Visitors

A few weeks back the lovely Sean McCann's friend Grant stopped into Barca for the weekend. He's a very important person in the goverment you see thus was over on this side of the pond and decided to jet to BCN for the weekend instead of staying in the Hague. Smart cookie! He was an absolute darling and can only hope we see him again one day soon. It would be even better if he could convince Mr. Sean to come along too!

He snapped a very rare full family portrait of us all at my favorite sunny terrace. Thanks Grant!


Uz


Grant and the girlz

I got just that little bit too excited...

last night I received a txt message from the British Consulate in Madrid telling me that my new passport will arrive within 24-48h... I then checked the bank to see if they withdrew the money for the fee or simply the money for the postage... sigh... it appears that they have only charged me for postage thus its very unlikely that they have processed the wee one's passport as they would have charged me that fee as well. I am so gutted, I really thought that I had perhaps finally gotten to the point where we could book the tickets home for a visit... Now I sit and wait to see why they did not process the passport, while at the same time hoping and praying that she may have more sucess with the Canadian one which is also apparently being processed... I can't wait until this nightmare is over with!

In the interim I've been busy going to a job interview and mostly giving Sienna interesting hair styles... She's not too pleased but really can you blame her?


Yes I have enough hair for a mohawk


okay then... right mum... this is cool?

He's back!

And very tired! The 'sleeper' train he took last night arrived in BCN this morning... I think the sleep part wasn't so easy as his 'sleeping compartment' was more like a coffin as it was so cramped... poor thing he's just shattered a 12h train journey like that is certainly not for the faint of heart... Sienna is of course more than happy to show him the ropes and they're both snoozing peacefully as I type.


sleep factory!

Yesterday after making it out of the house by 10am the girls and I were off on our daily walk. Lilli of course was not too pleased but really she never is... We ran into a TV crew filming along where we were walking on our way down to the beach. The bald headed presenter with an australian accent stopped us to admire Lilli and of course Sienna who was snuggled in her papoose sleeping... he was very charming and chatty and asked us how far they were from the Cathedral... At the very same moment a couple came by with the tiniest Chihauha. I was instantly disinterested in the TV guy and diverted my attention to the tiny puppy that our dog was actually playing with! I could not believe my eyes! Lilli Martini, playing with another caninne species? The TV presented looked quite surprised at my disinterest in him... the owner of the dog kept telling me 'that guy, the one with the cameras he's famous! Very famous, he did that show about being in Vegas for 5 dollars a day!' He was absolutely star struck... It was quite funny as I have absolutely no idea who the presenter was... the dog owner obviously could not speak to him as he did not speak English... it was a wierd situation... To be honest I was too busy watching the puppies play to really care. Eventually the TV guy and his crew chipped off and wished us well. Perhaps I missed my opportunity at 15 minutes of fame... ne mind I say! I still have no clue who the supposed celeb was/is... I don't think I'll be loosing much sleep over it but I am slightly curious as to who he was?

Some of us are getting chubby

at great speeds... and Sienna is looking rather plump in the cheeks too!

We're nearing the end of our home alone adventure... and to be honest I do think it's actually starting to get a little bit easier... Don't get me wrong, I will be VERY happy to have my other half back on Monday morning!


The wee one napping peacefully after her 3rd breakfast yesterday.


This one is a bit blurry but you can see more full on squoogyness! Double chins, just like mum!

So she's 3 months old now and 5,78 kilos and a whopping 58cm... she's nearly doubled her birthweight and grown nearly 10cm in length. I guess that's what all the napping and eating will get you! The picture above shows her in her new wee (but acutually too big for her hat) having a hat here is kind of a staple as the sun is almost always out and its pretty strong.

We shall mostly be sporting our very best party dresses tonight as we are going to stop in to help auntie vero celebrate her 40th! We won't be staying out late though... we simply must keep up with our beauty sleep!

I know I'm getting ahead of myself...

But while speaking to mum yesterday we discussed how that there are so many tempting naughty things for me in Canada as there are so many prepared foods... Here you've pretty much got to make most things from scratch which is MUCH healthier... however every time I go home I inevitably indluge in every junkie incarnation possible... not so good for the waist line... I swear I can pack on 10lbs in the span of a few weeks there... lord help me if I ever moved back... I would be a right porker!!!

However with this in mind I am mostly looking forward to taking fredu to these most luxurious establishments...

Licks burgers (ahh nature burger and guk sauce!)

Taco bell!

Si yo quiero taco bell!!! Mi bariga non pero... dar egual.

I have miraculously...

Made it to day eight on my own here in baby central... this is a great acomplishment as there have been moments where I seriously thought I would fall asleep on my feet. I had one of those episodes yesterday as sleep deprevation started to take hold. I luckily manged to ring my mum who chatted with me to keep me awake... Luckily not long after, the wee one finally fell asleep and I quickly followed suit.

The job search has commenced and I'm hoping that something interesting will pop up... or of course there is always the lotto that my mum plans on winning this Friday!?!?!?

Miss Chiara is off today on her coffee date with a new 'friend' the date happens to be taking place in Amsterdam... we are liking the sound of this suitor. I hope she has a wonderful time!

We have a holiday here in Barcelona and most of Spain today... most people are taking tomorrow off as well as a bridge day and thus enjoying a very long weekend. I will however be joining suit as I'm counting down the four more sleeps until Fredu returns from the deep south... I tell you, sometimes abscence can most definately make the heart grow fonder!

Until then, walkies it shall be... I can see Lilli hiding from me already... time to gather the troops and head out!

The fantabulous Ana...

Came by last Saturday to hang out with the girls and I. We lunched and then went for one of my long walkies. We of course had to stop and have some icecream... at which point we shot some photos with her fab little camera. I have a sneaking suspicion that she may have been quite generous to me in the photoshop re-touching side of things but hey... she's the graphic designer after all!


I swear I am not that tanned... Ana start explaining!?!?!


Ana and Lilli looking most prestigous!

Today I am mostly being greatful

For the beautiful sunshine we had as well as for my fabulous neighbour who very graciously signed Sienna's passport pictures for us. He is a doctor you see and the Canadian embassy would only accept someone with a medical degree... either that or it would have had to have beeen the mayor!?!? Of course I know the mayor personally for the last 2 years!?!? The British embassy were not so fussy as to who signed that picture... but we aim to please no?

The sunshine did a good job today of roasting up the remaining people who did not turn lobster red the day before... I swear you would think that these people who fly in here for the weekend would know better... sun screen does not seem to be a well recognised concept for most northern Europeans... Sigh... I was covered under hat and slathered in sun screen and I think I still got a touch of colour regardless...

I'm just finishing up day 4 of holding down the fort on my own as Fredu is off down south for another 7 days working... All I can say is that I have a great amount of respect to single mothers or anyone out there minding a small baby on their own... it's a heck of a lot of work and let me tell you, not made much easier by an almost 3 month old child who has decided to live up to her name 'wonderchild 17' by starting to cut her teeth early! We're back to waking up at 3 and at 6... it's been hairy and exhausing. Mind you, I still have had enough fight to pack up the crew and do a 2h walk with both Sienna and Lilli every day.... so yes, yea me!

The job search has re-commenced as it turns out that it will be unlikely that my services at the budgening danish porn empire will be needed very much or if at all in the coming months... Pretty disapointing really as i think it was honestly the first job I really have ever enjoyed. Ah well perhaps they will have something come up again in the future and I can return to work with them... I just hope I can find something that doesn't drive me mad... (ie. avoid agency work). I keep my mind open and am trying not to panic... instead I am staying very quiet to see if I can hear what the fates are whispering to me about my future... shhh!

'You may all be dead, but you should not be discouraged... '


That bit of advice is taken from one of the closing lines of the movie 'Scoop' written by Woody Allen. I'm not a big fan of his films but I thought that line particularily charming....

Run Lilli Run!

This could possibly be the sequal to run lola run...

Or it could be Lilli Martini running with Alfredo who is riding a bike down by the port...

Pidgeons beware...

Sunday morning on the quiet empty streets of Barcelona there is rumoured to be a pidgeon hunter... We've now got the proof!

You may have the impression that...

there is a lot of lazing about..









I will neither confirm nor deny this statement... you be the judge!

What does it mean...

When your spam box has 666 messages in it???

There has been a flurry of DIY

In the flat as of late... I guess it's spring cleaning of sort... Alfredo created a new light feature in the sitting room and we finally framed a lovely piece that Miss Woo painted for me a few years back. It's a really beautiful piece. He is called Phoenix and is the calf that survived the foot and mouth out break in the UK a few years back. Both the lights and the painting really make the sitting room much nicer!


Phoenix the calf!!


the new lighting piece!

Beyond that life in baby land is good apart from a few pooplosions... hilarious but very very dangerous for white dressing gowns!

Pooplosion!

When we returned home the other night from our first outing minus baby we found our lovely babysitter sitting on the sofa in this position... I know it well! Chiara looks fab!

Miss Chiara and the girls

While walking home from supper at Luca's house last night we turned the corner onto our street and it was empty so I snapped this shot! Lovely no? Like a snap from a few hundred years ago...


calle de montcada

Well we passed the milestone...

of leaving the wee one at home with a sitter and made it to the concert on Saturday night. The venue was half full... the crowd predominently English and the average age well over 30... The girl standing next to me hit the nail on the head when she said 'this concert is for old people' lol. Ian Brown looked pretty destroyed and the sound was too thus it didn't make for a very good concert to be honest... however when he did play two stone roses tracks the place went wild. I felt kind of sorry for him as it must be a pain when you're trying to flog your new work and people are only interested in what you used to do in the past... but it still pays the bills I suppose... Andy Rourke (the bass guitar player for the Smiths) joined him on stage for a while and then was the dj upstairs for the after party... It was pretty funny as I dared Alfredo to go up to him and request that he play a Smiths song... cheeky bugger of course did... and you know what? He played one! Hilarious...

When all was said and done we headed back home and arrived just before 1am to relieve the lovely Chiara of her babysitting duties. She skipped off into the night to join her friends who start their night at 2am... insane! I am indeed an oldie now, but that's fine by me!

Two of cups



Today after a very very early start... we were up and out of the house by 7am for a 8am apt at the hospital (all is well don't worry)... we ended up in Gracia at 10 having breakfast. I tell you, finding a non smoking bar to have breakfast in was quite a challenge... I found it hard to believe that they had no terraces open yet... It's a whole new world when you're up and out at that time of the morning!

After returning home and passing out for a 20min powernap/simultanious baby feeding session I jetted out to meet the girls for lunch. It was really nice to spend some time out of the hosue without the baby attached to my breast and a small dog on my lap! While we were walking home we walked down this narrow street in the gothic quarter and scattered on the floor were a deck of tarrot cards. We each picked one up that was lying face down. Mine was the two of cups. Apparently it's a very positive relationship card which symbolizes a pending marriage or something of the sort... too cute! Then I read futher down the page and saw that if the card was upsidown that is meant the total opposite... Luckily I don't remember which side up it was... perhaps that's my fortune! Either that or it was the cards mocking me and simply pointing out my two over flowing cups...

89 fabulous years!

My grandfather is celebrating is 89th birthday today. Quite amazing to think all the changes in this world that he has seen and experienced during his lifetime... He was born in 1919 so he's seen wars, depressions, social repression, social liberation as well as immesurable technological advancements. he's got an ever expanding brood of offspring which is soon to reach the magic number of 18 (including children, grand children and great grand children). I am so indeed fortunate to have had a grandfather around for my entire lifetime thus far. He's taught me so many things from how to play tennis, golf, badmonton... to his wickedly dry sense of humour... I know a sprinkling of stories from him from his long past and although his memory is still 100% in tact he is never terribly keen to reminice or drudge up too many stories about the war or about him moving from Scotland to Guyana and then eventually along to Canada. Its a shame really as he must have so many amazing stories tucked away... however I guess when you really think about it, living in the now is probably a great sense of lightness for him as pulling up stories from such a long past could possibly become a bit of a chore emotionally... Who knows, perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the real important thing is that because of him, my family as I know it exists, and that is pretty fantastic.


Cheers to you my lovely grandpa!

It's bitter sweet

It's 6 years to this date that my father passed away. It's amazing that after all these years I still feel that he will come back some day. I guess it's just one of the ways people grieve. I look for signs of him in Sienna's litte smiles that she's started making and any other glimmer of his reflection through her... It's all a bit soon for that I suppose.

Some days I miss him so much as we are doing something or going somewhere where he would have love to have come. It must be so especially hard for mum but she is not one to talk about such things... that's just the way it is with her and fair be it as it's her way of grieving...

Well the sun is out here and I hope to enjoy this day in his honour.

Daddy we miss you!

The beaches are full of lobster looking northern europeans and chubby american girls with desperate needs for pedicures...

Be that as it may, I am not at all ready for swimming in a chilly sea just yet... I shall remain in the comforts of my gym's indoor swimming pool for a while yet. However I am sure glad that the chill of winter is on it's way out!

I came across these two brilliant pics that Ollie took the last time he was here. They are too cute not to post.


Looking dapper!


Lilli a la warhol... this should totally go in Sienna's room!

I won I won!

Sadly it's not the lotto... but I did win two tickets to go and see Ian Brown when he plays here on the 12th of April! Not bad! I won them by sending an email to the music station that we have on the TV sometimes during the day called Fly Music. Pretty cool if you ask me, as there is no way on earth we would be in the market to purchase the pair of tickets which sport a total pricetag of 120Euros! Now we have to find a sitter and for the first time ever leave Sienna alone with someone who is not my mother! I wonder how many times we will call home to see if she's okay??? I think we managed 3 calls to my mum and we were only gone for 3h...


not the biggest looker but its all about the music...

One of my favorite blog reads called violent acres is hosting a money raising campaign for a great cause. Do stop by and check it out... I donated a meagre 5 bucks but hey, we're on a budget here at baby towers... but every bit counts no?

Family portrait!!!


looking smiley!