The boy turned two this week, so we celebrated by indulging his love/hate relationship with steam trains at the very local Lavender Line. Mamma and Papa bought him a pair of those Sun San sandals, some grey Bensimon and, less seasonally, some red-allover wellies from M&S.

That's right, just shoes!

Luckily he has a handful of friends and relatives who'll occasionally smuggle him toys.

Hairy Who

I like to screech the bike to a halt outside at least one of our local book dealers and check out the roadside bargains each week. On Wednesday I found a curious catalogue for a UK touring exhibition from 1980. 

Who Chicago? is an overview of Hairy Who (and affiliates), a group of Chicago Imagists. Running counter to the C20th abstracted and intellectual turn, much of the work is seriously ugly, untimely and ultimately compelling. Hopefully this documentary will make it to the UK soon.

Velodrama

Can't believe it only took a tyre pump and a bit of lube to get me back in the saddle, I haven't cycled since motherhood! The boy shouts BIKE!-BIKE!-BIKE! all the way to the child-minders and when the sun shines it's just like Jules et Jim... only with kiddie-seats, crap scenery and no polygamy.

Made it to the Dulwich Picture Gallery show of Hockney prints yesterday... the last day! Not quite as manic as it could've been, half the population were off somewhere watching football... I wish they'd disappear more often!

It was Edward's birthday this week so I bought him some fudge. He also picked out an expensive strap for his Bulova Accutron. We first saw the Spaceview in a video outlining the ethos of architect Richard Rogers, and it's an interesting looking thing, but instead of ticking it emits an electronic whine that makes the cat frown.

Hans Hollein (1934-2014)

Image: European Centre of Volcanism, 1994-2002, Auvergne, France