G'day for Friday.
Sharon/WO, of course I'm up (we're on the opposite end of the day here) but either I post first before we go to mother in law's for dinner, or I'm late to the thread when we get home. Which we just did.
TM, I'm so sorry to hear about Pookie. It is always hard to lose a pet.
Fran, enjoy your trip. I hope the company is a good fit for difficult child.
I had a quiet day today, I actually slept a bit. I also got busy and finally put paint to paper today. My first oil painting! I was beginning to find some problems towards the end of it, I'm going to let it dry then add a few finishing touches. I'm very happy with it but it is not as easy as I thought it would be. And yet in some ways, as easy. I've been talking to my brother about painting, too - he says he can't get skies right. Well, I got my sky looking good in this one fairly quickly, I'm happy. But the photo I was painting isn't the best - I need more material. It took me about an hour to do the painting to the point where I had to leave it. Maybe another hour when I get back to it, doing some fine detail and highlighting. I'm thinking of giving it to mother in law when I'm finished.
After I finished the painting, I started thinking about easy child 2/difficult child 2's college problems and began to make enquiries. I'll have to wait for Monday to hear back from people, but I'm finding out if she can transfer her course to another college. I'm also going to find out how to start formal complaint proceedings. She is going to have to repeat another year, because her lecturers were not flexible and also failed to respond to her emailed request for information and flexibility. She is registered as having a disability, which means that there are even more reasons for them to respond to her. She can't fight her own battles, not without my help, so I have to make sure she is OK with this before I proceed. One nice though out of this though - a friend of mine who has been asking how easy child 2/difficult child 2 has been getting on, has a work contact who thinks she can get her a job in child care. So I emailed the contact details to her this afternoon. A job in child care would make it a lot easier for her to do her prac component of her course.
It's easy child 2/difficult child 2's birthday tomorrow. She of course is going to the pub with friends tomorrow night, but I talked her into coming out for lunch on Sunday so we can have a small family party for her. easy child & SIL1 can't come. But I texted her bro, he's coming with his missus (difficult child 1 & daughter in law). We were planning on having it at mother in law's place for convenience. Then mother in law got a phone call today - her niece (husband's cross-cousin) is coming out for a visit, bringing her husband and another cousin's son who is currently working in Australia (he and his family live in Scotland) and cousin is on a fast whistle-stop tour of the east coast, visiting relatives before flying home for a holiday. So Sunday's lunch, originally a birthday party for easy child 2/difficult child 2. is now a mini family reunion. easy child 2/difficult child 2 and difficult child 1 have met tis cousin, he's their age and they got on brilliantly. daughter in law & SIL2 haven't met him but I'm sure they will like him. It's also possible that cross-cousin will bring her youngest son, also the same age. So I've got a lot of cooking to do, to prepare for Sunday. Somewhere in there I have to make a birthday cake. I'm thinking of a Nanny Ogg chocolate delight with special secret fudge sauce... other than that, the menu is going to be roast chicken with a wide range of roast vegetables, with fresh-baked brioche to follow (with home-made strawberry jam and whipped cream). The sort of stuff we can just carve up and get stuck into at the dining table.
I had originally planned to make creme brulee (I have a new blow torch I want to test out) but I haven't got enough dishes and that many people are too many to try something too new with. Last time I tried to make creme brulee, the custard split. So chocolate delight it is going to be, I think. The magic ingredient in the special secret sauce is cardamom pods. Oh, and cream and chocolate...
husband is going to pick up a few ingredients for me on the way home tomorrow. That way, Sunday should be fairly straightforward.
Enjoy your Friday.
Marg
Take it easy and hopefully it will ease up. 
