Thread 9 - TalkLair: “Russell's teapot goes on being round”

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous threads (thread 8).

The new lair of JTT escapees is all cosy and homey; we have truly settled here. Outside, the garden is blooming with summer flowers - should bloody well be, what with all that rain. 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…

I was always a night owl, even when I had horses (who don’t appreciate lie-ins) and worked early shifts as a nurse. Since retiring I can fully indulge in never-grown-out-of teenage sleeping patterns. When I was working I’d sometimes/often look at the clock and decide there was no point going to bed for just a couple of hours, so stay up all night and work all day without any sleep.

Occasionally I can't sleep and go through a whole night but I feel jetlagged all day and the following night I sleep really well.

Most of the day at work I didn’t even notice or remember I’d had no sleep, but around lunchtime I’d suffer a bit of a lag and vow to go to bed as soon as I got home (but never did).

I used to sleep late but since I moved that's rare. I wake up or the cats wake me up and I feed them. Sometimes I nap but mostly I just go about my business and then end up having one biggish sleep a week. I sort of wish I was normal but ultimately I like the nighttime hours best. On my dad's side of the family we're all night owls. Visiting Ireland as an adult I was with my people. It was great.

I work best in the small hours. I sometimes pull all-nighters for assignments when I’ve procrastinated into the danger zone. No noise, no risk of being bothered by anyone. Only problem is that I feel horrendous the next day, especially when I’m woken up at 8am by a leaf blower or a tradesman on his phone outside my window. Kasper, on thé other hand, is surprisingly good when I need to sleep in.

Ah, my Dad’s the same, maybe it’s inherited. When I drive the 5 hour journey to visit him, I can go late at night when there’s no traffic, because he’s always still up when I arrive after midnight. He sleeps till 10am, and at 86 never even has to get up for a wee! God, I hope I got his amazing genes and not just his night owlishness and asparagus-wee-sniffing ability.

That was to Mouse, in case Cyan’s confused.

Another night owl here - my normal time for going to sleep has always been after 1 am.

Definite night owl here. Just put the washing on and now heading to bed.

I usually go up at about 04.00, but my sciaticky leg (foot) is spasming in a hideous twisted painful uncontrollable way and it’s even worse in bed for some reason. I’ve lived in the kitchen chair for the last 18 months, but just watched 3 hours of recorded TV* from the sofa and that’s what done it.

*The final of Sewing Bee, the first episode of Pottery Throwdown (from months ago!) and finally the really excellent ITV documentary on the Tavistock GIDS “The Clinic”.

In fact now I’m back in my chair my foot has stopped spasming. Yay!

Now I’m wondering whether there’s a series of the Great Pottery Throwdown I haven’t watched. I don’t think there is but who knows?! I’m definitely all up to date with Sewing Bee though.

Struggling to post tonight, keeps leaving my username box blank and telling me to enter one, but the Throw Down was shown months ago, I recorded it but never got round to watching it (because of the leg thing). I love it and Sewing Bee and Bake Off and The Repair Shop so much - lovely talented people making (or repairing) wonderful things. No nastiness anywhere, just lovely loveliness. Great for reminding me most people are good and nice.

MavisMcMinty · 30/07/2023 14:26

Ah, thanks Bint! I used to hunt for and uproot ragwort - usually just a couple of tiny plants each year - when we had horses, but I must admit I don’t bother these days, I really should.

Please don't, unless it's in a stock or horse field. As noted, cinnabar moth caterpillars eat it - and nothing else an the moth is in decline.

Two years ago, my daughter found a caterpillar on the road and I showed her what lived on and I said that I'd show her what they turn into.

Well, last weekend, we saw two, with nothing in between. I used to see them all the time.

Asmaa's dress in the final was insanely good!

I had an unusual one last night. I decided to sleep at about 1am and was asleep within about fifteen minutes. It would have been sooner but Francis decided that it was important that I stroke and cooch him while he chirruped until he could find his comfortable place and sleep himself. He never used to wake me up but now I'm woken by him chattering and patting me on the shoulder or a cheek. Django screeches me awake although he's not returned home yet this morning despite me calling him for breakfast over an hour ago.

Anyway, I had nearly eight hours sleep and feel drugged.

I did a name change for another thread and then forgot to use this name for a fwr thread and now I'm stuck with it until the thread fills up.

“Asmaa's dress in the final was insanely good!”

It really was. It was a beautiful dress anyway but the swooshing reveal was astonishing!

What an amazing woman! I bet her patients all love her.

I know! I'd love to be her patient, although obviously I wouldn't really love to be her patient because she's an oncologist.

Having been away for several weeks, house all locked up, curtains closed etc, I assumed Cat Burglar would have given up on us and moved on to find other soft touches in the neighbourhood. Or preferably settled back with her own household as their building work must be nearing completion.

Not a bit of it. We're on our first morning back, DH and I woke up at 4am (combination of jetlag plus torrential rain), staggered down to the kitchen to make tea. About 5 minutes after we'd put the kitchen light on, the SHOUTING at our back door started. Yup, there was CB sitting on the back doorstep, completely drenched and she marched in: "Where have you been all this time? Give me fusses! More fusses to make up!"

Awwwww, kuc! She missed you!

CB must have been stalking our house 24/7 for weeks!

Anyway. What's with this cold wet weather, then? Our lawn is about a foot high but we're not going out in this rain to cut it and the little push mower wouldn't manage anyway; if we get a dry couple of hours we might attack the worst of it with shears. DH is seriously talking about lighting the log burner!

It's 14° here, with heavy rain expected. We should finally be collecting my daughter's bike this afternoon and she wants a go on it, as she can't actually ride one. I can't see her wanting to be out in a deluge...

We had 250% of the average July rainfall last month (and another 14mm last night).

Yeah, British summer has gone on its own holiday. This is not acceptable. CB (my initials!) missed you!

I've been reading the weather threads e.g. this one.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4861820-i-am-so-sick-of-this-weather-moan-thread?

You know the weather is indisputably crap when the "die of heatstroke above 12°C, love raincoats & wellies & puddles, cosy-hot-chocolate-blanket-snuggles" cohort is in the minority.

Today's task is getting the post-holiday laundry dry when we can't hang anything outside. I'm going for a combination of dehumidifier and desktop fan.