Soop's warmly welcoming kitchen

I cannot remember a time when I felt so eye-swivellingly shattered, but now GS has gone home and in an hour or so, perversely, I know I will miss him. Like Agus we pulled every rabbit out of the hat to keep him entertained (and off his dratted X-box as much as possible). And there was mud involved much of the time! I wish I had half his energy. DD and SiL fetched up at five fifteen having driven non stop from Cornwall and I managed to stay on my feet long enough to cook us all dinner, but it was lovely to see them back and know they had a lovely time. The boy will be back on Thursday when DD goes back to work, but only for the day. I may not get out of bed tommorrow! Having had six “dry”days I am now on my second large ?? of Oxford Landing!

Looks like your Easter celebrations went with a swing, N&G and I bet your cake went down a treat - they’re not supposed to look like pictures in the recipes anyway; it’s all smoke and mirrors! DD brought me back some Portuguese custard tarts from a bakery in Fowey, but I haven’t the energy to eat one at the moment......

Love the squirrels Soop - I painted one once; might still have it somewhere. I’ll dig it out....

I’d scoop you up if I could ann , give you a comfy chair at the table and easy access to the wine :-) ...... then we could put the world to rights :-)

Still got squirrels in the loft if anyone would like them ...
DH and DGS spent a happy time playing dinosaur football - use the tail to strike. DH had 5 on his team, DGS had 24

You can always have some of my grey squirrels corner we have them in the garden most days. I know they are vermin but I love watching them.
You are lucky to be able to have talks with MrC, it is one of the aspects of our very long relationships that I was never happy with, but that's another story.
It is so good to say these things to a virtual group of friends and not be judged.

Evening All. I'm back and restored. Had a few days just doing what I felt like, some walks and a lot of talking with Mr C. Sort of pulled up the drawbridge. Have sorted out a whole year's photos on the computer, ordered prints and made a photo book. I emerge relaxed for photo sorting, weird I know! Resilience is back .

Goodness, there seems to have been a lot of alcohol about, white wine by the gallon, red and even champagne. I could say there has been abstinence here, but I'd be seeing my nose growing.

I understand totally the exhaustion of family entertaining, no matter how much we love them time for feet up in peace and quiet can be hard to come by.

My apologies for not catching up with all the details, just too much. I understand that all is not easy for many folk and send love and hugs to anyone needing it.

As ever love the photos, the squirrel is enchanting soop. I've never lived where there are red squirrles but we did have grey squirrels in our last garden, I loved watching them and miss them still.

Take care everyone.

soop, the squirrel is another triumph. Just as good as Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin! They are lovely creatures. Do you have any in Kintyre?

What a lovely weekend that sounds N&G. I am in total envy of your happy family life.
It has brightened up here this afternoon and has certainly been warmer than of late.I had a lovely chat setting the world to rights over coffee this morning it did me good.
We had a visit from an "assistant practitioner" from the physio dept this afternoon, she gave my H a sheet of exercises to do, I think we will both be doing them, the sheet was headed Project Independence, if only, is all I can say.
I discovered this morning he had eaten his own and one of my Easter Eggs. He is addicted to chocolate and hides it, I suppose it could be a worse addiction.
The front door key which went missing 10 days ago ,turned up today in a place so obvious ,it must have just been put there.
I hope you all have a pleasant evening, I am just waiting for the time when we can sit out before or after dinner with a glass of something alcoholic.

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Afternoon all !

Just playing catch up !!

The cake looked lovely Grey . I too made a chocolate cake - from a picture and recipe I snaffled from a magazine. The result was , prior to opening the cake tin, I passed my phone round to show them what it SHOULD have looked like. Even my chocoholics declared it unfit for human consumption :-(

Sorry you had such a terrible day ann but hope its a bit better now.

I had a lovely long weekend but I'm shattered.

The table was a huge success ( we sat round it long , long after dinner was done which is how I like it . The orangery was perfect and all in all a good time was had by all.

I'll just post a couple of pictures but Ill be back tomorrow when i feel a bit more lively !!

Couple of the little boys and one of the debris following dinner !!

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Agus and Galen There is nothing I can add to your posts. Sit yourselves down and breathe in deeply.

I've finished the red squirrel watercolour. MacSporran mounted it for me. Bless his woolly socks.

Here is a pic. Any rude comments please keep to yourselves

I'm away until I return from tomorrow's ironing session. Should be early afternoon. Please keep an eye on our kitchen in my absence.

And mine! Why are 4yr old dinosaurs so noisy?

DD1 and our 2 GDs are with us for a few days during the Easter break. Love them to bits but DH and I are practically on our knees not being used to constant non stop activities indoors as the weather is rubbish so every board game, jigsaw and craft work have seen action.

I have closeted myself in another room for a breather and popped into the kitchen for a few moments of sanity

You have my complete understanding Grey

Ahhh! Bliss! Home at last after a somewhat turbulent visit to the care home. Lots of shouting out...getting up and wandering aimlessly around with a wayward walker (residents, not me.) The peace and quiet of my home is all that I long for.

Greyduster A hearty well done hug for all you've achieved over the weekend. You deserve a pure gold star.

Ann it's damp and dismal here in Kintyre. So very different from the weather we enjoyed on Saturday. Nothing we can do to improve matters. Thank goodness that Nature keeps it's own counsel. Mankind has the ability to make a mess of almost everything else.

ann please do, I did not realise how much money I was wasting using Halogen spotlight bulbs.

thankfully there has been neither snow nor rain here and although it was supposedly warmer, it did not feel it and my heating has been on all day.

By this time tomorrow your abstinence will be over Greyduster and you will be able to have a very well deserved G&T, I am sure your GS made the sacrifice all worth while.
I love them when they are babies but really appreciate them as they grow older and more responsible and caring.
I must investigate the LED bulbs, it is something I admit not to have taken much notice of.
A dreadful day weather wise here wet and cold, is spring really on the way?
I do hope so.
No cake for me thank you, I am chocolated out.
My hips are showing it?

Can I just come and sit in the kitchen and have a bit of peace and quiet for the first time in five days? I love my grandson to bits but he has been overexcited today at the prospect of his parents coming home tommorrow and I am feeling a little frayed around the edges. I have just dropped him and DH off at the football ground and will pick them up later. I am at DDs until then. The house is empty and, to quote words of a song from My Fair Lady, has “an atmosphere as quiet as an undiscovered tomb”! I was quite proud of him today though. We took him out to lunch and I got a horrible painful attack of heartburn. Without a word he took himself off to the bar and asked for a glass of water for me, as I was drinking tonic water and that just made things worse.
There is some of my chocolate cake left, Soop. It seems to be better with keeping, so you are welcome to a slice or three.

The LED bulbs I have just bought will supposedly last 25 years. Like you Maw I was really only looking for bulbs lasting 10 years. At least it will be something less I have to change. They have worked out at £3 a bulb which is not too bad. The charity shop will get my spares.

I'm about to log off. Tomorrow will be care home visit day. I hope to be back in time to open our new kitchen (if necessary). Should things get very busy in my absence, please will the last person to visit this kitchen do the honours of opening the new one on my behalf? It's all smart and the heating is on so it shouldn't be too draughty. I have laundered the tartan rugs. Sorry, there is no cake in the tin. Perhaps one of you lot will share any that you have remaining.

Bye for now.

We changed all our halogen lights for LED as they are much much cheaper to run, produce less (wasted up there at the ceiling ) heat , but most important the bulbs are supposed to last for 10 years!
They should see me out

No Charleygirl just another example of “Greyhound furniture fails” aka the inability of a greyhound to occupy a bed(sofa, chair) in the correct manner!

Charleyg Go girl...

granniequeenie Thank you for your eloquent post.

Bellanonna I'm not just a pretty face.

Maw maybe the sofa could be a tad wider because Hattie legs are drooping slightly?!

She knows that she is home, safe and sound.

Tara has been exploring the great outdoors for hours.

I read today if I exchange my 13 spotlights which are not LED for LED ones I can save around £8 a month in electricity if I change 5 of them. That is a massive amount of money and with that saving they would soon pay for themselves. Bargain Annie is off.

Maw Aww!

Home from kennels.
Happy hound.

morethan how fortunate your dil is to have you not only as a mil but as a trusted friend. She’ll be relieved to be able to talk to someone who’s not just going to look on “the bright side” all the time. Much as all that positivity can be useful, it can feel like a bit of a pretence for someone who’s trying to be realistic about her prognosis.
But as the trusted person we pay a price for hearing these confidences too don’t we, some things are hard to hear. But we do it because we love them and want to do our best to help in hard and uncertain situations. It sounds like your dil is gradually becoming more accepting of what may lie ahead. Trying to set the children up with some skills will help her feel a bit in control of what’s after all an uncontrollable situation.
I wonder if the only way your son can get through the “todays” is to blank out what may come in the “tomorrows”, perhaps not the best coping strategy but maybe the only one he can employ right now.
Sounds like you’re doing a great job in supporting them all in the ways they as individuals need it most. Please never be afraid to seek support for yourself too, there’s a lot of folk depending on you.

I like the poem in your first sentence, soop. Another talent?