Wed 23 Feb 2005
Mike has kindly provided us with a list of names – all I have to do now is write a program to randomly pick some combinations 
I am willing to start a book on the most unlikely combination – any takers?
http://www.bounty.com/Baby_Names/top100boynames_1.asp
http://www.bounty.com/Baby_Names/top100girlnames_1.asp
Wed 23 Feb 2005
We’ve just got back from a weekend away – trying to make the best of our “free” time whilst we have some. It is also an excuse to get away from the house, given that it is pretty dusty with the work going on. We drove down to near Battle, as stayed at a little hotel there. Very odd, rather like a real-life version of Fawlty Towers. It was quite small, only 6 bedrooms or so, in an old Manor House. There was a funny old boy in a 3 piece suit on the front desk, always asked what you were doing the nextday, and then provided a map on how to get there… It was certainly unusual 
Anyway, we can’t do anything with rearranging the rooms until the hallway is cleared. That has to happen this weekend – otherwise Fiona might not be able to get into the bedroom, given how large the bump is getting. At least she hasn’t slowed down to Turtle pace yet, although I think we can’t be too long. Mike has a good discussion on how fast/slow this is….
Wed 16 Feb 2005
Well, Fi hasn’t posted anything here, so I guess I have free rein to chat away as I please! It’s only 8 weeks to go, so of course we have decided to get the builders in. We have a high double height hallway above the upstairs landing, with a central rooflight. This has leaked on and off for quite a while, and we’ve been meaning to get it replaced since 2001. Finally we found a builder (in London this is no mean feat) who’s doing the work for us.
So phase 1 – install scaffolding to a height of 7 feet to allow access to the sloping ceiling and rooflight. Strip existing wallpaper & remove old window. Replace with new window and wallpaper. Decorate to taste. Except that stripping the old paper revealed a patchwork of cracks, holes and loose plaster held on by experience and boredom. Cue long discussion on how to proceed. So today, all of the old lathe and pasterwork was removed, along with 100 years of dust.
Hopefully this is as bad as it’ll get….