Moos

Blue Brick & Jacks

The savoury stuff .... bleugh. Perhaps it's the medicine principle of 'it tastes vile, it must be doing me good'. However, before Twosling graduated to mashed fruit he had lots of those Ellas mixed fruit pouches... mmm, banana & apple, mmm blueberry... they were definitely 'one for you, one for Mummy'!

Grating fruit (apples, pears etc.) a good tip which a friend gave me, makes oats or rice pops more interesting. Son 1 likes bran flakes but I try to mix with other cereals so not too much refined sugar.

I called my teachers Mr and Mrs, and think my son's school has the same system ... much more betterer. Now, first names from kids' friends and for kids' friends' parents? Much tougher. I just can't bring myself to call myself Mrs. Moos to Moosling's pals, nor get him to call my friends by their surnames, though that's what I did as a child. I still hesitate to introduce my mother by her Christian name to my friends! (though that is a bit ridiculous) The one time I did introduce someone to my son as Mr. - it was our CEO - he immediately said to my 3 year old "Hello Moosling, I'm Rob". Oh well.. I'm not sure the general erosion of the use of the surname in society is responsible for lack of manners or consideration, though. Mum wouldn't agree, I'm sure. What I do regret in English is the loss (OK, hundreds of years ago) is the dropping of the familiar 2nd person. Everyone is now 'you', wouldn't it be nice to be able to call your children, your friends or your lover by the more affectionate 'thou'.

He'd like 37 million Americans to think so.

According to one of my baby books (sorry, forget which one) at the age of 2 you can or even should switch to semi-skimmed, as from that age little children can start to accumulate cholesterol. They still need a high-energy diet, but not necessarily full-fat milk. I did switch my son over to semi at the age of 2, and he didn't notice. On the other hand, some nutritionists say that adults should drink full-fat milk, just not too much of it... hard to get right, isn't it??

Camberwell is a much older settlement, so the whole area was previously included in Camberwell parish before being further split up. Mr. Chener Books is your man for local history.

For tree weeks? That's ages!

"too many bibles for an atheist".... who reads Graham Greene.

Estate agents are annoying, but food delivery services are equally annoying and even more prolific. Does anyone have good experience of the 'no leaflets' stickers?

Perhaps not surprising given my dodgy predilections, but Mockers I was terribly impressed by Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. But I do think I was about 15.

Anyway, Otta has a point. Very few of us have the mental capacity to be true polymaths, even if we had the time, so there isn't much justification for the bookish to look down on those who get their intellectual kicks elsewhere. The rule does seem to be the usual nonsense about the obscurer the better. Oh, and liking reading poetry makes you either super-cool and intellectual, or a pretentious twonk.

Me or you? Me, no. But I'll admit to John Grisham.

You could well be right. And how about you, did you have a Jay McInerney phase? Edited to correct spelling and to say @Huguenot re: Bob

And Mockers, this is a snorky thread so I think the topic is what you think your bookshelves say about you vs. what they actually say. Oder? Or have I got that wrong, OP?

Hmm. But then, I like Henry James too.

A Brief History Of Time, of course. Bob, the books that look nice are not for reading. They're for looking at. The books that are for reading are the colourful ones by your bed by Andy McNab / Freya North (select as applicable).

Ooh, I like this game. Guilty. And Love in The Time of Cholera. And the Autumn of the Patriarch. On The Road, Jack Kerouac?

....and Carnelli for the bass note. I think snuncamunca deserves great credit for breathing new life into the Lounge. But I do think he should let his missus have her logon back.

Now, Quids, your Guardian thread was in the Drawing Room but your Mail one in the Lounge. Are you making a point about class? Or comparative seriousness? (hee hee)

That you'll take them on a Laker holiday. Saw the programme last night with a despairing mother holding a baby and small child at the airport, having turned up for her flight to be told that SkyTrain had gone bust. Really felt for her (though she's probably a granny now and has forgotten all about it).

My elder definitely got it at nursery, they went down like ninepins one by one - and then passed it on to all their younger siblings. Oddly, the severity of the cases seems to be running by families, so the little boy aged 4 who was illest is now better, but his younger brother is the illest of the babies. Their poor mother!

Thanks very much everyone for your thoughtful suggestions. I think I have come to the same conclusion as jollybaby, and the GP was being cautious. One could easily imagine someone going for a sanctioned walk in the park, and then thinking 'Oh, I'll just pop into the caf? for a coffee' or 'I'll just get that thing I need' and being careless. The trouble with the modern GP system is that GPs don't really know their patients so she has no idea whether I'm reasonably sensible or a total twerp. She did, quite rightly, point out that chicken pox can be dangerous not only to pregnant women (who've not had it, I think??) but also to anyone whose immune system is compromised: cancer sufferers and so on. Anyway, am keeping a pretty low profile. I do have to do the twice-daily nursery run but I've got a deal with another mother whose No.2 is also poxy: I lurk with the babies in the carpark, while she picks up the big 'uns. Very suspicious-looking! :) Poor little Twosling looks worse and worse: today is day 4 and he's still getting new spots. His beautiful head is covered in lumpy red blisters, and his fluffy hair is smeary with cream. Big blue eyes are peeking out of swollen, spotty eyelids, but he's still pretty smiley, which is comforting.

Frankito Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks, I must rush back tgere tomorrow for my 9th > visit with my 7 children for some bubble n' squeak > pizza. I think you're thinking of the Actress, Frankito.

It's onomatopoeia