Cottaged

Mr and Mrs Eff found us a fantastic cottage for NY. Have had a huge swim in the pool, great meal, and much beer is now being consumed.

Happy New Year all.


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Going West, Again

The good thing about Xmas, was that Alix wanted a new phone "with a decent phone and GPS". This proved handy when going to the cottage in Devon with Eff and co. We were going down several C roads (and that is being generous), totally lost, however the joy of GPS saved us. Huzzah!


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Flying Away

Attack of the flying fairies!

That Time Again

Well Christmas has come and (almost) gone again. Two little girls seemed to think the whole thing was pretty fantastic.

Weathered

Cycling to work through the snow. Very cold, but somewhat exciting.

Mainly cold though.


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Nocturnal

So we've moved the girls in together. Most of the times it works. But not always....

Expedition

Some photos from an expedition with Renata.

Attack of the Fairies

Like it says really.

Aqua

Don't leave the bath running while the Snuffle is roaming the house.

And beware of buckets full of rainwater.

Movement

Well so far the move in together of small children seems to be working - except Natasha is spectacularly uncooperative when Alix is trying to do bedtime by herself.

Have started new contract - harder work than I've had to do for a while, but pretty wide ranging. The cycle to work, while a lot less scenic than my last ride, is at least fairly short - around 25 mins. I think this is probably the shortest commute I've ever had - including Wellington.

And now for some pictures of little girls on holiday in Cornwall.

Living Space

We finally gave in and moved the girls into the same room together. It might be an interesting night....

Working for The Man (Again)

Have managed to get a new contract to see me through to February. Hooray!

Not Actually That Death-Defying

Continuing the cycling-to-work thing, I'm now cycling through central London to London Bridge, which is a world apart from the relatively calm cycling I was doing before.

Previously my journey was pretty straightforward, with the last 3-4 miles on a bush track. Now... not so much.

Currently it is more like - down High St Kensington, through Hyde Park, under Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill, round Buckingham Palace, Past St James park, past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, over Westminster Bridge, and then behind Waterloo till you hit London Bridge.

Mostly picturesque (except the last bit)

Whereas the highlights of my last trip were the BBC Television Centre and Wormwood Scrubs Prison (and Queen Charlotte's, where the girls were born).

Traffic is not nearly as dangerous as I thought - mainly due to the lowish speed I imagine. Pedestrians seem to be more of a hazard.

And occasionally, you have to take a detour due to some dudes on horses doing something ceremonial-like.

Rage Against the Machine (Coffee)

There seems to be a conspiracy to ensure all of the stations I use have rubbish coffee. Watford's Costa has become an AMT, and Shepherds Bush Rail has a lovely friendly independent coffee/sandwich shop.... that only sells machine coffee. Blah.


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Fatigued

And not (just) because of Her Snufflyness.

I've taken up cycling part of the way to work (as those sampling the dubious joys of Facebook would know). I'm generally cycling around 7 miles each way, with a short train journey in the middle.

Positives: fitness certainly improving.

Negatives: evenings like tonight where I can barely summon the energy to get out of the chair to go to bed.


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Splish Splosh Splash

How much water can we get out of the bath?

History Regularly Repeats

Which is why I seem to be at the GBBF. Again.


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Slow Day

But surprisingly not completely unproductive. The couple of 7% ciders at the end of the night weren't the most prudent move I've ever made, however.


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Field Report 2

Or the Danish Red Nitro.


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Field Report

Don't drink the Tsarina Esra Reserve (11%)


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Inbound

On way to the Great British Beer Festival. I may be some time.


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Artistry

Now in stereo.

Here be Tripods

Alix took me down to Riverside Studios (one of Sharon's hangouts when she was here) to see Tripod vs. The Dragon last night. The blurb for the show:


"Legendary in their native Australia, Tripod regularly play the Sydney Opera House and other massive places of high art. Their latest opus: a musical theatre work of exquisite sophistication and hilarity that delves deep into the terrifying, operatic, geektastic world of Dungeons and Dragons"

Much laughter ensued.

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(Im)Mobility

Children are asleep. And I don't have to get off the couch to blog. Life is good.



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Proms

Thanks to a clash of schedules, Alix has ended up with a ticket for tonight's Doctor Who Prom. Sounds pretty funky.

(Edit - Alix reports it has Daleks!)

Went to Sleepy's son Connor's christening - children were thankfully well behaved at the church. Except for one mad dash for freedom from Natasha.

At the pub after however behaviour was a bit more.... mixed.

On the down side, looks like our camera LCD display is busted. Poo.

And... random cute photo.

Impromptu

Sometimes, you've just got to throw a little party.

The Dad in the Hat

We had the Hilton Spring Ball a while back - the theme this year was 'Mad Hatters Ball', so Emily and Alix painted me a Hat.

Ball was fanstastico as usuaal - good work Mr Eff.

Ticking clock

Hmmm.. Contract coming to an end soonish, and may not be an extension.

Boo hiss.


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The Stuff What We Did

Ok, June. And Stuff. Number One recent event of course was Her Mouseness's birthday. I must confess some surprise to having a three year-old. Said birthday was (repeatedly) celebrated with cake.

Other big event was heading up north to catch up with Toadboy, Zarah and baby Max. We booked a cottage on a farm an hour north of Newcastle in Alnmouth - which turned out to be a fantastic idea, as there was a combination of cows, beaches, fish and chips, Alnwick gardens, and a fabulous old second hand bookshop all within 10-15 minutes drive.

Unsurprisingly, the new parents (Max was 8ish weeks then) were a bit frazzled, but seem to be doing alright. Max seems quite cute for someone who is clearly going to be the Doom Of Us All.

Children were taken to a petting farm, where much moo's and baa's were successfully identified. Beaches were seen and fish-and-chip piranha's fed.

Other stuff: I seem to find myself travelling back to Watford, much to my surprise. Though I'm going to have to sort out a bike for the last leg, to try and cut the commuting time. I've got my eye on a Dahon Jack D7, but I'm going to have to wait for the gadget budget to recover from the pad purchase.

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Noooooooo

They've taken away my Costa at the station! Bastards!


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Buble

While I'm writing the "so that was June" post, have some bubbles on me.

Padded

Time to party like it's 1987!

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Spotty Baby

Time for round two - Natasha!

Plague Strikes

Finally the much-expected chickenpox has arrived for Emily. Looks like a relatively mild case, and she's bearing up as well as can be expected.

I suspect Natasha won't be quite so easy when she (inevitably) gets it.

Dress

Admittedly, Renata does like to dress the girls up pretty and all.

Artistry

Alix is finally on a train back to London - all going well she'll be home by midnight.

As requested by Madre, some Alix and Emily painting photos from the other weekend.

A Ticket in Time Saves..

Having to be in a long queue to get into Kew. My season ticket arrived on Friday, and with children to entertain and it being a sunny day and all, we slowly got ourselves ready to head off.

First things first, a stopoff at the Yellow Cafe (Brooks) for coffee, croissant, juice and babychino.

Then pick up lunch, and onto the train.

Sweep past queue presenting season pass. Find Daffodils.

And Ducks.

Go home, have quiet time, and a rousing rendition of row, row row your boat.