very occasionally, we’d get a Kellogg’s variety pack, and I imagine I came across Special K and tried it then. The first thing I hated was the way the cereal skittered across the surface of the milk with some sort of static electricity, and refused to mix with the milk. But in less than a minute it was totally soggy. I also hated the way the flakes were exactly the right size and shape to completely pave the surfaces of your molars. One mouthful of cereal and your teeth are rendered useless. In later years, I’ve come to hate their ‘drop a dress size’ campaign, where they tell woman that they can drop a dress size by eating Special K for dinner for two weeks. As if Special K has special weight melting properties…

Made shrimp cocktail for dinner, followed by parsnip soup. I grew up hating parsnips as well, but turns out we were just cooking them room. Boiling and mashing parsnips is not the way to go. The first roasted parsnip I tasted was a revelation…

January 5, 2011

Spent half the day working on my appeal with my job share. As always, what they are doing seems so blatantly wrong and our grounds for appeal so robust. And yet I’m sure they’ll find a way to justify it all, and make us look bad in the bargain…Lyra has been acting up at bedtime for the last few nights. Ten minutes after I say goodnight she starts yelling for me. Ignoring her doesn’t work, she just yells louder and eventually starts bawling. When you ask her what all the fuss is about, she’ll come up with something like “I only have three foffies!” or “Daddy said I could pour you a cup of tea from the teapot and he didn’t let me do it!” Only two extra visits tonight, which represents progress: the first time, there weren’t enough cuddly toys and in her bed; and the second, she needed me to to remove “Miffy sweet little bunny” from her bedroom as it’s a toy for babies…

January 4, 2011

Received an email from Carolyn telling my that Gail Fraser died on New Years Day. It’s been just over a year since she was diagnosed with cancer. She threw everything into the fight, and displayed such courage, wisdom and humour throughout, but it wasn’t too be beaten. Such a wonderful person gone — I’m feeling very blue about it…First day back on the job… My bottom actually started to hurt from all the sitting still. Hundreds of emails to trawl through, which was surprising for a Christmas break — usually things are pretty quiet.

Had a bit of a tussle with HR today. I’d called in sick my first three days of annual leave as I was staggering around with that cold/flu. The sickness policy says clearly that if you are sick on annual leave, you are entitled to exchange it for sick leave, but it’s not the sort of thing I would have bothered to do before. But now that I have no goodwill whatsoever towards the organisation, I thought “why the hell should I sacrifice annual leave days when I’m sick”, and “it’s likely their fault I’m sick anyway…”

The HR bod told me that it was necessary to obtain a sick note from my doctor in order to reclaim annual leave. I can’t see why a doctor would give me a sick note for a past illness that I didn’t report to them at the time, or why I should have to do that when I wouldn’t have needed a sick note in the ordinary course of events (you don’t need a doctor’s note until the sickness lasts more than a week). I’ll pursue it further tomorrow when I’m in the office…

Lyra is feeling unhappy with her hair. At bedtime tonight, she said, “I wish I didn’t have beautiful golden curls. They look like scary monster hair. I want my hair to be straight like Nova’s hair.” I promised her I’d comb it straight and gel it tomorrow…

January 3, 2011

Pretty low-energy day, for obvious reasons… Slouched around on the sofa watching Brady Bunch episodes with the girls. I haven’t seen The Brady Bunch since I was a girl — it was a real blast from the past. Nova absolutely loved it, and laughed her head off at their various dilemmas. It really struck me how kid-focussed the storylines are, and how we don’t watch any TV shows about family life…Made a really nice Italian-style meatloaf (seasoned with nutmeg, lemon zest, capers, sage and anchovy) and served it on a bed of puy lentils — delicious!

We usually wait until the 6th of January to take down the decorations, but tonight sure feels like the end of Christmas. Back to work tomorrow (yuk), though I’m planning to ease back into it by working from home…

January 2, 2011

Happy birthday, Devlin — one year old already, that’s amazing!
Attempted a family walk on the Heath this afternoon, but it has got bloody cold again and we were all chilled and miserable within fifteen minutes. Retreated back to our bunker for hot chocolate with marshmallows…Elsie came round to babysit this evening so we could go to Doron and Antonia’s party. Spent the evening in the kitchen talking to two actors Antonia met on the show she’s been rehearsing. These two are writing a film script about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the afterlife, and were eager to take me through each and every scene they have planned. All that nodding and listening provided opportunity to drink far too much champagne mixed with sloe gin…

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year, everyone!
Woke up at 9am with no help from Lyra or the cat. We waiting for a phone call from Madonna before getting up. The kids had been up until midnight, and we didn’t want to call in case we woke people up. Adam headed over to pick them up about 10am in the end.Went for dinner at Kiplings with Freddy, Beulah and Doron’s family. They kept us waiting too long for our starters, especially for a group with four little kids in it. They meal didn’t really recover from that delay, though the food was very nice once it arrived, and all the kids ate well…