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!

Happy Thanksgiving Scout! :) xxxxx

JM, I concur entirely. I'm not overly happy with another of the posters on here atm either - she has it in for one of my thread "friends" and it's annoying me. However, I have now hidden the offending thread so can't go back to get more wound up.

I have never been bitten or kicked by a horse - but I have been trodden on. My best friend had a pony who, I believe, was jealous. This pony and I Did Not Get On. When I groomed her, she would stand on my foot and then lean on it. When I rode her, she used to go at high speed and try to dump me off, sometimes succeeding. My friend insisted that she never did it with anyone else (and as an AI, she had lots of other people on her pony's back) and that I had "an electric seat". I still maintain that it was deliberate and the pony was jealous.

CMOTD - get you with your famous hand! But seriously, I hope that someone can come up with a brilliant idea to help it. Bummer re. the keloid scarring - the osteopath I used to work with in the UK was a keloid scarrer, and when he had shoulder surgery, I used to treat him at least once a week to do finger frictions on the scar, in the hope of keeping the scarring down. Of course it was an uncontrolled "experiment" so I can't say for sure that it would have been worse if we hadn't done the frictions, but he was happy with the result - there was very little keloid scarring and no further restriction in movement around the operation site. Finger frictions are just that - small movements with a lot of pressure, to try and prevent the scar tissue from building up - but since your scar wound keeps opening, it could be difficult to do with you.
Something that may help is this stuff - they're doing clinical trials on it and it's going great guns - and has just gone global, so you should be able to get hold of it if you want to. It's been able to halt gangrene and clear up persistent ulcers, so it may help your skin heal.

I have once been bitten by a horse - I was helping with the youngsters at the racing stables - unbroken, soon to start working - and took feed into one of them who took a mouthful and then chased me with her ears back and bit me hard on the arm - most unwarranted. Hector was a pickle - he was at the riding school - an ex pony club pony for my riding school teacher's daughter (they kept them all, so very good ponies there, and all very well looked after) - he was a rocking horse dapple grey ifykwim... he would lick your hand in a soporific way and carry on and on and then suddenly go for a chunck - but he never got me - and I would sometimes unstress him - you could tell he was stressed as he had tension lines running across the soft part of his nose, and I'd stroke his head and ears and nose until they all relaxed out.

If anyone knows anyone that is going to want to go to the Horse side of things for the olympics, my mil was considering renting out her house but hasn't done so yet. Its within walking distance (ok, so a fair stroll, but probably 30mins or so) of Greenwich park.... Train station also within easy walking distance.

DutchOma - they've got the OdP books on Amazon at the moment ???

Happy Thanksgiving those that do that sort of thing...

here

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fanks Scout!

I think my Grandma has officially ruined Thanksgiving. My poor Mom and Aunt (Mom's sister).

What? Why? What's happened?

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope the family survives embarrassing/ drunk/ stroppy ( delete as applicable) elderly relatives...

ANy one for seconds of turkey and stuffing?

oh Scout, no! Why's that then? Is she prone to doing things like that?

I still don't "get" pumpkin pie. I need someone to explain what is so great about it - pumpkins do not taste nice, so how does a pie or pudding with pumpkin in it inspire such joy? Or is it like choko, which is a dodgy Aussie veg/fruit (not sure), that is rather like flavourless apple and is used as a "filler" substance that requires other flavourings added to it to make it interesting to eat? Choko is cheaper than apples so can be used in apple pies instead of real apples, with apple flavouring - or just half apple, half choko and it still tastes like apple pie. Please help, people over the Pacific ocean!

Turkey, mmmmmnmnmnmnmmmm...

Happy Thanksgiving but hope all ok Scout?

CMOT that's great re riding, hope the conference brings some help, can you use Bio oil on teh keloid scar?

Mistle, bless MC and his wibbles

Amber, I too read the horse thing and though yes, animals are more straight forward than people, no cruelty in them

all ok here. struggling on with OxBloke off up the Limpopo and everyone else wanting more than a piece of me... tis tiring....

Hugs to all others
x

oh, and Olga da P is certainly a GP - you only have to look at her crazy hair do to know

::Clasps Oxeye to her ample bosom::

Wot cheer, Oxeye!

Scout - Hope Grandma will somehow redeem herself!

Yo Mauds!! has your cold / cough gone?

::Channelling my inner pecan pie::

I must go to bed.... night all!

Yes, she is prone to stunts like she pulled today. She's worse as she's getting older (combination of losing her mental facilities AND turning into her mother, who definitely had undiagnosed mental health issues and was a mean, MEAN lady). Gma is (becoming? always was but getting worse with age?) a mean lady. She knew we're here and she knew we (either MrScout and I or the Camp Directors) were going to pick her up for Thanksgiving. Instead the Ohio Campers (aunt, cousins, little cousins) went to collect her to find her door unlocked (common) and she was nowhere to be found. Gma's neighbor (who, keep in mind, doesn't know the Ohio Campers) told the Ohians that Gma left this morning "with some man." Campers waited for a bit, left a message on her answering machine, a note on her door and presents in apartment then came down to ours. Soon after they arrived at Scout Camp Gma called and said things like "she didn't know she was coming for dinner" and "well, Camp Director invited me but she didn't mean it" and "I had dinner at the (Methodist) church [note, we're Catholic so how she got invited to the Methodist church I have no idea] and I'm tired so I'm going to bed." The Ohio Camp Director (my aunt) said "well, we came to see you" and was more or less told "I don't care." My oldest cousin said "We didn't drive 500 miles to see/surprise you so you are coming" and went back up to collect her. Gma walked past my mom on her way in (everyone was standing outside chatting because the kids were outside playing in the leaves and enjoying the warmth/sunshine) and when Mom tried to talk to her she turned her head and wouldn't talk/acknowledge her.

This ignoring of my mom (who is the only one who lives close and takes care of her) is a regular thing. I don't think she said five sentences to Mom the entire afternoon/evening. She kept saying how great the meal at the church was and how nice it was and how she didn't want anything to eat (at one point, when asked what she'd like on her plate with 19 of us we did buffet-style dinner she said "a piece of cheese"). Not once did she tell MrScout or I it was nice to see us or thank us for the belated birthday gift or say goodbye as she was leaving. She didn't thank my mom for dinner (or me for getting her plate of food or my cousin for topping up her drink) or for having her or even "goodbye."

Sorry to rant but my mom was so upset that she disappeared and then said the things she did that it made her cry. My aunt was upset to the point where she said she didn't know if she wanted to spend tomorrow with her (keeping in mind that she hasn't seen my Gma in 18 months because of the distance).

Looking past the Gma issue the day itself was lots of fun. Because the weather was nice the kids got outside to play in the leaves then MrScout and BrotherScout took the seven kids (keeping in mind two of the kids are 12-almost 13 and 16) to the playground. Lots of food has been consumed and if anyone left hungry it was their own stupid fault. CampDirectorMom bought Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts so lots of markers and glue sticks and foam pieces are floating around. I will have pictures on the other space soon.

Apologies for the rant. I'm not surprised by Gma's stunt but am very upset and angry on behalf of my mom.

I don't know Olga stories -- is it a British thing I should know about?

oh buggeration Scout - what a mean ol' woman she is! Is she your mum's mother, or MIL? No excuse either way, and I'm guessing she is your mum's mother. :( Very sad for your mum - and that appalling lack of grace and manners isn't anything to do with loss of memory, just meanness showing through.

I wouldn't blame any of your family for leaving her on her own tomorrow but I'm sure you won't - I'm sure you'd all feel too guilty to do that (I wouldn't but I don't believe in this "blood is thicker than water" thing - if people are mean, people don't get invited) - I just hope she's a bit nicer!

Sounds like the rest of it was fun though - hurrah!

Do you know Paddington Bear? It's the same writer, Michael Bond. Olga da Polga didn't have the same publicity

Yes, Mom's mom (and Mom & Aunt are sisters). Gma is the only surviving grandparent between MrScout and I. I know I should be nicer about her but she really is mean and spiteful.

Oh.... yes, I know Paddington. I love Paddington. I bought a Paddington Bear the first time I went to England, even though I could get one in the US, just so I could have a real one. Toddler and I listen to Paddington stories read by Stephen Fry in the car.

Ooo eck re Gma situation

?

Sorry to hear about Gma issues Scout - but glad that, in general, the day went well.

Lovely to see you Oxeye!

Yes please Amber, I'd love a

Feeling chesty - hope its not going to be another bronchitus or worse session.

embarrassing & stroppy elderly relative- ( prob not drunk if had lunch with Methodists) 2 out of 3 ain't good. all the best for coping with her for a second day.

I do like olga de polga name, can't remember a thing about teh books, I liked Hafferty Hamster stories when younger . Boy has just started to like Horrid Henry being read to him.

Breakthrough on the new TV front, we have added "live n deadly" ( CBBC show) to boys TV repertoire. Its soooo nice to have him watching something that isn;t "everythings rosie" or "kerwhizz" or "driver dan".