Legendary and awesome home cinema plan...

Here it is. A glimpse of the future. Oh yes.

The AV receiver is next on the hitlist of sexy kit, closely followed by the logitech controller of supreme supremacy.

Happy days :)

Blue sky thinking

Well, a volcano erupted about 5 days ago in Iceland and plumes of smoke and ash have been drifting through the airspace of northern europe meaning that flights to and from all UK airports (and other northern european countries) have been put on hold, causing "Air Chaos".

It has been strange looking up and not seeing a single vapour trail in the sky, however this has only affected planes which fly up at 30,000 ft and as a consequence there seems to have been more low flying aircraft zooming around making a load of noise.

I went to see an Osteopath on Saturday morning in Bolton. I sat there in the waiting room feeling sceptical, reading literature on things like naturalopathy thinking what am I doing here. However, as it transpired this osteopath woman might be onto something. She thinks she might be able to fix me even! That would surely be the best thing ever. She did some painful deep tissue massaging of my knee for about 30 minutes and suggested I come back next weekend for a bit more torture. Lisa and I had deliberated for some time prior to me going about which pair of pants to wear since she'd need me to de-trouser. I opted not to wear my cool new bright orange pants and instead went for some plain black hipsters. As it happens, the deliberation was all pointless - she just asked me to roll up my trouser leg. She caused me pain in ways my previous physiotherapist could only dream of. However, it was (like Lisa's childbirths) a positive pain which I was more than happy to experience.

Gran was down for the weekend helping us clear out the garage although the whole plan was promptly ruined when both Gran and Lisa (after having opened the garage door) saw a massive spider in the corner hiding in its web. Consequently both stood there with arms folded and hands firmly tucked away under armpits, hovering near the door and looking around for more predators instead of helping tidy. Maisie changed the subject briefly by doing an unusual wee which spilled out of her nappy, ran down her tights, and accumulated in a pool on the front steps. Gran swiftly took her in for a nappy change. Lisa also felt the need to retreat inside and feed Lois. Maisie came back out with a fresh nappy on and promptly did a smelly poo so had to be taken back in again for another change. Suffice is to say, we didn't get much done.

I went out for a bike ride to test my knee out a bit since it was feeling a bit weird but possibly a bit better. 10 minutes later I returned back having circled the estate and all was good.

All the snails in the garden say "yeah"

The recent mild weather has allowed Maisie some quality garden time each day this week. She has set about finding and collecting the entire garden's snail population. They are arranged, rearranged and frequently transported (either individually or as a group) to and from various locations using Maisie's trike thing which conveniently has a little seat compartment which lifts up to reveal, a handy ''snail travel lounge''.

When I got home last night, she had also been arranging a little outdoor restaurant with pieces of melon and bread laid out and snails placed on top of them.

The 'great unwashed' finally has a wash

After several weeks of 'bath fear' Maisie finally seemed to cave in last night and allow herself to be washed. We were preparing to force the issue after her not having been actively submerged for about a week when she suddenly seemed to comply again. And can you imagine our relief when I asked her if she wanted to get out and she replied that she didn't want to. Quite different to the early days when trying to get her OUT of a bath kicked started the tantrums.

A Cousin Cometh

That's right. Maisie and Lois have been joined by a little cousin who goes by the name of "Abe". He is the only Miller boy of this new generation so far. He was born on 6th May at 6:15 weighing 6lbs and 6ozs. Lots of sixes in there!

We went down to see him yesterday on a flying visit. Once there, Maisie was a bit side-tracked by chasing the 3 cats that live with Abe. That was a whole world of entertainment. Not sure the cats saw it so positively, mind.

An amendment to roles and responsibilities in the current bedtime policy

Maisie has recently expressed a preference for Mr Men books to be read (multiple times) at bed time.

Mr Bounce is her favourite, although Mr Greedy runs a close second and Mr Bump completes the top three.

Sadly, Mr Tickle has had to settle for fourth place in the Mr Men books pecking order.

Anyway, this has been all very well and good recently until the weekend when she decided that maybe she should be the one doing the reading.

I accidentally read:

'"Ouch" said Mr Bump'

...which was wrong because I was actually reading the book about Mr Bounce. She corrected me and took over book-reading duties. Now, I am not allowed to read. Instead I have to lie there and listen to her read the stories. I was obviously no longer capable of offering a reliable book-reading service.

She gives it her best shot but I suspect she is just remembering words and phrases she has associated with different pictures. Hence, the stories tend to be a bit bitty, and slow, and sometimes actually read either in reverse or by a method of random page selection. Quentin Tarantino would be proud :)

The Princess and the Pea (up the nose!)

Panic struck! Well, sort of. It was probably quite laid back panic, as panic goes. But there we were having dinner around the table up at Lisa's parents house in Scotland when Maisie announces that she's got a pea stuck up her nose. We all humoured her and told her she was wrong (when are we going to learn, that SHE is never wrong?).

So after a quick inspection from Gran it was confirmed that Maisie did indeed have a pea lodged up her right nostril. No-one saw her put it there. Lisa remembered that she'd read something on one of her forums about someone having experienced this with their child and had posted the perfect solution.

After a quick nosey on the internet we began the removal process which involved pinning Maisie down on her back and Lisa closing Maisie's left nostril with a finger and blowing as if giving the kiss of life into Maisie's mouth. I thought it would  be dangerous but after a couple of failed half-hearted attempts, BINGO it was third time lucky and the pea flew out (with not a small amount of snot too for she currently has a bit of a cold)

At that point, and not a second before that point, everyone (including Maisie herself) laughed with relief