Soop's kind, caring and sharing kitchen.

Just put my head in the kitchen to see how Vaker is doing. Thrilled that he is home and eating

Dragobfly ? ?

Good news about Baker chicken. No place like home ?
I’m another who loves to see the first buds appearing. I love all the flowers starting. The daffs and crocuses and snowdrops. Beautiful ?
TOYA

I am so pleased abut Baker ?
However more sad news this evening, D’s godmother, a very dear friend we have known for over 45 years passed away this afternoon in a hospice in Clapham.
Book club friend last weekend, D’s godmother today - I am finding it hard to cope with another loss, especially on my own.
I know we should be grateful for how such special people have enriched our lives and for the peaceful manner of their passing, but right now I just want to sob.

So sorry to hear your news Maw ?

Snowdrops, buds on the honeysuckle and crocus shoots here. January seemed so long again. Helping with a house move this weekend, needing elbow grease by the bucket load and am in charge of feeding the troops as well. I am tired before we have got stuck in but I have my secret chocolate stash. DH says we need to treat ourselves in a couple of weeks once the move is done. Just hoping that washing paintwork will do for now instead of painting it as it is still too cold to have the windows open all day.
Wishing all those having hospital treatment that it goes well and TOYA.

That is such sad news for you to bear Maw. You will miss your long-standing friend just ‘being’ in the world. Yes, we can and ought to be grateful for a life and friendship that meant a lot to us but for this evening I can understand your need to howl.
?

I’m so sorry maw, sending love.

Maw that is sad news. I am singing the Verdi Requiem tomorrow. Requiems always make me think of those we have lost. Glad to hear that Baker has been allowed home.

So sad for you , Maw. xx

So sorry to read your sad news Maw.
I could have sworn I posted in here yesterday, but obviously I didn`t.
I`m pleased that things went well at the hospital Dragonfly.
And thrilled to hear that Baker is home, I`ll bet he is as well.
My son has to wait a few days for the result of his scan, then back to Lincoln to see the oncologist.
I`m off to London tomorrow with 2 daughters, we`re going to the last of this year`s Strictly roadshows on Sunday, then home on Sunday night. Will be TOYA x

Condolences Maw here’s a little (((hug))) because I don’t have any words that would help. Our long standing and deepest friends often know and understand us better than our own nearest family so the loss can be very hard.
I’ve been up since 3 this morning so I’m finding it hard to concentrate. We’ve had a very bad week with my DiL and I’ve had to listen to some harsh things about my son, some deserved most because her family are so wrapped up in their own pain they can’t see his stress. How to tackle/advise him without being a nag or seen as interfering? It’s all getting very strained. A bit like a volcano about to erupt. It’s not helping that I’m so tired my brain can hardly function. The good news is the kitchen is almost finished. Now for putting everything back. Finding out how the equipment functions. Not counting clearing the rest of the house of the debris, dust and general chaos. People keep asking if I’m please with it. To be honest I really don’t care one way or tother. As long as it’s functional. My son says there’s no joy in his life and I think that’s how we all feel. It’s as if we’re running headlong into impeding disaster with no light at the end of the tunnel. Sorry it’s not a very cheerful post, I’m so tired, I’m so worried, I’m so upset at witnessing all this terrible awful pain. My poor poor DiL. We think it can’t possibly get any worse then it does.....it does.

Ps at least I don’t have to venture into the garage for water to make a cup of tea now. We have a functioning tap in the kitchen. Upwards and onwards.

Morethan", I cannot begin to imagine what you are going through, nor find the appropriate words to comfort you, nothing would be good enough.
However, I can keep you and your family in my prayers, that you find the strength to cope with the difficult journey ahead. You are a remarkable lady. ?

Morethan I feel your pain and have no words.
The suffering is so cruel.
I can only send yo big hugs.

morethan2

Thank you, especially Morethan - you have more than enough to cope with so it was very kind of you to think of me.
I have woken up feeling very bleak. Weekends tend to be the time when I don’t really see people which is not helping, but that’s life and I have to don my big girl pants and get on with it.
I feel desperately sorry for your son (as indeed for all of you) but it is hard for anybody outside your situation to judge the poor man. We make allowances after a bereavement, but who is to say what he is suffering at present. If his coping mechanism is not to the taste of others, so be it. His in-laws are feeling their own pain which will be colouring their reactions and they may have an idealised image of how he should be. I know family counselling is the last thing on your minds but it is tragic to see the family pulling in different directions when they are in fact all focused on the same thing.

Morning all from the chilly artic !

The boilerman is here so I'm hopeful he can fix it. Its no fun being cold. We have an electric fire in the lounge but the bathroom is freezing !!

Sorry to hear weekends are bleak Maw , maybe you could make Saturdays a day when you do something to spoil yourself? Something like popping to a favourite coffee shop with a book , for cake? Or visiting something cultural? Or maybe buy something special for dinner and just batten down the hatches for a bit of a staycation?

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss Maw , sometimes its just one thing after another, probably contributing to how you feel too.

So sorry to hear how the situation continues to get worse just when you think its at rock bottom Morethan . Ive no experience but it seems possibly like that endless waiting at a bedside of someone ill for the worst to happen. Your poor son, cannot his wife's family see the horror of his life? I am so , so sad for you all.

Lovely news about Baker Chicken , I hope he quickly improves .

I am off to ply the boilerman with coffee in the hope he quickly gets things fixed.

NanaandGrampy weekends are not necessarily bleak, sorry for sounding as if it was a general moan.
But yes, I am generally less busy although I often pop down to London to see a D and a DGS .
Today has just felt bleak as I got the news of my friend and D2’s godmother last night . It is easier to deal with these things with somebody and Paw would have been as sorry as I am as she was a huge part of our lives.
D2 is in Minnesota and the other two are busy I know, but I shall watch the rugby and get thoroughly depressed (O flower of Scotland....)
Maybe a quick trip to a shop and a walk with Hattie too while the weather holds.

Someone, at some time, on some other forum, suggested that the kitchen thread is something akin to being "fluffy". Well, in that case, I'm bewildered. Why? Today our posts are written and shared from the heart by people who are real and kind and supportive. Having read through all your messages I am amazed by your resilience in the face of personal pain that there seems no immediate resolution to. morethan Maw callgirl1 dragonfly (in fact all our Kitcheners) are very special ladies.

chicken Our Baker is back where he belongs. Beautiful boy.

<Baggs wanders in with a tray of marmaladed flapjack>
(got the idea from The Smiddy in Lochgilphead, soop, though theirs is vegan and mine isn't. Love butter! ?

Anyway do help yourselves, kitcheners. It is good, I have found, for a broken shoulder.

woo hoo---- boiler sorted and we live to fight another day for minimal cost !!

Buy something nice whilst at the shops Maw after all rugby watching demands snacks!! :-)

I know Soop I too wonder where people get the idea the kitchen is all virtual hugs and cake. Its about supporting people in desperate times with a simple word or just being here. Its about sharing the small pleasures, being able to say it like it is without fear of favour . Its about the kindness of others .

I for one wouldn't have it any other way , when I look at some of the vitriol, harshness and lack of understanding seen elsewhere I thank my lucky stars threads like this still exist .

And on that note, I'm off to take off one layer of sweaters and enjoy that simple pleasure of being warm again :-)

PS It's packed with nuts but they shouldn't harm anyone i this kitchen.

What about us with fragile teeth?
I will pick the nuts out and suck them if that is okay.

On the subject of nuts and teeth.......

I'll take a chunk please Baggs looks delicious. Did I miss something ? Have you broken your shoulder? I do hope not :-(