COWSHED

Monday 28 May 2012

The weekly


We had our first day out. And not only did we survive, we had a fantastic time. We went to Whitstable, driven by our friends. A long leisurely lunch at the Whitsable Oyster Company with Pip sleeping in her pram and then stirring to be fed just as we were ordering our coffees. I fed her at the table which allowed me to have the first caffeinated coffee since I found out I was pregnant. And then a walk, pottering in the shops whilst the boys swam, a drink outside the Old Neptune pub and then a walk along the beach in the evening sun, a trawl round the chip shops for supper (have you ever heard of a chip shop running out of fish?) eating them snugged out of the wind in the lee of a groyne, watching the sun dip below the horizon.

And then back, to London.

Where we drove past our collective previous selves Saturday night out. I could see us, standing outside Indo in Whitechapel, trying to get a taxi; sitting outside 333 in Old Street wearing the teeniest American Apparel black dress, smoking. Of nights in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, Shoreditch, Hoxton, Old Street, Upper Street. Past offices worked, pubs we spent hours in. Of meals eaten and drinks drunk and cigarettes smoked. Of dancing, of talking, of the drunken search for late night food. Of bus stops waited in, high heels in hand. The whole of my 20s viewed from the back seat of a car, across a car seat where my sleeping daughter and my new life lay.

Saturday 19 May 2012

The weekly

London rain

It's been a week of ups and downs. Whilst there have been flashes of sunshine, both literally and metaphorically, I feel like I've been wading through greyness and puddles for the vast majority of the week.

This morning though, M surprised me with a massage that he had organised secretly for me, followed by lunch, then pottering in the local shops, where we bought Pip a sun hat and a beautiful pair of organic cotton chocolate leggings (which she loved so much she immediately pooped on them). We then bought cheese, bread and salad for supper and had tea and cake in a lovely Danish cafe - although bizarrely, we actually were drawn in because they serve Monmouth coffee - that we hadn't been in before, but which I would recommend.

Yesterday, I met M's dad for lunch and then pottered in the shops, idly looking for something to wear that I can still breastfeed in and trying on boots that I can't afford, before returning home and having tea and biscuits with an old friend. As soon as I have the photos of her present, I will be sharing them, because they are too gorgeous not to.

It was only yesterday and today that doing normal things, with the addition of the baby, felt, well, pretty much normal. I'm not sure why this surprised me, that it took so long, because every time we make any changes to either our living situation or my working situation, I feel out of sorts for at least three or four weeks. And Monday will be four weeks.

---
Photo by caravinagre via flickr

Tuesday 15 May 2012

She's here...

Pip newborn baby

Pip
23.04.2012
8 lb 11 oz
57cm

As you may have gathered from my extended silence, or have read if you follow my Pip blog, Pip has arrived. We have been largely existing in a new baby bubble for the past three weeks. We had chosen not to find out Pip's gender, although we believed all through the pregnancy that Pip was a boy. However, when she was born, we discovered that she was, in fact, a girl. A daughter.