HGG

Rhubarb! I *knew* there was something I'd forgotten!!!!! I used to grow that at my old house. I meant to dig it up and bring it with me as I only had the one crown, but in the haste of moving I forgot about it. Hey ho - the kids'll love another trip to the garden centre later. I'm spending far too much money on compost, tubs and the like! What happened with the brocolli? What have you planted so far this year?

Already thought of that in my original post:- I know it's expensive but it's probably worth it. They're very moveable by the looks of it - I can take them with me if I move house, move them if I decide to change things round in my garden, pass them on if they're still in good enough condition when my kids are too old for it, etc. Those mice can just sod right off! ANYBODY caught touching my strawberries will have me to deal with! *puts out traps by strawberry pots, sets alarm for when garden centre opens in the morning*

I've dredged this thread up from the deepest darkest depths in which it had gone into hiding. Reason for that is that I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. The garage is still standing in the garden with me having spent the last three months pratting about not making my mind up what to do. However, I'm going to get hold of an electrician this week to come and disconnect the electricity from the garage safely - best not leave it to me or my family to sort as I'd like us all to live to see another day! The garage can then come down and I'll be getting some of those playground tile thingies to go over the concrete foundations, possibly with a low fence round it; a. to stop my toddler falling down the step onto the other area I want to sort out and; b. because I think it'll look good B) . Anyway, the reason I'm so pleased with myself just now is that we planted some veg recently from seed and everything's got seedlings now. When I went out there this morning there were no signs of anything in the pot where we'd put the sprouts - however, by this evening there were several small seedlings. We've gone from having just three of the tiniest carrot seedlings this morning to now having about ten noticeable ones. Our swedes have several seedlings which weren't there this morning too, about a dozen tomato seedlings have appeared and become an inch tall over the weekend and there are three times as many flowers on our strawberry plants as there were when I left for Glasgow on Friday! The only things now at risk are the shallots and spring onions which desperately need repotting into something an appropriate size before they croak it in this heat. Everything's in pots because my garden is all concrete/flags/decking. I reckoned I'd have killed everything by now! This all came about because I decided I'd let the kids have a go at doing a potato plant each. I'm still awaiting delivery of the seed potatoes . For those of you who don't want boring with my progress when I get over-excited - I'd recommend staying out of this thread!

Seconded. The relationship part , the distance part . 1. She can't join them in smoking. 2. She can't join them in drinking. Take your pick!

Don't have nightmares........... Sleep well. B) Trains. It's no wonder so many people still rely on cars to get them places instead of using public transport! I've been trying to organise my trip to Glasgow next weekend and am ending up having to drive up there, which I'm not keen on. I like getting the train up - it's easy, convenient and means that I can sleep en route! However, there is no train home after 5.40pm. What use is that when I need to get back after the match on Saturday??? Flippin useless, I tell you! Still, my car will take me any time I want it to which is convenient at least . I'm just not looking forward to that horrible stretch of M6 after Carlisle (I think - or is it just before?) with no lighting and it'll be pitch black by the time we're driving down there. Hopefully it won't be pelting down with rain to reduce visibility further this time. What's up with putting lights up at the side of the motorway anyway?

Makes sense if you think about it. You don't exactly want increased blood flow to an area which is alreay inflamed! I used Deep Heat once years ago on my knee - can't remember what I'd done to it now but I do remember the burning sensation and awful pain when the damn stuff didn't seem to want to stop heating up and there was nothing I could do to make it stop! Never touched it since.

Decisions. I can't make them. I just can't. I missed my turn in the queue when they were handing out decisiveness - got in the numpty queue by mistake. I've decided that a laptop would be very helpful. Specifically, a Dell laptop. Spoke to a friend tonight who's some sort of technical computer whiz type guy - can't remember his job title, it's too technical for me! Anyway, he said to go on the Dell website and there are entry-level laptops which start at £201 but with a few extras, case, etc, I could get for £250. He's about to buy one for his wife. That sounded rather odd to me bearing in mind the prices I'd seen on the website but what the hell do I know when it comes to computers. Nothing daunted, I scoot to the Dell site and sure enough they start at £349. Unfortunately I've now spent yet *another* rather confused (it doesn't take much ) and unhappy hour looking at all the specs and wondering what on earth they actually *mean* and what they'll do for my laptop. I just don't get it! So yet again I've logged off the Dell site despairingly, still without purchasing anything. I've had this trouble the last few times I've tried. At this rate I'll never actually manage to buy one.

Two out of my three children were in rotten moods tonight. My daughter whined and complained at me constantly from 5pm till I put her in bed just now. By the time I'd put the boys to bed and gone back to check on her she was flat out . I'm exhausted after all the whining, complaining, tanting and screaming the two of them flung at me though. It doesn't help that I already feel like I've been hit by a bus and I've taken the last of my antibiotics tonight .

I have horrible pain in my chest to go with the chest infection that started last week and I'm still stuck with. I'm going to have to go back to full doses of all my inhalers to try and stabilise my asthma again. Not my idea of fun. I hope it settles down quickly.

A few days, that's all I've been gone yet in that time this place appears to have gone up the wall! What on earth happened to xbl? Was it the music? Did it finally get to him?

I can well imagine! Different for me though. It's handy being able to reply in my own time, unlike on the phone. And, when she doesn't unplug her webcam and then spend months insisting it's not working because my dad's broken it , it means the kids can speak to her without me having to referee over whose turn it is. It also means I can contact her very late at night/into the morning without worrying about waking her up. Plus if I'm going to bed early I can just message her telling her not to phone as she'll wake me .

No-one's ever said either of those things to me on MSN. However, I did manage to wake a friend AND his three year old daughter a few weeks ago by Skyping them. His wife was showing as logged on and it turns out their computer is in the bedroom. Pair of numpties! I appear offline or mark myself busy if I don't want contacting for a while, but my mother ignores those things and messages me anyway "just to see" if I'm there. That gets on my nerves. If I'm lurking offline it's for a reason - I don't WANT to be contacted!

Why is it that on the nights when I'm sad and lonely and need cheering up all you decent P&Bers take your ball in and bugger off with your amusingness, yet on nights like tonight when I desperately need to go to bed I can't because of the lure of all your witty posts and amusement flowing forth???

Adam

I have a friend from Barnsley who lived in Gloucester. I'd been teasing her three year old daughter a couple of weeks ago and told her to put her "tongue" away as she was sticking it out at me. Poor girl didn't have a clue. She thinks it's a "tung" (clipped G - almost a silent one). Bloody ridiculous accent! My misery's not so bad now. I've got my kids back, put them to bed, had nothing but good behaviour from all three of them. Elise even asked to practice writing her name and then tried really hard, managing a near perfect "e" instead of just messing about with it like she sometimes does. Sam read his school book perfectly and Scott didn't tant at me when I left him but played nicely upstairs till I went back to change his nappy and give him more milk. It sounds like he's gone to sleep now. I got my long-awaited cuddle, have had a brew, phoned Mr HGG and am hoping for a better day tomorrow. Great that you've got the painting done. No spillages this time?

That one's worse when you run upstairs, get to the 12th step and realise you have no idea what you've gone up for, stand there for a minute, fail to remember then go back downstairs. As you walk through the door to the living room you remember, but have forgotten again by the time you get halfway back up. Bloody addled brain! My petty nag - I'm a wee bit fed up just now. There's plenty here that I *should* be doing, but I've had such a shocking weekend that I've lost all motivation. My kids will be home in a couple of hours and I can't wait for some fab cuddles!

Bloody lightweight. I'm in Glasgow from Thursday and will be travelling to Dundee for the match on Saturday. For what, I'm not quite sure! But if I can be arsed with all that then what on earth are you playing at? Get yerself off to support your team man!

Hey - he called me fat and got away with it! How's that taking him for granted? Appreciating them and being treated like shit by them are two different things. Only one of those things is appropriate.

My father. Again! He called round this afternoon - it's almost unheard of for him to come here at all, but at least he didn't bother to stay long enough to sit down and he still had nothing to say to me, so I didn't keel over from the shock of him turning up. How is it he always manages to arrive at the worst times - when the house is at its worst and I'm harrassed? No wonder he has the opinion I'm a lazy cow . Anyway, that's not today's moan... No. Today he was here for about four minutes. Pretty much long enough to look at my stomach and say "you're getting fat" before sodding back off again, probably to get himself a pie on the way home - it would seem he hasn't quite eaten them all himself yet.

Black pudding is bogging - as is the slimy, mushy, ten day old looking, sludge they have the cheek to call peas. That's another word I've never heard used here - "bogging". What the hell were you expecting to find when you got to Lancashire? I fear you were confusing Blackburn with Rochdale. Two areas in Rochdale have come out top in unemployment polls apparently with 74% of the population being unemployed . Sounds about right for round here.

Have you never been in an English chippy before? We don't like to help ourselves along heart-attack road so much that we have to have everything in batter ...and another point - it's not a "sausage supper" down here. Ask for that and you'll get blank looks. It's "sausage and chips". I'd never heard of an anything supper at a chippy before I was up Glasgow two years ago and Mr HGG asked if I wanted one. I hadn't a clue what he was on about!

Worse than that is when they put the change in your hand but with grubby paws which they then touch your hand with. Makes me heave!

I was lying in bed with my baby beside this morning me trying to put off the inevitable of having to get up and come downstairs to do breakfast when there was this almighty crashing of metal from my sons' bedroom. I jumped up and ran through to check my other son (nearly 6 yrs old) was ok, only to find him sat up on his bed looking forlornly at the metal tick-shaped shelf off his wall which had just joined him on the bed! I only put the thing up a month or two ago and apparently he's been playing with it - "making it wobble". No wonder the damn thing fell off! I'd borrowed a drill from someone first time round to put the shelf up so it's going to be a bit of a problem just putting it back up when I get two minutes as I don't actually have a drill myself. The same child this morning has just had a nose bleed due to his finger spending too much time up there and then complained at me for trying to help him with it. To top that off he's just ended up being sent back to bed. At 7.10am. This could be a long day...

My list of people I can ask has depleted. I do have a girl who babysits from time to time but it adds to the cost of a night out. I try to keep my nights out to the nights my children stay over at their father's, but then I try and make those the nights I work if I'm out teaching or at meetings. My mum can do the odd night once a month or so and I go out the first Thursday of every month with a group of friends and no children! My children are at their dad's four nights a fortnight so yes I do get a break. Sometimes just being by myself from them getting up to them going to bed is tiring so it doesn't feel like there's any letup, but that's parenthood for you - still wouldn't swap it. Tonight I went from playing Dora the Explorer picture matching games to playing Power Rangers to yoghurt splattered table legs/radiator/floor/children to fishing clean washing out of the bath water (Scott threw it in while I was getting their pyjamas ready ) to sitting downstairs in pyjamas drinking Baileys - all in the space of two hours! ...and I heard recently that someone called motherhood boring!!!!! WTF? I'm managing a four night stay in Glasgow with no children just two weeks from now, so I feel some nice civilised (hopefully!) nights out coming on then. The Saturday afternoon best not bugger up everyone's mood ready for the evening! Having something to look forward to is never a bad thing. B)

A good find by the sounds of it. One Baileys and that's me done for! Makes for a very cheap night out - when I manage to get one, that is!