Houses

Today we've started a weekend of house viewings and are staying in a very nice hote Vera had a bit of a temperature mid afternoon but after a nap, calpol, grapes and pasta salad she is back in her normal, chatty form!
We've had a nice dinner, steak and ale pie for me, fitting on this chilly, blustery day.

Villagers

I'm just on my way back from an evening in London seeing a gig with Terese. Hectic exit from work but managed to catch the 6.15  train, met Cathy and Terese in a pub in Kings Cross and then we jumped on a bus to Old Street and walked over to Shoreditch. We had a bit of trouble finding the concert venue, an arts exhibition space called London Village.
We finally got there in time to see the supporting act We Cut Corners. Our friend Aoife's brother plays in the band so was great to see them!
The main act, another Irish band, the villagers, played a great set. The singer has an amazing voice and the sound and acoustics in the venue were great.
Terese and I jumped into a taxi at the end of the gig and now I'm on a train back to the colonies thinking about how much I do enjoy seeing live music!

Change is in the air

How quickly time flies and here we are again, another weekend nearly gone. Busy times as per ususal. Valentines Day was spent in a flurry of DIY for Mark, who was painting, re-grouting and cleaning. A perfect husband - just as my Valentines card to him said!

I went to pick Vera up after work and it ended up a nightmare, an accident and roadworks meant crawling traffic all the way from the M11. I had to call nursery and pre-warn them I was going to be late. After a detour via Duxford Village and Ickleton and pitch black country lanes, I finally got to Hinxton, threw myself out of the car and ran to nursery. Vera wasnt the only one left, which was reassuring in the midst of all the embarrassement. She was in good form though and had her face painted for the occassion!

Once home, Mark and I enjoyed a nice steak, chips and Bernaise sauce. Sometimes the classics are the best. And a glass of red - felt very well deserved at the time.

On Friday we had the estate agents around, measuring and taking photos. Should be on the market soon. Scary, exciting and a bit sad, all at the same time.

Vera and I have enjoyed some lovely walks over the weekend and seen snow drops, that and glorious sunshine has given me a real sense of spring and optimism!
On Saturday afternoon we popped to Gog Magog for coffee and cake as well as a visit to the ponies and chickens. Vera gets more and more excited every time and runs to see the animals.

My phone broke unexpectedly on Saturday, so this morning we had to stay in to wait for a replacement, but managed to bake rye bread, lemon drizzle cake, make soup (Mark) and frittata, so very productive all in all. Once delivered and charging, we went to Scotsdales to buy a few plants for inside and out, to make it cheerful for prospective buyers!

 Vera on Valentines Day

Helping daddy plant spring flowers in the garden

Pancake Day

Busy couple of days, lots of DIY and painting getting the house ready for estate agents. Saturday involved no less than two visits to Homebase and a play date at Cheeky Monkeys with Karolina, Hania, Lu and Alex on Saturday morning.

On Sunday we took a break in the afternoon and had a late lunch in the Cambridge Blue with Junko, Chris and Ryan as well as Ana, Mark and Ariane. Less relaxing with kids than the good old days ;) but very enjoyable nonetheless!

Today is Pancake Day and next year I will make a batch of Swedish semlor, so that we can enjoy that alongside the pancakes. I'm using my dad's old pancake recipe, which I believe is from his mother and it makes a great batch every time! After a Vera tantrum, we lured her back to the table with pancakes, jam and sugar, I mean who doesn't like that!

 Vera in the car after the second DIY shop visit

 Mark and Ariane in the Cambridge Blue (I think the flash on my phone set poor Ariane off crying)

My pancake monster, enjoying pancakes and blueberry jam (with a sprinkling of sugar)

Vera during a snack break in the cafe at Sanger before heading home

3 months in Roos

Today Mark and I went to the nursery for a meeting with Vera's key worker Emily (or Mly as Vera calls her), as Vera has now been in the Roo room for 3 months. Feels a lot longer!
She is the youngest in the room, but apparently her speech is good for her age, as is her abililty to get dressed, put shoes and socks on etc. She loves to get dressed up and had spent the other day in a princess dressing up dress combined with a high visibility vest and a cowboy hat. She loves being outdoors, likes playing with the boys in the group as well as singing and doing actions. The Wheels on the Bus is a current favourite.

She is combining words into two word sentences, such as daddy gone, baby crying etc... She is social, has some issues in sharing toys :-), but is well adjusted and happy and they were pleased with her progress. We are very pleased too of course.

Vera had a great time at  the weekend with daddy, and here's a video of her at the playground, up and down and up again - 50 times according to Mark!

Three Days - Three Cities

Sometimes there is a bit of a lull to life and sometimes it speeds up and you are reminded how much you can actually squeeze into a couple of days, if you just put your mind to it. As well as being reminded on the importance of friends and friendships.

On Thursday night I have a few drinks out in the Alex in Gwydir Street here in Cambridge, with colleagues past and present. A nice bunch of people really and discussing work was low on the agenda, always a bonus on work nights out.

On Friday I had lunch with Ana and Ariane and got treated to a gorgeous prawn curry and rice but most importantly a great catch up and a little cuddle with Ariane! She is so much more alert and interested in what is going on around her, always a joy to see!

I left work at 5, dashed into Boots to pick up a prescription, made a pizza dough, made pizza, packed, read with and cuddled Vera and was in a taxi to the train station by 7.15pm. Not bad going! Went straight from King's Cross to Camden and had drinks and a catch up with Terese, Cathy and Anna who we know from University in Edinburgh. We wandered up to Chalk Farm to meet some more people and rounded off proceedings at Terese's and Cathy's flat with popcorn and gossip at close to 2am. Tiring, but good for the soul!

On Saturday Terese and I got on the Virgin Pendolino (tilting speed train) at London Euston (after raiding M&S Food) - destination Liverpool and our annual Swedish re-union trip. Last year we went to York and this year we'd chosen Liverpool. We were staying a short walk from Albert Dock http://www.albertdock.com/ and spent the afternoon checking out a few attractions, including Tate Modern. In the evening we went to the Philarmonic Dining Rooms for dinner and spent the rest of the evening and night chatting away, like you do with dear friends!

Yesterday, after a local bus tour and brunch, it was time to say good bye and head back south for Terese and I and north east for Joe. I got back at 6pm last night, after many trains and taxis. It was nice to be home and I went to sleep full of happy memories!

 Albert Dock, Tate on the right hand side

 Cathedral

 Joe and I at the Philarmonic Dining rooms

Me, Joe and Terese at Liverpool Lime Street station, before heading back to London, Cambridge and Edinburgh.