Caution, Baby heavy post.... or is it Heavy Baby?

Hello Dear Readers,

 Gratuitous Turkey shot.  It's the fourth Thanksgiving (or it was last week) since I've moved to the UK, but ofr the first time I actually spent it in the US!  Chris and I flew into Boston on the 23rd and Patrick came the following Monday.  This was the first time we had been to my sister's new house, and the first time we got to meet my new niece Clara in person!  Those turkeys are in her backyard by the way.

Here we are doing a selfie together.  Maybe that's an us-ie then?  Check out her super cute holiday jammies!
We spent most of the time watching football, eating, and playing with the baby, which is exactly what I think Thanksgiving should be.  There was also tofu and a nature walk around the local lake, but those were mostly perks.  Oh and I got to dig around in all my old stuff that is parked in my sister's basement.  Some of it I gifted to Clara, like my old piggy bank (even gave her $1 to start her out, and Dad put his 2 cents in).  Some I took back, I was 50 lbs exactly for my suitcase coming back, pretty much the limit!



Here is Catherine giving her some breakfast. She (Cat, not Clara) went back to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so I thought I would help out since her husband was working from home that morning.  My mother came running in though after she heard me say to Jeff, "now what am I supposed to do with this in the mornings?"  I assumed feeding and changing, in some order, hey, I don't know anything about babies, that's why I ask questions!




She is pretty cute, right? She seems to be sleeping in most of these shots, but that was when I could get the best photos of her, plus I wasn't holding her when she was sleeping.

We all got a chance to test our baby skills, Chris didn't make her cry, and Patrick and Dad had tons of fun making goo goo eyes at her and saying, "A-hoo!", her first catch phrase.

  

Here she is, all ready for Turkey day!  Though she spit up on this outfit about five times before her mother put her in something else, then changed her back before her in-laws came over for dinner.

All in all a pretty great trip, we went shopping and I got sheets (Flannel!  Flat and fitted!). We ate at the Olive Garden and went to the Mall (Pat bought clothes, what else?).  I sewed up and knitted a few things for Clara (see mukluks in above photo). We did Christmas quickly as it was the only time we were all on the same continent for a while, and I got to go crazy at the grocery store.  Snapple!  Pepperidge Farm!  SELECTION!

Not sure when we will go back again, but I promised Catherine that if she had another baby, we would be there.  Hey, the second child needs to be showered with just as much attention!  Hope all you Americans had a fab Thanksgiving, and now we can start the Festivus season!

Pumpkins for Everyone!

Hello Dear Readers,

It's been a busy November so far here on the Putney/Barnes border.  Kew is wrapping up its IncrEdibles festival, and dismantaling their pumpkin display.  Since I have quite a few friends with the inside track to what's what at Kew, I was convinced to go out and rescue some pumpkins from the compost heap.  Not DIRECTLY from the compost heap, but from going there from the waterlilly house.....

12 Pumpkins.  I'm taking them home two by two on my bike, here are some, and I already made one into pumpkin pie squrares, with enough left over for a pumpkin pie smoothie for breakfast and a homemade pumpkin spice latte!  And there is pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin oatmeal.....good thing they last. That big blue one is apparently a New Zealand variety, and it is EXACTLY the shade I want to paint the trim on my closet!

Notice the lovely new kitchen tap?  Put that in all by myself I did.  When this botany thing stops working out for me, I'm totally going into plumbing, it's like solving a maze/puzzle.  So cool.

We were also very lucky to have another visitor, my Dad, who stopped by on his way from Afghanistan to Colorado to see my mother, then to Boston to see my sister's family.  He is very into World War II history so we went to Bletchley Park where all the code breaking went on.  They have built from scratch one of the "bombs" used to crack the Enigma code,and when we were there one of the WRNS who had worked at the park during the war was talking about how they used to use them.  Pretty cool.

We also took Dad to the Italian place which makes 3 foot long pizzas, and to the Lofty Turtle, which is supposed to be an American style bar based on some in New York.  Here is his proudly standing under the Sam Adams sign, his favorite.

Only two weeks to go until we visit my sister's family in Boston for Thanksgiving!  It will be my first Thanksgiving in America in 3 years, and the first time I've been back to the US since my sister's wedding two years ago.  We are most looking forward to going to the grocery store, Panera and The Olive Garden..... oh and seeing my new niece of course.  And my sister.  But the food also.

I've also been busy working on Chris's Sweater, already have one sleeve done, see below.  I know!  Nearly 13 years together, now we've bought a house, it's time he had a hand-knit sweater.  I just hope he likes it, he is SOOOOOO fussy!

 I also cycled into Oxford Street yesterday to meet up with Nina and Hannah, who was a Sandwich Student (kind of like an intern, she didn't sell sandwiches.....) at Kew when I started.  It was really nice to see her again and catch up on what she's been doing.  She traveled in Australia for a year, then Asia and Africa, and plans to go to the Middle East next.  Why did I waste all that time working when I was young, I want to see all those places too!

Oh well, I'll plan that next year, when I'm not buying a flat again....... 

Cheers!

Little ones and little deers

Hello Dear Readers,

Two weekends ago I went up to see my friend Molly and her family in Cambridge.  We had a really nice, relaxed weekend.  I went up Thursday after work so that I could babysit Katelyn on Friday afternoon while Molly and George went for Molly's 20 week scan, another baby on the way!  Katelyn and I read the book I brought up, Aliens Love Underpants.  Ten. times.  And that was just after nap time!  It reminded me so much of when I used to read to my little brother, his favorite book was BIG RED the Fire Engine.  Go big red, go!

Next time I know to bring a few books up so at least I get some variety.  At least I am getting a really good preview of what life with Clara will be like in the future, potty training, learning to read, and, apparently, making bread!


Here is the whole family making dinner together, with Katelyn  learning how to knead bread dough.  George had the added excitement of getting a loaner piano while we were there!  As it happens, I have borrowed my friend Lauren's ukelele this week to learn to play, maybe next time I see them we can jam out a bit!  I'm getting fairly good I think, though I have to fight with Patrick over use of the uke, it's so fun!

I have also been very busy with some knitting....... A few weeks ago I went to hang out with my old knitting group at the Natural History Museum.  My friend Sarah told me that she was asked by the guy who she buys some of the books from if anyone would be interested in knitting  him an "ugly" Christmas sweater for his company's Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Competition.  Of course I would love to, and this is the design we decided on :

Now take a closer look at those reindeer, although readers of this blog should be familiar with that design. And that is James.  I hope he likes it!  I really wasn't sure about the fit, but better a little big than too small. Apparently the grand prize is a Caribbean cruise! If I had known that I would have taken a lot more care over the sweater, I thought he just got office bragging rights. I hope he wins and that he takes me with him on the trip.

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, which I am loving as it gives me more time to really get into my allotment.  I also volunteered to take care of the communal herb garden, oy vey!  I'm nothing if not busy, but you get out of life what you put in, and I'm getting a lot so I can't complain.

Hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am! Almost Halloween...... and I get to wear my Halloween socks now.  I wear them on the outside of my cycling pants so everyone can see.  Yup, I'm pretty cool.

Cheers!

Weekend at long last

Hello Dear Readers,

Last weekend I worked on Saturday at the Sewing Rooms all day then worked for the Architectural Open House weekend at Kew Gardens where I gave tours of the herbarium.  It's always really good to interact with the public who are all (except for one grumpy old man this year) very interested to peer behind the scenes on what I do.  It gives it all a fresh perspective, and several people asked me with real interest , "But what do YOU do here?"  I get so used to it I forget sometimes just how special my job is and it's great to do these things to remember, but it also meant that I had an 11 day work week last week, yikes!

Fortunately I took Friday off to go to Thorpe Park (again!) this time with Patrick (wow, a Patsquash sighting!) and some friends.  It was even less crowded than the last time we went, and I got to go on ALL the rides, two of them twice!

Here I am getting ready to ride the Colossus, which we all agreed was the best, and we rode it first thing and were on the last ride of the day which we RAN to get.  Success!!  Sigh, a great end to summer, as the weather has turned a bit chilly and overcast again.

The other cool thing that happened to me this week was that my number came up for an allotment at work.  These are communal gardens which you get a small plot for, and I am sharing mine with my friend Nina.  Ours also is adjacent to my friend Katherine's plot, of the epic 'Cycle to Brighton' fame almost exactly one year ago.  Saturday morning I weeded the plot and Chris dug it up (the weeds were as tall as I am) and we are going to plan this week all the delicious things we'll grow.  I'm especially excited about garlic, tomatoes and basil because those are expensive luxuries that I rarely buy for myself, but if I can grow them I can hopefully have more than I can ever use!

 On Sunday afternoon my friend Madeline, who I met in Texas but is English, came through on her way back to Minnasota where she flew out this morning at 11 am.  Monday while hanging out at home we waited for delivery of my brother's bed. She was even kind enough to help me put it together as I knew Patrick would never have the time between work and rowing.

Too bad my phone keeps unmounting my SD card for no reason and I didn't get any photos of her! But here I am with the finished project (left) and work in progress (below).

 It was really special to be able to spend a whole day chatting with an old friend, working on a project, walking through Barnes and having a leisurly coffee at the French Cafe down the street.  Such a relief from my 11 day week!!

 And of course you all need an obligatory photo of my little baby niece, has there ever been such a cute baby!?! She does look a bit chilly though, hmm, might have to knit her another sweater or three........

Hope October is treating you all well, I'm off to an early night, got to ease myself into the four day week.....


Cheers!

My own home

 Hello Dear Readers,

Life is settling in very nicely for our new flat, we have our chores set out (I do cooking, laundry and the bathroom, Chris is SUPPOSED to vacuum and do the bills, Patrick, well, Patrick is still the baby I suppose.....)

There is still a bit of work to be done though, we suspect the people who lived in the flat before we did made absolutely no improvements, and when something broke they just left it.  We replaced a window handle that didn't work, and glued the frame of the bathroom mirror back together (it was being held up by a DVD).  I have the electrician in right now in fixing the bathroom exhaust fan. It is very important in a ground floor flat with an interior bathroom to be able to vent some air out!!

We are also getting a plumber in to deal with the leaky kitchen tap and the fact that it is almost impossible to balance the hot and cold water in the shower.  I have no idea why someone would even put in a shower tap that didn't work, or why other people would live with it so long, but there are a lot of things in foreign countries that you just have to accept and move on.  Or call a plumber.  And in fact we will probably end up replacing the tub at the same time since it has a crack in it already, and I would hate to have to rip it out again if it starts leaking.  Then I got a brainwave, if we have to replace the tub anyway, how much more will it cost to get a jacuzzi?!?  He's looking into it now..... hey, it's my own place I can do what I want!!

We get to spend the evenings in our lovely living room, which after living in a tiny room I shared with Chris for 3 years is a real treat.  Of course now the boys want to get a nice flat screen digital tv...... sigh.  I've also been motivated to start up P90X again since I have all this space behind the couch.  It also looks out onto the trees of the parking lot, so it's not a bad workout in the morning.

 The best thing for me about the new place is of course the kitchen!  It's my own little heaven, full sized dishwasher, washing machine, two ovens and PLENTY of storage space.  Here I am below with a carrot I found that looks like it has a face...

I've been pretty busy with work as well, in fact I worked both days this weekend, but fortunately have a small break this morning as the electrician is here.  This Friday though Patrick and I are going to Thorpe Park AGAIN!  I know, twice in a month?  What am I like?!!  And I'm buying the super express pass so I can get as many turns on the upsidedowny coasters as possible.  It's so going to rock.

By the way some of you may know that my mother lives in Colorado, specifically Longmont.  She was hit by the flooding, but only the basement was filled with water and sewage, so the rest of the house is salvageable.  Of course all of my father's collection of political memorabilia is gone, and all of my childhood stuff that was stored down there, but she had a lot less damage than many of her neighbors, and the house is still intact.  I'm trying to convince them to put in a home theater now, since they have to redecorate ANYWAY.  Some rows of cushy seats, a projector, popcorn maker and kegorator....... a lot more useful than a bunch of old buttons and a signed Micky Mantle baseball, right?!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last of the summer and getting exited about fall, the Knitting season.

Cheers.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

Hello Dear Readers,

I realize I've been a bit MIA this summer, but to be honest I've almost been too busy to blog, this is the first time I've caught a break!

When I last left you I was still desperate to move house, my sister was still pregnant, it was still August........ well.......
 Check out this sexy moving man, oh and my brother on the left.  We moved!!  on the 2nd of August, and not a moment too soon as we had to be out of the old house at the beginnig of the week and the new house had to be cleaned and the old house had to be cleaned.  Chris and I rented a van which was ok except for when the key broke and there was a massive cycle race along the way the next day when we returned it.  Sigh. Next time we are hiring a company to do the cleaning and the moving for us!!

We managed in just THREE van loads and two car loads (thanks to amazing helpers Jo Kelly (pictured below with fellow box-putter-in-the-van-no-take-it-out-put-it-in-the-not-broken-van helper Lizzy) and the amazing Katherine from knitting and her new car pictured left.  I may have bribed them with cookies and muffins.  I think that's the only reason Jo came.  Lucy also helped but had to dash off before I got a photo but Patrick was majorly impressed with how she managed to climb almost entirely into his closet to clean out the mold.

 The new place is amazing and I'll have to do an entire blog post about it, but suffice it to say that I'm in heaven.  Chris and I even splurged on a NEW mattress which is pocket sprung, wrapped in real sheep's wool and covered in organic cotton.

We also had our first visitor in our new house, my good high school friend Jennifer Imamura, this is her second visit to me, I'm so lucky to live in the world's crossroads.  We went and saw the famous Canterbury Cathedral the first weekend, well worth the Pilgrimage and the hype.  The following weekend when Jennifer was done with her conference we walked a very rainy day around Barnes and enjoyed the Nepalese place just next door to our flat.  Sunday we walked all around South Kensington and Chelsea and saw the beginning of Wagner's Persival at the PROMS in Royal Albert Hall.

 Monday Jennifer and I explored the nearby Ham House, an almost perfectly preserved 17th century manor house, which was the scene for many a BBC period drama, including Sense and Sensibility.  I really love these National Trust sites they have here in England, I must get myself a membership and see more of them!! Anyone fancy a Jane Austen film site tour??


Tuesday Chris came with us when we took a Thames Clipper boat down the river to Greenwich, home of Greenwich mean time and the prime meridian!  We stood on the eastern hemisphere and western hemisphere AT THE SAME TIME. Thrilling.

But wait.  There's more.

Monday I played hooky from work and went with some girlfriends to Thorpe Park, our local amusement park.  I don't think I've been on a roller coaster since Worlds of Wonder in Amarillo, so I was THRILLED.  We had a really great time, despite being the only people there over the age of 20 but without children...... there is nothing like being an adult and being able to skip work and go ride some rides on a Monday.  I may go back at the end of the month, I can't help myself, it's TOO fun!

You see that big swoopy one on the right that goes upside down corkscrew first thing?  Yeah, we did that right off the bat. Front row.  I was flying.

I really didn't think life could get better than this, but it did last night at 7:11 GMT (that's 2:11 central) when Clara Mai-Lin Wu arrived by emergency c-section at 6 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches.

Now most of you know I'm not a baby person, but really, I have to say she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.  I mean, look at those CHEEKS!

Can you stand it?  I hope she loves wool.  Well really, she doesn't have a choice, I am her only auntie and I have to make the most of it!

So that's been my summer break. Lack of internet in the new house and just plain enjoying myself has meant I haven't posted in a while, but I do plan on getting back into it.  I've just got a lot on my plate now, knitting Christmas presents, working a paper for work, having a column in a new journal on willows, oh, I didn't mention those things?  Well it will just have to wait, this post is too jam packed!!!

Cheerio! 

Let's go to the Mall!

Hello Dear Readers,

As a natural consequence of my new obsession with fashion blogs and videos, coupled with the fact that this slow house buying buisines is making me so cranky I can't even stand myself, I decided to take myself out this weekeend.  One of the blogs I watched showed that H&M is running a promotion where when you bring in a bag of clothes to donate they give you 5 pounds off of a 30 pound purchase (or 15% off one item in the US).  Hmm, clearing out old clothes before the move AND finally replacing my holy skinny jeans while AT THE SAME TIME saving money?  Sold! 

I also had 5 Lush pots from the lovely gift set Chris got me last Christmas, which I'm still very much enjoying, so I was planning to turn those in to get a free fresh face mask.   A quick email to a friend who very handily lives a 10 min walk from the mall and I am set!  I cycled up there and spent an enjoyable few hours trying on every pair of jeans in the place, while scoping out all the other goodies too.

Since I knew I had to get up to 30 GBP worth of stuff, I kind of turned it into a treasure hunt, finding exactly what I needed and knew I would use.  In the end I got some slim jeans to replace the ones that had embarassing holes in the ah-hem region, a lovely new top with lace panels (since we are still having a decent summer with temps in the 80's), a semi-statement necklace (which I will sitll be able to wear when the trend for statement necklaces is gone) and some faux tortoiseshell hair snaps, which I think look better in my brown hair than the silver ones.  To top off the day, we had lunch at Yo-Sushi!, one of those places where the sushi goes around on a little conveyor belt.  Since I saved 2.80 on transport by cycling, 5 for bringing in my bag of clothes and 5 on the fresh face mask, lunch practically paid for itself!

To top off the evening I soaked in a long bath with a Lush Twilight Bath bomb, suds-ed up with their Turkish delight body wash, and washed with their Angels on Bare skin facewash and had a Brazened Honey face mask, finished with their Celestial moisturizer.  Sigh.  I love my Lush box, the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

I also wore my new outfit to work today and felt like a million bucks.  I'm not usually an advocate of retail therapy, but new clothes without holes or stains and fashionable new jewelery, well it can really lift a person's spirits.
 
This weekend felt sort of like a vacation because our two other housemates are away and it's just the three of us at home, so we can relax and not worry about being too loud or bothering other people by taking extra long baths or singing Little Mermaid at the top of our lungs in the kitchen.  For example.  In the spirit of being on a "stay-cation" (and speaking of gifts that keep on giving) I broke into my birthday present from Patrick this year, my emergency knitting kit to make a bicycle seat cover!!  It was a perfect project for a hot weekend in watching the end of the Tour de France, no?

Tah dah!  EVEN Patrick and Chris approved, and let me tell you they are hard to please.  Oh and they liked my clothes, also a rarity. 

 So I'm feeling a lot more chipper today than I was on Thursday when I out crankied myself and decided to do something about it.  We will move. Soon.  At this point it's just nice to take advantage of being able to pack and clean and tidy up slowly.




Patrick and I packed up the bike stuff in the office together, which was a great little achievement, and I packed up the bookshelf in my room (plus the bonus of two bags to H&M, let's not forget) AND my bedskirt to my friend who I went shopping with AND...... I have a friend who is supposed to pick up an extra duvet.  Soon I hope.  Now I just need to get Patrick to turn in those X-BOX games we went through in exchange for Portal, or maybe a party game......


Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!  I'm back to getting a veg box delivered every week and enjoying fresh salad and tons of fruits and veg. And making fruit smoothies in the morning without disturbing other housemates!   SUMMER!

Cheers!