Tea Room The 24th - San Francisco Painted Lady!

[Tee2072]

Welcome to the 24th incarnation of the One-Child Tea Room. Not that you only have to have one! Just so long as you enjoy chat, tea, coffee, cake!!

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

Our ongoing voyage take us to one of San Francisco's Painted Ladies!

We've brought the Aga over, it's in the back in the cosy kitchen overlooking the back garden. The chintz sofa is in the front room, under the bow window! All of the pillows and duvets have come along as well!

What's that? The Priest Hole? It's just over there --> behind the bookcase!

Mellors is upstairs, preparing the bedrooms for naps and such.

The aspidistras are thriving as they overlook Nob Hill! The horses have found themselves stabled in the Garden, which is much larger than these places usually are in this city!

So come in and have a seat!

::tea hurries off to Powell Street to catch the Cable Car to Ghirardelli Square::

Does the posh coffee pot also supply strong decaf???? I know its a peculiar request - but I love the taste of a really good coffee and like it nice and strong (and black) but only have caffeinated when absolutely necessary (ie falling asleep when I shouldn't be) otherwise it tends to give me the jitters and keeps me awake.... (and that can be a 2pm coffee keeping me awake at 11pm)

Talking of which, went to bed early as v. tired last night - and what happens - wake up at 4, 4.30, 5. 5.30 and then when Mini came in when it was time to get up.

I rarely wear perfume - just don't tend to get round to it - and only wear make up on special occasions - neither really agree iwth my skin.

Also don't like strong aftershaves - there was someone who worked in the same office as me who could walk up the centre of the office - which was about 8m away from me - and I would immediately know that he'd passed - and have the same problem in the street sometimes and end up coughing... then there's my FiL who has taken to bathing in the stuff - or that's what it smells like first thing in the morning. Will have to wait until MC is clued up enough to comment upon it in a very naive way

How are the horses doing btw? and is there anywhere to ride them nearby?

Tee - Everyone is nespressoing it over here - it is nice to see something albeit it a very trendy version resembling a normal coffee pot!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE perfumes...

I used to wear White Musk when I was in the sixth form. Someone mentioned it on here and I don't know it felt rather lovely to buy a little bottle and start wearing it again. I have the same nostalgic leanings towards buying a pair of brown DMs right now too... (CMOT - advice???)

My MIL has VERY expensive tastes in perfume and often gives me some for gifts. The problem is it has given me terribly expensive tastes too - they have been divine! She also taught me to love champagne - bad bad influence!

JM - Tresor is my Mum's "off to the pub" smell. Her "dinner at eight" perfume is Chanel no5 or Coco... I find all three perfumes completely delicious but don't feel they sit well on me... because they are her!

Maud - I LOVE Charlie!!! When I was in London Sainsbo's was selling Charlie Red bodyspray for a quid so I bought a bottle and was so shocked when I realised that I still find it to be a really nice smell. AHEM... Unlike my first perfume passion - "exlcaaaaa-maaaay-tiiiioooon" (exclamation) which, as it turns out, really must have caused me to "make a statement without saying a word" (peeeeew-weeeeee - I realise now that it is really AWFUL - although the bottle and TV advert were very very cool!).

Amber - HAIR - bleeeeaaaauuuuggghrrr - If you are in want any more beautiful scarfs I will happily send you something over from Paris! Big sunnies, trench coats and scarfs are "tres a la mode" over here right now.

Tea, if I took possession of any more scarves, dh says he'll disown me but the offer is a splendid one and thank you. My nifty posh wig is standing by, too.

Horses, MT? The tea room ones? ::stares out of the window at Mellors who is currently putting them through Lady Grey through her paces:: No, not seen them today so far. But I'm glad to see that Mellors is entertaining the nobility!

Amber - perhaps you could get him to change his mind if you have more than 7 of them and do a bit of dancing???

[shuts blind a bit more firmly]

Mistle as the Poncey Coffee Pot lives in the Tea Room of Requirement, I am sure it can do decaf!

I used to wear perfume all the time. Very expensive ones when I was younger and then Kenzo Flowers after MrTee got it for me for Christmas one year because he really liked it.

Then I couldn't wear strong scents when I was pregnant without major nausea.

And then LCT was born. And one sleep deprived day when he was bout 3 months or so I put some Flowers on to try to cheer myself up. And LCT was inconsolable all.day.long. And then it occurred to me that to him? I smelled wrong! Who is this woman holding me??! It's not my mummy!!

I haven't worn perfume since.

you are all so grown up and sophisticated! My favourtie perfume is 4711 spray cologne! I think it reminds me of my German grandmother. My mother had two tiny bottles of perfume in her life, which she has passed on (unfinished) to me. One is Channel No 5, (which I love) and the other is Je Reviens, which sadly I don't. And by tiny I mean maybe an inch tall. We obviously don't really do perfume in our family.

Now there's a good reason to stop wearing it lol!

I'm even a bit funny about fabric conditioners... I want my clothes to smell 'clean' rather than 'scented'. And mc picks up on children whose mother's rather overdo the strength of fabric conditioner they use.

I'm very puzzled about my coffee strength requirement - because I drink exceptionally weak tea (black)

:o

:o

Good morning all!
Could I please put the Poncey Coffee Pot of Requirement to use this morning? A mocha latte, please. Thank you.

Sorry, all, have not read back. Really trying hard to minimize the online wasting of time, and concentrate on finishing my office files. Doing well at it but my God, it's tedious!!!!!!

Tee - yes, peanut butter and pretzel is a yummy combination! Sweet, salty and crunchy. Mmmmm.

Scout, your protein bars are in the post to you :)

Re perfume, I wore Joop Femme for years, more than a decade, and then got tired of it but never found one I really liked after. And then I had JB and didn't want to put on perfume and overwhelm his sensitive nose. Now I tend to use essential oils. My favourite scent in the whole world is vanilla, and I put it in my body lotion. Sometimes with a little bit of Amber. When we were in Hawaii I found a body butter with a coconut-lemongrass scent, which I loved, but wasn't willing to re-order from Hawaii for stupid amounts of money. There is an essential oil whole-seller near me (ridiculously cheap) so I just bought coconut and lemongrass oils and have been duplicating the scent. Everyone seems to love it, I have people walk by saying "what smells so good???". Last week when I was wearing my vanilla scent a little boy in our clinic came up to me, sniffed enthusiastically and said "Mummy, she smells like a sugar cookie!!" :o Made my day.

Errr... of course I don't put our Amber in my body lotion :o

I wear Chanel Madmoiselle when Dressed Up. I love the smell of Vanilla and rose absolute in bath oils. As a teen is was Body Shop Dewberry - they don't do that anymore, though white musk is still alive and kicking

Tea, go for the DMs - I am v fond of them and have a couple of pairs. I sort of go between patent heels for work and clumpy boots otherwise. My new ones are brown with a wedge heel - laced at the front but zip at side for ease

Jolly good re not putting me in your body lotion!

Am loving idea of Jm slinging Amber round get shoulder when going out
and yes. Have no fear. I always do a quick mental dress check before leaving the house

Ah, those mental dresses are the best, I find

::gets down from JM's shoulders and wipes off some of the lotion::

ummmm, vanilla.

I like vanilla or coco butter or almond smelling body butters. don;t do perfume.
Kept boy off school today to recover from the London funeral trip. we came home yesterday night but soooo late. boy fell into bed fully clothed at 10.30pm and slept 12 hours. I have had him read to me and hes done his thank you letters . Back to normal tomorrow.

I'm going to partake of the poncey coffee pot, mines a mocha with mucho mucho chocolate and a flake. and a handfull of coffee cream chocs on teh side. Such a shame when quality street stopped including coffee creams in their selection.

Hello all. Sorry have not been around, life got rather challenging here and head was not up to being stuck above parapet. Was firmly esconced in shell. Things are smoothing out again now though and I love Tee's fancy new coffee pot so will have a decaff double expresso, thanks. And maybe a mocha with mucho mucho choc a la Unis in the morning, sounds too good to pass up.

I don't often wear perfume either (and have unscented fabric conditioner too, Waitrose pure, much less pongy than Comfort pure, love it). MrS bought me some Kenzo Flower too, Tee, and that sometimes gets an outing; but I find strong smells quite distracting somehow and could never wear perfume every day. Though your combo sounds delish, JM! And I'm quite jealous of your super sopistication, tea, being all knowledgable about that stuff! I guess that's a French MIL for you?!

I think being a mum put me off it more, like you Tee, and I also stopped wearing lipstick when SBoy was born (used to manage that most days before, but only that on a daily basis) on the grounds that I was constantly covering him in kisses and didn't want him to be covered in lippy! Have now gone back to wearing it when I can remember/be bothered, and luckily SBoy thinks it's quite funny when he has lipstick smears on him. As he still gets kissed an awful lot!

Oxeye, that was a very sweet comment you made after my last brief post and it was appreciated! and well done on the getting dressed front

Serpent, have been meaning to say, on the subject of massage from ages ago (you said you'd like to try but too expensive, I think?) - have you thought of trying Groupon? They offer cheap massages and suchlike pretty regularly where I am, but I think the only Dorset place they do deals is Bournemouth - I don't know if that's within striking distance for you. Worth having a look anyway, if it is.

RIght, must get to bed, good night lovely ladies.

::Waves at Secret::

Off to google groupon this minute.

carefull with that googling, make sure you spell it correctly.
UniS places a disc( ) on teh tea room stereo .

Have any of you read this book yet? Rivers of London Its cracking good read.

Loving the song, UniS. I think Bloke would like that book, obsessed as he is by the forces of Laura Norder.

Hot chocolate?

Would you like some hot chocolate, Scout? I could put a slug of brandy in it, if you like.

meant to say - Mary, love those links!!

Yes please, Maud. Having a volunteering wobble and a warming drink may stop me from going and throttling someone.