We went to Edinburgh last weekend. It was a lovely warm day (last of this summer?)
Ellie insisted on drinking Jana's hot chocolate. Ben insisted on chewing the lid of my coffee.
Showing posts with label Jana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jana. Show all posts
Monday, September 16, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Kitchen Project: Day One
We are making some major changes to our house. Our project to move the kitchen downstairs and create a large open-plan kitchen and living space has begun.
Jana, Ellie and Ben have flown out to see their Czech family for three and a half weeks. I'm left here alone to keep an eye on things. We've got builders in to do the work.
Nothing can go wrong, surely?
Today was the first day of the work. This was the downstairs at the start of the day:
And this is how it looks now, after a full day's work on it:
We're also getting the stairs boxed off and a doorway put in:
Jana, Ellie and Ben have flown out to see their Czech family for three and a half weeks. I'm left here alone to keep an eye on things. We've got builders in to do the work.
Nothing can go wrong, surely?
Today was the first day of the work. This was the downstairs at the start of the day:
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| Our House Downstairs [24 February 2013] |
And this is how it looks now, after a full day's work on it:
 |
| Our House Downstairs [25 February 2013] |
We're also getting the stairs boxed off and a doorway put in:
 |
| Our House Stairway [25 February 2013] |
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Goodbye to Scheduled Television
At Christmas, we got a SMART blu-ray player to replace our old DVD player. This means we now have easy access to internet television from the comfort of our living room.
I haven't watched much TV over the last few years, partly because Jana tends to watch it to unwind and chooses programmes of no interest to me, partly because I have so much reading I want to catch up on, but mostly because I'm not organised enough to plan ahead the programmes I want to watch.
Well, internet TV has been a revelation. We only have access to BBC iPlayer and YouTube at the moment, plus a month trial subscription to NetFlix, but this still gives me everything I need and more.
In particular I've got hooked on watching nature documentaries on the iPlayer. Within the last couple of weeks, I've caught up with the available back catalogues of Countryfile, Coast, Nature's Weirdest Events, Frozen Planet, a few one-off programmes, plus the first episode of the incredible new David Attenborough series, Africa.
The television is going to become a battleground once again between me and Jana.
And it got me thinking, surely this is the death knell of scheduled television? I mean, what is the point of having programmes playing at set times of the day when all of this is at our fingertips?
Yesterday, driving home from work, they were having a discussion on Radio 4's PM about the relative benefits of scheduled TV versus catch-up TV, and it was really very apparent that scheduled TV had very little going for it. The main argument in its defence was that it made it easier for people to stumble across programmes they might not normally seek out themselves. Well, to me that's another way of saying it forces people to tune it to programmes they don't really like.
I'm now toying with the idea of cancelling our regular TV licence altogether and going fully "catch-up." Jana isn't quite ready to get up "normal tv," but once ITV Player and 4OD are available I think she might be persuaded.
I haven't watched much TV over the last few years, partly because Jana tends to watch it to unwind and chooses programmes of no interest to me, partly because I have so much reading I want to catch up on, but mostly because I'm not organised enough to plan ahead the programmes I want to watch.
Well, internet TV has been a revelation. We only have access to BBC iPlayer and YouTube at the moment, plus a month trial subscription to NetFlix, but this still gives me everything I need and more.
In particular I've got hooked on watching nature documentaries on the iPlayer. Within the last couple of weeks, I've caught up with the available back catalogues of Countryfile, Coast, Nature's Weirdest Events, Frozen Planet, a few one-off programmes, plus the first episode of the incredible new David Attenborough series, Africa.
The television is going to become a battleground once again between me and Jana.
And it got me thinking, surely this is the death knell of scheduled television? I mean, what is the point of having programmes playing at set times of the day when all of this is at our fingertips?
Yesterday, driving home from work, they were having a discussion on Radio 4's PM about the relative benefits of scheduled TV versus catch-up TV, and it was really very apparent that scheduled TV had very little going for it. The main argument in its defence was that it made it easier for people to stumble across programmes they might not normally seek out themselves. Well, to me that's another way of saying it forces people to tune it to programmes they don't really like.
I'm now toying with the idea of cancelling our regular TV licence altogether and going fully "catch-up." Jana isn't quite ready to get up "normal tv," but once ITV Player and 4OD are available I think she might be persuaded.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas from the whole Hopton family. This picture is actually from 24 December, because that's when the Czechs have their main Christmas celebration.
This is also the first ever picture of all four of us :)
This is also the first ever picture of all four of us :)
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| The Hoptons (December 2012) |
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Getting Ready for Christmas
It's three days until Christmas. I've genuinely not enjoyed this time of the year so much in a long long while. Ellie is at the right age to start appreciating Christmas properly. I've had a week off work already so I'm winding down and in the right mood for it all. We're not traveling anywhere or hosting any visitors.
Ellie and Ben have both come down sick, however. Ellie has got a vomiting bug of some kind. She won't eat much, is always tired and whine-y, and is occasionally sick. I'm writing this having just put her back to bed and cleared up another batch of vomit.
Ben has got an eye infection (a recurrence from a couple of weeks ago) and a stuffed nose which keeps waking him up. We also think he's started teething. Jana and I are sleep-deprived and shattered.
The thing with kids is how they bounce back. Even during the day, most of the time you wouldn't know either of them is unwell. Ellie helped decorate the tree. She enjoys taking several baubles off at once, wandering around with them strung from her fingers, and then placing them back in a little cluster. We bought Christmas crackers today so she's been placing them on the tree too.
Mum and Charlie visited recently. In Edinburgh we heard Christmas pop music so my mum bought us a CD and Ellie keeps demanding it be played. I recorded a video of her dancing and sent it back to my mum.
Jana is taking the opportunity of having me around helping with the kids by spending more time in the kitchen, cooking and baking to her heart's content. We are eating our main meals at midday. In the evening, we're eating Stilton and drinking port (well I am.)
By and large, give or take, this is what I imagined (and hoped) the run up to Christmas would feel like once I had my own family.
Ellie and Ben have both come down sick, however. Ellie has got a vomiting bug of some kind. She won't eat much, is always tired and whine-y, and is occasionally sick. I'm writing this having just put her back to bed and cleared up another batch of vomit.
Ben has got an eye infection (a recurrence from a couple of weeks ago) and a stuffed nose which keeps waking him up. We also think he's started teething. Jana and I are sleep-deprived and shattered.
The thing with kids is how they bounce back. Even during the day, most of the time you wouldn't know either of them is unwell. Ellie helped decorate the tree. She enjoys taking several baubles off at once, wandering around with them strung from her fingers, and then placing them back in a little cluster. We bought Christmas crackers today so she's been placing them on the tree too.
Mum and Charlie visited recently. In Edinburgh we heard Christmas pop music so my mum bought us a CD and Ellie keeps demanding it be played. I recorded a video of her dancing and sent it back to my mum.
Jana is taking the opportunity of having me around helping with the kids by spending more time in the kitchen, cooking and baking to her heart's content. We are eating our main meals at midday. In the evening, we're eating Stilton and drinking port (well I am.)
By and large, give or take, this is what I imagined (and hoped) the run up to Christmas would feel like once I had my own family.
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