The One and Only TEA Room: Everyone Welcome (bring champagne and muffins please!)

[Jacksmama]

Wow, we're on our third thread!!!
Previous (second) incarnation of the tea room.

A warm welcome to everyone, whether you have one child, none, or ten. This is a tea-and-muffin or booze-and-sofasorcanapees sanctuary for all. But certain standards of behaviour continue to apply - anyone engaging in fisticuffs will be ejected by George Clooney, ably assisted by Mellors the Gardener.

Cheers all!

Errrrm Daisy you've got that the wrong way round, we're 8 hours behind, it's only 9:16 am here...

... but pass the champagne anyway!

Brave brave Sir Robin bravely ran away...
Oh I do love THe Holy Grail - some super classic lines and chcaracters - especially the dangerous rabbit!

Bubby - lovely jubley.

Any J B Priestly fans around?

Mellors? Alas no. Someone could have warned me that we back onto the Bishop's garden . Lady Grey's eaten her way through his entire Rose Hip beds and we had to hide in the Long Border until he'd stopped searching for the culprits whilst waving his Crozier about Hiding a whole pony and rider in the shrubbery isn't easy, I can tell you.

Ooh, bubbly! Splendid!

Dominatrixions, Daisy? Would that be the countries that we made into part of the British Empire by donning a PVC catsuit and killer heels, and telling them they were very VERY naughty countries and were to do what Mistress tells them?

I think we can probably get a better idea of how the teashop operates by studying the works of the sainted Douglas Adams ... especially the parts about Wonko the Sane who lived outside the asylum.

Thumb and Daisy, you might want to contribute to my planed parenting manual 'Bringing up Baby the Monty Python Way'. It will feature how you must ALWAYS enquire 'crucifixion?' when your newborn exhibits the Moro reflex, and snigger when midwives and HVs say 'babies are all individuals'. Advanced technique - adopting squeaky voice to 'make' baby say 'I'm not'.

Hours of fun.

Amber do Guide Dogs for the Blind have my direct debit under false pretences? If so I'm sure there are cheaper ways to look at pictures of cute puppies, and better causes to send my money to.

I'm sooo glad to find that other people exhibit the same bizarre behaviour as we do ! Along with being a family of horses (we do have a hobby horse and a rocking horse, but mostly we all crawl round on hands and knees +/- a tape measure in your mouth for reins), we may also be the White Helmets display team, have an imaginary Llama in the sitting room, be the entire emergency services, or be a family of robins. This is fun, but other people do look askance when forced to crawl round on a leading rein and put in the stable (laundry airer)

We also do a lot of singing - DH has taught DS to sing 'Cwm Rhondda' and 'Swing low, Sweet Chariot' for rugby days. Somehow it hasn't occured to him to do Monty Python, but I did ban the playing of Tom Lehrer in the car for obvious reasons.

DH has taught him to say 'A Handbag ?' a la Edith Evans

PMSL at dominatrixions - can you get plaid PVC ?

Maybe we should send JM to soothe the Bishop in that case ?

CMot you never know, Mellors might be quite good at soothing...

We've baned Tom Lehrer as well - although its a bit difficult as dh knows all the words (and all the verses of all the songs)

We have 'He's fallen in the water' ala Goons...

entire family of pretend spiders in this house, their bouncy castle lives in uniboys pocket. they have to take their MANY shoes off before they can bounce on it ( his rules).

Mum and dad upstairs with DH, must go. CU

Poor spiders UniS, that must be so tedious taking off ALL those shoes! Reminds me of the Centipede in James and the Giant Peach. In our house, we have the Babies and the Smallies, all of whom are constantly getting under one's feet when least expected. Happily however the Smallies actively enjoy being trodden on. They also like to help DD eat her dinner by lining up with her to be fed by DH (whether this is really helpful or not is a moot point, I don't do it!) I'm not sure what the Babies do, or even if they are larger or smaller than the Smallies.

How bizarre, not to have noticed that stable. No wonder Mellors hasn't had mch time for the potager. But doesn't the occupant look rather like this? WS is very excited as she loves riding donkeys, due to our having a friend with five donkeys and one two-year old. (And now one baby.)

ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/318JKSKKNBL.SL500_AA233.jpg

I think Mellors may have been up to some cooking on teh side... Can we get some of these in please.

Righto , Box of bed linen for SiL packed, now to address it. Seem it was meant as exactly the right number of single bed sheets showed up to match duvet covers but from different sources. practically no money spent ( and that little at local charity shop). Postage will be teh expensive bit.

I think there are some is the tea room pantry, Uni. One of WS's favourites!

Don'tcallmebaby - like the idea of the montypython method - are you planing it because it is too big at the mo?

"fighting against the odds - who needs legs or arms?"
"WHAT... is your favourite colour?" - learn the colours the bridgekeeper way
"It is a silly place" - what we say about places we don't like
How to source your coconut hooves in an ecologically sound manner

just a few ideas..

RS - there goes the magic of the tearoom again - when MJ goes out Lady Grey is a small fat pony, clearly she's a donkey when WS goes out.

Brings back memories of staying with a family that my parents knew when I was smaller - they lived on a farm and had a donkey for the children (girl a little older than me in particular) to ride - managed to get it into a canter on the way home one day!!!

Mellors is a Jack of all trades isn't he. Is there no end to his talents?

UniS - bedlinen??? Is there anything you want to share?

thumb you are so so right
we also have "nobody expects the spanish inquisition!" a lot of the time

and the whole "I can't say "c" you silly old Bunt" and bizarrely, family renditions of The Accountant's Song.....

envious and the spiders, babies and smallies, we only have the bin man, the emergency services and the Ocado man (a present favourite!)

Yes, I am rather pleased with JMs new role and the singlehanded Gimp of Canada in a Plaid Shirt!

by the way, don't you notice how in Northern Exposure the Moose arrives at a bit of a trot which always makes me think that there is someone saying "Go, Moose, Go" 3-2-1- you're on!!!! during the title music

I too was a little about the bed linen but I have missed so much lately!

daisy lights the scented candles
turns on the glitter ball
sets the lava lamps going
pops RacingPigs little ear defenders on

starts to crank up the volume and throwing some shapes with a glass of bolly in one hand...

come on girls....I fancy a bit of Madonna - let's start with VOGUE!

OOh, talking of Northern Exposure has brought back memories of Due South - another superb epic series!

well, I think the first series was great but it sort of faded don't you think? However, I always think of JM living like that a being a bit like the lovely hero....but of course JM has more leather

At last! Monty Python has entered our repertoire. I was disappointed when I said recently that I hoped this place would operate as an anarcho-syndicalist commune and nobody took the bait!

I have always thought that Monty Python was educational, as most of my knowledge of philosophy comes from having looked up all those mentioned in the Philosophers' Song when I was in the sixth form. Perhaps we could put Mellors in charge of both logical positivism and the sheep dip? (Do we have sheep? It can only be a matter of time). These days, alas, whole conversations with BabyBocca sound like the Argument sketch. (I have always thought 'Is this the right room for an argument?' 'I've told you twice' is their cleverest line.) And I always enjoy walking through the grounds of Kings Bollege Bambridge. Now I've been thinking about the Accountant's Song. I've got £90,000 in my pyjamas, I've got DM40,000 in my fridge. Oh what innocent times - how they have changed.

And lastly about Monty Python for now, it always used to be said that it only appealed to boys, which at the time I found mightily offensive. So have we just proved them wrong? Or are we all butchers from Troon called Barry?

Well done daisy on getting the dancing started. I love Vogue - and, naturally, in the tea room I can do all the moves - but I have fond memories of her appearance at Live Aid. I watched it from my pram.

Bocca I probably ignored the anarcho comment 'cos you are so clever and I worry I Am A Fool (in blue stockings )

I know you can say Keble you silly old bunt always raises a titter with the Daisys

And the Philospher's football match was a learning curve wasn't it?

SiL moving to UK with dh and 6 kids, only shipping 100 cubic feet and that won;t arrive for 6-8 weeks. Other SiL and I HAve been rounding stuff up so they will have basics when they get here.

ah ha [light bulb emoticon]

Daisy - Stop that immediately. I am no more clever than wot you are. You are a blue stocking and not a fule. Besides, everyone in the tea room has an IQ of 239 and is gorgeous and lovely to boot.

fantastic about Albert Camus, I can now die happy

not that I am planning to die, of course,

I love the Babies and Smallies and the spiders bouncing in their socks. And the entire CMOT family being ordered into the airing cupboard.

WS spends a lot of time looking for ghosts, going 'hoo-oo' in an enticing manner. She blames misdemeanors on the 'gentil monstre'.