Nerds and puree

Been an eventful month.

Start of May saw another radio gathering of nerds and geeks.  Manchester was the venue and a fun time was had by all.  Very often just the faithful few turn up to this bi-monthly meet-up, but this time around, there was a healthy turn out of nerds from all corners of the UK including the usual stalwarts Matthew Rudd, Alex Lester, Charles Nove and Simon Hurst.  A good Italian meal was followed by a quick walk in the pouring rain (remember - it's Manchester - it always rains) to the nearest pub for more booze.  The following day, we had the obligatory "all you can eat" full fat fry-up for £7.99 and still go back for more.

Friend of mine, Dave Woollatt took these fab photos of Manchester during our visit including Old Trafford ground from across the water at Salford Quays.

Here's Matt Barton giving me one of those "bear" hugs.  He nearly squeezed the life out of me.

On the baby front.....

Jo and I were given the green light by out mid-wife to start "weening" Oscar - so now's the time to laminate everything or cover everything in plastic sheeting to protect against the spray.

Basically we now puree fruit and veg to within an inch of it's life.  So far Oscar seems to be loving his food, he'll eat anything - sure it won't be long before he starts to become fussy.   Some weird food combinations are in his feed like......spinach, apple & swede and sweet potato, broccoli and carrot.  The "spinach combo" looks like something the dog deposited, but pureed version.  We try not to turn our noses up in disgust.  Whatever the appearance and taste, we just aim the spoon in his direction and "yuuuuum, this is luvvvvvly Oscar", "you'll like this one"   (churn goes the stomach!)

Couldn't resist showing you this cheeky one of Oscar doing his best Les Dawson impression....

BBQ season is upon us

Firstly, my years of saving has finally paid off.  Picked up the shiny new car recently. Without advertising the make and model - it's the car that was a great source of much derision back in the 80's, but blimey, this car has come on leaps and bounds since.  The boot space is amazingly huge, and thank goodness I don't need to remove the parcel shelf every time I want to squeeze the pram into the back...like I had to in my old rust bucket.  It's also got gadgets!  Most of which I probably won't need or use.  The owner's manual resembles "war and peace".  When I've got far too much time on my hands, which isn't much recently - maybe in between baby feeds...I'll pour over what I can find on lighting and instruments!  The excitement is almost too much to bear!

On the subject of cars, maybe I'm being paranoid but I'm just waiting for some idiot to bash into my car - maybe I should design some bubble wrap to neatly cover the whole car, while still being able to drive - sounds like an idea for Dragon's Den...to be scoffed at.  Some t**t decided to thrust open their passenger door into my driver's side the other day while I was in the car waiting for "the wife"....I was seething and nearly had a "Victor Meldrew" moment. Anger management required.

Went to Swindon last weekend for a family bbq which was stressful, not because of present company but Oscar screamed and screamed and rarely stopped for a breath.  When he did go quiet, it was time to shove some meat down my neck as fast as possible until he woke for another screaming session.  Thank goodness for handy sisters to share the pain and take it in turn to wind Oscar.

Today, we had a health visitor round to the house, who discussed "weening".  Is that how you spell it?  Oscar is now at the age when he can "go solid" in more ways than one.  If he's anything like me, he'll love his food and it won't even touch the sides when it goes down. Let's just hope it stays down....

Here are some photos of a Royal Wedding flavour......Family came round for salty snacks and sugary treats.  Course the burning question is...."What DID Harry say to his bruv?".....We all came to the conclusion......"I got in there first".

The Clarke clan....