May 2005

May 31, 2005

Today was market day in Cenac, and we managed to set off together about 10:30. The town square was bustling, with stalls selling fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, cheeses, fois gras, clothes, wine, honey, books, toys… We bought lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, mountain gruyere, a rotisserie chicken, fried potatoes, wine, fish soup and brandade de morue and headed home for lunch.

The afternoon was spent hanging out on the terrace (me), or watching French Open tennis in German on Eurosport (everyone else). For dinner, we headed to the restaurant Petit Paris in our nearest village, Daglan.

It was a lovely warm evening, and we chose a table out front. There was a set menu, but three or four choices for each course. I started with the prawns — fried in wonton wrappers and served with a delicious potato-apple salad; followed with a gorgeous piece of monkfish with white asparagus and celeriac puree; and ended with a dessert composed of a mocha creme brulee, scoop of candied walnut ice cream, and a little jug of something I wasn’t sure what to do with, but was happy to eat as it was so delicious… Knocked off a couple of delicious bottles of Bergerac sec as well… Nova had some smoked salmon and bread, and spent most of the meal in my lap, as it was well past her bed time by the time we were done…

May 30, 2005

We seem to be getting up a lot later than Greg and Wendy on this holiday… Nova is doing well to sleep in past 6:30am, and she’s generally pretty keen to get up and stuck into her bowl of ‘bix. The morning was a bit overcast, but we didn’t let that stop us from taking our daily dip.We set off for Rocamadour about 11am, stopping for lunch at Le Petit Relais in Calès. Greg and Wendy weren’t hungry so they just had an omelette and a salad, but Adam and I went for the fixed menu: local terrine; aiguilletes of duck; and a pear-walnut cake, with a glass of Cahors. There was a children’s menu as well, and Nova had ham and bread, steak haché and chips, and a Mickey Mouse shaped, chocolate covered ice cream.

I was expecting to get some sort of duck sausage, but it turned out I was confusing my andouillettes (small chitterling sausage) and aiguillettes (thin slivers, usually of duck breast). I always get confused by French menus — they seem to have so many obscure food words. It’s less of a problem now that I eat meat, but on previous (vegetarian) visits, I have been less than thrilled to find I have ordered an enormous blood sausage that looked like a grilled horse penis (boudin noir — I thought it was a pudding), and a perfect cube of barely cooked steak (pavé — apparently I’m lucky it wasn’t liver…).

Rocamadour was amazing. Clinging to a steep cliff, the medieval village streets (now cluttered with tourist shops) wind up to the religious city — seven chapels carved out of the cliff face (or you can take the elevator, which is what we did). We eschewed a second elevator and walked the switchbacking stations of the cross to the fortified chateau at the top, which is now a hotel. The ramparts had breathtaking views over the town and river valley below.

Back at the ranch (or barn) dinner was pasta carbonara and green salad, accompanied by lots of wine, and another tart — pear and almond this time…

May 29, 2005

I was the first one up this morning, and took the opportunity to go for a morning swim. The pool is unheated and very cold, but compared to those northern lakes we thought nothing of swimming in when I was a kid, it felt like a jacuzzi. As it was only about 10 metres long, I adapted my workout to include flutter kick, arms only breaststroke, and various synchronised swimming strokes, like the canoe, lobster and propellor. Things that are hard enough to do that you’re happy to reach the end of a 10 metre pool…Topped up yesterday’s grocery shopping in Cenac (our closest town) with a visit to the greengrocers, bakery and wine shop. The rest of the day was devoted to hanging about on the terrace, reading, swimming, and playing with Nova. The little beggar got into her suitcase, and discovered the various treats I’d stashed away to space out over the week.

Salads, cold cuts, fruit tart, and far too much wine for dinner…

May 28, 2005

I had a terrible night’s sleep last night, all five hours of it…
Though I didn’t much feel like it, I managed an early run with Pasc — our last chance before the Race for Life the morning after we get back. I’m bringing my running stuff along with me, although I think it’s unlikely I’ll use it. It depends how motivated Wendy is. My main fitness ambition is not to gain any weight in the week we’re away…We managed to set off about 11am,and got to the airport more than two hours before our flight. Adam has told me that his dad is so committed to getting to the airport early, that his family once arrived early enough to catch the flight before their scheduled flight…

We ate lunch at Pret a Manger, checked in, bought Nova some hair doodads, and cleared passport control. There was priority boarding for people with children, but this being half term, practically everyone on the flight had children, so it was basically a free for all. I’m pretty good in those situations, and we bagged good seats, right at the front of the plane.

It was a beatiful, clear day, so it was a bit disappointing that the flight turned out to be white knuckle experience. Most it was down to the abilities of the pilot, who was a bit of a boy racer. He couldn’t seem to decide whether the nose of the plane should be pointing up or down, and while crossing the channel he’d bank to one side, then roll straight over to the other side. He’d just come out of one of these gratuitous rolls when there was a tremendous jolt, as if the plane had run into something. My first thought was that we’d sucked a seagull into the engine. My second was to wish that I was religious so I could start praying. After a few tense minutes, the pilot came on and announced that we’d hit the wake of another plane… He didn’t let it put him off though, and positively slalomed that plane into Bergerac. I just might have to take the train home…

Greg, Wendy, Rob and Gail were there to meet us. We stopped off for groceries then went for a pizza before saying our goodbyes. Rob and Gail will be staying in our house in London this week, which works out really well for us.

The drive to Plavard took about an hour. The house we’ve rented is a beautifully converted barn with well tended gardens, a lovely pool, and a terrace overlooking distant hills. I think we’re going to enjoy this…

May 27, 2005

Adam and I were both home today, so after dropping Nova off at school we went for a coffee in the village together. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve done that since she was born… I bought Nova a wonderful dress at Oxfam. Our local Oxfam is famed throughout London as a great place to pick up quality second hand clothes, and I guess that applies to the children’s clothes as well. This was Jigsaw Junior, and only £3.99…I pulled together a real buffet for lunch, in an attempt to use up the remaining contents of the fridge: Greek salad; avocado and ham and cream cheese tortilla rolls; Parma ham; rocket and parmesan salad; tomato bruschetta, olives; carrot and cucumber sticks…

I braved the Oxford Street hordes this afternoon, to pick up a couple of things: shorts, summer trousers, and a really great summery black dress, which I wore to John Stillman’s 85th birthday party this evening. All the usual neighbourhood suspects were there… After a few glasses of champagne and some of Anne’s unique party snacks, neither of us felt like eating dinner. Spent the evening on holiday preparations and got to bed about 1am…

May 26, 2005

Got stuck in organising our forthcoming holiday in France. Started by producing one of those interminable lists that our holidays always seem to involve. I managed a few things while Nova was at school, but I’ve learned the hard way not to bother trying to accomplish much when she’s home. It just makes us both frustrated and cross. Instead, we made a batch of meringues with the egg whites left over from last week’s carbonara. They came out alright although I think they could have been cooked a bit longer. There’s nothing worse than an overcooked meringue though…Went round to Jemima and Ruby’s after ballet. The girls got on pretty well, and Nova ate four spears of asparagus, which was billed to her as “true princess food”. After dinner, Ruby asked if she and Nova could go on an adventure. We agreed that they could walk down the road to the Kingsley Place green. They looked so adorable when the set off, holding hands tightly. Once they’d got a little way down the road, Jemima and I followed discreetly. They were very careful about crossing the road, which was good to see… We stood chatting out of sight for a couple of minutes then peeped round to see what they were doing on the green. The little beggars were nowhere in sight. They’d kept going, and were half way up the footpath by the time we caught up with them, and walked right up to the main road before turning back.

The whole episode reminded me of one of our home movies. Mom had fashioned paper dresses, shoes and hats for the my friend Geraldine and me, and we were filmed heading off to the corner store hand in hand. We couldn’t have been much more than four. Prince George is no London, but I can’t imagine many parents would send four year olds off to the store unaccompanied these days…

May 25, 2005

Today was my last day in office before my week’s holiday in France. One thing about job sharing — it certainly takes the pressure off when you go off on leave, which doesn’t mean that I didn’t work flat out all day long…The wine we ordered last week arrived this afternoon. At Fifteen last week, we had a particularly delicious Spanish wine called Basa. On Thursday morning, I did a search on the web and found a dealer who supplies it and purchased six bottles, along with six bottles of the terrific white that we had on Adam’s birthday.

Adam cooked a lovely dinner: monkfish in Parma ham with sundried tomato and basil, mashed potato and rocket, which we had with a bottle of the Basa. Watched Liverpool come back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat InterMilan in the Champions League.

May 24, 2005

Stressful week at work — the pressure of the looming redundancies is taking its toll on people… I’ll be glad when it’s all behind us on the 10th…It was my turn for an evening out tonight. After knocking off the Vietnamese chicken salad that Adam made, I went out for a drink at the Wrestlers with Pasc, Jemima and Alicia, then round to Alicia’s to see her new dress and have a coffee. It was the first time we’ve socialised as a group, although I see them all separately. I find it kind of strange mixing friends, and am definitely more of a one-on-one person…

May 23, 2005

Nova had a playdate with Evelyn today, and Theresa picked her up from their house instead of straight from school. We’ve got a bit of a situation with Theresa at the moment. We’ve agreed an hourly rate with her, but it turns out that she wants a daily minimum as well, and she expects to be paid for a full day’s work whether she has Nova the whole day or not. I can see her point, but it doesn’t seem fair for us to be paying for hours she doesn’t work either. We came to an agreement this afternoon that we’ll pay her the same each week, but keep track of long/short days and try to even up the hours. We’ll see how it works anyway…Made a yellow Thai curry for dinner. Adam decided to go to the gym after work, so I ate on my own, and crashed out in front of the telly. Nova climbed in with us in the middle of the night, resulting in a dreadful night’s sleep…

May 22, 2005

Went for our respective runs this morning, then followed through with the Sunday routine of family swim followed my farmer’s market. Nova and I were eating our customary sausage sandwiches, when I got into conversation with little girl. She must have been about seven or so, and had tried to strike up a conversation with Nova. I think she must have thought she was older than three, because she asked me where Nova went to school. When I told her St Michael’s, she said that she used to go there, but her mum took her out because the teachers were too mean…Nova went over to Ruby’s for a playdate in the afternoon, and I took the chance to do some gardening. We just haven’t had the sunshine we need. All my seedlings are suffering, as the slugs are able to get the upper hand. I’m trying a new tactic at the moment, ground up shells and gravel that you sprinkle round the plant, which is meant to deter the slugs from crossing over to chew up your vegetables. It doesn’t seem to be doing much for my courgettes unfortunately…

May 21, 2005

Greg and Wendy headed off to France this morning — we’ll be meeting up with them in the Dordogne in a a week’s time…
Went to see Paolo Conte at the Southbank with Dave this evening. What a great concert… he’s sometimes referred to as the Italian Tom Waits, but that doesn’t really capture what he’s all about. He strolled onto stage in a sharp tuxedo, and gave a formal little bow before sitting down at his piano. His seven piece band moved between an array of instruments — sax, clarinet, guitar, double bass, oboe, drums, and what sounded like an electric xylophone — producing beautiful, complex, Latin and African influenced arrangements. The crowd went wild after each song, and they ended up performing three encores.

May 20, 2005

Set off for Leeds Castle in Kent at about 9am this morning, which was a challengingly early start for the still jet lagged Greg and Wendy. When we’d phoned the school yesterday to tell them Nova would be in nursery on Friday as she had a family commitment, they informed us that we’d have to write a letter so that the head mistress could review the reason. As if… I think I’m capable of deciding that a day trip to a historic landmark is a better use of Nova’s time than two hours of assembly and sand play without any input from the head mistress.The walk through the castle grounds was lovely — a meandering path through banks of rhododenrons in bloom, the last of the bluebells in the woods, ponds and waterfalls. Nova’s was in full princess mode, including jewelled tiara. We entered the castle through the cellar, and made our way to the top floor. On the main floor, the rooms were as they had been hundreds of years ago, while the top floor had been modernised.

It turned out they were serving light lunches in the formal dining room for the first time ever. We had a lovely table by the window, and ordered the salmon salad plate and a glass of wine from their own vineyard. Across the moat, we could see the slopes of the golf course, where intrepid souls braved the drizzle and mist to get their eighteen holes in.

Leeds Castle also boasts a Dog Collar Museum (really). There was some speculation about whether it was for the animal or religious variety, and it turned out to be the former. There were display cases filled with collars in various materials and designs. With a little bit of historical context it might have actually been interesting, but commentary was confined to the “etched copper relief with beaded frieze” sort of thing.

Next we wandered over to the aviary, where there was a marvellous collection of tropical birds, then joined a falconry display which was just starting. We hadn’t been there two minutes before the falcon swooped past and landed briefly on the head of the little old lady standing next to me, giving her a terrible fright and a minor scalp wound.

That was enough falconry for me, and we opted for the maze instead. We thought it might be fun to let Nova lead the way… We trailed after her for a good twenty minutes or so, before Wendy and I got separated from her and Adam. We had to be guided to the centre viewpoint by a maze attendant, who could see that we were hopeless lost. Actually, Nova did manage to lead Adam there about the same time. The viewpoint marked the entrance to an amazing grotto, with an underground waterfall and numerous carvings, and eventually led us above ground and out of the maze.

When we got home, I threw together a quick penne carbonara for dinner, before dropping Nova at Pete and Pasc’s so we could go out to the theatre. We saw “Death of a Salesman” with Brian Dennehey in the lead role. It was an electric performance, and easy to see why he’s won Tonys for the Broadway performance. Home about 11:30pm.

May 19, 2005

The weather was lousy today, with showers every half hour or so, and a northerly wind, courtesy of Siberia. Wendy and I went for a run in Highgate Woods first thing, and managed to avoid getting rained on. It wasn’t a day for doing much (and I seem to be getting a cold…) We all kind of lazed about the house, aside from taking Nova to her ballet class.Went to the Parsee for dinner, so that Greg and Wendy could fulfill their London visit curry requirement. I wondered if Nova would find anything that would suit her, but she did alright, having a mildly spiced grilled chicken breast and some steamed rice. Home about 8pm. None of us stayed up all that late as we had a big day planned tomorrow.

May 18, 2005

Took Greg and Wendy out for dinner at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Fifteen, this evening. We had a great table, one of the little leather lined pods at the back, with a view of the whole floor. The food was flawless, and there were a couple of exceptionally good wines on the taster menu as well. Dinner included:

smoked swordfish carpaccio with red chilli & capers
chargrilled lamb’s tongue & salsa verde

beautiful spring salad:
Charentais melon with buffalo mozzarella, baby leaves, air cured ham (culatello), & a mint dressing

potato gnocchi with sweet peas, broad beans, lemon, mint & zucchini pesto
or
tagliatelle with Devonshire crab, lobster, cherry tomato & basil in a bisque sauce

chargrilled line caught sea bass with lentils, sea kale, crispy pancetta, black olive sauce and gremolata
or
slow roasted shoulder of lamb with baby vegetables and salsa rosso crudo

Tramina cheese

chocolate mousse with Cointreau panna cotta, pistacchio biscotti & carmellised orange

coffee

May 17, 2005

Greg and Wendy met me for a lunch drink at the Cittie of Yorke today before walking over to the British Museum. For dinner, we went to Strada for a pizza, all of us but Nova, who’s the only child in western Europe who doesn’t like pizza. “Don’t worry mom, I’ll like pizza in June!” she reassured me…

May 16, 2005

Greg and Wendy were still asleep when I set off for work this morning. They spent the day at Harrods and walking in Hyde Park, and arrived back at the house about the same time I did. Wendy went with me to pick up Nova from Theresa’s house. Cooked a kedgeree for dinner, and watched a bit of TV before bed.

May 15, 2005

The alarm was set for 5:30, so that Adam could drive to Heathrow to pick up Greg and Wendy. Nova was very excited by their arrival, and put on quite a performance in their honour. 

They had an hour or so to settle in, then it was time to swing by the farmer’s market before heading to Beulah and Freddy’s for brunch. Nova and Ollie played quite nicely together, and it was all very civilized until it was time for us to leave, which triggered a major Ollie meltdown.

While the rest of the household had afternoon naps, Nova and I headed off to meet Jemima and Ruby at Southwood Lodge. They were having their annual open garden event, and after wandering the paths, we settled on the grass for cakes and tea. The girls had a lovely time together, and we headed back to their house afterwards, so they could continue playing. Things fell apart over a ball game they were playing in the courtyard. Nova stamped in and announced loudly “Ruby’s not my friend!” “Maybe these girls are hungry…” Jemima said. “Would you like some dinner, Nova?” she asked. “Yes, but not here!” Nova replied. I took that as our cue to leave…

For our meal, I baked a French pork and leek pie we’d bought this morning, and served it with a tomato-basil-mozzarella salad and a rocket salad, washed down with a couple of bottles of bubbly to celebrate Greg and Wendy’s arrival.

May 14, 2005

Went for my weekly run with Pasc — managed 33 minutes this time…
The rest of the day was dictated by Nova’s requirements. First stop, Fay’s birthday party. We dropped Nova off at 11:30 and went to Waitrose to do the shopping. I returned to the party, and hung around for the last hour while Adam ran a few more errands. I thought Nova might be feeling a bit abandoned, as she didn’t know any of the other kids, but she was having a great time. They’d hired an entertainer called Mr Squash, who did a great job of keeping the 30 or so five year olds occupied, earning every penny of whatever they were paying him…After the party we headed to Crouch End to buy Nova some sandals. Unfortunately, the children’s shoe store we’d planned to buy them at was closed as a car had crashed through the front window. We picked up a cheap pair of white sandals from Woolworths, that look pretty similar to the kind I used to wear as a kid.

Next stop, the Pleasance Theatre, where we had tickets to see The Gruffalo. We’d arranged to meet Evelyn and her parents, which was really nice for the girls. Doron and Antonia came with their kids as well, but I think Ollie felt like a bit of a third wheel. After the show, Doron and Antonia took Nova out for dinner to remedy the situation.

We used the time to get the flat sorted out for Greg and Wendy, who are arriving tomorrow. I was feeling tired and headachy. I took to my bed, and aside from getting Nova settled for the evening, that’s where I stayed. Adam cooked a simple pasta dish, and I spent the evening dozing in front of the telly.

May 13, 2005

Put a lot of work in on the garden this morning. Nova and Adam were meant to go round to Sadie’s for a playdate, but it was shifted to our place instead. Sadie has severe allergies, and her dad dropped her off with a parcel of special food and an array of medication, including an emergency injection should she go into anaphalactic shock. The two girls played very nicely together, although it was a relief to hand her back unscathed.Went to the garden centre looking for those nifty tomato supports that dad uses, but apparently they don’t do them in this country. Ruby came round to play, but Nova was a bit fractious with her. I guess she was all playdated out…

Made a salad nicoise for dinner. I was rushing to get our dinner ready with Nova’s and I ended up combining it all when the elements were still too hot, and it sort of cooked…

May 12, 2005

Although it was my day off, I spent most of the time Nova was at school catching up on things I didn’t manage to get done in the office yesterday. Picked up my girl, and went to the deli for a baguette and some ham — our usual Thursday routine. Halima, who works behind the deli counter, has always made a big fuss over Nova, and today she slipped her a huge chunk of cheddar as a treat.Once the girls were established at ballet, Evelyn’s mom Christine suggested we go for an ice cream in the square. Unfortunately, we were a couple of minutes late getting back, and Evelyn was in a terrible state, bawling her head off, though Nova didn’t seem the least bit bothered. All the other “good” mums scowled at us as we hastily stripped and redressed the girls.

Nova and I ate together this evening, as Adam had taken Freddy to Vinopolis for the wine tour and an early dinner.

May 11, 2005

Frantic day at work, constant chopping and changing… I’m enjoying my new job, but find the increased line management responsibilities challenging. I was having a one-to-one with a colleague this afternoon, when she suddenly burst into tears. I handled it as best I could, but it’s such a pressure cooker round here at the moment…Went out with Tina for the evening. We started at the pub with a stiff gin and tonic, which got things off on the right foot. We’d planned to go to the Afghan Kitchen, but it was completely packed, so we ended up at a Vietnamese place on Upper Street instead. The food was nice, and we just chatted for hours, and got to know each other a little better. A successful job share is all about trust, and given our recent history, establishing it will take some work.

My commute home was a fiasco. Arsenal were playing a big match (Adam and Jules were there) which always plays havoc with local traffic. I ended up walking from Islington Green to Highbury Corner and half way up the Holloway Road before finally catching a taxi.

May 10, 2005

School was closed again today. I walked Nova over to Evelyn’s for a morning playdate on my way to the tube. She’s very into her flowers at the moment, I’m constantly having to research flower names to keep ahead of her. I discovered that the yellow floppy weed that grows out of the brick walls around here is yellow fumitory (or yellow larkspur, Latin name, corydalis). “Fumitory!” she cries now, every time we see a clump. “Look! Bugloss! Daisies! Bluebells!” Flowers seem to have replaced house numbers in her affections. So maybe she’ll be a gardener, instead of a postie…;-)

May 9, 2005

Nova had another wet night last night… Maybe the bed chart is losing its appeal…
I took Nova to school this morning to discover that part of the classroom ceiling had fallen in over the weekend and that class was cancelled for the day. Good thing none of the kids were there when it happened…Etta’s mom offered to have Nova for the morning, so I dropped her off there and arranged for Theresa to pick her up from their house instead.

Went to see the Canadian band Arcade Fire with Dave this evening. They put on a pretty good show, although they had a way of dancing in slow motion that was kind of disconcerting. At the climax of the show, the lead singer flung himself into the crowd and was lifted along on the sea of bodies before being returned to the stage. I thought to myself, “I haven’t seen someone do that since the Violent Femmes in 1986 at the Commodore…” before it dawned on my that maybe I just don’t go to those sort of gigs anymore… I certainly wasn’t down at the front supporting his sweaty body the way I would have been twenty years ago. Home by 11pm, and climbed into bed with a cup of tea and a date square to watch the University Challenge final we’d taped earlier, unlike most of that Astoria crowd…

May 8, 2005

My second Mother’s Day without mom…
Pasc and I went for our weekly run this morning. We added a bigger loop onto our usual circuit round Highgate Woods, which took us 28 and a half minutes. We’ve cut out the walk breaks as well, which is good progress. I’d like us to get up to 35 minutes before June 5.Went for breakfast at Kenwood followed by a walk on the Heath. All the rhododendrons are in bloom: great walls of pink and purple flowers. There was a gaggle of adorable baby geese out for a swim with their parents. The sun was shining in such a way that you could see enormous fish marauding like sharks in the water beneath them. It’s a wonder they don’t swallow them whole — they are certainly big enough. I wonder if fish do that sort of thing?

[According to the ESPN Outdoors website, “There are times of the year when muskies will be eating baby muskrats. In the spring of the year they will eat baby ducks or geese.” And what, pray tell, is a muskie, I wondered? Well, according to Wikipedia, it’s a type of pike. How did we ever manage without the Internet?]

Went for our weekly swim at the gym, then stopped by the farmer’s market on the way home. I did some more digging, interspersed by a with Wendy (they’ll be in London this time next week), and a quick supper of pasta and chickpea soup followed by the first of the English strawberries. Once Nova was asleep, I headed back to the veggie patch and dug until the light faded.

May 7, 2005

Went for a run on my own this morning, and did two laps round the Woods instead of the usual one. Adam went off to the village to have a cup of coffee with Rebecca, and I tried to interest Nova in a bit of gardening. I’d bought her a little kid-sized set of gardening tools and gloves, to help overcome her aversion to dirt. She’d scuff around for a few minutes, then sneak off inside when my back was turned. I went in and led her back out a couple of times before giving up, and coming inside to read stories until Adam returned. We were sitting on the couch reading the Sneeches, when she looked up at me and said, “Growing up takes a very long time, doesn’t it mum?” I agreed that it did… it seems like a lifelong process to me…Made bibimbap for dinner: Nova had a non-spicy version with peas instead of spinach to mix in. Once she was in bed, Adam and I settled down to watch “The Corporation”. I guess it’s not his kind of thing, because he was asleep within twenty minutes…;-)

May 6, 2005

Needless to say, we were both feeling pretty wiped out this morning. Adam took Nova round to school — and picked her up — while I pulled a stint in the garden. At school assembly this morning, Nova and Evelyn were called up on stage and presented with special stickers for playing so nicely together.If that wasn’t enough excitement, she also got a treat for managing seven days without weeing her bed: a pack of Disney princess playing cards. After lunch, Adam headed off to give a seminar at Metropolitan University, and I taught Nova how to play snap. Whenever one of us yelled “Snap!” and won a pile of cards, the other would say, “Boo hoo hoo! You got all the princesses and I got poo!” and the winner would give the other guy a hug.

Scarlett and Alicia came round for a playdate, but it wasn’t a great one, as the girls don’t seem to have much in common. Scarlett is a real tomboy and nearly five as well. They hung about in the living room, then headed glumly downstairs when we suggested they might want to hang out in Nova’s room.

Nova and I had made a pan of Wendy’s date squares, and even though they were still warm I decided to slice them up and serve them. Warm date squares — what a revelation… they are absolutely delicious… We had three each — Alicia’s eating for two but I had no excuse…

Adam came home and took Nova and Evelyn to Phoebe’s princess party at the Sobel Centre. By the time Nova was home and settled in bed it was 8:30. Made a simple pesto pasta supper and watched Law and Order before bed.

May 5, 2005

Election day…
As St Michaels is being used as a polling station, school was cancelled. I took Nova along with me to vote, and on the walk over I explained to her what I was doing. “Everybody is choosing who will be the boss of the country. Usually I vote for Labour,” I said, “but I am angry with them because they started a war and killed lots of people, so I am going to vote for the Liberals instead.” “Were the people they killed old?” she asked. “No, lots of them were young.” “Did they say sorry?” she asked. “No, they didn’t.” “That’s not nice,” she said firmly. “You should say sorry if you kill lots of people.”Met up with Jemima and Ruby at lunch time. We’d planned to have a picnic in the park, but it was so chilly, we had a change of plan. I drove us to the Angel, where we had lunch at Wagamama, then went to see Robots.

Adam babysat Ruby this evening, while I slobbed about, drinking red wine and eating pistachio nuts for dinner. When he got home we stayed up most of the night watching the election results. At about 3:45am, one of the analysts actually said, “There’s no one but complete nerds watching this coverage now.” That’s us…

Labour lost about a hundred seats, although they still have a sixty seat majority. There was a major upset in our constituency — Barbara Roche, the Labour incumbent, had her 10,000 majority overturned and lost her seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate, which the pundits attributed to anger over the Iraq war.

May 4, 2005

Got in early this morning, to prepare for my daily rota of meetings — I actually attended a meeting about meetings this afternoon… I am getting out of the full-time mindset though. It felt very good to be heading out at the end of my two day week, leaving the balance of the work with my jobshare.

May 3, 2005

Waiting in the schoolyard for the bell to ring, Nova spotted a little girl from her class who’d been at the City Farm — in fact, they’d sat together in the storytelling tent. “Sophie!” she cried, running up to her, “I saw you at the farm yesterday!” Sophie just stared at Nova blankly then turned her back on her. Nova stood there with a confused look on her face, and I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I would have been mortified if it had happened to me, but seeing it happen to Nova was so much worse…Sophie’s dad was quite embarrassed, and tried unsuccessfully to get Sophie to respond. Nova is abnormally friendly — she knows the names of all the children’s mums, and will say things like, “Look! It’s Michali’s mummy Marina! Hello, Marina!” She certainly doesn’t get it from me…

Adam had a very busy day today, so I ended up doing pick-up as well. Nova was bubbling over with good spirits, although I dampened her mood somewhat by serving her creamy mushroom pasta for dinner…

May 2, 2005

I had planned to go for a run this morning, but Pasc cried off with shin splints, and I was too lazy to motivate myself. Adam and Nova went off to Waitrose while I hoed the back forty. After lunch we headed down to Kentish Town city farm, where they were having a May Day celebration. Besides the usual petting opportunities, there was face painting, and steel drum band, a May Day procession, and storytelling in a teepee. Loitering about outside while the kids listened to stories, I managed to cover my ass with tar from an old oil drum I was leaning against. It looked dry to me, but I guess my body heat must have softened it up…:-(I managed to transfer it to my carseat as well, so the first half hour back home was devoted to stain removal… Pete and Pasc and co. came round for a barbeque. The kids mostly lolled about inside, while we sat in the garden eating asparagus (we’d purchased a kilo from Ben) and pork wraps and drinking wine. They joined us briefly for sausages, French bread and chocolate, but soon sloped off inside again to watch a DVD. Kids these days…;-)

May 1, 2005

Spent most of the morning preparing a bed to plant the peas in. After two and a half hours of backbreaking labour, Nova was summoned to grandly pop a few dozen seeds into my carefully prepared trenches. “There — we did it!” she yelled happily.Drove to Stoke Newington in the afternoon for our friend Ben’s second annual asparagus fest. He’d driven up to Norfolk to buy 10 kilos of this season’s asparagus crop, then cooked up a fabulous asparagus feast for twenty or so friends, with:

• grilled asparagus
• asparagus vinaigrette
• asparagus pasta salad
• asparagus frittata
• asparagus crepes (either with hot-smoked salmon or porcini mushrooms)
• various other salads, olives, bread etcHe moved away from the asparagus theme for his desserts, making two delicious lemon cakes: one with polenta, the other with flour, and served with an incredible bison-grass vodka sorbet.

It was a gloriously sunny afternoon, and we all sat in the garden, devouring asparagus and quaffing wine. Caught up with a few old friends from Adam’s Friends of the Earth days, and there were even a few little kids for Nova to play with.