The One and Only Tea Room - Now Hanging in Babylon

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Well folks, here we are, transported through time and space to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Golden couches and the distressed chintz sofa are arranged on a terrace overlooking the Euphrates and, as we recline on the exquisitely-soft cushions eating peeled grapes, we can enjoy the warm fragrance of the gardens' many exotic blooms. The garden is tended by the indefatigable Mellors, with occasional help from the bishops, rabbis and any passing world leaders. Somewhere behind the terrace there is an aga and a priest's hole, with optional massage table.

Please come and join us for a celebratory drink and conversation ranging from the profound to the profoundly silly.

You'd better keep one of those mops for yourself, Oxeye! And wow and yay for Donki and her good thinking in keeping copies of the coursework. Disaster has been averted.

Just watched 'Facebook the movie'. It was alright but I feel that 'Tearoom the Movie' will be sure to sweep more oscars. Can't wait for the tearoom t-shirt sequence!

Milk has sent me out of my comfort zone by requesting teddy bear cakes for the class teddy bears' picnic... I feel it in my bones they are sooooo gonna end up as cake of the week on cakewreck. HOW can I make them and keep my (fast fading after a school gate rumour involving me not providing Milk with any lunch and her having to beg other children for food) dignity....????

Don't panic Tea. Do little fairy cakes with icing in the shape of a bear's head (one big circle with two little circle ears. The eyes can bebchocolate buttons amd the nose and mouth marked with jelly tots or so.e such sweetie.
In the worst case scenario buy a batch of fairy cakes or muffins or madelaines and just decorate them as I said. You only need icing sugar and water for the icing.

THANKS!!!! xxx

Hello ladies! Mind if I pull up a chair and join you for tea?

Only just discovered this thread.... clearly I am thoroughly unobservant. I have one DS aged 6 and live in New Zealand where it is rather odd and unusual to only have just one. Most of my friends in the UK had onbe child and then I go and move to a country where less than 3 kids is considered bonkers. Poor DS, we are getting the baby questions all over again, along with the missing everything protests.....

Good morning tea room!

Could have been a worse night. Sort of. ::Tee just wants a full nights sleep followed by breakfast and then back to bed. Tee, therefore, should not have had a child. Tee decides LCT is worth the lack of sleep. Except yesterday when she had to carry him 4 city blocks kicking and screaming as he didn't want to go home::

Welcome Shel! Pull up a pouffee, have a or perhaps some ? The Priest Hole is over there ::waves hand:: Mellors is waiting to provide whatever you desire. Including him. ::wags eyebrows::

Weather pants again. Good thing I need to go grocery shopping.

Morning all, welcome Shel! We do have people from various timezones here, so you never know when the tearoom will be populated... Sometimes there's even dancing during the night and, despite being in the hanging gardens of babylon, someone's managed to put the glitter ball up.

Mistlechick is 6....

He got up at 5.40 - and asked if he could get up and go and watch TV - no. So when I got up to sort breakfast at 6, I wasn not impressed with the 'I'm tired' complaint.

::a hand reaches out from under the quilt towards the tea and the new Haynes manual::

Thanks! Steroid megadose = no sleep overnight really so do excuse my rudeness Shel - welcome from me. Constant questioning over only one child does not sound like fun at all.

I'd cheat altogether on teddy bear cakes - I'd send in ordinary cakes and a teddy bear who owns them.

::waves at all::

::falls asleep zzzzzzzzz::

Good mooooooorning tearoomers!!!!

Amber - Steroid megadose sounds a bit mad! How long do you have to by downing them for???

THANK YOU for the bear cake advice. I do like the whole baking thing but it is the decoratng that worries me. I think I just need to bite the bullet!

Shel - Hello, it is really nice to see you! Milk is five and we live just outside Paris.

donki - mega organised of you with the coursework - bravo!!!!

cmot - how's the arm today??? xxx

oxeye - slippers and jelly.... what a fab image!!!!

Tee - Good news re test results. x

Macaroons and espressos on the table for all!!!!

Morning! Fresh anyone? Yes please to macaroons.

Tea - I would cheat terribly and decorate with a blob of icing and a gummi bear!

Amber - I do hope you begin to feel a little better - steroid thing sounds nasty.

Mistle - Small Bean thinks 6am is exactly the right time to watch Lightening McQueen - I tend to disagree. Very hard to be cross though when he jumps into my bed and announces "I'm full of beans and I love you mummy!"

Hello Shel! Welcome!

Must dash, late for work and procrastinating badly here.

Steroid megadose is once only, then smaller doses for 5 days, tailing off.
If I don't take them, the side effects are very dangerous.

Can you get those little jelly teddy sweets in La France ? If so, I'd stick those on cupcakes. Or one lg choc button for face and two small for ears My new secret top tip is Betty Crocker pre made icing - tastes fab, and a pot can just be dolloped into a disposable icing bag and beautiful cakes made in minutes. I confess that when asked at school how I make my fudge icing so nice I just hedge the subject

Arm still protesting against the evil splint which dares touch it. Working from bed so I can take it off for a bit.

Hi Shell - I have a 5yr old boy, and live in the UK. But I travel a lot for work, so appear at odd times a lot.

Whereas I just appear odd

Grr re splint hurty situation, CMOT. NOt what you need at all. I see Mellors has prepared a special pain-relieving back and shoulder massage to help take your mind off things?

Thank you Mellors

My stupid sympathetic nerve system just can't tell the difference between a) nice supportive splint and b) red hot poker.

Are you resting Amber? Or do I need to send the NMBs round with the lassos again ?

I'm resting at my desk at work, which is much safer than letting me rest at home where I don't rest at all but do completely silly things.

oh oh, ambers threatening to do silly things again.... duck and cover. Are you Sure it was oxeye with slippers and jelly??

I ought to be doing very important phone calls, but I'm not. oops- better put that situation right.
Managed to get boiler serviced yesterday tho- hurrah. At one point we had boiler chap in kitchen, choir rehearsal in dining room and a committee meeting in back room. ANd boy asleep upstairs.

Mistlechick has been known to sleep through a VERY loud quintet or even octet session in the open plan room below in a holiday cottage. Its amazing what they can sleep through if you accept it as a normal part of the routine.

Amber - I have a friend who is a (senior) hospital pharmacist. She said that she always dismissed the complaints of patients on steriods as them making a fuss - until she had to have some herself for Bells Palsy - and found the side effects so significant to her that she never has thought the same since.

I found it tremendously useful having her as a friend during treatment though because I could ring her up and say 'I've been given this for x - is it likely to have these side effects?'. Please don't do too much!!!

Hello all!!

Grrrr at my husband! He has done a stupid thing AGAIN! Nearly every morning before I go to work, I put the washing machine on, and he will often put it up. Today, there wasn't quite a load worth doing, but there was stuff in the machine, ready to add a few bits to later. He put the dry washing up on the airer! I can't understand how he doesn't twig that it is DRY and he is putting it up to DRY on the airer! So he went a bit huffy telling me not to moan if he doesn't to it (put the wet washing up)

mini rant over, hope all OK in here!

Hi all

Busy day here in Teeville with shopping and laundry and fun things like that. LCT feel asleep in his pram while shopping and his stupid mother managed to wake him 40 minutes later taking his shoes off. GRRRR!

I had all sorts of plans for his nap today too. Typical of me, really, to be such a klutz to wake him doing something I've done a million times before!

At least no/short nap means he's sound asleep right now!!

I am back on my eating plan so can't have any real s. Anyone have any nice virtual ones? And some virtual ?

Oh PKN, I feel for you, they just don't NOTICE what they are doing sometimes do they. DH regularly asks what the status is of the box of washing hanging about, I do wonder why he can't feel if its wet or dry and tell from the smell and crumpled ness if its clean or dirty....

I bought us present for teh garden for half term... swirly tennis. Just the game for an only child (and his mum).

::UNis artfully arranges a plate of virtual biscuits for your delectation and delight::

There are , Choc hob nobs, pink wafers, jamie dodgers, rich teas ( with and with out chocolate and toffee, malted milks, short bread fingers, cafe noir, anzac biscuits, maryland cookies, garibaldi and custard creams. dive on in.

mmmmm munches on some hob nobs and jammy dodgers, oh not had malted milk in years.......... and some cookies!!

OH is still a bit moody with me!

Unis - you remembered my favourite garibaldis!!!

Tee - virtual wine here from me. 'Tis Wednesday and Apprentice night so I think I will be having a glass of the real stuff tonight.

I have the same 'helpful' husband issues here. I do often leave stuff in the washer just to see how long it takes him to notice (a bit stupid really as I end up washing it again but the record was about 3 days). I am also a bit miffed at being accused of sending "All of My Clothes" to the charity shop (I hadn't appreciated that this would be the week that he would need the 10-year old golf jumper that hasn't seen the light of day for, well, 10 years...)

mmm squashed fly biscuits!

Can you go and buy his jumper back, beanandspud?

Thanks for the s and !

beaandspud also watching Apprentice in a bit. Do you post on the thread here? It's a good laugh!

The only thing my husband doesn't see is an over flowing bin. I always have to ask him to empty them. I've actually seen him try to cram more in rather than actually do the one chore I expect of him (other than doing the washing up after I've cooked!).

Mary - not easily - I gave it away about 5 years ago and he's only just noticed