Yes, as you can see from the little stats section in the bottom right-hand column the website has achieved 50,000 hits. A small milestone, that means absolutely nothing in the real world but brought a little smile to my face this morning. It is a justification for the hours of work that I have put into the site and a tribute to you all and your interest in our growing family.
You are probably thinking is it that time already it only seems like a week or so since the last update, surely that can’t be true. Yes, I have managed to squeeze another update in before the end of April. I am getting good at this.
It has been an important week in the Bagnall family for Nanny Fran achieved a milestone of her own, celebrating her 60th birthday. She is now armed with a bus pass and therefore free travel (on buses). This now extends for the whole country so in theory she could visit us via a fleet of buses. Not sure how long that would take, or how comfortable it would be, but it is possible. Unfortunately, she will not be travelling on buses (or driving) any time soon as her leg is still weak following her accident at work. Thus she is on extended sick leave since she could not possibly do her job at the moment yet alone actually get to work easily. She is therefore trying to resist the lure of day time television and the time vampire that is the internet. Judging by the e-mails she is sending she is losing the second battle!
Nanny Fran’s birthday was midweek but unfortunately due to work commitments we were unable to go up to West Bromwich and share it with her, however Éowyn and I were able to Skype her, in between her many visitors. She is a very popular lady.
Friday, Lucinda and I had tickets to see the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform Howard Shore’s score to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers live at the Royal Albert Hall. Therefore taking advantage of Nanny Fran’s incapacitation and Auntie Liz’s willingness to take a day’s holiday Lucinda drove Éowyn to West Bromwich to spend a couple of days at Nanny Fran’s so that Lucinda and I could go and then have a rare lie-in the next day. The concert was fabulous and your eyes spent the time flitting between the film itself and scanning the orchestra. It made me want to go back home and watch the entire extended trilogy once again. The only bad part of the concert was that the Royal Albert Hall seem to have bought the most uncomfortable chairs in Christendom. Our tickets were in the Arena section of the Hall and therefore our seats were removable chairs but they have been designed for those with snake hips and buttocks like rocks. I fit into neither category so by the time Gandalf falls from the bridge of Khazad-dûm my bum was numb and stayed that way until at least Barons Court on the way home.
Saturday morning I had fully regained the feeling in my buttocks and so Lucinda and I headed to West Bromwich to celebrate Nanny Fran’s birthday and to pick our daughter up and bring her back home. She seemed to have a whale of a time (Nanny Fran and Éowyn!) over the previous days and although she was happy to see us carried on playing in full contentment. It was a bit of a rushed visit but that seems to be life at the moment.
Our other family member (Daisy the Duck) is still sitting proudly on her nest of eggs. Duckwatch is still in full swing and a daily diet of water and duck grain is being administered by Lucinda illustrating that motherhood empathy transcends species. Apparently Mallards incubate the eggs for about 28 days so we have a while before there are little ducklings for Éowyn to look at. We also have a second family in the garden: a blackbird family. Not quite as cute as ducklings but nevertheless still proud that our little patch of land is such a fertile nursery for others. With that thought I will take my leave.
Peace and love
Baggie
