Bakfiets

Me & Joe went to the park & rode the Bakfiets!

Bakfiets!

I finally got a chance to ride the Bakfiets cos it had stopped p1ssing down!

Me and Joe went for a ride in Bushy Park. It were great!

Long overdue photos

Blackbird
Breda & Joe

Guilfest

The building site that is our home

Haven't had a moment to do the blog - here are some relatively recent pictures.

More later!

S

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Mrs Blackbird, whose nest is outside our front room window is now a proud mother of one! One of the two little blue eggs hatched last week and within that time the tiny pink blob has tripled in size and now resembles a bald black bird! Joe and I watch the baby wobble around the nest each day when Mrs Blackbird flies off to find juicy worms. Its eyes are still closed and its not a looker by any means but we find it very exciting!
Talking of exciting, progress can finally be seen at the house. The front room is painted and the base units of the kitchen are in. The holes in the floor are no more so we can let Joe run around without killing himself. Yesterday the Corian men came to measure up and I finally feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lots of you have asked about the risk of flooding for Teddington. The Environment Agency has not put us at risk as Teddington Lock is the point at which the Thames becomes tidal, the river doesn't even look that high at the moment, not in comparison with over the winter. So fingers crossed we will miss out on that particular misery. So far the drains have coped with the rain although there were flash floods on Friday the water was gone within an hour and no houses were affected.
This weekend we will mostly be buying extractor fans, dining room tables, taps and coat hooks! Also if I lent you the Gina Ford and Baby Whisperer book could I have them back please so that I can have a quick refresher before the bean arrives!
Simon is back in South Africa from Sunday so I'm a single parent again. If the rain holds off we're planning to be at the Big Chill next weekend.

Don't watch that, watch this....

Another busy week for us. Simon's bike has now been put together and Joe's seat has been put in but the boys haven't had a chance to really use it yet! As soon as they do I'll take some pictures.

We had a lovely weekend. Went to St Margaret's fair on Saturday with some NCT friends. Joe had a ride on a steam train which he found very exciting. He kept trying to go under the barrier for another go. Simon managed to find a stall selling ouzo and imbibed quite a few.
On Sunday we went to Guilfest, a very civilised festival. A lovely steward took pity on us and allowed us to park right by the entrance so we didn't have to walk too far. Joe had his first festival pie which went down very well. He loved the theatre tent and was mesmerised by the am drams. He also managed to eat most of my burger and I had to hide the candy floss! There was an excellent Kidzone area with a special area for toddlers, complete with sandpit so Joe was in heaven and managed to completely wear himself out so that Mum and Dad could enjoy the Magic Numbers and Madness in peace. Magic Numbers coped very well with a crowd that had come for Madness and managed to win most of them over, getting the crowd to their feet. Madness were well worth the 25 year wait I've had to see them live, playing all my favourites and a few new ones. The rain held off and a good time was had by all, my legs were aching the next day after all that dancing. Lots of chavs, old skinheads and families - all child sized merchandise had sold out on the Friday so Joe will have to wait for his Madness t shirt.

Went to see Gill and Finn's lovely new house in Ripley on Tuesday. Joe and his pal Louis managed to find a water butt and got completely drenched so we took their clothes off, now running around in the nid they found a mole hill and lay on top of it so that they looked as if they'd just had a St Tropez fake tan done! But just on one side. I'm still finding bits of mud around the house now!
Conor babysat on Tuesday night for us and Simon and I went to see Jo Brand at the Wimbledon Village Festival, quite possibly the poshest festival we've ever been to, in the middle of Cannizaro Park, complete with hampers, Pimms tent and cocktails. Jo Brand was hilarious and Simon kept giving me concerned looks as I bent over double, laughing.

The glamour of my life continues as I try to get the best price for a cooker hood and try to pick the best shade of white paint for the decorators! Progress at Sutherland Grove is slow but they're still confident we'll be in before the bean arrives. Watch this space...

Festival update

Just heard from Tom that we have Big Chill passes so no doubt Joe will become the third member of the family addicted to Pie! The bean may also become addicted! Haven't decided yet whether we'll camp or B&B it like Mr Middleton, will depend a lot on the weather I think.
Simon is very excited that Laura Weirs is playing. Joe and I are looking forward to grooving to Norman Jay. Don't know what Tom's set is going to be yet. Must go off and look up the line up!

Long time no see...

Again, apologies for inconsistent blogging. It really is a pain not having internet access at home, I feel very cut off! So what have we been up to? Loads, this won't be in any particular order I'm afraid.
Simon's birthday went very well. The three of us went for a lovely lunch at the Dysart in Petersham, Joe was very well behaved and discovered a love for pickled mushrooms! I'll never get those stains out will I?!! We went along to the Teddington River Festival too, weather was glorious so it was the perfect day to check out all the boats and the entertainment. We also visited a few hostelries to celebrate the start of the smoking ban. What a difference that makes, didn't feel like I had lung cancer for once.
The building work continues, albeit slowly. Just been round there this morning and the kitchen has arrived. Fireplace has come out as has the coving and picture rails. The electrics and plumbing are now finished and the new door frame is finished. Just need to put a rocket up their arses to get the rest finished!
Mum was over for a quick visit at the weekend so Simon and I had a sortie into Teddington. Simon had just arrived back from Johannesburg so was very tired but it was nice to go to a grown up pub and have a meal in peace.
Mum's visit was for Uncle Colin's 80th birthday and we met up with the clan for lunch at the golf club on the Sunday. It was lovely to see everyone again, teenagers had turned into adults and babies had turned into tweenagers. We seem to have a few budding entrepreneurs in the family as Chloe and Kirsty tried to sell us back our after dinner mints at vastly inflated prices. They made quite a tidy profit by the end of the day!
Simon will be in Milwaukee next week. I'm sending him over with empty suitcases and he and his colleague have scheduled an afternoon at the nearest mall into their visit. He'll be in Jo'burg the week after again. Clocking up those air miles!
Conor and Mum's moves to Somerset seem to be ticking over nicely as does our sale of Charlotte Court so fingers crossed there.
This weekend we're meeting up with friends at St Margaret's fair and then off to see Madness at Guilfest on Sunday. I'm waiting for a closer weather forecast before deciding whether to buy Joe wellies and a wetsuit! We'll be christening the Phil & Ted's double buggy at this so hope it's up to some mud.
Simon's bike has arrived from Amsterdam in about 300 separate pieces. The lucky guys at the local bike shop have the unenviable task of putting it together and then there'll be no stopping him. Joe has his helmet ready and waiting, I might even buy one for myself it looks that good!
All's well with the bean so far, no problems to speak of. Just want to get settled back in at home so that I know everything's sorted out and ready. Talking of nesting, we have a blackbird nest outside our window in Hampton Wick.