A MUSHY GRANDAD POST

G’evening, g'ang!

Hopefully you've seen that there's a new Bubblegun up featuring Third Bird. We were too busy filming yesterday to do a post. It's very silly.

Talking of yesterday... I’m now nervous, because - after all my fuss - we have filmed a very, very stupid video about Nottingham; all caves, gnomes, Robin Hood, and cool skateboarding moves (sans skateboard). Is it the right video to launch the new channel with? Heck knows. But we had a fun day. There'll be a lot of outtakes.

Though I didn't find out until we got back last night, after he commented on my Instagram, we were spotted by a viewer! He served us in a cafe though apparently didn't recognise us at first. We feel so under everyone's radar on the whole that it always puts a smile on our face when we encounter one of you in the wild. Should it happen, never feel you can't say hello, because it kind of makes our day.

I’m just waiting on Sanja to finish transferring the footage, then I’ll get the new video edited. It shouldn’t take too long, and you should have it this week. Along with another BYAMPOD and Bubblegun!

Are we spoiling you? Yes. Yes, we are spoiling you. Oh and yeah – there should be an Upper Tiers Bubblegun Extra with a couple of new film reviews, as some of you seem to enjoy those, and a special video edition of Writer’s Club (hopefully, if I can fit it in around earning a living).

See? Spoiling you.

GRAMPS

In other news, day job work was slightly held up this morning because our eldest grandson wanted to Facetime with us.

We’re going through a lovely phase with him; he has just been through a bit of a shy and unsociable stage, but now he asks to call us and just watches Sanja and I like we’re a TV show. Big smile when he sees us. Love this age.

I mean, part of it is because he’s gotten into Transformers, and he likes watching us attempt to transform the only two Transformers we own (thank you to Bea for one of them). He Facetimed the other day to show me his new Batman figure and then watched me drawing Batman on the iPad for the best part of an hour.

For a long time he was obsessed with nothing but tractors. Literally obsessed. I mean, from the moment he could talk he could tell you things about harvesting crops that I’m pretty sure some farmers wouldn’t know. His other grandad is a farmer, so he’s had that influence from the day he was born. Tractors and that are cool, but - as you might expect - to finally see him show a flicker of interest in the geeky stuff that Sanja and I are more at home with, is an important moment!

His younger brother Otto is too young to really be into anything other than biting people and eating (not eating people), but he’s kind of painfully soap-advert-cute. Can’t talk yet, but he blew us a kiss and waved goodbye earlier.

Sorry if this is all too mushy, but they make me melt. Obviously I love Sanja and all my kids to bits, but there’s something so pure about having grandchildren. It’s a brand new sort of love that I’ve not really experienced before, probably because I’m just that one step or two removed from having the actual hands-on responsibility of raising them. I think about them CONSTANTLY and would spend every hour with them if I could. I had it for my grandparents – my maternal granddad in particular.

I know the day will come when they’ll have more important and interesting things to do than hang out with us. It happened with me and my grandad, and I still regret I didn’t make more of the time he was here. I was so lucky to have had him in my life, and I hope that Bruce and Otto feel the same way when they're my age.

Anyway. Sorry to gush. Just been really enjoying the time we've had with them lately.

Should our YouTube videos still be online when he's older, I've no idea what they'll make of them. If he knew that only yesterday I was crouched in the corner of a cemetery carpark putting on a pair of green tights...

Talking of... Sanja's just handed me the hard drive with the transferred footage on it.

I'm going in!