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.

We've not got a tree yet. Ours normally goes up very close to Christmas. I've not finished the Christmas shopping yet. The weekend is going to be a write-off due to rehearsals and concerts. I don't get a lunch hour at work so can't do any shopping on my own during the week - and taking ds (or dh) shopping with me is my idea of hell - as is going anywhere near town at the moment in fact...

Ds got a cockerell in his advent calendar today - we've got a Phoenix cards one that you pop out figures to add to a nativity scene (so far had star, cow, angel and cockerell) - took ages to find the right location this morning - I even resorted to getting ds to put it in a slot that didn't belong as it was taking too long to find the correct one (of course, then I did find it)

I've just started to thaw out. I've been freezing most of the day despite the heating being on.

Can we have some mulled wine do you think - I am in need of something that is nice and warming.

About the bathroom being all wet and towels on the floor... 'twasn't me. Tea has accused me of going all Nigella... too true... in my house I am also Martha Stewart (minus the attitude or the criminal record) so leaving towels on the floor is not an offense I'd commit. Many others... but not that!

Suspect that lazy sod Mellors...

Daisy wanders in shaking the water from her hair

Oops, sorry about the towels Shoshe! Daisyboy and I had a shower when he came in from the garden he was so cold and wet from the snow!

mistle we have that Advent calendar too! Took me ages to find the slot on the ... barrel!!!! I love it, actually it's the second year in a row we've had it. Not least because Daisyboy can play with said star, angel, cow and cockerel ... we "open" all the slots and they try things out - I think cockerel is presently in the Manger, pretenting to be Baby Jesus

Sadly there are no guineapigs....

OK, at this point, I have to admit, we have 5 Advent Calendars in our house....[gblush]

OK. Cmot, I apologise and bow at the knee of a worthy and prepared Christmas One

But I think you were refusing to start Christmas before December 1 - maybe I mistake previous posts. I get a bit fuddled. Having a MadBad moment

On the other hand, perhaps you didn't start until December 1, but revved up hard by the 4th

LOL at the fire bottom wiggling. We had our chimney swept ready for festive fires .... we now have a hole in blooming chimney - smoke pouring out into our bedroom and a quote to re-line chimney for £1,000

Wonder why we blooming bothered, clearly the soot build up was all that was holding the farking thing together....[grumpy emoticon]

Well, I know why be bothered. A friend's chimney caught fire because the soot and bits were not swept. And we could have aped the Tea family...

but it's a high price for being good...

I def don't start before December 1st - and actually am more of a week before Christmas kind of person. But as we have 17 people coming to lunch next Saturday, with 6 of those staying over at least one night, we need to get looking festive sharpish. And I can't face shopping later in December either.

I confess that all this preparation has occured whilst I take some days leave from work (I have to save some to the end of the year in case of DS illness, but of course then have loads to use up) and DS is still going to nursery. As the air turned blue this afternoon as we wired up the lights, I felt less guilty about this.

Eeek on the cost of relining the chimmney - but it had to be swept.

Oh Cmot, I have done such shopping as I have managed on t'internet when I should have been working doing other things

we are getting tree sorted for next weekend, only 4 people staying, but enough for an excuse!

and the following weekend I am hosting local christmas party - 15 toddlers plus some seconds (as in babies, not used and unsatisfactory goods ) and parents, so 30....

I am more than a little nervous

Do you detect a desperate attempt to fit in, join the "friends" and other SAHM and make up for lack of siblings???

Gosh - you are brave ! DS has his friends at nursery, and thats it for local friends - we know only one mum to chat to, and its impossible to get to know any more due to the whole work thing. I feel guilt about this. People keep telling me I'll meet more people, but I can't see how that will happen as he'll go to before and after school club.

Amongst the lot coming next weekend is DS's very close friend, 4 months younger but an intended only, and they adore each other. We see each other for a weekend a month pretty much and they get to do things like have baths together, squabble over toys. We went out in the summer and I lent friend a sling - the kids wanted us to walk along so that they could hold hands as we went round the show which was very sweet

Online shopping is the saviour of the working mum - one of my colleagues who is also home based (she gets a lot of comments as her children are 14, 7, and 2 all with the same father - v traumatic birth with the first and it took her 7 years to agree to another)had this down as her top tip in coping with Christmas. Mine is that for 35 quid a year you can sign up for Amazon prime and get free next day shipping on everything. This is great if you aren't good at remembering birthdays like me...

Daisy - we do our mulled wine very unchefily too - we do still have some room left in the kitchen for non P.C. stuff and they don't actually make everything you need

Sorry about chimney. Bad time of year for it. My parents have just left a '60s house where we had a wood burner in the sitting room (which would heat quite a bit of the house once it had got going). Chimney in good nick. My father had sweeping brushes. However, what normally happened is that we'd have a cold day and get the fire going really well and the soot would catch fire - to the extent that we would have flames coming out of the chimney - but my father would just keep a check on it to make sure that it didn't 'get out of control' . There would be a deep sort of roaring noise from the chimney when it was really going and all the chimney breasts got hot. We never needed to call the fire brigade though.

Different situation for many houses in the village which were thatched - you always knew it was a thatched cottage on fire if you saw two fireengines coming along - one would concentrate on the thatch, the other would concentrate on everything else - and some beams etc could smoulder for ages so it was really important for them to make sure everything was really out.

When I write down some of the things that happened when I was growing up, it does sound as though I had a really wacky upbringing - but it was actually not

Would anyone like some cinamon toast with a nice cup of tea? Still in need of warming things.

Cmot I found it really interesting that I did find people that we started to know at nursery - ds has a good friend still going there. As soon as parties start becoming more common you also get a chance to meet people at the weekends. Two friends of ds went on to the same school (nursery year) - the teacher says that they are like siblings - they play really well together most of the time but have occasional major fallings-out as they know each other so well. These are soon forgotten at ds's age.

I'm very pleased, though, that one of ds's friends who lives nearby and who I think we will be able to get a working solution to cover holidays and closed days, has an older sister (who ds also likes) so hopefully ds will get some of the advantages of having siblings through this!

oh cinammon toast, lovely lovely

Mistle wasn't meaning to tease you too much about the Pampered Chef, I just keep thinking of saucepans having blow drys and whisks in curlers...

your upbringing still sounds cool to a girl from the 'burbs - "We always knew it was a thatched cottage on fire" blimey, did they just combust willy nilly? I have never seen a house fire (fingers crossed)

Cmot top tip re amazon, my view, if it isn't on there it ain't going to be a present received in or sent from Daisy Villas

Right, onward and upward! I can hear DaisyBoy singing downstairs... hope all otherse are well again

..Note reads: "Daisy - re PC - I just try to keep it underwraps - don't want to go ott about it. Can take teasing about it - it does all seem a bit 'secret society' from the outside "

Just dashing in on my way back to class after lunch. Just been drawing invitations to parent's assembly. Having been exposed to the tea rooms suggestive bread rolls, found it very hard to keep my face straight when faced with some of their suggestive Crhistmas crackers!

Burnt out thatched cottage in the next village. Interesting concpet - make a roof of straw and then light a fire underneath. Not even 3 little pigs tried that. (Roast pork? Miam! ) Apparently burnt down far more often in the past.

I think the real problem occurs when the beams go to close to the chimney and then catch fire - but can smoulder for days until there are actual flames - then, of course, these are right close to the thatch. I think modern chimney liners probably help a lot.

fascinated by the whole turn of thatching and firemaking going on in the cafe
and watching Mellors and DaisyBoy lighting a great big bonfire in the garden...
oh heavens, that's not the aspidestra being thrown on top??

Racing, I feel your pain. I have an Official Smutty Mind - I have been known to corpse at work when someone gets in the lift and turns and says "going down?"
Hopeless...

Mistle I am more and more captivated by PC particularly since I still remain unclear What It Is

settles down with nice mug of coffee

We haven't got a liner in our kitchen chimney (oil Aga) due to the price. We are relying on keeping our fingers crossed that no particularly fat starling sits on the chimney pot and brings the whole thing crashing down. Love the idea of chimney sweeping by means of controlled explosion!

Feel Wrigglesnake is too young for fire-making with Mellors, although he is surprisingly good with the children, so have given her the tea room coal scuttle to play with. Glad to see that we have a good safe fireguard, so she can lob the coal in the direction of the fire without any danger of self imolation.

Like the idea of the festive name change; anyone got any good suggestions me the Racing household?

How about Racingsanta?

I'm sure that there must be something fairly straightforward for me, but all I've come up with (last year, never bothered to change to though) is 'Mistletoe, thrushes singing' (needs to be sung to 'sleighbells ring, are you listening?)

Its a bit like a mobile kitchen shop that does really nice quality products that comes to your house and lets you play with things first - I go and do a demo for someone who has invited some friends round - they can then order if they want to. I find that it sells itself so I don't need to...

OK that's enough about that. I see that Mistlejunior is out with Daisyboy and Mellors, although keeping at a fairly safe distance from the bonfire (following significant lectures from Mistle on several occasions)

Well, the day I've had! The internet connection at Chateau Bocca is decidedly unreliable at the moment and so I have had to devote valuable MNing time ro real life! So much has been going on my absence, I'm exhausted just reading about it all. And the tea room is looking so beautiful now. Many thanks to everyone who's contributed table centres and lewd novelty Christmas crackers.

racingsnake - I didn't mean to leave the tea room Christmas production only to you, but I have been marooned in real life and unable to participate! If a combined panto/nativity play is what the customers want, then that's fine by me (assuming that I am the management ).

I do try to run this tea room on laisser-faire, democratic lines, except when I have to put my bossy hat on, such as when the aspidistra goes missing. But I haven't even had to do that recently, as I see that the tea room prefects have taken action to restore our beloved aspidistra to its rightful place. Those of who who were responsible for its spending a cold and lonely night on the compost heap need to think carefully about your responsibilities towards all living things. You Know Who You Are.

Mistle - I do hope that with parties it will get better, but despondant after being ignored at his first party !

I do own some Pampered Chef stuff - I went when a 'friend' started doing it. The party was notable as a) their house is so minging, that none of us really wanted to eat anything produced in it b) her middle child was ill, and crawled around the room in which she was doing the demo puking occasionally. But the pizza stone is excellent for my gluten free chebe bread pizza, so it was worth going .
As for wacky upbringing - we had friends who had a muntjac deer who lived in the kitchen and used a litter tray. Oh, and another who let his goats drink from the same can of coke as him. And my dad used to collect the wooden boxes from the supermarkets in town, and get out of date food from their bins. So you aren't terribly wacky to me !

DH has lectured me on the burning (or not) of thatched buildings. They now have fire resistant layers under the thatch amongst other things which reduces the issue. There may have been more information, but I zoned out.

I've bought some raaather nice smoked nuts and olives with me today, and have some peach juice for Bellinis ?