How are you today?

[RobB]

You mean Boo! I'm not a grandma, I'm a Boo!

So does that make you a Booblue or a Blueboo?
I'd stick to Granny if i were you.

[RobB]

(as a manager of 24 women and 2 men, I know quite a lot about babystuff),

wow......hang on i'll get my calculator out here......you mean each guy has 12 women? Lucky chaps......i bet you've got your work cut out to manage them Paul?

[blue]

You mean Boo! I'm not a grandma, I'm a Boo!

So does that make you a Booblue or a Blueboo?
I'd stick to Granny if i were you.

Nope, I'm sticking with Boo, thanks.

I'm sure my baby grandson will be able to handle it Rob, it's really not as complicated as you seem to find it.

[blue]

My cats are driving me up the wall today. There's another outbreak of violence going on as my youngest cat tries one of her periodic attempts to overthrow the dominant one and take over as top cat. This involves her physically harassing and intimidating the other two, chasing them up and down the stairs and all around the house, launching herself at them, verbalising (ie making the most godawful howling/wailing noises) to try to unnerve them so she can impose herself as the boss, not letting them eat their food in peace, trying to push them away from the food bowls so she can have the contents herself, thereby asserting her dominance. It's very wearing on the nerves, mine as well as theirs.

She's coming up to 5 years old now, and this has been going on since she was about a year old. Unlike dogs, who sort out the hierarchy within seconds of meeting via a quick burst of aggression to establish the leader, cats seem to conduct a sort of 'Cold War' that can go on for years, with the occasional Cuban Missile Crisis to try to bring things to a head.

Ah well. One of these days the old one will give in, and she'll be top cat at long last, and we can establish a true and lasting peace.

[sound world]

Here's a potential Christmas present for your daughter and grandchild, Beth-




This is the book of lullabies that I worked on last year (I transcribed all the tunes from various sources-they're all printed at the back of the book).

I received a pre-publication copy today! It's published for real in a week's time.
It looks beautiful; fabulous pictures by Pam Smy, and all sorts of lullabies from all around the world.

More info-

http://www.franceslincoln.com/en/C/1/Bo ... Hush!.html

[blue]

I love the cover illustration Dave, it looks beautiful.

My daughter has no interest at all in books - all the lovely children's books I bought her when she was young are still sitting on a shelf, in pristine condition - so I don't know whether she'd actually use this book as it is obviously intended to be used, but I'll send her the link and see what she thinks.

I'm hoping my bookishness has just skipped a generation and my grandson will be a bookworm, it'd be great to think all those children's classics I spent a fortune on might actually get read by an appreciative child at long last!

[sound world]

Well I tell you what, Boo, YOU have to read to your grandchild. I think that's what will make the difference. If your daughter isn't into books, she's probably not going to read to them. Might be a really good way for you to develop a special relationship with Boobkin.
I STILL read to my son sometimes if he lets me (although it's more likely to be PG Wodehouse or Just William or somesuch these days). What a shame your daughter never got into it. Kids books these days are so brilliant, and plentiful. There's heaps of fantastic books by people like Tove Jansson, Shirley Hughes etc etc.

[blue]

Well I tell you what, Boo, YOU have to read to your grandchild. I think that's what will make the difference. If your daughter isn't into books, she's probably not going to read to them. Might be a really good way for you to develop a special relationship with Boobkin.

Oh yeah, I'll read to him. I so hope he likes books, I can't tell you what a puzzle it was to me to have a child who wasn't interested in reading.

What a shame your daughter never got into it.

Indeed. She was a very creative child though, she was into 'making' as she called it, always drawing or making things from scraps of fabric and so on. She much preferred to do that than read. At bedtime she liked to sing, we used to sing songs together instead of reading.

I persisted in buying her books all through her childhood, hoping she might become a reader eventually, but no. Still, I guess if her son likes books he has a whole little library waiting for him at my house.

[paul-pgss]

wow......hang on i'll get my calculator out here......you mean each guy has 12 women? Lucky chaps......i bet you've got your work cut out to manage them Paul?

Yeah, you might expect that Rob but I can tell you that 24 women in one team means a lot of catfights So I have enough to do.

[blue]

Waiting, waiting ..... still waiting ......

I'd forgotten how much the last couple of weeks of a pregnancy drags. My poor girl has well and truly had enough, she's now at the stage where just getting up out of a chair requires more energy than she has available. [b)]

Hopefully the little chap will decide to make his entrance soon, I still think maybe he's waiting for Sunday so his birthdate will be 10.10.10.

[sound world]

...at 10.10 and 10 seconds a.m?

[RobB]

I still think maybe he's waiting for Sunday so his birthdate will be 10.10.10.

nah, he's waiting for Saturday, 09.10.10..........John Lennon's 70th birthday.

[blue]

...at 10.10 and 10 seconds a.m?

That would be so cool.

As long as he gets here safely, that's the main thing.

[RobB]

As long as he gets here safely, that's the main thing.

Absolutely .....although when you think about it, its hardly going to be the longest journey he's likely to make?

[blue]

As long as he gets here safely, that's the main thing.

Absolutely .....although when you think about it, its hardly going to be the longest journey he's likely to make?

Depends how you look at it, Rob - it may not be the greatest distance, but his mother took 17 hours to cross it. [b)]