October 2010

October 25th, 2010

Too cold for Autumn

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It’s supposed to be only Autumn but already last week I have been out and bought myself the most incredible super padded super warm winter coat from Comptoir des Cottoniers. And this week I am ordering another pair of boots from Trippen so I can at least alternate them through the Winter. I toyed with the idea of shoes but I’d just never be able to wear them in this cold.

Somebody said it was going to snow this week. I wonder if that can be true? I think by the feel of it they weren’t joking. Last night as I was putting Edith to bed – we’ve got her into a bed now – a task that now requires some effort and time as the excitement for her is indeed high and she wants to jump around and hop out of bed a lot before she is tired enough to stay lying down. But last night in her room it was so so cold but the radiators were on maximum and the heating was set to 25 degrees.

And it’s only October. I wonder how clever it was to put all the radiators under the windows and not on the inner walls – because the heat all just goes and slips right out of the glass and out through the drafty cracks. I think we’re definitely going to have to get our heating looked at as the radiators are called narrow somethings and not the big somethings. The narrow ones aren’t very warm – and in our enormous five bedroom house we really need the warm kind for our heating.

Next week we’re getting the chimney sweep around to sort the chimney and then we can have our very first fires ever. I have never ever lived in a house with a proper fire and I can’t wait!

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October 22nd, 2010

Astrid’s songs





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Astrid has an amazing singing voice. Did you know that? I knew she liked singing but there has been a transformation. A great transformation.

I was in the kitchen the other day and the most wonderful pure little song was being sung, perfect high notes, and such sweet melody. It was Astrid. And now that Astrid is at Kindergarten she is learning songs to sing. And having singing practice.

Songs like, ‘this is the way we tidy up’, and ‘we go back inside the kindergarten’. Astrid is getting me to teach her ‘@N08/3183483474/">rise up o flame‘ – that’s one we learnt at school. And after that we’ll learn ‘wenn der frühling kommt‘. And after that we’ll learn ‘Sumer Is Icumen In‘.

It was so sweet this morning when I walked with Astrid and Edith and Ashley. We got to South End Green after dropping Edith off and I had to run for the bus. And after I’d got on I raced to the top of the stairs and stood there and waved at Astrid in her buggy. And Astrid was so proud waving to her mum at the top of the Red Bus. She was so proud of her mum. And I was so proud to be waving at her from the exciting Big Red Bus.

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October 11th, 2010

Little Mister Cat



Little Mister Cat went out yesterday morning and didn’t come home all day long. I thought, oh well he always comes home so I’ll just wait and let him come home and he’ll be in sometime in the middle of the night. But then I looked online about what to do if your cat is missing and it said go outside and call the cat go outside and walk around your neighbourhood because odds are on the cat’s close by but is lost or scared or injured so the faster you get out there and call the less time the cat has to travel in the wrong direction and get more lost and get further away.

So, being lazy it took me going down to Kevin and saying shall I really go, he’ll just turn up anyway, I can’t be bothered, but Kevin said go on, go, I can’t go, he only comes to you when you call him and I said but it’s late and I don’t really want to walk around the streets in the dark on my own and Kevin said go on it’s safe so I said I’ll take my phone.

And off I went out down our road and down the main road and back up our old road calling and calling, not too loudly so as to wake up the sleeping children in their beds as there are lots of sleeping children around these days I suppose as a parent I’m now just more aware of them and off I went up our old road, calling and stopping, stopping to listen and along Savernake Road back to our road and looking ahead I thought I’ll just go down that bit of road although logically he won’t be there and I called and stopped and listed to the night air as I always do when out calling Rufus and there a little tiny creature appeared bounding towards me, bounding like a little squirrel and the squirrel was Mister Cat! Mister Cat trotting along, happy to be found. Happy to be found in unfamiliar territory on his fourth time out since we’ve been in London this time.

Little Mister Cat. Scooped up. Not struggling. Happy to be carried home. Home to a big bowl of food and a nice warm bed. Home to his family overjoyed to see him back. Safe and sound.

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October 8th, 2010

Wieso soll ich es sagen?

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Too many ideas. Lovely UK. Lovely NZ. Anknel and Burblets. Not Macrobiotic. Lovely Churches. The handbook for truck drivers who want to avoid right hand turns on New Zealand Roads.

Photography. Film. Digital. Advertising. Products. Interfaces.

Visiting friends. Time alone. Drinking wine or not. Even admitting it. Going out and having fun. Travel. Phoning my Dad.

These are all things I haven’t done in ages.
But children. Yes I have spent time with you.
And some books I have read you.
But mostly stories made up at bedtime.
And we cook together.
And I answer your questions. Or I simply wonder – and see what you think.

And work you have had me.
And people at work. Some people talk.

And tonight I had a talk with my brother. And we don’t really need words and I always thought that was mum, but now being a school parent I am learning it was the school. So tonight I saw an old school friend. We didn’t need words to communicate. A random meeting our last nine years ago in the village we grew up in. Our parents still at home. Hug. Stuff in common. Here we are. Here.

Yes, you. Subtle.

I am too tired to explain.
I just sometimes don’t want to explain. Often it’s easier to have the moon dance on your wrist than talk about, shit. Shit. Ah just take me to history. And in that I find ease and quiet. And me. Just me. Just at ease. Just you like Croatia.

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