Films: Pinocchio; Dumbo
Sophia has been sick the last two days. Yesterday I was at a conference and when Paul and Sophia came to collect me, she looked very peaked. Moments later on the bus she did a spectacular vomit. Poor lamb - poor passengers. We leapt off the bus, caught a cab, and made it home. Paul got videos and we spent the night watching Pinocchio. Sadly, Sophia loves watching telly and films so much, I suspect this almost made it worth being ill. We all enjoyed it, actually. It has a thin story, but the details are so well observed. (I remember the scene of Gepeto and Figaro in the whale too from when I was little....) Such a morality tale. The lesson? Be good and listen to your parents not those bad foxes who lead your astray And, if youapos;re ever in the belly of a whale, set a fire to make it sneeze.
We have had another incredibly full week (and the one to come is even more so.) Paul and I had decided to split the day - Iapos;d work in the morning, heapos;d work in the afternoon - but thankfully we get stayed at home. Paul extended our old dining room table out in the living room and drew there. I read on the sofa while Sophia napped. Then I did some cooking - 2 meals for the week, following Paulapos;s new plan that weapos;ll always try to have something in the fridge for dinner. The ratatouille turned out well; the butternut squash soup was good (we roasted the squash first with honey) but would have been better with cream. (Iapos;d tried a "healthy" option with yoghurt.)
Paul says we should try the Otto Lenghi approach - lots of salads. We are all more obsessed with Otto Lenghi than ever. We went there for dinner on Wednesday night with Charlesapos;s 2 good friends, Sam Adrian. (Sam is a girl, as Sophia discovered.) Theyapos;re lovely people - such good fun - and they raved about the food. We all did - and we knew what we were in for. Seared tuna, scallops, polenta with mushrooms, asparagus...plates and plates. Sophia was very good in quite an adult environment though she did put her whole hand into the olive oil. It was for dipping, I suppose. We talked about Charles a lot - Charles, I hope your ears were burning - a nice bridge between London-Sydney.
Friday and Saturday I was at a conference. I screened a film by the director Peter Greenaway. Iapos;d been so nervous about the screening - that the DVD wouldnapos;t work (getting my version - a Japanese pirate copy - was a saga involving Greenaway appreciation societies around the globe) or that people wouldnapos;t "get" the film. Oh my goodness - was I ever wrong. People LOVED it - they were moved, amused, provoked - all those things a great film should do. Seeing it on a large scale was a revelation for me too - it is incredibly beautiful and the sound track is very complex. A perfect little film. I may show it again in Japan.
So nice to have a day to unwind, even if I needed to work a bit. Sophia had a treat as she got to open a present sent to her by her grandma Lynn. Part of the present was a Cinderella chalk holder and 2 massive pieces of chalk - we went straight out to the playground to test it out on the paving. Sophia drew one of her famous ladybugs. Later on the swings, Paul talked about how we were going to ensure she got lots of vegetables in her diet. "Steamed broccoli, peas..." Sophia joined in, "Peas, ice cream, sugar..."
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