Busy!

I woke up able to walk, so we took the train to Charing Cross Road and had fun in the bookshops.

Stephen has If Minds Had Toes, Sophie has The Carbon Diaries 2015, Emily has Finding Violet Park, and I have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

We felt bad about not getting a book for Bobby, but he has a whole pile next to the bed that he's working his way through, so he really doesn't need one... We did buy him a little box of tamarind chilli sweets from China Town, though - thought he'd like them as he likes spicy things but alas, they are rather vile. Like those dried fruit snacks we used to get in South Africa for lunch boxes, the ones with sugar on the outside - only burny and nasty. Poor Bobs. Stuck at work, and with a horrible present to boot.

After we'd been to the bookstores, and had a cup of coffee, and bought our customary samosa from our favourite cafe, and wandered through China Town, we watched the person on the 4th plinth in Trafalagar Square for a while. The fourth plinth is used for temporary works of art, and the current one is Anthony Gormley's conception - random people stand up there for an hour each and do whatever they like. Seems like it could be pretty interesting, but when we were there the woman on the plinth was not making the most of her time up there. She has a thermos (of tea?), and was throwing sweets at the onlookers. Not terribly thought provoking, really. Here she is...



By the time we got home again, my back was hurting quite badly, which meant that we had to take the car to see the Harry Potter movie, which, despite all the nitpicky reviews, we all enjoyed very much indeed.

So that was yesterday. A good way to start Sophie's summer holiday - term only ended for her yesterday, though the rest of us have been on holiday for a while. Today's been equally busy, though not nearly as fun. We had Emily's appointment with the endocrinologist (she's still growing beautifully, and we'll keep things as they are till the next check-up in six months time), the vacuum cleaner repair guy had to come (at least Dyson has good service) and Emily had to be taken to (and fetched from) a party in creepy-Crawly this afternoon(laser-hub and then a movie). All well and fine, except that to my horror, as I went through the pile of documents-to-be-dealt-with, efficiently making pap smear appointments and sorting out pension stuff, I realised that our car's tax disc needed to be renewed two weeks ago. And in order to do that, its annual MOT (roadworthiness test) has to be done. Shit. So much for my efficiency. The first slot I can get is for next Wednesday - Sophie's birthday - and we really shouldn't drive the car meanwhile. What a nuisance! And then, to add insult to injury, the next letter I opened was a speeding fine. For Bobby, last week when we went to the beach - 36 miles in a 30 zone. £60 and 3 points on his licence - ugh!!!!

The only good thing about today is that my back is hardly sore at all. With any luck, if I rest up tomorrow, I'll be back to normal this weekend...

Day 1 of 48

Reasons why today was a good day:

1. It's the first of my 48 days of summer holiday.


2. Bobby took a day's leave too, so we had the whole day together.


3. We went to Ikea in the morning(kitchen shelves).


4. And we had scones and cream at the seaside in the afternoon.


5. Bobby bought himself a new model plane. Not that I like model planes; I don't. But I like the fact that it gave him pleasure.


6. And I went for a really nice 5 mile run this evening. (I have come up with a route that seems to be far more downhill than uphill; it's fabulous.)

The only downside:

The girls are both away till Friday. It's the end-of-term Year 7 camp, and some of the Year 11 prefects have gone too, to help out. I'm sure they're having a wonderful time, but I am missing them. And also I am having to curb my neuroticism; they aren't allowed to bring phones with them, so I haven't heard from them, and have to keep quelling ridiculous nightmare scenarios which I know are completely improbable but which, at some level, worry me anyway. I comfort myself with the fact that at least my craziness is low-level; I don't let it interfere with any of our lives...

Pain and pleasure

On Tuesday afternoon Bobs and I went to the doctor's to get our travel vaccinations. Or immunisations. I never know which is which, or even if there actually is a difference. We are hoping that I'll be able to go out to India for a week or so over Easter, while Bobby's there ... It'll make the eight weeks apart distinctly more bearable. The actual shots were fairly painless, but my arms really ached that evening, and the next day. We got polio, diphtheria, hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus. Three in one arm and two in the other. Ouch.

But that evening we got dressed up...





and went on our date night. The film was pretty slow-moving, but it had some thought-provoking moments, and made for good discussion afterwards. And the dinner (Nepalese food) was delicious. Except for the pudding. Normally, neither of us are terribly big pudding eaters, but that night we both felt like something sweet, so we ordered something called, appropriately enough, "Holy Sweet". Well. What we got was a little teeny pile of warm, grated carrot, drizzled with honey, with a few sultanas buried in it and a pistachio nut on top. Tasted like the sort of thing you might concoct late at night in your own kitchen if you were desperate for a pudding and had to make one from what you had available in the fridge.

Anyhow, pudding aside, it was a lovely evening.

Wednesday morning I finished the damn visa application - what a performance! It took me four goes at their stupid online form (their system kept bumping me out and making me start over) before I got it done. Anyway, I have paid the visa fee, and mailed off my passport and we'll see what happens. The only potential hitch is the fact that my dad was born in Pakistan, so they may either deny my visa, or require an interview. We'll have to wait and see.

My parents arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, and yesterday we went to the Sisley exhibition at the National Gallery. So it was another fun day - after we'd been to the gallery, we ate lunch out (one minor upside to the credit crunch - one can now find really good lunch deals in London - £5.95 for Thai green curry, rice, and a glass of wine or a soft drink...),




...then walked up Charing Cross Road to browse the bookstores (Emily bought The Declaration, which she's already finished, and I bought The White Tiger, which I started last night and am enjoying very much - before we took the train home to a nice crockpotted casserole.

My parents left this morning, so today I've been marking and planning lessons at the kitchen table. With Roly's help.




He just can't resist an open textbook. Wish I felt the same!

Oh, and I almost forgot - I finished week 4 of the couch to 5k program tomorrow! And, so far so good - to my surprise I'm really enjoying it! Am dubious about next week though - on Friday I'm due to run for two miles without stopping ... not sure if I'll manage!

Half-Term

I forgot how much I like roller coasters!



Thorpe Park was a lot of fun; I didn't have terribly high expectations so I was pleasantly surprised. It is so cool to have all three kids able to ride the scary coasters - this is the first year Sophie's been tall enough to ride anything she wants. I'm glad none of them are the sort of wimps I was as a child!




So Saturday was a really great family day out. We were all happy - and the sun even shone! (Though it was cold; there was ice on all the lakes around Thorpe Park).

Sunday - not so much. I was in a temper for most of the day because Bobby went flying ("but Ann, it's my last proper weekend before I go to India! I won't be able to fly for two months!") while I and my sullen conscript army of helpers cleaned. I like the end result - beautiful clean kitchen cupboards, scrubbed floor, sparkly fridge - though I chose - and am still choosing - to ignore the oven. Too scary. Even as I write, it is exerting a brooding presence over the rest of my clean kitchen. I do not plan to open it any time soon. Sort of like Dirk Gently's fridge.

I got over my rage eventually - Bobby grovelled, and I tired of sulking and slamming stuff around - and we had a nice evening.

And yesterday was the first day of half-term. Whooo! I got one chore done - picked up my last year's PGCE folder from horrible Crawley - which slotted in quite nicely, as I was taking Sophie and some friends to see a movie in creepy-Crawley anyway. While they were watching, Ems and I went shopping, and she chose a prom dress. She is so lucky, whatever she tries on looks fabulous on her. She went for a long dress; it makes her look very adult. My baby! The shopping was fun; we found tons of inexpensive goodies.

Poor Steve, though, was wrestling with an essay when we got home, and was consequently in the sort of mood I was in on Sunday. Not long now before he's done with exams, thank goodness...

Today I am going to do some marking, then go to the doctor's for my travel vaccinations (in case I get to go to India for a while too), and then in the evening Bobs and I are going out for a not-Valentines-day dinner and movie. We're seeing Summer Hours... hope it's good! While we're out Emily will be at a concert in Camden; we have to pick her up "at twelve. Or one ... I'm not sure when it will finish ..." Good thing we love her.

Fabulous weekend

I feel ready for the coming week after two great days.

Yesterday, I took the train to creepy-Crawley with Emily and Sophie, and we had a girly shopping day. We all found the things we'd set out to get (a new jumper for me, an entire new outfit for Emily for next weekend's party - which she paid for herself - and a new winter coat for Sophie), the sun shone, and we had fun together. Oh, and I scored a free Guardian on the train (I'm so glad I didn't have time to buy it before we left) so when we got home we could sit in the garden with the paper and cups of tea. Bliss. And, once I'd relaxed, I kicked into efficient mode. Cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, mopped, and got my lessons for the first half of next week sorted. And, just for good measure, did the week's ironing after dinner. House was on TV while I was ironing, and we'd all just been speculating about how accurate the medical details are when, lo and behold, they started a plot line about growth hormone deficiency, which is one of the only medical conditions which we actually know anything about. Sadly, I can now report that if that particular episode was anything to go by, the medical accuracy of the show is practically nil. Pity, really - knowing that it's completely unrealistic makes it a lot less enjoyable to watch.

So that was Saturday. One of those days where you don't do anything special but somehow all the ordinary little events add up to something wonderful.

And today has been even better. Once again, perfect weather - but today we got to spend the whole day outside enjoying it.

We got up early, cycled to the station, and took the train to East Croydon. From there, we met up with a bunch of other riders and cycled to Clapham Common before riding into central London to enjoy the London Freewheel, an annual event where the roads that run past the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace are all closed to car traffic and open for bicycles.

This is me, trying to pretend that I'm not intimidated by having been given a marshall's vest at the start of the ride in Croydon.




Secretly -or not so secretly, the foldeded arms are quite telling - I am feeling distinctly inadequate compared to the lycra-butts (as I call the professional-looking cyclists). As it transpired, however, despite my lack of lycra I was at least as competent a cyclist as they were, (better than many, actually) which was reassuring. Not that I did any actual marshalling, mind you. Bobby on the other revelled in the Power of the Orange Vest; stopping traffic for the convoy seemed to give him immense pleasure. He took one of the weaker cyclists under his wing too; I love that side of his character.

The ride from Croydon to Clapham Common was far prettier than I'd expected - all through residential neighbourhoods where, as usual, I found myself picking houses where I'd like to live. There were so many things I'd have liked to have photographed - stained glass windows in some of the old houses, flowers blooming by the roadside, murals on walls - but riding with everyone else meant I couldn't stop to fiddle with the camera.

At Clapham Common, I took the opportunity of trading my orange marshall's vest in for a regular yellow one.



I was amazed by how many people there were when we finally got to the start of the freewheel route. This is Bobby, at the start of the route outside Buckingham Palace.



And again, when we took a break next to the river.



There were jugglers and stilt-walkers and unicyclists and rollerbladers and people dressed up as witches along the route - none of whom did I manage to take a picture of, sadly. I did manage to get a picture of a cute dog, though.



More pictures from the day here...

We arrived back home at 4-ish, having cycled either 50km (if you look at Bobby's cycle computer, since he refuses to make any concessions to Imperial measurements) or 30 miles (if you look at mine, since I think it's easiest to go with the convention of the country we happen to be living in) just as my parents and aunt arrived to have tea with us.

A very nice end to a great day. We should sleep well tonight.

Johnny Clegg

We went to see Johnny Clegg play last night; it was brilliant. Hot and sweaty (lots of dancing people and no ventilation) but brilliant. And it felt great to dance again.

Today's good too. I'm tired, but tired in a pleasant, happy way. I've spent a peaceful afternoon sitting in the garden in the sun (yes, today it is actually sunny!!) reading all my Sociology textbooks. I'm starting to get to grips with the Sociology syllabus, I think, which is a relief. And we did the housework this morning, so tomorrow will be completely freed up for R&R. Why can't the weekends be longer and the work weeks be shorter?

Last day of freedom!

My legs are slightly stiff (we cycled 25 miles today) but I feel better for having been outdoors for most of today.

After breakfast this morning...





(mmmm, homemade jam....) we cycled to the station and took the train down to Brighton. From there, we cycled along the shoreline via Shoreham to Worthing before catching the train home.





The play areas along the beach always seem poignant to me, because they are so lovely, yet it seems like every time we are in Brighton the wind is howling and it's absolutely freezing, so every time we see them they're pretty much deserted.





We took a slightly wrong turn just after we passed this broken railing





but I didn't mind having to back-track because the wrong turn led us to this, which I thought was cool.





The landscape along here always strikes me as somewhat post-apocolyptic. It's so bleak and stony; seems like what might remain after people have vanished from the earth...





We stopped for a cup of coffee in Shoreham, then crossed the River Adur.





I can't help imagining living in each of the places we visit. We toyed briefly with the idea of life in one of these houseboats, but decided against it on the grounds that the mud looked too sludgey and the houseboats didn't look like they could actually sail anywhere.





We noted this warning; presumably a cyclist who didn't follow those Sustrans signs quite carefully enough...





We sat on the rocks and watched the kite surfers for a while. Bobby is keen to try it; I think it looks beyond my capabilities.





They are beautiful though.





I didn't have the gall to take a picture but I was intrigued by the beach huts, and couldn't stop myself peering in as we passed them. They are the line of little white huts that run between the cycle path and the beach. Inside, it seems like everyone is set up in more-or-less the same way: a two burner gas cooker thingy, with a kettle on it (for tea I assume), a couple of deck chairs, a table, and a radio. All very cosy and domestic, but rather unbeachlike, somehow! But then, a beach made of pebbles is also not truly beach-like to me. Apparently there's a huge waiting list for the beach huts; I'm told that one rents them from the council for £300-odd quid a year.





Once we got to Worthing we explored a bit,. as there was a model-aeroplane shop Bobby wanted to visit. But sadly (for him) it was shut.





I find that living here where it's often grey, things like this street fair we came across in Worthing seem beautiful to me, whereas before I wouldn't have really appreciated them.

And then we took the train back home.

I'm glad my last pre-work day was a good one. I'm quite apprehensive about the new term; to the extent that I've been having anxiety dreams about it for the last couple of nights. Hopefully the anticipation will be worse than the reality.

Wild Child

I took the girls and a friend of theirs to see Wild Child this afternoon. This review sums it up brilliantly. The quote I like best: "Shit" is the first word spoken by Wild Child's 16 year-old heroine Poppy (Roberts), and rarely has an opening line been such an accurate assessment of what's to follow. This is a seriously bad movie. Horrible acting, and a cliched plot that doesn't even hang together properly. It's putrid.

But Sophie and her friend enjoyed it. At just-turned 11, I think they must be the target demographic for this film. And I enjoyed being able to take them to see it. Having the time to spend hanging out with the two little ones and Emily was lovely. As was having Mario Kart Wii contests with them this evening. (Everyone plays everyone else; winner of each round gets to choose a chocolate from the box of Roses.)

I have just six days of holiday left; I've grown so accustomed to the luxury of free time that I don't know how on earth I'm going to go back to juggling the whole mothering / working/ studying/ cooking/ cleaning/ living/ breathing thing again. Let alone finding any time to spend with Bobby... How I wish we could all be together all year long...

Home from the Highlands

I loved our recent camping trip. The Highlands are beautiful. Mountainous and remote; it's not often that one gets a feeling of space and emptiness in the United Kingdom, so we relished it. I wish we could have stayed longer. Scenery aside, the kids always get on so well when we're outdoors, and life is so uncomplicated. Meals, for instance, are so quick and easy, and we're always so hungry that they taste fabulous. Am toying with the idea of getting rid of all our current kitchen equipment and sticking to using the gas primus and the five enamel plates and cups that we use on camping trips.




We didn't book any campsites before we left, but the ones we stumbled across were lovely.





Aside from the midges. At first we didn't think they were too bad, but after a while ... aaargh! Horrible burny itchy bites that stick around for days. Midges in your hair are horrible; we now understand why people buy these funny looking helmet thingies. And the thought of using Midge as a pet name (as in The Various, a book which Sophie read recently), seems completely inappropriate.

My natural tendency is to want to sort everything out before we go on a trip, and book ahead; I'm coming around to doing things more spontaneously though, as the campsites we've booked online have often been disappointing compared to the ones we've found serendipitously.

The first campsite was at Glencoe; this picture was taken during a walk up the mountain. They filmed some of the Harry Potter movies here; I can see why.





This is Castle Stalker - for Monty Python fans, it's Castle Aaargggghhh, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.





And this is Stephen, on the rather scary wire bridge at the base of Ben Nevis. We didn't climb Ben Nevis, much to Bobby's disappointment - since the kids just had trainers on, and we didn't have any cold weather gear, I vetoed it. Next time we'll come better prepared.





Two more castles - Castle Urquhart, on the shores of Loch Ness





and Castle Cawdor. Many bad Macbeth-inspired jokes were made.





More pictures of the second campsite we stayed at, as well as Oban and various family members, are here.

The road trip itself went well, largely because I made a giant sacrifice, and let Stephen and his long legs travel in the front with Bobby while I went in the back with girls. Hence, the car was a squabble and shove-free zone. We also all really got into the book-on-tape which we'd taken with us - Noughts and Crosses, by Malorie Blackman. It's aimed at young adults I think; a very good way of getting people to realise what apartheid was like. Some parts of it were almost too adult for Sophie but I think she was okay with it. Malorie Blackman does not seem to be the most subtle writer in the world, but the book certainly held everyone's attention, and sparked a lot of discussion. And it made Bobby and me remember how things used to be in South Africa... So odd to think that when I was pregnant with Stephen we were doing things like go to Free The Beaches protests. Seems like another world.

Pictures speak louder than words

We celebrated Sophie's 11th birthday today. (Her real birthday is on Tuesday, but we'll be camping then, so it seemed better to have the celebration today, so that the whole day could be about her.)

Here she is, with Emily tucked up with her, before breakfast ... still my snuggly baby girls... (and, just for the record, every child does have his or her own bed...)





Last year we'd wanted to Go Ape, but Soph wasn't tall enough; this year, after putting immense psychic energy into the task of growing, she is just about exactly 1.40m, we could finally go!

And we had the perfect day for it today - blue skies and heat! Yes, actual heat! It got all the way up to 30 today (low eighties for the fahrenheit people). The forest was gorgeous and the climbing and jumping was fabulous; just what we needed.











We went out for lunch afterwards. The courtyard restaurant was lovely and food was absolutely amazingly delicious but the bill ... well let's just say it's good we enjoyed the meal because I think we spent the month's food budget.





When we got home, we played with one of Sophie's birthday gifts (Mario Kart for the wii; we're all pretty bad at it but it's tons of fun...





Then I baked Sophie's birthday cake. She requested brownies, and as the birthday girl, got first go at the mixing bowl.





I used the recipe in the book I keep talking about and it turned out delicious - though, as usual, not as pretty as their version.

Making a wish...




And then we started packing for tomorrow's camping trip. Looking at the time, today's trip, actually!




We'll be driving up to Scotland; home on Saturday! The rest of the pictures from Sophie's birthday are here; I'm very grateful that no-one was quick enough to take one of me the time I skidded through the pile of woodchips at the bottom of one of the zipwires on my bum. Just for the record, you should try to avoid getting woodchips in your undies if at all possible; it's not a pleasant sensation.

Growing Girls

We've just about recovered from Sophie's birthday sleepover. I find these things slightly stressful - am always worried that someone is going to feel left out or miserable or otherwise unhappy - but it all went perfectly as far as I could tell. We packed a picnic supper (bread rolls which they'd each made with their choice of fillings, and crisps and juice) and took it, plus the new ice-cream-maker (early birthday present for Sophie) down to the park.





Making the ice cream was fun (Andrea, you are right, though - it definitely does require lots of energetic people!)





and so was eating it. The girls all ate theirs too fast for me to get a picture of them; not sure why Bobby is looking so dubious about it here because it was really yummy.





The girls are at such an inbetween stage at the moment. Still love playing hide and seek on the playground, but also spend ages texting (and texting boys at that!)




They only went to sleep sometime after 1am, but nobody was irritable in the morning; in fact, after breakfast they went back to the park on their own to enjoy the glorious weather before coming back to the house for lunch. I love living somewhere where the children can have this kind of independence; wouldn't have been possible in either Durban or Florida.

Not sure how I feel about the amount of independence that one of Emily's friends is allowed, though. Like Emily, she's 15, but unlike Emily she's had a boyfriend for the past few months. Said boyfriend has just moved into her home and will be staying there for the summer. It all just seems so dismal. Setting aside the question of whether 15 is too young to be having sex (and I think it probably is), living with someone is supposed to be about independence and romance and growing up and excitement and passion - not about making space in your closet so your boyfriend will have somewhere to put his clothes when he moves into your childhood bedroom, in your parents' house, with his x-box. Ems says the rest of her friends are also shocked, which is good to know. I'm so glad that Emily seems to be in no hurry to rush into anything similar herself. She's looking pretty grownup these days though - we saw the endocrinologist yesterday, and she's now officially taller than I am! She's 1.62 m tall, which puts her at a hair about 5'3 - so a hair above me! And her weight's improving too - she's out of the red "way too skinny" section on the chart and now, although still very slender, has a relatively normal BMI of 16.6. She's very, very, happy. I am so grateful that she was diagnosed growth hormone deficient; without treatment she was predicted a height of 4'6 or 7. The consultant told us that when she stops growing, she can stop the shots for 3 months, then they'll do another stim test to see if she's making enough growth hormone on her own to maintain healthy heart muscles etc. So we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to planning next week's break, when Bobby is on leave. (What, do most people decide on these things more than one day in advance? Surely not!) We might go to Hay-on-Wye; we might go to Edinburgh, or we might just have a stay-cation right here.

Getting outdoors while we can...

Thursday evening found us picknicking on top of Reigate Hill.




It is becoming increasingly difficult, as they get older and busier and more independent, to get all three children in the same place at the same time; however, it seems that food is still a powerful motivator. It was good to collect everyone together, and we all enjoyed the evening.

Couldn't entice any of them out of bed this morning, however, so Bobby and I went on a long bike ride, just the two of us. I love the countryside round here...




However, 30 kilometres (or, less impressively, about 18.5 miles) later, I understood why such things as gel-filled saddles exist. Ouch.

Given the baleful expression on the face of the youngest member of our multi-generational Ikea trip before we'd even set out, I did wonder if we were making a mistake in going - but as it turned out, the scowl was aimed purely at her brother (who was taking too long to get the picture taken) so our girls-only trip was highly successful. (In an "oops, strange how all those amazingly cheap things added up to such a lot of money in the end!" sort of way).

My parents spent last night with us. Here they are at breakfast this morning (not sure what they were finding so amusing) - and behind them you can see my beautiful Ikea cereal storer thingies. Is it wrong to enjoy plastic storage containers so much? The rest of the family answer a resounding "yes" to that...





There are pictures of my Friday night skittles do up on Facebook - didn't take any myself, or I'd post some here. It was fun - I much prefer skittles, with its wooden pick-them-back-up-yourself pins and its back-of-the-pub location, to noisy high-tech ten pin bowling. I'm getting really old though - hardly drank anything, and still felt a bit worse for wear yesterday morning...