Winter 2014 (So Far)

So, following on from last post... NaNoWriMo happened in November, and I wound up writing 43,000 words in a month. Not too shabby. We're in a decent routine that gives me some free time in the morning before I collect C from her nursery (which she goes to from 9-12).

E was chosen as a narrator in the lower (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) school's production of the Nativity, one of only four children tapped for speaking parts out of sixty. He did a great job, and as a bonus, the Nursery class came in to watch, and I was able to sit in the same room with both children!

C had her 4th birthday.

We toasted marshmallows, sat around the campfire, built forts, and got generally muddy and dirty at the outdoor party of the son of family friends.

Dined out on pizza in Highgate.

E and I went to the Christmas service/carols along with Granny and several of her friends. He is currently enjoying a two week break from school.

Merry Christmas! We had a good day today with family and friends. Tomorrow we are going to Kew Gardens for the evening trail, seeing cousins and uncles and aunts, and probably spending a great deal of the day doing stuff like this...

(The track's slightly the wrong way around but that was quickly rectified by a kind uncle.)

November

Long time, no blog.

I tallied up the words I've written since January and right now, I'm sitting somewhere around the 150-160k mark.  That's spread over multiple pieces - a novella, several short stories, two incomplete-as-yet novels and one nearly-finished novel.  I intend to have the latter finished by Christmas.  Then I'll clean it up and start querying agents sometime after the New Year.

So... quick summary of the last few months?  The summer was hot (gasp!). E started Year 1 (first grade equivalent)... okay... I'll sprinkle some pics in because why not?

Dad came to visit and was there for the first day of school.  E is doing really well although he's tired at the end of the day.

C is going to playgroup two mornings a week and is really flourishing. She will start proper nursery school in September of next year.

Dad's visit was absolutely wonderful.  I have INTERESTING PICTURES. I'm trying to decide whether I should retain them as blackmail for one of his homemade apple pies, or whether I should give in to instant gratification and post them. Hmm.  Maybe I'll go for the middle approach.  Here's one.

Incidentally, the kids were absolutely AMAZED that he climbed up there.

Personally, I was amazed that he arrived beardless:

Reader, I probably would have passed him in the street had I not been looking closely.

Anyhow, I have plenty of photos and some stories of what we did - lots of museum visits, Kew Gardens, biking around Hyde Park... there was nothing fancy in that list, but we had a good time. I had visions of a Paris daytrip via Eurostar, but that will have to happen next time.

What will also have to happen next time is more photos and a longer post, because I am totally hitting my bedtime and I would love to crunch out another 500 words in the steampunk novel I am writing.

So until next time...

France

I've only ever been to Paris, so I was looking forward to spending some time in rural France.  I'd heard the beaches were gorgeous.  We took the Eurotunnel - from Ashford (about an hour's drive from where we live in London) to Calais.  Waited our turn, drove the car up onto the train, parking brake on, waited 35odd minutes, drove out onto French soil.  Color me impressed.

Then it was about three and a half hours to Caen.  I would have liked to look around some of the D-Day points of interest but with two small children this was impossible.  So after spending the night at a motel we headed on deeper into Brittany.  Got to the little town of Trelevern in the afternoon, after some getting-lostness.  Walked into the 5 bedroom villa we were renting with inlaws... and E promptly fell into the pool at the deep end.  B fished him out, and we greeted folks with him in sopping wet socks and clothes.  On the bright side, hopefully E will never think of flotation devices that sit atop water as "solid" ever again.  And we'll be getting him swimming lessons this summer.

Our beach was a 8-10 minute walk away (with children, faster if alone) and was absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately, I dropped my camera as the tide was rising, and it... well, basically died a glorious, salty death.  Was bailed out by a mother-in-law with an extra camera (she who gave me the old one in the first place, an excellent camera that travelled to Greece by train, California, and many other places, and lasted for 5.5 years... I do regret my clumsiness in dropping it) and so I do have a few photos.

But it's late at night and C has decided she enjoys waking at 5am and then needs resettling every 10-20 minutes until 6am, which is tiring.   So... one photo, of the girl herself, just above the beach of a small town about a half an hour's drive from Trelevern called Locquirec.  We had crepes there...

To be continued later!

Central London

Sometimes I forget just how close we are to Central London. We lucked out finding this area back in 2007... short commute time to Victoria, yet removed enough from the hustle and bustle to feel like a tranquil place.

Yesterday we decided to meet up with B's brother and children in Hyde Park. There's a great playground we'd heard of - the Princess Diana Memorial one - with a gigantic pirate ship and other play structures inspired by Peter Pan and Neverland. So we met up, the journey in not being too bad (mainline train one stop, Tube in to Bayswater) and spent a few hours in the sun with the kids.

E really enjoyed himself. C did too. Although she was too young to really appreciate all the little nooks and crannies of the playground, she was still able to hug totem poles...

...and toddle around the wigwams.


The tunnel, however, did not yield to her force of will, and she would not stoop to crawl through it, so they were at an impasse for a little while, until she wandered somewhere else.


Meanwhile, E enjoyed chasing (and being chased by) his cousin. S is younger than E by about 18 months but is starting to be able to keep up/engage more and E loves having company at playgrounds. He was none too happy when they had to leave, but all the cool extras at the playground soon cheered him up. There was a pirate telescope at the top of a little hill... actually a kaleidoscope... that he liked quite a bit.

Checking out the treasure chest....

Walking the plank...

Sitting on a chair on the "sensory trail" which was a winding stone path incorporating things like instruments and other neat little features.

Like this wooden xylophone-type thing.

And this deceptively spinny thing.

Also, a chiming trampoline!



C fell asleep in the stroller, so while B and E played and explored, I sat and enjoyed the sun (and wished I'd brought my notebook and pen... I am behind on my word count and really want to get this first draft finished!)

It was a good day. The playground got so full the attendants (yes, attendants, at a playground! Very posh!) had to introduce a 20-out, 20-in crowd control at the gates. Being so close to Mayfair we saw some diverse children - several were out playing in miniature tweed jackets, etc. E fell asleep leaning against me on the train ride back, he was so exhausted.

Bayswater station. Probably I might catch flack from some official for posting this... but you know what? I don't care. I thought the juxtaposition of light and dark was gorgeous. Wouldn't mind waiting for trains in that station.

But First....

A post about our London Aquarium trip.

I took E by myself, leaving B home with the baby. She was supposed to nap, but he only got about 20 minutes of peace out of her. By that time, the boy and I were well on our way - train from our local station to Waterloo, which took about 15 minutes. E was very excited, got on the train and bellowed: "This train is going to Waterloo!" which provoked many smiles and a few outright chuckles from the passengers. He then sat across from an older mother and her teenage daughter and proceeded to chat to them the entire way. They were charmed.

Once out of the train station, his enthusiasm did not wane. The London Eye (big ferris wheel type thing) was very exciting to him.

It was a bright sunny day (if a little chilly) and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were gilded in sunlight.


Inside the aquarium, we found an open tank where we could look down from the top at the fish. Here, a ray is visiting us, poking its nose above water. We weren't allowed to touch, although in the San Francisco aquarium, we could. They feel like... slimy, spongy cartilage, basically.


There was a great walk-through tunnel with fish/sharks/rays swimming above us and little peekholes for children.


BIG fish in this tank plus sharks plus sea turtles (not pictured). There were lots of little kids crowded around watching.

Croc.

Buddha-in-a-tank.


There were penguins in this tank but I didn't get any in the hasty photo I snapped.

Brightly colored fish! He was nearing the end of his patience by now, and wanted some lunch.

So we walked back to the station to find some, chasing pigeons along the way.

And back home afterward, walking up through the graveyard listening to the trains roll past. Along the way, he snatched up two sticks and told me he was going to sing the blues. Then he performed "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in a minor key.


All in all, it was a beautiful day, if slightly overwhelming for a 3 year old (and, to be quite frank, the London Aquarium is too expensive to visit lightly - nearly 30 quid for just the two of us).

It was Remembrance Sunday, so there were many in the graveyard who had come to pay their respects to the World War I/II memorials. We walked past, and chatted (very briefly) about his great-great grandfather (buried in the Somme American Cemetery) who was a sergeant and a medic in World War I, from Coxsackie, NY.



A 3 year old is too young to understand, but all the time I was walking, I thought of the World Wars. In Flanders fields, the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row.... and was so grateful to have a whole family and an intact flat to come home to.

Family Tree

B and I have been working (now and again) on filling out our respective family trees. I guess that's what happens naturally when you get to be over 30/have children, although I hasten to add that I'm not 30 just yet.

Yesterday B decided to do a big printout and bluetac (that's British for sticky goop) the whole shebang to the wall. It looked like this:


I descend from Revolutionary soldiers on both sides of the family (she says smugly). B, on the other hand, is descended from lords and stuff. It's kind of fun, this family tree stuff, but it's very time consuming... which is in short supply these days.

I did get in a nice 2 mile walk today at least. The young master managed about a mile of said walk, along with a play session at a new park we visited. I don't think we'll be going back there anytime soon though... the gang of pre-pubescent chavvy teenagers from the local housing estate was one thing, but the unleashed pit bull mixes were quite another.

Last week while walking through the other nearby park I saw a pit rip up a guy's arm and half-kill another dog. They literally couldn't prise its jaws off the dog it was mutilating. (E and I were behind a fence at this point.) Halfway through the fight, a cop shows up, but this being Britain, the dude wasn't carrying anything but a notebook ("Excuse me, Mr. Illegal Pitbull, I'm giving you a citation."). You'd think they'd have pepper spray at least.

Well, off to watch Youtube trains with the boy in preparation for bedtime.

Health Update, etc

Through the help of family and friends, we've found out that Howard is conscious and his memory is returning. Still not sure what is going on with him, but it sounds like he's improving, which is a big relief. We'll find out more soon, hopefully.

On to the trip B, E and I took...

We headed down to Dorset, near Dorchester, about half a mile from Thomas Hardy's cottage. The place we stayed was an excellent self-catering community filled with families and kids. The cottages ranged from large to small, so multi-family groups were welcome. The grounds were also quite communal, so if people decided to barbecue together etc, they could... or if they wanted to eat privately, that was fine too.

There was a fresh pint of milk waiting for us...


...as well as lots of tea. We spent the first afternoon just wandering around and getting acquainted. The folks next to us had three little kids, one born just a few weeks after E. They kindly shared their bouncy ball with us in the communal (walled in!) garden that backs on to some of the cottages.

E and I went exploring...

In the above picture we're headed to the little play area behind the vegetable patch/greenhouse. There are ponies in the pasture at the top of the hill.


E on the hopscotch pad counting his way toward the boonga-boonga (what he calls trampolines).

Playing with big legos in the little "fort" next to the playhouse. Did I mention this place was a toddler paradise?


Visiting the chickens, who provided us with fresh eggs in the morning.


E absolutely loved this fountain. Conveniently, it was about two steps from our front door. Not so conveniently, E quickly learned how to open the door if it wasn't locked. There's a waterfall at the far end of the pond, and huge fish swimming around inside.


The place also had a great clubhouse with a toddler section (pictured above), which came in handy round about ooh.... 6:15am as I gave B a much-needed sleep-in. E could be as loud as he liked there since nobody was around. The clubhouse has a flat-screen TV, couches, pool table, ping-pong set etc... great for getting together with other people/family and friends along. I was impressed. And yeah, E is in the same shirt he was in the day before - nobody is very particular about clothes at 5:30 am.

I wasn't able to get any photos of the swimming pool, but that was pretty good too. Indoors, set up underneath a huge Roman mosaic. E loved it.

And that's all for now... off to bed. I have plenty more trip update to come - gave Dad a brief overview on the phone but pictures are hard to put into words, so...

To be continued.

News on Uncle Howard

Just to let family and friends know - Uncle Howard (Dad's brother) is in the hospital in Thailand. Due to the language barrier, we're not sure whether he's in a coma or not. Apparently he was only able to speak two words - Dad's name and his wife's name, and he was unable to recognize his wife.

Dad got through to a doc who said it looks like Howard had a diabetic seizure and that his lungs are in serious condition. Dad thinks the doctor may have said the prognosis was 'good' before he was cut off, but we're not sure whether that was a) misheard due to phone issues or b) what the doc thought we wanted to hear.

So if you have a moment please spare a thought for him. And on the off chance if you know someone who speaks English in Mukdahan, Thailand, drop Dad or me an email.

Brief Update

Been busy.

Went to the National Army Museum, which has a great children's play area. We plan to go back. Here's E inside a tank. He was trying to figure out how everything inside of there worked, hence the intense expression.


Went to visit his new cousin last week. B multitasked by swiping at E's drooly chin with a tissue while holding his newborn nephew.


E is not quite 18 months old and is recognizing some written letters and is able to identify them when asked and say the sound. I'm a bit scared.

B Request

"Go post that picture of you standing up on the blog and then find a similar one of Elijah."

Tying Up Loose Ends

It's going to be very difficult to leave CA! Everyone has been so welcoming. There was never a shortage of helping hands for the baby, and I was amazed at how babyproof things were. It was always a pleasure and never a chore to visit other houses! Thanks for the wonderful food, company, and... well, everything.

I'm going to miss being surrounded by so much nature. I don't think I'll ever take it for granted again. I love seeing the mountain so close and having beaches nearby, and walking out onto the marshes late at night with hardly another soul on the path.

I scanned in a few photos today. Won't post them all today, but I'll make a good start.

In honor of the family reunion going on right now in TX (which I wish we could have made!) here's a reunion announcement from 1983. (Click to enlarge.)

My mom when she was younger, with her dog Skippy (I think).


Sisters - My mom and my aunt Marjorie Deane.



Mawmaw learnin' me how to read.

Mawmaw and I in San Francisco somewhere.


Me playing the piano in church.

Riding with Jess in Hawaii when I was 12.

That's all for now, stay tuned for part 2 sometime later this week once I get around to it. Our things at the new place are still mostly in boxes, so things will be busy for awhile until the unpacking settles down and I get things where I want 'em. Wish us luck on the flight back.