Crepeys of a consistently high standard

[Stropperella]

So there. :)

Clearly rained here and some thunder.

MI - photo? (With you in it of course!)

Dp somewhere in the old city - Hyderabad.

I will round up boys and head off to field in a bit - not really feeling the love at the moment.

Oh phew. Owner of car I pranged phoned. And was nice to me.

Bit jealous of those who had storms. We had rumble and a few flashes, but no real storm to speak of.

I went to see Sir Lenny in Educating Rita last night - excellent duo piece, performed at full speed with the audience in close proximity to the stage (well on it really!)

Onto more bumbling around today, albeit with children here.

MrsS, so sorry to hear about your friend. I actually like having visitors, but like them even more when they have gone. We have my widow friend, DSis and DBiL, and our American friends coming over the next two months.

BTM, I got all ready to go to the gym, DH was going to play badminton, and then the Sports Centre rang to say the place, apart from the swimming pool, was flooded, so we have phaffed around. I have cleaned the two fridges and have decided that I am a slut as they were full of half filled jars and bottles which needed binning.

MI - I want to see Boden frock (on you) as well! DH is taking DS to the pool - hurrah - I can read/sleep in pure bliss for an hour or so!

Mrs S - I'm like you on the visitor front - although we have DD1's lovely BF tomorrow who just fits in perfectly with the family.

CV, good luck with the speech. It's DS's birthday today so we need to pop round to see him. Happy birthday to Stropps's DD for yesterday.

BD, enjoy the visit to the field. I used to find myself counting down the days when DH was away, but it was hard with the DC.

DS has just texted to say could they come for lunch at 1 - so I have to find food for an extra four (4, iv) people.

Oh beachy, I want to see that! I love Lenny

NU, the leisure centre rang you Must be a step or ten up from ours!

About to get in the car on a beautiful, sunny day

BTM, they only rang because DH is the contact person for his badminton club, otherwise I would have just turned up and been sent away. It has just about stopped raining; the temperature at nine o'clock was only 14 degrees, I assume it's higher now. It's almost dark enough to have the lights on.

We missed out on educating Rita tickets. Didn't get our fingers on the booking button quick enough. of Beachy

Herbs we have had untold problems with BT Internet ..but DH used to work for BT and manages to growl and bite at a few people in high places to get things sorted. They even sent us a partial refund over the most recent problem when BT Yahoo kept locking me out of my emails...like every day...
Insist they "escalate" the complaint. I believe this is the word to use for it to get to People In High Places.

I too rarely have peeps to stay...even though I was brought up in a house where we were never devoid of houseguests. MrsS you are a saint.

Hope CV's speech has gone well! Tilly good news re knee. Hope the swelling continues to go down. auriga sorry for stress. Hope you're ok. MI yes, photo....

I am beached on the bed having come back from my nieces coming of age ceremony, which included a celebratory breakfast, service and then lunch back at DB and DSILs house. It was all rather lovely but one has had a diet holiday and is suffering for it. Feeling bloated and a bit sick. Am due at my singing teachers annual summer soirée tonight...if I can hobble there. DH hates it so I'm going on my own. He doesn't seem to like that we all sing...or maybe he's ashamed of me.

Drove D to her rehearsal, had hour to kill, fell asleep in car, missed start of concert

So went back to sleep

Big talk this morning at conference in staggeringly posh hotel. Arrived early to check AV etc - nothing set up. My PowerPoint not on the computer (luckily had dongle). Told I could check it in coffee break before my talk, then previous speaker ran over & break postponed. Mic died on me repeatedly - out of battery. Got hoarse. Then had to sing. Was all ok but not what you expect amid so much marble & so many staff.

Thanks for encouraging words re work.

On lighter note, DD got distinction in her Grade 7 violin & is thrilled.

BD don't know what I'd do if DH away for 11 days. Was bad enough when he was in hospital.

MrsS sorry to hear about your friend. Grim way to leave life.

Crem as someone said on here, sometimes best way with teens is just to bow our heads and admit that we are wrong. Often.

Auriga well done to ur DD! And sorry that you had to contend with all that and give a speech.

Have been sitting in the sun at PIL. Was quite relaxing till DD had a row with her grandad about racism. Not entirely unconnected to the England flag blowing in the garden and the fact that he had necked 5 cans in 2 hours. We are going out to eat en famille soon...

Good luck BTM

Congratulations to the little Auriga. Must be fabulous to hear nicely played violin wafting through the house.

Tired with sunburnt feet!

Intend to nothing, zilch, nada. Tomorrow.....

Singing not bad.....ds's play was fab.

Solos went well. A consistently high standard was maintained .

We don't have people to stay, apart from MIL. Used to have families with similar aged dc for a night or two, so we could all get together easily and stay up late, so that was really sociable and fun for us (me) but not so relevant with older dc. I think I must be really bad at domestic stuff because I find it a vast amount of work - if I were paid for sorting our (small) house out for another family of four, a Premier Inn would be cheaper.

Well done, MI and MsAuriga. And Auriga for the conference.

BT - definitely escalation and also tweet them if they are not responding - see BTCare and its list of tweets and replies for how people do it.

Speech done - pheeew. Had to miss a chunk out because I hadn't compared notes with DSis and she told exactly the same story , but tbh everyone was fairly well oiled by then so no one noticed. I still hate giving speeches.....

Lovely party, weather perfect, caterers worked all sorts of magic, and garden looked amazing after all our hard toil with the festooning of fairy lights, balloons and party banners. DSM's choir sang a couple of numbers and DDad was well chuffed with his giant windmill cake (he runs one in his spare time).

DCs have now all crashed out on living room floor, and I'm about to bow out myself. Night all...

Well done CV!

About to head into town to try and find DD prom shoes...

Good luck BTM...

Well done on public engagements, MI and CV. And BD (were you singing?)!

We had a lovely day with an NCT couple that we've become particularly friendly with. He's the one who's on the telly now and then.

And then... A guy, who claims DP is one is his closest friends, and with whom we used to have lunch every month or so, and then they moved to Bristol, and we went to stay with them etc etc... They got married yesterday. We only know because the pictures are all over Facebook. Not only did they not tell us, we didn't get invited. And it wasn't just a family do - there are other friends there. DP is v hurt.

Also, low-carb advice please, CV and QQ. Last week, I did low-carbing, and have lost precisely no weight. I had nuts, yoghurt and fruit for breakfast; something like avocado, cheese and ham for lunch, and an omelette for dinner. A couple of squares of dark chocolate sometimes. Admittedly, the odd glass of red. When I did this before, about three pounds fell off. This time, I think I've put weight on! I'm hoping it's water retention, or similar, but it's a bit dispiriting...

Does she has some vision of what these mythical shoes must look like?! Tell her it's only a pair of shoes not the fricking holy grail. You have lashings more patience than I would have in the circs BTM.

Ds2 is infamous for not being able to buy shoes. I have spent many hours gritting my teeth as we try and all are rejected for no apparent reason and he won't even try any one as he 'knows they'll be horrid'. I now set a 5 / 6 / 7 shop limit in advance to preserve my sanity. We still often come home with no shoes but I haven't lost my temper like a toddler and fallen out with him.

Well done on speechifying (CV) and singing (MI) and play triumphs (Rose) and dd achievements (Auriga) and birthdays (Ms Stropps) and keeping your head (Crem) and patience in the face of provocation (Herbs) and anything I've overlooked...

Ds1 is 18 today (EIGHTEEN, XVIII) which seems pretty unbelievable. He is still asleep, doesn't want "a whole load of stuff" or to "make a big fuss". So it's out to lunch just the four of us, a m and s Colin the Caterpillar birthday cake (requested every year over home made ) and a bunch of teenagers coming over later to hang in our garden and basement...

As the low carb bootcampers would tell you Herbs dark chocolate, nuts, fruit ad the odd glass of wine are for later, not for starting out if you want to kick start some weight loss.

Are you drinking the prescribed gallons of water?

No fruit / nuts / choc/ alcohol. No dairy either if you want to be hardcore. Herbal tea / black coffee or almond milk to avoid lots of milk intake.

Lots of green veg / salad. Omelette for breakfast, salad with chicken legs / ham / avocado etc for luch, meat and veg for supper. Eggs, creamy sauces, fry ups all fine...

Oh god, really? How tedious. I had read something online which said 100-150g of carbs a day, OK for not getting fat; 50-100g OK for gradual weight loss; under 50g a day for drastic weight loss. And that certain nuts, yoghurt, etc would be OK and keep me in the 50-100g a day area. And that 'ketosis' is a myth.

And no - not nearly enough water, considering the heat as well.

But I think I may pick and choose what I want to believe, which may or may not account for lack of weight loss!

My friend in choir (who admittedly is 15 years younger than me) just cut out usual carbs, and wasn't strict, and has lost about two stone.

Right. Back to assignment.

I'd let DD go on her own BTM.......

I am knackered.. Lack of sleep during the week and too much sun yesterday..... Once ds's friend has gone I might amble to the nearest cafe for tea and cake. Then I intend to read the paper and maybe amble up the road for a pint around 5.30ish.

Herbs yes I sing, but not in a proper choir like you and other Crepeys...

And :( re Dps 'friend' - that's crap....

QQ Coiln is awesome and standard b'day cake here too...