Sunday 19 June 2011

Frazzled

High fives all round please; I have survived my first ever teen party.

J asked, some time ago, if he could have his 13th birthday party at our house.  I was quietly chuffed - I have only known him since he was 9 years old and for him to choose to spend his birthday at our house is a huge thing for me.  It helps that he adores his dad but, you know what, he kinda loves me too.  He tells me everything (even phones to chat on a regular basis), laughs at all my gags (!) and appreciates my baking.  It could have been a very different story and I am grateful that he is such a sweetie.

The party went very well - the kids were polite and surprisingly chatty.  They disappeared off to the park together and came back for pizza, ice cream and pink lemonade.  I was not a bit perturbed by the fact that my oven ran out of gas just two hours before they all arrived and scuppered my plans to rustle up some delicious food and cakes (argggh).  We just got takeout pizza from Pizza Hut:  minor crisis averted.


OK so I may have been checking my watch every five minutes.  I might have been hovering by the dining room like an over-attentive butler.  When they disappeared into J's room for the last half an hour to [their words] bitch and gossip, I don't mind admitting that if we'd had a trampoline I probably would have dragged it underneath the bedroom window so that I could bounce up and peer in every now and then.  (Nonchalantly, of course, perhaps with a cloth in my hand.)  I had nothing to worry about and J was slightly breathless with excitement when the last of his friends had gone home and he announced that it had been really cool and would it be OK to have his party at our house next year.  I told him that of course it was OK!  Anyone got a trampoline for sale?

The oven breaking down wasn't the only minor crisis chez nous this week:  a baby dove fell down the bedroom chimney on Friday lunchtime.  I was working from home when I heard an almighty clatter from the bedroom.  I was half-expecting to see a dazed pigeon on the grate but thankfully there is plate-thingy that has been put into the gap to stop (I guess) drafts and unwanted objects falling into the fireplace.  The bird was sitting on said plate, literally a foot from the grate.  When I laid on the floor and peered into the chimney breast it just blinked at me quite serenely.

Husband was at work and wouldn't be home for hours.  There was no way in the world I was rescuing the bird.  So I improvised and got back to work.


A picnic blanket over the fireplace held down by candles and my shoes meant that if the plate did become loose the bird would be in a confined space.  The dog kept watch.



When Andrew came home he was able to slip underneath the makeshift curtain and perform the rescue mission with minimal disruption.


(In retrospect, I realise that it wasn't ever so helpful of me to hang around taking photos but Andrew didn't complain.)  The bird is slightly scuffed and spent the night in a box in the shed to get over the shock.  It has flown away now but popped back over the weekend for its dins and to say hi.

It has been a week of minor dramas really what with one thing and another.  I think I have had a troubled mind and I've been more high maintenance than usual, I know.  I have had three very vivid nightmares this week and I always feel really shaken the following day.  I woke up this morning just as I was about to cry in my dream; I actually woke up with that crumpled 'I'm-about-to-wail' face on.  I don't feel at all rested, poor me.

I need to lie in a dark room with a cold flannel on my forehead.

Before I go I must just say hello to my new followers: hi!  I do hope that I haven't put you off with today's offering.

New followers always mean interesting new blogs for me to read so I'm thrilled to meet you.  I am loving this blogworld I've been welcomed into, everyone is so friendly, helpful and funny.  It cheers me right up on a bad day and makes a good day even better.

Love and all that soppy stuff.

Nicki 

x





12 comments:

  1. Sounds like the party went really well!!

    H had a friend sleepover for his birthday on Friday, and as W has his birthday next week he too had a friend (we thought it better to get it all over with at once!!)

    How stressful the oven running out of gas!! Bet the kids were more than happy with Pizza Hut though - mine would be!!

    Glad the dove lived to tell the tell - love you little dog!!

    S x

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  2. Oh that is such a mental post re the bird. I would have been a tad scared. But you covered it up in such a chic way, I hope it appreciated the LK Bennett shoes boxes!
    Glad the party went well. You must sooooo rock to teens!
    x x

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  3. I laughed when I read the pigeon story! I would have reacted the same with the blanket method of coping- I have a terrible phobia of birds.
    And yes, your dog is ridiculously adorable

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  4. Funny, funny, funny! Well done for surviving (big nut's 8 in a couple of weeks - gulp...) hope you're having a large glass of wine to celebrate.
    How's the scarf coming on?? (Please just say if it still doesn't make sense, you're my pattern-writing guinea pig!) Could you tell me which yarn you're using for your granny squares? It looks lovely; would you recommend it?
    Jeez, any more questions in this one short comment? sorry!
    Emily x

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  5. How cute, your party sounds great. I bet they all loved it. I love how they said they were going to 'bitch and gossip', bless.
    Poor little birdie. It was nice of him to pop back and say hi. Did he stop for a cuppa and a bit of telly? Sorry, I'm taking it too far now, aren't I?
    I can see your lovely furniture in the background of your pics. I think we do have similar taste.
    Poor you. The dreams sound awful. I dreamt last week that I had an awful illness and I woke up feeling really shaken. Are you anxious about something? Maybe you are in a stage of transition. Sorry, hope I don't sound a bit Mytsic Meg. Sometimes we get stressed and then that time in life passes. Hope you feel better soon chick.
    Blogland always helps me too and is very cheering. xxx

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  6. Bless you and your horrid nightmares. I barked and woke myself up the other night. Very strange dream...

    I did have chuckle about the bird! Ask Gem to show you my fave photo of her EVER! The one where she is in Oz and has a parrot on her hand and the most astonishingly funny expression on her face!!!

    I'll be calling upon you for teen kids parties in a few years time.
    Did my tea cosy comment make any sense earlier?
    xxx

    xxx

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  7. Awwww poor you!! I'd have been freaked out aswell! Did it keep on flapping about in there..!? Poor thing... I wouldn't have tried rescuing it either.. would be so scary it was bite me! haha

    Sounds like the party was a great success! It's so lovely that you get on so well with your step son. I had some real problems when I was 11 and my mum met my step-dad (before then it had just been me and her), we now get on great.. but it can be a very difficult situation.

    I hope your nightmares have stopped, a few weeks ago I had a run of them.. started to freak out my hubby when I get waking up and crying! Thankfully they passed, I'm sure yours will too.

    Ashley xxx

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  8. Arrr, I hate nightmares, especially when you are on your own in the house. How sweet that your step son asked to have his party there, it shows how much he does love you. I used to get birds down the chimney so often at the home I owned, oh and bats too, poor little things, I would be running up and down the stairs with a towel throwing it at the poor creatures to try and catch them. I must have looked a sight.
    Yep blog land has some very lovely people I do agree.
    x Sandi

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  9. yep - not keen on nightmares either. I don't know if you 'knew me' (!) when a pidgeon went down the back of our fire? It was there for about a week, despite all manner of attempts to rescue it.
    Massive respect (yes - that was my feeble attempt at yoot speak) for the successful party. I too will be back for advice in a couple of years...
    fee x

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  10. Yeah I turned off the spam thing. They annoy me! I think it's unlikely that my small blog will get much from spammers, But if I do I'll turn it back on. Mind you they do make me laugh. I've had some hilarious words. Some quite rude!! But it's just another thing that eats away precious blog commenting time and so I am bugged by them (and yet amused) can't win!!

    xxx

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  11. ha ha ha! Just had chumplip!!!!

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  12. We have a secret (less so now) habit of a pizza hut delivery for a treat (have I just written the word treat in the same sentance as pizza hut?) but had to stop it after I received an email entitled, "hey there pizza lover". Realised we'd become regulars.
    Well done on the bird front, I seriously would have freaked out. Like that you used an LK Bennett box to contain it, I'm sure the dove appreciated being surrounded by good taste,
    Nelly xxx

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