Crepey wattle and daub

[herbaceous]

At last! I get to use my thread title.

Over here, my hags.

[waves to CV in Ikea] Mmmm horse meatballs. Actually, am looking forward to a trip to Ikea at some point as it will mean we're on the home stretch and will be getting things like bookshelves (since our hopes of lovely handmade joinery have long since been dashed).

Glad to hear that you're well, Wilbur, although overwhelmed by all you have going on. Your home will be lovely, I am sure, when you're finished.

Stropps' story of DH's absent minded filling of the car with the wrong fuel reminded me that my DH had done the same. Today's blooper from DH was when he got out the cool bag to take to Costco and I discovered mouldy, smelly chicken pieces in there which he had forgotten to put in the freezer after our last visit.

Monty, we're staying near Alcudia in Majorca - we have been three times before but went late autumn then. We have never visited Palma so want to do that this time.

Hello Wilbur - good luck with the build and hope you stay clear of hideous crepey lurgies.

Ach Wilbur hellooo - and bloody hell that's a lot of balls in the air ! Our building work has been delayed due to collapse of company who gave us the best quote. I'm just glad we didn't find this out whilst having a wall demolished or having paid half the cash.
I am feeling much better. Have nibbled a Hovis cracker and managed a milk less cup of tea.
Now should be off to bed but have been there for days so not ready to crawl back in yet. Dh is changing the bed anyway. And it's a bank holiday tomorrow anyway. Thankfully.

MI- does Client Difficile own yaw ass? I do hope you are charging plenty for this much hassle. You must be sick to death of her. Just sayin...

Happy St Patrick's day, Cremo. Glad you are feeling better and Brian has gone back to his hiding place.

Wilbur - building sounds fab, but tiring. It will all be worth it in the end.

NU - I love Alcudia. So pretty. I have 8 weeks to learn a bit more Spanish. Muy buen. Less MN and more Suenos for me, je crois.

Right, off to work. This week is going to be so busy. Eek.

Have a good day everyone

Cremo glad you are feeling better.
Here dragging myself through the week - Easter break seems a long way off so head down at the moment.

MrsS hope parents day thingy went okay.

Wilbur - eek- the bathroom nearly did for me so the thought of any more.... (Eyes crumbling plaster on the annex and the wreaked patio(

Cremo, good to see you have managed a Hovis cracker! And that it's a BH for you

Wilbur, you are right - it will all be worth it.

Here the crack at the top of the stairs is ever widening. FIL (who was a brickie) put the shits up me, but NDN says that her builder says it is nothing to worry about

Back at the desk.

I can't change more. It's a flat fee for the lot, covering my work and external commissions (so the more I commission the less I make). If this feature had been externally commissioned I might have been able to ask for extra to cover it, but as it is I can't. The only thing I can do is chuck the whole contract and that would lose me about six grand a year I can't afford to lose.

I'm fed up, as you can gather. I'm tired, I'm fed up with doing stuff that is inconsequential and going round and round in circles, I'm sick of working half the weekend and until 11pm, and all for poxy little publications that nobody will ever read. I'm sick of feeling guilty if I leave the desk (I have a dental appointment tomorrow and already worried that I should cancel it). I'm sick of being pursued to find blind computer game enthusiasts, or dog behaviourists, or habilitation specialists, or people running amateur theatre companies. I'm also sick of knowing that my book project will get precisely nowhere because I am a talentless nobody while half my university contemporaries are running out of places to stack up their glittering awards. And I've just spent 30 minutes on the phone to BT trying to get a failing connection fixed.

I am going to go and wallow like a grumpy hippopotamus in the mud of self-pity now.

Wilbur The amount you're doing leaves me breathless!!!
Crem you poor thing…that's awful but glad you're starting to nibble upon dry morsels and hope you're strength comes back.
Stropps its amazing how many people have mullered their car engines but putting in the wrong type of fuel. Poor bugger, is he still in the dog house???
Tilly in our previous house we had cracks monitored for about 2 years by the insurance company before they decided that our utility room was actually walking away from the house and then they finally underpinned. Unlike how it was in the bad old days, it actually raised the value of the property….what with most of Norf London built on clay the entire neighbourhood was subsiding into the underworld, so the houses that had been underpinned with a guarantee, were worth more than those that hadn't.
MI that's quite a rant, darling. It's the shite of being self employed and not having working hours…(not that they really exist any more for anyone.) I find that cultivating a "fxxk it, I don't care attitude" and scheduling times to go naughtily AWOL can get to be a most pleasing, (if somewhat irresponsible) habit. (Not to mention making an effigy of CDiff and sticking things in it…) And you are most certainly not talentless, to which everyone on this forum will testify most vociferously.

We have no food in the house…I must address this problem today…..not working Most pleasing lunch out yesterday for wedding anniversary…must go to Hampstead more often…haven't been for ages as the parking is SO dire but it has so many deliciously up market clothing shops….which I may patronise if the weight loss continues…1 lb this week…10 in total.

That's interesting Rose. DH is worried about it affecting our insurance, I think and so doesn't want anyone to get involved. Both houses either side have already been underpinned. I am feeling a bit reassured by our neighbour, but this could be false hope! The crack is nearly half a cm wide at its worst.

MI, sympathies - it must be really hard being self- employed as so many of you are.

Rose, you are doing so well. I know I should follow your example, but I seem to be stuck in the wrong state of mind.

I left the house early this morning when DD started up on the screeching and wailing and DS (who was also up) on the ranting about how I treat her differently.

Thing is, I do have working hours. I'm at my desk at 8.30 every day, and I work through till around 6.30 or a bit later. Then I stop. I very rarely take time off during the day, just as I wouldn't in a regular job; if I do, I'm constantly guilty and checking my phone for emails just as I would if I were sneaking off from a salaried post. But at the moment, work is just splodging into the rest of my time...

MI, sorry to hear that you're so fed up with your working life. I think 8.30 am to 6.30 pm is quite ling enough. And you must take care of your health even if it is only the dentist.

A belated Happy Anniversary, Rose. How many years?

BTM, when the house next door was demolished they dug a huge hole for a basement and then left the hole for months. I wasn't surprised when our conservatory started pulling away from the house. Unfortunately I couldn't prove it was the big hole in next door's garden. You have my sympathy for your cracks.

DH's friend who had the shuttlecock in the eye has been readmitted to hospital and may have to have an operation. His poor DW sounded dreadful when she rang earlier.

NU, funnily enough the twat who bought the plot behind our house has had it dug out for a basement with an internal swimming pool. It has been a hole for a year. But of course, we couldn't prove anything either.

A Hobbs NW3 denim skirt - A-line, with a pleat... £3.50. It's a bit big, but I'm sure I can get it altered. Or wear it low-slung.

Or eat pies?

I like the pies idea better.

MI - you need to think of your job as any other. If you were working in an office you would be allowed time off to go to the dentist. You may have the odd moment of unfortunate weekend working, and the odd unfortunate colleague/boss (CDiff), but there is no need to feel guilty for doing your own thing, having lunch, looking after your family, etc, as that's what 'normal' jobs allow!

I heartily admire your work ethic. Whenever I have to work at home, I do so much buggering about I barely get started by 11, at which point I start thinking about lunch.

Herbs - sounds nice. I nearly bought one very similar in the charity shop last week (Autograph), and have been regretting leaving it behind; I may have to remedy this.

No danger of me leaving empty-handed, though; I still came away with a beautiful grey cashmere jumper, a black and beige floral print pencil skirt and a black and beige slouchy short-sleeved knitted top. My name is Cointreauversial and I'm addicted to charity shops....

Oh, CV; I dream of the day I'll be slender enough to walk off with true charity shop clothing bargains. Mind you, I did get 4 absolutely giant flower pots for 5 each the other day. I mean giant.

Rose, you are doing so well on the weight loss front. If I can get my course out of the way (ends mid-April) then I can get back on it. Summer is a good time for weight loss.

CV - I'm going to have to come down your way and snaffle some bargains. I think a naice Surrey town is going to be easier pickings than a scruffy inner-city, er, 'melting pot' would be a nice way of saying 'shit hole'.

Maybe CV could lead us all on a crepey creep round charity shops in her 'hood.

Massive apology for self-pitying whinge earlier. I think I'm now getting back on top of it all and will have early night.

Or possibly Poldark with a glass of wine...

Poldark is not too bad, is it? Altho we are trying to work out the historical period. We like the muscular horses. And cute dog.

Have yet to sample Poldark, though feel I've had my fill of optimistically scenic historical drama by sitting through Banished, which was a load of old tosh, and not in a good way.

Still vaguely low-carbing. Though not convinced by the science of the hardcore bootcamp types. The argument seems to be that if you eat your fill of steak, eggs, cream, cheese and lettuce, you will lose weight, but if you eat your fill of steak, eggs, cream, cheese and lettuce, and once spoonful of rice, you will put it on. Is it really all about attaining a state of ketosis? Or is it just that protein and fat fill you up, so you actually end up eating fewer calories?