West London chat winter & beyond

[tillyfernackerpants]

Hadn't realised we were so close to filling up the last thread, hope you all find it!!

copper crocus doing fine have been poking out for a while now

westwing I miss the sea, as for stargazing can barely see the sky where I am
good luck with the birthday party, I can't do them at home without a garden

had guest over this morning which I did know about and had not prepared for, perhaps I should be more relaxed about such things but it really bothered me

not just one guest it was 3 of them

Copper - it was a bright yellow dot moving west seen clearly between the sun and jupiter in a kind of smooth but shimmering motion. Was cool! Well - for dh & I. Think the dcs were slightly underwhelmed - had been expecting to see a proper spaceship shape with astronauts inside! And poor ds continued to be disappointed today when we walked past a playpark 'castle' and nothing would do but he would go in 'to see the king'. Was NOT impressed when I explained that the flag was not flying and so the king was not at home. Hopefully he'll get over it .

SFX - no, I would not be impressed at 3 guests turning up on a Sunday morning with no prior notice. Even some small notice is kinda nice.

Well, dd's schoolbook plus school contact book has been lost and I have the sinking feeling that ds has put it in the bin (which has since been taken out!). He is a monkey of the highest order, especially when it comes to dd's possessions. And now to explain to the slightly intimidating teacher tomorrow morning ...

Re: birthday party - we do have a garden, but in January it is unlikely we'll be out there - muddy for a start! Will take a deep breath and close eyes and it will all be fine. Am looking forward to the party tea with choccy here, there and everywhere!

Off now to watch a Westwing, we are nearly at the end of season 6, just one more to go and tbh I will be slightly relieved as the love affair is waning a bit. Will get stuck into 24 next, I think.

Am of stargazing, like sfx we can hardly see any here! We did go to the science museum yesterday, ds1 & I did the Space Gallery tour which was really good, both of us enjoyed it. I think ds1 especially enjoyed the section on how astronauts went to the toilet on the Apollo 11 mission .

westwing, good luck with party. I have done parties at home before, its chaotic but fun, best thing is to relax & worry about the mess afterwards

Speaking of parties, must get on & organise ds1's party!

tilly dd loves the astronauts spends ages there when at the museum and goes on and on about how the capsule comes back down to earth burning
-they first went to the moon in the year mummy was born

• really? in the olden days?! the cheek of the child

westwing dh knew about it and arranged it, a playdate for dd which I thought would be out and about, but at 10.45 he said I best get out of my jammies they should all be arriving soon had nothing in the house to offer, and there comes mum dad and child

sfx, sorry but at dd! What was sweet was ds2 running around asking dh 'what's that' 'what's that', then he'd come up to me 'mummy, spaceship on moon' etc!

that is really cute tilly, he must be so big now

Work today.

Hello all

Copper - hope return to work not as bad as you imagined

Tilly - sounds like good trip out, I do love the science musuem, must go again soon

Sfx - reminded me I haven't made any cheese scones for ages, must do msome more. Just made chicken nuggets for tonight's tea, I guess they'd be good for lunch box too

Westwing - good luck with party. Had a few at home which I like doing, I try and confine the carnage to 1-2 rooms and then it seems more manageable. Still undecided about skiing, it seems like such a terrible indulgence on my part, still battling the guilt in my head

Dh bought some fish from market at wkend and wanted to cook us a meal but instead nearly chopped his finger off by accident Straight to hospital, they taped it and he has to go back on Weds for re-dressing and to check it's healing properly. They said he cut through his nerves so probably won't have any feeling in his finger any more. It was pretty grim, sorry if anyone eating their lunch right now

vbus, nasty for dh, hope he's ok.

sfx, yep ds2 growing up too fast!

Thanks Tilly, we'll have to wait and see how bad it is.

I agree the little ones are growing up way too fast, I do love this age though, really cute

hello

ouch Vbus hope he heals well
dd refused the scone in lunchbox asked for pasta salad instead

dh working from home today so one less school run for me
study housework and jog it is then

copper hope work turned out ok
I am getting excited and anxious at the prospect of looking for work

vbus - ouch!

Made proper polenta yesterday. It's so much nicer than the instant stuff. Pot pretty tough to wash though! Going to grill the leftovers. Hope kids like it.

Also changed the cooker hood filter, before school run. How efficient is that!?

oh polenta milk and butter or put in some broad beans and well chopped cavolo nero and fry yum yum comfort food

copper when I was a kid I used to ear the crust at the bottom of the pan otherwise soak thoroughly, should work fine
I use the instant for fast fixes or coating/crusts

I meant it not ear the slightly burnt bits

Pan had to be soaked overnight. I had some instant ones ages ago. I really hated it. Even for coating for meat and fish it tasted awful. But this posh packet is really rather nice.

which brand did you get? sometimes I get it from my aun, she goes to the Portuguese shops or the local Italian deli, in Sheen, they were very funny when dh bought some, would not let him get it until they felt assured he could cook it properly

that should be aunt and knew how to cook it properly

I didn't buy it. DH did, in Waitrose. It says "Mulino a pietra della langa" and big letters "Marino" across. Disappointinly it also says "may contain traces of gluten". It was bought to make gluten-free cake ... So we'll have to eat it ourselves.

Now must go and appease minibeasts with stories.

hello everyone
hope all well
been a tad hectic with everyone in household getting ill in a domino effect just after New Year in a domino effect and not being able to go back to school. so playing catch-up with work.

but felt compelled to duck in to say..
vbus go skiing
it is not an indulgence, it is well-earned time to yourself
if you can sort the childcare and logistics and not feel TOO guilty about it...go.
(actually go even if you do feel guilty..amazing how guilt is diluted once you're away..)
and ouch! poor dh.
toodlepip

hope you get it was in a domino effect

hi stepford, hope everyone's better now (did they get better in a domino effect as well?)

vbus, so sorry about this morning, did you get my message?

Been dealing with explosive poo from ds2 last night & today. Dh working away & left at 6am this morning, so had to clean ds2, get ds1 to school & on the way back, ds2 had another enormous mess. My morning has been washing clothes etc, in between cuddling ds2 (with a towel on my lap, just in case). I'm hoping he'll have a sleep & will be over it!

ohhh ... Tilly - sending sympathy, what a nightmare. Hope poor ds2 recovers soon. sorry - just ducking in, back later

tilly & stepford that sounds challenging, hope all well soon

have been out and about doing boring but necessary things.

spent an hour at school during the police visit, a mum and dad showing all sorts of stuff, kids spent ages handling batons, riot helmets, body armour, handcuffs and listening in to live police radio, all very quite fun, last time they were in they brought horses and dogs, there are advantages having parents in the class who are actual police officers and know all the children

they were all obsessed with burglers particularly because they all remember, just before Christmas, the exciting incident of burgler on the roof and ensuing helicopter pursuit

are we sorting out a night out soon? be nice to see as many of you as possible for a nice catch up