Feb 06 - Happy 2nd Christmas

[CantSleighWontSleigh]

Was there someone else we were supposed to add to stats (flame was recording)? Quick and simple version......

CAMERON, 6th Jan, , Born to Teuch, DC1
PEYIA, 23rd Jan, Born to TicTac, DC1
ALEXANDER, 24th Jan, Born to Yeahbut, DC3
MAISIE, 26th Jan, Born to ellenrose, DC3
JESSICA HELEN, Birthdate 30th Jan, Born to JuA, Twin 1, DC2.
EMILY ROSE, Birthdate 30th Jan, Born to JuA, Twin 2, DC3
T, Birthdate late Jan, Born to ChasingSquirrels, DC2
ASTRID, Birthdate 4th Feb, Born to EachPeachPearMum, DC1
LAUREN EMMA, Birthdate 6th Feb, Born to Morgan, DC2
PIPPA, Birthdate 8th Feb, Born to CSWS , DC1
LEWIS, Birthdate 9th Feb, , Born to Phoenix , DC1
EVIE HARRIET, Birthdate 10th Feb, Born to Hotmama, DC2
RHUARIDH GEORGE, Birthdate 11th Feb, Born to MrsDoolittle, DC2
BEN, Birthdate 12th Feb, Born to Kelbelle, DC1
OSCAR, Birthdate 12th Feb, Born to Chloe55, DC1
OSCAR, Birthdate 13th Feb, Born to JoFan
LUTHER, Birthdate 14th Feb, Born to Otter, DC5
BRAM, Birthdate 21st Feb, Born to mustrunmore, DC2
LUCA, Birthdate 21st Feb, Born to 2boysmacca, DC2
EMRYS , Birthdate 24th Feb, Born to Flamesparrow, DC2
ISABEL ERIKA, Birthdate 24th Feb, Born to Amiable, DC1
RORY JOHN, Birthdate 25th Feb, Born to dewmeadow, DC2
BOY, Birthdate 26th Feb, Born to Jas, DC3
SALLY ANIELA, Birthdate 28th Feb, Born to Thell, DC1
NEVE, Birthdate 4th March, Born to Frizbe, DC2
ALFRED WILLIAM, Birthdate 4th March, Born to damewashalot, DC3
Boy, birthdate 10th March, born to UniS, DC1

Oh dear - no time for full post, but hugs and sympathy for mrm.

lol @ not trusting me! No rush for it though - our post is crap lately.

CSWS - Talk dairy free puddings to me please

I have an "office"

(By that I have a computer desk, a proper keyboard, and a diningroom table that can be used for eating at).

Tis disturbingly exciting, and a little odd because the keyboard was designed for school children so all the letters are lower case

I also have a teeny tiny Christmas tree (well, it looked teeny tiny in the supermarket with the high ceilings... when you get it outside to the back of my mum's car it magically grows ). I've never had a real tree before

re dl mrm {{{{hugs}}}}

for office Flame

We went to York for the day yesterday, it was packed and freezing but we had a nice day

I was looking on bumpto3 (grobag) website last night and saw these. They look good but expensive do you think they're worth it or is a normal quilt just as good?

bugger, i mean re dl MRM

I like the look of them. If you have one that is used to a grobag then it is probably good (DS only ever liked blankets so would have probably hated it). When I was little my mum had these giant piece of elastic that went right under the mattress, she sewed buttons about 1/4 in from the ends on each side, and they buttoned onto the elastic to keep em on the bed

LMAO!!! We're missing half the lounge now we have the monster of the tree open!

Another quickie - friends staying.

Apple strudel, summer pudding, if you're making yourself then use pure spread and make a treacle sponge.

Forgot to say - apple's out

Not sure about this whole making MYSELF thing... I was leaning towards them nice people in shops who make things

Shops are really hard to find dairy free pud in, unless you're happy with fruit salad (without apple) and swedish glace (soya ice cream - surprisingly nice).

I picked treacle sponge cause it's relatively easy to make.

You might find dairy free Christmas pud, or perhaps a spotted dick or something like that.

Treacle sponge without custard or cream though? Can I make treacle sponge a few days in advance (all my cooking knowledge shining through here

Tis for Boxing day

Soya custard (from a carton - tastes fine, but isn't quite as thick as normal custard) or swedish glace on it.

No to making sponge in advance, but you can make up the mixture early in the day and cook it later if you want. Either takes 2-3 hours to steam, or can bung in the microwave to cook if you prefer!

I have christmas pudding recipes if you want to make, or a chocolate and rum cheesecake made with tofu (never tried it though)

Help. Myu keuyboard is doing wierd rthings. he exrtra lertrters are appearing all on rtheir own and numbers are realluy odd. EVERUY RTIME I PRESS SHIF W2w2W2 irt rtries rto shurt down rthe compurter

mrm- thanks for all secret santa suggestions!
and sorry for losing your friend.

flame- trEACLE pud is really easy in microwave- and you can make individual ones in a small bowl(I assume its for a vegan for christmas day no?)I use proper black treACLE, but lots of people like golden syrup (but I do wish they wouldn't still call it 'treacle pudding' IYSWIM)

Swedish Glace is delish! They could have that on top, and they do lots of flavours of it now, so could just have that... though IME non-vegans will try to steal as well.

Phoenix- those bedding look great, though I have to say my wriggly monkey has stopped wriggling now she's under a duvet (3 weeks and counting). Only had 1 occasion where she slept outside of covers....(price is a little [ouch])

Does everyone steam or microwave their christmas pudding? I have only ever microwaved mine though my parents have only ever steamed theirs... I can't taste the difference- can anyone else enlighten me as to why I should spend 3 hours doing it, tying up a hob on the one day I need to use them all!

that is , assuming the part for the oven arrives, as DH has finally ordered a new element after it blew 3 weeks ago, despite him being at home during the day...grr

We got the tree today too- dd loves it, though wasn't particularly impressed by Papa carrying a whole tree home rofl (Now, drop an envelope on the floor, and she'll be crying with laughter)
It is HUGE too Flame- I have had to do some hasty trimming of branches while dd was visiting nana, despite standing in a bay window, it seems to take be encroaching on much of the living room, though we don't have the most palatial of homes
Is very tastefully decorated at the moment (red, white, natural wood, and silver), though I have some decs to put up yet...and has only fallen over the once so far.... and it was me that did it .

Jas- do you have something leaning on the alt key? My colleague does that all the time- has managed to invert her display several times- the first time she accused another colleague of putting her monitor upside-down for a joke pmsl.

Nothing leaning on the keyboard (But did drip wine on it) It obviously just needed a rest, as it seems to be back to normal now

I microwave Christmas pudding. Can't tell the difference, and see no good reason to steam it tbh.

DS has a sinkin cold, and his nose is streaming. Luckily todays plan was to stay in and do housework. He is sat watching winnie the pooh,

mrm- pound shop was rubbish in the end, but my friend did a lovely dinner. I hope you have a restful weekend.

It is for a milk and apple allergy for pudding. I will chat up her DH and check she does like it before I start cookin!

DD keeps putting care bears on the tree, but coming and telling us when DS has touched it Tis much less tastefully decorated - it used to be, now it has random decs where we let the children choose one each every year, and the ones they have made at school etc. I love it!

I cocked up Thought last parcel post was tomorrow, but was Friday - it will cost me £17 to post my MN box How do couriers work - what happens if they try to deliver and she is on school run or something? Am I best off just paying the 1st class postage?

No! Do courier. They collect from you (or you may be able to drop off somewhere) and then deliver in usually 24 or 48 hours. Cost max £10.

Surprised last post was Friday.

What happens if my person isn't in then? (I think she has some school aged children)

at last parcel post on Friday!!! I have about 4 parcels to post!! Actually, now I have checked and I seem to have missed ALL the international deadlines too...those cards been written for ages as well, just sitting there on the table waiting for my lazy ass to go to post office

Loving the massseeeeeve trees though , we also have a gigantic thing which takes up half the living room and you can only see the telly from one couch... LOL Flame at the care bear tree!!

DS also got streaming cold, Jas. Flips between a wee snottery bundle of good form to shockingly bad form and tantrums very, very quickly.

God luck with the great pudding hunt - I had a look on BBC Food but they all look a bit fiddly

Normal post is still ages and most things come under large packet, it is just because it is a f*ckin great box

Have you got dds coat yet csws?

Ooh yes, sorry Jas. I meant to say thanks, as it arrived the day after you posted it .

The couriers work just like any other parcel company, so they will attempt redelivery or card her.

We have 2 trees up now. A big one in the conservatory, and a little one (growing in a pot) on top of the audio cabinet in the living room. Just need to get some non-glass baubles for the living room one to finish it off. So far dd has been quite good about not messing with it.

Had a lovely afternoon/evening with our friends yesterday. Their dd is 6 months older than dd, so they played quite nicely together.

Been to other friends for lunch today too, so only have 2 or 3 other sets (that aren't already arranged) to try and fit in for present delivery pre-Christmas.

Dh thought you had probably spilled water on your keyboard Jas, but had no useful suggestions about how to fix it, so glad it has now dried out ok.

I use golden syrup in my pudding, and tend to call it either treacle pudding or syrup sponge. Nigella has a lovely recipe for it with some lemon in too. I'll dig it out if you like flame.

I spotted those duvet sets last week Phoenix, and thought that they seemed like a nice idea, but am still in 2 minds myself about whether to get one or not. I guess they aren't really essential, as people have managed up til now without them, but a 'nice to have' IYSWIM.

Microwave for Christmas pud here.

mrm - how are you feeling now? It all seems to be a bit out of the blue with dl. Do you really not think that the friendship is repairable? What about his friendship with dh? I honestly think that you are a great parent - you put loads of effort into things that will entertain them, and always show your intelligence when ds1 asks you a question. They are quite happy without a big house and lavish lifestyle - they've never known any different have they, so can't possibly feel like they are missing out. We can talk about it more over Christmas if it's still bothering you then.

We enjoyed the film btw. Was only us and one other couple watching it! Prob not everyone's cup of tea, but kept us entertained working out how all of the bits of the story fit together.

yes please to recipe courier all sorted, will hopefiu;ll;y trealy amd talk properly later!