Tea room the Eighth - sun, sea, sangria, and perhaps a sandy Mellors

[DontCallMeBaby]

Greetings, welcome to the eighth incarnation of the tearoom.

The tearoom has been, and will be again, a virtual safe haven for anyone up for rather random chat and a comprehensive range of virtual snacks. Nothing in the tearoom will make you fat, or drunk (unless you want it to) or cause an allergic reaction.

The new tearoom location is a beautiful beachside cafe (no need for factor 50, the virtual sun will just lightly tan you, bring out your freckles or simply warm your skin, as you prefer) with a range of garden swings, hammocks, sunloungers, deckchairs etc (as well as a rather incongruous, but well-loved, chaise longue). For those in need of sanctuary, we have managed to fashion a new priesthole out of woven grasses.

Our fellow residents include Mellors the rugged gardener of few-but-well-chosen words, the naked mohawk babies, a coterie of bishops, various domestic pets, and a selection of others. On the human side, all are welcome - while we live in the One Child topic some regulars have more than one, and we are welcome all (except people who put their heads on one side and tell those of us with one child that it's just not fair to have only one child).

Please help yourself to a glass of Champagne and a canape on the way in ...

OOOhhh - and has anyone ever tried raw rasberry jam - its absolutely delicious although it doesn't store (except in freezer) and is VERY runny - basically its mashed raspberries with a bit of sugar!!!!

I have never been a fan of pressure cookers tbh Mistle; probably because my grandma would cook her veg to death in them. I absolutely loathe soggy veg to this day. I never thought it could be a jam making tool.

My basic problem with the marmelade seems to be that it is too runny. It doesn't so much spread from the pot as pour . Hence if I try to put grated peel in, it sinks sadly to the bottom. Am not sure where I am going wrong since I always thought that citrus fruits had enough pectin to gel by themselves. Perhaps I should try adding lime juice as well or a pectin powder. Or I could just not be boiling for long enough. I dunno.

But your description of pudding reminds me of an all time favourite: blackberry and apple crumble [yum yum emoticon] with cream (obviously!)

Just been helping Wriggle make a snowman. We finally had to draw it in chalk on the stoep, since, having found the woolly hat, the carrots, the lumps of coal, the gloves and the scarf, we could not find snow anywhere. Perhaps I should take her down to the tea room beach and make a sandman.

hello, you guys type FAST

jacksmama - Niamh was born on the 13th February 2008 at 4.05 am! Does she share the EXACT birthday with Jack? imagine that!

It is pronounced Neeve but spelt Niamh.

She's been whinging all day today, I think it's the heat!

ohhh, all this talk of fresh out the garden veg is making my mouth water. We have Peas, well at teh mo we have mange tout, they will probadly be peas by teh weekend. And very teeny tiny baby corgettes. Raspberries about to turn red and black currants just starting to colour up. And we go on holiday in a week. ....
I really must work out who is goingto water tehgarden while we are gone. options are neighbours teenage girl who as far as I know has no interest in gardening but might do it for pocket money, or a friend who lives 10 mins walk away is a keen gardener and would do it for teh pickings I think.

boy says " our snowman gone" ,"where it go?" where sticks go?", "I make nother one, one day"
We last made a snow man in Feb.

Hello again, Scottishmummyofone.

Well, here in the London Borough of Grunge, we have apricots in profusion, apples (six varieties), two figs, some pumpkins (in due course, deo volente), some teeny tiny herbs and some rather feeble tomatoes. Courgettes and asparagus peas didn't germinate and some of the most promising tomato plants have just been slugged to near-death.

In fact, I need a drink to drown my sorrows. Sherry, anyone?

OMG Scottishmummy I have chills. Jackbaby was born Feb 13th 2008 at 12:54 pm. Let me think - GMT is 8 hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone, yes? So that would have been 20:54 pm your time, but still the 13th. So Niamh is 16 hours and 49 minutes older than Jackbaby. Very cool!!!!

Catita - do you know how to test to tell whether it is ready or not? Best method is saucer in the fridge, when you think it might be ready put a tiny amount on the saucer - the fact that it is cold will cool it more quickly and allow it to set if it is going to - if it isn't going to it will still be runny - so give it another 10mins or so!

Pressure cookers generally great for doing things like soup very quickly.... and its very good at speeding up christmas pudding cooking...

Hello all,

That is so funny Unis - Milk did the same thing last week - As we walked down the stairs She gasped pointed at the window and shouted "Oh no! What happened? No snowman." - So the whole huge explanation on the melting process went over her head in February then?

Today is another Bank holiday here but Beer had to work so Milk and I went for a lovely walk in Springtime Paris including a stop by The Seine to do some water colours and of course wave at tourists on boats - it was divine!

Paris. In the springtime.

And thinking of heart-throbs things Parisian, where is MaryBS? I have a deckchair here reserved for Gerard.

ah amber - that is part of the problem - although the house contents are leaving now, we are not yet booked on flights to Australia as I still don't have my visa. However we booked the house move now because it will take 9-11 weeks for the stuff to arrive at the house in Australia, by which time we definitely hope to be there!

catita - another flying visit, another night of "OMG, wtF do I need to pack and what to keep with us; what about all this crappy paperwork, OMG OMG OMG we should have started this sooner...."
repeat ad nauseam.
I wish the packing WAS over but we have another day of it tomorrow - I think a hearty bout of tears will be necessary at the end or I'm likely to bust a blood vessel through the stress of it! Our packers are lovely blokes though and very understanding of my incompetence and meltdowns - but I think they would like us to be abit more on the ball tomorrow. I think I will start the day by asking if we can drop off a couple more boxes to them on the Wednesday morning - that will take the pressure off a bit more if they say yes.

So, off I go back to the maelstrom that is my house.. thinking of homemade raspberry jam all the way. My mum made the best stuff - she made an enormous batch in 1972 and we were still eating it in the late 1980s!! It never went off (too much sugar) but it did dry out a bit so the last few jars had to be reconstituted with boiling water - but they were perfect after!

Better than the jars in my grandmother's cupboard then - date had fallen off, but some probably at least a decade - bottled gooseberries and similar.... They were thrown out unopened...

Thumbwitch - strength! You can do it... especially with all that yummy jam!

madbad - Paris in Spring is my mangoes so I am going to mention it in passing now and then when I need to smile at life. So, come on everyone do tell us - What is your mangoes? You must have something wonderful that is part of your everyday life but you stop to about how lovely it is....?

thumb bit supportive pats and vats of sherry. I can't think of anything helpful to say since packing is my worst nightmare, so I shall just moan supportively and keep your glass topped up

racing, UniS Tea - DaisyBoy remains deeply impressed by Snowmen. we went to see the Snowman show at the Peacock last Christmas, he loved it. We spend much time talking about the Snowman melting and going to the North Pole to wait for next winter etc etc but he has got rather entwined with Father Christmas and Baby Jesus ...all of which is broadly fine. I do find Christmas so much easier to tackle than Easter "Why do we celebrate Easter mummy?"

Option (1) - keep it light, focus on chicks, bunnines and basically lie

Option (2) - broad spiritual Spring time commencement, Oestre ,hijack of faiths

Option (3) - well you know that Baby Jesus you were so keen on at Christmas... Easter is when,, I mean how do you do the whole easter message for a 2 year old? gosh, I realise I am beseeching Racing, Amber and MaryBS in particular here....

Anyway, racing I must say it's hats off once again to Wriggle's mastery of the eliptical world view, she is fab isn't she?

Now have Screaming J Hawkins singing "I love paris in the springtime" running around my head....

Screaming Jay Hawkins? No no no. It has to be Francis Albert Sinatra.

My metaphorical mangoes are at work, so I can't say more without blowing my cover.

MadBadBaby, who is an enthusiastic attender of Sunday School, has constructed her own Trinity out of Jesus, Santa and the Tooth Fairy. Don't mention it to the bishops.

UniS - I'd water your garden but with rail fares as they are it'd be cheaper to pay your local teenager!

Anyone want a night cap before I toddle up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire?

Jesus, Santa and the Tooth Fairy?!?

Hmm, Easter for 2 yr olds, that's a very tricky one since it's a theme of all-that-horrible-that-someone-can-do-to-a-person and then a very tricky bit of theology about resurrection. To be honest, I'm not sure I've ever 'got' the adult version of the explanation.

I went for the real basics when DS was young. 'A long time ago, as you know, there was a man called Jesus who is God's son. He was very wise and very clever and could do amazing things like stop people being ill or in pain. But some people didn't like him and were very nasty to him and they were so cruel to him that he died. But he is God's son, and has so much amazing power that he said we shouldn't be cross with the people who did that to him, and three days after he died, he was alive again. Soon after that, he went to heaven to be with his Father, God. We celebrate Easter because Jesus showed us that there's no need to hate other people, and that God can make people come alive again after death, so we don't have to worry about dying if we've loved God and been as good as we can and said a real sorry to Him if we get things wrong - he'll look after us forever".

Morning all. Cup of tea?

Shh, Amber. Don't let the bishops get wind of MBB's rather unorthodox theology (actually, it might have moved on by now, but that was how it was when she was four or five). I really think you have yet another potential career opening up, as a writer on theology. That's the most lucid explanation of Easter, for any age group, I've heard for a long time.

A cup of tea would be delightful. Toast and honey to go with it, anyone?

I'm pathetic with some of the advent hymns which refer to Easter - and some of the Easter ones - and end up unable to sing if I'm not careful.

Toast and honey? Never tried that combination before...yes please!

Just back from a school Governor meeting. So lovely to be amongst little ones for a while rather than towering teenagers

Am back, and with a very grumpy Gerard who needs cheering up, after being shut in the boot for so long! We had a heartstopping moment on the Calais Docks, when customs went round and asked for our boot to be opened - they were asking for everyone to do this... but Gerard must have been asleep, at least he didn't start knocking to be let out of the suitcase!

He is looking forward to some goats cheese with lewd rolls, if any are available...

Amberlight, that was a wonderful example of Easter for a youngster , hope that does the trick!

Hi Mary, hope you had a good holiday - there's a deckchair over there that might suit Gerard - it has a nice seaview and handy drinks table beside it.

Did you manage to bring some wine back with you too? We could do with a bit more of a choice in the tearoom in the evenings I think.