May 2009 - A new start. Mine's a large gin please.

[runningmonkey]

Here you go ladies.

Morning all,
Still knitting so going to be quick.

reg That is a lovely idea. I was recently looking at patchwork quilts for our bedroom and came across this lady. Might be what you are looking for?

Fi your plans sounds AMAZING

Will be back this evening to chat proper. Have a good day all x

Oh fi, your plan sounds wonderful. I'm so happy and pleased for you. What an amazing set of pictures, and it looks like they do actually want to encourage people to live and work there too, so perhaps you won't have such a tough time convincing them to sponsor you? Finger crossed for you. I'm ridiculously pleased about your craft plan too.

Younger I'm also very pleased by the outcome of the tests. It must be a relief.

sausage (and others) no action here either since DS2 was born, and I'm another thinking about TTC. I really must get back that horse but first I really would like to get DS2 out of our bed and into his own room.

Headless have a wonderful boarding holiday. I am very jealous. For one reason and another I haven't had a skiing holiday for years and skiing at Tamworth just isn't the same! Perhaps there enough of us for a May 2009 ski chalet. Like Tummum I am also very of your time as a chalet girl.

blotted I was really sorry to hear about your maternity pay problems, but it sounds like you are another entering the exciting world of self-employment?

Belgina how are you feeling now after shift 1?

We have had a very disturbed night. DS2 had a fever and was very upset and DS1 was also disturbed. I've had no sleep really but made DH get up at 5am to take over so that I could get a couple of hours. DS2 is now fast asleep on my bed so I am perched on the end with laptop because I am too scared to leave him in case he wakes up and crawls off. He was so hot last night but the fever has gone now.

Thanks for the good wishes re the business. Very kind of you all. I feel really sick at the thought of going back to work but I'm trying not to think about it too much.

running that lady is a great find and very reasonable cost considering the work involved.
reggie meant to say good luck with the err probing.
llare yes we're hoping they will be keen to support us too. as their population is declining I think we have a good chance. i'm going to start contacting a few people i've discovered this week so we can start to make community ties before our recce in may as that will help. i hope the dc's feel better today.

Morning all.

The quilt idea is lovely! I'll have to remember to save the nice bits.

llareggub - I can understand that sick feeling, I'm so glad I've got the career break option. Just waiting for it to be signed off by senior management; my line manager has supported my application, but it needs to be approved higher up.

poorly children - DD1 is very much brighter today, she ate 2 weetabix for breakfast which is the most she's eaten for about a week. A seems to be ok this morning too, but we had a terrible night again, she seemed to be struggling with wind again - think it could be the antibiotics. She was in with us, as usual, but I couldn't sleep, I was lying there worrying about her, she felt cold and was obviously uncomfortable. She settled eventually though, and slept until 7.30.

Hope you all have good days.

Thank God

I thought I was completely abnormal re the doing 'it' thingy (or lack of it). DH and I were at it like rabbits once upon a time . The times when he's tried to, you know, 'start' have either been when we've been at my parents, and I'm sorry, but I just can't when my parents are in the next room, or in the middle of the night (and I'm talking 3am here) which just makes me especially as I'm the one coping with the sleep deprivation!

Fi - OMG re your lifestyle! What a lovely, understanding DH you have. I'm going to buy a giant suitcase and put myself in it and post myself to you so I can come!

Belgina - sympathies re your shift, but well done on spotting the 10cm-lady! I think a shift would kill me - I haven't done a proper one in years - and the last few Trusts I've worked in do 12 hour shifts . I remember when I was newly qualified - we didn't think anything of having our first break until 4pm (apart from us smokers who all nipped to the smoking room a LOT - not that I do anymore!!)

Tummum - re your friend's Dad and also for your job. Don't really have any sage words of advice - maybe we could go busking?!

Reggiee - that is a lovely idea with all the clothes. Must remember that.

Headless - very of your chalet time. I took a year off after A levels / uni... I worked in a girls boarding school in Australia. Not quite the same thing, but it was such a good laugh. Irony of it was that I had just left my own boarding school, so I actually knew all the tricks of the trade - ie, spraying deoderant to cover up cigarette smells, etc etc! I remember being terrified taking a group of 20 teenagers into Melbourne city centre to the cinema one evening. My God, how on EARTH did I manage?! My Mum had to come over and get me towards the end of my year there, as I had all the paperwork to register at Melbourne Uni there, I was going to live with my cousin, we had it all sorted. Nothing, of course, to do with the boy who I'd met, with all his piercings, erm, and other naughtiness . Heheheee!

Maybe I should learn to knit as well as bake? I knitted a (Debbie Bliss, Fi!) hat for a friend's baby a few years ago like the green one here Friend's husband said it looked like the end of a condom. Haven't tried since.

Flip - ((hugs)) - know what you mean re DHs going out having 'their' time. I'm sneakily keeping a tally from now on to show DH how often he gets to go out for beers after work in comparison to me meeting my friends. 3 times so far this month.... harumf.

Hope everyone has a lovely day today. I've got a pile of ironing to do

flippin glad poorlys are a bit better. G always gets awful wind with AB's too
sausage you make me larf but i'm sure the hat wasn't that bad!
I am incredibly lucky to have DH he is always supportive even when he goes through phases of being annoying! NS will be good for him too as he doesn't want to be stuck working for the Revenue for the rest of his life. He's said ideally he would like to be a kept man lol!!! but he'd settle for staying more at home with us to see more of the dcs, get a local job.. nothing stressful and for 30hrs max to cover food/bills etc.. so please can I hurry up and become a famous author of fantastic kids clothing crochet patterns so he can help run the empire! err no pressure then!
back from the doc's with DS and phew not CP.. she thinks just a post viral rash of some sort. got to keep him home tomorrow but back to pre school thursday if nothing else appears..

bookmarking

flippin glad your DDs are on the mend. llare hope your DS2 is feeling better and you get some more sleep tonight.

sausage good idea keeping a tally!

Fi I do wonder if they had caught MIL's cancer earlier if she could have had chemo and a better prognosis, but it wasn't found until she was rushed into hospital as her colon had burst . She had peritonitis as a result, spent a month in intensive care and nearly died. Fortunately she made a good recovery, relatively speaking, but it left her too weak for further surgery or chemo. This was about 4 years ago and the cancer has been slowly spreading. But we do try to look on the positive side - she was only given a 5% chance of surviving the surgery, so it could have been worse, and at least she's been around to see my niece and H.

We took H for his first settling in session at nursery this morning - just 2hrs and we stayed with him. He was very clingy. I shall have to be strong when I leave him there alone at his next session on Thursday.

I've had a house full of sick babies this afternoon - all 4 babies have had the same tummy bug but appeared to be getting better, so we thought it would be safe for them to socialise, but 3 of them managed to throw up, including H, who is now sleeping it off on the sofa.

Evening all

Why oh why does C wake 5.30 for a poo all the time. She's been a bit constipated and yesterday she woke that early straining (but no results) and today she did it again (with result). I could do with a lie in.

saus thanks for shift sympathies. I don't do long shifts, although some mws do. I don't think my boobs could handle it at the moment + I want to see my dcs at least 1x in 24h. Last night C was put to bed by someone else for the 1st time in her little life and this a.m. (when she pooed) she opened her eyes and saw me and I got the biggest grin. It was so lovely. Like the hat you knitted btw, doesn't look a thing like the end of a condom

reggie What a lovely idea to make a quilt. Would make a lovely keepsake.

baby kisses C does kisses, I think She often presses her face against mine, luckily mouth closed. She also sniffs me, bit like a dog, lol.

spangle about H feeling unwell. Hope H settles in the nursery soon. Often los settle better when you're not around.

blotted recognise the ruined grass thing with the chickens. We've had to donate our chickens to someone else, because we moved house (not sure if you're aware) all the way to Kent and our new house is rented + has no garden, so we couldn't keep them. I do miss my fresh eggs.

My mum phoned me today to say that my uncle, who's had terminal cancer + palliative home care for nearly 2 years now, has decided that he cannot take the pain anymore and that he wants to go down the euthanasia route . This has fairly recently become possible in Belgium and it will happen at home. I must say that I completely understand his decision. He's got no quality of life, is on morphine due to being in severe constant pain and has been virtually bedbound for the last few years. I can understand that at some point you get fed up with the pain and the wait for death to come and that you might just want to speed things up. I feel that my GM will see her son die though, although the family will keep it a secret from her that his death will have been his own choice, because we don't think she'll understand due to her dementia.

Evening all,

belg so sorry about your Uncle, understandable but v v sad for everyone nevertheless. It is a bit of a cliche I know but at least he won't be suffering anymore.

spangle sorry about your MIL too. Some of the cancer charities have good support for relatives of sufferers, I know my Dad and Aunt made use of them when my Nan was ill (sounds like a v similar thing).

Re reggie's quilt - Fi I hope you weren't offended by me posting that link to the other lady's website. Was in a bit of a hurry and meant to say that if you couldn't do it, then I'd found that site but reading my post back it looked like I'd overlooked you. Sorry

llare hope you get a better night tonight.

saus hope you had a good day's ironing My least favourite pastime! Re condomhat I've knitted a v similar one for A from the Debbie Bliss beginner book. Lots of pics of her in it on fb - a friend of mine calls it 'the acorn' and reckon's A will be so embarrassed when she is older that I made her wear it. I keep threatening to knit one for her DS.

flip glad your girls have been a bit better today, I think AB's can make lo's windy. hope it, ahem, passes quickly!

Fi glad DS doesn't have CP, one less thing to worry about. Hope it goes quickly and he gets back to preshcool ok.

spangle I am sure H will be fine at nursery. Have you made any plans for what you will do when he is there on Thurs? If I was you I would fill the time up a bit so you don't spend it worrying too much - I got my haircut when A had her first session, was lovely.

Think I may have managed to keep up today. Work tomorrow until Fri so don't expect to be about much, especially since I have a Mum's night out on Thurs to contend with too. If I don't get on, hope everyone has a good rest of the week, and see you at the weekend

By the way, thanks for all those lovely comments on the cardigan on fb. Made me feel very and

Oh and febes hope school was ok today

Running I love that cardi. I have sent the pattern to my mum so hopefully she will knit one for DD. School was good thanks. Everyone was pleased to see me back and it was a good to be busy all day and have a change from the baby/toddler thing for the day. I'm looking forward to being with my babies tomorrow though. My next supply day is in 2 weeks.

R coped really well and took a bottle of formula without any worries. I didn't express at all today as I thought I'd wait until I felt uncomfortable but although I was full, I didn't leak or have pain. It was nearly 11 hours between feeds today and I normally feed 2/3 times during that time so I'm pleased I don't have to worry about expressing . Both DCs were really good for SIL and she enjoyed the day with them.

Fi wow great plans in place. I hope it all works out for you because it sounds like a dream life .

Blotted Oh dear, I will limit the chickens time attacking the grass to give it time to grow back. I love having them though. They are the best pets and have so much personality. If we are in the conservatory they jump up on the table so they can watch what we are doing and they chase pigeons and cats from the garden .

Belgian Its hard starting a new job but I'm sure you will feel at home there soon. Hope you get to see some newborns soon.

PHEW! DS has just gone to bed... he crashed out this afternoon & had a vv unusual nap meaning that he then wasn't tired at normal bedtime. With him being up at 5am again today i'm feeling kinda worn out and will prob have to head off to bed soon...

spangle i'm sorry to hear about your MILs prognosis
& belgina about your uncle too.
running I wasn't in the least offended wrt the link. It's not something I could undertake at the moment with the 2 dcs around and no lockable workroom to leave everything set up in. Also my work (when i do have the space and time) is more pictorial in style than straight quilting.. LOVE your cardi and A looks lovely in it

x post febes glad your day was good and the boobs behaved i'm sooo of all of you that have/had chickens. I can't wait until we have a garden so i can get some! I've had no problem talking DH into it and DS has been interested ever since I 1st mentioned them... he tells people 'mummy wants some chickens.. but I just want 2 of my OWN!'

Wow! fi! your work is amazing! I am deeply, deeply impressed.

febes glad today went well.

Belgina so sorry to hear your about your uncle. My uncle had cancer and he said that he felt very grateful to have warning of his death so that he could say goodbye to people he loved, make his peace with people he'd argued with, and generally do a few things that he'd always needed to do but never got around to doing. It didn't make his passing any easier but I was very glad that he saw it that way.

running I loved the cardigan. So pretty! Well done you.

DS2 is feeling a lot better but last night was tough. My poor little man was very hot and ended up stripped to his sleepsuit, with me sponging him with a flannel. No fever today, but he has been very clingy and limpet-like. I'm hoping for a better night but forced myself to the gym which I feel a lot better for.

Evening all!

Apologies in advance for not name checking properly. I fell asleep putting ds1 to bed so I'm not quite with it, plus I've started stressing over whether I've thought of everything & got everything sorted for the morning when I go back to work!!

Spangle & Belgina sorry to hear about your MIL and Uncle. It must be very difficult for you & your families.

I am very for all of you ttc or thinking about it. DH says no way. I would love another, but part of me is like Pula and sometimes I can't cope with the 2 I've got!!

Skiing I'm another who's never been. For some reason I've always been scared I'd break my leg!

Fi your work is lovely and your plans for NS sound great.

Oh yes DH has finally fixed the oven! It's amazing how limiting it is trying to plan meals without an oven. I had suggested we have a roast on Sunday and it took DH & I awhile to work out that this wasnt going to happen!!

Right I'm going to take my fuddled brain off to worry somemore - goodnight all.

Sorry to hear of all the sadness out there. Hugs to you all.

llareggub - fingers crossed for a better night for you.

febes - glad today went ok.

fi - just had a quick look at your machine embroidery. Wow!!! Gorgeous.

LOL at the condom hat! It's gorgeous, not condomish at all.

DH has got D&V, fab. I know it's not great for him, but I really do not want to share a bed with him tonight, my night will be disturbed enough as it is. Is that mean and selfish of me?! Times like this I wish we had a spare bedroom!

I'm watching One Born Every Minute, really enjoying it, and welled up a bit at the first arrival .

Thanks llare although i'm embarrased to say i haven't done any new work like that in more than a couple of years now as the crochet was so much easier to pack away and fit in around DS... and now G. I'm happy to hear DS2's fever went. It's scary business when they get temps. G was in just a vest too and getting cool baths/calpol/nurofen to keep her high temp in check a few weeks ago. was mighty relieved when it eventually went. I hope DS2 has a better night tonight and feels more like his usual self tomorrow.

arr lots of x-posts!
night muddled good luck for tomorrow x
oh no flippin i hope he doesn't share the D&V with you
thanks for the compliments on my machine embroidery you're all making me

I too must away to bed in case of the patter of little pre schooler feet before dawn!

night night x

fi Wow, that's amazing. You really are clever!

febes I've found the same. 1 whole shift and full, but not painful. However I did express at the end of the shift, because I do need to "harvest" for the next day + letdown with very very full breasts hurts.

muddled is fuddled, lol. Have a good sleep

llare glad your ds is feeling better.

running good luck with work tomorrow

I'm waiting for the washing machine to finish so I can hang out the washing and go to bed. 2 early starts on work days have made me feel very tired. Actually the early start this a.m. caused me to get off the motorway 2 junctions early today, just as well I wasn't doing anything complicated today

OMG. It's taken me nearly a week to catch up, and now I can't remember anything.....except saus it's the same here. Dh promised to get the snip and hasn't....I'm getting a coil on Thursday as I'm pretty sure I'm ovulating, dd2 is now with dd1, and actually I wouldn't mind it....every now and then.

Will try and check in every day again, when I can.

hiya jennster ikwym about catching up.lovely to see you back here

I forgot to post here with my proud mummy moment from yesterday G has successfully mastered walking along our furniture and she's getting quite fast

quick catch up.
muddled best of luck today! hope it's better than you expect.

llare, meant to say best wishes for your business opp. I think it's a great idea and fantastic to work for yourself. keep us posted!

Regg, great idea about the quilt. my sister did a similar thing by gathering up all our childhood t shirts (from holidays, school, etc) and found a woman who made quilts of such things as a business. If I were crafty, I'd help you and maybe start my own business in it at the same time! btw, how did hosp go yesterday? hope ok.

Fi, another one here very impressed with your handiwork (and most ). i always wanted to be a crafty person and think i had potential but never had the patience to finish anything, sigh.

running, same to you: so impressed with the cardi, it's so gorgeous. have a good rest of week with work.

saus, your post made me .

flippin, hope your poorly children are better today.

sorry for missing anyone but must run. dog-walking duty and post office run for work. having trouble being productive in the evenings (even though i was 'good' last night and didn't logon mn/fb). try to get more done today. hope all are well.
Belg, very sad about your Uncle. hope he is comfortable and can find peace.