Walking in a Crepey Wonderland!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

I couldn't see that anyone else had started a new thread, after Stropps carelessly finished the old one without starting a new one, so here you are.

I have already eaten much too much and fear I have Peaked.

BIL is here. Sweet but oh so formal (shirt, V neck sweater and shiny black shoes on a Sunday ffs). He apparently (DP is the one who gets the gossip) is seeing a woman he thinks terrific but feels he is "not ready to settle down". He is 38. And has never lived with a laydee....

DH is wearing a shirt, V necked sweater and shiny black shoes this morning. He is going to the tip.

Maybe they should be introduced.

I'm feeling a bit jealous of various large festive gatherings going on. No doubt engendered by all the telly adverts of jolly intergenerational festive fun, which I know are all manufactured in order to make us try to buy the feeling instead, but still make me wistful.

And it's not as if I won't be having our own family gathering after Christmas. All 12 of us. Seven of whom will bug the living shit out of me after about 10 minutes.

What a confusing time of year it is, to be sure.

Ooh, Herbs, I forgot: I dreamed we were all at a huge party at your house. Your DS was v sweet. OTOH I realised rather self consciously I wasn't wearing any clothes and although everyone was v polite about this I felt a bit shabby I kept crossing my arms in the hope that would provide some coverage

MI, suggest you stop eating cheese before bedtime.

En route to Colchester, late as usual. I ate my breakfast, took my chipped nail varnish off and did my makeup while hurtling round the M25 (DH is driving, obviously).

MI - you could at least have worn your unravelling Woollovers jumper. What will Herbs' neighbours think?

Dd has laid out 3 lovely outfits to take to PIL's with an actual sense of what goes with what and that she needs pants and socks for each too. Do you think she would do my packing too? Dses have both found A Shirt That Fits, which is probably the most I can expect from them. Dh is doing the ironing so hopefully we can pack in a reasonably civilised way later today. Am going to early evening drinks party later and the invitation specifically mentioned champagne, so that'll be me done for the night. I was going to try and paint my nails in front of the TV later, but perhaps that's not a good idea after a magnum or two. Although if CV can manage to do hers in the car...

MI. There goes the neighbourhood. I could have given you some stick-on gold bows to cover your modesty.

am off to festive tale of the dark side of hollywood this afternoon: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-drowned-man-a-hollywood-fable in lieu of doing any cooking/cleaning/shopping even though ILs arrive tomorrow and we will be min. 8 for a meal for the rest of the week.

otoh got DD back on friday evening and that was ABSOLUTELY LOVELY. house already littered with signs of her presence. wet towels all over herbedroom, shoes strategically placed in front of TV, trays with orange peel, empty mugs and bottles of hot sauce all over the place

x

Addle at dd's litter.

MI
addle, how lovely to have your DD back, with all her little foibles

We are on our way back from a surprisingly relaxing weekend at the ILs. DH and I had Saturday afternoon to ourselves, I mey BILs new girlfriend who is lovely and DD was just like she used to be before she was a teen - sweet, loving and happy Poor DS ate too much and spent this morning looking like a ghost and throwing up

Need to get back for the Tesco man who should be bringing all my Christmas goodies!

Addle . Must remember that in a very few years I'll be pining for DD's mess.

Tried to talk to DSis on phone about Mum. She didn't listen but immediately started criticising me. Wonder where she gets that from? I snapped and put the phone down. Went from being calm to full-on fury in a heartbeat.

Should be fun, then, when DSis, family and yappy little dog arrive along with the nephew's gf. DM loathes the gf with a passion. Gf is notoriously critical of DSis's housekeeping.

I am frankly not prepared to tolerate any more criticism than I currently endure.

MI, maybe something in the air last night? I dreamt that DH casually mentioned sleeping with a woman he'd met at a conference. When I told him about this, he said actually he's slept with a woman at every conference he's been to in the last five years. In fact all the women at every conference...

Am wondering who is due to have most nightmarish festivities. At the moment I think it's neck and neck between Auriga and MrsS.

Btm tesco have just phoned me to say
There is a 2 hour delay
Apparently people had ordered 12-15 boxes of stuff each.

I'm sure they're open again on Boxing Day

Cremo, I panicked a bit when I read that, then I realised that you are in a different land Anyways, as we are currently stuck in a traffic jam less than 2 miles from home (you gotta love London), it might be just as well!

Sympathies to all those with potentially nightmarish family gettogethers looming - usual teenage bickering/tantrums should be the worst that we will have to endure!

Addle - you just described my DD! They must all be programmed.

Crem at Tesco - are they preparing for a seige. I haven't done any food shopping yet. Am banking on finding a turkey or something like that tomorrow along with carrots, sprouts etc. We have got the Christmas pud though along with the French buche de noel.

Orange parfait is made and in the freezer. Found M&S double cream and wondering if this will make a difference to settling out in freezer previously encountered when using French cream. (Nothing to do with my meringue making technique, oh no, not at all!)

Hatty, the M&S cream may well be better - IMHE, French cream n'a rien a voir avec English cream, the last experience being one where my French friend tried to make whipping cream from a tetra pak of French cream and a gadget, and it ended up all over DD's best sweatshirt and not in the slightest bit whipped

I am thinking of making a buche de noel...

Tesco arrived with12 substitutions including non vegetarian mince meat- useless and NO COFFEE but coffee flavoured biscuits. In normal circs I might laugh but I've had a festive bypass now that I have to contemplate A Grocery Shop tomorrow. Also no stem ginger in syrup which is a constituent part if my Christmas dessert.
< goes to lie down on bed>

BTM hope you do better

and dd has announced she's going OUT to a party tonight and will need collecting at 1
And her room is a stable. It needs dunged out.
And the dishwasher has broken down.

Weeps

I will update you later Cremo

I have just rearranged our drinks cupboard to find plenty of red wine and fizz, only 2 bottles of white wine and no squash, when DH assured me we were fine for drinks Looks like I'll be popping Asda/Lidls after taking DD and her mate for the ear piercings tomorrow.

Cremo, DH and I were only saying yesterday that although the early morning starts are long gone, the early hours of pick ups are only just starting. Commiserations!

Hatty, M & S cream will work better. French cream doesn't have enough fat in it to whip - you need to add either a good dollop of marscapone or chanti'fix (ironic that the country that invented Creme Chantilly doesn't sell stuff that whips).

Flat is still a tip, but I am on the gin and don't care.

So I was right re the cream!

Tesco came with only one substitution - sausages for sausage rolls!

I hope that has inspired you to make your own sausage rolls from scratch, BTM .

I have had festive meltdown. Good to get that out of the way. It usually doesn't arrive until Boxing Day so, in fact, I am ahead of things this year

BTM and I got sausage rolls for cocktail sausages.

Swap ya ?

Cremo

Wilbur, I would of course make my own if it were not for the fact that I have only enough puff pastry for my cheese whirls

I foresee a Christmas meltdown tomorrow as I have a long list of jobs including wrapping presents. Or I will have to blockade DH in the bedroom with the sellotape