By popular request

For Chris O, Jenna, Fran, and others wanting more pictures, I hereby create a new post. I've been slack on updating this blog because not much has been going on. I've been doing some cooking, a lot of sleeping, and general tidying of the slowly-growing baby-related mound accumulating in the spare bedroom.

Without further ado:
Bruno and "Hector," the retired racing greyhound his parents adopted. Hector is a great dog - calm and happy and affectionate without being overbearing.

And a less-recent picture: B about to set off on the trek up Helvellyn, in the Lake District (near Ullswater, the second largest lake in England). He's stayed in that building behind him a few times; it's a youth hostel. Actually, it's fairly off the beaten path. The gravel road he's standing on extends quite a ways from the outskirts of the small town it borders. And woe betide you if you're driving and you meet another car. One of you has to back up until the next turn-around.

Here I am in Budapest last September. B has a knack of taking photos before I'm quite ready! This is overlooking one of the bridges over the Danube. We took the funicular (pictured earlier on the blog) shortly after this.

And here I am in Greece, again last September. This is in Chora (the port town) on Naxos, at the top of the hill near the church. You get here by walking up a series of convoluted streets and alleyways and hills and steps. It's a very pretty town, our favorite island (so far).

Against my better judgment, here's a picture of me looking fat and pregnant. Yes. That is a chocolate eclair in that takeaway bag. And yes, I did eat it. Every bit of it. And I make no apology for that. This is actually just across the street from the cafe I wrote about earlier, in Clapham Common.

Right, that's about it for now. We don't have many pictures of us together because, well, one of us has to man the camera. Why do you think we're having a kid? Hey presto, instant photographer on hand! (Just kidding.)

Tea

One of my favorite things to do on a lazy day is to go out and have tea somewhere with Bruno. A friend introduced me to a cafe that serves tea and fancy pastries on real china, and I was hooked on it from the moment I stepped inside. It sits just across from a large park, overlooking a statue in the midst of greenery and a fountain that children are free to splash around in.

It serves some very interesting varieties of tea. The tea in the cup pictured above is a type of green tea, served with bits of flower in it. Unless I need it, I prefer to drink decaf, so green tea is a good option for me.

We had lunch with a friend from the U.S. a few weeks ago at the cafe. I got to catch up with the news from my old church while sitting outside sipping tea. It was really nice. And when you're nearly 32 weeks pregnant, you tend to cherish being able to linger over a nice hot cup of something. I know I won't get many of these moments in the years to come!