31 August 2010

It is still hitting around 35C. To cool off, I had suggested a pool playdate with Tracey at Meguro. Emily was tetchy due to the poo problem. She got upset when Lottie poured water over her hat, then again when she pushed in front of her on the slide. Lottie was too excited to wait, and as far as I am concerned it is dog eat dog; Emily must learn to assert herself better if she is to avoid being a timid wimp like me, though of course I hope that she will have good manners and not take advantage of others either.

I saw Victoria and Soraya there and felt massively guilty for not being in touch with her since March, when Soraya had her birthday party. Victoria is due with number two next week, and I actually came clean and said that I find it hard to hang out with those who are pregnant second time round. I immediately wished I could retract as she said she felt guilty, and that wasn't my intention, which was merely to explain my reticence in emailing. Still, as far as that goes, these things are two way.


We stayed in the water for about 45 minutes then the kids got hungry and we left. It took ages to get us all stripped, dried and dressed, but luckily Tracey had some snacks to keep them happy. We stopped off up the hill at Starbucks for a good hour and some lunch. The girls were mucking around together on the seats and seemed to be getting on very well after a prolonged break.

Emily well nigh insisted on us taking the Yamanote line home instead of the Namboku subway; she said ' I can't see anything under ground, let's go on the Yamanote'. I found it hard to resist her logic and it was no skin off my nose really, so we did go that way home. We played indoors for the rest of the afternoon, but yet again I found myself feeling really groggy and Emily had to keep prodding me and saying 'wake up Mummy'. I have felt for a long time that this is due to fluctuating blood sugar levels and really ought to have been to see a doctor about it in the UK, so am going to shell out to see a medic here in case there is anything I can do about it.

30 August 2010

It was 34C yet again. The thermostat seems stuck. Despite getting into bed at eleven the night before, I did not manage to get off to sleep until 2am, so I felt very weary. I stayed in bed dozing with Emily until 8.30, even though Erna arrived at eight. It seemed too much effort to go out so we played at home in the morning.

We popped over to Julia's after lunch. Emily was a bit resistant to going there again and I think would prefer to see Charlize on neutral territory once or twice, but in this heat it is better that only one of us has to venture out, and it would not be fair on Serafina to be exposed to the cruel heat.

For the last few days I have been suffering with an awful scalded sensation inside my mouth. I had the same thing a few months back and it faded after a few days so I hope this bout will not last long. I looked it up on the internet and there is such a thing as 'burned mouth syndrome', which has a variety of causes but the most likely is menopause. Another symptom to confirm what I already know.

29 August 2010

We stayed in and played at home in the morning.

After lunch we all went to Hon Shiba and met Jo and Bettina and families, the unusual weekend meeting being due to Jo's birthday. The kids played nicely for over an hour then we went back to Jo's place as she had invited us to help celebrate with her.



I was convinced that Emily would be asleep within minutes of the walk home from Shibaura, but amazingly, after no nap and a lot of activity and excitement, she was just about with it as we arrived back. Then she wanted to play, but as it was already 8.30 I had to insist on getting to bed straight away.

28 August 2010

I felt awful in the morning so Nick took pity on me and took Emily with him to BIC Camera while I had a two hour nap. By the time they got back it was nearly 2pm, so we ate a hurried lunch then went straight out to Meguro pool for a lovely hour of splashing and cooling off. Emily had a massive grin on her face most of the time (which did lead to many mouthfuls of water). Such a pity all municipal outdoor pools will close for the season on September 10th.

27 August 2010

After rising so late Thursday, I did not go to bed until after midnight. I slept well until 3am then was wide awake and lay in bed until after Nick left for work at 6am, with all sorts of things whirling round in my mind. Then just before my alarm was due to go off I began to feel very drowsy and dropped off. I pressed snooze umpteen times and ended up getting up later than intended at eight. Emily was impossible to rouse and it took a lot of foot tickling and talking to get her to stir. That left us only an hour to get out to nursery, so it was all a bit of a rush.

I was pleased that as we arrived at Ui, Jo turned up with Isy so the two of them went in together and there were lots of delighted hugs between them again. My fear of tears when I left was unfounded as she happily waved me off and said goodbye. Feeling dopey with lack of sleep I decided to forego aerobics and had a long coffee with Jo instead, before spending a lot of time on shopping and chores.

26 August 2010

Temperatures are still hitting circa 35C. Emily amazed me by not waking in the morning, despite going to bed at 7.30pm the night before. I had to go in to her several times until 4am, but next thing I knew, I woke instinctively knowing it was late and a glance at my watch told me it was just past noon!

We just had time to go over to Julia's in the afternoon. Emily and Charlize were a bit cagey around each other after a long parting, until it was nearly time to leave when they warmed to each other again. I was really fed up that Emily's old leaf habit reappeared so I did not let her take one from the bush outside Julia's that she always picks from. She bawled all the way to the supermarket, then cried most of the way home as I would not give her a snack (I knew she was ravenous but gritted my teeth because it was dinnertime and I didn't want a third night of her missing her main meal of the day). At least her late time to bed meant that she got to see Nick. He came home incredibly early at 8pm.

24 August 2010

I woke up with a start and checked my watch. I was amazed to see it was 9.45am and I'd not heard a peep from Emily since the early hours. She had been in bed for more than 16 hours!

Feeling somewhat refreshed and wanting to get straight back into the swing of things we headed out to Hon Shiba for a couple of hours with Jo and Bettina. Emily and Isy looked really happy to see each other and many hugs were exchanged with her and Tim. Though hot there was enough breeze to make it bearable, especially with our feet cooling in the pool. We finally repaired to Starbucks, where the kids drove the other customers crazy with their noise and antics.

Despite her mega lie-in, Emily was tired after having no nap so there were problems at dinner time. I put her in the bath and then managed to spoon feed her some of her meal afterwards. I didn't lose it with her as she must have been feeling very mixed up with the jetlag.

23 August 2010

Mum, Fi and us three went to Heathrow in Mum's car, mid-morning, with me driving. It was rather stressful on the hideous roundabout near Fiona's but I coped better with a queue on the M4 and finding the car park at the airport. We checked in and had some food and coffee with Fi and Mum, then went through to airside. I had been feeling OK about leaving and, I suppose, preoccupied with the thought of the long flight, but as always others' emotion brought tears to my eyes. Still, it certainly did not feel that long since we left last time, and yet that was 14 months ago. Hopefully next time we are in Blighty will be for good, or at least for a few years anyway, as I admit to still entertaining some wanderlust; however that might be satisfied by a few decent foreign holidays (funds allowing) when Emily is a little older.

We had to endure more than 90 minutes on the plane before we even took off, thanks to a technical fault. Emily was a bit tetchy having to stay in her seat all that time but managed to stay tear-free. After we were airborne, we watched some TV then had a meal. Somehow the first five hours passed quite quickly and then Emily fell asleep. She looked very uncomfortable in the upright child seat, with her head frequently lolling forward; after a couple of hours she woke and got upset. I took a chance and released her from the seat so that she could sleep on my lap, thinking after her 40-minute nap on the way over that she would not stay asleep for long. However, she ended up staying asleep until shortly before we landed, and that was difficult for me as my lower back and legs were aching a lot being pinned in all that time. I was convinced that the seatbelt sign would be lit every time we hit a patch of turbulence, which would entail waking her and unleashing untold hysterics.


As soon as we got off the plane it was obvious how hot it was in Japan. The terminal was not suffiently cooled to keep me from feeling uncomfortable after so long in UK temperatures. I felt a bit pleased with myself as we passed the queues of tourists to go straight through the 're-entry' channel of immigration, but one piece of baggage took so long to come out onto the carousel that our advantage was probably wiped out. We decided to send the three heaviest bags back to our place via courier - at about ten pounds per piece I considered it money well spent.

We rode back to town in a near-empty Narita Express and hopped into a taxi home from Shinagawa. It did feel very odd to walk through the doors of our apartment building, but satisfying on one level to be back in our own home, however small and bland I find it compared to home.

Nick and I were really tired by then but having made it to 1pm, were determined to go through to the evening before having a sleep. We all went out briefly to do a short re-stock in the local supermarket, which was awful in about 35C with no breeze. Half an hour of complaints from me probably reminded Nick why it had been better to endure a month of separation! Back at home it was obvious that Emily was flagging so I made a meal as fast as I could. We all sat down to eat together, but she barely managed a few bits of veg before she dropped off in her chair with a mouthful of rice unchewed. I whisked her off to bed and we finished eating, but I was also struggling by then and ready to sleep asap. We were both in bed by 8pm.


Emily woke me up several times until 1am, each time needing longer to settle her. The last time I was so tired I snapped and Nick had to rouse himself to come in and calm things down.

22 August 2010

For our final day in Wales the weather came good and we were able to have a morning walk up on Y Gaer with Mum, Sarah, Tim and Tom. After all the rain there were some massive puddles on the cart-track that leads out onto the hillside. Emily was grouchy due to overdue poo and fell several times, ending up on her knees in a deep puddle.

She did chill out a bit in the end though, and did really well to walk all the way up and back down without being carried more than 100 yards or so. She and Tom enjoyed playing hide and seek in the bracken with me along the way.

Up on the top we were bothered by several wasps that just would not leave us alone. Tom and Emily were keen to search for stones to add to the cairn.

Back at Mum's, the poo arrived just as I was having my lunch, but at least it put her mood straight and came before the drive to Fi's. The sun broke through and we were able to eat our final meal outside, though plagued by wasps as usual.

We all set off for Reading around 2.30, with Mum going in Sarah & Tim's car and us Robinsons in her car. Emily fell asleep quite soon and we made it through to the M4 before she woke. Thankfully the London-bound Sunday traffic kept moving though it was very heavy at times. We had a very enjoyable family party at Fiona's before the Lewseys went on home to Sussex, with a slap-up meal for meat-eaters and veggies alike.

After dinner the 'wall of water' that had been forecasted arrived, though it was less vigorous than hyped. Unfortunately the stopcock under the sink burst during the night and luckily Dan was up late otherwise a lot of damage would have occurred. It did mean that there was no water to be had on waking though.

21 August 2010

Nick, Emily and I drove down to Gail and Dave's for coffee. Emily loved their fake puppy, which sleeps in a little bed and appears to breathe and snore gently. She liked brushing its fur. I'm not absolutely sure that she realised that it wasn't real. We adjourned to the garden, where she had fun collecting small red apples.


Leaving there we went through some very heavy showers on the drive to Hereford. We got stuck in a half hour traffic jam going into the city, so were very late eating lunch, which we had in Nutters, the cafe Fiona had shown us previously. Emily grazed from our plates of wholesome veggie food and delicious cakes. While we were there the weather cleared up nicely. In town, Nick made a lightning raid on Fat Face while I tried to entertain Emily. We swapped over and I browsed quickly in M&S and stocked up on toiletries in Boots. Nick had taken Emily back to the playground next to the pool car park, where Tom et al were now playing. I joined them later then we all came home.

Tim and I went for a run so I left Emily to have her tea with Nick in attendance. After a very good run, which was much more enjoyable for having company and even a little bit faster than on my own despite talking throughout, I found chaos at home: Emily had been in hysterics while I was gone and had not eaten any tea. Nick was just putting her to bed early, with only a few veggies to get her through the night. I groaned inwardly as I knew that could mean an early waking for me, but she has to realise that she must eat what is provided so it is the only way.

20 August 2010

Rain, rain and more rain. All plans abandoned, we spent the morning at home. Tim decided to pitch their large tent by the patio and Nick and I helped. Once it was up, albeit very shakily as there was not enough space to put all the pegs in, we all piled in and spent a while in there, with the odd rumble of thunder to titivate the kids.

Dad was off visiting friends again ; no coincidence, apparently, that his absence came when the house was being invaded by family once more! We dropped him at the station then all went to Raglan Garden Centre for a potter about and a yummy lunch. Tim and Nick took the children home while Mum, Sarah and I hit Waitrose; with our departure drawing closer I needed to stock up on a few desirable or essential items. Now that we have pre-paid for an extra piece of luggage we have scope to take a lot more back with us.

19 August 2010

Emily woke up at 6.50am despite being up until 9pm last night. I was very grumpy with her and she ended up crying; I felt awful and took her downstairs. She played while I lay on the carpet next to her. I wish I could be better at mornings and envy people who can be bright from the moment they wake. After I harassed Nick to get up at 8.30 I went back to bed for an hour and could easily have stayed all morning. I really couldn't figure out why I was so tired though.

The others all went to Teg's Nose country park while I stayed at home to pack. Emily got very upset when she realised I wasn't going and had a massive meltdown; in the end I had to go out to the car to calm her down. Of course, she ended up having a fabulous time and came back with purple smears on her face from bilberry picking.

After lunch the family escorted us to Wilmslow station, from where we took our leave from them and got on the train to Abergavenny. We managed to avoid any tears on parting, but I couldn't help wondering how long it will be before we see them again. Luckily Nick couldn't dwell on things as he was occupied with trying to fit all of our many large bags, the baby carrier and the car seat into the small luggage space provided on the two-carriage train; eventually we had to use one of our three pre-booked seats to put the car seat on and have Emily share a two seat space with us, which is what I had suspected would happen.

As soon as we turned west the weather deteriorated until at our destination it was pouring. The train aircon was set to ice-cold and most passengers were wearing thick coats. Mum & Dad collected us and Emily seemed happy to be back despite the deluge, though I think when she realised that Fern wasn't at the house she was disappointed. Sarah, Tim and Tom arrived around 10pm, the latter very groggy after beginning his night's sleep on the journey form Sussex.

18 August 2010

Finally, we got to take a trip to the East Lancs Railway to see what it is that so fires Graham's enthusiasm. I was glad that he would at last be able to show Emily his railway. When we got to Bury, we waited expectantly on the platform as Jimmy the Jinty puffed in.
With his elevated status as a volunteer there, Graham was able to take Emily right onto the footplate to have a look at the fire inside.

Along with a good number of other passengers, we took seats in one of the old carriages. The ride to Rawtenstall took about quarter of an hour each way and passed through some attractive scenery, with plenty of livestock to look at and a pretty river that wove along near the track. We passed Peel Tower, perched on a ridge above.

We were entertained by the faux grumpiness of the ticket collector, who, as Graham later disclosed, was a retired senior policeman. At Rawtenstall we got off and watched closely as the engine was unhooked and turned around to couple up at the other end for the return trip. It also took on water from the tower at the end of the platform.


Feeling in need of sustenance we set off into Bury to see what we could find. Pam and Kate had to get off promptly for a doctor's appointment, so I suggested a reasonable looking pub next to the church. Lunch in pub. It was therefore my fault that we ended up waiting well over half an hour before our food arrived; my vegetarian meal was very poor to boot, being a vegetable crumble with all of one teaspoon of crumble topping scattered overcooked veg swimming in thin cheese sauce. Pam and Kate left in search of something quicker and after a while Graham had to pop out in pouring rain to top up our car park ticket as we had waited so long.



It was still quite early, so we decided to stop off at the Manchester Airport observation area on the way home. Emily slept in the car and for a while in the car park, before waking to see a plane take off on the runway right in front of us, which staved off any tears. We spent a happy two hours there and saw at least 50 planes take off or land. We ate icecreams, attended by a posse of wasps yet again, and had a look around a parked RJX test plane.






In the evenng I went out for a run with Nick and Graham, taking the same route up to the disused railway track and found it every bit as tough as the first time. Nick was doing his best to keep his pace down but it was still far too quick for me. As always, though I did not enjoy the run I felt a sense of achievement afterwards, and the lovely scenery was a consolation.

17 August 2010

Although Emily is generally very sweet, a month without a 'day off' is hard for me, so I was very glad to disappear to Manchester for the day. There, I had arranged to meet Jill, a mum I know from Tokyo who had returned last August and lives in Southport. Nick and Emily walked me round to Adlington station and she enjoyed seeing me off on the train. I tracked Jill down in the preappointed rendezvous of Next Home department. We pottered happily around the fashion shops of the Arndale Centre for ages, then flopped down in a cafe there for a two hour slap-up lunch, bottle of wine included. We felt very much like 'ladies who lunch', though neither of us gets much chance to splurge like that. What is it about lunchtime drinking that affects you so much more strongly? I was a little merry and very rosy-cheeked by the end of the meal.

I hurried back to Manchester Piccadilly in drizzle with moments to spare before my planned train, only to find that it had been cancelled. I needn't have worried as Emily and Nick were round at the neighbours' house, who had their whole family visiting for the day, including 3-year old granddaughter. Once Emily got home it was easy to get her fed and off to bed as she had had a busy day, having been for a ride on the model train at nearby Brookside earlier. Nick and I went to the Legh Arms for a couple of drinks and a catch up with Skid later in the evening.

16 August 2010

Nick and Graham went off quite early to Snowdonia to tackle Tryfan. Originally, I was supposed to join them but due to the Emily situation I did not feel that I could go, though she was calm enough in the end. It would have been unfair to leave her to Pam and Kate if she might create later in the day. Still, they had a great climb in ideal weather (though Graham took quite a tumble on the way down that could have been a very nasty accident, and if I had gone they would not have been able to take the BMW convertible and travel in style with the top down).

We four headed for Tatton Park. If we had checked first we would have discovered that the farm does not open on Mondays (and the land train therefore doesn't run either). However, we probably would not have had time for all of it anyway and the day turned out very pleasantly despite the closures.On arrival, Emily wandered around in the extensive playground but with her sore wrist she would not be able to use much of it and it seemed that hunger had got the better of her, so we went straight to the courtyard restaurant. Unfortunately they had a power outage and the food and drink on offer was limited so it was rather a poor lunch. At first we took a table outside (under an umbrella as it was hotting up nicely), but we were soon driven inside by a plague of persistent wasps - one of the few bad memories I shall take back with me to seemingly wasp-free Tokyo.

After eating, we went on into the gardens. Emily made a beeline for the orchard and enjoyed the espalier pears and apples before trying to pick up as many of the windfalls as she could hold. We chomped on quite a few of the many large and tasty raspberries before I spotted a solitary sign requesting visitors not to pick them. Moving on into the kitchen garden we were very taken with the quaint scarecrows, each with its own character. Emily loved the gigantic pumpkins, marrows and cabbages, some probably weighing as much as her.

After that it was the rose garden, and then we walked down the Broad Walk as far as the large pond, where Emily fed the ducks, though they were a little shy.

Next to the pool was a piece of modern 'art' (my apostrophes), one of several to be discovered around the gardens; this one was an iceberg encased in a display case powered by a bank of solar-panels. Further on we came to a sort of modern camera obscura, then we returned to the old-world charm of the Japanese garden.

Emily managed to walk all of this but then began to tire and get crotchety, so we curtailed the visit and made our way back to the courtyard via a huge wooden horse.

Having refused to countenance the carousel on first passing, Emily now expressed great desire to take a ride, so she and I hopped onto the back of one of the horses. It was very tame and not cheap, as we both had to pay though only on one horse, but she enjoyed it. After I had dismounted, I was about to walk away when I felt a pain in my finger and looked down to see that a wasp had landed on my hand and stung me, with no provocation at all. I let out a yelp, and cursed the ill fate that saw me stung twice in a fortnight. Just like last time, though, it smarted about the same as a nettle sting and made my hand ache for an hour or so, but then quickly improved. Either I have not experienced the full power of a sting or I am relatively immune to them, though I remain terrified of the horrible insects, after a lifetime's habit of running away whenever one bothers me.

15 August 2010

Emily slept until 7.30, only waking once in the night. She came into bed with us but was in lot of pain and crying, so I decided to get up. I gave her some Calpol but she was still very upset. She did not want to walk on her own but cried when I picked her up. As she said 'no' to every suggestion we felt very frustrated and fed up.

With Pam and Graham we took her to South Park in Macclesfield, as we thought she would like to feed the ducks, but she got increasingly upset and was crying loudly and uncontrollably. The ducks did not want bread anyway due to a surfeit of cheap white loaf already floating on the surface. The playground was closed but she would not have been able to use it in any case, with only one arm, so we went home. She was giving in to sleep on the way back and I took her straight to bed. She slept two and half hours, me too for the final hour. Gail and Dave arrived while she slumbered and they all went to the Legh Arms for lunch while I stayed with Emily. Once awake, she perked up after some late lunch and a dose of medicine kicked in, then played quite happily in the garden for the rest of afternoon, though her left arm was hanging limply at her side.

14 August 2010

At last, and with me becoming very worried after 6 days, Emily produced a poo. The medication prescribed to her is either ineffective or extremely slow in taking effect. Emily and I went up to the canal with Kate in the morning. We fed the many ducks first
then walked along for a while, despite a heavy rain shower passing over. Emily walked from one bridge to the next and most of the way back: a good 800 yards I reckon. We saw quite a few barges and there was plenty of wildlife and many farm animals to point out. It is a really pleasant rural spot with good views across the Cheshire Plain.

After lunch the happy moment came when we were to meet Nick from Macclesfield station. I did not tell Emily that he would be there, merely that we were going to watch trains, so it was a lovely surprise for her. She seemed very emotional, though not quite tearful, as she went to his arms. She had fun showing Nick all her new toys and books and exploring the garden together.

It was all going well until he gave Emily a swing around on the grass. She began crying hysterically and seemed to be in pain. After a while, we got her upstairs and lay her down on the bed and she dropped off, worn out with crying. She slept for ages then woke and again complained of pain in her arm, but then went back to sleep on me for another hour or more. As there was no improvement we decided to take her to casualty. We saw a triage nurse quickly and were then shown into a kids waiting room, which at least had toys, books and DVDs. She had some painkiller but we had to wait two hours, which really dragged. There was another family there who were very pleasant. We watched a lot of DVDs as Emily could not play due to the pain in her wrist. Finally, we saw a doctor and he was very offhand, seeming almost uninterested and with no bedside manner at all. He sent us to Xray, where we hung around some time longer. Emily was very patient, under the circumstances. Nick and I had to wear lead aprons and Emily managed to cope with the two x-ray plates fairly well. We went back to the doctor and he showed the x-ray results to all of us. Emily was really interested to see a picture of her bones. There was apparently no break; it was just a soft tissue injury so there was no treatment he could give other than painkiller. While waiting for Graham to pick us up at 11pm, we saw some fireworks in a nearby park, and Emily saw some stars too. Back at home she had toast then we went off to bed at midnight, all emotionally worn out.

13 August 2010

It was wet on and off all day. We scratched our plan to go to Tatton Park and Pam and I took Emily to John Lewis. Pam kindly stayed with her in the toy department for half an hour while I had a quick shuftie round womenswear. Then we went to the childrens' clothing department and she chose a pack of 'big girls' pants', as I have told her many times that once we are settled back at home she will be upgrading to the potty. She got a bit fed up, partly because she thought that I ought to buy her some plastic vegetables and partly because her mood was affected yet again by her toilet habits. We calmed her down and got her home on the promise that Pam had something special for her there, and indeed she did: a Peppa Pig play set with a train, duck pond and see-saw, complete with several figurines. Does that count as bribery?!

After lunch it rained again and that made our minds up that Emily should play at Fun4All, an indoor softplay place in Macclesfield. Unfortunately she realised as we arrived that she had left Goki at home and cried, but once we were through the door he was forgotten as soon as she saw all the play equipment. Pam had bravely agreeed to stay there with her while I went into town to sort one or two things out. I walked for quarter of an hour in drizzle and scurried across several busy roads. After my chores I bought Private Eye and relaxed with coffee and cake for a while before setting off back to the play venue. By now the weather had deteriorated and the rain had come back with a vengeance. I arrived drenched to find that Emily was having a fantastic time and she soon had me clambering around on foam steps, through nets and down slides. A small trip resulted in floods of tears and I realised just how tired she was after no nap and two hours of fun, so we headed for home.

12 August 2010

Hurray! Finally, Nick is on his way to Blighty, after more than 4 weeks of separation. We won't see him until Saturday though, as he has a couple of days down south first to see Matt, Ali and Alistair.


It was a changeable day right from the start. After coffee we all drove to Little Morton Hall, over on the other side of Congleton. This is a gorgeous little black and white stately home dating back to the 15th century, set in attractive Cheshire countryside and surrounded by a full moat. This was being replenished by a morning of showers, and it began raining as we arrived.

Emily was somewhat tetchy for a while, which I put down to the lack of a poo, and I had to carry her a fair bit at first. We left Mum, Pam and Graham to listen in on the guided tour, while Kate and I took Emily up to the Long Gallery, with its very higgledy-piggledy floor. Emily loosened up then and began running back and forth along the length of the narrow room.

We poked around in the other rooms briefly then took her into the shop, coming out a fair few quid lighter.


In the orchard, which charmingly had about 30 ducks grazing on the grass, a small marquee had been set up for childrens' activities. Emily enjoyed making a bumble bee on a stick. She loves being allowed to use felt-tip pens, which I don't allow in the apartment, and sticky tape is always popular.

We wandered briefly in the knot garden and around by the moat, then went into the restaurant. I ordered a ploughman's, and though it was pricey I didn't expect the two massive wedges of local cheeses, each of which was at least six ounces. I left more than half and took it home in a doggy bag. By then it was time for Mum to head back to Pandy, so we left the Hall, just as the sun made an appearance.


Driving back to Macclesfield, the heavens darkened and a sudden downpour hit us. This heralded a full afternoon of torrential rain and thunder storms. I spent quite a while pottering in Sainsbury's while Emily slept out in the car, then we went home. She seemed keen to hear the thunder and had plenty of opportunity as we peered out at the weather from the bedroom, though I think she was a little scared too. We saw several flashes, but she kept missing the forks that flickered periodically.


After Emily ate a huge tea, Graham and I set out for a run. We knew there would be a lot of puddles and mud after so much rain had fallen but at least it stayed dry for us, and in fact the skies cleared and we had a lovely, though cool evening with nice cloud formations in the distance. We ran to the old railway track up Brookledge Hill, and I found it very tough to even jog gently up that incline, but after a few minutes on the level trail I settled into a pace and managed to stay up with Graham. We dropped down off the railway on a quiet country road that afforded great views west and had some pretty red brick cottages, then turned back for the final mile on the main road. We were gone 50 minutes and at a pace out of my comfort zone, so we must have easily done 5 miles. Emily was in the bath and extremely genki. It was hard to settle her in bed and once more she requested me to stay and lie down by her for a short sleep. Sadly, the sky was not clear enough to go out and view the peak of the Perseids shower, but I was very weary anyway so perhaps it was for the best.

11 August 2010

Time to move on from Pandy to Adlington. Mum took us in her car, and drove the first leg as far as Strensham services, where we paused for coffee. We continued up the M5/M6 as far as Stafford services, where we broke the journey for lunch. It was warm and sunny as we got out of the car, but by the time we had bought a picnic and gone out to the pleasant little landscaped lake to eat it, heavy clouds had moved in and it felt pretty chilly. Emily got to play in the small playground there and I was convinced that after food and activity she would sleep the final hour to Pam and Graham's, but she made it all the way awake.

We played in the garden and Pam produced a new Peppa Pig play tent. Emily also liked their exercise ball, and picking some of the wild strawberries that seemed to be invading Graham's garden.

Finally I managed to stop her from pestering Florence and she soon dropped off in her Ready bed. She was really happy to have a cat who responds to her advances at last (unlike grumpy Rosie).

10 August 2010

Emily and I went to Ali's place in Bredon. I could see straight away that Amelia is beginning to look very like her Mummy. New baby Charlotte, 7 weeks, was more like Adrian, I thought. She is very sweet, and it was lovely to hold her. I have had plenty of opportunity to cuddle small babies recently, and it never ceases to amaze me how light they are. Emily is so hefty these days.

The two girls played quite well together, though naturally it was a little hard at times for Amelia to share her favourite toys, but that is no different to Emily when she entertains at home.

From a cold start it warmed up to become quite a nice day, so after lunch we walked down the road to the village shop for cakes. Amelia still naps every day so was tired and rode on a buggy board. That meant that Emily refused to walk too, and I had to carry her a fair bit. Predictably, she fell asleep on the drive home later. She ends up napping most days now as we are often in the car in the afternoon. I hope I can break her back out of the habit when we return home.

Late in the evening I went out onto the lawn with Mum and Fi before bed for half an hour to look for meters. I saw 6 or 7, and also Jupiter, as bright as a small moon to the south east.

9 August 2010

Emily had a repeat visit to the doctors, for a second opinion on her poo situation. This time a different physician said that she has a lazy bowel and the usual advice was given about fibre (that box can certainly be ticked already) and plenty of drinks (exactly how I am to get any more down her when she often purses her lips shut is the small problem with that suggestion). She also prescribed some sachets to try for a month in the hope of establishing a more regular pattern.

On the way home we called in to see Gordon and Melba at Penbidwal Farmhouse. They have done wonders with that place since they took it on almost uninhabitable about 10 years ago. Emily warmed to them quickly and was happy playing with her trains on their rug while we chatted. Melba said they had discovered an old motte and bailey on their land, and also showed me a medieval tally stick, whatever that might be, that was found there.

After lunch Mum, Fi and I took the kids to Hereford. Emily and Fern had a great time at the excellent playground near the swimming pool, then we walked through the attractive riverside park and through to the cathedral.

Some buildings around the cathedral were being rebuilt and there were plenty of diggers and dumpers for the girls to watch at work, though Emily was rather nervous when I took her closer to one. Down one of the old cobbled streets opposite, we dived into an alley and came out in a secluded courtyard where we had cake and coffee at a wholefood cafe. I mused that the city would be a nice place to live (not just because of the cake!).


Fi took Charlie off into town for a short shopping spree while I escorted the girls back to the car with Mum. We went via the old bridge to avoid the playground, as Mum needed to get back to Abergavenny to pick Dad up and a diversion to play again would cause delay.


I turned back to Hereford centre and shopped for a while before meeting Gill, my old college friend. We decided to go to Gilbies wine bar, which hadn't changed a jot since our class reunion 15 years ago. The food was OK but definitely provincial quality. We spent a pleasant couple of hours talking about old times and what lies ahead.


I took the train home to Abergavenny, and the Black Mountains looked brooding and magnificent in late evening light with heavy cloud overhead. Fi picked me up and took me home. When I arrived Emily had been to bed but just got out again to find the plastic grapes she has been obsessed by for the last week. I took her back to bed and she was such a chatterbox for half an hour. She said 'Mummy please don't go downstairs, lie down next to me and have a little nap'.