soop's kindly kitcheners and pampered pets...

Happy birthday wobbly at least the weather is sort of mild.

oldgoat I quite agree, how rude, will Oscar ever recover from that slight? I doubt it.

corner it is such a pain when anything in the house breaks down just before Christmas. My machine is just over 2 years old, so I do not think that I should be paying a fortune for repair. The call out charge is £75 which made me gulp but I have little choice because of time of year.

soop the snow plough was only going for its annual service.

Daphne luckily I was sitting down when I read how organised you are- I am still writing cards. Admittedly I have an on line shop being delivered today but I still need to do a shop.

Happy birthday, wobbly - hope it's a good one!

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Morning all !!

Well the car irritation might be resolved slightly...they arrived this morning to collect my scooter( they need it to fit the hoist to the new car ) and now we shall be collecting the whole thing on the 23rd . Which is a huge improvement on the 24th.

Mind you so far I have not signed the order form ( should be done pre production) and I haven't paid ...which you usually do when you sign. Grampy and I have a mini bet that they wont ask for the money ---I do hope so !!!

Hope you good memories carry you through Christmas Callgirl , take your joy with your little one they have a way of making things special.

N0 soop I cannot take credit for the hats - thank you ebay

I wanted to post a picture of Jackson and his 'nativity children' which was in the paper yesterday but HQ will rap my knuckles because it has children other than mine in it . Suffice it to say - he did us proud with a beaming smile.

Oh no Charlie that is a nuisance !!! And sounds expensive. Of all the times for it to happen. Hope it hasn't spoiled your coffee with the ladies !!

Well , I too ( [winks] at Daphne am good to go. Just finished a couple of last minute gifts , which I'll post here . The apron is for Jackson -he's planning on entering GBBO !!

The other two pictures were taken this time last year and go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

TG for a cheerful,kitchen. So much doom and gloom in the world, yes I could weep and inwardly I fear for our safety, but life goes on doesn't it?
Why make ourselves miserable fretting or agonising about things over which we have no control? That is not meant to be unsympathetic, but who knows where we will be this time next year, so let us create happy memories.
And I am not prepared to beat my breast over the razzmatazz some people object to - so I will just ignore it and make this as happy a time as I can for us all, including DH who needs another blood transfusion tomorrow and also DD's MIL who has a diagnosis of Alzheimer's at the age of 68 also
So, onwards and upwards with the ironing. Poor charleygirl a non-functioning appliance is the last thing you need (I always feel personally let down when my machines don't work!) and n&g I hope your motor is sorted out for you in good time!!

Nice BD present in the post, my appointment to see surgeon on 20th Feb. But that new ukulele that I'm sure MRsP has ordered for me has yet to arrive ,

Into our lovely, friendly kitchen I waft...all smiles and fizzin' with well-meaning vibes.

The ironing session was long and heavy-going. However, I completed the load within two hours and forty-five minutes. We then sat (with a wee dram) and caught up with the latest village gossip news.

Charleyg You are so right. There is always something unexpected to blight the festive season. Best take a deep breath and chill. All will be well...in due course.

TriciaF Rory is the canniest cat that we've ever known. Considering he came in from a long, hard life living rough in the forest, he now enjoys an idyllic life.

Jalima the task of dusting the photos and such took about thirty minutes. Anyone would think that it was the hardest slog of the year. I made a point of dusting the glass/frames/ and backs of every precious item. Did I feel all puffed-up when I finished? Yep! I most certainly did.

Cornergran Neither of us are technically proficient. I can therefore understand your frustration regarding the "box thingy". I hasten to add that we probably have one (but I'm not sure what the function is).

oldgoat your dear husband was trying to be helpful. It is, after all, the season of goodwill to all men.
I hope that Oscar didn't over-hear the vet's comment on the size of his balls. That was a tad insensitive.

Wobbly Enjoy your birthday. Us lot would love a pic of you wearing your birthday suit.

DaphneB I thoroughly enjoyed 'Last Tango...' I wish that we had more episodes to look forward to.

Finally packed!

NanaandGrampy Love the grinning boys. Love the hats. Love the thought that you may be satisfied with whatever adjustments may need doing to your scooter. Happy

DaphneB I was hoping that your husband's last transfusion may have been enogh to see him through the holiday. It's not ideal, but, better to have his bloods topped-up in readiness for the weekend activities. The news regarding your daughter's mother-in-law is distressing. Has her memory/condition been failing for some time?

Wobbly Good news for you, at last. OOOOH...please let Mrs P be aware of how much you need and long for a new instrument. Did you drop many a subtle hint?














1 I do hope that you find a ukelele

Just this morning we heard that two more friends of ours have died. One local lady died in her sleep at breakfast time. The other friend, in Leicester, died last night in hospital.

My finger appears to be trigger-happy.

Galen Happy cruising.

Just been out for a medical appointment and couldn't understand why onscreen booking in couldn't find me - I was an hour early! Can't even tell the flippin' time now! I am losing the plot! ?. Cup of tea and then try again!

So sorry to hear about your friends, Soop. That's a bummer at any time but doubly so at this time of the year.

I second that soop you have had a bad year with many of your friends dying.

The washing machine man came this morning, he was extremely efficient, even I knew that he knew what he was doing but he could not find the cause of the leak. At least the leak was not meeting me at the kitchen door but it was a sizeable one. The machine is running now so I will keep my fingers crossed. I may leave it off on Christmas Day because I do not want to be tempting fate.

My Morrisons on line shop arrived and I have the bargain of the year. I ordered one turkey leg but they came 2 in a pack- each leg huge and both for £4.50. I will get a few meals out the pair of them. I will keep that secret to myself!!

Happy Birthday Wobbly, and I`m so pleased that you have a date with the surgeon.
Soop, so sorry about your friends, especially this week.
N&G, lovely photos once again.
My youngest son rang earlier to ask me to tea on Boxing Day. But Lynne won`t go, so I`ll have to make her tea before I go to Neil`s.
Did some more wrapping up last night, but still a fair bit to do. There`s a pile of ironing staring at me, that has to be fitted in as well.

Soop - I just want to say how much I appreciate the way you reply to individual posts. It doesn't happen much on the main forum, but it makes me feel that what we post matters.
Happy New Year and Bon Santé! (when it comes).

Greyduster We've all arrived far too early for some appointment or other. I would sooner be ridiculously early than a wee bit late. I take after my late father. He was only ever late for one appointment. Bless him, the hearse got held up on the way to his funeral. I'm relieved that he wasn't able to call the undertaker a "blithering idiot..." as was his want. Apologies if that last sentence is grammatically incorrect.

Charleyg Good things come to 'peeps' who deserve them. That was a bargain. Good for you.

callgirl1 I've just this minute finished my pile of ironing. I would gladly have included yours, and returned it to you ready for the airing cupboard.
Right, prepare Lynn's Boxing Day tea with love and a . After which, off you go to visit Neil. Enjoy the companionship. You deserve it.

TriciaF Of course whatever you post matters. I like to think that we share each other's highs and lows and stuff in between. In Scotland, the toast is Slainte. There should be a thingy over the 'e'. Some time, someone will tell me how to do it. I'm a late learner.

N&G I love seeing photos of that pair of imps! They keep you both on your toes and I know that you love it. They must be so excited now that Santa's visit is even closer.

call girl I have not ironed for years, do you have to? Lovely to look forward to tea with your youngest son on Boxing Day. Not the best time of year for you but you are making the very best of it.

Greyduster always better to be early than late- at least you went on the correct day.

I'm logging off until tomorrow lunchtime.
It's awfully blowy outside the hoos. Big, crashing waves. Stay safe and keep warm and try not to fret over stuff that isn't worth the stress.

Thank you for your company.

Better day today but beyond exhaustion now. Thoroughly ashamed of yesterday's meltdown, sometimes the smallest thing is the last straw. There's a mountain of ironing here for tomorrow callgirl. More than happy to include yours. I find ironing calming. Hoping your Christmas is as good as it can be.

Breakfast worked well, yes soop, the full cooked plus cereals, fruit and pastries for those with room to eat them. The children loved it, but would you believe they still asked for lunch, and ate it. . More losses you really don't need, we need our friends.

Good news about your appointment wobbly, hope that ukelele turned up. If not maybe it's in Santa's bag. There is hope.

Sounds as if the washing machine is fixed, charley, thought ours had come out in sympathy today but it looks as if Mr C had pushed the stop button when reaching across the worktop. Or I hope so! We have decided to let the 'box thingy' stew until after Christmas, you never know it. It might fix itself. .

Lovely photos again, n&g, you do sound organised. Did a food shop this evening after returning the grandchildren, feel almost organised now but there will be something, there always is . Cleaning tomorrow and then with luck a day off on Friday.

Take care all, sleep well.

It's hard for me to pin down the degree of DD's MIL's Alzheimer's. But my sis-in-law(a GP) ) and DD's friend who runs a care home with her husband both spotted it instantly at DD's hen do.
MIL doesn't always cope with talking to people at bigger gatherings, and has a lack of awareness of the 'bigger picture'. She has forgotten how to do many basic kitchen things and is no longer able to look after little DGS which is another reason I want to do all I can to make this Christmas special. She used to ring me for chat but no longer does that and if I ring out of the blue, she finds that hard to handle. She is the sweetest woman out, but those close to her have commented that things are slipping. I do hope she will be comfortable and relaxed here and not find it confusing or too tiring. Her husband needs a break too and SIL who is planning to do 1 day of childcare a week starting in January, is planning to combine that with keeping his mum company (they live quite near) so that his father gets a "day off". That really impressed me when I heard.

cornergran I am glad you are feeling a bit more like yourself. It is always possible to hide the ironing in a variety of places just iron what you need and s*d the rest!
If you have a real mountain to clear, how about an ironing service? I believe some charge by weight and it might be worth it as a one off?

What a day. Just sitting down for a quiet few moments with a cup of coffee and a kitchen catch-up.

galen when are you sailing? Have a good trip and enjoy your Christmas.

My dear brother (with Alzheimer's) was taken to hospital this morning and has pneumonia and sepsis. Hopefully he will settle there and not be too agitated. He is being well looked after.

daphne sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope the blood transfusion will keep your DH going over Christmas so you can both relax a bit. Fortunately for us my brothers dementia did not start until later in life. Sounds like your DD landed a good one with your SIL. What a good idea to look after his mother and child at the same time.

Big ((hugs)) to all that need them and hope you all have a peaceful sleep tonight and a better day tomorrow. Thank goodness for the kitchen and it's inhabitants ?

Night night

Soop and Cornergran, bless you both! I`ve now done the biggest part of the ironing, gave up when my back and knees were threatening to go on strike, what`s left I`m hiding until after Christmas.
CharleyG, my daughters say they don`t know where my ironing comes from, with only the 2 of us, but then they tell me off for ironing knickers and tea towels!
DaphneB, you are a kind, thoughtful person, would that everyone was like you and a lot of the people on GN.

callgirl you iron knickers? Oh dear- my mother used to iron bra straps- that maybe why I am the opposite and now that I no longer work I iron zilch.

Daphne with luck your DH will feel fairly good on CD once he has had yet another blood transfusion today. Your car must know the journey so no problems there.

Galen have a lovely cruise and enjoy the warmer weather than here. Apparently it may be 15C here on Christmas Day.

corner the young fellow could not find anything wrong with my w/machine so it is a case of watch and wait which I do not like for obvious reasons. At least the water did not meet me at the kitchen door because I have laminate flooring in lounge and dining room.

corner I do not know what to say about your box thingy. That is the extent I think of my technical knowledge.

Just read all your lovely posts of the last few days and wanted to wish all you 'kitcheners' a Very Happy Christmas however you may spend it.
Charleygirl I hope your 'machine' behaves itself from now on