Taps aff in front o’ the telly here at mother-in-law towers.

She’s pure got the heating turned up to a mullion and Stictly’s oan watch again.

Who am I kidding? It’s a bikini wearing 0.4 here in Aberdeen and I’m currently feeling guilty for working out how long my mother in law might continue to live, according to diet, age, early years circumstances, fatal wounds from a blunt instrument…

Oh God, she’s looking at me again with that Basilisk stare.

“A tube”?! Not in the upper echelons…

Worth checking the guttering / roof / seals round windows to make sure there’s nothing getting in when it rains. We replaced our guttering, had some pointing done and filled in some gaps round our windows (amongst other things) and our damp vanished (100 year old terraced house).

That’s my thread ^^^ linked to up there… FWIW, and at the risk of getting it very badly wrong, I ended up using BillMC’s link and buying some CK Obesession which was sub £30 posted. Seemed very cheap but it’s arrived and looks like the real deal to me. Apparently, they sell end of line type stuff, thus the reduced price.

http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/calvin-klein-obsession-eau-de-parfum-spray-100ml-0001287.html

I used to offer mini-sessions at my local park for families but didn’t sell digital files (well, I did but they were the most expensive way of getting your photos).

Why? Because clients would run off to get them printed at Max Spielmann, hang them in horrible frames from the same place and then wonder why they looked shit. And that’s just the ones who bothered their arses – most of them would likely keep them on the hard drive, perhaps stick a few badly resized efforts on FB and they’d all be lost when a new computer was bought.

These days, I mostly do dogs and other than the odd special offer, it’s prints and products only – I like to take care of customers with good quality prints etc. But I do like top make an average of about £450 per session :-)

Obvious answer, don’t own any animal that you can’t control.

You don’t have any children then…

Absolutely agree that the rescue place needs to be told – it’s up to them to rehome dogs responsibly and ensure they’re in a suitable place with knowledgeable fosters. If an aggressive dog is out without a muzzle (sounds like it needs one), it should at the very least have a decent harness and a walker capable of holding the dog back.

Nah. Don’t put up with that. Buy some see through freezer bags, pick up the doings and pop them politely but visibly on top of offenders’ wheelie bins. They’ll soon get the message.

“ransos – Member
Tomorrow we have swimming lessons at 8am, followed by Junior Parkrun at 9. It’s a brutal start to a Sunday.”

Junior Parkrun here too but I don’t mind because there’s a great cafe in the park for coffee and cake afterwards. And some of the mummies are yummy too.

Took the dog a stroll to Durris Forest today – there’s a stone circle there (in Clune Wood) I wanted to see.

kasper-durris-1 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

kasper-durris-2 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

Page not found in the FB link :-(

TiRed – ninety quid?! For smelly water?!! That CK stuff might be just the ticket though.

I’m afraid I’m waaaay too lazy to do the whole tester stick / perfume counter thing – I was planning to just press a button on Amazon tbh. Already spent £50 on other stuff so £30 is all she’s getting :-D

It’s also a bloody brilliant rollicking novel by J.P. Donleavy. A good accompaniment to the song :-)

“Cheese hums in the fridge at night”. Told to me by my mum at age five and still believed by me at age 17. She backed it up with some waffle about bacterial action which sounded plausible…

Kasper sort of enjoying the snow yesterday morning…

kasper-hazlehead-snow-15 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

Other than the odd day of wedding photography (suit, no tie), mine’s the same as matt-outandabout’s. I do spend most days lying in puddles taking photos of dogs. Gets to the point – at this time of year – where I just keep one pair of manging, soggy Craghoppers trousers, walk the dog in them and go to work in them…

I spotted Mrs Merc throwing two large bin bags of grass cuttings into a farmers field a few weeks back

Erm… I’m pretty sure that’s not really fly-tipping tbh, unless she included the bin bags?…

It’s a massive problem in NE England (where I’ve just escaped from). Every single bridleway and layby is fair game.

Enjoyed the first episode, ta! Off to Boots for waterproof mascara now…

+1 for stick out reflector as above, or pair with one of these – stick out flag for extra emphasis…

It’s amazing how much more room you get when close-passers think they might scratch their paintwork…

I’m still a wee boy at heart…

From THIS

18 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

to THIS

DSC_3541 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

My pics but I’m not in either btw…

Just testing – finally sorted out a Flickr account after Photobucket locked everything up… Please work!

EDIT. Oh FFS. How does this work then?

bracken-1 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

Yay! BB code link required.

bracken-53 by Jamie Emerson[/url], on Flickr

I strongly suspect she’s feeling incredibly guilty for leaving her child behind to be with you. She’s probably well aware of how the world (other women, her family, her ex) judges a mum who abandons her child, even if said child is safe and (hopefully) well.

If it *is* guilt manifesting itself as depression / lashing out / self destructive tendencies, then perhaps, as above, a trip back home might help. Or even a house move to be closer, despite the burnt bridges and ex partner.

You obviously can’t go on like this – best of luck with the big convo.

After a particularly distressing time in my life a few years ago, I had to take a serious look at what might happen if the worst happened… Temporary lack of income coupled with nowhere to live. All the official channels were nothing more than bullshit. I visited the only nearby shelter and was told, “… we don’t do **** guided tours! Come back after you’ve been out a week and make sure you’ve been properly referred (which is almost impossible)”.

Fortunately for me, I managed to get sorted out quite swiftly but it’s terrifying how quickly it can all come crashing down. So I’ll continue to hand out the odd fiver / packet of tobacco, thanks very much.

Right here on stw is a good place to start… Just bought a Frog from a member by posting a wanted ad :-)

Right here on stw is a good place to start… Just bought a Frog from a member by posting a wanted ad :-)

**** knows. Mostly for DIY tips and anonymous rants – stuff you can’t put on FB in case your mum sees it.

Started by reading the magazine ( I understand there’s a magazine? ) and discovered the forum later, only to find it full of bellends like me, rather than the intelligent, genteel gentleman cyclists suggested by the paper publication.

Just read this thread after the link from today’s drinking thread…

Being an ex drug user/addict I do worry about alcoholism.

You should worry – I was in the same boat and the easy availability of alcohol and the fact that it’s acceptable in polite society… I found out too late and it’s only fairly recently that I’ve sorted out the mess which was threatening to engulf my life.

Allan Carr’s Easy Way to Control Alcohol is a very good read but it’s (deliberately) mis-titled. The end goal is to stop you drinking and it worked for me.

It’s also seriously flawed in some ways but so long as you’re able and willing to ignore the bullshit moments and concentrate on the effective chapters, it really is helpful.

At some future point, I may allow myself the odd beer but right now, I just have zero desire to drink which suits me fine :-)

Cheers for the laughs and the sensible advice :-D

The house we’re selling is in Sunderland, the new one which we hoped to be living in by next week is in Aberdeen. All our stuff is in storage, we can’t let the old place and although I do plan to rent a room in a shared flat, I’ll still have to come back here because I have a four year old!

Both MIL and wife work (mil P/T, and I’m still applying for all sorts of crappy jobs so I don’t mind doing housework and the majority of childcare.

Yes, life is short, yes, this woman is toxic but we’re all kind of stuck with it whilst we’re still having to pay the mortgage on the old place.

I do have a small business which is already up and running again but it’ll take time to build it up again, thus the crap job in the meantime…

funkmasterp – Member
I too have great in-laws. It’s my mum that’s a PITA. I moved about 90 miles away and that seems to have done the trick.

My folks are moving back here to Aberdeen too – it’s going to be a lovely cosy family affair… Actually, I get on very well with my folks (perhaps because they’ve always lived nine hours away).

Are you buying somewhere nearby and if so …… why?
let the old bag fester by herself.

1) Yes.
2) I ask myself the same question daily.

I do have a lot of sympathy for her – she used to be just about OK to know, if not to live with but her husband died about three years ago and she’s been a bit weird ever since. If it was up to me alone, we’d live very, very, very far away.

Frankenstein – Member
I would move out personally. Why lose your health and sanity.

Oh, we fully intend to. Offer accepted on the new house but they keep putting the completion date back. And our buyers are dragging their heels but hopefully, they complete on Friday so at least we’ll have the money for the new place.

Ha! Thanks to all. Nipping out for a loaf of bread as I’ve had eight slices for breakfast / lunch – have to stuff my face and replace everything daily before she gets home at 1pm. If I don’t, I’m ravenous by about 4pm.

dangeourbrain – Member
You know your wife will turn into her mother sure as eggs is eggs don’t you?

Happy to report that my wife is almost the opposite of her mum (so far…).

Weeksy, if I had the means, I’d be off.

Chapaking, my wife also gets bollocked despite being as close to a model daughter / mum as it’s possible to be. So she’s also getting a bit frayed round the edges but like me, is just grinning and bearing it.

Senor J – pudding? I wish!! It’s starvation rations despite us paying 3/4 of the groceries bill. Everything’s accounted for, so I’ve taken to keeping a few packets of digestives in my room. Made the mistake of having a peanut butter sandwich after (my tiny) tea one night and MIL got all offended and huffy for a few days.

Bit of Ridgeback in there?

Taught my four year old to ride his bike last week over two days. Haven’t lived with him since February due to work / house move stuff and was gobsmacked to find he was still on stabilisers!

He took it in his stride as if it was something that happens every day but I was an emotional mess :-D

Staying with the mother in law for a month, waiting to move into new house. She did her level best to spoil the night for our four year old, starting with bollocking both of us for carving our pumpkin at the kitchen table – apparently we should have been outside doing it in the rain and dark…

Ignored her instructions not to go out “begging from the neighbours” and he came back with a decent haul. She’s still fizzing as I type this :-D

Won’t let me answer the door though so I’m eating a massive bag of Haribo as noisily as possible.

If people are stupid enough to think they can win in the long term, it’s their problem.

Apart from the arguments above, which quite rightly point out that it can become problematic for the unfortunate minority, is gambling any more stupid than spending £100 on a saddle (frinstance)? For most, it’s a sociable, enjoyable pastime and like most pastimes, it involves parting with a bit of cash.

For the record, I don’t gamble :-)

Huge +1 for Dark Matter. Slow burning, psychological horror in the grimmest imaginable setting. Stays with you… I do love MR James but not much of it is particularly unsettling tbh. The Ritual is a good read and The Loney is atmospherically unpleasant :-D

Cheers all! Was in Counteswells Woods on Sunday – looks better than it used to and even found a layby for free parking :-D

Will check out all the suggestions.