Crepes, Galettes, Pancakes and Brian the Bucket!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Here you go...

Oh and mrs S - take the girls away. It will be great, and will make memories far more precious than one more day at school. Hopefully.

Herbs, I thought I was bad with coats!

Nice dishwasher man came and said we need a new one so I immediately ordered online and he will fit it Monday, so saving DH from death - by - washing - up. And I have returned the age 16 trousers that were too tight on DSs muscular thighs but too flappy round the ankles to Marksies and ordered some more mens ones that don't seem to be half as robust (not Teflon coated I guess). Am now on a bus which is sticking to its timetable, grrr.

Ooops that was meant to be a PM - I have reported

I nipped out to get pitta bread for supper and came back rather later with Turkish wraps, peppers, oranges, a white stuff denim skirt from one charity shop and a Harlan Coben from another (avoiding the Classy Literature also on shelves, much of it written by university contemporaries) and having had my eyebrows threaded. Shamingly, I feel much better.

Good on you MI, sounds like a perfect outing for body and soul

Ach…trust me to have got the wrong day…well, Have another birthday, MrsS why not!…why does it have to be just one day… hope it's going swimmingly! Madeira sounds lovely!

We need photos/links for new coats and hairdos!

I have had a very boring, tired sort of day…I was up until the early hours messaging the theatre MD (who is also a dear friend)…amazing who's still awake at 1.30am…you know that thing…when you send a crazy message to someone at silly o'clock, assuming they'll see it in the morning and then that little iPhone bubble comes up because they're awake and answering you…and you get all excited …

I am about the MU.

Hairdo. With stapler for anonymity purposes.

I'm not absolutely sure how right this one is, Rudy, and I think I will take it up an inch or two (thick tights, big jumper, that sort of look) but at least it was only £6.99. And it's a dark, non-stretch one which is what I wanted.

Sleek, lovely hair! herbs

I was thinking for the rest of the world.

I now have another coat in the frame. I bought it from Brand Alley for £99 ages ago, but it was too small so I sold it to a friend. Now they're on there again! I would buy the bigger size, obvs...

Sensible and Icelandic

Alternatively, the probably not at all waterproof, but less likely to induce mega-sweats

Uniqlo's finest

at very fruitful trip for pitta bread MI.

Herbs - hair looks fab. I love it when we come out of the hairdresser with swishy hair like that. The problem is 48 hours later I'm back to normal.

I like Icelandic sweaty coat more.

I'm in two minds about a party on Friday because we are expected to sing to a backing track. Whilst I recognise this maybe fun, I cannot sing and sort of resent being asked to serenade the birthday girl with a song from a decade in the last 50 years. I think I'm probably too moody and menopausal to go through with it - especially as it's pitched too high for me.

Herbs, you are completely unidentifiable with that well-positioned stapler But your hair looks lovely
Icelandic coat looks VERY sweaty!

Rudy, have you been watching CBB for fake tan tips? They put it on every night and look totally ridiculous

MI, dinner sounds good and very sartorially elegant tonight!

Hatty, I usually hate karaoke, but after a few too many proseccos was persuaded to join in last Saturday. Thankfully everything seemed to be pitched low! I think I'm a baritone now

DD2 has just come into my room weeping because she's lost her ICT homework sheet. I suggested, very kindly, looking for it. It took her thirty (30, XXX) seconds to find it.

BTM - I don't think it's karaoke - there is backing music and they will hearnour actual voices.

Will sling chunks of pepper, ditto aubergine, halved cherry toms and unpeeled garlic cloves in a hot oven for a kind of low-effort roast ratatouille. And have with hummus and wraps.

I quite like the idea of karaoke (isn't that what backing music and actual voices is)?

Just been catching up .... Happy Birthday to MrsS first of all. Have a lovely day (what's left of it) and do try to persuade DH to let you take the DC away at Half Term - my two have some lovely memories of holidays in their teens and we quite often do a "do you remember?"

MI, sorry to hear of all the woes with DM and the hospital - what a PITA. I hope you enjoy the MU on Friday as you definitely need to get away from it all.

Herbs, I love the haircut - I don't think I would recognize you if I saw you in RL, so I think you are safe in your anonimity.

The battery on my wretched smart phone is giving up the ghost (it is taking about 15 hours to charge up), so I am mostly reduced to using the laptop to look at MN - and I find the website incredibly slow which means that I give up too easily with it. Any idea if you can get replacement batteries for phones? My contract doesn't expire until October so I don't really want to get a new phone until then (and actually I love my Samsung, so I am not even bothered about a new phone).

We have had a pleasant day: DH and I went into Newcastle and went for lunch at ZaZaBazaar which I can only describe as a mixture of a cruise ship buffet and the buffets in casinoes in Las Vegas. We were reconnoitring to take DD's DC for lunch one day (both DGC have really good appetites, DGS1 in particular likes watching people cook and there were several "live" cooking stations). Needless to say both DH and I ate too much, but we did enjoy it in a "well it's fun and different for lunchtime" kind of way.

On the way into Newcastle we were stopped by the Police as there was a long convoy of military vehicles coming up from the South and heading to Otterburn to the Ranges for military exercises. DH insisted on telling me what everything was, including the howitzers which I had only ever heard of before and never seen. Fascinating, though, watching them all trundle past.

We have just booked to go away for the night for my birthday in March - one of my favourite hotels: Raithwaite Hall in Sandsend near Whitby. DS had given us a voucher to go there and as we don't have any accommodation costs we will go to their rather naice restaurant for dinner, rather than a chippy in Whitby.

Hatty, you could definitely hear our voices over the karaoke backing music

NU this "my two have some lovely memories of holidays in their teens" is why I think it's worth us spending £££ on a trip to NZ!
What Samsung is it? My S3 lost charge pretty quickly, slightly better when using battery doctor/following online tips to disable unnecessary apps.
I remember going to Otterburn as a wean!
And your birthday hol sounds lovely.

Insure and then claim a replacement?

I have memories of horrid holidays abroad as a teenager .

Wolf Hall tonight

Note to self: I will not have wine and fall asleep during Wolf Hall. (like I did last week).

I'm not allowed to watch Wolf Hall, as DP is away and wants to watch it when he gets back. And I need him there to tell me what's going on.

Icelandic coat isn't sweaty, I am reliably informed.

Hatty, ds fell asleep 20 mins in last week - I think it is all the candle lighting!