soop's kindly kitcheners and pampered pets...

Cooper is a real character n&g, your daughter is so brave taking on potty training in the winter. I took the easy route with ours and opted for the summer months, lots of outside time! nellie, that face says it all, he was having such fun I am sure. Our Littlest at 18 months can now open doors, the taps could well be next.

Afraid your good advice came too late charley, it would just have been wrong to watch others with hot chocolate and not join in. Did it make me cough? Oh yes. Was it worth it? Definitely . I couldn't believe my eyes at those prices for removing a piece of furniture. If we were closer we could do it for you. It only needs a hatch back car. Is it worth asking your friends if perhaps a family member could help you with this?

I'll be thinking of you on your journey and at your appointment soop, good wishes for both.

Too late for you to read this before younhave to set off tomorrow Soop but safe journey and good luck with the appointment.
R's appointment went OK but his mobility has deteriorated so much he was having real trouble walking the corridors in the hospital. I offered to try and find a porter and a wheelchair but he struggled on.
His Hb has dropped again to the point where he will need another transfusion locally and he is feeling it. Not a lot of joy on the horizon but things could always be worse.
Little Flynn is a joy but both he and DD have got snuffles and so I fear he may be restless. Instead of sleeping in the car on the way home he cried, nay screamed sometimes, the whole way. I joked to DD that he would probably fall asleep when we came off the M1 at junction 14, 10 minutes from home and guess what? He did!
Grace seemed to cope in our absence, my neighbourcame round and let her out but she has rejected the meal I put out for her. I think I am in, as it were, the doghouse!

Annsixty I do feel for you. Do not go down the road of thinking "this is the last time I/we will do this or that." If you can, take each week as it comes. DD's MIL who is a sweet lady has clearly "slipped " since this time last year and I wonder how
she will be by next Christmas, but then, 8 years and two months ago it looked unlikely that DH would even make that Christmas. Things aren't good, but they could be worse. I hope your family can give you moral, emotional and practical support. They need to know how things stand and not leave it all up to you. (IMHO)

Charley those prices are extortionate! Surely there is a local 'man with van' who will do it for less? A neighbour has recently had a large replacement item delivered to her ground first second floor flat by John L...s and they also took away the broken item, all at no extra charge I believe.

Daphne sorry to hear your journey wasn't the best for Flynn or had the best results for DH. I wish you strength for the days ahead and hope you don't get the snuffles too

Just want to say that we have a lot of strong, capable and supportive people in the kitchen and give you all a big (((Hug))).

Now I'm off to bed as, in the morning, I'm helping at a course to give information and support to carers of people with dementia - another group of fabulous people.

Thinking of Daphne and her 'odd odes' reminded me of this. I came across it a few years ago and posted it on another thread recently but thought it might be fun to hang it in the kitchen too.

The Twelve Days of Christmas (Or the Everlasting Turkey)

On the first day of Christmas my true love said to me:
I`ve bought a big, fresh turkey and a proper Christmas tree.

On the second day of Christmas much laughter could be heard
as we tucked into our turkey- a most delicious bird.

On the third day of Christmas came the people from next door.
The turkey tasted just as good as it had done before.

On the fourth day of Christmas came relations, young and old.
We finished up the Christmas pud and had the turkey cold.

On the fifth day of Christmas, outside the snowflakes scurried
But we were nice warm inside – we had the turkey curried.

On the sixth day of Christmas, the Christmas spirit died
as the children fought and bickered – we had turkey rissoles fried.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love he did wince
When he sat down at the table and was offered turkey mince.

On the eighth day of Christmas the dog had run for shelter
He`d seen our turkey pancakes and the glass of Alka Seltzer.

On the ninth day of Christmas by lunchtime Dad was blotto
He knew that bird was back again, this time as a risotto.

On the tenth day of Christmas we were drinking home-made brew
As if that wasn`t bad enough, we were eating turkey stew.

On the eleventh day of Christmas the Christmas tree was moulting.
With chilli, soy and oyster sauce the turkey was revolting.

On the twelfth day of Christmas we had smiles upon our lips.
The guests had gone, the turkey too – we dined on fish chips.

Love it Swanny! In our case it is the Boxing Day ham, a week on and there is still half left so I have consigned it to the freezer, there are only so many times you can eat ham, egg and chips (a favourite) before even that starts to pall! .

Charleygirl There is growtall step in the cloak room at present, so the 4yr old can get onto the toilet and reach the taps to wash his hands. Littlest can't open the doors yet.

Kittylester
The description in the article fits my symptoms accurately.
I do think the cough I had was a mild return of whooping cough. I am told I had it when I was a baby before vaccination.

I knew someone in the U3A in his late 70s who said his GP had decided he had a recurrence of it before him I did not know it could recur.

I had heard a version of the turkey saga many years ago and thought it was hilarious but have never been able to find it since!
Thank you Swanny

Nelliemoser that has given me a before I go to bed!!

swanny I have tried a man with a van but these precious petals think it is a 2 man job. I could bring down each drawer separately using my stair lift but it is the carcass that is the problem. I may actually take the drawers out and see how strong or flimsy it is.

Half of my problem is that I am very independent and hate asking for help. I have not given up hope yet.

I think that soop' appointment is pm, I hope that it goes okay.

Daphne so sorry to hear that you were not entertained in the car in a manner in which I had envisaged. At least you are all home now safe and sound and no doubt Grace will forgive you after she has had a few cuddles from Flynn. It does take time for a dog to accept total neglect for a day.

I know it is not good but it is marginally better going to MK for blood transfusions and making the trip to the Royal Free.

Just finished cleaning the living room rug as GS (9) emptied the contents of his stomach onto it in spectacular fashion yesterday. Wholly unexpected. I sent a text to DD asking her: "how is he this morning?" Text came back "I'm okay, thank you very much for asking". I thought she was being sarcastic and rang up to see if I had upset her in some way. She said that, as she was not in the room at the time, GS had taken it upon himself to answer the text! He was sick again in the night (nothing in his stomach) and has not gone to school and she says he seems his normal self, but she can't get him to eat anything because he's afraid of being sick again, and until he eats she won't know whether he can keep anything down. So it's a vicious circle. I hope it's just a bug, but he never normally seems to come down with anything. Hope no-one minds me unloading (hmm, perhaps in the circumstances I could have chosen a better word?).

Good morning all. A !ovely day and I have been to Sainsbury's and am going out with a friend this afternoon for a couple of hours so fee!ing very " chipper".

Should have said that I hope soops appt goes well.

ann that is great, that sounds much more like you! It is so dark here I am considering switching on the light-it looks as though the heavens may open, hopefully not before my on line delivery coming 2-3pm.

Is H on his own or do you ask a sitter? You need more time out to yourself I think and preferably with a friend so that you can forget about the other worries that you have.

Cancel that!! My friend who has had "waterworks" problems as long as I have known her,saw a uro!ogist yesterday and has had a phone call asking if she is available for a kidney x-ray/scan at 3pm so as long as she is OK I will see her tomorrow instead.
I will spend the afternoon putting relevant dates and reminders in the new calendar

ann sod's law is at work where you live. Hopefully your friend will be fine to meet you tomorrow.

Great service from Warners Holidays today. I was concerned that I would not be re-covered from my hip replacement in time to enjoy the holiday we have booked in June. Phoned them to see if they could help, they have moved our booking into September without any penalty or even admin charge, and we still keep the 50% discount we had. That is service that makes one feel good about a company.

I agree Wobbly and because you are happy with that company you are spreading the word so that is free good advertising for them. Others could take a leaf out of their book.

I missed that good news wb when is it scheduled for?

You lot do not make it easy for a girl to waft into the kitchen as late as this and hope to be able to read all the messages at a glance. No hope! We're back and I wanted to say hello.

granniequeenie *MacSporran is the malt tasting expert. We stayed on Islay once. Next door to the Bowmore Distillery. We had fun.

ann Jalima has hit the nail on the head. The extra help around the house, is for YOU. Why didn't I think of that long ago. Treat yourself to as many labour saving gizmos as you need and can afford. It is you who carries the entire burden at the moment. Time for an update of house rules. Us lot are rooting for you.

Today's picture gallery is marvellous. Thank you N&G and NellieM. That little face is one with which I'm familiar.

Swanny The Queen Elizabeth hospital resembles a vast, modern cuty in design and capacity. It took an age to park (even with a blue badge) there were no spaces to be had.
I was lucky to see the surgeon who carried out the last procedure under anaesthetic, the gyne surgeon and two others in the same room and MacSporran was also present. Today's investigation was painful. I did have a nurse to hold my hand. That helped a lot. I've had six pelvic operations. Not all for the same complaint. In 2003, in Truro, I had am anterior/posterior/ventral suspension. This may have warranted use of mesh. I was in hospital for about ten days but the present surgeon hasn't be able to locate information regarding the surgery. It's believed that mesh is in my system and therefore another op could cause further complications. At least this is being looked into as the gyne specialist is going to write to the hospital and let me know her findings. Long story. Very tiresome. Not life threatening. End of.

Not a cuty but a city!

soop Does this mean that there may still be something that could help you? I thought you'd given up on it all?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201701/medium-690417-p1044679.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201701/medium-843782-p1044680.jpg

Dear Daphne Oh...your poor husband (not forgetting you) deserve so much better. It is silly for a large hospital not to have wheelchairs in readiness for those who cannot easily manage the never ending corridors.
I hope that now you are home again with Flynn and his mummy you will all have a plentiful supply of smiles. Have the camera handy. Us lot like pics of babies.

Thank you, corner The weather was as good as it gets. I slept for much of the journey. MacSporran didn't require my services as map reader after all.

Swanny Love the verse. Very clever.

Greyduster there is a tummy bug doing the rounds right now. As long as your grandson drinks plentiful amounts of fluids he should begin to feel improved by the

That is very good news Wobbly. Our friends have just returned from a Warners Holiday. They were impressed and intend making another reservation in the summer months.

I'm sorry that I cannot stay longer. I've other stuff to do. I did take a pic of the sunset as we pulled into the drive. It's for all of you.

Lona All depends on whether mesh has been used or not. I have said that I am satisfied with all the help I've been given. It would be foolish to put my body through more surgery at my age. If I can cope, and the prolapse doesn't get worse, then I shall carry on doing just that. x

That sounds quite an appointment, soop, I'm with you, it's good to avoid surgery if at all possible but I guess you will listen to all advice and suggestions with an open mind. Pleased the journey wasn't too taxing.

Not much happening here other than post Christmas cleaning and a beginning on tedious and oh so frustrating financial type paperwork. Will do some more each day and hopefully have it all finished by Sunday as long as i can get the information needed. If the forecast is right and it's a sunny if cold day tomorrow little will get done other than a walk on the beach.

The gift that keeps on giving is still being generous but it's not stopping me doing things, so onwards. Keep warm and well everyone.