January 2013

January 31, 2013

Having checked on Lyra a couple of times in the night, we decided to let her sleep as late as she wanted. In the event, she woke up just after 8:30am, with a bit of a headache but keen to go to school.We were a bit late getting there — actually it’s the first time she’s ever been late, so I was unfamiliar with the whole signing in at the office routine. You have to provide a reason for being late. I told them the head injury story, after which they assigned her to indoor play for the day, to avoid any mishaps in the playground.

Went for a run afterwards — it was a good one, felt really strong. Spent the rest of the morning doing adidas work, until my friend Pat arrived from Canada. Didn’t have much in the way of lunch far, but pulled together a meal of cheese, toasted bagels and fruit.

In the afternoon I headed off to Muswell Hill to cancel my gym membership.I need to fill out a form and give them a calendar months’ notice. Thought I’d go for a nice swim first. Put in an easy kilometre then had a long relax in the sauna.

After that, I didn’t feel like cancelling my membership any more. I really like it there — it’s just the hassle of getting myself to go. Decided I’m going to give it one more month. That will give me time to check out the gym in the village and other fitness options. I brought a copy of the form home as well, so I can mail it in if I find I’m not going often enough…

Pat treated us to a takeaway from Kipling’s — a bit of a tradition with us when he visits on Finning business. Not strictly work related, but we are saving them a night’s hotel bill, so I don’t feel too guilty…;-)

January 30, 2013

I had trouble getting to sleep last night, and ended up doing some website work after coming to bed. Pretty wiped out this morning. Little Lyra quietly got herself all organised and ready to go then disappeared to play on the iPad.There was a moment when Adam and I looked at the clock and realised we were supposed to be leaving the house in five minutes. I raced upstairs in my knickers to find Lyra. “We need to go to school right now, so I thought I’d just take you like this,” I said. “Mummy!” she said, scandalised. “Or if you’d rather, daddy can take you in his purple bathrobe.” She looked at me for a moment, considering these options. “You in the knickers,” she decided. “But maybe you could put your bra on too?” Cracked me up…

Put in a productive morning’s work, finally tackling one of the overdue websites. I kicked it into good enough shape to invite the client to check it out. Spent the afternoon working for Adam.

Took Lyra to swimming after dinner. I was waiting for her in the changeroom after the lesson, when Dara Grace came rushing in saying that Lyra had hurt herself. Turns out she slipped in a puddle and hit her head.

She cried solidly for almost half an hour, saying it hurt so much, and didn’t seem herself when we got home. I left her with Adam, and headed off to rehearsal. The car was gone when I got back. Turns out Lyra had thrown up and Adam had decided to take her to A&E. Didn’t get home again until almost 11pm — but it sounds like everything is okay. We have to check on her a couple of times in the night, and watch for headaches, bleeding from the ears, and vomitting for the next few days…

January 29, 2013

Tried out a recipe for wheat-free, banana-egg “pancake” I’ve been noticing on some of the food blogs I follow. Basically, you mash a ripe banana, then beat an egg into it, before frying it in a lightly oiled skillet. It was fiddly to flip, but tasted better than the banana omellette I was expecting. 

I’m helping Adam with some adidas work at the moment. I should really be tackling my stack of undeveloped websites, but Adam’s work pays a lot better…;-) Plus the poor guy was up all night and really needed an extra pair of hands to help push things along.

Made tacos for dinner, then headed off to a wine website meeting. Spent an hour finalising templates and drinking wine. At one point, they decided to go for a paid custom upgrade, which I somehow managed to charge to another client’s credit card…:-(

I cancelled it immediately, but it was still embarrassing. Definitely time to stop trying to conduct business, and go make a fool of myself elsewhere. Caught the end of a Vegas dance rehearsal. The latest humiliation being heaped upon us is a decision to wear leopard skin hotpants under our Elvis micro-minis.

From there, I headed over to my scene 8 rehearsal. Scene 8 has been completely rewritten, so it was probably just as well that I missed the previous rehearsal…:-) My part has expanded somewhat, in an animated furniture sort of way…

January 28, 2013

Class coffee morning at Nero after drop-off. I put in a brief appearance, but I’d already arranged to go round to Veronika’s so we headed back to hers after 20 minutes or so. Caught up on what’s happening in each other’s lives, and saw all their Barbados photos. What a beautiful place. I hadn’t realised how far south it is. I’ve always pictured those Caribbean as off the coast of Florida, not Venezuela…For lunch, I made a spinach salad with dates and toasted almonds from my Jerusalem cookbook – delicious but calorific. It pretty much used up my daily calorie allowance, not that I let a detail like that stop me these days…;-)

There is a skipping step in my Vegas dance that has had me flummoxed. Left, right, left, then instead of right again, you sort of kick your left foot forward with your right instead. So left/right/left/left, then right/left/right/right. At the same time, you need to coordinate your arms to go right/left/right, then left/right/left. Seems like the dancing equivalent of patting your head while rubbing your stomach.

I skipped everywhere I went today until I finally got the hang of it. Of course, it will probably go straight out of my head when I do it at high speed in high heels…

Made a creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. I was all prepared for the girls to kick off about the soup, which was full of unlikely ingredients like coconut milk, oregano, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar, but they surprised me by liking it.

Had time to do some piano practice with Nova before heading off to rehearsal — a double whammy of opening scene, followed Vegas number. Emily the choreographer was late, which gave the bossier members of the troupe the opportunity to change some steps to their liking. That’s the last thing I need…

January 27, 2013

Feeling the after-effects of all that haggis…;-) After a slow start to the day, I headed off to spend the afternoon in rehearsals. Spent ages on scene 1, in which I sing, dance and deliver five of my nine lines.As well as my Vegas dancer in scene three, and turn as a pub customer (four more lines) in scene eight, I’m supposed to be a ballguest at the opening of the second act as well. But they were running over an hour late by this point, and I got sick of hanging around. We’re rehearsing it again on Wednesday evening, so I’ll make sure to go to that one…

Bibimbap for dinner, followed by good sessions on the piano with both girls. I seldom find time to sit down to practice with Nova at the moment, which we both really enjoy. I’ll be glad when this panto is behind me and I can get back to my usual evening routine…

January 26, 2013

I think I managed to tread the line between having fun and being able to function the next day, though I could have done without the 7am wake-up from Lyra.After breakfast, Nova headed off to do dramatic things at Jackson’s Lane. The rest of us went for a long walk on the Heath to blow the cobwebs out. The paths were still icy in parts, and slushy in others. We headed up to the ridge, along a ways then down again. Adam had a spectacular wipeout at one point, which was pretty funny, though I managed not to laugh…

Spent a good half hour clearing ice on one of the lower paths to improve waterflow to the drains. Water is just pouring off the slopes, but because the paths hadn’t been cleared properly, it was pooling and puddling all over the place. Strangely satisfying, and reminded me of all the time my dad spent managing the water melt down McBride Crescent so that our basement wouldn’t flood.

Leftover tuna chowder for lunch with leftover cheese from last night. I love cheese a little bit too much. It’s just as well I don’t buy it very often… Managed to squeeze in an afternoon nap on sofa before making the girls pesto pasta for dinner.

The babysitter arrived at 8pm, and we headed off on foot for Lynne and Duncan’s Burn’s night supper. I opted to wear my ankle boots — I’m trying to spend a bit more time in heels before my dance number — a decision I was seriously regretting by the time we arrived.

Smoke was billowing from the front of the house, not an encouraging sign. They discovered that the chimney in the diningroom was blocked when they tried to light the fire… It was all sorted out eventually, and we were piped into the slightly smoky dining room.

There were twenty guests, many in tartan. A few of the women had shawls pinned across one shoulder, and Duncan and Cameron in wore their kilts. I was surprised they served gravy with the haggis — not for me. I would be more likely to follow Trish in pouring whisky on her haggis, though it would likely make it cold. Haggis is one of those dishes (like fish and chips) thatr you need to eat hot before the copious amount of fat congeals.

Endless wine and whisky, cheese platter, millionaire’s shortbread… Broth and celery for me for the next week…;-) Set off for home about 1am in the pouring evening, feeling no pain. Aside from my arches, which were grumblilng about a second evening in a row in heels…

January 25, 2013

We’re hosting our annual Burns Night dinner with the usual suspects this evening, so I headed off to Waitrose first thing. Spent a while considering the best size haggis to buy. From experience, Adam and I can easily polish off the one meant for three. I could have got the one that serves 6-7, but instead went for the monster-sized one that serves ten. Because after all, there’s no such thing as too much haggis…Ate a salad with grilled chicken for lunch in pre-compensation, then spent the afternoon doing housework and food prep. Made a lovely smoked mackerel paté, crisped some kale, and peeled masses of potatoes and swede.

Alicia always brings the dessert, a sort of cranachan/trifley thing. She arrived soused as a herring, and wearing one of the desserts, having spent the afternoon at a boozy school mums’ lunch.

Everything went smoothly. It wasn’t one of our wilder evenings — no drunken dancing on the coffee table or singing round the piano, but it was good fun. Everyone was gone by 1:30am. We did all the washing up, and were in bed by 2am…

January 24, 2013

Went for lunch at Cote with Adam today. We try to go out for a meal together at least once a month, and this is the best we’re going to manage in January. They do a good prix fixe menu. I went for the flat bread, steak frites and creme caramel, with a glass of pinot noir, and very nice it was too…Uncharacteristically, I felt like doing some work on my stable of website projects this afternoon, but a crucial memory stick I need was missing. One of Cleo’s bad habits is knocking interesting objects off surfaces and batting them around.

I was sure I’d find the memory stick somewhere near my bedside table. When I didn’t, I got a torch and searched under the bed. I ended up moving the whole bed frame, turning the mattress, and taking out the storage boxes under the counter, but no memory stick. I eventually found it under the tall chest of drawers, but it was too late to do any work by that point…

Tuna chowder for dinner, as Lyra was out at Greta’s. She’s definitely not a fish eater, that girl…

January 23, 2013

Lyra woke me at 3am this morning, sobbing her little heart out. “I’ve been awake for so long and you didn’t hear me crying,” she wailed. “I’m so sorry, sweetie,” I said, “but I don’t always hear you when the bedroom doors are closed. You can always come and wake me up if you need me. Or talk to Nova…” “But I was crying quietly so she wouldn’t wake up!” Lyra sobbed. Poor little sweetie…She was insisting that she’d been awake for hours, and that none of the ways of getting back to sleep were working. I came up with a kind of yoga body awareness/Goodnight Moon/Tomten routine: “Goodnight feet, you’ve walked around all day, and now it’s time to rest. Goodnight legs, you’ve ran and jumped and danced and climbed, and now it’s time to rest. Goodnight bottom, you’ve been a comfy seat for me all day, and now it’s your turn to rest… yada yada yada ending with head, ears, eyes and mouth. We went through it twice, and we were both groggy and yawning by the end…

Still, it was another half hour before it felt safe to shift her back to her own bed. Adam and Nova were both up and off early, but I let Lyra sleep until 8:30. I was expecting to be late, but somehow we made it on time. She’s not getting enough mum time these days — little Nova’s done her last two bedtimes. And we’re out tonight as well…

Went straight from the playground to a meeting with my engineering client to discuss the development report I submitted before Christmas. Felt underprepared as a result of last night’s rotten sleep, but it went okay, and I’ll be taking things forward…

Spent the afternoon finishing off some work for Adam, then it was a mad rush to get everyone fed and Lyra to her swimming lesson before the babysitter arrived at 6pm. Adam left Lyra at the changeroom door to get herself ready, and arranged with Alex’s nanny to drop her home afterwards.

By 6:25 we were powerwalking to the tube to catch a train to London Bridge. Our friend Gordon is appearing in a play called ‘Monkey Bars‘, which is currently at the Unicorn. It’s an interesting piece of work. Six adults delivering the childrens’ answers to a number of big questions. It really makes you listen in a way people often don’t to children. Went for a quick pint afterwards, and home by 10:15.

Sagra was busy ironing clothes when we arrived, and went I came upstairs there was a note from Nova on my pillow:

The authentic-looking letter is my history homework. I’ll put it in my bag tomorrow; it needs to dry.

Sagra did loads of housework. She emptied the dryig rack, scrubbed the stoe and shook out the crumbs in the toaster!

Love you lots, Nova

Her rate is higher than our more regular sitters, but it’s pretty sweet to come home to a tidy house and pile of fresh ironing…;-)

January 22, 2013

At drop-off this morning, Adam mentioned to the caretaker how some lower league football clubs are offering fans a free ticket if they show up to help clear the pitch. Apparently, the clubs are being swamped by volunteers. Half an hour later, there was an email from the school asking for parents to meet in the top playground for an hour’s snow shovelling. Even though there was no reward on offer, Adam felt obliged to turn up…;-)Since the weather has turned cold, Nova has got into the habit of making herself a cup of tea when she gets home from school. She also delivers one to Adam and me, wherever we are working, with a biscuit or piece of chocolate alongside. We’ve got that girl well trained…;-)

Had fun with the microscope this evening. Made a slide with a few drops of water from a vase of flowers that has been around a few day. Added a touch of food colouring then focused in on a bustling little world of single cell organisms, all busily going about their business. Some were like little doughnuts, others were more ‘wormy’, and they all looked as if they were engaged on important business, which perhaps they were…

I love this picture of my dad. It was taken in 1962 or 1963, which would make dad about 31 years old. He’s sitting on the back lawn of our Prince George house, when we still had that picket fence between our place and the Carmichael’s. Great shirt and sneakers — even his socks look pretty cool.

Actually, I’m always impressed with dad’s clothes in old photographs. He’s wearing a gorgeous buckskin jacket in another photo I like. That jacket is making some vintage clothing lover very happy if it’s still out there somewhere…

January 21, 2013

Woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow covering everything. Nova headed off to school at her usual time, but Lyra’s school opened an hour late to allow time to grit the playground.Brushed off the car when I got home, which was a surprisingly big job. Adam managed to get it up our hill and into the mechanic. Turns out the wiper motor is burned out and must be replaced. It’s supposed to cut out if the blades are frozen, but maybe it didn’t… £177 for the new one…:-(

Gave the bathtub a much needed cleaning the bathtub, which is one of my least favourite jobs. The tile grout was looking a bit manky, so I got after it with bleach and a toothbrush. Made the discovery that the brownish streaks in the porcelain I’d though immovable can be shifted with the toothbrush and limescale remover. Not sure how I feel about that discovery, as I now feel obliged to clean the effing thing, which will take ages…

Aside from tub scrubbing and snow clearing, I also fitted in stair hoovering, editing work for Adam, ferrying Lyra to school and drama class, grocery shopping, and cooking. A giddy round of pleasure it was being me today…;-)

Dinner was stirfry with chicken breast, so not strictly a “meatless Monday” meal, but one chicken breast between four people is true to the spirit if not the letter. Up to the school afterwards to rehearse one of my scenes — disgruntled pub customer swapping banter with the rude barman. By the time rehearsal was over, all my lines had been rewritten and by entrance and exit changed…

Caught the last fifteen minutes of Vegas dance rehearsal, arriving just in time to be captured stumbling through it on video, so we can use it to rehearse. Pretty sure I won’t be watching that — I know it would kill any forlorn hope that I am performing it with any competence whatsoever. And this is before I squeeze into the sexy Elvis costume…

January 20, 2013

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… While the snowfall was never heavy, it didn’t stop either, and by the end of the day several inches had accumulated. It was another home day. Nova never even got out of her nightie, though Lyra trooped off to a birthday party in the village in the afternoon.Made an impromptu pasta dish from the contents of the fridge — sausages peeled from their skins and sautéed with garlic and fennel seeds, pasta shells boiled with broccoli, and everything folded together with a splash of pasta water and a handful of grated parmesan. It turned really well, and somehow seemed to be greater than the sum of its parts. Followed it with an apple-rhubarb crumble, given a twist by adding lots of ground ginger to the topping.

Had a good phone visit with Wade and dad, who is happily getting over his nasty cold and jet lag at last…

January 19, 2013

Today was all about Alexia’s bat mitzvah. She’s a year older than Nova, but they have become friends through their book group. The car wipers still aren’t working, and our street hasn’t been gritted anyway, so Adam booked a mini cab to take him and Nova to and from the synagogue in Temple Fortune.I didn’t think the two-hour service would be much fun for Lyra, and also our friend Dave was dropping by for a visit, so we stayed behind. In the end, he cried off, wisely deciding to make tracks back to Exeter before the next snowfall arrives. Madebig pot of celeriac soup for lunch, and had a lazy afternoon of it. Spent a couple of hours on the sofa reading Wild, which I am loving.

Set off at 6:30 by cab for the bat mitzah party in Golders Green. Stood around for an hour or so eating delicious kosher canapés and sipping champagne (some of us were sipping faster than others…) before trooping into the hall for the sitdown dinner. There was an enormous horseshoe shaped table for all the kids. Lyra had one little friend there that she could sit with and Nova knew several of the girls.

We were on the table with four other couples from the school, so that was fun. Speeches were kept short and amusing, the food was good, the wine kept flowing, and we had a great time on the dance floor until it wrapped up at 11pm.

As these events go, it was a definite winner. First time I could honestly say I had fun at a bar/bat mitzvah…

January 18, 2013

There’s snow moving in from the west, generating much alarm in the media, panic buying in the shops and talk of school closures, probably by lunch. There are light flurries already, and I would go and get a few groceries myself, except I but can’t drive without functioning wipers.Had yet another dance rehearsal up at the church. I’m finally getting to grips with the steps, at least when I do them slowly. As predicted, Lyra’s school closed at 1:30. Nova was let out at 2pm, but had such an ordeal with the buses that a friend’s dad had to drive over and rescue them.

Adam got away from Nuremburg okay, but his connecting flight from Zurich was cancelled. It sounded like he would have to stay in a hotel overnight before being allocated an afternoon flight tomorrow. Instead, he dropped out of the accommodation voucher queue and managed to buy the last seat on the EasyJet flight leaving in 20 minutes. It required some smooth talking, but he’s the man for the sort of thing.

He landed at Gatwick and caught the Victoria Express, which promptly broke down. It was almost 2:30am by the time he finally made it home…

January 17, 2013

On a typical school morning, I wake Nova at 6:45am. She stumbles into our room for a quick hug before putting on her uniform and eating breakfast. She has to be prodded along at every turn, and no matter how short of time she is, she always manages to fit in a little reading. There is generally a lot of last minute remembering/searching for music books, homework, telephone, glasses, bus pass… When Adam is involved, there are inevitable cross words, before she finally yells goodbye and sets off by 7:30 to catch the bus.A few minutes before 8am, Lyra comes in. She burrows straight into bed for a “cozy cuddle” and little chat. After ten minutes or so, she hops up and goes to the loo, then we go upstairs for breakfast. She’s quite business-like about getting dressed, brushing her teeth etc. Any drama tends to be around her hair and how she wants it styled. But overall, it’s a pretty leisurely, yet efficien,t process. If Adam’s involved, there might be some yelling/tears at the shoes/coat/bookbag stage. But we’re always out the door by 8:45, and have never been late.

What strikes me as interesting is how utterly different those two 45 minute sessions feel….

Had a quiet day round the house — I like that sometimes. I did some tidying, and finished my Jo Nesbo novel. Things are looking pretty bleak for old Harry Hole, but I think there’s enough ambiguity in the ending to hope for another installment.

This evening, I got grumpy with the girls about the state of their room. I realise it’s a hard room to keep tidy. They’ve got a lot of stuff and there are two of them making the mess, but they could try just a bit harder…

Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes for dinner. I simplified the cream sauce even further, adding cream directly to the sauteeing meatballs, then flavouring it with a squirt of the veggie gravy concentrate I bought for veggie Thanksgiving.

Left Nova in charge of Lyra’s bedtime, and headed off for a dance rehearsal. The routine has progressed apace since I last rehearsed on Monday. It’s quite alarming, not to mention incredibly fast paced, and now there’s talk of doing it in high heels instead of boots…gak… 😉

January 16, 2013

Shouldn’t have had the sweet wine… Actually that’s a pretty sound rule to live your life by…:-( I should have taken nurofen before bed, and could have done without the cat waking me up before 6am. She’s very gentle about it, giving me the softest stroke on my cheek with the tip of her paw. It’s very sweet, but still…There was a horrific helicopter crash in Vauxhall this morning. They didn’t seem to know much of the mainstream news channels, so I turned to Twitter. I don’t generally bother with it much, but it comes into it’s own with breaking news.

Adam was booked on a flight to Nuremburg today. AirBerlin is in crisis due to some construction issues at Berlin airport, and his regular flight is no longer available. Instead, he was booked on a SwissAir flight, that had him crisscrossing the Alps to get to Germany. The change in flight times means he is going to be away for two nights.

At least he was flying out of City Airport. He was on his way there when news came that all there flights were cancelled, either because of the helicopter incident or maybe lingering fog. adidas managed to rebook him on a Lufthansa flight out of Heathrow, via Frankfurt…

Lyra went round to Alice’s after dinner. I made turkey burgers and slaw for Nova and me, which we didn’t have time to finish before we had to rush off to meet Lyra at the swimming pool. The bloody car was completely iced up, and the wipers seem completely frozen. I couldn’t get them working at any rate. Eventually I sprayed the windshield with de-icer, scraped away, wiped the slush off with my coat sleeve and roared off. It was a bit of a hairy drive, but we made it just in time…

January 15, 2013

Full steam ahead on the wine website work today, as I was seeing my clients this evening at a tasting event. The snow is largely gone, though there are patches of treacherous ice where slush has refrozen overnight.Took a break to deliver Lyra to ballet, then returned home for another stint of work, before heading off for a Spanish wine tasting evening in Camden Town. Adam was too busy to attend, so I went on my own. Ended up sitting between a Belgian financier, and a woman attending her first event hosted by Kiran and Adam. It used to be that most of the crowd were people we recognised from school, but it’s definitely expanding beyond that now.

The master of wine hosting the evening was interesting, and there were some lovely wines, particularly the Deliciousa manzanilla sherry and Sembro Ribera del Duero. The food was great too, and it was a nice opportunity to try the meatier end of the El Parador menu. Home about midnight…

January 14, 2013

Woke to snow this morning. A few inches have fallen in the night, covering the lawn and tracing the branches of the trees. A few more fell in the afternoon, beautiful, slow, fluffy flakes drifting down…I did some work on the wine website, breaking off to take Lyra to drama. Although it’s only a couple of degrees below zero, it felt pretty cold out there, with a biting wind. Lyra spent the whole walk pelting me with snowballs, which got old pretty fast, especially when I discovered snow was collecting and melting in my handbag.

Made mujedra — a rice-lentil dish — for dinner, with Greek yogurt and cucumbe on the side. The girls ate it without enthusiasm or complaint. It was pretty worthy fare, though the mound of fried onions stirred through it were pretty delicious.

Went to a dance rehearsal for my Vegas number. The costumes have arrived — an Elvis-inspired mini-skirt/cape, which caused great hilarity as we took turns trying it on. As the second tallest member of the troupe, that thing is going to be mightly short…

It looks exactly like this on me, honest!

January 13, 2013

Slow start this morning, much needed after the weekend’s festivities…
The cat was buzzing around like someone had slipped amphetamines into her crunchies. She does that sometimes, not sure what triggers it. 

Adam is wondering if something is up with her health. She’s certainly put on some weight the last couple of months, and is drinking more water. We know she can’t be pregnant, but perhaps diabetes? Personally, I doubt it. She fat, sleek, and energetic, and I think the water drinking is mainly about getting me to turn the tap on and off for her. Cats love nothing better than getting people to do things for them…

Nova made us coffee and breakfast in bed — very impressed with that effort. I was lying back sipping coffee and digesting when I suddenly remembered I had a panto rehearsal. Time for a quick mcmuffin, then off to the school to rehearse the opening scene. I join in singing the opening chorus, perform a tap-inspired dance routine, and deliver three lines, which are meant to be funny…

Made a blini bar for dinner, which was a big hit with everyone. Smoked salmon, chopped egg, caviar, creme fraiche, herring, chives. There were enough blini left that we broke out the raspberry jam and honey as well…

January 12, 2013

Received an interesting book in the post today — ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed — which I just happen to have read something about in the last few days. I’m assuming it’s from Margo, but will doublecheck…Feeling too tired to go for a run. Adam and Lyra made muffins for breakfast, the Nova headed down to Jackson’s Lane for her drama club. She’s also getting involved in an anti-bullying film, and it was 2:30pm before she was back again.

Actually it was quite nice to have Lyra to ourselves for the morning. We did some reading and drawing and piano practice, and she glowed from the full-on parental attention. To cap off a great morning for her, she lost her second tooth at lunch biting into a piece of cucumber.

It was a day for impromptu invitations. When we phoned to wish Oliver a happy birthday, Antonia invited us down for afternoon tea. Ten minutes later, Alicia called to ask us over for dinner. Then Evelyn phoned to see if Nova could go see the Hobbit with her, but by then we were all booked up…;-)

Walked down to Alicia’s with Pete, Pasc and Fay. It was the first time I’ve seen their beautiful new house. The kids settled down to watch Sherlock in their den, while we tucked into a lovely coq au vin. It was delicious and I ate too much. I’ve got to stop that, what with my Viva Las Vegas number looming…

Left about 11pm. Nova had crashed by then, and even Lyra was flagging. The girls went straight to bed when we got home, but Adam headed upstairs to watch his football highlights, promptly fell asleep in front of the telly and didn’t make it to bed until 3:30am, silly boy…;-)

January 11, 2013

Juliet and Hugh were coming round for dinner this evening, which meant tackling the housework, laundry, menu planning and Waitrose… Adam accompanied me on the grocery run — we never do that anymore, and it was sort of fun. Also very efficient. I have the girls well trained, but the two of us knocked a thirty item list off in about fifteen minutes, in spite of Waitrose being rammed with Jewish housewives trying to do their sabbath shop and make it home before sunset…Dinner was Peruvian seco with quinoa and roast veg, followed by apple crumble. The seco was a bit too hot, but I cooled it down by serving it with creme fraiche. Stuck to my resolution not to complement my own cooking, at least before anyone else does…;-)

Really nice evening, but would have liked to hear more about what Juliet is doing at the moment. I know she’s filming something in the Midlands, but we seemed to spend most of our time talking about schools, and Canada, and table tennis…

They left about midnight. We had a little dance in the kitchen before tackling the washing up — loving our funky new music player…!

January 10, 2013

The louse was finally dead when I checked the microscope this morning. So much for the idea lice can’t live long away from the warmth of a human body. That bugger survived poisoning, smothering in damp paper towel overnight in the bin, and drowning in a covered slide. Perhaps it was an exception — the Rasputin of the louse world…;-)Took Lyra to school then went for a little run. After Dad finished his packing, we had a late breakfast together, then it was time to go. After consideration, I opted to take a taxi instead of driving. It’s less stressful, and we got dropped off right outside the entrance, saving the half mile walk with dad’s enormous suitcase. Also, you don’t have to pay the exorbitant parking fees while you hang out.

Check-in took all of two minutes, not least because Adam had already booked dad in online. Hung out in the special assistance area for an hour or so before it was time for dad to be wheeled through customs. Oddly enough, the guys pushing the wheelchairs tended to be pretty old. When one fellow, who was definitely around dad’s age, staggered off with a robust woman in her sixties, it looked like they’d swapped roles as a joke…

It’s always sad to see dad go, and I was glad I was just getting on the tube and bury my head in a book rather than brooding all the long drive home. The Northern line was in disarray, and it was after 3pm by the time I got home…

We had Lyra’s friend Esther round for a playdate. She’s a sweet girl, and wrote Lyra a lovely letter over the holidays:

“Dear Lyra, I hope you had a good Christmas. I love your curly hair and your face and your upside down house. Love, Esther”

After dinner, Adam headed out to play table tennis. I got the girls in bed, then moped around on the sofa watching Law and Order and eating leftover Christmas chocolate…

January 9, 2013

Dad’s last day in the UK…:-( Fortunately he’s feeling a lot better today. He got up and dressed, ate his meals. and even ventured into the village for ginger biscuits and a last half pint at the Prince of Wales.Adam’s had the most bizarrely international day of work. In the last 24 hours, he has had five separate phone meetings with Vancouver, Tokyo, Helsinki, Delhi, and Nuremberg…

I fed the girls pesto pasta for dinner before Lyra’s swimming lesson. (Nova’s got a new, longer slot on Friday evenings now.) I made a us a fattoush salad from my new Jerusalem cookbook. Dessert was mango ice cream made from the tinned mango pulp we bought the other day.

I examined one of the headlice we’d combed from Nova’s hair yesterday under the microscope. I carefully transferred the louse to a slide, added a drop of water and positioned a cover slip on top. Imagine my surprise when I turned on the microscope and discovered the little bastard frantically waving its legs. It’s no wonder they can cling to hair — there are major claws on the little buggers. That medicated shampoo clearly isn’t doing much — I’ll have to try another product…

Went to my first dance rehearsal for this year’s panto. I’m in a Vegas-style number, performed to Viva Las Vegas. When I signed up, I didn’t realise I’d be doing it in high boots and an Elvis-style mini skirt…;-)

January 8, 2013

Lyra returned to school today. She was happy to see her friends, and they were certainly happy to see her…Dad seems to be feeling a bit better this morning. His heart rate is still too high, and doing extra beats, which he finds unsettling, but he didn’t take his pills yesterday or eat anything, so that’s likely affecting things…

For lunch we ate the rest of the celery soup and shared a ham and cheese bagel. Dad stayed up for a bit then took to his bed again. Nova has been quite worried about her gramp, texting us from school to check on how he’s doing.

She was supposed to get a haircut after school today, but the dreaded headlice have returned… We gave her a spraying and a thorough nitcombing before bed, and found lots of the little bastards…:-{

Dinner was Chinese chicken and rice. Dad couldn’t manage much of his chicken, and refused a slice of ginger cake. Most unlike him — he usually can’t resist anything with ginger…

January 7, 2013

Nova returned to school today. She was happy enough to be going back and skipped straight out of bed when Adam woke her up at 6:30am this morning. We’ll see how long that lasts…Lyra has an inset day — “Is it ‘insect’ day or ‘inset’ day?” she asked seriously. I took her to see the new Tinkerbell movie after breakfast, which was pretty good aside from a few serious logical inconsistencies in the plot. They didn’t seem to bother Lyra, which is the main thing…

Poor dad is feeling pretty rough. He’s come down with a cold, and has been coughing half the night. He stayed in bed all day, missing his morning meds and barely eating a thing. He requested a shot of vodka in the afternoon, which I brought him with slight misgivings. He has a theory that vodka cures food poisoning, which I can see some logic to, but less sure that it will have any impact on a virus. Maybe he just felt like some vodka…;-)

Celery soup and a orange ginger cake for dinner. I was distracted while cooking, and neither were up to my usual high standards(!) The slightly burnt onions contrasted horribly with the soft green colour of the soup, the cake sunk slightly in the middle and the cream cheese icing was goopy. The kids were very kind, and told me how tasty everything was, bless…

January 6, 2013

Epiphany, so long Christmas tree…
I made apple-cinnamon bran muffins for breakfast, after which we headed up to Ally Pally to go skating. The girls were pretty wobbly at first, especially Lyra, who has lost her confidence and was pretty fearful of falling. By the end of the hour, they were happily going around on their own, and very pleased about it…Checked out the Farmers Market, which was pretty underwhelming, as it generally is in January. Picked up carrots, celery, apple juice and bread, and bought ham and cheese galettes for the girls, and roast beef sandwiches for us. The guy making the sandwiches was incredibly disorganised, slow, fussy — you almost wondered if his sandwich making was some kind of spoof performance. Like maybe there was a camera somewhere filming high-octane Londoners endure this clown taking seven minutes (Adam timed him) to make a roast beef sandwich…

Doron and Antonia came round for afternoon tea with their kids. Polished off nearly all the remaining Christmas baking as well as the tin of gingerbread they’d brought. After they left, I got busy de-Christmasing the house while dad made a batch of clam chowder. Funny how no one is ever keen to help me undecorate the Christmas tree. That said, I don’t recall ever helping my mum do it either…

The clam chowder was a big hit with everyone, even Lyra who was initially unsure about the “chewy things”. Nova’s back to school tomorrow, so she spent a certain amount of time getting her books and gym kit ready, charging her phone, laying out her uniform etc, then had a long soak in the tub before bed.

Dad seems to be coming down with something. He wasn’t feeling great at the farmer’s market, and took himself off to bed straight after dinner. I brought him a cup of lemon-ginger tea and some cold tablets at bedtime. I hope he feels a little better tomorrow. It’s no fun flying with a cold…

January 5, 2013

Family outing to the Foundling Museum next to Coram Fields after breakfast. I’d tried to go with dad the last time he visited, but it was closed or something. I was even more keen after reading Jamila Gavin’s “Coram Boy”.I knew the story of Captain Coram who returned from a life at sea in the 1730s and established Britain’s first home for the care of impoverished and homeless children. I also knew that Handel was closely associated with the Hospital, and frequently performed his music in its chapel to raise funds. I hadn’t known that the artist Hogarth was also a trustee, and that he came up with the idea of having artists donate works to the Hospital, which were put on exhibition, in what became Britain’s first public art gallery.

Home for heuvos rancheros for lunch. Dinner was kedgeree made with a beautiful piece of Icelandic smoked haddock I’d picked up earlier in the week. Not a big hit with Lyra, but she managed enough to earn her lemon-blueberry shrikhand surprise for dessert…

After our daily episode of Fawlty Towers — the one with the German guests come to stay — we watched the start of the third season of Borgen. Great stuff…

January 4, 2013

Still persisting with my bedroom cleaning programme, I tackled the top drawer of my bedside table this morning. Came across a list of life ambitions I must have written some time in my late teens or early twenties, while I was still at university at any rate. Its too embarrassing to reproduce the whole thing here, but here are some of the things I have done:

• visit the Louvre
• travel through Europe
• learn to knit
• act in a stage play
• hear Faust performed in a great opera house
• visit Japan

And some that I haven’t:

• go spelunking
• read “War and Peace”
• write a novel
• sew a tailored white Irish linen suit (what was I thinking?!)

Spent a couple of hours going through one of Uncle Bernard’s family photo dvds with dad, noting who the various people were and jotting down some of the memories they evoked in him. Grandpa Horth was one of ten kids (nearly all of whom lived on Vancouver Island) and Grandma Horth was one of eight (nearly all of whom lived in the Okanagan). Given the amount of time we spent in both those places, it’s sad we didn’t get to know any of them, aside from Uncle Loe’s family…

Turkey enchiladas for dinner, with the last of the leftover turkey. It still smelled okay, but I cooked the hell out of it to be sure. Piping hot? Strains of “The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond” were wafting from the oven by the time I served it…;-)

Finally bought a Christmas present with the money dad gave us — a nifty digital radio with a built in phone/iPod docking station for the kitchen. We’ve been looking at wireless solutions as a way to get music in the kitchen while the kids are watching telly in the livingroom, but couldn’t find anything that matched our requirements…

January 3, 2013

The sleepover kids made it until about 8am, which wasn’t bad. It helped that they weren’t sleeping in the same bed. Made them a bowl of ‘bix and left them doing Hama bead shapes while I got myself organised. They had a lot of fun “elfing” themselves on the iPad as well, and did some pretty cute versions with photos of Cleo and stuffed toys.Made Vietnamese salad rolls for lunch — light, fresh, and a great antidote to all the holiday fare we’ve been eating. Nova wasn’t back from her sleepover yet, but we had no trouble polishing off nine of them between us — Lyra certainly held up her end…

Dad and I took the tube into the West End in the late afternoon to see “One Man Two Guvnors“, which was one of his Christmas presents. Dad treated me to dinner at Cote in St Martin’s Lane first, where we took advantage of the pre-theatre menu.

Afterwards, we cut across Trafalgar Square, checking out the 20m Christmas tree that Oslo bestows on London each year in thanks for Britain’s support of Norway during the Second World War.

We both loved the play, which was extremely funny. It’s a remake of a commedia dell’arte play from the 1700s set in 1960s Brighton. One of those stories where sisters are disguising themselves as brothers, engagements are threatened due to misunderstandings, and it all comes good in the end… The 86-year-old waiter working his first shift is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time…

Walked back through Leicester Square, which was looking very lovely after its recent facelift, especially with the balls of fairy lights hanging from the trees. Home 11pm, just time for a little nightcap before bed…;-)

Grandpa Ed in Leicester Square

January 2, 2013

Poor little Lyra had an accident in her bed last night — not a small accident either… One that entailed an immediate shower, bed stripping two loads of laundry, carpet cleaning and hours of airing out their bedroom. She seems to feel completely fine, so no idea where that came from…Had an interesting morning creating little pastries from random leftovers in the fridge — mushroom paté turnovers, sausage rolls, mini cheesy potato pies. Had a little sample plate for lunch, along with some fresh veggies and the last of the vacherin.

Both girls had sleepovers yesterday. Nova headed down to Etta’s and Alex came round to ours. Even when we don’t have guests in the flat, it works well to take a one-out/one-in approach to sleepovers. The little girls changed into their pyjamas straightaway, and constructed a disco/den in the bedroom before dinner.

Swedish meatballs with cream sauce, boiled potatoes, green beans and lingonberry jam went down well with the kids. “I love everything on this plate!” Lyra announced happily. Made so many meatballs I was able to freeze a batch as well.

Although I let them stay up until 9pm, they were still in high spirits after lights out, and it was after 10:30pm before the animated chatter, singing, toilet visits, and requests for water petered out…

January 1, 2013

Happy New Year! Woke to sunshine and a bright blue sky — a nice start to the year…As lentils are meant to be a lucky food to eat at the new year, I made a chestnut lentil soup for lunch. Didn’t look like much, and the taste wasn’t anything to get excited about either. Not bad, just sort of meh…

Drove to Neasden to visit the Shri Swaminarayan temple, which is apparently the largest classical Hindu temple outside of India. I don’t know if it’s always so busy, or if 1 January is significant in the Hindu religion as well, but the place was heaving. The wooden carvings in the haveli and the marble work in the mandir itself are astonishing, all the more so when we discovered that the whole thing had been built in three years.

Checked out the “Understanding Hinduism” exhibition, and the food shop as well, where we picked up a few things. Changed our plans for dinner to an Indian meal — rice, leftover turkey curry, saag paneer, raita, the samosas and kachori, followed by fruit salad and shreekand for dessert. Delicious!