It's all downhill from here

Today was a holiday in Sweden, but not so you'd notice in the Taylor household, as we've been full on since breakfast re-tiling and decorating the kitchen. I have to say that, at 38 (am I really that old now?), I'm beginning to feel the strain. Mainly in the knee department. Maybe it's because I spent most of day creeping in and out of small cupboards and kneeling on a hardwood floor, or maybe its because I started the first day of 2007 doing a 5 km jog on unforgiving concrete pavements in the damp, dark streets of Lidingö, or maybe it s the simple fact that I'm getting older. Whatever. The fact is that when we took a break in the park with the kids, what would have normally been an easy leap over a small fence gave me pause for thought, and I found myself having to momentarily psych myself up to do it. Not only that but my foot clipped the edge on the way over. The fence must have been all of half a metre high too. Maybe that small moment of hesitation is the the start of the end - the fatal point that marks the shift from whatever state I'm in now (declining youth?) into crumbly middle age. Like the Wonderstuff once said as they left the stage after an early slot at Glastonbury: "Thanks a lot - it's all downhill from here".

At least Alice made us laugh at lunchtime. When Sammy didn't respond to her first request for him to come down to eat she said, "Nu kommer mamma slå ihjäl dig - längter du efter det eller?" (which roughly translated means, "If you don't come now mum's going to kill you - are you longing for that or what?"). Such a sweet cherub!

In the evening we at least managed to uncork a bottle of Alain Brumont's (see right) Gros Manseng-Sauvignon, VDP Des Cotes de Gascogne 2005 (6/10), which, for a table wine, is pretty damn good. (Question: Do I envy that contented look on Alain's face, and the fact that he's making a fortune from fermenting grape juice? Absolutely!) I'll be looking for some of his more exclusive wines later this year if I can find them. Before bed we rounded off the day with Almodóvar's film Live Flesh. Although I remember seeing the film originally at the cinema, I still think the plot twist in the middle is superbly handled. As ever with Almoldóvar's films his characters are overblown, bombastic and totally melodramatic. And it's based on a Ruth Rendell novella (?!). Great stuff.