Yay for Bank Holiday weekends... we had time for Big Lebowski night at our place with Rob and Olivia (I think the engagement is still on), then Ben and Spike's housewarming/exam passing party, a delightful flying overnight visit from Don, a new toy for Marc (here they are trying it out) and a trip to sunny Southend to see James, Kati, Emily and their new arrival Lucian, over from Vienna.

Sarah took me to see Saint Joan at the National Theatre this week; it was really good and if you're in London you should get the £10 tickets if you can. I especially enjoyed the live music and physical theatre, and seeing Johnson from Peep Show playing a bishop was also high quality entertainment. Speedy lunch with Lizzie and Kate on Friday, then a pretty quiet weekend; I was feeling ropy and Marc was writing the last part of his final chapter. Just the preface to go now!

This week gone by, a Prom, an exhibition and a weekend of sloth. The Prom featured Bach, Robin Blaze and the company of Penny, whose thorough review I entirely agree with. (She's also right about the Albert memorial...). The exhibition was at the British Museum and Shana came with me to lust after the extraordinarily beautiful Japanese things, debate which one we'd most like to take home (I chose a celadon dish, but there was a kimono that I'd definitely swipe too), and deplore the relatively small number of female Living National Treasures.
Felt rather queasy over the weekend but still managed a swim, a blackberrying walk around the canal and Horsenden Hill, and the most sublime/ridiculous movie double bill ever, courtesy of Ry who would not let me watch a film I'd seen before: Casablanca followed by Snakes on a Plane. Excellent.

Another busy week, but one with the pleasure of much good company. On Wednesday Sarah cooked me dinner in Putney, and on Friday Picul and I ate in St. Ockwell with Lizzie, back from Nicaragua (for now). We went to Beaconsfield on Saturday to visit Rob and Olivia in his new parish (and the nearby Royal Standard pub, which is very old and was a location for Hot Fuzz).

Sunday had been slated as a day for M to work and me to amuse myself, but the heat, the aeroplanes overhead, the neighbours' barbecue and the frolicsome screeches of cricketing children all conspired against us, so we did Something Less Boring Instead: took the train down to Folkestone to see Debbie, Dan, Niamh and the sea.
. They made us a picnic, I even swam for a while, and thanks to the enormous patio umbrella they'd brought along, we stayed unburnt and happy for hours. Our niece, now ten weeks, is still tiny and unutterably cute. Here she is with her uncle...