Soop's warmly welcoming kitchen

Popping in to say hello and hope everyone is safe in the awful weather conditions.

Today is DD2’s birthday but she’s in a foul mood. I believe she and the latest partner have had words, but I’m trying to keep out of it. My poor little DGD is in the middle of all this. I wish I could scoop her up and take her back to Malta with me.

Weather here is gorgeous. I can see why people choose to spend winter in Florida. If only I could afford it I would do the same.

Love all the photos of dear little babies and children. They put a smile on my face.

Take care all.

Charleyg Cats are canny creatures.

corner May I add my congrats to Mr C. He'll be feeling chipper. I have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow. May be referred for another colonoscopy. Roads here are clear. I was half hoping the appointment may be postponed.

N&G Yep! That's snow alright.

Maw your story made me chuckle. Poor Hamish! We had a lovely cat we named Hamish when we lived in Cornwall. He had the snip and my son called him - Hamish Gonaballs. A little tactless, methought.

I hope that I shall be able to join you all again when I return home tomorrow lunchtime. In the meantime take very good care of yourselves.

Agus Poppy is very pretty. If you can ever manage to take a good, clear close-up of her, I would welcome the challenge of painting a water colour for you. It would be a gift.

soop, this is one of Poppy Cat rudely awakened as I wanted to make up our bed. She was a rescue cat frightened of her own shadow but three years on, with lots of TLC, she has learned to trust us (heart emoji)

Corner it is rare that Mr.C is right so give him 5 minutes of glory. You were very fortunate this am but you will be pleased that you made the effort.

kitty what a lovely young lady and soop Teddy is delightful as is Torben who is growing up so quickly.

There was more snow here overnight so another day indoors. I heard on the news this am that people are using more gas for heating- imagine that.
A neighbour of mine rang me to find out if I was okay and had plenty of food- very kind of him but I think I am better organised than he is. There was silence when I said I keep the heating on low overnight at present to prevent frozen pipes- I doubt if that had occurred to him. It is the thought which counts.

Poor Sam and Hattie- Tara went out all day yesterday but decided to have a duvet day today. Easy for her because she has her litter tray indoors with the skivvy making sure that it is clean.

Get out there with yer shovel, woman! Are you a Nana or a mouse?? I’ll just sit here in the warm and watch you! . You missed a bit!

Now that made me smile Maw - I'm not sharing with Sam . He remains horrified at the suggestion he might want to go outside ! He like Hattie has his legs firmly crossed.

Good news about your apt Corner ( although how irritating that Mr C was right ....don't let that last!!) .

Thought i would post a picture of the end of our road as it leaves the village. Not sure where the road and the snow drift start. Guess I wont be going out any time soon :-(

N&G’s mention of snowballs reminds me of my lovely feathered Cavalier King Charles spaniel of my childhood (Hamish) who went out for a wee in the snow, while still quite a young dog doing “girly wees” as he had not learned to cock his leg.
Anyway, he was outside for ages and eventually my mum went looking for him. She couldn’t see him but could hear whimpering and crying from a corner of the lawn where the poor little boy was stuck to the grass by the “short and curlies”!
Weeing had melted the snow, but it was so cold it had refrozen almost immediately!
She managed to cut him free but it took a lot to get him out in the snow again.
Hattie by the way is happy crossing her legs, she went out about 7.30 and has refused to venture forth since!

Not sure if I’m happy or sad to report Mr C was right and our travels were fine, better than fine to be fair. The trip takes 50-60 minutes without busy traffic. We allowed two and a half hours, two for the travel and half an hour for parking and finding our way. Guess who reported to reception 95 minutes early? Roads clear of both traffic and snow. No other patients, consultant with nothing to do so straight in and back in our area at the time of my appointment. Mr C is incredibly smug, guess it’s allowed , or is for another ten minutes.

Pleased you aren’t under pressure to venture out greyd, its the uncertainty of it that gets to me.

Thank you all for your kind wishes, we don’t have much in the way of snow yet, although schools are closed in anticipation, but it’s blowing and oh so cold, car said -5, so no further venturing out. Our planned lunch treat can wait until next week so a stay at home in the warm rest of the day. We did stop at a garden centre for a coffee and very nice chocolate twist on the way back so not deprived.

Heard from a friend in Norfolk today n&g she says she hasn’t been out at all this week. Hope Grampy is careful out there. Sounds pretty bad if also pretty. Like your unique snowman.

That’s definitely a photo to raise a smile*kitty*, hope the school World Book Day is simply postponed. Ours have had the morning in school so a morning rather than a day.

You feeling better now maw? Imagine Hattie isn’t keen on being outside at the moment.

I also wonder about ann, sending wishes for adequate help through the ether.

Looks like it’s time for some lunch, then we’ll be watching a film this afternoon.

Stay warm and safe everyone.

Agus Do you have a photo of Poppy cat? I'd love to see it.

Agus Thank you. Please remain at home. The birds will be grateful for the fat balls. If you should be stranded anywhere along the route between Perth and Glasgow, you'll be in real trouble. Some folk have spent up to 18hours on the motorway. All I can think is...how would I manage a wee!

Oh soop I would just love a cuddle with Teddy, he’s an adorable little bundle. Torben has grown so much and still handsome as ever. Any news of Crafting, we need her back in the kitchen.

Love your GD’s outfit Kitty and her little happy face.

G&G. Had a giggle at the ‘snowballs’. Our Poppy Cat, when I opened the door for her this morning gave me a look which said it all ‘seriously?’

Hope you are feeling a bit more settled today Maw and Ann

I had planned driving from Perthshire to Glasgow then back again but my main route has been closed so another stay at home day, good book, knitting and have made some fat balls for the birds.

Oh my! I'm one big, happy bunny. Twice today I've been told that Torben looks like me. I'm bowled over with happiness.

Kitty Your granddaughter's costume is wonderful. I so love her big grin.

Did anyone watch Victoria's programme this morning? Dementia featured. It was an eye-opener. As I watched it I thought especially of our Ann and her husband.

corner Kian is a treasure. xxx

Gaga and Maw Some years ago I thought that I had cancer. I was experiencing such vile symptoms the GP came out three nights on the trot to give me morphine for the pain. Cutting a long story short...cause was appendicitis and gall stones and hiatus hernia. Appendix and gall bladder removed (19 stones) and esomoprazole continues for the hernia.

Our roads are clear. Very little snow has fallen since yesterday. Sun is shining. Wind is bitter cold. All systems working as they should.

Good Morning all.

About 14 inches of snow has settled , but a bitingly cold wind is whipping up whopper snow drifts !! So I am staying home. I sent myintrepid----explorer Grampy out for crucial supplies ( we were out of nice bread and chocolate!!) .

Sam would not go with him. In fact until Grampy actually cleared a patch of grass late last night Sam would not even set foot out of the door no matter how desperate the need !! He obviously didn't like snow balls !! ( sorry ladies ....just couldn't help myself !!)

What a little cracker Teddy is soop . I'm looking forward to seeing him grow through your shared photos . How big is Torben getting??? Quite the young man now , but oh he has a look of you . Bet you cant wait to see him in April.

Love the alien Kitty!! Our world book day has been postponed until next week for which my daughter is grateful given the blood , sweat and tears that went into Jackson's Sam I am costume.

How are you feeling Corner Norwich hospital sent out a message cancelling all non urgent apts for the next few days so people don't feel they have to risk it. So maybe your hospital is the same? Happy anniversary to you both too !!

Love the fox mask Grey Jackson was a Gingerbread man last year but that has been handed down to Cooper now. Sorry to hear you took a tumble ( or two) that's why I sent 'Scott' out instead of me !!!

Is there word of Ann ?

Are you feeling any better Maw?

I love the costume Kitty - what a sweetheart she looks.

I promised our littlies that I would send them a picture of a snowman I built, so I have attached the picture I took.

In my defence the wind chill out there is minus 10 and the snow is that fluffy puffy sort that doesn't bond....well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it LOL

Stay warm xx

soop that is one very beautiful baby boy, congratulations to you all

Hello the kitchen. kitty what a super outfit - no wonder she has a smile on her face! Some very clever mums around! I remember helping DD make GS a ladybird outfit when he was in first year infants. I made a sort of ladybird shaped backpack out of red and black felt, stuffed with kapok. I was surprised recently to be told he still has it in his now redundant dressing up box. Along with Mr Fox I expect!
Well we are - hopefully - off the potential travelling hook today. GS’s school is closed until 10.00a.m when they will review the situation (I suspect it will remain closed for the rest of the day) and SiL is staying home as he still can’t get his car onto the main road. DD walks to work anyway, but I hope she will be very careful today. The pavements will be treacherous. It’s still snowing here and was at three o’clock this morning. A morning of laundry and an afternoon of baking for me I think.
Happy anniversary to Corner and Mr Corner today ??.
I will look in later.

All my sympathies Maw - I started in exactly the same way in November 2016 with an attack which sounds very like yours. I had several more after that (and since intermittently) and was sent for a gastroscopy, biopsies and a scan under the 2-week referral scheme. I really thought I had cancer. Forunately not but I still do not have a trouble free digestion.

I have been on omeprazole ever since with ranitidine and Advanced Gaviscon to take when I have a periodic flare up. My diet is quite restricted - not had any alcohol since the first attack and have to avoid all acidic and spicy foods. My GP recommended mashed potato, bananas and toast.

I truly hope yours was an isolated incident. Mine was caused - so I am told- by taking ibuprofen for a long time to cope with arthitic joints. It had damaged my stomach lining. I manage with paracetemol now but only if I really have to.

It's trial and error as to what suits the digestion so I hope you find what suits yours asap! Take care - I have every sympathy. The flare ups are really painful and debilitating.
The only plus side is that I have lost 2 stones since they first started!

Well another day dawns, good morning all.

More snow as predicted so hot chocolate, coffee, all the usual feel good starters you fancy as, after a rummage about in the kitchen I have discovered an adundance of goodies which of course are completely calorie free.

I will call in again later to catch up.

Just popping in to raise a smile. Our littlest for World Book Day - except for she and her sister, the others have 'snow Days' so there is much weeping and wailing.

I wondered where everybody was! Hunkered down with the chocolate brownies I see.
Or maybe the chocolate snowballs(see what I did there?)
Anyway I hope everybody is safe and warm and inside without too many pressing engagements for tomorrow. It is such a worry when you don’t know if you should cancel in advance, wait and see or take your chance anyway. Nine years ago I had to take Paw to London for chemotherapy(driving him myself in those days) and one week the snow was so bad I was advised by my neighbour who had had to turn back at Luton to take the train but could barely get to MK station. Just extra stress.
Keep safe !

Lovely baby photo Soop, Teddy is scrumptious! And Torben! How grown up he`s starting to look. You`ve actually met 3 of my 7 grandchildren, the littlest one in the photo is Kian, the one you lost your heart to in April, he was 3 then.
We have about 3 inches of snow at the moment, hoping it doesn`t get any deeper. It`s also very windy tonight.

corner

The wind is swirling snow aboot the garden. Big flakes are falling. It's as predicted. I hope that we do not lose our internet connection. Happens frequently in this area. All being well I shall return in the morning. Do take care dear Granspals - PLEASE, no nasty falls on the ice.

Oh greyd after 49 years (tomorrow) you'd think I would understand this, but I hope, I always hope

Greyduster I know a young man (Torben) who would love the fox mask. It's marvellous. Well done to your daughter.

Your family photo was very special, callgirl. I'm lucky enough to have met a few members of your family.

Ah that explains a lot then! Yours is a Welshman; mine is a Welshman! No reasoning with a Welshman, Corner!