Thread 19 - TalkLair: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long"

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 18)

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

In the TalkLair, the fairy lights are festooned on the mantlepiece, the tree is twinkling with baubles, the mince pies are in the oven, the MN legendary chicken is ready to feed the hordes. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics. We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Having given it some thought, the chief suspect is a very old lady across the road, a (still formidable) ex-hospital matron who has our landline number and my mobile number. She has a mobile that she "never" uses, so doesn't give out the number. (This is bonkers as she rarely gets to the landline in time to answer calls, but I empathise with her loathing of the things.) She has both my numbers.

Another neighbour keeps a regular eye on her, but I drop in for a civilised chat, a moan and a laugh (she is extremely sharp and very funny) and am her second port of call very locally. Her lights have been off for the last few days, but I haven't been concerned as I've seen the other neighbour coming and going. If she's been in hospital he would know but wouldn't necessarily broadcast it.

I think there's probably just another "Gonners" in her contacts! Also, I'm not surprised that the text petered out and was then accidentally sent, or that she hasn't replied to me. Tonight her lights are back on, so I think I have identified the culprit!

I heartily recommend Moto’s parsnip stout, Bear. He was kind enough to send me some, and it was delicious. Don’t do what I did, and throw away the packaging, though…

I had a similar thing once with a message on Facebook. A woman in the US sent me a long message about maybe or maybe not attending a wedding. I replied saying 'You've got the wrong person' and that was it.

@PoppySeedBagelRedux I'm really looking forward to trying this stout and have been curious since moto first mentioned he makes stout out of parsnips. Wondering about the packaging...

All will be made clear! 😀Just hope the Xmas post is OK, you hear such horror stories. I'm still hoping for a couple of texts or WhatsApps to say, yes, your parcel arrived safely today. And glad you liked it, PSBR!

I look forward to sending it, moto!

Re the Great Text Mystery of yesterday, I got a reply this morning which says only "Sorry maybe it's my aunt Gonners". The lack of a comma makes it unclear whether s/he is addressing me, or has an aunt called Gonners, and I still have absolutely no idea who it's from. 😆 All together now ... in three-part harmony.

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

We had a surprisingly lovely NHS experience today - MrG had to have a CT scan and for reasons that escape me was given the option of two hospitals about 45 minutes away (in opposite directions) rather than the one 10 minutes away. They were great (** on edit, we picked the one with regular buses home) - we arrived early and were out of there nearly an hour before his appointment was even scheduled.

The best bit though was the cabbie. I always use the same minicab firm, entirely because their drivers are mostly "not from around here" <tuts like a local> and very happy to chat. Today's was a Libyan Berber, which is unusually exotic. The Foreign Office says "Don't even think of going there!" at which he laughed and said if you stick to the Berber regions you'll be fine. He then chatted about all the Greek/Roman stuff in the predominantly Berber areas. Frankly, the Libyan tourist office should be paying him, as he really sold it!

@moto748e the stout has arrived, thank you very much! We're both looking forward to trying it in a few days once it's settled and are curious to discover the flavour.

That was quick! glad it's arrived safely. I assume you've got the bottle out of the tube?
I just had the postie knock on the door with an enormous cardboard box, I thought what the hell is this, turned out to be a 25 kg sack of malt that I only ordered online a couple of days ago, thinking they'd deliver in the New Year.

Very fast! Yes, the bottle is unpacked and the contents are gently settling, then we'll put it in the fridge to chill. I'll return the tube after Christmas. Do you want the bottle as well?

We're also getting deliveries very quickly at the moment.

Don't worry about the bottle, Bear. I have many. 😀

Okay, thank you, we'll recycle it.

I just went into town for the last-minute shopping (loaf of bread). There's a police station on the high street with a big radio mast at the front, which is usually a perch for a flock of starlings. No starlings today because it was occupied by a pair of ravens!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5464243-she-stole-my-sherry-trifle?

Festive food rage There's also a smoked salmon thread.

Blimey, that's a bit off isn't it!

I saw a salmon thread where the woman was very anxious about certain salmon based items being bought by her husband. Last time I looked, he'd got the terrine.

That must be another salmon thread! The one I saw was about smoked salmon in Aldi and a dithering couple.

It was this one and she was very cross: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5463171-to-have-told-dp-to-get-off-his-fucking-arse-and-go-get-the-salmon-terrine

Arf! I saw both of those and laughed about the dithering couple in Aldi. This is not the time of year to dither in any shop, especially Aldi where it's every (wo)man for themself.

In MeMeMe news, whoever it was that sent the odd text replied to my query saying oh, sorry, they must have confused me with their Aunt Gonners. Obviously they failed to sign the message, so I still have no idea who it was or why they have my number. I suppose it could just be a typo. Still, it has provided a distraction.

I'm not a turkey person, so for Christmas dinner we're having Madhur Jaffrey's "dry" potatoes with ginger and garlic - food of the gods - and whatever chicken dish I feel like making. We also have endives in the fridge, so I'm looking at Indian recipes for that. Yum!

I would, however, like to offer you the best Christmas carol ever ... I grew up listening to this.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5463705-things-my-dh-has-found-to-do-while-we-are-trying-to-leave-for-christmas?

I started out seeing this thread as a funny-yet-infuriating read (and thinking there are an awful lot of spouses who would be under the patio if I were married to them). But by the time I got to the woman whose husband was too busy faffing around to call an ambulance for her broken leg...

Yeah, threads can go like like that. I read the first few posts on the Emma Thompson thread, and after a bit, it's just heart-breaking, and I count my blessings, and I don't want to read any more.

All that procrastinating and mucking about before setting off would drive me nuts. I can't stand that sort of thing. Our dad drummed it into us firmly that 'Punctuality is the courtesy of kings' and insisted on always being on time and, for me at any rate, it's stuck. I actually dumped my first boyfriend for always being late.

MrBint always has to go back and do a final check of windows and doors. But that only takes 2 minutes and he's usually ready half an hour ahead of time, so it's not a problem. I'd have left behind half the people described on that thread, and the ones who were faffing when they should have been calling ambulances ought to be prosecuted.

Half past two on xmas eve morning is not the best time to remember that the bin needed to go out. But it's a wonderfully peaceful time to go outside.

My wife is pretty bad at being on time, whereas I'm almost always bang on. It's just one of those things now, I long ago had to find a way of coping (it disturbs my aut lobe massively).