We've travelled up to St Andrews for a couple of days to see our daughter Sarah before the baby (due on 13 July) arrives. We took a car full of all things baby related and we've had great fun assembling the Bugaboo Chameleon pram, a contraption apparently so complex that it comes with its own instruction manual on DVD. I'm not the greatest when it comes to DIY and the like so, after a couple of valiant attempts, Marion and Sarah took over and had it all put together in no time at all. Despite the initial impression of complexity, it's actually an excellent piece of design and everything seems to be thought through to make using it simple for young mums. Sarah chose a striking colourway with an orange base and either a blue or pink top depending on the sex so there's little worry about getting it mixed up with any others when it's parked.
A car seat was also included in the package being offered by our local dealer Formby Prams. It's nice to see an independent retailer still thriving in these days of multinational chains and we found the shop extremely helpful in assisting Sarah to make her choice. Sarah is looking very well.She has left her job for now and is taking her maternity leave. She managed to work right up to last Friday which was within three weeks of the due date. This means that she will be able to spend almost a year with the baby before having to head back to school.
I enjoyed Fake or Fortune on BBC1 last night. It's a cross between Sherlock Holmes and the Antiques Road Show with art expert Philip Mould delving into the past of a painting and trying to prove it is genuine. This week's edition covered a watercolour that a bloke had found in a skip in Ireland. Having given it to his daughter who took it to Mould at the Antiques Roadshow, the finder discovered that it was by Winslow Homer a famous American artist whose work can fetch millions. Some excellent sleuthing by Mould and his colleagues led him to the Bahamas where he discovered a newspaper record of a fancy dress party which described exactly the outfits of three children in the painting. The story took a further twist when the finder's daughter travelled to New York to watch it being auctioned (estimate US $150,000) only for the original owner to turn up only hours before the sale to stake a claim. Had it been fiction you might have accused the writers of stretching credulity but it made compelling viewing and was a lot more entertaining than the Roadshow. Fiona Bruce accompanied Mould in his investigation but I'm sure that the show would have worked equally well without her.
We also enjoyed Jonathan Ross's show Penn & Teller Fool Us where magicians are challenged to perform a trick that the two experts can't fathom with a prize of taking the trick to the Penn & Teller show in Las Vegas. This is a programme that stands or falls by the quality of magic on offer and I have to say that I was impressed. All of the acts were watchable and entertaining and there was a good variety on show. Well done ITV -it meant missing In It To Win It with the irrepressible Dale Winton.
Despite being less than bowled over by the trailer for Bridesmaids last week, we're off to see it for this week's cinema visit. The critics all seemed to love it so we'll give it a try.
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