Friday 22 October 2010

Sunbeam!

I love this picture of Espen. The reflected light gives a very special effect. It also reminds me of the way our cats always seek out that stripe of sunshine on the floor to sun themselves in.
Espen is a ray of sunshine in our otherwise gloomy household. Han er bestemors lille solstråle!

Happy birthday Gwenyth Zillah!

It's my mother's birthday today. She was born on 22nd October 1913, so she's 97 today. This picture was taken almost a year ago, and she's holding Lawrence Henry (Laurie) one of her four great-grandchildren.
I wish I could be with her today, to help make her birthday special, but that's not possible because Reidar's quite unwell at the moment. I spoke to Mother yesterday and she wasn't specially looking forward to her birthday. She reckoned she'd had far too many. Just think of all the changes in the world that have happened in her lifetime and that she has learnt to accept.
Happy birthday Mother!

Wednesday 20 October 2010

The unkindest cut of all

Ninja's been to the vet today, and he isn't feeeling all that great. He's had a full anasthetic and is still a bit woozy. You can't see his scars because he's sitting on them. Tomorrow he'll feel a lot better, and on Saturday he can go out in the garden again. After that hopefully all forgiven and forgotten.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Nicholas North


This is my one and only son-in-law, and as sons-in-law go, I think I picked a winner. My daughter Tamsin couldn't be in safer hands. She's loved and cherished, treated like a lady and maybe even a little bit spoiled.
We spent three weeks in their company earlier this year, and the prospect of having anybody to stay for three weeks can be daunting, but Nick remained polite and considerate, patient and caring, even when we all got a tummy bug! He's a prince among men, and I love him to bits.
Have a very happy birthday Nick!

Thursday 7 October 2010

Skyping with Espen (and Tamsin!)


I haven't held him in my arms since May, when he was only 12 weeks old, but thanks to Skype I see him every week, he hears my voice, and now I think he sees my face and we have begun to communicate. When he was tiny, he looked round to see where the voice was coming from, but now he seems to know. Through the wonders of modern technology I've been able to watch his growth and development. I've seen his first tooth (with accompanying grumpiness, red cheek and dribble) I've seen his triumph at being able to turn himself over or reach for a toy. I've heard his giggles and chirps. I can see when he's tited, almost before his mother.
His eager expression in this picture is not entirely for Granny, more for the computer with exciting cables and keyboard. I don't mind - I can see, from the other side of the world, that he's a chip off the old block.