November 2011

November 30, 2011

School cancelled for the strike today — Britain’s first general strike in decades. Can’t blame ’em, in fact I’m still a Unison member and would probably have joined ’em, except for having the girls home today. Oh, and the fact I can’t walk…My ankle is slightly better. I’m now wondering if sleeping on my stomach because of my back strain exacerbated it somehow… Who knows? All I know is it’s a colossal pain in the bum having to hobble up and down stairs all day long…

My Christmas cake is not as dark as I would like, more of a golden blonde colour, but maybe they darken with age? We’ll find out, I guess…

Watched Roman Holiday with the girls this afternoon. I haven’t watched that film since we lived in Japan. I saw it a few times that year. It’s a huge favourite of the Japanese, and was regularly on the telly. I wonder if the sacrificing personal happiness for duty resonates with them.

At any rate, it’s a great film, and it was fun for Nova and I to see all those places we’ve so recently visited. I was amazed neither girl thought Gregory Peck was handsome — though actually I don’t remember being struck by his looks the first time I saw the film. I guess his character is closer to my age now than when I saw it all those years ago…

November 29, 2011

I think my back is slightly better today, though the tendon in my sprained ankle has suddenly flared up. I can’t put any weight on it, and am hobbling around like Quasimodo again. It feels like I’m being toyed with — it’s very easy to picture someone with a voodoo doll of me in their hands, saying, “Let’s stick this pin in the right eye. Now, let’s do the back — here! Let’s put another one in the ankle. And the ears…” What next…?The morning news covered a Food Standards Agency study into the prevalence of norovirus in raw oysters. Apparently, 75% of the oysters they tested contained the virus. Which sounds terrible, until you discover that this is the first study they’ve done, so no one knows whether that’s the usual level. Also, they admit they are unable to distinguish between infectious and safe versions of the virus, and have no idea of what amount of the infectious virus needs to be present before it becomes a risk. In fact, their latest advice is that if you enjoy eating raw oysters, you should continue to do so. Irresponsible, scaremongering journalism, but even so, it has dampened my enthusiasm for our usual Christmas oysters…

I also learned that some people are genetically much less susceptible to norovirus. That could explain Adam’s illness after our meal out. I ordered scallop ceviche, which he only tasted, and yet he was the one with the norovirus-like illness afterwards. There have been a few occasions where something similar has happened — we eat exactly the same thing, and only he gets sick…

November 28, 2011

Today is the first day I’ve felt sort of okay in a week. Until I managed to strain a muscle in my lower back, that is…:-( I’m not sure how I did it — I suspect it might be connected to the sprained ankle and all the compensating I’ve been doing for that. However it happened, I’m pretty fucked and can barely walk…Was somehow able to complete the Christmas cake I’d started making yesterday. After marinating an unfeasible amount of dried fruit in brandy overnight, I mixed up a pound of flour, butter, six eggs, and spices in my largest bowl. The instructions required me to line my cake pan with layers of brown paper and baking parchment, which was far from straightforward, but I managed it, shovelled my mix in and left it to cook for four and a half hours…

Mum used to make a Christmas cake each year, but I never got involved in the process. I do remember the brown paper, and her wrapping it in a pillowcase(?) then soaking it in brandy. I wish I’d paid more attention… Though I can see why I wasn’t involved. It’s not really child-friendly baking — more like DIY, what with constructing the pan and stirring industrial quantities of cement-heavy, alcoholic batter. Hope the bloody thing turns out all right after all this palaver…

Tying my shoes is a real challenge, as I discovered when I hobbled off to collect Lyra from her playdate. As is sitting down or standing up again, turning to the right, or picking anything off the floor… Sigh… I’m so fed up with being incapacitated.

Comforted myself with beer (alcohol is a muscle relaxant) and crisps on the sofa while watching a double episode of The Killing. All that gloomy Danish drizzle and violent death suits my current mood…

November 27, 2011

Took Nova to the gym for the Sunday kid’s swim, even though I wasn’t really feeling up to it. She’d arranged to meet her classmate Amalia there, and I didn’t want to disappoint her. I sat in the hot tub reading a book while they played, which was pleasant enough.Amalia’s dad offered to have Nova for the afternoon, so I left her there and came home. Spent the afternoon lying on the couch watching the In Search of Santa Paws movie Lyra chose at the video store. Trite and predictable, but surprisingly watchable…

November 26, 2011

Still not feeling great… I’m sure last night’s festivities can’t have helped my recovery. Adam let me have a bit of a lie in, but I had promised to make pies for our Thanksgiving meal with Ben and Michaela. Lyra was very helpful with that — stirring and rolling and filling with great enthusiasm. I used the frozen apple chunks from the windfall apples I’d rescued. First time I’ve tried baking apples from frozen…Once the pies were baking, I packed us a lunch to eat in the car. We set off as soon as they came out of the oven. Had a smooth journey for once, and in little over an hour we were pulling up outside their house.

They’ve added a kitchen extension since our last visit, which has transformed the house. I’m very envious — I’d love to have a kitchen with room for a table. Sat down to our supper about 4:30 — salmon en croute, the usual Quorn roast, roast potatoes, carrots, sweet potato, corn, and an interesting brussels sprouts dish involving braised gem lettuce and hoisin sauce.

The pies were a big hit, though the pumpkin filling was a bit underdone. The apple one was lovely, though the top crust wasn’t as browned as I would have liked. Not sure whether to blame our oven (which is on its last legs), or the frozen apples chilling the pastry too much, or maybe I should have just cooked it for longer…?

The girls had a really good time together. There’s quite an age spread — 13, 10, 9 and 4 — and the pairings have shifted over the years. Sometimes the two middle girls click, leaving oldest and youngest to find some common ground. Today, Lyra and Poppy (the two youngest) bonded best.

A couple of health-related woes… Whenever I blow my nose at the moment, my right eye leaks… something… Don’t want to dwell on that too much… More annoyingly, popping to the car to get something, I stepped into a fucking hole in the middle of their lawn, shredding any healing my right ankle has done. Lay on the dark, damp lawn cursing for a good two minutes before I was able to put any weight on by foot and hobble back inside…

November 25, 2011

Still very congested, but feeling a bit better than yesterday… Headed off to Waitrose after dropping off the girls. I was in search of ox cheeks, though I wasn’t really expecting our branch to stock them. But there they were, and I bought four — receiving a satisfyingly hefty quantity of meat for relatively little money…Back home, I dredged them in flour and browned them off, before combining them with onions, thyme and red wine and plunking them in a low oven for the next four hours.

Made an early dinner for the girls before Birgit and Kiran arrived. Lyra was keen to wait up for their arrival, which meant it was close to 8:30 by the time I got her down. She also took the opportunity to decimate the nibbles I’d left on the coffee table. No surprise to me that she likes olives and roast almonds, but caperberries…?

Started our meal with my old standby, squid bruschetta with chilli jam, followed by the ox cheeks. They were meltingly tender by this time, luxuriating in a rich, velvety sauce. Though the chantenay carrots I’d added towards the end were a disappointment. They looked pretty with their little pointy tops, but had no flavour. Fortunately, the potato mushroom gratin I’d made to accompany the braise turned out really well.

Kiran is a wine enthusiast, and brought a bottle of vintage burgundy (1976) which complemented the food beautifully. We moved on to the Clos Fantine next, served with cheese. Dessert was roasted pears with creme fraiche and toasted hazelnuts, and a lovely bottle of ice wine I’d brought back from Canada. All in all, it was a pretty successful evening, and it was past 1am by the time we got to bed…

November 24, 2011

Today was the day Adam had booked tickets for us to see the day’s play at the ATP tennis final. I didn’t really feel up to it, but a timely dose of drugs got me upright and ambulatory, and off we headed to Greenwich on the tube with our packed lunch and flask of tea.This is the third year we’ve done attended this event. It’s always good fun, and such a contrast to the formality and tradition of Wimbledon. Set in the O2 Arena under artificial light, there is rock music, computer graphics, strobe lighting… all very exciting…;-)

Only the top eight players are invited to compete, so you are guaranteed to see someone good, but this was our best draw yet: Roger Federer vs Mardy Fish. I’m not a Federer fan, but man is he beautiful to watch. Fish did surprisingly well, and it went to three sets, but the match was never really in doubt…

Adam took Cleo to the vet when we got home. A few months ago, she injured her tail somehow. It felt like it had a double kink in it, and was obviously tender, but I couldn’t see what was to be done about it, so we left it to heal.

This morning, we noticed a large clump of cat fur on the carpet with a yucky looking piece of something attached to the back. The cat had an obvious bald patch on her tail as well, and it seemed sensible to get it looked at in case her tail was infected or something. It turns out what I thought was a broken tail was just an enormous scab that has finally fallen off. At least the vet didn’t charge us anything for the visit…

November 23, 2011

Did several hours worked for Adam today, knocking out a rough first draft of a chapter of a report. My sore throat and headache were steadily getting worse, and by mid-afternoon I dosed myself with nurofen and took to my bed.Staggered upstairs to make a pot of tomato soup for family dinner. The effort that took really knocked it out of me, and I headed straight back to bed when they went swimming.

Adam phoned to say he’d be dropping girls at top of path and heading straight to the Arsenal match. So when the doorbell rang ten minutes later, I reached up and pressed the buzzer. “Hello? Hello?” came a deep, male voice from the entranceway. Turns out I’d accidently admitted a canvasser from St Mungos homeless charity…

Stumbled downstairs and listened to his appeal, but I’m in no position to set up regular debits on my dwindling account at the moment, and canvassers in this country don’t accept cash donations. Next time the bell went, I checked it who it was first before letting the girls in…;-)

Nova was a complete star this evening. She kept Lyra occupied, did her bedtime, delivered hot Lemsip and a biscuit to my bedside and took herself off to bed as well…

One thing about all this lying around is that I’m getting a bit of reading down. Finally finished Audrey Niffenegger’s “Her Fearful Symmetry”. It was fun reading something set in Highgate, and it was a clever story, but she lost my suspension of disbelief towards the end. The whole story hinged on a character doing something that just wasn’t plausible…

November 22, 2011

Well, Henrietta Barnett day has finally arrived… Nova seemed remarkably blasé about the whole thing — I was starting to wonder if we’ve downplayed it too much. Presumably a little andrenalin would be a good thing…;-)Packed her ziplock baggie of sharpened HB pencils, eraser and a biscuit for the break. Two hours of ferociously difficult questions in strict exam conditions… When we arrived, I took Nova inside to sign in. There’s been a little mix-up with her exam day (still too painful to go into) and she’s actually doing it on the make-up day, but that’s fine. Even a little less pressured perhaps. Though from the aggressive glare I got received from the mum I casually smiled at, it’s still plenty stressful for some people…

Spent the rest of the morning working, then returned to pick her up at 12:20. Couldn’t help but notice that as the candidates emerged, only three of them were what you would describe as “white British”. The vast majority were of Indian descent, with quite a few Asian kids as well.

Took Nova for lunch at a Korean restaurant in Golders Green where she told us all about it. Sounds like she rose to the occasion, and completed nearly all the questions, leaving time to guess at the few she didn’t manage to answer. Which is much better than she’s managed in the practice tests at home.

We’ll find out whether she’s made the first cut on 16 December, when the top 500 of the 2000 students who sat the exam, are invited to sit the second papers. However it turns out, I couldn’t be more proud of her — she’s worked hard these last few months, and given it her best…

November 21, 2011

Decided to do my usual Monday morning run, even though I’d gone yesterday. I was at the absolute furthest point from the house when I placed my foot awkwardly and went over on my ankle really badly. Actually, I did it twice — first to the outside, then overcorrected to the inside.Limped along gingerly for a few minutes until the worst of the pain passed, then managed to jog most of the way home. My ankle’s not feeling great though, and had stiffened up by the afternoon. Bugger, as we say in this country. Did all the right stuff — rest, ice, elevation, strapping, nurofen — but it’s going to take a few days to recover from. I’ve got a sore throat now too…:-6

It was playdate central around here this afternoon. Lyra had her friend Alex back for tea. I also had Amalia, a new girl in Nova’s class, even though Nova was at film club. Amalia’s mum came up to me in the playground on Friday, needing someone to pick up Amalia so she could attend an appointment. I was happy to help, and Amalia turned out to be a lovely girl and very sweet with the little ones, so it all worked out nicely…

November 20, 2011

Dragged my ass out of bed and onto the Heath first thing. It was foggy and crisp — a perfect day for running in my book. Saw a school mum who was at the benefit last night. I’d last seen her heading to the Wrestlers at 11pm clutching the autographed Johnny Wilkinson rugby shirt she’d paid £560 for. Can’t imagine how drunk I would have needed to be to do that… ;-)It’s Nova’s final study day before the Henrietta Barnett exam on Tuesday. She has lots of homework as well, but we let her knock off in the afternoon and go round Fay’s to play Sylvanians anyway…

Made steak salad with horseradish dressing for dinner, which was delicious. The girls grumbled about finishing off their salad leaves — until I bribed them with chocolate banana bread with chocolate spread for dessert. Then they scoffed it down in a hurry…;-)

November 19, 2011

Nova went for a drama audition at St Marylebone school this morning. She had to prepare a 100-word monologue for a character from a fairy tale. For some reason, none of the sentences could be more than ten words long… She chose the witch from Rapunzel, and eventually came up with this:

What a lovely day for a walk in the park. A sweet old lady on her way to the shops. That’s close enough, except… I’m child shopping! Since Rapunzel married that prince, I’ve been quite lonely. Only I’m getting a boy this time, not a girl. Rapunzel was such WORK! Brush, brush, nits, nits, ‘ooooh, I’m such a nithead!’ Hmmm, I like that one over there. He doesn’t even have any hair yet! “Oh, little boy, I do hope you like chocolate…”

As well as performing the monologue, there is some group improvisation and lines from Shakespeare. Adam took her, as I’d agreed to attend Alina’s birthday party at Jackson’s Lane. Veronika and Basil bought theatre tickets for eight girls and two additional mums to see a production called “The Magician’s Daughter”. Based on Shakespeare’s Tempest, it was an enchanting mix of puppetry and original music. We all loved it, and it just goes to show that there is no excuse for the patronising, tedious children’s entertainment too often served up…

There was a little party in one of the centre’s rooms afterwards — cake, tiara making, pass-the-parcel and dancing. Lots of fun, a few tears and tantrums, a typical five-year-old’s birthday party…

Nova also had a party this afternoon — bowling in North Finchley. Adam was just heading off to that with Nova and two or her classmates when we arrived home. I’ve scarcely seen the two of them all day — one of those weekends.

In the evening we attended the Kirima benefit. Our school and local church support a school in Uganda, raising funds for school buildings, providing school supplies, sponsoring students etc. Definitely a worthy cause, though we’ve not engaged with it so far. However, we were invited to join a table with a few other parents and couldn’t think of a reason to say no…

Can’t say it was the most enjoyable evening I’ve ever spent. It was held in the Highgate School dinner hall, which has terrible acoustics. We were stuck in the furthest table from the food AND the speakers, closest to the band and door. Which meant we couldn’t hear what was being said, were the last to eat, sat in a perpetual draft, and once the band started were unable to converse…:-f Although nobody else looked to be having all that much fun either, and many beat a retreat to the Wrestlers as soon as possible…

November 18, 2011

Mufti day at school for today’s Children in Need fundraiser. This year, the kids have been asked to dress up as a character or animal that starts with the first letter of their name. Lyra opted to go as a leopard, with clashing leopard print teeshirt and shirt, black tights, ears and a tail.Nova was a ninja, with black turtleneck, harem pants, gloves and a headscarf. I had a moment of concern when we were doing her up that she might look more like a Muslim, but adding black kneesocks over the trousers helped with that. As did the cheesy karate poses she kept striking…

Dropped the girls at school at 8am for their morning activities, then went for a run. Once again, I felt pretty sprightly. There’s nothing worse than what I call “statue legs”, where your limbs feel like concrete. I’d much rather feel out of breath…

Went to help in Lyra’s classroom this afternoon. Unfortunately, we were banished from the classroom as they were having an interactive whiteboard installed. Spent the time in the art room instead, cutting and gluing fabric pictures. I also showed them Lyra’s math game she’s invented with her Scaredy Cat cards.

Lyra had her first piano lesson this afternoon — or was meant to… We went along to Anita’s at 5pm to discover that she’d doublebooked the slot. When she saw Lyra’s disappointed face, Anita had the other student wait ten minutes while she had a mini-session with Lyra. She played a few of the pieces we’ve worked on at home, and has been assigned Old McDonald for next week, her first piece that uses two hands…

November 17, 2011

Spent a few hours at Brent Cross this afternoon getting a start on my Christmas shopping. It’s time to get those Canada parcels underway. I haven’t checked the posting deadline yet, but it always sneaks up on me…Lyra had a playdate at Greta’s this afternoon. Adam was out at a meeting, so I left Nova at home revising for her exam next week, and headed down to pick her up. The girls didn’t want to wrap it up, so stopped for a cup of tea before heading back. Nova’s very cool about being left on her own now, or even being in sole charge of Lyra.

Black bean burgers and homemade buns for dinner. Made the buns this morning, working sundried tomatoes and fresh thyme into the dough. Now that we’ve finished the low-carb plan, bread is back on the menu again. But if I’m going to eat bread, I want it to be good bread…

November 16, 2011

Had a good spring in my step on today’s run as well — maybe the eight pounds I’ve lost are helping with that? Go, me! It’s going to get harder to eat sensibly as the festive engagements start racking up. We already have twelve evenings out confirmed between now and Christmas…Made a lovely chicken caesar salad for lunch. Used some leftover chicken breast from the other day, and a dressing made by blending together Greek yogurt, anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, and seasoning. Mighty tasty, and you didn’t even notice the missing olive oil…

Had Alice round for a playdate after school. Christine had warned me she was getting over a cough, but she seemed very tired. As soon as we got home, she just curled up in a ball on the livingroom floor. I suggested they watch a film, and within half an hour Alice had fallen asleep. I thought it was probably best to call her mum, who came round to pick her up early. She wasn’t running a temperature, or feeling sick — most likely just feeling post-viral…

November 15, 2011

Spent the day at home on my own, as Adam was working on site. Took it very easy for a change — I did my minimum daily housework, but also took an hour to finish my Jo Nesbo novel.I read so much less now I no longer commute to work. TV watching has become our default entertainment — with the recorder, we simply rack up the shows we don’t want to miss and watch them at our leisure.

“I just don’t know if I will get married,” Lyra confessed this evening. “Why is that?” I asked her. “Well, Harry is more interested in the girls in his class now, and I don’t know any boys that I can marry!” she said. She’s got a little time to sort that out…;-)

November 14, 2011

Happy birthday, Wade! And Prince Charles, Claude Monet, Veronika Lake…Had an excellent run this morning — my legs felt pretty springy for a change. After a quick shower, I swung by Trish’s to pick up an old bike of Safi’s she’s giving to Nova. Happy to get a bag of trainers and hiking boots as well — their stuff is always in good condition.

Lyra had her little friend Mia round for a playdate. They got on really nicely — as I’ve noticed before, kids with siblings (especially older ones) are seldom any trouble. They tend to be flexible, used to sharing and able to negotiate those difficulties that arise. They are generally good eaters too. All three girls scoffed their dinners — chicken strips, mash, peas, and butterscotch banana sundaes…

November 13, 2011

Adam’s not well… Woke up after a particularly restful night’s sleep to discover that he’d been lying on the sofa feeling sick half the night. Could have been the seafood we had last night (although I tasted or maybe the raw bacon I asked him to wrap for me…Finally got round to dividing my rhubarb crown. Apparently, you’re supposed to do it every four or five years to keep your rhubarb vigorous. The advised me to be brutal, but I’ve probably killed it…

Took Lyra swimming while Nova attended her book group. She’s really coming along, and is getting very good at floating on her back. She spent a lot of time doing what she calls “water ballet” — basically gracefully twirling and stretching in the water. Like last time, she swam a full lap of the pool with me backing away in front of her, stopping once or twice to catch a breath before pushing on.

As soon as she reached the end, she said, “I want to do that again!” This time, she swam the whole lap without stopping once. The two lifeguards stationed nearby actually gave her a round of applause when she reached the end.

Sweet potato soup for dinner — a surprise family fave. Watched a very good film called “Winter’s Bone” this evening, about a teenager in backwoods Alabama who tries to find her missing, meth-head dad. Beautifully shot and acted…

November 12, 2011

Went for a family skating session at the Sobell Centre after breakfast. Lyra was noticably more fearful at first than she was last year, but soon overcame that. By the end of the session she was making her way round the rink unsupported. Nova is also doing very well. If we go regularly this winter, I’m sure she’ll be proficient in no time.Went to the Tate Late with Veronika this evening. Took the tube to St Pauls so we could walk over the Millennium bridge, completely forgetting about the Occupy camp. Interesting to see it, and to catch a bit of a very earnest lecture about some internal camp business.

I was blown away by the Gerhard Richter exhibition. I’ve never heard of the guy, though strangely enough he came up in my Jo Nesbo novel this morning. I particularly liked his technique of blurring photographic quality paintings, which gave them a quality of motion and of capturing a memory. Managed to fit in a quick drink in the seventh-floor bar overlooking the Thames before the chucked us out. Really nice to have an evening out with Veronika, and I think she appreciated a bit of a break from her three girls as well…

November 11, 2011

Went for my run after dropping the girls at their early clubs. It was lovely on the Heath, mist hanging in the air and swathes of leaves crunching underfoot. Cut it a bit short to meet my friend Lynne for coffee. We used to run together on Fridays, but she’s been tied up with home renovations and work for weeks now…Spent an hour brushing the heaps of leaves from our footpath and end of the street. What with all the council cuts, we get noticably less street maintenance. We’ll see how shortsighted that economising is if we have another snowy winter.

Anyway, I paid in a bit of social capital, and collected five bags of wet leaves to store for leaf mulch. Highgate School was holding a Remembrance Day service on the playground, and I was able to enjoy the choir, trumpet play and speeches while I worked. Joined in the two-minute silence as well…

The UK has only recently instituted a two-minute silence on 11 November — it definitely wasn’t in place when I moved here. I was surprised to discover that it isn’t a statutory holiday either. They just squeeze it into the nearest weekend — so as not to inconvenience business, I guess…

Adam took me out for dinner at a lovely restaurant in the West End. The absurdly named Pollen Street Social is the first solo venture for Jason Atherton, formerly a Gordon Ramsey wunderkind. It has been open only a year, but has recently been ranked the UK’s second best restaurant or something.

Resisted the temptations of the taster menu, and went for:

•Scallop ceviche, cucumber & radish, yuzu soy dressing, apple
•Cornish crab vinaigrette, Nashi pear, cauliflower sweet ‘n’ sour dressing, frozen peanut powder

•Roast cod, broad beans, peas, cockles & squid, parsley emulsion, creamed potatoes
•Roast West Coast hake, smoked mussels, cabbage, cod cheeks, potatoes in seaweed

•Plum soup, compressed fig, honey & milk ice-cream
•Seasonal cheeses served with piccalilli, green tomato chutney

Lovely, intricate, deconstructed little plates of food. Not particularly filling, but satisfying nevertheless. Nice buzz about the place too…

November 10, 2011

It was a night of torture by cat. She woke me up at 2am by noisily scratching at the carpet. I must have left the door a bit ajar after shooing her away, because the next thing I knew, she was in the room walking on my head. Need to come up with an effective deterrent to that bloody scratching. At the moment, she’s learning that scratching eventually results in access to the bedroom…Felt a bit headachy all day, but still managed a good session in the garden. There’s always so much to do. Harvested the final few tomatoes and my root crops, dug over the greenhouse soil, and swept lots of leaves. I’d like to make better use of the greenhouse this winter. But first of all, I need to give it a thorough cleaning and replace a couple of missing boards.

Parent-teacher meetings this evening. We started with Nova’s teacher, who informed us that she is “a delight” and “a shining star in the classroom” — and that she needs to work more quickly. No news to us…

Lyra’s teacher seems equally thrilled with her. Apparently, she a cheerful, energetic, positive addition to the class who gets on with everyone and is doing well at her work. Lyra is making good progress with her reading, but has especially impressed the teacher with her arithmetic.

November 9, 2011

Had a long chat with Lyra this morning about how your body changes when you become a teenager. Girls grow breasts, and extra hair and their tummies change so that they can have babies in them; boys grow extra hair too, their voices get deeper, and sometimes they get growing pains in their bones I told her. Lyra thought about it all for a bit, then asked, “Dad, did you get growing pains in your legs or nose?”Coming back from school drop-off, I noticed two garden waste bags filled with windfall apples. I knew they were from the Nolan’s tree next door. They are back in LA, and although his mother has been round collecting them occasionally, there were obviously far too many for one person to put to use.

They were wet and a bit bruised, but I selected sixty or so and lugged them upstairs. Made a massive batch of apple sauce, a crumble, and froze a few bags of chunks as well. Never tried that before — hope it works out…

Did some more work on Adam’s website, and made his first blog post live, which was exciting. It was about St Pauls and the Occupy protest. He even received a comment from someone who read it, which was quite exciting…

November 8, 2011

“What do you want for Christmas?” I asked Lyra this morning. After thinking for a few minutes, she said, “That’s so difficult, mum, because I have everything already. I guess I just have to get MORE of the same things…” Consumerist angst in one so young…;-)Headed to Brent Cross with a Gap discount coupon I’ve been emailed. New jeans for Adam and Nova at 30% off. Also picked up some new pillows to complete the facelift for our sofa.

Veronika insisted on taking Lyra to ballet for me. If was very kind of her, especially as she has a three-year-old and newborn to manage as well. And she brought us homemade cookies when she returned Lyra. What a sweetie…

November 7, 2011

Went for a run with Adam this morning. Psychologically, I think I find it a bit harder to run with him — there is something demotivating about running with someone obviously better than you, though he never does anything to make me feel that way. It is very nice to chat though… I strapped my ankle before we set off, and it behaved okay…Nova returned from her film club pretty shaken. They’d seen the Bette Davis film, “The Watcher in the Woods”, and it really freaked her out. Apparently, it was the first time in film club that kids were screaming. “That’s because fear is contagious — like the laughter of babies,” she pronounced sagely over dinner.

Started reading the Hobbit to Nova this evening — I’d forgotten what a great book it is, and how funny…

November 6, 2011

No run for me this morning. My ankle went funny yesterday evening, and was even worse when I woke up. I haven’t done anything I’m aware of to bring it on. It’s a chronic situation that I am learning to live with…Nova wanted some one-to-one help with her breastroke, so I took her swimming at the gym while Adam took Lyra to Archway pool. She’s having trouble coordinating her arms, legs and breathing. When she swims with her head up, her stroke is elegant and smooth, but when she tries to breathe the wheels come off. Spent a half hour walking behind her as she swam laps, making corrections and suggestions. I think she made some progress…

Watched “Despicable Me” this afternoon, which I found pretty funny. Loved the scene where he reads the saccharine bedtime story to the orphans he’s adopted to promote his dastardly plan to steal the moon…

November 5, 2011

Each Christmas, our school participates in something called Operation Shoebox. Students are asked to fill a shoebox with little gifts for another child. You wrap the box in Christmas paper and return it to the school. From there, they are sent to children in developing countries.Both girls were keen to participate, so we headed to Poundland in Finchley. Picked up some pretty good stuff there for £1 — pencil crayons, toothbrushes, hair clips, little toys etc. The clientele was pretty scary, like something out of the Ozarks, but perhaps they didn’t like the look of us either…;-)

Adam dropped me at Waitrose and took the girls for eye tests. Contrary to my suspicion that all optometrists are eyeglass pushers who want the world to wear glasses, Lyra’s eyesight was pronounced perfect, a bit longsighted if anything. Nova’s prescription has changed, but for the better, which is great news. Of course, it does mean a new pair of glasses, but as children’s glasses are free on the NHS, that makes no difference to us…

This two-week, low-carb eating plan we’re following requires a lot of fresh food… Tonight’s dinner was a skewer of satay prawns with a big salad. (Most of the meals involve a big salad or mound of veggies…)

After dinner, we watched Strictly Come Dancing (which Lyra adored), followed by Merlin. I see a new Saturday evenin routine shaping up…

November 4, 2011

Very wet start to the day, but I didn’t let that put me off my run. Actually, I quite like running in the rain — I much prefer it to being too hot. I accidentally added on extra half mile I could have done without, though it was satisfying to finish it.Headed up to the school bonfire night after dinner. I must say that our school does a great job of bonfire night. Right by the entrance, there is a big barbeque cooking sausages and burgers, and at the back of the viewing slope is a long table selling beer and mulled wine, popcorn, cotton candy and toffee apples, and a variety of glow sticks.

On the sports field below is a massive pyre, with the guy sitting atop. This year, he was sitting on a nice wooden bench, which was incinerated when it was lit. Shame– it was probably worth about £300…

Nova disappeared with her friends, and we stood chatting on the slope, watching the bonfire blazing against the blackness until it was time for the show. For the last couple of years, the school has hired professionals to do the fireworks, and it is well worth the price of admission. The display lasted nearly half an hour, and was as good as anything I’ve seen aside from the Symphony of Fire.

With Nova being in year 6, it was the last school bonfire night for lots of our friends — only the six more of them for us…:-)

November 3, 2011

Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas… What with Hannukah and the Canada post mailing deadlines, November is often my main shopping month. Or knitting month…;-)Nova wrote a letter to JK Rowling this evening, about something that has been bothering her:

Dear Ms Rowling,

The first thing I must tell you is that I adore your books. I love to read, but when my mum read your first Harry Potter to me, I was thrilled and begging for more.

I know you must get lots of this kind of mail (‘Oh Ms Rowling, I’m such a big fan (write another book)) and I understand if you’re sick of a blocked-up letterbox. But please keep reading this letter, because I have a question for you.

It is about Remus Lupin. I like the character and the way Harry feels close to him because Lupin knew James Potter. Here is my question, though: If Lupin wasn’t born a werewolf, how come his name is Remus Lupin?

Please forgive me if you think I’m being rude. But really, think about it. There isn’t a more wolfish name than Boy-raised-by-wolves Wolf, except it’s twin, Romulus Lupin.

It isn’t coincidence, is it? I’m not stupid. But please reply, Ms Rowling. I do want to know.

Yours sincerely,

Nova Garfunkel, aged 10

 

November 2, 2011

Adam headed off to Manchester after breakfast — he’s such a nice kid, and fits in so nicely when he’s here. After dropping Lyra at school, went for a good run on the Heath. I extended the route a bit, to bring it up to around four miles.Spent the afternoon on a project to make slip covers for the arms of our sofas and chair. From the time she was two, Lyra has been steading gnawing away at the upholstery. I’ve tried patching it up, but she just picks away at the patches.

While I was in Rome, Beulah gave Adam some scraps of rust-coloured upholstery fabric she thought I might use. I had to be pretty creative to get six covers out of it, but I’m nothing if not creative… Nipped up to Finchley to buy some bias tape to finish the edges, which was a much better alternative to hemming them…

Started what has becoming our annual November low-carb eating plan. I prefer to lose a little weight before the seasonal eating kicks in. For one thing, it leaves you with less to deal with in January. For another, I find it makes me eat more sensibly in December, so as not to cancel out any recent achievement.

Both Adam and I find a low-carb routine works well for us. I used to pooh-pooh the idea of wheat intolerance, but I definitely notice I feel better for consuming less flour-based food…

November 1, 2011

Rabbits! November is starting off mildly, though it is wetter than last couple of days. The weather is so messed up now — crocuses in November, snow in May…Caught up on my housework — still plenty to do after the best part of a week away. The hoover actually gave out in protest — we’ve had to order a new belt and a pair of filters…

Nova cooked dinner tonight from her kid’s cookbook. She made these turkey kebabs that use celery sticks instead of kebab skewers. Nice enough idea, but I got food safety paranoid when I saw all the bits of raw meat still clinging to the raw celery stalk as the meat fried. Gave them all a wash and a wipe down before serving, but still wasn’t entirely at ease. They looked great and tasted delicious though…

Adam B spent the night, en route to Manchester from his Caribbean sailing holiday. He happily scoffed the remaining turkey kebabs, and joined me for a cup of tea while we watched the Arsenal v Marseille match. It’s funny how tea is so much more enjoyable in the UK than anywhere else. Is it the water, the teabags, or maybe the fact you never feel so bloody cold indoors in other countries…;-)