Thread 8 - TalkLair: “Brewing Russell's teapot”

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous threads (thread 7).

The new lair of JTT escapees is all cosy and homey; we have truly settled here. Outside, the garden is blooming with spring flowers. Inside, the hearth is glowing, pictures are up on the walls, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

We are forecast rain all week, but since the smoke from the wildfires in Quebec is supposed to be making its way down here, that might be a good thing on the whole.

I really don't like hot humid weather and this last week or so has been hard work. Had to go into town earlier so used a brolly as a sunshade and noticed that no one else was doing the same. Felt a bit odd.

We've been having intermittent heavy rain, since 3pm, with some thunder. It's cooled down, but the house is still clammy, I have lots of windows and the back door open.

I just love to be brown, makes me look slimmer and healthier. I devote a lot of time and attention to getting all of me brown, those tricky bits on my sides and underarms/backs of arms. It’s hard bloody work, I use the kitchen timer to do 15 minutes on each side, which is about all I can bear, what with all the uncomfortable contortions to expose the white bits to the sun. And the fucking horseflies don’t help.

I try to stay out of the sun, as I get too hot and feel unwell.

I have very fair skin and burn horribly - moreover I just go an unattractive shade of red and then go white again so I don't even tan, so I just avoid sunbathing altogether.

Once when my youngest dc was about six he went away with his best friend and family for a weekend in their caravan on the south coast. Friend and family were all olive skinned types, and dc has skin like mine. Friend's mum slathered them with sun cream but less than factor 10. She claimed they were only on the beach without their tops on for an hour or so, but when he came back he had an enormous blister across his back and I had to take him to the hospital to have it treated and dressed. Friend's mum was mortified and I wasn't best pleased either.

@Kucinghitam - I think the interview was with some BBC bod? But yes, an absolute car-crash.

That may have been it - James Clayton, the BBC's Tech reporter. I thought I heard it (possibly re-broadcast) on The News Agents podcast, though.

Elderberry, my room faces the sunrise which is currently at 04:38. The horror!

When I was at school, my “work experience” week was spent in the local geriatric day hospital. They had a gizmo that I’m SURE must have long since been banned for unhygienicness as I’ve never seen another in the last 44 years - a “wax bath” for arthritic joints, like a large rectangular glass fish tank containing and melting/warming lovely wax. Obviously the best bit was peeling off all the dried wax, but lying in the sun for me is like lying in a whole-body-sized wax bath.

I tan easily but have burnt twice in my life - once at the Dead Sea and once in Brixham, you burn much quicker by the sea, and the sea breezes fool you into thinking it’s not as hot, in my experience anyway.

Just self-identify as Malaysian, it's what we do to protect ourselves from the fierce equatorial sun! (DH found it hilarious when he first visited Malaysia, took a photo of me and my mum sheltering under a brolly in the blazing sun, to show his family).

It’s crazy windy here but it’s lovely sitting in the shade on the patio where the wind feels more like a welcome breeze. The washing line is rotating madly though and a few things have escaped (so far only to the ground but it’s only a matter of time before something heads into a neighbouring garden).

Kuc, it was in Taiwan that I learned how useful a brolly is when it's not raining. They make a huge difference.

I'm olive skinned but have burned in the past. The most recent was in March 2017 when working outside. The sun was unexpectedly hot that day and we all burned a bit and got mild sunstroke. Like SinnerBoy, I also get too hot and feel unwell. I went through a phase of being convinced I'd be found dead in someone's garden, having collapsed in the heat, so now I reschedule my work on very hot days.

It's now cooler outside than in, so all the curtains and windows have been opened and there's a pleasant breeze blowing in.

Oh yes, forgot. This thread made me laugh earlier: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4835041-oh-my-lord-i-am-mortified?page=1

Heh! I read that too! I bought two mattresses when I moved in here, and now realise that those with a built-in mattress topper are a bad idea; you can't turn them over.

I’d love a new mattress on our bed but macman had to take the ceiling down and floorboards up to get our last one upstairs, it’s such a pain. Small cottages and big beds are a problem.

We got a mattress that can be turned for that very reason, duc. They're not so easy to find these days. The mattress topper is quite thick but it sounds like stuff gets through anyway.

This made me laugh too:

Blimey, Mavis, that sounds like a massive pain.

You need to get one of the vacuum packed mattresses next time, Mavis. They roll up surprisingly small.

I love heat, but not sun - I burn [1] and then freckle. But I've always been a fan of parasols and hats, despite having only been Malaysian for less than 10 minutes when a couple of days old. Clearly it's a powerful aspect of the culture.

[1] Record for most ridiculous burning was early April, 7 am, in the UK, in the time it took to eat my breakfast of 1 piece of toast.

Yes, I’ll be looking at those vacuum-packed mattresses, any recommendations? Emma seems the most well-known brand. Still have to get the old one out, although I suppose now it’s so old it will fold in two to get it down the stairs.

I still haven't got round to buying a new bed and am grateful for the advice to look for a mattress I can turn. it's wouldn't have occurred to me.

@Mavis - if it's going to the dump anyway maybe you could just take a chainsaw to it?

I was hoping they’d collect the old one when they deliver the new one, sure I’ve read some companies do that as standard.

We had an Emma - it was pretty good. But Angelica needs a lot of support cos of RA and we have always ended up with the most expensive ones, what's that brand ... googles ...Tempur. They really are good and we've not needed a mattress topper with it. We can turn it quite easily and vacuum it.

I'm lucky that I live by the sea so it has to be mad humid for it to be humid here, I have been absolutely loving the heat and the breeze. I have to be careful though because I have the Irish whiteness which is only slightly less white than the Scottish whiteness which is so white it's blue. I burn very, very easily. The nice thing is that I have freckles and I get loads more of them in the sun and I love freckles. They're the best. I've fake tanned my legs this week because I really don't mind being pale and uninteresting but sometimes it's nice to have legs that don't glow in the dark. Dove mousse is great although your feet always end up more brown than the rest of your legs.

I've just spent a lovely hour and a bit watching Yusuf/Cat Stevens doing Glastonbury. His last song was Father and Son and out of nowhere it made me cry. It was a wonderful set and oh my days he is a total silver fox. He's just beautiful and his voice is still as good as it was more than forty years ago.