29 crepes a leaping.......

[magimedi]

Well, I've grabbed the bull by the horns & am leaping into the new thread........

Felt very sad no one else had started one whilst I scoffed dined.

If no one like the title I am more than happy to have it deleted & go with anything else.

DH has taken over the catering for the month of February......... the food is good but the angst is another matter

I have a new favourite gin, called Silent Pool. Apparently made from water drawn from the pond of the same name, which is just outside Guildford. And the distillery is powered by burning wood from nearby forest. And it's in a very attractive pale blue bottle....oh, I'm a sucker for a bit of marketing. Tis a nice drop of gin, though.

Rose, please don't waste any more of your emotional energy on this irritating trustee.

Well, I did the honourable thing this morning, and got up early to drive DD1 through the winding lanes, dodging cyclists, to drop her off at Leith Hill for her hike. This meant I had time when I got back for a lovely pampering bath. I slapped some Elasticizer on my hair while the bath was running, and popped downstairs to find a magazine....unwittingly treating next door's builder (who was up a ladder) to the sight of me wearing nothing but a pair of pants and a huge floral shower cap. I'm sure it put him off his breakfast.

Anyway, I have Things To Do today (more job applications, eBay), so I need to get to it, tempting though it is to stay in the sunshine on the sofa....

MrsS, you need to try Little Bird for the purposes of your research into gins. Infact, many of us locals could help you!
And what a shame I'm off to DM's early on Wednesday or I would have been able to meet up with you for a gin coffee if it's my local hospital.

Rose, I third walking away.

CV I am of you planning your Cali itinerary. I soooooo want to go.

Surprisingly no hangover this morning after copious fizz and not getting in till 1 this morning. Have got a couple of cakes in the oven and I am praying that they cook before we need to leave for DS's footy match. In 15mins

There was quite a long bit on BBC radio Sussex, on Friday, about Silent Pool, with its head distiller.

Oh cross-posts, MI Luckily no one will be suggesting I sing at DM's funeral!

CV At least you had pants and a shower cap on No sunshine here, but maybe there will be where we are going. In Surrey.

Oh, MI . You are being the most amazing daughter, you do know that don't you?

You're all indisputedly right. I have walked away. Thing is I have nothing to walk away to. but hey. Tomorrow is another day.

mi that is distressing to read. I agree that singing with a lump in ones throat is damn near impossible. Wot lalsy said. Amazing.

CV best you made his day. Assuming he didn't fall off the ladder of course.....

Bet not best

Rose, I'm not going to say tritely that something always comes up - not in this world of budget cuts (Guardian Society is the latest) but women are always having babies, dammit.

Am bolstered by your good thoughts. Though probably not as bolstered (sniggers at innuendo) as CV's builder (channels George Formby).

Well done, Rose. (make that your fave gin).

MI - we'll all be here for bolstering, whenever.

And having read your remark about CV's builder, isn't a bolster some kind of builder's tool ?

(Sorry, more innuendo!)

And had to go & google - never realised there were so many bolsters!

dictionary.reference.com/browse/bolster

Think we would all enjoy this place I saw on the way out of Zagreb. In case you can't see, it's called Gin Garden and then says A most unusual

that's it.

MI, you are indeed amazing

Went to see The Father with Kenneth Cranham. Fantastic performance but not sure I'd recommend it to any of us worrying about elderly DPs

Have found hospital letter. Must put it somewhere safe before it ends up on one of the many drifts of paper on every flat surface in this house. DD2 still ill in bed and not going back to school tomorrow. So no lovely quiet Sunday evening to myself as usual.

Have sorted out night out in Brussels tomorrow with friends. But now panicking about boss imposed deadline on Wednesday afternoon - I may have finished with the hospital in time, but what if I am mentally not in a good place after the appointment? I am going to have to ask one of my team to take it on and explain why. Maybe I will ask him to look at it first thing on Wednesday or start work on it on Tuesday so that all I need to do is hit send? That might be the better option.

Need a holiday - have had no time off since Christmas.

I think it is really sensible to ask a colleague to take it on
Has your boss still not approved your leave?

Here I spent the afternoon freezing whilst watching DS's team throw away a game they should have easily won. I hope my words of wisdom about his job as captain being not about blaming others, but trying to make sure that the team learns from it's mistakes have been soaked up! At least the winning team (including 2 of DS's good mates from school!) were beyond jubilant

BTM, no the leave allocation has not yet been authorised (and it's nearly March...). I've got round the £700 of outstanding claims by forwarding them to someone else (she approved small ones, like passport photos and a book, but not the bigger ones, despite them all going in together). She won't have realised yet as she never goes on the admin site, so there will probably be ructions about that. I was supposed to be on leave on Monday but had to cancel it as she decided she was going to be away all week. Will ask colleague to do what he can, although it is a subject he knows nothing about, and will call in favour from colleague in another team to check it. I am sure we can get round it, and that I am stressing unnecessarily, but I hate the fact that this has suddenly become my problem, when it has very little to do with me.

BTM - your captaincy thing puts me in mind of a slogan I read recently: 'a good manager makes you think he's important, a good leader makes you think you're important', or something like that.

Crepeys - near me is a dear place called Mothers Ruin, which distills its own gin. Some are flavoured. It also does lethal cocktails, some gin based. And once a month has a bingo night, hosted by two women in housecoats, called Gingo. It really is ripping. If anyone's game, sounds like an ideal place for a meet up.

Herbs, I LOVE the sound of that, all of it - especially the housecoats. Do they wear curlers?! When are we going?

Well done MI for steadfastness in the face of crap.

Mrs S - you poor thing on a 1001 fronts.

Spent most of the weekend at a Barmitzvah - 3 (three, III) and a 1/2 (half I/II) hours in synagogue yesterday with a 9am start and a party from lunchtime til seven today. Great fun but a bit of a marathon. Now reclining on sofa watching bad tv and drinking tea.

In gin related news at the party today there was a cocktail of gin, tonic, blood orange and tarragon. It was divine. Gin is definitely the business. Mothers' ruin indeed.

I don't like gin. Not even a little bit. I'll leave the gin drinking to all the other crepeys.
MI, you are truly being an amazing support to your parents. I fear that I would not manage to do even a tenth of what you are doing, were I in similar circs.
MrsS, you NEED some time off. And I do mean NEED. Am keeping everything crossed for you for Wed
Rose, the people in that organisation sound very peculiar. You really are better off without them. I hope something comes up for you soon workwise.
I have done quite a lot today and my back is hurting less. I have now been in pain every day with my sodding back for about 2 years and it is getting me down a bit. It wakes me up every night. This tends to make me even crabbier than I would be anyway. Which is, quite frankly, already pretty crabby. Still, I am working towards acceptance. Of the back pain and also the crabbiness.

I have a nice large Tanqueray 10 with Fever Tree tonic. Mmmm.

Spoke to my mother and told her about the biopsy. It couldn't possibly be serious or anything to worry about as they would have called me back the next day as they did with her cancer. Did I know that prawn sandwiches have gone up in Asda? She went on the Asda bus on Friday, left her bag on the bus by mistake but the driver came and found her with it. She always has a cup of tea with Doris, but sometimes Doris has a coffee and Bert often sits with them, and has a full English but he wasn't on the bus this week. And she never fancies making anything when she gets back, so she always buys a prawn sandwich, but they've gone up in price now...

Wanted to say, Oh Do Fuck Off You Self Absorbed Cow, but refrained. Not entirely sure why.

Nor me, MrsS but well done.

Stropps, is the two-job fun and games indefinite or is it a transition thing (sorry meant to ask you before and can't remember how close to FT NuJob is).

I have less gin than I thought so will havr to restock. I usually have it once week but do like a choice.....

I love gin! And housecoats

Stropps, glad your back is hurting less. and that you have done a lot today.

MrsS, how do you end up with these bosses?! Put yourself first, woman

MrsS sign yourself off until after Wednesday. You shouldn't be under this pressure....

Am irrelevantly delighted that the nice young lesbians on Call The Midwife have finally got themselves to the Gateways club, which I've been hoping they'd do for ages.

Oh and rose, Id be tempted, for the sake of closure, to write an email or letter putting your case, and that you now consider the matter closed. Then ignore further correspondence. You've been. Itching but reasonable, and they are a bunch of fucknoodles.

I have a hangover from drinking wine at lunchtime/afternoon/evening. Bedtime.

Ginfest sounds excellent! Count me in.

BTM - same here with DS's football. DS played his socks off, but they lost the match in the last few minutes. They won't win the league; might come second with the wind behind them, but this won't help.

Productive day here - have done some more job applications and a whole heap of laundry, and made some good eBay sales (the White Company jumper, which I bought in the charity shop in Cobham last week for £8, then changed my mind about, has sold for £31. Ker-chingg! Even the frankly hideous Chums-alike jumper which DMIL gave DH for Christmas has raised a few pounds).

Have belatedly realised that DD1's appointment at the fracture clinic tomorrow morning clashes with her Maths mock. She's decided she'd rather do the exam so I will have to reschedule the hospital. TBH, it's hardly worth going; she's long since cast aside the crutches and plastic boot, and seems to be absolutely fine. She survived the hike with nothing worse than a blister on her big toe, although she was rather hungry; her group failed to check if they had all the components of their cooking stove (they didn't), so had to forego their pasta lunch.

And my knee hurts! I slipped on some sand on the futility room floor, and did a massive impromptu lunge, landing heavily on my right knee. Ow ow ow.

Oh CV, hope leg/knee ok this morning.

Am also a gin refusenik I'm afraid. Used to love a g&t but suddenly went off it because of drinking a vat of it one night for no reason at all we used to drink it in my yoof because it lit up so very attractively under uv disco lighting . The height of 80s chic.

Ddad not too well yesterday. Very wheezy and breathless. Am q worried.