Tea Room the Ninth: I love rock and roll, put another dime in the juke box baby

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

Welome to the ninth incarnation of the tea room. It's been a long and eventful road, from a tea room overlooking a cathedral garden to a beachside cafe, with a diversion via a yurt. Now - voila - we are in a music lounge. We cater for all tastes and, as this is a tea room of requirement, it manages simultaneously to be many things at once. For some, it is a 70s glam rock disco with a cool boho edge - glitter balls, smoke machine and much wearing of platform shoes and eyeliner. For others, a jazz bar where mellow music is played as cocktails are served. For still others, it's a concert performance of Spem In Allium. We still have a garden, with shady parasols for the summer, and a menagerie of pets. Our membership is international.

The tea room has few rules. Everyone is welcome. But anyone visiting with the sole intention of causing hurt or shouting abuse will be ejected by Mellors, the multi-talented gardener-handyman who (it turns out) is also a guitar wizard and rock god.

Please come in.

Arrrgh, the curse of the double post.

Beebies calling, gotta go.

Unis - would it make much difference re the lurching between a tag along and a tandem? It feels (and dh has corroborated by coming for a ride with us and wathcing) that the wobbling occurs because MJ is lurching too much - and if he threw his weight around that much on a tandem he'd still wobble me wouldn't he?

TC - how's it going? Have you managed to look at the hole yet? Hope its feeling a bit better. We have a friend who is very involved in local amdram - someone suggested after the last one that he had blacked out the wrong tooth and should have done it to another - he pointed out that he hadn't blacked out a tooth at all!!! (Same age as me...)

I went to get MJ some new non-school shoes as we thought his existing ones were a bit small for him. He has gone into size 30s (approximately 11 1/2 I think in UK sizes) and he's still only a little bit more than 4!!!!!!

Had a party at a soft play yesterday - MJ played with one of his close friends most of the time. At one point his friend was pushed significantly, then kicked (not hard) by another boy (also part of the party group, but not from school) -MJ came barrelling up to his friend and the two of them faced down the little thug without actually doing anything - then departed quickly which meant that the other lad couldn't keep up. I was so proud of both of them

Hello, everyone. Just back from a weekend in the outer darkness with my sister in law. We went to a country show today and the spot on the back of my neck that I missed with the suncream is now a cheery shade of pink. Hmm.

Unis - That's a lovely photo of Boy. And he is such a Boy (I mean that in the best possible way - he looks like a future champion at tree-climbing and stickleback-catching). Or is that a very sexist and retrograde view?

Daisy - As we were travelling I missed most of the sociological/anthropological/media studies deconstruction of the life of MJ. But I am sad (although not as sad as when Frank Sinatra passed).

Shall we set the glitter balls rolling?

DId someone say bolly? Yes please!

May I offer you some of Mr Bollinger's magical backache medicine, Mistle? The dosage instructions on the back of the bottle say don't stop til you get enough.

I haven't had enough yet!

Good weekend?

Yes, a good weekend (the irritations of my SIL notwithstanding). Bought lots of plants, visited some gardens, saw friends, had quality time (dread expression) with MadBadBloke and Baby, now watching Glastonbury from the mud-free comfort of my sofa.

How about you?

Do you feel all countrified now MadBad ?

MT - shall Mellors bring the massage table in now

Brother came for lunch yesterday with his fiancee. She is having a good effect on him, although I note that she notices more about my parents than he does. Wedding looks to be a v glam affair, which will on one hand be lush (new hat !), but on the other means taking parents out, buying them respectable outfits, and then keeping my mum in order. Lots of Dr Bolly I think..

But I note that the best time to have lunch with your 'not exactly estranged, but not close to at all' brother and fiancee that you have never met is not after a 10 hour flight, delays, and driving straight back up the motorway sans coffee.. I may have been a bit ditsy

at CMOTD being ditzy after 10hr flight etc.

Dr. Bolly? Lovely - is he related to Dr. Beat at all?

We might, if we are very lucky, get some free tickets to Hampton Court FLower Show next Saturday. My Dad has been offered them - so I might go with him or with DH, depending on how Dad is feeling. Dh has already generously said that he doesn't mind if he misses out.

Hello, Cmot.

I make an effort, really I do Cmot, but I do get jittery if I spend too long outside the M25!

Am very of anyone with a smart wedding to go to. We seem to have run out of weddings - all friends are either married or resolutely not married, and the next wave of cousin weddings probably not due for a decade.

tag a long V tandem... I think a tandem will have less lurch as has shorter wheel base and no joint, so less flex, so harder for boy to out lurch me IYSWIM. Also he will have to pedal, so he can't muck about freewheeling while I do all the work. Taga longs weigh as much or more than teh trailer does and blowed if I'm going to keep towing him now he can pedal.

Madbad- yes, boy is all boy.cricket mad, bike mad, tractor mad. you should see his legs .. after 2 days of learningto ride his bike, his calfs are black and red from hitting teh pedals. Hes got it tho,starting, turning and stopping. Is now riding down a step happily and trying to ride up said step as well, but hasnlt yet worked out how ( and I'm not showing him yet)

WE had a vist from a fire engine at home this morning!!!! all very exciting. It seems its teh operational crew who do teh free home fire safty checks round our way. So we have new free smoke alarms fitted by a fire man! and boy was shown round teh fire engine.

TW- Ohhhhh HC flower show , very nice. Hope you enjoy it who ever you go with.

am hugely of being shown around a fire engine! I like fire engines...

i saw one of those tandem jobs you're talking about today UniS and thought "when minThumb is big enough, that's what I'll be getting - no free rides for him, make sure he pulls his weight and pedals too!"

More Bolly anyone?

I'm going up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire, to read some more garden porn. Shalln't be going to Hampton Court this year, as I have to make bunting. I think I need to buy a flagpole. Yes, I am actually Cath Kidston.

Ah - well we got the tag along as the first step to pedalling - so he has learned how to go (what seems to be about) 20mph downhill, no feet, avoiding the gullies and rocks (and pedestrians and dogs) - and stop safely on his balance bike. Bit of help with the pedalling and he'll be off I'm sure. But we also thought that the tag along would be quite good for going a bit further with him. Mind you, we're not going to have it for that long I don't think - based on current experience, he'll soon be happy doing at least as far as dh or I am happy to do!

Hello lovely people!

Sorry to miss this tea room weekend, kisses to all and glad it's going well for you

Ditto madbad, we have distinct lack of weddings. We have managed to spin about 20 years what with DaisyMan's prolonged sojourn at Uni - we kept inheriting new generations of youngsters but that's dried up now

What age did you all start the tagalongs on bikes? UniS boy looks lovely and am very envious. Have just started DaisyBoy on back of bike on seat, he loves it but it's heavy and generally wibbly. I am anxious about traffic though

Cuba affair at Barbican was fun but subdued, but cool!!! Still have country fair envy and aspirations, but our camper is in camper hospital again and looks likely to stay there for the foreseeable....

Hello everyone!

We never did tagalongs or anything like that - apart from MBB's lurid pink affair we are a bike-free household. Oh, the shame.

Would anyone like a freshly-baked muffin?

OO I would LOVE a muffin!

I currently have no bike either. I feel bad about this.

A muffin would be lovely

Based on ds's keenness, I got a new one (old one really didn't work well and I've never liked it and I think I've really grown out of having a racer) recently. Ds is just tall enough since Jan (4 in April) - but he is fairly tall for his age. And the tag-along folds in half so easy to stow in the car, and Dhs and my bikes can go on a rack on the back...

Did someone say muffins? Partaking in the tearoom is v.important given lack of them in RL...

well we have two bikes. So there. I feel smug and for once in touch with all you outdoorsy country folk

i shall put my chocolate brownies into a pannier and cycle away in a huff. Because you have all chosen muffins and not even given my brownies so much as a passing glance.....

heh ho, more for me then

too early for Bolly? I thought not, there, that's better

Sorry Daisy - I hadn't seen the brownies, but now that the pile of muffins has decreased I can see them! I will have one of those too, thank you!

And, no, I don't think its too early for bolly...

brownie over here, oi, you with the bike with cake filled pannier, come back.

Daisy - the muffins were meant to add to the cakely diversity on offer. No slight to your brownies was intended!

Any Bolly left? [hopeful]

MadBad - just found another bottle tucked behind the aspidistra. Hey, where did that come from?

Evening ladies

Apologies for my lack of aroundness - been at Glastonbury for the past near-week and think I forgot to mention it.

If Mellors is good with his hands then I am in dire need of a back-and-foot rub ...