May 2016

May 31, 2016

Woke to howling wind and pounding rain, slashing diagonally across the yard and clattering on the roof. I quite like running in the rain, but this would have soaked me to the skin in a minute. Plus, after those freak storms in Europe on Saturday, I was a little disinclined to be out in the elements, in case this was the same stuff, having made its way north…Adam headed off to work, and I kept my promise to take the girls shopping at Brent Cross. The rain was still lashing it down, and the driving conditions pretty dicey, but we made it.

Bought Nova new (less ridiculously short) school skirts, and new school shoes — a nice pair of Doc Marten patent leather brogues. Not cheap, but she goes off them at least they are my size…;-)

Having done her research online, Lyra was keen to go to New Look for a leather biker jacket, and also to River Island for tops. Having spent a much of money on her sister, I decided to buy her the leather jacket, but she spent her own money after that.

In the car on the way home, there was a very interesting radio programme on the menopause. They were interviewing a beauty journalist about a book she’d written on the subject. I liked the sound of it, so logged on to Amazon and bought it for my kindle.

Garlic chicken for dinner with kale salad and fresh tomato-ginger chutney — very nice.

Afterwards, we caught up on our backlog of Madam Secretary episodes. Adam is more of a fan than I am — as is Hillary Clinton. Apparently, she and Bill spend their evenings watching The Good Wife and Madam Secretary — shows about them, basically…

May 30, 2016

My ankles are still sore, and running didn’t seem like a good idea. Went for a family walk along the Parkland Walk instead, which is about five miles round trip. Actually Lyra didn’t walk — she rode her bike… the whole way!

Even a novice like Lyra went a lot faster than we could walk. I jogged after her the first time she pulled away, but then just told her to pull over and wait for us every once in a while.

Made it without mishap (though there were a few dicey encounters with groups and dogs). Had tea and toasted sandwiches in the cafe before heading home again. It was very crowded, and we chose to eat outside, despite the cold wind. It’s the end of May… WTF!?!

Adam had booked a table at Hakkasan for a special treat. We all got dressed up and caught the tube into town. They were doing a special offer if you were willing to dine early or late: a cocktail (alcoholic or otherwise), array of dim sum, a main course from a set menu, and a pudding for £38 or something — a very good deal for Michelin-starred food.

The girls adored it, and made repeated trips to check out the amazing loos. The food was excellent as ever — it’s much better than Yauatcha in my book. Taxi home and straight to bed for an early night…

May 29, 2016

I’d thought I might go for a run first thing, but my ankles are very stiff and achy — almost like they have shackles round them. All those Roman cobblestones I think, or maybe the sheer number of miles we walked. Decided that it equated to a run and that it was best to rest up for a day…Didn’t do much of anything — aside from laundry and housework. The weather was cold and wet, which assuaged any guilt about not getting out and about. It certainly didn’t feel like the end of May — part way through the afternoon I went downstairs and put the heating on…:-(

Strangely enough, they are having gorgeous weather in the north of the country. . We have friends visiting with Greta and her family on Arran, and they keep posting sunsoaked photos of them swimming in the Irish Sea and so on. And another friend who’s up there is referring smugly to the Costa del Glasgow…

May 28, 2016

It’s our last day in Rome… I’d briefly entertained the iidea of getting up early and visiting St Peters first thing before the crowds descend, but Lyra didn’t fancy it…;-) Instead, we ate a leisurely breakfast, packed our bags then headed out to explore until mid-afternoon.

With no plans, we started off by walking down Via Giulia for the last time. Lyra was interested in seeing more fountains, and there’s a nice one at then end. After that, we headed towards Campo de Fiori, where the market was in full swing. We didn’t buy anything, just sat on the base of the central statue watching the bustle of activity (and sketching, of course!).

Did a bit of shopping in the side streets afterwards, where I found a nice bag for Nova and a teeshirt for myself. After mulling over what to do about that premium mozzarella di buffala I bought yesterday, I decided to by some tupperware and to check my suitcase. That will solve the medicine issue as well…

Caught a bus to the Aracoeli and climbed the steep stairs to the church. I checked it out while Lyra sketched the view. Spent a bit of time in the Campidoglio, but neither of us fancied another museum at this point.

Caught another bus to Trastevere, where we found a nice cafe in the main square for lunch — drinks (an Aperol spritz for me) and some sandwiches.

Walked back along the river, picking up a final ice cream near the hotel. It’s a good thing we’re on holiday, and all those calories don’t countso over to one we knew on the main street, final ice cream, good thing it’s holiday and calories don’t count…;-)

Returned to the hotel to reorganise our bags, and wait for our taxi. There was a little excitement when Lyra managed to locked herself in the toilet, but aside from that everything went smoothly. We arrived at the airport with ample time to check in, and we through security before they’d assigned our departure gate.

At the second passport check, the official squinted and stared and flipped through both our documents. He then asked Lyra, “Who is this?” “It’s Andrea,” she replied, not entirely helpfully.

Fortunately I was able to produce a copy of Lyra’s birth certificate with my name on it. “Why don’t you have the same last name as your daughter?” he then asked me. “Even in the UK I think this is usual?” I know better than to argue with border officials… but REALLY??!!!

Our flight was late taking off, due to an air traffic strike over France and massive thunderstorms. I’m pretty sure the pilot mentioned a train strike too, but I’m not sure how that affected things…

It was certainly bumpy as hell up there. I had to keep reminding myself that it’s just like water. We were on a budget airline this time, one of those flights where you have to pay for the shitty microwaved food. Didn’t bother eating anything, as Adam said he’d cook.

By the time we cleared immigration, my checked bag was waiting. Caught the shuttle to Gatwick train station and joined the queue for tickets. Having bought ticketss to St Pancras, it turned out there were no trains running there — either the train strike he mentioned, or a reduced service.

The often carry out major works on Bank holidays, which seems like a shit time to do it. I can see it might be better than shutting the service down during the working week, but why not a regular weekend instead of a holiday one?

Ended up on a milk run in to London Bridge. From there we caught the tube to Highgate then walked up the hill, Lyra nearly fainting from hunger and exhaustion. It was nearly 10 pm by the time we got home, but at least dinner was waiting — and they’d both waited to eat with us. Indian food — such a welcome change…

May 27, 2016

Managed to get up earlier than yesterday, and were breakfasted and out the door by 9am. Walked to St Peters along the river. There was already a crowd, and seemed to be some sort of event as well.There’s always something going on. I’ve been noticing signs in Italian for a giubileo (jubilee, I guess). I think it’s meant to be some kind of global sin pardoning from what I can understand. Would have Googled it, if I’d had my phone…:-(

Made our way round the Vatican walls to the entry to the museum. To my surprise, the conditions of the online tickets have changed since I visited with Nova a few years back. You now are expected to convert them at an office in St Peter’s Square…:-(

Fortunately, a nearby hotel had set up a little desk to deal with all the people who found themselves in our situation. We were issued with tour stickers, then returned to wait until our allotted time (only half an hour later than originally).

The museum was insanely busy, but it is awfully big and incredibly beautiful as well, so you can ignore it for a time. You are constrained to following a set track to the galleries — and I honestly don’t see how it could work any other way — until you reach the Sistine Chapel. I’m pretty sure they’ve added air conditioning since my last visit, which improves the atmosphere in there quite a bit.

I’d brought the leftovers from yesterday’s snack, and having made our way to the market we used to visit with Mariella back in the day, picked up some bits and pieces to make a picnic.

(Their apartment is only a few blocks from here, and I thought of swinging by and ringing the doorbell, but pretty sure they are permanently at their country house in Oriolo now.)

Cut across to the river, and found a stretch of river bank to have our lunch. It wasn’t the most scenic stretch, but actually it’s all pretty nice. We sat right on the edge of the water, watching the rowers training, fishing jumping, and water fowl paddling by.

Made me think of the twelve days of Christmas: “eight rowers rowing; seven ducks a-swimming; six cyclists cycling; five honking horns!” To my annoyance, I discovered that I’d ended up buying some fancy mozzarella di bufalo that (I thought) I’d clearly said “no” to. Although the entire transaction was in Italian, so maybe instead of saying “I’ll have the less expensive mozzarella”, I said “I’ll have two types of mozzarella please”. Though I doubt it…>:-(

Crossed the river and wandered over to the Piazza del Popolo for a spot of sketching. Strolled down the Corso, browsing the shops. I was looking for a handbag for Nova. Bought today’s gelati — the pomegranate flavour was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

Stopped at the Trevi fountain where Lyra tossed in a coin to guarantee her return to Rome, and I was shat on by a swallow…

Ended up paying a second visit to the cat sanctuary, which is “conveniently” located near a major traffic interchange we pass through a couple of times a day. At least it’s free… And Lyra does love interacting with all the cats. She spent a good stretch of time with her little friend Felida before I managed to prise her away…

Returned to the same restaurant as last night for dinner, where we shared a pizza and a salad. Finding the salt cellar a bit plugged, Lyra took off the lid and sprinkled some over the salad, not realising it was mainly filled grains of uncooked rice. That improved our salad no end…:-(

May 26, 2016

I’d been planning to rely on my phone for a few things while I was in Rome. It held our itinerary, guidebook and map, for starters. At least I’d printed out copies of our Colosseum and Vatican tickets, and the address of the hotel…Breakfast opened at 8am, and after last night’s inadequate dinner, we were there on the dot. The usual Italian thing of coffee and pastries, plus cereal, yogurt, fruit and some cold cuts. Enough to keep us going until lunch time…

Decided to walk to the Colosseum following the river most of the way. It was a beautiful morning for it, and in spite of not having a map, I know Rome well enough to be confident I could get us there.

We made it as far as the Bocca de Verita without incident. Lyra was keen to have a go at sticking her hand in its mouth, but we had the misfortune to arrive just behind two tourbus-loads of Chinese tourists, so we gave it a miss.

That little detour left me a bit disoriented, and we started up the Aventine before I realised we were off course and corrected our route. Made it in the end, right in the middle of our allocated time.

It is such a smart play to book your tickets in advance. We walked past a mile-long queue to a little feeder lane, and were waved inside within a few minutes. I did have to convert my printout to an official ticket, but the whole thing took less than ten minutes.

Lyra loved the Colosseum, and we spent a couple of hours exploring the whole thing, allowing time for sketching. Made our way round the Palatine afterwards, then through the Forum.

It was hot, hot, hot and we were both pretty wilted by the time we finally found our way out of there. Stopped for a bit in a patch of shade to drink some water and plan our next steps.

There were some African street vendors hawking their wares nearby and Lyra wandered over to check them out. When she returned, she told me that one of the guys wanted to speak to me. “He just wants us to buy something,” I said.

We set off, but had only gone half a block when the trader came running up behind us. He handed Lyra a bag, saying “present, present”! Inside was a neat sculpture of a motorcycle made entirely of wood.

“Why did he give it to me?” Lyra asked, after we’d thanked the guy profusely. I thought maybe because she’d been so nice and friendly to him. I imagine Africans get still get pretty shit treatment in Italy — they certainly used to…

Lunch was a mediocre panini in a little bar across from the Campidoglio. Not a place I would have ordinarily chosen, but Lyra needed to eat something now. And you wouldn’t expect Italians to mess up a panini. Followed it up with a gelati to make us feel better. There’s no such thing as bad gelati…;-)

Our next stop was the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary. As soon as I heard about this place, I knew I would have to take cat-mad Lyra. Tucked into the corner of an excavated ancient Roman ruin are two low-ceilinged rooms housing dozens of cats.

While many are former wild strays, others are pets who were abandoned. Lots of them arrived needing medical attention — there were missing limbs, eyes, tails and ears. Lyra was in her element, visiting with each cat in turn. It took over an hour before I could get her out of there.

Headed over to the Pantheon, before stopping for a snack at Antica Salumeria — a lovely platter of cheese and sliced meats, a basket of bread and a nice glass of white wine for me.

Sat for a while afterwards in Piazza Navona admiring Bernini’s beautiful Fountain of the Four Rivers. Lyra took the opportunity for more sketching, while I did some people watching. It goes to my frame of mind perhaps, but practically every single person had a mobile phone…:-(

Wending our way through the back streets towards the hotel, I came across a promising looking restaurant for our dinner (I have a good eye for that). Of course, we were unable to call for a reservation.

I texted Adam to ask him to help out, and HE HAS MY PHONE! He even made a special trip out to Heathrow to collect it, rather than waiting for them to post it to us. What a star!!

Spent a couple of hours resting in our room. Lyra had a Facetime call with Lucia while I had a little snooze (helpfully documented by Lyra)…

Dinner was pasta (bolognese for Lyra, wild asparagus for me) and salad. I had a glass of wine, while Lyra looked on disapprovingly (sometimes I feel like I’m a completely lush in my children’s eyes).

Queued for ice cream at the famous Frigidarium, which we ate on the walk back home…

May 25, 2016

In spite of the first lousy night’s sleep I’ve had since starting on HRT, I stuck to my plan to do Thursday’s scheduled run a day early. It was a tough one too — with eight minute speed intervals (all of which inevitably included a nasty stretch of uphill).Lyra and I return from Rome on Saturday night, so my cunning plan regarding training is to miss the Saturday workout, which is only a three-mile slow one — not quite junk miles, but close. It can be easily substituted with the miles of walking we’ll inevitably do in Rome. I intend to just pick things up again on Sunday morning, with that week’s long run.

Still lots to do to get ready for the trip. Happily Adam decided to work from home, so he chipped in a bit with things, plus we got to spend a bit of time together which was nice. He’s off to Switzerland a couple of days after I get back, though not for long this time…

The taxi arrived to take us to Heathrow on time. Just as well, as traffic was terrible. We were ahead of rush hour, but it doesn’t take much to snarl up London traffic.

I’ve never flown with medication before, but after doing some reading thought that I was supposed to carry it in my hand luggage in a clear plastic bag with a copy of the presecription. The scanning station woman seemed surprised, and asked a bunch of questions, took it out and handled it, then bizarrely stuck it in with Lyra’s belongings.

I was then taken to a different full-body scanning queue out of sight of Lyra, who’d already breezed through the detectors. She was helpfully gathering up all our things by the time I got through, and off we went.

The plane left right on time (a rarity these days). After stowing our bags overhead, I went to switch my phone to airplane mode. No phone… dug through my handbag, but it wasn’t there…

“Maybe you put it in your suitcase?” Lyra suggested. I had to wait until the seatbelt sign was switched off before I could get the bags down and check. It wasn’t there either. I was pretty sure it had gone astray during the scanning process, but whether I accidently left it in the plastic tray or someone knicked it while my tray was unattended, I had no way of knowing.

With that to worry about, I didn’t pay much attention to the flight. I couldn’t say now whether it was bumpy or not. Reminded me of Spalding Gray’s theory of displaced anxiety in Swimming to Cambodia. He went for a swim in the ocean, leaving all his valuables on the beach and his worry that his belongings would be stolen left no room for his fear of sharks.

Because we were getting to Rome quite late, I arranged with the hotel for a mini-cab to meet us at the airport, but when we emerged there was no one waiting. Having no phone, I was unable to call and see what was going on. Eventually, I went to the information desk and got them to do it for me.

It was after 10pm Italian time, and we were both pretty hungry by this point, which didn’t improve matters. Although the flight left London at 6pm, we’d been served a only a miniscule sandwich the size of a pingpong ball and a small cookie. (I don’t exaggerate — if I had my phone, I would have taken a photo of it…)

The taxi guy arrived eventually and delivered us to the Rome River Inn. After checking in, I asked the desk clerk if there was anywhere nearby to buy something to eat. He very fetched Lyra a bowl of cereal and a yogurt to tide her over until morning…

Using Lyra’s iPod, I facetimed Adam to see what could be done about my phone. Using the Find My Friends app, he was able to determine that my phone was sitting in the departures hall at Heathrow, but we’ll have to wait until morning to see if it’s been logged into lost and found. Better than him discovering that it was in Philadelphia or something…

May 24, 2016

Ran four miles plus five wind sprints, and had lots of gas in the tank at the end, which is always a good feeling. I’m carrying a good ten pounds more than I was this time last year, which must be impacting my times. I just have to think how I’d feel doing these runs with a couple of shopping bags of groceries, or a full day-pack on my back to get some sense of what that extra weight is doing.Lyra and I started our packing after school — we’re off to Rome tomorrow for a mother-daughter trip. She’ll be missing one day of school — something that is very much frowned on in this country. Parents can — and are — fined hundreds of pounds by the fiestier education authorities.

Though recently, a man on the Isle of Wight won a precedent-setting court case, where it was ruled that if your child’s attendance is above a certain threshold, you are not liable for a fine. Seems common sense to me, but I doubt it’s the end of the story…

Pad thai for dinner to use up the defrosted prawns. One of those dishes I never seem to get right — the rice noodles are either too soft or too hard. Too soft this time, they reverted to a sort of ricey mushiness. The girls were cool about it — I was the one who thought it was a bit crap. It’s hard to predict what they’re going to kick off about and why…

Lyra was quite late getting to bed, plus we read a few chapters of IOTBD. Quite exciting stuff… I remember it being all about the girl living alone on the island, and had completely forgotten the high drama that created the situation. Tonight’s lights-out question: Would you rather have lots of friends or lots of family? Family I said, as they can be both…

On Madam Secretary, Henry (the husband) played the hero in a terrorist attack and is exposed to radiation from a dirty bomb. Things looked dicey for him, and I had hopes they were going to shake things up by bumping him off, but should have known better. Especially as he and Tea Leoni are an item in real life. If the relationship was going south, he might not have bucked the odds…

In bed by midnight, but wide awake for some reason. Adam was snoring away within minutes, while I ended up doing summer holiday research on my phone for over an hour. We’re looking at going to Girona in northern Spain, which I’m feeling very excited about.

May 23, 2016

I thought Lyra might end up staying home from school today, but she was up early and raring to go. She has a gymnastics assessment for her Level 1 badge this morning. She’s worried about both her half-level and her vault, at least one of which she must pass.Basil came back with me after drop-off to talk about his ceramics website and blog. He’s planning to do the work himself, but we spent a good hour and a half going through his options.

On Mondays I always seem to have so much paperwork and housework to catch up on. It definitely works best to go into the office, though I guess I am just deferring things by a day. It was afternoon before I started working on my working hours paper — some sort of irony there…

Made curry for dinner. I really should eat less rice — the low GI diet is the one piece of the doctor’s advice that I’m not engaging with yet. On that subject, the government has updated its food guidelines today, and they have been pretty widely slammed for being too carbohydrate based. And for having international food manufacturers like Nestlé on the panel who did the revising…

Lyra inadvertently left the deep freeze door ajar yesterday evening, which I discovered when I went downstairs to find my suitcase. A ziplock bag of soup had leaked and made a dreadful mess, but there wasn’t too much food defrosted. We’re definitely having prawns for dinner tomorrow…

At bed, we started reading The Island of the Blue Dolphins, a classic from my childhood. Not sure whether that’s what prompted the question, but after I turned out the light, Lyra asked, “What kind of death would you like to have?” “A painless one after a brief illness, many years from now,” I said.

Lyra agreed, saying that at first she thought it would be good to have an exciting death like from skydiving, but then she realised that you wouldn’t get to say goodbye to anyone you loved, and that you would probably die surrounded by strangers.

Watched episode five of Game of Thrones tonight. Very exciting, and we now know the origins of Hodor’s name…

May 22, 2016

Felt that wine a bit this morning… Millie was going to collect Lyra from the sleepover, but Charlotte’s mum called to say Lyra had been sick in the night and to come get her straight away. Adam went, but I stuck around to see how she was before setting off for my run.Poor Lyra was white as a sheet, with big black circles under her eyes, and clearly feeling lousy. She’d spent the night throwing up and had a nasty headache. I’d thought it might be Friday’s chicken, but the rest of us are feeling fine, and her symptoms aren’t consistent with salmonella.

I gave her medicine for the headache, and got her sipping water, and set off. According to Adam, Lyra fell asleep within minutes. Ran to Finsbury Park on the Parkland Walk. I did two miles slow, then three miles fast, then a final slow two miles back home.

I matched the pace for the first five miles, but it’s a pretty relentless two miles uphill on the way back. It was very hot and humid by this point, and I really dragged my ass through that final slow mile. I called Adam when I made it to Jackson’s Lane and he collected me in the car.

One of those isotonic tablets in a pint of water and I felt pretty much back to normal within fifteen minutes of getting home. I’d carried water with me, but wasn’t enough. Of course, I should have gone earlier in the day, or if I was going to be so late, hydrated better and eaten something as well.

Had our Muddy Boots fry-up for lunch. It was only Adam and me in the end. Lyra — though feeling better — sensibly opted for fruit and Nova had just had a fry-up at Iris’s before coming home.

OMFG, was it good! The bacon had a slightly sweet cure that was absolutely delicious, and barely shrunk in the cooking. The sausages were rich and tasty, and the black pudding which I’ve never cooked before, was melt in the mouth delicious.

This picture does not do it justice…

With two fried organic farm eggs and a side of sourdough toast, it was the best plate of food eaten in some time. I’m sure it was about 1000 calories, and completely wiped out the effects of the run, but what a treat…

Made a salad for dinner as no one particularly hungry, after which the girls went off to watch a Harry Potter film in the flat, and Adam and I caught up on a couple of back episodes of The Good Wife. I’ve been getting a bit bored with the whole thing, but am properly hooked again now. It’s the last series, and I’m glad to see it’s going out with a bang…

May 21, 2016

I let Nova off swimming last Wednesday night as she had a big biology assessment to prepare for. Plus Evelyn wasn’t going, which would have meant me making two trips to the swimming pool across Lyra’s bedtime hour. Nova said she planned to go for a run on Saturday instead. I didn’t put much faith in that happening, but to my surprise she was kitted out and out the door by 8:30am.I waited until she returned before heading out myself — to run 3.5 miles in the Woods. That seems to be the bread-and-butter run of this training programme, and I’ve done it so often in the last weeks I barely notice when I do it.

Lyra was off at noon to Charlotte’s horse riding party, which was followed by disco and sleepover at her house. Adam dropped her at Charlotte’s, then carried on down to the Tallacre to register Lyra for their gymnastics class.

This is the class that used to make the news because parents would queue all night like crazed Apple fans to secure their child a place. They’ve very recently moved their bookings online, and the system isn’t working properly yet.

When I checked last weekend, the appeared to be a couple on the Saturday course, but I was unable to book. I spent a couple of hours trying to resolve the situation, eventually winkling actual email addresses for actual gym coaches out of an unwilling receptionist.

This led to an actual phone conversation with an actual woman earlier in the week, and Lyra has been allocated a place. She won’t actually be able to attend the next two classes, but Adam went down to pay and secure it anyway.

When Nova headed off to see a photography exhibition in Green Park with a couple of friends, we found ourselves eating a quiet, child-free lunch. Afterwards we sat quietly in the living room chatting. It was so peaceful that you could hear the birds singing in the garden and the wind in the trees. Kind of depressing actually…;-)

Took advantage of the situation to go see Juliet’s new film, Departure, which is opening this weekend. She’s been emailing people trying to drum up attendance as first weekend numbers really matter apparently. Afterwards, she did a Q&A with the director, which was very interesting. I hadn’t loved the film, but I liked it a lot better after hearing them discuss it.

On the way back to the car, we popped into Muddy Boots (an organic, direct-from-the-farm shop) and bought their bumper breakfast pack: sausages, black pudding, six eggs, and bacon for a tenner. Seemed like a heck of a good deal, though we’ve yet to taste it. Their sandwich board outside said: “Some people are happy to buy their meat from the supermarkets; we’re here for everybody else. Same prices, same hours.” Can’t argue with that…

Cooked cod in a tamarind-fenugreek sauce for dinner, with basmati rice, asparagus and a couple of glasses of glasses of sauvignon blanc. Very civilised…

May 20, 2016

The less I drink, the more I feel it on those occasions I do, which seems a little unfair somehow…In an effort to engage with my doctor’s instruction to drink less, I’ve installed an alcohol tracking app on my phone. I’ve been doing it for about six weeks now, and it’s interesting to see the patterns emerge.

I always have three to five alcohol free days a week, and only exceed the UK’s relatively stringent limits once or twice a week (at the most) on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. And I never overdrink two days in a row. Any other drinking I do comes in as green or amber.

I was interested to discover how much what is considered safe drinking varies from country to country. The UK has some of the lowest limits in the world, even taking a harder line than the WHO. Not only is there a significant amount of variation in the number of units allowed, even the definition of a unit is up for debate. In the UK a unit of alcohol is 8 grams, while in Austria it is 20! They can’t all be right…

Speaking of apps, I also recently downloaded an emoji poetry quiz. You get a piece of famous poetry with some of the words missing, and have to fill in the blanks from a selection of emoji at the bottom of the screen. A bit of silly fun…

Had a meeting this afternoon with Adam in Amsterdam, and two other people in Asia. Funny the way the world of work is now… All that teleconferencing knocked it out of me (or maybe that was wine club?) and had to have a little lie-down afterwards…;-)

Lyra returned from Lily’s house at 5pm. Apparently Lily’s nanny had neglected to collect her, but being the resourceful girl she is, she managed to sort it all out without involving us.

Dinner was Vietnamese fried chicken, which spent the afternoon in a fish sauce marinade, and was then coated in a sort of tempura batter before frying. I had difficulty keeping the oil temperature low enough and it was tricky keeping the outside from overcooking before the inside was done.

I thought I’d managed it, but when Lyra found a part that looked a bit pink, I bunged it in the microwave for a few minutes to ensure it was cooked through. ost The skin lost most of its crispiness, but you don’t want to eat undercooked chicken.

Adam returned home from Amsterdam in the evening, just in time to do Lyra’s bedtime — a rare and special event. I thought we’d spend some time together, but instead he pulled out his computer and started working on something. I huffed off downstairs and left him to it, and was asleep by the time he came to bed…

May 19, 2016

Did an excellent run this morning. I’d been dreading it as I often do the speed work, but I felt really good the whole time, and very pleased with myself afterwards.Had to make a grocery run after I’d got cleaned up — food supplies are running very low around here. I’m trying to use up the odds and ends and half packets of stuff that have accumulated in the cupboard, but when you need coffee, butter, cheese, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, frozen peas, rice, juice and catfood, it’s time to shop.

Had Lyra’s friend Margaux back to play after school. She’s a famously picky eater — one of those plain pasta with butter kids. I cooked up some pasta with butter, then organised all the ingredients for a salad nicoise as well — boiled eggs, potatoes, green beans, lettuce, tuna, olives, capers, tomatoes, cucumber — and let the three girls sort themselves out.

I was busy cleaning the house in preparation for hosting my book group — an obligation I’ve managed to duck for the past two years. Made a batch of nachos (which doubled as my dinner), that I popped in the oven when everyone had arrived. Nice enough evening, but I knew I was going to feel those three glasses of wine tomorrow…

May 18, 2016

Adam slept through his 5am alarm this morning, which meant a bit of rushing around to get him out the door. There’s a train strike today, which was another concern. He took a cab to Victoria, then caught a Gatwick Express. Not the one he’d intended, as it had been cancelled, but made it on time in the end…Didn’t manage to get back to sleep after all that excitement, which was a bit of drag. I’m very into my sleep at the moment, especially now that I’m sleeping solidly (when I am asleep). I’d say that’s the main thing the HRT has done for me, and I feel worlds better for it.

Still chipping away at my migrant workers paper. The last piece of the puzzle is integrating a case study (or more of a how-to box out). The guy we interviewed for it has very strong, inflexible views about what actions companies should be taking in this area, and while I personally agree with him, his inputs don’t sit that comfortably with the tone of the rest of the paper…

Went round to John’s for tea with the girls. He seemed very tired and not himself. His sister-in-law Nell died on Saturday (aged 99), and just this morning he heard that his brother-in-law had died as well. He cried when he told us about it…

Took Lyra swimming, then returned for dinner with the girls — beef and corn enchiladas, which I had Nova cook while we were at the pool. Only a little burnt…;-)

May 17, 2016

Started the day with a 6am work call with a factory manager in China to talk about working hours. Pretty interesting actually… We had another interview scheduled for 9am, and I was hoping to go for a run in between, but Adam wanted to leave for the office early, so I postponed it until after the call.I prefer to run first thing, before I have a chance to get distracted or talk myself out of it. I also run on an empty stomach. I’d been up since 5:30am, and knew I’d have to eat something, so I made a big smoothie — my favourite one with spinach, pear, ginger and almond milk.

I don’t know if eating played a part, but this was the best run I’ve done in ages. I had tons of energy for the sprints at the end, and could practically have done the whole workout again.

Everyone was around for dinner this evening — roast veg and quinoa with rocket, feta cheese and a sort of romesco-ish dressing. To my surprise, the girls quite liked it and gave me little flak…

Up quite late for one reason or another. Adam is off to Amsterdam at 5am, so there was a certain amount to do around that. Plus he had a meeting scheduled at 11:30pm with someone in Vancouver he needed to wait up for. Finished watching Marcella (ultimately pretty silly) together over a glass of wine, then left him to it and called it a night…

May 16, 2016

Rough start to the morning… Nova has managed to lose the piano accompaniment part of her flute exam book, which she needs for her lesson today. I spent a good twenty minutes searching unsuccessfully for it, after which Adam got up and raged around searching the same spots and reducing her to tears in the process…

It was Lyra’s early start as well, and I was going to the office. Ended up rushing out the door without breakfast (let alone a packed lunch), but as I also managed to just miss the bus, we had time to nip across the street for croissants before the next one arrived.

Had a productive few hours in the office, then hustled back to Highgate in time for school pick-up. Contrary to the weather forecast, it was a lovely warm afternoon, and I took Lyra and Alice to the North Hill corner shop for an ice cream on the way home.

The deli closing is changing the way that I move around the neighbourhood. I’d never bought an ice cream (or much else) from those guys in my life. Now I’m in there on a weekly basis.

Fish rice broccoli for dinner — an old favourite I’ve haven’t made for ages. Instead of smoked mackerel, I did it with fish fingers for Lyra, and she was happy enough to eat it. Adam was somewhere or other (I don’t even keep track anymore) and got home just before Lyra went to bed.

Once I had her settled, the three of us watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Things are starting to look slightly less bleak for the Stark family at last…

May 15, 2016

Had a great night’s sleep, which set me up nicely for this morning’s seven-mile run. Got the little girls sorted with some breakfast — sourdough toast and chocolate sprinkles — then headed out.It was perfect weather for it — bright and cool, with a bit of a breeze. I don’t have an established seven-mile route, so made it up as I went along. Ran to Whitestone Pond, then back to the Spaniards, round a good chunk of the Heath extension, and across the top of Golders Hill Park.

By the time I got back to Whitestone Pond, I was nearly at six miles, which meant walking home an additional mile from Kenwood. I considered calling Adam to come get me in the car, but he’d was taking the girls along for his swim at the Mallinson, and I assumed he would still be there.

After lunch, he took the girls to Arsenal to see the final match of the season against demoted, demoralised Aston Villa. Not much chance of Arsenal messing that one up — and the game finished 4-0 I think…

I put in a couple of hours gardening, sorting out the bed at the bottom of the stairs where the solomon’s seal is just emerging, and thinning those red lily things under the big rose bush.

John next door called needing computer. Anne’s sister Nell died this weekend (aged 99), and he was trying to make a memorial card but couldn’t replace the ink cartridges in his new printer. I’ve always been so impressed with the way he keeps up with technology. I know lots of people my age who would struggle to replace ink cartridges as well, and they are 50, not 95…

Made a creamy lemon fusilli for dinner and sat down to watch the Masterchef final. We knew that 50-year-old mum Jane had won, as Alex had accidently spilled the beans, and she clearly outcooked her competitiion on the day to take the title…

Adam headed straight out after eating to attend Andy’s mum’s shiva and then to the pub. I got Lyra to bed a bit early — she was very tired after her big weekend. I was tired too and crashed out by 9:30. Woke up when Adam got in at 11pm and transitioned to bed properly. That long run must have taken it out of me…

May 14, 2016

Didn’t feel much like running this morning. My stomach was pretty unsettled, which got me wondering about that ceviche. Adam is feeling worse… his digestion is far more delicate than mine, and he was in and out of the loo all day. I managed my three-mile run though — and the sprints — and felt better for it…With Adam around, I’ve had a bit of a reprieve from my relentless child management activities. For example, he dropped Lyra at ice skating this morning, then returned to collect Alex from Highgate tube and take her back to the rink to skate with Lyra and Palak while I was doing my run.

There wasn’t much food in the house, and I had very little enthusiasm for cooking. When they got back, we headed off to Pan Quotidien for lunch. Their food is always nice, but it’s ridiculously expensive. This sandwich cost almost £10…

Lyra and Ali were very happy to be reunited for the weekend. Their interests run along the same lines, and they filled their day wit gymnastics, biking on the parade ground, cruising the local shops for magazines and lip balms, applying make-up, and watching the Disney channel, all in complete harmony.

I made hamburgers and sweet potato fries for dinner, followed by my disappointing lime sorbet for dessert. It seemed perfect when I took it out of the ice cream machine, but has since separated strangely and is no longer scoopable. Instead, you end up with a bowl of powdered ice, like something you’d scrape off your windshield of a winter’s morning.

When the little ones were tucked away downstairs with their “midnight snack”, Adam and Nova sat down to watch the episodes of Game of Thrones that he’d missed while he was in Canada. I was going to join them, but ended up reading War and Peace in the bedroom instead…

May 13, 2016

Had a hair appointment this morning to get my highlights, which I’d rescheduled to go to yesterday’s funeral. Takes a good hour to do a half head of foils and give them time to work, and I spent reading the book for next week’s book group. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson, so far, so creepy…I’m not loving my new hair…:-( The highlight colour looks a bit weird to me, and none of the family mentioned it at all, which is probably not a good sign…

Brought Esther back to play with Lyra after school. The two girls had a nice time. Esther is quite different to lots of her friends, and was drawn to things Lyra doesn’t normally play with. The hama beads got an outing for the first time in yonks, and the spent half the time trying to make pressed flower cards for other friends.

Esther is a big reader, and there was lots of discussion of books. She’s actually read all nine Anne of Green Gables books — I’m pretty sure even I didn’t do that…

Went round for dinner at Rachel and Dave’s in Crouch End. We opted to walked down there — the weather has changed, in the last day and it was pretty crisp.

They’d invited all the guys who go on the walking holiday plus their wives — twelve of us in all. There seemed to be a South American theme to the food: guacamole, ceviche, some sort of beef stew (called a pico, maybe?), and rhubarb fool. Very impressive effort for such a large group.

The wine flowed pretty freely, and I was pretty tipsy by the time we left at 12:30am…

May 12, 2016

I was planning to run early this morning, but Adam announced that he had a conference to attend, so it made sense for me to take Lyra to school as usual.The great feud hasn’t been resolved yet, but there was a noticable shift in playground dynamics. Most of the girls clustered around Lyra this morning, leaving Lucia and another girl she’s drafted into her gang as Lyra’s replacement standing on the sidelines.

I could see that it bothered Lucia and felt a bit sorry for her. She’s painted herself into a corner with this apology demand, and Lyra’s not playing ball. I hope they find away to move past it soon. I’m very fond of Lucia, and she and Lyra have a lot of fun together.

Did my hardest training run to date 8x2min fast with 2min of slow running in between each interval, and a mile warm-up and cool-down either side. It was tough, especially when one of the fast bits cooincided with a hill, but I managed.

Met Adam in Golders Green in the early afternoon and travelled together to a funeral at Hoop Lane Crematorium. Our friend Andy’s mum died yesterday after a long illness, and in the Jewish tradition, the funeral was taking place within 24 hours.

We had Charlotte back after school today — more dressing up, singing and dancing and playing in the garden ensued. I fed the kids early, then made myself a salad to eat in front of the penultimate episode of MasterChef.

I was in bed by the time Adam got home from wherever he was at 11pm. Managed a bit of the crossword before lights out. Rock ‘n’ roll…;-)

May 11, 2016

Adam had to head off first thing to attend something or another… No rest for the wicked and all that…;-)Lyra’s feud with Lucia seems to be dragging on… At drop-off, when Lyra walked up to Lucia and said hi, she and the three girls she was with all turned their backs on her. Lyra stood there for several seconds, then walked away to talk with another group. It was difficult to watch, but I thought Lyra handled it with dignity.

At lunch, when Lyra sat next to her, Lucia moved chairs. In afternoon play, she sent an emissary saying that Lyra owed her an apology, which Lyra doesn’t feel like giving.

The whole silly episode started when Lucia grabbed Lyra’s half-empty can of Pepsi, filled it with water and threw it over her. Lyra retaliated by adding dirt to her water bottle and throwing that at Lucia. In Lyra’s opinion, either they should apologise to each other or just forget about the whole thing. I respect her position, but will be glad when they kiss and make up.

I brought Lily home with us after school, and they had a great time playing in the garden until it was time for swimming. Some sort of complicated game that involved them busking for money on the streets of London. I could see them down on the lawn singing their little hearts out. Bless…

Did swimming, dinner, music practice, bedtime and swimming collection before Adam got home this evening. Sat down to watch an episode of Marcella about 10pm, but I had to keep prodding him with my knitting needle to stop him dozing. He’s really hit the ground running since landing back in the UK…

May 10, 2016

Ran for the second day in a row to get back on track with my training plan. It was raining hard enough that I needed to wear both my rain shell and a hat. Headed for the Woods, as it’s a little more sheltered from the elements, plus it’s good for doing the wind sprints at the end.

Adam gets back today! Gave the house a good tidying and made a grapefruit yogurt cake that I’ve been wanting to try to welcome him back. I thought he’d get home about 2pm, and be here when the girls returned, but his flight was delayed leaving Vancouver and landing in London and it was almost 5pm before he made it.

He returned with Stoned Wheats and Goldfish crackers, hand sanitisers for the girls, and a big bag of clothes for Lyra from her cousin Tessa that she’s delighted with.

Sat round the dinner table as a family for the first time in about two weeks, which made a nice change. Good to have him back — at least until next Wednesday… And Nova got my stuff sack back — so a good day all round!

May 9, 2016

We all slept in a bit this morning, and it was 7am before we got the morning show on the road. Nova was feeling a bit stiff in the legs and got one blister and a bit of sunburn on her arm, but is otherwise unscathed…Dropped Lyra at gymnastics then did my Sunday run — six miles in the hot, hot sun. It was way too hot for 8am in the morning. At least the water fountains on the Heath are in working order again. If it’s like this the rest of the week I’ll have to carry water with me, something I almost never do…

Collected Alice and Lyra from school and brought them back to hang out until drama. Nova returned bearing test scores — solid A’s in History, RE and part of her English paper.

In spite of last night’s upset, she hadn’t made much of an effort to look for the stuff sack. Under further questioning, I discovered that the organisers actually went round with lost property they’d found at the campsite, but she hadn’t bothered to look. I got her to email the DofE coordinator to ask whether any property will be coming back to school, but I’m not holding my breath…

May 8, 2016

Feeling those wines this morning…:-( That’s one downside of drinking less — it definitely hits you harder on those occasions you do. I was scheduled to do a six-mile run, but had limited enthusiasm for that plan and it was easy for Lyra to talk me out of it.Instead, we had coffee and green smoothies on the balcony. It’s the school Footie Fun Day tournament this afternoon. Lyra’s first match was at 1:30, so we headed up in time for her to meet up with coach and team mates for some last-minute tactics.

The way they organise it now, each class plays three games in a round robin between year three and four classes. We won our first two matches against year three teams handily, but the final game was a different story. It’s always a highly competitive affair with tears, injuries, and accusations (and that’s just the parents).

Our manager made the decision not to play any of the girls the whole game. Fairness aside, and remembering the “fun” part of the event, I don’t think it was the right decision. Those nine boys got so wound up, especially once they were down by two goals, that they weren’t playing very well, and they got tired. Plus the other team did playing their girls, and beat them by a goal anyway.

I wanted to get back home as I didn’t know when Nova would be back, but Lyra was keen to stay and hang out with her friends. When I left they were planning a water fight. I asked Millie if she could drop her back on Southwood Lane and headed home.

I was making hamburger buns when Lyra returned an hour later. The water fight had ended badly and she’d had a big falling out with Lucia. I was just getting a blow-by-blow account of who said and did what, when Nova was dropped off.

Sounds like it all went really well. While the walking was tough, it wasn’t as difficult as she’d anticipated. Plus — unlike Lyra’s gang — her group all got along really well and supported one another.

Cooked our burgers and sat down to watch MasterChef. They announced the winner this weekend, so I’ll have to try to avoid learning who won until we manage to get through our backlog of taped episodes.

The fight with Lucia seems to be continuing in text form, which was upsetting Lyra. I took her iPod and read through the exchanges. Lyra hadn’t said anything hurtful herself — she’s on the receiving end. I’m keeping the iPod for now just to let some air out of the situation.

Sent Nova downstairs to unpack, when I went down half an hour later hadn’t accomplished much. Helping her out, I discovered my sleeping bag stuffed loosely into a plastic bag. “Couldn’t get it back into the stuff sack, hey?” I said. “I don’t think it was in a stuff sack when you gave it to me,” she replied.

While trying to fit all her stuff into her backpack yesterday, we’d swapped her sleeping bag for my smaller one. Which meant she’d lost my stuff sack. I flew into a rage at this, yelling so loudly that Lyra got out of bed to see what was going on.

Huge overreaction on my part, and I felt bad about it afterwards, but I’ve had that sleeping bag for a long time, and taken it all sorts of places. I’m sentimental about it, I guess…

May 7, 2016

Had to get up before 7am to prep Nova’s food for the weekend. She needs lunch and dinner today, plus breakfast and lunch tomorrow, so I wanted to do it as late as possible. She’s taking a ton of food with her — it looks far too much.Though you do get hungry when you’re outdoors all day, and better to have too much than too little I guess. Plus, this is the practice run — she’ll have a better idea of what and how much to bring next time…

Took advantage of being up so early to bake the bread I’d proved overnight. Popped the second loaf in the oven before I left to drop Nova at Evie’s for 8:30am, but I’m happy to trust Lyra with things like that now.

Got back just in time to collect Lyra and head off to skating. Got her skates on, then went for my scheduled run — three miles plus sprints. Ran down to Highgate Woods (which is basically back home), did a lap, then ran back to Ally Pally again.

Had a long chat with Palak’s dad Sandeep while our girls practiced afterwards. He’s a very nice guy, though what with the mayoral election results, we ended up straying into politics. I think we might have had some disagreements there — I got the feeling he’s in favour of Britain leaving Europe, which I consider an idiotic course of action.

Home for lunch, then down to Highgate Woods again for football training. It was scheduled for an hour but lasted for more than two. I had Alina with me by this point (Veronika had dropped her off before practice). The girls were keen to get home and play, but ended up spending all their time together in the park.

Back home, I made Lyra a quick dinner, then got ready to go to Kiran and Birgit’s dinner party. Ruby is babysitting, which always makes Lyra happy. I walked down, bearing a fresh loaf of bread for a present.

There were thirteen guests — and I was the only singleton there. It was okay, but does make you realise how tiresome socialising might be if that was your permanent condition.

Great food and drink as always, and the party was still going strong when I caught an Uber home at 1am…

May 6, 2016

Headed to Tesco after drop-off for DofE food and supplies. Cruised all those aisles I never normally venture into for ready-made packaged crap, Cup-a-Soup, pudding pots and the like. They’ve done some planning around food, and Nova has committed to bringing dried mango, which cost me about £10 all by itself.I also bought miniature toiletries, blister packs and so on, and got her a roll mat as well, as there’s no way in hell she’ll ever get our Thinsulite inflatable thing back into its stuff sack.

Got home just in time to unpack everything before Veronika arrived. We’d arranged to go for a walk, and headed for the Heath. My left ankle was a bit hinky, don’t know why, especially on the downhills, hope that sorts itself out by tomorrow.

Made it to Kenwood, sat in the sun and had a Coke before heading back for pickup. I drink about three cans of Coke a year, and always really enjoy it when I do.

Showed Nova all the food I’d bought, and we organised it into four separate meals, plus a pile of snacks. “Actually,” she said, “we’ve decided we’ll bring our own fruit now, and I said I’d bring chopped raw vegetables for everyone so we can have something fresh.” Grrrr…;-)

There was no way I was going back to the grocery store this evening for yet more DofE food — she can take all the apples, oranges, cucumber and carrots we have and they’ll have to manage with that…

Sadiq Khan has won the mayoral election handily for Labour — the Muslim son of a bus driver seeing off the billionaire’s son. Very happy with that result…

May 5, 2016

Left Lyra asleep and headed over to the the polling station in my running gear to cast my vote for London mayor. I’d checked with Lyra to see whether she minded me going out before she woke up and said she was okay with it.There’s no school for Lyra today, because the school is the polling station. When I got home we got music practice and some work out of the way, then headed off to Muswell Hill at noon. Collected Lucia who I’m looking after for the afternoon.

Bought tickets for the Jungle Book, but as the show didn’t start for half an hour, I got the girls a snack at Planet Organic and left them for a bit while I did some grocery shopping. Had a backpack full of herbs and dairy products at my feet while we watched the film (which was pretty good).

Caught the bus back afterwards and the girls hung out until Millie collected Lucia on the way home from work. I thought they were having a nice time, but Lyra said afterwards that Lucia had been in a bad mood and acting “tricky” (her word).

Made the chorizo leek tart for dinner again tonight. I’m still not entirely happy with it — the filo pastry worked well this time, but didn’t make enough filling…

Got a start on Nova’s DofE packing this evening. I dug out an old backpack, and we managed to fit everything into it, aside from the food. It’s already pretty heavy — there’s a long list of essentials they need to bring, including wooly hat and gloves (even though the forecast is hot and sunny).

The list included a cheap digital watch, which I’d bought last month and was now nowhere to be found. “I think I gave it to you for safekeeping,” Nova tried, which was absolutely not true. “Maybe it was dad then,” she said. “Call him up and ask,” I said. Needless to say, Adam knew absolutely nothing about it.

I was just getting annoyed when Lyra piped up, “Was it pink? With a big screen? I think I know where it is!” She darted off, and returned a minute later with a little box that had the watch inside, that had been tucked away on the craft shelf. No idea why Nova thought that was the right place to store her new watch, but it’s far from the first time Lyra has known where to find things that have gone missing, bless her cotton socks.

Stayed up late to watch the election results come in. Labour is losing seats in Scotland again, but otherwise holding their own. It had gone midnight before realised the London mayor results won’t be announced until tomorrow night…:-(

May 4, 2016

Nova’s last day of exams — hurrah to that! It’s been quite a slog, starting back in March, even before we left for Bahrain. Just as well — I think she’s getting revision fatigue. Only biology and RE today, and she’s done…

Worked in the morning, then met Veronika in town for the launch of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists annual exhibition. It was a massive exhibition and took us a couple of hours to go through it. Lots of really interesting work…

Afterwards we sat outside on the Mall with a coffee and watched the world go by for a bit, until it was time to head back to the suburbs for school pick-up. Actually I didn’t have to do pick-up today, as Lyra was going back to Esther’s house for a birthday tea.

I headed over there just before 6pm to scoop her up and deliver her to swimming. She was less than keen to go, but that was a condition of attending the party. Both girls have missed so much swimming this year (plenty of it because the pool was shut, to be fair) that I’m pretty strict about them going for the rest of the term.

Which is why I had Nova go this evening, instead of just relaxing and enjoying the post-exam glow. She was pretty grumpy about it too, but I stood firm…

May 3, 2016

Back to school they go… Nova had her maths calculator exam today, which she professes to be ready for. I’m sure she’s readier than the one where she hadn’t actually figured out how to work the calculator yet…;-)

Did a run to Ally Pally and back after dropping Lyra. Legs felt pretty good, though again I found the sprints at the end to be a struggle.

Applied an 8-hour nit treatment to my hair, then sat down to work. I had an interview with Adam and a guy from a human rights NGO in the afternoon — fortunately no video involved. Wasn’t looking my most professional…;

Made a roasted cauliflower chickpea salad with a tahini dressing and herby couscous for dinner, which we ate in front of MasterChef. We are still eight episodes behind on our viewing — I think it’s the final this weekend.

Dishes, music practice, bedtime story, swimming pick-up, same-old same-old…

May 2, 2016

Up at 8am for no real reason — just force of habit… Nova and I ate breakfast in front of episode 2 of Game of Thrones, which we recorded overnight. Great excitement and jubilation round here, but I’ll say no more to avoid spoiling things for anyone…Headed over to Lily’s at 10:30 to collect Lyra. Alina had slept over too, and had a cup of tea with Veronika and Tanja before I managed to winkle her out of there. Didn’t succeed in getting her home though — she jumped at the chance to go back to Alina’s for a couple of hours, and I couldn’t see a reason why not.

Made the chorizo and leek filo tart for dinner again tonight, which we ate in front of Master Chef. The contestants were set the challenge of recreating a food memory from childhood. One woman did a dish based on the midnight feast her dad would make her when she had a nightmare, another recreated picnics at the beach, two people were inspired by roast dinners.

“If I was doing it, I’d definitely do Grandbee’s chicken soup,” said Nova. “Or her sticky toffee pudding.” “Yeah, me too!” Lyra agreed. Little ingrates…;-) At the most, they’ve had a few dozen meals at their grandparent’s house, while I cook nice things for them day after day, year after year. Makes me wonder why I bother…

May 1, 2016

Rabbits! We actually remembered to say it for once, so let’s hope there’s a big pile of good luck in store for us this month…Having failed to have a single family meal this week, I got up and made a batch of banana walnut muffins so we could have breakfast together before Adam flies to Canada this afternoon.

What with needing to digest afterwards, I spent a half hour nitcombing Lyra post-overnight treatment. That stuff really seems to dessicate the little bastards — I combed her really thoroughly and hardly found a thing. Gave Nova a dose as well, which she can leave on all day…

What with all that, it was 10:30 before I set off for my run. This is the first one in the programme where I’m supposed to pick up the pace — only to 11:00/mile, but five hilly miles of that in the hot sun was a challenge. I could feel my character “building” as I slogged my way through it — not the greatest feeling…;-)

Lyra set off on an outing with Lily’s family to the Southbank followed by a sleepover at theirs, and Adam taxied off to Heathrow by 2pm. And then there were two…

Spent a few hours in the garden, sorting out my raspberry patch while Nova revised for her final three exams. Gave her a thorough nitcombing as well — going through it lock by lock, making sure to get every single egg. Took me over an hour, but I’m pretty satisfied she’s clean. Just need to do me as well…

Made a quick ginger pork stirfry for dinner and watched American Graffiti — I love that film, Nova thought it was pretty good, but nothing to get excited about. If it doesn’t contain dragons and Targaerions, it’s a pale excuse for entertainment in her eyes…;-)

Caught up with Wade before bed — wanted to make sure he knows Adam is arriving in PG on Thursday…