Soop's Extended Extension.

By the way, bags, have a third book written by Ann Cleeves - 'White Nights'.

We also received a very upsetting message from a cousin yesterday. An aunt of ours, who, although in her early nineties, remains super-fit, but has suddenly begun to "lose the plot"...her daughter and son-in-law have been very supportive of her for some time and she has carried on living in her lovely home [alone] and taking an active role in several local community activities. One night a few weeks ago, a police car drew up outside the home of daughter and son-in-law. Auntie was in the car. She had phoned the police and reported that daughter was trying to murder her!!! Naturally, nothing could be farther from the truth and this caused her daughter a great deal of distress. Auntie then suddenly stopped "looking after herself" and refused to eat. Her home has been sold. She has moved in with daughter [who now has to work part time] as does her husband, in order to be in the home and caring for auntie. How sad that old age can be responsible for robbing a lively, caring, creative lady of her senses.

That's very sad 8*soop*. My heart goes out to her daughter. Having the worry about her Mum plus the feelings of, in a sense, losing her. . It's a devastating situation for all concerned.

Oh dear soop, that it sad!

Hello! I'm back from Scotland. Hearing the weather reports from the south, I was very glad I'd gone in the opposite direction. My sister had plenty arranged for me, but I most enjoyed my visit to the Cambo Estate in Fife to see the snowdrops - a great carpet of them on either side of the path leading down to the shore. Yesterday we had a reunion with second cousins and slightly more distant relatives and in the evening sister and I left BiL at home and struggled through a sleety monsoon to see Anton du Bec's stage show which was great fun. Recommended.

So sad for your cousin soop.

But the ring returned for Valentine's!

Hi anno - weather not too bad up there, eh?
I'm hoping the forecast here is right as it should be good and I am going to lunch in Oxford as my youngest grandson is 13...ooh-er, he will be a teenager!

So sorry to hear about your cousin and your aunt, Kitty - life can be particularly cruel sometimes.

I have been wondering if everybody else on GN has a life as it is quite dead this evening! Hope to have someone to chat to tomorrow?

I have just mentioned on another thread Soutra how much my life has changed when, on a Saturday night, I am asking advice about keeping my whites, white

Agus That made me chuckle.

Soutra I always log off late afternoon. If I did not, I would have to consider myself a Granspal addict.

AlieO Have fun at the birthday boy's bash. Do you find it difficult to find greetings cards that are suitable for male teens?

anno we keep getting news of wicked weather conditions down in England. It is a glorious day here in Kintyre. Lovely blue sky and puffy cloudlets. I shall add a photo to the album of the scene from the window. Snow on the peaks of the island of Jura but no such thing hereabouts.

kitty Rory has at long last decided to move. One moment he appeared to be in a cat coma but, as the fridge door opened, [ever so quietly] he was there beside me. He doesn't miss a trick.

soop of course Rory was at your side when you opened the fridge door, after all you may have forgotten about him re food!

The weather conditions have been horrendous here but luckily where I live in NW London there are no floods. The winds have been horrendous, seeing full wheelie bins float past as though they were empty cardboard boxes.

Today is one of sunshine and it seems to be quite warm as I have switched off the heating.

Charleygirl We haven't had such wicked wind hereabouts. When the hurricane struck the west coast of Scotland nearly a year ago, the beaches all the way down as far as Campbeltown were smothered in detritus. Gangs of villagers with black sacks took turns in clearing the local chaos. At that time, we were without electricity for almost a week. The wind sounded like an express train travelling through a tunnel.

Today is beautiful. Sun shining on the sea. Several cormorants and one gull, have taken to basking on the big rock.

A good day for pruning. Why is it that I enjoy that task more than anything else in the garden - what do you say, Dr Freud?
I've come home to blooms on the rhododendron praecox and a plethora of hellebores along the fence, where the birds excrete the seeds. Snowdrops are still good but the aconites I planted several years ago have never seen the light of day. Every garden I saw in Scotland had hundreds of them.

anno I don't know what Dr Freud would make of your passion for pruning, but I would think that the act of cutting away old stuff so that new stuff may thrive, is a most admirable exercise.

I keep planting aconites too Anno and they are also never seen again. Don't they look lovely with snowdrops?

Off to hopefully watch some ice skating. There is one channel in particular that seems to come and go on the screen - usually when I'm watching skating. It's as if all the pixels do a soft-shoe-shuffle and I lose precious moments of the competition. When this occurs, I have a tendency to use extremely naughty words.

We enjoy the figure skating. It amazes me how they can be so graceful and almost balletic on ice. GD1 now goes ice skating on a Saturday and is loving it so watching professional figure skating, she says, is giving her some good ideas

It's been a beautiful day here too. I went for a walk this morning with a friend and because I haven't worn shoes for over 10 weeks my boots rubbed - result blisters on 3 toes and 1 heel - very ouchy. I had to hitch a ride back home
It's good to be in the peace of the Kitchen.

Is there a quiet corner where I can just sleep? I have had indigestion all week, every time I bend over it starts up that's unusual for me.

I really want to sleep all week but I have lots of things booked, not to mention going to mind DGS next Saturday. I need to get organised to go on holiday next Monday, including driving to the park and ride at Manchester Airport before 7am on Monday.

I sometimes feel I have too much on my weekly calender.

What's more my knitting has gone rather wrong! One side is longer than the other and I have been trying to join them up. I am not sure though which side is the wrong one.

Relax, Nellie. Where are you going on holiday? I hope it's somewhere warm - and dry.

kitty, I have decided to buy some aconites 'in the green' very soon. I am wondering if I put the original failed corms in upside down. It's not impossible.

Anno Madeira on another Geology trip. I am sure it will be great fun, there is usually a lot of laughter but it's not always relaxing.

Nellie I suggest that if the indigestion persists you take yourself off to ask your GP for advice. I have a hiatus hernia...discovered after long-tem indigestion. Also, it sounds like a holiday will do you a lot of good. As anno says, relax!

Agus As I feared, the ice skating programme played up in mid flow. Pixels flying all over the screen...I was so cross. The problem clears [with patience] but I have missed some highlights. All very irritating.

Gally blisters can be wickedly painful. Thank goodness help was at hand...or foot...

I seem to have spent the best part of the day cursing. We bought a reconditioned vacuum cleaner in November. Today it stopped mid-flow. MacSporran took it apart [skilfully] and reassembled it [with much huffing and puffing]. He checked the fuse and such. No go! We then tried emailing the company and came across more problems. We have in fact reached the company by phone. Was not able to speak to an individual...so left a message on the answer phone. In need of some good company and a mug of strong coffee.

soop what a pity I do not live marginally closer because I have 3, please do not ask!!!

Rory will be pleased that he is undisturbed.

Madeira is fascinating, Nellie. Don't know about the geology, but the flowers are gorgeous and the wine... well, see for yourself! Enjoy the trip.

Soop You are right, I have wondered about that. I have a routine blood test arranged for this week. I will go when I get back from holiday the week after when my GP has those results in hand it could be related.

Nellie you do just that. We want a well Nellie in our midst.
Charleygirl Three! Blisters? Ah...vacuum cleaners. Now I understand. Nothing is built to last these days. I cannot help but get frustrated when things go wrong and there is no "live" person to discuss matters with. I've done an awful lot of tutting this morning. Very tiresome.
anno Good friends of ours are besotted with Madeira. Today [in bonnie Kintyre] the air is very still. There is barely a ripple on the sea. In fact, it appears to be foggy way out on the horizon. The ferry looked ghost-like.