Mike's musings

Jo seems to be running a bit of a temperature and isn't entirely herself today. She wasn't great last night either, and though her temperature's gone down a bit, we think, she's rather high maintenance this afternoon. She's asleep, now, after a somewhat tearful lunchtime/early afternoon. This morning she was great: I took her to Clare, which is our nearest town (more like a large village, really), and we had a lovely time. We visited the baker's, the chemist's, the butcher's, the town hall (there was a "table sale" on - oh, the excitement), the pet shop, the co-op, the greengrocer's and the newsagents, and she was universally admired, sitting in a sling, facing outwards, kicking and talking to people around the place. A number of people asked "how old is he?": it really throws them to see a girl dressed in blue. One bloke even made a remark about her turning out to be a tomboy, by which I presume he meant "lesbian", which would be annoying if it weren't so funny. We also had a go on a swing in the park - I kept her in the sling, as I didn't dare think about the grief I'd get from Moo if I put her on a swing on her own. She seemed to like it, but nothing special.

Downloaded (legally) a CD's worth of animal nursery rhymes and burned them to a CD. We didn't have many nursery rhymes, and, for some reason, most of the ones we've come across in shops have been of absolutely abysmal quality (singing bad, instruments terrible, or, in some cases, both). I played Jo a couple of them before getting the lot, and she seemed to like them.

We have my godmother, Fi, coming to stay tonight, and her husband, John, joining us tomorrow (he's busy today with a meeting). She couldn't make it to Jo's christening, and has been hankering to come and visit, as she's not met Jo yet. She laid down a case of port for my christening of 1970 port (the year I was christened), which turned out to be a very good year, and it's getting to the end of its drinking life, so I've got out the penultimate bottle to drink with her. Our excellent friend Simon from Castle Hedingham (one of Jo's godfathers) is also joining us for supper (hi, Simon!). He's a teacher in Clare, and has just finished his first year after qualifying. For some reason, we almost always ask him whether he could feed the cats, whenever we see him, and I thought this might be a break from that tradition, but I'd forgotten that Moo's off to her parents' for a bit next week, so we will be asking him, after all. He lived just round the corner from us when we lived in Castle, and is supposed to keep up with the village gossip and give us the latest, but he's been rather remiss at this recently, and we may have to have words about it.

Music Today

• Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall (Eye To The Telescope)
• Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden, BWV230 (2) - The Sixteen - Harry Christophers (Bach - The Six Motets)
• Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden, BWV230 - The Sixteen - Harry Christophers (Bach - The Six Motets)
• California Dreamin' - Jose Feliciano (Presente Tense)
• When I'm Sixty-Four - Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
• Don't Tell Mama - Cabaret Cast (Cabaret)
• Spaceman - Babylon Zoo (The Boy With The The X-Ray Eyes)
• Big Fat Woman - Leadbelly (The Best Of Leadbelly)
• Blue Tail Fly - Leadbelly (The Best Of Leadbelly)
• Borrow Love And Go - Leadbelly (The Best Of Leadbelly)