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Stephen Thomas's avatar

I know I know its not John Lewis, but Dunelm do some excellent white very high threadcount bedding and its super to sleep with. As ever, loved the read, thank you.

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

Thank YOU lovely Stephen!

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David Arthur's avatar

The painting is beautiful! My aunt did something in the same genre for me, and it's still on my wall a few decades later - so they do last in a way that a toy or something wouldn't.

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

I hope so! I still have a tiny chair with my name on it that I was given as a child.

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Jacqueline's avatar

Re the dog training schism here’s my experience (not that you asked for it but having suffered from unasked for advice myself hasn’t stopped me dishing it out sorry):

We had 2 puppies with a 6 month age difference. The older one started attacking the younger one so he was afraid to move. A woman at the vets told me she had had the same experience and after a year of ‘trying everything’ had rehomed one of them with a broken heart. A dog trainer gave us the advice that it was hopeless to try to change the older dog’s behaviour and we needed to rehome her. The dog trainer thought anything other than positive reward training was immoral and should be illegal. A friend with a lifetime of dog ownership told me to ‘find my inner bitch’ and admonish the older dog when she attacked the younger one. Then lockdown happened and we were all stuck at home together 24/7. So I followed my friend’s advice and came down like a ton of bricks on the attacking dog. She only did it twice more. Now the 2 dogs happily share a home and even play together although the younger one will still not jump up on the bed or sofa without permission from the older one. Maybe she was showing me what training should look like. We have a hierarchy with me at the top. No physical punishment happened I hasten to add but I did frighten her with my voice and body language which is more or less how she trained her subordinate.

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

Ah this is incredibly helpful, thank you. And no no I'm up for ALL advice as I know nothing. I've realised it's akin to the baby/children debate - there are opinions up and down the spectrum!

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Jacqueline's avatar

You know it’s just occurred to me that there is a silver lining to being forced to operate in an area gouged with schisms. (Speaking as a formerly right wing now moderate Christian AND dog owner AND parent). It frees you up from being a people pleaser because whatever you choose to do there will be a chorus of judgement and disapproval. Also you can’t learn without making mistakes. Mistakes are good.

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Sophie B's avatar

Absolute yes to body language and flexing on them if need be.

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Coffee Lover's avatar

The light but warm eider down duvet we bought changed my sleeping. It’s the best thing we bought! (Fwiw my husbands company sells them - https://open.substack.com/pub/thehousesupplyco/p/down-bedding)

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Frances Godden's avatar

Great article as ever Sophia and Dennis is SO sweet - but (ahem) the CofE *does* do baptism. I am an ecclesiastical lawyer (ha) and the daughter of a CofE vicar - the infant (or adult) gets baptised at a christening, just as couples are ‘married’ during a ‘wedding’ service.

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

OOOH useful intel, thank you. I take it all back!

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Frances Godden's avatar

I’m not really as nerdy as I sound!!

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Sophie B's avatar

Have just read the title as ‘The sperm black market - a good present for godchildren’. Nearly did the nose trick.

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

I know I am v ashamed for missing a comma!

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Sophie B's avatar

Nonsense. Best way to start the day.

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Sophie B's avatar

Having read the rest of the article, evidently I need to own up to using my dead grandmother’s down pillow AND my husband has my dead mother’s feather & down duvet. Washed, obvs. And neither of them died actually using them …

Have loved real bedding since I went to university and my v smart friend S had lovely crumpled linen bedding and feather pillows and duvet. We used to go camping a LOT and she’d cart it all along to stuff in the tent. I was scandalised, with my 70s blue and orange nylon sleeping bag, but dear God, how right she was. Absolute bliss though you almost need an estate car to turn up with that much. I have to say I am the person who takes my own bedding to rented houses ( though you can cram a single down duvet into a large packing cube and two pillows into another. As a v hot periomenopausal woman my husband and I sleep under a single duvet each with a bedspread across us both. No duvet stealing and I can fling mine from me without freezing him. Perfect.

Dennis appears, to me, to be less blaming the cat than giving not a single fuck about his actions. A masterclass in studied indifference!

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

I've started considering carting my pillow around with me... I have to say if someone rocked up at mine with their own pillow I don't think I'd take offence?! I just figure we all have our own preferences?!

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Sophie B's avatar

This is 90% of the reasons why I'd like a house in France; my own bedding (and cutlery). 10% pâtisserie, obvs.

Those ratios might be a teeny bit out.

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Coffee Lover's avatar

I also take my duvet camping and my pillows wherever I stay. I even took my duvet to Glastonbury in my rucksack. 🤣

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

Ah but was it the £22,000 duvet?

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Coffee Lover's avatar

It wasn’t! It was pre the super fancy one, just plain old goose down :)

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Jill Mansell's avatar

My new favourite word - diblings!

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

Good right?! VERY glad to have introduced that to you! Plenty of material there for a novel...

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Fascinating. I'm wondering if the father of 1000 needed the money or if he just really liked girly (or men's) magazines. Hubby and I did IVF for our twins. We tell people it was hubby, G-d and Gary who helped created our kids. (Gary was the embryologist.)

Dennis is adorable!

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Onwards and Sideways's avatar

I think from what I've gathered, he was just driven by some peculiar compulsion simply to, er, spread his gene pool far and wide?! Because he was doing it via clinics but also websites for free I thinkkkkk. Presume the doc out today will explain in more detail. And HURRAH for IVF!

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