Big Day!

Happy Birthday Mycroft

Yes, he's the big 1-3. We now have a teenager on our hands...

And his tasks today include deciding what he wants to do for dinner (home cooking, going out, whatever he wants), and if he's really sure that he wants us all to go ice skating at the weekend. As in, doesn't he think we'll be horribly embarrassing, flailing about on the ice?

Have a great day, Mycroft.

lie-ins, lies and violence.

Had a lovely lie-in today. I did perhaps slightly fib to Danger and tell him Sherlock and Mycroft weren't up, when they were, but both in the kitchen, helping their Mum bake a cake (well, Mycroft was reading and observing. Sherlock was 'helping'.) But I figure the only time Danger will get time off is when Mrs Holmes is around, so I wasn't about to give up a lazy Sunday morning in bed with him. And it's not like he's much help on the baking front.

Once everyone was up (I mean out of bed), a final lunch was prepared, and we were all heading back to the beach for one last bit of fun. Or not. Depending on whether you were a certain 5 yr old.

We ate lunch, then, because Mycroft, his Mum and John had to have some serious discussions about Mycroft's new school, and what would happen regarding him boarding there and things, Sherlock and I headed off to have our talk.

First Class...

Firstly, trying to update via my laptop connecting through my phone, on a train. Completely unsure if this will work at all. Technology playing nicely together? Hmm.

On the way up to John, the boys and Mrs Holmes. You'll need to read his blog to see where they (we) are staying. It looks stunning. Mrs H got me first class tickets. Very nice of her.

Some of you will have spotted in comments last night (on John's blog again) that I got hit in the face (again. Why do people like hitting me so much?) so am sporting a pair of black eyes like a panda. Just how I wanted to look for the boys' Mother. Great.

Can't compete with the photo Danger posted, but here's a bit of London for you all:

 

Bit hazy, but the Thames looking quite nice.

I'm not Lestrade.

This is Mycroft updating, because we're waiting for our food in the Thai restaurant and Lestrade is drinking half a pint of beer, so he said I could update on his blog.

He said I didn't have to advertise the fact he's drinking beer.

We've just been to his local polling station. I can't believe there isn't any sort of security surrounding voting. I thought that Lestrade would need some proof of identification. Instead, he walked up to the desk, told them the name of the building his flat is in, and the road, then his surname - and they gave him a ballot paper! He says that's how it is even for General Elections. It seems to me that it's a system open to abuse.

Then he let me see the ballot paper - it all seems a waste of valuable resources to me. A big piece of paper - A5 sized, and you just put one cross on it, with a pencil tied to a string, in a 'booth' which is just a tiny shelf. Then fold it in half and put it into the box.

It wouldn't be very hard to write a computer code which was very secure, and save all that paper.


The other thing that just happened was a telephone call from Mummy.

John, she says can you pack a bag for Sherlock, and a bag for yourself. She's going to pick you and I up from home tomorrow afternoon, then we're to fetch Sherlock directly from his school, and she's taking us away for the weekend. Somewhere I can see the stars. So tonight when I get home I need to pack my own bag, and put my telescope in its box. And pack some things for the dogs. She says they can come too.

She says we'll come back on Sunday, but to pack Sherlock extra clothes and underwear because he's liable to get in the mud and dirt a lot. She also said she'd discuss my school visits with you at the weekend.

May the fourth be with you!

I know, I know, terrible joke. One of the forensics team in court this morning is a total geek, and kept saying it. Added together with more'force' jokes, which we get all the time anyway.

Right, this is less a proper post and more a place to dump my brain.

Danger, had to go to HR this morning with my sicknote, and they asked if my file was up to date. Do you wante to add you as my emergency contact? Don't worry if you don't, I understand. Text or call me if you don't want to answer here.

Also, Mycroft expressed an interest in coming to vote with one of us on Thurs. I imagined you would probably get to the polls when they were at school - Sherlock not being the ideal child to queue up with, in a place where everyone's furtively trying to keep their votes hidden. If you want you can drop Mycroft off with me in the afternoon, about 6ish, and he can come with me (obviously I'm registered at my flat, so it'll be a little journey) and we'll come back to your together.(for those of you not from around here, we're voting on the way we vote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Alternative_Vote_referendum,_2011 )

I'm back on nights again in a week or so - 18th and 19th.

When's the open day for Mycroft? i want to make sure I book it off.

Right thats all I can remember right now...

Important questions...

Sherlock wanted me to put up this as my next poll, so here it is.

Would it be better if dogs were like ants - lived in hills on your lawn, worked together, etc. Or if ants were like dogs - people walked them about on leads and kept them as pets (and they would be super-strong, too, he points out).

Owing to the lack of flexibility on the last poll, I've added the neither option for those of you who likes both ants and dogs just as they are.

And you guys think marriage is a good thing, overwhelmingly. (although some of you obviously added a caveat that my poll was ridiculous, and neither was the answer.)

Sick of being sick

Yesterday was fantastic. We all managed to get oragnised enough to leave the house fairly early, got over to London Field (Sherlock was so excited he almost bounced out of the taxi) and got to the Lido at a good time. It was busy, but not packed. Sherlock had a minor grump about being the only one who needed armbands, but once John gave him the simple choice of 'swim with armbands' or 'don't swim at all' his mind was made up pretty quickly. Mycroft, ever the diplomat, it seems, did also point out that all Sherlock had to do was prove he could swim well enough without, and he'd be able to take them off. So Sherlock set about trying to learn to swim in under sixty seconds.

Well, he didn't quite manage it, but next time we go we might let him out of them.

Mycroft swam a a few lengths with John, then a few with me, except I rapidly discovered 50 metres is a long way, when a couple of days ago I could barely walk that far. So the boys were ravenous when we finished, and I was knackered. Danger just about managed not to say 'I told you so'.

Today i've been back to my flat, to retrieve clean clothes, suits for work, etc. John's discovered Sherlock lied about having done all his homework, and Mycroft has been studying quietly for his schoolwork, and not-quite-so-quietly practicing for his first piano exam, which is soon.

Work tomorrow. Even though Danger's giving me sceptical looks about my ability to survive a day. I will admit I don't think I'll exactly be dancing around by the end of it, but I've got to get back, tonnes to do, court to appear in etc.