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See-also: http://www.wmc.care4free.net/diary/.
Sat 1st
Early sun but fades. M somewhat unwell, tummy-wise. Cool cycling in to town.
Swim 29, 30. Cb1: richard is there, first in ages. Play: I win. Arj. Back to sun. Town: w/s, briefly, then home, via arrange with Nicola to see her re bw 3ish.
A bit of lunch, & off belatedly to N [Daniel should be called daniel & not any silly words. Written so that I will remember, at D's request]. D & Niome play very happily together while we discuss bw, then N has to go get an extractor.
Then we go & watch cricket for a bit until enticed away to see a combine in the bean field, enveloped in a cloud of dust. Now a tractor arrives & the combine disgorges beans: such joy. Well: what a rural village-type afternoon. Still better, the trailer fills & we help open the field gate, all on a warm (but not hot) a'noon with a gentle breeze.
I leave D watching the combine & go watch cricket, an exercise in not-worrying partly. Spend about 2h watching combine (& playing vexed 2.04b).
Sun 2nd
All of a sudden the urge comes on me to get rid of the terrible wallpaper-paint junction in the living room. So... once M is downstairs, set to and depopulate the shelves to various ad-hoc places in the room. Take the shelves down, then the tedious business of stripping the wallpaper, including the grungy stuff that was under the curtain rail. D helps with some of the stripping. At first I wanted to do that wall, and the back wall where the sofa will go. But D throws an eppy because he doesn't want to see all the old wallpaper go, and it would probably be too much effort at once, so settle for one wall. Polyfill random old holes and then its lunchtime.
Paint, again with D's help: or at least, he can help with some of the lower bits in a safe way. First coat finishes at 3ish: will be able to o'coat at 11pm: joy. With a little paint left over gratuitously paint a wall in our bedroom.
Afternoon. At 5, M takes D off to Lammas land and I get on with more gardening: tidy up leylandii again at the front; sweep the path; hoe the gravel under the car; prop up the jasmine by the pond. Start up bonfire. M and D return and wave from the house; the D creeps up and says hello from his treehouse, and we bonfire together.
Soir: win bg! Wow! All of a sudden its over. Oddly, Saverok isn't worth as much as the demon.
Late: finish second coat. Phew.
Mon 3rd
Sleep rather well... don't wake up till past 8. M gets up with D; somewhat later I get up, check the paint (ok) and put up the shelf supports. Good: another white wall. Only one to go!
Work: linux vn4.5 all day: progress: learn about underscores in fortran to c.
Home. D to bed. N phones: about to spin honey, so I go off to see. Naomi and Nelson up and interested; Nicolas too (a lot of N's; why didn't they call Patrick Natrick?). We all try to work out how the frames should fit into the extractor: its not clear, they don't go in perfectly. N uncaps with just a sharp knife, and it all works quite quickly, inside 40 mins for 4 frames, despite uncertainty. So perhaps I'll convert... How hard should you spin? How long? Unclear: some of the frames break a little, under the stress, on the first-side spin, and deform. But undeform on other side spin.
And then home: put shelves back, at different heights. Decide not to put "plant shelves" back.
Tues 4th
A.m. at home: relax & garden: tidy up the front. P.m. with D to N's. Talk benny while D plays. Soir: finally start M's relax ex.
Wed 5th
Thurs 6th
Meet M for lunch borders after yoga. But starbucks folks piss me off: I'm not going back. Revenge: sit sans buying & read Linux mag while M drinks.
After: ben h for new tyre: my std one burst with a bang this a.m. & I'm now on M's old bike. Rs for cd rack: fail. Cb1. Shock: russell is off to be a teacher.
Fri 7th
Swim pm with D, h+c. I get one set of 10 in 27.5.
Sat 8th
D comes in at 8: who is waking up with me? I am. But I want mummy! Mummy is having a rest. Door slams. A familiar ritual on my days.
Today I threw away the red-black magnetic go recording pen that Edmund gave me so many years ago: D had squished their tips in.
Cb1. A few toys from S.A. Arj. Maplin & RS looking at wireless networks.
Lunch w/s becomes a disconnected affair. Meet srl & esther going in, but M is downstairs reading with D. I sit down, awaiting them, & read pooter buyer. Kate turns up, warned by srl... I go find M+D & after just one more mr men we go up & D devours tuna sandwiches.
With D to tohiti for cd shelves (fail) & get some at Hatifat.
Back to cb1 to look up diamond homefree (rs has one, protocol unclear) but it doesn't look good. D sits quietly with an apple juice while I do (he is tired) & then we read a book he has chosen for its front cover piccy of a cute dog like the one m'a sometimes looks after, ben.
Cycle home (stopping to look over bridge at punts, D vastly amused by one chap losing his pole) and D complains once again at having to go down the cycle path, which I love.
Home: play the hammer-tack pictures game for a bit, though its slightly hard for him to hammer them in. Then I put up the 2 CD box-shelves, which removes almost all our overflow. Good. Looking for "noah" in the bible and can't find it... so go online and find it via concordance. Ah the modern world. At the same time discover that the koran (and numerous others) don't mention weasels, poor show.
Sun 9th
Up with D. Bible stories. He doesn't care for originals. Asterix. M down: I sleep in sun.
Gardening. Mow lawn & tidy. Plant out j+j's passion flower. M has taken D somewhere, so deliver Bennys letter to cp & allot a little.
Out to fly D's kite. Much admired by elder boys. But string breaks, & it goes over houses... oh dear. Rain starts, in for hot choccy.
Late: go rescue D's kite (find it just over stream) & end up, at D's own desire, walking happily together round the big field in the setting sun.
Mon 10th
Work: fix singles but mpp still eludes. Tosh disk in trouble.
Year turns: as I put D to bed, the sky outside is deep blue.
Tues 11th
Swim 27.5, 28.5, 29, 29.5. Cb1. Finish bc by pa. As going to arj, meet M (M'a is having D today). To fr for lunch but its shut! For refurb only, good. M suggests Casimir.
Habitat for stackable desktop drawers. Pm: to work for a few h on mpi. Sigh. IRE informs me of the planes-in-the-world-trade-centre.
Wed 12th
4 to H's with D: other H too: she is buying house on fp. I find myself showing off new car: not happy with this: I am *not* a driver-of-a-big-shiny-car sort of person. Back via Rick+Jo+E, briefly. Take them some grapes: we have lots, & they are good this year.
Thurs 13th
Up with D happily (both of us). Wax another shelf.
No yoga lunch: work. 2 to town: dry cleaning for M; cb1 (play richard) & various little shops.
Soir: finally twat mpi: hurrah!
Fri 14th
Work. Tidy mpi. Show off lego + palm remote. Sillly 3min silence. Hand over citroen to n.a. Bye bye.
Home: drive to w'ham with D for bee stuff: apistan, frames.
Back 4: G+E over, a handful, but after a while they play happily.
Sat 15th
A fragment of 'with the night mail'. Can this really be kipling? A 2000 that feels like 1930... german bearings are el-cheapo.
Buy, at last, 8210... after numerous crashes of their computer. Fortunately I have vexed. While wandering in between crashes, order bench from new chap in craft markt. Medium box cedar.
On way back stop at rec for tail of mini-boot: get blue shutters, croquet set, 'big builder' stuff, semi-duplo, wooden blinds forced on me. A bargain.
D's cheese-&-cucumber sandwich: 2 slices of cucumber with a thin slice of gouda between.
Soir: telnet from palm to 8210!
Sun 16th
Sun. Last of the year, feels like. Put up hammock & lounge in it, once I've kicked D out.
Discuss climbing frames/swings with D, from catalogue.
Put apistan into hive: with stunning incompetence, I outrage bees by smoker going out. Retreat. Still, the hive is clearly full...
Also: clear pond. Test (successfully) floating solar fountain.
Finish (at last!) plastering by soil pipe. But needs paint. Cut hole for light in l'room shelf, & 1/2-wax.
D plays Winnie & Blinky Bill, & with the new 'duplo' - best 10p I spent. W's theory of toys: the cheaper they are, the more they are liked.
Soir: yaapf on bslpsda/b!
Mon 17th
New pc disk arrives. Fit it in fear. Install rh 7.1: easy!
Tues 18th
Grey: wind & thin rain. Swim 40 in 30.25. Cb1 shut! Germ.
Put in new light-by-cd & cut switch.
Wed 19th
Threadworms! Boots for medecine. Take that, scum.
Home 3:30 (perm from M).
Soir: a+s over. M has bought w'rose pizza. A+s have bought a new riverfront house.
Thurs 20th
No yoga & thus spend till 5.30 :-( trying to get dos back on. Hmm. Very frustrating.
Home: sofa has arrived & in place. Looks good. D loves it.
Fri 21st
Home for lunch. Pace out size of tp swingset: 4x3m is big but not huge.
M off, arrange to meet in town via the magic of 2 mobiles. We wander in garden, drying in sun. Bees active. Solar fountain still working.
To town, arj then G centre 'cos D wants to play in p area.
Outside in the world the aftermath of the wtc continues: much speculation, few facts, politicians talking. Sell airlines. Bas went orange for a while. My theory (& I write it down so I can't change my mind later as events unfold) is that offing obl (nb no evidence offered yet) wouldn't do: not enough revenge. So they will carefully avoid acquiring him.
Sat 22nd
Mist. Off to will auction early: not much, don't stay. Discover (at last) that W is a square: which is why I always get lost. Turn off for Over. Back: go to Oakington airfield markt, since its there: bizarre: mist; follow car ahead to... where? To tack, it seems. But get D a swimming spouting dolphin. Home. Play at installing things. Relax on new sofa.
Finish new 'brio' turntable: good.
Mist clears to sun. M off to town. D & I play a little then decide to walk the back way to N's: over stream, past sewage, brook lane, over road, off towards m'way, around the bean field & so to end of f'path. N etc are on rec for tenants b'day. D & N end up playing 'chase the frisbee'. Home 6: M back. She & D play party backs. I attempt to set up irda & fail to rebuild kernel.
Soir: more coaching practice.
Sun 23rd
Quiet am.
Niamh's party pm.
M still larger. The ermine keeps her awake of niqhts, she goes downstairs
to read.
Mon 24th
Soir: decide its perhaps h not af.
Tues 25th
D wants to play with canal but it leaks so is put outside. I take him to p'g'p.
Swim 29, 30. Cb1. Give junk to s.a. Arj: but they have no raisins. Germ for party bags. Rs for dolls house stuff for ma for D. And ballons.
Home, 1.30, having stopped to dig a few pots. No sound of D. Coffee, lunch with M. Pm sunny: sit in window in sun. Cut vine down a little for more sun.
3: go pick up D from Sophie who picked him up from p'g'p. He and H are upstairs & tell S to go away: teddy is sleeping. So we have tea in the garden & Ollie tries to steal Theas biscuits.
Home. D now plays with canal outside & makes brief forays to G+E. I cut more vine & passionflower, then the grass. Whew.
Cook: my onions & pots. Coton squash. Veg sos.
Mr bench turns up & assembles same. Good. Cedar (not western red, which is apparently totally diff & not even a cedar).
Soir: rebuild kernel again but still no /dev/tts/0.
Wed 26th
To c+h.
Soir to A+S new house. Rescue cat. D's drawing: scribble, new page.
Thurs 27th
I thought that I had lost my unlucky squirrel tail, but no! Found him later.
Cb1/arj/germ/rs.
Photos from old film back. Turn out to be pembroke with john isard & some lescun #1.
Soir: Tandys letter writing.
Fri 28th
M's due date. No signs. Early: mist again. Pm: absurdly warm & sunny. With D to town for canal pump, etc. Get M a booklight after much prevarication on my part.
Buy D braces: he looks very smart & he likes them. & his trousers stay up.
Sat 29th
Rain. Good: I half emptied the pond by suction by accident.
Quiets somewhat. Into town. Cb1: beat Richard on 9 again. Various last preps for party.
Sun 30th
Grey rainy day: inside quiet.
Towards eve D & I go out for a little bonfire & to pick apples, for party bags. D also picks some runner beans for the bags.
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