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(aka Bike) Part 1122 by Angharad Copyright © 2010 Angharad
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“Where’s Danny?” I asked the girls after Trish and I got the dinner on the go.
“Daddy went to collect him,” said Livvie barely looking up from her computer.
“Oh, and would someone care to tell me why?”
“He was playing football for the school,” offered Billie, “He did tell you–anyhow, Daddy went to watch him.”
“Oops, I clean forgot,” I blushed and felt so guilty.
“Does that mean you’d have dirty remembered?” queried our very own genius.
“Eh?” I asked absently, and dashed back to the kitchen. I’d written something on the calendar, I’m sure I had. I checked–oh shit, he is too. Damn, it’ll be over now.
Moments later Tom appeared, followed by Simon and Danny. “Hello, sweetheart, how did you get on?” I asked my son.
“As if you cared,” he said dumping his bag on the kitchen floor and running up the stairs.
“I forgot,” I mouthed to Simon.
He nodded, “I only remembered because Tom reminded me.”
“I’ve got so out of meetings and diaries, I must be more disciplined.”
“Let’s face it, Babes, you’re busy much of the time. Anyway, the good news is, I’m relocating the office to Portsmouth.”
“Oh, are you?”
“I thought you’d be pleased–Dad wasn’t.”
“Well, of course I’m pleased–especially if that means you’ll be home more often.”
“That’s the idea, babes, now shall I go and have a word with that young man?”
“If you could that it would be wonderful–but don’t be hard on him will you, he’s finding it tough at the moment in a household which is rather skewed towards females.”
“Nah, I was gonna do some male bonding with him, and tell him that you do get very busy and can’t remember everything.”
“Thank you, darling.” I kissed him and we hugged before he went up to see Danny and I checked the dinner.
Trish laid the table in the kitchen and I began to dish up, sending one of the girls up to tell Simon that dinner was served. He came down a couple of minutes later with Danny, who looked rather tearful.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, “Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
He hugged me and apologised for being rude earlier, I glared at Simon who simply shrugged and shook his head–implying he wasn’t responsible for this.
I asked Stella to continue dishing up whilst I walked Danny out of the kitchen and into the dining room. “Are you sure everything is alright?”
“Yes, Mummy, I’m sorry I was cheeky earlier–but I so wanted you at my football game.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, it went completely out of my head–next time apart from writing it on the calendar, can you remind me the day before.”
“I did, Mummy,” he rolled his eyes, “you even packed my kit for me, didn’t you?”
“No, that wasn’t me,” if it was I’m worse than I thought, “I think Jenny might have done it for you.”
“Oh, I thought you had, because of the chocolate bar wrapped in my towel.”
“No, I told Jenny that I always do that for all of you. Anyway, what happened with your match?” I asked him.
“We lost, but I scored a goal, they got a penalty in extra time–their player dived too.”
“Tell me about the goal you scored,” I insisted and he did. In the end he had to cut it short because all the others were waiting to tuck into their steak and kidney casserole, so we had to go back to the table. He seemed to cheer up after that, so when he was told about Trish scoring her hat-trick, he was suitably impressed and actually praised her.
I heard them talking after dinner was over, I was cleaning up in the kitchen and I don’t think they were aware I could hear them.
“You scored three goals–you musta changed, if anyone passed a ball anywhere near you at the home, you’d scream and run away.”
“So? I didn’t feel like it then.”
“You do now then, do you?”
“Not really, but Mummy made me promise to do my best–I did.”
“Yeah, but that’s against girls,” Danny brought her down to reality.
“Yeah so? I’m a girl too, remember?”
“Yeah, I know, but you weren’t in them days.”
“I was, or wanted to be–they kept confiscating any girl’s stuff I had.”
“You stole it from the other girls.”
“It was the only way I could get some.”
“It was still theft, Trish.”
“Alright, already–what else was I supposed to do–no one would believe me until Nora came, she was a bit better.”
“Seeing as she got you one or two things and allowed you to wear them and stopped the other kids beating you up, I think things were a lot easier.”
“Yeah, until I like, came here, and Mummy and the other grown-ups were just so nice. D’you know I’ve never been a boy in this house.”
“Yeah, whatever turns you on. Still, three goals–pretty good going.”
“Except, they like, want me to play for the school team next week.”
“’Course they do.”
“I don’t wanna, like do it.”
“Why not–you could get school colours by the summer?”
“Don’t wannem.”
“Why not?”
“What if people start to say I’m a boy?”
“Oh yeah–I forgot–will that ever be finished?”
“Not till I’ve had surgery to make me like Mummy.”
“If you’re as pretty as Mummy, I’ll ask you out myself.”
At this point I found it necessary to go out to the utility room and load the washing machine before my head got too big to get through the door.
“Babes,” called Simon from the kitchen.
“I’m doing the laundry.”
“Where did I put my watch?”
“Wherever you left it.”
“I know that–but where was that?”
“You put it down, Simon, why am I supposed to know where it is?”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, on the window sill by the kitchen sink.”
“See, I knew you’d know.”
“Yes, dear.” I only knew because I’d shifted it when I wiped down the sink and draining boards–which was where he’d left it, stupid man.
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Comments
Stupid Man
I keep having that reaction to the males of my family too. Fits, ya' know? LOL
CaroL
CaroL
Danny fancies Trish?
Oh-Oh!
Susie
In Actual fact I think Danny…
…fancies his mum.
At least that's how I understood it.
Gabi.
Gabi.
Reminds me ...
... of a Tom Lehrer ** song re Oedipus Rex " ... he lurves his motherrr" Though, as you might expect, that doesn't end as happily as we hope this does. I feel sorry for Danny now that Billie has changed sides - he's a bit outnumbered and understandably feels a bit vulnerable particularly when boys are supposed to 'brave'.
Cathy obviously has the same kind of diary I had at work - a write only device. I avoided meetings whenever possible.
Robi
** For those who aren't aware of this musical Harvard maths professor look him up on Spotify. "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and "Masochism Tango" are amongst my favourites
I personally prefer The
I personally prefer The Elements, and The Irish Ballad.
Besides, I don't think Cathy would like Poisoning Pigeons in the Park - I mean, it does talk about 'doing in a squirrel or two'.
BW
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I say is that Oedipus?
I liked my Mum a great deal more than my stepfather. He was an evil plonker. :)
Gwendolyn
Simon
Nice to see Simon being a bit more of a parent, with Danny, and ensuring more family time by working closer to home.
Thanks A+B+I (Steak & Kidney Casserole), it's always nice being a fly on the wall in the Agnew/Cameron home.
Proactive Steps
Bike Resources
Bike Resources
Ummmm, Steak and Kidney pie
Ummmm, Steak and Kidney pie or even casserole, how nice. Most Americans don't really know this dish and if offered generally reject it out of hand. I think it is the word kidney that turns them off. Danny and Trish are a real pair as they were friends before and it does seem they will remain so, even as Trish goes further into girlhood and eventually young womanhood. Great chapter, Angharad, and you definitely showed how parents can forget or overlook things that are very important to their children.
But Steak and Kidney Pudding…
…is the best of the lot. I make it occasionally for special occasions, but the problem is that it takes HOURS (at least 6) to steam. It is one of the classics of British cuisine…oh, all right,cooking… The slower the cooking the better the result, as long as you don't forget to top up the water in the bain marie. A certain Mrs Beaton who wrote (or more likely gave her name to) a cookery book in Victorian times, used to include a Whitstable oyster in with the chunks of steak and kidney.
I haven't "knitted" one for ages; perhaps I'll cook one this coming weekend—unless the weather's boiling hot.
Another excellent chapter, Ang,
Hilary
I don't think Americans eat Kidney.
I was so anxious to make some; even looked it up on Cooks.com, but it put me off a bit when I saw there really was Kidney in it. I don't even know if it can be bought here? It is also hard to purchase goat and camel too. :(
Much Peace.
Gwendolyn
It's not often eaten
Over here because of the strange North American food prejudices. Kidney is a strong Offal meat and has a lot of iron flavors in it. The key is Salt, Put it raw into salt dry over night and it will pull moisture out of it including lots of nasty flavors. Then wash in off and soak it. If I'm making a steak and Kidney pie I put it into a marinade of a bit of sherry, caramelized onions and apple cider. But dark beers can replace the sherry and apple sauce can replace the cider. You can use anything really it's just the flavors soak in with the lost moisture in the cells of the Kidney meat.
I couldn't help you with getting camel but lots of people raise and have goats and you could probably find some goat meat from them?
Bailey Summers
My paternal grandfather
My paternal grandfather had a grocery store near the Comanche Nation in SW Oklahoma, where in addition to usual groceries he did custom butchering, so always had entire beeves on hand in the cooler. On Saturday everyone in the country came to town. Young Native American kids would come into the store with a dime or two as ask him for slices of raw kidney, considered a delicacy. I tried it once, and it was kinda chewy with little flavor unless you had some salt, but not that bad. Probably have to develop a taste for it from earliest infancy. Mothers sometimes referred to it as a baby pacifier. If they were sucking and chewing on raw kidney, especially while teething, they weren't fussing about something else while Mom was working.
CaroL
CaroL
Goat Swarma on a bed of Humous!
YUM! Of course I have had it with lamb and chicken but the goat is a bit like deer. Yum!
It usually comes with flat bread, and in a Lebanese or Middle Eastern Resturant, you get extra points if you can eat it with your right hand and no silverware. :)
Gwendolyn
Americans must be wierd.
American's must be really wierd if they don't like kidneys, next they'll be saying they don't like black puddin.
Steak and kidney pie! Yummy, one of the nicest meals to come out of Britain! I'm surprised it didn't cross over on the Mayflower, come to think of it, it must have done.
My recollections of America was that they had a huge range of foods stemming from the countless waves of immigration from all over.
Helen (That's my better half,)once cooked a huge steak and kidney pie on our ship for the American stevedores and the ship's agent. She shared the galley with the chief cook who was phillipino and was fascinated by it. He had never tasted it before.
The European officers and the Phillipino crew loved it even though we told them what it was, (Well the Europeans had all tasted it in various guises in their own countries.)
The Yanks once they'd tasted it, thought it was brilliant and were shocked when we told them the tasy bits were lamb's kidneys. Fair play though, they came back for more cos we were having a Barbequeue out on the poop deck in Port Angelese, Washington State.
Beverly.
Growing old disgracefully.
(Yes of course there was all the usual stuff, sausages, steaks, chicken, pork, you name it); - but the yanks loved the heavy soggy pastry bed soaked in gravy, beef chunks and lambs kidneys then covered with a lighter puff pastry on top. Least ways that's how I remembered it.
It really is one of the bests dishes to come out of the UK. (Though the French will probably say they brought it over with the bloody Normans in 1066.) (Yeah, - we've suffered from 'waves of "immigration" as well')or was that 'invasion'
Cheap meats
Meat has always been cheap in the US, so we haven't had to develop a national taste for the odder bits of animals. Generally, that stuff goes into making hot dogs and other kinds of sausage.
You do find recipes for such things in the South but for Heaven's sake, don't call them Yanks! :) It's like calling a Scotsman a Limey. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
x
uh, nevermind
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
Steak and Kidney Pudding
Yum!!! One of the best things about being a Brit..... Well that and Fish and Chips and Toad in the Hole and ....Oh never mind....The list what would be too long....
Lovely chapter as always Ang., You have a way of recreating family life just as it is...Kids tantrums interspersed with lots of love
Kirri
Bike pt 1122.
Me, I think that Danny likes strong women like Cathy and Trish.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
WHAT THE HECK????
This episode managed to annoy me quite a bit!
I mean both of Danny parents forget his game( Simon said he was reminded by tom) and yet he apologies for being cheeky ? And asking for Simon to go up and talk to him instead of doing it her self, plus asking him not to be "hard on him" as if he did something wrong but it was only minor?
Danny has every right to be pissed off ( heck I am and I am just a reader of a story) : he is constantly being ignored and pushed to the side because of the other kids , he rarely get any mom OR dad time and it seems like no on really says anything good about him beside that he is good at football.For crying out loud this kid gets zero attention and zero positive feedback for what he does ( which is way more then what July did till not long ago) yet his sister get it very often ( Billie decided that she wanted to ride a bike so she gets a bit more mummy time,which Cathy is eager to give. yet Cathy seem to be a bit to casual about missing the match). I mean Cathy never seem to forget even the minor things in her girls life and here she forgot something she was told to be of an importance by her son ( when a child of 11 asks a parent to attend something its usually of great importance to them).
It seems to me that Cathy isn't really regretting the forgotten match as much as she is in being caught to neglecting her child ( and in the amount of attention and support Danny seems to get it is neglection ).
It's plain obvious from the last 100 or so episode that cathy is a a bad parents for boys : the amount of reference to the boys , which included Billie till not long ago, is out numbered by about 20 to 1 for each of the girls except meems ( which get about the same amount of reference ). And before Billie had come out it seems that the reference was mostly to "The boys" when the girls was mostly refereed to as individuals .
I mean in the last few episode we got some info about the girls' scholastic year and close to none ( I think it was none) about Danny's.
So what do I think should happen right now : Tom ( which is the sane voice in this house ) should give cathy a really hard time for how she treated Danny ( Simon should get a similar talk) over the last year.Cathy should end this conversation in tears ( and no , Tom shouldn't compose her) cause only then might it penetrate her thick skull that this is a human being of equal importance as her daughters . Then someone should tell danny that yes he has the RIGHT to ask his parent to give him some attention.
I know this post is incoherent but I am so pissed off I don't give a damn ( If I am swearing it usually means something had upset me to the core) . I mean here is a child who doesn't get any protection from no one ( I can't seem to remember a lot of pro Danny comments but lots of anti ones).
And I know some of you will disagree and through some stupid remark about boys /man so before my response ( which will come ) here is a preview : YOU MISANDRIC PIGS ARE JUST AS BAD AS THE MISOGYNIST ONE ,AND AS MUCH AS YOU HATE THEM YOU HAVE TONS IN COMMON (YOU BOTH ACT THE SAME TO ME).
Really pissed off.
Lily.
P.S
Erin I know this might get deleted /blocked in order to prevent a flame wars but I think this discussion is important and should be open as there are just too many misandric comments/references in this community for it to be left as is.
I understand your concern
But my larger concern is that you not get too upset about things as it is perhaps not good for your health. There are several stories that have gotten to me in the last several years that I have been here. Deception of Choice pushed my buttons a lot because it was dredging up things for me. There was one story that I wrote to the author and told her that I had to stop reading because it was too hard on me. A while later, I look back on some of those stories and see them as a wonderful cathartic that helped my own healing.
I do hope that you do not get offended by my words.
Much peace
Gwendolyn.
hear, hear! Sort of.
I don't think I feel quite as strongly as you do :) but let's face it: Danny is an adopted child, adopted at a relatively late age.
Adopted kids are incredibly sensitive to approval or signs of lack of approval. They will push, push, push the envelope to be sure that the parent's love is real and they won't be sent away again. They can be incredibly difficult to love, at times. If you think Julie's been tough, wait till Danny's just a little older.
As an author, Angharad has to split her narrative attention amongst all the kids, that's understood. But realistically, a kid in Danny's position is not likely to be a sweet kid.
BOTH parents missing his game would devastate his sense of acceptance, and he'd be back to square one in his insecurity, and take it out on everyone by acting out.
That's my two cents, anyway :)
Angharad, you only get feedback like this because we're SO caught up in the story. :)
Cathy needs to give Danny more attention
He already thinks she likes her daughters much more than him. She needs to show him differently. Hoping bike riding might help. What about archery? And then there is going to his games and cheering for him.
I've eaten...
... some weird things over the years, hey I'll try almost anything once, but kidney? Ack, never could get it though my mum used to cook it regularly. I'd do the rest and leave those icky bits on the side. Not sure why exactly but it's not simply because it's offal or whatever...shrug.
The 'boys' do get a bit marginalised at times don't they, sort of understandable I guess given the general flavour and environment. Danny's okay and I think Cathy will take a little more care now. I'm still squinting a bit at Billie by the way, we'll see.
My hat's off to ya Ang, you amaze me, in a good way. Take care.
Kristina
the great story continues!
I know I dont comment enough...but this continues to be an entertaining and compassionate story. I DO look forward to getting back to some of her Dormouse duties and adventures. Keep up the good work and thank you for giving me the warm and fuzzy! :) Kristin
kristyn nichols
Busy Household
typical problems but a family working as a team.
Things look good. Good chapter excellent story.
Organisation
Let's look at who and what Cathy has to organise each day:
Baby C (1 month old, so requires lots of attention!)
Mima (5yrs 11 months)
Trish and Livvie (nearly 6½)
Billie (9) - only 'came out' a few months ago, starting a new school
Danny (10) - only non-TG male child
Julie (16) - attending college, working p/t at a hair salon on Saturdays
Jenny - the nanny
Maureen - general maintenance
Leon - gardening on Saturdays
Mammal survey - whenever she gets time
Bank environmental work - as required by Henry
-oOo-
The four TG girls obviously have slightly more attention than the rest, both because Cathy's "been there, done that, bought the T shirt" and because she knows they might face unique problems the others won't. Mima and Livvie are frequently given supporting roles to the others - Livvie in particular tends to aid and abet most of Trish's scheming. Naturally between them they probably get a lot more 'off-camera' time than Danny.
Danny is perhaps worth monitoring and worth scheduling more contact time to - after all, with no peers in the household, he could be in danger of becoming very shy and withdrawn. Perhaps Cathy and Si could encourage Leon to come over more often on a sociable basis rather than a work basis - to give Danny more of a chance at male bonding? Then on the rare evenings when it's not dull, cold or raining, since Livvie and Mima in particular are interested in football, despite the gender difference he could have a kickabout with them, as it's something he has in common with his siblings.
On the organisation front, if Cathy can purchase a mobile phone for herself, that could be used as an organisation tool - both with its inbuilt calendar / alarms and through a hookup to something like Google Calendar (which can send text message / email reminders).
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I disagree
Saying that it's understandable to give more attention to the TG girls then the others is really wrong.
I mean as long as non of them is having a crisis ( per what Trish has gone through) we should educate them that they are no different then the others and give them an equal attention.
On the Danny front : Danny isn't just worth monitoring because we already know he suffers from a problem. Danny outburst and later apology indicate that he feel's alone in this household and that he thinks he is inferior to the other! ( he vocally stated that several times , which combined with this behavior state that the problem is already there). Also the risk are far greater then you think : Ranging from 'mere' lack of self worth to down right suicidal and depressive behavior, and as strong as Danny is he is closer to the latter.
Also sending Leon to spend more time with him isn't a proper solution, heck it might even make it worse. Its like rich parents who give there children presents instead of mom/dad time.
Basically it's like saying : " you're not important enough for us to spend time with , but here is a replacement to show you we notice it" . This will make it all worse cause he sees that his siblings do get the attention.
And as far as I remember Cathy has some pretty nifty blackberry Simon gave her. Which , if my memory serves me right ( my work replaced our phones a few months ago) should remind her in an abundance of annoying ways that she has something to do :).
Lily.
I must say....
If Cathy stops collecting children like Beanie Babies? Leon is an employee; Danny needs his father to bond with. And even if Cathy can manage to determine what's important, she'll stop trying to save every needy child that crosses her path. Surely she isn't the only savior in this universe, so maybe when someone calls and asks for the solution to whatever problem it is that plagues the environment or animal population or world peace, she can say, sorry, I've got an infant on my breast, call someone else.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Clarification
I wasn't saying that the TG girls should necessarily be given more contact time per se than the rest - just that they currently appear to have more contact time (or at least, more screen time). As for Danny, I suggested both more contact time with Cathy and Si first, then Leon second. After all, although Danny has some friends down the street, I doubt there'd be many that would be willing to come around to the madhouse - they'd probably feel a little intimidated by all the girls. Although Leon is primarily an employee, he's already spending more time at the house than strictly necessary because of his infatuation with Julie, and so could possibly provide another avenue of 'time out' for Danny.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Isn't that what marriages are for?
So spouses can remember where each other left stuff. The longer the marriage, (And the older the partners get,) the more they come to depend on each other to remember where glasses or car-keys or mobile phones have been left.
Come on now. Those of you who haven't got there yet have got it all to come.
Lot's of love,
B -, Be, - (Calls to spouse of 40 odd years,) HELEN!!!
What?" Comes faintly from the drawing room.
What's my bloody name again.
Tut. Beverly, you forgetful old cow! (Well it is when you're on that dammned computer!)
Duuuhh.
Can I get on with watching Corry now?
Sorreeey!!
That's right, now I remember, - Beverly,
Growing old disgracefully (and forgetfully!)
Love and Hugs.
Bev.
Yeah, but...
Yeah, but, what do you do when your spouse can't find her glasses - because she shoved them to the top of her head, or is asking you for the "blankety blank" (literal words) credit card, that she just happens to be waiving in her hand while complaining she can't find it...
Anne
Why won't Trish realize that after her 'accident' it won't show
Poor Danny, the only Rooster at a hen party.
He feels left out, I don't blame him.
Cefin