Season of Mists and Mellow Crepiness...

[QueenQueenie]

Here you go Crepesters...

She is in fact highly aware that she doesn't know what she's doing, but tries to cover it up to herself and everyone else by nit-picking and controlling small points to make herself look/feel authoritative.

She is so unaware of how little she knows that she doesn't even realise her 'wrong'ness is totally obvious to anyone who knows what they're doing.

That's my two penn'orth.

In other psychoanalysis news, I was reading a book on 'how to study' yesterday, when I came upon a description of myself I had until now been unaware: the perpetual loser. In order to avoid uncertainty, the LP sets herself up to fail, by either setting the goal too high (thus bound to fail) or too low (so doesn't mean anything even if attained). You can be sure of failing, but not sure of success. It was like a light came on in my head! That's me!

QQ, that is a very good idea. My response email sort of did do that. I have also just told her I've just interviewed three celeb chefs as she is v into cooking in hope of squashing her.

Herbs, yes, you're right about her. I wouldn't call you a loser, though .

Herbs - a very precise description of many people I know - the nit picker bit.

As for the setting up to fail - I think lots of women do this and interestingly not very many men.

BTM - I think it was Crem's parents that went on holiday.

Boiler man still here - I'm obviously not going to get to the hairdresser's. If he'd told me he wasn't coming this morning - I could have gone then .

Sympathy re CDiff and also visa bureaucracy, MI. I remember that journo issue when I went to Indonesia - iirc, I ended up swearing never to have had anything to do with the meeja, not me, no sirreee, rather than the other option.

Bureaucracy is definitely getting worse, innit, not just in the same way that policemen are getting younger etc. We put in a passport renewal form for ds just before he went off and there was endless fuss about the rightness of the photos he endlessly offered. I kept trying to make it a lesson for him in how he must Take More Care with important paperwork.

There's a current thread here about 20 off Whistles if you buy Elle mag. I was looking wistfully into Whistles only yesterday as I dragged the fecking dog through the streets, so I might go and buy an Elle. For anyone looking to identify me on Sat, however, I may be able to carry off a Whistles top, but I am vast. In fact I am currently mulling over the Susie Orbach school of thought about weight and power. I am afraid of both doctors and dentists, but I have managed to find lovely female practitioners of both arts who, if I sat on them, would not be able to get up. They are that small.

Yeah, QQ is right. I send my tricky client short factual emails and if they say they don't understand I forward them the monster one I do every so often setting everything out and say see para 3 clause 22 or whatever.....just don't engage. Am about to bin them [exciting].

Emerging from lurgy to festering piles around house.....

Stropps sounds very hard work with the travelling but each week will pass and it is finite....

THe 'do not change this' copy is virtually unreadable. Also still too long. I have sent queries about the least literate points - I really don't see why I should be picked over in such detail and them not - and suggested sections to excise if need be.

Oh yes, Hatty

Cremo, how are your parents doing - still away?

Ooooh Lalsy - festering piles sound painful

Oooo errr QQ.

BTM the parents are fine actually. The Reckless Holiday actually did their mental health a power of good. But not so much my sisterThey are celebrating their 49th ( XLIX, forty ninth) Wedding Anniversary on Sunday. Family dinner complete with original bridesmaids and best man. Pretty amazing. Still trying to conjure up some kind of meaningful gift [despairs]

Laydeez ( taps glass gently with spoon to attract attention)
I need to order the food for next Saturday at The Mulberry Tree meetup.

These are the choices. MI - you are good at this kind of thing...
My instinct was to order Menu A for 10 and then make up a platter of the above to the value of £70

Menu A
triple cooked chips
• mini quiche assortment
London bangers w wholegrain mustard
• garlic bread
Five spice bean-sprout, pepper and carrot spring rolls
• Indian vegetable samosas
mini chicken & pepper skewers
• sweet potato & beetroot wedges
allotment salad
£10 p.p

Menu B
sandwich platters on granary with the following fillings
100% white
mature cheddar and red onion • ham and tomato • tuna mayonnaise
garlic bread • crispy potato wedges w sour cream dip
allotment salad
£8 p.p

Or we can choose from the following to make up our own platters from the following , as well or instead of. This will be more expensive.

Rocket, chicory and carrot salad (n) £3 Fennel, Apple & walnut slaw (n) £3

Hot black pudding Scotch egg £3 Sweet potato wedges £4

Butlers cheddar & leek mac cheese £3 Molasses and JD half rack ribs £6

Mini sticky Pork Sausages £4 Posh fish fingers w tartare ? £4

Devilled whitebait w tartare ? £5 Crispy squid w garlic mayo £5

Skinny fries OR triple cooked chips £3 Buttermilk chicken strips £5

Bloody Mary mussels £6 Potato, Leek and cheddar bites £4

Any and all suggestions taken on board. We have the weekend to decide. Payment will be on the night.

Menu A has chips. On that basis alone I say go for it. Much nicer than even the poshest of sandwiches. It looks like a damn good deal, actually.

BTW, Cremo, I've realised I did actually give EiE a plug unlike a friend of mine who managed to get seats to Death in Venice because it mentions cholera. On that score, for once, my conscience is clear.

I'll go with the majority…I usually find something veggie that I can have. It all sounds delicious, Crem . Ok lovely friends. I am going off the radar for a day or so of fasting and repenting (and boy do I need to repent for the evil thoughts that I have at times and for enjoying them SO much ).
Over and out

Cremo, that's fabulous - that they had a good hol and that they are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary - what an achievement!

I agree, menu A looks better. Crispy squid and buttermilk chicken sound good, plus some salads and the mac n cheese for Rose? But I will eat anything

I say A, too. Mainly because as a faddy non-wheat person, menu B would have me on the lav for the next three days.

Any/some/all/none of the additions also sound simply scrumptious (as Bezza would say).

I will step up the trough plate and eat Herbs' garlic bread for her, because I am noble and self-sacrificing that way. Hell, I'll eat Molly's too.

I'll fight you for it!

Menu A gets my vote too. But if we are ordering some of the other bits as well, can I put in a request for whitebait or squid? I'm very much looking forward to the meet-up - my attendance was in jeopardy for a while due to a potential double book (typical, seeing as my diary is virtually empty at the moment), but that has now been moved to Friday. Wouldn't want to miss a platter of nibbles with a bunch of my fave people, now would I?

All the peacock talk reminds me - we had an albino peacock in the garden for a few days once. It was very tame and extremely nosy - it followed you around the garden, and if I went around to the other side of the house it flew onto the roof, scrambled down the other side, then peered down to see what I was up to. Eventually an owner showed up, and told us to "neglect" it so it would push off home. Which it did, sadly.

I'm in DS's bad books at the moment - he is doing a lot of "boundary pushing" regarding parties. I've said NO to one this evening, which is in Cobham, of all places (he said he could get there by train, ha, ha, good luck with that); DH is out so there is no one to collect, and, worst of all, he doesn't even know the girl who is throwing the party - she is in the year below and at a completely different school. If I were her parents I certainly wouldn't be letting a bunch of random strangers into my house, and we know nothing about them. We were badly burnt partywise a few weeks back (can't remember if I mentioned on the thread); and had to scramble to extract DS from a nasty situation - a perfect storm of pissed, oblivious parents, nil supervision, drugs aplenty, and two cars loads of adult gate-crashers who ended up punching the dad and ransacking the house until the police arrived. This was the party of a girl he was at primary school with, in a lovely rural village, and it was a bit of a wakeup call for DH and I. There has been a Tightening of Rules Regarding Party Attendance by Boys Who Are Not Yet Fifteen. Much to DS's disgust.

OMG CV - party sounds like a nightmare. I am very strict about parties and how much driving I will do. I do not let them go if they don't know the people involved. Usually asking for the parents' number sinks them. I can't imagine why adults would want to gatecrash a teenage party.

CV, I'm afraid that sounds pretty par for the course (bar the weirdo adult gate-crashers). I don't blame you for not wanting him to go!
However, DS asked if he could go round to his mates about an hour ago and I said yes, but he HAS to be back by 10. DH is out. Fingers crossed

Menu A plus bits sounds fab and if there is self-sacrificing garlic bread eating to be done, I will rise to the challenge, fret not.

CV is the Cobham party being thrown by a child from DD1's school?

Menu A please. ANd I'm with CV on the need for crispy squid.

We had a plate of chips at Paris Plage last summer, and the waiter put some whitebait on the plate "feesh and cheeps for ze Eengleeesh." An eye got on one of the chips and DD2 screamed.

That's three of us wanting crispy squid

Hatty, DS just rang asking if he could stay over at friends. Luckily I have her number so I said I would text to check. Thankfully it was OK!

Crispy squid, posh fish fingers, buttermilk chicken, the slaw, sticky sausages (matron), ribs... all would disappear quick smart when put in front of me.