Tag Archives: good times

Hello October

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So somehow we are right in the middle of October and I couldn’t be more chuffed that my favourite season has properly started – none of this disconcerting Indian summer nonsense now, thank goodness.  Skirts, tights and boots FTW!  Also? HALLOWEEEEEEEEN!!! I am so excited about Evelina’s first Halloween.  Today I bought her first Halloween outfit.  I was going to make something but I thought I would wait until next year at least so that it’s a bit easier to fit it to her (the whole standing thing is fine but the only time she doesn’t want to stand, it seems, is when I want her to). I also bought the trick or treat sweets so all I need now is to dig out our Halloween decorations out of the loft and buy pumpkins.  Who knows, I might even make another decoration this year!

I realised that I hadn’t posted in a while but when I saw that I hadn’t posted at all in October yet, I was a little appalled.  My lack of posting could be put down to the fact that I have returned to work although since I am working a piddling two days a week, it hardly seems like a proper excuse.  Whatever the reason I am still here.  Here is just a flavour of what we have been up to since I last wrote:

  • Evelina was baptised and it was a lovely (and low-key) day
  • I started work after almost a year. A new office, a new desk and a new computer but otherwise it was like I hadn’t been away. It helps having a great boss.
  • We went for a walk around Brueton Park in Solihull with Ste, Fay and cutie-pie Gabe.
  • We visited Evelina’s Nanny and Granddad B
  • I drove over to Long Hanborough* to take my car to the Swift Garage, then stopped for lunch at Bicester Avenue** (Hobbycraft! 1 ball of wool purchased for £1.50)
  • Evelina and I had coffee with Roisin and Nic (well. Evelina had cottage pie and I had Chai Latte) so that I could FINALLY give Roisin her birthday present.
  • Carys came to visit and we talked and talked and laughed and talked and ate bagels and cheesecake.  Bliss.
  • We visited our friends Lee and Caroline and their girls Nadine and Carmen for the weekend which involved playing at the swingpark, eating yummy food, half-watching the X Factor, talking the hind legs off a donkey and having a general blast. We also came away with a load of baby swag – muchos clothing!

*Long Hanborough is 48 miles away. That’s pretty far when you have a 10 month old in the back who is hungry.  Here is a map so you can get your bearings:

I went here because it was the one we bought it from and the one I used when we were still working in Oxfordshire. They needed to diagnose a problem that they identified during its last service, a problem they subsequently forgot about / lost the paperwork / messed up with somehow. After feeding Evelina her lunch in the car showroom for half an hour, I was asked to come back the following week and leave my car in for a few days so that they can diagnose it some more.  I have that joy to look forward to on Wednesday.

**I was so irritated by the surly attitude of the middle-aged server behind the toasted sandwich counter of the garden centre restaurant, I did something I always say I will do and never do: I wrote a strongly worded email when I got back home.  I don’t know when I became the sort of person who writes strongly worded emails but apparently I have.  The email contained the phrase: “it is not an exaggeration to say that it ruined my lunch” which was true but a little emotional. I was pretty impressed to get a reply which in turn included the phrase: “As a result of which the entire team have been spoken to with the emphasis on Customer Care with retraining given were (sic) necessary.” I like to think that my email was so strongly worded that it made the Head Chef who replied nervous, hence the typo.

 

 

A little catching up

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I am not really sure what happened to this week.  I had every intention of  writing all sorts of fascinating blog posts but then I didn’t. My last post featured a picture of the Leamington railway station waiting room as I waited for the London train to take me to see Jules and Erin.  This was a mini Tumblr meetup – these are girls I have never met but knew from Tumblr (although Erin is a relatively new acquaintance). For those who think this is really weird, then lets just say that I was meeting up with pen pals from America – for some reason, pen pal sounds so much less threatening / weird than ‘internet buddy’ – I don’t really have the energy to go into how annoying that is right now but let’s just say if it weren’t for meeting strangers on the internet, then sew make believe wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t have a ton of super-cool local girl friends who like the same things that I like.

I met Jules and Erin in Covent Garden as they had already had a good look around, we just nipped into David and Goliath where I bought this onsie and some badges for each of us. This was mine:

After a quick gander at the Gumball 3000 cars which were waiting to leave for their souped up / really silly / super rich race around Europe, we headed over to Harrods.

It has been an age since I have been here – it is not really somewhere you go when you aren’t a tourist and yet it was so much fun.  For starters, I bought two new lovely Chanel nail varnishes (look out for a Chanel polish post coming soon!) from an impeccable French lady.

Jules and Erin - a bit blurry... iPhone pap.

Then we had a roam around the superb toy department – I can’t wait to go back there with Evelina for a special treat one day.  Next up was the food hall – so many nice things to eat and drink there.  We stopped for a small but perfectly formed coffee and rested our feet.

With only a short amount of time left before I needed to get back to Marylebone to catch my train, we ambitiously tried to get to Kings Cross and find Platform 9 3/4.  We managed to get to Kings Cross but I had to dash before we found the platform that they have made for Harry Potter fans. I still haven’t remembered to ask Jules if they found it – Kings Cross is having work done so I do hope that they haven’t done away with the sign!

Lunches and swims

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We couldn’t have been luckier with the weather this week.  On Thursday, we needed to collect some furniture we had in storage at our old office in Upper Heyford (we have now moved to Kenilworth) so we left Evelina with Grandma and Grandpa while we took a drive down the M40.  We had lunch at the Oxford Arms – in all the time we were at this office, ricardo had never experienced the magical triple cooked chips!  It was a regularly haunt of the rest of the family when we were in need of a treat for lunch and it’s a shame we won’t be able to go very often anymore.  I had the venison burger and chips and Rich enjoyed the ham, egg and chips – neither dish disappointed!  It was really lovely to be able to have a lunch just the two of us.

Friday, we took Evelina swimming for the first time which was very exciting indeed and it was a complete success too!  After a fairly average lunch at the Newbold Comyn Arms, we drove over to Kingsbury in the afternoon and had a cuppa with Rich’s sister, brother-in-law and our niece, Poppy.  She is getting so big now – she is 17 months old – and into everything!  She had great pleasure in having a rummage through my handbag so I have great faith that she will have a healthy love of accessories!  She is completely adorable with lovely blonde curly hair and a big ole smile.

Today we are planning on trying to get to the NCT Nearly New sale in Stratford followed by a wander around Wellesbourne Market.  I better get a wriggle on..!

Sunny Stratford

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Evelina by the Avon

Today we took advantage of the sunshine and spent a couple of hours in Stratford,  relaxing by the river. We had a picnic (it was more a glorified packed lunch due to the quality of food in the house)…

Evelina learned some gang signs…

I was wearing my new threads from Gap…

And Evelina pulled the best faces which makes spending time with her a hoot…

We also stopped by Hatton Country World for afternoon tea and a mosey ’round the shops.

Last night, we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  We had only watched the first two films so have borrowed the rest and plan on watching as many as we can this week. Tonight it is time for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  I think we would both enjoy the films more if we liked a) Harry Potter (the character) and b) Daniel Radcliffe more. This is probably sacrilege but he is pretty irritating.

Staycation!

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Rich was away this weekend, snowboarding near Meribel in France. It was a gruelling coach trip for three days of boarding and he arrived back in London at 6.30am. He sensibly took the rest of this week off and I feel in desperate need of a holiday but rather than go away, we realised there is so much to do in our area that we decided to have a family staycation instead.

Despicable Me (source)

Yesterday was set aside for some serious lounging time. Rich spent the first half of the day (and then some) getting all his boarding gear cleaned up and organised but then we crashed on the sofa with Evelina. While we gave her last bottle, we watched Despicable Me (one of my Mother’s Day presents from Evelina) which I have now seen twice since Friday!  Then we had a very early night which was bliss and much needed by us both!

Market Hall, Warwick (source)

Today, the weather was not on our side so we decided to stay close to home. After a deliciously leisurely morning, we went into Warwick and got Evelina’s passport application sent off – she needs it for our holiday to Italy in July – and then we grabbed a late lunch at a fab cafe in  Market Square called Within Reach Cafe which has a simple menu of sandwiches etc plus daily specials including soup, quiche and a hot dish.  The ingredients used are excellent quality and the service is lovely and friendly.  There is room for a pram next to each table and they have baby changing facilities which makes is particularly appealing!  I went with my mum recently and knew I would be back.  The prices are reasonable too.

After lunch we took a look in the Warwick Museum and then afterwards, I picked up some cheap wool from Warwick Wools for the giant granny square throw I am making for the lounge. We also popped into Present Days (I love that shop) and ended up buying a cute elephant toy for Evelina. After giving Evelina a quick feed in the car, we headed for Leamington so we could pop in a couple of shops and we managed to both end up getting some new togs in the Gap sale.

So our first day out of our staycation has been very much like most of our other holidays (ie eating and shopping!).  We have plenty of ideas for the rest of the week: swimming with Evelina, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, a day in Stratford, a walk round Abbey Fields in Kenilworth and a visit to Kenilworth Castle, Compton Verney and / or Baddesley Clinton.   I would also like to see Suckerpunch at the IMAX (without evelina of course). I don’t know how much we will manage but tomorrow is meant to be a nicer day, so I am sure we will be out and about.  It’s already been so nice to spend some proper quality time together as a family.  I am really looking forward to the rest of the week.  Right now, Evelina is in bed and we are about to pop on a Harry Potter film.