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.

He's 3. Desperate to go on the underground and in a London cab. I think a boat trip would be the vehicular icing on the cake!

UnSerp- This is why wiggle needs to go to school. there will be other small people there who LIKE playing mummy cat and kittens. Honest , its one of teh favourite games at boys school, year R, year 3 and year 4 all seem to have versions of it kittens and cats that they play at lunchtime. Year 1 seem to more into playing spys. Year 2 like starwars and toy story.

bean- duck tour is probably good fun, rather pricey and books up in advance. Other boat trips are available, including the waterbus. Take a look at transport for London Webpage. www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/15544.aspx

Other good things with a 3 yr old
Underground train
Changing the guard at buckingham palace.

Quick visit to one or two gallerys in one of the national museums.
Tower bridge
Docklands light rail and greenwich tunnel.
Coram fields.

Easy to take bean on duck. It's very safe and they have life jackets it's quite pricey though. In addition to excellent suggestions there's London transport museum and guards and life guards museums small and excellent. And a bus tour with commentary for money or the 24 for all sights for price of oyster. And look for 2 for 1 entries if you come by train ....

Donki sorry I'd hate gluten free. Stomp away. If Oxbloke had had bunches of tics he'd be sleeping in the garden. And we don't even have one

Unserp dare I ask what's so bad re mummy cat? The role or the endlessness?

Wine for all I think

Oh, thank you, Scout. I think it's because Jazzy Jeff is so not what I usually listen to that I love it so much.

Serpent - I don't understand the ineffability of Wriggle's logic that because you don't like being mummy cat she doesn't want ever to go to school. But then, that's why it's ineffable.

Bean - Excellent ideas already for London trip. Going to Greenwich and back from beside the London Eye is a fab excursion and comparatively cheap, too.

Donki - Boo to gf but yay to Cmot's practical suggestions.

I will check my work diary to see if there's any difference between the Thursday and Friday. I'll come if I can.

Donki, goat's cheese is apparently ok if you're dairy-intolerant, and thus the milk etc too. Worth a thought? My PA can't touch any dairy at all so I've become more of an expert than I expected. Meals out are a pain, because so many restaurants cook in butter or add dairy to sauces etc and won't be reasoned with.

Have a . Anyone else for one?

Off to London with my dsis today. Should be good. I intend to take it easy.

It depends on your dairy intolerance.

I'm lactose intollerant - but can cope with cheese and yoghurt - but have to avoid all milk (inc goat) - apparently the cheese/ yog process changes the lactose into something that I can tolerate.

A friend of ours is cows-milk intollerant - he can't have any cows milk products - but he can have sheep, goat and even buffallo products.

Then you get people people like my MiL who make a big fuss about being lactose intollerant and unable to have any cheese, yoghurt or anything - until you go out for a meal when she's quite happy to have a 'normal' pizza rather than one with goats cheese

Gluten free - a friend of mine has found stoneware cooking materials really help with making the bread and eg pizza bases much nicer.

Morning all.

Sorry I haven't been around and I hope you all are well.

LCT is 2 today. He's had a plethora of presents to open and will have cake at lunch time! Next year I will probably have to make him a party. [needs misanthrope emoticon].

::tee places birthday cake and ice cream on the side board::

Don't the NMB's look silly in their birthday hats?!?!

Happy Birthday LCT!!! [big birthday cake emotion]

Hope you have a great day.

Happy 2nd Birthday, LCT!
Love,
TS (and Scout)

Happy birthday LCT
VVVVVVVVVVVVV
bunting .

More bunting for Lower Case Tee! Happy birthday!

Thanks everyone! LCT has had a great birthday so far!

Happy birthday LCT :) :) :)

Advice from the tearoom please. Am not that adept with a needle and thread, and DD has 5 pairs of school trousers which need taking in at the waist. I've phoned the local lady, who is quoting £5 per pair as a guide, which is probably cheap, but in my inexperienced opinion, it just needs taking in on 2 of the seams at the waist. Am almost tempted to have a go myself, but am I being unrealistic to expect them to be done for cheaper than that?

I couldn't do it, Mary, so £5 sounds good! But I am sure there are better seamstresses around here. Buttons is about my speed.

Mary: here's what I do (for, despite having a mother who made all our clothes growing up, or perhaps because of it: I refused to learn to sew, knit, or anything of the like in the proper way. I just do it my way....):

Put trousers on said child (have a stapler handy!)... pinch the waistband until it fits. Staple waisteband. Take trousers off child and sew some firm stiches over where the staple is. Remove staple. It'll take 10 minutes max. I promise.

Happy birthday LCT!

Just asked ds's mother-in-law who is a professional seamstress and she would charge between £5 and £7.50, depending on how difficult the seams are. You need to unpick the waist band, take in the seams, shorten the waist band and re-attach it. Each would take about an hour. Catita's method would only work if she was allowed to always wear her shirt over her trousers, otherwise she would be a laughing stock.

I thought about doing that Catitainahatita, and have done it when she was younger, but am just worried about her being teased, as these are for when she goes to secondary school.

If it were just one pair Tee, I'd happily pay the £5, but am being a bit skinflint at the thought of spending £25 on getting them all altered. I shouldn't complain, I only paid £1 per pair from M&S online!

x-posted with DO. The waistband isn't all in 1 piece, it is also seamed at the same place, so you wouldn't have to take the whole thing off...

6 quid for a pair of school trews that FIT is a good price. I'd pay for the taking in .

Does she really have 5 pairs of trews for school? would it work if you had 2 or 3 pairs altered and see how it goes.

ASDA does school trousers for £5 here I think.

Dutch Oma is right: I was assuming she'd be in a polo neck t-shirt like here (uniforms are shorts/trousers and poloneck) and so you wouldn't see it since they don't tuck them in. Obviously not a good idea with a shirt and tie.
Sorry.

MaryBS - I am quite a competent tailor (have made my own suits in the past and made my wedding dress). The way I have tackled the same problem for Girl is to make two v-shaped darts in the back of the trousers, from the top of the waistband down to just above the hips, in the place that darts would usually be. That method is very quick and easy, as you treat the waistband and the rests of the trousers as one, and to anyone else they just look like tailored trousers.

Postrates herself at the feet of Maud. You can make suits? And wedding dresses!!!!!!!!!
Good grief.

Err, yes. I've come full circle. We used to bunk off needlework at school to read Paris Match, but then, when we graduated, my friend and I decided that the only way we would have designer clothing to wear to work was to make it ourselves, so we encouraged each other, using Vogue Designer Original patterns. So I used to go to work in a Givenchy and a Ralph Lauren dress, amongst other things.

Sadly, these days, my sewing is mostly limited to running repairs and Girl's Brownie sash.