BEST CHILLED Dearest Family and Friends
57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
August Highlights
Esme
Eleven Months
Esme's First Video:
We’ve noticed real strides in her development.
Her top 4 teeth are now down – it has changed the shape of her face and seems to have widened her mouth.
Her hair is getting longer and fairer, with golden glints in it.
As well as waving hello and goodbye to both people and inanimate objects,
she can do ‘High Five!’ on command, even with strangers.And clap.
And shake her head.
And put her head to one side, smiling conspiratorially, mimicking your actions.
I sang ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’, she clapped her feet on request.
Pleasingly
she started putting objects back into the box – sadly all too infrequently.
She frowned for the first time – startling us as we hadn’t noticed the lack of that emotion to date!She won the Gold Medal in Baby Wrestling – there’s nothing better than crawling all over Mama and Daddy.
Downward dog is still the best trick in her repertoire. Colman thinks her first words will be “downward dog” as we all roar “Downward Dog!” and clap when she does it.Getting down from the bed she’s always careful to go feet first.
She has a giraffe (thanks Alan and Marilyn) into whose mouth you put balls, which whizz round in a spiral, emerging miraculously from different feet each time.Initially she just banged the ball on the giraffe. Now she can stand up, make it play music, put the ball in the mouth, intercept it on the way down, squirm around to retrieve it from any foot.
She hasn’t yet worked out why toy eggs don’t roll down the chute.
Dogs are suddenly the most fascinating objects ever, eliciting a series of squeaks whenever one hoves into view - which is often in SF - more dogs than kids in the city by far.
Mealtimes are still a joy, she loves everything we give her - long may it last!
And she is getting adept at closing doors on request.
If she’s holding an object, we can ask her politely, “Please”, and she hands it to us. ”Thank you!”
Since our return from London she’s slept through the night every night until at least 5am, and can be persuaded back to sleep with ease if it's still dark outside.
Best of all, she’s very good at hugging and wide-mouthed kissing.
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The Big Chill
The Big Chill
To Herefordshire for my annual Favourite Festival on Friday 1st August. The weather had been sultry all week, rain and humidity interspersed with a few breaks of sunshine. For once it wasn’t me saving the sacred space, Charlie & Nicola nobly volunteered to repel all boarders.
Mum had kindly agreed to look after Esme while I partied for a weekend. The first time I’d be more than 24 hours away from her.
I was concerned about keeping my milk up while we were parted, and by my lack of sleep as I had had a very broken few nights; the night before the Big Chill I’d gone to bed early but could only manage 4 hours.
Louise, Lizzie and Thomas returned to Pakistan the day after I went to the Big Chill, so the cousins had more time together.
Thomas was a little jealous of the attention Esme was receiving from Granny and Lizzie, but the three children had lots of fun nonetheless.
Lizzie and Esme in particular bonded beautifully.I’d persuaded Jane to join me; since the sad demise of Bobby, my little red car, we were driving in her superior vehicle. Jane was suitably impressed by Esme’s angelic nature and gorgeous blue eyes, but then equally horrified at the baby peeing in the street outside her posh mews house.
Our journey down was a hoot, catching up, with Jane’s dramatic descriptions of her limited camping experience, and her determination to seek out a B&B. All the while we received frantic phone calls from Ben & Charlie demanding to know where we were as the festival was bigger than normal and it was proving hard to save space.
We walked from the car park lugging our gear, sweat pouring off us as the sun shone mercilessly. I hailed a passing taxi as a joke; Jane declared this to have been the best action of 25 years of friendship and paid him £4 to take us 400 yards. 
It was no wonder they were hassled about the space having secured an aircraft hangar size camping area – well done Charlie & Team! And for putting up Andi& Tim’s tent for us. Thanks to all.. 
We were about 25 plus kids in our party; it was fantastic to see everybody – most of whom come every year –it felt as if I’d never been away, that it was just yesterday I’d been in the same space and the same vibe. Our first band of the festival was Alabama 3 doing an acoustic set. We were with Matthew (who had persuaded me to come this year, thanks so much my dear), Cat, Crispin, Moody.
Joined by Zoe and Peter. Followed by cocktails, then Pama International on the main stage (ex-Specials plus others). Then to Martha Wainwright. After regrouping, to see Thievery Corporation at Annie’s suggestion, who were very good. We finished the night off with The Orb, as usual disappointing – Annie and I heading home together.That night, as the die-hards sat up round the campfire, talking nonsense at volume, I lay with utter despair, unable to sleep. At 5.30 I could take no more and emerged from the tent with sleep deprived wild eyes.
Moody, bless him, rose from his slumber and carted several miscreants away to make mischief elsewhere.But sleep never came. And once the kids got up, so did I. That following morning was a bit of a haze due to lack of sleep.
Checking in with Mum, I learned Esme was having a whale of a time without me. Dressed in festival finery, I expressed milk with a hand pump, enough for Peter’s morning tea and to provide tasters for the kids who were very intrigued by the whole process. Udderly magnificent (thanks Adam).
Later, I had to resort to alternative methods of extraction as the pump didn't work well enough. But the supply was maintained - phew!
After lunch with Cat, Nikki, Aidan and Poppy, I hooked up with my cousin, Jessica, and Alex and their sweet, blonde Clara, just 30 hours younger than Esme, who had all just arrived from Manchester for a 24 hour spontaneous festival experience. 
That afternoon we all hung out for an hour by the Castle Stage listening to Rachel Unthank in the distance. Annie worked reiki wonders with Kallon’s exuberance, Zoe and the other kids played with Clara who beamed at everything in sight, Cain slept in his little half tent in the shade. 
A passing vendor selling hash cakes and Valium was greeted by 5 people all shouting ‘Valium for Nadine!’ and Zoe bought me some as a present.
That evening the posse convened at the Main Stage for the end of The Mighty Boosh (which totally went over my head – what WAS that all about?) and then had a FANTASTIC hour of The Summer of Love Classics Set by Tom Middleton marking the 20 years of the house generation. Talk about bringing it all back, I've not danced so hard since I was a lass… And fun to see Deepak unexpectedly! Next to a cocktail bar; Matthew, Ben & I rode on the carousel. Ben and I led a smaller party on to see Still Black, Still Proud a tribute to James Brown, which was excellent. Wonderful to see such cool musos getting their groove on with such aplomb. Annie and I trudged home up the hill together, truly exhausted I just couldn’t last for Mr Scruff. Valium is the best drug ever invented. Blissful perfect sleep – I didn’t even hear Jane coming into the tent.
Sunday morning was greyer and damper. Jane and I bounded out of bed, had a shower, packed up our stuff, struck the tent, dumped everything in the car, and headed on down to Norman Jay, along with the rest of our posse. Not as amazing as in previous years, but a rockin’ good set, and of course the obligatory reference to his perfect record of no rain in 10 years.
That afternoon was lovely. Very restful, hanging out with the reprobate crew, all much the worse for wear. Giggles, romance, fun. 
I finally got a call from Colman who had, seemingly, been ignoring my texts. It turned out that I’d not received any of his, so we had a wonderful chat, beside the lake watching the Peatbog Faeries (purveyors of lively Scottish Celtic fusion). Mum had phoned him to say how worried she was about my inability to sleep, and that proper drugs should be my solution. That made us laugh - but she probably has a point… 
My favourite festival finished with a characteristic contrast. For the Buzzcocks, we all let our inner punks let rip. The sublime Leonard Cohen crowned the weekend. Immaculately dressed, he presided over a beautifully presented set. My favourite was Tower of Song; he changed the lyrics to Hallelujah to include the Big Chill. In the distance the Big Warm bonfire was lit in a spectacular finale, flaming lanterns sailed above our heads.
Jane and I headed out, after very fond and tearful farewells, me the designated driver propped up with a coffee and David Bowie’s Greatest Hits, which just kept us alive. There were a couple of scary veerings on the M4... Back to Jane's by 2am, in bed at Mum's by 3.
The next morning, delighted to see my darling Esme, I packed up. My beloved parents saw us off at the airport. Esme had a bad flight: she found it all too constraining, noisy and tiring, and didn’t sleep much at all.
I spent most of the flight carrying her about, letting her play on the floor a bit, she was cranky for most of the time, although helpfully managing to wave and smile enough to keep fellow passengers on side. But if I ever got exasperated or cross with her, or gave in to exhaustion and feelings of being trapped, I only had to look at the lady next to me with a severely handicapped grown up daughter who couldn’t focus her eyes, properly swallow, speak or stand up, to remember how blessed I am. Top
Visitors of the Month
Tom, Carrie, Megan and Elsie
Very delightfully, the Gold-blyths came to stay with us. Last seen at the Big Chill 2007, it was wonderful to hang out with them. They’d had a week in Carolina at a tai chi retreat in the mountains, and came to California for 10 days.
The girls were great with Esme, who loved playing with them. Megan was very attentive and patient with her; Elsie helped prepare ice cube trays of food.We invited friends over to meet them one night. The few days they were in town were pretty foggy – classic SF summer weather that we have hardly experienced, as both our summers have been uncharacteristically hot and sunny.
We went to Crissy Field one morning, had a picnic and walked along the foreshore, up to the lookout across to Golden Gate Bridge. That day, the fog was whipping through the Gate, wreathed around the bridge in photogenic fashion; the sun sometimes shining full-pelt, at other times shrouded in cloud.
We explored some of the Mission murals and local shops. A very messy disaster, when Esme started to produce an unexpected poo, was narrowly averted by the prompt and quick-thinking action of the team. We all hustled into Paxton Gate’s employees’ restroom and, 
like a well-oiled machine, managed to retrieve the situation. Esme just had to go commando for the rest of the afternoon, which she did without accident. And demonstrated her maturity by climbing the steps from the street to the front door, impatient for dinner, when we got home.
Candida, Sloan, Xavier, Honor and Loel
Every two years the extended Hickman clan convene in Yosemite and, luckily for us, Candida and Sloan were able to take a whole month in California, so we got to spend some time with them.
They invited us over for dinner one night, we reciprocated with our Mission murals, shops, park and ice cream tour, now honed to perfection.
It was a boiling hot day. The kids were visibly wilting in the heat, but loved the shops and thought the murals pretty cool.
We finished up in Dolores park playground having visited the Bi-rite Creamery for delicious ice creams. Loel, in particular, is a fan.
Restaurant of the Month
Tom and Carrie took us out to Range, which didn’t disappoint, from the seared salmon on a bed of vegetables cooked a point, to the delicately stuffed pasta, and especially with the complimentary signature bittersweet chocolate and armagnac soufflé presented at the end. Toasts to our wonderful children were drunk. Thanks so much my dears, and thanks even more for coming to visit – we really appreciated it.Top
Patrick’s Point State Park
Expedition of the Month
The Gold-blyths hired an RV and after 3 nights in SF headed on up the coast. We arranged to meet them for a weekend of camping on the Redwood Coast, where the world’s tallest trees reside. I'd not really grasped the distances involved when booking the campsite. And then the Hickmans decided to come along too, which made me feel worse, as they were coming from Yosemite – transversing the entire state to be with us for a weekend.
So Colman and I set off on the Thursday night, overnighting in a motel on the way.
The landscape changed as we drove through Mendocino County and entered Humboldt County. It became more epic, less populated, and with stands of redwoods in all directions.Various weird and wonderful little tourist traps en route included Bigfoot’s Grotto, the world’s largest totem pole, and several houses in tree trunks. We stopped off at the Drive-Thru Tree Park, but refused to drive through the tree itself, content to look at it instead.
As the road returned to the coast at Eureka, we saw the fog belt offshore. The bright sunny day became hazy, vegetation more lush and green. We were the first at the campsite, which was big, covering 640 acres and contained meadows, woods and rocky headlands and stacks. Mighty trees were festooned with old man’s beard lichen, ferns clad their lower limbs. Because of the dense summer fog, temperatures only fluctuate 10 degrees winter to summer.
Although sheltered by verdant undergrowth and huge trees, you were reminded of the close presence of the sea by the mist rolling in, the gulls flying above, and the barking of sea lions.
The next to arrive were the Gold-blyths, they had had a blissful time at McKerricher State Park (see May blog entry). And just before dusk fell, the Hickmans showed up after an epic cross-country adventure. Bundled up against the cool evening, we ate around the firepit, marshmallows singed, Xavier and the girls burning sticks.
Esme loved playing in the RV with the girls, waving to her adoring fans outside. For the first time, she was not content to sit on a mat and keep out of mischief. Exploration was the name of the game, and, nose running, she’d set about any obstacle, collecting pine needles, leaf litter and dirt in industrial quantities as the royal progress advanced.
On Saturday we explored the State Park, taking in its myriad delights: atmospherically shrouded viewpoints, romantically named sea stacks, fat yellow banana slugs, bramble edged paths, 
trees just made for climbing, mysterious outcrops closely resembling Hanging Rock, brilliant floral splashes of colour in the verges, a Native American village created from hand-carved redwood and its own medicinal plant garden, 
and walkways rendered near impassable for strollers by the thick tangle of exposed roots from these tall coniferous trees. 
We spent the afternoon at Agate Beach, which consists of beautifully coloured polished stones, with wonderful expanses of driftwood, 
edged with rock pools, and putrifying seaweed and bird carcasses. The kids created shapes and collected and ate pebbles, the adults gazed out to sea.
The fog finally burned off to reveal sunshine on glistening waves, rocky cliffs, and dolphins and seals frolicking in the surf. 
That night, over a bottle or three and fantastic BBQed prawns and thick juicy steaks, we heard all about Candida and Sloan’s courtship, while Esme, wrapped up like a pixie, played with Loel in the tent. 
Excitingly, that night the earth moved as we lay in our sleeping bags. An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale shook the campsite at 11pm. It turned out the epicentre was a mere 9 miles to the south. Cooool!
Sunday morning, I snuck out early, while Colman and Esme slept, and went to sit watching the waves, light and birds. I was hoping for a rare kind of puffin as we were far enough north, alas no new ones were sighted. But it was a magical hour, reminiscent of Cornwall or Ireland, grey skies glowing with morning light, gunmetal waters busy with murres and cormorants, seals strewn over the foreshore, fishing boats in the distance, the breeze ruffling my hair, and a pod of dolphin scything through the ocean waters.We all packed up and said farewell to Candida, Sloan, Xavier, Honor and Loel, who were off on another transverse across Calfornia, this time to Reno!
The remainder of the party completed our exploration of the park by climbing Ceremonial Rock where we conducted our own ceremony, led by Tom. We managed to scare off other trippers atop the ancient sea stack, now several hundred feet inland, by talking of sacrificing babies, Esme gurgling happily as she clambered over the uneven summit, so we had the place to ourselves. Glorious.
On the journey back, Elsie and Colman adorned themselves with headdresses of grass. The verdant edges were bursting with berries, flowers and shoots. We climbed Wedding Rock as our last hoorah.As usual I welled up saying goodbye to Tom, Carrie, Megan and Elsie. Thanks SO MUCH for coming to visit and giving Esme so much fun. Looking forward to seeing you this autumn!
Despite our fears about being so far north, we had a dream run home: door to door in 5 hours What a lovely adventure weekend.
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Bay Area Activities
Birthday of the Month
We were honoured guests at Kristan’s mother’s 70th birthday party celebrations in Los Altos. Karen is a wonderful woman.
It was a very moving testament to her: a great turn out, witty speeches and poignant references, and a fun gathering of family and friends.
They had a phenomenal band playing, fronted for some of the time by Kristan’s brother, Eric. We scoffed excellent Mexican food, Colman going back for 4th helpings. Esme and I danced to the music, she even sat at a table for a while with the other kids and scribbled her first work of art, pen guided by Colman. Golden Gate Park Weekend
A surprise for Colman who then couldn’t get back from NYC in time, I had got tickets to go with Geoff and Armani, Adam and Jen, to see Radiohead headline a 3 day festival in Golden Gate park. Badly organized with hordes of people, we got separated, along with thousands of others milling about in the grey half-light, everybody trying to text and phone each other. Jen and I pushed against the flow to see 15 minutes of Beck. 
We then forced our way over beaten down fences, up crumbling banks of earth as bushes were being ripped up around us, and managed to make our way through the crowds to see, miraculously, Geoff and Armani, just in time before the masses swallowed them up and darkness descended. Adam never found us. Radiohead were good, but the sound cut out twice and it all proved rather stressful. Our evening was enlivened by making friends in the crowd, including Turi. Colman joined us back at Geoff and Armani’s to toast their brand new apartment.
On Sunday, we met up with Meredith, Jason, Jamie, Bryson, Gerardo and kids in Golden Gate Park Playground.Then went to meet Adam and Jen at the de Young, to say goodbye to his mother, Julia,
who had been in town for an action-packed 2 weeks. 
We had fun in the gardens, especially in the sound sculpture room where you stand in the middle of the circle to hear your voice echoing inside your head as if transmitted.
East BayWe had a Saturday with Laurel, John and Ruby,
exploring the farmer’s market, enjoying a guided tour of the Berkeley Hills Botanical Gardens, and having a picnic by the lake. 
The babies crawled over the grass, and over their parents; a beautiful afternoon. 
Then to a 2 year old’s birthday party in Oakland. Where Esme sat on a toy car for the first time and loved being pushed around the garden byRuby .
We ended our outing by attending Turi’s party on Treasure Island. A spontaneous invitation and acceptance found us in a former army home which had been transformed at the back, with a hot tub, brazier, deck with succulents and fountain, bar and courtyard,
mostly created from driftwood. We met a friendly new bunch of people, Esme chased the dog, and danced with me on the deck as we marvelled at the unrivalled views towards downtown San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun set, pelicans flew overhead, and the wind whipped our hair.
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Bird of the Month
The non-avian minded will heave a sigh of relief at the news that August was a pretty lean birding month. This is in part due to the end of the breeding season, birds have finished matching and hatching, and are concentrating instead on moulting, maturing and getting ready for migration. 
No new birds were sighted but our sojourn in Patrick’s Point, as well as beside Crissy Field and at Turi’s party,provided sightings of some familiar faithfuls, including the pterodactyl-like Brown Pelican Pelecanusoccidentalis. Smaller than the more famous White Pelican, although with a wingspan of 6 feet, and less obviously attractive, the Brown Pelican appears to float when flying, often in graceful shallow V formations. The line of birds undulates, rising as each bird flaps and then glides down, coasting just inches above the water, before rising once again. Breeding plumage is quite spectacular as the pouch turns red and the head blushes yellow. The birds appear along the California coast and were in some numbers in Patrick’s Point. This picture was taken at Crissy Field.Top
Mural of the MonthStencil of the Month
Bumper Sticker of the Month
Somewhere In Texas A Village Has Lost Its Idiot
Click on this link for an amusing aside to this one: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/86319
Love and hugs
Nadine and Colman xxx
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