Episode 33 - The Orangery - Tea anyone?

[mistlethrush]

The tearoom has traveled back to the Orangery for another visit. There are bluebells in the nearby woods, and Mellors has Earl Grey and Lady Grey ready for some excursions. Mellors has, indeed, been overwintering away from Canada for some reason - I think he's been helping Maud out in the garden. There are tulips out in urns outside, and there are a few tables out in the sunny courtyard for use between showers.

Whether you have one child or several, pull up a chair and share a or a . The only rules remains no fisticuffs.

It does seem like we all need a pyjama party in the priests hole - snuggle under the duvets with hot water bottles, hot choc, and something to cuddle. Mellors ! Get over here now

Its so lovely to come here. I feel grim, depressed and manky today, and my boss is being a pita. I have a day off tomorrow, when I will be calling my dad to talk about mum while she's out. Hopefully relaxing a bit too.
On Saturday I'm doing a dressage competition then going to a wedding at Warwick Castle

Budge up, ladies. I am poorly and feeling sorry for myself.

Have a hot toddy Scout - it will cheer you and make the cold feel better

::Breaks off from general bosom-claspage to slip into her designer PJs and smiles winningly at Mellors::

Would Wriggle and her friends like to play Beetle, do you think, for a bit of 60s/70s retro cool? Something we sometimes do at Brownies is a treasure hunt, where they have to find shapes and colours to cover a picture - we usually do (say) the Brownie badge but you could give each child a line drawing of a butterfly or beetle and they could fill in with flower petals and other lovely things from the garden.

::Hopes that there aren't too many small animal skeletons lurking under the hedge::

Do you really think that Wriggle may have additional needs, LaBelleDame? Has her English caught up now or could some of this be about communication difficulties?

I try not to competitive parent/brag/show off my child/whatever, but seeing as we're all a bit [blurgh] this might cheer everyone up.

Toddler is almost 2.8. Thursday is swimming day. We still swim with Toddler's best friend who is three weeks younger than him. I take FriendOfToddler to the changing rooms before class while my friend (little girl's mum) takes her son to the crèche then she comes down and gets her Toddler into her suit (though I usually start getting her clothes off before she comes down since it's easy to change Toddler and I go in my swimsuit).

We got to the leisure center first today and I was holding TS (we were singing silly songs and watching the traffic & traffic lights which is a distance away as there's green space between the road and the center). I saw my friend crossing the road with her double buggy and pointed in her direction. She waved and Toddler practically leapt from my arms shouting "FriendOfToddler'sName! Hello! Hello! Hello!" and took off running across the front of the leisure center to greet her. He then stood in front of the buggy waiting for his friend to climb out, jumping up and down in his excitement. They then ran off to the entrance and stood waiting for us, their slow-poke mums. Once inside they held hands and chatted all the way to the changing rooms and into a room they choose.

It was so darn cute! They are so lovely together. It is nice to watch their friendship develop and blossom. They are toddlers and do toddler things but they chase each other, want to be where the other is/do what the other is doing/eat what the other eats. It's just lovely.

[heart]

LaBelle, how about butterfly mobiles?

CMOT, how are you?

JM, been thinking about you. How's the chocolate supply?

Maud, please tell Girl that FanFare is now not just a castle but also a train station where passengers board from.

In a twist of irony (?) MrScout is at a Guiding event while I'm at home. Two more Seniors meetings left for me.

Yes, toddler friends are lovely. Gets less easy as they get older - make the most of it!

Give me a few more details about the treasure hunt, Maud.

That is indeed cute, Scout. I'll be posting you another badge tomorrow and have just been sewing my new treasures onto my blanket.

::sore fingers::

Cmot - Do you ever go on the Elderly parents topic? i think I may start.

Aw, thats lovely. Ds's best friend and he have been inseperable since baby room at nursery, and they skip along holding hands chattering. When they sleep over together, they cuddle up in the same bed and look like little angels. Then they wake up and plot new adventures !

Just had an email, could I do a web meeting for a site in Hawaii. I have asked why I can't just pop over to see them. I haven't made it there yet as trips are v competitive

Oooohhhh, Hawaii is lovely. Very humid this time of year, though.

I am hoping that Toddler and his friend remain friends even though they'll end up going down different educational routes. Her mother even refers to Toddler as "T's best friend" to her other friends/family. Awwww.

X posts !
The elderly parents board is great Maud - lovely to be able to talk to others going through the same things, esp as in RL people who aren't don't want to consider the possibilities.

Decorate a mug with butterfly/bug design LaBelle ? I got mugs and pens from Yellow Moon and they were quite cheap and look lovely.

Off to look for yellow moon and elderly parents topic.

cute bugs

evening all. ah ha. I see pyjamas are de-rigour. excuse me a minute.

We did some Baker Ross ribbon-weaving at Brownies and, frankly, they were a bit rubbish. The Brownies -all of whom are a lot older than Wriggle - found the weaving quite fiddly and the foam shapes were prone to splitting, so that the slots through which the ribbon had to be threaded disintegrated.

How about these?

I've started a thread on Elderly Parents.

butterfly ballon hats...
modelling balloon butterfly wings.

pin the nose on the beetle.
build a beetle game

bug jelly sweets in flour, pick out with teeth only ( hands behind back)
worm charming on the lawn.

so- do you like the new PJs?? UniS does a twhirl .. oh I give up, I've just tried 6 different ways of spelling that word and none of them look right. UNiS spins around. Boys spelling lists form school are getting to my limit of ability. this is not good. I try and get DH to practise spellings with boy. I put them all on the fridge in magnetic letters ( with teh book open beside me).

budge up and make room for another round the edible camp fire would you?

been another day here.

Very nice PJs, Unis, you glamour puss.

Hope the pyjama party is going well down in that Priest Hole - might just join you as it's only 11am and my energy reserves have just bottomed out completely!

Was just looking for "grown your own butterfly" things on amazon, but they're quite expensive (a good thing I suppose since we're talking about real live butterfly chyrsalis/caterpillars) so not such a good plan for the party.

Was also going to suggest a game of Beetle, pin the head on a ladybird, or some such. You can maybe make butterfly cakes? or decorate your own cupcake to make a ladybird/beetle, prize for the best one?

LaBelleDame - perhaps Wriggle sees through the constant praise and has a negative attitude to it too? Don't know. Sounds like she is very hard on herself sometimes. :(

CMOTD - hope you get to go to Hawaii rather than just electronically meet there! It's been on my list since watching Magnum PI forever!

Scout - very cute - I love that stage! hope your stuffiness has eased. Have some eucalyptus oil to burn - that will help :)

Right, I'm off for a lie-down - can't believe how knackered I feel!

butterfly ballon hats... How do I make these??

Game of beetle excellent idea, as is decorate your own fairy cake (cup cake?).

I like the idea of grow your own butterfly, but they are expensive, as you say, so I am waiting for the cabbage white caterpillars so that we can make our own kit - maybe I could put them in party bags . A few years ago I would have said that we would go out into the field behind the house and collect small tortoiseshell or peacock caterpillars, but I hardly see them now .

Off to download The Ugly Bug's Ball for musical statues.

And Thumb, what a lovely reason to feel tired. I so enjoyed long naps, feeling really excited and important.

Thumb, if you're about, any idea of a good oil to burn for someone who feels 'half asleep' all the time, and rather frightened? I thought frankinsence for calm, but is there anything else?