Crepe And Stormy

[Cremo]

Over here Crepemunks!
Hope no one else has started one

MI {{ }}

So sorry it's so grim.

I gave up after driving test number five......

Actually Magi the forecast for the uk over the next few days seemed to suggest Arctic air...

I am loitering in a cafe near a north west London driving test centre. DS is on the road as I type. Poor bugger.

Mum back in bed. This is one of the not so good days, it's clear. GP - who came out last night to see her and also say hello to me after I did my meltdown in her office last week - says she's clearly very glad both DSis and I are here.

Am getting on with work in desultory fashion.

I'm glad the GP is visiting, and that there are carers around MI. You aren't alone and Crepeys are here at the other end of cyberspace with virtual support and hugs. Xxxxxxx

Failed but upbeat about it.

And remember, for a crepey in a crisis, it's never too early for wine.

Sorry for self indulgence in your time of need, MI.

MI you are in the right place. Your description of the conservatory started a little tear.

I am unreasonably devastated by the loss of Victoria Wood. Dps took me to see her in 1980 and I remember everything about that night. We have been chatting about it this am. Both of the poor dps are in bed looking grey and hot. I think they have finally given in to the virus now I'm here and they don't have to worry about making food.

MM hope you can enjoy the holiday regardless of weather.

BD and Mrs S, it's a shocker how incompetent people populate the space above. We have one manager with absolutely no purpose on about £60 grand a year. She floats about going to meetings and redirecting all the complaints and queries she is supposed to be responsible for , back to us. Makes me sick to the stomach.
Herbs, do not doubt your abilities . You are supremely good at teaching and what's more you Care. Do not let the people who are supposed to give support undermine that. They are the ones failing you.

Off to make nourishing barley soup.!

Ooh barley soup sounds good Crem - just the thing for ailing folks.

Magi - it's been so beautiful here and forecast 22°C in the Alps today but I suspect this is the end as it is a bit hazy today. I haven't seen the long range weather forecast. I'm rushing machines through so I can line dry stuff before the weather breaks.

I passed my driving test on the third attempt - quite glad to have found you MI

they are lovely chicken recipes. I love chicken & could eat it a few times a week.

I am in not sunny Girona. I was misled by the weather app on my phone telling me that this part of spain would be warmish. I only had an hour to pack & have seriously misjudged the temp. It is cold & I'm looking out the window at Massimo Dutti waiting for it to open.

So sorry that things are so bad with DM, MI. (((hugs))) and Thinking about you at this difficult time (and remembering own DM, again).

Crem, barley soup sounds wonderful and sustaining. Both you and MI are wonderful daughters.

MM, here in the frozen north it is 14 degrees - have actually arrived in York and am sitting in the Holiday Inn awaiting friends who will arrive before 1.30. DDiL was amazed I had known one friend for 40 years when we met at ante natal classes who were born in the same hospital on the same day almost 40 years ago. I hope your trip goes well and enjoy the time with PFBGD - the weather really doesn't matter.

Herbs, the college sounds very depressing. Good luck with your plans.

Lalsy, may have the linkee, too, please?

Just to make you feel bad, Hatty and MI,I passed my driving test first time when I was 17 (before DDad!). And DH passed his first time after just one lesson. Sorry about DS, Rose.

Not self-indulgent Herbs. It sounds bin-jumpingly frustrating.

I passed my driving test first time too NU. I'm very proud to this day and every time I think how I flunked my O and A levels (still don't have maths) I think about my driving test.

All the trousers in my Baukjen order went back. V meh. I know it is possible to cut trousers to flatter my overhanging stomach - my Sisley black skinnies do a great job.

Crem - I have been having my wicked way with Zalando, thanks for the link. A couple of jersey blazers are great.

There is indeed much good daughtering going on. I spent a lot of time with my mum while my sister was away. She needs rather a lot doing for her. Help in shower etc. I noticed how enraged I was with the DC's domestic shortcomings when I came back from a session at hers.

Rightly so WAF, rightly so.

I learned to drive at 17 and felt appallingly rushed so never sat a test at that age. Waited until 6 years later post-academia, during which I used public transport and . Probably all the walking and planning of journeys kept me fitter and more street than a car would. Take solace from that Rose, if you can. DS will get there, but some of the young'uns just aren't ready. Dd scared the shit out of herself during a lesson and never went back. Still has no interest, and rides her bike instead, which I am delighted about, as it means at least some fresh air and exercise.

Mum and dad not much improved from yesterday and showing frustration about same. I had to tie them down so they would let me cook lunch and make dinner for reheating later. Have come home to garden a bit , but actually just putting my face up to the sun. As NU says it is but 14 degrees, but that passes for high summer in NI.
Pilates later and drop of mixed and rather meh birthday gift for dsis, who is studiously trying to ignore being 47.

Mi hope things are ok.

Soup veg are available here in little twists of newspaper and usually consist of parsley, celery tops, a carrot a leek and a few scallions if you are lucky.its not glamorous or amazing , but full of peasant style nourishment and perfect if you are ill and can't keep much down. The barley is non negotiable, but everything else can be improvised.

We call it Soup Veg Soup NI Stylee

Ingredients
• 1.5litres of vegetable or chicken stock
• 60g dried soup mix (lentils/peas/barley)
• 350g fresh soup vegetables (carrots, leeks, soup celery and parsley)

Method
1. Add the stock to a large saucepan
2. Rinse the dried soup mix and add to the stock
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Wash and chop the fresh soup vegetables and add to the stock
5. Cook until vegetables are tender
6. Season to taste

DS hated driving when he had lessons at 17 & reused to carry on. He didn't learn again until his (now) DW moved in with him & then learnt, took test & passed it in a few months - in France. He was about 28/29 by then.

MM - I am the failure of the family with regards to driving. My three siblings all passed first go.

Barley soup looks a comforting thing Crem.

I had 25% off at the perfumerie here so bought DD2 posh lipstick to ease the pain of revision (I might also have bought one for myself). The young uns are favouring matt dark blood red at the moment it seems.

< punches air > One of my courses (the one with two lessons) has been postponed from next week until the one after. If we don't get more enrolments, I suspect it will once again be postponed indefinitely. Takes one kind of pressure off!

I passed my driving test first time. [smug] And the examiner said I was a 'nice little driver'. [double smug]

DP spent many of his formative years living in London, so never felt the need, then some more formative years being ferried about. He sadly still doesn't feel the need...

Further smuggery - DS's school got an Ofsted outstanding rating yesterday. For what it's worth!

DS has rebooked for July. I'm laid back about it all (We all passed second time under this roof...) but another driver in the family might have been welcome. (Not the hike in the insurance premium, though!!!

Crem My paternal grandmother was Polish and barley soup was a staple especially when one was ill. Nothing better...on par with the inevitable chicken soup I guess. I do wish your Parents better. Pleurisy is painful.

A day of driving test, revision and the usual shite. DD has been good and done two maths past papers and 2 French Reading and Understanding papers, the latter duly marked by DS who is a hard bugger but a very good teacher. I have managed to fit in some work prep for a session I'm teaching next month...new, so nothing to fall back on that I can copy and paste. DD and I have just been walking again...trying to do 3-5K every day after revision. BUT I am in the mire of Passover preparation and although I do less and less each year it's a bind. And the matzo gives me a bad bottom. Boo.... Nevertheless I have made a non wheat chocolate cake which uses potato flour. Hopefully it doesn't taste like the usual sweetened foam rubberised offering that is most passover cakes

Sorry about DS, Rose....but he'll be a better driver when he eventually passes. I did pass first time, despite very little driving experience due to the fact that I was at boarding school. I did the last half of the test with only one eye open, after getting dust under my contact lens. My examiner was an avuncular chap who assumed I was weeping with nerves, patted me on the knee, and said, "don't worry, dear, you've passed".

MI, Crem, they may not say it, but I'm certain your DPs are grateful for your presence. I have no experience of nursing my elders, but it must be tough for you and them.

DQ - enjoy your (chilly) break - a good opportunity to buy more clothes, surely?

Herbs - don't be disheartened. At least you have a week to regroup.

I have at long last installed some more memory/storage in my phone - it has been furiously working through the backlog of app updates for the last ten minutes. It will be so lovely to be able to take a photo without deleting something else first. Why does it take me so long to get around to doing something so straightforward which is going to make such a difference? (see also painting bathroom, filing paperwork, opening ISA, doing car boot sale......repeat ad infinitum).

Oh ffs, Prince has died at FIFTY SEVEN. Enough.

CV, I know! I got my phone sorted today at the shop. Loads more storage has appeared, battery lasts longer, phone works faster. Taken me months.

Wow- this is a really bad year to be famous.

Rose sorry about DS. DD1 wanted to do an intensive course in the summer but didn't realise she has to do the theory first.

O M G the soundtrack of my A'levels -Purple Rain. I can't believe it.

DD1 went "WHAT??! The Prince has died??" imagining some tragedy had befallen little George.

It's quite sobering that she didn't really know who Prince was, and only recognised Victoria Wood from Celebrity Bake Off.

MI, I am thinking of you a lot.

And Crem, you are doing some sterling work. So sorry to hear that both of your parents are really poorly.

The aged parents mentioned on this thread are very well looked after and have very lovely daughters.

I am dropping in with some inconsequential witterings. Tonight, I must construct a Socrates costume for Ancient Greece day at ds's school. I must find a white sheet (not that easy in the mess of my linen cupboard) and a Father Christmas beard. And customise an "urn" with a Greek label saying "hemlock". It is possible that this would all have been significantly easier if I had not just sweated out 10% of my bodyweight at circuits and then replaced said bodyweight with fizzy wine (Thursday is the new Friday - I'm not teaching tomorrow). Buggeroo.

Dd continues to be a jolly source of unpredictable excitements (ha!) and is really vvv good at swearing these days. I have only had one phone call and 2 emails from the school this week, so that counts as a quiet week. Today she received a parcel from a university to cheer her up. They sent her some protein flapjacks, some teabags and some headphones so that she could listen to the "revision playlist" on their website. Isn't is just fab to find out how they're spending their money It is clear that they must have had only 2.5 people applying, so are desperate for business. Either that, or they are a bit mad.

ps: I totally win the prize for number of attempts at the UK driving test. It took me 6 attempts over a 12 year period. Which is why dd was Little Miss Smuggington when she passed 1st time after a mere 15 lessons. But now we have car battles and my luffly new-to-me little car already has a battle-scarred look about it.