De Silva Family Blog

Mum will be celebrating her 60th birthday during the whole of September with a three-week trip to Mauritius. To kick off the proceedings, we held a garden party in her honour for all her family and friends in the UK. It was a perfect afternoon in an otherwise awful summer and Mary's recently finished garden was a great venue. We had a Sri Lankan buffet followed by the World's Best Brownies from the local farmers' market, topped off with a lovely cake and a glass of bubbly. Despite Mum's protestations that she didn't want people to make a fuss of her, she secretly loved it and later likened the butterflies she felt in anticipation to those on her wedding day. Over 50 friends and family came to celebrate and once or twice I caught a little glint in Mum's eye as she looked around. For once in her 60 years she was lost for words when it came to making a speech, but Noel came to her rescue when he presented her with a "This is Your Life" photo album

It has taken a while, but Mary's green fingers have worked their magic on our garden and hasn't she done a good job?  Whilst Paul Graves (an old classmate of mine) did the hard landscaping, all the design and planting was Mary's hard work (with a lot of parental support thrown in).  Well done Mares!   Incidentally Leo seems to have inherited the gardening gene... Anyone remember that school-yard song... What do you do when you can't find the loo  in an English Country Garden?  Pull down your pants and water all the ants  in the English Country Garden!  Get a little spade and bury what you made  in the English Country Garden!

My gorgeous little neice had her second birthday today which she celebrated with all her friends. Thankfully the weather cleared up just in time so we had a wonderful garden party with lots of bubbles, toys and games. I was surprised to learn that she's got a new boyfriend, Alex (pictured). Watching them together, I can see that she's going to be a real man-eater! I pity her poor father when she gets older!

Looks like Leo takes after Daddy on the dancefloor!

Leo loves buses. It was one of his first words and continues to be one of his favourites (along with "car", "gardn" and the ubiquitous "no!"). He's even started branching out to saying "minibus". So when we took him to Stevenage bus station today, he was beside himself with glee at the sight of so many buses. He squealed with delight and ran up to the railings shouting "bus" at the top of his voice, stunning the bemused shoppers nearby. He then proudly stated that there were "two bus" (hasn't quite got to ten yet)!

The latest skirmish in my Battle against the Bulge was a sortie to London with two like-minded new fathers, Alex and Brian. Thinking we were young whipper-snappers, we thought we could cycle to the Thames under cover of the lovely Lea Valley (over 30 miles), enjoy lunch at a riverside pub and get back in time to put our children to bed. All without any training. A particularly vindictive headwind developed as we passed the M25 and, no matter which direction we cycled in, it fought us. We sought refuge at The Grapes , a wonderful 300 year-old pub favoured by Charles Dickens. Unfortunately the Bulge won this skirmish as beer, roast lamb and apple crumble proved to be the wrong fuel for the return journey! The impending downpour sealed our decision and we made an organised retreat towards the trains at Liverpool Street. Nevertheless, it was a fun day - looking forward to the next round.

As usual I gave Leo a big hug after getting back from work this afternoon. Little did I know that mummy had just given him a Cadbury's Chocolate Eclair which, when combined with a teething toddler, results in an inordinate amount of dribble. With it all dripping on to my face and suit, I felt like Sigourney Weaver in that scene from Alien 3!