Baby boom time

I know four women due to give birth over the next three weeks - I'm one of them! Another friend gave birth to a bonny baby girl on Saturday. Should we be suspicious that these babies will be making an appearance approximately 9 months after the craziness of the Cologne Carnival?

With all this baby fun to come and the prospect of being engulfed in a tidal wave of nappies and holed in for the winter, yesterday I took myself off to do something cultural. I visited the Wallraf-Richartz Museum of Art in Cologne. Unfortunately, my body was not feeling quite so enlightened (what with the 'cankles', the heartburn, the lack of body cavity space for adequate lung function...etc, etc) and so I couldn't stay too long.

During my brief visit I found this beautiful nativity scene - part of a 14th Century altar panel from Osnabruck. I only hope that all of us pregnant ladies and new mums look as serene and beatific when our little ones arrive. [Hah hah.]