March 2013

March 31, 2013

Awoken at 4am by the sound of Lyra coughing in the girls’ little tent across the courtyard. Mama bear, that’s me… Once awake, there were other unfamiliar noises to get used to — a pack of dogs fighting not so far away, the enthusiastic choir of frogs, crickets, a couple of cockerels. And although it was still dark, the muezzin making the first call to prayer… 

Managed to doze off again, and slept until 7am. I was the first person in the shower (cold but refreshing). I was surprised no one else was up yet when I returned, but spent the the time rearranging our bags (we’re going to leave a bag behind).

When the promised 8am breakfast didn’t materialise, I started to wonder if something was up. Turns out today the clocks went forward in the UK at midnight, and my phone had reset itself automatically. Smart phone, not so smart owner…;-)

Breakfast — when it did turn up at 8am — was a mound of lovely, crumpety pancakes, which all the kids happily devoured. We were on the road at 9am, travelling my local bus this time, which had been hired for the purpose. They were pretty rough and ready — the bench seats weren’t actually screwed onto the floor, and the window into the cab was a hole roughly sawed into a piece of plywood.

Travelled 10 miles down the highway, then along a rough track into the desert for a good hour. Lyra had a captive audience in the Gospel Oak family. Both Elli’s mum and sister are teachers, and Lyra happily displayed her “special talent for spelling” — who knew?;-) It soon got pretty dusty, and we broke out the sheshes — all except Nova who had somehow managed to remove hers from her daybag after I’d packed it.

Stopped to fill up on cooking/washing water at a tiny little desert outpost, then travelled a further ten miles to where the camels were waiting. Once it was clear Nova’s shesh was in none of our bags, I managed to fashion a head covering for her out of a scarf Rachel’s mum Chi loaned me.

To my surprise, the kids had their own camel train. Little Lyra looked awfully high off the ground, but seemed perfectly happy up there, so I left her to it. All the kids were pretty enthusiastic actually, except Briony who had a last minute wobble, and opted to ride with her mum Kate.

My camel is rather wide, and I was getting some chafing on my calves before long. Still, it was pretty cool to be rolling into the Sahara on my ship of the desert. Adam was behind me on a grizzly old grey camel I named Darth Vader, for the incessant, gravelly growling noise it made the whole time. DV also a disconcerting habit of nudging me in the back or laying its head on my thigh when it got the chance.

There were six drivers, leading strings of three or four camels. It was pretty hot by this point, but it wasn’t feasible to reach the water or camera unless we stopped, which didn’t happen often. The camel drivers didn’t seem to be feeling the heat, and were well protected against the cold, in layers of jumpers and coats. our drivers had a heavy leather jacket, others wore full-length djellabas with pointed hoods. It was disconcerting when a driver would rummage under the djellaba and pull out a ringing mobile phone…

After a couple of hours we crested a ridge, and saw a couple of tents and trucks below — our camp for the night. It felt like we’d travelled a good distance, but no doubt the buses drove it in twenty minutes. The drivers flew into action once we hit the camp, unsaddling the camels before leading them off somewhere to feed.

There were two large tents already erected, a cooking one and another for dining and hanging out, plus a little toilet teepee a discreet distance away. Our chef had rustled up a lovely lunch of salads and bread. Hung out dozing on sleeping mats in the dining tent afterwards, to avoid the hottest part of the sun, though the towering sand dunes proved too tempting for the kids to resist…

The wind picked up late afternoon, blowing sand everywhere — less than ideal conditions for pitching the eight two-man tents we’d be sleeping in that night. It must have looked hilarious to the camel drivers, who mostly declined to get involved in the exercise, but we got there eventually…

We’d piled our big water bottles in the shade of the dining tent. I’d assumed they were a communal resource, and was surprised when one family carefully marked “their” bottles with a sharpie pen. Another family spirited a couple of bottles away to sleeping tents — seemed a bit silly to me…

After a well deserved cup of tea, we climbed to the top of the ridge of dunes to watch the sunset. The kids preferred a neighbouring ridge, and the handsome, cheerful camel driver went along with them to keep them out of mischief. The sunset wasn’t not at first, but was lovely towards the end.

By the time we descended, dinner was ready. Tomato vermicelli soup, followed by pasta with a vegetable sauce. Lyra had four bowls of soup — “Moroccan food is actually very nice”, she commented between mouthfuls. She’s certainly distinguishing herself in the eating department. Both our girls are markedly different to the rest of the younger kids, whose parents are struggling to get them to eat anything besides bread and chocolate spread.

Took Lyra to the toilet tent after dinner. I was surprised by how shallow the hole was — more of a scraping really. People just kick a bit of sand over it after they finish, like cats. Someone had got a fire going, and the camel drivers sang a number of wailing songs in Berber, shuffling slowly round the fire, using empty water containers as makeshift drums. Quite the scene — the flames, looming shadows, plaintive songs, drumbeat, and millions of stars blazing overhead…

At 9:30pm, we all called it a night. Nova shared a tent with Elli, I slept with Lyra and Adam was on his own. I’m much sleepier and hungrier than I am at home — all that vervain tea and fresh air…

March 30, 2013

Set the alarm for 6:30am, as we’ve got a busy day ahead. I hadn’t realised last night that our window actually opened. It certainly made the room much fresher, and I imagine it’s too dry for mosquitos.We’d been told that there was a pool and regretting the kids wouldn’t have the the chance for a swim. Checking out the view from our window, I could see that wasn’t going to be a option…

Headed downstairs for the buffet breakfast — bread, hard boiled eggs, olives, yogurt, coffee — then finished packing before the scheduled briefing at 7:30. Our guide Moha introduced himself, and gave us a brief summary of the history and geography of Morocco before outlining the route we’ll be covering.

Climbed back on the mini-buses and headed for the centre of town. Ouarzazate looks better in the daylight, but it’s an unprepossessing little place. According to Moha, the name means “silent city”. Nowadays, it survives on tourism — not that there’s much to see here, but it is a crossroads to more popular destinations (the Prince George of Morocco) — and the film industry.

Hit the bank machine and a supermarket for provisions. There wasn’t a huge selection — ended up with a couple of flat breads, some Kiri cheese, a package of “ham”, cookies, a jar of olives, and some water, which will do for lunch.

Our next stop was a tour of the impressive Taourirt Kasbah. Moha engaged a local guide, then left us to our tour. The kasbah was built in the 17th century, one of the many Glaoui kasbahs strung along the trade route between Marrakech and Timbuktu. Built of mud and straw, it’s pretty crumbly in places, but is being restored by UNESCO, and the part we toured was beautiful.

The palace has nearly three hundred rooms, and we were led up and down a series of mysterious stairways, into a series of rooms lit by low windows. Some of the decorations were beautiful, especially the reception rooms, and first wife’s apartment. Loved the painted roofs, constructed of palm, poplar and oleander wood.

Back into our mini-buses to drive over the mid-Atlas mountains into the Anti Atlas. We were travelling with the Gaskell family today — Tony (IT), Kate (train engineer), 8-year-old Nathan, and almost-6 Briony — who seem very pleasant. I’d gravolled the girls in anticipation of the twisty mountain roads. Too bad the Gaskells hadn’t done the same, as little Briony vomitted several times, once managing to splatter two of our daybags…:-(

It was over 30°C outside, but most of the Moroccans we passed were bundled up against the cold, wearing sweaters, or even puffa jackets. I guess if you’re accustomed to 50°C summers, this could conceivably feel a bit chilly…;-)

Stopped for lunch in one of the little towns en route. Moha led us through a shop to the private garden behind. We we served mint tea, which we drank with out picnic lunches. Moha poured the tea from a great height into our little glasses, never spilling a drop. This produces a layer of foam on top of the tea — “tea with a turban” he calls it…

Before leaving, we all bought a shesh from the proprietor — a long length of fabric to wrap round your head and face to protect you in the desert. The guy tied them on each of us, producing a sort of turban effect with a piece covering the mouth as well. I hope we can reproduce it tomorrow… Adam took the lead on bartering, knocking twenty percent off the suggested price for everybody. I wore mine for the rest of the journey — good for protection from vomit smell and dust blowing in the open windows…

After a couple more hours driving we arrived at our ” fixed camp” on the edge of Tazzarine, which means “dates” in Berber, apparently. While we settled into our pair of unprepossessing little “tents” — basically a few sticks with pieces of burlap draped over them (it’s probably my imagination, but they seem to smell of camel) — the kids in the group got acquainted round the little play pool.

In addition to our girls, we have twelve-year-old Elli, who’s in year 8 at Parliment Fields just down the hill. Her older sister Maya is actually 24 (not fifteen as Adam guessed at first). There’s the aforementioned Briony and Nathan, and also Rachel (5) and Tim (8). That pair seem programmed to be disobedient, which gets tiresome pretty fast. (When we were being shown round the campsite, Rachel deliberately kicked dirt all over one of the beds — her parents had the good sense to opt for that tent…

After another refreshing round of mint tea, we went for a walk into town to buy water for our camel trek. The local inhabitants seem very friendly — we received an endless stream of bonjours and ça va?s. It seems surprisingly populated for such a small place — I was starting to wonder if people were circling round to greet us again.

We ended up buy 20 litres of water (in four 5-litre jugs) per family, which proved a challenge for seven adults to carry back (Rachel’s mum was having a mental health break from her offspring back at the camp…)

The light was fading as we made our way back, and the frog chorus in the canal was loud and energetic. There was even a good sized frog in the loo, which gave little Rachel a big shock when she went for a wee…

I was mighty hungry by the time dinner was served. We’ve engaged a cook for the next few days while we are camping. I hope he’s started as he means to go on… Started with a bowl of harira soup, followed by braised beef, a beautiful mound of braised vegetables, couscous striped with cinnamon, and a mound of bread. Our kids tucked in immediately, knocking back their soup and attacking the couscous mountain with enthusiasm. The other four little ones pretty much ate bread as far as I could tell.

Bananas for dessert. They were bruised looking on the outside but perfectly ripe within — delicious actually. In bed by 10pm, It was too hot to climb into the sleeping bag, but I kind of craved the security of it. Fell asleep eventually…

March 29, 2013

Departure day, lots to do, but time to do it, so long as I keep focussed… Dropped Lyra round at Greta’s house, which made it easier. She’s very excited about the trip, and at a loose end with the rest of us buzzing about. Sent Nova down to collect Lyra about a half hour before the taxi was due to arrive…Smooth drive to the airport, and an easy check-in as well. Royal Air Maroc seems like a pretty classy operation. Doesn’t hurt that we’ve packed pretty lightly — especially considering we’ve had to bring sleeping bags, towels, raincoats and sturdy shoes. Aside from one small piece of carry-on luggage per person, Adam and I each have packs that weigh 10kg, and each girl has a 4kg bag.

Nova had forgotten to pack her facewash in her main bag, so that was confiscated by security, but we bought her another one once we were gate side. We’d arrived in such good time, we spent 45 minutes lingering in Pret before it was time to go to the gate.

I’ve noticed a recent development in that “full nappy” style of jeans wear that so many young men favour. While they used to need to wear their belt around the middle of their ass to keep the trousers from falling down, there seems a new style of jeans with an extra droopy ass that you can belt round the waist…

Nice enough flight… I no long have the dramatic, fearless-flying results I experienced the first time I did the self-hypnosis. (That time, it felt like a circuit had been unplugged — all the cues were there to make me feel anxious, but they just weren’t transmitting.) However, it’s all been ratcheted down considerably, and unless the plane hits real turbulence or starts banking sharply for no apparent reason, I’m good…

Casablanca airport was a mixture of grandeur and squalor, and enveloped in a thick pall of smoke. Seats were in short supply, but I eventually deked out some Arab boys when two became available.

The second plane was larger than expected — I was expecting something like a Dash-8 — and fully booked as well. We had a smooth, one-hour flight over the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzarzate, and a touchdown that was light as a feather.

Immigration took forever… Each passport was thoroughly scrutinized, and there was a whole lot of heavy stamping required before we were finally allowed through. You just don’t have that experience in Europe any more… At least our bags were waiting…

There were four families being gathered together for the tour. Once everyone was ready we set off in a pair of mini-buses to our hotel. The darkened streets of Ouarzarzate seemed soulless and deserted, anonymous mud brick walls and non-descript buildings…

Once we settled into our adjoining hotel rooms, I showed the girls how to brush their teeth with bottled water. Nova muffed it immediately, getting a mouth full of tap water before she remembered. Don’t suppose it will kill her… Adam went downstairs to change some money, returning with two cold beers that we knocked back while reclining on our beds watching French news in our underwear…

March 28, 2013

Emo day at Nova’s school — she got all kitted out in her new duds, applied some eyeliner and slouched off to school. Shades of the future. Later that morning, I drove Adam to Kentish Town mainline station, then carried on to Brent Cross, to tackle the long list of bits and pieces I need to get for our trip. 

Got home in time to grab a quick bite to eat before picking up Lyra from school. Nova came along with me, feeling a bit self-conscious in her emo gear, though her new look seemed to be a big hit with people…;-)

Caught the tube into the West End for our appointment at the travel clinic. It is too late to get the typhoid innoculation, but we all had hepatitis A shots, which left my arm feeling weak and achy. They now have a proper hepA vaccination — not just the dose of gamma globulin they used to give you…

Caught the bus home afterwards, and it was almost 7pm by the time we got in. I threw together a quick pork-and-rice bowl dinner, then returned to my packing and extensive to-do list. We don’t leave until 1:30 tomorrow afternoon, so I’m not feeling too stressed about it yet…

At bedtime Lyra sang me a seventeen-verse song of her own composition in lieu of a bedtime story, the earnest little sweetie…

March 27, 2013

Spent a very happy three hours at the V&A’s David Bowie exhibition today, and would have stayed even longer if I hadn’t needed to get back for school pick-up. I’d booked two tickets a few months ago as a birthday present for Adam, but what with his new job, he’s too busy attending meetings at the moment to be able to come along…:-(Especially enjoyed seeing all the outlandish costumes, the original pages where we worked out song lyrics, and the room devoted to his time in Berlin. Loads of video and film footage I was unfamiliar with as well. It was crowded, but it didn’t seem to interfere with my enjoyment.

Somehow managed to exit through a back door into their other special exhibition on Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars. Could have happily lingered there too, but time was pressing. I’d thought I’d maybe have time for a bit of holiday shopping, but I had to motor straight up to the school.

I picked up Alex as well, who’d cleverly taken advantage of a change in nannies to inform the newbie that “she always has a playdate with Lyra on Wednesdays”. The two girls were all excited about a new stuffed toy that’s hit the market. It’s called a “podling” and Dara Grace seems to have started a craze for them. They were straight onto the iPad picking out the ones they wanted to order, and Lyra was most disappointed when I didn’t immediately type in my credit card number. Nothing wrong with a bit of delayed gratification in my opinion — character building…;-) Plus, I don’t want parcels sitting outside the front door when we are away on holiday…

March 26, 2013

Time to start getting ready for our trip to Morocco on Friday. I’ve been in a bit of a fog the last couple of weeks, and there is lots to do…Vaccinations, for example… Both typhoid and hepatitis A are recommended for Morocco. We didn’t get any vaccinations last time, but we weren’t travelling to the Sahara region either. Unfortunately, we’ve left it so late I think we might have to take our chances,

Did some work for Adam, plus housework, school runs and helped Lyra complete her belated thankyou cards…

Nova was performing in The Tempest at school this evening. Year seven students were confined to the dance troupe, but she’s enjoyed being involved nevertheless. Afterwards, we headed straight to 500 restaurant in Archway for a Garfunkel celebration dinner to mark Freddy’s 80th birthday as well as their 50th wedding anniversary. Nice occasion, but a bit late for the kids, especially on a school night…

March 25, 2013

Nova called me from school this afternoon with the news that the head teacher, of her school is leaving at the end of the year. He’s taken the head teacher position at Roedean, one of the country’s most prestigious private girls schools. It’s a shame — he’s done great things at Henrietta Barnett, and we have to hope that there’s a strong team in place to manage the transition with a minimum of disruption to the students.
Adam was out at meetings all day, as per usual. I got caught up on some housework. I think the antibiotics are kicking in properly — I’m feeling a world better, and have lost that “moving through treacle” feeling had the last couple of weeks. I’m still coughing my dry, irritating, unproductive cough…:-(

Lyra received a birthday parcel from Margo and Aaron in the post. She was thrilled with her new bikini and cover up and wore it for the rest of the day, in spite of the sub-zero temperatures outdoors…

March 24, 2013

Woke to a good couple of inches of snow — beautiful, but not what you want to see at the end of March. The weather reports from Scotland sound fantastical — 18-foot snowdrifts trapping people in their homes, ewes giving birth to frozen lambs…
Nova had an all-day rehearsal for her forthcoming Tempest performance. I wondered whether it would be a problem getting the car out, but it was fine.

Lyra got a “knit your own panda mittens” kit for her birthday, and we got stuck into that this afternoon. I’m amazed at how quickly she got the hang of knitting. Before long, she was knitting twenty or thirty stitches on her own. It’s a complicated pattern, but as long as I’m sitting there doing the casting on and increasing and fixing mistakes as they happen, I think she’s up to it.

Dinner was banh mi sandwiches, followed by a tiramisu Lyra and I made with some leftover panettone — delicious…

March 23, 2013

Nova was meant to be going to Chessington World of Adventure for Evelyn’s a birthday outing today, but the weather forecast was so bad that Christine decided to cancel. Probably the right call — it’s about 2°C with a ferocious wind, and snow is imminent…
According to Lyra, Nova didn’t properly fulfil her babysitting duties last night. Instead of doing Lyra’s bedtime, she told Lyra just to read to herself, and spent the whole time playing computer games and ignoring her little sister.

After confirming this version of events with Nova, I made the decision to pay her only half the promised £5 for babysitting. I slipped the other half of the money into Lyra’s purse, on the premise that she showed the same amount of responsibility as Nova did. I didn’t mention it to Lyra, as I don’t want to establish that precedent. Nova assures me she’ll do the job properly next time…

Went round for dinner at Pete and Pasc’s this evening. Pasc had popped down in the early evening to borrow some quinoa, and we hadn’t been there long when Adam needed to pop back to ours for some peppers.

Dinner was a very tasty quinoa-pepper salad, which Pasc served with grilled chicken. Afterwards, we played a game of Articulate, the girls giving the boys a thoroughly satisfying thumping. Felt like old times, aside from the part where we used to head back home with one or two sleeping girls in our arms…;-)

March 22, 2013

Finally took myself off to the GP this morning. It’s been ten days since I got sick, and I’m not feeling any better. If anything, I’m feeling worse… The doctor diagnosed an upper respiratory infection, and I left with a week’s course antibiotics and a puffer to take to Morocco…
After lunch, I headed up to Brent Cross to pick up a few things for Nova. They are having a high school tribes day next week, and she wants to go as a emo girl. I picked her up a pair of black jeans, burgundy trainers, a parka, and a black Florence and the Machine teeshirt.

Nova was well pleased with the purchases, and treated me to a fashion show when she got home, complete with sullen emo girl poses. This inspired Lyra — “I want to be an emo too!” she said, and raced downstairs to change. She emerged five minutes later in a pair of drainpipe Levis and a sequinned black teeshirt. “What do you think?” she asked. “Actually, you are more of a rock chick,” I told her. “Yeah, that’s right,” she agreed, “because I like rocks AND music!” Bless…

Went to a supper show at Jackson’s Lane with Doron and Antonia this evening. The food was served by a troupe of circus performers, who occasionally broke into interior monologues, or swung about on trapezes in between serving food and drinks and clearing the plates. I enjoyed it, but limited myself to one glass of red wine. I’m not entirely sure about drinking with antibiotics, though I think it’s ok except with the nuclear strength one that starts with an “m”. I suppose I didn’t really feel like drinking…

I coughed and sneezed so loudly on the walk home that Adam quipped I was breaking the “please leave quietly” restrictions… Straight to bed, in the hope of getting a good night’s rest…

March 21, 2013

Feeling pretty meh still — I think I’m going to have to go to the GP if this carries on… Managed a bit of housework, but my energy levels are really low. I also have a lot of sinus pain, which worsens if I bend over, or even move my head.
At least I’m getting a lot of reading done. Finished an AM Homes novel — May We Be Forgiven — which I loved, read the Jonathan Coe novel Dave gave me for Christmas — The Rain Before It Falls, and started A Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes.

Made ham barley soup for dinner, using the cider stock from boiling the ham. It added a strange sweetness to the stock, which neither I nor the girls liked that much…

March 20, 2013

Happy birthday to Adam! Woke the girls up a bit early so that they could make birrthday presents. Left the gifts in their room, and they enjoyed wheeling in the suitcase when they were ready. Made a special breakfast for the kids — porridge with fresh strawberries and golden syrup then bundled them off to their respective schools.
Still feeling ropey — in fact I think I might be having a relapse. Took to my bed again, reading and dozing until almost noon when I emerged for a piece of toast. Apparently, I completely missed Freddy and Beulah’s birthday visit…

Roused myself enough to take Adam out for lunch at Dabbous — currently a very hot ticket on the London dining scene. Went for the fixed lunch, which was very good value. We both started with the avocado and roasted pistachio nuts in an osmanthus-flavoured broth, which was an intriguing and subtle dish.

Next, I went for the roasted skate, with mustard cream, oyster leaf and dill pickle. I was distinctly unimpressed with the appearance of my dish. Fortunately, it tasted better than it looked, though I didn’t think the flavours were particularly effective together. Adam’s pig’s cheek wash much more to my liking.

The waffle with smoked caramel sauce was a stunning dish — I could have mainlined that sauce. It was all I could do not to lick my plate, even with my sinus situation…

After I settled the bill, Adam headed off to catch a plane to Germany, and i made my way home. I had Lyra farmed out until after swimming, which left me free to attend the performance of Dido and Aeneas that Nova was appearing in. They certainly devote a lot of effort to music at her school — I like that…

March 19, 2013

Got up with Nova, then straight into Lyra’s early start for gymnastics. I’d arranged to meet my friend Wendy for a coffee at Costa afterwards. I’m completely stuffed up again, which is frustrating. Honked my way through a big pile of napkins while we caught up on each other’s news — very attractive…Headed into town afterwards to buy birthday presents for Adam. He wants a cabin suitcase to take on his business trips. Did a little bit of research online, then worked my way through the big department stores on Oxford Street, eventually finding something suitable at House of Fraser.

Also bought him a long-sleeved teeshirt from Muji (from Nova), and chocolates (from Lyra) and I was done. I was pretty tuckered out by the effort — what a pathetic state of affairs…

Rested up until it was time for school pick-up. Ballet watch week — and Lyra’s last ever ballet class. She’s really not keen on Miss Julie (neither am I for that matter), and I was surprised when Julie gave her a big hug and kiss at the end of class.

I was overambitious with my dinner plans, and it was 6:45 before we sat down to eat: lamb/beef meatballs with broad beans and basmati rice with orzo, courtesy of the Jerusalem cookbook. I have yet to cook a meal we don’t all enjoy from that cookbook. It’s been a good way to get the girls used to middle Eastern type seasoning before our pending trip to Morocco…

March 18, 2013

Finally buckled down and did some work today. This cold has really knocked the legs out from under me. Sent something off to the client, then hurried up to school to pick up Lyra and Maggie and walk them to drama. It’s nastily cold and wet — I’m bloody sick of this rotten weather. I’m sure a stretch of sunshine would go a long way to setting me on the road to health again…
Made chicken fajitas for dinner. Just the girls and me — Adam was working late at a design agency he’s doing a project with. Got home about 9pm, stuck his head briefly through the sitting room door where I was helping Nova revise for her chemistry exam, then spent the next two hours on the telephone. If this is the future, I don’t think I’m going to like it…:-(

March 17, 2013

Happy St Patricks Day! Nova is deep into an RE project this weekend. She has to write a report about one of the major world religions. She’s doing Shinto again, which has a lot of interesting stuff to write about. Given she’s left it so late, her familiarity with the topic will help.
Adam and I left the girls home alone, and headed off to Finchley. I did a Waitrose run while Adam roved the high street looking for a red teeshirt for Nova to wear to her Tempest rehearsal this afternoon. Lyra keen to go to Toys ‘R’ Us to spend some of her birthday money, so she came with me when I dropped Nova at school and we carried on to the North Circular.

After much deliberation, Lyra picked a Doc McStuffins plush toy and two new Lala Loopsies for herself. She was very happy with her choices, chatting to the doll all the way home in the car. It’s really nice when she acts her age for a change. She’s so busy trying to catch up with Nova, it feels like she’s missing out on being a little girl sometimes.

Ham boiled in cider, potatoes and corn for dinner. Sort of Irish…;-) I also made these self-saucing chocolate pear puddings, but an unexpected work call threw my timing off and they were overdone. Definitely one to try again…

Attended a shiva for the father of a dad from school. He’s not a particular friend, but he knows about Adam’s Jewish background and invited us. We changed into something smart, dropped down there to pay out respects and hand over some kosher cookies we’d bought earlier in the day. The whole thing required about half an hour out of the house. I think the girls were a bit disappointed that we were home so soon…

Finished watching the fourth series of Engrenages this evening — good stuff indeed…

March 16, 2013

My plans for a good night’s sleep failed miserably… Adam came to bed late, waking me up. And I’d only managed to sleep another hour before the cat ambushed me…
Felt pretty sluggish all day — I’m getting very tired of this cold. Dinner was yakisoba and with lemon drop biscuits for dessert (or fried egg biscuits, as Nova calls them).

Went to the cinema with Jane this evening. Ended up picking something called Side Effects, which I didn’t enjoy that much. Jude Law was an annoyance, as he so often is. Found myself rooting for the murderous lesbians, in what was a highly unconvincing storyline…

March 15, 2013

Red Nose Day today, which Lyra marked by wearing her rabbit onesie, face paint whiskers and a black trenchcoat to school, the idea being she was the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Greta was supposed to be coming as Alice, but unfortunately she’s off sick today.

Finally seem to be crawling out from under this crushing boulder of a cold — it has been a nasty one… Lots of bits and pieces to catch up on around the house, going to take a few days before I’m on top of things again…

Headed up to the playground at 3:20 for the flash mob. Unfortunately, it started to drizzle as I arrived — five minutes earlier, and I would have worn my red raincoat. Instead, I had to strip down to my red teeshirt. A bit of stress around Lyra being detained in her piano lesson — and the possibility she might miss the whole thing, but she turned up just in time.

As the opening bars of Gangnam Style rose over the crowded playground, I shucked off my coat and migrated into the centre with about forty other parents. The routine went pretty smoothly, and it was all over in under three minutes, and received with wild cheering and applause. After taking a bit of time to pass the collection buckets, we did it again with kids (and anyone else) joining in this time. Lyra danced alongside me in her onesie and carried off a very competent version of the routine…

For dinner, I made a Tunisian red potato sauce with herb-flecked couscous. Turned down the chilli a good deal, and it went down fine with the kids. Went to see a show at Jackson’s Lane afterwards with Adam. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, originally a novella by Tom Baker, has been developed into a hilarious, macabre physical comedy about a nasty little boy who receives a well-deserved comeuppance. Straight to bed when we got home — I need a good night’s sleep…

March 14, 2013

Not enough sleep, and feeling the worse for it. Dropped Lyra off at school, then had yet another low energy day mooching around the house on my own. Pretty bloody bored with this cold — the paved sinuses, earache, headache, eyeache, toothache and endless coughing. Remembered my mother’s day massage just in time (and too late to reschedule). Enjoyed it, though I had to punctuate it with regular nose blowing breaks, which was less than ideal…
Cooked a family dinner from Jerusalem — it’s been a few days since we all sat down to a meal together. Had to be a quick one, as it needed to fit in after Nova returned from singing, and before my dance rehearsal. Millie dropped Lucia round for a little visit so she could rehearse too…

I thought I’d forgotten all the steps, but they came back pretty quickly. After an hours’ rehearsing, we blocked it out in the dark schoolyard at the end. I think it’s going to be good…

Returned to a homework crisis, multiple music practicing, double bedtimes, the usual… My life is a giddy round of pleasure at the moment…;-) There was a bit of excitement when we were watching an episode of Fawlty Towers with Nova before bed. Cleo had found a mouse somewhere, and was having a great time tossing its limp little body up into the air, then pouncing on it when it landed. Nova found this a bit distressing of course, but Cleo eventually tired of the game, and ate the poor little thing, whiskers, tail and all.

I don’t like it when Cleo introduces mice from outdoors and releases them into the house, but catching any mice that might be thinking of taking up occupancy with us is a whole other thing. She’s been taking a big interest in goings on behind the bookcase — so this might have been an actual house mouse. Although there has been no evidence, like droppings or anything to base that on…

March 13, 2013

Not feeling as bad as I expected, though I do have lots of drugs in my system. I was somehow roped/duped into doing a double playdate after school today. Definitely up for that, not… I gave the girls’ room a thorough cleaning in preparation. Three is a tricky number, and there was a certain amount of competion for Lyra’s attention and little conflicts to resolve. Made schnitzel for dinner, which was one thing they could all agree on…Adam was out again, and will be out every day this week. At least he got home in time to take them all off to the swimming pool. I left for a dance rehearsal while they were gone. We’re doing a Gangnam Style flash mob for Red Nose Day on Friday, as a surprise the kids at school. I didn’t have a lot of energy for dance class, but I’ve already missed the first rehearsal on Friday.

I’d wanted to go to the premiere of my panto dvd afterwards at the Bull. It’s always a good night, and there were lots of people going, but Adam had a board meeting at Jackson’s Lane, so I had to go home to the girls. I left them alone last night, and am not doing that two nights in a row…

Adam didn’t get home until after 11pm, having stuck around for drinks afterwards. Feeling a little pissed off with him actually…

March 12, 2013

Spen a rotten night coughing up watery fluid from my respiratory system. It was slightly fizzy too… yuk…:-( I may be marginally better today. At least I didn’t need a five hour mid-day nap to function. I got up after the girls went to school, showered and even did some housework in advance of my client meeting.
Still feeling pretty wretched though… When Veronika saw me in the playground, she marched straight over and said, “I don’t ever want to see you in the playground again when you are feeling as bad as you look today! Next time, you call me and I will park at your house and bring Lyra back for you. You must ask for help when you are sick!” Very sweet of her…

Skulked past our class bake sale (I was too sick to consider making anything), and delivered Lyra to her ballet class. Only two more classes, and we are released of the tyranny of the dreadful Miss Julie. Nine years we’ve been putting up with her — I’m giddy at the thought of it…

In the evening, we attended a wine tasting event in town. I didn’t want to go, but Adam keen. Also, heard there were a couple of cancellations due to illness, so fortified myself with cold medication and we took a taxi into town.

Malbecs of Argentina at a steak house round the corner from my old office. Great wines, or so Adam informs me, and nice food as well. Interesting mix of people, one couple we know vaguely but everyone else was new to us, including the Argentinian trade commissioner. Nabbed a ride home with Kiran and Birgit afterwards…

March 11, 2013

Woke up with a nasty sore throat this morning. Overall, I’m feeling pretty rough. Staggered up to school with Lyra through the school freezing cold — it was actually snowing. Crept under the blankets for a few moments to warm up when I got home — and ended up sleeping for five hours. Must have needed it…
Tofu miso soup for dinner, nice, healthy steamy, sinus clearing food…Hung out with the kids, then watched University Challenge with Adam (33% this time), followed by The Kings Speech. i dozed through some of it, but I’ve seen it before so “it doesn’t mind”, as Lyra would say…

March 10, 2013

Mother’s Day today. I received some lovely cards and presents — a massage voucher and a sparkly mushroom brooch from Adam, a headband decorated with hearts and beads that Nova had stitched on herself, and a book, paper heart brooch and “sculpture” from Lyra.Adam made muffins and fruit salad for breakfast, after which we played this game Lyra got for her birthday where each person sticks a card on their head and takes turns guessing who they are.

Went for a family lunch at Cote. I’d intended to have brunch, but they didn’t bring us that menu and I ended up ordering lunch instead. Roast chicken for Lyra and me, steak frites for Adam and Nova. It is freaking cold today, with an icy wind that slices right through your clothes. Feels more like January than March…

Headed into town afterwards to see the Lightshow exhibition at the Hayward. There were some amazing installations, and we all really enjoyed it. One for the whole family…

March 9, 2013

Happy birthday, Liam! Such a busy day today… Waitrose run, Nova to drama, Lyra to a birthday party, two flat viewings — all by 12pm. After a hurried lunch we headed straight into town to see the stage production of Matilda, which was one of Lyra’s birthday presents.

It was an entertaining show, and I was amazed at how much the man playing Miss Trunchbull managed to look like the Quentin Blake illustration. Some great songs too…

Spent some time in a Delicious Chocolate pop-up store on the way back to the tube. “Free chocolate” — now, there’s a sign to pull the punters in…;-) Made a quick foray into Chinatown as well, to replace Lyra’s chinese dress and buy a couple of grocery items.

Back home, I fed the girls samosas and lentil soup for dinner. Pasc and Fay popped round to use our Mac for a homework assignment. We were due at a dinner party at Wendy and John’s in Crouch End, and left everyone still at it when Elsie arrived to babysit.

Nice food, good wine and company, plus some unscheduled entertainment when their fifteen year old daughter and a friend returned home drunk from a party. Home about 1:30…

March 8, 2013

There’s an opened pack of crispy duck pancakes hanging around in the fridge that I wanted to use up. After some mulling, I hit on the idea of making samosas from them. They weren’t ideal for the purpose, not being inclined to stick at the edges, but the filling was very tasty. Polished off a couple for lunch, and saved the rest for an after-school snack for the kids…
Adam is out more and more at the moment, as he gets into his new role — it’s the future, I guess…:-( Did some housework, but overall I’m feeling aimless and unmotivated. It’s freezing cold as well, which makes me want to hibernate under my duvet. Finally got stuck into my engineering website work, which I’ve been putting it off for no particular reason, other than I was put off by the nitpicky tone of their last email.

Class drinks at the Wrestlers for Lyra’s class. Wasn’t that keen to go, but it ended up being a late one. Worryingly easy to do that when Nova is babysitting (or sis-sitting as we now call it round here)…

March 7, 2013

Lily came back for a playdate with Lyra after school. Nova breezed in part way through, adding a little glamour to the proceedings — at least in Lily’s eyes. Overheard in the girls’ bedroom: “I wish I had a big sister just like Nova,” said Lily. “No, you don’t..” Lyra replied. Made us all laugh…There was a spring concert this evening at Nova’s school. She was performing with both the concert orchestra (keyboards) and the year seven choir. Both were in the first half, which allowed us to leave discreetly during the break. Otherwise, it would have been a very late night for Lyra who’s still suffering with a nasty cold…

At bedtime tonight, Lyra informed me that she has a new favourite band. “It’s called One Erection”, she said. “Do you mean One Direction?” I asked. “Yeah, that’s it!”…;-)

March 6, 2013

Did some adidas work for Adam this morning. Good thing too — it can help defray my massive outlay on my new glasses… 

My ankle is sore today — unfortunately, it’s my good one (although in reality it used to be bad one until I tore all those ligaments in my right foot). I’ll take it easy today and hope that it loosens up.

Lyra had a playdate with Alex after school. The girls are in the same swimming class, which meant we could collect Lyra at the swimming pool after her lesson. Arrived ten minutes early, to find her thrashing away with her usual enthusiasm. “It’s not swimming as we know it, Scottie,” but it gets her from A to B.

Called dad to thank him for Lyra’s birthday money. She was very clear about what she wanted to spend it on — a white, fluffy rabbit onesey, with floppy ears on the hood and a heart-shaped tail, just like the one that Alex changes into after swimming. Got straight onto eBay after my phone call, and ordered one up. She also received a great book from Margo, called The Curly Girl Handbook, full of guidance and tips on how to keep your curls looking great.

Adam was out somewhere else this evening — we watched the rest of the 100-Year War thing when he got back, followed by two episodes of University Challenge. Friends will often say that they can’t answer any of the questions, or that their goal is to get one right per show. I know we do somewhat better than that, and decided to start tracking how we do. Tonight we managed 29% and 31%, so roughly a third of the answers right, which isn’t too bad…

March 5, 2013

First run in a week. It’s been freezing cold and I’ve been very busy, but I[ve been lazy too. At least the days off have gave my blister a chance to heal… Did a half hour circuit in the Woods — nothing overly taxing. I’d like to do something a bit harder on Thursday…Had a double appointment at the optometrists for a contact lens check and new glasses. My glasses have been increasingly useless — I now wear them about two inches along my nose. To my surprise, this is because my eyes getting stronger. I don’t need varifocals, just a weaker prescription, though I have a long way to go before I won’t need glasses at all. I chose larger frames this time — my current narrow ones have been annoying me for a while. The new ones are a bit Buddy Hollyish, with a sort of “distressed wood” look to them…

All the parking in Barnet appears to by done by mobile phone now — no more need for coins and tickets. There are advantages and disadvantages to that, but I imagine it’s better for the Borough than for us. I would be very surprised if the don’t have meter readers on scooters now, using GPS to work their way through a list of cars whose parking is about to expire.

Made cauliflower butterbean stew for dinner. I’m amazed that the girls don’t kick off about that meal. I would have hated it when I was their age. Adam headed off to play table tennis afterwards, and I did the washing up and my usual homework/practice/bedtime routines.

We’re having a bit of a drama with Nova’s piano teacher at school, who’s been missing lessons for personal reasons. The problem is, she never writes any notes about what’s been covered, or what Nova should practice. She doesn’t even mark up the music, aside from drawing a line showing where Nova should stop playing. This makes it very difficult to support Nova in her absence, or even to work out how many lessons need to be made up. Pretty sure we’re going to switch back to piano lessons with Anita next term…

Watched a very interesting programme on the 100-Year War when Adam got back — at least it was interesting until I fell asleep…;-)

March 4, 2013

Happy birthday, Ceinwen! 15 years old — it hardly seems possible…
Feeling kind of down today — maybe I’ve got the post-party blues? Blew off my run, although it would have probably made me feel better, especially as such a beautiful, bright — if still freezing cold — day.Wrote to my MP about gaining access to Big Ben, which Lyra has been wanting to do for ages. Apparently, your MP needs to perform a security check, after which you are granted a slot on a tour. Seems an unlikely process, but we’ll see what happens…

Also booked some tickets for an interesting exhibition at the Hayward for a Mother’s Day treat this Sunday. We’ve left it too late to book a restaurant, but to my mind it’s not a great day to eat out anyway. Like Valentines Day — everywhere is rammed, and making too much of an effort with special menus andl longstem roses and whatnot, and it all feels contrived…

Took Lyra and her friend Maggie to their drama class after school, after which I picked up a copy of the novel I need to read for my new book club. For years, I’ve been the only person I know who isn’t in a book club, even though I read more than almost everyone I know… It’s called Shantaram, and I was pretty depressed to discover that I hate it, especially as it’s about 1000 pages long. Be careful what you wish for…

Nova got her hair cut after school today. She gone for a chopped, layered look, and is very happy with the results. She looks very stylish and grown-up…

March 3, 2013

Adam made the girls pancakes for breakfast. I was going to opt out completely, but ended up helping with the frying/serving and eating a couple myself… Brought the sleepover to a tidy end by driving Nova’s guests home at 10:30am (and picking up Lyra’s bike, which has been getting serviced).
Lots of clearing up for Nova afterwards, as the girls had strewn clothes and make-up around her bedroom and the flat from their makeover session. They’d tried on lots of Lyra’s clothes as well, with the idea of using her dresses as tops I guess, and splitting her Chinese dress in the process…:-(

It was Lyra and Alice’s shared pool party in the afternoon. It was my turn to do the food, so after lunch I flew into sandwich making mode: ham and cheese, ham, hummus, cuke and cream cheese. I’ve learned through experience to make half a sandwich per guest. This always works out about right, and leaves you with a few for the grown-ups to polish off. Roasted some little cocktail sausages as well, and chopped up cucumber and carrots. Alongside that, we have little bags of “crispy crap”, grapes, and chocolate fingers. Christine is handling the cakes…

There’s been great excitement about this party, and all the guests appeared to have a great time. “That was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to!” Greta informed me as I was handing out party bags and seeing them off the premises two hours later…

We’d asked people to bring only one present each, to be shared out between the two girls. Even so, with 28 guests, this resulted in a sizable pile of presents. Lyra was thrilled with everything, but particularly liked her secret diary and lavendar filled owl, which is heated in the microwave at bedtime.

Went light on dinner — easy pasta dishes all round. Once the music practice and homework was done, and the girls were in bed, Adam and I sat down to catch up on Engrenages and neck a couple of well-deserved Coronas…;-)

March 2, 2013

Another terrible night’s sleep, not really sure why… A two podcast kind of night… Our friend Pete’s birthday today. As a badminton playing, drummer in a dad’s band, we were inspired to produce this card and buy him a headband to accompany it:

Rock on, (bad)minton boy!

In spite of my objections, Nova had somehow succeeded in wheedling a double sleepover out of us. By the time we returned from Pete and Pasc’s, she was in a makeover frenzy with Sarah and Etta, emerging before dinner with goth-panda eye make-up.

I modified my dinner plans somewhat, producing a turkey meatball version of bahn mi sandwiches, followed by ice cream and strawberries, after which they disappeared downstairs again until it was time to watch their video. Fay came round to join in at this point, though I don’t think she was that impressed with their choice of Mean Girls, being a little more highbrow than that. (Sarah actually commented after the film that she thought it would be “fun to be a ‘plastic’. Missed that message…)

I think I may have chilblains on a few of my toes. I have painful, reddish lumps that hurt when you press them. When I googled ‘chilblains’, the images they offered up were so horrific, I doubted it for a bit, but the symptoms sound right. One website actually recommended always wearing preheated slippers. Adam and I had a good laugh about that one: “Darling, have you preheated my slippers? I want to get up now?”

             not my actual feet...

March 1, 2013

Happy St David’s Day!
I mean Happy Birthday, Lyra!! I’ve been teasing Lyra a little bit these last few days, asking if maybe she’d like to celebrate St David’s Day instead of her birthday this year, to make a change. “No!” she said, before hedging her bets by asking, “What do people do on St David’s Day?” I told her we’d wear daffodil yellow clothes and eat leek pancakes for breakfast, leek sandwiches for lunch, and leek pie for dinner. “I’m definitely celebrating my birthday,” she decided. 

The girls were in our room by 7am, wildly excited about the new dressing table. Nova was keen to negotiate a system where they shared her desk for writing/drawing, and used the new desk for grooming, but Lyra wants to keep it all to herself for now…

Headed upstairs to open presents, after which we had French toast and bacon for breakfast. At 8:30, I walked a mufti-wearing Lyra to school, while Adam ran Nova to her school in the ca.

Lyra has asked for a lemon cake this year, so after lunch I got busy baking. Was treated to a delightful version of “Happy Birthday” by Devlin while I worked, though unfortunately Lyra wasn’t around to hear it. (She did speak to her uncle Wade after school…) I had an idea of how to create a big sugary 6 on top of the cake using a template, icing sugar, syrup and coloured sugar crystals. It wasn’t a howling success, but came closer to my cake decorating vision than I normally achieve…

As requested, I made Swedish meatballs for dinner. Freddy and Beulah came round for cake and Pasc dropped in too. Here’s a round up of Lyra’s gifts: