I said some bloke called Rolf could hang his pictures with mine

Elspeth agreed to let some little known Aussie hand his pictures in her gallery.... Elspeth's gallery will be closing shortly for refurbishment, as I paint the living room. One wall down 3 to go....

Oh, the birds still have a little food left... will be refilling the feeder tomorrow - just so you know...

How old am I?

Baldness, bad sight, my knees have been iffy for a while, 33 next birthday… I’d like a Zimmer, not a silver one but a bright lime green one….

Diddy, Mud and monsters

Well Sarah seems to have tackled Mud head on… Mud now goes home for his tea at 5 and his parents do not let him out after dark, hopefully he’ll have better things to do in the evenings as the daylight hour’s increase.

Diddy is only an occasional visitor; I think he prefers it when Mud is here…

It has transpired that Elspeth has the eyes of a hawk, last night in the bath she suddenly screamed and insisted on being removed from the bath as there was a bug! Bugs, she’s never been freaked by bugs before, this huge behemoth was a tiny fly nestled up by the light pull, barely visible to the naked eye, I must admit difficulty seeing it with my glasses on

Parents...

You know they are mostly right, but there are things that you wish they weren’t right about.

Have you ever sat and literally watched your hair fall out? Every time I run my fingers through my hair at the sink I peer down and see black hairs disappearing down the plughole. All those years I took the mickey out of my Dad’s thinning hair, he always said it was hereditary; I carried on ribbing him assuming I’d inherited my mother’s thick locks…. [Sorry dad.] No comfort is gained that I can’t be blamed for the hair block in the plug holes, I’d rather go grey than bald…

Daddy are you having a baby?

Well the short answer is obviously yes, Sarah is having a baby... but I'm not sure that that is the question that Elspeth was asking. Particularly as she was gazing at my waistline at the time. I have realised that there's nothing that makes you wish you were more disciplined about going to the gym than when your daughter, in her own way, suggests that you might benefit from using that membership...

Today has been a bit traumatic, Sarah was sickly so I came home via the doctor and the chemist, Sarah had a check up yesterday and she's a little anaemic, so I picked up the prescription and got some Lucozade. I sent Sarah packing to bed and Elspeth and I played all afternoon, I made tea and bathed her and read her books. Strangely she was off her milk, and asked to go to bed 3/4 through the 4th book of the usual 6.

Anyway about an hour or so later there was a cry and it seems that poor Elspeth has caught her mummy's bug. I have quarantined the sicky's in our bedroom whilst I shall be in the spare room. I put the dirtied bed clothes and bits in the washer on super wash and super rinse, so instead of the usual 69 minute program it a 132 minute one... just hope that I don't get the lurgy.

Sarah is determined to get a picture of the "bump" this time, we did try last time when she was carrying Elsepth, it's just that as she was teaching it was incredible how many outfits were black, black hides all manner of shape misdemeanors. Sarah has colourful tops this time round so hopefully bump pictures to follow.

The bird feeder has been near empty and refilled twice since I last blogged... [just for you bird lovers out there]

Never smile at a crocodile....

Today we've been finishing off the crocodile... Hopefully he'll deal with the mud, who appears to have become a little scary, forcing Elspeth from her bed in the middle of the night for the last 2 days. Still "Diddy" appears to have moved into her room too, he's a big scary bear - he doesn't scare Elspeth but might eat the mud.

We ordered a new bed for Elspeth from a high street catalogue company, they were supposed to contact us to make delivery arrangements, unfortunately the number they left is the Police Casualty Helpline which isn't going to get the bed delivered. Maybe they'll phone with the right number next week...

It was pleasant to just have a relaxing weekend, they look like becoming increasingly more frantic in the future....

Bird Feeder 1/2 full.

Holiday pictures

as if cleaning up after dogs wasn't bad enough....

Some snaps from our break, the sea is Goring by sea

Happy New Year

After a busy Christmas week visiting friends and family we arrived home to the headline on the local paper of snow chaos. While we were away 5 cm of snow caused mayhem and confusion, well there wasn't a trace left today.

We had a good time visiting friends and family [hello all] although I was reminded of how anxious Sarah seems to get when pregnant, her level of anxiety appears to be directly proportional to the circumference of her stomach. So whilst others are relaxing having fun the stomach size means that it is difficult for Sarah to relax, and only 14 weeks to go!!

We tried to go to big space [big pink slides and ball pits-see previous entries] I think the rest of Harpenden had had a similar idea, it would have been a recipe for bumps and scrapes as there was standing room only for the adults, the place was fit to burst. Fortunately Michelle knew a place close by, more compact and much more relaxed, even if not as comfortable, it enabled Elspeth and Josie to run off some energy. Sophie is not quite at the running around stage and was happy in the ball pit.

Bird feeder almost empty on return - refilled [in case you were keeping tabs]