So when the UK sleeps, we know you other MNers are out there part II

[tadjennyp]

I was looking for thumbwitch's recipe for that cake and found the old thread has disappeared so Linzer and I thought we'd resurrect it!

I am still here - just marking my place and will catch up soon. :)

An earthquake, stranded?! Jeez just what you don't need.

frakkin - only a small one. But dh also heard they were "keeping any eye" on the volcano. Ha ha ha. I really think this place is getting a bit creepy for my liking! Roll on December 19th (the day we leave).

oo stranded - home just in time for Christmas! Are you taking pressies back with you or doing last minute shopping when you get home?

Climber - glad your grad student is showing himself up to be an arse - it does help when you know it's not just you.

GLuhwein is lush - last winter we were in England, the German market came to a nearby town and they were selling hot Gluhwein in cutesy little mugs - if you paid enough, you got to keep the mug too. Not enough snow in the UK to make it exactly right but it does help with the general atmosphere!

I can't eat bought Stollen, Lebkuchen etc. any more because of wheat intolerance (boo!). There is a warehouse nearish to us that imports a lot of European food, mostly north European, and it was full of Stollen, Lebkuchen and all sorts of yummy verboten stuff :( - but no Lubecker Marzipan. However, one of DH's colleagues is originally from Lubeck and I'm kind of hoping he might remember my heavily dropped hint about how much I love it and there really is no decent alternative etc. etc.

On the upside though - Nairns have just started doing an oat biscuit with chocolate chips! And the warehouse stock it! Hurrah! Still waiting for G&B chocolate ice cream to make it into the local supermarket (I'm doing ok so far, the milk and almond G&B was a major breakthrough) and some smoked mackerel to appear anywhere and I'll be happy. Well, relatively. :)

Stop talking about food! I'm really hungry this morning (perhaps because I was trying to be good and had plain yoghurt and banana for breakfast and all it's done is left me starving).

We've ordered the dd's main presents (a bike each) online to be sent to a friend's house to be picked up by us santa when we get home. But otherwise I think it will be mainly last minute shopping. Thank goodness supermarkets stay open late!

No idea what to get dh. Probably a bottle of champagne, maybe some yummy food that we haven't been able to get here. And something warm to wear?

Anyone got any ideas?

stranded - you need to add more protein into your breakfast - get some of your favourite nuts, bash 'em with a rolling pin and have with the yoghurt and banana. Tastes great and you'll feel fuller for ages longer. A cupped handful is how many you need.

YOu could always order your DH a Fortnum and Mason hamper with all sorts of treats in!

Just went and had a nosey at the AIBU thread you were on and accidentally resurrected it - hope nothing else kicks off on it!

I quite like AIBU but I choose not to engage with contentious posters who I know I do not get on with. They appear to know me as well and apparently feel the same.

Nuts is a good idea but they are so expensive here. Will do it when I get home. I love madacemias and pecans. In fact I love all nuts! I would do things like eggs but a) no time to cook and b) don't want to use any more crockery, cutlery etc than necessary as trying to keep washing to a minimum due to still having no piped water (although it is raining so hard today I could just stick it all outside to wash!).

Naughty you for resurecting the AIBU thread. Will just go and make sure no-one is accusing my dh of having sinister motives again.....

what about coconuts? Are they grown locally? [complete ignorance about local produce emoticon].
If you like coconut, that would work really well!

I could add dried coconut but I think it's very fattening and I am trying not to put on too much weight at the moment but failing dismally due to total boredom of my life at the moment so eating is my one comfort.

I usually pick the dried coconut out of my muesli as it's like eating cardboard. I'm not keen on nuts either (unless it's the unhealthy roasted and salted kind), but I do like almonds in my muesli. Oh, and pecans too but you hardly ever see them here.

stranded I've decided to get DH a GPS system for Christmas. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have no sense of direction and it would be a godsend for me too. My first choice of Christmas present for him was a Lego medieval village, but he went out and bought himself one a few weeks ago so I've now banned him from spending more than 10 euros on himself before Christmas.

There has been far too much talk of Glühwein on this thread recently; I'm going to have to look in the cellar to see if we have any left over from last year. The "Advent mile" opens in town tomorrow, so it's definitely Glühwein time here .

I had my stitches out today and got the results of my biopsy; there were atypical cells in the mole, so the dermatologist said it's a good thing that it's been removed. Have you had your results yet, jenny?

Those were exactly my results last year Linzer. I haven't heard back this time round so I'm presuming that no news is good news. Glad they got rid of it. Going to have to scrabble around in the garage as the wind storm last night has blown out the pilot light in the water heater and I have no hot water. Had to have a cold shower while it was snowing!

So there is no follow-up required, Linzer? It's just "good thing it's gone"? That's great news and good job you had it removed.
I still have to wait for MIL to return from her holiday so she can book me an appt with her skin specialist - his books are technically closed except for family of current patients so she has to wheedle me in. He's very good, apparently.

I don't do dried coconut strips either - just wondered whether coconuts were grown in your area or not? Probably getting confused. Then you could have added fresh coconut.

thumbwitch - lots of coconuts grown but it's pretty damn hard to get hold of coconut meat. Mostly, the use them for coconut water which is meant to be incredibly healthy but I personally thinks tastes rank. Even with rum!

Loads more flooding here today. Had to pick the dd's up early from school. Just hoping the school will be open tomorrow, there may be more rain overnight.

Jenny - I agree with your dermatologist - tis a good thing you had that mole removed. I wish they took things more seriously in the UK. When I got back after living in Jamaica and asked for my moles to be checked they all thought I was being paranoid. I have loads of moles but also middling skin - certainly not fair (although my eyes are blue). I don't burn that easily.

I like the idea of the medieval lego!!!

Does your derm want you to be checked every 6 months Linzer? Mine does and noticed that another one had changed but was quite small and wanted to wait till after the pregnancy to check it out again. I'm quite glad they are overly cautious. The one on my head was just because it had been caught and was inflamed (at least I hope that's what they wrote on the insurance claim )

I also like the idea of medieval lego!

jenny Yes, she said to go back in 6 months because I'm quite young to have a mole with atypical cells; she's also quite cautious (as am I) because my mum had a malignant melanoma. I'm just relieved we're here and not in the UK, where I'd never have even been aware of that particular mole. Am also quite impressed with how high-tech it is here; they look at the moles under ultraviolet light and take photos of any unusual looking ones to keep an eye on them. A friend of mine was telling me yesterday that the Irish method of keeping track of moles used to be to draw round them with tracing paper!

stranded Earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding... I'm not surprised you're counting the days!

thumb No, no follow-up; I just have to have another check-up in 6 months. The dermatologist said that atypical doesn't mean malignant, I think it's just that atypical cells are more likely to become malignant, so I assume they got everything out as the cells wouldn't have spread beyond the mole.

Wow, that does sound hi-tech. My derm's method is visual only but she does seem to remember them. It is a worry, especially as the summers here are hot and I forget my own sunscreen in a rush to get the kids sorted. Dh is in Regensburg at the moment. I hope he gets some time to go shopping for me! Does anyone have any nice plans for the weekend?

How long is your DH away for, jenny? Hope you're getting on OK on your own.

We're going to the Anglican church's annual Advent market in Vienna tomorrow, which I'm really looking forward to. It's a good opportunity to stock up on books, have my first mince pie of the year, spend too much money on the tombola and for the DC to have their photo taken with Father Christmas. It's a huge event and is when I usually start getting into the Christmas spirit (although mid-November is a little early for my liking; it never used to be held until early December).

tadjenny - yes I always forget my own sunscreen in favour of DS's as well. Got a bit red last Sunday because we were swimming and stayed out beyond 10:30, something I will have to be much more rigid about in future. I think we need a pool clock...

DS had his photos taken with Father Christmas earlier this week - hurrah! Can send them out with Christmas cards now.

Linzer - Austrians don't have a big thing for St Nicholas' day then? Isn't that the 6th December? I'm pretty sure in Belgium and Holland taht they get quite militant about observing that before Christmas gets a look in.

That sounds great! Both the pool and the Advent Market! Dh is back 2 days after Thanksgiving. I have no idea what to do that day as everything will be closed!

sounds like there's some good stuff for everyone to look forward too

Can't remember if I answered you stranded I'm in California. Arsey grad student is a different person to the climbing partner. Met him today we seem at the same level and got on well. He's also a grad student, but has been for 8 years. He's a few years older with three kids, so our priorities should be the same.

I've been playing around with photos and trying to put a video together for GPs xmas pressies. Picaso has a new feature where it keeps the face in the same place which is handy as that was what I had in mind.

hope all are well

thumb Austrians do celebrate St Nicholas' Day, but it's not such a big thing as in the Netherlands and Belgium - he just brings a small bag of sweets, chocolates and nuts (you can also leave your shoe out for him overnight). It's Easter that's on a scale with Christmas here, at least presents-wise (though I find it a bit strange that, considering the number of other religious holidays we have, Good Friday isn't a bank holiday).

You have just reminded me that there is a positive side to the Advent market being held so early; we get the photos of the DC with Father Christmas earlier, so I have no excuse for being late with my cards this year!

It's pouring with rain here today, so I think our plans to go out ice skating this afternoon may have to be put on hold. Have just been to the hairdresser's but luckily I managed to find an umbrella in the back of the car; otherwise I needn't have bothered getting my hair dried.

Oh God Christmas cards ugh. We will be arriving home 20th December so won't expect ro receieve many - possibly any. I can't decide whether to send any. I just feel I will have enough on my plate. Do you think people will understand? I would really have to do them this week to get them out in time. It poured with rain again in the night so I wouldn't be suprised if there were more problems. All the public schools are closed but ours is run as a business (although they don't like admitting it!) so will hopefully be open.

I am very at all the talk of advent markets and the like. There is no Christmas spirit here at ALL (understandably). They do have a father Christmas nearer to the day itself in the "mall" so you get the novelty of meeting a black father Christmas. Luckily I don't think the dd's know that Norwegians (or wherever he comes from) are usually white. In fact, luckily, skin colour doesn't seem to be an issue for them at all. When dd1 makes her (usually black) friend's "mii's" on the Wii she just goes for the same sort of bland pale skin colour every time. It's quite interesting.

He's from Lapland, isn't he? Or is that just where he lives? St Nick was Turkish, I think or perhaps I have that wrong might have to look it up - no, he was Greek. St Nicholas of Myra. And possibly a dusky hue - so any colour is fine, IMO (bit like Jesus, hey).

stranded - if you can bear it, I would send them now - because it will also alert people that you are coming home and to which address and when. I made certain I was early with mine (for the one and only time, probably!) last year because there were people who didn't know I'd moved to Australia.

You are probably right although I would have to buy some first! I don't usually put mail in the local post as it's not massively reliable. We use the diplomatic bag but that can take a while too. Anyway will try and find some cards if I can ever get to the shops (will need to build an Ark first).

I don't do cards (sometimes I get DH one, but only about one event a year so it's a surprise to him)