Better than a kick in the knickers with a winklepicker

Woo! Another third place ranking in the neutral_zone icon contest. I'm number three! I'm number three!




Mum and Sis have been down. We all drank far too much and watched Ghostwatch last night. It scared the bejesus out of them.

And Madam has a rash. Took her for her first bus trip today to the doctor's to get it checked out. Calamine lotion smells disgusting, we've pretty much had to slather it all over the little mite.

Arse.

I have TNG Plot Bunnies.

Begone, damn bunnies! I do not know your vast, vast universe anywhere near well enough to comfortably write fic.

Mummy is down. I am drinking.

Off to watch the Baftas on the telly like a pleb. Bye!

First off, I have icon for thee. Inspired by vicxntric gleeful post that she had got hold of Nosferatu and Dr Caligari, I present to you a selection of icons made off images nicked off Google searching the names of some of my favourite Silent Era movies and stars.
( zombies and vampires and paedos, oh my! )
We've had a really fun weekend, tooth related eating/sleeping problems aside. Really nice weather both days, so yesterday we went to the beach and had a stroll along the prom prom prom... let Vi have a toddle about too, she enjoyed walking over the pebble beach and found a couple of pebbles she really liked for us to take home. Then a night of wine, Pursuit and larks with Dr Flo, then a trip to the park to go on the swings today. Yay! Hubs was impressed when CBeebies Radio played The Laughing Gnome.

I have a cold now, though - as does everyone else. Boo hiss.

As each Birthday approaches I get glummer and glummer :( Poot. It doesn't help that it's so close to New year, already a time of reflection over the past year. It just makes me even more aware of the passage of time, my steady march towards Middle Age and the many things I have yet to do with my life.

Still.

Spuddie came down today! I almost hardly never get to see that girl, and I got a whole day of her to myself! She claimed, in her usual brusk fashion to be 'useless with babies' and then proceeded to utterly charm the pants off Vi and be really helpful and engaging with her. Violet loved the buttons on her jumper and spent most of the afternoon trying to eat them. Walked all around Canters so that Spud could point at all the bits that have changed since she lived here. Had hot milkshakes. Maple Syrup. Mmm.

And Mummy's coming down tomorrow. Hopefully. In spite of her previous bad luck with train journeys to and from Canters, and against all logic she has decided to train it again tomorrow, which is, of course, when it has decided to snow. Probably only a couple of cm, not due to stick around for long, but this is Britain and as soon as the weather differs even slightly from being damply overcast everybody panics and the entire transport network collapses in a big quivering heap.

And Hubs started his new job today. I'm really not used to not having him around, and this job's so far away that he has to leave really early, doesn't get home til Vi's bathtime and crucially can't pop home for lunch. I think if I hadn't had Spud's visit to distract me it would have been a really, really long day. *Sigh*

Plus sides of driving at night - roads are clear (even on Black Friday) and the babe sleeps all the way home.

Minuses - Dear God, the Fog! Also freezing cold house to get into, and babe wakes up once in and won't go back to sleep again. she is currently sitting on my knee, happy as Larry.

Worryingly, minutes after we got in a bunch of chavscum kicked in a neighbour's door and smashed their front window... seemingly just because they fancied breaking something as they shambled past. Tis the season and all that.

Will go into more detail about the funeral trip and all that anon. Thanks for all your supportive comments.

Isn't it always the way that when you're worried about one thing, something unexpected turns up and bites you on the bum?

Was woken up this morning by Husband saying Mum had just phoned with sad news - I braced myself for it to be about Auntie Glen or Niany, both of whom I'd prepared myself for potentially losing after seeing how frail they both were, but no.

My Grampy, who I'd seen only on Thursday morning, who had been as fit as a fiddle and happy as Larry, died last night.

It was very, very sudden. It seems he'd just gone to sleep in his chair and not woken up again. He'd had total independence, kept his home, his mobility and his marbles throughout, he was still driving, had just written a book and continued to write letters to the Labour Party haranguing them for losing their principles. He remained himself, an opinionated, idealistic old Socialist who adored nothing more than good times and family.

It's pulled the carpet from under all of our feet - we're all very much in shock, and finding it difficult to deal with a loss that's come so utterly out of the blue. But then isn't his the best way to go? Suddenly, peacefully, having lived long enough to see his childrens' childrens' children without losing his dignity or faculties?

I'm taking comfort in that, and in thinking practically, as I always do in these situations. And in the love of Hubs and Violet, obviously.

I have been off on my travels again but now I'm back once more.

- The nice people who are marketing shit looking 80s style moving picture 'Licence to Wed' seem to think that giving out Beef Jerky and Queela in the street are going to make people go and see their shitty shitty fillum. Once a comedy actor has started doing Psychos, he can't go back to Comedy. I don't make the rules up, I merely enforce them!

- Darkhaven's coming back. Woot!

- I have eaten so much meat this weekend. It's ridiculous. We had a nice veggie Macaraca Cheesie and cabbage salad tonight, but still...

- Marks & Sparks Burger Sauce with lamb burger is frigging delicious. As is fruit salad cooked in Pissoa.

- Vi has her top teeth now as well as the bottom ones, making a grand total of 4! She is still quite grumpy, and isn't really happy unless somebody's either throwing her around or helping her walk.

- Nina Simone's version of Here Comes The Sun is really lovely.

- Yet again, I've had no time to write. Gah!

Five things...

We are suffering from our first cold. That is, Daddy has it, Mummy is trying to fight it off and neither can get much rest since baby's got it summat awful. Last night was tough. After about 10 attempts to get her to stay in her cot (including an hour long screaming fit until 1am) I gave up and brought her into bed for the night. It doesn't help matters that her first little tooth broke through yesterday. Poor thing. Also, she has now learnt how to roll herself onto her front, and does so the second she's in her cot. Again, I've had to give up righting her as she just rolls straight over again and seems much more comfortable on her front. Today was a 2 cups of coffee day. I'm knackered!

I finally got my Mother's Day present today - Tomb Raider Anniversary. Pretty but infuriating. I've been running round and round Croft Manor for ages looking for either a grappling gun or a way out of the fecking Library.


I started listening to Westway a while ago because La Reynolds is occasionally in it, and now I've got a bit hooked. Dammit! It's like The Archers In The City. Nina Wadia's in it too!

Sis came down for a couple of days. We've spent it being accosted by Randoms. Two tramps outside Sainsburys chatting us up yesterday and a fucking Chugger today. I did the usual 'sorry, we're in a hurry' blather and he called my bluff! Asked me what I was in a hurry for. I should have told him it was none of his business or made up something funny - I've only got 15 minutes to save the Earth - something like that, but instead I lied really badly. 'We... have to... catch a... bus.' I'm so shit! I hate chuggers, they're on the high st every single day. At least none of the Anti-Abortion lot have approached me yet, I might have to spit in their eye.

I've finally started work on The Awful truth again! It desperately needs some love right now.

Well then! Back from an extended Easter Jolly to both Families. We are now all rather knackered. 5 days on the road with a 12 week old = not the easiest way to spend a holiday!

Good Friday - was largely spent driving. Alack the Holiday Traffic was still very much out in force and so pretty much all of the M25 was one giant traffic jam. And Reading Services... my Christ, I don't think I've ever seen a service station so full. It really doesn't help that if you're travelling South-East to South-West, Reading is the first service station in about 100 miles of heavy traffic, so pretty much everybody needs to stop by then. Vi needed a feed, but thank God didn't need a change - still, what with feeding her and taking turns to queue for a wee, getting sarnies, eating said sarnies etc we were there for an hour. We set off from Canters at 10.30 and didn't get to Bristow til 4. A long trip. The weather was lovely all weekend though, and Friday evening was spent in Sis' back garden with a BBQ. Yum! Twas followed by a twilight drive over the Severn Bridge (it's £5.10 to get into Wales now!) to Mum's for supper. As you may have guessed by now, the theme for this weekend was Gluttony.

Saturday - Sis and Ad came over with DaisyMoo the Guinea-pig (at Mum's on her holiday while Sis & Ad are in Barcelona for this week) and Ad's daughter C - who was very good, and not too boisterous with Vi. This classic exchange was noted:
Ad: (brings C a drink) - What do you say...?
C: Put it on the table.
A sunny trip to the park was enjoyed by all, followed by a very slobby afternoon and a big fat Chicken Dinner as there would be none on Sunday. We ended up watching a Boxing match that everybody in Wales seemed to be watching and yet only lasted about a minute.

Easter Sunday - The Mob descended. They brought many gifts. Mum provided a buffet so big you'd think someone was getting married. Grampy was besotted with the Great Grandaughter even though she kept trying to steal his dentures, I discovered Uncle Pete has a Magic Touch with babies, the Hangers On turned up as they always do and brought their creepy son who managed to grunt a brief 'hello' in my direction between stuffing his face with free food. This isn't a teenager, by the way - this bloke's about 40. Ew. And The Other One put my back up too. Incredibly tenous male relations that you've only known for a few years and only ever seen a handful of times should NOT stroke your hair every time they greet you. Creepy, creepy man.
The rest of the Mafia were a joy to see again, though. Cousin Matt is a leg-end. While giving Vi a cwtch he looked her in the eye and stared saying 'Mah... Mah... Mah... Mamamama...Matthew!' If that does turn out to be Vi's first word, I'll kill him! He's single again BTW, ladies. Any PG fans out there geeky enough to marry a man simply to inherit the surname 'Day', there's a 25 year old tall blond Welshman I know who can oblige. In true Diva fashion, Vi had three different outfits over the course of Easter Day, although unlike Kylie, Madge et al this was due to several explosive poos of such magnatude they could not be entirely confined to her nappy.

Easter Monday - was spent on the road again. I threatened to crash the car due to dancing like a Hillbilly to Duelling Banjoes whilst driving over the Severn Bridge. Traffic was much better so we managed to do Wales - Hastings in just over 4 hours, never stopping for long enough for Vi to wake up and realise she was hungry. Quick turn around at Mother in Law's then back out to the seafront for Sis in Law's birthday. Too quick a turn-around really, as I wasn't prepared enough for how long we were to stay out. After a cup of tea in a cafe that had yet to ban smoking (cue me giving the chain smoking old tart at a table beyond the Evil Eye and repeatedly asking the M-i-L to hurry up her coffee drinkage) we went to a Chinese that was nice, yet had no changing facilities i could find and was staffed by people who didn't understand no matter how slowly I said 'No, I need to change her nappy' whenever they pointed at the High Chair. *Sigh* - Had brought spare nappies and cotton wool but that was all... there followed a very stressful five minutes as I had to change her on paper towels laid on the Ladies' sink counter. She hated it and screamed blue murder. Never again. By then I was feeling too stressed and guilt ridden to enjoy the rest of the meal. Another very quick turn-around in which I picked up much more stuff to go out was followed by a few hours at Sis-in-Law's house, playing her Wii. Was frickin knackered at the end of all that.

Tuesday - hubs took today off too so we stayed the night in Hastings. Spent most of today at S-i-L's again. We finally got round to watching Saturday's Dr Que... ( All the world's a stage... )
Anyhoo, we're back now, and have a stupid amount of chocolate that'll probably last us well into June. Whee!

Mummy has now left. It's always nice having her down. As is her wont, she bought loads of stuff for Vi as well as giving me a really sweet card and a Baby Record Book for M-Day. She did tell me that my Great Aunt died on Friday though, which is terribly sad. I hadn't seen her for a few years since I'm up in Wales so seldom but I'll have very fond memories of her. She was a very sweet, funny lady.

What is up with the weather today? I went out into town quickly and the sun was shining - on my way back I got caught in a heavy snow shower!

Went to my first 1st Time Mums Group this morning, which was nice. They're all in quite a similar boat to me - 1st timers without a nearby support network of family or friends with babies. There's one woman whose experience with birth and breastfeeding problems was almost exactly the same as mine, word for word, which made me feel a lot better.

Still feeling a little down today though - the days seem to whizz by even though I get up at a reasonable time. My muse is still absent too, which hasn't helped. Fiddle-dee-dee.