Would anyone like a cup of tea and a muffin?

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

I'm tired and in need of refreshment.

The tea room is now officially open, serving hot chocolate, tea, freshly-squeezed orange juice and a range of home-baked muffins. Tablecloths and crockery are charmingly mismatched antiques (no Cath Kidston here). We overlook an attractive although somewhat overgrown garden, with a distant view of rolling countryside.

Everyone is welcome but house rules dictate that anyone indulging in fisticuffs will be ejected.

Please come in.

Hi again, bucharest. Yes, I think a thread to discuss caring for older parents would be a very good thing. Are you going to start it?

racingsnake - you know, we have a fireplace here but we've never yet had a log fire. But winter evenings are drawing in, so let me attend to it now. Scrunched-up newspaper, kindling, logs, smokeless fuel, we're ready to go. Now, would you care for a parma violet?

Gather round everyone. The fire is lit and the tea room is hot, hot, hot.

T42 struts in in strippy apron and smelling of Christmas cake - yes today we have made the Christmas cake!!!! HORRRRAAAAYYY - It is so lovely - makes me feel like a real proper Mummy!!! Like when I buy something from Laura Ashley ha ha ha!!! And all my French friends are fascinated "You do what???" "OK. Mmmm. And how long does it stay in the oven???" This makes me feel really ethnic and quite cool!

T42 lays on the big cuddly dog next to the fire - Ahhh - cakes in the oven, a log fire and laying on a dog now I feel like I am 7 again!!!!

Wonders... is anyone else here a child of the urrrrmmm... 80s or... is it just me???

Hi, tea! Depends on what you mean by a 'child' of the 80s. I spent many happy moments dancing to Wham but I was, ahem, somewhat beyond my childhood at the time.

How organised are you T42 ?

As my mum has decided to make a cake to bring with her (and considering that her cookery skills have gone down the plughole, this might be interesting) at Christmas, but that friends of ours (also with an only) are coming for the bit between Christmas and New Year, plus New Year, I am going to make my fiendishly alcoholic cake which has a pint of Southern Comfort in it. In fact, must buy fruit to start soaking (needs 3 weeks) tomorrow. The first time I made it, I didn't cut the fruit up small enough and chunks of pineapple would act as shots of SC. This will get me through Christmas (all parents), Boxing Day (at MIL with all of their family inc 5 teenagers), and give us some serious relaxation after the children have gone to bed each night.

I prefer to forget the 80's...

Hi guys!
I have only just recovered from the Adam Ant - I forgot that Tippex is a seriously bad thing to put on your face

So, if it's confession time, I am 41 and my DS is 2.4 which means I too was 38 when he was born

Parents - looking after them is all about temperament not number of children in families. My Mum looked after her Mum (physically, emitionally and financially) and she is one of 4. My Dad looked after his Mum and Dad and he is one of 2, but his lovely sister is in Africa

My DH looks after his parents, and he is one of 2. My folks are thankfully well and thriving, but when the time comes, I am sure my sister will do the physical/ emotional care because that is the way our family dynamics work

Of course, if you're a 1 then it is down to you, but I bet lots of onlies sling their folks into a home

T42 your "proper" question re DD - no, I don't think the night waking is due to trauma of going to nursery. She loves it. She may feel unsettled (which is not the same thing and not necessarily associated) she may just be going through a phase

Re the hugging - I think MN rightly prides itself on having a bit of a chipper attitude (not all huggy kissy stuff) but that can go a bit too far - if you look there are plenty of ((hugs)) going round...

and JM, don't worry, you kids from the colonies always get away with stuff

Welcome folk hiding behind plants/ sitting out tall and proud

Looking forward to your SC cake Cmot (which is a brill name, but I am not sure, I might prefer CNUT!!!)

Hmmm... I was a teenager in the 80's. Does that count? As I was born in '69 I guess I can't properly call myself a child of the 60's or the 70's... But I did have the full-on 80's thing going, paisley jeans, big hair, blue or purple eyeliner, pink frosted lipstick (well, at least that was the full-on 80's thing in Toronto where I grew up - what was it like in the U.K.???)... my high school graduation picture is quite gruesome from this perspective, LOL! Good thing I've grown up... (hollow laugh).

Hey cnut... ermmm, cmot (sorry, Tea has jinxed me now, I laughed my pants off at cnut and now I can't get it out of my head) - I love your name, and I've read some of Terry Pratchett's books, the Discworld ones. Laughed myself silly at the incompetent wizard. And at the SC-soaked pineapple bits in your cake!

Nothing much else to laugh at... nothing's wrong, just feeling a bit blue and overwhelmed. Maybe it's the weather? Snarked at DH this morning on my way out the door when he asked what time I'd be home... probably because DS is in mummy-only mode right now and leaving him is hard on both of us... but also because DH is in a bit of a pessimistic "Mr. Negative" slump right now and it's really getting on my nerves. Told him on the weekend that he was being a right little ray of sunshine... of course he took offense but I hope he realized that it's a bit much for me right now too. Going to my mum's in Toronto for five days tomorrow, which gives both of us a little break. Like I said in reference to the aging parents discussion, it's been a rough year.

Aaahhh... that's better.

TTFN. Will keep popping in between patients.

Oh, a Colonial Special ((((hug))) in an intellectual MN way for you JM

I know that whole leaving the bubs thing, I get Boy Ache if I am out too long (have it now to be honest)...

Heh, if you're '69 you're the same age as GAP! I always laugh at their age on buttons etc!

Me, I was an 80s teen, but for me it was sort of maroon and leg warmers worn OVER jeans and trousers, pulled right up YUCK! and hair cut short a sides and long at back, sort of mullet like, and fringed pointy scarves with golden thread worn around the neck....

no, I must STOP

where else would you wear a scarf ??!!

Sorry to hear that everyone's feeling a bit down. But the sun is well and truly over the yard arm now, so shall we open this bottle of champagne which (amazingly) has lain undisturbed in the fridge since our opening party?

The last few posts have stirred up all sorts of uncomfortable fashion memories - leg warmers, pink and purple eyeshadow, far too much blusher ... and I even had a scarf with silver thread running through it, worn with the point at the front in cowboy stylee. Thank goodness this was at a time when cameras were still quite expensive so there isn't much photographic evidence!

Cin cin everyone!

Ohhh, champers!!! Pour me a big glass - I'm about to have to deal with my most annoying chatty patients who keeps talking even when we're done with treatment and I'm gently shooing her out the door... have been tempted to duct tape her mouth shut on occasion...

Mmmmmm... Bocca, Veuve Cliquot??? You're spoiling us!!!!

Oh no jacksmama. Returning to our facecare discussion a while ago, its Because We're Worth It (or do they not use that slogan in north America?)

Ah, Bocca, I think we have the same record collection...and I never quite did get round to replacing them with cds....or those other new hoojamaflips....
I had a crush on the (female) singer of Transvision Vamp because of her matt pink lipstick......and I was almost in my twenties in the 80s.....
Jacks- what do you do? with patients I mean...when you're not in the cafe?

What do you children/teenagers/early 20s children of the 80s put on your faces anyway? Am in dire need of wrinkle treatment.

I'm a chiropractor bloody quack who's not a real doctor.

Prost ! Nothing like bubbly for cheering ones spirits.

I too had one of those scarves - black with silver thread. I wore that into the early 90's (I was an impoverished student)according to photos. Talking of which, I found some at mums this weekend which reminded me exactly why I currently have long hair and no fringe

I rather like leg warmers though - DS has a lovely pair in black with little skull and crossbones on. I haven't had any since I had ones that matched my baggy jumper and beret.

Jacksmama - I am seriously considering changing to be Cnut now. It has a rather nice Viking ring to it, as well as reminding me of the Pratchett joke about wishing for gold, misspelling and getting a grumpy dwarf by the name of Glod instead. Sorry you are feeling down. By the miracles of the internet, I am in a position to offer you a choice of alcofrolic cake - SC or Bourbon ?

Ds usually saves mummy only mode for when I am about to leave on a business trip. I swear he is channeling our old cat who would start a sulk as soon as I put washbag to suitcase.

And I just splurged on Juice Beauty Green Appple Antioxidant treatment for those fine lines... BECAUSE I'M WORTH IT!

BOURBON!! Please, cnut, and thank you!!

Be careful, and don't breathe out near naked flames....

I'm using Boots protect and perfect cream and serum. I have no idea whether it really helps, but my colleague who has far more money than I do (but likes to mess with peoples minds as she has 3 children, all with the same father who she has been with for 25 years aged 14, 7, and 2) reckons that it is better than all the ultra expensive things that she has had previously. But my skin is looking pretty happy.

Evening, bucharest! Draw your armchair closer to the log fire as we revert to our youth!

Actually, I was never that keen on Duran Duran - I preferred Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode - but I did want a motor wind-on for my camera just so that it would sound like the beginning of Girls on Film. Was reminded of DD (uran uran, not my daughter) last night as I watched Quantum of Solace. Didn't like the new theme music and was thinking of past Bond songs.

Sorry, where were we? Oh yes, 80s music. I haven't replaced my vinyl with CDs but we don't now have a functioning record deck so can't play my records. Which possibly is what saves my marriage, as my husband can't bear disco and New Romanticism so would be appalled if I played them in his hearing!

As for face care, the highpoint of the Bocca skincare regime is a very occasional Clarins facial. However, it has to be said that the most effective cure for wrinkles is being fat - the subcutaneous fat plumps out the wrinkles beautifully.

Alternatively, I could just hit the dance floor to burn off the fat and learn from this master of macquillage.

Oops! Very slow poster so didn't see all the other threads. It's getting busy in here. Could someone pass round the olives and organic crisps?

And may I show you again the results of my extensive researches into the story of Cnut?

Bottoms up! Shall we open another bottle of bubbly?

I thought you'd never ask

And one of my coins.. Did you find that in the dishonesty box ?

So that's where the coin came from!

More shampoo coming up. We've run out of Veuve Cliquot, so it's on to the Bollinger for an Absolutely Fabulous moment.

Oh goodness - No no no - I actually was a child in the eighties... (born '79)

I spent my teens wishing I had been a teenager in the 60s, wearing drab baggy clothes, dragging a guitar wherever I went, getting depressed about Human rights being a vegetarian and... talking about how everything will be so so great once Tony Blair is PM - mainly on the strength of the fact he refused to say "I'm sssshhhmmmmokin'" on Chris Evan's radio 1 breakfast show so graciously ... we thought he obviously knows what he's talking about!

Cover your ears... here comes some 90s coool Britania!!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9GiLnZyUgM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=be8wgJlYLBo&feature=related

Oh Hi Cmot cnut!!!!