In a Nutshell

Well what have we here?

So Monday arrived and was a marvellous day. My Father had come to stay on Sunday evening, ready for a full day of fun with his Granddaughter. The day began, as you can see, with a musical interlude or two. Part of this was helping Mia to get used to the carseat inside so she would hopefully refrain from screaming the place down when placed in it when on the move.

 Mia thoroughly enjoyed the guitar playing, and has always had a fascination with the guitar. I presume as Johny used to play to her a lot when she was in the womb. Now if she even hears a guitar solo on the iPod she'll turn to see if it's her Daddy playing. And fortunately she now has her Grandpa to play her some live classical action. Lucky lady!

For lunch we headed into Winchester to meet my Mum and chowed down at Zizzi which was lovely and child-friendly and therefore stealth breastfeeding was easily accomplished. Miso had a grrrrreat time, banging her little bucket.

And here we have proof that the car seat is not so bad after all! She cried a bit for the first 30 seconds or so, then settled in for the short journey home. 

Dad headed off around 6, when Mia's new bedtime ritual started. It's not a 'routine'. Because I hate the word routine. Therefore it is a ritual. A positive, loving, caring, sleep worshipping ritual displaying the tender love between parents and their child. And actually it's going pretty well. For future reference for myself, her current pattern seems to be (bearing in mind I am writing this on Sunday) 
- 6/7pm Sleepie bye bo's
- (Feed throughout the night, of course! This I am addressing once her patterns are solidified)
- 8am UP
- 10am Snooze
- 11am UP
- 13:00 Snooze
- 15:00 UP
- 18:00 Bedtime ritual begins

My Dad... waaaafer thin.

Okay so now I'm chatting about it, I must say that I very much enjoy her bedtime ritual. We run the bath at six, put some lavender oil in the bathroom and make sure her towel is nice and warm. Following a splash about we then get her all dried off and before she goes into her jim-jams she has a massage. She was clearly experiencing total bliss when Johny and I tag-teamed her massage. Again... lucky lady! After all that.... goodnight!!

Monday night, around midnight, also seemed the perfect time for me to have an epiphany about the lotus flower design I have been working on for a friend. Therefore I got up, went to the kitchen and painted a mock-up, just to see if I'd still like it once it was done. I did. So then I washed it off as it wasn't neat enough! Of course. 

Tuesday's 'Tats Out Tuesday' was a bit higguldy pigguldy as Vikki and Sarah had interviews that evening and so we just went to Vikki's for lunch instead. Tats were still out. Which is the main thing.

This evening, Naoya came over for dinner. It's always lovely to see him, his smile is infectious and we had a great time. Johny cooked kedgeree; which I don't think Naz had ever had before. Nice.

Due to Naz's calming influence I cracked on with some glass painting while we were around the table. They're looking pretty good so far! But I'm sure I'll dislike them again in 5 mins; that's what happens. :)

 Wednesday. Today the old peugeot got scrapped. Ahhhh. 'Twas for the best as a death trap it were. Goodbye old unreliable, untrustworthy, mostly loyal and a bit too small friend. Adieu!

Thursday's highlight came in the form of a nail painting evening. Whereby the participants sunk into what can only be described as an alcohol fuelled, nail varnish fumed, state of mirth and mess. That is all. Suffice it to say I love you ladies! Plus, Sarah is responsible for this installation of floor art worthy of the Tate itself. If you don't get it then you're stupid. It's clearly a masterpiece of the highest order, proclaiming to reflect the very morals of society through the hard yet soft and dark tones of the relatively sepia movement across tile. Yes. That's it. 

 Friday Begins serene... ends obscene.

Mia admiring the daffodils that Naoya brought;
those that have bloomed to reflect the beauty within and without.
I love you baby girl. 

Tonight was the night that Mamans Delicieux hit the town. Well, some restaurant in Southy anyways, it's close enough to town to be a valid description okay? Jeez!

Instead of a description, I shall just use pictures. There's no need for more. Plus Sarah will have a better description on her Blog! :) xx

Okay, I lied. I simply must comment on the shinanigans in which we partook....but as briefly as I can muster.

1) Yes, I am using a number list
2) Moustaches were mandatory
3) Girls are better than boys
4) La Margharita plays the worst music. Fact
5) I had two of my wishes come true...
6) I did a Jersey Turnpike
7) I was Jersey Turnpiked upon
8) It was awesome

Now for a fact about each lady

- Jenni caved and put a pair of be-moustached spectacles on. Tonight she received in excess of 3 rounds of applause.

- Maddalena wore the shortest skirt known to man, or woman. You go girl!

- Sarah has moves. Sarah cuts shapes. Sarah will leave you standing on the dance floor! Plus her dress was awesome.

MD Hot Mummas!
(NOT cougars, Paul Christie!)

- Vikki wore a dress which really showed off and highlighted her ample, erm, erm, eyes.

- I wore a tie and ate too much. Yes mine's a boring one but that's because I'm the author and wouldn't want to embarrass myself now would I?! Again.. Jeez! Okay, I wore too much fake tan. Okay?! More? Fine. So I won hands down playing 'I have never'. Now that is another story.

One more serious part of this current story, however, is that this night out was my first real evening away from Mia. And I missed her like mad! Not least of all because my milk kept letting down as they were ready to feed her. At least from this point of view I had Vikki as a kindred spirit, who was also dangerously close to adding milk to our Sex on the Beach (I know, cliche of a cocktail. But funnily enough, La Margerita was accommodating of this particularly dated and also delicious drinks request). Anyway, back to the point, I was away from my Bubble of love.

By all accounts she put the boys through their paces (our friend Tim has come to stay for the weekend to work on marquee designs with Johny). She woke up on average, hourly. Now it must be recorded, Mia, that your father 'forgot' there was fresh breasmilk in the freezer ready to satiate you. Even if you didn't have much, it would be better than nothing while I was out. And so he tried to give you the emergency APTAMIL. You REJECTED it. As you'd rather go hungry than have crap, awful formula. Good for you! I'm so proud of you and I love you dearly. Johny, I have given you sufficiently short thrift over this matter. It is done. And I love you dearly too.

Saturday

Well, what a beautifully inspiring sight to behold. I think this is all that need be said for Saturday. Oh and that Tim made the best steak and chips for dinner; perfectly cooked. I would almost go as far as to say it rivals that of Peter Rhys-Davies...time for a steak cook-off methinks, and I'm judging!!! 

Sunday (and indeed Saturday) filled mostly with industrious males making mysterious marquees. A lot of calculations were calculated. A lot of designs were designed. A lot of progress has been made. Super proud of all the work that's gone on this weekend.

For me personally, however, today I crashed and burned big time. Both emotionally and physically. I won't go into a big moan as I was planning to. The upshot is that now I am feeling much more upbeat and I am channelling my energy into the marquee madness as their time is short to work together on this project. I can paint glasses another time. 

All in all a fun filled week. Much love to you all, I hope your lives are bringing you fulfilment and happiness. And if they're not that you're able to go about instilling change within them. 

Final note - Vikki. Let's do it.