Today I've been...

Littlenellie your message to flowerfriend is straight from the heart...and yours, my dear nellie is both warm and wonderful.

flowerfriend you sound as though you are having a bad day ,or should I say worse day as I should imagine every day is difficult for you at the moment.
You are right to say cherish what you have ,as you don't know what you have until it is gone,I hope you can find some comfort by coming on here,I remember only to well the wistfulness I felt,and still do at other friends in the real world talking about their daughters especially those friends closest to me who seemed to be oblivious to how much I was missing but those are times when I felt and feel still over sensitive I know we cannot fill that huge gap in your life but come on here and let us hug you until you feel less vulnerable and lonely..I hope I am not being too clumsy as I am only to aware how the written word can hurt albeit unintentionally hope you find some peace today......

flowerfriend Gransnet is a given right whatever else gets neglected ..thank you everyone am walking with said thumb held on show for all to see and share in my pain and every so often have to retire to the sanctuary of the bedroom and a sneaky peek at Gransnet fortunately is is my left hand so holding my wine glass which is medicinal purposes is not too difficult
ana son had extra duties for laughing he said it wasn't because of situation but because of my antics,apparently I have one of those faces that can say plenty without uttering a word all that with out the benefit of expletives...I was speechless....a first

Oh no , poor Nellie , hope it doesn"t take tooo long to heal . x

Dearest Nellie When I read your message I almost passed out with shock! How AWFUL for you...and your family too. I send you a huge (((hug))) and my love.

nellie - How terribly painful!! I hope it heals well and stops hurting soon. A good reason for taking things a bit easier during the hols., although one you could do without! Take care.

I am in awe of so many of you as you seem to do so much for your families. I am amazed you find the time to come on GN but glad that you do.

Don't forget to give some of your time and attention to your DHs while you still have them.

nellie! That must have been terrible, I probably would have fainted! I think you should put your son on extra duties for thinking it was funny...

[Sympathy] emoticon nellie that sounds excruciating, thank goodness they came back. Have you checked it isn't broken?
That should let you off holiday duties, but I don't expect it will

Same here glass its lovely being a was going to say hands on but have only one operational hand nan but by god it takes some energy this time of year dosent it [grin ]

Owwwww nellie hope you are ok!!!!!!!!
6 weeks and 2 days left oh no, dont think they way I feel that I am going to make it. Need some energy quick!

Today I am hoping it's going to rain and give my small garden a good soaking. I am too mean to water it and we haven't had any rain for three and a half weeks. I am not complaining as I know that many parts ofthe UK have had a poor summer so far and indeed more than enough rain.

Other than that I am enjoying a quiet day just loving my life but missing Mr. Flower.

First casualty of the school holidays...me...after collecting E's friend P,from Essex we including son who had been to collect some more things from Kerry's ,we pulled into to Maccy D's ready for the long journey home,my hand resting against the side of the car when P who is extremely blonde and terminally clumsy slammed the door with my thumb in it ,they walked away leaving me bent double and over breathing and sweatingly white and whispering open the door,after a few seconds they realised ( it felt like hours) she with the money was not with them and pulling funny faces lovingly embracing the floor and reluctantly on a rampant mission to find food turned back to release me and my mangled digit from the car,it was flat and black and crushed the pain excruciating P was in tears sons tears where of laughter,OH was ministering first aid and mopping up blood from exploding thumb which had sprung back into shape and burst with pressure E was saving a table..her excuse...so as to distance herself from the embarrassment....I am now walking about with a thumb the size of a sausage with no life or movement in it...only 6 weeks and 2 days to go....by the way that wasn't yesterday that was Monday the pain is causing absence attacks of brain..although could be due in part to the holidays

Those new fangled buggies are a nightmare, not like the old McLarens which just popped open, thought I was the bees knees when they first came out. I had a battle in a car park when GS1 was a new baby, me and half the car park trying to get the buggy to collapse you needed an Engineering Degree. In the end I had to bundle the whole thing into the boot, luckily my car had a large boot. Got home and DD had it collapsed in a second pressing everything I thought I had pressed

My daughter bought a 'state of the art' buggy for me to keep here. I just can't unfold the blessed thing without a lesson every time - not to mention you need the muscles of a weightlifter to force it open when you do remember how to set it up. So, no - no buggy yesterday. I 'pulled' him along for a few yards until he got the message that granny was cross and then he walked reluctantly home.
However, I should say that most of the time he's a delightful little chap and tantrums are quite rare. (Thank goodness!)

Just dawned on me its the 1st of August, this year is flying past.

With the buggy wrangle you need to be an octopus.

gillieb - isn't it a lovely age when a bit of sand and water pleases them so much. Had a happy half an hour with my GS emptying a planter, finding the daffodil bulbs, replanting some of them and - his ultimate goal - disturbing the ants nest in the bottom half of the planter.
Oh grannyactivist how tiring. You can't really just walk away and pretend you don't know them in that circumstance can you. toddler handling (as in manhandling) is the only option and did you have to buggy wrangle as well. Oh the joy of trying to strap a furious rigid toddler into buggy?
This is why grans need an exercise programme.
These things shall pass.

Well yesterday was a special treat for me because I played bowls against a blind and partially sighted group. They are local people, and most of them need help to get to our bowls club because we are a bit out in the sticks, but they come every year and we all so much enjoy their company. They play all year round, indoors of course during the winter, and use a council green during the summer (ours is a private club - sounds a bit snobby, but it's not, it is just not open to the public and we pay an annual subscription for use of green and club-house). I do not know how these people, nearly all widowed women manage to keep so active and happy, but they do and they make us all laugh. Barney who has very limited vision was telling me that she was going to have runner beans from the garden for her evening meal. She had planted, grown and picked these, she evidently also has a healthy crop of tomatoes waiting to ripen. Puts me in the shade, and does me good to be reminded that I have a great deal to be thankful for.

BED!

A 'terrible two' tantrum? Sounds familiar, though in some cases they last a few more years!

Took my 2 year old grandson on a bus trip into town today - a great novelty for him as he usually travels by car/train. He loved it so much he had the screaming abjabs* when it was time to get off!! He sulked and cried until we got home and then had to suffer 'stair-time' for two minutes until he was calm enough to say sorry. I love having him, but it is very tiring some days.

On a happier note I went to a 'food tasting' today; sampling different food before making a choice for my son's wedding. Lovely.

*(a technical term to describe screaming whilst lying on the floor drumming heels)

You managed to get him CLOTHES SHOPPING?! [falling back in amazement] emoticon!
This is unheard of for a man!

I MUST meet you! You are obviously a genuine home goddess! Respect!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Today I bullied DH into getting a new pair of suit trousers for DD's wedding as his incision hernia has grown so the suit he bought for DD1's wedding is too tight in the trouser department.. Fortunately TM Lewin seem able to track down the right fabric in his size. Then I got him into a shoe shop for a new pair of indoor shoes (he's not a carpet slipper person) and found a very smart pair of dark brown moccasins. Mission accompished.
I seem to have volunteered to make 100m of bunting for the reception forgetting that I gave my sewing machine away to DD2 for her theatre work - and she will be using it, so I have bought a new sewing machine for me! Mad really, but I used to use it a lot, curtains, blinds, children's clothes and so on and I think I will quite enjoy setting up a sewing room in the little spare room. Perhaps I will become a domestic goddess in my spare time. Kirstie Allsop - look out.

I have just made some honeycomb and am now having it crumbled over Cornish ice cream! Healthy bedtime snack??