Éowyn Vera Bagnall

Mommy's birthday

Wednesday 26th May 2010Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

Another month has nearly passed and Lucinda is a year older (on paper – she hasn’t really aged a year in the past fortnight!) and the UK has seen its summer. It has been a busy couple of weeks!

Life is settling back down to a slight slice of normality at least for a couple of weeks or so. Work is in a lull at the moment before the great upheaval that is about to happen with new channels and upgrades to HD and tapeless workflows. We are still in our recruitment drive but not at the same frenetic pace as it was. This means that I am able to leave on time and see Éowyn and Lucinda every evening (except when I am updating this website!) which is worth a fortune.

To celebrate Lucinda’s birthday we headed to Brighton for a day by the seaside. The weather was especially kind (and only got better through the week!) as we left the confines of the M25 but as we got to Brighton (and the god of traffic jams ensnared us in its metallic web on a number of occasions) we were upset to discover that the South Coast of Britain was not enjoying the same warm weather and bright sunshine that the Capital, a mere 70 miles away, was promising. Nevertheless we are hardy folk and happy strolled around in our shorts and T-shirts. Fortunately we had been blessed with enough foresight to bring a warm set of clothes for Éowyn which we duly wrapped her in. The sun-tan lotion on the other hand stayed firmly at the bottom of the bag.

Since the weather wasn’t great and the traffic had delayed our arrival, we headed straight for Harry Ramsden’s for some good ol’ Fish and Chips via a quick paddle in the sea. Then we headed to the Sea Life Centre to show Éowyn the fish. She really enjoyed herself and particularly enjoyed touching the creatures that they bring to the children. I am not sure that the starfish enjoyed itself as much though for after she gently stroked it and it didn’t do a lot she gave it a real poke in the middle. We quickly moved on.

The journey back was tedious too and we were glad to be back home. A day trip to Brighton is so much more exhausting with a toddler and next year we’ll have two!

After a lovely day with my wife and firstborn I was back at work and then the usual thing happened, that I was off at the weekend and Lucinda was working. Therefore I was primary carer. It was great fun though. The weather was fantastic (peaking at 30°C) and so we could (with hat and suntan lotion) keep popping outside. I cleaned off and re-inflated the paddling pool and we splashed in there during the relative cool of the morning, retiring to the house during the hot part of the day to play Play-Doh and drawing.

Éowyn is in a really fun stage where she is learning at a fantastic pace and is really picking up words (we have to watch what we say!) and stringing them together. So it is fun to teach her new things like the colour of her pens and names of animals. She likes to sing along to her nursery rhymes and do the actions. Her particular favourites are “The wheels on the bus”, “Wind the bobbin up” (as if kids today know what a ‘bobbin’ is) and “Twinkle, twinkle little star”. She is very good at the actions and loudly joins in with the “All day long” bit at the end of “The wheels on the bus”.

The weather has been fantastic, if a little too hot for me (mainly due to the lack of any air movement) but it has brought out bigger badder insects for the new decade. We have had a number of wasps enter the house. When I say wasps I mean more like flying rodents (with stings). They are huge and have to be despatched quickly, for I don’t want them stinging Éowyn. If the wasps are the front line, the sneaky night invaders are the mosquitoes. The intense buzzing noise just as you are about to drop off to sleep must be one of the most irritating noises in the world. A rolled up magazine quickly takes them down, hopefully before they have filled their stomachs with your blood. This is a battle that is quite common in the village, especially since we live quite close to a stream, there is a little lake on our northern boundaries and we back on to the King George VI reservoir. However the invaders for 2010 are bigger and smarter. They must be close to an inch long and have stripes like a tiger, they get short shrift from my rolled up magazine though. So be careful out there.

Before I leave you to enjoy the photos just a couple of special mentions. The first is to Nanny Fran, who is recovering after having an operation on Monday to repair a ruptured patella tendon. She was in and out quite quickly (no beds for an overnight stay!) but will take a couple of months to be back to match fitness. And the second is to our friends Kirsty and Nick who have had their second child Jessica Valentine today (26th May 2010). Congratulations from the Bagnalls!

Please enjoy the photos

Peace and love

Baggie!

Cheeky Smile

Fun in the sun

The water’s fine

Down the slide

Chill-axing

Having fun

Graffiti Artist

And I’m not afraid to use it!

Michelangelo eat your heart out

I’ll have that one

Poke the starfish

Pop Star

Pop Star and Mum

The ‘In the Night Garden’ dance

Wibble Wobble

Ball

I’m off!

Are you coming?

13 Babies!

Monday 10th May 2010Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

Another new update, this new discipline seems to be working. How long will it last?

So from the excitement of Nanny Fran’s birthday and a stop over in West Bromwich life has settled back to the norm. This means that work is hectic for me and on my days off Lucinda is working, so unfortunately we are not seeing a lot of each other. Éowyn though is seeing both of us on our days off, just not at the same time!

Work has been busy for me for two reasons: a) that we were gearing up for the end of the EPL season (and other end of seasons for ESPN) and b) we are in the middle of a huge recruitment drive that has seen over 1800 c.v.s pass through our (electronic) door. After eliminating 90% via their c.v. (and apparently you are not allowed to use the David Brent philosophy of avoiding employing unlucky people by throwing half the c.v.’s in the bin without reading them – shame) we then get the lucky ones into the office to interview. This is obviously necessary but is quite a strain on the usual workload but nevertheless it is comforting to be part of a company that is expanding especially in the economic uncertainty that pervades western society. Now, nepotism is rife in the TV industry (as much as in many others) but unfortunately there are laws against child labour else I am sure that Éowyn would be a strong candidate for a number of the roles.:

VT/MCR: she is very good at pressing buttons; can put many electronic devices into modes that are not mentioned in the manual only for her to hand it back to daddy saying (O-oh!) so that he can fix it, and more importantly, can ensure that the correct feed is on her monitor (Cbeebies on the telly).

Sound Assistant: excellent at checking microphones by blabbling into them and can count to 2.

The big news of the fortnight though is that the ‘bird has flown’. After a month of feeding our expectant mother duck, she began to hiss at us on Friday. This we took that the eggs were beginning to hatch so we respected her privacy and did not encroach in her space. Then Sunday morning she waddled across the lawn, tapped on the back door to show her 13 (yes 13!) ducklings. We put a tray of water and another of duck feed that we have done for the last few weeks and she ate eagerly. I assume that while the duckling were hatching she did not stray from the nest and so must have been starving. The ducklings moved as one mass following their mother but (and quite rightly) keeping their distance from us.

Then Monday morning we woke to find mother duck and her 13 ducklings (yes, all of them are still alive) were in next door’s garden, obviously heading for the stream. So in a co-ordinated effort, next door opened their garden gate and neighbours positioned themselves either end of the service road behind our houses to warn any motorists of the precious convoy. Down the family waddled to the stream and off they swam. Now they are in the big wide world but I think we will still keep half an eye our for them.

Now we can actually get into our garden and mow the lawn and trim the weeds. It was a good excuse for the last month, and as you can see from the photos below it is amazing how quickly the garden can look a mess if it is neglected, but now there is no excuse. So this afternoon we will get the lawn looking respectable.

I will use that cue to bid you adieu and leave you with some new photos including some of our adopted family.

Peace and love

Baggie

A Master Artist at work

Look at my hands!

Now for some sculpture

This is the best!

Thumbs up?

I’ll get the last drop

In the garden!

Wheelie!

Look at the eyes, not at the hands…

These guys are a soft touch

Following mother…

Empty nest

50,000 hits

Tuesday 27th April 2010Wednesday 20th April 2011Baggie

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