“No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye.” ~Elizabeth Bowen
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Muswell Hill at dusk
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Street art
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One last violin practice…
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Ear piercing at the mall
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Lazy afternoon girl
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Baby Noah
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Birthday cake
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Nova and Fay
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Hakkasan
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Birthday presents
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July 31, 2017The weather didn’t look too bad this morning. It’s certainly better than the heavy rain that was forecast…:-)Adam had returned from his walking weekend raving about the full English breakfast. I have to agree — it might be the actually was the best cooked breakfast I’ve ever eaten. Everything was of really high quality and perfectly cooked, and the fried bread was beyond delicious. Travelled by taxi to a point a little beyond Keswick, and started the day’s walk from there. We began by climbing to Friar’s Crag lookout over the lake, then followed the beck to Watendlath, before climbing to the summit on the way to Borrowdale.
Found a mossy hillock with a fabulous 360° view of the surrounding peaks, and sat there eating our packed lunch. The sun was actually breaking through by this point, and it was warm enough to pack away my jacket.
What goes up must come down… via a rocky “path” that I’m pretty sure would be the bed of a waterfall at certain times of the year. I regretted leaving my walking stick at the B&B (despite the amount of stick the girls gave me for using it yesterday…) Made our way through Borrowdale, across to Grange, then through the marshes to the jetty at Lodore, ten miles in total, then caught the launch back to Keswick. I wound the girls up by suggesting a visit to the Pencil Museum, but it had already closed for the day. (Actually, I’ve visited it on a previous trip to th Llake District, and found it pretty interesting as I recall.) We let Lyra choose the restaurant for dinner, where the three of them went for fried bits and chips. Not tempted by that route, I ordered broccoli quiche and salad. The “quiche” turned out to be mashed potato and broccoli spread into a pre-baked pastry shell — really quite bizarre. The girls had spotted a fudge shop on our pre-dinner recce, and we headed there for “dessert”. The skies opened at this point, and we huddled in a doorway scoffing our fudge until a taxi turned up to drive us home. A restorative pint, and an evening of Uno, which we played until everyone won a hand. Adam and Lyra are the keenest gamers, and they finished things with a few games of backgammon as well… |
July 30, 2017Adam had the idea of leaving an hour to do the final getting ready jobs before the taxi came at 8am. Any essential computer work should be carried out before the 7am watershed. More or less stuck to it, getting a couple of key emails and invoices out of the way first, then turning off and stashing the laptop for the next few days…Our train left Euston at 8:45 for the four-hour trip to Penrith. Passed the time reading, playing backgammon and Uno…
…and eating of course, demolishing our packed lunch by 10:30am. (A longstanding family tradition: I remember leaving my grandparent’s house in Kelowna with a generous packed family lunch for our eight-hour journey north to Prince George. Mum would inevitably be into it before we’d reached Vernon…) In any case, everyone knows that food eaten while in transit doesn’t count towards your daily caloric needs…;-) Which is why we headed straight for the nearest pub for some lunch and a pint, before calling a taxi to drive us the final half hour of our journey.
We’re staying in a B&B in the aptly named Little Town on the far side of Derwentwater. Actually, Little Town is an overstatement — hamlet even oversells it. Adam stayed here on his walking weekend in June, and loved it. They seemed happy to see him again too.
After a cup of tea, we set off for the steep hike walk up Cat Bells. I hadn’t remembered that The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle was set in Little Town, probably at the very farm we’re staying in… It was either threatening rain or actually raining the whole walk. ” I don’t know whether what’s dripping off my nose is rain, or sweat or snot,” Lyra observed. The weather forecast is pretty grim for our whole stay, and it was blowing a right gale on the summit. Lyra was actually staggering from the force of it, and I kept a firm grip on her while we took the obligatory selfie.
Back at the inn, we had a pint before heading out for dinner. We were going to walk the mile to the nearest pub, but Rob the owner kindly ran us down. The food was fine, if nothing special. Walk back in the falling dusk and rain and headed straight to bed. |
July 29, 2017Woke up as early as ever, but for once there was nothing pressing to hurry us into the day. Had coffee in bed and tackled the cryptic crossword. We’ve got pretty good at them, and can often finish it in one go, but three stubborn clues remain…:-(I should have gone for a run, but didn’t fancy it. Spent the day sorting things out for our trip to the Lake District tomorrow. Packing, laundry (five loads! — all that bedding), clearing out the fridge, cleaning the house, yada, yada, yada… The girls are less than enthused about the planned trip. They tolerate walking rather than love it, not least because of their antipathy to hiking wear. I think they’d both rather develop hypothermia than appear in public in their rain trousers. Spanakopita and greek salad for dinner. When I said I’d bring the extra spanakopita to eat on the train, Nova piped up, “OMG! Leftover spinach pie! And I thought this trip couldn’t get any better…” Cheeky minx…;-) |
July 28, 2017Wanted to run this morning, but needed to sort something out on the website before my client arrived. The Events Calendar plug-in is proving tricky to configure, but I made good progress with it…She was very happy with how the site is looking, with only minor amendments to the design. There is a little bit of scope creep around the content, but I was reasonably firm. I’m doing the work for a “mate’s rate” as they are a charity and she’s a friend of Veronika’s. I’m happy to do it, but I’m not going to invest endless hours… Drove Lyra to tennis — no pick-up necessary, as she went home with Ava afterwards. Went to see Pete in his am dram group’s play this evening. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it — they are performing Cyrano de Bergerac (enough said). It was very hard to keep a straight face when they first appeared in their costumes and ridiculous wigs (though the venue was so tiny, it was imperative). Gradually got into it… Pete, Adam and the guy playing Cyrano were all very good, and carried the thing along. The scene on the battlefield of Arras was surprisingly moving… |
July 27, 2017Dan and his family lefts today… I was going to hang out with them in the morning, but Nova set off without her bus pass, and I ended up driving her to Barnet. They were heading out the door to Camden Market by the time I got back.Spent the morning working on the Kenyan website. It’s definitely coming together now, and I’m going to be in an okay position for my meeting tomorrow. I was persuadable when they returned and suggested we go for an afternoon farewell pint. In fact, it seemed churlish to refuse — even if it was my fasting day. One pint I could have managed… the second was a mistake… I was feeling a little woozy by the time they headed off with Adam, who’d come home to drive them to Tottenham Hale. Made myself a belated alcohol-absorbing snack and fell asleep on the sofa. (Just as well Adam could collect Lyra from tennis on his way back — I wouldn’t have wanted to drive anywhere…) Nova was spending the evening at her friend Clara’s, so it was only Adam and Lyra for dinner. They rustled up some pasta together, then we sat down to watch an hour of telly. Started series two of Versailles, which is very good… |
July 26, 2017Amy and Kaya very are into K-pop. At breakfast, I helped them work out an itinerary that took them past a couple of good music stores in the West End. Once they set off, I got stuck into working on the Kenyan website.It’s starting to shape up, though I’m still figuring things out… Broke off to take Lyra to the tennis club, where she’s doing three afternoons this week. When I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, Lyra pointed out that we have satnav now. Typed it in, and “bob’s your uncle”, as we say in the UK…;-) We have a family tradition of going out for pizza to mark the end of school. Opted for our new fave Franco Manca this year. As we couldn’t all fit in the car, I planned to walk with the girls. By the time we left, we were running so late we just caught the bus. Still beat the car contingent, and the girls had a good fifteen minutes to bicker and hoover up olives before the rest of the party arrived. The pizza was as good as ever. I went for the #4 — ham, mushroom and ricotta — this time, which was delicious. They insisted on getting the bill, besting Adam in one of those awkward tussles at the card machine. Afterwards, I walked back with Dan and Anita along the parkland walk. Dusk was falling, and the part of the path with the great view was thick with teenagers smoking skunk. You could smell it over the traffic fumes on Muswell Hill. Had another beer when we got home, though I’m taking it easy after the red-wine-fuelled-Uno-madness of last night… |
July 25, 2017Lyra’s last day of school — we are all so ready for it. Made packed lunches for both girls, then walked Lyra in before going for a three mile run in the woods. It was nice and cool until the sun broke through and I found myself over-dressed…The cousins had left by the time I got back. We’ve equipped them with Oyster cards and advice, so should be set for the day. Did some cooking and housework before heading back to the school for a 2pm pick-up. We often we have a picnic or something on the last day, but there’s nothing organised this year. Maybe because the term has stretched on so long, or maybe it was because school was ending on a Tuesday. Whatever the reason, people just drifted off home. That’s the last we’ll see of most of them for the six weeks… Made a double batch of Swedish meatballs for dinner. Ended up feeding my family first, as Nova was babysitting and Adam had an evening meeting. I held off to eat with them in case they felt awkward. I somehow miscalculated and fried barely enough meatballs for the five of us (foolishly sticking the rest in the freezer). Had to pretend I’d eaten something earlier…
Got stuck into an Uno marathon after dinner. That Amy is quite the card shark, and Anita is good as well. I managed to take one game, as did Lyra, but Dan and Kaya were out of contention. Adam got back around 10pm and joined in, to keep things going until almost midnight… |
July 24, 2017My cousin Dan is arriving with wife Anita and their two teenage daughters this afternoon. They’ll stay a few days with us before heading to Luxembourg to visit her family.The weather’s taken a cooler turn, which is a shame. Wet as well… I had to figure out how the wipers worked on my drive to the supermarket (surprisingly, it’s not that obvious). Stocked up on supplies, then hurried home to finish prepping the flat. (I missed Nova, who’d returned from Iris’s house briefly before heading off to see Shira…) Even managed some dinner prep before they turned up. After a cup of tea, we set out for a wander round Highgate, then stopped at the Flask where Adam joined us for a pint before dinner. Dan very impressed with the house. They have built their own house on Saltspring, and when he heard John the architect living next door, he headed straight over to introduce himself. Made dhania chicken, carrot raita, kachumber and rice. Nothing for dessert, to Lyra’s dismay. The four girls headed off to bed not long after, while sat around chatting over a couple of beers until it was time to turn in… |
July 23, 2017Happy birthday, Denise! Adam did church this morning while I went for a five mile run. Decided to head to the Heath, where I know a good five-mile loop. I’ve got out of the habit of running there now that I mostly do shorter distances. Made a nice change…In the afternoon, Lyra headed off to Camden Market with Millie and Lucia. Shopped the stalls, and visited the Cereal Killer cafe.
Speaking of serial killers, I’ve been listening to a couple of new true crime podcasts — “All Killa, No Filla”, and “They Walk Among Us” — both of which were recommended. Not sure they’re for me… Made a stir-fry for dinner. Neither girl was particularly into it, Lyra had been eating junk at Camden all afternoon, and Nova was fixated on getting over to Iris’s house for a sleepover. Once we were shot of them both, we sat down to watch Poldark. I’m pretty sure I know how the rest of this series will play out. They only only have about three storylines, and keep retreading the same ground, which is sort of comforting actually… |
July 22, 2017Adam headed off to collect Lyra in time for her skating exam. Sounds like it didn’t go very well. Not only did she not pass, the examiner actually considered unpassing her for one of the skills.She definitely hasn’t been practicing enough this term… She wasn’t too down about it. Palak didn’t pass her level either, which softened the blow. There was a leaving do for our school vicar Bryce. Due to some miscommunication around his accepting a part-time role at Highgate School, he was demoted and lost the use of the vicarage. They are abruptly heading back to the US, which is a shame. He’s a really nice guy, and the last bit of continuity we have with the church… We’d both planned to go, then Nova got a babysitting gig, so I was stuck in. Adam opted out in the end, not sure why… Instead, we watched Cutter’s Way, in honour of the late, great, under-rated John Heard, who died today aged 71. My favourite film (or near enough). I’m sometimes a bit nervous revisiting things I’ve loved, in case I see them with different eyes. No worries with this one — it’s still a gem of a film… |
July 21, 2017Had a meeting with a potential new client about building a WordPress for Kenyan friendship organisation. The woman has a shoestring budget, but she’s a friend of Veronika’s…While I was doing that, Adam took the car to our local mechanic. He removed the seat upholstery and unearthed the buckles from within the seats. I’d imagine that the car was driven by a salesman or something, who never used the back seat. After my meeting, I spent the entire day doing housework. Specifically, cleaning our bedroom. In about six hours, I managed half the closet, the counters, chest of drawers and the Venetian blinds. Cleaning blinds is a miserable job — especially those top slats. I needed to climb onto the counter to access them, crooking my neck at an odd angle while I wiped each slat clean, regularly clambering down to rinse my cloth. Lyra went home with Ava after school, so no need to break for pick-up. I did stop to shoe-goo a couple of pairs of shoes that I’ve been meaning to fix. Despite the open windows, I asphixiated myself with the noxious stuff. Felt so light-headed I needed a little lie-down… I was long back at the cleaning when Adam and Nova got home at 8pm. As I hadn’t done anything about dinner, we went to Franco Manca for a pizza. Straight to bed when we got back. I just know i’m going to have some funny achy muscles tomorrow. Odd little ones I never use in my regular activities… |
July 20, 2017Happy birthday, Wendy! Did a four mile run first thing. It was misting with rain, which I always enjoy running in. Plus it makes a nice change from the humidity of the last few days…Adam is speaking at a funeral today for a school governor he worked with who has died of cancer. He tested his speech on us at breakfast, and couldn’t get through it without crying…:-( I’d quite like to go with him for moral support, but need to stick around the house as our new car is arriving today! We don’t know when, but were told they’d notify us an hour in advance. In the event, the guy just showed up unannounced mid-afternoon. He was like a sleazy Cliff Richard, and patronising with it. I gave the car a thorough inspection against the sign-off sheet despite his “it’s a good car, everything’s there, you won’t get in trouble with the old man” litany of bullshit. Actually the car looks fabulous — even better than it did in the photos. I particularly lovely the gray-brown colour of the paint. We Adam came home, we took it for a spin round the block. I love how it handles — very zippy, the brakes are very responsive, and you scarcely need to use the clutch. It rides higher as well, which feels safer.
When Nova got home, she made no comment on the mysterious car in the driveway. I offered to drive her to Etta’s to find out about her guinea pig feeding job. “Why are we getting in this car?” she asked. “What? We have a new car?!” That was the moment we discovered that there are no seatbelt buckles in the back seat. It seemed impossible, but we could not find them, despite feeling around between and underneath the seats. Looked again after dinner, but no dice. And there is an ominous looking bolt where they should be attached… It’s annoying, as we are otherwise very happy with the car. It’s a definite deal breaker. Seat beat buckles WERE NOT on the sign off sheet — who would think you’d have to check your new car for fucking seat belts…>:-( |
July 19, 2017Spent the morning at the school editing website text with Adam and the head teacher. A meeting that was meant to take two hours lasted three and a half. We’d aimed to edit 18 pages in that time but managed three… So, a pretty typical project…Back home, we had time for a quick lunch together before Adam into the office. His gastritis has been acting up for the last couple of days, and he’s barely been eating. He’s still not right, and I’m pushing for him to go back to the doctor. The strong antacids they prescribed haven’t resolved things — I think they should test for h pylori and do an endoscopy to see what’s going on… Lyra had a girl for a playdate after school. She’s new to the class this year, and has found it difficult to settle in and make friends. I got the impression (both from the girl and her dad), that this was the first time she’d gone back to someone’s house after school. After the playdate ended, I caught the bus to Swiss Cottage to see a play called Alligators, which Lucia is appearing in. My travel app advised that after driving, it was as quick to walk the three miles as any other method. Believable, as transport routes across north London are shit. As it happened, both buses arrived within a minute and I was there an hour early. I enjoyed the play — a story about a male teacher accused of child abuse with a teenage student years after the alleged incident occurred. It was well written and ambigious enough that opinion was dlvided on whether the teacher was guilty. Lucia played his seven-year-old daughter. She was in five or six scenes and had a fair few lines — I thought she did really well… |
July 18, 2017Lyra was quite the playground hit with her pierced ears this morning. A few girls in the class have had it done, but she’s definitely ahead of the curve…Did a three mile run plus wind sprints in Highgate Wood. It’s not as humid as it was on Sunday, but heat was still a factor. I always enjoy windsprints, but need that electronic trainer in my ear telling me to do it, otherwise I just won’t. Nova had a couple of friends round for much of the day. They hung out in her bedroom, emerging occasionally for food. She has her birthday surprise with her three friends this evening — an early dinner at Yauatcha, followed by a trip to the open-air cinema at Kenwood to see LaLa Land. Adam was at the inevitable evening meeting, so it was just Lyra and me for dinner. Leftover curry while reviewing dog breeds her friend Saya has recommended as suitable for us — ie, cat friendly, quiet, small, moderate exercise requirements. Caught up with Poldark when Adam got in, finishing an episode we’d abandoned the other week. Predicable comfort telly… |
July 17, 2017Lyra was up early to practice her violin before school. If she acted like this all the time we’d have a little Vanessa Mae on our hands…;-)Sam was up early as well and spent nearly an hour with Lyra, honing her bowing technique and offering encouragement. Very generous of him… she’s so lucky to have these violin role models around her. Launched a slimline version of the Roman architecture site today. It has proved a considerable challenge to get the main guy to engage with the project and provide copy, but there is a pressing need to get something in place. Invited myself along on Pasc’s weekly Tesco run to get some groceries. We went our separate ways in the shop, taking a similar time to do shops of roughly similar size (and within £2 of one another in cost, I noticed). There was just time to unpack the food before I need to be at school to collect Lyra. Ubered to Wood Green — I’d looked into taking public transport, but all the suggested routes were 10 minute walk, two buses, another 10 minute walk, or walk, bus, Tube, walk. That’s fine for the return journey, but you don’t need that shit when you have an exam slot that is timed to the minute. In the event, we were good and early — better than skidding in minutes before the exam. While we were waiting, Lyra re-opened negotiations around getting her ears pierced — a high priority with her since Lily had it done last weekend. I called the place Tanja used in Muswell Hill, but it was booked solid for the next week. I agreed we could check out the Claire’s Accessories in Wood Green shopping centre on the way home. In due course, Lyra did a little run through with her accompanist before the exam. It was the same guy as last year — a very chilled hippy dude who good at putting her at ease. She was all smiles when she came out, and thought it went pretty well, even the dreaded sight reading. As she put it herself, “it sounded like a song, which doesn’t always happen…” We were in luck at Claire’s — they were able to pierce her ears on the spot. People round here are snobby about ear piercing, preferring to go to beauticians and doctors and so on. Personally, I think Claire’s is a sound choice — they do millions of ear piercings, have good equipment, and are aimed at her demographic (unlike the tattoo/piercing parlours, which are another option). The girl told that lie about it feeling like a little pinch. I could tell it hurt more than that, but it doesn’t last for long. Lyra was thrilled, and all smiles the whole marathon journey home. Nova was suitably impressed, telling her how pretty and grown-up she looked. (I’m reminded that Nova had hers done at exactly the same age…) |
July 16, 2017It’s all happening this morning — just as well Adam woke me up before 6am…>:-( Between prepping for Sam and waiting to hear what was happening at Lily’s, and whether I needed to do the church thing, I could feel my window for running closing rapidly. Then Tanja texted to say that the girls were making pancakes for everyone and could Lyra come home at 11am? Of course she could, and off I went. Knocked off four miles, running up to Ally Pally and back. Very humid, which is never nice… By the time I returned, Adam had headed out to a meeting for yet another committee/board he’s signed on for. He’d agreed to take Lyra to see Despicable Me 3, so after a late lunch they headed off to do that. Thawed some chicken breasts and made a simple curry for dinner. Sam was back from exploring London in time to eat with us. He’s a lovely guy, sweet-natured, infinitely patient with Lyra, and just embarking on life as a jazz violinist. It’s so interesting getting to know my friends’ children as young adults. I can see both of them clearly in his appearance but reminds me more of his dad in terms of personality. He’d brough gifts from South Africa for everyone — beaded animal figurines for Lrya, a coin purse for Nova, interesting patés and a bottle of Amarula for us. Got straight into that when we sat down to watch Handmaid’s Tale after dinner… |
July 15, 2017Happy birthday, Landyn! Woken by the doorbell at 9am — it was Lily coming to collect Lyra for a pre-arranged outing to Go Ape. She threw herself into her clothes, and was out the door in under five minutes. I hope the lack of breakfast doesn’t make her lightheaded when she’s swinging through the treetops…No ice skating left Adam free to go for a run with me. We did two miles — which is about the distance he can manage before his IT band starts nagging. Lyra went back to Lily’s for lunch afterwards, returning home in time for her afternoon violin lesson. Her face was an absolute mask of Greek tragedy — Tanja had extended a casual invitation to go to Muswell Hill to watch Lily get her ears pierced then see Despicable Me 3. Fair enough, an extra violin lesson is a pretty sorry substitute, even if it did involve a ride on her dad’s scooter… When they returned, we walked down to Basil and Veronika’s open studio for a drink and a look at their latest work. Ended up buying one of his recent bowls:
Everything takes a lot longer without a car, and there was just time for a quick beans on toast dinner for Lyra before she was due back at Lily’s. She’s sleeping there tonight, as we have a dinner at Ben and Lu’s. In the midst of all this to-ing and fro-ing, we found time to hook up with the guy who came to tow away our Megane for scrapping. End of an era…
Caught the 210 bus down the hill, arriving a bit late. Ben was well on the way, having spent the afternoon cooking with his friend Ed the wine merchant. That pair enjoy cooking and supping together… We started things off with tapenade, toasted rounds of French bread with the pink fizz I’d brought at Ben’s request. Dressed crab with samphire, tarragon mayonnaise, and cucumber salad followed, then grilled sea bass with ratatouille and the most beautifully braised fennel. The wine kept flowing throughout… It was all delicious, though I lost track of what we drank. A gigondas from 1998 was pretty special, as I recall. Drank lots of water too, and pretty much kept it all in balance. Dessert was chocolate vermicelli cake (a Brazilian speciality courtesy of Lu), which they served with a delicious chocolate sorbet. Another meal that knocked it out of the park, though nothing out of the ordinary for Ben… Set off for home about midnight, when our host had to go for a lie-down… |
July 14, 2017Took Lyra to the Henrietta Barnett open house this morning. I arranged for us to get a lift from Margaux’s mum — which meant we got there good and early. We were among the first couple of hundred let in for the head’s speech, and then did a tour. The even tranches do the tour first, followed by talk — I much prefer the way we did it…Both girls were impressed with school and enjoyed the demonstration lessons. I found it very interesting as well. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do a complete tour with Nova — it got curtailed somehow, or we got lost, or both. Can’t remember now… It made me realise how little engagement you have with your child’s secondary school, aside from the parent-teacher meeting once a year and a few special events. Until Nova’s lack of motivation to study maths and sciences raised belated alarm bells, I had nothing to do with the school’s daily workings. Saw a few teachers I knew well enough to speak to, in particular Nova’s maths teacher. He was an absolute star and great champion of Nova — just what she needed after losing confidence in her maths abilities when surrounded by so many “mathletes”. Back home, I had time for a quick lunch before I was due at the school to be a parent helper on the “hobbit walk”. Lots of the kids had dressed up, and we were an eyecatching sight as we processed through the village to Waterlow Park. While the kids played Hobbit-based games, we parents set out the picnic food. We soon realised that no one had brought any water, and I set off with another mum to see if we could get something from the café. Failing that, we power marched to Tesco and bought five litres of water and a pack of plastic cups. We returned to a scene of carnage. I looked like a stampede had passed over the picnic food, and apparently that’s about what happened. I poured water steadily until it was all dispersed, at which point it was time to go.
I was pretty whacked out when I got home. It gives much such respect for teachers whenever I spend an afternoon helping at the school. Spent an hour dozing on the couch. I didn’t fancy dinner, but organised some leftovers for Adam and Lyra. We’d been invited to a 50th birthday party for our friend James. We didn’t have a babysitter, and I was minded to give it a miss, but you can’t really do that… Gave Fay a call, who was willing to babysit at short notice, and off we went. I’m glad we did — it was a really nice party. I knew enough people to have comfortable conversations, without having to raise my social game too much. Home about midnight… |
July 13, 2017Lyra woke us at 7am when she came in for a cuddle, something that seldom happens these days. For one thing, I almost always wake myself by 6:15. For another, she’s pretty much grown out of the morning cuddle stage…:-(Dropped Lyra at school, then did a brisk three miles round the Woods, before hustling back to join a team meeting. Had to break that off a couple of minutes early so I could nip up to the school to see the designs for the new website. Fielded a call from a new web work prospect en route. Arranged for her to send me some links, but it will be the weekend before I get a chance to look at them. Fed Lyra the last of the chickpea pasta soup for dinner before travelling into town to see The Kite Runner. I’m fasting today, but let Adam talk me into a G&T before we took our seats. Strictly speaking, it’s acceptable to consume up to 500 calories on fasting days, but I find it less hassle not to consume any.
There is an age advisory of fourteen for the play, as it deals with adult subject matter: bullying, Islamic fundamentalism and a shocking rape between two boys. When I discovered that Lyra didn’t know what rape was, I gave her the general idea before the curtain rose. I thought it was a very good production. They couldn’t develop the characters the way you can in a novel, and having grown men play the child version of their character was a bit annoying (though I understand why they did it) but I liked the staging and the music. Lyra found it disturbing, it and questioned our parental judgement for allowing her to see it. The second half was much more suitable. There were comic moments around their life in America, and overall the story ends on a cautiously optimistic note… |
July 12, 2017Slept in a bit for once, which is surprising as Adam told me later that he’d had a nightmare and woken up yelling. Spent the day doing web work, paperwork, phone meetings, school meetings, and a final one round Alicia’s.I had the tennis on in the background while I worked. Andy Murray lost in five sets to some American mid-ranker called Querry. Murray’s hip injury was clearly playing up — he wasn’t moving round the court properly, and limped between points. I heard later that Djokovic retired with an arm injury. What with Nadal losing the other day, things are looking good for Federer… Determined to have a family dinner, I organised things before I went — an increasingly rare occurrence. I’d primed the rice cooker and made a kimchi meatloaf — left Lyra with cooking/glazing instructions, which she followed admirably. In the event, Adam turned up, scoffed his food in about seven minutes, and shot out the door for a meeting. The girls picked at their food, claiming they weren’t hungry. I was left wondering why I bothered… Lyra did a mega violin practice — three sessions today. Belated, but good to see. She’s followed through on Katie’s suggestion to practice her scales by writing the names on pieces of paper and pulling them out of a dish at random. Definitely a good idea, because otherwise she just practices the ones she likes and can do. |
July 11, 2017Stated a new training running training plan today. It’s designed to prepare you for a 10km, and none of the runs are more than 9 miles, which works for me. I’m happy enough to run up to about 10 miles — after that they take a toll. Also, I find it hard to schedule or motivate myself to complete them, even when I’m training for a specific event like a half marathon. Fasting day. I don’t mind cooking on those days (not that it would make any difference if I did), but I do tend to make less challenging meals — today’s chickpea pasta soup being a case in point. At last, the weather has cooled enough to make eating soup a possibility… It was raining off and on all day. Stared reading The Kite Runner with Lyra. I know we won’t get through it all before we see it in the theatre on Thursday, but we didn’t know we had tickets (through a friend) until yesterday. I think it will help her understand the story if we read and talk about the first few chapters. Nova returned at dinner time with tales from her evening of parties. Apparently, she got tipsy (“unfiltered” was how she described it), though it sounds like a couple of her friends were “drunk and disorderly”… Braved another episode of Broken this evening. It wasn’t quite as grim as the last one, but still gritty enough that the documentary on dementia our friend James edited provided some light relief afterwards… |
July 10, 2017Another lovely sunny day… A person could get used to this…;-)There was lots to do round the house, what with housework, flat prep for our next guest (later in the week), cooking, and clearing out the car. Adam has started the new car purchase rolling. We’re going to split it — I’ll pay the lump sum and then he’ll make the payments. Might take two weeks for it to arrive, though hope it will be less. (It can’t be much more or it will impact on our planned trip to France…) It’s going to be a pain being carless for the next couple of weeks. Off the top of my head, I’ve got to chauffeur Lyra to the HBS open day, Latymer entrance exam in deepest Edmonton, violin exam the far side of Wood Green, ice skating lesson and ice skating test in the next couple of weeks. Not to mention getting Nova to/from her NCS course in Barnet, grocery shopping, playdates and so on… Nova returned in the afternoon… yay! She had a lot of fun, and likes the kids she’s been paired up with. I didn’t get to hear much about it, as she had a couple of parties on tonight — a surprise picnic on the Heath for a classmate who is moving to America, then on to Bounds Green for a house party. Things seem to be improving for Lyra with her main friendship group. She was laughing and joking with Lucia after school. And when Ava’s mum pulled up beside us on the way home and invited Lyra for an impromptu playdate, she was keen to say yes. Which meant I had only Adam to feed this evening. We made hamburgers and sweet potato fries, then watched the unexpected victory of Mueller over Nadal in what will surely be this year’s marathon match. Poldark after that — rollicking, ridiculous stuff… I kept in touch with Nova over the evening, to make sure she was completing her journeys and arriving where she was meant to be. When she texted to ask to sleep at Ana’s, I was happy to say yes. I wasn’t that keen on her travelling home alone after she’d been drinking… |
July 9, 2017Set off for a run first thing. I’m glad I knocked it off early, as it’s another hot one here. While I was out, Lyra popped to the shops so that Adam could make the boys a cooked breakfast. I’ve opted to have a fasting day. There’s nothing particular happening today, and to my surprise I find that I miss fasting if I don’t do it every few days. Didn’t see that one coming…After breakfast, Katie popped round to give Lyra another violin lesson — to hear her pieces this time. Very kind of her, and Lyra definitely benefits from having another teacher’s input. I was keen to do an outing to a lavender farm — they are in full bloom right now. There is one in Epsom that looked appealing, but Adam found a closer one in Hitchin, so we opted for that instead. Lyra was resistent to the idea, but we eventually coaxed/coerced her into the car and off we went. About five miles up the A1 Adam suddenly yelled, “I don’t have any power!” Fortunately we were in the outside lane already. He steered as far to the edge as we could before we slowed to a complete stop. “Get out of the car!” I yelled at Lyra, and we scrambled out onto the hard shoulder. As it turned out, there was a little path running along the side of the road. Adam switched the flashers on before bailing as well, though he dashed back to open the boot to make it clearer that we’d broken down. The road curved not far behind us, and with cars whizzing along at 60-70 mph, they only had a moment to realise the situation and change lanes. And that’s if they were paying attention… As a further precaution, we walked a distance away from the car in case some one hit it, then called the AA. They estimated it would take an hour to reach us, so there was nothing to do but wait…
It was pretty hairy… There were some very close shaves with cars changing lanes to avoid us. Or worse, not noticing our car until the last second then swerving round us. I had to cover my eyes more than once, convinced a collision was inevitable. Adam noticed a traffic cone lying on its side further down the highway. He ventured into the traffic again to block the lane 50m or so before our car. Better, but still not great. Cars were coming to a stop behind the cone, then attempting to merge into the 70mph traffic. We called the AA again and said it was a pile-up waiting to happen. This time they patched us into the traffic police. Within ten minutes, a cruiser arrived and took charge of directing traffic. They also towed us half a mile up the road to Scratchwood Park. It was a sunny summer Sunday, and the car park was rammed. We were inconveniencing people there as well, but so much less dangerous than being in the middle of the highway. Bought Lyra an ice cream from the little café, and waited for the AA guy, who turned up more or less on schedule. He wasn’t very impressed with where police had dumped the car. It was very tricky for him to even access, let alone hook up for a tow. After inspecting the engine, he confirmed our suspicion that the timer belt had gone. According to him, that’s it — the car will never drive again, unless someone rebuilds the engine… Next came the challenge of attaching a tow bar and maneuvering the two vehicles out of the narrow car park entrance. Tricky enough without the sheer gormlessness of people who had no sense of what we were trying to do, or that pulling up right next to us (or standing directly behind the tow truck) was dangerously unhelpful. I entertained Lyra while he winkled it out. “This is kind of exciting isn’t it? Things like this don’t happen every day,” I said. Noticing some wildflowers growing in a patch of scrub land, I joked, “Who needs lavender fields? we should have just planned to visit Scratchwood Park in the first place.” “Mum… you don’t really think that. You’re just make the best of what has happened, aren’t you?” Uh, yes… And if she embark on her adult life with the inclination and ability to do the same, I’ll consider our job done…
On the road eventually, with Lyra and me in the tow truck, and Adam steering our car on a fixed tow bar behind. The AA guy was very personable, and we chatted all the way back. Things got a bit tense getting down our steep bendy street, but he managed it. We weren’t able to drive the boys to Golders Green to connect with their coach, but Katie came through again and ran them over. We owe her big time this weekend…
Spent the evening car shopping online. Initially, we thought of Freddy’s car, which has been sitting idle in front of their house for over a year. He’s willing for us to get it serviced and use it, but not ready to sell it, as he’s hoping he’ll return to driving at some point… Eventually, we identified a suitable compact family car — the Vauxhall Astra. It gets excellent reviews, is reasonably economical, and has all the mod cons — like Bluetooth, digital radio, sat nav, side air bags, etc that have come along in the fifteen years since we last bought a car. That was enough car shopping for us, and we reserved a two-year-old one online. We need to act fast, as we’re taking the car to Brittany in a few weeks… |
July 8, 2017I ended up doing ice skating this morning as Adam was (unsurprisingly) slow off the mark. He always cuts it fine to get ready, which stresses Lyra out. It’s just as well we left in good time — there was a Red Bull soapbox rally at Ally Pally today, and they’d closed the whole park to cars.We were grudgingly allowed to park in a lot on the distant fringes (it was practically Crouch End). Power-hiked up to the rink and got her skates on with about two minutes to spare… I thought I could see an improvement from two weeks ago. I’m no expert, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she passes the level. A handful of girls seemed more confident, so it depends on whether they move everyone up who meets the standard, or just the top few (like they do in swimming). Adam and Lyra headed to the farmers’ market for lunch, but I opted to stay home. I notice that I am ever less inclined to eat out. It’s a relatively rare event these days… Katie popped over to give Lyra a violin lesson. They spent the whole time on her scales, which still need some work. She also got her bowing longer and harder, which made such a difference to the sound she produces (in a good way!)… Pasta puttanesca and a bottle of wine for dinner with the boys. They’d planned to take in a number of sights like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Instead, they got drawn into the spectacle of London Pride and spent much of the afternoon in Trafalgar Square. It was a nice evening. Nick had brought some Canadian goodies for us, and we tucked into those for dessert. Got to bed about 11pm just as Nick and Gabe were heading out to explore the Highgate nightlife, such as it is… |
July 7, 2017Hot, hot, hot… Apparently London is hotter than Honolulu at the moment, unlikely as that seems…Woke to find a couple of texts from Nova. She sent them after midnight (when the silent feature on my phone kicks in, so I didn’t notice them until this morning.) One of the girls in her dormitory has Down’s syndrome and had a very unsettled night. Nova wasn’t sure what to do or even whether to intervene, but eventually got one of the counsellors involved. It sounds like Nova handled the situation in the end, but is feeling tired and a bit grumpy this morning. While her good friends Jess and Evie are in the same group, she isn’t with any of the kids she knows. That’s a shame, but it isn’t the “National Holiday with Your Mates Scheme”, after all… Adam has the day off to go to watch the cricket at Lords with his brother (a 50th birthday present). I spent the day “on” — doing website updates for various clients. Popped to the shops (the one on North Hill now the corner shop is gone) to get some groceries for dinner: potato-egg curry for dinner, rice and raita. Around 6pm, I mixed a jug of Pimms and sat down to watch Andy Murray. Lyra and the boys joined my cocktail hour, and we ate around 7:30 when Adam weaved in, six pints worse for wear… Andy was still on court. Adam was all naysaying about Andy’s chances against some Italian upstart. Murray had been leading two sets to one, but lost momentum in the fourth set and let the challenger break him. I was never in doubt as far as I was concerned, and sure enough Andy turned it round and closed the match out in four… |
July 6, 2017Nova headed off on her NCS (National Citizenship Scheme) programme today, the first week of which is at an outdoor sports centre in the Peak District. Her friend Evie came round to ours and Adam drove them up to Barnet first thing to meet the the group and board the coach.Lyra had an early violin lesson, which meant I got an early run in as well. The rest of the morning was spent prepping the flat for the arrival of Nick B and his friend Gabe, who are spending a few weeks in Europe to celebrate finishing high school. The boys arrived in the early afternoon, exhausted after a marathon journey from Edmonton to Vancouver to Gatwick to London. We’d originally planned to go to an event at Westminister school this evening — a tour of the houses of residence followed by a barbeque. Lyra wasn’t keen — she’s still getting over her illness, and it would have been a late night. Ate dinner with the boys instead — nothing fancy, just a few salads… Stepped out to vote in the Neighbourhood Forum, then repaired to the Prince of Wales for a swift half. Sat out back overlooking Pond Square to enjoy the uncharacteristically balmy evening. A group of teenage girls walked past, and I heard a snatch of their conversation: “Oh my god! Is that a phone box?” “I’ve never used a phone box before, have you?” “No, they give me the creeps. And how can they even work?”
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July 5, 2017Lyra had an upset tummy at the end of the evening yesterday. I assumed her fine dining experience was the cause, but she admitted that she actually hadn’t felt great the whole day, but downplayed it because of the birthday.She had a banana for breakfast and headed off to school. Within a couple of hours the school office called for me to come collect her. There is one of those vomiting bugs going round — I suspect she’s picked it up…:-( Adam had an early meeting with a local private school regarding an access issue that has got ugly. They upped the ante last week, drawing in the archdeacon of London to intimidate little state primary. I don’t think it worked out as they intended. The archdeacon has been sympathetic to our position, and he and Adam have got on so well that he’s accompanying Adam today to provide moral support. The matter wasn’t resolved today, but both sides have rowed back from their entrenched positions, and it won’t be keeping Adam awake at night anymore… Spent the day catching up on work in front of the Wimbledon coverage. Johanna Konta is through, as is Andy Murray. The weather is unseasonably hot, and players are complaining about temperature and the hardness of the court. It’s a fasting day, but fed the family spanakopita and salad for dinner. Afterwards, Adam and I started the new Jimmy McGovern drama Broken, which Pasc was talking up yesterday. Talk about bleak…. Needed to watch a corrective episode of Madame Secretary afterwards to brighten our spirits with a little espionage and terrorism… |
July 4, 2017Happy birthday, darling Nova — sweet 16!
She got some lovely gifts: glitterball earrings from David & Den, cold hard cash from Wade & Gale, a very stylish outfit and scarf from Margo & Aaron, Muji pens from Lyra, a couple of books from us. And a laptop… It’s a pretty extravagant present for us, but she’s approaching the age where she needs her own computer. It’s also an acknowledgement of how hard she’s worked this year. It proved too much for Lyra, who’d done a credible job of looking pleased as her sister unwrapped her bounty… Made the birthday cakes in the morning. It’s another scorcher — too hot to have the oven on in normal circumstances. Made a batch of spanakopita for International Evening at the school (Lyra’s class in representing Greece). We aren’t even going, but I felt sorry for the poor class rep who was having miserable luck signing people up for yet another contribution of time/money. Everyone is so over it, and just counting the days until summer holiday. Lyra and I assembed the cake after school. She had the great idea of making a sort of giant Oreo decorated with mini-Oreos. Unfortunately, it was too hot to be messing around with butter icing. It was liquifying even as I spread it. Stuck my slip-sliding cake in the downstairs fridge and hoped for the best. Met Adam at Hakkasan, where we took advantage of their keenly-priced, early evening set menu. It’s a very good deal for a “missionary star” restaurant. “Even the water tastes rich!” Lyra exclaimed. She was right — I’d accidently ordered Voss water instead of tap… When the cocktails arrived, Lyra was served a kiwi-based green one instead of the raspberry pomegranate concoction she’d order. It was replaced immediately — AND she got to keep the first one. “I’m going to do this every time,” Lyra said (never one to miss the main chance). We all had the seafood dim sum platter, followed my a different main — sweet and sour Berkshire pork, Chilean seabass, spicy prawns, beef in black bean sauce — all accompanied by rice and a side of stirfried asparagus. The desserts were very OTT (aside from my trio of macarons). Adam had a chocolate & olive oil ganache with raspberry sorbet and candied olives — delicous and incredibly rich. Both girls went for these chocolate shells filled with ice cream, covered in rice krispies and popping candy. There was additional hot chocolate sauce to pour on top and set the whole thing snapping and crackling. Caught a cab home, pulling up just as Freddy & Beulah, Doron and his kids arrived. Pasc and Fay also joined us for birthday cake and prosecco. It had gone 11pm before everyone left. A long, happy day…
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July 3, 2017Happy 50th birthday, David! Spent a good chunk of the day on birthday preparations: wrapped the gifts, made the card, agreed on a birthday cake with Lyra. I then got the big idea of making a little movie of shots of Nova and me over the years. I’m sad not to have a single photo of mum and me from my childhood. She avoided cameras at all costs, and would destroy those few photos that did get taken when she could. Because I’m usually the one behind the camera, there are relatively few pictures of me as well, but I found enough to work with. Movies are always way more work than I expect, plus I have to relearn iMovie every time, as I use it so rarely. Got there in the end… Nova returned from Knole late in the afternoon. Sounds like they had a great time — she’s so lucky to have a friend with her own stately home…;-) It’s a fasting day, so I left Adam to throw together some pesto pasta for dinner. I did made a batch of carrot cake muffins for breakfast tomorrow to take some pressure off the morning… |
July 2, 2017Took Lyra and Lily to “turch” this morning — my first visit in a few weeks… Lily came back to ours afterwards for a bit, while her mum made preparations for her birthday party this afternoon. Adam and I walked her down to Highgate Woods together, where the party was just getting underway. There is still some lingering tension between her and her previous gang of besties, which was obvious from the mini groups that were forming. Lyra’s trouble has always been too many girls making a claim for her friendship. It might sound like a non-problem, but it has caused regular grief. I remember collecting her from nursery one day, and noticing a display of drawings the kids had made of “my best friend”. A good half the girls had drawn Lyra (and most of the rest had drawn Greta.)
Continued on the Parkland walk to Muswell Hill for some groceries and household bits and pieces. As it was just the two of us for dinner (Nova has gone to stay with Jess at Knole), we took the opportunity to grill some salmon. Watched the start of the new series of Poldark — same old, same old… Just filling time until The Handmaid’s Tale, which gets better and better… |
July 1, 2017Happy 150th birthday, Canada! For two years (Y10 and Y11) she studied only two novels (Jane Eyre and Lord of the Flies), one play (Romeo and Juliet) and fifteen (largely modern) poems. Her two years of A-level studies are going to be similar, though I think it might stretch to two plays. Bear in mind that she is only studying four subjects for the next two years: English Lit, History, French and Spanish. I think it is tantamount to a crime against the teenagers of Britain, and am amazed that anyone wants to study English Lit at all in these circumstances. “How would you do it then?” she asked me. That set me going for another mile… In Y10-11 by spending each half term on a theme perhaps and reading a novel (or two), play and a few poems on each theme. Racism (To Kill a Mockingbird), feminism (Jane Eyre), war (A Prayer for Owen Meany), animal rights, socialism, poverty, peer pressure, social change, totalitarianism, the possibilities are endless. For A-levels, survey course, from Shakespeare to the modern day, linking literature to key historical and social events that have shaped the world. If we’d run for longer, I’d have had more ideas… Headed up to the school fair in time for my shift on the class stall. It involved timing kids navigating a bendy metal pipe with a ring without making the thing buzz. The stall was busy, I seemed to be the only person on it, and the hour passed quickly… After that I divided my time between supporting Alicia on her stall promoting the Neighbourhood Plan referendum, and defending Adam from strident parents who wanted to share their views on “Uniformgate”. (While I broadly agree with them, there is something pretty obnoxious about the way people badger him on the subject. It’s not his decision for one thing, it’s not the time or the place, and there is no consideration of the many unpaid hours he puts in on their behalf. Ungrateful fuckers…)
Back home, gave a small nod to Canada’s big day by dining on grilled cheese sandwiches, washed down with Bloody Caesars. We were invited to a local party, but it was school folk and I couldn’t be doing with it. Had a much more pleasant evening finishing Pride and Prejudice instead. Cracking book! |
