Soop's friendly kitchen

Welcome back, Izabella It's seems an age since you last visited the kitchen. I hope that you'll stay around.

Happy birthday Torben- he has changed and grown somewhat since that lovely photo was taken.

Welcome back Isabella I am trying to stay away from cakes etc but not really coping.

Another dreich day here but tomorrow amy be marginally better.

Callgirl how long are you staying in the wilds of Scotland? Enjoy your meeting with soop and MacSporran tomorrow. I hope that the weather improves- especially when you stop to say hello to David.

Hello all! I missed coming in yesterday - not quite sure where the day went - but you've all been busy again.

soop and callgirl enjoy your meet up and make sure that MacS behaves! I love that picture of Torben too soop, children walking away really tug at the heart strings.

gaga, now, as you are so skilled in garage clearance, there is one in North Leics that could do with some help. DH and I have different priorities about what should be closer to the door - gardening stuff, bird feeding stuff, toys? The list is endless though we only have 2 bikes - which is 2 more than anyone ever rides.

GD - if I hadn't just sent DD home with some butter chicken left over from last night, I could have had it winging it's way over to you. Takeaway?

I hope you have had a peaceful few days morethan. You must feel a weight has gone from your shoulders with your DiL's good news.

How is the work doing N&G? It WILL be lovely when it's finished - honest. NonnaW, do you have to have lie down every time you say the words 'DH has booked the sander'? I would!

We had the rare pleasure of having DD3 all to ourselves with no children or partner around - we try to do that every so often with all of the children. She has been off work this week in attempt to get some sleep and stop being sick which seems to have worked. She came over here and we went to a pub in the next village where they do the most fabulous Smokies. DH forgot to order the GF version for me so we took longer than expected while we waited for them to redo mine. DD had ham sandwiches which she promptly threw up as soon as we got home. hey ho!!

The time passes far too swiftly. I had more than a few jobs to do this afternoon. I've managed just three. Does that mean that I should stand in the norty corner. As if!

Hello, kitty and Charleyg, thank you for your amusing posts.

I shall report back to you all tomorrow afternoon sometime. A trip to Inveraray and a meeting with callgirl1 to look forward to.

I'm wishing that sun might put in an appearance.

Bye for now.

Happy Birthday to young Torben! Eight is a lovely age (the hormones haven’t kicked in yet!)
I have had a productive day which has left me chilled to the marrow, throughly depressed and wishing I hadn’t started clearing the cupboard under the stairs, some boxes in the garage and Paws OU study material from 10 years ago.
Memo to self, don’t do that on a dull cold Friday when you are feeling a bit low. The local dump has to be one of the most depressing places I know, the sad remnants of lives and homes in a row of skips.
So I have made some lemon and polenta shortbread which I am leaving on the side while I immerse myself in a box set of Drop the Dead Donkey.
Enjoy!

Hello the kitchen! Izabella lovely to see you back - I have been wondering recently where you’d gone! Still keeping tabs on the ducks on your river?
Soop my best birthday wishes to Torben. They grow so fast that photos like that really pull at your heart strings!
kitty your butter chicken sounds wonderful - my mouth is positively watering! Shame I missed out! The pizza experiment was in addition to a cooked lunch fortunately as I don’t particularly like pizza and DH will only eat boring marguerita, so we didn’t go hungry. I hope your DD gets over her nausea difficulties; there can’t be many things worse than not being able to keep your food down ?. I, too, relish the rare times I have DD to myself for lunch and a bit of shopping! I was talking about it only today.
We have been at the eye clinic all afternoon, and DH now feels as if he is going round in circles. He has had four emergency visits for his flare ups and has been treated with steroid drops the last two times. Now the consultant thinks that it is something different and he doesn’t need the steroids, so we have a new benign regime (which neither of us are convinced will work). Time will tell. We had coffee in a rather trendy artisan coffee shop in town. I have never been charged so much for two small lukewarm (we sent them back and they weren’t much warmer when they came back) cappuccinos! I wish we’d stuck to John Lewis! I could have had a cheese scone......
Right, I am told I now have to help DH put his new strimmer together. I am officer in charge of reading the instructions, apparently!

Sorry you’ve had a grey afternoon, maw, things can just creep up and catch us out unexpectedly. Hope the box set therapy makes you smile. x
Please can I share the shortbread? I’m in need of something sweet. Dd4 has been in touch today to tell me she has decided to call it a day with her boyfriend of over a year. I’m not surprised as I could see it coming, but am just so very sad for her as it had looked like he might be the one for her. I know many single folk have happy and fulfilling lives but because my happy fulfilled life has been shared with a lovely man I can’t help wanting the same for her. She wants us to go across to see her over the weekend, it may need industrial quantities of tissues, being a mum doesn’t seem any easier when they’ve grown up and just want to make it better for them.
Hope the eye treatment is more successful than you expect for your dh greyduster. Yes sometimes these artisan places are disappointing and overpriced.
Wishing you all a peaceful evening.

Oh that is sad for your DD grannyqueenie the trials love and the end of it can be a bitch frankly.
Perhaps he was not the one and better sooner than later.
Sometimes a girl has to kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her prince, but that is not a lot of consolation to her or to you ?

Hello everyone! Here’s a large, round lemon drizzle - a practice for the middle tier of daughter’s wedding cake. Had a practice hairdo today as well - a bit shorter and not a grey hair in sight!
We are feeling smug, having sorted and shredded several years of bank, mortgage, insurance papers etc etc. The upstairs floors have lifted by inches ?.

Oh Jane thank you. I do so love lemon drizzle (well any cake really ) granniequeenie that is the second relationship I know to have ended this week. So sad when things don't work out but if it was not meant to be better to know now than later.

Just been watching an episode of the Cruise where a couple got married. She had paid over £2,000 for her shoes (didn't know they made shoes that cost so much, my latest pair were £19.50 from M&S and very comfy) and had a lovely dress. He seemed to be so drunk he couldn't say his vows and got married in shorts Hope for their sake it works out but I'm not convinced it will.
Those of us who have (or have had) a good marriage are very lucky I know.
soop can't believe your beautiful Torben (love that name) is 8 already. Lovely picture of him and MacS

Hattie saw her first horses today! There were 4 galloping around in the field next door when we walked up to the church to “see Daddy” on our daily walk.
I wish you could have seen her face, ears pricked up and (possibly) thinking “Are they a big me?” She was curious but in a friendly way. I do wonder what goes through an animal’s mind sometimes.
Now I must apologise, my shortbread was not the best I have ever made, but the process of baking it was therapeutic in itself.
And Drop the Dead Donkey very enjoyable

Hi all! Greetings from India! We have been here for ten days but unfortunately spent a lot of that time ill. My DH is particularly unwell and can't wait to get home. We came over to meet my DS's partner of two years, an Indian girl. Needless to say her parents aren't happy at all. We met her mum but it was pretty uncomfortable. I cannot see how the relationship can work. They have no money and my DS cannot work in India until they have been legally married for at least 5 years. It is all very difficult. Have any other GN's been to India?

Morning all.

Quite a bit of sadness in the kitchen. Sorry about you DD'S decision gq but a brave girl to make it. We do want our children to have a special person looking after them don't we!

That's a worry for you too momb - I'm sorry you are both ill - not an auspicious start. The kitchen dwellers are here if you need to off load.

Maw - what an exciting walk for Hattie. The weather is supposed to be better now so I hope you start to feel a little better as you do your sorting out.

Love the hair and the lemon drizzle cake, JaneD - what other flavours can we expect to try. That's very brave of you .

I hope you enjoyed your meet up with callgirl, soop.

Back later - after I've served DH and DS brunch and sent them off to watch their team lose again. Baffled by why they spend so much on season tickets to be so regularly disappointed.

Hello, the kitchen. The sun is shining, washing (why did the iPad choose to interpret that as Washington?? Spooky!) is on the line (even more spooky!), and I am contemplating whether to have a go at the garden while DH is at the footie (I echo your last sentence, kitty!). DS, who is usually with his dad on match days, has been WhatsApp-ing me photos from Tate Modern, so at least one of them is not wasting his afternoon!
I have just returned from the land where mystery collides with imagination and mystery usually comes out on top - to whit, my freezer. I have to put on my thinking cap regarding our evening meal, as what I thought was some shepherds pie filling has turned out to be something alien and unidentifiable ☹️!
I will look in later and hope there is some of Jane’s lemon drizzle cake left......

The sun is shining here and it is warm- the forecast still is thunderstorms.

I have not over exerted myself, I have been trimming a large prickly bush- I have no idea what it is.

Sunny and warm here in Cheshire, though beginning to be overcast. The sunlight on the little red leaves on the ornamental malus is glorious. Maw, Drop the Dead Donkey was a huge favourite of mine, closely followed by Father Ted.

Thanks kitty x

mumofmadboys it is bad enough shelling out so much money for airfares etc but to be ill for most of the trip must have been horrendous added to which you did not receive the best welcome. Very difficult all round. I hope on terra firma you are now feeling better. There is nothing like a night in your own bed.

mumofmad boys - not the happiest holiday by the sound of it. Hope things improve all round once you get back home.

One of my friends has just had her 80th birthday and is going on a package holiday to India in the next few weeks. She said she's always wanted to go there so has decided to do so whilst she is still fit enough. I think it's a bit risky myself especially as she suffers from IBS!!

We are still in India but are on the mend. Going home in 5 days! ( and counting!)

Glad you’re feeling better Momb, and I hope things thaw out a bit on the prospective in-laws front!

16degrees here today.!
After reading the files for Monday and Tuesday I went mad! I went and sat outside for half an hour in the ?
First time this year.
Love to all in the kitchen and hope you all had such a lovely day. So lifting for the spirits don’t you think?

Nice to see a bit of sunshine after a mostly grey and wet week. The sun arrived a couple of hours after dd1 and family left, typical now the children are going back to school it brightens up. I did start a bit of a tidy up in the garden, but stopped when I nipped my own finger with the secateurs! After a week of full on family fun I was probably too tired to safe!
Glad you’re mending momb, it sounds like it’s been a tricky visit on several counts! Hope the last few days are more relaxed and you can return home feeling easy about your ds choice of wife.
Your friend is brave ggran, I’ve negotiated various African toilets trips with IBS but India is something else altogether I think.
Looking forward to hearing what today’s meal actually turns out to be greyduster. I sometimes find myself in the same position, someone told me Lakeland sticky labels don’t unstick in the feeezer....I just need to get round to buying some, rather than keeping on using the reject ones from the old boys working days..... he retired almost 10 years ago!
Hope soop and callgirl have had a real good catch-up in Kintyre today. I’ll bet there was cake involved!

Oh Boy! In I wander, thinking to myself...a quick catch-up after which I shall get down to doing XYZ. Not a hope of a quick anything. Where do you lot get your energy? Amazing comings and goings and a few stayings in between.

We've just returned from lunching with callgirl1 in Inveraray. We also met two of her delightful daughters and the granddaughter that had helped to transport them all from Lincolnshire. They are staying in a very well appointed apartment. I fell in love with the décor. We were treated to fish and chips and a delicious pud. What's more...deep breath, we were given a lemon drizzle cake that is begging to be sampled. If I could I would share with you lot but that could prove to be a big ask. Just sayin'

mumofmadboys When my son wrote for the Lonely Planet, he travelled far and wide. He did spend a very long time (with a jippy tummy) on an overcrowded train in India. Apart from that hellish experience, he enjoyed the experience.

I love your nutty sense of humour, Greyduster

Maw I can only imagine how sad you must feel when sorting through your husband's personal papers and possessions. I hope that the realisation of his many well-deserved achievements is of some consolation to you.

Doodle £2,000 for a pair of shoes. That's jaw-droppingly barmy. A pair of my number one favourite pairs of shoes (made by Jones of Northampton) cost me just £10, plus postage, on eBay.

A photo taken by callgirl's lovely daughter, who happened in to see how we were doing. She went away and came back a second time. She then realised that the blethering was on-going and took her leave.