Lathany

Well, bateleur did a review of the restaurant, but left the food to me. ( The Menu )

Twas a good evening. However, that many units and a revolving restaurant simply do not go together.

Last Friday, Ryan developed conjunctivitis (evidence suggests that he picked it up at playgroup). We picked up eye drops from the doctor and he's missing all his playgroup/toddler group stuff until next Friday. This meant Bea went on her own yesterday. However, last night, it was clear she had it too so I've collected a second prescription and she's going to miss everything until next Tuesday. They've both had red eyes (Ryan now doesn't - but still has to complete his course of eye drops) and I've felt sorry for them as much for missing their groups as for feeling poorly.

However, I've also felt sorry for me. I'm going to miss both my free mornings this week, 'cos one or other of them was/will be home. I've been up and down the cold high street to the doctor and the chemist. I've endured the twins in the doctor's waiting room for half an hour (stopping them from bothering other patients was a full time job) and I've had to fight to get every single dose of eye drops in (two twins, both eyes, four times a day). And I'm still not sure whether to take just Ryan to the birthday party at the weekend (Bea will still be infectious). Grrr.

Before the week of illness, I had a fun twin-free Saturday afternoon/evening which secretrebel has already mentioned. frax's Orange and Lemon Refrigerator cake was yummy and weird. Sort of a cross between mousse and cheesecake. I think it makes a very good citrus summer cake/pudding - frax does the book suggest suitable occasions for its cakes?

Following this, my parents were over Monday. Quite apart from it being nice to see them, and nice to see toddler-walkers, they brought over Christmas presents from Uncle chrestomancy. Both the twins now have long-sleeved t-shirts with glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs on them. Plus hooded tops. I got a wonderful, long, black, velvet skirt with a patterned white-and-black hem and a navy blue summer dress.

We have shortbread (recipe from venta last year). Soon we will have players. Yep, it's another session of The Wheel.

That's right, I'm coming to the end of another twinless week. Yet again I have tried to do a number of household projects and the main one has become much bigger than expected.

( The Wall )

Quite apart from The Wall, I have managed a few other jobs and even done some fun stuff.

( The rest of my time )

It's been a busy week.

Today I cooked and served a new food to the twins. Pizza. The plain cheese and tomato kind.

Ryan "finger foods" Blake loved it and finished his in record time. Beatrice "plate clearer" Katrin took a little longer, but still managed most of it.

Overall, a great success.

Yesterday I had a dental check up. This translated into a great day out.

( Christmas shopping, pregnancy stories and a rather nice meal )

Today I'm due to meet angry_marmot and cuthbertcross's cousin Emma at Waterloo. Assuming we recognise each other of course.

Last night chrestomancy and angry_marmot came round and had dinner with us.

( They got to eat food and everything )

Today I'm preparing for the week of twinlessness. Packing clothes, bottles, nappy changing stuff and buying in extra supplies of food jars and nappies has pretty much taken out my day.

But, the end result will be great glorious.

Yesterday bateleur and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary. My parents were babysitting so we went to Swans (the best local restaurant) and then came home for drinks. It appears that we have managed to settle into a routine, see this !

Additionally Frances sent me a detailed review of Mourn's Gift. It agreed with most of the points that chrestomancy (and bateleur) made and gave me some ideas of how to improve the structuring of my writing to make a detailed plot more understandable (not to mention dealing with the problems caused by a cast of thousands). Some of this won't come in until I start book number three, though, 'cos my second book is over half-way through. There was also another vote for Obero as favourite character (who she described as "a slightly conceited shiny pigeon"). That gives Obero two votes, Mire one and Varilor one. And that copy will now be passed to venta.

My mother returned the Buffy and Angel tapes for episodes in the late-teens and the Hex trilogy (which she enjoyed) in exchange for the end of Buffy and Angel and bateleur's copy of Waking Dream. She'll also get the latest Harry Potter - once bateleur has finished with it.

All in all, a good day.

I visited the baby clinic this morning and successfully obtained a list of mother and toddler groups in the Feltham area. Bea and Ryan need a little more company than just me now, so it had to be done. There seem to be plenty to choose from, each charging £1 or 50p per toddler (covering tea, biscuits and a drink for each child). I'll probably start with the one that meets on Thursday mornings in the High Street library. If that isn't working out I'll find another one. And, yes, I definitely have mixed feelings about going along.

Whilst we were there, the usual weighing took place :

Beatrice : 23lb 14oz (10.83kg)
Ryan : 22lb 3oz (10.08kg)

And, yes, if you check against last month's figures, they are actually lighter. This is caused by the difference between the summer wear (to deal with still-present heat) and the heavy cord dungarees that they wore last time.

My other news is far from gripping. I caught an advert on CBeebies announcing that Storytime next week will be read by the EastEnders cast (the actors of Kat, Ian, Martin, Sonia and Roy from the looks of it). And Tesco still aren't stocking chocolate pots.

A cooking question - does anyone know a good recipe for spaghetti carbonara ? It doesn't have to be traditional (ie. versions that use cream are more than acceptable).

As ever, a Buffy and an Angel review. bateleur and I finally got around to watching them on Saturday.

( Buffy - Sleeper, Angel - Apocalypse, Nowish )

As planned, we went to the cinema and watched Solaris on Thursday night. bateleur enjoyed it, but I was rather less entertained by it. Embarrassingly enough, I am not entirely sure why I didn't enjoy it much. Possibly I just wasn't in the mood for it (certainly I was hoping for something lighter). Oh, and we both spotted that the female lead was also in The Truman Show.

Friday was the day of shopping and lovely food. ( Clothes and Thai )

Yesterday marked the end of an excellent week, when we drove back up to Cambridge to collect our much-indulged offspring. Whereupon bateleur's mother made my day by offering to have them for a week every other month. I suspect it will be slightly less frequent than that (although their next Cambridge visit will be May time), but the idea of 5-6 weeks "holiday" for me really appeals. Plus the stories of Ryan's dislike of swimming (he hates the lack of control) and Beatrice's ability to eat anything ("she finished her breadstick, then grabbed Ryan's and ate it as well") are very entertaining. As of today, the twins seem to be well and happy and have been fairly quiet this morning (once Ryan had got his five-thirty start out of his system). They want more batteries for the snail, though.

Ah well, just sixty-seven days left to go... ;-)