Summertime...and the Crepeys are easy

[motherinferior]

With much love to BD.

(We are going to county cork btw in frugal manner.)

I have to say - unsympathetically and unhelpfully - that if the only open day is when you are away, she's going to have to go on her own. Also surely you can't take huge amounts of time off work to schlepp up and down the country with her?

(Bear in mind that I am currently working backachily in a house full of sleeping teenagers so I am not feeling sympathetic to the species and I'd be quite happy to put them all to work in a coalmine today.)

WAF, spa? [watching forecast grimly].

MrsS, most not, no (but worth checking). Offer-holder Open Days in the spring (on weekdays in term time AFAIK). For dd (also JH) we had to do some early starts to fit in both the subject talks. I agree with BTM about going on your own. Re using a space - it depends how aspirational your choices are vs your predictions, IMO - you only need two offers you are happy with in the end.

at ferocious small mammal. I don't think I'd have slept but not sure they could leave - they are in Scotland in a bit where you can't wild camp and the bothy was the only option I think. The beasties appear to be extinct in England thank god.

MrsS some go for some courses. But I think it's rare?

My periods are in a mess due to the HRT I am currently trying (Kliovance containing notheristerone). V dark spotting daily. Plus plumetted libido and constant low-level grump as opposed to PMT. I think I will go back to GP and say it's no working for me and try another/go back to original as I was still having periods and maybe my body doesn't like them being suppressed?

Sorry, I meant some interview for some courses - not just Oxbridge. But rare I think.
MrsS could your DH or her sister go with her if no frinds/you cant? It's just for moral support/ having someone to chat to really.

And NU, I meant to congratulate you on your long marriage too. I think a few of us could do with your top tips

Just had a wee snooze. DH is snoring.

Leamington Spa is rather nice. I did my MA at Warwick - I didn't live there as I just stayed living in Oxford and travelled up a couple of times a week - and I know one or two academics there but they are all specialise in 19th century Indian history or suchlike.

Right, I've done my chunk of novel, now I'm going to write a feature. It's also Tuesday when my mother's sister rings from Canada. She's about 82 and both her younger siblings have died. My lovely Indian cousins chat to her frequently so I've volunteered to do the same (she used to talk to my mother on a Tuesday too). I think my sister has taken on our aunt the French nun...

Hatty its bucketing. As we say in NI!! Only joking! Our lovely hostess has provided us with giant brollies and a raincoat for me. Dh ignored all advice and brought his anyway!! Oh I couldn't care less. We are in Paris and I'm happy. Dh is still asleep but I'm up, coffee on and ready to sally forth. It was very oppressive last night, and I got my telltale headache which is a storm / downpour predictor . I think I would be permanently cross eyed in BTMs part of the world.
Our little apartment is spic and span, overlooking a lush little garden. We slept fitfully because of the heat.

Re uni open days. I would recommend the following. The course is top of the heap. Only pick courses you absolutely can visualise yourself doing. Research and ask questions on The Student room etc.
Next would be location . Do you want town or campus stylee. Where do students live, halls or shared flats. What do halls look like? Again check student room for reviews and scores.
Then city. All important. Do not apply for anywhere where you can't see yourself being for three years.
Even you insurance choice, cos if it all goes tits up, you might end up there. When you've got a top three, arrange a few visits to suit yourself. How long does it take to get there from home? Are you ever going to get home for a weekend? Etc. Finally go with gut feeling if offers are plentiful.

More from the French capital later. Shopping today. Our lovely hostess left me a birthday gift of Occitane goodies ( far too kind) so we will reciprocate with something inspired ( ????) also plied us with Poiret on arrival. Some people are so nice.

Dps dept always interview - practical subject.....

I am of all these holidays.......

Yes NU. Marriage tips please. And congratulations :)

I am getting tough on my offspring, who have risen from their beds amazed that I’ve been at my desk for so long. Yes, dear children, please empty the dishwasher, take YOUR laundry upstairs, put some clothes in the machine and turn it on…and yes, YOU go and get DD2's saxophone from the shop up by St Pancras (OK, it’s not that close to St Pancras but they can get there quite easily). I didn’t drop said instrument. You are unlikely to get lost. Think of it as an adventure.

Hello Crepeys currently lounging in lovely little 3rd floor apt in old bit of Girona. Vvv pretty and lots and lots of steps but dh doing well. I've already been out fr coffee and wander but and now we contemplating culture and lunch. Weather wonderful as in v hot and sunny butwith breeze. dd last heard from arriving in kuala lumpur.

Re universities - dd didn't visit sheffield where she ended up but already knew it. visiting Sussex was enough to tell her she didn't want campus and Nottingham that she wanted certain sort of city life. Easier for her as she wasn't so fussed about exact nature of course

Pine marten Lalsy?. Great story for after

Lalsy, I did actually lol at the updates from the bothy. I would be delighted to share space with some pine martens, but then I am very fond of such critters. When my dm asked what I wanted for my 16th bday, I said I wanted a pair of ferrets. Needless to say, I didn't even get one. And I think that request actually sealed my fate in terms of being sent to Colditz boarding school. The closest I have ever got to having a luffly ferret was when I rescued a beautiful white one that was skipping about in the road after escaping from a house and I kept it until I managed to track down the owner. You can keep them free range in a house, you know, but they have to be trained to use special litter trays or they spray all up the walls. Also, soz, but pine martens are alive and well in the New Forest.

Beachy, glad the girls are back on track with their hols, but sorry to hear about ds. Hope he manages to engage with whatever help is on offer.

I have no wisdom to offer about university visits, except to say that some teens just simply won't manage to do the visits by themselves. This was a huge problem for us, as dd would only go with me, and as I wasn't able to make myself available or, quite frankly, to afford some of the trips (many of them take 2 days from where we are), well, she didn't go. She was also pretty ill for much of the key time when she should have been doing uni visits, so that didn't help any. I dragged her to Lalsy's dd's place of study, as that's only an hour or so from us, but it just made her cry, and made me feel a bit desperate. So I am no position to offer any sensible advice on the subject at all.

WAF, ah, I had suspected as much re: pokemon. Ds keeps muttering about needing to go down there. We only live 8 miles away, but I always find it rather a depressing trial to go there at this time of year. Maybe it will be less so if I keep looking at the pokemon rather than anything else.

MI, good luck with getting tough on the offspring. I can do that with ds, but had no luck with dd in that dept after she turned 14. She would rather either not get dressed or would buy new clothes rather than being arsed with washing her own. She is supposed to be earning some cash this summer being an Avon rep , but her manager aka colourful gender-fluid bff, keeps messaging me about trying to get her to do anything.

Crem and addle, so glad to hear you are both ensconced in lovely holiday accommodation. Have lots of fun!

I was helped by one of the lovely friends who's been here for a sleepover, who said cheerily to DD1: "You did Duke of Edinburgh, this'll be easy". Quite.

I am distracting myself from of holidaying Crepeys by once again looking longingly here.

Stropps, no ferrets crossing this threshold, spraying or otherwise, thanks very much . Give me the heebie-jeebies, scurrying furry things do. at boarding school punishment for being inclined towards the beasts though.

Crem - in Paris and happy - that made me smile for you.

Addle, hurrah, sounds lovely!

Maybe less need to visit lots of unis if doing big SH course (like wot your dd did, addle) as each one has loads of options anyway? Think/hope ds will fall into that camp too. Visits are quite anxiety inducing I think - dd behaved as if stark naked with a massive red beacon on her head flashing "idiot". Even ds showed a bit of hesitancy.

MI, YYYYYYY to sending them off to do stuff like that. Brilliant for independent skills blah blah blah.

It actually feels like autumn here!

MI - You are right to get tough - I'm doing it with 17 and 14 year old (it's not working very well). But ... DS says he's cooking tonight and has come up with a list of expensive ingredients which I shall have to go and fetch with him.

We have succumbed. Central heating has gone on - just for an hour as it's so damp & chilly.

FFS - It's August.

I hate this climate - if I could persuade DH I'd leave pudding island for ever for somewhere more temperate.

Well I'm in Paris MM and it aint much better - I blame Crem - I think she's brought a slice of Northern Ireland with her

If I went I'd be going a lot furter South than Paris (or even France), hatty

My honest opinion re Uni visits is that if you have the sort of teenager who needs cajoling / lacks confidence / is anxious / is a bit lacking in oomph (i.e. like most? a lot? of them) it is a good idea to help them research and plan and go with.

So, with ds1 I went to numerous Uni open days - 6 in total! Most of them were on a weekend and with rail tickets booked as far in advance as poss not completely financially crippling. For him he needed someone to discuss it all with, help him compare them, think about what it might be like to actually live there etc.

Now going through it again with ds2 and he's completely different - doesn't want me to go with him or help him much with the whole process but has been to a fair few himself and has done quite a lot of research - he has been to 3 so far with 2 more planned...

So it's horses for courses imo but some dc will need and want you to be quite involved. It's a big decision and a potentially expensive mistake (in more ways than one).

I've just had a quick look Rudy... where does he want to go?

Agree with you completely (of course). Yes, he should definitely go and have a look before committing. Definitely! How you make him persuade him is of course a whole different question.

I've just been told by ds2 "if you say you want to come to Exeter with me then I'm not going..." Ho Hum.

PM me if you want to give more details than on your other thread on here?!

MM, see my photos on fb

GGG, gotta love that attitude!

Rudy, I'm going to hunt it down. DD may possibly go on 2 or 3 but only if friends do too. Or me I guess. As DH will be too busy with his VIJ.