The Creme Egg Appreciation Society...memberships expire June 08

[debinaustria]

Good morning all you creme egg lovers ( and those weird ones amongst us who don't appreciate them)

Good luck for all the scans coming up this week, and next.

Crikey you lot have been busy, its taken me ages to read all todays posts.

Glad to hear everyone's scans are going well, I have my last on thursday and am getting excited already. I haven't eaten any creme eggs either but did polish off most of a pack of chedders today. Felt a bit sick afterwards though...

I subscribe to Which online so if anyone wants info about review, let me know

NH101 - have you tried organic food from www.northernharvest.co.uk? I've been very pleased with them although I tend to use them primarily for meat as I buy my fruit and veg locally. What is the local farm shop you mentioned?

You're very organised buying a car already. We have needed a new car for about 3 years (since before DD was born) and we still haven't done it. It takes YEARS (literally) to find an opportunity for DH to be available. We'll have to bite the bullet this time as there's no way we can fit 6 people into our car.

Deb - those prams look great. They all the features that are missing from my 3-wheeler and which I would like, especially the swivel front wheel and being able to face either direction. We have a double and a single already so don't know if I'll buy yet another.

Ernest - great news. You sound so happy!

Puddock- welcome. we have a lot in common, esp. sitting waiting (impatiently) for SPD referral. I'm in Bromley, 30, expecting my first (mc last June) and s/he is Clomid baby.....where are you based?

DH has agreed on the name! Am sworn to secrecy on what it is - except it is slightly bonkers, but I know she'll love it and that's what matters. And it even works for a boy too! Can't believe we are agreed - it suddenly came to me and now nothing else will do. Woo!
Right, time for shepherd's pie and the Daily Show. Night!

Welcome Puddock - I suppose we'll have to forgive you for not liking creme eggs as you're new, at least you're still a chocolate fan

Rolf - just out of interest which 3 wheeler did Which rate the best? Is the Maxi cosi car seat rated highly? And if so, which one? Thanks

Hello everyone - cant believe how many posts there have been today.

Ernest - that's great news about Munich. I actually love Italy (got married there) but I really didn't like Milan at all when I went. You're clearly much happier with Munich so big yay!

Interested to hear all the organic box chat - me and DH have been considering veg box for a while but have been a bit put off by cost and possibility of lots of waste (I'm a very fussy eater . I'd really like to look at it again once LO arrives though. Have switched my bottled water to local instead of French though .

Anyone any good experiences of eco-friendly washing powder etc? I've been battling on with ecover for quite a while but the wash performance at low temperatures is so poor I dont think I can carry when lo comes. I dont want to have to wash at higher temperatures but I want nice clean clothes!

CS - so glad you've picked a name; you're right to keep it secret though.

Re: the scan. It was super fab - we saw the LO hiccuping and yawning. However, it wouldn't sit nice for a profile pic, instead it just kept facing the 'probe' so we got some charming skeletal shots. Scary.

This is a very long post so I'll go for now!

Mental note - must stop overuse of the word 'though'. Dont know where I've picked that up from .

Can't believe the number of messages! Just to say thanks to everyone for their thoughts on maternity leave - very useful.

Just to second ChinaSurprise on the wonders of Freecycle - totally brilliant - you really can get and give free stuff (although all the baby things go so quickly that I never get in quick enough to bag them).

Had 20 week scan this morning which was amazing - apparently everything was in the right place - baby clapping its hands at one point (although turned to face my back just as we asked if we could have a photo...). My NHS Trust won't tell you the sex even if you want to know (something about certain communities in the area (Hertfordshire) aborting girls), so it'll be a surprise.

Good luck everyone else with the scans / creme egg fixations / B&Bs etc etc etc!

Glad your scan went well Wigeon.

How's everyone else this morning?

Hey Deb, I'm up, not sure I can claim to be awake though...

Up & grumpy I've realized our end of year March deadlines are very quickly approaching and if I don't stop visiting here I wont make them! So I've promised myself that I'll stay off here today.

Glad to hear everyone's good scan news!

Wigeon I just realsied you are quite near me maybe we'll bump into each other at the splas park ne day! I'm in wgc but as it's a different trust they told us the sex of the baby.

DP took our car in to be repaired today and am hoping it doesn't cost too much to fix, we've only had it since May and I have never woned a car before that. Hopefully the fault is covered by the warrenty but I imagine it's a fault from the wear and tear of dp's driving!

We get our veg from everybody organic, the girls manage to eat the fruit within about three days though it should last for a week. The veggies take longer to get through. When we lived in London there was a fantastic farmers market near our house every weekend and I really miss it as we don't have one within walking distance any more.

Never mind veg boxes you should try growing your own veg. We're currently eating parsnips, leeks and delicious winter salad from the garden. Plus we've still got potatoes, onions and butternut squash stored in the garage. It's cheap, it's fresh, it's organic and it's not been flown 1000's of miles. Have a go as some veg really are very easy!

China - I'm hoping I can graduate onto cardigans once I finish this blanket, bit of a beginner!

We are lucky as we have a fantastic organic farm shop about a mile away and handily on our way home. They grow their own produce and have some of their own cattle, and have a pretty full range of everything else (meat, dairy, tins, toiletries etc) sourced as locally as possible. They do a box scheme which costs £1 for the delivery but we haven't used it, prefer to pop in and have a browse! It's lovely going there as we are usually the only people in so we can take our time and usually spend about half an hour chatting to the owner, much more pleasant than a trip round Tescos!
It is more expensive so we have found that we have cut down on meat a lot and now have it as more of a treat and make it go further, but the meat from there is delicious compared to the supermarket stuff so it is worth it! (Right essay over now I should get to work!)

Josie - I have great plans for a veggie garden once we move, at the moment we just have a yard and I have grown a few things but there isn't really the space!

ktpie - your farm shop sounds lovely. We too have been converted recently to buying higher quality meat but using less of it. I wholeheartedly think this is the way to go as it tastes so much better and probably healthier as you use more fresh veg to balance the meal .

Good luck with your veg plot when you move, it's so lovely being able to pick stuff from the garden. I get a real buzz out of digging up a couple of parsnips for a casserole or roast. I was suprised at how easy most stuff is. Sure we've had a few disasters but we've had some real successes as well.

ktpie - I too sing the praises of the farm shops - it is lovely to be able to have a chat with people. I love our local grocers for the same reason. It's run by a family of Italians - the kids (now my age) have grown up in Bristol so they've got these really strong West Country accents and then turn round and talk to their dad in fluent Italian. They're all LOVELY and whenever there's a kid in the shop they always give them an apple. Bless.
The cardigans are not hard by the way - if you can manage cable you can manage anything imo.

morning

so jealous of being able to have a veg garden. Have a typically tiny London garden. am growing my own herbs and had good success with tomatos in grow bags, but would love to grow my own veg.

BTW those getting veg boxes, if you've got veg left over, it's really easy to just bung it all into a soup - great for weekends and cold winter nights when you can't be bothered to cook.

PS. Am also planning a veggie garden when we move - currently have a corner in a neighbour's garden, but this will be 10 times the size. Just hope we can get it sorted before the baby comes - at the mo we're planning to move mid-March, but who knows...

I am also jealous of all of you with gardens! We live in a second floor flat, and have had a little success with tomatoes in gro-bags, but that's about it due to the alck of space. Hopefully we will be able to get a place with a garden after Bug arrives

China - good luck with the move - at least you won't be able to lift anything and leave the heavy work to someone else. You can be in charge of directing - a much more important job.

Upsidedownegg - how do you get into copywriting? Could you do that from home? I'd really love to write from home - my dream would be to write features for the Daily Mail, you know the ones: "We made this stressed-out working mum of three live like they did in the 50s - with surprising results!"

Re the organic veg - unfortunately I haven't managed to get my bum in gear to buy locally but I know that is really the only way to do it and I promise I will do after I give up work! It is just so hard to fit everything in at the weekend (rubbish excuse!).

I used to get veg boxes delivered, from Abel and Cole and then Northern Harvest but found I was throwing a lot of stuff away because they would send like 10 parsnips etc and what are you supposed to do with them!! They used to just leave the box in the garden because I was at work which was OK but it wasn't ideal really. Especially when it rained!!

However, I feel enthused now so I think I will get a box delivered next week - I am eating loads more at the moment so might actually get through it all!

I'd love to have a veg garden. That's another thing I might do when I am free of the drudgery of full-time work (though if looking after twins is not a full-time job I don't know what is!)

Wigeon your scan story made my heart melt - clapping hands, how lovely!

We bought the Honda - got it for £11,500. They are £22,000 new and it is only 2 years old with 23,000 miles on the clock! Bargain.

Rolf - where do you live then? I'm in Formby near Southport. I have used Northern Harvest, found them cheaper than A&C, I was just throwing too much stuff away but am going to get a box next week and see if I can make it work now.

I give up work in eight weeks (or six if I need to have the last two weeks off sick!) so there'll be no excuse then!

We had an excess of parsnips - besides parsnip soup, parsnip and butternut soup, roasted parsnips, we made parsnip cake - carrot cake but with parsnips instead. It was really nice (not as sweet). But I agree, by the end of the season, we were completely parsnipped out.

Oh its all a bit veg-box-tastic on here today. Me and DH really should look into it a bit more. Do go to the farmers market occasionally - lots of great meat but a bit poor on the fruit and veg. Last time we did get some salad leaves but I think if we pulled some grass out of the garden and ate that it would have been tastier .

Having a bit of a rubbish day today - the whole world is out to get me I think? Annoying internal clients, software providers who cant fix problems and PITA sales calls. Oh and a minor spat with my sister (now resolved).

Am dreaming of a nice long hot summer hanging out in the park with baby. (Dont spoil it for me by reminding me of the reality girls!).