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Nova’s recording studio party
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Swaminarayan school fair
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Rabbit and Panda
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St Michaels infants’ sports day
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July 31, 2013And the preparations continue… There is always so much to do before a big trip like this. My master list extends to five pages. Unusually, I’ve started the packing early, which means the kids are unable to find favourite tops, underwear etc…I’m sad to be leaving the garden at this stage. The raspberries are abundant at the moment — a large bowlful every day — and the kale and green beans are just ready, and tomatoes starting to ripen. I hope the people we’ve arranged to do the watering while we are away will actually pick things this time. I hate returning to find cucumbers and beans withered on the vine, and rotten tomatoes on the ground…:( Pat and Adam arrived from Canada this afternoon. They will stay a couple of days before heading to Italy for a two-week music camp. In fact, we’ll be heading out a bit before them. Pat treated us to a slap-up curry from Kiplings, and I made a raspberry pavlova for dessert using today’s crop. |
July 30, 2013I was just heading out the door for my morning run when the rain started pelting down. I immediately ditched my plan, but little Lyra is made of sterner stuff and was determined not to miss her multisport activity day at the school.For myself, I substituted a shopping trip to Brent Cross with Nova instead. I had some things to pick up for our trip, and Nova was keen to part with her pocket money at Claire’s Accessories and H&M. The rain was still chucking it down when we left the mall two hours later. I was dismayed when the key fob that unlocks the car refused to work. Initially, I thought the battery on the fob had gone, but eventually worked out it was the car that wasn’t responding. Arranged for the AA to come out, and retreated back into John Lewis for some lunch while we waited an hour. The guy started by jimmying a window and opening the back door. “So where’s the key?” he asked when he finally got it open. “Right here,” I said. “Then why didn’t you open the door with it in the first place?” he asked, pointing to the keyhole in the passenger door. Because I was too gormless to notice it… In any event, the battery was completely flat — a result of me leaving the lights on when we parked the car. I sat there feeling like a complete muppet, revving the engine because the battery doesn’t charge when it’s simply idling. After fifteen minutes of that, he pronounced it safe to drive home. The guy advised me to drive or rev it for a good hour to fully recharge the battery, so had another half hour of revving at home before I dared turn it off. Definitely one of my “blonder” mornings… |
July 29, 2013Poor little Lyra has an extreme reaction to mosquito bites, also known as “skeeter syndrome”. She was bitten on her foot two nights ago, and yesterday evening her whole foot was hot and swollen to the touch. I put some anti-itch cream on it before bed, but she woke in the middle of the night crying because of it.This time I gave her a large dose of antihistimine, which seemed to calm her. Gave her another dose before she headed off to multisport activity morning at the school. Even so, we had to loosen the laces on her left trainer so her foot could squeeze in. Makes me a little nervous about the inevitable bites in Canada — we’ll have to keep her covered with insect repellent… I think we must have a source of stagnant water nearby, probably the school next door’s abandoned outdoor pool. When I was working in the veggie patch yesterday afternoon — cutting back old raspberry canes — I was being eaten alive. No more than an annoyance for me — most of my mosquito bites last ten minutes at most — but it was pretty unusual for London to see them at those levels. Mac ‘n’ cheese and peas for dinner — a firm family favourite. Still managing to cook on without a trip to the grocery store, though I will have to pick up coffee and dishsoap tomorrow. Just bunged everything into the dishwasher this evening, which isn’t a bad way to go…;-) |
July 28, 2013Adam had a massive lie-in this morning, lucky dog… I kept thinking he was awake and starting conversations, only to get gibberish in reply. Eventually, I just gathered up my running stuff and tiptoed out. Told the girls not to disturb him and went for my run.I usually avoid running two days in a row, but now that my ankles are up to strength, I’m going to be a bit more ambitious for myself. I felt pretty good throughout, especially as it was noticeably cooler after the last night’s thunderstorm. Some thoughts while running:
As to the second question, I’m sure there’s some solid sociological reason to do with the automobile, or the immigrant psyche or something, but it hasn’t occurred to me yet… Lyra learned to tie her shoes today! She worked away at it, stubbornly refusing help after the initial lesson, until she finally mastered it. With Lyra, it can take a certain amount of time for things to “stick”, so I’ll have to make a point of practicing it with her every day for awhile, until it’s completely ingrained. |
July 27, 2013Got a good night’s rest and ‘then the world seemed none so bad’… Even felt mildly enthusiastic about the prospect of a long run. Decided against going too long — a 10km was plenty to be getting on with.Family trip to Camden market after breakfast for a bit of shopping. It was crowded, but not heaving like I remember it. And so full of tourists — Italian boys, German teenagers, groups of bewildered Chinese. We wanted to get a few things for Canada, and also I was looking for a pair of sandals (no luck).
Ate lunch in a bar/restaurant overlooking the lock before catching the bus back home. According to Adam, he was going to Camden on his own when he was about Nova’s age. Don’t think I’d be up for her doing that just yet. Even in the daytime, it’s still pretty edgy, and the traffic is pretty heavy and confusing as well. I’d rather she started her solo expeditions with Brent Cross… For dinner we had nachos, bean salad and sliced chicken breast. The bean salad was an “epic fail” as Nova would say. Lyra hated it, Nova picked at it gamely, and even Adam and I didn’t like it much. Back to the drawing board on that one… Big electrical storm this evening that broke the sweltering, ovenlike heat we endured all day… |
July 26, 2013A bit annoyed with myself for staying up so late making merry… A run was completely out of the question, but two cups of strong coffee and a brace of Anadin got me on my feet.Lyra is keen to learn chess, so I found a promising looking app for the iPad and we had a go. I’ve never had any chess instruction, aside from learning how the pieces move, so it was interesting for me too. There’s a lot of a six-year-old to remember, but I was impressed with her attacking instincts. There are a couple of boys in her class who can play, so there’s no reason she won’t get the hang of it if she keeps practicing. In penance for yesterday’s excesses, I spent the afternoon giving our bedroom a thorough cleaning, dusting everything, washing surfaces, hanging pictures that have been leaning for years, etc. Took hours, but looked great when I was finished. Vietnamese chicken salad and raspberry pavlova with our own raspberries for dessert… |
July 25, 2013Woke up at 6:30am as per usual — I hope that wears off soon… Had a nice day at home with the girls. I gave their bedroom a good sorting, did some work in the garden, and played a few rounds of Sentence Says. Lyra did surprisingly well, coming up with some very imaginative sentences.Used lots of produce from the garden for the girls’ dinner: Japanese rice steamed with our kale, green beans and broad beans, with raspberries for dessert. Left Nova in charge and went out for dinner at the McCabes, who are parents at Lyra’s school. We’ve known them for years, but have never been round to their house before. Steven is a builder by trade, and has done an amazing job of converting their house. Great food, lively conversation, and a lot of white wine, and somehow it was 2am before we knew it… |
July 24, 2013Finally, it’s the last day of school for both girls. We are all so ready for a break — this term seems to have gone on forever…Pretty good run this morning — the weather’s a bit cooler, which makes a big difference. My weekday run is three laps around Highgate Woods, which is around 5.5km. Psychologically, three laps works for me. The first lap slips by really easily. On the second one, I hit the half way point and can also tell myself “only one more time for this hill” etc, as I go along. The last one, I’m always motivated to achieve a certain time, depending on what I’ve done to that point. I think four laps would be a different ball game, even if it was exactly the same distance… Spent the morning doing some editing for Adam that had a deadline looming. Nova’s school broke up at noon, but she’d arranged to go for sushi with some friends before coming home. Picked up Lyra at 2pm. She was very blasé abou it being her last day. Some of the kids were tearful and hugging Miss Clifford, but Lyra just scootered away without a backward glance. I gave Miss Clifford a hug — I think she’s been a good teacher for Lyra. Family dinner at Zizzi, which is becoming a family tradition on the last school day. Other families obviously feel the same way. Two of her classmates were there, as well as a few other families from the school. Beautiful sky this evening…
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July 23, 2013Dessert wine, always a bad idea. I can’t recall a morning when I woke up and said to myself, “Man I’m glad we had that bottle of dessert wine last night!” Happily, Nova pretty much took care of herself, leaving me to get Lyra organised. Adam dropped her at school on his way to the tube. I met my friend Lizzie for a coffee in the village. Her daughter Ella is at Nova’s new school in the year above, so is one of the few people I can talk HBS with. It’s amazing how quiet the village is now that the two private schools have broken up. It’s practically a ghost town… Spent the morning working out how to migrate this website to a new location. I’ve pretty much outgrown the free webspace that comes with our broadband package, plus I’m paying for an enormous chunk of web space where I develop stuff for clients, most of which is currently unused. Not as straightforward as you might assume, and I ended up learning more about hosting, subdomains v subdirectories, file permissions etc than I ever wanted to, but I got it working eventually. Fixed the girls boiled eggs and toast for dinner, then left Nova in charge and headed down to Exmouth Market for dinner at Moro with Adam and his two colleagues from India. Moro was as buzzy as ever, and the food terrific. I went for the marinated sardine salad, followed by the grilled lamb and fattoush, before sharing the malaga raisin ice cream with Adam. Good to meet another one of Adam’s new colleagues, and put a face to the names he bandies about daily. David is a year older than me, and hails from High Prairie in northern Alberta, so we had a certain amount in common. Home about 11pm… |
July 22, 2013Final week of school, hallelulah! We are all soooo ready for a break from the school routine… Adam headed off super early to pitch to AIDS Alliance in Brighton this morning. It’s a big deal — the two directors in India have come over specially for it — and will be a real coup if they get it.Nova had so much going on this morning, it was a real challenge getting her out the door by 7:30am with all her bits and pieces — flute, performing outfit, present for her friend Hena, a packed dinner… She isn’t one for getting her self organised the night before, or even mentioning what she needs. She’s performing a version of the klezmer piece with in a septet, and playing the flute this time… Dropped Lyra off at school and went for a run in Highgate Woods. It was like a sauna in there, with all last night’s rain turning to steam. You could actually see it rising from the ground. I’ve broken down and bought one of those doughnut water bottles you carry when you run, and the hand holding was slick with sweat. I did my slowest time in ages, but still, I’m glad I did it. An impromptu sort of day. Veronika popped in for coffee and fruit salad in the morning. Next thing, I got an email from our friend Marni. She and Trevor are visiting from Vancouver for a few days, and wondered if we were free tonight. They came round for dinner I kept things simple: tomato bruschetta, artichoke lemon pasta, and they brought dessert. It was very nice to see them — we miss not having them here in London. Nova’s year attended a performance of Julius Caesar in Covent Garden this evening, returning home just before midnight. Shades of things to come… |
July 21, 2013Woke pretty early, to a spectacular symphony of snoring wafting across the field, sawing right through the earplugs i’d thought to bring. Fortunately, the coffee had been put on timer, and there was hot coffee ready in the hut before too long. Knocked back a cup or so,then started packing up. This is an event that’s pretty much over when the morning comes, and there’s no point in hanging around…
Made a couple of trips up to the car with our gear before we needed to wake Lyra so we could dismantle the tent. We’re getting pretty good at it, and a couple of people commented on our efficiency at getting the thing up and down. You can certainly tell the people who camp more frequently than once a year… Back home by 8:30, and unpacked by 9am. Fixed a late breakfast of heuvos rancheros for everyone, after which Adam headed off to Princes Risborough to collect the diningroom chair he bought on eBay. No idea where Princes Risborough is, aside from beyond the M25, but rather him than me… I hung out with the girls, did my watering, and got Lyra organised for Tyler’s birthday party. We didn’t have anything suitable in the presents box (which is more oriented towards girls), so we wrapped up her pop-up animal atlas, which has never once been opened. The heat has ramped back up again. I could feel it burning through the soles of my flipflops when I walked her up there. Gave in and had a little nap when I got home, before fixing another one of those alleged 30-minute meals from Pasc’s cookbook. This one — beef stirfry, dandan noodles and a hibiscus cooler — took about 36 minutes. If I can’t make these meals in 30 minutes, not many people can. The kids were less keen on this one, especially Lyra who informs me that she likes “hot-spicy but not strange-spicy.” Message received… Overall score, 72%… Watched the second episode of Top of the Lake. I’m getting worried about that clean-cut policeman who’s cosying up to the heroine. Definitely don’t trust that one… |
July 20, 2013Happy 60th birthday, Wendy! Certainly hope that I look as good and am as fit as you are when I hit that milestone.
Had such a great sleep last night that I decided to go for another run. It was a bit fresher this morning, which made a nice change. Did my Heath loop, which is about 5.5 miles. Took my just over an hour, or 11-minute miles, which is okay. I felt good throughout, aside from that final brutal hill at about 50 minutes. My blister is still irritating me a bit — not sure what to do about that… Adam and I left the girls and went off to Waitrose together. It’s the school camp out today, and we needed to pick up some supplies. It was nice to do something together — we see a lot less of each other now that Adam works out of the house most of the time. Apparently, there is a possible role for me in his company. We’re going to talk about it next week when the two partners from India are in town. I’m flattered, but not sure how I feel about it. I’m interested to hear what they have to say, and it’s definitely something to consider… Headed over to the school just before 5pm. We were early enough to nab a parking spot, which will make it much easier to load up again in the morning. Troy transported our stuff down to the field on his new tractor mover, and we got busy pitching up. Spent a very mellow evening drinking beer and eating Doritos with forty other families at the school. The SMSA organised a pay barbeque, so it was sausages and burgers for dinner. Nova hooked up with a former schoolmate, and we barely saw them all evening. Lyra found a little posse of friends as well (including her former partner in crime Lottie, who’s visiting from Norway). I gave up on the idea of settling her for bed before the midnight curfew… |
July 19, 2013In spite of a full night’s sleep, the whole house slept in. It was down to Lyra to sound the alarm when she came in at 7:05. Nova was a little stressed at the late start, but scurried around getting herself ready, and was out the door at pretty much her usual time. Because of the warm weather, the girls have been advised to come to school in their own clothes, which seems sensible.Went for a run after dropping Lyra off. It was already pretty hot — I really should try to get out a little earlier, but I don’t see it happening while the girls are still in school. There’s a lot to do around here in the mornings… Definitely less productive in the heat, at least where work is concerned. Insofar as I feel like doing anything, I feel like gardening. Encouraging the jasmine that froze a few winters back has finally rewarded me with a few little blossoms. Made sake martinis for our Friday cocktail. They were lovely in their chilled glasses. Dinner was Japanese curry and rice, with Italian stuffed peaches for dessert. Watched an episode of the new Sherlock as we ate. I quite enjoy them, but still managed to fall asleep. I am so sleepy these days, which is probably the heat. I seem to run out of gas by about 10pm. This evening, Adam and I went to bed at the same time as Nova. We did a bit of our cryptic crossword, and turned the lights out by 10:30pm. Rock ‘n’ roll,,,;-) |
July 18, 2013I’m so tired these days… the heat seems to be sucking all the energy out of me… Made some progress on our Canada trip today, booking a berth on the Inside Passage ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, lining up a hire car, and a hotel in Port McNeill. Turned to TripAdvisor for advice on where to book, but it is full of such whingers that I eventually gave up in disgust and just went with my instincts…Our apple trees have this strange sticky, white fluff appearing where we pruned it last year. A spot of web research suggests that it is likely an aphid infestation. The best way to deal with it is by painting on a particular insecticide, but I’ve decided to start with the low-impact suggestion of scrubbing the sites with a wire bristled brush… Finished reading my library book — The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell — which is due back today. I absolutely loved it, reinforcing my ambition to read the rest of David Mitchell’s novels, and also to travel to Japan with the girls. Had Mia back to play with Lyra after school. They got on really well together. I could hear them giggling away through multiple games of Elefun, and they had a marathon session with the Polly Pockets as well. It’s interesting how certain children always want to play with particular toys when they visit. Lyra had requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner — a strange choice in this heat, but I granted her wish. It turns out that Mia, although half Italian, is not keen on “sauce”. I served her up plain pasta and cheese with a single meatball on top. Lots left over — we’ll all be eating it for a while… |
July 17, 2013“I want to see the bits under arm,” Lyra said in bed this morning. “Hey, no bits!” I said, raising my arm, “where did they go?” “I think they’re on your lip, mum,” she informed me. Cheers for that…;-)Got the gardener to lop an enormous branch off the cedar tree this afternoon. It crashed to earth with an almighty thump, flattening my rhubarb and shearing off one of my new raspberry posts, but I think it was worth it for the extra light it will introduce into the veggie patch, We had Alex back for a playdate after school. Those pair always have some big idea they were keen to carry out. This week it was a spooky dress-up session. In spite of the 30° heat, they appeared at the dinner table in full length scratchy nylon dresses and wigs, complete with face make-up.
Went for a run with Lynne after I fed them. It was pretty hot for running, but the pond felt all the nicer afterwards. There’s no doubt that the ponds are popular with a younger set than they used to be. When I first started coming, there were a few thirty-somethings like me, a gaggle of elderly gals in those flowery bathing hats, and that was about it. Made a couple of salads for Adam and me : a tricolore thing and one with beetroot and beet greens from the garden in a horseradish dressing. Tried to watch a film about the Challenger disaster starring William Hurt afterwards, but I couldn’t stay awake… |
July 16, 2013Happy anniversary, Greg and Wendy! Married in 1976… so that makes 37 years and counting…Adam headed off first thing for some work commitment or other. Instead of hustling Lyra out of the house for gymnastics, I let her sleep in. I’m pretty sure morning clubs have finished for the school year — they’ve finished for her at any rate…;-) Veronika came round to collect the old chest of drawers from the girl’s room. After she left, I took my laptop outside and tried to work on the patio table, but it was too damn hot. Hard to read the screen as well. I moved indoors again and tried the flat, but that wasn’t a success either. It’s just too hot, period… According to Nova, her flute exam went okay — so that’s good news. Probably have to wait until September to find out whether she’s passed… |
July 15, 2013Happy 33rd birthday, Landyn! I’ve done some nice work on one of the side beds over the last few days — it’s looking really good, with the red hot poker in full bloom, the lobelia flourishing, and Lyra’s sunflower towering over everything. Nova did a double flute practice today, as she’s got her grade one exam tomorrow. It wasn’t looking too promising a couple of weeks ago, but the pieces are sounding better now, and she’s feeling reasonably confident. If she’d practiced this diligently all year, she’d probably sound like James Galway by now..;-) Started watching a new crime drama this evening — Top of the Lake, which is directed by Jane Campion, and stars Elisabeth Moss. She’s putting together a nice body of quality television work, what with West Wing, Mad Men and now this. The thick New Zealand accents were hard going at first, but my ear eventually grew attuned to them… |
July 14, 2013Got up to see Bruce off before his taxi arrived at 6:45am. “What’s happened by the door?” Adam said, pointing to a mound of carpet tufts and a large circular hole that went straight through to the floorboards. We’re pretty sure that a squirrel must have climbed in through the window while we slept, then attempted to burrow through the floor to get out again. Adam says he heard something strange in the night, but didn’t bother to investigate. Searched the room pretty thoroughly, but the little bastard must have found his way out eventually…
Made a batch of muffins before heading out for a run. It was already pretty hot, which I think affected my time, but completing it was the main thing. All of us were keen for a lazy day — well not lazy so much as home based. Adam was working on a report, and I had endless house stuff to do, though I did break off to take the kids for some riding/scootering on the parade ground. Afterwards, I got the sprinkler going for Lyra, and she had a grand time running through it and shrieking. Cooked a meal from Pasc’s 30-Minute Dinners cookbook that she lent me the other day. I tried the pasta with ground sausage sauce, salad and frangipane tarts. I followed Jamie’s recommendation to assemble all the ingredients and equipment you need beforehand, and hit the timer when I was ready to start. It took me more like 38 minutes, but then I didn’t have tart shells that were ready to use (I cut mine from a sheet of pastry). Also my mini-chopper wasn’t up to the task of puréeing six sausages, so I lost a few minutes there… The food was a great success with everyone, receiving 10’s from Lyra and me, and 9’s from Nova and Adam. Nova is holding out the hope that one of the other meals is even more delicious and wants to keep her top score in reserve. The frangipane tarts were especially yummy… On the down side, cooking in that fashion generates a mountain of washing up, as there’s no time to do it as you go along. The new Vampire Weekend album, which I can’t get enough of, provided the soundtrack to a good thirty minutes of dishes… |
July 13, 2013Hectic morning getting things ready for Nova’s party — making sandwiches, washing fruit, filling the trug with drinks and ice, finding candles and napkins etc. I’ve deliberately kept it simple on the food front — crisps instead of veggies, store-bought cupcakes instead of baking — but there seemed to be plenty to do.We needed to be at the recording studio at 10:45am, and just about made it on time. At least we arrived before the first party guest showed up. Once the eight girls turned up, Nina shepherded them into the live room and got them set up with microphones.
Nova and her friends had selected four tracks to perform — Rolling in the Deep (Adele), Chiquitita (Abba), When I Grow Up (Matilda) and Troublemaker (Olly Murs) — and after a couple of practice runs, they started recording actual tracks. We hung out in the control room and watched through the little window. Things got a little chaotic for a while when the main sound engineer was busy with another client. When he returned, he wisely suggested a break for food, which seemed to give the girls the burst of energy needed to finish their tracks. Fifteen minutes after the party ended he’d burned us a cd. Listened to it on the drive to the summer fair at the Swaminarayan school in Neasden. Hena’s parents had invited us, and we checked out the food and market stalls together. There were rides for the kids, and entertainment scheduled for later. The girls got their hands hennaed and we each bought a ridiculously cheap shalwar kameez. Well worth a visit… Back home, Adam had a little snooze in his underpants. I bustled around tidying the house, circulating a link to the music files, and even showing Bruce the basics of WordPress before Elsie arrived to babysit. I hadn’t had time to fix the girls dinner, but Elsie offered to make them eggs on toast. We had tickets to see Othello at the National, and got a nasty surprise when we realised that the show started fifteen minutes earlier than we’d thought. And another one when I remembered that there’s no Northern Line this weekend. Fortunately, we were able to grab a mini-cab in the village, which got us there in time. Just as well… we’d probably have missed the start if we’d taken public transit… It was an amazingly good performance, and as always, I was struck by what a great place the National is to see theatre. Purpose built, comfortable seats, controlled temperature (unlike those old West End theatres, which are saunas in the summer). The programme cost only £3, and was full of interesting articles, the generous G&Ts used quality tonic water and were served in a nice glass, and there was lots of room to sit on the balcony outside overlooking the Thames. But back to the play… Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear were both electric, and the dialogue crackling. Setting in it a modern day army barrack was a great idea, and brought out the military context of the play, which I’d never noticed before. What a tragedy it is — how unfortunate Othello is to put his trust in a miserable snake like that Iago and have him dripping poison into your ear the whole time. I’ve never felt sympathy for him the way I did this evening…
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July 12, 2013Stonking hangover this morning — damn that rosé…;-) “I want to see the bits under arm,” Lyra said in bed this morning. “Hey, no bits!” I said, raising my arm, “where did they go?” “I think they’re on your lip, mum,” she informed me. Cheers for that…;-) Dinner at Kiran and Birgit’s — barbequed lamb and salads in the garden, accompanied by delicious wine as always. Adam hung in there until midnight, when he starting mumbling nonsense at the table. Took that as our cue to leave…;-) I ended up driving us home. I shouldn’t have really, but it’s a funny distance — twenty-five minutes to walk, and five minutes to drive. It’s not really a safety issue, as I met only two cars the entire journey, but still… |
July 11, 2013None of us felt like getting up this morning, resulting in a mad rush when we finally did… Adam was having a work crisis, the result of forgetting to submit some final amends to his designer in Vancouver last night. Nova has her grade 3 singing exam, and needed to be driven with her singing teacher to Southgate for 9:23am (yes, they are that precise). Lyra needed to be sherpa’d to school with her various bags, instruments, food, water and scooter. I had a new client coming round for an initial meeting and the house was a tip…We got there, but it was a fraught hour or so. One of the best ways I can be of assistance to Adam in his new job would be to beef up my InDesign and Illustrator skills, so I can do those last-minute design tweaks when necessary. Having a good grounding in Photoshop and Quark is helpful, and I got most of the way there, before he managed to get someone in India to do it. Dinner with Bruce at 500, our new fave local restaurant. I went for the beef ragu pasta this time, which was delicious. Straight off to book club when we got back, leaving Adam to put the kids to bed for a change. As usual, only a few of us had read the book, and we spent only five minutes talking about it. We spent more time discussing the Baz Luhrmann film (which I’ve yet to see) and the final of this season’s Apprentice (which I’m not watching). Still, fun was had and rosé drunk, so a good evening overall… |
July 10, 2013After Carol and Scott set off for Heathrow at 6:30am, Adam and I went straight to the flat and turned it round for our friend Bruce, who’s arriving later today. Carol had done a great cleaning job, which was a big help.
No chance of a run before Kiran turned up for a meeting on the architecture website. I managed to get the template options paper finished in the nick of time (with a little help from Adam) and was largely happy with where I’ve got to on this project. Kiran had just left when the doorbell rang again. I assumed he’d forgotten something, but there was Bruce on the doorstep. He’s spending a few days with us at the end of a tour of the Baltic states and Norway. Great to see him… Reading The Great Gatsby for my book group later this week. We’re finally doing a book that I love. Many of those sentences were like seeing old friends again… The garden centre in the village has recently been sold (to be redeveloped for housing no doubt), and were having a massive closing down sale. Basil texted me about it, and I hopped in the car and headed down. What a madhouse — all the stock was at least 50% off, and it was swarming with customers dragging enormous trolleys laden with plants. It reminded me of a stream of cutter ants busily carrying their enormous portions of greenery… Another day, another school music concert… Tonight was Anita’s concert at Lyra’s school. As soon as Lyra returned from her swimming lesson, we headed up there with her hair still wet. Although we were a bit late, we were still in time to see about forty separate performances. Eventually Lyra was called on to play her Morning Prelude piece. Nova — who studies both singing and piano with Anita — opted to perform a German lieder. |
July 9, 2013I’m just too stretched at the moment with work, and friends staying and everything going on at school. I was dismayed when Nova mentioned this morning(!) that it was her summer concert tonight, and that she was performing three separate times. That one somehow slipped through our valiant attempts at diarising this madhouse…I was already committed to accompanying Lyra’s class trip to Highgate Woods, which kept me busy from 10am to 2pm. It was really good fun actually, and meant a lot to Lyra. It’s also a chance to get to know the teacher and other children a bit better. They are a lovely class, aside from one little guy who’s clearly suffering from “little shit syndrome”…;-)
A new girl has joined the class this week. Her name is Saya, and she appears to be mixed race. When I noticed an Afro-Caribbean woman among the accompanying adults, I made a point of speaking to her, asking how Saya was settling in, where she’d joined from, and suggesting a playdate. She seemed a little vague and unresponsive — which wasn’t surprising when I discovered later that she isn’t Saya’s mother, but the new teaching assistant…;-) Took Carol and Scott out for dinner at the Two Brothers, for what many consider the best fish and chips in London. As I’m no longer able to digest battered fish, I had mine cooked in matzo meal — still delicious. Adam dropped me at Nova’s school afterwards, and I slipped into the audience. The concert was already underway, but Nova hadn’t performed yet, fortunately. The standard of music is truly excellent in the school — the range and talent is something else. Nova appeared twice with the concert orchestra, and again with the year seven choir. I loved it all, but the klezmer piece the orchestra played (without scores) was really something else… |
July 8, 2013Went for a run after drop-off. I’ve slacked off a bit on my training the last few weeks, and can definitely feel the difference…:-(Lyra’s violin teacher held a little concert at the school after lunch with all her pupils. She teaches three children in Lyra’s class — Lyra, Archie and Beatrix — and they performed a couple of numbers together. It was pretty cute and better than I expected… Aside from those distractions, I put in my first decent day’s work in a good while. I made more progress on the engineering site, worked on my architecture site report, and actually launched the botox site. Even sent out the invoice…;-) |
July 7, 2013Pretty much every morning, Lyra climbs into bed with me for “morning cuddle” — a lovely way to start the day. Lately, she’s been obsessed with pushing my “buttons”… Sometimes I pretend that they do things, like make in tongue stick out and in, or open and close my eyes, which she finds endlessly amusing. She’s still very breast oriented — when she feels sad or anxious tendency, she’ll often stick her hand down my top for security…Made a trip to dump to finally dispose of the big pallets my two tons of earth were delivered on. Back home, I spent ages clearing up the holly leaves on the forecourt, paths, and front beds. No idea why the trees keep dropping the nasty things. They hurt like crazy if you step on one, and are no fun to pick up either… The Wimbledon men’s final this afternoon — Andy Murray’s date with destiny. I didn’t think Djokovic was on top form — more mentally than physically. A straight sets victory saw him win it in style. Momentous stuff… Fattoush salad and strawberry rhubarb sorbet for dinner, which we ate in the garden. I love eating outside — it is so much cooler, and it gives me a chance to appreciate the result of all my efforts. The roses in particular are beautiful at the moment…
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July 6, 2013Lyra is very into the tooth fairy at the moment. She seems to be getting a lot of fairy information that I’m not party to (perhaps from the girls at school?) about the fairy world hierarchy, what fairies do with the teeth they collect, the existence of bad tooth fairies, etc.She’s finally received a second note from her fairy the other night. It turns out Lyra’s tooth fairy is called Dentina, and is full of admonishments to brush carefully and take good care of her teeth. Lyra was very chuffed, and keeps her notes (and even the money she’s received) safely in her little ladybird jewellry box. (Not that safely, actually… She managed to lose one of her precious little notes this morning, and I spent ten minutes looking for a miniscule piece of paper before I eventually found it in her white bedding.) Nova and I did the Race for Life on Hampstead Heath this morning. It’s Nova’s third year running; I’ve lost track of how many I’ve done. I’m pretty sure I did the first one ever shortly after moving to the UK. It was in Battersea Park, an there were only a couple of hundred entrants. At that time there was only the one race; nowadays, there are hundreds of races held across the UK each summer. We left the house a bit late and had to power walk to the starting point — a good couple of miles. Got there with ten minutes to spare — definitely didn’t need to join in the mass calisthenics to warm up. There was an attempt this year to organise the 2000+ contestants into runners, joggers and walkers. My aim was to be at either at the back of the runners or front of the joggers, but we ended up pretty near the front. So glad we did… We hadn’t gone a hundred yards before people started walking, and I’d say we still passed more people than passed us. With that sort of crowd, you can only run so fast anyway, unless you’re on a real mission. Anyway, I wouldn’t have wanted to run any faster than we did in that heat… Adam and Lyra were waiting at the finish line. Lyra is keen to do it as well, and there were a few kids her age participating as walkers. Personally, I’d rather wait until she’s old enough to run it. Nova was rising nine the first time, and it was a long distance at that age. Still, it will be amazing to run it with both my girls one day…
Watched and cheered the later runners as we cooled down. I was surprised to see a woman jog by in a sundress and sandals, carrying a large shoulder bag; and an enormously overweight woman who was running, not walking — all the more impressive when I noticed that she was wearing flipflops. Stopped for a swim in the ladies pond on the way home. Nova had to do her annual swimming test before she was allowed in. She earned a compliment on her breaststroke, and was granted permission to swim to the second set of rings this year. “Swimming in this pond brings me joy,” Nova said, a huge grin on her face. Adam and Lyra had headed up to the school fair by the time we got back. Nova joined them after lunch, while I stayed home and sorted out stuff in the house and garden. Barbequed pork loin for dinner, with a berry pavlova for dessert. Carol and Scott returned home from their Corfe Castle expedition, quaffed a martini, and headed straight out to Fabric, a nightclub in town. Impressive stamina, but rather them than me…;-) |
July 5, 2013Set the alarm for 6am so I could travel with Adam to Heathrow. Still no sign of his iPod, which is pretty frustrating, after all the time people have spent searching for it. Averted my eyes from the site of Adam rooting through one of the carefully packed bags, stirring it into a stew…The taxi arrived on time and we set off pretty much on schedule. I considered driving, but the traffic would have been terrible on the return journey. Plus we have a lot of baggage to lug from the car park, even with a trolley.
Self check-in was straightforwarded, and there wasn’t even a queue to drop off Adam’s bags. I’m pretty sure that they were a bit overweight, but we are paying £45 in excess luggage charges for the second big bag, and they overlooked it. Said a swift goodbye and headed for home on the tube. Adam had an early meeting, so Carol had taken Lyra to school. They are setting off on an overnight trip to Dorset this afternoon. Someone has planted the idea of visiting Corfe Castle in their heads. While it’s well worth a visit, it seems a pretty random choice among the dozens of equally (or more) impressive sites closer to London. Had the house to myself for the first time in I don’t know how long. And very nice it was too… Dropped in on the recording studio where we are hosting Nova’s birthday party next weekend. I think the girls are going to have fun doing that… It was a stinking hot afternoon, and I set up Lyra to play in the sprinkler when we got back. Did a bit of gardening with she gambolled about. It’s looking pretty dry and neglected out there. Back inside in time to watch the fifth set of Djokovic-Nadal. Great stuff, though I wasn’t particularly interested in the outcome, aside from who Murray has a better chance of beating… |
July 4, 2013Happy birthday to my wonderful daughter Nova — twelve years old today!
Guess which one's the birthday girl... There was just time for a family breakfast of Margo muffins before it was time for school. As a treat, Adam drove her and her sixty biscuits, while I took Lyra, before getting stuck into finishing Nova’s birthday card. I went for a Victorious theme this year:
Next challenge, the cake… With an uncharacteristic lack of imagination, Nova had suggested that I make the same lemon-raspberry cake that Lyra ordered up a few months ago. I was just about to get started when I remembered this outlandish cake in The Big Book of British Baking that Nova had been wowed by. The chocolate brownie meringue raspberry cake involves baking two round, meringue-topped brownies, which you then fill with raspberry cream. Brownies are easy, meringues are easy, how tough can I be, I reasoned, before diving in… As for food, I didn’t have a clear idea how many I’d be feeding, so I went for rotisserie chicken and salads: israeli couscous with asparagus, lentil and roast vegetables, potato salad, green salad. I could have done without spending an hour helping Adam B repack his belonginging into suitably sized bags for his flight tomorrow. His mum was keen for me to discard raggedy clothes and books he wouldn’t need. Adam was pretty resistant to this idea, and couldn’t consider life in Edmonton without his collection of Greek tragedies and unreadable tomes on existentialism. My Adam got home in time to do the school run, while I cleaned the house as best I could with a teenager living in the living room. Nova’s friends had arranged a surprise picnic for her in Waterlow Park after school, much to Lyra’s annoyance. “When is Nova getting home?” she asked me every five minutes or so. “Soon,” I’d reply. “What kind of soon?” she demanded. “Maybe half an hour?” I said. “That’s the worst kind of soon,” she complained. Sounds like the picnic was a great success. Nova was obviously elated as she told me all about it. There were eight girls in all, and they’d put a lot of effort into making it really nice… Adam B joined us for dinner before heading out to see a concert, but Carol and Scott weren’t around. They turned up for cake, as did Freddy, Beulah, Pasc and Fay. Assembling the cake proved to be a challenge. The first brownie-meringue was placed meringue-side down on a platter, and the paper peeled off. After spreading a layer of raspberry cream, I had to somehow extract the second brownie-meringue from its tin, remove the paper from the bottom without inverting it, then position it atop the cream. Oh, easy for Leonardo…
The end result was pretty unstable looking, and inserting candles into meringue was another unforeseen challenge. I managed to transport it to the table and get the candles blown out before there was too much slippage… Adam B managed to lose his iPod somehow on his way out. We all had a good search for it, even Pasc who’s a reknowned finder. Eventually, I even went through the bags we’d packed that afternoon. Just as well I did, as I discovered a knife and fork in his carry-on, not to mention a pouch of rizlas and rolling tobacco. Nothing illegal, but its a bit of a flag should his bags be searched, the little numpty… |
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July 3, 2013
Happy birthday, David — 46…yowsa!
Lyra was all mopey when she came in this morning. It turns out she’d written a note for the tooth fairy a few days ago and left it on her desk, but it just hasn’t been answered. I wish I’d known about that — I have a few good ideas about the best way to get an answer. Tidying up her desk so the tooth fairy can find the note would be a start…
We’ve got tickets for Wimbledon today, so I packed us a lunch and we headed out there on the tube. We were running late, but the journey was a smooth one. It was all going swimmingly until an official confiscated our flask during the mandatory bag search. We’ve been taking the same flask for years, but there are new rules classifying flasks (or anything with hard sides) as a potential weapon.
Adam had to leave the flask at the gates, go off somewhere to get some sort of wristband, then walk it across the road to a tent where they were storing all the other flasks and “potential weapons” they had seized. It’s the times we live in I guess, but galling all the same, especially when we spotted people with bottles of champagne and proper glasses…
Our first match was Djokovic v Berdych. Good tennis, but the outcome was never in doubt. For our second match, we had two Poles (Kubot v Janowicz), neither of whom were expected to progress to this point. Very exciting for them, but I’d have rather seen Federer…
There was a masters men’s double match involving Rusedski next, but we opted to wander the site and see what was happening elsewhere. Ended up watch Navratilova and Pam Shriver play doubles on Court 18, which was a real treat. Also the first time I’ve seen Martina play.
There had been great excitement on centre court for the last two hours — we could hear the shouts and groans from court one during the Polish match. Murray had dropped the first two scripts to Verdasco, who obviously hadn’t received the script informing him that it was Murray’s year to win Wimbledon…;-)
It proved extremely difficult to get a toehold on the mound where people were watching the match on the big screen. Officious little turds were taking great pleasure in moving people along, but we managed to squeeze past someone eventually. Watched the last couple of games, where Murray finally pulled it out of the bag.
Reclaimed our flask, and caught the tube. The babysitter hadn’t earned enough money for the hassle of picking up the girls from Christine’s at 7pm, so we went for a pizza and a beer before heading home.
During the afternoon, Nova had texted me to request I make 93 fairy cakes for her to share with her school year tomorrow. In the end, we settled on 60 biscuits. Though it was the last thing I felt like doing, I turned on the oven and got busy baking supernova biscuits.
Burned some, broke others, and ended up with exactly 60 usable ones when I was done. I haven’t made her birthday card yet either, don’t see that happening by breakfast time tomorrow. At least Adam did the wrapping, so her presents are waiting for her to open…
July 2, 2013
It was Lyra’s sports day this morning, and surprisingly the rain held off for once. I can’t think of three times that rain hasn’t interfered with the girls’ sports day in some way. It was still cold and overcast, and I could feel the damp soaking through my plimsolls as I stood with the other parents watching the races.
Lyra’s class had been divided into three ability levels to make things as fair as possible. On the one hand, I was pleased she was in the top group. On the other, it meant she was racing against the biggest boys and the super sporty girls. She was middle of the pack for the running race, and towards the back in the egg and spoon.
The relays were clever. Lyra’s year did an over-under race against the other class, where ten kids stood in a line with a ball in front of them. When the race started, the first child picked up the ball and passed it backwards over their head to the child behind him, who then passed it between her legs to the child behind her, and so on until the ball reached the last child. The child then ran to the front of the line and the whole thing started again. The race ended when they were back in the original order.
In the year two relay, thirty kids from each class were lined up facing each other on opposite sides of the racing lanes. When the race started, the kid at the starting line ran and joined the other end of the line. When they were in place, the next child ran forward and joined the line. This continued until the line gradually advanced the 100 metres to the finish line. The challenge was that the kids had to always be touching hands, and the strategy was to stand as far apart as possible while still touching.
When Adam got home from work, he handed me a copy of the Evening Standard, saying, “There’s a story in there you’ll be interested in.” Sure enough, on page 9 I found it: To hold and to have, in sickness and when well: how council forced couple to amend traditional wedding vows deemed ‘too religious’. The couple in question was none other than my friend and former boss Lou Fish and her longterm boyfriend Gary. Given what a PR whiz the woman is, I’d wouldn’t be surprised if she placed the piece herself…;-)
Made the kids banh mi for dinner, then headed off to Pete and Pasc’s. She served up a very nice spicy chicken and lentils dish. Apparently, she’d put the wrong herbs in the lentils or something, but it was still very tasty. Home about 11:30pm — it is a weekday after all…;-)
July 1, 2013
July already! How did that happen?! And only a month until we head to Canada…
Adam was up and out first thing. His main client is closely involved with a charity fundraising conference that starts today. He’s been racing around organising pledge cards, teeshirts, the exhibition stand and so on for the last couple of weeks.
And this morning, he informed me that he’s making a speech as well, impersonating one of the eight personas they have created to typify the different reasons people choose to give to charity. He is going to be Clive, a middle-aged train driver, who got involved with charity websites after a family bereavement…
My cold has reached my vocal chords, dropping my voice two octaves and giving it the gravelly tones of a chain-smoking barfly. Good thing I’m not the one making the speech. Instead, I put in a few good hours on the botox site, choosing and placing images, and adding a contact form.
Dinner out at 500 with Carol, Scott, our girls and Adam Jr. Their treat — which was very kind. Excellent food, particularly the array of charcuterie and cold starters, which is served on a long board and meant for two to share. I’d love to slip down here on my own sometime and order a lovely glass of wine and one of those boards all to myself…
