Just a Thought

Equipment

Here are a couple of pictures of Alison's baby gear. The plastic bucket is for bathing said baby and the other one is Sian practicing with the baby carrier. Upon removing Teddy, she nearly ripped his leg off so practice will be needed. Also, Teddy doesn't cry or spit up.

It's baby time

Here I am in Eastbourne. I came down yesterday to spend the final few days of Alison't pregnancy. She got the good word today that she will be induced on Wed. evening. This most likely means that the baby will be born on Thursday. We are very excited. She has collected a huge amount of baby gear and she is more than ready. Obviously I'll be blogging the result as soon as he arrives.

A lovely day

Alison and I did an hour's housework this morning before we 'hit the shops'. I bought a jacket, face products and a birthday present for one of my grndchildren. Then we went to the movies. We saw "American Ganster" which was great. It was showing in an old cinema which suited us and was just the thing for two ladies on a Friday afternoon. There were no drink holders and a lingering smell of mould and old popcorn. The seats were red plush and installed before the obesity epidemic. It was quite violent but that doesn't bother us. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe were great. I'm going home tomorrow - back to the grind of garden and home improvement. By the way, don't comment on my mispelling of Eastbourne. I've been leaving out the 'u'.

Eastborne

There is something about being in Eastborne that promotes blogging. I've been letting this slip because I have been busy writing for my class and doing minutes for the Neighbourhood Watch along with my many other duties and pastimes. I love being down here with Alison and Sian. Alison is three weeks away from motherhood and feeling very large and tired. We went shopping today and it just about finished her. She is not sleeping well at night due to size and internal activity. I'm thinking that Harry can make an appearance just about any time now. I go back to Ox on Sat and won't see them again until early Dec unless, of course, she pops before that. Last Monday I went to London and met Vanessa and her mother for dinner. They were telling me to come for a visit to South Africa and I'm thinking I might do that next year. Zoe and I are threatening to visit out allotment this weekend. I will take some pictures so that you can see how wonderful it is. I am quite enthusiastic about it even though I never go there and do nothing to clear or plant it. Fortunately the cold weather has come so we don't have to dig for several months. We can count the weeds (sorry Leo, I mean wildflowers). Diana promises to come to advise us but other than bringing a flame thrower, I don't think we need advice, we need muscle. I'll probably take the easy way out and hire someone.

Weekend in Eastbourne

Charles and I left at 8:30 on Saturday morning and had an uneventful drive to Eastbourne. After catching our breath, we all headed for the pier. It's a lovely old fashioned place with a working camera obscura at the end. Unfortunately it was closed for the winter. As it was a warm sunny day, we were disappointed. But there was plenty to do in the arcade building. Charles won about 60p. Everyone else lost. I forgot to take my camera but if you check out Alison's blog, you will see some excellent shots taken by Sian with a digital SLR camera. It's the way of the future. Sian took Charles to Beachy Head which is the suicide center of the world. Eastbourne is full of old people who live in defiance of this landmark. In the evening we watched XFactor and then went to dinner at a Chinese Resaurant. Charles is adept with chopsticks and loves sweet and sour. Next day we went to Pevensy Castle ruins and tried to pretend that William the Conqueror was conquering. It was a popular spot for the invading Normans. Then on to lunch at Pat and John's (Sian's parents). We picked up Eileen on the way and had an excellent Sunday lunch. Charles and I had to eat and run because of the fairly long drive back to Oxford. My car is fine for around town but not terribly comfortable for the long haul. I was very happy to come home and climb into bed. A lovely weekend.

Photo shoot in the rain

I was intervued a few months ago for an article on the effect of grandparent's divorce on their grandchildren. Rachel and Chloe and Alison were also interviewed. Today The Times sent a photographer (Tom)up from London to take our pictures. He seemed to think it was very important to have outdoor shots so we had to go to Bury Knowle Park and pose under a tree. Trouble was, it was raining. We had Rosie with us as well as Charlie and Adam. After about half an hour posing in the rain, Tom decided it was now time for indoor shots so we came back to the house and he set up the living room with lots of special lights. Then he took most of the pictures off the walls and posed us on the stairs. This was the start of phase two. He was snapping away and pretty soon Rosie started yelling for a top up. Adam cruised into the room in his homemade cardboard 'vertible. This was fine until he fell out of the 'vertible and cut his chin open on the radiator. That pretty much brought the photo shoot to an end. Not a moment too soon as far as we were concerned. I think the article is coming out next Saturday.

Detox Complete

I finished the two weeks of the elimination diet last week and then had to decide what to add back first. What a tough decision! Was it to be bread; was it to be milk; or maybe a Mars bar? I gave in and chose alcohol. A bunch of friends came round on Monday evening and we opened a bottle of white wine - yeah! Alison and Sian sent me a case of wine as a thank you for helping them move. We only drank one bottle. I am very pleased to report that the two week diet has left me feeling very much better. I have more energy and a greater sense of well being. I don't particularly miss any of the restricted foods so I'm going to keep on eating this way except if I'm out or at someone's house. I don't want to be a food bore.

I'm just back from three days in Eastbourne with Alison and Sian. Alison is doing very well. She has about six or seven weeks to go but she hasn't gained a whole lot of weight, only 20 lbs. She has a bump in the front but it is neat and compact. Pat and John came for dinner on Saturday evening and Alison made an absolutely delicious coq au vin. She decided not to flame the brandy (they are in a rented apartment) but it caught fire anyway when she poured it in the hot pan. Flames shot up but didn't do any damage. The smoke alarm had a blast, literally. Sian taught me how to fill my tyres with air. Not a moment too soon. They were very low. Forgot my camera so no pictures.

Birthday pics

Rachel's Birthday

On the 11th October, 1965, Rachel Hacking Gee was born in Vancouver, Canada. This means that yesterday was her birthday. We had a grand tea party. Charles and I made the cake on Wednesday and Adam and I shopped for prezzies. This is plural because we decided to have a treasure hunt for her and this required several small presents. I picked Adam up from school at lunchtime on Thursday and we wrapped the presents and wrote clues. He helped me hide them and then got bored and went off to help his dad fix the tractor. As soon as Chloe and Charles were home from school, we gave Rachel the first clue and the hunt began. Only problem was, Adam was so excited that he couldn't help himself rushing to the spot and finding the present first. Funny thing, his mother didn't mind at all. She was carrying Rosie in her baby sling. Chloe tried to get Adam to hold back at one point but he cried piteously and we all gave in. We marked off the top of the cake in thirds and each child decorated their bit. Chloe's was beautiful, Charlie's was excellent. Adam thought it was wasteful to put sweeties on the cake so he ate them and squirted a huge blob of pink icing on his section. He helped his mother blow out the candles.