Month: February 2026

Hit Me Baby One More Time.

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Rather than serve up another whiny post about being busy at work (I was) and being sick of being cold/wet ( I am) I have something significant to share this week.

No, not another gig nobody cares about (although I did gig last night) but a much more significant life event. In fact maybe there are no more significant life events.

With it now approaching the 14 week mark I’m delighted, thrilled and very happy to share that our family is expanding.

Rebecca and Tom are expecting baby number three, sometime in August.

Yesterday was a significant day too as courtesy of an early scan they found out that the new arrival will be a girl. Whilst all everyone was hoping for was a healthy arrival, I think it’s OK to say that everyone is delighted that there will be a little girl in the family again.

It has been a rough few months for Rebecca as she has felt and been very sick throughout, and is only now feeling somewhere close to human again.

The boys stayed at ours whilst the scan was undertaken and a quickly assembled gender reveal was convened with a DIY cake, me on FaceTime from my gig and the boys digging glasses into the cake to reveal the pink filling.

It was fair to say Dougie was not enormously thrilled initially to learn he was getting a sister. Few three year old boys would be I guess. He came round fairly quickly and I’m sure by the time she arrives he will be as delighted as everyone else.

Freddie has said ahead of the scan that he wanted a sister so he was immediately very happy but that might have been because he now had cake.

So lovely news all round and many congrats to Rebecca and Tom.

Till the next time…..

The Fabulous Baker Boys

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Another week vanished in an eye blink. London came and went over Wednesday night and Thursday and then it was Friday again and I’m a few days closer to the next holiday and my inevitable mortality.

There was no obvious murder during my capital stay this week but I’m came close a couple of times in meetings.

We had no plans for the weekend. Louise had booked us into one of our favourite restaurants for Valentine’s ages ago displaying uncommon levels of foresight but when she checked the booking and saw it was 9.30 she cancelled as that is just too late for anything to start with our current energy levels.

Instead we had the boys for a bit in the afternoon whilst Rebecca and Tom went to the cinema.

So after a morning at the tip and supermarket for me the afternoon was spent baking with the boys.

There were chocolate chip cookies and cup cakes. Neither would trouble the judges on bake off but they enjoyed making them.

To be fair they lost interest once they went into the oven and I was left to finish them off whilst the boys helped Louise shave Bean. This is not something renowned as an activity with grand kids but they were thrilled to help. Bean, less so.

Then we took them out for some tea at a local pub. We were surprised to be able to book a table last minute on Valentine’s but it was at 6pm.

Once seated we were given the Valentine’s menu for us adults. It was bloody pricey and incredibly limited. We were gutted to be honest.

We both chose the only dish we could tolerate in the lamb as everything else was fish, veggie or in the case of the starters, Tartare or Mackerel based.

The boys had the kids menu so were happy enough.

Once it arrived the food was decent enough but not something we’d usually choose.

Imagine how gutted we were to hear the next table arrive after we’d ordered and immediately ask if the set menu was the only option and the waitress tell them that it wasn’t and present them with the full menu.

Sigh. We are too polite.

We had a crème brûlée for Louise and a Chocolate thing for me, trying to fill up and Freddie was delighted with his cheese board. He’s growing up and so is his palette.

We helped him out, as did Dougie. It was lovely.

It was also lovely to have the boys along.

The bill was painful when compared to the enjoyment levels of our food due to the set price of the Valentine’s menu we had endured. You live and learn.

Today I am hopeful of doing as little as possible. Wish me luck. I’m tired.

Till the next time…..

The Harmless Globetrotter

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Last week saw us pay the balance off for our Mexico trip in April. We’d been debating whether to go ahead with this one since we put down the low deposit.

As ever, should we have been sensible and not spent that money on a holiday? Of course. Have we ever done that at any point in the last three decades? You know the answer.

We shall find a way as we always do and cross our fingers that no major unexpected expense bites us on the arse this year. Nothing ever goes wrong with our house or anything so we should be fine.

Our plans for later in the year to visit WDW remain in pencil and will do until balances are due and we see what state the US is in. Hopefully a better one than it is today.

So we are pleased to at least know we are headed back to Secrets Akumal if only for eight nights this time. It is such a lovely place and experience we are both very much looking forward to it.

We are trying to keep travel costs down in this double holiday year to celebrate our 30th anniversary if we can but that did not stop Louise moaning that I have not upgraded us to private transfers from the airport to the resort and back. The provided transfers by TUI look to take about ten minutes longer and it’s not as if 100 people are all going to our resort so it may even be a minibus anyway rather than a packed coach. That £150 may make all the difference. 😏 We shall see how long I can withstand the whinging.

Away from holidays I undertook a less pleasurable hotel stay in London as I was down there for work for three days. The Travelodge around the corner from our office is not quite up to the same standards as Secrets and that was confirmed by what looked like a murder scene popping up outside it on my first night there.

The road was taped off for two days with a police guard. I’ve not been able to find anything online about what happened. It was near Spitalfields and Aldgate tube station if anyone knows?

Last weekend we did a great gig with the 80s tribute band in Brighouse. A great new venue has opened at the Civic Hall there and we had a good night and a packed room.

With a lot venues closing it’s lovely to see such a great place opening and from what we could see being successful. We are looking forward to going back.

I’m in London again next week but just for one day/night this time. Hopefully my stay can be murder free unless one more person asks me to reach out, jump on a call or action something. Then all bets are off.

One blog covering Mexico, Brighouse and London. I am just so jet set.

Till the next time…..