A Yorkshire Solution to Teething

We've just got back from three days in Yorkshire visiting my sister in law, three of the wettest summer (or winter) days I've had in a long time. Arriving in the station, it was about 30 seconds before I had someone call me "duck". I think the ducks were more in their element that us - they have waterproof feathers, we had to dig out the raincoats.

We felt sure the time was right to leave London, Wimbledon had been fairly dry and tradition said it was due for a drenching, but instead we seemed to take most of the weather north with us. The rain ruled out most of our ideas for walking through gardens and all the outdoor things we had planned so the search was on for other pursuits.

Ever since seeing it on the TV ad (for double glazing, I think) one of my goals was to visit the Tan Hill Inn - the highest pub in Britain. So with a lot of sweet talking and promises to get up and rock the baby, to change nappies on demand and all sorts of other things I'm hoping won't be remembered, we set out on a miserable day to drive through the moors to drink a pint on top of the world.

Yorkshire is an amazing place, there must be hundreds of small villages, all perfect pictures with stone houses and stone walls and flowers everywhere. It's like the locals in every village had put on some kind of special decoration for us tourists whizzing through on our cars.

It was our first time in a car for a long while, and Sophie loved it. There's something about cars and babies that just puts them right to sleep and all her toothing troubles were forgotten as we sped along. It was just a pity we did have to stop every now and again, becuase she had some sort of 6th sense that woke her up the second we stopped.

Not sure whether it was teething or being in a new place, she just doesn't like anything at the moment. But there was one other time she quietened down, and I should know by now that's she's becoming one of those children that when it's quiet, you have to worry.

I was sitting there enjoying my pint and watching the driving rain against the (new double glazed!) windows when I spied the above picture out of the corner of my eye. Cold is meant to make gums feel better, so I guess whether it comes from an official, specially designed toy that you put in the freezer or a bottle the landlord puts in the fridge, the principle is the same.

So it's a moral dilemma. On the plus side, it keeps her quiet, and it keeps Dad busy making sure there are enough cold empty bottles to keep her happy. On the negative side, there are some people who might take this the wrong way, and the government is coming up with more drinking restrictions and proclamations (though this might be more of a reason to go ahead with my new solution).

Yep, it's a tricky situation, I think I'll have another pint while I think about it ...

Taking in the Thames

London is scorching right now. It's been a hot week, that for once lasted through into the weekend so it's out of the office and into summer mode.

With another day scheduled to get up to around 27 degrees it was a chance to get outside and take Sophie around our old haunts along the Thames in Rotherhithe.

It's a nice walk if you get the chance. Take the Jubilee line to Canada Water, walk around to Greenland Dock and follow the Thames back up to London Bridge station, or if you're feeling energetic (which we definitely weren't) go on to Waterloo or until you just can't walk any more.

To make the walking easier, there are also some great pubs like The Angel (where Captain Cook drank and with some fantastic views of Tower Bridge, well away from the stress of the tourists and the "look at me" clan further up the river) and The Mayflower (where the pilgrims set sail) - these pubs are only to be visited for historical purposes, of course, but after a couple of hours walking in the sun, I told myself I deserved a drink!

I think this was our first hot outing, and being a true red blooded male, I never had a doll, but I will quietly admit it's great fun getting Sophie all dressed up.

It never fails to surprise me all the things that need to be remembered, it's definitely not just a case of grab the baby and walk on out the door. Not sure if it's a girl thing? My wife has long and painful sounding preparations before we go out too, so now with two girls in the house maybe I deserve that drink even more ...

In her defence, my wife has inherited what seems like an endless supply of clothes and is always up for an excuse to get a new outfit together.

My own sense of things like what hat goes with what shirt needs a lot of work and I think I might be given up for a lost cause. Heck, sometimes I'm just happy to get the clothes on the right way around.

So faced with the choice of trying to make sense of my wife's stack of fashion magazines and fetching, wiping and carrying as directed, I think I'll stick to the latter. London right now is too hot to argue, I'll just do what I'm told.