Day off

I went to the V&A today, on my own, with no children, and no responsibilities.



There is a very interesting exhibition called "The Cult of Beauty" but, being a Saturday, it was heaving, so I just wandered around aimlessly.



A couple of things fell into my shopping bag - some notelets, a postcard with owls on it and an "L" and an "H" printing blocks. I am planning to buy some ink to show Lucy how to print her name - how could this end badly?



As I was near the Fulham Road, I walked down as far as I could be bothered, went to a delicatessen, Daunt Books, had lunch at Paul, and generally enjoyed myself. I even sat on the top deck of a double decker bus. Twice! How exciting. It's very liberating not having the buggy.

In knitting news, I am making a purple jumper for Lucy. The ungrateful little so and so, having chosen the yarn herself, is now rejecting it. Joining a "stash down!" group on Ravelry has prompted a flurry of yarn buying - mostly Noro too, which quickly becomes super expensive. All because I want to make this:

http://getyourhookon.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/woohoo-its-done/

Ideally, I will make it over the next year or two, thus reducing the expense to acceptable levels.

I made this

Geri lost her husband. We loved him very much indeed. I wanted to do something, so I made her this to celebrate her new life as a rollergirl. She took the pictures, which is why they are better quality than usual.



It's not bad for a first attempt.

Time on my hands

Specifically, 22 minutes, then I have to go and collect Lucy. Harriet is snoozing - she is sleeping very badly in the day at the moment, and it affected her sleep last night - 2 wake ups, both with great big feeds. I also did a bit of a quick and dirty weigh-in with her - she's 1 stone 1 pound, which is what she was at last month's q&d weigh-in, so either I am hopeless at weighing her, or she isn't gaining weight. Hopefully I can take her to a proper weigh in this week or next and get a more accurate figure; I'm not worried yet, just a bit concerned. I'll probably have to make a bit more of an effort to take her once a fortnight, just to check I'm doing things properly. She's a happy little soul, and looks perfectly pink and fit to me.

What else? We had a very happy Easter at my parents, although they drive me insane with rage every now and then. They regard their grandchildren as somewhat of a chore to be endured, rather than a pleasure to be enjoyed, so too bad for them, they are missing out. Lucy has discovered that she only really likes our church - we went to Linton church on Easter Sunday and she was bored rigid. No one even gave her a biscuit! Actually, the Croydens did not cover themselves with glory at that service. Harriet has recently discovered her "loud" voice, which is trying, and she uses it when things aren't going her way, or she hasn't been fed for half an hour or so. We are going to put her on solids in the next couple of weeks. Can't wait.

I'm re-reading "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon at the moment. It is quite good. I think I'm up to 30 books since January 1st now, not including ebooks - I have come round to the idea of a kindle - not the reality, I'm not buying one - now I've discovered that the Oz books are all available as digital versions for free. I've been wanting to own them for ages, but they are expensive and hard to find, so I've held off buying them; using the wonders of the ibooks iPod app means that I got them instantly and for nothing. They aren't very good, and I feel that L Frank Baum just brushed his bum against a typewriter for the later ones, but it's nice to re-read them after all this time.

The flower blanket was pushed into service last night, despite not yet being finished. It is looking amazing at the moment, I'm so impressed with myself. It doesn't bear too close inspection though, but the errors can't be seen from a trotting horse, so nevermind.

Time's up.

Exhausted

Good Lord, I'm tired. Harriet is teething. At 4 months. It's not fair. Also, she had her third set of jabs today, so is feeling very sad and sorry for herself, poor little monkey. She keeps grabbing my finger and shoving it in her mouth, and I can feel the little stubs of teeth that are on the point of breaking through. It's meant that she has cried a lot today, and refused to sleep. All she wants is to be cuddled on my shoulder. Being in the sling is not good enough. Being in her chair is not good enough. Being in the Bumbo is not good enough. My shoulders and neck ache like mad; my daughter weighs a good stone. Mary, our Practice Nurse, told me that she was a good size today and that I needed bother going to the Baby Clinic unless I feel like it. So I won't.

What new things can I write about today? I had a trip into London last week to meet up with my friend and her daughter, and we were very "ladies who lunch" in John Lewis. I was a bit disappointed with JL; I had a look through their patterns, and every single one I wanted was out of stock. So I only bought some fabric to make a buggy sling for Lucy's toy buggy and some cotton to complete Harriet's blanket, as well as some sock yarn for socks for a friend. Bah. I went to Communion today with Harriet; it felt like the right thing to do. We are so blessed in our family, and have nothing to complain about.

A flurry of posts

So, my Cherry and Almond cake turned out like this: and my Tea Cake is still absorbing tea at the rate of one sultana an hour, but the muffins came out well, although only one was eaten by each person, which is a bit rubbish. I shall have to have two or three to make up for their reluctance. I went to church by myself this morning, which was liberating in many ways, and also boring, and made sure I got myself into the minutes of the AGM by seconding the re-election of the sidespeople. How terribly exciting. The sermon was terrible; she kept asking us to turn to your partner and discuss the topic, and I know that that is what you do when you haven't got enough material to fill your entire lesson. Rubbish. Charlie and I sat at the back and did a lot of giggling, and also nodded off once or twice. Not much else. Lucy loves her big girl's duvet, and slept through until nearly 10, which is amazing. Harriet woke up at 5:20, so really 4:20, so really in the middle of the night. They have all gone out to a tennis club open day, so I am going to knit in front of the television.

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done

Well, I took the girls to Ikea, and it wasn't that bad. Harriet, who is a very good girl, slept through the whole experience, and Lucy, who is often a very good girl, ate an entire Swedish pastry, chose a duvet and pillowcase set, ran riot around the children's department, bossing all the other children around, allowed me to change her nappy without even a pout and came home without any complaints afterwards.

We bought all sorts of things for big girls, and Lucy is so taken with her duvet cover that she refused to come downstairs for lunch and needed a bribe. She was very keen to have a little rest, which would have been ideal at any time save lunchtime, and, of course, as soon as she'd had her lunch, she didn't want another sleep.

I have some photos of Kew and the Orchid Extravaganza. They were beautiful, and a much needed shot of colour during a fairly drab early March.



More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliaclare/sets/72157626093525711/with/5509394044/

We have people coming for tea; I am baking a Cherry and Almond Loaf Cake, which smells quite nice. I want to make Chocolate Chip Muffins for tomorrow morning, and a Tea Cake to take to church, for the Bring and Share Lunch. I don't think I'll stay for long, but a token effort is required, and this cake is so, so easy, I can make it before 10 tomorrow, even if I get up at 8.

Stuff and things

Some photos of our holiday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliaclare/sets/72157626203232801/



It was a shame that Ouma had to be in the sick bay for almost the entirity of our holiday, but we managed to see her almost every day, and she spent just enough time with her young great grand-daughters, although I'm sure she'd disagree. The girls are not very restful for a 93 year old; funny that.

I can't be bothered to write reviews for all the books I've read recently, but some highlights are The Morville Hours, which I enjoyed so much that I'm actually going to buy it for myself, along with its companion book, and The Love Verb by Jane Green, which was sentimental drivel, but deserves a mention for the following crass paragraph, quoted verbatim.

"It only happens to fiver per cent of cancer sufferers," Callie says. "Look on the bright side. We always knew I was special. Honestly? I think I'm too good for this earth." As always, she is using humour to deflect the pain.

Seriously. Show, not tell.

What else? Congratulations to Sophie - another lovely little boy to add to her family. We are planning our visit at the moment.

A new venture

So, I got my brand new sewing machine out of its box and opened up the instruction book. After a couple of false starts, I managed to wind a bobbin with green thread, thread the needle, sew three sides of a square piece of fabric and then make a dress for Harriet. The dress is somewhat of a prototype; while it is very beautiful in its own way, it is also not amazingly well finished, and the seams and hems are slightly wonky. I do like it though, and am fairly proud of myself.

I am going into John Lewis on Thursday and will grab some patterns and some more fabric, both for the girls and for myself. Hurrah for yet another new and absorbing hobby.

Hmm

Well, clearly, nothing has happened since the 8th of February, apart from going to South Africa, reading a whole bunch of books, masses of knitting and sewing, lots of tantrums and tears from all of us, parties and family visits, a couple of horrible bouts of flu and that's it really.

We had a friend visiting with his daughter last weekend; Isabella is the same age as Lucy to within 4 days, and they had great fun tearing around, Harriet watching, desperate to be able to join in.

We went to a party with a lot of 4 year olds and 2 year olds, with a children's party entertainer; all the 4 year olds followed her exactly, almost all the 2 year olds didn't know what was going on but followed the older children, Lucy didn't know what was going on and did her own thing. Typical.

More news, with photos, when we have it.