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See-also: http://www.wmc.care4free.net/diary/.
Sat 1st
am: Med are inventing the story of 'friendly pond' & the trip to the jungle with mr weasel & excited.
Town: arj/cb1. Rs for pressie for Adam (playmobil sea serpent).
Home. Brief lunch, then pick up BAG for swim. All well, though E doesn't swim much. D swims with float; without it on back; & manages 1/3 width of pool on front.
Back: D to B; E to sleep; M is in town. Peace.
Sun 2nd
D: I like to say 'butt' & 'fart'.
10.15 - A (sounding rather rough) delivers B (with stern injunction to be good).
11: DB to s/school. As we arrive, Reuben is exiled.
Home: coffee & rest.
12: pick up DB. They play in sandpit a while.
1: off to Grad Pad for Trig r2,3. Have fun, but lose :-( to Alison & Alan.
Mon 3rd
Set of loads of runs to fill cluster, & have 'matrix' of mcphee/ridging/alb to fill.
Home mildly early, domestic scene.
M to yoga, I computer in various unsuccessful ways. Try to book egs trip, but dumb eurostar insist I spent a sat away or pay vast amounts.
Tues 4th
Work. Home for lunch/coffee.
To school & acquire DE & B. DB play in sandpit/frame: E's toddling takes her down garden into tree house. But I have to help her down. Honor was supposed to come today but Sophie & I get days crossed. Still D&B are happy. A comes for B at 5. We do pancakes.
Soir: read Noone isotopes. Then try to find phone manual on the web. Get several wrong ones. Its a Philips Kala 6523. Various experiments later seem to fail, though I *do* restore the red led. Finish Divine Endurance, which ends as bizarre as expected. But... doesn't, to my mind, quite hang together. & how does fd fit in? An interlude? Bed: suddenly another thought: perhaps its a long blank message? It is! Hurrah!
Wed 5th
Grey. D to school, back with E. 10.20 drive to p+r (excuses: it looks like rain, & E has a cold). Town. Parkers piece: ?demo marches on police station? Swim, demo still there, arj for E's biccies, penguin for M, Browns, cb1. Germans talking: '...kleine...genau... initial costs...geselschaft...running costs... Cb1 for lemons etc. Demo gone. E sleeps on. Rs: buy wooden storage boxes. You can carry a lot on a pram. Oxfam: get 1890's astro sci book, & Patrick Moore sky encyclopedia for piccies & maps for D. Home.
Tidy till M back at 4+, when I sit with coffee & read Dark Light.
Bennys Way: Dot passes note saying balance is £234.76. Will take to Dot tonight.
Gentle rain. Pick up A & onto trustees pre-meet (formally invalid since not advertised): 7: their fear returns & they decide to lock up the swings until inspection in april. I speak somewhat out of turn, then in 10mins of main meet, to say I disagree & that petition-signers will too.
Jean Hughes: rumours of house rebuilding / widening & lighting of cycle path? Beryl: where? JH: everywhere.
John Reynolds is now meandering off into roads, at the chairs prompting.
Dot: BW trees: sc will put in 4 new (unspecified trees ('bigger than normal' at planting) to be put in along road; sign by road to be moved to behind springers).
Twinning with ?Ostova? Czech. Mystery man.
Leave 8:10: c+a & a there; s later. Bed late.
Thurs 6th
Work, but uninspired: sleepy. Yoga. Town: extensive rest in cb1. Rs for more boxes. Sun.
Home in time for short sit in garden & reading 'online'. Quiet & peaceful, insects dance in the sun.
5:10: our slot for talking to Mrs L about D; M of course is late :-). L is v happy with D, a joy to teach, esp now he is more restrained in asking q's & waiting his turn. Maths better than reading.
Fri 7th
Work, leave 2 in rain: hence no digging.
3.30: school. M there. Pick up DE; to C+A for pm.
7.32: drive to M+J. 9.33: arrive. Ernie there. We say: OK drive, but we got lost once. Ernie: my driver got me here without getting lost, thought he only did it once before, 2 years ago...
Sat 8th
Up v lazily late, past 11, hurrah. From downstairs, I hear at times shrieks of joy and sorrow... and one particularly sad point, as M attempts to get D to help her read a story.
Carrs (X&E) over for lunch. X shows someone - Ernie? pics, and I catch a comment "Si+B in Amstelveen". So I look at the pics: I'm jealous, but confused: beach; surf; very blue sea; trees down to the beach; houses amongst the trees. This, to me, doesn't look like anywhere European, though I'm not sure why... a few pcitures on, and it becomes clear that its Australia. At the end, Si+B's proposed new apt block *does* look, by contrast, all too European.
Edward turns out to be a POB fan too, but a turn of the converstation prevents us from discussing this together; maybe next time.
Si, BTW, is off skiing or drinking in Norway with his new company; B is said to be in Holland negotiating the tortuous pathways of Dutch flat-buying.
3: off to Abingdon to buy toy for Oliver: settle on a lego car, though choice is limited. A fails to impress, as a shopping experience, or are we spoilt? Meditation: where would I *like* to live? Well in the mountains, obviously, but its not clear how the isolation would affect things, not just shopping and meeting, but possibly more important nowadays, schooling (this all on the unlikely assumptions that it could be made to fit 2 working patterns). And childminding, too.
Meanwhile others have all gone out to Marcham playground; when we get back they are out so we walk off, probably to meet them, and do. E has been climbing on the helicopter, D is less impressed.
Soir: xfer files for Mfd via magic of pcmcia/compactflash; he is so impressed he considers buying one.
Read some of Mfds "stories from family history" which is really well done and interesting, and makes me think I must sit down with J+J sometime to see what they remember of Jamaica. Perhaps Henry too.
To bed early: a short day: good to rest.
Sun 9th
D wakes M+J at 6:59 (and they watch the clock roll over to 7) I learn later. D comes and drags me out of bed at 8:30 with E's help. M gets her lie in after, but less successfully than me, since they are more inclined to want to be with her than me, oh dear.
Sun: out in garden. Mfd has rotavated his patch and its nice and clear and the soil pleasant to work (though not up to J+J's), so D enjoys digging and raking and such, and I tidy up the path a little to keep him company. E gets dirty, Mfd complains of the cold (wimp) and J finds D interesting tools like a mattock.
Leave after lunch at 1 (well, 1:02) precisely, since we have to be back in time. Bye to Ernie, who is going back today. D reqs, and gets, Grimms fairy tales, which he hasn't wanted for a while, or has he only travelled whilst asleep for a bit? Anyway, back well in time, so I set off for allot with wheel barrow and drop D with Sally and Nick (-as-in-Genevive) takes them off to Olivers b'day at Strikes bowling. And I go off and dig, quite happily, for 2 1/2 hours. A pleasant afternoon, quiet, a little wind, a little sun, soil drying. Plant 3 half rows of onions right at back; 1 more in middle; clear some more ground; and whellbarrow away the junk-grass-heap about 3/4 of the way back that was always such a pain to lawnmower.
Walk back the back way, tired; dusk; lovely. 6. M is in l'room with happy E. D still out wherever. Make soup: todays leeks; previous jarts, pots, onions. M sets off for D at 6:45 and they don't get back till past 7, so it stays quiet. I soup and wash up. After E to bed, I bathe in heat. And thats the evening, apart from finishing Dark Light.
Mon 10th
Work / yoga (7 of us) / work.
D has a wobbly tooth!
Soir: game 2 as tallstoat: 2/2. Also evil taux. M yoga.
Tues 11th
Work. Taux corr woes.
Leave 2: to dig, but via N to try (& fail) to cd-rw her new comp (because its rom) & usb ('cos its 98?). Do more around middle, & replant 2 pots.
3.30: to school. Spooky: no-one: I'm first: but only by a few mins.
D has lost a tooth! While eating a pot. Hurrah for D. Its in an envelope in his bag, apparently. Home. D E outside, I'm inside with coffee. & out a bit. Inside: E plays with D's bag: oh no! Where is the tooth? Extensive search fails to find it :-(.
Late: take torch & see the pond boggles, as we used too.
Night: open wind to hear the frogs.
Wed 12th
D to school, in light rain, complains of cold. & it is, in the wind.
Drive p+r.
11: pool. Andrea+N just in. They last 1h; E a little longer. Its good with someone else. E & N play together a little, but also watch each other. Parenting diffs: A instinctively helps E (who can do it herself) & N down slides, etc. I stay back. Also A follows N pool to pool: I wallow & help E over walls back to me. Lunch at pool. Then we arj/cb1 (E slow to settle)/arj.
3:45: awaiting bus back; chill wind; E sleeps on.
Home, MD there. Tea & paper, then go out (with D) & plant a few peas I bought today at Arj. Seems chill for them but maybe they'll come. Tulips coming. Must plant bbeans.
MDE off to piano. Play go: another win. D back & peers at game, interested, but I'm too tense to comment & afraid E may pull the wires.
D pores over the lego catalogue (came by mail) exclaiming 'cool' at various.
Soir: another game, another dodgy win... Then load up electoral roll.
Thurs 13th
Work / informal yoga.
Allot: 2/3 of far rear patch in order & mid not too discreditable. Find a few lost pots & replant them.
D to Billys; pick him up after going for E at 6. E looks like: a cartoo char? A teletubby? In her big red coat, & she walks from foot to foot & holds hands up. Claire gives us G's old coat.
Soir: go. Read. Try to find summer hol.
Fri 14th
Work: tauxy corr moves to atmos but remains frustrating.
Home 2: sit out in sun: lovely. Economist can't understand why we dont all want war, patiently purveying their illogic, but a bit sketchily, you can see they really just want to write 'oh just agree with us'.
D is scheduled to go with N but he manages to make her miserable (N (excited): 'D, you're coming to my house!' D: (shouts): 'I KNOW' N (collapses into sadness)). So I have to remonstrate. So D gets sulky & doesn't want to go. So... in the end, N comes back with us. Which makes sense, as Ma is here. 6: pancakes. N finds D's times table book & is interested. D: 'when I have my b'day, I'll put a times table in your party bag'. N: (delighted).
Sat 15th
Ma is here till 3: what shall we do? Ans, after b'fast etc, & some sitting outside, at 11 them to Wimpole & I to allot & get in 2 1/2 h digging: back & front, especially around rasp at front.
3: ma off; E to sleep; Honor brought round.
Sun 16th
A glorious day, spend much of it outside. Up with DE, fairly quiet, I sleep on sofa after M wakes. Take D to sunday school (some resistance) & return back way (familiar irritation at churchs permissive path). Coffee. Hack back vines more. Mon 17th
Coapec. Up 7, but our E-alarm wakes us somewhat earlier... a beautiful morning, a pleasure to be up, slanting light, a path of gold, frost. Get to station puffed with 5 mins free & huge q, but happily train is late. Meet Nicole & Tom, & Ian at Pad. Taxi to met.
STett. Obs. Plan to move to err est in dataset.
Eric Guilyardi: prism & el nino. Atmos model sets enso freq. Alex Megann (soc): Chime: a new uk coupled climate model: hadam3 & ice, with hybrid-coord ocean: isopycnic interior, depth near sfc. Still building. Bablu Singh (& Clothilde). Forte. Lo-res coupled (why? Indeed). Chris Jones, Hadley. Famous. Ocean 2.5x3.75, 12h ts, no iceland. 5x7.5 atmos 1h ts. 10* hacm3 speed. Init state poor: tune (to hadcm3) by variational approach & descent algorithm. Arcsin Mielke skill score in: t1.5, ppn... 6 in all. Tunes 'fairly well' but clim sens too high. Bob Marsh. C-goldstein/Genie. 2-d atmos/primitive ocean. Insolation, winds, albedo prescribed. 2000y of rubbish in 1-2 h. Andy Hogg. Eddy-res quasi-geostr coupled gcm. For: effect of eddies on merid heat trans. A Iwi. Beowulf. Timings - get. Ditto speedup with instantaneous diags. Stratosphere diffs 32/64 in top layer? Coapec cluster. R Wood says barotropic stream function calc needs 64. Ag Stephens, badc. Era-40.
Taxis!
Nijntje is Miffys real name. Says Nicole while we have a pint in 'the coopers'. Train back 7:15: crowded but seats (we rejected the 6:45 which barely had standing room). Stuffy with windows shut; chill with open.
Cycle home: 9. Sleep on M all soir.
Tues 18th
Another lovely morn, but more lie-in. Work. 1:30: to town to see elec folk & pick up forms (I *could* have done this weeks ago but for no good reason thought I had to await dec-of-elec). Cb1: sort lists & write envelopes for S & Mark.
Rush back to school for 3.30. Pick up DE, B & Oliver. D is a dinosaur: this means stomping low down, slowly, & shouting 'awooou'. He wants BO to copy him but keeps it up even when they don't. Near end, O falls while running & grazes head, elbow, knee. K so bad he rides back in E's p'chair. Apply salve & plasters. Phone his mum? Ah, oh, suddenly it hardly hurts at all.
And so the time: outside, sandpit (E too), swings (E nearly gets brained) while I coffee & vid. Inside, misc. I 'cook' mashed-pots-&-peas. Computer: oz. M back 6.30; Joanne soon after. A for B at 7 as I go to give H her forms. Full-moon-rise with halo.
Soir: lose first game as tallstoat: 9/10. But it was a 3-min game. Gp elec email & stuff.
Wed 19th
*another* lovely day. D stubs toe & I get buggy board out: poor thing: at school he goes straight to sit down by teachers ch, cutely & naturally x-legged. E to M'a.
Back home. Coffee & paper on slate by back door. More elec stuff.
Rms: clim var meeting. Meet tlc, nvl, jck on 12.15 train (check mkt sq for demo at 12: no. Tomorrow?). U/g to gt port, walk through Reg park (violation of Morn Cresc). Meeting after tea much better. See stilt-legged lion-wolf on way back. 6.15 crowded :-(. Paper: war has started :-(((. I have my white ribbon on, but haven't given any out.
D: 'how many were going to st ives? (before I have time to reply, holds finger up, says): one!'.
Soir: to A+S to see (& indeed take a short trip on) Zinfandel. DE stay awake till we leave (10.30) but astonishingly (E) stay sweet-tempered. Inspect boat, D loves it, then off we go (C stays with sleeping N). They have walky-talkies to comm back-front but really need a camera. Just short trip to mus of tech. Quiet & peaceful - though not as q as rowing, as a gently splashing 8 goes past.
Thurs 20th
Work / yoga. J & I agree its a shame to miss 12 noon demo.
Demo! Into town after yoga to look for the tail of the 12 noon demo: nothing :-( But then find it outside C church: sit down protest: 3: junction blocked, traffic stopped, police look on (further back: police to motorist: 'if it was up to me sir I'd have cleared them long ago'). Weather: sunny & warm: just right for sitting out. Chants. Incendiary drumming. Compostion: mostly 6-formers? With perhaps 25% adults. Another group of blue-sweatshirts arrive. O'heard 'I nearly voted labour but thought "f*ck it" & voted green'. Numbers > 300.
Arj/cb1: half h break. Back: more police. They drag one (random?) person out & arrest them. One more. One more. 5:15: continuous but not fast: 1 every few mins? I've sat down somewhat
to the side, but get warned I may be arrested.
Things develope: the police continue to pluck people out, whilst ringing the mass of sat-down folk in the middle. Around the edge, people watch, and a few of us (inc me) sit down. The police seek to expand their ring, and warn us again that we may be arrested. They patiently explain that we can go into the middle with the others if we want to sit down; they want to clear the road here. I patiently explain back that they are missing the point.
But in the end, rather than arrest me, an older woman and a younger man, they decide to expand their ring over us: hurrah, a victory.
By 5:45, the mass of folk in the middle is down to about 40-60, not sure, with many more around the edge. Police tactics become unclear: they stop arresting. But then, the middle folks get up and march off. Why? (later: I realise: its because there was a demo scheduled for 6pm in the town sq, and this (I guess) provides a good excuse to head off at what is looking like an iffy time).
Zoom home: pick up E at 6:10, somewhat late (I had previously phoned M'a when I might have been much later/arrested). Then go get D, 15 mins late at home club: oops. They are v nice: but I'll get fined next time. D has been watching T+J and doesn't seem too sad. Why was I late? I try to explain about our sit-down.
Home, frazzled: demoing gets the blood up. Meet M (and Mr Box) just before home. Dinner.
Download photos, and upload to web 4 of the best.
DE to bed.
Soir: M out to book club (Fidelity), I relax (bit-cf gcom2.9b5 and go).
Fri 21st
Work, till 3.15. Sigh. School: easily pick up 9 sigs & M is #10. D off with B. Take E home. Outside. I weed lawn, E finds a plant pot & toddles after me, making me put the weeds in.
7.20: drive off to F. 2h.
War on tv. Read mail/news.
Sat 22nd
Lie-in. F has bought D the 'big loader' set he has long desired. He assembles & watches it.
Demo! Was to have taken D, then sci-mus, but F has arranged for photos: I'd forgot. Leave alone at 11, train to V (crowded. Group of 6 girls in high 60's kit & wigs, off to hen), buy mini-a-z, walk to parliament sq then towards embankment. Blocked by police from joining to front of main march - they like to keep things tidy. 12.30 they let it start (why the delay?). Buy some badges. Video a lot, photo a little (marches being intrinsically mobile). March, stop, watch, march. Watch police tactics. March.
3.30: Hyde Park bandstand, awaiting RickJE, contact via demon mobile. Sun, wind. Sit happily in sun & watch folk & banners. RJE find me & we talk/eat & watch Ewan. Go across to speeches for a bit, then all walk back to Vic. Back to F, 6.
Numbers? Hard to say. Much less than the big one. March people say 500k. Police < 100k - I don't believe that (later, the semi-official estimate becomes 200k). News soirs says hundreds of k.
Bathe & bed DE.
Tv: on a marine helmet: 'shai hulud'. Is he really a worm, even a great one? & how many watching knew.
E sad in bed: D sings her rock-a-bye-baby & she quietens. Eventually. M & I both tired: sofa.
Sun 23rd
7.30: up with E, D already down, *still* playing with his big loader.
11: out with DE: they are too bouncy to be in. To grass area at top. Sun. Warm. V few about. Skipping rope. 2 JW's door knock with no success: must be terribly wearing: makes getting sigs seem easy. Let DE play as they like: D finds ladybird: says: 'it doesn't *look* as though it could fly'. Me: explains about big & small.
Mon 24th
Get to grips with oo's powerpoint & set off missing runs / yoga / work.
Home 6 as Rob turns up with his broken pooter. Send him home at 10 with his photos retrieved to cd, & our drive D zeroed :-( because I was careless swapping disks). Xp re-install says 'your disk is b*gg*r*d so he'll have to tell that to support.
Tues 25th
Work hard: tigger presentation, & send off. Home: 1h sit in sun with pob. To school: pick up E, oversee D to O's.
A'noon: garden with E for 1h+. Then inside burbling & out for more g. E can just lift fork or spade, but tries to dig too.
Pick up DB at 6, though they would rather stay, & Natasha wants them to. So B comes to us. We all watch GE's dad mixing concrete for his pond; DB play there. Then at dusk I have a roaring bonfire & GE join us. No-one gets hurt though I'm tense: GE look after E solicitously.
Wed 26th
Back from school, via bw (another lovely day: find myself saying 'whan that aprile with his shoures sweet / the droute of march hath perced to the roote'). Sit at back in sun, with sap bleeding where I pruned vine. E smashes self near R eye with D's tool box. Blood in eye! But only from small nearby cut.
To p+r: sit outside awaiting bus, having just missed one.
Town. Pool 11.30 (no NA), arj, cb1 at 1, ML is awaiting with his sigs & we talk as I fill forms, then misc/war till 2, while E not-sleeps (I've forgotten her milk). M *volunteers* to do another sig paper: hurrah for M.
To electoral folk, E now asleep. Clive: ok. Simon: ok. Martin: ok. Me: ok. PC*2: ok. Good. & now its 3: time to start home.
4: home. D in sandpit, E sleeps on, M inside, grape still weeps. Succumb: sit out & read & lunch & coffee. Mad Mulch delivers sand to EG (& gets stuck). D watches & wishes EG were around, then off to piano. EG come round in his absence: when he returns I send him round. But they all come back... & play on c'frame, even fearless E. A bolt needs replacing: do so. Now 6.30.
Thurs 27th
Work (cluster reboot: hot) / yoga.
To Orwell, to collect sigs. After unpromising start in L Eversden, succeed in O just in time to cycle home & pick up D then E. A good cycle, empty-fen-type lands & orange sun.
Soir: another game against jazzdog: a win. M writes in her journal about her - ahem - quarrel, with the over-manly greek.
Fri 28th
Tired. At last a grey morn. Megan sick again so E to M'a (D on his bike) then school. Work: Impress'ing. 1 week left.
Home in time for 1h sit by pond, its now just hazy. School: D E, & bring B out. D needs stern talk not to be overbearing, but B is perhaps a bit weak. Outside: I garden a little & cut the lawn! Or some of it. M has a go.
Sat 29th
Lazy lie in. Shower & shave in anticipation of pm. Down after 9.30. Med go out to sandpit, I sit in with coffee. They to w/rose. Quiet.
They back. D gets GE. They & E play while I level climbing frame by digging in stairs end. Dge off on bikes while I watch. Are they allowed out alone? Unsure. Decide, nervously, that DG are.
3: the evil can be put off no longer: cycle to histon (via niab) for sigs for Mary L-C. 1/2h to get there; 10 mins 'assessing' houses; 15 mins finding KR's place in Merton Rd (but he's out :-(). So: knuckle down to it in station rd. & it takes a little over 1h. I'm looking out for houses with stickers or posters in the windows, since I think thats a good sign, but I see *none*. One or two bicycles helps.
Back 6. E sits on collapsed M & D wriggles. Wash up. Bonfire with DE (D walks down with no shoes on & seems happy. She alternates between sitting happily watching & pointing, & trying to pick up branches. She is cautious of the fire). Bathe happy E; D helps but won't get in.
Soir: go (lose :-(), mail, news. M sleeps.
Sun 30th
Sun, but v early sun: D then E come into bed & I rise at 7 (but its 8).
B'fast downstairs, then make M's: its mothers day after all. Crumpets & coffee by req, grapes from me & chocolate from D. E gets hold of choc & soon bed is covered.
Outside. Decide to spring-clean bike shed & passageway. Clear out shed & brush floor. Remove skis & boots & junk from p'way. Also make space for l'mower in garden shed. Put Dahlias to sprout.
1: decide to Orchard for lunch & buy sand for D & compost.
3: home. To allot, with D, who goes off to play with Honor & T. So thanks to S&B's kindness (they even feed him) I get to allot till 6.30: D helps for the last 1/2h. Front: now 2/3 dug; pots to L (from track); garlic to R.
Talk with Ben of rotovators; and of allots (he (and Sophie?) has planted pots, peas, and in a token of not-getting-mr-tractor-to-do-it-next-year, raspberries in the middle.
Home, with D on the trailer-bike pedalling enthusiastically (but balance still wobbly) 6:30 as day fades. Its been a splendid day. I pondered doing my bees at noon, but there was just a chill on the wind so didn't.
Home: tidy quickly, shower, collect docs, then off to pub for GP meeting with S+H, the others having handed over stuff already. Many many papers to fill in "s.c.d.c" on... H is now brown-red, having tired of blonde, but is apparently heading back towards natural.
Mon 31st
Another hot day to strain the a.c. in the cluster room. DE to school, late, because we're all up late due to the change of hour: we're even after Billy.
11: to town, pick up ML's sigs for AJ (from Mt Pleasant house, where the County have the ground floor), to electoral folk, and while they check form a I finish filling in form b. All goes fine, just AJ's other papers to get, and H will do that tomorrow. Reward self by going to cb1 for coffee and quiet lunchtime sit rather than rushing back forn yoga.
Possibly because of this, a'noon is productive and I make excellent progress on the Nice talk, I'm up to 22 slides now, but that includes several that say the likes of "Part 2", and excludes the one that says "conclusions"...
Back just past 7; dinner in progress, D making faces at his fishcakes, he is tired poor thing and hides on the piano stool from them.
M off to yoga; I bed DE (D on the floor: M says that D says that this is so he can watch us going to bed...). Then play go (lose, to someone who may well be a real-life 3D), n/g (near despair at total ignorance of some).
M comes back from yoga calm, and apparently no longer wound up by work, and one of her managees in particular.
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