Shed Restoration / Redemption

Lara and I love to restore things which have been left to ruin to something of their former glory (or improve upon that). There is something of the divine nature in that, we feel. Our mangy, spider-infested shed desparately needed some love and attention after being neglected for years. After some structural work and a good scrub down, we picked up the paintbrushes and set to work!

Unintentionally it turned out rather like a lovely beach hut, which is amusing considering we're about as far from the sea as is possible in England! In the picture you can see Ana trying to hide, in case we were to give her a paintbrush too.

Surf's up! (somewhere)

Bundle of joy!

Here is Ana having an after-bath snuggle, all bundled up in her towel. You can see two teeth in this picture, and it looks like two more will be joining them shortly...

Mmmmm....

Slurp, slurp, slurp...


(don't worry, we did peel it for her later.)

Please note, this is an orange

"Will the members of the board please pay attention... This, my colleagues, is... an orange.

''I will now demonstrate how to eat said orange, or at least how to chew it, skin and all."

The apples are ripening and Ana is striding forwards

With the apples ripening on the 'Nana and Grumpy tree', successfully transplanted from our house in Bedford to Olney, and rare summer sunshine drying the grass, Ana could practice her steps on the soft, soft grass (which needs to be cut. Again.... sigh...)

A magic basket ride...

We think our little pickle will like fairground rides if this is anything to go by! She loved being whooshed around the room in our laundry basket (and we wonder why the last one broke...!).

She also found her mother very amusing when she climbed up a tree on the way to Clifton Reynes yesterday -and even more amusing when she hung upside down from the branch. Ana laughed for a good 30 seconds at least, before pausing for breath. Very funny! She then kept laughing and giggling for the rest of the walk - sounds like she is developing a good little sense of humour.

This camera looks interesting...

Not the most flattering photo of our daughter, but it shows her inquisitive nature well... As I type, she is lunging toward the computer to 'help' me type... and pulling my arm hairs out! Ow!

Like daughter, like father

Who can roar loudest? - debatable. Either way, Ana found it amusing.

Who can squeal loudest? - not even a competition. Ana can reduce our legs to quivering jellies with her ultrasonic squeals.

Ear protection is provided to guests, on demand.

And she has a chair of her own

On our recent visit to Bristol, this cute antique chair seemed to suit Ana perfectly. She loved sitting in it, kicking her legs with glee! It's the simple things in life...

Are you this happy about your chair?

Our little baby can sit

Now, seven months old, and our little baby can sit up all on her very own! Plunking her on the floor with a number of toys allows us a few minutes of 'freedom' to unload a few dishes from the dishwasher before she has tossed all her toys across the room, out of her reach. Won't be long before she crawls to get them!

First steps in the grass

Here is Ana taking a few deliciously wobbly steps with Daddy's assistance (providing some much-needed stability!). Her encounters with grass have been brief this summer as most of the time it has been sodden. She was therefore slightly surprised by the sensation at first, but soon got used to the feel of it.

First Tennis Lessons

Lesson 1: How to hold a racket.

"Oh, Uncle Simon, this is SUCH fun!"

Bring on Wimbledon 2025...

Simon's through to the Semi-Finals!

A tribute to my honourable younger brother who is through to the semi-finals in both the singles and the doubles in a tournament in Bury St. Edmunds tomorrow; Simon provided us with an emotional day of tennis on Wednesday, cruising through three matches with panache and style. The Toro certainly became Loco when a badly-behaved opponent showed his true colours. Simon's then turbo-charged serve would have made Federer shudder and was more than enough to remove the unworthy player from the court in next to no time. Indeed, of the next 13 games, Simon convincingly won 12, in about half an hour.

An excellent first day of tennis watching for Ana.