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!...

Don't go into exile, Gymbunny! These things happen. We will just be very careful not to ask any questions of any newcomer who wanders into the tea room with a blonde wig, turned-up collar and dark glasses.

Would love some roast beef, but am dithering about turning vegetarian ...

Just spent the afternoon in local town famous for Hovis ad cycling down the hill which used to be a rather down-at-heel local town with many closed shops, but then was overtaken by a wave of downsizers from London. Have never seen so many grey-haired dads and slightly wrinkled mums. Felt so at home! (Even though my child is not called Arabella or Tarquin.)

RS, why dithering? If you can't make your mind up then perhaps you could just mostly eat vegetarian food and then if you do occasionally fance some meat, you don't have to beat yourself up over it. I had a friend who was vegetarian through ethical choice, but if she was offered meat that had lived a good life she would eat it (e.g. pheasant) and when she got pg she stopped being veg because she felt it would be better for the baby.

I don't think vegetarian is like Catholic, for e.g. - it doesn't have to be a whole-hearted, full-time conversion.

Mary, I don't even know who you are in RL, nor amber, despite you both having photos of yourself and apparently being easily ID'd. I am unconcerned with people's RL id - in some ways it's better not to know (although I admit I was curious about daisy but only because I must have actually known her!)

SC - hope you find an appropriate moniker soon and come back.

Howdy all, not read back everything, but just dropping in. RL very busy and rather instrusive into the important things like MN

Hope all ok, from what I can see
Racing don't be daft woman! Meat is great! Why you thinking of dropping it??!

UniS I have never stayed awake through a whole yoga, it's the snoring that I find embarrassing

Mary sorry about your daughter, I agree with Thumb - yes lying is painful but she hiding treat food, that's all - I would just not have it in the house

Thumb don't worry. I have been wibbly about whether to out myself to you but that's not why I haven't been on I share a slightly less advanced form of StillCrazy's paranoia

daisy! how nice to see you back, glad I didn't scare you away

I can't do yoga - am too flexibly challenged. But a friend of mine did the snoring thing in a yoga class when we were at a spa for the day - very funny!

Ooo, did anyone watch the ice hockey last night? Wasn't it exciting? So glad Canada one!

*won not one

Morning all Off again today (and to somewhere snowy). A lovely weekend, but always odd having another child in the house all weekend - sort of like being temporarily a two child family. Slightly odd seeing DH tucked up in bed yesterday morning reading to two children and made me feel slightly . But there again, I did have two children messing about in the back of the car round the safari park and doing competitive roaring

CMot - I know the feeling. Its when you have competitive 'I'm not going to be your friend anymore' in the back of the car on the way to a party and having to read the riot act rather than talking about something somewhat more interesting that you suddenly realise that just one is, actually, quite good in other ways too!

I didn't watch it Mary but I was very glad Canada won too. MrThumb couldn't understand why I was so vehemently in support of Canada - I think it's the Commonwealth thing, not sure. I just knew I wanted them to win.

JM - where are you? You must be thrilled!

CMOTD - I must have missed why you had an extra child over the weekend - glad it went ok though.

We took miniThumb and MIL out to dinner tonight for MIL's birthday - he was pretty good but I can see he's going to start being more trouble in the future - there was lots of bubble-blowing in his apple juice and raspberry blowing across the table going on, and refusal to stop. Apart from that he was very good and ate most of his dinner. One of the reasons I am still glad that his normal bedtime is 9pm is that we can do this sort of thing without it disrupting him too much!
[bad mummy emoticon]

I think JM is down the priest's hole nursing a hangover

oh yes, I was thrilled about the ice hockey. I swear I could hear all the Canadians in London cheer too

I was misty eyed and thrilled and 14 golds! Most ever. Very and about it all

DaisyBoy is suddenly very keen on Amy Williams, would not let me burn the old newspaper with here in it!

Here be coffee and scones for you all

I was also over excited at JJ Anderson winning the snowboard thing.

I need to get out more

Dh and I enjoyed watching on tenterhooks for the next crash in the bobsleigh - and loved the skicross and similar for snowboards... Didn't see any of the aerials - not sure its really a good idea to show mini-loon that sort of thing - he might get ideas!

Blimey, remind me not to go on any more wild romantic weekends away, will you? There we were, enjoying ourselves*, when in comes the call from home to say dh's much loved uncle (and one of his few remaining relatives) had just died. Urk.
Still, it was a good weekend and we shall now steel ourselves for a very long journey to whatever funeral arrangements will be in place later in the week.

I think I want a refund on the last few days, really. Anyone have a refund application form available??

Cuppa and a slice of choccy cake, anyone?

• Tsk, no, with a nice walk! Honestly, you lot!

Just because I'm paranoid, Daisy, doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

I'm sorry to hear about your dh's uncle, Amber.

As the sun's now over the yardarm, would anyone care to join me in a little snifter of sherry?

Yes, 'having a nice walk' is indeed a good phrase for what we were doing.

There's no need to keep yer back to the wall, y'know, I'm quite well behaved, really

Any chance of a dirty great big snifter of brandy if I ask nicely, (of the virtual kind, since I can't stand the real thing?)

Here, Amber. A glass of brandy of tea room proportions.

Cheers!

How nice to meet you, T&E.

The reason I am dithering about being vegetarian is that I love eating meat but have heard too many upsetting stories (which I won't share) about abbatoirs. That being said, we are thinking of buying an incubator to hatch eggs to amuse and educate Wriggle, then passon any spare cockerels to friends to raise, fatten and kill.

Lovely sunny day at last. Spent 3 hours waiting for the AA to come and get my keys out of my car in a supermarket carpark.

3 hours! With a three-year old. Need G&T urgently.

3 hours

I'm sorry about DH's Uncle Amber

It is very snowy in Finland - plans to walk to the office tomorrow somewhat scuppered by seeing the mountains of snow at the side of the road. Could do with some cross country skis

Racing - my parents used to raise their own meat, so I saw it all the way through. See if you can find a meat source direct from the farmer/smallholder, and if they use a small traditional abattoir you'll be OK.

I have got an outfit for my mum for brothers wedding - full Jacques Vert dress, jacket, hat, and handbag for 50 quid on ebay, worn once. Am v pleased

Well done! Always wanted to find an amazing bargain. Also always wanted to make loads of money selling my junk. Probably doesn't go together.

I suspect the two seldom go together.

I have a cold. uuurghhhh. can I give it to someone else, coz I don;t want it any more.And DH is refusing to accept it coz he wants to be able to sing on Saturday.

Bless him he did come back from work trip up north ( VERY LONG day ) on friday with a box of chocs for me and a lolly for boy.

ON offer tonight in the tea room buffet I bring you.....
herring and pineapple vol a vents.
carrot rolls and
pak choi parcels.

Lets all stuff ourselves back to health with super foods.

Yum, herring and pineapple! A marriage made in heaven. Are we back to the Leticia Croply school of gourmet delights? Can I suggest a lovely bowl of pureed strawberries with twiglets for dunking?

Oh racing find a nice local abattoir. We source our meet from happy lambs and beef and pay attention to the killing fields... also look into Halal meat, some say it is a much happier way of dying, maybe you don't have much Halal round you? Falling over it here

At least the 3 hours were in a supermarket, I can imagine by the end you had eaten all the cafe, bought many unsuitable bits of plastic tat for 99p etc.... my most embarrassing was I once locked the car with keys and dog in it. Before the walk. Gad. Three cheers for passing park keeper with bit of wire (his) and crapola old car (mine). Sadly he wasn't called Percy.

Trowel love your name. You'll fit right in. Carry on with your Finbar Saunders and you'll dig yourself a real hole

I once had a plumber who was great until he started to tell me about the martians listening in to me in the shower through the tin foil aerial on my roof

(Just like to mention when I say I had the plumber I don't mean in the biblical sense)

Amber glad to hear you had a bit of horizontal walking on your hols. Sorry about Uncle

Right, that's me gone. G&T, Twiglet dipped glory

ummm, yummy strawberry and twiglet fondue.

Should I bother googling Ms cropley?

horizontal walking!!!! the mind boggles. I'm normally vertical for walks, less muddy i find.

Hi everyone, haven't been on MN since thursday . Haven't read through the posts, will do that tomorrow, just wanted to say hi!

Amber - how was your romantic weekend away?

Mary - What did you decide to do about the chocolates going missing issue?

Very very tired, dh is making me hot chocolate and then I'm off to bed. Night night.