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Original poster

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

987 replies

Kucinghitam · 29/07/2023 22:48

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…

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

Continuation of previous threads (thread [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4789314-thread-7-talklair-in-fact-its-an-oblate-spheroid? 7]]). The new...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4823833-thread-8-talklair-brewing-russells-teapot?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
101
angelico53 · 06/09/2023 18:43

There are three kids books about Burglar Bill, catchphrase "I'll have that".

The book which is autobio from the 50s in Oldbury is:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boyhood-Burglar-Bill-AllanAhlberg/dp/B00GEG0UCC/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3S4PS6LFQ3E84&keywords=burglar+bill&qid=1694022101&sprefix=burglar%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-9

angelico53 · 06/09/2023 18:44

@duc748

What do you mean "while I still can?" Are you ok, old top?

duc748 · 06/09/2023 19:46

I'm fine, ta, @angelico53 . But realistically, I haven't got that many years of motorcycling ahead of me.

Gonners · 06/09/2023 21:39

I'm just dropping this here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4889479-my-children-were-invited-into-a-strangers-house-am-i-over-reacting

MrGon. 81, is a natural toddler-whisperer who can make even the most hysterical 2-year-old on the bus stop screaming and laugh from several rows back. Their mothers are generally grateful, though one or two have given him the evil eye. "Are you grooming my child?" But what made us laugh was the use of the word "elderly". Is this some new, pseudo-polite euphemism for "old"? We agreed we'd rather just be called old.

My children were invited into a strangers house! Am I over reacting? | Mumsnet

This is quite long but basically my children are 8&9 and have been playing out at the back of our house for a few months but know where they can a...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4889479-my-children-were-invited-into-a-strangers-house-am-i-over-reacting

MmePoppySeedDefage · 06/09/2023 21:49

I've only read a little of this yet, but it's a surprisingly robust bun fight so far:

National Trust AGM www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4887666-national-trust-agm

duc748 · 06/09/2023 22:09

@Gonners I read a bit of that thread. I thought there was a fair amount of judgeypants stuff going on and the OP WNBU. I've been described as old, to my knowledge, but never as elderly, God forbid, so far.

MouseMinge · 06/09/2023 22:49

I'm doing some ironing for a friend. I enjoy ironing - yes, I'm a freak - and she doesn't - to be fair I don't know anyone who does - so I offered to help her out. I'm very thankful that there is no rush to get it done because I managed four items today before I realised I was in danger of drowning in a bath of my own sweat! I'm going to do more tomorrow but sensibly wait until after sundown so it's cooler when I'm working with heat and stuff.

I did finish taking up the bottoms of a jumpsuit and managed to sew and then zig-zag the hems of both legs in about twenty minutes. I'm getting better and am ridiculously proud of myself. Oh, and when I was out for a drink with a couple of friends last night I forgot to mention that I bumped into one of the women from my sewing course. I was wearing the trousers I made and was so pleased to be able to show them to her. She was the only one of us who completed her garment before the end of the course.

I'm starting to have a funny feeling that I told you all about that last night. If so, please forgive me, brain wrong can make me a bore.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 06/09/2023 23:11

Don't think you did.

I'm.very impressed you made wearable trousers. I'm pretty good at sewing square things, but complicated shapes scare me.

Britinme · 06/09/2023 23:13

No you haven't told us that before @MouseMinge :-). It's lovely to hear how much enjoyment you've had from that sewing course.

I don't iron anything unless it's vital these days. Luckily here in Maine there is almost never an event where its essential to look totally smooth and groomed and I mainly live in jeans and t shirts.

Gonners · 06/09/2023 23:17

@MouseMinge I enjoy ironing - yes, I'm a freak - and she doesn't - to be fair I don't know anyone who does

I used to love ironing in my teens, because the deal was that I did the family ironing on a Sunday afternoon, unbothered by the parental units while listening to Pick of the Pops or maybe an afternoon play. However, I haven't owned an iron since 1999.

artant · 06/09/2023 23:44

I own an iron but can’t remember in which decade it was last used. I resent the cupboard space it occupies and really should get rid if it.

MouseMinge · 06/09/2023 23:55

I don't iron all the time because most things I own don't really need ironing but I like the sort of mindlessness/mindfulness of the repetitiveness of the task and I'll watch something on the television, listen to the radio/a podcast/music while I'm doing it. I've been doing a lot more ironing recently because when you're making a garment or altering one you iron almost as much as you sew!

Phew, that I wasn't repeating myself!

@Britinme it's one of the best things I've done for myself. I think one of the important things I took into it, though, was the realisation that it was okay to not be good at it to start with, that I would get better with practice. I know that I've had a tendency to give up on things when I'm not naturally good at them and I don't think I'm alone in that. I changed my thinking for this course because I've always been hugely interested in fashion and especially the history of fashion/costume and I knew that if I wanted to go anywhere practical with this passion of mine then I needed to accept my initial limitations and allow myself to learn and gradually get better.

Tricyrtis2022 · 07/09/2023 07:40

I don't iron unless something is really crumpled. Mr Tric's mum gave us our first and only iron in 1987 and it's usually somewhere in the cupboard where things like brooms and dusters and spiders live. A few years ago it went missing for a while and when I eventually found it, it was so covered in dust and cobwebs and general grime that I took pictures.

Thread 9 - TalkLair: “Russell's teapot goes on being round”
Thread 9 - TalkLair: “Russell's teapot goes on being round”
Thread 9 - TalkLair: “Russell's teapot goes on being round”
Original poster
Kucinghitam · 07/09/2023 07:49

Goodness @Tricyrtis2022 ShockWhat on earth is the cluster of things dangling from the web?

I too have an allergy to ironing, but unfortunately things like school shirts (even the "easy care" kind) do need occasional attention; however I have recently trained DDs to iron their own things and left it up to them to decide whether to go to school looking crumpled. DH does his own ironing of work shirts and such.

@MouseMinge I am deeply impressed by your sewing skills! I do own a sewing machine but only do the bare basics with it.

OP posts:
Tricyrtis2022 · 07/09/2023 07:58

What on earth is the cluster of things dangling from the web?

@Kucinghitam I never found out, it went into the garden and that's the last I saw of it. I should have gently pulled it apart to see what was inside but can't remember why I didn't.

MmePoppySeedDefage · 07/09/2023 09:07

That is hilariously dusty and cobwebby.

MiniPSB is in Germany on holiday at the moment. He's on his own, in the Bavarian Alps at the moment, and on Monday decided to climb a high mountain. No problem he thought- he's done climbing on climbing walls and on holiday in Cornwall, Germans like hiking and the routes are well marked. We found there are even restaurants at the top of (smaller) mountains when we were there 4 years ago.

Thing is, he decided to use an app that took him on a route that it said was do-able for someone with a bit of experience and turned out to be terrifying, but thankfully he made it. It shook him rather a lot.

Then in today's paper there was a story about a climber on the same mountain needing 8 mountain rescuers to get him down after being misled by an app. Mini thinks that climber may have been following the same route, using the same app, but going the opposite and even more terrifying way. Don't use apps in the Alps, kids. The article mentioned various earlier deaths thanks to such apps. Hopefully he'll now join an Alpine club and learn to walk before he runs.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 07/09/2023 09:26

Glad he's OK. Germany and Austria are both good for maintaining well-marked trails, with difficulty coding and distance to the nearest villages and alms. Leaning the codes and sticking to those is probably safer than an app. You just have to remember that the difficulty level is set for people who have grown up with those types of trails - so 'medium' or 'some experience' actually means 'quite a lot of experience, there's sections of scrambling, and don't even think about it without walking poles as a minimum'.

Original poster
Kucinghitam · 07/09/2023 09:50

Goodness @MmePoppySeedDefage that sounds utterly terrifying! I'm so glad MiniPSB is safe and well.

A few years ago, a former student of DH's was killed in similar circumstances. Left a partner and two young children.

OP posts:
duc748 · 07/09/2023 10:49

Things I Just Found Out About Today #115:

What yellow rock and grey rock mean. After reading the heart-breaking last few posts on the Trans Widows thread. Here is the reality of all the double-talk laid bare: I can't begin to imagine, that poor woman going to a school function, and the school being so 'supportive'. How to maintain your sanity and dignity, and raise your kids, in an environment like that?

Original poster
Kucinghitam · 07/09/2023 11:11

It's always a heart-breaking thread to read @duc748 and I always think TRSOH would love for it, and all the terrible stories on it, to disappear into the ether.

OP posts:
Britinme · 07/09/2023 12:37

I know what grey rock means but what's yellow rock?

When my first DH was alive and the DC were all in school, and all of them wore a clean shirt every day, I used to iron a minimum of 20 shirts a week plus anything I wore. Thank goodness that's all behind me now.

Britinme · 07/09/2023 13:01

Thanks @duc748 .

duc748 · 07/09/2023 13:21

In other news, I've been reading this long piece in the NS on the Exclusive Brethren and Plymouth Brethren. What charming bunch they are! But they have their supporters in Parliament; Caroline Nokes and others. IMO, we concede far too much to religions, all of 'em. We give them tax breaks, charitable status...

https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/audio-long-reads/2023/08/escaping-eden-life-after-the-plymouth-brethren