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. 

honeymoon

Mycroft is back at school on Tuesday, Sherlock shortly thereafter. We've been talking about the honeymoon a bit, with Sherlock ruling out places that are too nice and interesting for us to go without him. I was thinking about trying to see the aurora borealis, but, apart from it being a fairly long way if we want to ride the bikes, I think Sherlock and Mycroft both might be a bit cranky if we went to see those without them.

It is a good year for it though, apparently. I read that it peaks on an 11 year cycle, and the peak is either this year or last year, depending on which article you read. September and March are supposed to be the best times. You can stay in a glass igloo if you want to:

Anyhow, more realistically, L mentioned Prague last night, and I was looking at Lugano, in the Switzerland, which seems like a nice place, but there are about a thousand other places that would be good too, I'm sure - if anyone has suggestions, let us know?

Editing in this pic of Sherlock's cake - it's delicious :)

tiny frog

Or possibly toad. We found it on our walk today. Sherlock was delighted, but seems to have got over the urgent need to take every bit of wildlife we find home with him, which is a relief. He still asked, but didn't seem too disappointed when we said no. 

Back to normal tomorrow. Maybe then I'll be able to sort out the day in my head. Right now, it's still a sort of happy haze.

tomorrow

Well. We're getting married tomorrow.

The dogs are washed. Our suits are set out. Family is trickling into town. Murray probably has the rings. It's all beginning to seem almost real...

L's going out tonight with Sherlock. I'm going out with Nicky. Mycroft and Carla have some undisclosed plans. It will be a busy night. Just as well. Maybe it'll keep me from being too nervous/excited/unable to think of anything else. I hope I'm not too boring tonight, Nicky. ;) 

murray and lestrade

Well. Murray went up to surprise Lestrade at his conference. There was champagne and there were Homer Simpson boxer shorts, apparently. Later, Murray got himself handcuffed to the bar. That was after he got them kicked out the jacuzzi.

The evening appears to have been a success. Although I don't like to think of the state of L's head in the morning.

I called Murray cheeseface in the comments and promised to explain. It's a short story. He once loudly announced to a bar that fromage was better than fucking. He meant frottage...although he did not stand by his statement when questioned later. There were speculations about what sort of bedroom activity would involve cheese, and he got a new nickname. It's probably best not to think about it too hard.

Right. Going to try sleep again. 

a note

Earlier today, L got an envelope addressed to him at the yard. It was a note from his father, along with some money. He asked me to post a picture of it. I don't think any of us really know how to feel about it.

Translation:

To Gregory, 

I heard you were getting married. And that you have two boys/children now. I hope you're happy and that you and he have a good life together.

The money is to be split/shared between you and Nichola to spend on your families.

Your Father, 

Francesco Lestrade

So, that's…nice, I suppose? I don't know. I mean, it could certainly be worse.

camping

Posting from my phone is a pain, so this will be short, but we're having a wonderful time. Can't honestly say I wish you were here because the tent would be crowded! We have seen pigs and bees and gone swimming and got giggles goggles and fins for Sherlock. He's turning into a little fish. We've seen meteors and stars and I proposed to Greg again. He accepted… Eventually…

Sherlock is asleep, and Greg and Mycroft are playing their guitars. It's one of those rare moments when everything is perfect.

blame nicky

Honestly, it's not my fault. She sent it to me, and what else was I supposed to do? The earring really makes that look, I think.

... I'm not even really making fun. He looked better than I did in the 80s. 

The past two nights of calls out haven't been so good, as you may have gathered. There were kids involved. Obviously, I knew that would happen eventually, but it's not really something you can prepare for. I've talked to L about it a fair amount and a bit to Dr Feelgood, Who said you never get used to it, which was about what I expected.

Nicky sent me this picture at  an opportune moment. It cheered me right up. As has the prospect of camping! This has been such a busy summer, it's hard to believe it's almost over. Hard also to believe how much is still happening before the end of it, before Mycroft and Sherlock go back to school. Camping, new clothes for both boys, but especially for Mycroft who is growing at an alarming rate, and, of course, the wedding. 

I'm still thinking about the Marathon des Sables and looked into the London Marathon for next year, only to find that it currently already closed for entries. Exactly how early do people decide they're going to do these things? Anyway, I suppose there's nothing stopping me from running a ridiculous distance on my own without signing up for anything.

Work could've gone better.

Came home to find L on the sofa, cuddling his guitar, which was nice. I got him into bed and then watched a documentary on the Marathon des Sables. It's 150 miles over the course of six days through the Sahara Desert. I'd be mad to even think about it, right? I suppose I just need to think about something right now. Or go to sleep. That's probably the better option.  

happy birthday, lestrade!

The other one I was looking at said 'you may feel old, but you're still the youngest person I had sex with this year.' But I went with the more topical one. Besides, I would've had to amend it to say 'or last year, or the year before… Or for quite a while, really'. And then some of the humor is lost. So I decided on the royal foetus, because I know you didn't get enough of that at work. :-)

butterflies and helium

Today, we went to see butterflies. It seemed like they were everywhere. They landed on your hair, he landed on your arm, and one landed on L's nose. I wish I had a picture of that one. We do have pictures of a lot of them, although none with the boys in them can be posted here, of course. And I don't have them to post because I haven't got them off the camera and...I'm too lazy to do it right now.

Sherlock was desperate for more land on him, but he was his usual self, a little manic ball of energy, always moving. It didn't encourage anyone to get too close, including butterflies. He did get a few, but Mycroft got more simply by standing still. I think he had five on him at one point.

The whole experience was so incredibly strange. Something about interacting with wild things that aren't afraid of us. I had a bird land in my palm once, and it felt like that.

Also, here is this...thing. L found it. It's pretty amazing.

i am not blogging during my date

... I'm just posting during my date, because I forgot to do it earlier. This was pre-written. For someone's convenience.

RSF asked about book recommendations. Since you're waiting for the newest Rivers of London book to come out in the United States, how about a book that's out in the US but not here (that I know of)? I haven't read it yet, but it sounded good enough that I made a note to get it when it comes out, which, last time I checked, is in the autumn. It's called Mr Penumbras 24 Hour Bookstore and I really hope they don't change the cover when they publish it over here. I want the glow-in-the-dark one. Partly because I think Sherlock will like it, but mostly because I know I'll like it.

Apart from that, you could try the Dalziel and Pascoe novels by Reginald Hill. It's not terribly important to read them in order, but, if you want to, the first one is called A Clubbable Woman. It's not the best of the series. If you don't mind starting out of order, you could try A Pinch of Snuff.

Also...for those of you wondering when the wedding is going to be...it's not far away. This month, in fact. :)

octopus slippers

Someone has made slippers out of bread. There was no information on the site about who it was. Just slippers. Made out of bread. I wonder if you could wear them for any length of time, or if they would just fall apart. I think you could definitely make hats out of bread. As long as it didn't rain. Bracelets. Possibly legwarmers made out of baguettes.

I'm slightly concerned that when Sherlock sees this post he will want to try it. Usually, 'why not' is the question I ask myself when he wants to do something. I think that's mostly because of my background. I don't want to end up limiting his life to make things more convenient for me. But walking on food might be where I draw the line, even though I suppose it's not any more wasteful than buying flowers.

Anyway. It's just the sort of thing I wonder about. I always wonder if I'm doing the best thing for him. For all of us. This untimely bout of self-examination brought to you by slippers made out of bread.

In lighter news, here are some octopus eggs. I can tell you right now that Sherlock will definitely want some octopuses in 'his' pond, meaning the one at his school. I can also tell you that the answer to that will be no. Some questions are easier than others.

For anyone who is wondering, Midnight Riot, the American version of Rivers of London that I bought used without knowing that Rivers of London existed, did change the spelling of the words to American, but not the vocabulary. (Rivers of London is a better title.)

days in the sun

All of us went to visit Steve's grave today. We stopped for flowers on the way there. Sherlock usually has a multitude of opinions on picking out flowers, but this time sulked as far away from us as he could get without actually leaving the shop.

It was the same when we got to the cemetery. He doesn't like the idea that Lestrade and Steve might've ended up together and that, therefore, the four of us...wouldn't. It's understandable. I won't say I didn't feel a little odd being there myself. Simultaneously sorry I'll never meet him, because he meant so much to L, combined with the knowledge that if he were alive, my chances of meeting him through L would be slim to nonexistent.

Sherlock actually wanted me to pick him up, which he hardly ever does anymore. I managed it for about two minutes, and I can still feel it in my bad shoulder, even thought I wasn't using that arm. Might have to be the last time, but I always say that, don't I? And then he got down to kick the heads off dandelions.

klein

Klein bottles:

From the website:

This is one of a series of glass Klein bottles made by Alan Bennett in 1995 for the Science Museum, London. It consists of three Klein bottles, one inside another. A Klein bottle is a surface which has no edges, no outside or inside and cannot properly be constructed in three dimensions. In the series Alan Bennett made Klein bottles analogous to Mobius strips with odd numbers of twists greater than one.

I've always liked Klein bottles, and I like these particularly.  The more you look at them, the more confusing they get.

We have been swimming. Sherlock worked on his diving for a while and then worked on hurling himself into the water and making as big a splash as possible. He's now decided he wants to go kayaking, preferably on the Thames, but he says the ocean would do. Just like that. 'I suppose the ocean would do.' I said I'd consider it, but definitely not on the Thames. You would think he's heard enough stories from L by now to not want any chance of getting that water in his mouth.

Mycroft's gone to walk the dogs and invited Sherlock along. When last seen, Mycroft had said he knew more of pi than Sherlock did, Sherlock declared he didn't, but even if he did, pi was pointless...and so on. I'm just going to enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit. 

glowing trees

This will be short, because I'm tired, and L is already in bed. Sensibly, given the time. 

Someone in California is making glowing trees. 

I can't remember now where I heard about this - was it one of you? But it looks pretty amazing. They did a Kickstarter for it, asking for $65,000 and got over $400,000. Which I can understand, because they're offering seeds for their glowing trees to people who gave over a certain amount.

Right, I can't think of anything else to say that isn't about the horrors of the potential misuse of genetic engineering, so I'll stop at glowing trees and go to sleep. Goodnight, everyone. 

home again

We have beans! We had a few before. Now we have...a lot. These beans may end up on the evening news by the end of the summer. Two children crushed by massive falling bean pod, film at eleven. 

Here's a site that Mycroft showed me. He says it helps him concentrate at school. And at home when Sherlock's not in the flat. It's called Coffitivity and it plays the sounds of a coffee shop at you. I'm not quite sure whether I like it or not yet. 

I had a long and ridiculous argument with Murray this morning about whether it was rude of me to ask him to be my best man via text. He maintains it was. I maintain if we went around pointing out every time we were rude to each other we'd literally never do anything else. I also said I'd ask you lot - rude or no? He said yes anyway. 

pitch drop part 2 and invitations

Remember this post, where I talked about the pitch drop experiment? Well, it's dropped. Thanks to Pip for pointing it out in the comments, and you can read about it here or just stare at the gif below for far too long.

And wedding invitations! Time and place blacked out for obvious reasons, but we will tell you when it's going to happen. Just...not yet. 

They were both red initially and I was concerned it looked to much like blood. Sherlock thinks they don't look nearly enough like blood and at once point suggested they should actually be blood (no). They are our actual fingerprints though. I really like how they came out. And they've got magnets on the back so you can stick them to the fridge. Or anything else metal you would like to stick them to. 

The t-shirt making went well, and we watched Sherlock get his platinum award for...well, this is his comment from L's blog; I'll let him describe it:

I've done better than I even had to in everything like reading and maths and writing and also I was helpful and also I didn't have to go to the thinking corner more than three times all year.

He really has done amazingly well this year, and I'm so proud of him. 

heat, drugs, and flowers

We have ice in the shape of small flowers. Why? Well, remember when Sherlock and I went to Ikea and bought him a Sherlock-sized chair for his reading corner? They also had ice trays in the shape of various things. Sherlock would've preferred skulls or bones or bats, but was fascinated enough with the idea of ice in shapes that he settled for flowers (and another one, not pictured, that makes ice in long tubes). 

Work was mainly people who had taken too many drugs, had too much to drink, or been out in the heat for too long. Or all three at once. Took a blood sample as well, from a man who insisted it would clear him. I hope it will, and that he didn't do it - he seemed like a nice bloke, and what they were holding him for wasn't nice at all.

I think I got home a little before midnight. L had tea waiting for me. :) He had also removed the tie from his new shorts and was modeling them with a pink ribbon tied into a large bow in its place. Mycroft was looking tolerant and amused. I had one of those moments where I'm almost shocked by how lucky I am to live the life I do. 

did you know

Did you know there used to be a tradition of medical students posing with their cadavers? This is one of the more serious ones. I saw one with the students and cadaver playing cards...and another that had been made into a Christmas card to send to friends and family. 

And another 'did you know'...that some idiots are leaving their dogs locked in their cars with this heat? And that the police are allowed to break their windows to rescue the dogs? A broken window's the least of what they deserve, really. 

Since Sherlock learned that little fact, he's been on the lookout for dogs to rescue, and today... 

It was some sort of vastly unhappy terrier mix. Poor thing. Mycroft had some very strong words for the owner when he came out to complain about his window.

And lastly, L tells me I need to complain about the heat more and stop acting like I'm made of asbestos, so: it's hot. 

massive dragonfly

This dragonfly hitched a ride on my bike halfway across the city today. I thought he'd landed there and died, until I got where I was headed and tried to take a photo, when he of course immediately took off. I caught him (or identical twin) an hour later on this sign post, once I was done. 

Work was interesting, massive dragonflies aside. I saw an asthmatic who's being detained for murder and also got to take his dental impressions - which Sherlock is wild to see, just in case he can see some difference between normal teeth and murderers' teeth. He says he'll need a much larger sample size, so will I please bring home all dental impressions I make (no).

Also a drugs case where I was called in with the hope I'd get permission from a man to do what's rather delicately called an 'intimate search'. He eventually said he'd given it to his six year old son to hold, which is...I don't know what that is. I suppose it could've been worse. In several ways.

Anyway, I was happy to get home - to a lovely dinner cooked by all three of my boys. And now we're watching blood drip off of things at this link L found. 

courgettes and honeymoons

Items in the subject line are not related.

1. We have courgettes! Or at least we have flowers and possibly the very small beginnings of courgettes. I don't think I remembered that the plants got this large. Mum used to grow them, and I remember them as being big, but lots of things look big when you're seven.

2. I found out the origin of the word honeymoon today, or at least I heard a story explaining its origin. I'm not going to vouch for it being true, but it sounds plausible. Apparently the ancient Persians believed that honey was an aphrodisiac and they drank it, or possibly some sort of honey drink, for a month (moon) after they got married.

I also learned that the Aztecs thought avocados were an aphrodisiac on the theory that they were wrinkly and grew in pairs... 

i've met the met...

An understatment if I've ever heard one! L got me this at the park today. They were there handing them out, mostly to kids, but I like it. I've put it with the stickers Sherlock got us at Pride. 

We went swimming today. L and I demonstrated dives at Sherlock's request, multiple times, while he observed our form and technique...wait, I think I mean critiqued our form and technique. He did almost nothing but diving today himself - he's like that, goes flat out at what he wants to learn until he gets it. No diversions. He probably would've stayed until the pool closed if we'd let him. 

Mycroft spent most of the time reading or people watching. I was just sitting next to him, trying to get a decent amount of sunblock on my ears, and out of the blued he pointed out a young man across the pool and asked me if I thought it was odd that someone who wanted to join the Royal Navy was unable to swim. Took him a while to explain that one to me.

Anyway, good day. Especially after yesterday. L got home around two in the morning. I didn't wait up intentionally, but I was awake anyway and we talked for a while... I don't know. I'm glad the police there know the situation now, at least. Also glad that Danny didn't break the skin when he bit him. 

two good things

1. Murray won - barely, he was two sets down against Verdasco of all people, not that he's bad, just that he hasn't historically be this good at Wimbledon. Anyhow, Murray's through the semis.

2. Our rings arrived today! I waited (again, barely) until L got home to open the parcel, even with Sherlock circling it like a shark eyeing an unwary swimmer with a bleeding head wound. He doesn't like unopened parcels, even when he knows for a fact that they have nothing exciting inside, and of course this one had something very exciting inside. Mycroft was very helpful in distracting him, although I caught him eyeing the box too. We were all pleased when L got home.

They look amazing. Well. They look pretty plain, I suppose, compared to some. But I love them, and of course it's impossible to see them objectively. I see them for what they mean rather than what they are, and yeah...amazing. 

wimbledon

This morning started as usual - L went to work, I took Sherlock to school. Mycroft came along for the walk and seemed...unusually amused when I said I needed to do some serious cleaning that morning and he might want to shut himself in his room before I drafted him into helping. I found out why he was so amused when we got back home.

L was back as well, waiting for us...with Centre Court tickets to Wimbledon. I honestly don't know what I said. There may have been unseemly noises. And overly enthusiastic hugging.

The whole thing still seems unreal. We saw both Murray and Djokovic play - Murray won (good), Djokovic won (unfortunate). Also saw parts of a few matches out on the smaller courts, including Li Na's and Fernando Verdasco's, both of whom are going on to the quarterfinals (good! - in my opinion at least, especially Li Na). And we wandered about a lot and had strawberries and L was extremely patient while I told him basically everything I know about Wimbledon and tennis (don't worry, I don't expect you to remember it all; it was enough that you listened!).

It was just...amazing. And I am still overwhelmed and happy and so grateful to him and Mrs H both.