Friday 20 April 2007

There's Lovely

We are off to the most gorgeous part of South Wales for the weekend. If the nice weather holds, the kids will spend the whole time frolicking on the beach, splashing in the sea, peering expectantly into rock pools and terrorising starfish. We can eat cockles, fish and chips and ice cream. Heaven!
This is where H grew up, spending his formative years like a young Ray Mears - camping, canoeing and generally boy scouting for all he was worth. As a result, he is fairly impervious to the beautiful surroundings, whereas I, with the romantic perspective of the outsider, am totally besotted with the place.
I do have to enter a seaside Faustian pact, though. When we visit, we stay at my mother-in-law’s house. Now, as tangled mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships go, I have been let off pretty lightly - you do hear some real horror stories. My mother-in-law cannot do enough for us, but at the risk of sounding churlish, that is exactly the problem.
As an ex-nurse, she is one of the least squeamish people I know. She thinks nothing of removing the manky pelt of matted hair that clings to the bristles of my hairbrush. I have never actually seen her do this; I just spend ages looking for the brush, which is of course, totally unrecognisable when it’s hair-free. My toes still curl at the memory of the time we spent a week at her house, and she kindly offered to do some washing for me. I placed the bundle of ‘whites’ in the washing machine, only to return later and find her washing all my knickers by hand.
There is a Welsh wine called ‘Cariad’ (meaning love, aaaah!) but I’ve only ever bought it in Wales. The white was a little sweet for my liking, but I think they do a rosé which would be worth trying in the warm weather – I’ll let you know if I get my hot little hands on any.

12 comments:

dulwichmum said...

I cannot believe that you too are married to a man from Wales!!! My MIL is equally kind at times - but I have decided that instead of being supportive, it is in fact her way of expressing ownership of myself and the children. She constantly refers to my spending of her sons money.

No, she would not hand wash my nickers, but she once gave me a selection of her old ones as James threw a pair of jeans in the washing machine and dyed all of my underwear chewing gum blue.

Can you imagine wearing your MIL's old nickers? No, me neither.

They really are extremely odd, the Welsh, and in my experience, best avoided...

The Secretary said...

My mother-in-law is welsh.

For Christmas this year I purchased her a beautiful aquamarine and pink satin kimono style dressing gown and a a little flippy nightie to go underneath - she purchased me a long pink fleecie dressing gown in size 22 and a pair of flat pink coverall slippers with pink fur around the out side.

1. I am not a size 22
2. Why does she consider me so unglamarous at 40 that I need a pink fleece dressing gown and slippers
3. did she buy them for someone else and mistakenly given them to me
4. Is she hoping I'd wear them and her son would leave me for my hideous tast in bedroom attire

Anonymous said...

You've got it wrong TheSecretary!

She obviously has one of those nutty mother/son things going on and is 'jealous' of you. Hence the unflattering nightwear. Is your hubby an only child or the only boy?

Cut half the dressing gown off, hem it and wear it casually open with a silky teddy underneath! That'll learn her!

The Secretary said...

Like your style (and thinking)spymum - he's not an only child, just the youngest and she is a 78 year old alcoholic hag, hell I feel better already!!!!

Anonymous said...

What is it about MILs?!

Gorilla Bananas said...

Dear Drunk Mummy, your mother-in-law sounds like the perfect candidate for the position of physician and masseuse to a band of gorillas. Could you approach her on my behalf?

Anonymous said...

Just popped on again to say have a lovely holiday DM! Drink some of that lovely sounding Cariad for me!

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

My friend has a Welsh section B pony, whose proper name is something Cariad.

rilly super said...

a friend of mine married a welshman. he was a jolly nice chap by all accounts but she did find watching the miners lamp through the covers between her legs took a while to get used to.

Hope you have/had a lovely weekend. It is rather beautiful around that part of the world, and any region with 'south' in the name is a bonus too of course

dulwichmum said...

Mrs Super!

Shame on you for such talk. Poor Drunk Mummy has simply gone for a weekend to her MIL's, whatever will she think when she returns to find her blog defiled with this filth?

I fear you may be on the verge of postnatal depression! Please dear, telephone your health visitor.

Drunk Mummy said...

Well, there is definitely something going on with Welsh mothers-in-law and underwear here. The public deserves to know!

Gorilla Bananas - I fear she may be too robust even for you and your primate mates, but I'll ask next time I speak to her.

Rilly - that reminds me of a line from an old song "You'd have to be a miner, to get through....etc etc"

Dear Dulwich Mum - thank you for your concern regarding the moral rectitude (don't snigger) of my blog. I fear you may be too late!

rilly super said...

welcome home drunk mummy, we kept the home fires burning for you. Dulwichmum, there's no need to be concerned, it was all perfectly respectable, he was just a solicitor with a working class affectation and no coal dust was involved