Crepeys are an August bunch

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Here ya go...

We are back. The party passed without event. I have made Gugelhupf.

There are Germans at your hotel, Rose?

Not literally. It's just that DD and DH get this thing, that in order to deal with potential "Germans" they have to behave like "Germans" and I can't bear it ..... ......

Rosebag, that is ridiculous of your ds' school. It's all the targets game, isn't it? Targets, league tables, etc.

Auriga, re ds' uni - tbh, I've probably got the hots for this guy because he has been so nice; and then there he is on YouTube, being all young and that. He also shares the first name of ds, my pfb, so y'know. Not a particularly romantic subject; you mention technology, and geekiness runs in the family; ds will need to get with the programme, iyswim.

Rosebag, at the school - it sounds like a really cack-handed PR attempt to me - is it on a charm offensive with an eye to applications, perchance? Your holiday sounds great!

Crepeys, I know you will join me in three cheers when I tell you that today dd and I excavated her room, moved all furniture, cleaned everywhere and bagged up 18 years of hoarding for future sorting . This is more than just a practical advance for her.

I have a long planned dinner on Wednesday so cannot join you I'm afraid.

Lalsy, it's when, years later, that you realise that you still have loads of the DC's stuff that you start to worry.

So I went to bed last night knowing that there is no problem with the ash cloud, but have woken up this morning to discover that there has been an earthquake in northern California where we are going for the first few days of the holiday. We're hoping that our friends are ok.

MI, how are things with your DM? Was it yesterday you were going to see her?

Lalsy, fabulous! Decorating DD's room has enabled me to excavate a bit more!

Oh NU One of DD's best mates has just moved over there, but she isn't sure exactly where, hope they aren't affected.

Yes, MI, how is your DM?

I have just emailed them, BTM, but I know that there are problems with power. They live in Santa Rosa which is the next valley over from Napa where the epicentre was. I hope your Dd's friend is ok - not a nice thing to happen when you're new to the area.

Lalsy, that must feel goooood. Hope dd is enjoying the new vista and less cluttered outlook on life, the universe and everything.
Rosebag, I think that sort of behaviour by schools is fairly widespread, although Dd's school only names those who get all As. I don't think they've had anyone do that this year, so they've just listed the 10 who got 11 A and 1A. These sorts of things are always such a nonsense in a truly comprehensive school, as you have plenty of people for whom getting 5Cs is a huge and admirable achievement.
I have spent the last 2 days cutting the hedge - a job which has been on the to-do list all summer. This may sound like nothing, but we have over 200ft of hedge, mostly 7ft tall and 3ft thick. Some of it is more like 9ft tall. I spend a lot of time on the top of a stepladder on wonky ground wielding a larger than average hedge trimmer. (I am 5ft 2) I always feel very good when it's over. Had a massive bonfire on Saturday night, but still have 3 carloads to take to the dump.

Stropps, what you need is a Henchman platform - wonderful thing. Very expensive, if I recall, but makes hedge cutting so much safer and quicker. When DH does ours (13ft high), he is always stopped by people offering him work! Of course it doesn't help with getting rid of the cuttings.

Thanks for the thought, NU, but even if I had a spare £800 (!), that kind of platform wouldn't help as our entire garden is on quite a slope with uneven ground and some sections having a very narrow path next to the hedge, so no possibility of fitting in a large platform. My garden is extremely quirky and immensely annoying to anyone who likes perfect order. Or indeed any kind of order.

Stropps, you just need a hench man

Maybe if the dyslexia stuff doesn't work out, you can reinvent yourself as a hedge-cutterer! Actually one of my cousins who was an interiors/exteriors photographer reinvented himself as a tree-surgeon...!

I am hoping DD's new improved and less cluttered atm room will help to de-clutter/de-stress her mind too!

BTM, and one of my friends who was a teacher did the same - what is it about tree surgeons?

No, tests on Sat results Tues. I must ring her. She is v hard work and I feel guilty about feeling this ATM, but my sister found the whole "I've had a good life" spiel v hard to deal with.

I would seriously not like to be a tree surgeon. I don't like dangling from a rope and using a chainsaw - either separately or at the same time. I don't actually like using electrically powered cutting devices of any sort - they scare me. Cutting the hedge here was the one thing that I thought I wouldn't be able to do when H1 left. Hence my feeling of accomplishment. But yes, BTM, a hench man would be nice. Dh just takes the clippings to the tip.

Oh lord, MI, the "I've had a good life" speech??? Oh dear.

Oh thank you Stropps - I felt guilty the minute I'd typed that but yes it was I think rather hard for DSis to cope with. Given that our mother hasn't had a diagnosis yet; and she has rather tried this one from time to time for several decades already.

Informed fellow-inmates I was going out on Weds night. DD2 informed me she was spending the day with the Kleineschadenfraulein. Making cookies, apparently. Nobody tells me anything.

Blimey MI - bit melodramatic!
Does MrsS know about the cookie baking?

Heaving it down here - not going anywhere....

Hello, crepeys! Back from my jaunt to the West Country and raring to go. Pouring here, but we are going out for lunch shortly (as mystery diners, too, so someone else is paying) and then I can start on my chores and the 10m loads of washing that will need to be done.

I will catch up properly this evening, but I hope you are all well and happy .

Massive respect Stropps. Hedge sounds a lot like ours and dh and I just glare at it and hope it will go away. You are amazing you know. !
Lalsy , that's incredible. Congratulations on room excavation. I so wish I could continue with doing that here, but fear dd is still too fragile for such a task.
We have started putting things into a trunk for uni. Dmum has already provided a biscuit tin( Emma Bridgewater if you don't mind!) and a b&q bucket(!?) both vital apparently.
Dd has got into her first choice of halls ( single room , kitchen and bathroom shared between 6) un catered.
I have started budgeting.( spreadsheets and bank statements - urgh my worst nightmare)
Lalsy/ hatty are your dc's in halls?
Is there a magic number for £ to live on per week?
I hate Studentroom -don't make me go there)

Crem, absolutely, it has to be the right time and ibam sure it will happen. Yes dd is in halls, self catering. Not yet tackled budget but will let you know. QE are thinking of an allowance for basics and then a nominal extra bit which we hold for eg travel or kit that she asks us for, just for the first year to help her budget. Xx

Oh lord, hadn't really thought about accommodation for ds; mind you, I'll be leaving it up to him as much as possible. Maybe he could share a house with the dreamboat lecturer, and I could take them cakes on a regular basis. Kind of on that note, I am very of the Henchman platform, which would save me having to lug a huge ladder about and then risk falling. And since I am on that note, I've always found tree surgeons exceptionally attractive, but have never wanted to be one.

Back from camping here too - Ducked out of the last night, thank god, as it's tipping down and it would have been horrid packing up in the rain.

Well done, Stropps. We would love a Henchman too - DH has been known to sit in the scoopy bit of the contractor's digger and wave his chainsaw menacingly at the hedge. Scares me witless!!

It's DH's b'day today - we are so not prepared. He had a nice cooked breakfast, some flavoured vodka as a pressie and cards.... we might brave it out later for dinner. Frankly, I feel like a duvet day.

Beachy- reach for the duvet!
It is cold, wet and howling here.
I have been on the phone to The Netherlands to my late brothers bank.
This is to do with a tiny annuity that dd gets every year. So far paid into my account, but now needs to go to her directly. I have v limited Dutch and my conversation with the bank lady bordered on a monty python sketch. No idea if I have it sorted tbh...
A is for Amsterdam . I is for Iceland
B is for Brussels ... And so on.
< rolls eyes>

Mi, did you guiltily roll your eyes at the "I've had a good life" speech. Mine said, when I spoke to her last week "Oh is it Bank Holiday on Monday? I didn't know. Every day's the same when you're on your own." I then got the (TM) information that she had been "bleeding torrentially from down there" but not to worry, "it is probably only piles, although I couldn't really be sure where it was coming from."

And yes, I believe a play date has been arranged, although we are both back at work. They will only be baking if there is a responsible adult in the house, though - I will see if one of us can work from home that day.