September 2011

September 30, 2011

Took Nova for a school visit St Marylebone this morning, a church school at the top of the Marylebone Road. So not very convenient to get to, but we know kids from this area who have gone there, and it gets very good results.Nova was taken with it, but I was underwhelmed. I thought it was shabby and cramped (the kids don’t even get lockers, but have to traipse to and from school carrying their textbooks). The church school aspect isn’t a plus for me either; frankly, I think she’s had enough of that from her current school. And I didn’t like the headmaster, with all his talk of discipline and measuring girls’ hemlines. He went on about what a friendly place it was, but when it came time to assign girls to lead the tours, he didn’t know a single year 9 girls’ name…

Walked down the Marylebone Road afterwards, stopping in the new Emma Bridgewater shop for a complimentary coffee and biscuit. Our main shopping destination was John Lewis, where I bought Nova some new school shoes and a pair of boots. Picked up some new wellies for Lyra as well, and matching nighties for the girls.

Made tandoori chicken for dinner, which both girls ate without fuss. I’ll be a very happy woman when I’ve trained my children to enjoy curry, or hotter food in general.

My baby blanket is approaching the half way mark, and the baby is yet to be born, so I may make it yet…

“Mum, did you ever smoke a cigarette?” Lyra asked me at bedtime. I had to confess that I had. “Oh, mum!” she said in dismay, “You got tar! “

September 29, 2011

Hot, hot, hot… Lyra has made the decision to go for school dinners. I think it’s the right call for her. She’s much more concerned about fitting in than Nova has ever been, and packed lunch eaters are a definite minority now.Had a disgusting mishap with some (formerly) fresh squid in the fridge. When we bought it on Saturday morning, the fishmonger vacuum sealed the bag. As there was far too much for the squid appetiser, I carefully rolled the bag up again, and put an elastic band round to keep it secure.

Not secure enough obviously… Squid juice leaked out and collected in the veggie bin, where I somehow failed to notice it. I used the remaining squid days ago, but the smell grew worse and worse… Spent a very unpleasant couple of hours defrosting and cleaning the fridge, hot washing and disinfecting the racks and shelves, and wiping down all the food…

Had a tomato bread salad for lunch — it has become my regular lunch this month, with all the tomatoes I’m still harvesting from the garden. Flatten a garlic clove, and gently brown it in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cube some stale bread and toss and fry it until crisp. Remove from the heat. Roughly chop a few tomatoes, and toss with the bread. Season to taste, and add a bit more oil if it seems dry. Some shredded basil is nice, or any fresh herbs really.

Now that my credit card has been replaced, I was able to order a replacement wallet. My previously wallet was made by Lodis, a Spanish-American company, and I was very satisfied with it for seven years. I would have happily have ordered another one exactly the same, but styles have moved on and the brown/blue model was no longer available. Have gone for purple/gray instead…

Evening out at the cinema with Jane. We met at a pub off the Holloway Road (the pubs on the Holloway Road are all pretty rough…) It was a lovely, warm evening and I was lucky to secure a table outdoors. After a swift Corona, we walked back to the cinema to see the remake of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”. It was a good film, and Gary Oldman was a respectable Smiley, but it didn’t come close to the Alec Guinness version…

September 28, 2011

Went for a run after drop-off — my 5km route again. I took it at a sedate pace — I don’t want to do myself an injury after so many months of inactivity. Also, it was very hot. The UK is experiencing an unprecented heatwave, with temperatures expected to reach 30°C by the weekend.Went into town for lunch with a few former colleagues. We’d agreed on a sandwich bar round the corner from the office, and I was surprised at the strength of negative emotion stirred up by being in that neighbourhood. As always, I was struck by how much happier those who left are (whether working or not), compared to those who stayed.

Headed round to Freddy and Beulah’s for Rosh Hashanah this evening. Beulah made a lovely meal, as always, and it was great to spend time with Doron, Antonia, Jeffrey and Jennifer. It was also great to see how well the four cousins got on together. Lyra is finally old enough to participate fully in the games, and they had a whale of a time together. Shana Tovah…

September 27, 2011

Headed off to Cambridge this morning to spend the day visiting my former job share Tina. She met my train, and we wandered back to her place, stopping for coffee en route.It’s the first time I’ve seen her home, which seems odd with someone I know so well, and have spent so much time with. Ate some lunch, the went for a long rambling walk, that led eventually into the centre of the city.

Tina seems very well. She’s really enjoying her “retirement” (luckily for her, she was old enough to cash her pension when we were made redundant). Unlike me, she is actively looking for another position — she wants to work in one of Cambridge’s many libraries. No success to date, but I’m sure she’ll get there…

I’d given Nova my key when I dropped her at school, so that she could let herself in after netball, as Adam and Lyra would still be at ballet. To my surprise, Nova is really enjoying netball practice. It’s not a game I’m familiar with, but it’s a real staple of girls’ physical education over here, and I think there’s a lot of value in playing a team sport.

September 26, 2011

Lyra’s first full day of school — hurrah! That’s been a long time coming. Dropped her off then went for a run. Made it a good, long one — no need to fart about with that 3km run anymore. I headed straight for the Heath and knocked off my 5km route.Spent the rest of the school day tackling housework. I occurs to me that where I used to have focussed little slots for my household chores, I now have great swathes of time to devote to things like clearing out the girls’ closet or reorganising the bookshelves. Not sure how I feel about that…

Lyra headed off this morning with a packed lunch, just like her big sister. Out of the 30 kids in her class, only five of them take packed lunches — the rest have signed on for the school dinners. Lyra is already wavering — apparently all the other kids had sausages and ice cream.

I’m not that convinced by the idea of school dinners. I don’t really want my kids eating two cooked meals a day. I’d much rather they had a sandwich, crudités and fruit for lunch than a plate of sausages and mash with crumble and custard for dessert.

Nova made a lovely chocolate cake from a cake mix, which she decorated with chocolate frosting and loads of “shprinkles”. Decided it was a belated birthday cake, and had a lovely impromptu girls’ celebration…

September 25, 2011

Gave Nova a mock verbal reasoning exam this morning, to start preparing her for the Henrietta Barnett exam in November. The students are allowed 50 minutes to complete the test; at the 50 minute mark Nova had completed only half of it.It’s only her first one, and we’ll do a few more before the exam date in November. I’m happy for her to sit a few practice paper so she knows the kind of questions to expect. The thing is, so many girls have been privately tutored for two to three years already, so the odds are stacked against. Personally, I disagree with that, but I’m definitely in the minority around here. It would be so much better for everybody if nobody did it…

Went to Banners for brunch with Trevor and Marni, their treat. Good food as always, but the service left something to be desired. As did their hash browns — what they call a hash brown is a strange, undercooked sort of grilled potato waffle. Check out the dodgy looking brown item on at the top of the otherwise delicious Jamaican breakfast Adam managed to dispatch:

Bought some ornamental cabbages and planted them in the hanging baskets on the balcony this afternoon. They look much better than the half-dead lobelia they replaced. Also started a baby blanket, for my friend Veronika, who’s baby was due yesterday. A bit late, but I’ll knit fast…;-)

September 24, 2011

One of those days that was stacked with commitments and errands from start to finish… It included fish shopping, mattress moving, ferrying Nova to the Fortismere music exam, picking up and dropping off Etta for the same, grocery shopping, dinner party preparations, housecleaning… Tires me out just thinking about it…;-)We had our friends Wendy & Jon, and Lynne & Duncan round for dinner this evening. I decided to make something from my new Maze cookbook, butter roasted cod with ‘silky’ mash and spiced lentils. The food was fiddly, but a lot of could be done ahead, so it was quite straightforward to serve.

We started with champagne cocktails and toasted almonds, then sat down to squid bruschetta with chilli jam, creme fraiche and rocket (a recipe I picked up from my fish cooking course at the Berkeley. Dessert was a chocolate hazelnut slice, served with raspberries.

It was one of those occasions where the cooking gods smile on your efforts, and everything turned out beautifully. Trevor and Marni returned from their evening out and joined us for dessert. To bed about 2am…

September 23, 2011

Attended Nova’s class assembly this morning. This year all the classes have been named after London tube stations — Nova is in Baker Street, while Lyra is in Camden Town. Predictably, the assembly was based on Sherlock Holmes, and they performed a really good little play they’ve pulled together in the last couple of weeks.Went for a run afterwards with Lynne. She’s been running all summer, and I felt pretty out of shape in comparison. A good incentive for me to get off my ass, now that I’ve got the time to exercise…

Went to a New Zealand Pinot Noir wine tasting in Mayfair this evening, organised by our friend Kiran. Judiciously ate some dinner first, and partook of the canapés provided, but still felt pretty squiffy by the time we headed home. I just seems wrong to me to pour out the remainder of my glass, especially when it’s of the quality most of these wines were. Not that I observed many other people pouring out their wine either…

September 22, 2011

Had an appointment with Mrs Parker, the other year 6 teacher, this morning. The idea was to discuss which secondary schools we were looking at for Nova, and perhaps learn of other options we hadn’t considered.She was in agreement with the schools we are considering, but also suggested Nova try for the drama scholarship at St Marylebones. In her opinion, Nova has genuine acting talent. News to me, but I’m happy for her to give it a go if she wants.

Took Nova to visit Channing after school — a local fee-paying girls’ school on Highgate High Street. Once again, I was slightly underwhelmed by the place. In spite of being poky, cramped, and a bit run down, it seems rather too pleased with itself. Nova quite liked it, and the fact that Fay goes there is another plus for her. But the fees are exorbitant and the bursaries tokenistic, so I can’t see it working for us…

September 21, 2011

Stopped by for a cup of tea with Pasc after drop off. Haven’t caught up with them since summer vacation. Now that both Sid and Fay have left the school, there will be less day-to-day contact with them. It will be interesting to see if Nova’s friendship with Fay survives in the coming months. I hope so — I always think how compatible they are when I see them together.”I think that some numbers look too much like other numbers,” Lyra complained today. “Like 2 and 5 do, or 6 and 9. When I grow up I’m going to change them so they look more different.” Can’t disagree with her on that one…

September 20, 2011

The mad school visiting season kicked off this morning with a visit to Henrietta Barnett. A local state selective girl’s school, HB manages to achieve the best exam results in the whole country.I think it would be a terrific school for Nova, but so do thousands of parents of very bright girls. Twelve hundred girls sit four exams in the hope of earning one of 93 places. And most of those will have been expensively tutored for the last couple of years. So the odds aren’t great, but Nova’s going to give it a go…

Trevor and Marni arrived this afternoon. They’ll be staying with us for several days while in London for work. As we had no food in the house, a trip to Waitrose was in order. Paid cash for our groceries, which makes it seem much more expensive than when you use plastic.

Lyra gave me a laugh this afternoon: “Mum,” she said, “did you know that whenever you go out of the house, dad dresses up in your best dresses, and your prettiest shoes, and your tights, and puts on makeup and jewellry and dances around the livingroom? Did you know that, mum?”

No, I did not, and I don’t imagine Adam knows about it either…;-)

September 19, 2011

Received a beautiful pink orchid from Wade for my birthday. He always sends me flowers — he’s such a sweetie. Received a card and money order from my dad today as well — he’s another sweetie! I’m definitely going to be putting some of that towards a new wallet…Had my annual joint birthday celebration dinner with Michaela this evening. We met at Taro in Soho, a little Japanese canteen where we both opted for the salmon bento dinner and Asahi Superdry.

Service is very efficient, and we’d finished our meal by 8pm. Next stop, the Nordic Bakery in Golden Square for cake and coffee. Last stop, the pub for a couple of swift halfs before calling it a night…

September 18, 2011

Happy birthday to me, though 47 doesn’t sound like anything to celebrate… Things weren’t quite together on the gift-giving front, so I accepted the proffer of a nice bath, and left them to get things together.My presents duly arrived: the Maze cookbook; a Clinique lip moisturiser; a vintage snakeskin belt; and the complementary sewing kit specially wrapped by Lyra.

Birgit and Kiran surprised me with a little birthday cake at breakfast, which was very thoughful of them. Lyra was relieved to see it — she had been very concerned about the absence of birthday cake.

Checked out of our rooms, then drove 20 minutes or so to the little hamlet of Frithham for another walk. We climbed through beautiful woodlands to the crest of the hill, then headed out across moorland in a big curve that completed the circle.

Ate lunch at a super little pub called the Royal Oak. Although it was tiny, it managed to do a roaring trade by having a field full of picnic tables and keeping the menu simple. It basically did ploughmans — and did them extremely well, with locally sourced pork pies, sausages and cheeses, and homemade chutneys.

Parted ways afterwards and started the return journey to London. At a petrol stop/toilet break I discovered that my wallet was missing. There were only two places it could have gone astray — last night’s pub or the hotel bar. We called both immediately, but no joy.

Although I’m pretty confident it is lost, not stolen, after going through all the bags and the car, I knew that I definitely didn’t have it. There was no option to start cancelling cards. Fortunately, we get a one-stop card cancellation service through our bank, so it was less painful than it might have been. Crappy end to a lovely birthday weekend though…

September 17, 2011

Had a very strange dream that we hadn’t actually conceived Lyra, but adopted her instead. And for some reason we’d been hiding the truth about it. No idea where that came from…Opted for the full English breakfast, which was very nice, aside from the fried bread. Not the healthiest of options, fried bread has to be pretty darn tasty to justify all that fat and calories. And it can be, when it is a good piece of bread, gently crisped in the bacon fat remaining in the frying pan and served hot. This stuff was most likely yesterday’s uneaten toast triangles deep-fried mahogany in yesterday’s chip fat. Completely inedible…

We discreetly stocked up on fruit, cheese and rolls from the continental buffet to supplement our picnic lunch supplies before setting off for the day’s walk. Though rain was forecast, the weather was generally pretty good, and we had a lovely day’s walking. Foraged for mushrooms, the kids played on rope swings over the stream, and saw lots of wild ponies.

There was a brief rain flurry after lunch, but other than that we stayed dry. Made it back to the car before the bad weather finally arrived. After a couple hours relaxing in our respective rooms, we headed off for dinner at a nearby pub. Nice food, nothing special. Returned to our hotel, after settling the kids upstairs in front of X Factor, had a nightcap in the bar before calling it an evening.

September 16, 2011

Went for a run after dropping Lyra at her gymnastics breakfast club. Timed it so that I could swing by again as class finished to make sure she got herself back into her school uniform okay.Veronika and her girls came by for lunch and a bit of a play. She is looking so pregnant now — the baby is due in two weeks. Took the opportunity for a real fridge clear out — soup, tomato bread salad, noodle salad, green salad, ham etc. We’re going away for the weekend, so I wanted to use up as much as possible.

Did such a good job that there was nothing much for dinner — the girls had fried eggs on rice, and Adam and I didn’t have anything at all. Ended up eating stoned wheat thins on the car journey…

Set off about 8pm for our drive to the New Forest. We’d missed the worst of the rush hour by then, and though the roads weren’t empty, traffic was flowing pretty smoothly. Only one minor mix-up following the directions to the hotel (which was quickly rectified) meant we did the whole journey in about two hours.

Headed up to our family room, and put the girls straight to bed. Returned to the hotel bar and ordered a pint. Our friends Kiran and Birgit were about fifteen minutes behind us. Stopped at a pint and a half, which is plenty on an empty stomach…

September 15, 2011

The cat seems so much mellower than before we left — it’s like she’s been reprogrammed by our absence. Carpet shredding is largely a thing of the past, and she’s lost her obsession with sucking on my neck. The only thing that still seems to stress her out is Pumpkin swaggering in and polishing off her cat food, which is fair enough. He’s taken a shine to her new bed as well, which is now coated with a layer of orange cat hair…Had both kids in bed with us by 6am — Lyra comes in pretty much every morning, but Nova is a rare occurrence. Cleo didn’t want to miss the fun, and plonked herself down on my chest, purring like a sportscar. Needless to say, that was the end of my night’s sleep.

Adam and I have seen so little of each other lately, that he suggested a breakfast date at Cafe Rouge. Nice idea, but he spent most of the time making phone calls and sending text messages, which left me feeling neglected and pissed off…:-<

Had another playdate with Greta this afternoon. As always with Greta, the girls spent most of their time planning and performing a princess show. Today’s effort was a mashup of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and involved a lot of interpretive dance and housework. Very cute…

September 14, 2011

Lyra went back to Alice’s after school, which meant I had my first full day to myself in about two months. Adam is still away, so I headed into the village for coffee.Put in a good stretch in the garden, where the weeds reign surpreme. The tomato plants have gone completely mad. I cut back a lot of the foliage, thinking that it the plants could focus their energies on ripening the fruits that have already set. I should probably have read up on it first, but it seems logical to me.

Harvested chard, carrots, and potatoes. I’m surprised got as many potatoes as I did, as the plants pretty much failed. So much so that I didn’t bother earthing them up or anything.

Had a lovely tomato sandwich for lunch — there’ll be lots of those in the days ahead. Made a batch of spanakopitas with the chard, and a pot of chicken soup with rice as well.

Gave the girls a bowl before their swimming lessons. They both worked hard and did really well. Nova is at the top end of her group, as she should be — she told me later one of the kids in her class is five years old… Lyra has the opposite situation. Although she’s big for her age, she is the youngest and smallest in her group, most of whom have already done at least one course at this level.

Adam got back this evening, after the girls had gone to bed…

September 13, 2011

Adam left for Germany first thing — he’s attending meetings for the other piece of adidas work he’s involved in.Lyra had an impromptu playdate with Greta after school today. I was walking along with her dad Howard, catching up after the summer, when the girls unexpectedly scarpered down our path. Next thing we knew, they were up to their elbows in Polly Pocket in Lyra’s bedroom. Howard stayed for a cup of tea to give them a bit of a chance to play. Had an interesting chat about the school system, and he told me about an interesting lecture/animation on changing educational paradigms.

Lyra’s ballet class starts this afternoon, which meant picking up Nova for the first time this term. Instead of coming with us, I gave her my key so she could go home and put in the chicken while I took Lyra to her class. Evelyn ended up coming back to ours as well to keep her company.

The idea was I’d send Evelyn home when I got back, but it proved impossible to shift her, and she ended up staying for dinner. I’m always happy to have Evelyn around — we’ve known her such a long time and she’s turning out to be such a nice girl.

Once Lyra was in bed, I finished reading The Carbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd with Nova. Feels like we’ve been working on this book since month. A distopian teen novel, set in 2015 London, it’s a young girls’ diary of the first year of carbon rationing in the UK, and what it means for her life. Very worthy stuff, but funny in parts as well…

September 12, 2011

Today is Lyra’s first day of school, though she’ll only be doing 2.5 hour days for the next two weeks. She’s certainly ready to dive straight in, but perhaps the staggered approach works better for some of the other children.

Adam is working out of the house yet again. I spent the morning on domestic duties. There is still a lot to do to get the house running smoothly again after our month away…

Took Lyra with me to Waitrose in the afternoon. Dinner was pork tenderloin marinated in soy sauce and honey then roasted, with rice and broccoli, and rhubarb compote. I was surprised that both girls liked it, though Lyra was less keen…

September 11, 2011

So, it’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I haven’t found the time to watch the various programmes that have been aired, but haven’t felt any desire to do so either. Not that people should forget about it — I just don’t know what else there is to say on the subject…Thames Festival today. We had a late start, so decided to drive to London Bridge. We got there early enough to find a reasonably close parking space. After we met up with the other St Michaels kids and handed Nova over, Adam, Lyra and I had a wander along the river.

The stallholders were just getting set up — the festival doesn’t actually start until 12pm. The HMS Belfast was majestically moored and would soon be open for visitors. There was an interesting performance last night, where a pair of percussionists performed a five minute piece using parts of the ship as their instruments instead of drums.

At noon, the mass kids’ choir was arranged in the Scoop for a final rehearsal. I watched that while Adam took Lyra for a runaround on the field next to city hall. The performance followed straight afterwards. I thought it was beautiful, and by the time they reached their final number, “Starmaker” from the film Fame, I had tears in my eyes.

Hung about for a couple of hours afterwards, chatting with other choir parents, and bumping into friends. The weather was lovely, and the kids were very happy to hang out with their schoolmates. One of those afternoons that make you love London…

September 10, 2011

Slowly getting on top of the house stuff… There’s an awful lot of catching up to do when you’ve been away for over a month…Adam headed off to Arsenal in the afternoon, and I hung out with the girls. Made a ham and pea pasta for dinner, which Lyra claimed was the worst pasta ever made by anybody, anywhere. I think the pinch of cayenne I added was what turned her against it.

Nova is singing in the Thames Festival tomorrow — in an 800-strong kids’ choir, which has been drawn from year 5 classes in 47 different schools. She has been given a CD of backing music to practice with. For the last few days I have been hearing beautiful snatches of music, wondering where it was coming from, then realising it was my daughter singing. It has stopped me in my tracks sometimes…

Tonight she ran through all the songs — I think there are eight of them. Lyra, keen to get in on the act, added interpretive dance movements. The whole thing brought tears to my eyes — one of the most beautiful moments in my time as a mother…

September 9, 2011

Went to Legoland today with Christine and Alice. What a great place! And what a great day to go — most English children have gone back to school, and the site was pretty empty. We barely queued for any of the rides. And it has finally decided to stop raining…;-)It wasn’t particularly warm though, especially after getting soaked on the log flume ride. I bought Lyra a little plastic poncho, but at £3 each, I preferred getting wet. Ran into Greta and her family at lunch time, who were there to celebrate her fifth birthday.

Aside from the water rides, we really enjoyed the rollercoaster and laser gun ride, and miniature world, which had dozens of famous landmarks built entirely of Lego. I’ve always been immune to the charms of Lego, so was surprised to be so captivated by the replica Wembley Stadium or changing of the guard.

The journey home was a bit tortuous. Seeing the traffic on the main road, Christine opted for an alternate route, which ended up costing us time in the end. Fortunately, we’d bought snack bags for the girls, which kept them munching away happily for most of the journey.

I’d prepared a cheeseburger pie yesterday, so that Adam would have something he could just stick in the oven for dinner. I followed a recipe from the Company’s Coming: Ground Beef Recipes that dad gave me when we were in Canada. You made a sort of biscuit base and line a pie tin with it. Next, you put in browned ground beef, reduced tomatoes, and grated cheese then bake it for an hour.

It was a big hit with Nova and Evelyn, who had dinner at our place. Adam and I thought it was pretty tasty as well. I’m also tempted to try the enormous hamburger you bring to the table then slice into wedges. The kids would get a kick out of that…

September 8, 2011

Well, the cat experiment failed. Cleo came in to our room at 2am this morning and walked on my head…It was Lyra’s first day in her new class. She’s was very excited about it, and completely ready by 7am. It was a one hour induction, with only five kids in total. It gave them a chance to meet the new teachers and explore the classroom.

Christine and Alice came back for coffee. The little girls were very happy to see each other. Lots of spontaneous hugging and proclamations of love…

In the afternoon, I watched the Wizard of Oz with Lyra. After Dorothy finally clicked her heels together and returned to Kansas, Lyra said, “I bet Dorothy will want to go back to Oz again soon. Do those shoes work the other way?” It’s a good question, and one I never thought of.

Tonight’s dinner was fish, rice, broccoli — dessert was apples from our tree and a little dish of honey to dip them in. Japanese-Jewish fusion food…

September 7, 2011

Lyra is very pissed that Nova starting school, while she doesn’t start until next week. “Why can’t I go to school?” she stormed. “I’m going to go anyway!” she announced, very pleased with herself, until I pointed out that there wouldn’t be anyone there…Appeased her with a trip to Brent Cross to buy school shoes and uniform shopping. Lyra didn’t remember what Brent Cross was — that’s what a month-long holiday will do for you…;-) When it finally came into view, she said, “I do remember this place! It’s the building that looks like a radiator!” Very good description actually…

Besides school shoes, we bought plimsolls, two pinafores, a skirt, trousers, ten pairs of knickers, 5 pairs of white socks, two collared teeshirts, two blouses, an electric blue puffa jacket, and a purple leather jacket. The last two weren’t on the regulation outfit list, but she needs a winter coat, and the leather jacket was too cute to pass up…

Took the girls to their first swimming lesson at the Malllinson. It has been a bit of a holy grail for Adam to get both girls in at the same place and time, but after many months, he finally managed it. Pretty sure he was on a first name basis with the woman who handles the registration by the time he achieved it.

Adam popped in briefly at 7pm before heading out to play football. He’s going to be working on site for the next couple of weeks, and has a trip to Germany next week as well. Quite a shock after spending so much time together over the summer. Still, it’s good to launch straight into work after a break. September can be a very slow month, workwise…

Cleo has been so affectionate since our return from Canada. She even tolerates the girls cuddles and pats without complaint. The carpets — and the kids — have been unscratched for a week. She’s been so good, that I’ve decided to experiment with leaving the bedroom door open at night.

Put on a new motivational podcast at bedtime. After the astonishing success of “Cure your fear of flying”, I wanted to see how effective it might be in other areas of my life. “What’s this one for?” Adam asked. I refused to tell him, knowing he’d be asleep long before the introductory relaxing into trance state bit. When he wakes up tomorrow with a strong urge to go to the gym or the sudden ability to speed read, he can thank me…;-)

September 6, 2011

Woke up at 2am when Adam got up to do some work, and found it impossible to get to sleep afterwards. Even more annoyingly, I’ve managed to contract conjunctivitis on the journey home, and my eyes are red and gummy.After breakdfast, Adam headed off to a design agency to work. I spent the morning mooching around with the girls. The weather was awful, and no one felt like going outside or even getting out of our pyjamas.

Marshalled my energies in the afternoon and made a trip to Waitrose. Neither of the girls wanted to come, so I left them at home watching The Brady Bunch. Left them at home again when I headed down to the doctor’s to get a prescription for some chloramphenicol. Turns out you can buy it over the counter now…

Nova cooked dinner all by herself this evening — beef and bean pie with crushed potato chips on top, followed by strawberry jelly. Very tasty and impressive…

September 5, 2011

At some arbitrary point in the journey, they dimmed the lights for a couple of hours, but Adam was the only one of us who managed any sleep. Eventually it was “breakfast time”. At least it was for the people on the right side of the plane… There must have been some kind of mess up with the food, because they’d all finished their little box of breakfast before we were finally offered one of those Dutch syrup waffles in a little cellophane packet.Lyra finally fell asleep as we started our descent, which made for maximum grumpiness and lack of cooperation when it was time to leave the plane and walk the two miles to the customs hall.

Gatwick airport — what a horror show. What a dump, what a cesspit, what a hole… You can see the grime and imagine the germs… It reminded me of that cracking monologue Ray Winstone does at the start of Sexy Beast about his new life in Spain:

People say, “Don’t you miss it, Gal?”
I say, “What? England?”
“Nah, fuckin’ place. It’s a dump.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“Grey, grimy, sooty.”
“What a shithole. What a toilet.”
“Every cunt with a long face, shufflin’ about, moanin’ or worried.”
“No thanks, not for me.”
They say, “What’s it like, then? Spain.”
And I’ll say, “It’s hot.”
“Hot.”
“Oh, it’s fuckin’ hot.”
“Too hot?”
“Not for me.”
“I love it.”

After receiving grief for using our Canadian passports, we were allowed into the baggage hall. For some reason best known to themselves, Gatwick now requires passengers to have either a euro or pound coin to release a luggage trolley. I was flabbergasted by the stupidity of this. And it’s not even a money-making ploy (which I could almost understand in this economy) — like some supermarkets, you get your coin back when you return the cart. I don’t know what they think people are likely to do with their luggage carts in the middle of nowhere, especially as they have barrier gates to prevent you leaving the airport with them…

Not having small change from countries we haven’t been in for the last month to hand, we had to stagger another mile to the train platform with all our bags. I did

see a few things that made me smile, like the Muslim kid in traditional dress with an NHL magazine balanced on top of his suitcase — a Canadian souvenir perhaps. Our flight conveniently landing at the peak of rush hour, the train was rammed with commuters, but people kindly gave up their seats for the girls. They both passed out immediately. Fortunately, a couple getting off at Kings Cross helped us carry our bags and Lyra to the taxi rank.

There was a long queue, but I just went straight to front and asked if we could go next. One thing about the British, even if they did mind, they wouldn’t say so… London looked lovely in the morning sunshine, and at last I started to feel some happiness at being back in Britain…

…though the house seemed rather small and shabby after the a month of Canada-scale living. There were welcoming gifts from Mitsuko and Veronika waiting. The girls headed straight to the bedroom to reacquaint themselves with forgotten possessions and Adam and I dove straight into unpacking. We’re both a bit strange that way…

Unpacking done, we made a cup of tea, and joined the girls for a bit of telly. We all crashed out in about fifteen minutes. When Adam woke me up at 3:30, both girls were sprawled on the carpet, possibly having fallen off the sofas?

Adam had a work phone call, and the girls had dentist appointments. Did a quick Waitrose shop afterwards and threw together a batch of pesto pasta, which was hoovered up. Baths and bed for the girls; telly and bed for us…

September 4, 2011

Brenda cooked a big breakfast for every one, after which we made the final tweaks to our packing. We don’t have that much luggage for four people, it’s just that the girls’ bags are so small and light. We have to be careful that ours don’t go overweight. I think airlines should consider the total weight of our bags when deciding whether to charge us excess, but of course they won’t. Maybe it’s a health and safety thing…Celia gave them one last hair curling/straightening for the road. Many photos later, we headed off. A smooth drive and rental car drop-off meant there was time for a bit of gift shopping before check-in, so the purchases could be in our checked luggage.

Once we were through passport control, we found a table and ate the pack lunch Brenda had made for us. Did a bit more shopping as well — duty-free ice wine, water and snacks for the plane.

Take-off was smooth, and once again I felt no anxiety. Thomas Cook (who were a flying back with) runs a slightly better operation than Air Transat. The plane is nicer, with little screens in the back of the seats and the option to choose your own movie. They also provided blankets and pillows free of charge, unlike the other guys, and were more forthcoming with the drinks and snacks.

On the down side, my seat was slightly broken. It sloped slightly to the right and tipped forward so it was pretty much impossible to sit fully back in it. This meant that the minute the passenger in front reclined her seat even a little bit, it was really cramped.

Watched an OK movie called Limitless, about a new drug that allows you to use all of your brain’s potential, but the side effects turned out to be a bitch…

As the hours went by, Lyra grew increasingly bored, and her behaviour deteriorated to the point where the guy in front of her turned around and complained to us. I took her aside, and told her that every airplane has one kid jail cell where the worst child on the plane is taken. Only the stewardess can decide which child goes there. Being Lyra, this idea appealed to her and she wanted to check it out…

September 3, 2011

Our last day in Canada… This has been such a great holiday, and to cap it all off, we decided to take the girls to the PNE. We had a beautiful, sunny day for it. After breakfast, we explored transport options, before deciding on a bus/SkyTrain/bus route.Celia got busy with her hair styling devices, using hot curlers to add some springy curls to Nova’s hair, and her straighteners to flatten Lyra’s. Both girls were extremely pleased with the transformation to the other’s natural hairstyle. I guess it’s human nature to want what you don’t have…

I probably last visited the PNE in 1980. It was an annual family event. After the provincial swimming championship in Vancouver, we’d spend a day at the PNE before carrying on with our summer holiday. Often other swimming families would be there as well, and I’d go around with a pack of friends.

The site itself hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years… It smells the same, and many of the food stands and buildings looked pretty much as I remembered as well. Quite the blast from the past…

We started in the agricultural hall, looking at the various animals, large and small, and watched the pig races (our section won). I would have enjoyed the fruit and vegetable displays as well, but the girls were getting impatient to go on the rides.

As soon as we got to Playland, it became obvious that we’d have to divide up, as Lyra was too little for many of the rides the other kids wanted to go on. While they queued for a rollercoaster I took Lyra for a ride on the big wheel, having agreed that we’d meet in front of the rollercoaster afterwards.

The line for the big wheel moved very slowly, and after about fifteen minutes I decided we’d better abandon the idea and return to the meeting spot. But when we got back, there was no sign of the others. “Maybe their line was as bad as ours,” I said to Lyra, but I checked the line and they weren’t in it.

“Maybe I mixed up the meeting place and they are waiting for us at the big wheel?” I wondered. So we went back there, but they weren’t. We returned to the rollercoaster and waited again, but they didn’t show up.

After a while, it occurred to me that they might actually left without us for the dog show in the Pacific Coliseum. How they thought we’d manage to meet up in a 17,000 seater arena was beyond me, but it seemed likely that’s what they’d done. Operating under that assumption, I spent the next hour taking Lyra for one or two rides, then returning to wait by the rollercoaster.

Once the dog show ended, we returned to the rollercoaster and waited for an hour. No sign of them. I was completely perplexed and pissed off by this point. Adam and I have a system we always use when we are separated — return to the last point you remember talking and wait there. It has always worked, and would have worked now if Adam had bothered to follow it…

Trekked back across the site with a now weary Lyra to check out the lost and founds to see if they’d left me a message (they hadn’t), or the entrance gate to see if they’d stationed someone there to wait for us (they didn’t). Returned to the rollercoaster one last time and waited fifteen minutes before giving up on them.

Lyra was keen to go home by this time, and I felt the same way. I hadn’t been in charge of the travel arrangements, and so hadn’t paid any attention to which buses and SkyTrain stations we’d used, but we made it eventually.

Needless to say, there was no one home… We sat on the porch waiting for an hour or so. It occurred to me that Brenda’s lodger may have an emergency key, so we went round the back and knocked on his door. After a considerable delay, a pallid and seriously stoned young guy came to the door. He didn’t have a key (I wouldn’t have given him one either), didn’t know which of the neighbours might, and had no cellphone number for Brenda.

Bored of sitting on the porch, we went to the track behind her house and played running games for the next twenty minutes until they finally returned home. “Let’s get some beer into you,” were Brenda’s first words. And very welcome it was too. Lyra and I hadn’t had anything except water and cotton candy since noon…

As I suspected, they had gone off to the dog show without us. They returned afterwards, but instead of waiting at the rollercoaster, Adam just took a brief look in that direction, managed to miss us sitting on a bench right in front of it, and went off to ride more rides. Stupid idiot…

I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s evening by dwelling on it, but after we went to bed we had a massive row. I was so angry at him for behaving so foolishly, for thinking it was a better idea to search a thronging, 160-acre site for us instead of just bloody waiting at the agreed meeting point…

September 2, 2011

I was the first up this morning. Crept upstairs to the living room to do a bit of writing. In the event, Kaya was only 10 minutes behind me, and the rest of the kids trickled in after that.When Anita returned, we had a big pancake breakfast, then Dan headed off to work. The rest of us spent the morning touring Ganges harbour, which is considerably more developed than it was last time I visited. Lots of little shops and galleries with expensive art.

After eating sandwiches in the park, we headed to the recycling centre to say goodbye to Dan, then headed for the beach. The girls had a great time playing with crabs. Practically every rock you overturned would have at least three or four underneath.

Caught an afternoon ferry from Fulford Harbour. through Active Pass back to Vancouver. The way they loaded the ferry was interesting. Because we made a stop at Pender Island, they somehow contrived to have those vehicles disembarking there to face the opposite direction to the rest of the cars.

I wanted to stop at Daiso in Richmond on the way into Vancouver, and after a bit of faffing around, we eventually managed to find it. Had a very happy half hour shopping for cheap bento supplies and other Japanese dollar store goodies…

Arrived at Brenda’s about 7:30, to find dinner waiting. She’d managed to get her girls back from her ex-partner a day early as well, which was a lovely surprise. Celia has really shot up in the three years since we last saw her. At twelve years old, she’s as tall as I am…

September 1, 2011

Remembered to say “rabbits” first thing, which always makes me feel lucky. Felt even luckier when I realised that today is also the first day that the flat starts generating some income. Adam checked that the rent had been paid in, and there it was. So that’s very exciting…Our final Sproat Lake breakfast…:( As always, it was sad to leave — five days seemed like a lot of time when we arrived, but it has gone by so quickly. Made multiple forays around the house to ensure we’d left nothing behind. (Like a previous visit, when we managed to leave Nova’s entire suitcase!)

Stopped at the Coombs general store, and spent an hour exploring the amazing deli. Restrained myself from buying too much — came away with a cedar plank to barbeque fish on, and a big bottle of Mexican vanilla.

The drive to Crofton was so unexpectedly quick that we barely missed the ferry ahead of the one we were aiming for. Spent our hour in vibrant, downtown Crofton buying booze at the beer&wine store, and mooching around on the dock.

The crossing was cold and gray — what a contrast to the summer sunshine of Sproat Lake. Disembarked at Vesuvius, and headed north for my cousin’s house. We managed to miss the turning for their road, and ended up touring the whole north half of the island…

I was amazed when we finally pulled up in front of their place. I knew Danny and Anita had been building it themselves, and was expecting something far more modest and ramshackle, instead of the three-story beauty that awaited us.

Anita was home with the girls. It’s the first time I’ve met her, though they’ve been together almost 20 years. She’s Dutch, and they met in Holland (or Luxembourg?), where Dan lived for a while before moving back to Canada. I think she arrived in Canada about the same time I left for the UK.

Like us, Dan and Anita have two girls — Amy (10) and Kaya (7). Both girls are very tall; in fact, the seven-year-old is nearly the same height as Nova. Anita gave us an extensive tour of the garden and house. Unlike most house tours, her tour focused mainly on how it was built, and issues encountered along the way.

It is really impressive how much they have achieved, especially when we looked at their photos of the project. There was just a little shack on the property when they bought it, which they lived in while they built the garage. Then lived in the garage until they added a story on top of that, and so on…

Dan got home from the recycling centre where he works about 5:30. He immediately set about barbequing salmon, while Anita made potatoes, corn, salad and salsa verde. This pair don’t mess around…;-)

After dinner, Anita headed out for her overnight shift as a live-in carer. We got the kids down, did the dishes, and had a cup of tea before calling it a night as well. Kaya has given us her room, and bunked up with her sister. Nova is in her bed, Lyra in a foamy on the floor, and we’ve got a Murphy bed Dan has built into her bedroom wall…