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.

happy to oblige, JM - there... working through that lovely knot, how's that?
I need a me quite regularly too - sadly I haven't learnt the art of self-replication yet
Am with you in the sleepless stakes, JM - miniT is sleeping less and less well. Waking with nightmares, such a distressing cry - clinging to me in bed so neither of us rests properly.. poor little chap.

We really need to get into our own house soon so we can start re-instating sleeping in his own bed

I'm now craving a really good massage. Not a namby pamby aromatherapy one either, but the sort where you can feel it doing you good.

Alas, what I need is to go to the chiropodist about my plantar fascitis.

ooh no, plantar fasciitis = nasty!
Will offer virtual beating up therapeutic massage for you - imagine the knots being worked out of your shoulders, neck... and now your back, down into the top of your bum muscles... Good, innit?

whoops, DS stirring...

May I have a large cup of Dutch Courage???

Milk starts school...

TOMORROW!!!!!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkk!!!!

[Where's my baby gone? and sob sob emotion]

Cmot - I have something wrong with my feet that may well be geriatric decay plantar fascitis. Can chiropodists do much to help? My GP's only suggestion was to wear trainers all the time, which offended my style and beauty sensibilities.

Condolences to anyone still deprived of sleep. I felt wrecked this smorning, because the return to school meant getting up an hour earlier.

What's that sound of gentle snoring? Aha. Jacksmama seems to have dozed off on Thumb's massage table.

I need an early night but, until then, would anyone care to join me in polishing off the sauvignon blanc?

Aaah. Just seen Tea's post.

Enormous glass of sauvignon coming right up.

Ha ha ha - Violet scented hanky!!!!!!

Only in the tearoom!!!

Fab fab fab!!!!!!!

CHEERS madbad!!!!!

You can do exercises (have been trying, but not really resolving) and orthotics to support your feet.

My friend has just got orthotics for hers, and although she is complaining that they don't fit in her Jimmy Choos, they are not inconveniencing her shoe fetish in any other way. I hope for the same relief

The big question Milk, is have you got your school run dress sorted ? Next weeks job is to phone the two possible schools for DS to arrange day time visits for us to finalise our choice. Given a chance, he'd go to school now

A swift glass would be lovely. I think I have some twiglets somewhere too

Well, if we're going to go all National Trust-ish, we need to stock up on scented hankies, poetry anthologies and other items for the gift shop! Although perhaps we should be slightly more bunting cupcake about it and offer a range of items made of recycled cashmere cardies, twigs and gingham? Come to think of it, we may have a few left over from the tea room's legendary Christmas craft fair .....

Anyway, have a good sniffle, Tea. Have you been reading the Juliette book about starting school? MadBadBaby loved it (although she preferred the one in which Juliette fait pipi dans sa culotte ).

You know, don't you, that tout ira bien?

CMOT - First day School run dress sorted....

www.phase-eight.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion/Dresses/Dionne-maxi-dress/200746690?colour=purple

and

www.phase-eight.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion/Jerseywear/Basic-jersey-cardi/300546690?colour=purple

Ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[completely corrupted by MN emotion]

Eeeerrrrmmm... actually Madbad - we actively avoid Juliette!!! Her books seem to portray children as such poor lost souls that I just can't bare to get her books out of the library. Your household must be made of stronger stuff than us lot!

Janet and Allan Ahlberg's 'Starting School' is known by heart over on this side of the internet and tonight Milk was presented with a Madeline dolly and book which went down well.

CMOT - when does your little one start school - hardly seems possible!!!

Aren't we all, Tea, aren't we all? Corrupted by MN, that is.

Just got Wriggle to sleep so that I can start planning my lessons.

Lost of ((hugs)) and sympathy to Tea as WRiggle did her first morning at nursery this morning (with me outside in the car until they called me in because she was getting so upset.)

I HATED it and am trying so hard not to infect Wriggle with my reactions.

It was so school like and unspontaneous and uncreative. Anything she wanted to do she couldn't - no sand because it wasn't on the agenda for today although it was clearly in sight, no going on all the great toys right by the tarmac where they were all riding their tricycles round in circles because the grass was wet, no climbing frame because they were doing repairs, no exploring because she was only allowed in her room ... In five minutes she was bored with riding tricycles round a small bit of tarmac and was soon begging to go home, so off we went. We had been there for an hour and a half and I had had enough. No water, no sand, no clay, no painting, no singing, no music, no pets .... On the plus side, she did play with some of the children, which was the idea.

But it is so like school and I hate school and schools. There must be something better somewhere.

At lunch time she stole two bananas, didn't want to eat lunch, put her hands in my food, wiped them on my clean skirt, wee'd on the floor and got screamed at by me. She then begged to go and watch her new Aristocats in French DVD with her grandmother, who can at least be guaranteed to be kind. Not like her awful mother. She then slept for two hours and woke up with a streaming cold.

Do first days come worse than that?

On another thread I am on someone's daughter broke their leg on first day of school. That sounds worse than Wriggles first day... just!

Hopes that makes you feel better Racingsnake!!!

The French system is pretty strict which panics me a bit - but I reckon seeing as Milk has spent the majority of tonight monkey dancing naked to Maya she could do with the balance!!!! (laughing on the outside at least)

By the way RS - have you spotted my chat thread for bilingual families? I was hoping you'd post there sometime.

their???? Obviously I meant HER

I think you might pass muster Tea . DS will start next September, but he is desperate to go now for some reason

I'd look for another nursery Racing - is there any choice ? Fr'instance, on Friday DS's class did a mini beast hunt in the garden (their garden is entirely done in some sort of astroturf surface with shrubs and plants round the edge so they can cycle etc whatever the weather, but they have the back half of the babies garden to actually garden in), then did snail racing, drew snails, chose their favourite minibeasts, sang about them, picked veg from the garden to feed them etc etc Frequently their room looks like the toys have exploded out of the boxes

No. Shall go off to look in chat. At least a broken leg would get you out of it for a while. Wriggle has spent most of the summer naked and promptly took her shoes off when getting to nursery. Not allowed, of course.

RS - Look on my profile to get to it. It isn't in 'chat' but is a chatty thread iyswim.

Can you look for a different nursery?

Milk's nursery was fab!!! All indoors because it was in central Paris which was my only grrr - but it was a very creative, singy, dancy, full of love sort of place! There are nice nurseries out there - honest!

Tea - tres chic, comme toujours.

Good to see you, Racing. Commiserations on the dismal first day at nursery. I mean this as a serious (ie not facetious) question, but what made you choose this nursery? Does it have any redeeming features? You're begining to sound like a Home Edder in the making - is that a treasonable offence for a teacher?

Would some wine help here?

Merci... for the comments on the dress.

I am going to tip toe up the stairs as I saw Mellors has put the big brass bed up there and it looks perfect to have a really good sleep. I need to prepare myself for the 'school run' tomorrow - eeeeeeeeeek and of course the tearoom move to the 10th thread I see no-one has put anything in boxes yet - so there really is lots of work to do tomorrow then!!!!

Yikes!

Hello everyone just thought I'd pop out from within the sofa, to give a hand moving.

Shall we adjourn to the Hunting Lodge? here's a link to a rather nice {{http://www.flickr.com/photos/castrovalva/494358/ hunting lodge]] in Chatsworth.