Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Weekend

I'm up late, waiting for the police to come, because someone seems to have been in our home, though they haven't taken anything that we can tell. Disconcerting. I feel like throwing up. 


Anyway, before this recent realization our day was very good. It was a day at the Barbican. We started at Q's favorite, the conservatory, which reminds me of like a very nice version of a mall in the 90s. But, as Q points out, it is less cramped than usual greenhouses. 


The big event was a symphony concert for kids about villains (Darth Vader) and heroes (Superman), but the lead-up activities are just as good or better. We started with a craft. Blaze kicks hard into crafting mode whenever he sees a glue stick. He loved it. 

Then we had a singing workshop that prepared the kids to sing a song about Billie the Kid. 



Then there was a music-making workshop in which someone played a clarinet and someone played a tuba and the kids could all pick an instrument to play (Q--a triangle; Blaze--maracas). And then they made music that they would hear in the symphony, playing Billie the Kid's quiet footsteps and his quick footsteps and his horse, etc. The kids learn how the music can tell a story. That workshop was the kids' favorite.  



We headed home for a very simple dinner and some Pride and Prejudice. Francisco bought the boys some Maltesers for a Sunday treat, and they ate them as we watched. I asked Blaze why he hadn't finished his and he said, "I want to save them till a party starts." Meaning one of the dances! 

Also when Lydia was tantruming that she couldn't go to Brighton, Blaze wryly observed, "Brighton's too windy." (It was really windy when we went there.)


Then we realized that some things in our home were out of place. After interrogating the kids thoroughly in order to be sure it wasn't them, we found some other things out of place and a door unlocked that we never unlock. And now we are waiting up for the police. 

The Weekend


Blaze was quite sick. So after a thwarted attempt to go to confession (why does the schedule always change just the day you want it?) but a lovely stroll through the sun, which did result in pears and a still-warm whole-wheat (or sourdough?) baguette, I stayed home with him for much of the rest of the day. He dozed on the couch or watched something, and I sat beside him, listening to the comforting rhythm of his breath. It was an intense, but quick sickness, thankfully, and today he is eating again--his fever broke last night after not 12 hours. A very restful afternoon for me.

Francisco took Q out--they love to go out together and I love to see it. They stopped at a coffee shop for pastries, competed at word games, picked up some new footballs (after we lost the last one), and just walked. 

Evening mass for Q and I.   

Saturday, March 16, 2024

The Weekend Begins

I've been watching this tree, but this is the first snatch of blue sky I've seen behind it. Hence, picture. 


After school, I took the boys to football. Then we had a fast fish and chips picnic in the park (thanks Francisco) before hopping on the tube and racing across the city. 


At one point, I heard Q explain to Blaze: "Ramadan is like lent except way harder. You just get a little snack in the morning and a little last chance at night." ("Last chance" is our family term for the last opportunity for food before bed, after which you are not allowed to complain that you're hungry.) It's really good for the kids to see other kids who are really sacrificing something. 




We went to a wonderful, architecturally amazing Anglican church for Stations of the Cross. The kids followed along the whole time, for which I was amazed and grateful (and bribed them with video game time).  





We couldn't get good pictures because they transitioned right into mass and we couldn't poke around as much as we would have liked. 



From the metro station. 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Sabbatical

After some morning work, Francisco and I headed to another neighborhood for a tour of a modernist house of an architect, Erno Goldfinger, and his family, for whom the James Bond villain was named (they didn't even mention this in the tour; I think that they ignored the lede). 


I have to tell you about the tour. Oh my goodness. Six elderly people who seem to have a group who bikes together to cultural activities were there. And boy they were a riot. They asked really random questions: "Does the scale in the bathroom still work?" (The tour guide did not know.) They interrupted the tour guide, ignored him at various points, were confused about where they are going ("Are we going down now?" Me: "Yes!" Rinse and repeat.) They tried to finish the tour guide's sentences. Why?! No, you don't know what he was going to say! And they proclaimed frequently how much they liked the house. I was glad that Francisco was there so we could share our amusement. Yes, we were the youngest people on the tour by decades. 

The tour guide was also very funny. He didn't really start with the basics. He assumed that we knew whose house we were visiting--we did not. We were able to piece it together by the end, with careful attention, but it was not easy. He also used architectural words like "piano nobile" and "RSJ"--rolled steel joists--as if we would have a clue about what he was saying. He was a little too learned and didn't really bring it down to our level. And he was not an effective public speaker--he would look away and mumble things. And just generally had trouble finding the place to begin in the story (in each room). 


Francisco and I walked through the neighborhood, stopped in a bookstore and thrift store, and had a charcuterie lunch in a pub.


Our family photographs the royal ciphers on UK mailboxes. (I'm assuming this one is Victoria.)

In the afternoon, Francisco picked up the kids and took them to the green, where Q had fun playing football with the ball our friends kindly left. I made a British roast. (I prefer the American version, but oh well.) We even had yorkshire puddings and gravy. 

In the evenings with the kids we've been watching the 5-hour Pride and Prejudice. I'm totally happy with my life now. Q pays sharp attention to follow what's happening (and googles ahead to find out, for instance, if Wickham is lying). Francisco laughs hilariously when Mrs. Bennett moans (he hasn't quite said it, but I know he thinks that I am Mrs. Bennett; talk about the delights of middle age--now I can only wear sneakers, and my husband thinks I'm the worst character in Pride and Prejudice save one). Blaze giggles nervously whenever Lizzy and Mr. Darcy are on screen together--particularly when there is gazing. It's the absolute best. 



 This afternoon the weather is fine enough to work from our garden--pure delight. 



Thursday, March 14, 2024

Sabbatical


Yesterday I edited and did laundry and had a quick work zoom. I took a little walk with Francisco, who walked 6 miles himself. 

I made oven risotto (first time), which we liked a lot though it was pretty rich. I would like to say that I enjoy my risotto more than any I've had at any restaurant, including in Italy. (I always find it undercooked for my taste.)


In the evening I saw Macbeth with Ralph Fiennes (which is a name that it not pronounced the way you would think it would be). Upon entering the makeshift (wrong word--made-to-order?) theater, we were greeted by a burning car, which I guess really set the stage. 


Ralph or however you say his name was great--he's great with the poetry, crystal clear and a great interpreter. He's also so in it--more than anyone else--his whole body is in it. And he just seems to love acting, which was a delight to watch.

Lady Macbeth (Indira Varma) is so lovely and elegant and slight in her long green dress with cape sleeves. Should Lady Macbeth be so feminine? I guess I picture her as ... not thin. 


The weird sisters were indeed weird. 

There were bombs going off and the sound of planes overhead. 

The worst part--it felt like, as Francisco (who saw the play a couple of weeks ago) said, you were in a very small plane, smaller than any plane you've ever been in, for the whole 2.45 hours of the play. In the makeshift theater, the seats were way too small--my knees were firmly jammed into the seat in front of me and that whole thing was just not good for my foot, which still needs special care. The person in front of me during the first half was very tall with tall hair, so I had to continue to contort myself in order to find a little hole through which I could see. I think that person had romance going on, too, and so was continually shifting to get nearer the object of their affection, which meant that I in turn had to shift constantly. Anyway, I moved to an empty seat beside that person for the second half and had a clear view and that part was fine. 

What else? Parenting is hard. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Sabbatical


Last night we were talking about Pontius Pilate while praying the first station of the cross and Blaze corrected us confidently, "No, it's Conscious Pilate." 


We're trying out no e-books in the morning and that seems to be helping Q sleep longer, which is promising. We went to the library last night--we have to prioritize that when we're banning ebooks, our best supplier. 


I made chicken coconut curry, and everyone was happy--always worth celebrating!



 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Sabbatical

In the evening, I went to Dear Octopus, a Dodie Smith play that I absolutely loved. This was one of the plays that Francisco and I saw on different nights--the only thing that would have made it better is if we had been able to see it together. 


I had a fantastic lottery 10 pound seat. I was convinced by the romance, laughed at the jokes, cried at the sad parts, adored the many green dresses--it was primarily green dresses--and twitched with the neurotic characters. I even had a beer at intermission. My only note was that the stage spun in a circle, like apparently every stage at the moment, and that was fairly unnecessary and a little dizzying. 



 What else--we didn't really celebrate Mothering Sunday, but Stearns pointed out its origins--that it was a medieval celebration of returning to the church in which you were baptized, coupled with readings about Jerusalem, which is amazing (and a less pro-Israel in its contemporary state incarnation interpretation of those scriptures, which is also cool). 

I finished The Divine Comedy on audiobook, which is not really the way to read that. I didn't get too much out of it. I feel like I need a class or to read a book about it before I try again in ten years. There were a couple of amazing metaphors and parts that I loved, but mostly I had pretty little idea what was going on. 

Finally--a kid woke me early this morning (and kept me up until actual morning) and after a late night, I'm totally out of it. So it was a pretty grumpy morning with two of us sleep deprived. We'll see what happens in the coffee shop this morning. 

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Weekend

Yesterday I was mostly flattened from hosting and stuck to the couch until the afternoon. (The kids are tired, too.) We stopped at a lovely bookstore before mass at a new church in the center. 



I liked their bulletin art. 



 This morning, Francisco and I worked together in a coffee shop. I'll work a bit more this afternoon.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

The Weekend


Separate boys' and girls' entrances in Victorian schools.

Yesterday we explored the Southbank with our friends after we enjoyed pastries they brought from the local coffee shop. 


We strolled; the boys climbed on sculptures. 



We stopped in the Tate--above and below, abstract echoes of cathedrals. 


Green dress


After the art, we went to the kids' creating area, which they enjoyed (and I love seeing their absorption in crafts). 



Then we headed home, where the kids had pizza and the adults got fancy toasties from a shop on the green and ate them at home with pickles and prosecco. 


A wonderful visit, but I really needed my long night's sleep last night and my lie-in this morning. I don't know--am I too old for this kind of excitement? 

The boys played so many screens that they came down complaining that their necks hurt. They also drew together and played tons of games. They had a total ball. They really loved it. 

Friday, March 8, 2024

Sabbatical


Today my friend took us out for Indian brunch, which was something that hadn't occurred to me, and which was great. 

Then we headed to the British Library for a bit and took the bus home. Their boys got the front seats of the bus, always a treat. 


After a rest at home, we went out for tea and cakes, before taking all the kids to the park to play football. 


Blaze made me this amazing card for British Mother's Day. 



 

Francisco made his amazing leek galette, of which we never tire, for dinner. 

I am unbelievably sleepy--we're doing a lot, the kids are intense, and I need more sleep. Lots of happy visiting and chatting. 

The boys played and played and played and no bones were broken and there were few tears, so all is pretty well.