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.

Baby Bocca must indeed have a role. I saw her as narrator and feel the spotty dog costume would add to the role considerably.

We also have a house full of random junk potentially useful props.

Cooo eee!

Daisy wanders round empty cafe, plumps the cushions, gooses Mellors, admires the junk props for the nativity

Pops warm mince pies on the counter and sets the coffee pot up

Hi there RacingPig, Dastarly and Muttly? how you beasts doing?

Daisyboy runs out to the garden with a whoop in his red waterproof. Mellors hares after him to yank from out the ha ha

ANyone for a glass?

Glass of mulled wine would be lovely. Just spent a wonderful day out in the sunshine but a tad chilly.

Very excited - best friend has just given birth. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but I am just so thrilled and excited, although when I picked up RC to leave (after she had sneezed on 6-hour-old baby ), just felt the tiniest bit sad she is no longer the smallest, youngest, cutest of our children.

Also very excited because we might be going to Cannes for a two week 'stage' next summer, the whole family all together. Subsidized by the EU!!

And we are off out in an hour to go to the cinema dh and I and RC is staying home. (That sounds as if I don't adore her, which of course I do, but I can count on the fingers of one hand - literally - the number of times we have been out as a couple since she was born)

So, how is everyone else doing?

Note Christmas decs on last post ^ ^

Wow - the cinema in the evening ? The last time we went to the cinema was..um.. oh, last Christmas we went during the day when we took a day off together and declared it our office Christmas party (note that we are both homebased workers), being bad parents and leaving DS at nursery. We have been out together in the evening exactly twice in 2.6 years.

Cannes in the summer sounds lovely. How do I get the EU to pay for me to go too ?

DS is less lurgyish today and went to nursery for his party. Much impressed by being given a present by FC, although all the wrapping paper was posted down my bra for some reason when he was allowed to unwrap it at home. DH and I both seem to still be lurgied up, but had meetings in Birmingham (diff places) so had to schlep out of the plague house

mince pies and mulled wine just what the dr ordered !

Think Signor Bocca and I have been out together sans enfant (do you see I'm practising to go to Cannes as reindeersnake's superannuated au pair?) about eight times in six years. Our cashless babysitting circle folded when its core members moved away. We really need to find a babysitter robust enough to withstand the onslaught.

Will be back later once the booze is flowing and will put up a poster then about tomorrow's craft sale. Hope you've all been busy knitting/sewing/jam-making/indulging whatever other creative talent you have (and in the magic of the tea room everybody has a talent).

Back again. Have been to see Mama Mia with dh and honorary granny (I am so old that my friends are mainly either grannies or longing to be so). Suprised that dh was keen to go, but he had seen the stage show and loved it. However, just so as not to make it too out of character, he developed a cold during the evening and BLAMES SOMEONE. (Could it be the Cmotdibbler lurgy????)

Hope I haven't jinxed Cannes by talking about it, especially since (owing to tea room magic) this is me on the beach in Cannes.

Just a few more minutes to print off a few more Christmas cards as designed and painted by RC for tomorrow's sale.

Sorry about lack of music, disco balls and fun tonight. RC and I are here on our own (with Racingpig and DandM, of course). We are just sitting by the light of the dying fire, trying to freeze the moment, due to having just watched this Remember we were talking about growing up a few days ago.

I had honestly thought having a baby was going to be all about having a child, not spending most of its life letting it go ...

What an amazing coincidence! I spent this evening singing along with Mamma Mia.

Must dash as I have to

make a poster for the craft fair
knit 30 cashmere scarves
bake 200 muffins
make 20 rag rugs

all before I go to bed. But thanks to the magic of the tea room, even that is possible.

Sorry I wasn't in yesterday - rather a long work day, followed by choir with carols. Also out playing quartets on Tues pm and singing carols at an 'Oh so gorgeous' house on Monday night....

Anyway, I've brought some contributions for the craft fair that I see we are having - great poster Bocca!

Would anyone like a mincepie with their coffee this morning?

i would love a mincepie witha cup of tea please

(it's a good job i re-read before i posted otherwise you would've been shut down for selling micepie )

Hello Mrsmeg - nice to see you here. What sort of tea would you like with your mincepie? We've got quite a few varieties because everyone that comes in has their own favourite and brings a packet - and then some of us like drinking lots of different varieties and so have bought several. I'm going to make a pot of Lady Grey for instance, but I'm happy to make a different variety if you would prefer...

In this house it could quite easily be micepie - where is cat-the-elder finding them from ? DS seems to be delighted by finding the cats running round after them - I am not so, and fear the hedge may start to smell soon unless DH is varying his flinging over the wall direction.

Lady Grey would be lovely - I went off Earl Grey for years after overloading on oil of bergamot making it in my days of working in a tea and coffee shop where we made our own teabags etc, but am now back into those.

RS- feel free to lay the blame on me for your DH's cold. My DH is laying on the sofa sniffling, but has lost his voice

I bring quince jelly, reclaimed felt tree decorations, and some crafted by DS cards. If you look carefully, you may discern that they are of hot air balloons.

AAhhhh that's what they are.... Being pink with a spot on each, I had wondered....

I'm still not sure where Mellors is this morning, ds seems to be out in the garden on his own, happily digging in the flower bed and getting very muddy.

Dh is also complaining about going down with something. I am pretending that I've not got a headache and am certainly not going to go with the flow on this one.

Hello Mrsmeg - how lovely to see you here!!!

x

Morning all! Lovely to see see you again MrsMHarktheheraldangelsinget (assuming you were until recently MrsMortenHarket and, if you weren't, delighted to make your acquaintance anyway).

The craft sale seems to be getting off to a slow start. Perhaps more people will pop in at lunchtime?

I've just bought some beautiful baby bibs for my friends' twins, made from recycled fashion. I think I can see a Prada label on this one.

Hi MrsM! Great to see you here!

Must go to work - made it here with a bit of white-knuckled driving as we've had the mother of all snowstorms here and it's now -5, so roads are icy!!! My parents arrived last night for Christmas, their flight was delayed and delayed and delayed from Calgary, they finally arrived at 1:05 am!! Poor (wonderful) DH who snoozed on the sofa until midnight and then drove to the airport to get them!!

Anyone for some mulled wine? I've got some Christmassy nibbles to have alongside...

I see Mellors has made an appearance - he really does brush up rather nicely

Oooh lovely - what are the nibbles ?

I might just bed down on the sofa next to Mellors tonight , based on the fact that I put DH and DS to bed at the same time. DH has man flu, and don't I know it....

I think that dh will probably have man flu over the weekend - I can feel the signs building up. I will probably feel just as healthy mind you!

What nibbles were you hoping for? I know that there are some christmassy star pretzels, there are some cinnamony bites and some with some mincemeat - although not mincepies as such...

Another mulled wine, or do you fancy something with a higher alchohol content - sounds as though you may need it!

The pretzels sound lovely, but so do the mincemeat bites - decisions, decisions...

Another mulled wine would be lovely - if I drink anything stronger I'll be flat on the floor due to combining with cold remedies

Today was one of those days where I wished that I had a nice office to go to, rather than being two rooms away from someone languishing on the sofa calling for drinks and medications. Then nursery rang to say that DS had a bit of a temperature, so I brought him home, but then had to leave him with DH whilst I did an online demonstration for 90 people. I could hear the wails from upstairs, although this may have been because DH had decided to tell DS that I had gone to the airport