Emmy's Banjo Practise

Crabby New Year!

2012-02-11T23:30:00.000Z

C was underslept and I was grumpy this morning, but after declaring a truce we went on to have a wonderful day in San Francisco.

We headed for Ghirardelli Square, home of the famed chocolatier, and managed to find a splendid fish restaurant overlooking the bay, with a table right by the window.

Container ships both full and empty travelled through the water in the growing sunshine, as we sat warm and happy inside. We decided that we were splashing out on a treat, so I ordered the crab. And what a crab!

Being a crab virgin, I was not sure what to expect, but it was amazing. Seriously, one of the best meals of my life! The meat was succulent and prawny, and the citrussy broth underneath was a flavour explosion.

We finished off our meal with thick shakes from the chocolate shop. Delicious, but sickly after a while. So, now it is 10pm, we are still not hungry. I think after all the junk food it is now time to start running again and go on a detox ...

Made our way along the bay, then on a crowded trolley to downtown for the Chinese New Year parade. Decided not to wrestle with the 100,000 people there, so took some pictures of bands, flags and dragons from a safe distance, before sneaking through to Market Street to catch the L train home before everyone else had the same idea.

A busker in the trolley queue had mentioned that Whitney Houston had died, and sadly he was right. So we have spent the evening revisiting some of her best songs ... 'How will I know', 'I wanna dance with somebody', 'I have nothing', and my favourite below:

To the Beach

2012-02-08T23:30:00.000Z

After a frustrating afternoon spent fixing the puncture in the car tyre, we rewarded ourselves by going out in the blazing sunshine to the Pacific beach to see the sunset.

Only a 10 minute L train journey to the far west coast, we had a fun time. Walking in the sand with Penny, collecting sand dollars, watching the people out playing with their dogs and seeing the birds peck at the wet sand. Irreplaceable moments ...

Museum of Modern Art

2012-02-07T23:30:00.000Z

Lo and behold, it turned out there is a MOMA in SF, not just NYC.

We pootled along on 'Free Tuesday', and enjoyed our wander around.

We very much appreciated most of the art, though as always with such place, we found ourselves questioning the artistic merit of some pieces.

An exhibition about equality, a photography section and various 'famous highlights' from Klee, Picasso, Miro etc.

Good also to see enthusiastic school groups being shown round.

Some more of the art on my Tumblr account.

Also popped into the Museum of Cartoon Art, which had some great new comic strips, plus some original drawings from some of our favourites ... Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield etc. I wish I could draw ...

Alameda Flea Market - An Infinity of Treasure!

2012-02-05T23:30:00.000Z

So, the day started a little slower than we hoped. C had been up in the night with P, so we decided he needed a little more sleep. Then, just as we were moving the signs from the waterworks outside so we could get the car out, I noticed that we had a flat tyre! Gutted ...

So, hastily printed off directions to get us (via L train, BART and Oakland bus 31) to the Alameda Flea Market.

Oh ... my ... god ...!

1 - I have never seen such a big carpark, it took us at least 10 minutes to walk from the carpark entrance to the entrance of the flea market. And the market itself was enormous, apparently over 800 small stalls from happy individual vendors.

2 - SOOOO many exciting things. As always when you are in a foreign country, the things most people are used to, are so special and exciting as an interloper.

3 - A panoply of beautiful things. Exquisite furniture, crazy Americana such as gas pumps (the whole stand and pump),

Very cool to see people walking away with the furniture for an entire lounge on a trolley, taking it back to their car.

And what did we get? Minus not only a car, but also a container ship and a massive house to keep it all in, we decided not to go crazy (though it was tempting). So we stuck to a couple of very cool looking old games, a couple of 'Life' magazines, with lots of cool ads inside and the 'E' key from an old American typewriter.

Very tired on the way home, especially as we dashed for the bus and because I was yet again a little sunburnt from the lovely weather (surreal to think that it is snowing in the UK).

A relaxing evening in. With no tv, did not watch the Superbowl, but did check out a couple of the adverts. Taking it easy, drinking lots of water to combat the dehydration.

The Passage of Time

2012-02-04T18:36:00.000Z

Charlie and I have been compiling our photos albums for 2009, 2010 and 2011, which has involved me trawling through this blog to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And what a collection of years!

We used to have so much time, busy with work, with seeing people, and doing whatever we pleased. Then, for me, everything changed when I fell pregnant. I was blissfully happy to take care of myself, resting at home and preparing for this abstract little person who had set up home in my abdomen and would shortly leap into the world and change our lives forever.

And then Penny came, and 10 months of maternity leave has gone by in a flash. Making new friends, my lovely NCT girls who have all been so supportive, as I hope I have been to them. Rejoicing in Penny, so many cuddles, kisses, songs and new experiences. And taking her to see London, the unique city she was born in and lives in ... the V&A, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Science Museum, Brockwell Park, British Library, Green Park, Harrods, Natural History Museum etc.

And of course, making sure life stayed as normal as possible. Still going to Secret Garden Party, C pulling little P across Austria by bike, and where we can, going out for dinner and round to friend's houses. One of the bits I am so grateful for is that we have been just as welcome as always at our friend's activities, even with Penny in tow. I love that she is now just part of the entourage, and everybody has been so tolerant of her, loving their Penny cuddles.

And the family has been so much closer too ... seeing my two big brothers go all mushy for this little baby has been touching. And good to see the whole family more often too, being parents to Penny sometimes feels like being a bodyguard to Madonna ... she is prime property, the coolest thing since Air Jordans!

And so, when we get back to the UK, I will go back to work, and life will then morph again. This time into a strange mixture of maternity leave and pre-Penny ... working for my paycheck, and hopefully enjoying it as I always did (despite the occasional bit of tension), and also waiting eagerly for that magical smile to greet me when I pick Her Highness up from nursery.

Onto the next phase of life ... with a smile and a wink ;)

San Francisco Zoo

2012-02-03T23:30:00.000Z

On such a beautiful day, we just had to get out of the house, so P and I went to San Francisco Zoo. Not far from our apartment, at the end of the L train by the ocean. P and I took a little detour to sit on the beach for a minute to admire the great waves that were crashing into the beach, along with the adjoining 'Tsunami Evacuation Route' signs.

It was nice and quiet, and I became a little pink as the sun was so blazy, P was shaded in her pushchair. was lovely just wondering around, admiring such beautiful animals, and playing with my new camera too.

Favourites were grizzly bears, otters, prairie dogs ... Penny especially liked the prairie dogs, as they were both close and mobile. She does not see everything at the zoo, as when the giant silverback gorilla is sitting as still as a statue a good 20 metres away, she does not get that he is real.

The bears were so cute. Apart from the odd playful altercation, as per the below, they were happily bathing, cooling down in their pool, playing with their feet and coming up to the glass to say hello.

Then lugged the pushchair back onto the L train to get home, via a quick grocery shop at the local Safeway. A good but tiring day.

More zoo photos at my Tumbler page.

To the Embarcadero!

2012-02-02T23:30:00.000Z

Was up a lot in the night with Penny. Still a little off her food, and not keen to be put back down when she wakes at 4am, she seems to be firmly in another (hopefully temporary) phase. We keep catching her pressing her hand against her top gums, so perhaps the big front teeth coming through is giving her some trauma. Let's just hope it doesn't last too long, as it is a tiring business!

As it was a lovely sunny day, once I had regained a bit of sleep in the morning, we headed out into town on the L train. After a quick stop off to drool at the pretty things in the Apple store, I managed to get Charlie to join me in some of the great shops I found the other day. And success, he bought a new pair of jeans along with 4 new work shirts!

We then decided to walk along Market Street to the Embarcadero, which we reached at sunset, watching the pretty pink clouds rise behind us over the skyscrapers and seeing the ferries ride out to Oakland.

We battled the public transport system on the way home, as not only was it rush hour, but the tunnel over to Sunset was out, so all the trains were cancelled. So, a couple of challenging bus rides later, we got back.

Very pleased that Penny ate all her dinner, for the first time in a few days, and went happily to bed.

So we indulged in some more 'Half Baked' and sat in front of Family Guy for the evening before Skyping David.

Indoors

2012-02-01T06:10:00.000Z

After all the admin yesterday and our adventure out into the woods, decided to take it easy today. Had a fairly productive time, managing to write 3.5k words, listened to lots of music and played lots of Scrabble with Mr Fish. Satisfyingly, writing now feels more relaxing, almost like reading. And it is so liberating to know that we are still here for another two weeks before going to TX, so there is no rush to do, well, anything!

P was a bit out of sorts all day, not keen on her meals and generally being a little clingy. With all these new teeth popping up, I wouldn't be surprised if it is just that, but we will be keeping an eye on her nonetheless.

Fish popped out to the shops with her to get some fresh air, though we did indulge in pizza for dinner along with some more B&J Half Baked ice-cream (we had demolished a pot of their frozen yoghurt Half Baked already). Delicious!

If you go down to the woods today ...

2012-01-31T23:30:00.000Z

After a morning of admin, washing and jobs, we rewarded ourselves by going on our first road excursion over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods.

Though we did get a bit lost on the way and took a happy detour to Stinston Beach and had a little Route 1 coastline drive ... just beautiful to see the Pacific.

One of few Redwood forests remaining, it was a place of great tranquility. Incredible to see the height and width that some of these trees grow to, and I found the smell of pine and bark wonderful. We tried to get lots of lungfuls of clean air before making our way back to the city.

We had started watching Gone with the Wind last night, so after Skyping David this evening, we watched the second half. It is a proper epic, a magnificent film.

Plus I used the opportunity to play with my new craft toy ... yay! An early birthday present from Mr Fish :)

Thrift Store Paradise

2012-01-30T03:37:00.000Z

After a day of admin yesterday, and looking after Penny was Charlie went to play board games with the locals, I felt I deserved some fun today. So after a leisurely morning (given P kept us both up in the night), I jumped on the L train to 'Church', and visited some of the vintage, thrift and general tchotchke shops on and around Valencia Street.

Oh my word ... was a plethora of wonder was there! Given that we are a good way around the world, it truly is the case that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I got a few great bits and pieces for me, including some new work trousers, and also a pile of lovely stuff for Penny, who will need 12-18 month sizes when we get back. And all cheap as chips! Blissful ... and I even spotted another massive thrift store on the bus ride home. That will be the next excursion then, and I will definitely take Charlie next time.

San Franciscans

2012-01-28T21:36:00.000Z

Another relaxed morning, along with a little jaunt down the hill to the Safeway on Taraval Street to pick up groceries. Then we navigated the public transport system (no. 48 bus doesn't go on weekends, so resorted to L train and BART) to get to 24th St Mission to see Keller and Joe. Was good to see them both, and nice to revel in a chilled out sunny Saturday with them.

Also met with Kristiana and her friend Stef in Dolores Park, where we sat on Keller's rug and played with Penny, who was by now in a jolly mood, after being a little grumpy while we grabbed tacos for lunch.

Then off home to settle down for dinner and bed.

Oh, and I have put up a couple of Tumblr posts showing some of the pretty and fun things in Pam's apartment.

ALCATRAZ!

2012-01-27T23:30:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say that I have added a pic or two to the previous post.

We woke today, after an interrupted night though both of us slept plenty, to beaming sunshine again. Our presumption is that the SF weather will be consistently changeable. So we took the opportunity to be tourists and nipped on a couple of busses to get us to Pier 33 and the boat to ALCATRAZ!

I spent a lot of the day saying 'ALCATRAZ!' in an Eddie Izzard type way, and we had a brilliant day out. We just caught a boat going out, and both the walking tour and the audio guide were compelling.

The city looked beautiful from the island, with sunshine glittering off the water in the bay. Such a contrast with the confinement of the prison, where some of the most notorious criminals in the country were removed of their liberty and their humanity. Charlie said that it was very reminiscent of Brixton prison, though at least with Brixton there had been some attempt at modernisation (whereas Alcatraz was closed in 1963). But as they had been built at a similar time, this was no surprise.

Penny was exceptionally well behaved, and seemed to enjoy the walk and the exploring round the cells and the grounds.

Then we managed to jump on a boat going back to the shore (no queuing for us, yay!) before having a well-deserved lunch/dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We also popped in to Boudin's Bakery, one of my favourite places, as it sells so many lovely kitchen bits and pieces, and always has bread baked in fabulous shapes ... we saw a bread crocodile, and a bread dragon with a bread tortoise in its mouth. Maybe a nod to Chinese new year?

Then home for a relaxing evening before bed ... another full day of touristy stuff, though I think the weekend will be a bit more admin based.

A Walk in the Park

2012-01-26T19:58:00.000Z

Up at 4am (midday GMT) when P was up, though C kindly offered to look after her, so I grabbed a further couple of hours of sleep.

We rested in the house for the morning, with me making a batch of steamed apple for P, plus a big batch of spag bol for us.

Then our first excursion out into the big city. We walked all the way from Quintara to the Golden Gate Park. Lots of fog meant that we could barely see past our own noses (pretty standard in SF, apparently), but we enjoyed stretching our legs after the confinement of the previous day.

We wandered through, past the lake with the far too forward pigeons, and past the Japanese Tea Garden. Then we went on to Haight Ashbury area, with all its Camden-esque hippy shops and little cafe bars. We stopped for a bit, and then navigated the bus system home. Which was pretty easy, but would be hard if you had to manage it by yourself (the buses have lots of steps and are v high, so big issues with pushchair access).

Then home for spag bol dinner. Currently trying very hard to stay awake for as long as possible (currently at 8pm, 4am GMT) to get us back to normal as soon as possible. P went to bed at 7, so she is almost back to normal. It has been a hard shift for her, but we have let her nap whenever she wants, and the daylight is an excellent help for keeping her awake.

A Very Long Day

2012-01-25T19:44:00.000Z

Up at 6 to get to Heathrow. All went very smoothly, included all our extra baby stuff. hey made me sip P's water and eat one of her jars of food, though I was sure to eat the apple crumble ... yum!

P only slept a little in her 'car seat' style seat on the bulkhead wall. She has a few grumpy points and a few very happy points, both of which made her a little hard to manage in such a small space. I got a little sleep and Charlie watched a few films.

We were greeted at SFO by beaming sunshine, and we jumped in a taxi to get to Pam's place. We managed to get in easily enough, and noticed her bags were still there. So we did end up meeting her after all. She was very pleasant, and clearly had a great deal of travelling under her belt, so we were sure Brixton would not phase her too much.

The apartment is beautiful, uniquely decorated with lots of art, with a strong retro feel (especially for the 70's and art deco 20's). Just what we needed.

We took and excursion to the supermarket to get provisions, and started to feel painfully tired on the way back, despite being thrilled by all the goodies on offer (string cheese, cinnamon toast crunch, cookies etc.). So at 6pm (2am GMT) P went to bed, followed by us at 7pm (3am GMT). P was up at midnight, but kindly went back to sleep for 4 hours lying on me in bed.

Whistle while you Work

2012-01-24T23:20:00.004Z

After C and I went to my last Wriggle and Rhyme session at the library for a LONG time, Erika kindly came round to look after Penny today, while C and I dashed round cleaning, tidying and packing.

And so, as we were free to leave E with the baby, the house was ENTIRELY ready and we were ENTIRELY packed by around 9pm ... wow!

Really pleased with and proud of how good to the place looks for our flat-swapping partner, and very much looking forward to our trip now!

Charlie's Last Day

2012-01-23T23:16:00.000Z

Charlie finished off late from his last day before Paternity Leave, but seemed very chilled out as Jason's for our NCT meet up. As C put it, it hadn't quite sunk in yet.

I had started the cleaning yesterday (ensuite, spare room, bathroom), so he finished off the bathroom and ran around doing various other bits and pieces.

Brighton, Singing, Mattie and Matty

2012-01-21T23:12:00.000Z

Gathered in Brighton with Theresa, Demetris, Keith, Danni, Matilda and Bettie for a day of good food, and playing with the kids. Was lovely to see them all together, and Mattie seemed particularly pleased to see Penny. Very interesting (and a little scary) to see how two children changes the dynamic of a family, and adds so much complexity.

Back home in time for me to dash to karaoke with Andrew and co, while Charlie took Penny home. Highlights included the group version of 'Don't you want me, Baby' (or, 'Don't you want us, Babies'), Chloe and Tony performing 'Higher & Higher' (their wedding song) and the various rude words in 'Poker Face' and 'Forget You'.

Got back to prepare for Matthew's arrival with Anna, but A was not feeling well, so turned out he enjoyed Cirque de Soleil by himself.

Delicious Dinner

2012-01-20T23:11:00.000Z

After visiting Sonia's new house with all the other mums and babies, had a lovely evening at ours catching up with Erika and Dan, who are now back from Argentina. Norris also joined us, and we had Mozzerella Tomato Avocado salad, followed by Beef Casserole (veggies for Norris) and Lemon Mousse (which I was very pleased with, I highly recommend you click through to the recipe).

Sick Sick Sick

2012-01-18T23:30:00.000Z

Had a relaxed day, made camembert and courgette soup for me, Norris, Amy and Caroline, who were popping round before going to see The Iron Lady, then had a pleasant evening chatting with Noz.

BUT THEN ... after her milk, and just before I put her down, P was spectacularly sick. Exorcist sick. All her lunch and dinner came up, and went all down my cleavage and over the nursery carpet. Norris very kindly came out to help, and after I tidied up, P and I cuddled up as she wasn't keen on settling.

Charlie came back late, as he had been out at 'You Me Bum Bum Train' having lots of fun. I said the immortal words 'don't worry, she can't be sick any more', and promptly he found himself holding a projectile vomiting baby, with all her evening milk pumping out over our duvet and over his shirt.

Poor Penny!

But she dealt with it very well, and was very smiley after both incidents.

P was still not settling, so we cuddled up in the lounge, hopefully allowing the working souls in the house to get some shut-eye. At about 2am, she gave up and dropped off, and amazingly did not wake in the night!

Busy Day

2012-01-17T10:13:00.000Z

Had a useful catch up with my manager at 9, interesting to here where my organisation is, and where it is going ... am excited to be going back, if a little apprehensive about how it will feel to be away from P.

Then it occurred to me that Tuesday is Wriggle and Rhyme day, so rushed through porridge with P ... had a nice cuppa with Jo in the Ritzy afterwards.

Dashed around getting a set of keys cut for Andrew, and getting them recut when they didn't work.

Then, as Mum and Dad looked after P, went to the dentist. Nothing major, but decided finally to invest in an electric toothbruth to improve my brushing technique.

Then out to the Vauxhall Griffin pub quiz in the evening for Alex's inaugural session as quizmaster ... we did not do very well, except we did win hats in a spot prize!

A New Week

2012-01-16T10:06:00.000Z

Good to see Mum and Dad, had a quick cuppa and Penny cuddle before popping round to Sophie's. Then made dinner for us all, a pretty good Shepherd's Pie, if I do say so myself!

Bike Trip Video Hooray!

2012-01-15T13:46:00.000Z

Bike Trip 2011 from Charlie Fish on Vimeo.

After I went for a run, Charlie premiered his bike trip video, so we were joined by Andrew, Alex, Greg, Kate and Matthew G for the grand event. Obviously went down very well, and so we celebrated in the Trinity with a late lunch and a drink.

Greg and Matthew G popped back for a cuppa, and Greg stayed to help Charlie play-test his traffic flow game.

We also spent a bit of time playing our new compelling, timewasting obsession - Kingdom Rush!

The Best of Days!

2012-01-14T13:29:00.000Z

Norris very sweetly asked me if I would like to be one of her bridesmaids before Christmas, yay! So, along with her old friend Heather who is also a bridesmaid, we spent the day casually shopping for wedding and bridesmaids dresses along the Kings Road.

Don't think I have had such a pleasant, efficient and fun day in a long time! Not only did we find some stunning bridesmaids dresses, we also had a relaxing lunch, and we even found Norris' wedding dress.

It was only afterwards that we realised it was a good thing that we had been so efficient, as it would be quite a rare occasion for us to all meet up in future, as Heather lives up north.

They came back home for a cup of tea, and for Heather to see Penny and Fish.

Tropical Waterbeach

2012-01-13T12:23:00.000Z

P and I jumped on a train to the exotic paradise location of Waterbeach, just north of Cambridge. Actually, it was more of an English rural idyll, by the River Cam and with quiet open fields.

Was met by my colleague Rachel, who was carrying Freddie (same age as P) and Isla (3?) was in her pushchair. We walked for about an hour back to her house, where our other colleague Marianne had arrived with Emily (same age as P) and Jonathan (4?).

We had a lovely day, relaxing together with delicious homemade butternut squash soup, and popping out to the park. They are good friends, as well as colleagues, and I hope we stay in touch, whatever the work situation.

Spent a relaxing evening with Fish watching 'American Splendour', his film from our 12 Days of Xmas. It was good, quirky and totally disrespectful of the 4th wall.

Still Grumpy ...

2012-01-12T22:27:00.002Z

... but had a lovely afternoon at the V&A and NHM.

More photos at my new Tumblr page here.

Hormones

2012-01-12T11:02:00.001Z

It is horrible that, after 18 months of happy chemicals swarming through my bloodstream, eventually all the horrid ones have to come back. I guess I should be grateful that I had such a lovely pregnancy, and was protected from the evil hormone beasties in the early days of having a baby, but they are hitting hard now.

I just feel grumpy and cross ... and I am not used to it.

Thinking of going to the V&A and the NHM to try and get myself out of this sulk.

A Visit from Yaya

2012-01-10T11:02:00.000Z

Spent a lovely evening with Theresa, who was popping in during a visit to London. She brought a bright and sunny babygrow for P, and had a lovely time playing with her while I got the dinner ready.

Making Things

2012-01-08T22:26:00.001Z

We all had a little lie in, as we went to bed so late. A little running around needed to sort the house out before Charlie's D&D pals came round. Went for a run, then P, Kirsten and I went round to Norris' for a making things day.

Good to sit around, chatting to Becky and Kirsten, and gluing bits of paper when someone else was holding P.

Arrived back to find them drawing the D&D to a close to try and cram in a game of Risk Legacy, so Kate and Andrew popped round too and we all had pizza.

Another episode of Sherlock ... not as good as last week's but not bad.

Relax and Have Fun

2012-01-07T22:13:00.000Z

Spent a very relaxed day with Fish and Penny. I got up early with the little one, and then handed over at 11:30 so I could grab a couple of hours extra sleep. In the afternoon I also had a bath, and watched a few episodes of Outnumbered, which was a v kind Xmas prezzie from Matty. The kids are SOOO small in the first series, though it does make a little nervous for when Penny gets big.

Then we went to Noz and Liam's in the evening with Andrew and Alex for a great dinner party. Mushroom Soup, Veggie Burgers and Ice Cream abounded, and I just can't believe how quickly the time went. P was pretty good, though was getting grouchy and sleepy towards the end (which was late, about 1:30am!)

Lovely to just sit around in their stylish new house, drinking lots of wine and talking about all sorts ... how a proper dinner party should be :)

Scribbles

2012-01-06T22:10:00.000Z

Believe it or not, I spent a LOT of this week writing. I did go for a run on Thursday evening, but other than that I was in proper scribbler mode, managing to churn out 12k words in a few days.

Bodes well for writing more as I come to the end of my Mat leave ...

Met Robin and Marion at Pizza Express on Fri evening, after their visit to 'The Railway Children' at Waterloo. Lovely to catch up with them, they seem excited about all their upcoming adventures.

Normality

2012-01-03T11:10:00.000Z

Up twice in the night with Penny, so v tired in the morning and sad to see Charlie go back to work ... though I suppose he only has 13 days left before another big break.

Pottered around sorting out and tidying, and was joined by Sophie, Sonia, Jason and babies in the afternoon. I had made a chocolate chip cake on Sun, and although it was ok, it wasn't quite as fabulous as I had hoped.

To be honest, I am amazed that anybody came along at all, as the wind and rain were terrible.

Managed to get my teeth into some writing in the evening, so much so that it was hard to get to sleep

Back to Normality

2012-01-02T21:50:00.004Z

Met up with Andrew and Alex at the Trinity for a relaxing lunch and a little game of Dixit, as they are all going back to work tomorrow.

Got through various jobs, shopping, tidying etc ... but overall just enjoyed a quiet evening in with Charlie as he made even more progress on the bike trip video.

I suppose normality starts again tomorrow, after a fantastic and wonderful Christmas.

Our 12 Days of Christmas
Day 9: A Picture
I sent Charlie a sweet photo of him and Penny, and he is going to look into a friend of his drawing a pencil portrait of P, as he is apparently particularly good. How exciting!

New Years Day - Risk Legacy

2012-01-01T21:40:00.000Z

Charlie had invited various people round to play Risk Legacy, an apparently more sophisticated version of Risk that changes each time you play it.

Didn't really interest me, so I spent the day trying to start the new year in a positive and focussed way by going through my various 'to do lists'.

Oh, and I also managed to sneak in a few games of Rabbids with Alex.

Very pleased with the new Sherlock on BBC, an excellent start to the 3 new episodes. Naughty, cutting, compelling and challenging.

Our 12 Days of Christmas
Day 8: A Massage
Speaks for itself, though as we had lots of guests and sorting out to do, this one has been slightly delayed ... looking forward to it!

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T22:47:00.000Z

Spent the day round at Alex's, playing Raving Rabbids on the Wii with his big screen tv, playing Small World, and seeing in the New Year winning Pandemic on hard ...

... chilled out, easy going, good stuff!

Our 12 Days of Christmas
Day 7: A Promise
Charlie has promised to engage with making food while he is on paternity leave, and I have promised to keep my side of our bedroom less cluttered.

Near the end of the year

2011-12-30T22:56:00.000Z

Spent the evening at Andrew's with various friends, in a bit of a new year's eve eve gathering. Lovely to see everybody, and to thrash everybody on a dynamite quiz team, winning Alex's quiz of 2012 :) Tony and I were a hit combo, and Charlie helped a little with the names of the Olympic mascots.

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 6: A Story

Charlie got me an audiobook of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Absolutely Everything (good to listen to while running), and I got him a film called 'American Splendour' which seems to be both creative and geeky all wrapped up in one.

Magic

2011-12-29T22:49:00.000Z

Met up with James, Claire, Alex, Andrew S and Andrew R to see some live magic at the Magic Circle near Euston. All very festive, though seeing lots of Charlie's magic has jaded me somewhat towards it, as I now know how lots of basic stuff is done. Though it is always a joy to see it done well, even if you do know what they did.

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 5: A Song

Charlie got me the best of Al Green, mainly as his 'Let's Stay Together' was the second song at our wedding, and I got him 'Any Trouble' by Glen Campbell, which I have heard a lot while on maternity leave and has really touched me ... and the best of Glen Campbell is in the post!

Run Run Run ...

2011-12-28T22:52:00.002Z

Thought I would get started before the new year set in, and so (with a little encouragement from Fishy) went for a half hour run this morning. Started off blissfully, but got hard v quickly, so didn't stay out too long.

Then Charlie and I took Penny swimming for the first time in ages. We started off in the bigger pool which was a little cold, but then we had some very happy splashing in the baby pool once it opened.

Then we met with Andrew for lunch at the Ritzy. Alex joined just as Charlie went off to give blood, and when he came back we all played Small World.

I took a little walk around Brixton to see if there were any deals in Morleys or Traid, but nothing tempted me.

Spent the evening starting on the various piles of sorting out dotted around the house.

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 4: A Kiss

Nuff said :)

Back to the City

2011-12-27T23:51:00.002Z

Up in time for a pancake, yay!

But all good things must come to an end, and after a wonderful Spalding Christmas, Charlie, Penny, Andrew and I headed back to London. A little challenging to get all of our stuff on the trains, but we got there eventually. Quite tired, and feeling in need of a rest.

So we had a low key evening, ordering curry in, playing Small World and watching the last Harry Potter film (C not impressed) and squeezing in a bit of the big quiz of the year.

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 3: A Quote

Charlie cited a quote that he had heard years ago from his Dad, and read for himself recently in the Robert Heinlein book 'Stranger in a Strange Land', "Love is that condition in which another's happiness is essential to your own."

Mine was a little more contemporary ... from Ratatouille, one of my favourites about the role of creator and critic:

"In many ways, the work of acritic is easy.

We risk very little yet enjoy aposition over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But thebitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, theaverage piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticismdesignating it so.

But there are times when acritic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defence of thenew. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needsfriends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from asingularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker havechallenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement.

They have rocked me to my core.

In the past, I have made nosecret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But Irealize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can becomea great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult toimagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's,who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France.

I will be returning to Gusteau'ssoon, hungry for more."

- AntonEgo, ‘Ratatouille’ (2007)

Boxing Clever

2011-12-26T23:30:00.000Z

Almost missed Matty's pancakes this morning, as Charlie kindly took the baby so I could have a little sleep in.

Charlie and Andrew went to the pub in the afternoon to play Small World, while mum and I watched Downton Abbey and I also had a nice chat with Anna. Downton was perfect, Christmassy and cathartic.

Then we sorted the house out for guests, as we were joined by Jane B, the Drews and the Petchalls. Most of them didn't stay late, so only Sue and Barry joined us for the hat game, which was won happily by Matty, Anna and Barry ... though my Robinson Crusoe ending in hysterics will not be forgotten for a while!

Our twelve days of Christmas

Day 2: A Joke

I told Charlie a couple of bad ones about hunters and Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (very bad), and Charlie told me a great one in return:

What game do you play with a wombat? Wom :)

Penny's First Christmas!

2011-12-25T23:30:00.000Z

Penny had a wonderful first Christmas!

She awoke (after sleeping through, yay!) to find a stocking outside our room, filled with lovely little prezzies.

Dad cooked a magnificent turkey with all the trimmings, followed by mum's spectacular lemon meringue pie. Then we watched the Queen as always, after which we exchanged presents. Some very good prezzies, a contribution towards the camera I have now bought in the sales, Outnumbered on DVD, a pretty bag to name but a few.

Then, after a brief walk around the River Welland, we watched Ratatouille before a light tea with scones and jam.

After tea we gathered for a family game of Monopoly. No fisticuffs, instead all was very civil. I was short of any decent property, but managed to stay in till 2nd as Charlie sold me the yellow set for a song when he was on his way out.

Our twelve days of Christmas
Charlie and I decided this year to give each other light-hearted presents based on the 12 days of Christmas.

Day 1: Something sweet
Charlie gave me 3 Kinder Bueno chocolates, I gave him some Reese's Pieces (our favourite chocolates!)

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T12:19:00.000Z

A relaxing day at home, started off with pancakes a la Matthew (!), and then bacon sandwiches for lunch.

We were visited by Jamie, Andrea and Andy C, who whisked Andrew and Charlie to the pub.

After a delicious beef casserole, we all sat down to a nice game of Dixit, which Andrew won but I think was enjoyed by all.

To Spalding

2011-12-23T23:30:00.000Z

Finished everything off and tidied up the house, ready to head off to Spalding. Charlie had already taken the suitcase to work, so P and I had the big bag of prezzies and food equipment. We stopped off to pick up one last prezzie on our way to Kings Cross, where Andrew and Charlie arrived in good time for the train.

Very busy onboard, with lots of bags and people everywhere. Nice to get our own set of four seats, as P had her own ticket.

The Spalding train was another story, rammed full of people. A kind man gave me and Penny his seat, and P decided to have a screaming fit halfway though which was a little trying. But soon enough we were in Spalding, and Dad was helping us get bags in the car.

Lovely to see him and Mum and Matty, and good to meet Anna (Matty's girlfriend). We had a v relaxing evening, with lasagne for dinner, and sitting peacefully in the lounge together.

An Arrival from Espana

2011-12-22T23:30:00.000Z

Jon arrived yesterday evening, after I had spent a day catching up with the Christmas preparations and tidying, now feeling much better after my 'episode'.

Lovely to see him, and he was on really good form.

Tried in vain to chase my Amazon parcel, and so spent much of the afternoon venting my spleen to Yodel and Amazon customer services.

Then had a low-key Christmassy drinks and stew in the evening, with visits from Kirsten, Norris, Nat, Andrew, Greg and Kate. Nice to have everybody together and feeling festive!

Thai Christmas

2011-12-21T16:32:00.004Z

P slept through the night, yay! The first time in a long time, I think ...

Met with Charlie, Theresa and Erika at Thai Square, as T was in town. Good to see them, v kind of T to treat us.

Christmas Drinks

2011-12-20T23:30:00.000Z

Ruth and Wela popped round last night, lovely to see them before they head off to SA, though neither I nor Fishy were on great form.

After an interrupted but much better night's sleep, felt somewhat improved on Tues. P again was v good and let me rest, and I still managed to get a bit of tidying and washing done.

Got some fresh air by spending an hour or two at Matthew G's Christmas drinks, good to see him and his jolly troop of friends.

Then home and early to bed for me, while Charlie stayed up late working on his latest writing project.

Enforced Rest

2011-12-19T14:26:00.000Z

Oh woe is me! Up many times in the night with D+V, my tummy felt pummelled to pieces. So spending the day relaxing, and P is being v good bless her, hope it lasts!

A Brixton Christmas

2011-12-18T23:30:00.000Z

Woke up with a stinking cold, but felt better after a lemsip, so C and I dashed around to get the place ready for our guests: Marion, Robin, Jane, Erika, Dan and Andrew.

Dan made a delicious broccoli and stilton soup for starters, I cooked 2 roast chickens with lots of trimmings, and Marion brought a lemon meringue pie and a raspberry panacotta for dessert, and also cheese!

Full up, we had a sit down with a cup of tea late in the afternoon, as we had eaten v leisurely. Jane went to carols at St Martins, but I decided I was too ill to go. So I stayed in and had a bath, while C took P to the Trinity for some Samurai games with Andrew and Alex.

A Guildford Christmas

2011-12-17T23:30:00.000Z

Met with James, Claire, James C, Maria and Nick & Becky at the Cafe Rouge in Guildford for a slap up Christmas meal, great food as always and good to see them all.

Then back to J&Cs for some games of Small World ... I came 3/5 on the first game, but then won the second. Hooray! Then back home for some more Small World with Alex, which I believe I lost ... world's shortest running streak.

Festive Joy

2011-12-16T23:58:00.000Z

Finished off the Christmas cards and sent out a follow up email about Easter weekend. Dashed out to meet the ladies at the Ritzy for an end of the week beverage. Hooray, they had mulled wine again, so had a couple of glasses while the babies had snacks and generally babbled and were sweet.

Then bought all the food for this Sunday's family meal, two (count them, two) chickens! Plus lots of stuffing ...

Pleased to have apparently sorted a venue for Penny's naming ceremony, so hopefully invites will be out soon.

Then had a lazy evening in, polishing the Berrocal whilst watching the British Comedy Awards, which were genuinely laugh out loud funny.

Ploughing towards Xmas

2011-12-15T22:34:00.001Z

Have been enjoying a bit of free time over the last few days, with no visitors or carpet men around or stuff everywhere, to get some overdue bits and pieces done. Mainly Christmas cards, but also more sorting out.

As Charlie has been out a lot this week, decided to eschew my work Christmas party to spend some quality time with him and P. Also we watched the fabulous documentary about Steve Jobs on the BBC, which was a good, upbeat summary of his life's work.

Feeling quite Christmassy now ... :)

Liberty and Changed Plans

2011-12-12T22:22:00.000Z

As Charlie was on a flexiday, woke up to a morning of liberty. Went to Brixton to have a little Fara splurge, and to have my haircut by a very nice man called Tyler. So now I have a neat, and not too short, bob.

Went to Claire's in the afternoon, where we had our last Monday meet up with her ... v sad! But also jolly, with winter Pimms and minirolls.

Unfortunately, due to being short staffed, the Ritzy cancelled Charlie's board games night, so he, Norris, Andrew and Jonathan played Samurai and Go round at ours.

Danish Christmas

2011-12-11T22:16:00.000Z

Had a lovely long afternoon at Kirsten's celebrating Danish Christmas. As per usual, she had baked enough for a few small armies, so we enjoyed the traditional Danish rice pudding, various yummy cheeses and cake, whilst chatting and while some people played Absolute Balderdash.

Afternoon Tea and Another Warm House

2011-12-10T22:09:00.000Z

Met up with Robin, Marion and Erika at the Marriott County Hall for our Christmas present from R&M, an indulgent and very smart afternoon tea. We gorged ourselves on sandwiches, scones, cake and gingerbread, whilst looking out over the river from the warmth of the old library.

Then, after struggling with buses back south, we headed round to Ryan's in Streatham Hill to help warm his new house there. Penny would not go to sleep, so we stayed up with her in the calmness of the front room with mulled wine and cider, while the party blazed in the kitchen.

A Visit from Granny

2011-12-08T22:03:00.000Z

Mum came down to join us for the day. We spent a lot of time in the flat, as the weather was pretty bad. Then, after she and Dad went back up to Lincolnshire, I joined my department for a Christmas dinner at a lovely Japanese place near Aldwych.

Lovely to see everybody, to have some great food and a few drinks.

The Lion in Winter

2011-12-07T21:43:00.000Z

Dad kindly took me out for an evening away from little Penny, so we went to see Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley performing 'The Lion in Winter'. It was a fun, Christmassy, historical way of looking at family life, albeit family life in the royal house in the 12th century.

Dinner for 7

2011-12-06T21:33:00.000Z

Hosted Dan, Erika, Andrew and Dad for a delicious roast pork dinner, with a Lemon Delicious pudding ... roll on the wonderful food season that is Christmas!

Merry Monday

2011-12-05T22:47:00.001Z

Had a lie in, as C had a flexiday so he looked after P. Dad arrived late morning and had a cup of tea before heading off to meet Andrew for lunch, before investigating the Postmodernism exhibition at the V&A.

To Sophie's for tea and biscuits in the afternoon, jolly as ever! Especially fun to watch as the babies 'shared' toys such as the tambourine.

Norris popped round for a drink, but neither she nor Dad could persuade Penny to eat her spaghetti bolognese ... sigh!

C had a great time at Ronnie Scotts with Andrew, Ant, Tony, Chloe and Dave.

A Herne Hill Sunday

2011-12-04T20:51:00.001Z

For reasons I don't recall, I had suggested to Andrew and Alex last night that we meet in Herne Hill for brunch. So we piled into Cafe Prov, which was noticeably different from the Hive as there were lots of kiddies, and the walls were drowned in boho eclectic chic. Good food though, a proper breakfast place.

Then back to Alex's for Ingenious and two games of Pandemic ... both 'hard', both lost :(

A Warm and Magnificent House

2011-12-03T20:44:00.000Z

A lazy morning with Penny and Fi watching Saturday Kitchen and chatting, before Fi and Andrew went off to see some friends of theirs in town. Charlie, Penny and I popped round to Papas Park to feedback on a model of our area on such areas as bike facilities, safety, rubbish tipping etc. Was good to air our views.

In the afternoon we tried out Charlie's new board game, 'Small World', before heading round early to Norris and Liam's housewarming in case Penny precluded us from staying late. Was good to see Andrew, Nina and Baby Maddie who were also part of the baby brigade.

Norris and Liam have the house fully sorted now, and it is splendid. With artistic landlords, who have a style that blends seamlessly into their own, it feels like a lovely space to be in and you can tell they are enjoying it.

It was a v fun party, one of the funnest I have been to in ages. Lots of space and lots of familiar faces, all mixed in with some potent mulled wine.

Penny was v well behaved, and graciously went to sleep for a few hours in Noz & Liam's bedroom while we chatted downstairs. Then she came down for a bit after having some milk and a nappy change, feeling v awake and sociable. So it was well after 1am when we all left to wander back to Brixton.

Great fun!

A Christmassy Friday

2011-12-02T20:38:00.000Z

Met up with Sophie, Sonia and Kaye to see 'Hugo' at the Ritzy Big Scream. Was an ok film, but Penny was unsettled and so I spent the whole time jumping up and down trying to improve her mood. V tiring and hard work, so maybe she is just too big for the cinema now.

Then went to the Prince for lunch, where Phil and Jo also joined us. Then although our plan was to see the tree lights being turned on and carols being sung, we though it was in Windrush Square. So when we heard it was actually in the library, we decided our full wineglasses were too important to abandon, so we stayed in the Ritzy cafe. Fish also joined us as he left work a little earlier than usual.

then home to dash around in preparation for the evening's dinner. Norris and Natalie came round with the delicious courses they had prepared - Norris with her many tomatoes for a bruscetta starter, and Natalie with her TWO cakes, lemon ricotta and sticky toffee.

Was so good to have a cosy dinner in with them, and the guests of honour Andrew and Fi, who were on good form and had a reasonable run down from Oxford. They are such a natural couple, and of all the weddings I have been to, they are way up the list when it comes to people who are so suited, happy and generally great.

Had a little too much wine, and Penny decided that going to bed was too boring, so she happily joined us at the dinner table, staying v quiet and jolly.

Last Bikram

2011-12-01T20:36:00.000Z

Went to my last Bikram class in the evening. After 7 classes, I do feel fitter and most importantly my back feels stronger and much less achy. But I am not prepared to give any more cost and time to it (£15 per class, 3.5 hours per session including travel), so I just hope I can persuade myself to go swimming and running throughout the winter so I am not too porky when I get back to work.

'Mummy' and Mulled Wine

2011-11-30T12:17:00.000Z

Ok, so it was more like 'mamama', but hearing that sound from Penny made me beam with pride! At least she can say the sound, even if she was referring to a full nappy or her lunch.

Spent most of the morning sorting the bedroom and spare room out, a bit more energy today as P slept through. Maybe her snottiness is subsiding.

Celebrated by having a relaxing afternoon in the Ritzy with a glass of mulled wine. Had a quick Skype with mum and dad, handed the reindeer outfit over to Jo, Phil and Hermione who need it for a fancy dress party, and then back home for an evening of more sorting.

At last, after a month of disruption, the house is livable again. There are various piles:
- Rubbish
- Recycling
- Charity Shop
- Long term storage
- 'Dare', Charlie's card game which we have now put up on EBay in case any will sell in the pre-Xmas rush.
- Stuff to sort (candles, plates to put back on the wall, etc)

But all in all, the house is lovely again, and much improved by the new floors and kitchen. Feeling proud and happy to live here.

Norris popped round in the evening for a chat and a Penny cuddle, really good to see her. Especially in anticipation of a weekend with a lovely dinner and her houseparty.

Carpet Day #2

2011-11-29T12:15:00.000Z

Got the bed out of the room on waking, Charlie did a good job of getting me up, considering I had been up twice in the night with P.

Felt exhausted all day. The milk courier came to pick up my final 2L of breastmilk for St Thomas' Hospital, yay! And the carpet guys arrived at about 5:30, so I only managed to get a bit of stuff back in the room before Charlie came back and I had to go to Bikram.

Yawned all the way through the class, but full of beans afterwards. Strange how that always seems to happen.

Carpet Day #1

2011-11-28T10:50:00.000Z

The carpet men came nice and early, and managed to cope ok with the wardrobe. I am v pleased with the carpet, seemingly hard wearing but also woolly and soft underfoot.

So then started the next process of getting all the stuff from our bedroom into the spare room and the lounge, to ensure that room would be clear for tomorrow's fitting. Phew!

Escaped to Kaye's for the afternoon, very different climbing up her hill in Nov rather than the burning sun of the summer. Another nice chatty afternoon, amusingly enriched by Kaye's rediscovery of 'Gold Bars', a treat from my childhood. They taste the same! Good to see Jo and Hermione back from SA happy and well, H is on the verge of crawling.

A Warm Cosy Sunday

2011-11-27T10:46:00.000Z

A long chatty breakfast of smoked salmon bagels, yum!

Went for a short walk along Happy Valley, good to get some fresh air and to show Penny the cows.

Spoke to David and Justina on Skype, they seem v well and happy! Great to have the open fire roaring away, it is on my 'must have' list for when we get a house.

Fed Penny on the way home, fortunately she was in a jolly mood while we played Scrabble.

We did try, slightly tiredly, to get the big wardrobe out of the spare room on our return, but to no avail. Oh well, the carpet men will just have to cope!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T10:41:00.000Z

Headed on down to Brighton for a Thanksgiving weekend. Having spent Friday evening clearing the spare room, in preparation for carpets on Monday, and what with me feeling coldy and coughing, it was best that we didn't rush down on Friday night.

Lovely to see everybody, Theresa, Demetris, Erika and Dan. Then we were joined by Guy, Sarah, Sadie and Ruby. The girls have grown up so much, Sadie is now at secondary school! They were lovely as always, happily making conversation, and having fun with Penny covering her in wrapping paper! P was on good form, and was quite taken with Eugene (who also joined us for a big turkey dinner with Alexis).

Carried on the annual tradition or writing what we are thankful for and what our wishes are on leaves, which we put on the thanksgiving tree. Just lovely to be so looked after, especially with a nice glass of wine.

Sign of the Times

2011-11-25T21:48:00.001Z

Seen in the alleyway near our house, just off Brixton Road. Interesting to read and ponder, especially during the Occupy era ... who and what occupies your mind?

Back to London, Birthdays and Bed

2011-11-20T23:30:00.000Z

A relaxing morning, Miranda, P and I were joined at the Cross for brunch by her neighbour Ed and his little boy Jack. Jack was v sleepy, but then managed to munch his way through my leftover sausages ... very efficient!

Then a little wander in Birmingham for P and I before we got on a much less busy train back to London. P was still a bit squawky though, I think maybe it is due to the heating in the train which they now have on full blast since it is so cold outside.

Another little reunion with Charlie, who had come back Sat night, then to Kirsten's to celebrate her birthday. A lovely evening with tea and cake, chatting with K, Norris, Charlie and being amused by Penny.

Andrew popped round later to have some curry and to see Penny, and Charlie and I were late to bed as always ... will will need to be more disciplined when we are both working and are permanently knackered!

Birmingham Wanderings

2011-11-19T23:30:00.000Z

A slow morning, let Charlie have a lie-in. Then we all went into Birmingham, though impossible to shop due to the Christmas rush already having begun, and the German Christmas market was crawling too, so impossible to even see what was on most stalls. So we snuck off to the less busy Starbucks on Colmore Row to have our first Gingerbread Latte of the year, and then decided to go back to Moseley for a late lunch.

Had some delicious soup in front of the fire, again at the Fighting Cocks, then back to Miranda's for a relaxing evening eating pasta, watching silly tv (i.e. Strictly Come Ballroom) and chatting. Am so excited that Miranda is having a baby, she is doing v well in her pregnancy being chilled out and looking v glowy.

A Good Pub is Hard to Find

2011-11-18T23:30:00.000Z

After we left Ruth's, P and I spent the afternoon in the Fighting Cocks in Moseley. Perhaps it is the lack of good homely pubs in London, but it really was lovely ... music at the right volume, not too busy, open fire, mulled wine ... ahhhhhh!

So got a bit of writing done, and then met Miranda and Nigel at theirs after work. Spent a fun evening with them, Jess, Gareth, and Charlie (who was only up in Brum for one night) having a take away curry and wine, and generally chatting about all sorts of nonsense, including rude cupcakes.

Penny was very good, didn't want to leave the party to go to bed, but was very jolly and amenable so we were happy for her to join us and get to know our Brum friends better.

Hard Travel

2011-11-17T18:55:00.001Z

Popped in to the Health Visitor this morning, Penny is now a stonking 18 lbs!

Then did some beautifully planned packing and getting out of the house, only to find trains delayed and cancelled on reaching Euston.

Eventually got on a v busy train to New Street, no mean feat with pushchair, suitcase and nappy bag. And Penny decided to swing from being delightful to screaming her most shrieky offputting scream.

So bundled through the crowds waiting on the platform, pleased to see Ruth and to get to her house to spend an evening chatting and chilling out.

A Day with Granny

2011-11-16T23:30:00.000Z

Met Mum at Kings Cross, then popped back over the river to meet Andrew for lunch on the Southbank. Made our way to Browns on Shad Thames for indulgent Shepherds Pie before Andrew had to get back to work. We found ourselves in John Lewis, perusing the lovely clothes and toys on the kiddy floor, before going back to Brixton.

After Mum went home, Charlie, Andrew and Alex got together at ours before going to the Smashing Pumpkins concert at the Brixton Academy. And I made some good progress trimming and sorting my making things shelves.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2011-11-13T22:20:00.001Z

Managed to heave myself out of bed and to London Bridge for Bikram. Even better, though a little off balance (perhaps the tawny port from last night?)

Got back to arrive at the door simultaneously with Ryan, who was due to come round for tea and cake. Great to catch up with him, as it had been a while, and he was v sweet with Penny ... letting her grab his beard and making funny faces.

Andrew also popped round, and we had a quick game of 3D Worms which Charlie won on a technicality.

Spent the evening relaxing together and playing Scrabble with my wonderful Fishy on his iPod ... bliss!

A great weekend seeing friends and family, plus a little relaxing at the end.

A Dinner Party

2011-11-12T23:30:00.000Z

Pootled through the street market at Brixton before heading to Alex's with armfuls of board games to celebrate his birthday. Spent the afternoon watching the Road/Rail/Boat trip videos on his flashy widescreen tv ... was quite nostalgic, and strange to see ourselves so much younger (the road trip was 2008).

Played Ingenious and Catan when joined by Andrew, then when Kate, Greg, Norris and Liam arrived, we started on dinner. A yummy bready amuse bouche, followed by an enchilada style starter. Then a LONG break for a game of Ticket to Ride Europe which Greg won. Then chicken with a stilton sauce, followed by my cheesecake which went down well

Was a lovely evening, but clearly we were having too much fun as Penny did not want to leave the excitement to fall asleep. So she was fidgity and a bit grimbly, but did eventually go off ... and everybody was very tolerant of her.

Excursion and Dinner

2011-11-11T22:05:00.000Z

After a week of being in the house a lot, I think Penny was relieved that we spent the whole afternoon out and about with Alex and Andrew celebrating Alex's birthday. After a cup of tea at La Cave near London Bridge, we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant near South Kensington before going to the Unsung Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things exhibition at the Science Museum.

It was a small but well put together exhibition, looking at velcro, clothes pegs, paperclips, fasteners and similar. We all got hypnotised by the video showing a paperclip bending machine.

Then we left Alex and Andrew to their evening of beer and karaoke, only to host dinner at our flat. Host, but not cook, as Theresa kindly brought round a beef casserole to treat myself, Charlie, Erika and Dan. Demetris joined us too, and successfully fed Penny her dinner. A lovely cosy evening in.

Bikram part 3

2011-11-10T23:30:00.000Z

Stayed in all day for our new mattress, which arrived and am v pleased with, and Charlie's video camera ... which did not arrive. Decided not to worry, as we could always pick it up with the 'sorry you weren't in' card.

Bikram went even more smoothly, though did feel a little short of oxygen in the room towards the end.

A Kiwi Visitor

2011-11-09T21:51:00.000Z

Quickly met with Matty at Victoria as he was passing through London from Leeds to back home in Chich, good to see him so chipper!

Lovely to be joined at dinner by Kiwi Laura, who kindly brought wine (good wine, as always) and a delicious chocolate dessert. Great that she has moved south of the river, and good to catch up in general. Andrew joined us for a quick slice of chocolate roulade too.

Date Night

2011-11-08T23:30:00.000Z

Had a cosy afternoon of tea and cake with Erika, before Charlie and I left her to babysit, and headed to the Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington for dinner. Accompanied by live jazz piano and vocals, the food was splendid. I chose steak tartare, and managed most of it before it became too rich.

Great to have time with Fish just chatting and having fun, and nice to hang out with Dan and Erika a little on our return home.

Bikram take 2

2011-11-07T23:30:00.000Z

Charlie had a flexiday today, but before he bustled off to the Ritzy to write and try to grab 'we need to talk about Kevin', he was v helpful in dashing round the house with me doing jobs.

Baked a lemon drizzle cake for the NCT ladies who were round at mine for the afternoon ... was v yummy tasting, though low on the attractiveness scale.

Had a nice afternoon with them, drinking tea, eating cake, and discussing our various return to work plans/predicaments.

Then rushed off a chorizo and chickpea stew for our dinner while feeding Penny as I needed to dash off to Bikram again. As it is at London Bridge, it takes a little while to get there and back.

Penny also seems to be teething again, the pink cheeks and painful wails seem to be coming back. She had some teething gel and Calpol this evening for the first time in ages.

Bikram was much better. I think as yesterday's class was so late, and I and many others were waiting in the hot room, 2.5 hours was too long to be in such a hot room for the first time. That and the lack of food was my downfall. But today felt tired but energised. The teacher seemed to be much more aware of the class dynamic and interactive, plus I knew more what to expect from the poses.

Hope it keeps getting better, though now hard to sleep as full of beans :)

Mr Bikram's torture class

2011-11-06T23:30:00.000Z

A v lazy morning, as Fish was up earlyish for a D&D day, so let him do Penny's morning routine. Eventually got up, said hi to everybody and had a lazy afternoon before heading off for my first Bikram yoga class.

And what an experience! Overheating your entire body whilst straining into various yoga poses, all while feeling thirsty and slightly starved of oxygen.

My mistake, I believe, was not eating enough during the day. So on arriving home shattered, I inhaled 2 slices of pizza, and spent the rest of the evening trying to watch Downton Abbey between dashing to the bathroom to feel/be sick and blubbing to Charlie about how ill and headachy I felt.

Consigned myself to bed at 10.30 ... what self-inflicted suffering!

Mattress and Fireworks

2011-11-05T23:30:00.000Z

A day of chilling out and doing jobs. Bought a nice new mattress which will be delivered on Thurs, just need to sort out getting rid of the old one.

Then to Brockwell Park for fireworks. We seemed to have residents of half the boroughs in London there, the park was so full. But it was a splendid display, even if you couldn't quite hear the music properly. Penny had her ear protectors on and was clearly bemused by the whole thing. Was funny when she decided she was ready for her night time breastfeed in the middle of the show, but kept being distracted by the sparkly sky.

Then met with Liam and Noz in the Half Moon pub in Herne Hill, along with their friends Julia and Kerry. P was being extra delightful, and we went home at 10ish.

A Week

2011-11-04T16:31:00.001Z

A good week, a chance to catch up on things as not too much in the diary.

- Lounge floor all finished ... yay, love it :)
- Made a crochet 'brain slug' from Futurama, some good pics with Penny and was fun to make.
- Watched 'The Idea of March' at the Big Scream, v good film.
- Went for a swim at Peckham Pulse ... P went underwater and I let go, she did v well.
- Got some writing done, need to keep it up.
- Wriggle and Rhyme at Brixton Library, and the usual NCT meet up at Jo's ... lots of fun.

Now hoping for a relaxing weekend, and will be starting Bikram Yoga too ... eeeeep!

Rest

2011-10-30T16:06:00.002Z

After going to bed at about 3, up again at 8:30 with the baby. So had a lazy day of watching DVDs (How to Train your Dragon, The Big Bang Theory), eating and a little clearing up.

Popped out to the farmers market for some interesting cheese, and ran into Norris who had dutifully gone for a swim, and also Andrew and Sarah who were in search of brunch. Gives you a warm feeling to run into friendly faces while wandering round our neighbourhood.

Waaa-Haa-Haaaaa!

2011-10-29T16:02:00.000+01:00

A lazy morning of lying in and setting the house up for Halloween.

After bacon sandwiches (yum!), played Pandemic and Ticket to Ride Europe with Kirsten and Ruth, who decided to join us for the weekend. Kirsten had done some epic baking, including marshmallow ghost cakes and pumpkin biscuits.

Andrew, Sarah and Alex joined us a little later for pizza, and it was v quiet until about 9 when Greg, Kate, Roger, Erika, Dan, Liam and Norris all arrived. Was a little odd to learn about Sir Jimmy Saville's death by Dan coming to the door in a dead Jimmy Saville costume (body bag, grey wig, fake cigar and silver foil jewellery).

And after a few hours of chatting, drinking and fun, we started a pretty large game of werewolf. We made it through 2 games, both of which were close and hard fought. I don't think I had drunk enough to carry off being a werewolf in the second game, but Dan held the fort well. Biggest learning? That Norris and I can see through each other pretty well.

Penny was a delight all evening, going down for a couple of hours of sleep, but being very amenable (if a little scared of zombie Liam) at all other times.

The Help ... and a Missing Floor

2011-10-28T15:53:00.000+01:00

Went to the Big Scream at the Ritzy with Fishy as it was his flexiday, to watch 'The Help'. An excellent film which transports you to 1960's Mississippi and cultural tensions between black maids and their scheming employers. Filled with humour, tension, sadness and joy, it was a beautifully told story and I would recommend it to anybody.

Had a late lunch in Brixton Village with the NCT crowd, including Charlie and Phil.

Then home to discover that UPS had messed up delivering the last bit of our floor. Charlie tried in vain to pick it up from Kentish Town, but they also managed to mess up the admin so he couldn't take it with him. So we instead set up the lounge to hide the remaining small section that still needed finishing.

A quick peek into work

2011-10-27T21:24:00.000+01:00

Took Penny into work again, she was an angel, grinning at everybody and being adorable.

Caught up with my old boss Mark for a cup of tea before going to lunch with Rich and his super-adorable 5 year old twin boys at Strada on St Katherine's dock ... "We are 5!"

Then late to meet Erika at Peter Jones on Kings Road for a wander and a chat. PJ looks v Christmassy, I must make some mulled wine at the weekend :)

Books Books Books!

2011-10-26T21:19:00.000+01:00

Chucking it down with rain, but I swore I would get out of the house rather than be consigned to the bedroom all day by lounge floor revival.

Met with Claire and Leo at Brockwell Lido Cafe, much less busy now summer has gone ... a silver lining to the onset of autumn/winter. Then we got a bus to Piccadilly to visit Waterstones. I intended for us then to go to the V&A to see the 50 years of Private Eye exhibition, but figured that could wait as we were enjoying the bookshop so much!

Books definitely do have an energy, and it has been a while since I have hung out in a bookshop. The kids section was fab too, deciding between all the 'That's not my ...' books:

That's not my ... tiger, bear, angel, fairy, pirate, santa, snowman, reindeer, truck, robot, kitty, puppy, elephant, dinosaur, monster, rabbit, lion ...

[We decided on 'That's not my bear', good choice! Though I do really want to get 'That's not my pirate' for several people I know :) ]

Then had a lovely dinner at Little Sicily with Theresa, Erika and Gilly. P was v good in the restaurant, and we left them to go out to their cabaret night to jump on the no 3 bus home.

Wriggle and Bed

2011-10-25T21:11:00.000+01:00

Felt much better, after a day of recuperation on Mon. Joined Jo and Hermione at Wriggle and Rhyme at the library which was v quiet due to half term. Then to Tesco for a big shop, a little tiring as I was still short on energy.

The lounge floor was being started, as we had spent Mon evening clearing the lounge and wedging the sofa in the doorway of the spare room once it became clear it wouldn't be shoved through it.

So we spent Tues evening consigned to the bedroom, sitting with Penny, watching Life of Brian (very much enjoyed Holy Flying Circus) and trying to ignore the lounge clutter surrounding us.

Sick!

2011-10-23T23:30:00.000+01:00

Up a couple of times in the night with P, and felt not quite right, only to find in the morning that my dinner was going right through me. But we decided to go to Bettie-Lou's Christening anyway, and so pleased we did. Babies were v jolly, and the after event was held in a beautiful barn.

Felt a bit better as the day went on, only to decline again on the journey home. So grabbed a couple of hours sleep before popping round for dinner at Andrew's with Mum, Dad and Alex (though I didn't eat)..

C took care of P as I went to bed early.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-10-22T23:30:00.000+01:00

Set off from Brixton Station with Greg and Kate, picking up Alex at Herne Hill on the way, to go to Otford for a day of walking. Submerged ourselves in the lush green trees and general Kentish countryside cleanness, with P being carried along in a rucksack kindly lent to us by Elle and Matt. Stopped in the Fox & Hounds pub for a well earned break in the middle.

Home at sunset, for an evening of Chinese Food and Pandemic, which we won with 4 players on Easy, Medium and Hard ... hooray!

A Sojourn to Chich

2011-10-19T13:27:00.000+01:00

P was v good on the train journey with Mum and Dad down to Chichester to see Matthew. We managed to get on the early train, so had a little time to jump into some charity shops before a very nice lunch at the Nags Head. Great to see Matty, who was on good form, and also gave us a 6 month birthday present for Penny ... a big collage of Penny's first 6 months ... so sweet!

Back home for a cup of tea, then an early night as both C and I are a little run down ... phew!

Wriggle and Rhyme and Growl!

2011-10-18T23:29:00.001+01:00

Another great Wriggle and Rhyme session with Jo and Hermione at Brixton Library. It is always so much fun, hilarious that I get so into it (e.g. growling when asked what noise a dragon makes).

After a cup of tea, went home to chill out. It seemed like we were going to have a ridiculously busy week, but our lounge floor renovations are now postponed to next week, so emptying the lounge and the surrounding chaos can wait a while.

So managed to get a heap of stuff up for sale on Ebay, and had a lovely evening with Mum and Dad as Charlie was out for dinner and a magic show with James F.

Save the World!

2011-10-15T13:26:00.000+01:00

Charlie and I spent the afternoon in the Trinity Arms' sunny revamped beer garden playing Pandemic, managing to win on Normal, lose on Hard, and then WIN ON HARD!!! It is possible ... hooray!

Mr Pucket popped round in the evening to pick up his Pucket demo games and had a quick beer and game of Go with Charlie, seems he is also part of a Brixton based group of board game enthusiasts.

Then we guzzled a delicious roast dinner and the chocolate shortbreads I had made, before C got started on the bike trip video (now his exam is out of the way, it went very well on Friday).

The Week

2011-10-14T23:30:00.000+01:00

Spent a lot of time with NCT ladies this week, going to Wriggle and Rhyme at Brixton library with Jo on Tues, then to Burgess Park sensory room with Jo, Sonia and Claire on Weds, and then meeting up with Jo and Kaye at Brixton Village for lunch on Friday. Otherwise have been doing lots of sorting out.

Penny amusingly spends the whole time now saying "Dadadada", and just grins indifferently when I say "Mamama" to her.

She is at least sleeping through again now, which is a relief and v good for my wellbeing and general mood.

Managed to sort through all the nursery stuff too, putting away all the clothes which are now too small, and getting out her wintery corduroy dungarees and wollies.

... and god bless all who sail in her!

2011-10-10T23:50:00.001+01:00

A struggle against the London traffic, but worth the 2.5 hour drive to get to rural Oxfordshire to celebrate the launch of Robin and Marion's canal boat: Many Meetings.

Great to see so Many of the Sundty family there too, Jane and Dave from Devon, Claire from Tasmania, Chris and Gay, and of course Jane N.

After a lovely buffet lunch in the pub, and witnessing the maiden voyage, we hot-footed it back to London so Charlie could run his board game night at the Ritzy. I joined him for a bit, but went back home for pizza and ice-cream after we were told P couldn't be in the Ritzy after 7pm.

Charlie was v pleased, lots of interest and attendees!

Inside

2011-10-09T22:34:00.001+01:00

Had a lazy morning with Penny while Charlie got a bit more revision done, watched the end of Howls Moving Castle which I slept through a few nights ago.

Made some cinnamon biscuits of my own, and spent most of the afternoon trying to write a summary of one of the stories I have had in my head for a while to help move it forward.

Then a lazy evening in front of Downton Abbey ... why won't Mary tell Matthew she loves him!

Penny turned her nose up at butternut squash today, but seemed a little interested in broccoli ... the food adventure goes on!

Autumn Days

2011-10-08T10:44:00.000+01:00

Up twice in the night again, so the formula dreamfeed is not flawless.

Decided to give Charlie a lie in, so wrapped P and I up in a blankie and snuggled up in the lounge with a cup of tea and Saturday Kitchen.

Went for a family swim in Brixton. Slightly cooler than Peckham, but Penny was fine. She slowly got more tired as we swooshed and dunked and backfloated our way around the other children who were splashing about.

Picked up some homemade cinnamon biscuits at the market, then played 3 games of Pandemic with Norris at ours. Won twice on Easy, but killed 6 bn people on Normal ... rats!

Let Charlie get an hour of revision done for his upcoming retake before dinner and a lazy evening watching tv and playing Scrabble .

A swim and a thought

2011-10-06T21:15:00.001+01:00

Had a lovely afternoon with Claire & Leo and Sonia & Clara at Peckham Pulse for a baby swim in their hydrotherapy pool. Was lots of fun, and the babies all enjoyed themselves. Went back to Claire's for a cup of tea, as Charlie is out for the evening.

And a quick thought about an incredibly influential man. The world has been fondly remembering Steve Jobs today: a pioneer, a leader and a man who could see the future.

I think the world has been so admiring of him not just because of his money or even his success, but mainly his love for his career as a weaver of consumer dreams via technology. The world often seems to equate work with drudgery, but Jobs was a high profile person who said no only that loving your work is ok, but that it is surely the only sensible path for a fulfilling and fun life. Including the hard bits, the tiring days and the frustration of course, but that overall you are in love with your work.

I wonder how many people will have handed in their notice today ...

Jumble

2011-10-05T23:30:00.000+01:00

Decided to have a day in sorting out my ever bursting at the seams wardrobe. Felt invigorated but still tired after Penny sleeping through, so pleased when she had a couple of hours of napping in the morning while I ploughed through jobs.

And in the afternoon I just couldn't keep my eyes open, so was even happier when she joined me for a nap.

Date Night

2011-10-04T23:30:00.000+01:00

Popped to Balham to pick up Penny's Highchair ... very pleased!

Then Aunty Erika came round late afternoon, shortly to be joined by Uncle Dan, so that Mummy and Daddy could go out by ourselves. So kind of them to babysit.

Was lovely, and quite liberating. Though it also made me realise that we are v lucky to be so happy when the 3 of us are together as a family, chilled and happy and having fun, which I hope will only improve as P gets bigger and more able to do things and join in in activities.

Went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at the cinema. Kept having a sneaking suspicion that I was missing out on major plot points, but by the end it seemed I had 'got it', even though some of the detail was not 100% clear.

Then to Fujiyama for a delicious sushi dinner.

P was apparently very good, though unsurprisingly still awake when we got back. So C and I thought we would try and experimental formula feed, which led to 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Interesting ...