Mint Sauce

You simply can not beat London in the sunshine. 

Daffodils outside Liverpool Street Station.

Big Ben.

Houses of Parliament.

Outside Buckingham Palace.

Today has been the hottest day of the year apparently but sadly I wouldn't have known it as we had the 2nd session of our NCT Course. I took all these pictures last summer but I am using them today as  they are far more easy on the eye than anything I have witnessed today.

Today we learnt about:

* Hospital bag + Birth Plan
* Breathing Exercises
* Positions + Massage techniques to help labour
* Practical Early Parenting Tips
* Sleep patterns
* Post Natal Depression

Again, it was another really interesting day but completely knackering. Its pretty exhausting taking in all the information that we learnt about today as well as being on your best behaviour in front of your potential new friends. The Wig is also enjoying the course too, he particularly enjoyed the massage section of the day where we practiced our newly acquired skills on each other. Although it did seem that he had forgotten that it wasn't him that actually has to give birth and that I was the one that may need relaxing. . .

My favorite part of the day however, was when we got our hands on 'our baby'. First of all we got to select our baby from a selection of dolls that were stuffed in a Harvey Nicols bag. If only the actual birth was as simple and pain free as this. It came out of the bag completely clean and dressed. It also had a nappy on which we had to change. I did slightly fall out of love with our baby at this point as when we re-moved the nappy it was full of Merconium (baby's first poo) or Mint Sauce to you and me. To say this was a shock would be a slight understatement, but at least we didn't get the one that had a nappy full of mustard. I have no idea what that was supposed to represent.

We have one more course to go which is next Sunday and all about breast feeding. I don't know what sort of practical excercise's might be involved in that lesson but its a bit too late to be worrying about being shy.

Lunch was again spent trying out a different Cafe in the area, today's establishment was called Farm:Shop, Dalston. It was my first and will be my last visit. The Farm:Shop's website refers to itself as an "urban food hub", I do not have a clue what that means. I do know however, that it had the air of 'Insect House at the Zoo' mixed in with a bit of 'Primary School Nature Corner'. You have no idea how much I wish I had my camera with me today. I am almost tempted to go back just so I can take some photo's to show you. But being almost tempted is not quite enough to make me set foot in there again. When you walk in, your nostrils are hit with the waft of 'Insect House' due to the strange leaves that are being grown around you (like eating in a green house) and the grubby fish tanks on the floor. If the food was any good or if they at least had a good range of options for food, they might just about get away with it. But the tiny kitchen at the rear of the building can only cope with Spring Green Soup or sandwiches containing Cheese + Pickle, Bacon, Egg or Scrambled Egg on Toast. The crisps were nice though unlike my Cheese + Pickle sandwich. I didn't think it was possible to make a bad Cheese + Pickle sandwich but today I discovered that it is. There are chickens on the roof apparently that you can look at and also a poly tunnel out the back, but after my disappointing sarnie and subsequent trip to the grotty lav I just wanted to get out of there and back to my Mint Sauce excreting baby.

Farm:Shop Website