And so we Wisely turn away from any summer purchases to Avid thoughts of stylish winter coats. Which means (surely) that the sun will shine, after wool jackets are bought....

[notyummy]

Stamp

GoS very well done on the deal and the bonus, do treat yourself to the Joseph or similar. When you wear it it will remind you of your success!

Always, my DH must be the only DH with inferior barbequing skills - to be fair, we don't exactly have a high spec BBQ for him to experiment on - wasps he can do though! Hope today goes well for DS.

Red, do you suspect maliciousness in respect of DH's choice of dress? It could have been much worse had he got his hands on any of your Whistles numbers. I remember the days of draping coloured scarves over lamps to create 'atomsphere'

Blue, I agree with Reine that your outfits always sound lovely. Reine, I am seriously tempted to attempt some cookies, the icing bit looks such fun - tutorials are great, keep up the good work!

Verity and Bloss, fingers crossed for blue skies soon x

Glorious day here.

Thanks NY! Will check them out.

Breton polo sounds lovely.

Blue yes lovely outfits!

Morning,

Lovely sunshine and breeze here, perfect.

Happy Birthday Marsha glad you had a nice time.

Dona I wore indigo bootlegs with an orange shirt and wooden wedges last week, I didn't feel entirely comfortable but did get a lot of compliments.

Ollie your holiday sounds wonderful we have been to S.France for the last 3 years I love it there, especially the shopping. Topshop are doing pistolalikes again, much cheaper than last years here

Hopefully I bought a 50/50 cashmere and silk jumper from TKMaxx last week. Definitely not as fluffy as cashmere so would be better for work. Not sure if any are your colours, but am very happy with mine here

NY thanks for the Wetherspoons tip, in desperation after getting the house ready for a playdate on Friday I took DD to Macdonalds for breakfast . Most of those places put their calorie counts online so I had a little browse before we went. We shared porridge, fruit salad and a philadelphia bagel .

Blossoming I hope your DS feels better and none of the rest of you succumb to the bug.

I blew up at DP about his inability to switch off from work last night and feel very bad about it today.

In a similar vein to Suburban- I fear I have new addiction.... Breakfast at Wetherspoons with dd this morning . Porridge, natural yoghurt, fresh apple juice, Lavazza coffee and eggs benedict - £7.50!

I'm loving the breakfast confessions!
DS better now, so operation what to pack can begin!

Marsha looked stunning in a silk print mini dress with a belt in perfect spring colours and high courts. She was sparking and turning heads x

"sparkling" even!

Aw thanks GoS! And suburban and everyone for lovely birthday wishes.

Bloss fab news ds is better.

NY have forwarded George V, looks lovely they do like grandeur.

Suburban sounds tough, hope you can get some lovely relaxing time together you both deserve it.

Have run out of coffee and have fought the urge to go to shops for more. Too much caffeine atm.

Don?t feel bad Suburban this is part and parcel of couple-dom. We all row & blow up from time to time, I am sure you will make up and no hard feelings.

My own thoughts re switching off from work is that people tend to sway in one of two ways:

• Compartmentalised mind ? home is home, work is work. IME (and this will be affected by what kind of job you do and whether long hours are demanded) people in high pressure industries who think like this have to put in longer hours at the office etc to justify being able to switch off at home
• More fluid between home./work - plus side of this is obvious ? it enables more flexibility. Downside is it means you are always ?on? checking BB, taking calls etc. This availability is what justifies the flexibility.

I am totally in the 2nd camp but others would prob be horrified by me taking a call, sending emails while I am at home with kids (or sometimes on holiday).

I should add the third set ?self employed running own business? ? never switch off and work long hours!!! Your DP probably fits this!

Happy birthday marsha!

Test driving the Violet lake in the garden. Now this is summer!

Red belt for Reine [http://www.matchesfashion.com/product/54692 here]] be quick its 20% more off right now and they have your size left

DH has redeemed himself with a phone call to Boden Customer Services. One left in my size, on its way tomorrow. I suspect some of my leopard print may have found its way to the lamp had it been a deliberate ploy Pickled! DH knows me well - the horror on his face when he realised what he had done and the trouble he would be in was very nearly comical.

How's the VL Amber?

Hope all can be well soon Suburban - we all need to blow off steam sometimes and it must be particularly hard for you to make the weekend to week shift as a family. hope you're looking forward to Saturday.

Good news Red.

Sorry to hear that Suburban, agree with the others that we all need to get things off our chest at times.

Meant to say congratulations to GoS re the bonus - good for you and agree a treat is very well deserved.

NY that Wetherspoon's breakfast sounded fab! It saddens me to say that the safest place for breakfast for DS is Macdonalds - they are excellent re allergies.

What a difference this weather makes. DS is so better behaved being out and about. Went to the large park with paddling pool this morning, and had an early picnic lunch. Then a quick trip into town where I bought the H&M Zebra dress, inspired by Amber and then took DS to another park for an ice lolly.

DD full of cold so glad I have cancelled her jabs. Thanks for all the advice.

TMI possibly - I am having a coil inserted tomorrow. Anyone else done this and can advise and pretend its like having a pedicure?

Thanks GoS forgot to congratulate you on bonus you must must buy something for yourself. The Joseph dress is beautiful.

DP phoned to apologise first thing because unsurprisingly the place hadn't fallen apart without him and has promised to take some time off next week, we'll see... I do feel sorry for him though he's been promoted above a lot of his peers and is now struggling to command any respect from them.

NY that sounds delish will definitely give Wetherspoons a go soon. We live in a v middle class area and all our usual haunts get completely overrun in the summer holidays but Macdonalds etc stay beautifully empty.

Sounds like a perfect afternoon MiM we had a park picnic too.

Glad your DH has gone some way to redeeming himself Red mine is a killer for mixing whites and colours on a hot wash.

Quick hello from me!

Struggling to manage four at present, particularly as Summer holidays have just started and DD1 and DS1 are already bickering, poor DD2 now suffering a bit due to lack of mummy's attention (accidents/ more cross than normal).
Hasn't been helped by me having a low milk supply this term. Am determined to keep going though and am now on medication to try to help.
Am just taking it day to day at present and hopefully will emerge from the exhaustion soon!
Have committed various crimes against the fashion police over the past 3 weeks but pleased to report that I am wearing my Gap Maxi skirt and grey IO t shirt today. Have also just taken delivery of Sam Edelman Gigis which were a Brand Alley bargain- will be v useful.

Well done on the bonus gos- well deserved.

suburban- only natural to argue re work/ family balance at times. Can totally empathise with DH being married to his job and I know I'm by no means the only one here (we have also fallen out about this many times over the years). Tis hard.

Super happy belated b/day marsha- I think I may have managed to miss someone else's b/day too (apologies)- not keeping up well at present!

MIM- I am no expert but the info provided on allergies (dairy etc) seemed pretty good. May be worth a look online?

Re the coil thing. Have had a few fitted and removed (copper coils). When I had the one fitted after dd was born the doc said I had a 'mobile cervix' which was quite common after birth and it made it slightly trickier. That said, I don't think it is much worse than a smear. You can take paracetomal beforehand if you want. Don't read the stuff by the bed on vagal collapse or whatever it is called or you can freak yourself out. But as a medical professional I am sure that sort of thing wouldn't. E a problem for you.

ahh that explains a lot suburban no doubt he feels the knives will be out for him if he wavers even slightly and feels he has to over-compensate as a result. nice that he apologised - a lot of men wouldn't and dont!

I have not bought anything despite various persuing. Am too busy to really sit down and concentrate. Do think its more likely to go on a bed for DDs - DD2 has really outgrown cot and think she will sleep much better in a bunk (triple sleeper like this one and bonus that i can comfortably lie in and read to both of them which we do at moment squashed in DD1s bed. DD1 on the top bunk. Bit odd for a toddler to have a double bed but never mind.

Sorry MIM- completely ignored your coil query!

I have fitted coils and had three fitted myself post each DC.

I find women v variable in terms of how painful they find the procedure.
Personally, I didn't find any of them painful at all (v mild uterine cramping) but I seem to have quite a high pain threshold.
I would take a couple of ibuprofen before hand and try to relax as much as you can (easier said than done, I know). It's worth using slow deep breaths as you would in labour and trying to distract your mind, I think. Some fitters will use a local anaesthetic gel so you could try requesting that.
Feel free to message me if you have any other questions. :)

Looby- great to hear from you!

Just had such a laugh. Dd has playdate and I have been using that well known parental technique of benign neglect and letting them get on with down stairs whilst I blitzed the house upstairs. And mumsnetters....

Found dd and friend wearing all the wine cooling sleeves we keep in the ice section in the freezer on all of their limbs. They decided they were too hot and dd remembered about the wine cooler things (not that they have been used in this way before... ) Genius.

amber did you enjoy the torch procession? I would have liked to see Andy Murray if only to see if he smiled.

Great news re dress red laughed at the leopard print comment. I am so loving animal print just now. Alas our weather meant that huge m&s snake print scarf was worn today.

Another coil lady here mim. I didn't find the fitting bad at all. Took paracetamol beforehand and it was fine. Did go to the family planners working on the theory they may be the expert fitters. Not sure if that logical.

Full day at hospital today- which meant I didn't have to be out in the dreadful weather!!!! No huge answers re DS and neurologist now looking at weird and obscure causes of problem which I am resolutely trying not to google in case I scare myself. Another trip to ophthalmologist tomorrow as they want to see if any changes overnight. And neurology again later in week. Nurses were saints though as sitting in ward for some hours gave wonderful people watching opportunity. Very like watching jerry springer only live!!!