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See-also: http://www.wmc.care4free.net/diary/.
Sun 1st
Night: wild winds. But am calm+sun.
Minor lie-in & b'fast with MfdJ. But not combined.
11: D to s'club: he is keen at moment. Then to allot: 1h good dig at back & incidentally find many pots. Meet Mfd out for walk/post & we wait outside c/room for D. Then: tabletop sale, since its there: D gets spirograph (50p), I get 2 books, as does Mfd but his are better. E gets nowt as I won't let D buy her a teddy.
Clear jet on fire. & clean surround at same time: shiny now!
Lunch. Then MfdJ off.
Shed 1 1/2 h: get door on nicely with a bit of hack from jigsaw. Bath.
M shows us bonus game at Sandy Bay. Aha!
Mon 2nd
am: try to print Janet pic but fail. Grr: windoze.
W / no Y / W. Warrant for tomorrow.
Lego racer: explore Mars with D. M to yoga.
DE to bed. D read to M? Up later as they climb into D's bed together: its all right says D. E has lent me crow: I missed him.
Tues 3rd
To Reading *ag* next to met. 7:45 from C (ugh). Sleep on train; meet jck at kc.
Pc2 (prog cloud & prog rad) scheme - major improve in t/q bias at poles. Mqo mslp better than mqm? TOA ~balance.
Coupling still 1d but ocean top layer still 10m.
L50 up to 63 km has methane ox plus water photolysis. Strat gwd (ussp?). Scaithe. Gets qbo.
Polar noise problems at n144. Start dump probs. Terry Davies (poss write res-indep settings?).
Lois: hpcx throughput potential for higem is 'terrible'. Upgrade disruptions apr-jun 04. There is nonsense re politics of preferring large jobs.
Portable rel of hadgem1?
0118 9 666 555.
---lunch---
Ocean: hadcem 1/3 deg.
Malcolm R: ocean l/s mask.
Ancil problems! Making same. All needs to be done by/through Clive Jones.
Taxi back with Gill M 2:30; :38 to P; 3:45 kc to C 4.30. Cb1 till 5. Arj bread; home. Meet Andy on way. Pick up E; to AC. D ok; chat; home: M is back.
Soir: quiet/wiki. Tired.
Wed
D grumpy stumps along. E imitates him behind.
Swim/arj/cb1/rs:wireless.
Playground. School: happy.
A phone
Tape up loft: flies.
D read E bedtime story. I leave them to it: this has become a habit for them, and perhaps a good one: D reads to E in bed, which is good for his reading, and its helps her to settle down, and its fun for both of them.
Wireless setup.
Thurs 5th
mail from M: house for sale in St Peters Rd.
rain.
pm home.
Test wireless range by wandering around the neighbourhood with my laptop. Quite good: down garden past pond; along road about 2 doors each way; nearly up to Janets.
Win 'boss' game on Mars. D ecstatic. Brief play in arctic.
7:30: school for 'gov' meet. Little fuss: odd. hang around afterwards to chat, all v polite.
M email all soir: there is a rel tomorrow and she has suddenly been landed with a bit of it. With new wireless I wiki from l'room, and this becomes quite casual. Yacjc/32 has crashed (icefloe :-() - I care just enought to try to fix. But fail.
Fri 6th
Rain. I drop DE off at school then back to tidy a bit (valuer will come to look at our place later) then go visit house M noticed y'day: 10 St Peters Rd. Its a nice house, with a cute glassed-in bit at the front, but it doesn't make as much sense inside as out. Fair garden but not as big, and, of course, it ends in neighbours (inc Boatfields; Cooks) not stream/fields. Wots about my bees? It has advantages (4 beds; 2 l'room; sep kitchen) but... I'd rather not. I sense M is somewhat in favour. We shall discuss. Leave M to take Bradshaws chap to us; to work.
Work till 2. Home: coffee.
Pick up E from school and (unnecessarily) see DNA to multi-sports. M is back when E & I ret: a pleasant surprise.
Pick up DNA in a confusion of coats and bags. They are all a bit fragile late on a friday, and its not long before sadness: first D runs ahead and annoys N to tears; then NA run ahead and annoy D. Oh dear. But once back they play in the sandpit and E comes out to join then, and isn't cold-shouldered too much. Video them. Small episode: E puts in some water (making water channels is a big thing) and DNA don't want this yet: D: Adam, go in and tell my dad to take E away; N: and pretend you are crying. A is loud.
E poo potty!
D takes E up to bed.
Soir: piccies 2003/04. Discuss house. Nonagrams. 1 fly.
Sat 7th
D into bed 7:15 but mostly because he wants someone to let him into my account to play lego racers arctic section. Hmm. Maybe this is getting out of hand. I get up to do it for him (and turn the sound low) then back to bed. Next is E about 8 who gives me a good morning kiss and fusses over her books and blankets with M, who is obliged to get up. I snooze and bask in the welcome sun, so warm I can get a way with opening the window a little.
D has made a mobile tower thing out of fake-duplo, proud of its symmetry (even in colour), and decides to make it a present for E. So he draws a birthday card, wraps it up with my help in newspaper, and E is summoned to blow out her candles (imaginary on a bowl of cornflakes) which we all (inc E) sing happy b'day to her. Then she unwraps the tower and plays with it.
MED out to w/rose after a play in the sandpit. I go out and join them and we sit in the sun, though its rather windy. I promise to do some tidying up, this is long overdue in my workroom, and part of the not-moving.
Clive phones, asking for M's help over some piece of virata kit he has been given to understand which has no manual. apologise for not visiting A+Kiera.
B+Q: more cr*p-but-cheap wood, & some paint: I have finally decided to knuckle under to hallway. White matt, +gloss for woodwork. Red, blue, green (yellow) gloss for D's room: he wants stripes. That may have to wait though.
Home: scaping wallpaper. Hard work. D doesn't last. Its well stuck on, and oil painted, so needs to be scraped before water will penetrate.
Lego R: to 'berg': he cheats!
Soir: sci to wmconnolley. Tie 2003/04 pics weakly to text.
Bed: no flied: good. 11.30 under a bright moon & a windy sky.
Sun 8th
D downstairs early for LR and I have to type in PW for him. Next time we play from *his* area. Back to bed. E comes in later and after some cuteness we get up. B'fast: for them, while I wash up: partly a defence against LR. During the day we beat Berg (getting extra power does it) complete Xalax and then beat Rocket Racer himself, ending up with 2 grip, 2 shield, 4 or 5 power, I forget. Anyway, eventually it became fairly easy though still fun. and I keep saying to D: now why don't *you* play it for yourself: but he isn't keen. Fear of failure?
M down 10:30 as usual. Coffee by fire in sun: nice. M tells me I missed my yoga yesterday: so I did and never thought of it: oops. I hadn't promised to go though so its OK.
Venture out to shed: coming along nicely: door in place; put on doorhand: now it shuts too, hurrah; remove RHS shutters and put in T+G instead.
Lunch. M has made lemon biscuits. I start off some bread. D collected by N at 2 to go to Pinocchio the ballet. This a slightly odd choice, mostly I think cos N wants to do ballet, D goes mostly unsuspecting and stays with them after. I get perm to do more shed and fix up shelf at front (partly just to break up the line of the front). Leave space at far R for a window. If only one could build houses like this: ie, as one pleased: no b*st*rd planners to please and contort. Dreams.
Back inside, E plays game, bread is ready, all sit in l'room and eat hot bread and melted butter: yum.
More wall scraping to R of kitchen door. Hand aches... M does some long-needed tidying of the kitchen worksurface (why do we need a bigger kitchen? because all the surface are covered in rubbish...) and I promise to do my bit but sifting through some residue.
Collect D (taking E for ride) 6: he is happy/bouncy as usual, but (despite what N said on phone: he did enjoy it really) he *says* he didn't like it: and N doesn't sound too keen either. It may just be defensiveness against girly stuff. We may never know.
Back: bath time to prevent computer use conflict, E has to be dragged screaming. Argument: who gets the tap end (surprisingly they both want it). Bubbles help. M cooks, I read the Wiz and the War, my toilet book, which rather degrades it, I'm fond of it, I like reading it in small bits, but I'm getting to the end sadly. We're in Veda, perhaps a weak point, but necessary for the plot.
Dinner: puff-pastry parcels nicely done with leek+mush filling (for us; they get tuna). D likes his; E suffers hers. I get seconds.
Soir: more scraping; shower; light wiki; relax by fire for news; tappety-tap-tap this in. No discussion of house: from my POV this is good. Bed.
Mon
W / Y / W: hard, but fruitlessly, on aqua. Ancils!
Tired.
Tues 10th
E into bed at X & doesn't sleep. So I eventually give up & go her bed.
Work: 32 bit aqua passes recon at 3 but dies in ts1.
Pick up desb. 3 boys far too bouncy. To bw. Playing 'it'. D becomes sad at teasing & storms off; then ds run off: where? towards house; we find them there & I tell them off for wandering away. Home: dbs up to D's room. E & I misc & I get to sit by fire with coffee & late lunch.
5:30: b feels sick, he says. Phone C at his req & A comes for him. Ds play stunt rally: d watches s. Cook: pots, onions, sos. Meanwhile, popcorn.
M back just past 6 as we start dins: ds complain about sos, & onions.
Penny arrives 6:30: I rep bs running off. Quick email by fire.
7: to pc. V long agenda, much trivia, but probably important triv, what pc is for.
Wed 11th
clothes coll. BW rss.
Work. Swim. E: 'you randa, I daddy'.
Arj/cb1. Lib.
To sch at carefully timed 3.30. Mrs L.
D beats digger fred & is happy, but not postman mike.
Soir: M to book club (J Eyre). Tired. Ml's ppt.
Thurs 12th
Aqua works!
Home 2. Fire.
Shed. Window.
Sch: D's wk. & N.
More sh. Break glass.
M back but sleep. E 5.30. D. M'a: I'm off tomorrow: its in book. But neither M nor I looked.
Rub+paint: momentum.
Fri 13th
M does first shift. D sch: Vic day. Fort spare stuff. Girls in white caps; boys waistcoats.
Pm with E around house. Shed: cut glass.
7: pick up D, to F. Hobbit. Traffic. 9.30. F has new (digital?) tv channels.
Sat 14th
Sleep late.
(realise: V day. Is *this* why M so keen to get us out to film?).
Split: to w/worth with D (F has told him it is full of wonderful toys; trash more like). Steer him to lego & he fixates on robot kit.
The hell that is whitgift: but why hell? Hell is other people... Mef back. I say goodbye & to Books etc. Airsnort / wavemon / kismet. 1:30 of peace. Back 4:30: E comes down to see me. D deep in lego so I join.
Tapes 15,6 to tape. Start new category: video.
Soir: walk to town to see 'lost in translation' at M's desire. Interesting. But: is it any good? Slight, I say. Lightly funny, thin plot. Visuals good in parts but not enough to support all. Certainly better than Master & Commander.
Sun 15th
Waken 7 (?) by F's radio-alarm, though I'm fairly sure she isn't. Sadly DE are soon after so I must rise. But I get to snooze on sofa.
Get past Coombe to sports day to vid: nearly up-to-date.
Lunch too much as ever.
Leave 2:30 easy drive back. Andy phones: arrange D/B swap.
J arrives 8:30 ish: Mfd can be left to recover by himself. D's first words: 'g'ma, I'm on Dino island!'.
Tummy odd: hungry? Overfull? Sick? Unpleasant anyhow.
Mon 16th
Tummy was temporary sickness: still feel it a little. Up late: all of us. DE down by selves & J not up till 9.
W / Y / W.
J has cooked stilton and broccoli soup.
Soir: return phone BS re spring clean: I am to talk to school/PTA. Fischer review.
Tues 17th
Up late again, lazy! But only a little late in. 12: to town: cb1 (read: Monsters and Men! to p99 for 1h, then stir self and remember that I'm here to read Comiso and Steffen, which is excellent, though its done most of the work I wanted to but didn't know how to re sea ice concs). Arj (we're running out of cereals, and my museli in particular), then back to work just in time for coffee: well timed. AJ has turned up (to see personnel but she is talking to JCK) and comes to coffee. She will start end-March ish.
Play with PBs new GCOM a bit and (to my surprise) get it to work rather quickly. Either I'm very clever or he is :-)
Home 6 (stopping along the way to talk to N about Spring Clean / can N come to us sometime this week). DE dinner just over, J cooked them bread-and-butter pudding.
Polyfill around hall light socket to remove some unevenness; will require more. There is some very poor-quality plasterwork associated with the blocking up of the door into the living room.
Write first draft of Parish Plan leaflet, about time too. M then rips it to shreds (too vague) so vn1.1.
Bed: D is there, having been reading his bible stories.
Wed 18th
Up before M for once (she didn't get to bed till 2 last night, nonagrams & all). Give out drafts to Dot, Gordon, Beryl & N. Work, home, just as Jed finishing. Its raining. Coffee. Then join in to the end of J's (& D's) grand lego tidy, which sees the bug-lego table cleared up!
D beats me 2x at 2-play LR but then I beat him on mars.
Thurs 19th
'fix' M's bike by deciding it doesn't have a puncture.
To work for smoko with DE. D brings Uno & we play a round with Tom. Now de are lying in the foyer watching vid.
'the wheels on the b go r & r' sings E. & 'everybody wants to be a cat'.
Pick up S at pool.
S back 7. He req Enimen & gets Chumbawumba.
Fri 20th
E to m'a; W, but somewhat listlessly. Back 2: no-one home. Coffee in patch of sun. M returns with DE & B. DB instantly play on computer. I go out & shed: fix on bottom-skirt to back wall & support strip for t+g. Then! The long awaited... digging out of the compost heap & rat tunnels. Even see the blighter scampering off in distance. In: they are playing Uno. I bath.
Soir: create u/ncar etc as public service. M emails.
Sat 21st
Noises under 'tan-taran-tan-tan-ta': D on comp: but nothing we recog.
Up 9. Its 'orient exp' web comic. B'fast & coffee. Pack 50,50,75,75 leaflets to Bs, Ct, Gk, Mel.
Allot: clear back enough for 3 rows onions.
1:20 deb in car to pick up N meanwhile M to town. 4 in pool a lot & E fragile (cut / light sprain wrist). But good. After: home. Bionicles & comp. Cook dins; drive bn home.
E hurts foot changing cd: sadness at bedtime.
Soir: letter to grauniad re Soon.
Sun 22nd
E has prep D b'fast from her playset: a plate & neatly set bowl of water. D eventually dragged off comp to eat.
Power cut 12-3 ish. Is civ collapsing?
All walk 2 out back. Sun, snow, rpt. D stream.
Bread.
Shed: window & above.
M's new tyre.
Soir: 2004/01. wiki stubs.
Tues 24th
E to M'a: wood. D to school.
Work: yacy? Home 2.30. Rain. Coffee & lunch. School for E & see D off to S. Talk M'a re pp: would do youth club.
7: to pp meeting. Stan Rees "we have above us tears..." "tiers of govt". Oh! But it goes well. & we end up with a ctte.
D sleeps on landing.
Wed 25th
Light snow. Bright sun. Cycle to town (E nearly selects bus but ch her mind: quicker, but much colder). Swim. Its quiet.
Arj. Cb1: Cranberries: no need to argue. Marley: legend.
Colin has left wood, their old floor boards. Remove nails & stack by shed.
Curry, timed for Judith, conveniently at the Curry House. Its a cold cycle there: freezing.
Pub. A+S. Mention respect: S: oh, is that another swp front? Quite likely: Ed is helping...
Thurs 26th
W.
2: Mr Morgan & Ian. Quite hopeful but arbitrary. Frustrating.
After that I need a rest. Fire & Emphyrio.
Still some snow about.
Allot for 1 h. More progress at back. Ground quite heavy.
8: to 'respect' launch (the E turns out to be env) with Tlc mostly to hear Mark Steel.
-3oC.
Fri 27th
V light snowfall.
Oraperl now working again. Vacs meeting :-(.
Sat 28th
Up 10. 11 town: bitter. Sit in Cb1 and rest. Get E folding cheapo-but-maybe-useful brush from chemists, and D Nice comb from RS.
Back 2. Almost warm sun.
Now we have to get D ready for A's party. After I have lunch there is a frantic making of a zap-gun for him, which comes off well (and survives the party). Dress him in bee-suit as spacemans, and pick up Billy (who has a *real* toy spacesuit, but no visor, so he and D argue about which is better and oddly D's seems to come out on top). Snow/hail as we arrive. D goes off and I stop for tea; H is there with C who persists in shooting me and misc other parents.
Home (via jumble sale). Poor M: no peace from E. Its nice when she is around rather than in town but she has to retreat upstairs to do a bit of yoga nd E has to be told to leave her alone. Now you never have to tell her to leave *me* alone...
After, A picks up D and to chez B.
I cook the mushrooms M bought for pancakes day but we didn't have people around because of K. But they are still OK and I add cream under her tutelage.
E bath, then D.
Sun 29th
Early snow. But sun: melts. M up past 10. To Ma's 11. M grumpy on trip: insuf rest.
Misc: lunch; I sleep by fire, unexpectedly tired, or is it smoke inhalation?
Ma has "a couple of little jobs" for us. Helping to cut up tree branches, and re-attaching nesting boxes to the tree.
Then back inside for toasted tea cakes and crumpets. Cartoons: BtB for E & T&J for D. Ma is still getting used to her computer. Probably she will get there; sign of competence are increasing. M helps her (and there is only room for one to help).
Home late (8:30). E straight to bed, D indulged with brief play.
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