David Shrigley / Jeremy Deller

I am so incredibly behind on my blog that recently I've not even known where to begin and avoided even making a start. But, today is an exception as I couldnt let the let the day pass without recording what an absolutely wonderful day I've just had with my incredible daughter. Ruby's been off school the past two days with conjunctivitis, caught off Lucas. Ibolya was off were yesterday and it was my turn today. Rather selfishly, I thought we'd go to the South Bank Centre to see the Jeremy Deller and David Shrigley shows at the Hayward. So, sans buggy, off we went. Despite upheaval on the tubes, a long walk navigating the SBC and dodging constant down pours, Ruby was nothing but wonderful company. We had babychinos in Pain De Whatsit, a fantastic lunch in Giraffe (the best restaurant for children by far)and we both loved the David Shrigley - especially his animations, which I've added below. The was only one moment when a tantrum was narrowly avoided and even then she turned to me and said 'Daddy, that was nearly a tantrum, wasn't it.' When we got home, we both had a little kip in front of Jungle Book and then spent a couple of hours painting. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed showing Ruby had to mix paints and make greens, pinks, purple and browns and she produced this absolutely wonderful fantastic picture. Such a wonderful day, I'm so glad she was off school and I could take the day off. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Rob Blog is 4!

Hello! It's four years today that Ibolya and I learnt we were expecting Ruby, our first baby, which made me start Rob Blog. Here's a link to that first post, four years ago today.

I'm still wading through millions of pictures from our holiday but in the meantime here are a few I liked of Lucas and his crazy, blond, curly locks - which were the object of a lot of attention in India.
I'm desperate to give the blog a revamp and redesign so keep an eye out for some changes soon.
Have a stupendous day and weekend and wish me luck for the Reading half marathon on Sunday.

First Weekend of Summer

Hello there - sorry for the long absence, we've just got back from 2 weeks holiday in Goa.
That has got to be one of the finest weekends I've had in a very long time (Goa included). It had nearly every element that's needed to make the best possible weekend and made even more spectacular by the start of British Summer time, glorious weather and an extra hour's light. Here's what happened:
An absolutely lovely evening at Tate Modern with a group of 16 ,lovely, NW10 locals to talk to them about the collection, see the Kusama show and dinner.
Saturday: Ruby's end of term ballet class, coffee in the park with Pete and a big picnic lunch with friends. An hour with the paper, in the garden, catching some rays, while the little ones slept. Ibolya went to the 3rd Hampton Boy Scouts jumble sale and brought me back a guitar. Dinner at Kate's and bouncy castle for the children. Bathtime accompanied by the glorious sounds of Jazz FM's Funky Sensation show. Attended a meeting scheduled by Ibolya and then watched the Classic Album program, from Friday night, about Peter Gabriel's So album.
Sunday: Good night sleep, healthy breakfast - listening to Kate Bush, children and Ibolya went to St Mark's while I went for my last big run before next weekend's half marathon and ended up running all the way to London Zoo and back along the canal tow path.
Stephen, Patrice and Christophe came round for a big roast port lunch with gallons of wine and champagne. Went to the little park with Ruby and Lucas and had bathtime accompanied by Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. Antiques roadshow and a documentary about satellites and bed.

Auntie Margaret

It's been a sad week in our family. On Thursday morning my cat of 12 years, Putty, died of a feline AIDS related illness and on Friday morning, we heard that my Great Auntie Margaret had passed away in the night, following a stroke.
I've been looking back at lots of photos I've taken of Margi over the past few years and this one has always been my favorite.

Hamstead Heath

During half term weekend we went to Hamstead Heath. We all love it, Ruby and Lucas love running up and down Parliament Hill and the fantastic playground. Ruby is always convinced the ice cream van will be there, Lucas loves meeting the dogs and I like having a nice cup of coffee and buying some good bread.

Ellie

Ellie the Elephant, who goes to Ruby's school, came to stay with us during half term. I took a couple of days off to spend with them and we had a very good time at the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and lunch at Carluccio's. On the second days we watched the new Muppet Movie, went up and down lots of escalators at Westfield and had a big reunion with Misha and Mabel, who had just come back from 3 months in Australia.

Golborne

I had a quick little, early morning, jaunt down the Goldborne road on Saturday 4th February - and had a very good breakfast at the Porto.