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.

Oh, and ::brag alert:: for our wedding I made my dress, the bridesmaid's dress, the groom's waistcoat and cravats for groom and best man.

The point here really is that if I can do it, anyone can. The knack is to start with very simple things (my first make was a wraparound skirt, so no zip to put in) and take it in easy stages.

It took me a year to make a simple skirt at school. I think the needlework teacher needed counselling for some time afterwards.

and twiglets available, along with a nice bit of Foo Fighters.

It was my games teacher who needed counselling!

? Yes, please.

::hands over large glass of ::

My games teachers resigned from the profession altogether, if I recall correctly. At least I showed some promise at science, maths and poker.

Poker? Can I go to your school?

::holds out glass for ::

There is still chocolate birthday cake. Who wants?

Cake please....
Today I worked hard at a church fete. I am knackered.
Didn;t even make much money, but the customers had fun.

Yes, please.

::chocoholic::

Yes please to cake!

UniS, I bought 5 pairs as they were a £1 each, no other reason. Always useful to have spares! DD's friend's mum is handy with a needle and has offered to take a look, and she said she will charge me £2-3 per pair

Went to a farm shop cafe for lunch today yummy! and they had a children's play area TS really enjoyed.

Result, Mary!

Yes please to choc cake Tee, and although I suppose he's in bed by now, I do hope LCT had a Very Happy Birthday - sounds like he did.

HAAHAHHHAHAHAAAHAHA

It makes one proud to be British, Scout!

Bear in mind, though, that although I can make a wedding dress I can't bang a nail in straight.

Oh and fingers crossed for the zoo on the 30th then.

Serpent - here, it's Mummy and Baby Dinosaur. Roar.

And Mummies and Daddies and Babies with the Girl Next Door. We will be monitoring that one carefully in years to come. Today they also played shopping, trains, manic martians (an ELC game involving hitting little aliens very, very hard), and water pistols. And watched Peppa Pig together.

It's the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeendlessness of the role playing! Wriggle and best friend (boy) play lots of mummies and daddies. "Let's pretend there is a baby in my tummy and it's stuck and won't come out." They seem to take turns to be mummy.

Happy Birthday LCT!

Most impressed by seamstress skills. I went on a 'Get to know your sewing machine' course in February .... and have never since had an afternoon where I could get out my sewing machine to actually make something.

I foresee lots of pretend playing in my future -- TS and I had a tea party this week. He sat on the chair "pouring" into cups and I made lots of slurpy noises as we both "drank" and he thought it was hilarious.

I've wanted to learn to sew. My mom sews she made my wedding dress, my bridesmaid's dress and the mother-of-the-bride dress but she never had the patience to teach me. I do other artsy-craftsy things, though. I'd like to cross-stitch but my fingers have split again so won't even consider a project until the fingers heal.

I'd also like to go on a cake/cookie decorating course.

Happy birthday LCT!

I also made my wedding dress (although was sewng roses on it the night before the wedding - our flowers were done in the same colours). And my bridesmaid's dress (Maid of Honour?) which I beaded around the neck.

I would be taking darts into the trousers too - and wouldn't be paying £5 as you can buy school trousers for that in various superamarkets. However, we have the opposite problem in that mc is in age 8s with 1" taken up (now scarilly tall)(for a 6yo)

MC exhausted - karate for 1hr, dog walk, then party in the afternoon.

I would be somewhere between staples and darts so to speak

But £5 a pair for two or three pairs means £20 for five trews dirt cheap vi would therefore pay for three and cobble two aa back up

:: joins catita at Mauds seamstresssy feet::

happy bday lct

::bows down before Catita and Oxeye who do proper brainy and learned stuff::

I don't do neat sewing. I do bodgy craft stuff only.

The fete had bat the rat, Map treasure hunt thing ( pick a grid square if you pick the right one you win chocolate) , Puddings, Teddy zip wire ( my thing) , morris dancers, demonstration of spinning ( craft type not fitness type), young musicians, cake stall, books, bric brac, cream teas, jams and chutneys, crafts and the like stalls, tombola, nearly new, ice cream and a bagpipe player. I saw- teddy zip wire and one morris dance. managed to spend grand sum of 80p, boy didn't even spend all his pocket money as not many toys in bric a brac this year, he was rather upset about that. He did buy himself a bowl of pudding tho and some cake.

Next weekend is an open garden thing, and DH has another concert, weekend after is some other social do, wekend after that is another fete and a beer festival. Its all go in teh country side. We makes our own entertainment you know :-) I think its all a plot to keep money circulating in villages and not let any one have any time to spend money outside the community.

All that local activity sounds fantastic, UniS. We're just on the brink of fete season here. I loooove fetes - best ever source of plants, books and tut useful objects for the home.

It's the flower festival in the village I do Guides this weekend. We always have a display in the church which we go and photo for the district. And we put up/take down the marquee (which we usually get a donation for doing). The stuff they do in my town doesn't have that "small community" feel to them, which is why we tend to go to where I do Guides.

We're going to take TS to Farm Sunday tomorrow. I wonder how many animals he'll meow at.....?

Pretzels anyone?

I always liked teh school fete as a kid. then it was full on all afternoon event with pony rides and ice cream and throwing sponges at teachers.
School fete here is compressed into a PTA BBQ afterschool one afternoon. still pretty good fun, but almost all the kids are still in uniform, no need to cook that night , just feed them BBQ, which is handy.

Is it too late for Pretzels?

Contemplating why people write to me to tell me how brave I am and what sort of inspiration I am, and how the heck they've ended up with that mistaken idea.

Think maybe a cup of to go with that contemplating.

I have the same problem Amber. I haven't a clue what I do to inspire people, but apparently I do.

Sometimes I make people laugh and sometimes I can say exactly the same thing to someone else, and upset people.

But whether I inspire, or make them laugh or inadvertantly cause offence (I really try hard not to do it deliberately), I'm just being me!

I can tell you what you do to inspire me, and also that you are just being you when you do it (which is probably why you don't see it). Its that you are always there for me, even when you are ill, and never get frustrated or irritated with me. You might say that that is what friends do, and you'd be right in that that is what friends SHOULD do, but in real life, people let me down all the time, or say things that hurt, or don't have time for me. And you're never like that. NEVER. That is a rare quality.