so, that happened

I finished Stiff and found it...more or less appropriate for Sherlock, although probably not for most eight year olds. Mrs N has volunteered me to help her take Sherlock's class to the Museum of Natural History, which should be...exciting.

It was odd, if nice, getting to work with L. Of course I know he does the same job as the rest of the police I work with (more or less), but I hardly ever get to see him actually doing it. Although, as he pointed out, by the time I got there, he was mostly done and asleep on his feet. It was hard work not to kiss his forehead and tell him to take a nap, but I restricted myself a hopefully non-embarrassing hug. So relieved the boy was all right - frightened, of course, but mainly all right.

Sorry this is so short. I feel all out of things to say recently. 

not good

I just got Sherlock to bed. It was a struggle tonight, but I expected it to be. He was up at least eight times between his bedtime and now, asking for anything and everything, but mostly asking if we could go to see Mycroft tomorrow.

Most of you will have seen it on L's blog, but there was a possible kidnapping at Mycroft's school today. Mycroft is fine, Anthea is fine, the dogs are fine. They're probably shedding all over L right now. He got the case - went there earlier today and hasn't been able to come home yet. Hopefully he'll get some sleep on Anthea's sofa, at least a few hours.

I hope the boy's all right. His parents must be terrified. 

by the sea

We're staying in an old railway car, which is something I didn't know you could do until L showed me the website. Sherlock is very excited about it, but that's a downgrade from very VERY excited - he initially thought it was our own private car that we could take wherever we wanted on the rail line. He noted the lack of tracks and engine almost immediately, but there was a moment there when I thought he might explode.

We're near the sea, and there's a place hire bikes and a path to ride on, so we've been doing that, baking, letting the dogs run around and try to bite the ocean. You'd think that would get old, but it never does - perhaps because their level of enthusiasm for it never changes.

Mycroft, L, and Sherlock have baked, and the cake is cooling. It's chocolate, with more chocolate, and chocolate icing to be applied later on. Couldn't ask for a better day, really.

Happy birthday, Sherlock. Watching you grow up is an amazing experience, and I'm happy to be a part of your life. 

cupcakes

Sherlock mainly made these. I helped. The cakes themselves are pretty good, but we had frosting issues. You know how it is. It got too stiff and then you squeeze too hard and it just gets everywhere... 

I am unaccountably exhausted and may go to bed before Sherlock does. Certainly will if he has his way. He's wrapped around L's feet like a small boa constrictor. 

brno ossuary

These are all skulls:

It's the second largest ossuary in Europe, and they only found it in 2001. The bones had been all shifted and tumbled by water and time, and they had to clean all of them before they opened it to the public. There's about fifty thousand people buried there.

...Even as I write this, I'm a bit concerned Sherlock will want to go there for his birthday. But I thought it was too interesting not to share.

L fell asleep immediately upon hitting the bed, but I'm still awake. Don't really know why. It feels like it's been a very long week somehow. My shoulder's ached since Wednesday, more than the bruises. Come of the way I twisted when he hit me, I expect. It was harder not to hit him back than I would've thought it would be.

Anyway. I'll try sleep again. 

dr feelgood

Dr Feelgood has been and gone. We went over my files, and he pointed out a few things I could be doing more efficiently, which was helpful. He also left a present for Sherlock, a book called Stiff, which is about all the things that can happen to dead bodies, from organ donation to decomposition to being freeze-dried and turned into compost. He said he thought it sounded like just the thing for him.

He's probably right, but I'll be reading it first to make sure that... You know, I'm not sure what I'm expecting this book to contain that Sherlock wouldn't gleefully read and then discuss at breakfast the next day. But just in case. It's obviously not a children's book.

He also said a police sergeant called him Dr Feelgood the other day. I tried not to laugh too much, if only because we hadn't finished my review yet.

And here is a video of a gelatine cube bouncing off a flat surface.

canal ride

We took a bike ride today (bicycles, not motorbikes). We went to the canal, which was a pretty long ride for Sherlock, maybe the longest he's done. You can tell he's getting bigger and stronger though. He wasn't nearly as exhausted as we had feared/hoped. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place:

We bought sandwiches and things and eat in the grass by the water. It was strange not to have Mycroft and the dogs with us. I missed him a lot today. He would've had a good time. And, obviously, the dogs would've loved it. They also probably would have jumped in the water and then shaken it off all over us, which I didn't mind missing.

Also, Sherlock would like to remind you, me, L, Mycroft, Mrs Hudson, and the world at large that his birthday is coming up. 

snakes etc

Wawrinka is two sets up on (Andy) Murray in the US Open. I'm not even sure what to think about that.

In non-tennis news, I'm back to work tomorrow night, 7pm to 7am. Going by previous Friday nights, I expect the forecast to be light drugs with occasional heavy drinking and stupid fights that, in the end, have no identifiable cause.

Dr Feelgood emailed to say congratulations, so apparently he's reading the blogs. Also that it's time for a meeting to discuss how the job's going and so he can look over my files - until the six months are up, it's his job to make sure I'm keeping proper records, with the kind of information needed for court cases, not just normal medical records. So we'll do that later in the week, hopefully when Sherlock's at school.

I keep my file cabinet locked, for obvious reasons, whose initials are SH. If he asks, it's also booby-trapped and magically warded. And full of snakes. 

quiet

Mycroft, Anthea, dogs, books, and luggage have all been returned to Harrow. Also various new clothes, old computer parts, and a mountain of baked goods. Sherlock asked me at one point if it were possible to mail a person in a box and travel that way, if you weren't going very far (read: to Harrow, for a sneaky visit to your brother). When I said no, he then wanted to know if you could send a body that way. Because if you can't visit your brother via post, the next best thing is to send him (for example) a stuffed bear? Not sure.

We saw a stuffed bear, by the way. Yesterday. In a petrol station. I regret not asking for an explanation.

The countdown to bedtime has begun. We've been letting him stay up late for the holidays, but I think it'd better be back to normal tonight. You can tell he's tired. Also, L and I have a lot of sewing on of name tags to do. We tried a few days ago, and Phobos swallowed one whole trying to lick my hand.