Here we are

OK, that's the lot apart from llandb's boat!
Time to start AIBU 4!

Charing Cross Road Helene Hanff
A Traveller in Time Alison Uttley
Saffy's Angel Hilary MacKay
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
The Miss Silver detective series Patricia Wentworth
Ring Out Bow Bells Cynthia Harnett
Nurse Matilda Christianna Brand
A Connecticut Yankee at the Court Of King Arthur Mark Twain
Gobbolino, the Witch's Cat Ursula Moray-Williams
HMS Surprise Patrick O'Brian
The Camomile Lawn Mary Wesley
Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
The Toilers of the Sea Victor Hugo
Humpty Dumpty
Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
The Sixth Seal Mary Wesley
The Ghosts/The Amazing Mr Blunden Antonia Barber
A Swarm in May William Mayne
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader CS Lewis
The Sneetches Dr Seuss
Lizzie Dripping Helen Cresswell
Henrietta's House Elizabeth Goudge
The Thursday Kidnapping Antonia Forest
Saturday Ian MacEwan
The Ogre Downstairs Diana Wynne-Jones
Carrie's War Nina Bawden
The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy
Mog in the Dark Judith Kerr
Pawn of Prophecy David Eddings
Invitation to the Waltz Rosamund Lehmann
Little Red Riding Hood
Peter and the Wolf
The Borrowers Mary Norton
The Haunted Dolls House MR James
A Quiet Belief in Angels RJ Ellory
The Raj Quartet Paul Scott
Green Darkness Anya Seton
The Princess and the Pea
Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne-Jones
Watership Down Richard Adams
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Joan Aiken
The Poldark series Winston Graham
The Chronicles of Prydain Lloyd Alexander
A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce
Another Me Catherine MacPhail
The Train to Glasgow Wilma Horsbrugh
The Jumblies Edward Lear
The Voyage of QV66 Penelope Lively
The Lark and the Laurel Barbara Willard
Owl Babies Martin Waddell
The Gingerbread Man
The Odyssey
The Wind on the Moon Eric Linklater
Five Dolls in a House Helen Clare
Green Smoke Rosemary Manning
Cue for Treason Geoffrey Trease
Neverwhere Neil Gaiman
The Castafiore Emerald Herge
The Five Find-Outers' Mystery series Enid Blyton
The Otterbury Incident Cecil Day-Lewis
Howard's End EM Forster
The Thuggery Affair Antonia Forest
The House of Arden E Nesbit
The Neon Bible John Kennedy Toole
Harding's Luck E Nesbit
The Children of Green Knowe Lucy M Boston
Carbonel Barbara Sleigh
Mary Plain Gwynedd Rae
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower Rumer Godden
The Mennyms Sylvia Waugh
The Ordinary Princess Mary Margaret Kaye
The Common Cormorant or Shag... Christopher Isherwood
The Peppermint Pig Nina Bawden
Amelia Bedelia Peggy Parish
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Graham
Skulduggery Pleasant Derek Landy
The Growing Summer Noel Streatfeild
Noggin the Nog Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin
Miss Rivers and Miss Bridges Geraldine Symon
Claudine in Paris Colette
Emma Jane Austen
The Hamish Macbeth detective series MC Beaton
The Just William series Richmal Crompton
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe Penelope Lively
You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum Andy Stanton
Miss Mapp EF Benson
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm Norman Hunter
Strong Poison Dorothy L Sayers
Kitty and the Midnight Hour Carrie Vaughn
David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
The Importance of Being Earnest (again!) Oscar Wilde
Mog, the Forgetful Cat Judith Kerr
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea Arthur Ransome
The Enchanted Castle E Nesbit
Travels with my Aunt Graham Greene
Starter for Ten David Nicholls
Hamlet William Shakespeare
Regeneration Pat Barker
Hogfather Terry Pratchett
Autumn Term Antonia Forest
Pawn in Frankincense Dorothy Dunnett
The Night Pirates Peter Harris
Black Maria Diana Wynne-Jones
Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
Winnie-the-Pooh AA Milne
Venus in Copper Lindsay Davies
A History of the World in 10-and-a-half Chapters Julian Barnes
The Circus is Coming/Circus Shoes Noel Streatfeild
Jane's Adventures Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
Tales of the City Armistead Maupin
The Exiles Hilary MacKay
Smith Leon Garfield
Three Men on the Bummel Jerome K Jerome
Mrs Pooter's Diary Keith Waterhouse
Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell
The Story of the Treasure Seekers E Nesbit
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse Beatrix Potter
Marianne Dreams Catherine Storr
Mardie's Adventures Astrid Lindgren
Rapunzel
Restless William Boyd
Excellent Women Barbara Pym
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Appointment with Venus Jerrard Tickell
Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor
The Empress of Blandings PG Wodehouse
The Wrong Chalet School Elinor Brent-Dyer
Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
Night Birds on Nantucket Joan Aiken
Persuasion Jane Austen
The Uncommon Reader Alan |Bennett
The Greengage Summer Rumer Godden
Gemma Noel Streatfeild
Lottie and Lisa Erich Kastner

FINIS

Yep, very well! Possibly we have also outed ourselves as having homes filled with dusty, tottering piles of books too!

Shall I stick on the up-to-date list and then we can start a brand new thread?

Thread's about to run out! Haven't we all done well?

Sorry, Moomin, should have explained the Common Reader. It is fab, and a really quick read.

Ah, then I think you have to be Lottie, because Daddy kept Lisa and Mummy kept Lottie, and then you met and swapped. At least I think that's the right way round!

llandb, I may have guessed you are a toy boat but I have no idea what the book is?!

...indeed we were,Moomin,but we didn't know.Now I am in Vienna with Daddy...

Cross-post, Moomin - yes! Luckily the man with the polka-dot tie and the little boy have rescued me in the nick of time.

... and there are some big boats tooting and waving at me

Are you a toy boat, llandb?

Pogle, were you and your double separated as babies?

Hello! <returns to be stumped on line again..>
I'm not royal (lots of potential for people pretending to be other people out there..)

...It was such a surprise to meet someone who looked just like me...

Oh dear, the brook is getting bigger. I'm starting to feel nervous, but it's very exciting!

Very close, but no, a different bath toy...

Oh, and thanks for clearing up the library one, Polly.

Are you a rubber duck, llandb?

I'm stumped too, llandb! More clues, please.

Very, very fast CJ! I am the famous child star Gemma Bow who is about to be dumped with the Robinsons while my mother swans off to Hollywood.

You all have me stumped! Not in a hotel, just an ordinary residence - and perhaps 'float' would be more accurate than 'swim'. Oh, look, now I'm floating down a little stream past meadows with sheep and cows and flowers! (Probably - can't quite remember...)

Moomin, only if you're a precocious child star and worried about being recognised ...

she is the queen btw

cj's is the uncommon reader by alan bennett where she finds a public library in the grounds of buck palace and gradually gets distracted from affairs of state by books.....she's prob on here in disguise!

as we speak moomin, as we speak.....am also singing the hills are alive whilst whistling thru the air......

Morning all! Not washed away, I trust.

Yes, that was fast, Polly, we are indeed the Grey family, so I hope you're donning your sparkly thong and nipple tassels .

Someone tell me CJ's mobile library one, please.

Pogle, are you masquerading as somebody royal?

llandb, are you stranded in a hotel for your swimmer?

AIBU to change my name because I'm being sent to live with my cousins in a boring provincial town?

A very good point, Pogle!

Oh, er, and I've gone and put up AIBUs on two separate things!

Assuming you mean the former (about wanting bigger things and going swimming), yes indeedy, water is my natural element, and there just isn't enough of it in the bath tub!

As for the second one - what was I thinking, posting a parallel water-themed book on a dark and stormy night such as this?

Dark 'n' Stormy 'Night, All ...

Not at all,llandb - after all, it is falling in torrents..
<goes away to peer at leak in bedroom>

Hello!
Thanks for the info,Moomin,not really up to speed on what you can do on MN...
No,I don't think I'm particularly fond of horses.
And I'm wandering round the house muttering 'battlefields of France,battlefields of France' to myself-
help!!
llandb,is water your natural element?

...I don't think I am BU - Mummy should have told me...

Oooh ooh, in light of the rumblings and pitter-patter outside , AIBU to observe that the rain is falling in torrents?

Me too, Polly!

moomin, are you the grey family?

one of my favourite recent books cj

<waves to Polly>
<shocked at you, Moomin!>

VM, is there a toy kitten as well?

I don't think I've been eating and drinking anything at all, but I've been allowed to swim somewhere new!

Sometimes, Polly, sometimes

ps have been too embarrassed to come on here as for the life of mei couldn't remember any more about my aibu book because of general brain fug! it was restless by william boyd if anyone wants to know!

cj is the library in your grounds?

I'm convinced I know the battlefields one, too, but as ever it's elusive.

I'm finding that all this book reading is quite taking over, much to the annoyance of my staff, who think I should be paying more attention to the job in hand.

Oh, and are you fond of horses, Pogle?

Afternoon all!

If you put the thread into 'watch', Pogle, it should stay there forever and we won't be in danger of losing you.

I had a spree in a bookshop yesterday and came away with your Pawn of Prophecy, which I'll read once I've finished wallowing in my brand new copy of Forever Amber. What a hussy!

I need more clues on everyone's, please. Have you been eating and drinking things you shouldn't, llandb?

Yes, I think the battlefields are exactly your type of book, Pogle!

...It was our mother's idea. She said my older sister and I were "abominably selfish", and seeing "what other people will do in sacrifice" might make us "ashamed" and make us "think"...

Afternoon everybody,this had dropped off my 'threads I'm on' which gave me a shock..

However I'm only here to say More Clues Please!! and go away again..but I do know who went to the battlefields of France,if only I could remember!

AIBU to pretend to be someone else?

Morning, all! No, wait - afternoon!

AIBU to wish for bigger things?

Oh dear, sorry, Moomin - it worked when I followed a link from one of the fella's forums but now I find it demands a login! Just a mention of the old news story about a proposal to restrict names permitted in Venezuela.

'Night All; off to think o' some more tales....

The dashing Navy captain, yes! That was fast, CJ!

No clue on your one still, I'm afraid.

AWBU to think taking us to visit the battlefields of France is a very peculiar thing to do for a summer holiday?

Moomin, are you still pining for the lovely young man your father and aunt wouldn't let you marry?

llandb, your link's misbehaving so I'll have another shot at it

Yes, I think Dutiful Penitence and Dido got off lightly!

LightShines, this is a lovely, addictive thread for book lovers <yes, I recognise you from the Fur Quits!> where we frame an AIBU from the point of view of a book character and the rest of us try to guess it. Everyone's welcome to play for as much or as little as they want.

Right, another clue,

...We knew we needed to economise last spring but all my father and sister would agree to do was to put off refurbishing the drawing room, stop donations to charity and not buy me a birthday present...

Moomin, it sounds as though some people in Venezuela are in need of naming-thread-consultation too!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/americas/05venez.html?_r=2&oref=login

LSITD, this is a place of dim mystery where light needs to be shone

(wanders into thread, looks around with bemused expression. What is this?!)

(leaves, none the wiser)

Clues? <can't figure out whether Robinson Crusoe was a hair-sacrificer, so you are spared it!>

Yes, well done VM, I am Dutiful Penitence Casket (Mamma didn't consult the naming threads) and my friend is Dido Twite (don't think her mother did either)!

I have no idea on either of these book-themed AIBUs so more clues, please?

AWBU to let our beautiful house and rent a smaller one, rather than economise on our lifestyle?

Night all!

<waves; stumpededly and goodnightedly >

I'm getting more and more interested in this idea of borrowing books. I've been reading more and more, though people around me are a bit disapproving ...

Night all!

AIBU to refuse to accept the books? Mama seemed to think so.

Actually scrub that. Your friend knew Aeneas and your name means that you are loyal. The book's name is nocturnal flying creatures from an island in Massachussets.

Moomin, does your name mean that you are able to wait a long time for something to happen, without getting fidgety?

Afternoon all!

...And if Papa goes hunting for the pink whale again we're going to be at sea even longer...

CJ, please, another clue for the library book. At the moment all I can think of is Janet and John visit the Library!

I don't think I'm good at maths, VM <frantically flicks through book>. No, I don't appear to be. But I do have a very virtuous name, doubly so, in fact!

Moomin, are you good at maths? Is your name a virtue followed by the ability to travel at a steady pace?

Not you doing aunts now, Moomin! Eeek!

<Waves medicines etc at Pol>

Can't think of any more hair-sacrificers and stumped all round, so off for a kip, perchance to figure out answers - 'night, all!

Hi Poledra, hope you've all recovered now.

CJ, I am mystified. More help, please!

...I wish I could go home. But whaling ships are at sea for such a long time. And even when I do get home I've got my horrible aunt coming to look after me...

<waves at Pol>

God, Anne of green gables, and the Chalet school in my absence - two I might have had a fighting chance of getting!!

No ideas on Moomin's............

I don't often get to the library, my life is so busy. But I find I've quite enjoyed the book I took out last week, so I think I'll get another one.

Yes, Marilla (hangs head)

I told you not to buy things from pedlars who come to the door! And of course you can't go out with green hair!

Oh and WIBU to dye my hair? Now it's for the chop!

I'm sure you'll enjoy it, llandb, but bear in mind people must have been easily shocked back in the good old days.

...It is a bit dull in my cabin and it's very small because it's really a big store cupboard. That is quite useful because I've been able to live on the preserves my dear Mamma stored before she died. But you do get bit tired of plum jelly and sassefras after almost a year, and of washing in a bowl of water passed through the hatch...

<off to look for copy of Forever Amber just 'cos it was banned >

Clueseys pretty pleasey?

<waves, sleepily; need to increase caffeine dose>

CJ, another clue for the library book please?

...I'm not a boy, I'm a girl. And I'm not seasick, I'm frightened of the sea. My mamma was too, and she died...

Ah, good guess, Moomin, but no ...

Thanks for filling in the gaps. Must, must, must do that list. And no further on your seasick boy, I'm afraid. If he is a boy?!

Oh, and is it in the restricted section?

CJ! Nooo! No flouncing or banging your poor head, we all have fallow periods and it's obvious you've been very busy because otherwise you'd be here .

The Duchess is the Duchess of Ravenspur, Amber St Clare, who makes Becky Sharp seem a sweet, demure type, and the novel is Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor.

It has the honour of having been banned in umpteen US states when it was published (in the late 40's, I think) and of being denounced by the Vatican and the Chalet School. It would really appeal to your flibberty-gibbet side.

I was thinking only tonight I have to go back and write all these titles down while I can still remember the solutions!

...It's my father's cabin and it's on board his ship. I'm terrified of the sea...

<bangs head against wall, sulks and threatens to leave thread>

I am feeling so thick. I haven't got one for ages ... who was your Duchess, Moomin? You should see my Amazon search history - they're recommending all sorts of odd things for me now!

And most annoyingly, I haven't been writing down all the lovely book suggestions as we went along, so I'm going to have to trawl back over 2000 posts to get them all ...<panics>

AIBU to borrow a library book?

Hmm - cabin as in 'in the wood' or cabin as in 'plane' (not that I have umpteen ideas waiting for either!)

Off to bed now - goodnight!

Hooray!

And yes, you are absolutely right again, Pogle. It is the Chalet School and I'm afraid one of the pupils brought back a copy of Forever Amber and read it aloud to her chums! Rather a bad hat called Jennifer, as I recall. Obviously not destined to marry a doctor and produce a string of new pupils.

AIBU to lock myself away in the cabin?

That was super fast,Moomin - I should've been more cryptic! I do love Lord Emsworth,and there are many interesting Aunts involved too!

You're not running the Chalet School,are you? (though I wouldn't have thought Forever Amber would have got as far as being banned there - surely no Chalet School girl would want to read it? )

Ooh, you don't happen to live at Blandings, do you?

...Cosmopolitan in that our pupils are drawn from all over Europe though sadly there have been fewer since the War...

Aargh! Don't know! Now this one is going to bug me all night..

...No,not 'Humph' - she is female actually,a splendid animal...

Did he say "Humph," Pogle?

Not Kingscote but a rather more cosmopolitan establishment!

Well really it's harder to think of fictional scenarios where girls are encouraged to read novels about immoral adventuresses...! I'm sure it would've been frowned on at Kingscote,but can't remember if it specifically was,IYSWIM!

AIBU to love my pig?

Yet another one to watch out for. I'm getting a lovely, long, to-read list from this thread. It's better than Slightly Foxed!

Yes, well done, Pogle! Now, wouldn't you think a girl who raises herself to the rank of Duchess by her own efforts, even if they were mostly horizontal, should be rewarded with the hand of her true love in the final chapter? Even if he was a rotten snob.

AWBU to ban our girls from reading this best-selling novel about an immoral adventuress? It may stimulate their interest in history but we fear it will give them ideas.

Do you think you might manage to sleep your way to the very top, Moomin? I gather it's possible to have quite a merry time at Court?

Mine is a book called Appointment with Venus - Venus is the cow,and it's set on a fictitious Channel Island called Armorel.It's a lovely book,was my parents,prob from just after the war!

Phew! I think Grace Poole is quite sinister though not in the Mrs D league.

...I wouldn't describe myself as fortunate. Being pregnant and deserted at 16 certainly wasn't a piece of luck. But then escaping from prison and going on the stage was...

Moomin, are you Fortunate?

Yes, the new wife is the governess they brought in to look after the French brat. Well done, Moomin!

Hi CJ, neither would you believe, though I did have a spell in Newgate during one of my lowest points.

Still sounds very Rebecca-ish but I think that's the cunning way you're framing your clues. So, is the master's new wife-to-be a mousy, plain governess?

...He won't marry me because of my low birth even if I did save his life...

Fanny or Moll, Moomin?

The master's new wife is a quiet little thing. Well, technically she isn't his wife yet - but the wedding is soon ...

Evening all!

Any cat would be more exciting than Everard, llandb!

Pogle, the SOE mission to rescue a cow sounds fascinating but I'm sure I haven't read it. How could anyone forget that storyline?! But I think I need to (and my house is filled with tottering piles - need a new bookcase, then need to work out where to squeeze it in among the others)

My sibling seller was in honour of llandb's return from the land of Nobel prizes and was Mardie's Adventures by Astrid Lindgren - much more satisfying than Pippi to read aloud because it is all so credible, as well as being funny.

...I don't think I am BU. There aren't really any other ways to rise to the top for a woman in this society. And my true love won't marry me...

Totally agree with Pogle - though the tottering dusty everthing in it half-read three-wide stack next to my bed is big enough, thankyou, without my adding to it.

(Fear not; it's a nearly-floor-level futon, so the stacks ain't that high and therefore won't sustain too much damage when they ultimately tip )

Moomin - thankyou; the witch also thinks I'm a minx for entertaining the prince

And yes, I'm Mildred - now, wouldn't you rather live with (er, forgets Barbara Pym's real-life cat's name) than Everard?

Oh and Moomin - where is your sibling selling person from,please??

Evening all!

...we have to rescue a cow,not just any cow - a pregnant pedigree Jersey cow - so I'm really more a cowherd than an SOE agent...

I think Polly's might be Restless (William Boyd) - are you there ,Polly?!

More clues ,CJ and Moomin?

I think I need to give up Mumsnet and do a lot more reading - have had far too many books added to my must-read list since this started...

Are you Mildred for your other one, llandb?

CJ, no, we haven't got Pogle's SOE agent, or Polly's SOE agent either. And I could do with more help on your retainer, please.

AIBU to sleep my way to the top?

Rapunzel! Minx!

CJ... hmmm... that is a tantalising clue but I remain stumped.

Sorry, the witch thing is another one because I felt that Mrs Trouser-wearing Anthropologist had done her dash and it was time to throw in another hair-sacrificer

Trouser-Wearing-Anthropologist: well perhaps I should go easy on her. She may be an academic slattern with the gall to have a dishy hubby to boot, but not every Woman can be Excellent, can she...?

Witchey - well she did rather hack off my locks without permission. And I hadn't even finished making the ladder!

Right, now I've got some serious catching up to do.

Pogle, did we get your SOE one? If so, I need to know what it is, must add to list.

llandb, I'm still stuck on your trouser-wearing anthropologist and now you're throwing witches in, too!

My notMrsDanvers character is quite taciturn, not given to chatting. Still bound to the master's first wife, who of course is still around ...

<waves>

AIBU to think that witches should not be hairdressers?

< yawns - 'night, all!>

Oh, what a very clever CJ! Yes!

No wiser on your old retainer, I'm afraid.

Thanks for clearing that one up, Moomin.

Are you distantly related to Pippi Longstocking?!

Feeling flummoxed too. More clues everyone, please!

CJ, the artist/dreamer was from Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr, a very haunting and bizarre novel for 10 and up. It was also a TV series sometime in the 70s, I think, and an arthouse film in the 80s. It deserves to be a lot better known than it is.

...I shall have to run away. I can't go home and tell Mama and Papa I've sold Lisbet to a slave trader...

PS Moomin, who was your bedridden dreamer/artist?

Oh, I am so lost. I think a few have gone by that I just didn't get, and I'm completely flummoxed here. Still, at least it gives me the chance to use the word flummoxed.

And really, as if I would be so obvious if I was Mrs Danvers. Mwahaha ... I am a retainer, though, and female.

Pol, I do feel for you. Keep your chin up and yes, feel free to B as U as you like on here xx

<slowly catching up> - Crikey Poledra, you and yours are in the wars! Hugs and drugs and full dispensation to BU (not that you are, but dispensations anyway ) sent your way.

Pogle, I can't remember the details of what I'm wittering about enough to be sure they mesh, but are the members of your family inordinately fond of sleep?

Otherwise, more clues all round, please!

Now, some time back I wondered whether I was BU to be annoyed that that trouser-wearing anthropologist woman wasn't pulling her weight in the bathroom-cleaning department. Now I think of it, I think she wears trousers; she certainly wears a loud jersey (striped, I think). And I'm not sure whether she fails to pull her weight or I merely suspect that she won't. Certainly her domestic negligence irritates her husband. But then, he palmed her off with some yarn about dowdy Wrens with ill-fitting uniforms!

Poor Poledra, you must be so sick of one bug after another

Pogle, I was definitely on the wrong track there (again). Another clue, please?

...And when I went back she had vanished! And on my for sale notice someone had written: "I bort this slave for 5p. Isidor Turkish dog and slave-trader," and there was the money on the side of the well. I'm worse than Joseph's brothers because at least they got properly paid...

Evening! I think we all thought CJ's was Mrs Danvers,she's obviously too clever for that!

Sorry to hear your family is still plague ridden,Poledra - are you better now?

I don't think anyone else will have read mine - but it's one of the books I haven't already done where I can recount the plot without having to re-read the book first!

...it's an unusual mission,but the War Office seem to think it's important - they're sending me with a Major in SOE and 2 other chaps...

Evening all

CJ, I was sure you were going to be Mrs Danvers - poo! Need more clues now.

Moomin yours seems to ring a distant bell but I can't get it at all.

DD2 now has a stomach bug and DD1 was sent home from school with a headache and a temperature. I've not taken the big red cross off the front door yet.....

Ooh, Pogle, that is tantalisingly niggly. A bit more help please because this is going to bug me all afternoon.

...So I told her she was going to stay in the well until she said she was sorry and when she wouldn't, I put up a notice saying: Buterful Litel Slave For Sale and left her there...

Now that's not what I was expecting! More clues (though that sounds like something that would be completely memorable,in which case I've no chance..)

...my brother and I left at the start of the war,but my cousin stayed behind...

Pogle, more details, please!

...We were playing Joseph and his coat of many colours. So I put her in the old well (it is a dry one!) and then I remembered she never said sorry for biting the head off my chocolate baby, and I did so love him...

Hello again ,llandb!

Yes,Moomin, I think that would be a horrid thing to do. <wonders how many sibling selling characters there are in children's literature>

AIBU to agree to return home on a dangerous mission?

Llandb, you should have got her to carry the luggage for you. Hope you had a good time .

AIBU to sell my sibling?

A rainy wave to y'all! Looked for that gal with the stockings but all I saw was a horse being carried along.

Going to catch up soon and find out who has B.U.

Yes! And they're very peculiar indeed, Pogle!

Are you a bit of a dreamer,Moomin? Not at all sure of this,but it never hurts to ask!

No, "tiddly, widdly," doesn't look quite right out of context!

...I've drawn a house surrounded by a fence in a grassy plain with some large rocks outside...

...tiddly,widdly,widdly, Mrs Tittlemouse...

And now I've just given myself a fit of the giggles looking at that out of context!

Afternoon, all!

I do sympathise, Pogle. Perhaps it's time to speed Mr Jackson on his way. How dare he drip on your floor!

...I know, I think I'll take up drawing...

Just popping in to say hello!

...dirty footprints everywhere - and one of them has actually moved in!...

Hopefully will be back this evening!

CJ! Never! But Mumsnet is proving a bit inaccessible at the moment.

No idea on the Mrs Danvers who isn't or Pogle's unwanted guests, I'm afraid.

...And now I've got to stay in bed for weeks and weeks. I'm so bored. What can I do to pass the time?

Was it something I said?

Oh yes, there may be a war on but we can still dance! I thought your reading of GWTW was anything but pompous, Pogle. I really should read it again and take a more grown up view on it ...

I'm not Mrs Danvers, by the way. Although I was quite close to the master's first wife, it's true. And I still am ...

...they make such a mess...

I'm off to bed,goodnight !

Pogle, not pompous but passionate! OK, the pair of you have convinced me. I will read it!

CJ, I now have a lovely picture of you chopping up your curtains for a ball dress!
Are you a sinister old bat (as your AIBU, not you, I hasten to add)

Pogle, more help please!

...It was my tenth birthday. I had my first riding lesson and I was going to have a special birthday dinner but I felt so ill I had to go to bed...

Maybe my comments on GWTW were a bit pompous now I re-read them!Do like the drama and romance too.. Hadn't quite visualised you as Scarlett,CJ - will adjust my mental picture accordingly!

The trouble with this thread is that no sooner have you solved one AIBU than another comes along to stump you - no chance to sit back and appreciate the glow of success!

So,CJ,were you particularly close to the master's old wife?

No idea on yours Moomin,more clues please?

AIBU to think people should not come into my house without an invitation?

Can't believe I missed GWTW ... Moomin, I think it's a wonderful book, although it is a long time since I've read it and I was always much more influenced by the drama and romance than the political side of it (am in reality a bit of a flibertigibbet like early Scarlett, caring more about clothes and young men than real important issues)!

To go back several days, yes, I am Jim Dixon. I know he's been done before (probably by me!) but sometimes I can't resist it, I love him!

AIBU to dislike the master's new wife?

Goodness knows! (to the question about DD) - DH reads as well and our house is full of books(there's a surprise...).But my Sis,who didn't read as a child,does read now and has 3 book devouring DCs!

I think you are doing Gone with the Wind a bit of an injustice - I think it's a more complex and interesting book than you might expect,more about the death of a society,and how people cope when their way of life is destroyed in a short period of time(though the society was built on an evil,and couldn't continue).And Scarlett is an interesting character.The race stuff and portrayals of the slaves are difficult to read now.(though being reminded of how people used to think isn't always bad IMO)
Sorry,got a bit carried away there! I've always liked it.

Well done! Pogle, how did you, of all people, produce a DC who doesn't like books?!

AIBU to think it is unfair to be ill on your birthday?

<Pogle dashes back from cooker,where inspiration has finally struck>

Of course!,you are a Bastable,seeking Treasure,aren't you? I knew I knew..in my defence it has been a long time since I read these,and my reading to book and reading averse DD didn't get to E Nesbit,.

See you later1

Ah, I have a confession to make. I've never read Gone with the Wind! I did see the film when it was on one Christmas a very long time ago.

Should I read it? Am I doing it an injustice by thinking it's full of nostalgia for the good old days of slavery?

...But I think there are better ways to restore our fortune and the old gentleman has forgiven us. Perhaps we'll try selling poetry to a newspaper...

Wouldn't dream of it! (especially as I haven't worked out what yours is yet!)

Yes,'I'll go to Tara - I'll go home' Da da de da,da da de da,da da de dada....da da de da....

Umm, just call me Mrs Thickie!

Is "tomorrow another day" for you?

...Because we are attempting to restore the fallen fortunes of our House. And we knew Pincher wouldn't hurt him...

I thought you'd have mine by now, Moomin!

The House of Arden is my favorite E.E Nesbit,so I'm hoping Harding's Luck will live up to it,I was really pleased that the library had it!

...it has been so hard since the war ended,and since Mother died of typhoid,Pa hasn't been himself - someone has to run the house,and farm...

Still thinking about yours..

Your one is starting to sound familiar too, Pogle, but I may just have been pondering too long!

I'm sure you will love Harding's Luck. The only flaw is that E Nesbit must have been so pushed for time she condensed the escape from the Tower and said to read the House of Arden for more detail. It's a shame she never rewrote that chapter.

...Well, in books if you rescue someone from mortal peril they either adopt you or offer to make your fortune. We don't want to be adopted but we could do with making our fortune...

Mortal peril? Very,very faint bells...

Yes,I am American,but Pa was Irish..

More clues when you are next around please!
(By the way have now got Harding's Luck from the library - looking forward to reading it!)

Are you American, Pogle? <clutching at straws!>

...Actually, we know we were BU and we're very sorry about it now. Our older sister would have stopped us but she was away at the time. We wanted to rescue someone from mortal peril but you don't get wolves and bears in England...

Oh! On completly the wrong track there,then!

Agree about the humbling,this thread has got me thinking that I haven't read nearly enough - not something I'd considered before!

...I need the money to pay the taxes - if I can't pay I'll lose the house...

Afternoon, all!

Still stumped. What a very humbling thread this can be.

...He isn't a tramp, he's a lord! But he talks to himself a lot, and if he thinks no one is watching he throws his collar in the bushes and puts on a new one...

..I do need the money terribly badly - I planned on borrowing from a friend,I was sure I could persuade him,but he refused,after all the trouble I went to...

Your old man,Moomin,is he a trampish sort of person?

<wonders if she'll ever be online at the same time as anyone else again!>

Hmm, still need more clues please, Pogle, but I don't think you are being quite so U now you mention the successful business!

CJ, are you lucky, by any chance <fingers crossed, not got one right for a looong time>

And yes, clever CJ, I am Carrie Pooter from Mrs Pooter's Diary.

AWBU to set our dog on an old man?

Evening!
...well,I wasn't in love with my first husband either - but I may have misled you,he's not much of a catch in that he's older than me,not handsome,timid - but he does have a successful business...

Mrs Pooter?

And yes, Moomin, I am an academic of sorts. My heart's not really in it, but I think you know that!

Evening, all!

Pogle, why on earth are you marrying him then?! Not in love, no looks, no cash, what has he got going for him?

...Well, if he's going to keep a diary I don't see why I shouldn't too. It's not as though either of us are important or famous...

Morning! Should be doing housework,but have found myself here...

Actually ,Moomin,I think YABU - but I've got no idea who you are - more clues?

...I'm not in love with him,he is older and not much of a catch...

Morning, all!

That sounds fun, Polly. Have a good time.

Pogle, yes, well done yet again, I was being Mrs Harris, and you are quite right because it was J who didn't have housemaid's knee.

Now, how about some more clues everyone, please? This lot has me stumped.

AIBU to start a diary simply because I've discovered my husband is keeping one?

None the wiser,unfortunately...enjoy your weekend,Polly!

AIBU to marry my sister's boyfriend?

i think i will have to get him before he gets me .....but because i'm getting on i'll need my daughter to help and she knows nothing of my past

off on a drawing weekend tomorrow....see you soon

Don't know who you are,CJ - more clues please?
Moomin,your Dh went off on the boat with a dog called Montmorency,and a friend who didn't have housemaid's knee,did he?
(unless it was him/he who had the hypochondria - don't remember quite enough to be sure!)
Pondering on Polly's and will try to produce one of my own...

Hmmm, I'm afraid that doesn't get me much further, Polly. More help, please.

CJ, are you an academic? And yes, my one is very, very funny.

...I just hope they don't bring home as much dirty washing from the Black Forest as they did from the boat trip...

moomin, i had to google it to see what it as ... i was indeed a small cog in the SOE machine.....and i don't know if i've escaped yet

cj is your person who wants to go to the pub a female member of the chattering classes?

Moomin, I'm completely baffled by yours - sounds fun, though!

It's just that this party's pretty dull and they've run out of booze. No one would notice if nipped out, would they?

Morning, all!

...When he pedalled off thinking I was behind him and I wasn't. So there I was, stranded in a foreign country, unable to speak a word of the language...

CJ, more details, please!

...To tell the truth I wouldn't want to go on another cycling holiday with my DH. Not after that episode with the tandem...

Night all!

<mystified>

AIBU to sneak off to the pub?

Night, all!

Oops, sorry Polly. They're going to Germany (to drink beer, no doubt).

Polly, were you in SOE?

Yes, it is going to prove an expensive holiday for him . My friend, whose DH is one of the friends planning to go away with my DH, has now suggested we should also ask them both to rent us a house at the seaside this summer. Sea air will be so good for the DCs...

ps thanks pogle, i fancy reading that...

moomin....sounds like an expensive holiday your dh is having, where is he going?

i am russian...though you probably wouldn't guess that now.....i met my boss who is english (at least i think he is) in paris at the outbreak of WW2......

Hi Poledra, hope everyone's on the mend now.

Polly, more help please.

...On the other hand I think I shall be able to persuade the DH to pay for a new bathroom, a new stove and a new piano if I let him go on holiday with his friends...

Mine was The Exiles (another by Hilary Mackay) - highly recommended ,especially if you need cheering up,it and The Exiles at Home which follows it are just so funny!(IMHO!)
Hi,llandb,hope you're enjoying yourself!

Oooh, I love Mrs Pepperpot, and so does DD1 now, fortunately

and little old ladies who shink to the size of a pepperpot...

<waves back at llandb > Hope you're having a smashing time. Watch out for little girls with odd stockings and bright red pigtails.

Wave from place of midnight twilight and Nobel-prize-dishing royalty, where I am apparently the only person past infancy who wears a sun hat, having got here via land of indecisive royalty...

Sorry for disappearing; OH was too techie for his own good and installed things that were so super-duper geeky that wireless wouldn't work (oh and forgot to pack the cable for connection by traditional method)

Hah. So much for 'should have internets'!

Must give laptop back now; hope to have a peek later and catch up

Hope you are all well and Being Reasonable!

Pogle, what was yours, please? I am none the wiser ...

Aww, I've got a lovely mental picture of two chubby toddlers solemnly fishing in a bucket, Snow . And you missed Black Maria - I was expecting you to jump in any minute! Have a great holiday. We will be here time-wasting when you get back, no doubt!

Pogle, I have to confess to cheating by Googling. But it sounds great. Another for the lengthy 'to buy or borrow' list.

And yes, you've all got me, my hero is Smith, the illiterate but very talented pickpocket. And I wouldn't trust him with something as valuable as the moonstone for a milli-second.

AIBU to resent my DH going on holiday with his friends again?

pogle....i've still no idea even if the others seem to have got it!

moomin....are you in the moonstone?

i still don't think i was unreasonable in my youth....he was the only other person i knew in that country....but now i'm older wiser and i've made a life for myself in english suburbia and i don't trust him further than i can throw him...

Oh of course Pogle! never thought of him

Hello again, well done,Snow and Moomin,and poor Big Grandma,losing all her books..
and I've realised that I do know who you are Moomin,you have a very common name,don't you?

Actually, my DS and his friend used to sit at the bottom of the stairs, both of them fishing in a bucket, very cute aged 2 (very sentimental face). Hard to reconcile with the hulking great 14 year olds they are now....

Pogle, your poor exiled grand-daughters!!! They would have loved this thread.

Hi everyone - nice to see things are still going strong on this thread. I'm off on hols after today, I trust the thread will still be here after

no notion about the others yet

Pogle, are your GCs inadvertent arsonists in addition to all their other weird foibles?

CJ, yes, that's the problem. I can't read so I don't know what's on the 'dockiment' and who can I trust to read it for me? And the sinister coves are after me now...

Moomin, are you having trouble reading this document? You'd better find someone to help you ...

No, he's not one of Sherlock's irregulars nor does he appear in Dickens. The author has been compared to Dickens though.

Bah, I am baffled by everybody's. Perhaps the washing-up will prove inspirational!

Oi,CJ those are my grandchildren what you are referring to!
...the youngest one now has a hobby - she is fishing in a bucket(a low stress occupation)...
Maybe they are the new beekeeper - do you all give up?
Baffled still by everyone's - but my brain has been switched off by work and the heat,so I'm off to bed with book and cup of tea!
Goodnight!

Moomin ... or is he an habitué of Baker Street?

Polly, what happened to the grandchildren?!!

moomin....is he a dickensian boy?

i must say that i am no longer misty eyed about my boss.....though his real life is all a bit hazy...

Just popping in to say I'm baffled by Moomin's young shaver and Polly's misty-eyed employee ... and to ask what happened with Polly's strange grandchildren - did we ever work out who they were?

<back to Centre Court>

He certainly is, Polly, but I wouldn't call him a man, even if he is old enough to be hanged (don't worry, he isn't).

Er, another clue, please. I'm feeling a bit challenged in the brain department tonight!

moomin, meant to say ...is your man a londoner?

he always needed me to do things that were rather risky before....i wonder if he'll want the same now i'm so much older...

Evening all!

But they have to be sparkly ones, Polly!
OK, well you're not Jane Eyre then. Another clue, please?

...Then the sinister coves searched the old gent. But they didn't find what they were looking for. I think it was the paper I got out of his pocket. I bet it's worth a fortune...

i don't think i was unreasonable the first time but that was years ago....now he has shown up out of the blue again and my daughter is visiting....

morning!
on a roll!......next time i'll be wearing a thong and nipple tassles

aibu to love my boss?

Not cheating at all! What do you think put Mary-Ann Singleton into my head?

More spooky synchronicity!

...I don't know any bloke called Scudder. All I know is I took a dip in the old gent's pockets and then these sinister types came up and stabbed him...

<bows modestly>

Feel like a bit of a cheat, though - I've just started rereading them!

Are you Scudder?

That was breathtakingly fast, CJ! Very, very well done you.

AIBU to keep the bit of paper the old gent got done in for?

Give San Francisco a bit longer!

Sorree, CJ! I shall go and price it. The DD's birthday is coming up - any excuse!

AIBU to think I might be better off going home to Cleveland?

I know (now), but only because Polly got it - I meant that I should have got the Noel Streatfeild connection, the minute you mentioned orphanages ...

Jane's author is Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy. Amazon have a hardback edition of all three books together here, not outrageously priced but only two left - I might have to rush to get one, too!

What author please, CJ? I've never heard of it. Now, you're going to tell me it's out of print and costs £50 a copy, aren't you?

Umm, it isn't Thursday's Child but you're right that you are now very warm indeed.

Gnash ... and I said Thursday's Child, and you didn't even snigger.

Well, I'm going to throw in the towel. Mine is Jane's Adventures In and Out of the Book, and it's brilliant. She sinks into whichever page the book is open at, and has all sorts of wonderful adventures. There are two more, apparently, but I don't remember them as well as the first. I still have my original copy!

Bang on the nose Polly! Up you go on the trapeze!

moomin, so is there a circus involved?

CJ, I'm so sorry I have been reduced to shameless Googling and can't come up with anything. But it is definitely going on the "to buy or borrow" list because it sounds great fun.

Now Polly, the sparkly leotard (and very fetching too ) is actually amazingly appropriate for my one! But you would be swinging from something other than a chandelier.

Hi Polly, no it's not, I'm afraid. I don't think I can come with any more clues, to be honest!

Now please come back, ladies - I really don't want to do the ironing ...

ah is that all moomin.....i've got my sparkly leotard on......weeeeeeee!

cj it isn't a book that neverending story was based on is it?

Moomin, this is driving me insane. I know I know it!

I have read out the inscription, and something really strange seems to be happening now - I seem to be actually sinking into the pages of the book ...

Afternoon Polly, no wardrobes involved, I'm afraid.

You might have been under the influence because you promised to swing from the chandeliers!

...So here we are in Bridlington and disaster strikes. Our uncle won't be here until tomorrow! What are we going to do?

moomin will the children disappear through the back of a wardrobe at any point?

others....no idea

(please tell me what i promised to do.....was i under the influence??)

I'm hoping it's not a beekeeper, CJ, but beginning to fear it. Anyway, on with the inscription, please.

...A nice man's helped us pawn a watch and bracelet to get money to buy tickets, and he thinks he knows where we can find our uncle. So we're off to Kings Cross to catch the train...

Grrr ... I'm not getting any further with these grandchildren. And, Moomin, I absolutely know yours but am fumbling, fumbling, just can't grasp it.

Do none of you recognise mine? Am I the new beekeeper?!

The book is huge and there's some sort of inscription here. I might as well read it out loud ...

See! I'm not BU to think they need taking in hand,am I?
Going away again to think about yours..

Oh blimey, Pogle, the grandchildren are seriously weird! And the little wretches aren't ringing any bells with me.

...We've never met our uncle. He used to send our aunt a Christmas card every year. But she never let us see what was written in it so we think she disapproved of him...

Hello! this orphanage stuff sounds vaguely familiar,unlike CJ's castle - I agree with Moomin about opening the book!

...Sent the GC's out for the day while I went shopping,complete with food ,saucepan,frying pan so they could cook - they have left them buried on the beach..absolutely no sense at all...

Probably you shouldn't open it, CJ, but go on anyway. There might be a clue (I could do with one or more)!

I am mystified that GGB aren't keeping the Marlows in print. You would think it was a licence to print money at these prices.

...We wouldn't have minded so much if they had even tried to send us to the same orphanage after our aunt (yes, another one!) died. So, we're going to find our uncle...

Bad luck on the Marlows ... very upsetting. One day we'll all be rich and reprint them ourselves!

Orphanages and running away is making me think of Thursday's Child but I don't think that's right. I'm sure I know it though - more clues?

So I've been riding around the castle on this hoover (very comfortable, a very clever invention) and found a turret room that I've never come across before. There's a big book in it - should I open it?

AWBU to run away because we don't want to be sent to different orphanages?

Polly, I hope you kept your promise

More clues, anyone?

hurrah, thats only the second one i've ever guessed!

Or even a disappointed AF fan <who can't push the right buttons either>

Yep! The woodworm who stowed away on the Ark, that's us!

I can't get anyone's, and I have just watched "The Marlows and the Traitor" soar to over £40 without even getting a chance to bid. And it was only a Girls Gone By reprint.

So any chance of lots of help for adisappointed AF fan?

Mooms, are you in chapter one of ten and a half?

Can't get any of the others - really need clues on the GCs and the sheep skull!

Hi Polly, yes we are! All seven of us! And we all survived despite the monotonous diet and the often reprehensible behaviour of the humans.

Not a nice species.

morning!
moomin are you insects?

others....no idea!

More clues please, everyone.

...And if we had gone on board with permission five of us would have had to stay behind...

Oh everybody appeared after I went to bed!
Poor you,Poledra,I do hope you both feel better soon.
..now the second GC has eaten ALL my strawberries - an entire strawberry patch,no less!...

Must go,meant to be getting ready for work - see y'all later!

Hmmm - can't help, Moomin - but on this subject, am I being unreasonable to joke about Official bafflement about the solving of a mystery?

Sunny! Yay! Lovely to see you and you are always welcome.

And if you have any idea on the current horrors I would be so grateful 'cos I am totally stumped.

I am so so so soooo sorry that I haven't been on this thread for ages. I got all disheartened that I hadn't read any of the books that were being mentioned and slunk off to play Farms on Facebook instead.

Can I come back and see if my intellect has struggled back to life - pleeeeease?

Evening all! This thread has a marvellous capacity for reviving. We've said the Last Rites over it at least twice and it staggered to its feet each time.

Poledra, poor baby and poor you. Fingers crossed that you're both on the mend quickly. And hope the headache clears up, Pogle.

Now, I have no idea at all about these skull-collecting grandchildren or the castle-explorer on the ride-on hoover but they sound fun.

...I don't think we are BU. It is certain death to stay. Unless we learn to swim quickly...

Ok, let's get one thing straight - this thread will not die.

I won't let it.

Pol, sorry to hear your woes. Chicken pox horrid, but must a hundred times worse if you're feeling bad too. Hope it all gets better soon.

Pogle, your sheep's skull is making me twitch - definitely ringing bells. Just can't quite reach it, though - little cluelet, pleeease?

Moomin, I need clues on your stowaway, too, please!

Baby now has chicken pox, I have a chest infection and no blardy clue what any of you are on about.......

..the children would've taken food but I didn't want to be carrying it..I did take some squash and Extra Strong mints..the eldest has brought back a sheep's skull and put it in the fridge..

Hmm,stow away? More info ,please!

Must go to bed,tired,headache - back tomorrow,hopefully.(Hope the thread isn't dying - I shall miss it...)

Awww! I used to do that with the DD when she was small. Trouble was I often fell asleep too.

Now, these are clearly very abnormal children to go on a picnic without food intentionally. I still have no idea who they can be and I've a nasty feeling this is going to turn out to be humiliatingly obvious... like Eeyore! Help!

AWBU to stow away?

...we went on a picnic today ,(didn't bother with food,too much to carry), now they are asking for books...

No,we're not lurgy ridden,I am just a soft touch and sit with DS at bedtime! (Only while I count to 100 though..)
Am amused by Falco as when I saw the first clue I thought 'well,there's no way I know that one'!

Humph, I was afraid that might be the case. Another teeny clue, Pogle, please?

And yes, you are spot-on again, I am Marcus Didius Falco, and about to seek a lodging that doesn't fall down.

Hope the sitting in the dark doesn't mean you're lurgy-ridden.

If I tell you that you might be able to guess who I am...!
..they spend far too much time reading..

Was hit be small burst of possible inspiration while sitting in the dark with DS - are you in Rome,by any chance,Moomin?

May we ask what is the grandchildren's only interest?

...And they crucified the letting agent. So it was a good thing we got the money back first...

No,not Paris.I was going to say they aren't unruly as such,but maybe that is a good word.They have no interests apart from one,they don't help in the home...

But, Pogle, don't we get any more hints about the unruly grandchildren? Do you live in Paris, btw?

...Because the people digging in the wreckage were very angry when they found the bodies of the other tenants...

Just looking in to say hello,I'm baffled(..again..),and see you all later!

...But my clever girlfriend managed to get a refund and compensation from the letting agent. And just in time too...

Night all!

Can't see a ride-on hoover in Gormenghast though I'm sure they could have done with one.

CJ, more help, please!

Unfortunately I don't have any magic powers, nor am I a princess, so flying is out of the question and I don't need to worry about spinning wheels.

This ride-on hoover looks like a good way to get around, though ... as long as the housekeeper doesn't catch me.

you could always fly...

Hmm, should you be wary of spinning wheels, CJ?

...In fact, I was really delighted with it, until it collapsed...

I'm going to have a wander around, try exploring parts of the castle I've never looked in before. Problem is, the place is so big - what's the best way to get around, I wonder?

Oh! It was Eeyore! How shameful but he would think it Typical.

Night all!

Evening all!

Oh, Birdsong! <kicks self hard>. But I'm still mystified by your tail and Useful Pot, Pogle, do explain.

More clues, please <plaintively>

...I was very pleased with the apartment, nicer area, more space, reasonable rent. And hardly any other tenants so it was nice and quiet...

AIBU to think my grandchildren need taking in hand?

More clues,CJ and Moomin!

Well,I may be feeling a bit old and worn at the moment,but I'm not 73!

Indeed Pogle, it was Birdsong - I've just read it, and it was spellbinding.

My dad is 73.......

No idea on CJ's - more clues pliz?

So AIBU to be fed up, stuck in this huge castle on my own (apart from the housekeeper) for the entire holidays?

I was going to give him A Useful Pot to Put Things In..!

Buy him a nice ribbon for his tail, I'm sure that'll cheer him up!

Poledra,the sweet sound of birdsong,eh? I can quite see why your mother didn't explain the whole story to you when you were a child...
And how old is your father??! Please tell me this isn't why I'm the only one here who has read Dorothy Dunnett....(though actually I read them originally because my Mum recommended them)
They are v.good.

...we didn't know it was his birthday.He is being very gloomy about the lack of cake,presents,etc...

Oh dear, I am uninspired on all of them and feeling very thick.

Er, lots more clues, please?

AIBU to complain to the letting agent about my apartment?

Quick pop in to say yes, my grandfather was British, though lived in France before the Great War.

I've always meant to read those Dorothy Dunnetts - I remember my dad reading them years ago.

Night CJ, you can dream about Patrick, not him!

Just one more before I go to sleep - AIBU to wish my parents hadn't gone away for the entire holidays, leaving me in this huge castle practically on my own?

... Maria <phew>

Thank you! Was in the middle of googling some very interesting looking books - completely up the wrong tree, but there you go.

Must go to bed now. Will resume the GC debate in the morning, possibly on another thread as it seems inappropriate here!

Night, all.

...I wish someone would take Great-Auntie away in one of those police vans, what do they call them?...

Nooo, CJ! To compare him with Patrick Merrick is sacrilege.

He is not a nice person, at all, and not in the least worthy of you, promise!

Moomin, I'm afraid I have a teeny crush on GC - shades of Patrick Merrick, don't you think?! Think I love Sue P more, though. They just make me laugh. And I need to laugh quite a lot at the moment!

Am ashamed to say that I have attempted googling yours too, but with no luck. Going to need something a bit more solid to go on.

Night Pirates is fab, and highly recommended for your DS once he's old enough.

Must go to bed now, but am tempted to stay up in anticipation of being harangued for liking GC - perhaps a full dress Court of Honour would be in order?

Ooh, discoveries! Not heard of your one at all Pogle, obviously I am jinxed on books with Pawn in the title.

And I didn't think I knew yours, CJ, until you quoted from it and the very faintest of bells began to ring...

And CJ, how could you watch the awful GC on the box - he makes Lois Sanger sound like the best pal anyone could ask for!

Er, more clues Pogle?

I am getting a bit sick of mine (as an AIBU, not a book), let's see...

...They didn't shoot my brother. They shot her daughter who had also been transformed into a wolf. Great-Auntie is having fits over it but she was the one who transformed her in the first place...

At least we've knocked a couple on the head - night!

It sounds good,CJ. From the publication date we must've missed it as my DCs are a bit older.
Must go to bed now (I've been sucked into Mumsnet again,despite my good intentions!)
Goodnight!

Well done, Pogle! At last I am rid of this embarrassing AIBU ... yes, I am Tom, almost kidnapped by the Night Pirates.

Down, down, down the dark, dark street they came, quiet as mice, stealthy as shadows ...

I love that book!

Still need more clues on the rest, though.

CJ,have done bit of hunting myself - is your name Tom?

Poledra,your Grandfather,was he british?

Well done ,CJ,I am Philippa Somerville!I think they are brilliant,very convoluted plot though.The clues were to Pawn in Frankincense,which contains one of the saddest scenes I've ever read.(I'm surprised if no-one else has read them though! )

Pogle, is your name Philippa? Travelling with a chap name of Francis?

(Shameless google, I'm afraid, but had tried same earlier to no avail, so the new clue was worth it!) Never heard of these books - any good? Having just watched the Supersizers, I'm quite in the mood for a bit of Medieval lore ...

Oh dear,are we really all baffled? Time for a bit of googling perhaps??

...I have found the baby -they are taking him to the seraglio in Stamboul...

<and that's a dead giveaway if you've read these...>

AIBU to think I must get my friend a birthday present immediately? (new AIBU nothing to do with wandering abroad)

More clues?
(and not at all relevant,but I was desparate for a knife with sixteen blades when I was a child..)

Evening, all - I am hopelessly stuck and in need of clues.

The ship is about to reach the island. I can see some figures on the beach. Most of them are asleep but one seems to have noticed us ...

Oh, Poledra, I'm so not with it at the moment that I forgot you had one running.

Not that I'm recognising your one either!

Just flying in to have an AF moment ... A Knife with Sixteen Blades ... <wallows>

More later, got to go out!

Grandfather was, at least, my grandfather. But I never knew him - he died young, as so many of those who survived the Great War did........

Quick, aren't you.
Gnashes teeth.

Afternoon all!

Was it to pick up your fabulous Swiss Army knife, Lady G? If so, YABU, but we can't expect old heads on young shoulders.

CJ, Pogle, more clues, please!

...Now she's organised the men into a shooting party to hunt my brother down! And she's done something to my mother's memory so she doesn't even realise he's missing...

I don't know what yours is CJ, but I want to read it!
Can't figure out Pogle's or Moomin's either.
I am clearly rubbish at this.

OK, AIBU to stop the train?

Umm CJ, Little Tim? <wild stab!>

Pogle, yes, I have got a bee-yoo-tiful shiner!

I did wonder if you were in Where Angels Fear to Tread territory but each clue gets further and further away. Are you concealing an auntie in it?

...She really is evil. She's turned my brother into a wolf because he wrecked one of her horrible tea parties...

Mine is so easy, I'm quite embarrassed that it's still hanging around. Definitely not porn, Moomin!

Haven't a clue on the others, though. Not even the sniff of a lead. I'm feeling very thick.

Oh dear,Moomin,that sounds a bit disastrous,have you ended up with a black eye?

Evening! Can I second the request for more clues? Though yours is beginning to sound vaguely familiar,CJ - though I wonder if that's just thinking about the clues too much!

...I haven't gone to Algiers with my friend,I'm on an island,but now I'm in quarantine,and someone has chickenpox...

<think this may be another beekeeper scenario!>

Convert, that should be, but I do have only one working eye at the moment, so bear with me!

Hi CJ! I don't know whether your one is porn or a children's picture book!

Glad you're enjoying the Duke. I am now a covert to cycle helmets for grown-ups, especially nitwits who haven't ridden a bike in over two decades! I was only on the damn thing for five minutes!

...And this town is so weird. The men are like zombies and the women just cluster round my Great-Aunt...

PS Moomin, hope the eye's better!

(Read chapter 1 of 5 Dolls and the Duke tonight, thrills all round ... )

Evening all - hope you've had lovely weekends and have suitably nurtured and pampered the fathers of your beloved DCs.

Could I have some clues please? I'm completely stumped.

I'm still on the ship with these girls, by the way. They're very tomboyish, and seem to be preparing for a fight. I wonder what's going to happen when we get to the island? It's night-time so I can't see much ...

Evening all! <squinting at screen out of one eye, thanks to embarrassing and painful collision with fence>

Well, I know Snow's but so does everyone else! Pogle, Poledra, more help please!

...The more I see of my Great-Aunt the more I am convinced she is a selfish, evil, old witch...

Sorry Poledra!

Back to the drawing board on your travellers - I was mentally somewhere in the Caribbean.

The poker only workth on monsters, Pogle

Typical - came rushing into the room to answer Snow's, only to find Pogle's beaten me to it - bah!

Anyway, AIBU to think that my mother could have told me that Grandmere wasn't in fact my grandmere but my great-aunt before I reached my late thirties?

Evening !
Snow - it rather depends how she deals with the monsters I think...are pokers involved at all?

..We are going to Constantinople,via Algiers...

He might indeed, Moomin.

That seems to be the way of many Aunts, Moomin - but I am not recognising this particular one yet.

AIBU to think that the governess should not have told the children there were monsters under the bed?

Hi Snow, nice to have you back. Annoying how RL will get in the way of AIBU-Books!

Lady G, might the principled young man be a famous poet and fox hunter?

...I think she is very selfish. She has everyone dancing attendance on her...

Life has got in the way this week. Reading back, I've no clue on any of the aunts.

Have you been in the trenches LadyG?

Poetry is closely involved but not poverty. He is visiting scotland for the good of his health.

Ooops - sorry about that...

Afternoon!
I am seriously stumped on the shadows too - sounds interesting though...

I'm not holidaying or fleeing - he has to find the baby,you see,and he will need someone to look after it...

<wanders off to drink tea,and ponder Great Aunts and young men with principles>

<wanders back to ask if we know who llandb's trouser wearing anthropologist is?>

Afternoon!
I am seriously stumped on the shadows too - sounds interesting though...

I'm not holidaying or fleeing - he has to find the baby,you see,and he will need someone to look after it...

<wanders off to drink tea,and ponder Great Aunts and young men with principles>

<wanders back to ask if we know who llandb's trouser wearing anthropologist is?>

Afternoon all! Much more awake today but sadly lacking in inspiration.

Procrastination is the thief of time, llandb!
Have a lovely holiday and steer clear of indecisive royalty.

Lady G, do your young man's principles involve poetry and poverty?

Pogle, are you holidaying or fleeing?

CJ, I am so stumped on your shadows, as stumped as I was on your Lothario. And would I like Starter for Ten?

And, to continue the theme...AIBU to think my Great-Aunt is not as sweet and cuddly as she seems?

Snort. Your mum didn't have something to do with it did she? Was she planning to do a bit of thrifty housekeeping with the remains of the funeral feast?

<Pokes head round door to wave; should be seizing bags and child and trit-trotting to the station>

Pogle, nothing like hormones or galloping senility to spice things up! My sole excuse is dippy-la-la-ness...

The 2 1/2 weeks is just fluke really... a balance between 'oopsie, OH has no leave left,' and, 'hmm, expensive flight with airline x on day y, or much cheaper flight with same airline on day z?'

We should be green and take the train but I don't fancy a 16-hour ride with a small person...

As I don't recall Aunt A having gone where we're going, I'll have to offer a different clue (not v subtle, sorry!):

AIBU to sound off at all and sundry just because I think my father copped an earful?

<Bye, all; have fun!>

<had forgotten he was called Brian - chortles>

<love, love, love a thread where the word 'chortles' can be used with comfort and ease>

llandb, I don't quite understand the significance or otherwise of 2 1/2 weeks but we will miss you, come back soon!

Moomin, nobody's fooled. We all know that 'dozing on the sofa' is Moomincode for 'thinking up dastardly AIBUs', much as 'I'm stumped - off to bed now' is Moomincode for 'I'll be back in five minutes after inspiration thunderbolt hits me halfway up the stairs'.

I'm still on the ship with these strange girls. We seem to be approaching an island.

You got us good ,Moomin!

The Lothario is called Brian and he is from 'Starter for Ten' by David Nicholls.

And sorry for my stupid comment about your 2 1/2 week departure llandb - somehow managed to misread your post but can't imagine how now I re-read it...I blame hormones,or galloping senility...Have a good time!

night again!

Evening all!

Sorry, dozed off on the sofa and so was not around to be lynched when you all rumbled I was about to travel with Aunt Augusta!

Well, it had to be done sometime <ducks for cover>

But you are all revenged because I don't recognise anyone else's tonight. And will someone please tell me the identity of the Lothario? <plaintively>

Have a great time, llandb!

Yey! <embarassingly pleased to have got that one!>

Why 2 1/2 weeks llandb? Seems a very precise time period! Don't go!
Night All!

Pogle, you star ... ter for ten!

Don't you think he would have just loved the idea of being a Lothario?

<Am stumped, and about to disappear for 2 1/2 weeks unless able to get to the internets>

... so an unasked-for clue:
It's most irregular; the rest of us simply proofread for the great men. Though some aspire to marrying vicars and bullying their sisters....

<'Night, All! Waves...>

please ,CJ,put me out of my misery - is your Lothario planning to appear on a famous TV quiz show,for people in tertiary education?!

... she's a trouser-wearing anthropologist, for crying out loud!

Moomin, you are a minx.

Pogle, I think you've got it, by George!

Oops... completely forgot that Pogle did Mog a few pages back! D'oh

Huh at all these Aunties!

Now, AIBU to resent that woman not doing her fair share of bathroom-cleaning?

Blimey, we're not accompanying Aunt Augusta are we Moomin?

I'm in a difficult moral position here, everyone feels I ought to persuade this young chap to abandon his principles, but is it the right thing to do?

Moomin,have googled salient points from yours....How could you?!?
Have not read the book so will say no more!

More clues please,Lady G!

....He thinks I'm a child - I'm fifteen!...

Yes, I am Susan the sensible. Stumped on CJ and Moomin though - obviously not as well read as I thought I was.
Need more to go on, Pogle.
AIBU to try to persuade a determined young man to change his mind?

So,AIBU to make my friend take me abroad with him? He really doesn't want to...

I assumed Susan because she is a fuss-pot from what I remember.

You sound like Susan,Lady G ! Are you?

CJ,your Lothario - has sport actually been mentioned? Cos if not is your team rather more on the intellectual and challenging side? <hopes flicker of inspiration may be genuine..>

Yes, indeed you got the book right, but who is my character?

I really feel I ought to recognise CJ's character, but it's just out of reach.

Hi Pogle, no, We Didn't Mean to go to Sea is the only one I'm recognising at the moment. It's CJ's horrors that have me at sea!

...I've never had my tea leaves read before. They say I'm going on a long journey with a lady. How absurd...

Ok,still baffled - except by Lady G's - are you still at sea about that ,Moomin,or did that comment refer to the others? Cos I assumed you'd solved it! You've gone to Holland,haven't you,Lady G ,when you were told no night sailing and stay in the harbour? well,better drowned than duffers...

Oh dear, now I'm really at sea! I shall ponder on the school run.

...But a day trip to Brighton with my aunt should make for a pleasant interlude. And I certainly have no plans to take up detection, especially after that unpleasant business with the police...

Moomin, yes, I am at sea, but we didn't mean to go.

Moomin, I have no idea who you are but am wondering if I might be going down the right route if I ask whether you might be about to embark on some unexpected detective work?

I am going to go with these strange girls. On their ship. I have no idea where we're going, or what the front of my house has to do with it ...

Things are hotting up with the Lothario. I've invited him to stay in the Christmas holidays. Wonder if he'll get on with Mummy and Daddy? And the team's really improving now, although the captain is a bit of an arse.

Oh Poledra, poor all of you - you are doing fantastically to be here under the circs!

Moomin, whoops, it must be because I'm so forgetful...

As an aside, I recently had the opportunity to re-read Mog and thought, hmmm, the illustrations look an awful lot like the ones in The Tiger Who Came to (or was it for?
) Tea - must be the same illustrator. Commom authorship had completely passed me by

Moomin, dahlias annoy me but other than that, I need more clues - and from you, too, please, CJ!

Oh no! Another blind alley. CJ, I need more clues, and to both of them, please!

...A career in banking doesn't involve risk-taking (well, it didn't in my day!) so I think I shall be quite content with the garden and bridge once a week at the Conservative Club...

<elation at having finally got one instantly dashed by bloody dahlias>

I'm human, Moomin - and it turns out the shadows are too. But they're all girls ... not sure if I want to join them now, although they look quite exciting.

Morning all!

Hi Poledra, it sounds like you've been having a really horrible time. Hope everyone's on the mend now.

And you and CJ are both absolutely spot-on because I am Mabel, niece to the housekeeper at Yalding Towers, otherwise known as The Enchanted Castle.

Bah, I thought I was on to something with the Lothario but it was a complete dead end.
And the shadows are just mystifying. Hang on, are you actually human, CJ (in your shadow AIBU, I mean)?

Pogle, please desist from battering yourself and contemplate your Thread Medal instead!

Now, AIBU to devote my retirement to growing dahlias?

Hi Pol, what a nightmare ... hope you're all feeling a bit better now.

Oh dear,Poledra,that sounds rough.Hope you're all beginning to feel better...

Morning all

Have been in MIA due to 3yo with chicken pox and a heavy cold, and the baby and I have the cold too - coughing fits at 2am anyone ? Anyway, Moomin, are you Mabel by any chance?

Morning, all!

Moomin, are you in an enchanted castle?

My Lothario (he'd be so chuffed with that name, if he knew what it meant) has done his O' Levels. And his A's. It's his first year exams I'm worried about.

I'm going to follow the shadows. They can't take the entire front of my house and get away with it!

Doh! and I was just last night reading a certain thread in Childrens' Books without making any connection at all with this!
<Pogle hits self on head with carefully chosen work of fiction..>

<pops back with sudden burst of inspiration>

Lady G, are you at sea?

Oh, haven't you all been busy tonight!

Pogle, you are a minx, but a very clever one.

llandb, I seem to remember someone protesting her AIBUs were not cat-ridden

I have no clue on CJ's shadows or Lady G's fog but they both sound sinister.

But I am wondering if the Lothario is about to sit his 'O' Levels.

...Hooray! I'm visible again. My auntie was so glad to have me back. But I think it was a bit silly of one of my new friends to put on the ring himself. Guess what happened...

Night all!

Meow!

Thank you,thank you <bows to all..>

I am definitely interested in your Lothario,CJ - I've just got no idea who he is! And I don't know if YABU to follow the shadows - but it sounds like a bad idea,along the lines of 'let's split up and search for whatever's been killing us...' in films!

So llandb,a bit forgetful,are you??

Pogle, yes, Aunt A. brownie points

- and yes, feline! Surely not my fault the burglar dropped the spoons and cussed me.

Pogle, you definitely qualify for the Thread Medal - brilliant Aunt Augusta work!

I'm still stuck. Anybody still interested in my team Lothario? He's very dedicated (to the team and me) and I'm worried it might affect his studies.

As for the shadows in the street, they've gone now, but they seem to have taken half the house with them. WIBU to follow them?

I think that's a plus point, Lady G

Twas a good one, Poglewood. Mine has no aunts at all.

I am very worried now because Mummy needs us to be back in time to meet Daddy off the ferry, and there is no chance of that, what with the fog.

Well done,Lady G! Well, the friend I want to talk to is definately earnest,my invalid friend is a different kettle of fish,poor chap,suffering with curiously bad health..

Do I get brownie points for using an Aunt Augusta,by the way - even if it wasn't THE Aunt Augusta??!
-

Are you and your friend both quite in earnest about this?

Sorry,llandb,not quite,but I see your point!

Actually there is more pretence involved than just the illness of my friend....

Might you be feline?

Pogle, I'm not sure I know this specific incident, but it sounds like the general sort of thing that would be done by someone who had engaged a highly competent gentleman's gentleman...?

Lady G and CJ, I am indeed Mrs Gardiner! (And a luurverly auntie I am, ain't I?) I fear that it will indeed shorten our Derbyshire holiday, but at least we'll get to see Pemberley first

Lady G, clue, please?

No more aunts or nieces! (Probably )

WIBU to ask to be let in?

More clues,more clues!
I don't think I am BU - I've already dined once with my aunt this week,which seems quite enough...I've just made a discovery about another friend,and must talk to him.

AIBU to be worried that Mummy will be cross because my brother disobeyed her instructions to stay within a certain boundary?

Lady G, good afternoon! Pipped me to the post with Mrs Gardiner ...

llandb, I'm beginning to be more than a little concerned with the aunt-obsession now. Can't believe I actually got one!

I hope she hasn't spoiled that holiday in Derbyshire you were so looking forward to. You planned to take one of her sisters with you, if I am not mistaken.

Morning! (oh - er - afternoon!)
Still desperately in need of clues.

And now time to give the aunties a well-deserved fair hearing:

AIBU to think my niece is very, very foolish? She may even have dashed her sisters' hopes of respectable marriage!

CJ, the very same! You know her? WIBU then?

<'night, all!>

And, yes, Pogle, I'm sure I know the invisibility ring too, but Moomin has this amazing skill for dropping the subtlest of clues, designed to drive you slowly craaaaaaazzzzyyyy!

And actually on recent form I'm probably totally wrong, anyway.

Regarding the team Lothario (as henceforward he shall ever be known, Moomin ), try not to think of anything too sporty, I don't think he's really the type.

Not Trotwood?!

What is it with all these aunts? I'm going ever so slightly crazy here!

No idea on the shadows,or the 'Lothario',or the invisibility ring...(actually that bit does ring faint bells..) - and I'm developng an Auntie phobia....

More clues please!

AIBU to break a dinner engagement with my aunt on the pretext that my friend is ill?

Night all!

Oh, yes, and more clues from everyone, please pretty pleasae?

<runs away to check auntie's name>

Oops, great-auntie, name of Betsey! Wise to run for cover all the same?

Hi CJ, I suppose Augusta was pretty insensitive to her sister's feelings but I doubt an auntie AIBU will cave in that easily.

Now, on the shadows, do you think a sinister new neighbour may have something to do with them?

No clue on the Lothario that isn't, but it does remind me a bit of 'Gregory's Girl'!

...And I really, really wish I hadn't said it was a ring that made the wearer invisible. Because it has. And it won't come off...

Night all!

<also slightly scared by new auntie ...>

Still no clue, ladies! Think I might have an inkling about Moomin's, but need a bit more help.

Just for the hell of it, I'll ask llandb if her auntie is called Augusta?

So, to go back to my ancient ones - there are shadows outside the house, as if persons unknown are creeping about and maybe doing something to it?

And as for the team 'Lothario' - ha! He wishes! No, he's quite sweet really, but I'm not sure he's up to scratch for a national competition and he has got rather a crush on me. I don't think he'd ever cheat, though.

Night, all.

Eeek! An auntie! <runs for cover>.

...And I really, really wish I hadn't borrowed that ring while I was pretending to my new friends that I was Sleeping Beauty...

<musters courage, pops out from cover and quavers:>

Another auntie clue, please?

<Joins clamour for clues>

Oh well, sticking with the auntie theme... AIBU to think that my aunt was a bit insensitive towards my mother? Especially for one who clamours about young women deserving a better go of things?

Oooh, off to post in 'can you recognise this book'! (but still hanging head in shame - fancy thinking Prof B would known anything at all about fashion! )

<quick nip in before school run>

llandb, please don't worry about it - it's a game! I don't think I've encountered your other one but you could post a 'Can you recognise this book?' in the Children's Fiction topic if no one else does.

...I wish I had never decided to play at Sleeping Beauty...

I mean, he had a clue about fashion - someone remarked to the boy, 'oh, you wear your own hair so you won't need a night cap for bed' and the mentor helpfully explained about short hair and wigs. Can't see Prof B noticing

<waves, while still hanging head in shame>

If anyone can suggest the parallel series I've jumbled Prof B. up with in my head, I'll be most appreciative! There were a couple of kids - one of each flavour - and I think they time-travelled and met Benjamin Franklin (hence my recollection that they were American). They had some kind of inventor mentor (whose time machine it was). It must have been someone other than Prof B because he knew enough to try to fit in with Frankline-era society!

well,being the Voice of the Night suits me...
(obviously my current addiction to urban fantasy isn't going to help me baffle anyone!)
More clues please!

Don't tell me I've misremembered my fiction! It was a long time ago.... I thought that the Prof Branestawmes were from the point of view of Mrs Flittersnoop's son and his friend the girl next door, but can find no reference to these while frantically cheating to fill in details....

Sorry, I must have mixed the story line up with something similar, so my apologies and credit to y'all for guessing it anyway! <attributes to, um, long-term baby brain or something>

Haha, Pogle, very nice of you to say so and not a bit crawling, but you are much too generous, really, because there are loads I've not got.

I wouldn't have said you were BU. Not if you wait until the midnight hour, which is the traditional time for all things spooky.

CJ, come back, I need more help on the shadows in the street and the team Lothario!

...I don't think I am BU. My aunt would never believe the truth and she would probably go mad (or think she had gone mad) if I went home...

<waves feebly ... so lost>

That was quick ,Moomin,(although ,of course, only what I'd expect from you ,or possibly <crawling emoticon!> Yep,I am Harriet Vane,and now I'll have to go and think up another!
llandb's does sound Branestawmish,but I couldn't fit Mrs Flittersnoop and a child together..
AIBU to think radio chat show host is a suitable occupation for a werewolf?

Hi Pogle, yes, well done, I am Elizabeth Mapp, Mapp-Flint to be, once I have managed to corner Major Benjy.

I was thinking Professor Branestawm for llandb's too, but I don't remember a child either so I think we're on the wrong track. There's probably a bee-keeping auntie in it!

Pogle, are you a promising writer of mystery fiction? If so, I don't blame you for being miffed at being offered marriage as a bad conduct prize. But watch out for your ex's dodgy cousin.

AIBU to disappear after leaving a message I have been adopted by a rich stranger?

Hi! So ,llandb, does that mean he had a branestawm rather than a brainstorm?(not sure about the child bit here though...)

And I might be completely on the wrong track here,but did your later life involve marriage to your military man,and an exciting voyage on a table,Moomin?
Sorry to have abandoned my last AIBU,RL got in the way..
Anyway,AIBU to refuse to commit - my first lover said that marriage was against his principles,so I agreed to live with him - then he asked me to marry him,as if it had been some kind of test of my devotion...

For some reason I had it in my head that we were all American! But I think we're British, which makes her my 'mum' and her boss 'odd'... (off to check)

Still need clues please pretty please!

Meanwhile, my mom's sartorially-challenged boss has invented an inflatable solution to the housing shortage - but it all went up in the air when a calendar was pinned to a wall.

But he did, at short notice, save my mom from the humiliation of providing store-bought cakes for the school fete.

Hi CJ, no, I'm not little or a princess but I suppose I am a sort of queen of our select social circle!

Moomin, are you a little princess?!

:D at the golf but no idea...

He is rather absent-minded but prone to brainstorms...

<'Night all - suspected man 'flu has struck...>

<Ah, crashing thunder, spectacular lightning, downpours of rain and even hail here, and two wet annoyed cats>

Your sartorially challenged boss is ringinging a very faint bell. More help please!

...They didn't fight a duel after all! They played golf! And no one believes me...

<grr, was all set for the entertainment and only got one or two rumbles of thunder and the teeniest pitter-patter of rain over here >

Snow, by Gum, I have to agree with Moomin on the dog issue!

As for you, Moomin, I'm sure we should know yours but I don't...

Meanwhile, AIBU to think my mom's new boss is a bit weird? He has safety pins fastening his coat because he couldn't be bothered to replace the buttons!

<waves back from greater chaos and biblical thunderstorm>

...I suppose it was a little naughty of me to let the cat out of the bag. I have been wondering which gentleman to honour with my hand. One is a retired military man and the other was a sea captain...

<waves from a version of chaos>

Clues, please!

Yes! well done again Snow!

I can sympathise with your distress over the damage to the garden but trying to poison the dog is really a bit OTT.

AIBU to drop a hint that two gentlemen fought a duel over my affections?

Thomas Kempe is the only blackboard writer I can think of at the moment.

..but my garden was the prettiest, greeniest, floweriest and gardeniest garden in the whole town, and now it's a complete mess!

Evening all! Ah, but whose ghost Snow?!

I think I'd definitely appreciate some help with your dog. At the moment I can only think of Lassie, and I am sure she would never wreck anyone's garden.

Evening all

moved house, attic room, nosy sister, writing on the blackboard..... sounds like a wierd formula to me, bit ghost-like even, Moomin.

Now this dog is driving me crazy he's huge, and he's totally wrecked my garden, it's not fair!

Nice idea, Moomin - Just the thing to teach William a lesson!

...I've dug up a funny old pipe and pair of spectacles in the garden. I think I'll keep them as treasures...

Stumped on everyone else's.

Night all!

Or you could always thcweam and thcweam until you're sick, llandb!

Oops, I forgot about the shadows outside. In the street, though, not the garden ...

And no, that was a different one. I'm confusing myself now!

Still need more clues. The sister wanting the new house with nice carpets really rang a bell.

Er, no idea here, either.

Everyone around here saw the nasty lady with my paint on her face - now they think she is a victim of the bottle. Our friend might get a new boss!

Oh, and that boy William ith usually tho mean to me but even he agweed that our fwiend looked pwetty.

Well, I don't know anyone's!

CJ, what happened to the shadows in the garden? Is this the same AIBU or another one?

...Now I'm getting the blame for the ghost scribbling nonsense on my sister's prescription. It isn't fair...

Evening all!

Moomin, I know you've heard this before but I know yours ...

No idea on anyone else's, though.

AIBU to think that boy's only on the team because he fancies me?

More details please everyone (especially Pogle)!

Well, mummy never found out about it, as she was badgered into giving her case to that really mean lady (my friend's boss). The nasty lady delivered a lecture to a ladies' group on the evils of makeup (of course she didn't own any so she had to borrow Mummy's). Just to show everyone how silly it looked, she dipped her brush into the pots without looking or even using a mirror, put it all over her face, and then walked down the street like that as an example. That lady didn't know that I'd put my very prettiest paints in there for Mummy!

Hi Pogle, no, I've only got one sister but she's enough of a pain for three of them. She wanted a house with fitted carpets on the new estate. Yuck!

More help everyone, please!

And while I'm here,AIBU to refuse to marry?

Hello all!
Do you have 3 sisters and neglectful parents,Moomin?
No ideas,even,on the rest!

Evening all!

...Yes, we have moved house. Into an old cottage. I've got the attic bedroom and it's all crooked and sloping and brilliant, except for the haunting business...

llandb, I have no idea who you are but I'll bet your mother loved you!

Actually, I have no idea who anyone is so lots of clues, please!

<waves, embarrassed at having got mildly sunburnt - but didn't see too many spiders outside!>

Snow, I have real-life issues with spiders - mostly that they come near me with their big pointy teeth whenever I do anything in the garden!

On the other hand I'm pretty non-keen on mozzies, too, so spiders could come in handy...

I, too, need more clues from everyone.

As for my mummy's makeup, my friend needs it. She wants to look pretty when she meets her boyfriend tonight and her nasty boss won't let any of the girls wear makeup or even have it in their kits! Oops, it's all gone, but I'll replace it with pretty colours from my paint box

I still don't quite see what's going on with the spiders, but then I'm not keen on the beasties in the first place.

Have you recently moved house Moomin?

AIBU to expect that dog to stay out of my garden?

...I don't think I am BU. I know I didn't write on the blackboard even though I got blamed for it...

More clues plea from me too.

Night all!

Clues, clues, clues, please!

Meanwhile, WIBU to borrow Mummy's make-up?

<'Night, All!>

Eek at spiders! Although now I think of it, the cat has really only started spending all day here in order to go upstairs and sleep on the bed. (They're allowed on the bed next door as well, so, I dunno). At least there will be no spiders in the sheets!

'Chust' so, Snow! It was going to be what will I do with the hens and sheep if I have to move to the big city next.

AIBU to think our new cottage is haunted?

Well yes Moomin, it's cold here in the Northlands (shiver). <and I am definitely showing my age on this one!>

Are you Hamish Macbeth????

Poor Miss Bates - what a work of genius she is.
llandb, the cat has moved in to keep the spiders away!
Night all!

Yep And I do hope Mr Knightley forgives me!

'Night, all - and time to turf neighbours' cat out (who has unaccountably decided to move in here for most waking hours, despite the fact that they are just as nice to her next door AND they feed her! - perhaps it is to avoid the other cat, who stays home )

llandb, are you picnicking on Box Hill?

Well, times are harsh and even neutering isn't mainstream, but I admit to a bit of cognitive dissonance there with regard to the treatment of the kittens Perhaps we'll attribute that line to the dreaded Willy

<must stop with this dreadful habit starting to post a message, asking for clues or confessing puzzlement, then getting all distracted, wandering off for aaages, and then coming back to complete the post, only to find that meanwhile the books have been guessed >

I was sure that this one contained a fevered hair-sacrificer too, but can find no confirmation of it in Wikipedia or Google :

AIBU to finally snap at that tiresome woman? She just chatters inanely!

llandb, you should have saved all of Fanchette's kittens, pauvres chatons!

Puzzled, puzzled...

As for me, I'm no hair-sacrificer - they cut it off when I had a fever! I was miffed but the gamine look brings me attention. Meanwhile, my cat has had kittens! I'll keep the boy and name him after my father's field of scholarship.

Oh CJ! And we've actually got a copy of The Workhouse Child, which should have reminded me. Thank you, that's definitely another gap I need to fill!

My dippy great-aunt was from The Growing Summer by Noel Streatfeild, one of her best I think, and with only one child prodigy, who is a fairly minor character. It's about a normal middle class family who have to spend the summer with said batty G-A in a ruined Irish mansion and learn to fend for themselves on cooking, washing clothes etc because the G-A has her mind on higher things.

Oh, and are you dreaming CJ?

...I'm talented at 'mooching' too, and detection but I don't want to be promoted because I like being a village bobby...

Moomin, who was your dippy aunt?

Feel totally lost again ... and ignorant. Someone post a classic I've heard of, please!

<whispers> suffragettes were Miss Rivers and Miss Bridges ...

AIBU to worry about those shadows outside?

You're not Noggin the Nog are you, Snow?! <Moomin fears her age is showing!>

I'm afraid so, no bride = no kingdom. The local maidens are all very nice, but none of them is 'the one'.

Hmmmm, a poaching policeman...

Ah, is this a question of having to be married by a certain time to get an inheritance?

...I don't play the fiddle but I'm quite talented at poaching...

It was the seagulls that did it....

Is your policeman a fiddle player?

No glass slippers or peas involved, but there is a six week deadline on this romance. Need to move fast...

Very well done indeed, Snow! That was super fast.

Is there a glass slipper involved in your one, or is it a question of sensitivity to peas...or neither?

AIBU to want to stay an ordinary policeman?

Brilliant, Moomin - very bony person he was, but definitely pleasant company!

It's going to be a long summer - does your dippy aunt think it's time you all did a bit of growing up?

AIBU to think there must be one girl in the kingdom I could marry?

Hi Pogle, yes, but this one is completely dippy. She says the seagulls are bringing us news about our sick father!

I thought it was a generic requirement for great-aunts to be completely potty - can you elaborate?!

Hi all! <checking in very late after rather rubbishy day>

Snow, yes, well done, I would much rather be messing about in boats! But that's precisely why my little home is in such a state. What was I thinking of when I invited poor Ratty?!

Would I be right in thinking there's a spot of skulduggery involved in this business with your deceased uncle?

llandb, another hair sacrificer! I had no idea there were so many. Another clue, please.

CJ, I give in, I surrender! I am totally stumped, stumped, stumped. Sorry!

AIBU to think our great-aunt is completely potty?

Hi all, I am also still around but tied up with work (and a bit uninspired), so sorry I haven't been joining in.

Can't think of any more clues for my suffragette one. Except maybe to say that we are only schoolgirls, after all, and it should have been all right because my friend's mother was starring in the play and said she'd taken care of everything ...

Just popping in to say hello!
I'm totally uninspired at the moment,but glad to see you are all still here,will return to lurking now.

I need to think a bit more about these clues...

It turns out that Uncle Gordon's books were not completely fictional after all - this guy seems to know a lot of strange people.

Snow - is that a clue that Moomin' is striped and has a long, pointy nose?

Most puzzled by your strange man.

AIBU to wind up some young man who is shallow enough to go ga-ga over me just because I've had all my hair cut off?

Have a good day all

Hang Spring cleaning, Moomin - I'd rather be messing about on the river.

... And he turned up when the will was read as well!!! No manners, some people.

Hi Snow, I'd love another clue too, please.

llandb, couldn't you have dressed the chicken in yellow, dear, dear, maids these days!

...And I never even finished the spring cleaning!

Night all!

Hah, typo queen here - 'Amelia Bedleia' sounds a bit like 'Amelia Bedlam' - which is fair cop for our friend Amelia Bedelia

'Night All; it's been a long day of clutter reshuffling

<aargh, technically challenged again; own fault for having too many slow tabs open>

Well, Moomin', I wanted to but Mrs
Rogers just wouldn't tell me whether it was to be a girl chicken or a boy chicken.

Believe it or not, Amelia Bedleia is solely responsible for my thus-far life-long obssession with lemon meringue pie!

SW, I'm totally with you on the housework front (except, possibly, to make lemon meringue pie). I need another clue from you and from Moomin!

Sorry, Moomin, but I don't dooooo housework! Another clue please?

AIBU to think that that strange man should not have been at Uncle Gordon's funeral?

llandb, but did you dress the chicken?!

...I'm afraid I think I am BU. I haven't done the dusting and I haven't got anything in...

<Being chattered at by male person; can't focus, may as well give up! 'Night All >

Moomin', please, more clues!

Not planning on hitchhiking, though there is a good chance I will have to find another job if I'm sacked. It's not just changing the towels - I dusted the furniture and drew the drapes, too!

llandb, well done, you have hit the nail on the head! That was exactly the trouble with Granny Greengrass, she never could make up her mind and stick to it.

And at common shag declaration! But highly uncommon at the least I would say!

Now, were you planning on hitchhiking? If so, I'd say YANBU definitely.

AIBU to ask my friend to spend the night at my place?

WIBU to change the towels?

Well, Moomin, now you mention it, I never, ever thought the day would come when I'd actually publicly declare myself to be a common shag

I suppose that's bound to happen if your Granny can never make up her mind - perhaps she thought the grass was greener in the other size?

I nearly asked if you were the common cormorant or shag but it sounded a bit insulting!

...It was in the butcher's shop. She was showing him where to cut and changed her mind just as he was bringing the chopper down...

Poor Granny! This sounds most interesting; I shall have to read it. (Makes mental note to add many things from this thread to the tottering and dust-covered pile of never-finished stuff next to the bed)

Yes, to keep the lightening out. I think it sounds perfectly reasonable but I do wonder about those wandering bears who may come with buns ans steal the bags to hold the crumbs...

<off to feed neighbours' friendly little cats>

Ah, llandb the mud-bespattered, is it to keep the lightening out?

...It was my granny's finger. Well, until the accident it was...

<Gives muddy wave>

Doesn't know sufficient to answer about finger...

Meanwhile, can I break genre and ask, AIBU to lay my eggs inside a paper bag?

What a relief! Then I, Amy, shall marry my page boy and secretly wear the acorn necklace he made for me!

<off to pub now rain has stopped - There Will Be Mud >

Ooh, llandb, Is your full name Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne, but Amy for short? If so, page boys aren't always what they seem.

Only one of the Mennyms is blue. I think she must have run out of pink cotton!

Some of the Mr Men are blue too, aren't they? Mr Bump certainly is but despite the bandages, I don't think that's who you mean, Moomin'...

Me, I like being Ordinary and not having to behave like a Princess. Who cares if the princes who come to ask for my hand all turn tail and run when they see my snub nose and mousey hair? So I couldn't have them hire a dragon just so some rescuing prince would be forced to do the honourable nuptial thing by me.

My friend the page boy says he gets to meet a lot of princesses in his job and they're all dreadfully stuffy and he doesn't like them one bit. So I don't think I can tell him who I am! Sigh... I wish I could marry someone like him, instead of a horrible prince...

Morning all!

Sorry! I think I've tormented you with peculiar neighbours for long enough. It's "The Mennyms" by Sylvia Waugh, the first in a series about a family of life-sized rag dolls who come alive after their creator dies and are faced with the problem of trying to fit into a world where most people don't have glass eyes and cloth faces.

It's a bit reminiscent of "The Borrowers", is funny - think of having a daughter who stayed a teenager for over 40 years - and rather sad because they know they can't ever be human, they can only pretend.

Anyway, AIBU to wonder what happened to the finger?

Hello again! This is no good - getting nowhere here,and the only blue characters I can think of ,Moomin,are the smurfs - and they weren't really sinister...
<goes away again to think >

Oh, I am not feeling one bit inspired tonight!

I feel I really ought to know llandb's and I have got nowhere with CJ's, despite all the excellent clues.

So, llandb, wild stab, are you a Parrot Pirate Princess? And, whether you are or not, have a great party.

...And I saw the father walking home in a most peculiar fashion the other day. It really did look as though one of his feet was hanging off. But he didn't seem to be in pain...

Night all!

Oops - is that the time? 'Night, all - supposed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for DD's 'first party' (happens to coincide with being aged 11 1/2 months ) at pub (hey, it saves trying to get the house fit for visiting toddlers )

No - I ran away through the woods to the neighbouring kingdom and got a job as a serving wench. Good thing I'm so ordinary-looking; nobody guesses I'm a princess! And my new friend the page boy is sooo much nicer than all those stuffy princes they keep trying to get me to meet.

llandb, are you on a deserted island?

Ooh Polly a bucket and spade sounds fun! And <snigger, gasp> at you two, CJ and Moomin'

<goes away to look up who wrote me...>

No Babette Cole heroine, I'm afraid. Will have to investigate her though, by the look of it

I'm rather ordinary, which in my view is a fine thing. It's all thanks to that frazzled, cross fairy Godmother at my Christening...

Ooh Polly a bucket and spade sounds fun! And <snigger, gasp> at you two, CJ and Moomin'

<goes away to look up who wrote me...>

No Babette Cole heroine, I'm afraid. Will have to investigate her though, by the look of it

I'm rather ordinary, which in my view is a fine thing. It's all thanks to that frazzled, cross fairy Godmother at my Christening...

Evening all!

CJ, I am feeling so stupid on your one because I do think I may have come across it once upon a time but I still can't place it. Another clue please, if it's possible.

llandb, you are sounding very feisty! Are you a Babette Cole heroine? If not, you ought to be.

...There's a son. I've never seen him before but he now goes jogging in the dark. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with my eyesight but when I saw him in the light of a street lamp his face was blue...

And they seem to think I'm not marriageable. But I don't fancy those stuffed shirt princes anyway!