The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

bunbun2

evening all!

hope everyone has had a good day in the sunshine. I can't stay out in the sun but i feel so much better when the sun is shinning.

pops hope you had a ood day in Durham yesterday. where the brass bands good? my ds12 and his friend went up to the Durham Light Infantry museum to see the bands. OH said to him that if we had suggested going he would have said no:D

elona hope all went well at the passport office and you got a chance to look round Durham. I thought of you as I drove past the passport office four times today.

mrs chip that is a lovely photo and a fantastic view.

pooky glad your kitten is improving. I wish I could sew, your things sound fab

mrsLW sorry to hear about your dog.

kidkat glad you had a good holiday but sorry to hear you came back to problems at home

my labour stories - ds14 my waters broke at 42 weeks went into hospital and nothing happened. I kept seeing women who had come in after me have their babies and I was still there. eventually I was taken to the delivery room but contractions were vry slow. I was given a drip and epidural and still not alot happened. eventually they decided to do a section. I remember the midwives asked me what size feet i had and when i said "size 2" they said "that baby will never come out":eek: they were right. ds was 8 lb 8.

ds12 was a planned section. because ds14 was big I bought cushions and things to make things easier with holding and feeding him. he was born 3 weeks early and weighed 6 lb 13:rotfl:

CRANKY40

VJs mum How about the dying fly game? 46 years old and it's still my favourite. One of our family games was "pass the bag". You may not have enough time to do it for this party, but bear in mind for others. You need a black bin bag, and into it goes clothes that are no longer wanted by their owners. I think my gran saved up all year. It's like pass the parcel, but you pass the bin bag and when the music stops you have to put your hand in and put on whatever you pull out. One year my dad could hardly breathe with one of my aunty's dresses over his own clothes and grandad had a slight air of skeleton about him as he started of in his own black trousers and black polo neck jumper and managed to add a pair of white y fronts and a white bra.

Mrs Chip what a beautiful part of the world that is in your photos.

elona

fuddle and pops

We ended up having a nice lunch and afternoon walking round looking at sights. We visited the cathedral and saw the Lindesfarne gospels but dd did not want to pay the £7.50 fee each.

We now have a ten year passport for dd so that is a relief and boy did we have a walk through the town, I seem to have hit every hill and flight of steps in the place.

It is a lovely town and we enjoyed the afternoon.

bunbun2

shegar hope your dog will be OK

bunbun2

elona wrote: »

fuddle and pops

We ended up having a nice lunch and afternoon walking round looking at sights. We visited the cathedral and saw the Lindesfarne gospels but dd did not want to pay the £7.50 fee each.

We now have a ten year passport for dd so that is a relief and boy did we have a walk through the town, I seem to have hit every hill and flight of steps in the place.

It is a lovely town and we enjoyed the afternoon.

Durham is full of hills! I took ds14 to the orthodontists after school and parked in the one free part of Durham. We had three hills to walk up in the blazing sun:( glad you had a good time and saw the sights of Durham. What a relief to have dd's passport.

fuddle

I'm sad to read of Docky's ailment and I hope that it is just an ailment. I suspect if it was anything sinister the vet would have recognised it. The fact it is a mystery gives us hope that its a doggy dilemma of small proportion.

Monnagran shucks at having to go to that shop of the done elm.

Oh Lyn, I'm signing up for pets at home VIP club tomorrow and will await the 10% off voucher so I can stock up on dog food for SHTF scenario.

Very tired, going in the bath and slump in my bed and read. I'm having to use my phone as a kindle. Going through free and pence downloads I have accumulated. Romances. A sucker for a good feel good story. I have heard thr my library does digital download books for free so will have to look into that I prefer holding a book and does my eyes a mischief but beggars cannot be choosers.

Catch up with you all tomorrow.

VJsmum

CRANKY40 wrote: »

VJs mum How about the dying fly game? 46 years old and it's still my favourite. One of our family games was "pass the bag". You may not have enough time to do it for this party, but bear in mind for others. You need a black bin bag, and into it goes clothes that are no longer wanted by their owners. I think my gran saved up all year. It's like pass the parcel, but you pass the bin bag and when the music stops you have to put your hand in and put on whatever you pull out. One year my dad could hardly breathe with one of my aunty's dresses over his own clothes and grandad had a slight air of skeleton about him as he started of in his own black trousers and black polo neck jumper and managed to add a pair of white y fronts and a white bra.

Mrs Chip what a beautiful part of the world that is in your photos.

OK you got me - dying fly game????

Like the idea of the bin bag one, but you're right I am not sure I've time now.

savingqueen

Hugs to those with poorly animals and ouch to those with sunburn and suffering from the heat. I am plastering myself with the kids' all day factor 50 - a sort of nappycream effect, very flattering if you are a Victorian lady I'm sure!

I am the opposite to Mardartha, I wilt in the sun and have no energy, lack of sleep (cos it's too hot!) isn't helping. Glad you are perky though Mar!

I really CBA to cook at all, tonight was a very un-OS pasta and sauce 5 min job. Tomorrow kids have fajitas without the spice, chicken already cooked from Sun thank goodness. We will have whatever I can be bothered to cook. We will be late in from swimming Tues and Weds (6.30pm) and kids need immediate feeding so not easy as best of times and I am running down freezer so no homemade meals to help. Baking bread and cakes are no-go whilst it's hot though I really don't like buying shop bought now.

Monnagran - has the Rev taken up karate? :rotfl:

Glad the dentist went ok for DS VJsmum, sounded pretty painful, I find drills difficult to bear. Lemon drizzle cake..... mmmmmm DD's party sounds really fun - I want one!

Thank you for the suggestions nitnurse. The kids want nets and I said we will wait til we go on holiday and also will check for any vouchers. Thanks very much.:D

sq:)

Popperwell

One of the bands at the Durham event can be seen here
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/champions-league/10080422/Bayern-Munich-win-Champions-League-Oompah-band-plays-We-Are-The-Champions.html

babyshoes

VJs Mum - I did a similar thing for my 21st, rather a few years back now. Some of the ideas won't work for you as they involved alcohol - such as the kiddy style party bag full of essentials for the party and morning after (lots of people were staying over). It included asprin, toothpick (for staying awake...), toothbrush, condom, mini vodka, peppermints, cotton wool (for ear plugs) and a few other bits that I've forgotten. The best part was the list of contents and suggested uses - my father and I both know how to think outside the box, and most items had at least 2 or 3 suggested uses... Perhaps you could come up with similar ideas for a party bag but leave out the age inappropriate elements. Those mini energy drink shots come to mind. Baloons are always popular, whatever the age. Ear plugs are cheap nowadays, you could throw some of those in. Childhood nostalgia sweeties might go down well. For girls, pound shop nail polishes, jewellery and makeup could go in the bag too.

Instead of 'pin the tail on the donkey', my friend drew me a large picture of Johnny Bravo in the buff, with a certain appendage drawn separately, and we played 'find Johnny's Bravo'... Not sure how 'forward' 17 year olds are these days, but if that's not appropriate, perhaps you could do something similar that wouldn't cause too many blushes - is there a popular character who always/often has a prop like a drink, a bag, a sword or similar? Homer Simpson eating a donut comes to mind.

My Dad set up a treasure hunt around the house and garden. Luckily we think alike - his clues were so cryptic that only someone who knew how he thought could work some of them out. I think the treasure turned out to be a tray of shots, something corny like gold tequila... Chocolate coins are always appropriate as treasure though.

Musical bumps / chairs / statues might be fun, if you have space for them.

We used to play 'draw a monster' game where everyone sits in a circle with a piece of paper & pencil - a clipboard/book to lean on and colouring pens are optional but advisable. You draw the head on the paper, then fold it so that just a bit of the neck is visible and pass it on. Then you draw the torso & arms on your new bit of paper, fold it so just the hips are visible, and pass it on again. Finally you draw the legs, then everyone opens their drawing out and displays it to the group. A good way to spend some quiet time before things really get going.

Face paints aren't too expensive and might be appreciated, especially if there's no fancy dress theme. Could get messy if not packed away before people get to the silly stage of the night.

If you wanted to do a pinata perhaps give them something like a rolled up newspaper or cardboard tube (inside of kitchen roll) to do the hitting with? You might need a few, so ask friends and family to save up!