Fashionista

Well I'm here in Pittsburgh visiting Mrs Doubleu for her birthday weekend before I start back at work. The sun is blazing down, it's 28'c and the view outside is very different to the snowmageddon wasteland that I surveyed 2 months ago.

After the airport shuttle run that Mrs Doubleu can probably now do in her sleep, we stopped at Walnut Street for lunch. One Southwestern Chipotle Club sandwich later we were back out on the street when Mrs Doubleu noticed a dress in a shop window. A quick circuit of the racks revealed many dresses that were "No" but still an armful of potentials.

We had worked our way through to the last one without success, but I had high hopes for this little black dress. "I really don't like asymmetric necklines," she said giving me a twirl. Now the thing was, I couldn't remember any of these dresses being asymmetric.

Sure enough, Mrs Doubleu had put her own spin on the little black number and tried it on sideways! No more dress shopping alone - it would appear there are additional obstacles to finding THAT dress!

The Green Shoots of Recovery

Its not about the economy, stupid. Its the lawn. I thought I'd check it out today so I can fill Claire in on the progress when I see her this weekend.  The soil is drowning in seed, but all we have so far for our efforts are a few sporadic shoots.

I'm hoping that the proverb "from the acorn does the mighty oak grow" has some relevance here, and I'm sure Jeff having a few days holiday with Anne can only help the lawn's chances of recovery.

The Doubleus get political... not!

As these three posters from the "Make Cameron History" project show, contrary to accepted wisdom, politics is alive and very much kicking. A website where you can make your very own Tory faux-slogans - genius!

Of course it's the usual Punch 'n' Judy, beauty-pageant, lowest-common-denominator politics of the tabloids, but still, fun just the same...  Check out mydavidcameron.com and make your own.

Still, I'm sure we'll be very bored of all the parties in a month's time and begging for any one of them to put us out of our collective misery and take over.

Maybe not her though...

The Joy of Skype

Not entirely sure what we did before this came along. Video calls were non-existent and even regular overseas calls were expensive, tinny and subject to erratic delays.

We got skype set up when Mrs Doubleu was in Boston for 6 months but the internet with the mentalists wasn't that good and we struggled even just to talk on it.

 The past year though, it's been a revelation. Absolutely essential for keeping in touch with Mrs Doubleu whilst she's been in Pittsburgh. I'm used to her yelling for me from the other end of the house, but now I can hear her dulcet tones hollering across the Atlantic. And they call this progress?

I first saw Fin, my nephew, at 2 days old on skype when he got home from hospital in London. Since then I've stalked him by skype from Joburg to Cape Town and then onto Sydney. He is one well travelled 8 month old!

Blissed-out Feline

It turns out that being a house-cat with changes to the household (Jeff's arrival and Mrs Doubleu's recent comings and goings to the States) puts Max at increased risk of stress. And as this is one explanation for his scratching, we thought we'd give Feliway a go, hoping the facial pheromones would calm him and give the leather sofas a well deserved rest.




Well as you can see it seems to be working. 3 days in and Max seems to be slightly friendlier, more laid back and less destructive... and let's be blunt: a little blissed out at times!



This afternoon he sat at the back door watching wood pigeons and collared doves whilst less than 2 feet away, Jeff was watching him. We haven't seen that before!

The Bertenshaw-Douglas Dog Wrestling Service

Just a quick note of thanks to the Bertenshaw-Douglas Dog Walking Wrestling Service.  First a warning: if they offer to walk your canine friend, do prepare well in advance.  You wouldn't want to answer the door in your striped pyjamas without even having had a sniff of caffeine, would you?

Well let me tell you that punctuality is just the start of it, their service really is second to none.  Not every walking service offers an infant for your dog to play with, or an older dog for yours to harass, but the BDDWS does! And as far as the wrestling itself goes, they are not afraid to get down and dirty with your hound, as the muddy paw-prints on Catherine and Simon's shoulders attest.  Their fee is modest and payable with cake or biscuits.

As always, the proof is in the pudding: the pooch is pooped, too tired even to play with his new turkey.

Espresso-based beverages

I started easing myself back into working mode today with a 6 hour training day. I got a lift down with Christine as I still can't drive. But all seems to be hopeful for a return to work date of just after Easter.

Christine is just as hopeless a caffeine addict as I, so making good time on the way down we stopped for a Costa. Cappucino for her and flat white for me. To go. The caffeine jolt was just enough to get me through the day. Am I gonna need an espresso-based beverage every day when I get back to work? It's possible.

The most fun all day was the wager on whether we'd make it back over the Tyne by 16:45. At stake the complimentary free coffee card I "earned" in Starbucks last week when my coffee order was momentarily delayed. Christine hoped the cop-car mimicking properties of the pale mondeo with roof rails would be enough to give her a clear run, but I was suspicious that the Peppa Pig window shades would give her away as a civilian.

It looked like being a close run thing but stationary traffic past Chester-le-Street meant I was soon certain I would be keeping the free coffee voucher, but increasingly less confident that Jeff would "hang on" for his first day home alone in a while.

I don't know how I ever doubted him: these days he's such a good big-boy. He held on even whilst bouncing around the kitchen with excitement at my return, before bounding outside and happily emptying both barrels onto Claire's attempts to rehabilate the lawn.