Tea Room the Twelfth

[RacingSnake]

Come in, come in, to Tea Room the Twelfth! We now inhabit a rambling log cabin, surrounded by mysterious pine forests and mist-covered mountains (but also, strangely) easily accessible by regulars, new-comers and passing bishops, ferried in by Mellors driving the troika. All the usual rules apply and all are welcome!

puts mug of tea into Ambers outstretched paw. and a choc biscuit in the other one. send amber off to sit by fire till she thaws our and the flames die down.

Amber - my mother rang me to say that they nearly got stranded in your neck of the woods - apparently my father gave up and ended up overtaking a long line of stationary traffic with the aim of not getting stuck with them - they're about 25/30mins from where you are and it was a 4hr round trip....

Very sorry to hear about RacingMissPiggy - I hope Wriggle hasn't taken it too badly.

Tea - clearly not a friend - better to leave well alone.

JM - we're not having a tree at all this year - we're away, and, tbh, can't afford any expenditure that we can do without at the moment. Christmas shopping's been really easy though - not had to do any!!!

Hopefully mistlechick will have fun and feel Christmassy - we're away with my parents (snow allowing) and there is a torchlight walk and carols (mistlechick will definitely have to have a nap that afternoon). Must remember to take his stocking and things to go in it though...

I've finalllllly done my tax return. Hurrah.

Unis skips around the room singing a merry song, gloating that once again she has earned so little that the tax man owes her money .

In honour of teh occasion, I bring you, christmas biscuits, made by a friend ( no not me, I can;t get to look that good) they are shaped like holly leaves and have white AND green icing and edible glitter and rafia and everything. DO you think I could pass them off as mine at craft fair.

Boy and I will be icing Christmas tree shaped biscuits tomorrow. What do you recon. Green iceing or melted chocolate? With smarties for baubles and some christmas theme fancy cup cake toppers.

UniS - chocolate - you could even use white chocolate for lines etc! At least that way you won't suffer from the green food colouring potential poisoning!!!!

green food colouring potential poisoning! do tell me more. I merrily let boy paint food colouring on all sorts of items that we then consume. Is it JUST green thats problem?

No, some of the yellows are fairly awful too - I think blue can be pretty awful aswell! I have a limited number of 'natural' food colourings which are the ones that I try to use if I'm doing 'general' things - contain no E numbers. Conversely, if you start reading the ingredients of some of the non 'natural' food colourings, it gets rather interesting....

oh dear. I rather like blue food colouring, its fantastic hair dye. On blond hair any way.

We don't have our tree up yet, either. We haven't had one for several years and even this year won;t put it up until Christmas Eve and will take it down on New Year's Day. One of the better customs of my childhood.

Wriggle doesn't quite seem to have taken in the lack of pigs, probably since she doesn't often play with them all at once. Did not sit her down and break the awful news; a very busy day.

Finished the day at a friend's house with Wriggle and her friend bouncing on the trampoline in the dark and the snow to celebrate the solstice.

Am in absolutely foul mood. Took 5 hours to get from Marble Arch to MadBad Mansions. One inch of snow ... city grinds to a halt ... utterly pathetic ... they manage in Canada where the snow is measured in feet, not inches ... grump, grump, grump.

hello all - sorry to have disappeared, believe me it wasn't voluntary! In the end I went to the hospital Sunday morning where they did the HCG test, which was too low for my gestation time (about 4,500) - no scan facilities over the weekend but had to be transferred to the more main hospital (further away from home). So got admitted to hospital on Sunday, then eventually had the scan yesterday after lunch - but just prior to lunch had some sharper pains and extra loss. Nothing revealed on the scan, so full MC. They kept me in until this morning (Tuesday already here) - quite traumatic considering I thought I was just going to go for a scan and then come home again! and re-did the HCG test this morning. Dropped lots but still need one more HCG test on Christmas Eve to make sure no lurking remnants in tubes. So long as HCG continues to drop, it's a good thing.

Thank you all for your heartfelt kindness and sympathies - I am mostly ok, because I never really felt quite properly pg, iyswim - but I am having the odd breakdown moment. MiniThumb had to put up with Daddy looking after him the last 2 nights but seems relatively unscarred by the experience (although his knee is in a right state, having skinned it on the path yesterday, poor little mite.) MrThumb is being pretty stoical about the whole thing, which is good - so long as he gives me the space to be upset about it.

Sorry to hear about MissRacingPiggy - that's so sad. We have yet more news - rats got into the aviary and MrThumb found 7 little corpses on the floor this morning, mostly Gouldian finches but a couple of more rare finches as well.

Bummer about the snow ishoos - England never seems to get the hang of weather extremes, does it? Mind you, God help us if it were to ever snow here - I think they'd think the world was ending (and they'd probably be right!) I miss the snow...

Still, have managed to get beef suet today so I was going to make the Christmas puddings today but actually don't feel up to it so it can wait until tomorrow.

Hope all of you are well - nice to hear back from Catita; and JM, don't worry, I often only read back a couple of posts and miss something as well - I think we all do it sometimes.

{Hugs} Thumb, be gentle on yourself in the days ahead {Hugs}

DD is in a charity carol service tonight, with practice this afternoon. In a way I hope its cancelled, as its still darn slippery out there!

Yes Thumb - I agree with Mary - take it steady and look afer you. You have had a rough ride and need lots of TLC!!!

Milk is now the very proud owner of one scooter (DH had to sleep on the sofa because him, me, Milk and the scooter did not fit in the bed!!!)

It was all she wanted for Christmas and seeing as it is a pretty mahoooosive thing to be carrying to Brittany ontop of everything-else we had a special scooter day yesterday. We collected up some of her Christmas pennies from various generous and lovely relations and she chose it herself.

Milk chose the funky light blue and green alien one over a sickly pink one without any guidance from me!!!!

[proud emotion]

www.oxelo.com/FR/trottinette-play3-bleue-97743150/

T42 - am v.v. impressed at Milk's fabulous good taste - shows she has been brung up proper!

amber, thanks muchly for tea and What Car - iirc you are into vintage jaguars, are you not, therefore this copy should contain some drool-worthy pics of Mark II jags, in which case it will do very nicely.

Mary, I am trying to take care of me but not that easy - miniThumb has had a bit of a trying day, his knee is a bit of a mess and bathtime this eve was horrible, with lots of frantic wailing and trying to climb out, MrT deciding that he couldn't handle it and leaving me to it BUT at least he has agreed to have miniT in bed with him tonight so I can get a decent night's sleep on my own (might get rid of the tic in my right eyelid)

Am still wildly at the snow, despite the trauma it causes to the transport system. Mind you, I was talking to a nurse in the hospital this morning, she was a patient (gallbladder removal) and is Welsh (been in Aus 5y now) - she said that they were never allowed to miss work in Wales because it was too snowy, the Army would get sent out to pick them up!

I played Christmas Carols v.v. loudly today to try and regain Christmas spirit but it's kind of gone a bit flat. Still, we're collecting the goose tomorrow and if I can get the puds done it might help. Am ok though - just a bit, well, flat about sums it up I think.

You are all very lovely and I can't tell you what a comfort it is to be able to talk to you about it, even though I plan to not go on about it. Only MIL and MrThumb know in RL - and I only told MIL cos I was in the hospital she works in and had a bit of a meltdown after I'd sent MrT and miniT home - but I'm glad I did.

See we are a week into the snow now and it is now just a bit annoying - I'd do anything or a bit of Auzzie sunshine!!!!

I bought 'Christmas Crooners' yesterday on scooter shopping trip... It has been a none stop Christmas music day in the Tea household. In France the shops don't blast Christmas music andthe chrismas songs that in England have 'dun maaar nuttt' by October I have a massive yearning for. SO it is just hitting the spot perfectly!

My MIL is in UK - I am really hoping she brings back some MINCEPIES... I am really needing ten one!!! Can you get mincepies and other English Chrissy stuff Thumb?

Oh yes, the foodstuffs aren't all that different, tbh (nor the cards, nor the decorations!). Lots of turkey and mincepies, Christmas puddings etc (although not as bad as in the UK); Christmas chocolates (again not as bad as in the UK and a LOT more expensive) - but also lots of "bigging up" the Aussie style with seafood and ham, so tons of prawns being sold. We even have sprouts in the shops!

Did I mention that I somehow lost my Best of Christmas Pop record in the move? Am gutted. It had all the old cheesy faves on (I think it was a Phil Spectre collection) and I too am missing being sick to death of them, cos they don't get played much here either.

doesn't seem to be a Phil Spector one after all, can't find it anywhere on t'internet anyhow. Ah well. Hope it turns up somewhere!

The French go for seafood in a big way too. It is VERY nice for me for I don't eat meat but do eat (and bloody love) seafood (weird odd principles based on the fact sefood is soooo sooooo yummy and the Norwegians say scientifically we can't hurt them and it was a good way of geting away with not eat meat in big meat eating France!).... although the kitchen floor filled with live lobsters does freak me out a bit (think Annie Hall)!!!

They don't do sweet heavy dried fruit recipes - all of which I miss so so much!!!

I do however make an English Chrissy cake every year and have managed to convert some French/Italian friends to such an extent they start looking forward to it about Novemeber too!!!

well done you! That is a coup indeed - bet you haven't got them to agree that any other English food is worthy of the name, however.

I've just remembered - I have to shred my own "suet" - it's just slabs of beef fat (sorry, you being a pescatarian, that's probably not good for you to read) - maybe I'll get MrThumb to do it. He's spent all day today rat-proofing the aviary - hope it works. We saw a rat on the side porch around 7pm - bloody things, hate them. We're going to have to poison them carefully (i.e. so that the wild birds don't get nobbled by the poison as well) - apparently that is the only way to get rid of them properly.

Anyhoo must away to my bed now - can't waste my night alone!

Hello everyone. Now that the Phil Spector Christmas album has been mentioned, I'm going to have to send someone to the record shop. It used to be played all day when I was a Saturday girl in Etam.

Five hours on a bus!?! Blimey!

Girls, I am in love with a tiny, brown and white shetland pony foal . Stables owner got it as a christmas present, and we went to see it today. DS was hugging and kissing it, and I managed to elbow in for a hug too.

DH says one won't fit in the garden though

Really sorry for your loss Thumb

No snow here at all - just frost. Slightly disappointing really

blooming heck madbad, wouldn't it have been quicker to get off bus and walk home.

Road like an ice rink out side our place before 9am and after 4pm. More snow showers today which did look VERY charming. The moor has a light covering with brown lines for hedges and walls. sooo pretty. I shoe horned boy into the Chariot ( as pushchair) to walk down to next village and deliver a few cards.

I may have over bought on the clotted cream. DH feels 3 x 400g may be a bit more than is needed for 8 adults and 7.5 children.

you can all help me finish it off on boxing day if required.

Well, it would have been quicker, UniS, except that I have injured my hip in some way and am hobbling in true old laydee style at the moment and didn't fancy my chances on the sheet of ice that had quickly covered every pavement. Christmas in traction didn't seem such an attractive prospect!

And, Amber, as I know you like precision I should say that it was a mere four hours on the first bus, then a little freestyle skating/hobbling until I caught the only bus which was creeping up the hill and which gave up and collapsed at the side of the road about fifty yards later.

Ahhh for Cmot's foal. Perhaps it could live in the tea room garden and then Mellors could look after it? I'd be willing to help him.

Am looking forward to UniS's clotted cream feast.

Personally, I think that amount of clotted cream sounds about right. I love the stuff, and am quite happy to have clotted cream and jam on toast for breakfast.

Any idea on what you have done to your hip MadBad ?