At the end of the day

Or should I say two days really, as it’s been a busy few. The mother-in-law has gone home and the kids about to go to bed and I’m hot and extremely tired.

Friday was preparing for mother-in-law day; the flat was blitzed as best as I could and I collapsed exhausted on the sofa just as the mother-in-law arrived. We all went into town to see the latest incarnation of the singing animatronic bears, which I’m hating already and then home to get ready for mine and Mr. Lacer’s ‘big night out’.

Struggling into one new (very very cheap from Gap sales) black linen dress, me and Mr. Lacer went into town to try out Strada, we’re normally a Pizza Express family but we wanted to try something a bit posher considering it was our tenth wedding anniversary. So we went to Strada, which is in the restauranty part of town and had a table for two outside in a little cosmopolitan alleyway, it was all rather appropriately reminiscent of our Italian honeymoon. The food was lovely, the garlic and rosemary bread for starters was amazing and then I had a margherita pizza (I’m a believer that when you’re eating truly good pizza you don’t need anything else on it) that was bigger than my plate but because the base was so thin, crisp and light I could easily eat it all. Definitely the closest thing to a real Italian pizza I’ve had in this country for a long time!

We then wen onto one of the pubs by the river, the pub itself was virtually empty as everyone was standing outside with their drinks, so we took a table inside but by the window and looked out, observed and felt old, as we watched all the young clubbers getting a drink in before heading to the clubs. We were rather pathetically home by 10.30pm!

Today the mother-in-law was still around but I went for a run first thing, I managed about 6.3km, as Mr. Lacer said my distances are going down hill a bit (have done over 8km in the past, well ok, once and that’s because I got lost) but in my defence on this run there was a whole lot of running up some very steep hills, I think I did about five big hills and ok I had to run down them to but I don’t think the effort involved is cancelled out that much by the run down again, specially as when running down you’re have to exert some energy to stop yourself going flying, specially as a lot of the running is cross country (which I think is definitely my favourite type of running, even if I do worry about deer tics and snakes!*). So although it was ‘only’ 6.3km today, I think if it’d been flat I’d have been able to have run longer and all this running up hills I hope is increasing my stamina in preparation for the Nike Human Race which is in Wembly which (I don’t recall) has that much in the shape of hills so hopefully then it’ll be an easier run.

Once I was back home and I’d sufficiently recovered we all headed out this time to go to Kew, although I delayed things a bit as I’d been ‘organised’ and put my Kew season ticket in my filofax but then lost my filofax. We got the bus there as parking is hell, Girl Lacer, Mr. Lacer and mother-in-law sat at the top of the bus whilst me and Boy Lacer stayed downstairs, Mr. Lacer in his wisdom had folded up the pushchair and consequently there was no where on the bus for Boy Lacer to sit as the bus looked like it was populated by an OAP field outing. So I got him to hang on to one of the bars, which he did and he tried to be brave bless him but the bus must have felt so fast to him standing up, all I could hear was him whimpering “We’re flying, we’re flying!” and he was getting more and more upset, so I had to sit down on the bus floor and hold him on my lap and he calmed down, although he clung to the handles of my bag for dear life, I couldn’t prise him off them, I think he was worried I was going to forget the bag. Luckily for the last few stops someone did offer us a seat.

So, with a little indignity on my part (trying to sit on a bus floor in a mini skirt with a toddler on your lap, not easy) we made it to Kew. We went straight for the new tree top walkway where the lift up is still not working (another reason why it wasn’t a particularly good idea to wear a mini skirt today – all those steps), luckily Boy Lacer permitted himself to be carried this time. Then on to an expensive, not particularly nice lunch and then onto Girl Lacer’s favourites, the glass houses. We had a look at the Waterlily House, which I’d never some how seen before but was beautiful, check out these giant waterlilies on my photoblog here. The Waterlily House contained a giant pool and around it’s edges were raised beds with an amazing collection of capsicums, I loved the Purple Tiger Capsicum (photo here) and the multi coloured ones ↓ that looked like rather lethal sweets.

Then onto the big glass house, I was particularly taken with what was outside it today, I don’t know what these flowers are but they blended nicely against the flaky white of the metal frame of the glass house and the greying sky.

Then back home and the mother-in-law finally packed off. And her opinions on Boy Lacer’s new diagnosis? She never said anything and neither did we, it felt like a great big unspoken albatross.

* Before you think I’m weird worrying about snakes in Britain, there are snakes in my local park, I’m exceedingly blessed to be living next to a National Nature Reserve.