Tea Room the Fourteenth

[amberlight]

Welcome to the 14th instalment of the Tea Room. It's now officially spring, and we've moved the tea room to a Gipsy caravan pulled by the tea room horses, which is making its way up the countryside in an effort to follow spring. There are of course hedgerows filled with spring flowers, Mellors the handsome gardener/driver/handyperson, the usual virtual Bishops, and the assorted animals and characters from previous tea rooms. All are very welcome to join in with us parents of one (or indeed more!) for general chat and the occasional very odd conversation. Climb aboard, grab a cuppa, enjoy the view, relax!...

I've just found out tonight that DD has one of those Marie Curie forms - and it has to be in next week! Ho hum...

As for fetching hats, I guess I could aspire to one of these

I am slowly recovering from trying to set alight to myself yesterday at church, after holding my sleeve in a candle flame by mistake. Am now trying to get the scorch marks out of what WAS a pristine white cassock alb (see profile for pic). Waaah!

Oh Mary. How did they extinguish you? Did they throw you in the font?

Sorry you are feeling awful, AandO. Could I cheer you up with a helping of Wriggle's special fruit jelly, made by her fair hands to 'make Dad happy' (daaad - where has she learnt that word??). I managed to get the chalk out before it set but the carrot chunks are stiil in there ....

I know that there is something fishy about the fact that certain founder members of the tea room are never in at the same time ... like those old films about twins. In my mind's eye, all four look very different, but equally distinctive.

No, it must have been treated in some sort of fire retardant material, part of the cuff is blackened, and there's a small area which has gone brown. Am currently trying various bleaching treatments to remove what I can...

Thanks for the fruit jelly, no trace of chalk in it !

Am feeling somewhat cheered up as I have spent the last few hours pretending to be a dinosaur (with LittleO, not for my own amusement ).

No luck with LittleO's friends moms. I drop him to preschool but people just drop and go. I pick him up from school one day a week and people briefly talk, I thought that this could lead somewhere but I guess because they all see each other every day the rest of the moms formed groups and I didn't . It was LittleO's birthday at the very beginning of the school year and so I decided to invite his class to the party, so that we could get to know people and so that ds would be invited to parties in return...he has not been invited to a single party !!! I am a bit pissed about this. Alot of the people are local though, and I'm not, they have a ready made set of friends and friends kids and are not looking for more.

I love the idea of Paris tea! I presume you speak French so. I wouldn't mind the lack of facilities here if we were in a smaller city or a town but the fact that Dublin is a capital city to me means it should have decent things going on.

Sorry to hear you went on fire Mary!!

AandO sorry you are gloomy. I have been in tea room since the start. Can you now leave Ireland since DH has finished uni or are you stuck for life?

I would love to sponsor LittleO, if you give me your email I'll send something and sign up

Racing the sad truth is that it is me that punishes my body for being so totally hopeless and letting me down. Weird since I am my body, but I am not. It makes it hard for me to be nice to it, to go back to exercise and things. I used to do lots of sport but now I feel my body is a sorry thing that lets me down and is not worth wasting time on. Stupid I know I think that sort of neglect is what let to last years pneumonia. Hell, I am sounding like a fruit cake....

JM 30 days of yoga sounds amazing

UNis gasps in through teh door and collapses in a sweaty heap on carpet. I went for a run... blimey that was hard work, and it was raining. twas only a short run, but its a start... isn't it.

Shaln't get to do that again till the weekend, as this afternoon was my only boy free couple of hours all week.

Nice fasinator... shame about teh pristine whit alb... stop punishing yourself woman ... any one in the preist hole? if so

biscuit??

night all.

I think I showed up in tea room 2 or there abouts.

Well done running UniS

LOL at Mary in the font what would the bishops say?

AandO - Oh I sooooooo wish I had French. When I came over I had none and now what I do have is very very bad. I am often told "oh you are so sweet like Jane Birkin" - thing is she does it on purpose to be ooooh - sooo British while I simply don't know any better. I am an expert in nodding and smiling though!

I think I was in the first tearoom thread but was in Tunisia when the tearoom was opened so arrived quite late I may have joined in the second thread...

I am nervous of ever checking back and re-reading my early posts in the one child family topic because I was in a revolutionary mindset back then and know think I did and said some crazy things I relly shouldn't have...

If I remember correctly The tearoom opened when mn was not as good as it used to be and the new one child family topic was the last straw. It was a haven from the bickering over the one child family topic but then became a sort of haven for any Mother who wanted somewhere slightly bohemian where anything goes to disappear to for a few hours minutes and I for one am very thankful to the lady who opened it...

here here tea

MaryBS those churchy frock wotsits are clearly a dreadful health & safety hazard - my last-but-one talking newspaper featured a vicar who caught fire. Fortunately a pensioner beat the flames out with his walking stick. The last newspaper's offerings included a man who attempted Bear Grylls survival techniques when he fell in a muddy ditch 'after a few drinks' but they didn't work so he had to call his girlfriend, who thought he was joking; also several pedigree dogs with completely ludicrous names.

MaryBS those churchy frock wotsits are clearly a dreadful health & safety hazard - my last-but-one talking newspaper featured a vicar who caught fire. Fortunately a pensioner beat the flames out with his walking stick. The last newspaper's offerings included a man who attempted Bear Grylls survival techniques when he fell in a muddy ditch 'after a few drinks' but they didn't work so he had to call his girlfriend, who thought he was joking; also several pedigree dogs with completely ludicrous names.

Am agog at the Bear Grylls survival techniques. What about just standing up?

I now have this crazy image of a pensioner who set fire to the vicar, just so he could beat him with the walking stick

We have some very deep ditches round here, many of them are 8ft deep, and I guess if they're muddy and steep sloped it would be hard to climb out!

Sorry to hear Dublin isn't fun, AandO

Sorry you're feeling down A&O. When I first moved to the City that we now live in, it was my first job. I knew no one and had only visited the City once for my job interview... I came up with my car and a suitcase, stayed in Uni Halls for 3 weeks because it was holidays, then stayed with a friend of a colleague at work for a further weeks - they often took in language students and had a spare room that could accommodate me - and then managed to find a room to rent somewhere (having seen a lot of holes in the meantime). The things I found useful to meet people were choir, orchestra, a walking group, badminton... With ds around the coffee morning group was the best opportunity - although only possible if you're not working full-time. We also invited all from nursery - two years running - and I think ds got invited to perhaps 3 parties in return - so its not just you A&O!

I've been saying that I'd have to make another Drs appointment following bronchitis in Dec - whilst I'm not coughing that much anymore, everynow and then I get a sort of squeek out of my chest (sounds like my stomach is rumbling)(but I'm sure its not) which might explain why walking from work (up steep hill then quite a bit further) to mistlechick's school last week felt as though it was killing me! I felt awful I don't think I'm really THAT unfit...!!! At least the migrany headache appears to have gone today.

I've got to decide what to do about Easter - take a few days off with mistlechick or book him into the holiday club...???

Morning all!

Must dash but here's a batch of fresh crusty rolls, to be served with creamy butter and orange marmalade. Tea, coffee and hot chocolate are on the aga.

Mistle - I recommend you take a few days off. It's nice to have a break from work at Easter and holiday clubs are £££.

As so many of us seem to be feeling unfit, perhaps we should start each day with Mellors leading an exercise class outside the caravan?

Daisy, sending you a large cup of tea/virtual safe hug/whatever works. And one for everyone else that needs one too. You are all marvellous just how you are, and never forget it.

The Bishops were shocked by the unusual use of the mobile font to put out a flaming Minister, but I've diverted them by offering them a play in the caravan sandpit, so Mary should be quite safe from excommunication/being sent abroad as a Missionary

Shall make sure my bra is properly fastened in case of exercise classes

Mary, hope your pristine pure white alb recovers somewhat from it's immolation!

I could never play Barbara Windsor - I don't have the front for it. I don't think I have a counterpart in the Carry Ons - they all seemed to have big frontage - mind you, I could be Charles Hawtrey?

Wish I could find a choir to join here - I emailed the leader of one a few weeks back but haven't heard anything from them so I guess they're not interested. I don't want to have to travel too far - I know there is one 40mins away but it's too far, even travelling 20 mins to Guildford Choral was a bit of a chore when I was in the UK. I miss singing though - I need to find something.

hi all, cuppa would be grand.

going to have to go to city tomorrow or thurs as i've just found i can't do someting by phone or on line i have to go into building soc branch. bum . so do i do it tomorrow , skip toddlers and have to take boy with me, or wait till thursday and go with out boy.... erm, not sure.

BOy is couch potatoing , while I make "important" phone calls. off to ballet class soon tho . Last of term, so i get to see what thay have been up to in class.

This caravan is very tardis like isn;t it. we all seem to be fitting in Ok, even on a wet grey afternoon.

Yes, Daisy, this mortification of the flesh thing is not good. My body is pretty hopeless too but I am probably veering in the opposite direction. I just popped to the shops and seem somehow to have had an hours' full body massage while I was there. It was luvverly. Almost as good as one of Mellors' legendary massages.

Ladies who are feeling a bit bleurgh about your adopted homes - have you thought about voluntary work? If you pick the right thing, it can be a great way of meeting people. My friend in NZ takes dogs into hospitals and old people's homes for pet therapy. Do your local libraries run book groups? Dare I say it, does your pre-school have a committee or PTA which you could join (although I think Thumb is already involved here)? Or join a political party?

You popped to the shops and had a massage?!?

In all the years I've been shopping, that's never happened to me

Who's for soup a la Open Road avec les rolls tres suggestifs?

Yes, I popped to the shops, walked past the complementary therapy treatment rooms, had a eureka moment and booked a massage on impulse. I'm just such a spontaneous person. Ahem.

Soup a la Open Road? That doesn't involve squashed hedgehogs, does it? If not, I'd love some. Avec les rolls tres suggestifs.

hedgehogs taste like chicken apparently. So it would be ersatz chicken soup, non?

Am impressed that you managed to get an immediate massage slot, T&E - that would never have happened on my shift at the therapy rooms, I was usually booked up.[smug ]

TW - have you managed to talk to the nearby mother that does massage etc to find out what the regulations are? I think it would be a really good idea for you to start that up again when it suited you.