Soop's friendly and welcoming kitchen.

Just popped in to see whether or not there was a message from Mr Panache. I shall now return to the apparently blitzed bedroom. There are garments everywhere. Piles to part with. Piles to put into a trunk in readiness for next Spring. I so wish that I had a magic wand.

anno Proud Granny indeed.

soop, isn't Torben a fine big lad now! I'm not allowed to send pictures of my GSs, but I can report that while the 13-year-old has become a baritone over the course of the holidays, his 10-year-old brother is rapidly catching up with him, height-wise and is quite a bit heavier.
Annually, the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey appoints cadets from all the services to support him in ceremonial duties and my (almost) 16-year-old DGD was chosen to represent the Army cadets in this post. Proud Granny!

2 ecstatic doggies here as we collected them from kennels this morning, though from the whining and crying from them both on the homeward journey, we wondered if they would rather have stayed!
ann whatever may have upset you, you may find that being completely away from your home environment may help you too see things more clearly. Whatever, a few days of sunshine and relaxation may help.
It’s raining and rather cool here, especially after 30+ degree temperatures for the last 10 days.
Fingers crossed for some good news to cheer up the Kitcheners

soop it is a lot more than I am doing. I am super glued to this machine.

Charleyg I'm sorting through my wardrobes. The bedroom is not a pretty sight.

soop Torben has almost become an adult overnight- he is a very handsome young man.

It is dull and horrible here- I must make an effort and go out because two small slices of bread will not last until Monday.

heavensjoy for you too.

This is our lovely grandson, Torben, So like his daddy.

Hi Ladies,
my husband has just checked the freezer, and we do not have any cake!! So sorry. We are both trying to 'cut down' on my home made cakes.
However, I have just made a nice big pot of vegetable soup, everything thrown in including lentils and you are all more than welcome to a bowl of that!!!
Thankyou all so much for your very kind welcome. I am so sorry for those of you who have very sad family worries. I get tearful just reading them. [flowers}

Hello MissAdventure, thank you for joining us lot. By the by...I can't keep up either.

Ann Whatever it was that has unhinged you - forget it. Return to packing a suitcase and smile...you WILL enjoy your holiday. Us lot say so.

A bearded dragon, eh, N&G? DH has been living with one for a few years now, so if Stevie wants any tips......

I forgot, I am going to see H today, my GD sent me a short video yesterday, of him looking very relaxed, singing along with old wartime songs.
It made me cry.

Ann ??

Good morning all.
A very damp one here. The wheels have come off again, I am using the wrong " machanic" I think.
I am not going to go into any detail, it is too upsetting, my friend came yesterday and I had to fight very hard to keep emotionally calm.
I have got a few things ready for my holiday.
I just have to convince myself, as everyone else it trying to do, that it will all be ok when I am actually there.

Hello kitcheners!
Now I'm popping in to check for any news of Panache.
I always keep up to date with the kitchen goings on, but don't post because I can't keep up with everyone.

A rather damp and grey good morning to our lovely kitcheners.

Having read through your posts, a few put a smile on my face.

Thank you, Nannytopsy for the cake. A polite question...where did you say you'd leave it? Yet more crumbs under the mat...otherwise -

N&G If anyone can create a lizard cake...you can. Show us pics please.

No news of Panache. Maybe a later...

Morning all !

So sorry to hear of your friends news Kitty . Its hard to comprehend how bad things must be for that to be the solution.

Welcome Heavensjoy ! Did you bring cake ;-)

Hello Lona you have been gone awhile . Are you all at home now in your new home?

I know the weather has turned as the first delivery of wool arrived yesterday so I can spend the winter evenings crotcheting. Best thing about that is , its hard to snack and crotchet! Maybe I should start a slimming group up?

I wish I had your baking talent though Grey , I have stupidly agreed to make young Stevie a birthday cake for next weekend when we visit. When I asked him what he fancied he told me he is getting a bearded dragon ( called Mike apparently) and so would like a lizard cake !!!!!!!

Watch this space...….

Chaos had I known you were awake in the wee small hours I would have joined you raiding the fridge (you can’t fool me!) and claimed a corner of the tartan rug . I agree with you that it was cold; I got up and put a throw on my side of the bed!
Welcome to Heavensjoy and hello again to Lona!

We had a rather miserable unsettled day yesterday talking over the implications of the previous few days and just resigned ourselves to doing, from here, what we could when we could for DH’s sister, and trying to keep more abreast of things. We will probably go down again at half term.

Today I am going to make a start on DH’s birthday cake. I will have to leave the decorating until I can get GS over here because the cake was his idea and I promised him he could decorate it! He has talked of nothing else. The problem is I may have to freeze the cake and I am not sure the recipe I am using will freeze . Just another little lump in life’s custard!

Well I had better stir my stumps and carpe diem! I will look in later.

Welcome heavensjoy from another old timer here. Dare I say it that I slept for 7 hours last night, up to the loo only once. I may still be there if my cat had not decided that I should get up. I have a rug either side of the bed and she scratches one of them knowing that will elicit a reaction from me.

Very sad news in the kitchen these days.

Lurking in the armchair with the tartan blanket - wasn’t it cold last evening and night? Such sad posts over the last day or two - here’s a lemons drizzle to provide some comfort xx

Silly o'clock! aargh...why is sleep sometimes so elusive.
At least I can creep to the kitchen and raid the 'fridge

A wave to heavensjoy ... I am also quite new, and can confidently say you will find a warm welcome here... and a first hello to lona

greyd .... I do feel for you. It is a particularly pain to know someone you love is suffering, but be unable to help in a meaningful way. My ex MIL is now in care, in the final stages of dementia, in the USA. Its hard. Dementia is so uniquely cruel

kitty .... what an awful situation for that family. There are no words, and I am sure your own DD appreciates your support when she must be struggling to find some comfort for her friend.

nonna .... I hope you enjoyed your holiday?

I am now desperate for a cup of coffee. Which may not be wise at this time of the morning!

kitty I'm so sorry for that very sad family. The young man must have been in a very difficult place indeed. His parents will struggle to understand what is perhaps not understandable. Your last post certainly brought a smile here, you never know dinner may not go wrong

Helo, lona, good to see you back. I also like your username heavensjoy, I often wish mine was, well not sure what, maybe less boring.

Busy old day here today, flipping development stuff again, at least we're never bored. We love our little home and the location but sometimes, just sometimes we look at each other and say 'why oh why did we do it?'.

I also had hoped for news of panache, I was putting the Tenby/Caldey photos on the computer earlier and of course thinking of her.

You may well not be clutching at straws nankate, its good to be as positive as we can lets think as positively as we can. I hope you are coping with your flare up and have a comfortable evening and night.

I can understand you being flattened by your visit greyd, we have a friend living in Wales who is deteriorating with each visit, we always come away with heavy hearts.

Oh dear, so much sadness around. My only claim to amusement today is to have been so convinced it was Saturday that I was quite insistent with a neighbour who was chatting away about what she does on Fridays . Oops. She is 20 years older than me and very kindly explained it my mistake.

Oh well, onwards with the evening. There will eventually be a glass of cold white but before that a bit of tidying. I don't need to know what day it is to do that

Thankyou ladies for your kind welcome.

Hi Lona nice to see you again. Hope you are ok. ?

Hi Lona. Seeing your name cheered me up - how are you?

Welcome heavensjoy.

I thought I might relate something to make you all smile following on from gaga's post (apologies if that's not who it was) about old friends. We went to the theatre last night to see The Play That Went Wrong. As we were going in we bumped into the husband of someone who used to work for DH. We were quite close to them for a while but eventually decided we couldn't cope any more so gradually eased away from them. They have become what we call 'Complacent Olds!' - not something that could be levelled at any of us. Anyway, they were sitting close to us so we ended up with them in the interval and afterwards. And, we are going out for dinner with them!!!