Start your runners (talk) and your new jars of Jam, 'tis the season-almost.

[Vagolajahooli]

Here we are ladies, time for all that talk of christmas table runners and chrissie deccy colour combos. And will we be getting some new Jam in this thread! Maybe not quite.

I didn't get the curtains, Arti, no - I am still planning a trip your way to look at the curtain exchange in Fulham. We could hook ip and go together if you are free? Maybe Fri 22 Nov? would that work for you?

Thanks Sybs. I think it will be codeine and a G&T for me 30 min prior appt is 10am but don't care will have local only if they have a rummage and think it might benefit me.

3 out of 4 of us will have flu shot. Dd booked for her spray up the nose they are offering 2-3 yr olds too. Better ds the only without as at least he loves fruit and veg. Dd a disaster. She's sick now.

The pigs have a new home and she bought my indoor cage which was a result too!! DD never batted an eyelid when I told her they'd gone. Proof that she had lost interest...she has asked for a gerbil instead! No.

Hi all. Arti, I feel your pain. DD3 has been a bit better today, but she screamed throughout DD1's assembly that she was doing a few lines at. Gutted. And screamed all the way back in the car. I forwent swimming as I couldn't face it. Just drained by the screeching!

Anyway, she's finally asleep now. Oh god, spoke too soon!

I know that feeling of ditch the swimming, even with bigger ones. Hope you get an easier night Beans.

Never mind Deids. For the best. Result selling the cage to them too. Erm agree not on the gerbil! Get a dog!
I fell UP stairs today. Same left arm now elbow is battered. No biggy tho.

Fark I'm shattered. I have been flat out like a lizard drinkin' today ( Rubes). Dutch in the morning, then DS2 & his mate have swimming lessons together so his mum and I do a swap now. One week I take him home and then to swimming and she takes DS1 as her eldest is his friend. Then every second week we swap. So today and had the younger two so we came home, fed them then rounded them up and off to swimming pool. Then quickly popped to the shops during their sesh. Then picked em up rode like the wind to drop his mate off pick DS1 up raced up, got him a quick tea, then straight off to gymnastics. Then back home again via the busiest supermarket on earth (I'd forgotten most stuff I should have gotten on the shop during swimming as I didn't have enough time). Now I'm having a nice cuppa while ds2 & my dinner is cooking. I'm off out tonight to babysit for my mate who is looking after the boys when we go to Berlin. I think I might fall asleep on her couch. Got the early morning swimming ride in the morning. Oh well can't complain, Sunday my mate from Brussels is coming up and three of us are meeting her in Amsterdam for a ladies leasurely lunch and general nattering for the day. You know Amsterdam is a nice place for a meet up. The Rijksmuseum is open now.

Rubes glad your arm is better. So does DD have to wait now for her flu snort.

Contraception is a bit fly by the seat of our pants here. Our official party line is that we use condoms but really we wing it a bit, mostly the pull out method. Dh is pretty good with that. I think we'll look into the snip soon.

Oops I wandered off before I sent that post and forgot about. Now I've cross posted with beans and rubes. Sorry about the screamies, I hate those. Could you at least hear dd1's lines.

Rubes that's s bit ouch about the elbow you ok. Also that is a strange place to stick a IM injection. The deltoid is best because it is a big deep muscle, no chance of missing it. But where she jabbed us still muscle. Well it's settled down now so I'm sure it is fine.

Deids I'm glad the cavia went to a good home.

DD3 finally managed to settle herself for the first time ever tonight. DH gets home from work and is all resentful because I want him to play a noisy game with the bigger DDs downstairs so as not to wake DD3, who is a nightmare at sleep. Seriously. He can be such an obtuse arse sometimes.

Can I join you on the exhausted front, Vag? Feel like I might pass out from it. Forgotten how the screaming wears one out!

Feel like I need to do something for myself for a bit.

Arti, I did bottles from 2 weeks with all the DDs. It's only this ne that seems to prefer it. Am still going to ask the GP about tongue tie at her 8 week appointment next week.

Rubes my mum is getting a dog in the new year, and we are going to do a dog share (she pays & we look after it from time to time). Either a cocker poo or a labradoodle

Vag your day is hectic!! I'm exhausted in your behalf. Beans don't blame you for dodging swimming. I hate taking my two on a Thursday.

DS1 got a letter about clubs today. He's doing art on Wednesdays and football on Thursdays. As well as swimming on Tuesdays. I'll be shattered. Must dig out the slow cooker.

Wow. I was out 'til 2am last night having slept two hours the night before. Great night catching up with friends I haven't seen in so long (including our mutual friend D, Lady) but what was I bloody thinking??? DS slept uninterrupted for the au pair (which he would never do until 2am for me) and then woke every hour from 2-6 when he got up. Yuck, yuck.

Oh and DD2 is the devil child from hell. I'm going on a parenting course next week as I've run out of ideas and she is making our lives a misery with rudeness, naughtiness, hyper behaviour and tantrums.

Kayz I feel your pain, being an endless taxi is a chore, though I swear it keeps me fitter. How are you going to do it all without a car though. I can get the boys around on a bike because a) its super bike friendly and b) it's only the boys. And on days like today when ds1 has his earlt swimming club session dh is at home with DS2. But most of the time you don't have DH there. Anyway for easy food, I can recommend pesto pasta, scrambled eggs on toast, either ready made or home made meatballs frozen chucked in some pasta sauce. Oh and cheesy pasta. I try to make a load then you have left over to chuck in a baking dish with some extra cheese ontop and a few bits of bacon and viola its cheesy pasta bake with bacon! Also, if you pick yourself up a cheap rice cooker it easy before you go out to pop some rice on and put a couple of eggs (still in their shells) in with the rice. When you get home they have a boiled egg for a quick protein snack and rice to have with whatever else you are giving them from the slow cooker or I often give them the eggs, rice and a veggie soup I have as left over in the freezer.

RT (love the name) hooray for the night out, get you, you dirty stop out. Poo for the waking DS after you got home. Where is DH? I thought he was back from the war zone? Well done to the au pair.

Well done on the night out RT but bad luck on non sleeping DS. Au pair seems to have come good. Brill. I was out for my birthday (just the 2 months late!) last night and got a NIGHTBUS home as the tube had stopped running. Can you get a sleep this afternoon? Sorry DD is being a tricky bugger. Mine take it in turns for this alas. Everyone ok for now but it won't last. Is it something we can help with? Huge hugs to you.

Kayz, can you batch cook and put in freezer? I can whip up a vat of bolognese quite quickly and then have meals in a few minutes if I remember to take it out. I feel your after school club pain. M doesn't do any and DD1 (who is y4) does Brownies, piano and choir. Piano and choir are on the same night. Oops. WE have pizza that night as it's quick and easy (for me!). You do an amazing job of looking after your lovely family on your own a lot of the time and the fact that your boys are so well thought of and well liked at school as you said on FB is a testament to how well you do. Bloody brilliant.

Right MIL coming today. Must grout face and take children to ballet. Have a good day y'all.

Urgh that's harsh RT love how you pop up with new names! Is ds feeding everyone he's up? (Sorry I've lost touch with baby stuff) or can dh get up and pacify? Glad the AuPair had found her stride and hope you get done help re dd2 on the course. Mine like Sybs take turns at being Satans child - right now it's dd although she is sick and dh had to run out for meds last night after not getting in until 8 as she was a mess with sore ears etc. So congested. But the girl will not eat fruit n veg. Ds on good form but that's mainly he's getting older - has ditched pull ups at night himself and is on top of the world as enjoys school. He also thinks every black ball security camera in every shop and restaurant is a direct link to the North Pole, which may have something to do with it! Urgh, have just booked him one of those god awful soft play birthdays. Well he has been good.....
Right dh working again, I'm off to swimming lessons then butcher and farm shop. How big a leg of lamb will feed 6 adults and 2 kids? Will ask butcher. Mils birthday tomorrow. Thankfully Ocado arrived with loads of wine to get me through

Every time rather?

Will be back later to do a proper catch up. On our way to the airport with DH.

Much admiration for your late night RT. I made a vvvv drunk DH leave dinner last night at 11.30 as I was knackered and pissed off at being v sober with 5 other vv drunk people.

Rubes I read Satan wrong and thought you'd said Santa? Was confused as to what it meant, that they were red, round and jolly or enjoyed giving gifts to the children of the world. I understand now. Hooray for Ocado arriving with vino.

Sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and fortifying myself. Cycle to swimming was a bit tiring today. I do love my Saturday morning ride with DS1 to the pool, but just felt a bit Bleurgh this morning. And then to add insult to weariness it pissed down on the way back. I really need to sort out some wet weather gear.

DH has very kindly taken the boys to violin and recordernow. They have their private lesson as I cried illness on Tuesday so she popped us in today and then they have a group lesson which DS1 loves but DS2 can be a bit not into so will see how DH goes with that one. Ds2 has been a lovely little fellow to be around lately, but if he doesn't like something he can be a bit of a poo to be with.

Hello Sybs haven't clocked your presence, sorry, I do quite like having you around. I'm quite into shoving two activities into one afternoon, gets them out of the way and saves messing up another evening.

Jam sorry you were stuck with drunkeness when you were sober. Not much fun.

Ha vag. Def not Santa's children. By any stretch.
I meant to say oooo I was slightly when you said the egg in the rice cooker thing mainly as when I was young watching mum cook once, I was sucking an egg (literally) and mum said "yuk that's come out if a chickens bum you know, you will get sick from that" !! I've never gotten past that! However, I'm loving the idea. Guess if the egg has been washed it's no biggy. I'm going to try that next time I do rice.

And don't forget, the rice will be boiling so all impurities from egg boiled out...

RT how are you feeling? I had dream night from DD3 last night for first time. 9pm feed from formula, then 3.30am and 7am. No inbetweeners. I think because it was a very calm feed at 3.30 with no back arching and screaming and less air taken in. Then 4 enormous belches after. From DD, not me. Although I'm not averse to a belch or 2.

Been gardening this morning and now just hanging. DDs loving it and DD3 didn't sleep at all this morning, til 11am. Been sleeping since. Nice. Loving a weekend with nothing in the diary.

Jam, how are you coping on your own? Did you make it back from airport?

Sybs, good to see you again! Come back regularly! Vag, you and DH are super parents! How do you squeeze so much in? I didn't even manage one after school club this week!!

I also dreamt that Dad came back to meet Tory, but could only stay for a day. It was the most wonderful and horrific dream all in one as I just wanted him to stay for always and he couldn't.

Rubes it's quite unnecessary as Beans says because of the temperatures, but I do give the eggs a little scrub with the scourer side of the kitchen sponge. I once saw a little brown chook poo smudge on an egg and ever since then have washed them. I also turn them so the pink stamp thing isn't touching the rice. I'm sure it doesn't hurt but it turns the rice grains close to it pink. Otherwise I love eggs in the rice cooker. However, I love soft boiled eggs for toast soldiers and have found they can be done perfectly in the Thermomix.

I don't want to sound freaky and spooky. But I believe my dad visited both my boys when they were little. My SIL had similar experiences after my nieces where born and she is sure it was my dad meeting his grandchildren. It's a nice thought anyway.

In what way, Vag?
Had a sad moment the other day when DD1 pointed at a picture of Dad and asked who he was as she couldn't remember. Hurt my heart a bit, but she was only 3 when it happened so I can't be surprised. DD2 has o chance of remembering!

Ah yes very good points. I clearly didn't boil the egg before I sucked on it that day my mum was baking a cake. I'm going to do that next time as I love eggs.
Arti I'm pretty sure I need the parenting course over you. I just cried in the car after a traumatic 15 mins with both in waitrose. Even more depressing since I had Ocado here this morning! Not sure if it was due to their behaviour or how much I spent on lamb. Miss the price of lamb back home. Oh and the dcs apparently thought I had said "LegoLand" as opposed to a Leg of Lamb. No wonder their behaviour sucked.

Wine will be opened momentarily.

I'm going to blame the progesterone only pill..... Roll on Tuesday.