[picture: college from river boardwalk
near scudamores: see 29th]
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See-also: http://www.wmc.care4free.net/diary/.
M up early with D: routine reestablishes. Now she is taking him in to playgroup.
Tues 4th
Back to short diary entries! Y'day was hard work. Tired soir.
Swim: 28.5, 29, 30, ?31? Cb1. Good.
Pm: tidy a little (wax doorsill) then D wants to swim: why not? Meet dc & sam (nearly 4). Cb1 again!
Wed 5th
Rain again. D to playgroup (or pre school) & while M leaves him I sit in the bike shed & listen to dibble-dibble-dop.
'Pau' is on p682.
Green party Toft soir.
Thurs 6th
More rain am :-( but sun pm :-). Fr cafe but M working late. Investigate mobiles then meet M w'stones. Home via allot. Ok but 2 weeks o'grown. Bought Police reg de b & 2 clash. & v4.
Fri 7th
Work: bits. Toms sym ant run is going ok & I am enjoying my guru role - ie I get to do the interesting problems.
Pm: a bit vague. Sit in the sun awhile. D quite quiet. Late to arjuna & cb1 at 6.
Get film ready to send off.
D barfs & is sad but soon recovers (sooner than I can clean up).
Sat 8th
Up a bit late. Swim 30, 31. Cb1. Puncture: ben h to buy inner & borrow levers. Habitat: photo box (suppress qualms about wood). W'stones, briefly: start hp, much in evidence.
Back at 2: M+D just back from orchard. Have a nice a'noon with D: he walks to Coton fete v happily & we have fun: he likes the throwing bags at cans stall. Diversion to horse field on way back.
One (but only one) of my stored apples is still edible so I ed it.
Sun 9th
Lunch time punt from Trinity, up the rollers (with help) & out of town for an indeterminate distance - just as far as open country. Then fr.
Lammas land - meet AndyS + wife + kid (surprise to me: why?). D has good run. Warm in sun.
Home 6.30. Sit outside with P. Birds wheel across advancing stormfront.
Mon 10th
RMS conf at Johns, offering ops for coffee. Currently trapped by rain in cb1 at lunchtime.
Escape too early: rain intensifies: dry self in front of hand-dryer. Obliged to write this during talk of
[®l¸4x{8ª~NR"xh[°pSN´<)E#t=28+bP&¡70$p'(7J§¬8a¸j%(©AJas3d~kÁgv>K'¬:·¢¾C%!]
(cipher).
D wakes up sad: says: 'i want to be in a weaselparcel': by which he means: wrapped in his yellow blanket.
Tues 11th
Shine shows history of assessments.
Myhre sub - forcing esp volc. Importance of volcanoes - still 'recovering'.
Wed 12th
D, apparently, recognises a group of tourists as french & says bonjour to them.
Take D to conf garden party & we both have fun. Good cakes (tea finishes a bit early) & talk to H+A & the chap who taught H about stereo camera piccies. Ballon release - D helps the too-small ones by removing their labels.
Thurs 13th
Cox: Airborne frac up by 2100 because of land not ocean - due to forest dieback in amazon & soil carbon loss due to respiration inc from about 2050.
Swim: 28, 30, 30, 31.5. Fr with M. To eyelink to get new glasses: £218. Of course, the old frames are not available.
Fri 14th
End of conf. Walking back through cloisters: image: man on ladder brushing ceiling!
Pick up D from M at Virata: M'a is sick. Kettles yard (with you-do-it for kids), W'stones, s'pool, cb1 occupies us. Then drive to F's.
Sat 15th
At F's for w'end. M+J there too & they will look after D. Days highlight: take tram in to station.
In Selfridges, which for some bizarre reason M seems to like but for me its too big, impossible to find anything, the stairs don't interconnect, & while it has 100's of restos its impossible to find any of them. Hmm. Well at least I now know enough not to come back. To complete my irritation we go to D+A's by tube not bus. But from here things improve.
After DAT quick look at new brit lib, then to Art Noveau at V+A: good but not outstandingly so. I prefer to have my choice of what to look at.
Sun 16th
Jonathon-the-rabbi to visit with 2 sons. Lunch, extended. Home.
Mon 17th
M's new mattress delivered & we drag it up & on. It has handles - a great advance over futon.
Tues 18th
Watch the full yellow moon through the night.
Swim: 2x20 in 29.75, 30.5 & 10 in 30. Thats 64l: a mile.
Cb1 is full of italian children.
Meet Ma+M+D in fr for lunch. Then M to work & we have a punt. Home, tea, then I mow allot, which needs it (& more). Home: sit outside. D dinner then bed for him & dinner for us. Open the great cheese - its still good.
Wed 19th
Watching D: marble maze: tries to make a support from 2 blocks: its too short: so he tries them in the other order.
Abuse of language: from 'pm': "that was the unanimous view of most labour mps".
Home most of pm: late visit to rec. Thrips: argh. D plays in 'sand pit' under swings.
Soir: to A+S.
Thurs 20th
Work, yoga, fr, primavera, w'stones.
Soir: hack sgf.pl into shape.
Fri 21st
pm: at home with D then town to pick up new glasses, cb1.
Drive to Ma's: Pat staying. D & dogs get on.
Sat 22nd
To Marcham then Elizabeth for M+J's 40th. Good. Present: fuzzy, josh, esther, j+k, j+k, xan+e, si+b.
Restart f1827 soir.
Sun 23rd
Up late - didn't even hear D get up. D for little walk to marcham playground. X+e for brunch. S+b back with them for B to catch es while Si begins new job with evil enron. We leave 4 ish (D sleeps in car) giving D time for 1 1/2 play at home. Then I do some F & M reads obs. Mangonel (from s+b from avignon) a bit - need new glue.
Mon 24th
Work! H sends email: lake is too cold for swim. Where is our summer?
Soir: F.
[picture: college from river boardwalk
near scudamores: see 29th]
Tues 25th
Happy b'day M. Ma has sent a card addressed to Mrs Connolley - as a joke I think. Make a card with D: he draws a piccy of M & adds lots of legs.
Swim: 4x10 in 28...31.
To Castle for M's lunchtime b'day work drinks. D has decided that John R is scary - I think its the beard. Lots of people there.
Climb Castle mound. And again. Phone N to congratulate her on fecundity.
Then by river. Caffe uno. Down to lock gate. Its a good place to go - boats & stuff to see, a big green to run on. There is an outdoor pool: t 20 c. D: when I get bigger & bigger then I will fall in the river.
W'stones: me: D, would you like this? D: no its different.
Wed 26th
Work am; pick D up at 2 and soon after Ma comes: she is going to look after D while I do H's triathalon. Except this year its a biathalon because the lake is too cold to swim in.
Get to H's a bit after 3:30. A few people about; it turns out that there are few people this year: perhaps 8 total, for no particularly obvious reason. Cycle off 4-ish (I've left my watch at home) at a fair pace, but not racing. For some stupid reason I put myself in the lead for half the distance, though I know I'll be tired later. Its quite a way from Comberton - 20 mins or so just to get onto last years course.
To Over and the Ouse. Lock up bikes and off we go, me with my bike key in my sock, where I can feel it when I think to. Dday is warm/half sunny and running is pleasant until we get about 1/4 way round, the field begins to stretch out, I fall to the back and my unfitness begins to show. Slog on... fewer nettles than last year, but more thistles. Mantleshelf up onto the bridge but don't find a good way down, and by now I am slow. Find the gap in the hedge to the other lake, make a mistake in the approach to Overcote (just as I'm thinking to myself how much of the course I've remembered - never needed to look at map) and have to slog through longer grass and get grass-ends in my shoes. Excuse for quick stop to remove them. On the lane from O'cote: the (rather long) final stretch: walk for 100 steps 3 times.
Back at river: get clapped by others who have waited, to my surprise. Sit on edge and remove shoes and... f*ck: my key goes into the river. Much laughter from other side. Get into river and try to find it for forms sake, but it is clearly hopeless. But try for 10 mins or so. Tell others to go: I will phone home (derision at my having mobile). Swim across (nearly get cramp due to cold: I stayed in too long looking for key) and phone home and M at work - aren't mobiles useful. She will come (with Ma and D). Have about an hours wait. Watch sun in pale orange sky reflected in quiet river. "Borrow" green skiff and have another look for key: no good. Fisherfolk reprimands me for boat, but then offers to get boltcutters when he hears my tale of woe.
M arrives: unlock bike, and fairly soon go off, preferring to finish course and then go to pub with H etc to meal with M and Ma, to M's disgust. Ho hum. So: off I go. Now quite late: 8 ish. I seem to be doomed to complete H's triathalons alone under an orange fenland sunset (except last year AS pulled me round). With noone to slipstream I am slow, and my calves feel incipient cramp. But no wind, few hills, almost no traffic and an easy to find course, and I get to the pub at 9.20 ish, with my food on order thanks to H and Anne, and better H goes to get me a pint. Ahhhhh.
Good evening: Debs is there, now working for SciGen at Harston. Leave late then back to H+A for tea, cheese and whiskey. Then stumble home by 12:30 or so.
Thurs 27th.
Tired - but not too badly. D wakes me unmercifully early, but is content to play by himself. Quiet at work. Yoga is breathing, then lunch with M at fr. Ben H for new lock for M (a u-lock with just one key is a dangerous thing) and some handlebar tape. W'stones (Hairy Pooter). Home: sit on lawn with Marcel, who torments himself about Albertines inclinations.
Ma phones: she will have D for 3 days after Pendley.
Fri 28th
At home all pm. Still feeling tired from H's bi & feeling its mostly mental but not sure how to shake it off. Tidy l'room & tie up some hollyhocks & cut back passionflower vine with D. J phones: she & M will have D week after Ma.
Sat 29th
Back to routine: swim 29, 30, 30.5, 32 which is slow but not disastrous. Cb1/arjuna. Eyelink to get glasses bent. Meet Jo outside oxfam. W'stones (finish hp) & handover to D with M.
Take D down along river for ice cream, to kiosk by black iron footbridge, where i'c'm's are surprisingly generous.
Sun 30th
Quiet day at home. We have nit lotion in hair so no swim... hot day: too hot. Read paper in hammock. Cut lawn & tidy a bit. Take ladder up onto flat roof & tie back vine: put in third wire for it. Take D for walk to rec - out by f'path by church & back by sewage works & over stream.
Soir: M yogas.
Mon 31st
Soir: M yogas for third night in row: she seems to have finally found an inspiring book. I F & mangonel a bit. D restless: cough.
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