Life

[Former-Member]

I don't buy alcohol hardly ever anymore either but i did splurge on some pear ciders today to have on Xmas day as an adult treat.

[Appleblossom]

I think that is about it for me.  Just a sign of different tastes for littlies and grown ups ... including smelly cheese and more horrible things like sauerkraut that are good for you ... lot of modelling.

I've made a few splashes with my trifle; is a hit wherever she goes ... now I have to use up the ingredients.

Are you having the children for New Year's Eve?

[Former-Member]

Ooh I like sauerkraut, German heritage I think it was inbuilt into my genes. Not sure about smelly cheese but I love milder cheeses. Yes I have the kids for New Years, there are fireworks on so I'm hoping to take the kids to somewhere we can see them from as they've never seen them. My lil guy has his own ear muffs for noisy things.

[Appleblossom]

Sounds like a plan.  I hope he is impressed, rather than scared, that so many people turn out for fireworks.

You can prepare him.  Sometimes a little hyperbole and silly games on the safety of the bed where you can both collapse with giggles is a good place to explain that they do make loud noises but he wont get hurt.

How is your daughter going?

[Former-Member]

She is doing ok, she has lots of questions and wants to understand everything. But Christmas is a good distraction and she's been busy making things and making a mess with crafts 🙂 as she should be I know. She's grown up so much this year in a lot of ways! Sometimes it's hard to remember she only 7.

[Jacques]

OMG Ladies, i thought i was the only one to like sauerkraut, so many with German heritage too 🙂 @Former-Member do you know where you family comes from in the Motherland? my family comes from the west part of germany.

@Appleblossom, i thought one only used sweet sherry in trifles? hhhmmmm i suppose any alcahol would work, i am sooooo looking forward to my trifle and Pavlova, i am even going to spurge on some prawns, i have not had a prawn cocktail in ages, oh boy am i going to have some food this christmas 🙂

[Jacques]

Hi @Shaz51,

i just had a thought, have you thought of putting on a teenager for the summer, i know a lot of highschool students get summer jobs readdy for uni, just a thought, sorry i can't think of anything else. 🙂

take care, be safe

Jacques

[Appleblossom]

Kids can see such a lot. 

Great she is busy and creative.  Part of why I raised New Years ... is to start focussing on a significant date after christmas .. so they know you have plans for them for the following week...and tho it is all a bit frightening and strange ... there will be familiar and normal things to look forward to after christmas ... also gives the lil one an opportunity to process different types of the feeling of fear ... eg when it signifies a genuine threat and when it is just a big boom from a party or managed fire work display.

At least you are with her to be able to answer some of them ... and also it is appropriate to give her some version of ... you will understand when you are older...

I never had much calm time with my biological daughter, also a middle child ... hard to believe in 14 years ... but a domineering close in age eldest sibling can have that effect.  I drove her once to a parking spot and let her stay home from school once ... but it was all too much to process in such little time without a natural organic to and fro of conversation.  I still hope once day we get that. She refused all counselling even though she had sessions under "victims of crime".  It is just the way it is ... a tragedy for her and for me and for my son.

Dear @Jacques   ha ha .. there is a language spectrum ... and plaatsdeutsche .. my family is from the east ... so probably from your neck of the woods ... maybe we are related in a wagnerian sense of extended family ro ots and cycles.  and lj too.

I am planning our menu too ... garlic prawn entree ... salmon salad mains not settled on sweets ... marsala, tia maria and kahlua ... can also be nice in tifle.  But one bottle of spirit lasts me more than a year so I can take my time exploring lots of options.

[Jacques]

Hi dear @Appleblossom, 

Haha, yes many dialects, i know i have been trying to learn german for ages, but can't seem to grasp it, my family comes from is spread from Dortmund to Brandenburg near Berlin, wow from the east, lucky it is 2015 we would be speaking over a wall if it was any earlier 🙂

Wow @Appleblossom, i did not know that would work with different spirits, i have bee nusing the same bottle of sherry since 1998, and still have 1/4 bottle!!!!!!!!

i only use alcahol for deserts, never to drink, the only time i have a shot of spirits is when i have the flu to help a sore throat. and that is rarly.

nice to speak @Appleblossom, i  am glad we are back in contact.

Jacques

[Appleblossom]

One of my de facto gay uncles was a gourmet cook .. I am not .. but picked up a few tips and also tastes. They were a bit too decadent for proper family cooking.

Lately I am developing a new habit .. but old remedy: mother of vinegar apple cider .. teaspoon in a glass of water.

cheers ... yes good to connect ... but i always felt close to you somehow ...