The Nordic Tearoom (Number 31)

[beanandspud]

We have moored the barge for the winter and have moved to a beautiful, cosy log cabin in deepest Scandinavia overlooking a frozen lake and surrounded by pine trees.

Mellors has lit the log fires and candles, it is snowing outside and there are comfortable seats for everyone and fleecy blankets to snuggle up in. For the more active tearoomers there are skis and sledges outside as well as a steaming hot tub for winding down after a busy day.

So pull up a chair. The kettle is on for and there is always plenty of depending on your mood and time zone. (Alternatively there is schnapps, smorgasbord and smoked fish).

Everybody is welcome ? share as much or as little as you like ? but no fisticuffs please!

I just ordered Phil Spector's Christmas album from Amazon.

Ooohh I love Chex Mix. And Bits & Bites. Yum. Shall I send you some, Scout? Or maybe if CMOT heads for the States again soon she could pick some up and bring it home?

Thanks all for good wishes re knee op. :)
Will update soonest once conscious and home.

The plan is to use the arthroscope to take a look at what's happening to my posterolateral meniscus. That the outside back bit on the left knee. We do know it's an abnormal shape and thickness. A normal meniscus is C-shaped. Mine looks like a D so there's more cartilage thickness which sounds great but isn't because a discoid meniscus (that's what it's called) is much more prone to tearing. Especially if you do distance running. So no surprise it went pearshaped on me after I ran the Vancouver marathon in '04.
Back to the plan: scope, take a look, snip any random bits and possibly try to give me more of a letter C. If that's the extent of it, it will be like my other knee op (only with a smarter JM who Does Not Overdo this time :o).
What's uncertain is what he'll find when he gets in there. We had a good discussion about it. If he finds that the mentors back of the meniscus is unstable, he MIGHT attempt a repair. But that's a dicey proposition in that the success rate for meniscal repairs is not that great after age 25, and they involve a long and painful recovery and worst of all, 4-6 weeks on crutches. shit That would be tough but of course I would cope somehow, it's not the end of the world. But we discussed all the nitty-gritty details and decided he would only attempt a repair if it looked like it was going to be bombproof after. I told him I'd rather cope with how it is now, which is really not too bad most days, than deal with a failed repair. And under no circumstances is he going to just remove the meniscus.
He's a really great guy, we had a very frank discussion and are agreed on all points so I feel lots better.

On a happier note, I baked right dozen pumpkin muffins yesterday for a baking swap party I'm going to today. Kept having to smack DH for trying to steal some . I'm a little tired of the scent of pumpkin loaf and of baking right now.
I brought extras, would anyone like a muffin? How's everyone?

"mentors back"?? ENTIRE back (of the meniscus)

And EIGHT dozen, not right dozen.
Stupid autocorrect.

I just looove muffins. Many thanks, JM, and all digits crossed for Friday.

Oooh good news on the Dr that actually listens etc - fingers crossed for the best outcome possible.

8 dozen's a bit different from a dozen lol! They sound great though - I usually like the ones made with fruit or veg as a large part of their composition. We had a nice cake that was made with root veg at a National Trust cafe once - part of a gardening celebration. I think it had parsnip, carrot and potato in.

Mini was rather too active this morning becuase a) hadn't been exercised and b) was too tired.. had another nap (had one yesterday) this afternoon and now very much more on an even keel.

Bashing cookies into pieces and crumbs is very theraputic -- I highly recommend it!

anyone?

:: enter UniS dragging Dpony ::

::UniS Sits on sofa and attempts to arrange Dpony on her lap::

Its bigger than a cat, should be warmer with that winter coat, if a little more muddy.

I should be doing some christmas cards while DH irons.... but I'm not yet. Had a great weekend, bit busy. Kept boy up VERY late last night- 11pm, perhaps teh latest he's been up since infancy. He was enjoying himself at a ceilidh VERY much, danced lots with DH or I, then Granny took him home and I got to dance with DH for the last hour, Hurrah.

Hurrah for UniS dancing with Boy AND DH!

My cookie balls are a bit bigger than I think they're meant to be. I have chocolate in my cuticles -- will need to dig out the nail brush before bed.

Must finish addressing Christmas cards so we can start signing them....

Dancing sounds great - hurray for Boy!

MT - I hope that your day got better. We have days like that where we just need to get out of the house or everyone ends up being grumpy.

TW - I do hope that your throat gets better.

Childish at large cookie balls - sorry!

I am almost done Christmas-wise. Presents are bought and nearly all wrapped and I've done the cards this evening. The house is decorated and I've started my shopping list. Just one more hectic week at work and then hopefully it's downhill!!! We were saying earlier that compared to this time last year when we had a house full of builders, Small Bean was far more demanding, DH was recovering from an operation and we had 18 inches of snow this feels like a doddle... And hopefully I won't be an emotional, exhausted wreck on Christmas Day this time.

::UniS sniggers at Jumbo balls::

at chocolate in cuticles! I'm too allergic to chocolate and would have to wear gloves now I think.

Mini likes a good ceileigh - we had a barn dance for our wedding.

We had a good afternoon post nap - exercise and nap required!

Must admit, I sniggered too as I wrote that. My inner five year old made an appearance.

Since we have Christmas down at the inlaws (stay there overnight and for the week between Christmas and New Year) I fear we don't do much decorating here. Next year I will start so Toddler can help. But we're going down early this year (family wedding) so don't feel ready yet! All of our presents are down there, waiting to be wrapped. I'll have a big blitz of wrapping and it won't take long (I do it in groups, see, makes it easier to deal with). It's not the end of the world if we don't finish the cards until we're in Bristol next weekend for the long weekend but I'd like the envelopes to be done so I don't have to haul my planner to the other side of the country. Also doing some homemade foodie gifts so won't do them until a day or two before Christmas for maximum freshness.

Did you know that a Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg box (the black ones) are the perfect size for wrapping up Christmas Puddings? And that shoe boxes for (UK) size 3 shoes are the right size for a wine bottle with very little extra space on either end? Pefect for Mulled Wine Kits.

Oh, and by just wrapping the lid of the chocolate egg box with silver paper, and leaving the bottom of the box as is, gives a really great effect!

And wrapping the top and bottom parts of the shoe box separately means that no one sees that I have baby feet!

Result!

Your feet are the same size as The Girl's, Scout!

::very dainty::

Scout, I am very impressed!

We had a ceilidh too for our wedding. I have fond memories of trying to do the Gay Gordons in a very impractical wedding dress

I once dated a guy who took one look at my feet, asked about the size and said "Do you have balance problems?" He's an ex for a reason.

I have just commited a chocolate sin -- I have combined a tin of leftover Roses with a 3/4 full tin of Quality Street. (I've made sure the menu was put in, too, but there was only about seven chocolates in the Roses tin.) I need the Roses tin for the chocolate balls.

The couple who's wedding we're going to this coming weekend requested no gifts but if people wanted to give them something JL vouchers would be nice. I felt silly just giving them vouchers, even though that's what they asked for, so I'm making them a mulled wine kit and putting the vouchers in the box. I thought it's something festive for the season, consumable (so nothing cluttering their flat) and they can enjoy it together as a married couple. I have long bread-basket baskets that I usually use but I think a the box will be a bit classier for a wedding. Bought some lovely seasonal yet weddingy paper and ribbon today to do the box up nicely. Will do the spices pouch tonight or tomorrow but won't do the orange until the day of the wedding.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake anyone?

Yes please! And a very large . I think my washing machine has just exploded.

::Horrible vision of spending Christmas Eve at the laundrette::

Toddler and I went to Tesco today. They played the song that's in The Snowman and TS froze in wonder. Then he started looking around. as if to say "There aren't any televisions at this store -- but I know this song from my DVD!"

Many thanaks.

::Resisting the temptation to go and poke the washing machine with a stick::

Yes, but if I poke it with a stick I can find out whether it's dead or alive!

No, no, no Maud. Resist the urge!

Anyone want to wrap a couple of easy-to-wrap gifts for me? I love wrapping but can't get motivated to it.

Poke it gently then . Have I ever told you about the time dh decided to defrost the freezer with a cleaver ? You may be able to guess how that ended.

I'll be wrapping on Christmas eve as usual Scout, although I need to do my MN secret santa parcel tomorrow to get it posted off. I find it hard to be enthused tbh