LONDON CALLINGDearest Family and Friends
57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
October HighlightsEsme
WalkingIt was a very big month for such a little girl – a
whirlwind of activity and socializing in London – with which she coped extremely well.Her face is more expressive now.
An 8th tooth is emerging.
She’s chatting - in something that sounds like English.
Reading is her big thing – she LOVES books all of a sudden. Especially That’s Not my Kitten and That’s Not my Dolly, and the Maisie books – thanks so much Marianne, Val and Alexia.
She’s communicating well with sign language: hungry, shower/bath, no more/all gone, more, peeing, thank you 
and blowing kisses all being expressed effectively. As well as urgent grunting, pointing, sudden fits of tears and great impatience for THAT object NOW.
She's now drinking cow's milk with gusto, so I'm now only useful first thing in the morning, around 5pm and if she wakes in the night.
She’s tidying up (sometimes) and shutting doors – early signs of obsessive compulsive disorder most welcome.
Loud shrieks of excitement made me jump out of my skin one afternoon. She thought this was the funniest thing EVER and literally held her sides with laughter for ten minutes.
Stairs are to be climbed up and down, safely going feet first usually, although she fell down them
twice at Mum’s.
Being naked is where it’s at.
And so is walking!
She practiced all month with great concentration, deploying any passing stranger to hold her hands.Sadly for Granny, who had hoped to see it, she started walking exactly on her 13th month birthday, one week after we returned from London.
Family
My parents’ apartment has a fabulous 180º panoramic view across London skylines, especially the new Arsenal stadium and down to the City.
Both sunrises and sunsets can be spectacular; when the weather is bad and the cloud descends, the building is shrouded in fog, or enveloped by wind.Mum was terrific. She cooked, cleaned, babysat, childminded and did copious amounts of washing as we ran out of G-diaper inserts and resorted to washables. We truly are in her debt.
Dad has taken up painting again, masterpieces that usually involved Shrimper yachts were all over the apartment.
Colman’s sister, Niamh, was in London on a sabbatical so we saw her a couple of times. Her baby is due in February, so she got some practise on Esme; they bonded beautifully.
We went to a City Farm one morning, all of us fascinated at the size of the pigs and rabbits which seemed to have mutated in some genetic accident to titanic proportions. The ducks, chickens, goats and sheep all provided another lucky opportunity to sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm.
My grandmother’s sister, Auntie Nibbie came over for lunch with my mother’s sister, Auntie Gillian to meet Esme. This afforded the opportunity for the four generations photograph,
especially poignant as Esme is named for my grandmother - Auntie Nibbie’s mother.
Grannie knew that if I had a girl she would be called Esme.
Pleasingly, Auntie Judith came down from Carlisle for the weekend to see Esme.
Lucy came round twice, looking fantastic.Esme and I had a day out to see my cousin Jessica near Manchester, taking the train from Euston – a big adventure!
Baby Clara was walking everywhere, Esme loved playing with her toys.
Ros came down from the Lakes so we had a great lunch together catching up until Archie came back from school and we had to head back.
On our last night my brother in law, Peter, and niece and nephew, Lizzie and Thomas flew in from Pakistan and the cousins had a few hours together. Louise staying on in Pakistan for a few more weeks until she moved back to London for good. All three children stayed up very late, Lizzie and Thomas coping amazingly well after their long flight, Lizzie looking very fetching in her shalwar kameez.
It was wonderful to see Mum with her three grandchildren together - an all too rare occasion.
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Parties
Charlie and Nicola’s
Very kindly Charlie and Nicola hosted a Saturday afternoon at their place in Hanwell.
Despite their gaff being adorned with scaffolding for their loft conversion.
Jessica looked after Esme with great application, and introduced her to the rabbits in the garden. 
We were 21 adults and 14 kids, including Jess & Tom, Laila and Rhom - 
a riotous time had by all!
Louis had baked Esme a figure 1 for her birthday. 
Charlie pulled out all the stops with a side of beef and lamb chops for the BBQ.
The Pinches and the Gold-blyths came down from Oxford for the day.
It was the first time we had met Evie, Jascha and Lisa’s second daughter.
Esme asked Sonia to be her godmother with Zoe – delight all round.The children all went crazy over the chocolate fountain - a most gratifyingly gooey mess.
Cindy, Adam and Cain came all the way from Hastings.
We were told off for Esme's lack of socks and shoes - we'd not really factored in local weather conditions when packing - oops!
There were no fewer than 7 of my Exeter Uni gang present.
The evening ended with an excellent hip-hop floorshow from Calum and Shea.
Followed by a mass pogoing from all the kids, exhausting to witness!
Thanks so much Charlie & Nicola for a really tremendous afternoon, especially with the ongoing work to the house, and to everybody for being so generous with gifts for Esme.
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i-escape
Mum looked after Esme while I went down to Bristol for a day of meetings and hanging out with the i-escape.com team – really nice to actually have time in the same room as my colleagues – some of whom I’d not even met before. The joys of virtual working!
In particular it was great to have an Editorial get-together with Nikki, Mike, Liz, Emma and Jo and brainstorm future plans and propositions.Two days later we went to the annual party hosted by Laila and Rhom in their amazing abode in Dulwich.
I’d cheerfully informed Colman that he had to drive home, so availed myself of the ever-flowing champagne – as did my cohorts – we all suffered terribly the next day!
Thank you very much for a splendid evening.
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The Michaels
A stunning afternoon at the Michaels’ gathering for us in Ladywell.
Peter and Colman fixed each other with glittering eye.
Esme asked Rory to be her godfather – he was nicely chuffed.
Lucy was glowing in the astonishing light, Number Three is due this spring – many congratulations!
Marianne’s eldest boy, Malachy, and Esme had a lovefest – truly a case of adoration at first sight.
Good taste my girl! He is such a beautiful child.
Michael C introduced the boys present to a future lifetime of hanging out on the sofa watching the box with the gang.
Tanya and James were on good form; great to see Paulene, Claire and Martin too.
Thanks boys for hosting – what a lovely afternoon and sorry I wasn’t on top form after my excesses from the night before!
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Enric’s
On our last full day Enric and Xavier hosted a fun afternoon for us in Stoke Newington. Xavier is the sweetest boy – always laughing and smiling; very friendly towards Esme, sharing his toys.
We met Kasia’s boy, Otis, for the first time.
And marvelled at how tall May now is – Stuart and Sophie came down from Norwich for the event.
Not to be outdone, Kay came up from Brighton.
Some brave souls, Gayani and Rob, Pete and Glenda, Zoe and Peter, John and Sanya among them, even ventured up from south London.
And others, including Siobhan and Neville, Jon, Lucy & Lydia, Jon and Kaska trekked from Hackney.
Sandy and Celia were going to South America for 6 months, so we were lucky to have seen them. When told news that it cost more to take their dog, Bella, than their own airfare, Gayani quipped that they had better use her as a mule to make her adventure pay.
Uncharacteristically Esme was quite listless all day and didn’t manage to nap enough in the afternoon. She was clearly underwhelmed at being asked to be on parade AGAIN at the end of a very busy month of seeing hordes of new people and places every day.
So she and I left the party at 6, bidding farewell to our friends and a very heartfelt thank you to Enric. We hope it is not too long before we all meet again.Top
Friends
Yes it was a punishing schedule in London – too much so for Colman who declared that we should see nobody and do nothing but stay in for a month on our return to SF.But it was so lovely to see everybody. From a riotous dinner with Jane and Laurence, to lunch and a brief venture to the park with Emma and Alexia,
to an intimate supper at Catherine’s, friends were really welcoming and did a good job of appearing to have missed us.Esme and I had fun with my godson, Harry, and his sister, Stella, in Holland Park on a clear-skied afternoon.
For once we had babysitting on tap (thanks again Mum) so were able to venture forth to Haozhan in Chinatown with Angie, Graeme, Ali and Martin for laughs and excellent nosh.
Or to dinner with Tess, Rita and Sean – superb home cooking and a lovely book for Esme, which she thoroughly enjoyed checking out the next day – thank you! Candida and Sloan whipped up a pheasant casserole, which was shared with Ali and Rado.
My parents were amazingly forbearing of the hordes of people who descended upon their apartment to see us and meet Esme; Cathy and Hilary came down from Oxford which was great – here they are demonstrating how best to approach the see-saw to Esme. Felicity came round for tea.
My mother also cooked up a storm for us, and our friends, and on occasion did so and then went out herself! What a woman. 
Beneficiaries of her largesse included David, Francis and Lil, Lucy and Rob, Kate, Martin, Mark, Becky, Lyall & Bob, as well as Alex, Alex, Sonia and goddaughter, Rose .
We hosted Dylan, Aidan & Sophie, Simon & Cookie, Lionel & Luisa on our second last night, which was fantastic. 
Copious volumes of wine were drunk,
reminiscences bubbled up and Simon was reunited with his long lost cases of wine.
It was wonderful to visit our house and extraordinarily lush garden and see the great job of looking after it that Debbie, June and Ian are doing. Who showed great forbearance when Esme refused to pee in the garden and instead marked her territory in the sitting room, to her mother’s blushes. We are very lucky in having such splendid tenants.Top
London at its Best
The big city clichés prevail in London: it is bustling, rushed, hectic, expensive, crowded, dynamic, a melting pot for every language under the sun. People are friendlier than we were steeling ourselves for; the shabby areas look very tacky and grimy indeed (someone should take a new broom to the outlying suburbs seen on the journey from Heathrow); the disparities of wealth are cheek by jowl; history leaps at you from every street name and edifice – personal memories are steeped in its fabric and assault one at every step.
Although comparatively dear, Esme and I found public transport to be frequent, easy to manage and pretty quick. There’s a real distinction to the user groups on both modes: dead-beat no-hopers, the elderly, school children, mothers and kids all take the bus; 
for the suit-wearers (of which there are many in great contrast to hobo Boho slacker SF style), tourists and those with places to go and people to see, the tube is preferred. Esme liked both, preferring the bus on balance as she got more grins and conversation, and often found another child to interact with.
One day she and I took the tube to Hyde Park Corner to meet up with Davina and Larry. A classic autumnal day, wind whipping fallen leaves, bursts of sunshine. 
We then hot-strolled to Trafalgar Square to rendezvous with Zoe for the Olympic parade. For those with short memories Team GB finished fourth in the medal table and second in the Paralympics, a feat unrivalled since 1908. It was somewhat mystifying why the authorities chose to have the celebratory parade 6 weeks after the Olympics and, moreover, to schedule it just before lunchtime, so the crowds were less than we expected. 
We arrived for the last 20 minutes, enough to see the swimming team presented to the crowd, and to hear newly crowned Mayor Boris Johnson make a witty speech (say I grudgingly, annoyed that Ken wasn’t there to enjoy the glory rightfully his). In true British fashion, cheers were interspersed with pithy comments, tourists rubbed along with the patriotic, Esme, held aloft by Zoe, mesmerized by the big screens and trumpet-playing bearskin-hatted grenadiers.
Athletes came down to the barriers to press the flesh thereafter. Seizing my opportunity, clutching Esme and my camera, I shamelessly exploited my daughter for a photo opportunity (to Zoe’s disgust) but couldn’t get close enough to cyclist Chris Hoy, treble-gold winner. Just as I thought all was over, a handsome looking medallion-bedecked chap was greeting friends and family to the side. I beetled over, brandishing the baby. His friend took pity on me, offered to take the picture, and called ‘Steve, Steve’, both of us posed like true professionals, Esme fascinated by the sight of the gold medal round his neck. Result! Not till I got home, flushed with triumph, did I work out who the noble sportsman was – rower Steve Williams who won gold in the Coxless Four, as he had done in Athens 2004.Restaurant of the Month
To intimate and warm Odette's in Primrose Hill with Matthew and Amelia. Bryn Williams has just taken over as proprietor-chef, Modern British cuisine is the style. I sampled the black pudding terrine for starters, Amelia the squash and stilton tart. Matthew the venison for main, while I went for the halibut with gnocchi. We had the perfect evening. Excellent lively conversation, both profound and profane. And a rare moment of real relaxation in our very busy time in London.Thank you so much, come and visit and we’ll take you out on the razzle dazzle!
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San Francisco
Homeward Bound
Our journey back was remarkably smooth and uneventful. Esme was an angel, wanting to walk all over the place in happy fashion, and even slept twice. We all adjusted to the time change pretty quickly, Esme took only a few days to start sleeping through the night again having not done so all trip bar a few nights in Dublin.
San Francisco was sunny and warm, we had to readjust to the shock of seeing homeless everywhere, people seemed to have missed us – my first outing to our local market, Bi-rite, produced no fewer than three different ‘Hi! How Arrre Yous’ from smiling eager employees including the owner himself. I remarked to Colman that their profits must have taken a nosedive in our absence or a new Customer Relations drive was in operation, 
but he replied that this was just Northern Californian service and I had forgotten.Armani and I went to the de Young and hung out in their amazing sound installation in the sculpture garden.
Esme, very nearly walking, was crawling after Marcus round the installation, the diffused light was fantastic.
We took great pleasure in instructing those who wandered in to stand in the middle to hear their voices echo back in stereo.
Birthday of the Month
Colman’s non-socialising edict lasted 6 days until Ruby’s first birthday picnic in tried and trusted Dolores Park. We were joined by Geoff, Armani and Marcus. Esme had a wonderful time
patting and stroking Kahlo, Barbara and Alex’s very obliging companion, and got used to the idea of wearing shoes, for the first time not removing them. Laurel and John brought a fittingly lurid pink birthday cake which totally fascinated Ruby.Top
Halloween
Festive Event of the MonthThe night before Halloween we hosted an intimate DLG: the prize going to Tracy in her prom dress, made up as a ghoul.
Isis wore a very fetching Tinkerbell costume, Jen was a feline minx. 
I wore my gangster moll suit, Debra and Gil were Dead Tired, but actually looked rather perky – it was a pleasure to meet their sweet baby Noa at last! 
Sooo cute and light as a feather. 
Esme wore her kimono, resembling an extra from Star Wars. Amy H was otherwise engaged as Ho the Plumber and won the costume contest at her event (way to go girl).
The propensity of Americans to dress up in ever more inventive garb, and adorn their dwellings with cobwebs, giant purple spiders, bats and ghosts seemed even stronger this year (this house in the Castro made a neat seasonal and topical point in one). Perhaps it was the imminent election only 4 days hence, which brought a celebratory sparkle to proceedings. Or maybe the dire economic tidings created the desire to let off steam in ever weirder and wackier costume. 
Although no party was allowed in the Castro this year given previous years’ antics, folk were getting into the spirit all the ‘hood. 
Even the Franciscan friary by Dolores Park was festooned with cobwebs, pumpkins and witches, and proclaimed ‘Franciscans for same sex marriage’. How very San Franciscan. The Halloween Superstore on market full to the rafters with saucy nurse uniforms, pirate wenches, Animal House togas, fatsuits, tacky accessories and wigs. 
Of the hundreds of costumes we saw – even Bi-rite’s checkout staff were auditioning for extras in Dawn of the Dead – our favourites at Paula and Ethan’s housewarming party on 31st October were Fred who pinned a couple of dozen purple balloons to his torso, topped it with a green crepe paper helmet (this bunch of grapes had difficulty getting in and out of doors), Paula as Prof McGonagall, and Armani as Afro-dite. 
Colman rented this Laughing Cavalier jacket, the hat an almost perfect accompaniment. I went as Capt J.T. Kirk (female vixen version) with blonde wig, which actually seemed to alarm Esme – for the first time she didn’t want Mama in the bedroom, Daddy had to soothe her to sleep.
We had a great evening, much laughter, dancing to ABBA in the living room (maybe one day it’ll go out of fashion) and admiring the completely OTT kitchen, which even has a water tap above the industrial strength stove. We left after midnight, Esme’s eyes like saucers as we strolled home through the Castro, passing folk who would have been burned at the stake for such attire in a less enlightened age, especially the brave chap clad only in the Borat wrestler thong, and shoes. Luckily for him it was a most unseasonably warm night.Top
Bird of the Month
Cousin Cherrie came over to visit us at Mum’s one Sunday morning and brought a charming present for Esme – a duck that is both book and float for the bath. A week later, Esme said her first distinguishable word other than Mammama or Daddada: Duck!
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Mural of the Month
Stencil of the Month
Bumper Sticker of the Month
Zappa for President
Love and hugs
Nadine and Colman xxx
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