soop's kindly kitcheners and pampered pets...

I didn't mention photos and bottom drawers, soop That is your guilty conscience!

Goodnight Galen

Care Home visit in the morning. Note to you lovely lot...catch up when I return. Try not to get into too much mischief in the meantime.

Don't like doctors!

Elegran Spoilsport! Don't you dare mention the matter of that photo that lives in the bottom drawer.

corner You have made the right choice. Better the devil you know... I would sooner wait a day a two in order to take to the black chair with confidence. She says...tongue in cheek. The cauliflower and blue cheese soup sounds tempting.
My middle son cooks a champion chilli. He uses the chilli that takes the breath away.

NanaandGrampy Steer well clear of the tonsillitis bug. Best get well messages to Grampy. Fingers well and truly crossed. MacSporran remains germ free.

Thank you all for thinking about me but I have a confession to make! I haven't made it to the dentist. I was offered an immediate appointment with a dentist I haven't met or one on Wednesday morning with 'my' dentist who looks to be about 12 but is very gentle and understanding of my desire to leave his presence as soon as possible. Had a good nights sleep last night, the pain has reduced to a rumble that is more than manageable so guess what I opted for? Mr C said I was daft - or words to that effect - maybe he is right. . Lovely cauliflower and blue cheese soup for lunch with enough left for tomorrow, chilli bubbling for this evening and pasta planned for tomorrow so I won't starve .

It sounds as if the boomerang bug is making the rounds. I truly feel for everyone afflicted. Do stay in bed daphne, not having any sense I didn't and look where it got me. It is in retreat now, properly I think, if it comes back I'm ducking . The energy is coming back which is lovely, sounds like progress for you kitty, hope so but please don't overdo things. It's obviously a seafaring bug galen, advice around here is to at least speak to a GP if you have a history of breathing problems, pneumonia or the like. Might be an idea?

Don't blame you for avoiding those with tonsillitis, n&g, hope Grampy and man flu have a short acquaintance. We think we catch most things from the children, probably an incorrect assumption but you have to blame someone and they don't seem to mind

Mr C is cursing dealing with the latest technological foible so I'm off for a quiet read. Stay warm and well everyone.

soop You may get photos of scenery but definitely NOT of me my thermal undies.

On a light-hearted note...the film 'La La Land' has won an award. Does this mean that we're due for a slice of the royalties!

Galen So, now we know. If you're breathless, then shouldn't you treated by the GP? I know that you will think I'm being a fuss pot BUT I well remember my stay in hospital with pneumonia. Us lot care. So there.

Greyduster The notion of your husband being strapped to the bed, made me chuckle.

I'm home, but feeling rotten. Got the Cunard cough that was going round and am very breathless.
I definitely couldn't be bothered by Daphne's £50note even if it was possible to get to ok! Which it isn't!

I'm about to search for the photo of the swan...couldn't find it. How about the highland coo?

Corner will hopefully be out of the dentist's chair and feeling a whole lot better.

kitty Getting your energy back is a positive sign. Did you need to iron a mountain of laundry?

DaphneB I like your definition of whether one has flu or a bad cold. CBA = the real dreaded deal.

Elegran Do get well in time for your trip to Reykjavek. You will need to pack your thermal undies. I look forward to seeing any photos (of the scenery) that you care to share with us lot.

The weather in Kintyre is blustery. The rain appears to have gone elsewhere. It is feeling chillier than of late.

Dentist visit was no problem at all. No cavities or cracked fillings. No treatment needed... For a change!

You lot have been busy. I'm always surprised to be greeted by so many happenings.

NanaandGrampy The photo is superb. I shall hunt for a similar image that I took some time ago of a swan.

DaphneB If her Majesty is relieved from all duties (because of a cold) then so you are you. Us lot say so.

Charleyg I prefer my own company. Yesterday I was fully committed to the watercolour painting and the time, though spent alone, was well spent. I have friends who enjoy gatherings and all talking at the same time...good for them, I say. Peace and quiet is right for me. All the cajoling will not persuade me to change tack.

Crafting Our Galen will updated us once she's stored away her pearls and posh nail polish.

anno

Commisserations to everyone suffering from the pesky lurgy, which seems to take various forms. My joints ached at the beginning too and whenever the bug bounces back they hurt again, though less and less each time. Though I haven't had a cold, just the pigging cough that goes, lulls me into a false sense of security and reappears!!

I do seem to be getting my energy back though as i hate being lethargic.

GD, you made me

I am bewildered by how you can all remember potty training your children - it is all a blur apart from DS2 who needed 'lifting' because he refused to wear a nappy at night if he wasn't wearing one during the day. Unfortunately, he forgot to explain the rules to his bladder!

I'm fairly sure that Galen should be home by now so I hope everything is ok with her.

N&G, I think I missed how your viewing went - did anything come of it? And, definitely best to avoid tonsilitis at all costs. I had it dozens of times as a child and lived in fear of having to have my tonsils out - though the ice cream and jelly after did have some appeal.

Just ironed Mountain Everest - do I really have to put it all away now? I like being back into a routine - library shift this afternoon and lots of gossip interesting chat to catch up on.

Take care everyone - hope Corner has recovered a little from her ordeal this morning - though I have a soft spot for some dentists!

I hope that none of you lot will be personally offended but I intend to stay indoors with doors and windows closed to keep all viruses out of this germ free zone. Too many of you have some lurgy and I do not intend to catch anything because next week I have to go to a coffee morning and lunch out x2. It all happens at once here.

It is misty and grey and there is now some rain- just lovely. No excuse really to finish tidying up because I have had enough of this clear out.

I have to get in touch with my local Cat Protection and they will pick up my 5 bags of decent clothes. They will charge a fair price in the shop which is all that I ask- my local church charity practically gives them away and as some of the clothes, hardly worn but expensive, deserve a bit more than that. They want a quick turnover.

I hope that all of you who are feeling rather the worse for wear are feeling better after a day or two in bed.

Probably not flu, they say the definition is that imagine there is a £50 note out in your garden. If you go to retrieve it, it's not flu, but if you CBA it's the real McCoy!
I can't be doing with something that lasts two weeks!

Are/were your joints sore, DD? Mine were at the start of my bout and I was sure I was in for the full works, but it did taper off sooner than a real flu would have.

It is now two weeks and I am almost back to normal, but any exertion quickly makes me tired. I hope I buck up soon - I am going to Reykjavik next month and hoping to do a night trip to see the Northern Lights, temperatures likely to be about -12C

Daphne Pretend you are the Queen and stay indoors. Sleep it off. I hope you feel better soon.

My old GP (70years ago) used to call that an Influenzal Chill. Not quite full blown flu but much than a normal cold so take care Daphne.

Thank you N&G but I must admit I am feeling much worse, I managed to sleep until about 3.30 and then got off again about 7, but the sneezing and streaming nose are making me miserable. Bit of a temperature too.
Staying in bed!

Good morning, Soop. In answer to your question, yes, I do paint in watercolour. The best I ever did was sitting on a wet beach on the east coast early in the morning. It was no more than a three tone sketch of four seagulls squabbling over a bit of food. Quick (because it was b****y cold), fresh and very in the moment. I intended to make a better painting of it, but every time I tried they were nowhere near as good as the sketch. I will have to have a rootle round my folders and see if I can find it - haven't seen it for ages.

Sorry to hear so many of you GNs and yours are ill at the moment. DH has this cough thing too and has been very unwell since Friday, but will he stop doing things and trying to be helpful? NO! I would strap him to the bed but he might get the wrong idea (and I have a headache anyway!!)

Most of my GC had cloth nappies which were easily laundered. The thought of millions of so-called disposables festering in landfill sites makes me shudder.

I don't think my GC had problems about potty training. In fact. DGD2, a determined little madam, decided on her second birthday that she wouldn't wear nappies any more and was clean and dry from that moment! The only bedwetter turned out to have recurrent infections and circumcision was the solution for him. I got both of mine trained in summer when they could run around the garden with not much in the way of clothing.

Good morning all !!

Hope you're feeling a bit better Daphne ! Grampy has gone down with 'man flu' and we are supposed to be babysitting the older 2 DGC tomorrow evening but our DGD has got tonsillitis again , 2nd time in 5 weeks . So he will be going alone !!

Tonsillitus is my bete noir , having had it at least3-4 a year as a child and when I get it now I go down with a bump , its usually at least 2 weeks in bed so I am avoiding our little germ maker for a few days .

I have come to the conclusion that although some of my child rearing views ARE old fashioned - they are NOT all bad. Seems todays parents have to a certain extent thrown the baby out with the bathwater . Given the easy way the 4 DGC are at our house, not all my old fashioned ways are bad. I think the other thing is we are consistent. Ive watched DGS aged 7 ask his Mum for something and she will say no. Then he will go into whiny mode and ask again and again and again- it must work eventually. Whereas if I say no ( which is rare) I mean know and he will not ask again.

I think you're right about terry nappies ann.But you would think with the cost of disposables there would be an incentive to get the children potty trained quickly.

ahhhh but what do I know [laugh]