Soop's welcoming and supportive kitchen

Ignore the sunrise photo - it has changed its mind! ☹️

Overthehills, myDH has an oxygen pump which is great. No more snoring like a Grampus and I no longer lie awake counting when he stops breathing and giving a sharp poke when it is too long! It is very quiet too and it’s only the mask which makes any noise, if it slips. I get much more sleep these days. Best wishes with it!

No offence taken greyd - just wish someone, anyone would have shown me how to do it. My stick people aren't recognisable as people. One of ours was, still is if he lets himself be, very able with anything to do with a pencil or colour. I bemoaned my lack of talent to his teacher and was firmly told off - she insisted there was no such thing as artistic inability. I didn't dare argue . Delighted your grandson has you to help him along, sometimes all it needs is someone with patience and love to overcome barriers.

Oh dear, plumbers. Its happened to us so many times, plumbers, electricians even the builder who could see our front door from his living room 'forgot' to come and do some plastering. I truly don't know how they survive, guess they don't have to try too hard.

Well, no more wittering for me as I truly must do what I didn't yesterday, the sun is out again so the carrot is a walk at our nearest NT property after lunch - if I do my jobs first! Mr C plans to do the ironing, so a busy morning in corner-land.

Hope the sun is shining on you all and poorly, exhausted or worrying people are feeling they can cope with the day.

all it needs is someone with patience and love to overcome barriers. Not sure about the patience, Corner - that’s something I would like someone to be able to instil in me!

Patience........please do not look my way,I too am rather short in that department folks!!

It is just a quickie morning visit to see what dramatics have developed since my last evening visit,whilst I had hoped we would here from you Synonymous........and my word that proved a journey you would not wish repeated too many times,horrendous indeed,although thankfully more by luck than judgement you both got to the appointed area on time.......just.Yet more of these Appointments to plough through so I can but wish you both the extra strength and good heart to meet them all,hopefully with some good results.

Now that lone beach was just what I needed Corner as you well know very typical of our own beaches and such an uplift,a tonic for the soul.
In fact with today such a glorious day again,and they are numbered if we trust the forecasters so my dear one has already demanded I dress nice and warm because we too are having a walk across another (hopefully) empty beach!
Doubtful actually as we still have holiday makers until after Half Term,although now very limited .............with a big sigh of relief from me!!!

Dear Kitchen people, an artist I am not either although actually at hgh school I did have some good marks ........certainly gone to pot over the years.

"Pembrokeshire promises" I am sure you will have heard that expression GreyD many a time? Those that guarantee you a visit on set time and date.......but never make it.......sadly it seems to have followed you!Grrrr

Leaving you all with every good wish for a lovely weekend,may peace reign and hopefully many happy hearts overcoming all these niggles and aches.

Good morning, Panache! Hope you’ve got some sunshine down in your neck of the woods. It is a bit hit and miss here at the moment.
Up here such promises are called pie crust promises, and we have had so many recently we are up to our neck in crumbs!

Hopefully I’ve got some love but sadly I’m rather lacking in the patience department....glad it’s not just me!

Maybe we become less patient as we get older- I am not sure.

The sun is out in NW London but again there is a nip in the air. As usual I slept like a baby- maybe I could give lessons in the sleep department because I rarely have a night when I am awake for most of it. I am aware that corner8 has problems in that department. It will be doubly frustrating if *Mr.C like me can sleep for England.

Perhaps if our many hands join in the unity of love, patience may follow!!

Panache I hope you enjoy that lovely walk!

Despite having as much sense of direction as a broken deck chai I am happy to have found you all.
Your trip to London synonymous brings back many not always happy memories. We found that taxis, trains, more taxis etc amounted to something over £60 plus necessitated Mobility Assistance and off peak travel (not always possible) so we moved on to an upmarket taxi (the sort who does airport runs) and for £80 plus £12 an hour waiting time after the first hour we could do the journey door to door with so much less strain (on me!) It made me realise how easy life can be when you are chauffeur driven!
Latterly there was no other way paw could have attempted it but even when it was just possible I found the worry, strain and exhaustion impossible - and I wasn’t even ill! DD1 and SIL then offered to pick up the tab too which was wonderful as sometimes we would be there two or three times in a month.
I was in London yesterday to see the Oceania exhibition st the Royal Academy with sisters in law and that was lovely. But why do exhibitions now have virtually NO seating in the rooms? Literally only two of the rooms had any bench seating, and one of those accommodated no more than three people. That slow walking and standing is hell on the back and while there is disabled access for wheelchair visitors, what about those of us with back issues, on sticks, or younger and pregnant?
A letter is called for!

Thank you for the much needed (hugs) Pittcity It's good to share.

Corner Your beach is perfect. No need for folk to clutter it. Not a single item of rubbish to spoil it.

Greyduster The sunsets are stunning. I have hundreds of images taken over the years we've lived in Kintyre.

Synonymous My word, what a nightmare of a journey. Having to search for a parking space could have been the last straw. Well done for not throwing a wobbly. You did well.

Overthehills That man's attitude makes me bristle.

A very good early afternoon greeting to every one of you. It's futile to ask you to relax and allow me to catch up. I guess that I shall be doing just that until the next kitchen opens. I love you lot. So there!

A lovely sunny but I'm told chilly here, good
afternoon.
Synonymous that sounds like a nightmare and expensive trip to the hospital, it is just one of the things we dont need on top of everything else.

We had an example of "non joined up writing" yesterday.
When the woman came to fit the carecall system she soon realised there was an anomaly.
My H is the service user, so although I wear the pendant , in fact I can only use it if he has an accident or is ill.
If it is me who falls or is taken ill, officially they cannot respond to the call, but of course somebody would have to come immediately to arrange emergency care for him, he cannot be left for any time at all.
Social services will have to recommission the service.

We are having a good day today, Sod's Law, very quiet and co-operative and football will be on soon so I will get some jobs done.

I wish you all a pleasant, produçtive or peaceful afternoon.

Thank you for all the lovely comments. I am so desperately tired that I have been unable to sleep very well and I am only just properly up and breakfasted.
Maw you have given me such a good idea regarding a hire car for next week because I don't think I can drive that long journey again myself so soon even without all the traffic problems. DD (arriving today hooray!) has to go home on the day of the appointment for her own before she goes back to school so will not be able to help either. Yes, if I can't find a friend who is free to dtive us, I think a hire car is the way to go as the next appointment is at midday and we could get there and back in a day without staying overnight if we had someone fit at the wheel. Brilliant! Just need to convince Himself which shouldn't be too difficult.
Incidentally, it wasn't London - nor Auld Reekie which is more civilised than it's counterpart up here. We are very much country mice and as I sit posting this I am looking out across farmland and river to forested hills through trees and over a very few rooftops. All I can hear is birdsong outside, the crackling of the logs in the woodburner and Smokie snoring in his 'roost'. We are very blessed!

Not able to think too much, energy now gone so love to all as I seem to be dropping off again!

Hello everyone, it’s a beautiful day here on the south coast. Sorry to about the freezers, and all the food. I hate waste too, it’s the way I brought up I think. I’m going to bake later this afternoon, my nephew and his family are calling in on the their way to France tomorrow, so I need something to feed them.

Share some of your baking for us lot maddyone, I would so love a sticky cake. Wishful thinking, as always.

I’m making a Banana, Cherry, and Walnut loaf, and a Victoria Sandwich, if I ever get started, that is. This morning son, dil, and dil’s two year old grandson arrived, then this afternoon daughter and four year old twins arrived. They didn’t stay long though, but the atmosphere was pleasant; it isn’t always with daughter, so that’s a bonus. So I’m just having a quick cuppa and I’ll finally get started. You can all pop in tomorrow if you like for a piece of cake and a cuppa, or a little glass of

Make that a date, maddyone...^us lot^ will, as per, form a disorderly queue. There will be crumbs all over the kitchen. Messy lot!

I am logging off. Have had a decent afternoon with the paint box. About to sketch second portrait of same cat. You can see the results when I'm satisfied that I've done my very best.

Pleasant evening to all our Granspals. Back with you sometime tomorrow.

The car sounds such a good idea synonymous. Mr C who would once drive anywhere and be fazed by nothing is starting to come around to my way of thinking - if it is going to exhaust us we must find another way. Rest well today, you deserve it.

Our afternoon didn’t go quite to plan. After sitting in a queue to get into the NT car park it was discovered that one of us didn’t have his NT membership card. Oh dear.

Afraid there was a bit of a chilly atmosphere. Fortunately we hadn’t travelled far so back we came and headed for the beach. Would you beliefe there were people? Still, we had some air, stretched my achey knee and the atmosphere thawed over a welcome cuppa.

Like the sound of the cakes maddyone, please save us some, well a lot really.

Oh for goodness sake ann, why can’t they just use common sense? Pleased you’re having a quiet day at least, feet up if you can.

Please don’t mention sleep charley, I’ve been doing well but not last night, head spinning like a washing machine. Maybe a glass of chilled white later will help. Having said that I’m off to stock the fridge.

Take care everyone.

Gosh I go missing for 36 hours and the cosy kitchen has closed it's doors and a lovely bright, airy one has opened and filled up straight away! I don't have long as our GD and her partner are on their way - of course we had planned dinner for tonight only for her to text saying could they just have small portions please as she'd had a salad and BF had eaten a Sunday lunch!! Quickly readjusted the menu and we'll take the dinner to the bungalow tomorrow when we take them to have a look.

Sorry to hear about the care alarm error Ann - smacks a bit of jobsworth really but I guess rules are rules and the wrong sort of help might arrive - I hope they get it sorted out. I also hope you find some funding for the care home when you finally decide on one. It was a minefield when my parents were in care and I think it's changed a lot over the last few years as well as the differences between areas. We also struggled to get my mum to use a walking frame – she couldn’t co-ordinate her feet with moving the frame and went back to holding onto the furniture as soon as the OT had left.

Synonymous your journey from hell sounds very stressful – the idea to use taxis sounds a very good one as you have to make the trip several more times. I recently went by train, plane and automobile and that was awful too – if someone else takes the strain it would be much better. I hope you feel more rested today.

Overthehills my husband also has the C-Pap machine for sleep apnea – he’s had it for years and although he fights with ‘pipe’ a lot during the night in his sleep he does get a better quality of sleep than he used to – that is until this week when he came down with ‘pipe’ in hand (it has a personality of it’s own – as he and it do battle nightly). He’d been blasted with more air in his face than normal for a few nights and on investigation found a large split in it. Gaffer tape to the rescue to keep him going till Tues when he has his annual appointment to check the machine. Hopefully they’ll give him a new one to tame

The pictures are beautiful as was the sunset we saw last night on the way home – I should have taken a photo – remiss of me.

I hope all the freezer issues are now sorted out – it’s a shock to find your ice-cream dripping on the floor and water all over the place when it happens.

I had planned on making some cheese scones today but found we had no flour so that has been postponed for another day.

Hope you all have a good night

My evening visit.

Indeed Corner our plans soon changed searching for that empty beach when we realised Half term was upon us and therefore with the weather such a treat,unbroken blue skies and sunshine........we took a detour to our Marina at Milford Haven.
A very pleasant amble in the fresh air as was the cuppa and a few "peeps" into the boutiques and Craft shops that have taken their businesses to this thriving spot.
With the sun shining on the wealth of expensive boats mainly in their berths right now, still it is full of boating activity and a place that seems to welcome all kinds of dogs .......so there were plenty of petting on the way.

Could this sea side brine and small stroll mean a night of zeezz......I doubt it!
Yet my man sleeps virtually undisturbed whilst I seem forever pacing around.
Mind you he is always on the go so I am pleased he has this rest and is undisturbed by me.It was a big worry initially.

I envy you your sleeps Charley long may they flourish.

Words fail Ann although we have long realised it is virtually impossable to have anything done right the first time ........or even the second time.
How things have slipped.So sad.

Maw is proving a wealth of knowledge for those of us having all these to and fro-ing of Hospital appointments Synonymous, so heeding her will certainly save you both added angst.
For the forseable our appointments are merely near to home,however they have been daily during the past weeks, but seems as if they are about to be curtailed for a while.

Re the lack of seating in these establishments Maw, perhaps you could bring one of these lightweight deck chairs..... until the people in charge realise folk get weary and like the occasional sit down, if only to catch breath and just discuss what they have seen?
Where oh! where are has plain common sense gone these days?

I rather think you are going to spoil us Maddyone....although in most cases I avoid the niceties because I must ......a slice of Victoria Sandwhich will not harm me for sure!!Just a tiny one!

As for painting, why not give us non artists some lessons Soop.......now that IS a challenge!

My eyes are heavy and yet once closed for sleep I shall be as fresh as a daisy .......well sort of!

Have a pleasant evening all, and hopefully a good night`s rest.

Dear Panache I so identify with you in feeling tired and then being bright as a button when in bed, it happens every night.
We have just had our evening meal, salmon in a sauce, very nice, with a glass of white ,and I could doze off.
Had a good day actuallybut tiring all the same.
It has been a nice day and a lovely sky this evening.
I hope those of you with visitors enjoy your guests, it is something I miss so much but perhaps can look forward to in the future.
I suspect by then I will feel too old.
My D has gone away for weekend with her "friend" it is on rocky ground and I expect a call to say it is all in the past.
She will be relieved as he has a lot of baggage with his divorce and family but she has enjoyed their times away.
It is a long distance affair , never ideal, and lots of issues.
Ah well... .

Sorry you experienced the same issue panache - people just shouldn’t be allowed on ‘our’ beaches . Having said that your alternative sounds to have been equally enjoyable. Hope wide awake syndrome deserts you tonight.

Still haven’t got to my glass of chilled white ann, looking forward to it in a few minutes. Hope your daughter can enjoy her weekend without worrying about the relationship, it can be so hard when people bring a precious life with them.

Feet up time now. See you all again in a day or two.

Thankyou Nannytopsy and Willow for your helpful comments about the oxygen machine. DH’s sleep quality is so poor that he is tired all the time.
We’ve had DS, DiL and DGS staying since Thursday and DD and DGD coming on a daily basis too - it’s a mad house! But in a good way (mostly!). I think we’ll go out for lunch tomorrow - can’t face cooking another meal! I know I shouldn’t complain with so many not in contact with AC.
Mad situation regarding the alarm Ann but may all be resolved soon.
Good night all and sleep well.