Tea Room the Thirteenth

[amberlight]

Welcome to the newest instalment of the One Parent Families tea room. As it's heading for spring, we're now in a nice warm orangery surrounded by woodland filled with spring flowers. All are very welcome to join in with us parents of one (or indeed more!), the tea room gardener/handyman Mellors, various virtual Bishops (don't ask) and a variety of other characters from previous tea rooms. Grab a cuppa, relax!...

Hello nqagb! How are you doing - glad your half term has been good and looking forward to hearing where you've been dragged to today!

We've decided! Gymhubby and I had talked about meeting for lunch in Belgo near his office as he has a free meal voucher. So it's the mummies at the British museum after lunch. Which means we don't need to rush and can have a lazy morning.

Ooh, I wish I could go to the British Museum. I spent a month working in Senate House years ago (the University of London's scarily imposing art deco admin building) and went to the BM most lunchtimes. As I only had an hour I had to plan each day's peruse carefully, go whizzing to the right bit of the museum, have 45 or 50 minutes pondering, then dash back to the office.

I'd love to take DD on a trip to London during holidays or at a weekend, but I hear such horror stories about how busy the good stuff like the Science and Natural History museums get.

Mind you, we could easily be in a local museum this morning, but instead have failed to exit our pyjamas yet.

Yes, I love the British Museum, and the Science Museum too. Launchpad at the science museum is great fun!

Just debating whether to venture out...

My MiL took ds to the NHM last autumn 1/2 term and when she arrived the queue was snaking round the corner - they went on a boatride instead - but mistlechick wasn't impressed having been promised DINOSAURS!!!

Eureka nearer to home and not yet been - must try to do that soon

We are going to a museum next week - The Leonardo da Vinci Machines exhibition of his mechanical inventions as recreated by a Florentine team of artisans is here in Newcastle. Should be good!

I fear I never went to the British Museum, although I do love the Science and Natural History Museums. When miniThumb is a fair bit older we can add trips to the museums into our UK visits.

That sounds great Thumb - which one in Newcastle and how long is it there? Might have to persuade Dh that we need a trip up! (could even meet you there )

My sister lives near Newcastle... perhaps i should go and visit her this summer!

sorry to disappoint ladies, entirely my fault for assuming that you would know I meant Newcastle in NSW, Australia.

There are a lot of names around here that are very familiar - locally we have:
Toronto (named for the eponymous Canadian city)
Newcastle
Hexham
Cardiff
Swansea
to name but a few. Nearer Sydney there are more: Windsor, Richmond etc.

Newcastle is perhaps the funniest one in that it is also a big coal mining area and an industrial port, just like in England!

The exhibition is only here until 28th March - don't know where it goes after that but it tours the world so it might go to the UK again at some point.

Sorry again!

Bother. Should have realised you wouldn't be coming back over so soon!

Mary - you can stop for a cup of tea on the way past if you would like!

DCMB - I can really recommend the Avonscroft museum nr Bromsgrove, but not in todays weather ! Black Country museum is good too - I particularly like historical fish and chips.

I'd like to visit Eureka - maybe will get there eventually. On our honeymoon we went to Florence, and did loads of science and medicine museums which people were a bit about when we got back. We loved it all though

CMOTD - we did the war museum in Ypres on our honeymoon! Even more for some but it was part of what we wanted to do while in Belgium, so we did it.

Don't mind me thumbwitch, am a bit dim today

Thanks for explanation about the roasted soup - it was indeed a genuine question

At home today. Haven't long woken up. Might go back to bed again soon.

Sorry Amber - we need a tongue in cheek smilie for us so that we know when you're teasing us and when its a genuine question - normally you seem so au fait with all the rather peculiar turns of phrase (when you start to think about them) that get used here... I suppose it really should be soup of roasted tomatoes?

I'm good at knowing expressions or wording I already know, but no good at guessing ones I don't know, if that makes sense. Just hadn't heard of roasted tomato soup and my brain does a picture of something being roasted, and then tomato-soup. Wish it would behave...

Cmot - I did indeed mean Catita, sorry, but well done Catita for planning the trip

CMOT well done on 5 year plan, I have no such insight

DCMB you amused me with your choice to do something socially useful - and chucking the law out of the equation at that point, I tried not to be hurt

Thumb I am now sure that I know you. I too was at the 1711 school and know of whom you speak as BA Captain. I've always been rather proud of her, but I don't suppose she would have considered me a close friend. All I can say is I am nicer, certainly more considerate, than I was at school

Museums in london - love them. Don't be put off. Half term not best, but go early. I've been to the Tate today and it was fab

I have visions of you as one of the worst of the St Trinians crowd, now, Daisy...suitably reformed, of course

There is a Toronto in Australia? [the mind boggles emoticon]

Hi all, just wanted to pop in and say hello .

Have been extremely busy, my parents are here (stepdad in usual form - well, to be fair, I should say he's pretty good), unfortunately Mum came down with the same virus we all had two weeks ago (how? How????? I disinfected every hard surface in my house with Lysol wipes, because I read norovirus can survive for weeks on inanimate surfaces - must have missed one ) but has now completely recovered... and then the sump pump in the basement gave up the ghost and we needed a new one, or risk the basement flooding... CDN$ 1100 later... gah!!

However, yesterday we had a FAB day in downtown Vancouver, walking around all the Olympic celebration areas. Gorgeous sunny day, absolutely fantastic fun.

Apologies - I have NOT read back farther than that Daisy thinks she knows Thumbwitch in RL???? Can we have confirmation of this??? How funny!!

xxx to all.

Oh, I can't wait to 2012 to be able to walk around the Olympic stadia, how fab! Ugh at new new pump, don't you just hate unexpected expenses!

We had a lovely afternoon, we met dh for lunch and then wandered to the British Museum which was not too busy, thank goodness. We tend to visit museums in a very targeted manner, hitting one area in a shortish spell, so today it was an hour and a half in amongst the mummies. The gymgirlie was fascinated; she was initially disappointed that she couldn't see what was left inside the wrappings, and then was hugely excited to see a real dead body totally unwrapped in another room . She then checked out every case and demanded every card be read out so she could see what it all was. But once we'd seen the Egyptian rooms that was it, her attention was gone and all she wanted was the shop!

So we meandered back to the train and came home. Bread baking and a pudding to make tonight to take to friends for tea tomorrow. I'm thinking key lime pie....

.. it has been one of those weeks where everything seems a bit bumpy and I am glad the holidays are here!!!

I am going to be in Blighty soooooon.... how I yearn to walk amongst sickly pale skinned, hung over, very friendly, perfectly polite and slightly crazily dressed people!!!

Hello. Just checking in before I go and pack.
Will you all collectively cross your fingers that I (or rather G) get assigned a bassinet (crib that clips on the wall) on the plane. Obviously for this to happen I need a front seat. I have tried in vain to prebook it, but apparently it can only be done at check-in (damn Mexicana....). 12 hours holding the ten ton tessie that is my wee girl could be a bit of a strain. (And I am joking her being "wee", she is anything but . In fact she is wearing the clothes that Kittenito wore at one!!!)

Would love to meetup with anyone north of Birmingham, but am only around next week, when it is nolonger halfterm, I think. My parents live in Warrington (between Manchester and Liverpool). So that's where I shall be.

Have just read back and realized how much I have missed

Welcome to newbies and old lurkers...

Catita, I can't find why you and G are going to the U.K. - hope it's for a happy reason rather than the opposite!

Welcome back, Jacksmama. What news can you bring us from the Olympics?

We've just got back from a bracing outing to the seaside at Brighton. CrazyGirl went to two museums yesterday with her dad, so today was less cultured.

I too thought at first that the Da Vinci exhibition was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and that we might go again (I think it must be the exhibition we saw in Rome last year).

Am agog that Thumb and Daisy may have known each other at school. And, again, that in a parallel universe I might have played either of them - or Mistle - at lacrosse if I'd ever made it into the school team. How small the world is.

And, Daisy, in your role as recruiting sergeant for The Law, if it's any consolation, I nearly chucked it all in a while ago to become a lawyer. But I calculated that I'd be 30 before I qualified and thought that was too old to start a new career. Of course, that was so long ago that I could be a Law Lord by now. Oh how I laugh at my stupidity innocence.

Fingers crossed, Catita, for tomorrow's trip. I'd love to meet you, but can't manage a day trip to Warrington. I do hope you get that bassinet.

It seems to me that we haven't had any music in the tea room for a very long time, so Mellors and I have been practising hard in the potting shed. Here we are, for your entertainment, singing one of my favourite songs.

Oh, and Tea, can you explain why you accuse the British of being crazily dressed? Like all the denizens of the tea room, I am always impeccably attired, as this other home movie of Mellors and me will testify.