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Tea Room the 23rd - The Canadian Rockies

996 replies

Jacksmania · 11/02/2011 16:49

Welcome to the 23rd incarnation of the One-Child Tea Room. Not to be misleading - although its inmates inhabitants mostly have just one child, we also have mums of many (but no dads yet... hmmm...). Everyone is welcome.

The usual rules apply - no bunfighting. If you like that sort of thing, go elsewhere.
Other rules: bring Wine. Or [tea]. :o

We find ourselves in a lovely spacious log cabin in the Canadian Rockies. Enormous west-facing windows show a gorgeous view of the sunset over the mountains, and there are log and/or gas fireplaces in every room, even the priest hole (which is a Hiding Spot of Requirement for Those In Need) and the bathrooms. In the open-concept living room, we find the Aga gently simmering against the wall, the bar fully stocked, and the cappuccino bar prepared to dispense any hot beverage of your choice.

Fluffy duvets and colourful pillows abound on the deep, squashy couches and armchairs. Outside, we see a vista of deep snow, dotted here and there with deer and bunny tracks. The walking trails and access roads have been ploughed clear of snow by our able (and hunky) handyman, Mellors, who is also available for massages and facial treatments in the Log Cabin Spa.
There is a hot tub outside on the west-facing deck, with a mini-bar conveniently nearby.

There are no aspidistras in this log cabin, as the cold of the Rockies causes them to shrivel and die. However, the Naked Mohawk Babies have come along and are swarming along the rafters, and in the adjacent stable, the Tea Room horses, Earl and Lady Grey are available for snowy rides. The bison are frolicking in their snowy paddock, and I have no idea if the bishops followed the trail of breadcrumbs or not.

(For newcomers, the last paragraphs obv. makes no sense - just go with, all will be explained.)

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
MaryBS · 13/02/2011 08:14
Tee2072 · 13/02/2011 08:27

What on earth could cause a tantrum when he freakin' woke up?!?! He wasn't woken up, he woke up on his own!!! TODDLERS!!

Ahem. All better now.

::passes along coffee/tea/scones/American biscuits/doughnuts/pastry::

purpleknittingmum · 13/02/2011 11:35

Morning all!

New flapjack recipe going to be tried today, someone has taken my banana recipe and added blueberry! Hope it is good!

BoffinMum · 13/02/2011 11:35

I got bad SPD while pg with DS3 and have been more or less disabled ever since. The needles in spine thing is an extreme form of chronic pain therapy as they try to work out which nerves to ennervate (i.e. kill off) so I can get on with my life. I apparently have osteoarthritis in my spine as well and as the consultant so tactfully put it, "Well, your spine is 70 years old but on the bright side it will stay 70 years old and not get any older, and everyone else your age will eventually catch up with you," Hmm I am not sure what I think about all of that because I am not the crippled-happy-to-sit-around-moaning-type tbh. I am trying to decide whether I should turn away from intellectual pursuits professionally (I have a crazily high IQ so if I don't use my brain for Boff things I soon feel unhappy) and towards something like doing yoga all day as a yoga teacher so I can try to feel like I used to. It's a bit of a difficult time for me as I decide what's best.

On the upside, this hot tub is doing the old joints no end of good. Grin Wine

amberlight · 13/02/2011 12:20

Helloooooo! Found you all!

I'm back from the Wild Weekend in Wells. It was tres enjoyable avec much ooo la la. Who's for a nice Sunday Roast (beef, lamb, chicken or vegetables, depending on preference)?

::places the plastic aspidistra plant in pride of place by the distressed sofa::

UnSerpentQuiCourt · 13/02/2011 12:25

JM, you are sadly deluded. The aspidistras are doing fine. I am glad that you are so concerned about their welfare, though and will make sure that you never get your hands on the key to the conservatory.

hI everyone, very busy with AP's 88th birthday, Wriggle being impossible in the rain and sister visiting.

thumbdabwitch · 13/02/2011 12:32

Very cunning amber! JM will not be able to kill off a plastic aspidistra!
Glad you had a lovely time in Wells Envy

JM - glad that you had a good party for JB - parties Bother me, mostly the whole "what if no one comes" thing.

Tee - miniThumb has Bad Awakenings sometimes - usually to do with Unpleasant Dreams, and the fact that he has inherited his father and grandmother's tendency to Episodes - dreams that carry through into semi-wakefulness, that can be quite scary. It was harder to deal with before he could talk and explain at least a little what was going on.

Hot tub - nice! When we were up in Brisbane back in October, we spent both evenings at my friend's house in their hot tub with much fizz (in glasses, not in the tub!) - very decadent and something to be done whenever possible, I feel.

amberlight · 13/02/2011 13:31

::Amber notes a puddle of melted plastic on the tea room floor::

OK, who's taken a flamethrower to the plastic Aspidistra? Shock

Donki · 13/02/2011 14:42

Oh! Look what Mellors has just brought in!

Thankyou!
Its the Aspidistras!

He says that he knows he can't leave them in here alone, or with JM!

he has been guarding them in the biodome...

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 16:45

::swoons:: at Mellors' heroics.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 16:46

::lands on the fainting couch::

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 16:53

And had meant to say, very tentatively, BoffinMum, that there are many ways in which a very high IQ can be deployed - multiple intelligences and all that - so please don't think (as I'm sure you don't) that leaving academia would of necessity lead to brain atrophy.

Would anyone care for a maple pecan muffin and some hot chocolate?

BoffinMum · 13/02/2011 17:34

I don't actual think multiple intelligences are as linked to the notion of a high level of analytical ability as Gardner thinks. I'd put it into the fashionable trend category tbh.

purpleknittingmum · 13/02/2011 17:35

: tentatively nibbles on the muffin, gulps down the hot chocolate

couldn't be bothered cooking so we got a pizza in for tea! :o

BoffinMum · 13/02/2011 17:35

Sorry if I am coming across as an intellectual snob btw - I don't mean to. I am trying to express what it's like living with a brain that never turns off.

BoffinMum · 13/02/2011 17:36
Donki · 13/02/2011 17:38

What field do you work in BoffinMum? [nosy emoticon]

Donki · 13/02/2011 17:38

(don't tell me if it would risk outing you!)

purpleknittingmum · 13/02/2011 17:40

It must be hard BoffinMum, not something I will ever suffer from, being intelligent!

In those Test the Nation things I always beat my husband, it really annoys him!

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 18:03

Err, BoffinMum, what I'm trying to say ::cough:: is that You Are Not Alone in living with a brain that never turns off.

::Gets coat::

Tee2072 · 13/02/2011 18:05

Sorry you're having pain issues, boffin. I gave several chronic pain conditions so I understand how frustrating it can be.

Can't comment on the smart part! I'm smart but hardly a genius!

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 18:22

::Pauses on the way out::

Ahh. If you peep through the doorway, you will see Mellors tending the aspidistra in the biome.

BoffinMum · 13/02/2011 18:57

I'm a University Lecturer in Education.

Scout19075 · 13/02/2011 20:34

Finally got a good piece of news. Wahoo!

Happy Birthday JB!

I'm interested but not necessarily intellegent. Just average. I'm okay with it.

Looking ahead -- will be a busy week.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/02/2011 20:51

It's going to be a busy week here too. But then we have the respite of half term.

What's your news, Scout?

BoffinMum - I wasn't necessarily meaning to suggest that I have a supercharged intellect, just that MN seems to have very many women grappling with the problem of keeping the neurons firing while also living in a world of nappies and In The Night Garden. And that I am sure that, if you do decide to leave academe, you will find other outlets for your intellect. As I've mentioned before, I'm wary of the motley snake oil salespersons who cluster around psychology and, for what it's worth, I remain sceptical about the multiple intelligences thing - or, more to the point, about the motivations of some of the people who've jumped on that bandwagon - but it's no longer my subject area so whaddo I know?

Perhaps we should all hold hands in the firelight as we watch Mellors doing his Canadian Air Force exercises on the verandah?