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::

Morning all! Scambled egg with smoked salmon on the sideboard for those as cares to partake.

Plaudits to MC on the fine lego work!

Have you come across polarn o pyret MT? (P.O.P.) They're the best I know for bright, unisex designs. They're rather pricey though - in my terms anyway, I'm used to paying Tesco prices. Have only bought SBoy one top there so far but it was very cool and he really loved it (was vintage racing cars). In fact he'll be loving it again this summer as it still has one or two years' wear left in it!

UniS,I think SBoy might actually be the next to turn four. But seeing as that's not till October, is there another small person who could get use out of it this summer? Or have I missed someone whose birthday is before his?

Also UniS, sorry this is from absolutely ages ago, but have been meaning to ask you more about your techie work. What area did you train in/do you work in (if that's not asking for TMI)? Oh, and what does BOVts stand for?? Have absolutely no idea, embarrassingly - ruining my luvvie credentials!! I did a one year course at a real one-horse, insignificant drama school in London, sounds rather like Lamda, but sadly, isn't. Am amazed any agents even came to our Agents' Day; thankfully, they did! Otherwise would never have worked at all.

Good news PKM about DD's options, glad to hear it!

Morning all. Flora the (t) rusty Land Rover is broken

::grabs the tea room copy of Land Rover Turbo Faults and their Solutions Weekly::

AS - those are beautiful - but completely and utterly beyond my price bracket!!! NCT sale is much more on the agenda. Paying £25 - £30 for a PAIR OF TROUSERS for MC (sorry about shouting but can't get over the price) is beyond belief - even for 'best' (not that we normally worry about that) - although I'd love to get him the green trousers on the 'boy 2-12' page - and the green denims shown on that page are just the colour of the 4 T shirt....

Trouble is, during the holidays, need to have say 4 days worth of clothes available as a minimum - and when you add in a change of clothing thrown in on at least 2 days out of that, you'd need 6 prs of trousers.... £150. I think I'll continue to shop in the sales! I do find some of the Pumpkin Patch clothes are slightly more interesting - in fact though, Sainsbury's TU range sometimes has some nice non-blue things in although its a bit hit and miss and you have to buy it when you see it rather than wait a week or two.

Amber sorry to hear Flora is not well again. I found a book 'Ancient LRs and their turbos - a companions guide' stuck at the back of the bookshelf in the second hand bookshop - it seems to have lots of diagrams and tables. I hope its of some use - would a cuppa help (Oh, and MC would like to share some rolls for lunch - and left-over birthday cake)(and there's stripy jelly and icecream left over too)(red on the bottom, green at the top)(raspberry and lime)

I shop for DS at H&M, Joules (expensive, but wear amazingly and recoup the cost on ebay) and Stardust (cos we all love the stripy leggings), with a bit of JL thrown in. H&M do really great colours, and ds likes to wear leggings so lots of choice there too.

DH bought 'Land rover owner' magazine last week - and I thought of you Amber, with all the soothing articles on how to take windscreen wiper motors apart etc

I had an email from my aunt and my mums friend this morning telling me I need to have words with my parents about a stair rail and a mobility scooter. Quite what I am supposed to do when I have been trying to get them to do this for well over a year I don't know. And I do not need more stress right now

I think mistlechick would go through the knees of leggings too quickly.... He's the one that goes into a church hall with a solid floor and immediately runs half way across and then does the remaining distance sliding on his knees.... And does over enthusiast, completely pointless tackles when playing football ending with him rolling on the ground... and asks to stroke all the dogs met in the park - and often ends up on the ground with them on top of him.... .

We did, however, manage to get him some knee and elbow pads so that he can properly have a go on his skateboard (another NCT sale purchase - brand new!). He has perfected (OK, not perfected but sort of got the hand of) the kick on the end to make it pop up into his hand....

I have a 6 yo!! How did that happen???

Yup, cmotiddler does the sliding too - the other day he did a particulalry good one while playing air guitar . The stardust leggings are v thick and we haven't had a single hole. The H&M are another matter, but are cheap enough I don't begrudge them.

They grow too fast !

stardust - just googled it! WOW - they really do, do colour!!! (Reaches for sunglasses)

Milk wants a dress like Pippi Longstocking would probably make for her birthday. I thought I would get something from here...

www.ilovebreadandjam.com/

What do you think?

Talking about OUR clothes, Maud, after a few fruitless mornings infront of the wardrobe and uncomfortably hot or cold days do to 'getting it wrong', today, I have found my Paris Spring uniform. M&S twelve squid skinny jeans + market navy ballet pumps + romantic (rather than punky) over-sized t-shirt (Vero Moda) + light cotton scarf (2006 valentines gift from Beer) + last year's Monoprix sale 80s style suit jacket thaaaang + f-off big sun glasses (HandM) and my big Mummy bag.

WELL - HELLO Mr Spring!!!! I am VERY ready for you today!

Must run - two more lessons to do... xxx

Afternoon all.

I have totally lost track of the conversation today except that I don't pay £25 for my jeans, never mind LCT's! Very nice things, though!

Bit of a gloomy day here in Belfast but we still made it to the park. LCT had a good walk/run and then went down for a nap for nearly 2 hours! Result!

Off to a video shooting gig tonight and then I actually have to do a full days work tomorrow. ::faints::

My new work wardrobe is : Oasis, woman&pageSize=20 Wallis, and ASOS, to be worn with Next shoes.

I think those dresses are v Pippi Tea. And result on the 2 hour nap Tee

That sounds like a great look, Tea, for a young and skinny person like you. I love those dresses for Milk too. They're just the sort of thing I imagined I would make for Girl but it never happened and the fabric and patterns are still gathering dust in what I laughingly call my sewing room. And those things are fab too, Cmot - I especially like the dress and may go and have a look at it in a shop, although I fear it might not work with my Upper Arm Ishoos. Girl and I had a productive spree in Stardust's closing down sale - sadly their local shop is gone now.

Grr to Flora, Amber. What happens now? Shall we send Mellors over with the spanner?

Mr Garage Mechanic will see her next Tuesday to sort her out. Meantime, I'm pottering about in her on quiet roads in a "now you have power...now you don't" sort of way. Quite exciting at roundabouts...

Yay re children who sleep for two hours. Since mine is now on his Easter hols, I expect he'll be asleep a lot. Not sure teenagers really surface during breaks

I have ordered a long sleeve toning shrug to go with it Maud - i do not reveal my arms for work for many reasons.

That sounds interesting Amber

Tis lovely and sunny here. Question is, do I go and get ds from holiday club early (I'll be working the next two weekends, so have no guilt), or will he just be annoyed that I have removed him from his friends ?

Ah yes, Cmot, I have beaucoup de shrugs, but my problem is that when it's too hot for shrugs I don't want to expose my bingo wings to the unsuspecting world. Alas, most nice dresses now are sleeveless or, worse, have spaghetti straps. ::Mourns the demise of the short-sleeved dress:: Nevertheless, next time I'm near Wallis I will look at that lovely dress.

Goodness I have missed a lot.

Amber - glad your hurty arm is less hurty now - make sure you tell your consultant about it when next you see him/her. Ditto the chemo nurse.
Bummer re. Flora - hope she can be mended!

CMOTD - no idea. you coudl go and ask him if he wants to leave early? And then leave him if he says no?

JM/Om - have not ventured onto that thread, I feared it would annoy me too much. Am :( that JB isn't settling well into daycare for you though - here's hoping he will "click" with it soon?

I think that MiniThumb might be the next 4yo on the thread as he will be 4 in December. Although Kittenito might be nearer - can't remember how old he is!
Am aiming to come back to the UK in May/June so if miniThumb is going to be the next 4yo, I can give you my Dad's address in the UK, UniS, if you don't mind sending it on! It will be a well travelled t-shirt for sure!

Mistle - that' really interesting re. your reaction to chocolate - I wonder which part of the chocolate causes it?

PKM - get your DD's iron status checked as well - low iron can affect mood and behaviour quite badly. Ditto zinc - although that's more mood and less behaviour, iirc.

Had second scan today - all gone, no further intervention required, have to be grateful for small mercies and just get on with it now. MrThumb came with me this time (after being soundly berated, in person and in absentia, for not being with me last Thursday)

((((thumb)))) :(

I'll have some coffee du jour. Yum.

CMOT, I nearly fainted with at that Pretty Woman Dress... I wish I cold wear dressy stuff at work, but that's not going to happen unless I abandon my current career (not going to happen either!) so it's jeans and funky T-shirts and cardis/shrugs. I won't even confess how much I spent on jeans recently at my favourite store across the border, I'm still a bit but they are the most comfortable jeans I've ever owned, stretchy and after having the back taken in, they fit amazingly... in addition to having really fun back pocket detail :o... so I'm considering them a work expense :o. We'll see if my accountant agrees :o

Amber, how is the arm? And I had to :o at losing power on roundabouts... that sounds a bit, well, exciting!

((((thumb)))

Arm fairly fine now. Ultrasound scan tomorrow to find out whether I can stay on this rather not-too-bad chemo (if the lump has gotten smaller), or whether the consultant wishes to bung me on the scary one instead (if the lump hasn't co-operated). All good fun, as they say

Ooo, choc cake and coffe du jour! Ideal! Thanks.

Oh, Thumb, I am sorry.

(((thumb)))

Thank heavens for MN - was on thread when all went wrong for me last time - and DH was away....

Amber, will be thinking of you tomorrow.

I think I've spent all of £200 on my clothes over the last 3 yrs.... not much fits at the moment, but trying to do something about that.

Oh Thumb...

Thumb, want a glass of by any chance?

::helps Amber to pour out the and the twiglets a gogo::

Are Unis and Cmot about? There are some, ahem, interesting ideas here about boys and ballet where their perspective might be helpful!

MT - yes, the POP things are eye-wateringly expensive, but I would never dream of getting a whole wardrobe there! Just the one top so far, which was in age 4-5 when he was two (they didn't have any smaller in the shop) - it didn't swamp him then but still fits him well now and might just last till next summer, so on that basis £16 for three summers' wear is justifiable in my book! And he loves it to bits, chose it to wear today in fact.

Nice looking at/hearing about others' own wardrobes - I like your dress too, CMOT! I have inhabited a style vacuum since birth of SBoy. Not that I was in the avant-garde of it before he came along. My own clothes these days come mostly from Tesco (today's top from Asda), and, if I'm pushing the boat out, M&S. MrS used to have some rather nice work suits when I met him and he was single and had a lot more disposable income; now he is man at M&S too. But of course is delighted with the exchange!!

Thumb - so sorry. But glad at least you don't have to go through a grisly procedure at hospital. Have been in a similar position and it is indeed a small mercy. ((((((Thumb)))))

Amber - fingers crossed for your scan tomorrow.

::Tops up everyone's glass::

holds out a glass for twiglets and crunches on a

ah ha, agent secret... the BOV TS is a rather well known but NOT in London at all theatre school of great age. its in teh west country, the OV bit is old vic. the TS bit is theatre school. I did their stage management training course before it became an HND and I think these days it may be a degree, which is just foolishness IMHO.

re boys and ballet- I have added my 2p. Boy is moving up a class after easter, ready for fresh physical challenges . boy is moving up with a friend (pink) and the other lad of same age is stopping ballet class as hes really not that bothered.

Class assembly tomorrow! so I get to sit in the village hall for 15 mins while boy and chums sing a couple of songs and I don;t know what else. Village hall is the only place large enough to get whole school together, so round the corner they all troop every couple of weeks.

::Passes and twiglets to UniS::

Glad you contributed to the as the mother of a boy I can't participate in ballet thread. Mind you, as a Ballet Mother I am a complete failure as I took Girl to her lesson today only to remember just too late that term has ended. Ho hum.