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.

Yo all. evening from soggy village under dartmoor. A real day of dartymoor sunshine today, showers every 10 mins. Boy and I ignored some of them to spend an hour in teh garden playing tennis ( with imaginary net and rackets) football (imaginary goals) and doing some ( all too real) weeding.

Amber-

Cat->

all >

remnd me NOTto take DH and boy shopping at Lidl at teh same time. They were as bad as each other. Boy doesn;t like shopping and wants to hang on the side of trolly, DH doesn't like shops he doesn;t know, especially if tehy don;t have signs for where things are to found, and even more specially if teh food is scattered around between random crap on special offer AND teh prices are hard to find, ANd he doesn;t recognise teh brands.... I could have cheerfully throttled both of them.
Ended up going to waitrose as well in teh end as Lidl din;t have evey thing we wanted. Ho hum. Maybe after next week I be able to do teh big shop while boy is at preschool and dh at work.

Ooo, the photo thing might work!
Morning all

Catita, so glad you've told them what they can do with their extra seminars. You need a nice relaxing time.

Stay sat down Amber, let me get you the cupa and a biscuit!

And, thanks for the letter Unis.
In the light of last time's experience, I have decided to take the following precautions:

1. Invest in an answerphone so I can hear who's calling and why before I pick up (no caller id here).

1. Under no circumstances check my work email. Just have the automatic reply on.

1. Get my mother (who is coming out for 7 weeks) to answer the door. She can speak enough Spanish for me to understand who it is before I rescue her/run away and hide.

Oh my, my mother. 7 weeks. I'll be about ready to throw her out after two.

I have worn mellors out, sorry. I think he came back here for a bit of peace and quiet after another burst of Unis's quick and dirty furniture making workshop. This evening I made an airing rack, it fits perfectly the space above teh boiler and it cost nowt as is from scrap.

I think I am in need of a little something, a fresh baked roll still warm, with butter and jam, seems to fit teh bill. any one else joining me. For teh record- I don;t like teh dily mil either, but hey ho, whos gonna want my random spelt waffle any how.

Hi all.
I am very sad. We had to put my lovely old Bucky-cat to sleep this morning. He had chronic renal failure and was going downhill very quickly. This morning he couldn't walk and I was not willing to see him suffer. So we took him to the emergency animal clinic at 7 am and they were very kind.
Sorry, I need to go cry for a while.

Oh JM, how sad - I remember a good friend of mine having the same problem with her lovely cat when we were about 14 - she was so sad too. Have several unMNly (((hugs))), a big box of man-size tissues and a few squirts of rescue remedy.

Catita - braveness itself, having your mum out for 7 weeks! I couldn't have coped with my Mum for that long, God rest her soul. Still - if she's going to play watchdog for you that will be a bonus

Nice cup of tea would go down very well, ta lots. And I think I will have a toasted spiced bun to go with... anyone else like one?

JM, ((((((((((hugs))))))))) also.

Never easy when it's loved animals that go from our lives, because people don't always 'get' why we should care overmuch about them anyway.

How are you feeling today?

Large cuppas available. And there's spiced buns left over, too.

JM, here, have a hanky, have a good blow ...

I made myself cry yesterday by thinking about how one day we will have to say goodbye, one way or the other, to these kittens, they're only babies but I'm only 37, and lifespans being what they are, fully intend to outlive the little guys. And we've only had them two weeks, I can't imagine how devasted you must be after years with an animal.

about your cat, JM. DCMB, I have also thought at times whether it is worth getting animals or even (when things have been very down) whether we should ever have children, considering what they will go through when we finally pop off ...

Wriggle's adored cat Marmite is also no more. He was here when we got back from France and she was so happy, shouting MARMITE MON CHAT! and grabbing him the instant she set foot through the door, but a week ago he wasn't there in the morning and when he still wasn't there that evening I began to fear the worst and now that he has been missing for ten days, I am afraid there is no doubt. He was never away from us for more than an hour.

Since, being a cat, he was often asleep somewhere or busy stealing eggs in the fridge or hunting guinea pigs, she has not yet quite realised that he is gone forever ... but she now asks for him no more than two or three times an hour a day ...

I did not realise I would be so sad about a cat who was a thorough nuisance every moment of every day, clawing us, stealing food, fighting with the resident cats, breaking ornaments, peeing in DH's bed, knocking over vases to drink the water ... Now I only remember him sitting on the edge of her bath, purring as she pulled him around by his tail and sleeping in her dolls' house.

I keep hoping that some friend will ask after him, so that I can get some sympathy, but no-one has. DH just says that we won't get her another cat, it would be silly living on the main road. Which of course it would be.

Anyway, I had so many things I wanted to tell you all when I finally managed to stick my head around the tea room door, and all I've done is moan about the cat! And so many things I wanted to ask you all about what is going on. Still no time now; off to bed and then the last day of the holidays.

• sorry about the cats how horribly sad for you both JM and RS.

oh no, not Racingcat as well! I hope he crawls in, looking all bedraggled, in the next couple of days. Tis an awful thing just wondering where they've gone...

Hope you're all having a nice BH - it virtually passed me by here; instead, I have to contend with the fact that MrThumb is having a SECOND Fathers' day! Next Sunday. He is already hinting at prezzies, cheeky man! (But NOT a giftcard from a DIY shop, something that is advertised every hour or so as being the Ideal Gift for Every Father - not him!)

for your cats JM and RS.

Still at my mother's audacity (she's coming 19 Oct to 7 Dec, I got a copy of her eticket on Friday). I knew she would have to come for a while as she will find the trip extremely tiring and will need about 5 days to recover at least. But still, I had thought of 4 ish weeks. The seven nearly eight has me a little worried about how much I will still love her when she goes

The thing is because she was unable even to impart advice (too ill) when DS was born, she is determined to be THERE and DO EVERYTHING this time (sorry for the capitals, but I think she talks in them when she tells me all she is going ot do for me).

I am practising my "well, I know that's how you think I should do it, although I think I am going to carry on doing it my way" speech in readiness.

I should add, since you don't know my mother (and this would be totally unnecessary to say if you did) that she never actually consulted me about how long to come for. She only asked about the birth then she could be there at least a week before.
She just decided, booked her ticket and then let me know.

Mr. Hatita is thinking of getting his mother up here as well (I think in retaliation). More And here I thinking I had enough to cope with by having this baby ....

OMG Catita. I don't know whether to laugh at the image of The Dueling MILs or cry for you. 7 WEEKS!!! Bloody hell. I thought four weeks of my half-sister who is merely spoilt and very young but wouldn't dream of interfering with our parenting was bad...
((((((HUS)))))? Or something stronger? The nice thing about the tea room being that even pregnant ladies can have a virtual drink here without adverse effects.
That being the case, although I am most certainly NOT pregnant, someone pour me a slug of something in my coffee. It's just before 8 am here.
Thanks for your message on my very sad my-cat-is-dead thread, Thumb. I have just done mental contortions the math and it seems you're 17 hours ahead of me. If it's 8 am Monday morning here, it's 1 am Tuesday morning for you.
Thanks to everyone else, too, and for you Racing and for Marmite and Wriggle.

x many, Catita!
God, 2 GMs in the same arena as new baby - Competitive grannying would be the order of the day, methinks! And you would bear the brunt of it - hope MrHatita thinks better of his thought.
My MIL came to UK for 2m when DS was born, but to be fair, my Mum had died not that long previously and I had said it would be nice if she was there. She is also not that bothersome - helps out in the background without getting in your face about everything - MrThumb was more of a prob, suggesting that (at 41+ weeks pg) I "could take his ma out and about a bit more"; and then post-delivery that I could "make more of an effort to entertain his ma" while bf'ing a tongue-tied baby for up to 2hrs at a time . She was fine about it, it was him!

Sorry to generalize but men can be such twats, can't they?

you got it, JM! I should be in bed now cos we have another long drive (short by Aussie standards tho) to Sydney tomorrow to witness potential napalming of sundry items from airfreight crate...

Ok, I'm exaggerating, we just need to be there at the quarantine inspection

Really sorry about the cats JM and RS.

Currently in Brussels airport on way home. Fed up with missing weekend and bank holiday to go to a conference that was very largely a waste of time. Pah.

Hope they don't napalm your things Thumb !

do they REALLY napalm stuff in OZ?? blimey, best hope you have no long forgoten jars of honey in them boxes.

Hurrah for friends, I may get to breifly see an old one of mine in a fortnight as he is on a cycle holiday, his plans include a night to far for ours, so I will plan on popping over to chin wag.

BOOO hiss over Men and Mothers in Law, and mothers who take things just a step toooo far.

I am wondering WHO to invite to a pudding club night out ( as in a night out eating puddings at village hall) my Mother, who likes puddings and will be with us that weekend, or DH, who also likes puddings, has a birthday a week later and ask mother to baby sit?

You lot are of course, ALL invited. A pudding club evening would go down very well in the tea room I suspect. Shall we do one sometime?

Pudding club is definitely an excellent idea.

As is a tea-room cat.

Although as Wriggle frequently thinks she is a cat, there may not be a vacancy.

This afternoon managed longish (4 mile) walk through blackberry-bedecked lanes with Wriggle in the pushchair and RacingHound tied to the front. The first long walk since she was born, I think. We saw a roe deer watching us for ages from under a hedge, and a huge black beetle which sat on her hand and ate blackberries and plums which had fallen off someone's tree. It is very rarely that she will deign to sit in the pushchair so that we can get further than a 100 meter meander, so I really enjoyed it.

On the way back, I met a friend and we got chatting. Wriggle joined in, in French, since we have spent much time there recently. Friend asked me what WRiggle says if someone asks if she is French or English. Had to explain that it is not a question which bothers WRiggle much at the moment, as she is actually a tortoise (when not watching the Aristocats).

Thumb, MisterThumb sounds very familiar. Monsieur Racing would be quite capable of the same amount of thoughtfulness and intuition.

Is MadBad away? She is the only person I haven't seen about here recently. Congrats, Uni, on the move, by the way. Dampest Dartmoor sounds like a great improvement on the dodgy end of Exeter. Thumb, whereabouts in Australia are you? Town or outback (please let it be outback, with heaps of Crocodile Dundee anecdotes to help us while away the long winter nights to come. Bonsoir, Tea. Thought about you while in Paris. (Even though I know you don't actually live there.) Do you know about Comenius courses? You could go on a great holiday learning experience, all paid for by Europe.

Another vote for a pudding club. I live not a million miles from the actual Pudding Club, based in a hotel somewhere hereabouts, but have never been. If that had an evening devoted purely to chocolate puddings DH might be, sorry, WOULD be interested.

Hm, UniS, how often do you see your mother, and how is your relationship with DH? Cos if you don't see mummy very often, having her babysit while you and DH go and scoff puddings might be a bit rude, but if your marriage could do with some TLC (and pudding) it might be best to get her to babysit. Personally I would take DH if I were in a similar position, but, well, he likes puddings, we could do with some couple time, and my mum lives about eight miles up the road.

Can I offer my kittens to be the tea room cats? They are a bit bonkers, presently having mad rush-around-the-house time - one of them just did the most fantastic textbook crab-walking fur-fluffed-up look-I'm-really-big-honest defensive posturing ... and they smell a bit, okay, quite a lot (they are under the vet, costing me a fortune) but they are INCREDIBLY cute. Oh, and quite intelligent, as they seem to have switched their laserbeam toy on by themselves. The only downside, apart from the stinky bums, is their tendency to climb up your legs when you'rt least expecting it.

RS, sorry to disappoint, not in Outback.
Am in small country town on edge of Lake Macquarie - reasonable shopping centre, expanding soon with advent of new Woolworths store and associated mall (WW here is not the same as in the UK - it is more of a food shop (and still exists!), although I think it is part of the WW worldwide conglomerate)

However, we have a nearby mental hospital with a semi-tame mob of kangaroos that can be visited when feeling the need - there were lots more this time than we've seen previously, they might be taking over...

I know that the girl who works in the Natural Food shop here lives in a much smarter marina-type town a few miles away - she very much feels that ours is a "country" town, even though it is the fastest-growing town in NSW at the mo. Soon it will be just another massive urban sprawl...

we see my folks fairly regular, every 6-10 weeks, I guess. Mum seems to like looking after boy, so I think she would be quite happy to be in charge of bedtime, shes done it before.

eeekkk- what that kitten doing swinging from teh curtains like that. can we please send teh NMBs after it to help.

Good evening, ladies. I have, as racingsnake surmised, been away. Today is my birthday. Unfortunately, lighting all 87 candles on the cake has caused a little scorch damage, but would anyone like a slice?

I am so sorry to hear of everyone's cat and MIL travails. Would a glass of prosecco help? As it's my birthday I've also got cheese straws and twiglets.

Welcome back Madbad, and a very happy birthday. Careful you don't set the smoke alarm off though.

I've always wanted to do a pudding club. At our biggest trade show, my company has previously had a v v large party where the only catering was desserts. As am gluten intolerant, I could only look and dream