Handyman Jules - kitset crib assembly 101

crib001, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Visit flickr for the brand new slideshow of Jules putting the crib together last night. Hours of entertainment...

36 weeks pregnant

36 weeks pregnant, originally uploaded by Racmol.

- tomorrow, that is. 28 days to go! (Roughly speaking).

Thursday's snowfall, Gascony Ave

Snowfall, Gascony Ave, originally uploaded by Racmol.

By popular request: Isla sings 'Hey baby'

Now you can all watch Harold's video of Isla singing 'Hey baby' in the car on youtube.com.

If you enjoy it, why not rate the video (out of 5 stars) or leave a comment on Youtube?

Start of the new regime

New regime 1, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...and the blog's reinvention as a photo blog, due to the author's carpal tunnel syndrome. Expect few words for a few weeks.

Temo and his penguin are not to be separated

Temo and his penguin are not to be separated, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I thought I had blogged this story, but it turns out I had only emailed it to some people. So here is an excerpt from an email to Annie that explains what happened just before this photo was taken.

"Ruth's visit was good - Temo knows who we are now and is a lot more talkative.

Best moment was when we went to the Natural History Museum on Sunday and Temo picked up a large stuffed penguin from a low-level display in the museum store, rested his cheek against it as if appreciating its softness then bolted, sprinting the length of the shop and out into the museum foyer with the big dinosaur skeletons, clutching the penguin to his chest.

He was very disappointed to learn he couldn't take it home - Ruth is in that vigilant lets-not-collect-possessions state that you get into before a big trip."

A girl of many puddings

Sara enjoys a 'motley' of puddings, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Heath by birth, Heath by nature - why stop at one pudding when you can have a 'motley of puddings'? We think they meant a medley, but the translator who did the menu at our local Leon in Pigalle didn't speak perfect English!

I've just inherited Jules's old phone and saved the photos from it so you can now see a selection of puddings (among other subjects) from 2006 on flickr.

The Galloping Uncle

For your viewing pleasure, here is one of Sara and Luke's videos from the day we all went to Brighton.

Watch The Galloping Uncle on Youtube

A year in books - 2006

Books I enjoyed in 2006, in no particular order:

• Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham
• Love Rules by Freya North
• Where or When by Anita Shreve
• A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
• The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
• The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn
• The A to Z of Us by Jim Keeble (sadly, not as good as the brilliant My Fat Brother)
• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
• The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Kaz Cooke
• Your Pregnancy Bible by Anne Deans
• Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult (but now I'm done - one Jodi Picoult is quite enough for any one year)
• The Chronicles of Llyr (again) by Lloyd Alexander
• The Magician's Guild trilogy by Trudi Canavan

Best book of 2006:

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Worst book finished in 2006:

• Some dire thing that Sue left behind (in disgust, I believe - and I've now inflicted it on someone else through the CancerResearch shop on Kilburn High Rd) involving a little girl being 'kidnapped' by her father during a marriage meltdown

Books started and abandoned:

• Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (just could not go on after page 3)
• Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (actually this is really interesting but too big for handbag and reading on tube - will come back to it)
• Perfume by Patrick Suskind - really oddly written and fascinating but too dark for my mood at New Year - will come back to it)

Books written to second draft: 0.4 as at end of 2005, no progress in 2006 (a secondary project for 2007!)

As if we didn't know we have too many stairs...

Yesterday I missed the last step before the roof terrace, and in an effort not to fall on Bump, I did myself an injury instead. Turns out to be just a badly sprained ankle, but I spent a fun hour and a half at A & E being prodded and x-rayed, and worrying about how I would manage to give birth with a fractured metatarsal.

The most worrying bit was when I overheard the charge nurse saying to a junior: 'Go up to the first floor and see if they've got any crutches. We haven't got any left, and if we get any broken legs tonight we'll just have to discharge them at this rate.' Very reassuring.

Still, I did eventually get a nice leaflet about what to do about a sprained ankle and I got a taxi called for me to go home in, so I can't complain too much. Admittedly I had to hop along to the lifts and go up to the ground floor where the guy who calls taxis is as the A & E reception desk staff wouldn't call one themselves but hey...

Anyway, one packet of frozen corn and a restful evening ordering Jules about from the couch later, it is much improved. Had to sleep downstairs last night but managed the stairs this morning to loll in the sun on our bed.

It's forecast to be 18 degrees this weekend and the sun is streaming in. We've cancelled our house hunting trip to south-east London and we're enjoying the novelty of a free Saturday.

Snow on the roof terrace

Snow on the roof terrace, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Out to dinner after my work leaving do

Jules and Rac at the Thai Pot, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I'm the one with the big grin...a free woman! Long may it last...

Friday Squirrel Blogging

Squirrel, Kilburn Grange, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Global warming?

Snowdrop, 17 January, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Wikipedia says a snowdrop is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring - but since when is 17 January spring?

This blog's title, Spicy Basil and other fine things from Thailand

Some people may be wondering what 'SAHM SAHM but different' actually means.

"Same same" is an English saying that Thai people use, and it's used like this.

'So...zucchinis and courgettes - are they different?'

'No, same same.'

'OK... what about oranges and mandarins?'

'Ah...same same - but different.'

And of course SAHM stands for Stay At Home Mum.

Last night we went to Thai on the River for Jules's birthday, which was pleasant enough except that I had to ask three times for more water before any arrived. This affected my enjoyment a LOT as I was in the middle of a very hot curry at the time!

The whole experience made us appreciate our local thai place, Spicy Basil, even more than we already do. For a start, they make everything fresh in front of you, mains cost £4.20 and they're happy to do a pad thai without peanuts on request. And the food is just so good - far and away better than Thai on the River, which is a lot more expensive and doesn't provide as quick and friendly service.

So yay for Spicy Basil, the Queen of Kilburn High Road!

Conclusive proof - we're having a cat!

Our baby, like its mother, is clearly a cat person. I know this because, while I was waiting for Jules to have his hair cut on Saturday, the hairdresser's spaniel jumped up on the couch and sat on my lap.

Maybe this panicked Bump, maybe s/he was just in a playful mood, but the next thing the spaniel was rearing up, having received a sharp kick in the ribs! I thought it best to transfer the dog to the floor at this point - but I was very proud!

Sunrise from our kitchen window

Sunrise 2, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Bump's first outfit...

Bump's first outfit, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...plus some scary pregnancy photos are up on flickr to celebrate the 32 week mark. Not long now!

Antenatal classes - good clean fun

We had our first antenatal class last night and it was very entertaining and not at all scary.

I didn't get off to the best start, squashing one of the realistic newborn baby dolls as I sat down on the couch! Then I temporarily forgot one of the three things I was meant to know about the person I was introducing to the group, but at least everyone laughed.

Each couple (everyone was part of a couple) were given a baby doll at the start of the class and told we had to treat it like a real baby while we were in class, (i.e. support the head, in particular) for the rest of the course.

Our baby is the freaky-looking one, with its hands stretched out zombie-style, but at least we didn't get the crying one that you have to comfort to make the noise stop.

The funniest thing was the tea break. J had the baby so I got the drinks. He asked for a black tea, so I thought I'd better have cold water - which was fine, as I don't like caffeine at night anyway. There may have been decaf tea on offer, I'm not sure.

I came back to J and the guy he was talking to with a water, a black tea and two jaffa cakes. I put the tea down on the kitchen bench and gave J the jaffa cake. Then I put my drink down too and took the baby so he could drink his tea.

To pick up my drink, I had to wedge my jaffa cake between two fingers of the baby-holding hand. So I put the water down again and carefully transferred the jaffa cake to the other hand, trying hard not to get melted chocolate on the baby's suit.

Other guy: You did that very skillfully - and I like how you prioritised the safety of the jaffa cake!

Our leader is really nice and not at all Thou Shalt Do It This Way. There were no scary videos - but from now on we'll watch one 'normal' birth a week - water birth, caesarean, home birth etc.

I've got one of the latest due dates in the class. Some people are due before the last class and noone is having a home birth. So weekend homework is packing our hospital bag...

Henry the historic horse struggles under an uneven load

Jules and Isla on the historic merrygoround, Jardin des Tuileries, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Give the people what they want - that's my motto. When I blogged Jules falling off a tiny plastic chair and nearly giving a cyclo driver a hernia in Vietnam, the comments flooded in from all over the place.

So here's another girth-related story, complete with illustration. The sign above the historic merry-go-round at Jardin des Tuileries said children under seven must be accompanied by an adult - but I don't think it meant on the same horse! Poor Henry probably hadn't carried such an uneven load in all his 135 years. I particularly like his startled expression and the way his front legs are rearing up and his back legs nearly dragging on the floor...

The Teacups, Disneyland Paris

The Teacups, Disneyland Paris, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Isla turns FOUR

Isla turns 4, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Ice skating at Somerset house

Ice skating at Somerset house, originally uploaded by Racmol.

At lunchtime, after Trafalgar Square and before the Tower of London. Yesterday they took in Big Ben, the London Eye, the changing of the guard, Downing Street and Westminster Abbey.

Did someone say it's impossible to see anything if you've got kids with you?

Full house

Four Heath-Dyers, one sheep and one panda present and correct - and asleep upstairs. Apparently it's been a very long Wednesday...

Six months pregnant

Bump 1, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...looks a lot like this. More detail on flickr for anyone who desperately wants to know.

Pheasant, potato and artichoke dauphinois and braised cabbage with pancetta

Jules has been badgering me all afternoon to post his culinary efforts of yesterday, so here they are. The dauphinois and the cabbage concoction were delicious, even though the pheasant dried out a bit while waiting for its accompaniments...

PS - a photo of the replacement ring is now up on flickr.

Friday Wombat Blogging

Wombat, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Some people have complained about the silence, so here's an update on our very exciting November.

We've been looking for a house. We nearly bought a flat in Queen's Park, after seeing it on a fabulous sunny Sunday morning with the doors flung open from the living room into the garden - but then we went back at night and came to our senses. Something about the way the resident cat picked her way carefully between the furniture made my fantasy of a small child gambolling across the living room evaporate.

So now we're going to explore the wilds of South London, where we can afford more than 60m2 which - let's face it - is just not enough.

Jules thinks the baby can recognise the sound of a violin now - mainly because it woke up and starting waving its limbs about during an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which featured a long violin solo while a professional violinist was having heart surgery.

We went to see Arsenal thump Liverpool a week or two back, which was excellent.

We are in intensive testing and fixing of the new content management system at work. So far I've checked about 100 web pages in the new system and I've ticked the 'page ok' box 12 times, so I think it's safe to say the launch date of 11 December is looking unlikely.

I picked up my new engagement ring last week, designed by me to the value of the 3 rings I lost when we were burgled and paid for by the insurance company. It's impressively sparkly - and has to be listed separately on the house insurance. The band is a bit thicker than my wedding ring, but apparently upgrading your wedding ring is frowned upon for some reason so I will just have to hope everyone is so dazzled by the sparkle they don't notice...

Looking a bit more like a person...

Ultrasound - 21 weeks 5 days, originally uploaded by Racmol.

G'day from WA

Humpback flipper, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Well, we all survived our jaunt to Western Australia. At least two of us are bigger than when we left and one is a lot more wriggly but the important point is - no DVTs.

At 12.45 and 5am today, I was wondering if the baby had jetlag, when I remembered the helpful pie chart in The Pregnancy Bible called 'Waking and Sleeping Patterns of a Newborn'. It's in two different shades of orange (crying and feeding) and green (sleeping). There is a large orange wedge between midnight and 3 am and another one from 4 to 6 am. Then it says 'Your baby does not know or care about your normal sleeping patterns.'

But I digress. We had a good time in WA, even though Jules had to buy a polarfleece on day 2. We swam in the sea three times - twice because it was hot and once in the Southern Ocean at dusk in a moment of insanity just to say we'd done it.

We saw a lot of wildlife - this particular humpback came to visit the whalewatching boat we were on but we also saw them from the shore at Cape Naturaliste. Plus kangaroos and big lizards and random emus at the side of the road and a wide selection of parrots in the national parks.

Yawn - fading fast and it's only 9 pm. Watch this space for Friday Wombat Blogging.

Fetal anomalies, goo and mutterings

We went for the fetal anomaly scan today. Apparently the baby is very active and the following appear to be normal: heart, head, face, spine, neck and skin, chest, abdominal wall, gastro-intestinal tract, kidneys and bladder, extremities, skeleton. They're going to have another look in three weeks, just to make sure.

There were three doctors at the scan, one of whom seemed to be there specifically to look at the heart. They examined that for about ten minutes, muttering under their breath the whole time, then breezily declared it all looked normal. By that time, I was imagining open-heart surgery at six weeks...

It has a smaller than average head and abdomen and longer than average arms and legs. It is already sucking its thumb, and is lying the wrong way up, but it's a bit early to be worrying about that.

No pictures this time - will order some at the next one on 3 November.

Honorary Gooners

Two of Matt's gooner mates had a baby recently. They have called her Scarlett, but apparently that is just because they liked the name, nothing to do with Arsenal at all.

So we have been to the new stadium on their tickets twice in a week and had a fab time at each game. We have even had a gooner burger (aka chicken balti pie) each in a flash red box and we can sing along to all the chants. We have, however, stopped short of buying one of these...

The new stadium is very impressive, especially when full (always) and at night. Instead of lights on four posts at the corners they have a circle of lights right around the top edge of the stadium, so you don't get any weird shadow effects.

Saturday's game was against Sheffield United, who were not much good really, and Arsenal scored 3 times at the opposite end to us. But then at last night's Champions League game, Henry headed a goal in right in front of us, which was just as well as I missed the other one due to trying to hear Matt's explanation of the chant that ends with a very complimentary line about Martin Joll's mother.

Jules even tried out his finger pointing at the opposition fans. Maybe next time we go he'll even be able to carry it off.

At the Galleria Ferrari

Wom at the Galleria Ferrari, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...Wom gets ideas above his station.

The Cinque Terre (well, four of them)

We arrived by train into Monterosso mid-afternoon on a fabulous hot Monday. Found the hotel easily and then went straight out for a swim, which was wonderful and cold. The beach at Monterosso is mainly stones - there are a few sandy patches of private beach where you have to pay for deckchairs, which seems a bit mean because if you have a deckchair, what do you care if it's stony underfoot? So we lay on the stones and came away with interesting pink indentations.

The next day we caught the train to Riomaggiore, the furthest away of the five villages and walked back through Manarola to Corniglia for lunch. At Manorola there was a fantastic-looking deep patch of sea that you could climb down a ladder from the rocks into, and we thought about it, but there was nowhere to change and we thought we'd get uncomfortable walking the rest of the way in wet togs. A bit foolish, as all the way from Manorola to Corniglia you could hear the thunder and see the storm coming. It struck just as we got to Corniglia for a nice pasta lunch, so that was good timing.

After lunch we walked on to Vernazza, getting progressively wetter. It was probably the most interesting stretch of track, with old olive groves to look at on both sides, but very slippery in the wet. At Vernazza we discovered there was a train in 5 minutes and leapt on it, as the rain was only getting heavier.

Walking back to the hotel, Jules got waylaid by the sight of someone else's roadside tiramisu so we stopped for a bit then went back for hot showers. Bliss. No swimming that day.

Today we have got a couple of different trains to Parma, and we will be having a look at Modena and Bologna over the next few days.

From Lucca to Monterosso

Having a lovely time in Lucca, where it is quite hot and there is a gelati stand on every corner. Have done all the things you usually do in Tuscany - climbed the tower and walked all the way around the city wall. Tried to visit Puccini's house but it was closed for restoration. Someone had crossed out the 'opening Spring 2006' with a vivid marker and written 2010 in its place!

Today we are off to the Cinque Terre, having found somewhere to stay in Monterosso at the last minute. This will involve 3 trains, but all quite short distances.

Late last week we got all excited when we got home to find two delivery cards, indicating that the rest of our insurance replacements had arrived. So we leapt in a minicab and went to one depot in Cricklewood to pick up my ipod and then down to Park Royal to pick up what was meant to be Jules's laptop and digital camera. By the size of one of the boxes it was clear someone had stuffed up and ordered him a desktop PC (weighing 30kg!) but the depot staff insisted you could only refuse both items or take both items, and as he wanted the camera for our holiday, Jules thought we should take them. Got home to discover the smaller box contained someone else's ADSL modem...

So now we have a huge box squatting in our spare room. According to Geoff (who has actually done this) if you ask them to collect it and they don't within 30 days, it is yours and you can then sell it on ebay!

Heir to the Empire

Front profile, 12.5 weeks, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...or an indistinct smudge, depending on your point of view.

If you know what you're looking for, you can see the eye sockets and the jaw.

The highlight of this morning's scan was seeing the baby flap both arms vigorously.

Getting a low-risk nuchal translucency result of 0.7mm was pretty good too.

ETA: 11 March 2007

Friday Cat Blogging: Bank Holiday Bagpuss

Handy food safety tip from Jules's boss

Never eat shellfish in a month that doesn't have an 'R' in it.

Or in France, at any time.

The Attack of the Parisian Bistro

Poor Jules has been very sick all week and is signed off work for seven days, with a nasty fever and a suspected intestinal parasite. It all comes of being too polite - he thought his mussels were not really hot enough on Sunday but was reluctant to send them back in case they got nuked.

The meal in question was not even the worst we had in Paris - that honour goes to Le Vieux Bistro, near Notre Dame. Don't even THINK of eating there, unless you think a cassolette is a big bowl of oil with overcooked carrots and crunchy raw potatoes floating in it. Bleah!

This morning, Jules said plaintively that he had contemplated moving the mattress from the sun lounger into the bath and sleeping there, so as to be close to the toilet, but in the end he just settled down in the spare room, sweating and shivering under his towel and some clothes he found there. Didn't seem like a good moment to say: 'You don't mean the CLEAN WASHING, do you?'

A busy and domestic weekend ahead, by all accounts.

A Parisian dragon

A dragon outside the Natural History museum, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Weekend in Wien

Just back from a flying visit to Vienna, where we did a lot of walking and ate a small farm of meat, as you do in that part of the world.

We arrived on Friday night, quickly realising that we have now become so blase about travelling that neither of us had the first clue where our hotel was. Had to ring them up and ask for directions, but we got there in the end.

On Saturday we took the u-bahn out to Schloss Schonbrun and spent a pleasant few hours wandering around the palace and gardens. The palace is quite impressive, but much like any other European palace in many ways - you know, Room of Mirrors, grand ballroom with chandeliers and frescoed ceiling etc. The interesting bit was the history of the Hapsburgs - had never realised, for example, that Marie Antoinette was one. As Jules said, the whole 'let them eat cake' story is doubtless a gross misrepresentation - and actually indicated nothing more than the Viennese faith in the peace-making powers of coffee, Sachertorte and a bucket of whipped cream...

After a pleasant lunch in the Bierhof, we went for a wander around the museum quarter, stopped for obligatory afternoon cake and then went to the Leopold Museum - mainly 20th century Austrian art - which was excellent. They had huge black and white reproductions of Gustav Klimt's three murals he did on health-related themes for a university. Sadly the university rejected them as too suggestive of death and then the originals were destroyed in a fire. But you can see they would have been very impressive.

That night we went on a long trek in the rain in search of a pork knuckle. Would have helped if we'd realised the Prater was a park, not to be confused with Praterstern or Praterstrasse, but we found the place in the end. I asked for a 'kleine' pork knuckle, but that turned out to mean 900g instead of the standard kilo. Jules amused himself taking pictures and texting family members things like 'Rac just ate half a pig'.

On Sunday morning Vienna was a ghost town and finding breakfast was a bit of a mission. Then we went to the Kunst Historisches museum, which is full of the sort of art I hate - still lives with dead fish and deer, and fat naked people pretending to be Greek and Roman Goddesses complete with grotesque cherubs. One or two interesting Rembrandt portraits and a single Vermeer but by and large I would give it a miss.

After an ample pub lunch, we walked across to the Belvedere, an old palace converted into an art gallery, where there is a lot of early 20th century Austrian art - Klimt, Egon Schiele, Anton Kolig etc. They have Klimt's The Kiss, which is huge and a lot more textured than you'd imagine. Infinitely better experience than the KHM.

And then it was time to catch the train to the airport.

Back to the burglary - the new laptops, cameras and so on should be arriving this week so we'll be back in business photo-wise soon.

Technology-free household

Since we had our front door kicked down on Friday, we no longer have any laptops (among other things) so the blog will not be updated for a bit. Also we have not done anything interesting, due to spending most of the weekend at home entertaining the crime scene investigators, detectives and locksmiths.

The fabulous new Dualit toaster

The fabulous new toaster, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Here is what cookware.co.uk has to say about our new toaster:

"The ultimate toaster, this is the design all the celebrities go for - it oozes quality and style.

A true design classic, an object of desire for over 80 years.

It's not just its classic looks, inside is a professional toaster manufactured to such a high standard that you'll never have to buy another toaster again. It will provide fast even toasting every time year after year."

Never have to buy another toaster - did you hear that, Julesy?

Some members of the family may be amused to hear that it doesn't actually pop up. You choose how long you want to toast for and it ticks away then shuts itself off, keeping the toast warm for up to ten minutes.

We were sold, anyway.

NEVER toast a taco!

The aftermath of the Taco Incident, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I was just sauntering out of the living room after dinner when I heard an undignified squawk from the kitchen and arrived in time to see Jules frantically unplugging the (flaming) toaster from the wall. Then he wet a tea towel and threw it over the top as I rushed to shut the door into the hall before the smoke alarm went off.

After a reasonable interval, I opened the door again to investigate. By now the toaster was in the sink, still flaming. Filling it with water seemed to solve the problem.

Jules was busy extricating something charred and unrecognisable - formerly a taco. Did he not see the pool of fat left on the oven tray after the tacos were gently heated, perhaps?

And then, just as he was proclaiming that the toaster would be fine once it dried out, he spotted the blackened burnt-out taco shape on the inner element.

Rest in peace, toaster - with many thanks for a year's good service. According to the wanton toaster destroyer, we're getting a cool retro pastel one next!

The alarming thing is that the smoke alarm, which goes crazy if you so much as toast a crumpet, remained completely silent in the event of a genuine fire!

Midnight Sun, Tromso

Jules at midnight, Sunday, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Regent's Park AND Paddington Rec - 13.5km

Very tired now. Failed to get up early enough and it was very hot.

Sensibly, the PDSA charity shop on Kilburn High Road had reduced all its England flags by 50% yesterday morning. Wonder if they all went?

Michael Owen: keeping the World Cup in perspective

The highlight of Michael Owen's first tv interview after ripping his anterior cruciate ligament in two was when he described how he agonised over how to explain to his small daughter what had happened.

The resulting phone call:
Michael: Daddy has broken his knee, darling.
Michael's daughter: Look, can you call me back - Postman Pat is on.


Tags:
michael owen
postman pat

Regent's Park and back

Went for our first 7-mile run this morning - down to Regent's Park and back.

Plan for the rest of the day - lie in heap on couch and eat things. Oh, and watch football. Obviously.

regents park
run
couch potato

The Secret Language of Sleep - find your sleeping pose

Now...this can't be right, surely?

Find your own pose!

Spain 2 - Tunisia 1

Wom - supporting the World, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Have...you...seen...my coat of many colours?

World Cup 2006 and the Gascony Ave gloryhound

Wom in Tunisian colours, originally uploaded by Racmol.

After seeing his native team soundly beaten yesterday, Wom has bounced right back, now wearing full Tunisian regalia and jealously guarding the remote.

And now Spain has just equalised - how do I explain that we don't have any red and yellow tea towels?

Wildlife at work

Wildlife at work, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Courtesy of Jules, here are the ducks who have made their home on the roof terrace outside Marshall Wace on top of the Adelphi building. The hedge funders have made them a shelter complete with straw.

Oxford - home of the bicycle

Oxford bikes, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We took the train up to Oxford on Saturday to see the Alfred Jewel, which lives at the Ashmolean Museum. There was also a black and white photography exhibtion on there, called something like 'Oxford by night', and every single photo had a bike in it. Then we saw this pub, and started to understand why...

A dip in the (Hampstead) pond

Hampstead mixed bathing pond, originally uploaded by Racmol.

It's been the most fabulous sunny, hot weekend. This morning we went over to Hampstead Heath for a swim in one of the ponds, which was excellent. There were lots of people there but the ponds are so large it's not at all crowded and the water is refreshingly cold. There were even two geese and their goslings watching from the bank.

Scenic highlights of Tipperary and Killarney

Wom at Ladies' View, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We flew into Waterford in a little propeller plane just before midday on Friday, and were treated to an envigorating landing in high winds. Waterford Airport is just a shack on the edge of a runway - it makes Dunedin Airport look serious and international.

Temo's expression when we arrived said as clear as day: "Not them again!" But we were undeterred, and settled in for a cruisy afternoon in Clonmel.

On Saturday Jeremy had to go to work, so the rest of us went to the farmers' market (very small) and then leapt in the car and drove to Cahir. Stopped in to see Cahir Castle, which was a pretty common-or-garden castle with not a great deal to see.

Drove on to Cashel for lunch and went up to see the Rock of Cashel, the ruins of an old fortification and church on top of a hill - a bit like Glastonbury Tor but with a much larger building.

Had to laugh at the Rock of Cashel's attitude to accessibility. The road up to the rock starts out on a moderate slope and then goes steeply upward, at about the same incline as the bottom half of Sutherland St. At the top end of this steep section, there is a disabled carpark. Found myself imagining the disabled person wheeling their wheelchair out of the car and then losing control...

Not to mention the fact that there are 12 stairs up to the reception and then another 10 steps or so up to the actual site. After Jules and Ruth had lugged the buggy up the first 12, Ruth asked the woman on reception if the site was accessible and she said 'Oh, yes, there's a couple of steps up from here but then everything's flat.' So they carted the buggy up the next flight of stairs, only to find that the rest of the site was covered in stairs, all over the place, and your only option for avoiding them was to climb up steep grassy slopes instead!

But anyway, the Rock of Cashel was more impressive than Cahir Castle - an amazing setting with views for miles around.

Later that afternoon we stopped in at an old pub in Fethard, where Temo had his first sample of Guinness. Didn't seem to make a good impression.

A bad influence

Call the sugar police!, originally uploaded by Racmol.

I love this photo for many reasons: the expression of intense concentration, the motion blur and the resourceful use of the stick from the first icecream as a spoon for attacking the second one!

We had a great time in Ireland - more tomorrow.

A walk in Constable country

Yesterday we caught the train from Liverpool St to Manningtree, to go for a walk in Constable country - that is, the area where John Constable lived and the setting for several of his major paintings. We walked from Manningtree to Flatford Mill along a muddy lane with white blossom in the hedges on either side.

This is Flatford Mill itself, on the Stour.













And here is Willy Lott's house, and Constable's painting of the same view.

Babysitting 101

Last Sunday, we looked after Temo while his parents went out for dinner in West Hampstead. And it all started out quite well...

He didn't seem too worried when they left, which was encouraging. We pottered about from the living room to the kitchen and back again a few hundred times, taking bites out of random pieces of fruit, and then we read Spot, lifting all the flaps. So far so good. Jules made him an omelette, which he pretty much rejected, picking out the occasional bit of broccoli and leaving the rest.

Then he had a bath, cooperatively lifting his arms and legs up to get undressed, and splashing about happily for a good twenty minutes or so. Getting him back into his pyjamas took a bit more negotiation i.e. I chased him around the house trying unsuccessfully to push the top half over his head while he did other activities. Eventually he submitted - and then I remembered Ruth saying something about two singlets, one cotton and one wool, but I figured I'd quit while I was ahead.

At that point Jules reappeared with more adult-sized omelettes, with bacon on the side. It turns out that Temo likes bacon - even more than broccoli - and thinks nothing of filching a rasher off someone else's plate and taking it away to a quiet corner to consume!

Shortly after that, he started rubbing his eyes and looking a bit grumpy, so I thought I'd try to encourage him to go to bed. To cut a long story short, that was where it all went wrong. Half an hour later he was standing at the top of the stairs down to the front door, sobbing and stretching out his arms towards the door in a piteous 'why have they abandoned me?' gesture.

We fed him some pear as a temporary distraction but still, by the time his mum and dad got back, he was all red and blotchy and looked like we'd been torturing him for hours. Spent the next half hour in a subdued hiccoughing heap on Ruth's chest, not at all sure it was safe to go to sleep.

Still, he seemed to have forgiven us by the next morning, so maybe it was a bonding experience after all! Or perhaps he had just blocked it out, like all things too painful to remember...

Three visitors and a violin

Jeremy, Ruth and Temo arrived in one piece this morning, with a small avalanche of luggage. Temo was wide-eyed and alert and kept up a running commentary all the way in on the train, mainly 'truck', which seemed reasonable given the view out the window. His parents were a little more subdued, not having had the benefit of a 10-hour kip between Auckland and Los Angeles.

When we arrived at Paddington, Jeremy slung his big backpack on his back, a smaller one on his front and then picked up the buggy in its case to try and carry that over one shoulder. Temo thought that was pretty funny - was completely overcome by giggles just watching!

Now they've all retreated for their afternoon nap. I'm supposed to wake them up in an hour or so, but I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West even thinking about it so we'll see.

In other news, we have a violin in the house again. My friend Matt had been talking for ages about how he had his father's old violin sitting at home doing nothing and I'd be welcome to borrow it etc and then one day a couple of weeks ago he remembered to bring it in to work and we went up to Foote's at lunchtime to have it restrung. Turns out to be a really nice violin - the guy in the shop thought it was about 1880 vintage.

Meanwhile, Matt's summer project is setting up a "non-guitar-based" band, which so far consists of Rachel (vocals), Matt (piano) and me (violin). We had our first rehearsal yesterday, and it actually went really well. Mostly what we play is Natalie Merchant and Ben Folds, but there's a bit of other stuff thrown in like Feeder's 'Just the Way I'm Feeling' and 'Lilac Wine'. There is also possibly a cellist called Becky, who is coming along for the first time next week.

I only got the sheetmusic on Wednesday so I spent the next few days frantically practising and having nightmares about the horror of playing in front of people after so long, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought - I even had a good time.

Well, I think someone might be surfacing next door so I'd best go. Promise adorable photos contrasting one-year-old and Big Ben or other major monuments soon.

Friday Squirrel Blogging

squirrel 1, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Stalking with squirrels

squirrel 4, originally uploaded by Racmol.

To celebrate spring, here is a sleek and fluffy squirrel, enjoying itself in Queen's Park. (We bought new cameras yesterday, so I had to go looking for some wildlife to try mine out on.)

Hope to find something bigger to practise on soon...

Friday cat blogging from Egypt

Sinai cat, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Dead Sea mud wrap vs Turkish bath

Jules at the Dead Sea, originally uploaded by Racmol.

After trying out the various beauty treatments of Jordan, Jules feels the Turkish Bath had a greater effect on his skin than the dead sea mud treatment (self application method).

And another thing - what's with all the snow and hail in London?

Trekking with camels

jordan first 227, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Blog postings a bit thin on the ground this trip - much like emails and comments, I might add!

Highlights of the past fortnight, in brief:
- climbing Mt Sinai's 3750 steps of repentance and watching the sunset from the top
- spending a night at a Bedouin camp in the desert at Wadi Rum
- driving through the hills to Petra in thick fog with snow on the ground
- two days in Petra, including climbs to the High Place of Sacrifice and the Monastery
- a swim in the Dead Sea today (very quick in my case as my skin turned red and started to tingle instantly). Great pictures to come of Jules covered in Dead Sea mud, though.
- yesterday a very vigorous Turkish bath, removing a thick layer of grey-black skin
Tomorrow we arrive in Amman at the end of our travels. Photos will appear when we have a proper Internet connection again.

A pyramid and a quick hello

DSC03075, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Hi again - we're still alive. Now in Luxor and heading back to Cairo by sleeper train tonight.

Had a fantastic day today - up at 5 for a balloon ride over the temples on the other side of the Nile and then we got on donkeys and rode up and over the saddle of the hill and down into the Valley of the Kings. It was a spectacular climb with huge red rock formations and crevasses. My donkey was a bit competitive - had to be in the lead so was always trying to overtake all the other donkeys, on the outside along the cliff edge.

Have only been violently ill once (or 3 times, if you want to be literal about it) but that was just dehydration related so I was fine the next day. Unfortunately the urge to throw up struck while J and I were having afternoon tea at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan (where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile). The bathrooms are probably the poshest place I've ever been sick in!

We spent one day and one night on a felucca sailing down the Nile from Aswan but due to a combination of high winds (which meant we were stopped by the Nile police for 4 hours) and then not enough wind, we only managed to get about 5 km down the river before stopping for the night. You could still see the lights of Aswan in the distance! Still, it was nice and relaxing, lying in the sun, reading and doing nothing all day.

Have to go now - have a train to catch...

Camels 2, hissy fits 1

Just a quick hello as we are off for dinner soon and the computers are too ancient to talk to the camera so no piccies today.

We caught the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan last night - very civilised, individual sleeping cabins for two people. Today we took a boat over to Elephantine Island and then went on a camel ride out past St Simeon's Monastery in the desert. My first camel refused point blank to carry me - locked its knees and growled and spat. It took ages before the camel driver could even get it to sit down so I could get off, but the second camel was much better behaved. Still don't think it's a preferred mode of transport though - was kept far too busy hanging on to take pictures.

Yesterday we were out at Giza visiting the pyramids and the sphinx. I hate to say it, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the whole experience. I guess once you've seen the image 50,000 times already in your life, you get there and it looks just like you'd expect. Plus the sphinx is much smaller than you'd think.

Anyway, the weather is lovely - just pleasantly warm. And nobody has got sick yet...

Skiing statistics

Group mugshot, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Broken skis - 1, Broken limbs - 0, bruised ribs - 2.

Our week at Val d'Isere was the usual mixture of pleasure and pain that makes up any ski holiday. After a spectacularly sunny and enjoyable Sunday, the weather packed up and we spent the next two days blundering around in white-out conditions. Things picked up again on Thursday, another clear day, until Jules tipped himself off his skis and bruised his ribs - had to retire hurt and visit the English doctor.

Fortunately, when he took his skis back to the hire place, they were too busy to notice that one was bent...

Thursday night we had booked ourselves in for a 'toboggan to dinner' trip to Tignes. This sounded like fun, a gentle ride through the trees to a lovely dinner, but it was terrifying. You couldn't see a thing, the slopes were very steep and bumpy and I fell out twice, ending up covered in snow and with icicles all through my hair. Jules was lucky to avoid it.

Friday was another beautiful clear day, and we finished on a high note with a nice lunch outdoors up the mountain and then dinner at the little stone restaurant across the road from where we were staying.

Highlight of the week: hot chocolate and crepes at the Grand Marnier creperie.

Friday Cat Blogging

Wilbur in repose, originally uploaded by Racmol.

My favourite living cat enjoys a warm Dunedin day.

We're off to France at the crack of dawn tomorrow for a week in Val d'Isere with S & H. It is a lastminute job - £149 for flights and 7 nights' accommodation - so expectations are not sky-high. Have not skied or spoken French since 2003...

Frisking about in the snow...

Frisking about in the snow, originally uploaded by Racmol.

..conclusive proof that Jules did actually come with me to St Petersburg.

Stupid things I have done this week:

1. Plugged in my old phone to charge for S & H to use, without noticing it was set to a completely different time zone. Leapt out of bed when the alarm rang, had a shower, got dressed, dried my hair and then thought: 'Hmm, it's very dark out.' 2.10am, it was. Not a good first day back at work.

2. Announced I was going for a run at lunchtime, charged downstairs and got changed then found I didn't have my running shoes. Workmates said this proved that subconsciously I hadn't really intended to go!