Riders on the Corn - 10 / 10 thread

[FrannyandZooey]

For anyone who wants a boost to their general health. The suggested goals are:

EAT 10 PORTIONS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES EVERY DAY - if you don't usually eat much fruit and veg I would build up gradually or you could upset your digestion.

DO (AT LEAST) 10 MINUTES OF EXERCISE EVERY DAY - can be yoga, stretching or something more energetic. The plan is that the idea of doing 10 minutes is not too daunting, and having started you may well find you want to do more.

There are no restrictions on what you eat so long as you get your 10 fruit and veg as well. The focus is not on weight loss but on improving our energy levels and hopefully our general mood and well-being. Sign up below and post here to tell us how you're getting on and how you are feeling.

Basic guidance on what constitutes a portion of fruit and veg here and you can download more detailed information by following the link at the very bottom of the page

oh avi. good luck

sympathies about present dilemma. I am dashing so shall say more later.

Apple, banana, veg bread with cucumber, apple juice. 4ish. I am making lentil and mushroom roast with yellow courgette sauce for dinner

Hello all

Good luck Avi, hope it's not too rough. I will absolutely text if there is anything to report

TF I feel your pain wrt presents... Very encouraged to hear that your ILs have finally got the message about it though. There is hope for us all! How are you feeling now btw?

Ds has also 'decorated' a chair in the past... luckily it was the dark plastic bit on the back of the computer chair. He said something along the lines of, "I'm just making it all shiny and colourful for you mummy"

Bero, your dinner sounds delish!!

Am sending dry, non-windy vibes to Avi.

Birthday presents are a nightmare. Tesco own brand are particularly shite, ds2 was given a remote control car once which just didn't work. And endless variations on the batman figure with badly-fitting accessories. And novelty squashy balls full of toxic waste or something.

I only found that playmobil thread today Franny, your one about a hot pineapple made me rofl!

Well we must be lucky, as we've only ever received nice presents that the dc's have loved though I expect a lot of it was plastic. We do have quite a lot of plastic anyway, alongside the nicer things.

I think I would just say no presents if I didn't want to leave it to chance. I would find it very hard to specify what kinds of presents people could choose. That's almost wedding list territory.

UR - How long have your family been there? There was a family reuinion as we were leaving, could it have been them?

I just bought a superfood salad from boots to have with sushi and it was absolutely delicious. It had broccoli and soy beans and shoots in it with a soy and lime dressing. 42 calories!! That leaves room for cake.

Although my dad used to buy mountains of rubbish like teddy bears holding (rank) chocolates and things. That was really annoying but I don't see him at all any more so that solves that problem.

You realize Ms Franny that I have to titptoe in here while at work at the moment, just to have a little cluck

Presents - DS got some really quite nice ones for his last birthday. POssibly plastic but things like magnetix and meccano.

It's step-MIL that brings the really awful stuff. I have had to hide the dreadful monster thing she brought DS whehn they came, it was grotesque and frightening.

Hopefully DS will forget about it soon and then I can dispose of it.

The worst present this year was a Hannah Montana sing along head set and microphone. I don't even know what that means. Luckily dd's don't either, we all pressed the buttons and listened to the horrible noise and then buried it in the toybox.

Last years was a nail extension set - for a five year old - fake nails and varnish and stickers. Funnily I have no idea what happened to that. [innocent]

Interesting about presents - our friends tend to be SOOO careful and tasteful, almost embarrassingly so
I mean ds got only the most beautiful presents all to do with collecting wild flowers and growing organic vegetables and identifying beetles and so on

my ILs are the shockers - MIL will turn up literally with 20 bits of shit (from Tesco's as you say seems to be the worst) and about half of them will not work at all or be broken the same day
she spends a fortune, I really want to weep, but of course it is entirely up to them

my SIL on the other hand buys LARGE pieces of plastic tat such as those learning toys with lots of lights and music on, and ds LOVES those, bah humbug

do you think people just buy what their own children like though?

and if you knew a child was into Bratz or whatever, would you buy them something connected or go for a craft/wooden/unusual thing that you may buy for a more like minded family?

I don't mean you, Boco, just generally.

am going to midwife
then gym
nothing doing on the baby front
and I would think by now I look pregnant from about 100 miles away never mind the back

I would always attempt to buy something that they would like, and not inflict flower presses on Bratz lovers, but I wouldn't buy actual Bratz
I often get books - dull but nice and can be swopped

yes, books are general all round pleasers aren't they? We take a lot of books, well, one at a time, you know what I mean.

yes, books are general all round pleasers aren't they? We take a lot of books, well, one at a time, you know what I mean.

I can't buy Bratz. I buy a lot of arty stuff, that tends to go down well, but not those shit kits where you paint a bit of tat, and on the box it's a cat or a dog - and they give you red, blue and green to paint it with, and it looks stupid and then you've got stupid ugly hand painted tat which is harder to throw away.

Franny, you, um, don't look pregnant from space?

I have a couple of friends who loathe being given art and craft stuff, especially those kits where you have to help a bit like the peg dolls. They put those ones in a box to give out as presents.

Boco - dresses, I keep forgetting. Shall I send them or are you coming in at all?

Maybe in about 3 weeksish - came in this Saturday - was Lord Mayors thing - were you still in tranquil beach? Was madness.

If it's expensive to post then I will try to get to you in a few weeks.

No, don't worry, I'll post them then. We went to the procession but from this end where they are queueing up to begin on Newmarket road. You watch one side go then the other and there are lot's of sweets and flowers and goody bags and things. Mainly it is nice as there is plenty of room to stand at the front.

We thought about going up for the music but we were too tired from camping.

Yes yes books are good I love books. They are a sensible size and easy to stack or shelve and they are not noisy unless you want them to be. They can be worthy or silly or earnest or educational or whatever you want. Utterly fab.

DH is not bookish at all and fails to understand my book fetish. When I complained yesterday that dd hardly got any books he said "Well people don't usually buy books for presents do they?". So now I am paranoid that a book is a shit present when I know it isn't.

I don't mind plastic toys per se. It's just when we end up with 7 or 8 virtually identical things each with assorted nonsense attached that I shudder. DD loves her dolls and her ponies but she doesn't need (counts) 8 barbie/bratz/disney dolls and (counts again) 7 farking ponies. hey ho. She had a lovely time at her party and more fun unwrapping everything so that's the main thing [grudging ].

We missed all of it, we couldn't get back out of Norwich because all the roads were being closed and there were people everywhere! [bumpkin not left the village for weeks emoticon] My sister took the girls to the fair in chapelfield gardens and they loved it, but when we got there dp nearly had a convulsion at all the noise and rides and people so we went home. I think we need to get out more. We waved at the end of your road as we went past.

rofl at the idea of a hannha montana singalong thing. Sounds absolutely nightmarish!

Oh Avi, you are very brave doing a boat crossing to camp in such awful weather.

Sorry for all plastic tat - it's a tricky one, isn't it? I'm always very grateful that people buy DS things, despite my telling them they really don't need to, yet I am always bothered by the amount of rubbish he gets. A book list is a goo idea. I don't know if there is a polite way to say 'No plastic Tat, thanks.' I always say no gifts but people ignore it. I do think books or arty things are best.

Boco I do. I do look pregnant from space

midwife has agreed to have a rummage if nothing has happened next Monday. She told me to do more hand rubbing - I am doing hand rubbing. I can't do MORE hand rubbing. Not while I look pregnant from space.

oh
lunch
v nice actually
rocket spinach and watercress, tomato, cuc, pepper salad
with rice salad and egg mayonnaise and black eyed beans and avocado
ds and I made it together

I understand that the prostaglandins in semen are more effective if ingested

[sniggers childishly]