La Vie en Crepe

[motherinferior]

And a new door opens...

Can you orchestrate a massive row the previous night, working up from now?

Still editing. Gawd knows when I get to write feature. Am hoping feature will be easy. Hmmmm.

No - MIL is a weekend away in Norfolk. Ironically, not far from where I first squeezed said naughty friend (circa 1985). Sigh. Shall I vent frustration while icing her cake? What should I pipe?

One of those cock n balls boys draw on their exercise books, wall of toilets, etc?

@ herbs

Wilbur LTB . It's the only way . That or very heavy snow in East Anglia - looks hopefully at the sky.

You wait around for a holiday....and then two come at once.

DDad/DSM/DSis and BIL are trying to recruit us for a two-week villa holiday in Mallorca in August. The cost for the five of us will easily top £5k all-in, which is money which we don't have, and DS is already muttering about the torment of spending a fortnight with his girly immature cousins. Holidaying in the presence of my family winds me up too. They get up far too early, they spend too much time cleaning and tidying (which, of course, one gets sucked into), and they have more money than us, so think nothing of lavish meals out. I know I will end up bitter and twisted at the end of it.

Meanwhile, our best friends (who have DCs the same age/variety as ours) have invited us for another week in Cornwall, a repeat of last year. It will be fun, considerably cheaper, but, well, Cornwall. Oh, for a bit of forrin sun.

Go with the friends, CV. I know what you mean about sun, but being stressed (and hot) is not a holiday. I have just persuaded old chums to come with us to Wales for summer half term and I'm so looking forward to it. This is despite the fact that the last time we were there that same week, the weather was so bad that I got a massive bruise on my shoulder from neglecting to brace myself sufficiently when I opened the front door. Horizontal rain and gale force wind whipped the door out of hand and slammed into my shoulder. Gotta love UK holidays. Anyway, even if the weather is terrible again, we will have Friends to drink play with.

I am already braced with some horror for a few days in Yorkshire at summer half term for my dad's 80th. Go for the friends option.

Sadly, Mr Inferior is a self-proclaimed antisocial bugger who wouldn't enjoy holidaying with friends

We have just arranged a few days away with my DSis and her husband in the Midlands during February - it's a bit of an experiment as we've asked them if they want to come with us to the States in September. From previous experience I know that it will all go wonderfully well or we'll be tight-lipped after a short while. Tbh I don't think they will come with us in September, but we thought we would ask ('cos we're nice like that).

MI, another idea for your outside activities, particularly if you have children: find a nice grassy steepish hill and use bin bag liners to "sledge" down it. Great fun.

But check the hill for stones first. Speaking from painful experience here.

Sorry I have no useful contributions to make to the discussion. I'm currently reducing the dose of my anti-anxiety/anti-depresso meds as I hate being on them and I'm feeling a bit ... meh and lacking in inspiration in every direction. However, I have also had a bummer of a day with my dog apparently needing £500 of operations (knew I shouldn't have said he was fine last week), my smartphone completely expiring (it started talking Chinese to me this morning, then switched to Russian and then died. The bastard thing.) Dd playing silly buggers about going to school again. And no work.

I am going to drink some chamomile tea and think positive thoughts about tomorrow.

MI - in the park or further afield - collect as many leaves as you can, identify them when you get home, and then do "leaf rubbing." Or stick sycamore "keys" on your noses and pretend to be unicorns. Make "fish bones" from horse chestnut leaves.

Treasure hunt - when we lived in UK, I did this for a group of 6-8 year olds around our village - eg what is the name of the house with the wagon wheel outside? On the war memorial, who died the furthest away (bizarrely it was someone in USA), etc etc. You can also do collecting things - a feather, an interesting stone, two different leaves, so can adapt it for different ages. I also did a larger scale one as a fundraiser for the scout hut.

In the garden - planting seeds (nasturtiums are good), plant them in a pattern, water them and watch them flower (not all on the same afternoon, obviously).

Old fashioned games - "French Skipping", Port and Starboard, pompom etc etc

Frankly, Stropps, I would just hit the gin, but I don't imagine that's particularly helpful advice.

DD2 has been invited to Houston for two weeks by her BFF's Mum, in the summer. I have looked at the price of flights and have had to sit down.

Holiday with friends, especially if family version involves competitive washing up, two weeks, and not good child-matching. And dc can go feral in Cornwall and have chips and ice cream chucked at them occasionally to keep them going.

Oh Stropps. I so feel for you on the work front.

I am realising how hopeless a parent I am This always happens when I write jolly parenting features...

DSM phoned earlier, and I broke the news that we would not be joining them on holiday. Big sigh of relief (from us, obv). Our friends are so easy-going and the DCs all get along famously, so it is the obvious choice. There's always fake tan.

On a domestic note, DS learned an important life lesson this evening. If, at the age of 14, you block the loo with an enormous poo and half a roll of loopaper, your mother will hand you a bent wire coat-hanger and ask you to start digging. It made for quite amusing viewing.

Addle, no Lynn Harris left at all on M & S site. I did, however, order myself some Filorga skincare. I have two huge boil-like spots on my throat and one on my cheek at the moment. With those and the ever luxuriant beard, I am looking more like Baba Yaga by the day. And I need a good haircut.

Sorry about your awful day Stropps. Is DDog in a bad way or just expensive? Maybe too soon to give up on bastard phone, techs can sometimes retrieve things by doing a re-set or similar. Have you tried Googling 'my bastard phone went Russian then Chinese then died'?

MrsS, arf at Baba Yaga. Feel similar. Quite Big Talk this week: annoyed with myself for having shaggy hair, leaky shoes, shiny suit and no time to do anything about it.

MI, had some successful trips with little kids to pick-your-own places. Competitive fruit or veg gathering, some faffing about (DD loved faffing about) and a nice farm shop, sometimes with cake.

Thumbs up about going for the friends option, CV. Life is too short
And at the big poo! DS is just using copious amounts of loo paper (and spending hours in there)

Stropps, sorry about your crappy and expensive day.

MI, my best advice is to light the fire and make a hot choccie and snuggle down with a good film if it's this time of year!
I'm afraid we only did the usual stuff of bike rides/footy in the park/rollerblading/sandcastles, etc.

We haven't decided on our summer holiday yet. DH is currently suggesting Montenegro/Israel/China

MI - don't have any useful advice because we went for the cheap and unimaginative dragging them out for a walk option but would note that children seem universally keener on walks that take them up somewhere or round some where (what's up there? what's behind that?) than a straight line.

Bad luck Mrs S - good thing you got into Marble Arch. Wish I'd ordered more now. Also need good haircut and have absolutely no idea what to do with greying, straight but not entirely straight mane. Bob no good as don't have discipline to maintain and too cackhanded to do such grown-up things as french twist etc

Stropps - completely agree about lack of inspiration - am doing my taxes and just horrified at my lack of work and lack of professionalism in invoicing etc but being horrified at myself doesn't make me feel energetic and inspired

We not v social so will prob. be camping in France glaring suspiciously at other campers, especially the friendly ones

Oh Stropps sorry to hear about the crap day. What's up with DDog? Is it serious?

I did my M&S order online and realised I have had it sent to the old address - Doh! Luckily nice man at customer services has managed to get it redirected for me.

Holidays?! I don't think we are getting one this year - dp has too much on. May take ds away for a long weekend - Paris or Venice or somewhere.

Dp has done is tax return and is apparently due a refund of ...... £3

Stropps, I hope you have a much better day today.

Addle, I read your post and thought who is Bob?

Our summer is shaping up to be very bitty, dc doing different things at different times, we're aiming for camping in Wales at the mid point. It feels like the end of an era though.

I got a refund on my taxes too - not good.

I have a tax refund because last year's employers put me on the wrong tax code for the second year running. OTOH this justifies paying an accountant huge sums, I suppose.

Many thanks for the brilliant suggestions. I am now able to write the damn thing

I am out in blotches and spots again. V odd and peculiarly unattractive.

Stropps, hope you have a much better day today. Pets are lovely, but cause endless heartache (and, as they get elderly, endless expense - we have a 15 yo cat), but life would be poorer without them.

MI, just thought, we were in Ikea last week with DGS and talking to parents of another small one, and they told us that Ikea was his go to place of choice! Not quite what you had in mind, I think.

Off into Newcastle shortly to have a wander around the shops.

ah. Feature now cancelled. What the actual actual???

MI, that is crapola, particularly as you had done the research! I am working from home today, as DH booked the plumber to come and has gone up to Milton Keynes for meetings. I don't particularly enjoy WFH - I have got the pussies shut in the room with me (with food and litter box) which doesn't help, and the phone keeps ringing.