So I admit it, this blog is hanging by the slenderest of threads. May 09 was the first calendar month of her lifetime that I failed to notch up a single solitary post, and all told it's nigh on two months since I last bothered to update the hardy souls who still bother to cruise by out of sheer force of habit.

Excuses? I've had a few. Work. The Apprentice. The Wire. Flight of the Conchords. Winning the League. Losing the Champions League. The small matter of detaching Olivia from her dummy,the single most traumatic and turbulent change made to her life so far. (Essentially this was like removing the pin from a grenade, standing well clear and waiting for the inevitable explosion. Weeks later and it still comes every night).

Apologies and all that, and I'll aim to do better in future, even though i always say that.

As for the shot above, side by side on their piano, it's Olivia and Hannah Simms, elder sister of Holly who emerged during our sabbatical. Congratulations! Now play that thing girls!