Contains the usual round of cats, kids, a little bit more work than usual because I spent a lot of time in the lab, and a quick trip to Cornwall.

Humuhumu now wears the same size shoes as I do.

Shoe theft has occurred. My Birkenstocks. Argh.

The bloke thinks she will be taller than I am, because she's only 11, and this will therefore only be a phase so eventually I'll get them back.

I face a burning question: do I go six months without Birkenstocks, and thus unable to wear the complete standard-issue academic scientist uniform, or do I purchase a new pair?

Somehow I have failed to post since 10th June, despite having posts written after the last weekly roundup. Life has been a bit stressful lately for a number of reasons but it is getting a little better now. The summer holidays are less than a month away, for both the children and for us.

I made this and then forgot to post it. Features a lot of canal walks and cats.
It's taken me more than an hour to catch up with four days of entries from you all, across DW and LJ. I'm definitely not complaining. I love spending time here reading. It certainly feels more rewarding than, say, trawling through FB trying to find actual updates from friends in between relentless adverts and algorithm-generated memes.

We went to the pantomime in Stratford-upon-Avon last night, at a small community theatre we've grown fond of.

We had tried to go on Tuesday night but because of the heavy rains from Storm Henk we found ourselves unable to go more than a few hundred metres in any direction from our doorstep due to severe flooding. So we rang the theatre and they let us rebook, which was lovely.

Keiki insisted on sitting in the very front to get maximum enjoyment out of it. Humuhumu wanted to sit further back for the same reason. The bloke sat with her and I sat with him.

Keiki and I had a LOT of interaction with the cast. The actor playing the cat took a shine to him - he got to name the cat...Jeff. 🤷🏽‍♀️

At the interval he was given a card by a mysterious woman, and during the second half he was called onto the stage by (Captain) Jack with two other children. Jack was mightily amused by Keiki's fearless answers to his questions and by his European Space Agency jumper (courtesy of Mummy's most recent trip to the ops centre in Germany), and declared that drama might be Keiki's top subject at school.

The best bit was this:

Dick, after catching the baddie, King Rat: "What should we do with him?"
Keiki, without hesitation: "EXECUTION!"
Dick, walking across the stage to Keiki: "I'm sorry, what was that???"
Keiki: "Execution!"
Dick: "How old are you?"
Keiki, with great dignity: "I am nine."
Dick: "Nine?! That's a bit dark, Mum, isn't it? Nine!"
Me: *howls of laughter*
Dick: "I think we won't do that, we'll cast a spell and make him good, shall we?"
Keiki: "That works too."

A dizzying array of places. Tenerife => home => Norfolk => Nairobi => home => London => home => Wales. It's possible I may have forgotten something interim as well.

Warning: this is mostly kittens after the seventh of May.

Today Humuhumu went back to school, but Keiki was at home because it was a teacher training day at his school. You'd think that they'd be thrilled when this happens - no competition for internet-enabled devices, or access to parents. The reality, however, is that they spend most of the time asking when the other one is finally going to get home.

Rather than mope wistfully around the house for the whole day, Keiki and I decided to tackle a milestone he's been wanting to accomplish: Walking all the way to Tardebigge Tunnel and back. This is no mean feat. It's over 4 km uphill to get there. It took us two hours and ten minutes round trip with only a few brief stops for a drink of water or to unwrap a sweet. Above, he stands proudly at the entrance to the 530 metre tunnel, which can only be accessed by the water.

Approaching the Hall from the rear, because the front doors were closed due to the high winds.

Inside the Hall
( Inside the Hall. )

Outside the Hall
( Outside the Hall. )