Tea Room 17 - The Tropical Beach Hut

[amberlight]

Welcome to the 17th version of the Tea Room. We find ourselves on a tropical beach, with the tea room now in a beach hut on stilts, the waves lapping on the golden sands beneath. Palm trees surround us. Our virtual gardener/beach surfing dude/handyman, Mellors, is here to tend to your every need. He looks like the person of your dreams (male, female or otherwise ). There are of course holidaying Bishops and other leaders of faith, the Camels, the Bison, various guinea pigs, the tea room horses, a life-size cut out of George Clooney, the NMBs (please don't ask me to explain how Mohawk Babies joined us, and a wide variety of other virtual followers. We chat, we relax, we share how life is. All in need of friendship are most welcome. The kettle is on...and the distressed chintz sofa has of course made the journey over. Enjoy.

Ah-haaa! Racing is back (but under a new name due to being identified by friend who was browsing around and 'bumped' into me). Feel bad that I have not got time to read back and find out what has been going on, but time is suddenly very very short.

Had a sometimes wonderful sometimes difficult month in France and we have come back full of plans and projects, which are leading to us falling into bed exhausted with Wriggle at about 9pm and having no time for tea-room visiting. All quite positive really, but am not sure how much I like change. We are also working very hard at our family relationship (not always the most easy) and that rules out TV and internet all evening like before.

Wriggle is doing her first full day at nursery. She is still bizarre eliptical and spent yesterday on a lead fetching sticks. I wonder how all the smaller tea room inhabitants are doing on their first day at school? Oxboy and UniBoy and presumably LittleA? I know that Milk is already an experienced school-goer. I now know more about French maternelles and presume it is all very cosy and low key, with little beds and delicious lunches.

I am back at work and have decided that I am actually very bored with teaching in a school I don't even like much. This is much what the HT told me last term when I failed my performance management and got no pay rise (which we needed). The school budget did however figure large in her calculations; in fact she said so, so I am feeling very unmotivated and it is a mammoth uphill struggle to plan and teach a day. Very very bad teacher.

Most of the menagerie is still here, although WRiggle's favourite baby guinea pig died ('Escaped and is living wild in the garden') and all the RacingPigeons decamped during our absence. Most disloyal.

Anyway, I have dozens of things I must do now, the highest priority being taking poor housebound Aged Parent out for an exciting lunch in the supermarket - she hasn't left the house for five weeks. She seems to be getting rather timid and confused ... .. I keep reminding myself that she used to be an interpreter in three languages interviewing bandits in the mountains of Austria ... I remember Small once suggesting a thread about supporting Aged Parents; could be very useful.

Please do talk to me - I do find time to look in far more often than I can write and have missed you all surprisingly much!

Aw bless, am now all tearful at your lovely words. Welcome back! :)

A fine selection of teas and coffees are at your service, together with trays of croissants, pastries, and the like - whatever is your pleasure! :)

Oh and I think Scout still hasn't finished the crate of chocolate - I am sure she could spare you a few :)

MMMmmmmm ... croissants ... always so much more delicious than I remember. The best ones M.Serpent has ever tasted were made in a little bakery in ... Alweston in Dorset, not somewhere in Paris at all!

Speaking as I was of Aged Parents, has anyone got any experience of aged relatives and hearing aids? My last experience with them was my grandfather in the '70's, but maybe technology has moved on? I would expect extreme resistance if not outright refusal to contemplate one, so would only consider the battle if it would really add to her quality of life/comprehension of what is going on.

Thank you for the welcome!!

Welcome back!! Missed you.
Hearing Aids are indeed now a modern miracle, and can be disguised as reading glasses, for example. Well worth investigating.
Who's for a beach-side Salad with something refreshing to drink?

Yes please to the salade composee a la plage, Amber. I think we have some petits pains tres lewd to accompany it.

Welcome back, Serpent! I think you are my intended parcel recipient. I shall Fb you about that soon.

Hearing aids. My only experience of hearing aids for Aged Ps was with my MiL, who would generally not bother to wear hers and then spend all day in a state of even greater befuddlement. When she did wear it, there was much ado with adjusting it to stop it squeaking etc. But my colleague has just got two super-duper, state of the art (for which read ££££) aids which have greatly improved her quality of life as for the first time in ages she can hear properly. Perhaps worth a call to Specsavers and others who now flog hearing aids?

I think OxBoy has deferred school until January, but CmotTiddler starts today(ish), I think. And LittleO is about to go on a world trip, isn't he?

Must dash. Am trying to be Supremely Efficient on the Home Front today.

Cmottiddler started on Thursday - he was v v happy, and is impressed with his uniform. Am scared of the Yummy mummies though.

Am somewhat despondently looking at cars suitable for driving one handed. Can still only move one finger, which is not much use really.

Hearing aids are loads better these days - digital ones are amazing, and you can get t loops for the tv and phone so the signal is direct, cutting out the background noise

CMOT, b*gger re the hand....do they think it'll improve over time, or are they shrugging their shoulders and saying they don't know? Definitely possible to get cars that you can drive one-handed.

Yummy Mummies are very scary, yup.

Much shoulder shrugging really - I have managed to do something very rare, and they don't know why the nerves are so unhappy.

Am contemplating an A class Merc - had the B class before and it was a good car. The parktronic stuff would be v useful

ahhh, beach side salad. the gritty bits are sand are they not?? BUT no, this is the tea room so there is NO SAND on my beach salad. WOW.

I have just had a winter lunch. soup and bread in the conservatory under a leaden dripping sky. School went back today ( and preschool) and its been tipping it down all day.

Boy is not yet at school, like oxboy he will be a Jan starter. Preschool was VERY quiet this afternoon, only 12 children and about half of them are new to Monday afternoon ( the 4+ group).

Rejoice with me, I have achieved. I have got round to phoning a window cleaner, AND an oil tank replacer ( to do a quote) AND teh insulation company who want to come and inspect their work. No if I can get bread made, ginger beer bottled and the filing done before going to pick boy up I'll be pleased. The filing will be the one that kills me, I hate filing.

One handed car! oh dear CMOT. should it be better than that at this stage post injury? An Automatic I guess maybe with a steering wheel knob added. does your wrist still work? if its just unresponsive fingers you will have more choice.

Oh goodness!

CMOTD< that is terrible re hand - hope they sort it out sharpish. If no apparent reason for loss of movement/feeling, can I suggest you consider an acupuncturist? Sounds silly but the nerves might be "in shock" and acupuncture could sort that out.

Serpent - is this going to be your new nn now? I think it works... Glad you had a good time, boo re Aged P but agree with others that hearing aids have improved exponentially and would defo improve her Quality of Life.

Dripping wet here today as well - rushing through sorting boxes but also phoning people to sort out insurances, get junk mail stopped, have a water filter removed from my house as the tenants just don't use it (why not? I mean, if you have the choice of crappy chlorine tasting water or lovely clean filtered water ON TAP and it doesn't cost you anything, why WOULDN'T you use it??? ) Anyway, they're not so I'm not paying for it any more.

Am having to be a touch circumspect about how much paperwork I do though or I'll be trying to fit in an osteopath appointment on Thursday as well, before we fly back to Oz. Yes, it's nearly here! Time to return... the last week has shot by in record time. :(

Good luck to every small person starting or returning to school this week - I still have a while before I have to face that.

My father only had one hand (accident on the farm) and drove an automatic with a steering knob. Is the disabled hand long term, then? I read something briefly about falling off a horse, but assumed it was temporary. ((Sympathetic, thoroughly-respectful-of-personal-space-type-hug))

Well done Boys for avoiding school until January. Trying to think how I could do the same.

Not raining here but very grey, although pleasant enough when out. I fell off a three-legged stool I was balancing on yesterday and appararently burst a blood vessel in my calf. Said calf hugely swollen and very sore. Have bandaged it up with comfrey leaves, failing anything better, and that is horribly itchy!!

UniS, have you a few minutes to catch up on my essential phone calls?

RS- its pretty easy to avoid school till Jan IF their birthday is Jan- August. If they turn 5 before christmas its rather harder...

I have DONE teh filing. but the shredder is full and its STILL raining, so I havn't done the shredding yet.

Unis realises that makes no sence- BUT if I tell you that teh sheddings need to go in a compost bin at teh other end of tehgarden... It might make more sence.

Off to mobile libraray then preschool pick up. Sorry, no more phone calls.

Using the oven timer to limit me to 15 mins MN or reading at a time this afternoon has Worked. Hurrah.
toodle pip.

Basically, outlook for hand long term is just not known. Most consultant would commit to when I last saw him is that the certainty is that it will never be normal. Wrist is in plaster, and will be for at least another 5 weeks, then splinted for months. Fingers should never have stopped working, and loss of sensation isn't normal either.

I did have a quick consultation with an acupuncturist on Saturday as the nerve pain was so bad - they said the problem was getting needles into where they would need to be, but would have a go. Getting to them (they were having an open day thing) would be a problem, but will try and talk to someone with a clinic in my town

Cmot - when you said about it below, my first thought was also to suggest an accupuncturist - I found one because I wanted some chinese herbal treatment but wanted someone that was properly accredited etc and found her through that - and the accupuncture was something else that she did too - but I would sometimes come out on my own little cloud - it was great!

Hello all and bienvenue Mme Serpent.

to hear about your wrist CMOT. I also had mistakenly thought it would just get better in time.

We had a lovely weeked this weekend, just pottering around the house and garden. Gatita is now extremely mobile on four legs (welll 2 legs/2 hands really) and is constantly making efforts to escape the house. She also follows Kittenito and/or me and Mr. H round the house. K is byuilding a whole new relationship with her on with the game "chase me chase me".

sorry for teh near unreadable VERY badly spelled post earlier.

Rushing off again -- finally home and have loads to try to catch up on.

Non-threatening hugs to all those that need one (or more).

Evening! Just cried and laughed my way through the film Juno...it's very good!

Great to see you back Serpent ! It's lovely to have most everyone back together again, for a while there most people seemed to be on hols.

Wow Cmot , I also had assumed this to be temporary. That is awful.

LittleO goes to school next Sept, he will only be 4 in October.

Lovely day here today. LittleO, Mil, and dhs elderly aunt all went down to the beach. It was great, although now I'm seeing my mil every day I am finding dealing with her contradicting me and dh at every point a little more trying!!

Morning all. Teas and coffees are being served on the beach tea room verandah

Yum!

Juno is one of my favourite films. We have it on DVD and we play the soundtrack a lot in the car. To the extent that we had to explain to SmallGirl that although she is allowed to giggle at the lyrics fck Bush and fck the war she is not* to repeat them!

Mid-morning hot chocolate, anyone?

Hot choc? Yes please!
Day from hell here. DS got all the way into school to find out he's not due there till 2.30. DH is in bed with gastric flu and not able to eat anything. Short of staff so can't take time off, stroppy staff to deal with, big audit happening tomorrow, ds's eye thingy on Thursday.
Another normal-for-Amber day.
Can I have a small swig of virtual brandy in that hot choc please?

Hear's a nice warm, fluffy towel Amber - hope DS got into school sucessfully the second time round, and that stroppy staff were sorted out by someone else, and that DH is feeling a bit better by the time you get back homw. Thinking of you all for Thurs