Welcome to the Seventh Heaven Tea Room (BYOB. Biscuits, crisps and cake provided)

[Catitainahatita]

Hello and welcome to the seventh incarnation of the tearoom.

If you have found us by chance and/or curiousity you must know that the tearoom is a virtual safe haven for all those seeking a friendly word, a good cuppa and plenty to snack on. By virtue of its magic nature, no food can cause any physical damage, so chocolate, alcohol, transfat and all such can be consumed guilt- (and magically calorie-) free.

We have a wide range of soft-furnishing to relax on; a lovely garden with a swing and a ha ha; a variety of animals; a spa and (for some unknown reason) an apidistra.

Everyone is welcome, if you have one child, ten or none at all. We are a tolerant and fisticuffs-free zone. Instead we employ our energies swooning at Mellors the Gardner cum handiman thinking a silly things to get up to.

Please come in and say hello. You never know, you may end up joining us ...

Yes, I think so. I believe they can make a nice soup. Sadly, though, nettles are the only weed my garden doesn't contain!

Speaking of soup, shall we put a pan on the aga? Anyone for an early lunch?

Sounds a good idea - although not that early for me....

Methinks 'tis a long time since we have had any muffins so I've just baked a batch. Oat, apple and raisin muffin (all thanks to Annabel Karmel) anyone?

are there you are. I've had to speed read to catch up. Now its time to wake boy up again. see you later.

Muffins!

Soup!

Sounds just what's needed on this still rather drizzly day.

MJ has a ladybird umbrella. We haven't bought him a blazer for school (he is only just 4 - does he REALLY need it?) and had left his school coat on his peg (so if he might be cold because we've not bought him a blazer he can wear that to play outside () - so let him have his umbrella to get from the car to school. I had significant problems bringing it back to the car though - he wanted it to stay on his peg! He can now hold it quite well - and you can actually see him properly. No more walks with a walking mushroom

Good morning all!

I don't know where in the world I got all this sudden energy from yesterday evening. Cleaned my house madly at 4 pm, then took a little MN break while Jackbaby napped, then made a Thai Yellow Curry for dinner (jarred sauce though so all I can take credit for is the chopping), and then got a wild hair and made strawberry-rhubarb jam at 8:30 pm! DH was just shaking his head. Unfortunately I didn't have any pectin, so I had to boil it for an hour (made the house smell lovely) and it's still a bit runnier than I wanted, but it tastes lovely. I brought croissants, too, hang on....

Here we are!

I wonder if the sudden burst of energy is due to me finally getting over the withdrawal from my ADs. I tried a few weeks ago to get off them and was a hairy beast to be around. But I couldn't tolerate the side effects anymore. Soak-the-bed night sweats ---- aaaarrrrghhh!!! And I did feel ready to stop taking them. So this time I weaned myself a bit more slowly. It was still ugly for a few days. I was so irritable I wanted to choke people who pissed me off with barbed wire... honest, it was that bad. And over the weekend I was so tired... but somehow by yesterday evening it was mostly gone. I am still a little uncertain about it all - I was on them for 8 months, and they helped tremendously. But so much has happened since Jackbaby was born last year (not to make too stupid a statement but motherhood changes everything) that I don't know really who I am without them. I've had a few moments of thinking I'm not very nice... I'm hoping it's just the irritability making me think that everyone's an idiot . Well, we'll see.

The weather has been gorgeous here!! My flowerbed is looking spectacular!! And so is the patio around back. I finally moved my hydrangeas and pansy pots to the back (it faces north so there's not much point until the spring advances enough for the sun to reach the back) so we have something pretty to look at. Hung a dark red snapdragon basket in front of Jackbaby's window and a purple-and-yellow viola basket in front of our window.

Ok, must go and make the bed and get us dressed - we have to go to Ikea this morning and buy black-out curtains, and then go to the gardening centre. I had to bin my gardening shears (they were crap anyway because I bought cheap ones and they rusted away over the winter) and I want to buy a Buddleia for my large pot by the front door.

Gosh, that was a long post. Anyone still awake?

Has that car been towed out of the Bishop's pond yet, by the way?

Hi all.
I am glad you are feeling more energetic JM, hopefully the worst is over and you will be able to get over the ADs asap.

I am afraid we are all in a state of alert and panic over here due to the swine 'flu problem. Although the glut of cases are in Mexico City (800km away), there have also been cases in the neighbouring states of San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León. This morning we heard of possible cases on the border with SLP.

Here we have run out of chlorine bleach, face masks, disinfectant, paracetemol/codeine and other common flu remedies etc etc. While not wanting to be alarmist, this is what will most likely happen in the UK/Canada if things get worse. You might be wise to get some of the above in before the rush. Its all too late for me, still, I still like the odds. We are certainly far from 1918 levels yet (somethimes being a historian has its advantages) in terms of mortality rate.

At the minute I feel a bit like Corporal Jones (JM it's a reference to cult comedy show of the 70s "Dads Army") shouting "Don't panic! Don't panic!" at all and sundery.

oh Catita, you poor thing - extends arm of friendship and then disinfects it quickly

not fun being in a health scare panic....we had similar with bird flu - a friend of mine is a teacher and volunteered to do quarantine with asian pupils returning from holidays.... 3 weeks looked in together, quite surreal. Nobody ill.

Yes 1918-1920 flu pretty bad. Awful to survive the trenches and then succumb....

JM your flowers sound truly lovely. As do you. Not nasty at all, you always seem milk of human kindness in the tea room (small confession moment) I always think how very nice you and Tea are and try to live up to your standards
(not of course that the rest of you are not nice, just JM and Tea are so very sweet)

Heck

I am off to help Mellors & Earl Grey tow the car. The Bishops are looking a bit flustered and the Bison was starting to sniff around.

Sorry you've got panic over there Catita - do you need supplies sent over - or would they just get snaffled at customs anyway?

JM - good to hear you're feeling well and very positive today- and well done for all the gardening.

Those croissants look good - and the jam sounds lovely!

Well Daisy, I'll personally try not to take offence, but I can't vouch for the rest of the tearoomers....

Still I think general niceness is a special part of the tearrom's charm. We're all marvellous and lovely, even when we're having a bad day. In my case it's probably the internet, I tend to come across as distinctly unfriendly in RL (to Mexicans at least, but then, they are very effusive people).

Oh and, thanks for the offer Mistle but things take at least a month to arrive (JM's biccies is a case in point), so hopefully we'll be out of the panic zone by then.

Was also thinking of offering Catita supplies, if only in the hope that someone thinks I'm nice, but have just seen the reply.

Have just posted this on education section. Have any of the eloquent and erudite tea roomers any ideas?

Tomorrow an inspector is coming in to watch me do RE. I need to do a lesson where children think up colours, music, materials etc to represent given words. Lesson plans designed by the inpector.

Trouble is, I am struggling to find a child-friendly definition of the words 'worship' and 'inspiring' for my year 3s. Any ideas?

Inspiring - makes you want to do something similar which is good (probably refer to footballer (don't know who though) and teen popstar? - or a teacher who makes them want to find out about a certain subject)

Worship is more difficult. Perhaps you should have an excursion into the Spirituality section and see if you can find Justabout as she's not been hiding in the priest hole recently....

Good idea about Justabout! Amber may have an idea when she drops in, too.

I could do 'inspiring' if linked to footballer, etc, it's just the word in isolation and in connection with religion ...

Inspector wrote these lesson plans, which have some lovely ideas, but has he been in a classroom with real primary children in the last 20 years?

How about picking x religions and identifying one person/event that 'inspired' people of that religion? eg Jesus healing the sick...

Racing, it seems to me (as an atheist, so I'm no expert here), that worship is all about giving thanks and/or asking for things. All the prayer we seemed to do at school were based on these principals.

Thinking that asking for things could quickly turn into a letter to Father Christmas, I suspect it would be easier to concentrate on the thankful bit.

Could you ask the children to think of the thing they are most thankful for in their lives (mummy, daddy, grandma, dog, cuddly toy??)

You're right about the letter to Father Christmas aspect. And then how do you explain that they have asked for something and God hasn't sent it?

But I digress. The lesson plan is written in quite detail by the inspector. It's just that one of the things it requires is that you ask children 'how do different peoples worship?' and I can just see that half the faces in the class will be blank when I ask the question, unless I have a good quick definition ready.

Actually, what about 'People who blieve in a god do things to show they love God. This is called worship' and then ask for some examples. Hopefully the children in our (very churchy) church school will come up with ideas like sing, pray, etc. What do you think?

Sounds good to me. Would it be cheating to prepare them in advance (ie in earlier classes before the inspectors arrive) to talk about the things you do in church and why you do them??

Yes, it would be.

I would certainly do it, but I work part time and don't have access to them. I should have done it sneakily last Friday instead of literacy, but I didn't realise how the 29th April was looming over us. I thought I had ages.

Actually, this is supposed to be friendly and constructive inspector who is on our side, preparing us for hostile OfSTED inspectors, but unless I do my very best for him, he won't be able to advise me how to do even better when the gestapo OfSTED does arrive.

JM - so wrapped up in my problems I didn't acknowledge you. (This is why I am not one of the nice tea roomers.)

Congratulations on burst of energy. Are ADs antidepressants? If so, double congratulations, as I hear that it can be hard to get off them. Have you heard of Bach Flower rememdies? Very natural alternative remedies for emotional problems. Sounds like you might need something to help you get over the trauma you suffered. I am not an expert prescriber, but I am sure you could find some on MN.

Feeling quite Germanic at the moment as my new car has a CD player nd can listen to old favouites such as Gehen Wir Tauben Vergiftem Im Park.

Worship and inspiring? Oh blimeys, shame you haven't picked words that make pictures. I'm good with pictures!

Er, ok. You'll have guessed this lot anyway, but just to keep me occupied for a while,

"God gives us lots of good thing like sunshine and flowers and food and water and people that we love. Because we're happy to have those things, we like to say thank you to Him/Her. People go into special buildings like churches/mosques/synagogues to talk to God and perhaps to sing songs to Him/Her. This is called Worship"

Inspiring?! Oooo....er....umm....

"Think of someone you really like who's good at something. Can you think of someone who's really good at something that you watch on the television? How does it make you feel when you watch them? People call that feeling "inspiring", because it makes them want to go and do something that really good too. When people hear about God and Jesus or (whichever prophets etc) and what they did, it makes them want to do good things. They are Inspired."

Might still be OTT for 3 yr olds, but it might work. It works for me

In my day we'd be playing in the sandpit, not working out the meaning of 'inspiring', Makes me wonder what inspectors hope our children will be doing at age 5. Nuclear physics, I guess...

Catita, keeping everything crossed for you over that swine flu. How awful!

Sorry for everyone else I'm not mentioning. Dh is half way through heart tests and I think my brain has stopped working.

Amber - I think you read RS's initial post re this the same way as I did - I think that she probably meant third year - so a little bit older than 3 - I think 7 - 8 possibly? n

Yep - aged 8. Excellent definitions, Amber. Am off to cut and paste and put them in my powerpoint presentation. With reference to 'my friend' who helped me to think of them.