Tea room 16 welcome to Shangri-la

[UniS]

Shangri-la = a hidden valley with beautiful views and crystal streams of course, and some inter-far eastern type of chalet things set around a Serene Courtyard with ever-blooming Japanese cherry trees, lots of refreshing fragrant teas, silk cushions, tinkling tiny waterfalls and bonsai trees, Gardens of Tranquillity etc.

Home to teh 16th Tea room, a haven for those with one or more or less children who like cake, tea, talking nonsense and oggling Mellors ( our handyman/ butler). If its your first vist, pull up a cushion .Mind out for the guinea pigs and other pets and do take care not to squash the teeny tiny naked mowhawk babies ( nmbs
, no longer naked and now toilet trained you will glad to hear)as they go about their duties helping Mellors.

Confused... come on, jump in and have a hot chocolate.

Hello ladies,

Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately, not sure what I've been doing ! Erm, no news here. Oh, a new library is opening in our village today, very exciting. Dh and LittleO are on the beach and then will stroll from there to the library opening. I think I'll join them, but I have a world of work to do and unlike Oxeye who seems to actually get on with her work I just focus on searching out distractions! My job finishes on the last day of July, and I have a report to complete by then!!!!!!! Aarghhh. Someone make me work please!

Any more parcel news? How do we select a person to send the parcel to?

Yes - I am very interested in the parcel scheme too... when? where? how?

So who is in for parcels?

AandO
Tea
Mistle
Mary
Small
Scout
Amber
Racing
UniS
Oxeye

Thumb, Jacksmama and Caitita are all very far away.

Donki has not been around for ages so I suppose she won't be in to pass on her address.

Ok, I've probably forgotten someone off the list. Please do not feel insulted if I've forgotten anyone . Instead add yourself to the list. I will then write all names out twice, make two piles, one pile will be the person sending the parcel, the other pile will be the person receiving that parcel. I think then everyone will have someone to send a parcel too and everyone will have a parcel from someone else. Does that make sense?

A&O - yes it makes sense - although there is a chance that you might have to draw it more than once if you find that the last person in the pile is also sending themselves a parcel!

Need to have a bit of time to get this worked on though - so exchange date not too soon please - and please remind me of the prospective contents.. I know there was something to read in it and can't remember beyond that And is there a max £ (I hope so, and I hope its not too £ - sorry)

(And, yes, I'm in!)

A&O - very organised - but it's a displacement activity! GO AND WORK!!

I too am very interested in the parcel scheme, but will be away from about 10 days time for the summer. Could it be a September scheme, or should we do it over a loose time frame? Judging by my lack of succes, it should probably not be me who posts to Tea (much as I would love to). Tea, e-mail me your parents' address and I will send Lola off again on her travels - or is it already too late for this visit?

September seems a good plan for the parcel exchange.

AandO - Would it be simpler just to say (for example) that everyone sends a parcel to the person one below/two above/whatever them on your list (and treat the bottom and the top of the list as a loop, iyswim) as that avoids the risk that someone has to send themselves a parcel?

Tea and flapjack, anyone?

unreasonable namechange! NO idea who that is, none. Identify yourself, panelmember!

Oh b@gger. I did it again.

Ha! Actually I did wonder if it was you...
it rather sounded like you.

Yup. I did it once before (really should check in the mirror before leaving the house ) and was instantly rumbled by Cmot.

So, do you want a cuppa?

A cuppa would be grand, thanks. I can use it to wash down the enormous bar of choc I just scarfed even though I know I shouldn't and I'm supposed to be starting the 30 day shred whenever the DVD turns up. I am outraged at my complete enslavement to chocolate. I was chatting to Jacksmama on FB last night and saying if only it gave me migraines or something, then I might give it up - but it doesn't make me physically ill at all in normal quantities (up to 200g) so I keep on doing it, despite the horrific effects on my waist.

Yes please to parcels! And yes please to a refresher of contents -- something to read and something to wear and something else but my sleepy brain can't recall what.

Not sure I can cat? To be honest, had not heard of it before MN about a month ago. Do lots of internet things though....(FB, yahoo, hotmail and even gmail once, though goodness knows what happened to that account!)

Swimming was, as always, fabulous! The last five minutes, when we float on the noodles, is probably my favorite five minutes of the week.

So much to do, so little time!

(Have also decided I'm getting really tired of politics and I don't mean in the government sort of way!)

Oo, I meant to mention that I have had a bit of a week of it with baking! On Sunday I made cookies as normal (banana oat ones but now they have dried strawberry and blueberry bits in too) and then finally made my walnut cake - yum! And yesterday I had to make bread as the local place hasn't any in (spelt bread) and won't for a week - I tried the 3 minute spelt bread recipe I found on t'internet adn it's interesting! It suggests using sunflower and sesame seeds, neither of which agree with me, so I just used golden flaxseed instead and it's yummy! SO yummy that miniThumb asked for a second piece for breakfast and then wanted it again for lunch! Just with butter on, nothing else. It's very solid and doesn't toast well but it tastes very nice.

Is your guide camp still causing you problems, Scout?

Small, that is a much simpler suggestion!

Thumb - I was avoiding work so much that I decided to go to the library opening and we stayed there over 2 hours reading to LittleO. I know I know, less than three weeks to go and I'm messing around pretending I don't have loads of work do to!! I'm going to take my laptop to the new library tomorrow and work from there as I won't have the distraction of the internet there.

Tsk tsk! I know the feeling all too well...

for some reason unbeknown to any of my sensible brain segments, I have just offered my services to a friend who is thinking of putting a text book together... What am I thinking??

Right, that's it - I'm off to bed. Night all - have a lovely afternoon/evening!

thumb -- What is spelt? BabyScout has some spelt biscuits which he seems to enjoy (his face/hands/shirt are evidence of enjoyment this afternoon!). Dunno what it is but figured it couldn't be bad if they made baby biccies using it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!

(Spelt is a primitive form of wheat which causes fewer allergies and intolerances)

AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!

Oh dear, everything okay RS?

(Thanks for the spelt info! BabyScout likes his spelt biccies, but he also likes his other "munchy not crunchy" biscuits as well.)

Sorry for being AWOL and not sorting out the meetup - last week turned into one of those general nightmares involving work, regulatory bodies, DH's work, and legal process. Gah. Why do his things always turn into nightmares at the end of the week/weekend ?

Will try and catch up soon

I think I might have last posted at the point where I dropped the bowl of water from defrosting the fridge all over the kitchen floor, warned Wriggle not to slip before I mopped it up, only to see her skid across the floor and bang her head on the tiles, landing on my letter from the banking regulator telling me that my (very few)shares from Bradford and Bingly would not compensated for, no doubt as it had been spent on bonuses and duck houses. That may have been just before or just after hotmail timed out the e-mail I was writing to Tea while holding a sobbing Wriggle.

However, just before dusk fell, the sun broke through. And French niece has spent all day locked in her caravan (easier than cleaning out a room) engaged on a project for Wriggle's birthday.

oh dear RS, not a great afternoon then, glad its looking brighter now.

Any one for choc box of requirement? It has some nice large bars of green and blacks in there at present, I've just taken a peek to check.

Parcel contents were IIRC
Something; to wear, to eat, to read and to make you laugh.
I may not have used ; correctly in that sentence, sorry if that annoys you.

MT- sandals will be fine. I was bare foot last time, but poor little nephew with gorse prickles did howl as his mum pulled them out. Lots of local kids wear wet suits up there, esp if they are body boarding down teh rock slide!. Boy has been promised a body board WHEN he can swim with out putting his feet down.

I never did explain did i, a melodeon is a type of button accordion.

(They're showing my hospital on tv. And I think I know someone that works in that department being featured. )

Yes to please to the chocolates.

RS -- How's Wriggle's head after the bang?

BabyScout decided to pull himself from sitting to standing using the bars of his crib (cot? I get UK baby furniture terminology confused). He can't crawl yet, but he's gone and stood up on his own! He's been using my hands/thumbs to get up but this was the first time he did it on furniture. Later I tried to put him in the crib and he wouldn't sit down but moved his hands from my hair/shirt to the bars and then tried to walk down them -- didn't succeed but boy did he try!

Guides are done for the term. Our meeting next week is just for campers. Normally we camp the week after school is released so I feel like we have a full and proper summer holidays. But now, because we're not camping until mid-August and we start up again in early September it won't feel like a break.

Thanks UniS -- what was the ££ limit?