Crepeys of a consistently high standard

[Stropperella]

So there. :)

Nice hair the Herby one! Now dye it pink for the summer hols? I was thinking I might do something like that to annoy my family...

Surely education no worse than everything else really. 40% cuts everywhere? Seriously? Seriously?

Vote for Corbyn!

Oh yes BD. Try and detach from it if you can. It can't affect the outcome and you deserve a break from all the crap.

Has dd stopped weeping yet MI?

I dragged her out to the shops. And made her focus on Aldi's selection of potential lunch offerings. Then we pottered through Boots and bought eyeliner.

I am going to pour a glass of wine, dammit, it's 7pm. And I must produce supper. DD1's friend is here. I feel she needs a proper meal - her mum died last year and she and her dad and sister live in a rather tiny flat round the corner from here. I worry about her, a bit. So does DD1.

Provincial, Herbs? Not with that haircut!

Most of the Cotes I have seen have been outside London, but I walked past three (3, III) the other day, in the Smoke, which made me think they must be everywhere now.

I have the same difficulty with Lunch Food, MI. I have added crumpets to the stash, which they can have with cheese and tomato on top, popped under the grill.

Nice hair Herbs...

DIY holiday lunch options chez QQ.

Cereal (various choices, usually involving "choc" or "coco" as a prefix)
Pizza (customised to taste)
Bagels (available with savoury - toasted cheese, or sweet - nutella, toppings)
Omelette (various fillings from fridge)
Fried eggs on toast
Beans on toast
Toast (with or without butter)
Avocado mashed up on toast (chilli flakes / lemon juice to taste) - for aspiring hipsters
Pasta with pesto / oil and garlic / tomato sauce / cheese
Tuna / cannelini beans / red onion
Tuna / rice / sweetcorn
Instant packet noodles (customised)
Cake
Ice cream
Leftovers
Nothing.

I think 'ordinary' education - i.e. schools - will not be subject to the 40% cuts, whereas further education will.

I was plunged into a massive slough of despond last night with this latest brilliant wheeze of Gideon's. What does he think government is FOR, exactly? What will there be to actually govern? How about encouraging growth, rather than slashing slashing slashing. He makes my skin absolutely crawl with loathing.

Just back from an end-of-term late tea with DS, who chose tapas over our other more traditionally kid-friendly options of Pizza Express, Nandos, or Turtle Bay. That's my boy.

QQ, not forgetting the 'natwich' - the dampest thing in the fridge, sandwiched between two of the driest things in the fridge.

Nantwich, that is. cf Meaning of Liff.

That's fantastic Herbs, spot on. And just popping in to say I agree with everyone, about everything

An old fashioned toastie maker has a certain fascination for the yoofs of today. Yes, you can still get them, and has often, in this house, provided prandial sustenance. That , or porridge with toppings, various or indeed a folded £5 for wotsits and a blue milkshake a panini and cappuccino.

Bd hope your clearing off provides much joy and relief. Gawd knows

...you deserve it.
herbs I bet you look very fetching, but more importantly you like it which I think is a The Point

Sorry iPad vanishing end of post error again

Am struggling with wifi, as I am on a French campsite, but dd1 has discovered a whole gang of teenagers who hang on the beach and come in at 4am, ds has found two Belgium girls (?) with whom he and his mate can hardly converse, but they seem to be trying hard, and dd2 is fully engrained with a gang of girls who cycle round causing chaos. And the camper van is very uncomfortable!!!!

Beachy - sounds... umm... stressful?

QQ - you are brilliant. All mine eat (if left alone for the day) is biscuits and ice lollies. DD1 loves a project and would happily be "lunch monitor" if I gave her money to run up to Budgens.
Have collected new car. Everyone hates the colour (a sort of purpley-blue - I chose it, so have to pretend it's wonderful but I'm not mad about it if I'm honest). DS has worked out how to make it play the music from his iPhone, so he's happy. It has wing mirrors which fold themselves in, and a natty camera so you can see what you're reversing into. Happy days.

Gorgeous hairdo, Herbs.

Teen lunches - QQ is on the money. It has finally dawned on me that my dc are not actually hungry at a normal lunchtime in the hols, because they have got up late and had a leisurely breakfast in front of the tv.....They too peer into the fridge and say there is nothing to eat when confronted by Proper Food.

Bastard toriesforcorbyn - the timing of this announcement is carefully calculated IMO - I am betting on their plan being that come the autumn, they cut by much less than 40%, get good PR for somehow having saved us from that, while savaging the state, unopposed.

MI, I haven't tried those courses but will let you know if I do and have anything to say!

Beachy - you are very courageous. I sort of hope my holidays will get more comfortable as I get older. Your DC's seem to be having fun though!

I have completely lost my sleep rhythm from the south of France and now that it's cooler have discovered I am also having hot flushes! Am actually starting to feel sorry for DH who is not allowed to touch me at all. I expect I've got years off this to go. Will take sleeping tablet tonight through.

Like the meal ideas QQ - especially the cereal. We just throw bread, cheese, hummus, cherry tomatoes etc on the table.

Ah laydeez….thank you for the votes of confidence and the kind words. Actually, when I stopped being such a pathetic apology for a woman, I started really enjoying myself. There was this core of us service veterans, including our, then, secretary (whom I'll love forever for looking after me through two vomitous pregnancies and covering for me when I was hiding behind the photocopier, honking into the waste paper bin ) most of whom had left some time in the last 10 years or so, and we had a great time. My ex boss was also there, now a grandma and full of energy and funny stories….We have resolved to meet up again but I wasn't remotely tempted to get back in the saddle, when I looked at the current establishment…they were strung out, exhausted and old before their time. Yes NHS, I'm looking at you….

Great hair, Herbs…really suits you!

Beachy well at least they're not bored….and have made friends.

CV I also love my reversing camera…in addition to the parking sensor, on my car…never mind about the colour, eh…I do love the smell of new cars…

School holiday lunches…..yes…drives me mad too…Sushi is my latest…little packs of it from Tesco or M&S is quite good but very short sell by dates, so hard to stockpile... Strawberries and greek yoghourt seem popular chez nous. Pitta and houmous and anything dippable… when I'm being a Good Parent rare, I mix up a bowl of egg mayo and another bowl of tuna mayo for them to do with what they will. The reality is usually, crisps or huge bowls of breakfast cereal.

Today I am going on a visit to a maternity unit near QQ's neck of the woods. I have discovered there's zero parking but getting the tube will involve going into town and out again…so I am driving as far as I can get a parking space and then going on the bus.

Anyone heard from Tilly?

Sympathies, Hatty Hot flushes are pants...

And Stropps - where is Stropps?

I've established from my two that "there is nothing to eat" means that "there are no crisps, pretzels, salty snacks of any kind, biscuits, cakes or ice cream."

Rose - you always seem strong. lovely and have good advice and kind words for everybody. I cannot imagine you being a pathetic apology of a woman!

I do think it is a shame that many of us take so long to have confidence in ourselves. I now say - I'm 50, I don't have to do this if I don't want to. Is this the origin of the grumpy old woman...?

On the money re Proper Food v snacks. And the late breakfast. DD1 carefully composed herself a delicious breakfast of bananas and strawberries, followed by scotch pancakes with nutella.

I think my cardinal sin was running out of fish fingers . Which can easily be rectified.

Ah,Hatty , thank you...but so many of us hide a vulnerability, don't we.... But I do agree with you about it getting easier to refuse to do things as we get old. Viva the grumpy old woman I say...

What did we do before the invention of fish fingers....in pre diet days, DH and I have been known to order a children's meal in a caff so that we could have them too...

I am sitting in the hospital coffee shop having got here unbelievably quickly. I am resolving to use buses more!

Actually, I think a fish finger is only 2 sins on slimming world....

Mmmm..... fishfingers.

Most successful morning. Took DS to his first one-to-one swimming lesson, and he loved it! Can't wait to go back! The backstory to this is he took a crash course with a class about 18 months ago, and got 'the fear' after he saw that the teacher had let go. Ever since, he has refused lessons, saying he wants me to teach him. Naturally, when I do try to teach him he ignores what I say. So, I thought a half-way house would be one-to-one lessons. And I was right!

V posh gym/swimming pool arrangement, too. Though he had to get out of the pool early as someone was sick in it. A baby, I'm assuming.

Re hair, still love it, though in that stage one gets with a new 'do' of trying to work out how to style it after a wash. It's gone a bit bouffy, as I blow-dried it. Tomorrow, leave to dry, perhaps with some 'product'...