The One and Only Tea Room: Tea, muffins and champagne served at all hours

[BoccaDellaNativita]

Well folks, here we are!

We were on the brink of filling the old thread so I thought we'd better start a new one now. There was a rumour that we were going to be evicted from our old premises, but we managed right at the last minute to get an extension on the lease. So it's business as usual. We're still in our charming old tea room, overlooking our beautiful garden complete with ha-ha and duck pond. And Mellors the gardener.

Please come and join us for a celebratory drink.

Hello, just been out for a jog ... oh, okay, I've been playing Raving Rabbids TV Party on the Wii. Just as good as a jog, I'm sure, no need for a sports bra, and no danger of slippage on the ice. I nearly slid into the side of another car this morning, that ice is treacherous I tell you.

Anyway, can't stop, but thought I'd just call in and say that after a quick peruse of morningpaper's scrapbooking thread I've decided that scrapbooking is not a pastime for mothers of one child. Not enough photos of children to paste in, no call for sickly sweet bon mots about siblings. Not for us. I'm more of a 'shoebox of disordered photos behind the television' kind of person myself.

DCMB - I'll match your shoebox and raise it a packet of photos that were developed 2 yrs ago and still haven't made it into the album I bought for them....

Mistlethrush and DCMB - Sorry to be so blunt but you are amateurs. I am approximately eight years behind on putting photos into albums.

Which actually prompts a question: what to do with digital photos? Is it too last century to print them off and (a decade hence) put them in an album? I believe the considered view of MN is that digital photo frames are naff but I am nevertheless tempted ....

Bocca - we've just got one in the sale on the basis that at least this way we get to see some of the photos.

When milk was a baby we were very concious that we were having a right laugh and she wouldn't remember any of it! So for milks first birthday I made her a story book about her life so far using boots photo books - where they make books out of your photos and I wrote a story to go with them... BUT I never got round to actually making the second one and am sure I haven't got enough photos for the third!!!

My Mum who has more stamina than me, however, is making a wonderful scrapbook of milk's life! Really beautiful!

Can you send a link to the thread - I'd like to see what they are saying....[nosy expression]

(sneaks in to trump previous boasts of ileness whilst everyone else is asleep)

dd's baby photo album goes no further than a few weeks old, which is better than our wedding album (hand made specially for us)which still appears to be empty, after nearly 17 years!!

(nicks a fascinator & tries it on, looks in mirror, snorts in disgust, hurls it floor, necks some warm, flat champers from dregs in various bottles, then wanders off, swaying slightly)

I did both sets of grandparents a pocket sized photo album for DD's first Christmas, with a photo per month and a cute caption on the opposite page (I think it was written in the first person, from her point of view, oh the shame). I meant to keep sending them updates, but I don't think it lasted past her first birthday.

We did an album for a while, and now intermittently get a batch of photos printed ... and do nothing with them. For those moments in future when she wants to look at old photos of herself, I just hope Flickr is still online.

MT where was your digital photo frame from? I quite fancy one, at sale prices ... I like to do something MN disapproves of at least once a week, and there's only so many sausage rolls and Fruit Shoots DD can get through ...

Morningpaper scrapbooking thread

As my PC is permanently on, my photos are just the screensaver - I do print them out when Snapfish have an offer on, and store them at my mums house. This also means that they are retrievable from Snapfish if necessary.

We have neither a baby photo album or baby book. I really am an awful mother.

Racing - my mum has 3 polytunnels, and reckons the best things to grow are carrots, early crop salad potatoes, then salad leaves, tomatoes etc. The best thing about the carrots is that they don't get carrot fly in the tunnel. You def want to look at biological pest control - they have had great sucess with Encarsia and Nematodes.

Do you do Bokashi composting ? Its brilliant, and much more robust that worm composting (fussy little things have a great number of dislikes). Can I recommend Bubble House Worms though ? They are lovely people who we buy our Bokashi bran from, and their prices are good

I go to Helsinki about once every 3 months - really it should be more often, but I don't have the time. It never normally gets that cold there, and the office and hotels are nice and warm. Not like the time I went to Belarus in January and it was -28, and not much warmer in the hospital or hotel. I have a huuuuge down coat (of the type much reviled on Style and Beauty)that is toasty cosy, even if I look like the Michelin Man

Good morning, all! Off into the freezing cold to get friend for dd to take to softplay this morning. Funny - I lived in Munich for a while, where -13 was not uncommon, but it didn't seem as cold. Very dry air, and fantastic coats like cmot's. Also properly heated houses. I am too mean to turn the heating on, even in this weather, until much later in the day.

DCMB - I will give WS a Fruit Shoot for you; you shouldn't have to bear the burden of defying MNer's alone. Not sure if I can get her to eat a sausage roll, though, since she had a sustaining breakfast of cheesy party snacks.

What is Bokashi composting?? Will definitely try biological controls but so expensive.

I see Mellors still hasn't finished off those pesky little festive smileys. Time for some biological control there, too, perhaps.

Bokashi basically pickles food waste, allowing you to go on and compost meat, fish, and all cooked food waste. Tis brilliant as you never get smelly bins again (although with a dog this is vastly reduced I know).

I bought Mum a course of Encarsia for her birthday last year from Green Gardener. For the first time ever her greenhouse was fly free.

I regret to say that DS adores Fruit Shoot H2O (the flavoured water sort), and DH has given him a Greggs sausage roll when I was away. Fortunatly I was at a meeting, and DH escaped being named 'bad father of the weekend' by colleagues DH who had taken their children to KFC for dinner.

I discovered yesterday that the S&B crew disapprove of long denim skirts. As this is my default casual wear as practical and flattering on me, I will continue to defy their stricture.

Long denim skirts on the taboo list? Really? Do they prefer the faded micro-mini variety, complete with visible thong top above?

BabyBocca had her first Mc D's happy meal over Christmas, when we were stranded far from any other source of sustenance. Please don't treat me harshly.

Apparently they should be 2" above or below the knee..

Nothing wrong with a Happy Meal at BB's age. We just don't go in those places as there is nothing I can eat. Correction, I can have a burger without the bun, which means that explaining that to McD's staff is the food of last resort

Must go and pack now, especially to avoid the need to shop at Heathrow

On my last trip to the UK I am sure I outed myself on two occasions although separate both in a supermarkets - Tescos and Waitrose. Firstly in Tescos by going "OH MY GOD (sorry Bocca and rev) LOOK YOU KNOW THAT WEBSITE I AM ALWAYS ON WELL LOOOOOK IT IS IN THE PAPER!!! Really really loudly.

The second time it was when I picked up a "fruit shoot" and went "OH MY GOD (I know again - Bocca and rev - sorry) THAT IS A FRUIT SHOOT????... I had no idea!" You see until this visit I thought a fruit shoot was this thing we get in France which looks like a drink but is actually pureed fruit that the child is to suck to consume (quite disgusting) and although these are sold as healthy snacks they are actually, like SunnyD (hmm - can I say that?), filled with lots of added sugar and nasties that turn the cutiest child into a righ' nu'head.

Anyway after reading your shopping list Bocca, I have decided to call you all closed minded (the worst insult I have ever been tossed on Mumsnet - seriously I still wake up in cold sweats from that one) and stupid say the F word a lot see - F word F word F word and then set up my own tea room/tearoom with the same wall paper and a cut out of George Clooney but with an alarm system on the door to keep out anyone who has a receipt for a digital photo frame, fruit shoot or Greggs sausage roll in the depths of their purse!!!!

I will be back in about 5 seconds to see if you are missing me!!!!

Or maybe not!!!! Long live the teashop/tea shop!!!!!!!!! And the ladies shoulder to shoulder open-mindedness - Mwaaaaaah mwaaaaaah

By the way, my Grandad died yesterday, AIBU to put dvd on repeat with Mamma Mia (slightly less annoying than Mary Poppins but perhaps a little more risque) for milk and spend the rest of the day in the teashop/tea shop?????

Oh,Tea, I am so sorry about your Grandad. Putting Mamma Mia on repeat sounds like a very good distraction but I'll be here (on and off) if you want to chat. I'll just put the le Creuset kettle on the Aga ....

Here, have a nice mug of camomile tea. Would you like a muffin? I'm back in the baking grooooove.

The shopping list, though, was to show how open-minded we are here and that we are not going to succumb to the MN orthodoxy (although I will have to throw the Fruit Shoots away as I wouldn't actually let BabyBocca drink one).

PS I know I shouldn't, but I tend to say Oh My God an awful lot too. I'm really not offended by it, but thank you for being so considerate of my feelings.

((Hugs))
((Supportive pats on arm))

Eh-up, our Tea.

Ha ha ha - I choose hugs - see how open minded we are???!!!???

Thanks, Bocca!

You are very sweet. Actually I also have a cold and it is freezing cold (deep and crisp and even cold) which is really adding to the "Woe is me" mood. Plus Milk has changed dvd to Mary bloody Poppins too - rah.

T42 decides - enough of this moaning and grumbling - it doesn't go with my purple and bright pink fascinator and scuttles off to make snow pictures with milk!!!

We will make one extra for Mellors so he can have one for his shed! x

So sorry about your granddad. Have some Extra Delicious Christmas Present Hot Chocolate. Maybe with a dash of something stronger. And watch this. We won't tell Milk. Racingdog has come to lean on you again and nudge you constantly in a very annoying consoling manner.

Oh no no no - I can't bare to watch Mamma Mia myself - it is milk who loves it, not me - OOOOOUUUUUUCH!!!! My comfort blanket film does also star Ms Streep but she is not the main character - she plays lesbian ex - wife... it is Manhattan!!!!

Perhaps we could drink that yummy chocolate with a drop of... oh ok... two,three drops of... mmm... that tastes nice - thanks racingsnake and where was I... oh yes - shall we project Manhattan onto the white barn wall while cuddling the dogs?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc

Oh yes this is just lovely!

whispers - the snow pictures turned into a colouring in session - far less stressful!

Why can't Wrigglesnake watch something like Mama Mia instead of endless Trotro ???? (Actually it is endless Kirikou at the moment, which is better.) You see, I had totally misunderstood. (Confused older person emoticon)

After softplay with borrowed 5-year old (who disagreed with anything I said) and WS I spent 10 minutes frantically searching for the car keys, only to find them eventually .... in the ignition. I can't be carted off to the home for the Terminally Bewildered yet, though. WS needs me. Or at least Racingpig does.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Actually, Tea, I really liked those fruit pouch things you get in French corner shops. Far less wholesome than the waitrose ones, which are full of tasty things like pumpkin and brocolli with banana.

Am put to shame by Bocca not allowing BBocca to drink a fruit shoot as WS gets anything that happens to be within grabbing range (by mother or child) when hungry. I had such high ideals before she was weaned, enouraged by far too much reading of Wouldn't You Like To Be One Of These Green Handknitted Virtuous Organic Parents. How far we have fallen short. (Note that I include WS in the culpability, as, had she more moral fibre, she would have just exclaimed, 'No fruit shoot, thank you, Mama, could you juice me a swede?' when the matter first arose.)

The waitrose ones sound comical - do they have cream swirly writing saying "puree de fruit" and underneath in bookish type "Made from pumpkins grown at the foothill of a mountain range carefully picked by beautiful Greek God-like rural types in surprisingly clean attire before being blended with brocolli and bananas grown by nuns on an organic farm in Surrey watered with only the best mineral water from a small and rather beautiful babbling brook in Canada?