Soop's kitchen for kind and caring folk

Good morning, the kitchen. Nice messages and facetime from the family this morning - I keep thinking of the many people who have neither phone nor internet and how lonely it must be if they are self isolating. So grateful to be part of the connected world.

I had an email from Sainsbury's this morning saying that I'd been identified as a vulnerable person for priority service. Not sure how it will work, but good for them for responding so promptly.

So good to see a bit of sun. I don't have a garden but at least I can throw the windows open wide.

Glad it was successful Grey!
Since we moved here to Suffolk I have occasionally been overwhelmed by a feeling that this is so idyllic that it is too good to last. We are only mid 60s but DH does have an ‘underlying health problem’ or two. Suddenly I am praying that we live long and happy lives here in the country.

Nannytopsy that made me laugh out loud! I’m looking for my knitting needles as we speak!?

Morning everyone it’s a beautiful but cold morning here in London, my daughter is popping over later I’ll let her in by the garden gate so she leave my a bag of bits and we can have a chat at a distance I’m missing just a hug.
We had a 4 way WhatsApp chat yesterday my DD,GS,GD and 2 Grt Grandchildren it was chaos but so lovely to see and chat to them.
I plan on a bit of gardening when it warms up later on.

Have a good safe day ?

Yesterday I had a lovely day out and really enjoyed the change of scene,no traffic jams or crowds as it was in my garden room.
I took my heated throw and book in there and had a relaxing few hours.
The sun was shining but not particularly warm so I was very surprised that my cat found a Slow worm in the garden.I was able to rescue it and return it to it's safe place under the decking.I think it may be the very first slow worm Cassie has seen.

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Good evening everyone. What a lovely day - it made staying at home bearable, at least for a day or two! I have sorted out all the plants I brought from the old house and planted quite a few in the front garden. Tomorrow we start on the back ...
The sheds have been tidied up and several more boxes are empty. I’m not sure how long we will keep this up!
I need cake - I shall have to bake something tomorrow.
TOYA

Charley, it's definitely this coming Monday that John Lewis stores are closing temporarily. It has caused a lot of soul-searching and heartache but they have decided that there is no alternative if there's nobody able to shop there. Waitrose is another matter; we still need to eat, wash ourselves, launder our clothes and...er...use toilet rolls.

Sorry Cherry I do not understand your question to me. Did I write something unintelligible? Not completely unknown!

Daisyboots Glad you are feeling better now. Very envious of you living in Portugal, we went on honeymoon there and were hoping to do a river cruise down the Douro at the end of June for our 30th anniversary but that is doubtful now although we will just postpone it all being well.
cornergran Your visit to the cemetery sounds very distressing. I hope you get a satisfactory response from the council. You have reminded me to go and visit my parents graves high up on the South Downs, it should be very quiet up there and it is a very peaceful spot, we planted cowslips on the grave so I better check that no escapee sheep have devoured them.

I have just written a ranty email to Dyson after unblocking my vacuum cleaner for the eleventy billionth time the dysons I used to have were brilliant but this one is more trouble than it's worth.
DH has gone to collect a takeaway from the local Italian which is, of course, closed apart from doing takeaways of its full menu. Lovely food, we went there for our first date more than 35 years ago so have a soft spot for it and want to keep it going in these difficult times.
TOYA I'm afraid I never manage to comment quickly enough on everyones posts but I really enjoy reading them, an oasis of common sense and humour in troubled times.

Spent today not doing very much ?. Had another 2 "seizures in the night" - it's happened so often over the years that my WP and me have rewritten the words to a song, you can guess from above which one . I didn't fall out of bed ?, ker-ching !! .
annsixty you are not moaning, you are waiting with uncertainty hanging over you for a much anticipated and needed operation. I had a long wait a few years ago for an op' to remove kidney stones. It's a long story so I won't go into it all but it started with a wait whilst a new department was being built and ended with 3 kidney stones becoming 6, just over two years in total & 3 operations. I was thoroughly fed up but I could get out & about and get on with things, you clearly don't have that luxury. If you think you're moaning go ahead and moan because I don't class it as that and I'm pretty sure nobody else in the kitchen thinks you're moaning either. I wish these were actual ❤️
I'm humbled and very touched that both you and Susan think I am amazing because all I do is the same that any of us can do and that is live the best life I can. I'm still a newbie here as so far in the kitchen I haven't met anyone whom I couldn't call amazing so I hope all enjoy this chocolate ?
Charleygirl, pardon me for asking this question but does your obviously beautiful cat hunt you?
annodomini I echo what others have said, your family members are young and should be strong to not be too adversely affected by the virus. Sending my well wishes x
Daisyboots please take care of yourself and all the best for Monday
Before I go this evening I just wanted to say keep the cartoons & jokes coming please, they are great and we all need a bit of atm.
TOYA

I have just read that all John Lewis stores are closing down temporarily from either this coming Monday or next. Some Waitrose food stores also but I am not sure if they will be permanent. I was shocked to say the least.

Daisyboots. ???

Daisyboots glad that you are well enough to come back into the kitchen after all your troubles. It sounds as if you are getting good treatment in Portugal (?) Zand that your supermarkets are better controlled than here. I haven't had to go shopping for quite a while as my freezer is well stocked but I'm certainly not looking forward to it.

soop and Greyduster I know what you mean about the misery of UTIs. I used to get them every couple of weeks, getting more and more dragged down, but (touch wood) I haven't had one for months since going vegan. I don't enjoy the diet particularly, but if it means no UTIs I'll put up with it.

anno I agree about T&M. I used to get seedlings from them but they were so slow in their deliveries that the poor little plants were often rotting by the time they got here.

I've had a busy day of gardening, digging over my veg beds and planting snap peas, second crop broad beans and various salad seeds. I'm feeling rather "Dig for Victory"ish!

Sorry for what turned into a saga.

Goodness I had just got settled into a new Soops Kitchen when I became very poorly with excruciating pain connected to my cancer. Five weeks later I feel well enough to get into GN again and I find that everyone has moved to a new kitchen and it's P29 already.

Well done Butterfly on completing your treatment and I know you must be feeling that you have lost your safety net. But they will still be there for should you need them.

Portugal has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus situation. At the moment its not as big a shutdown as Spain or France but they have the power to tighten it if need be. I had an appointment with my oncologist on Thursday evening which was cancelled overnight by text the night before. Straightaway I sent a text to my oncologist saying I hoped I would get another appointment asap as I needed to start on the next chemotherapy. Later I had a phone call with an appointment for yesterday at 11am. 8am the lady oncologist rang me to say don't come to the hospital because it was safer to stay at home and she would do a telephone consultation later in the day. In the early evening she rang and after talks with my oncologist I am to go to the day hopspital on Monday morning where I will have a bone strengthening injection followed by a meeting with her where she will explain the oral chemotherapy which we collect from the hospital pharmacy. Then I shall go back into isolation. DH does any shopping that is needed although we dont need anything for a while thank goodness. The pharmacy will deliver my medications so he doesnt need to go there. My medications are on the restricted list so they need passport identification etc so takes a while. Hand sanitizers and masks are unavailable and there was a shortage of toilet rolls but other than meat most things are available in the supermarkets . Entry to supermarkets is restricted and then it is a case of one in as one leaves and only one person in a family shopping . Seeing the state of the shops and the behaviour of some people in the UK makes me feel very nervous.

TOYA

Galen

Carillion Yes please. Those muffins need to be appreciated. You look through the window to see gendarmes. I look through mine to see the sea. Oh, and MacSporran waving to say that he's coming inside for a . Fair dos.

We now know of younger members of the family who have symptoms of the virus. Nothing scarey, thankfully. Torben's mummy has taken Torben to Sussex. She is renting a cottage. The area in london, in which they live, is not a good place to be right now.

I shall log off for today. TOYA and wishing you some inner peace to accompany you until we meet again.

corner Your visit to the cemetery must have made you want to weep. What a horrible experience for you.

Greyduster The account of you day made me smile. It's the picture that you conjure up in my mind's eye. Sorry to hear that you have a wretched UTI. I sympathise. I get them regularly and they sap the energy from your very soul.

Charleyg I rarely wander far from our kitchen. If I did so, I would have been exiled long, long, long ago.

The recent cartoons certainly help to put a smile on our faces. Something has to. So, please keep them coming.

Hello the kitchen. We are having a lazy day today, having been out in the garden on our knees yesterday afternoon, which turned out, though productive, not to be particularly good for either of us.

So what have we done today? Had an argument about lettuce, and why I always get my own way when it comes to what sort of lettuce we eat. I told him to wind his neck in, as salad vegetables are in such short supply at our supermarket, he may only ever get to see pictures of them in books now! Then he got a bit wound up when he went to the bathroom and I did some of his jigsaw with pieces he had been looking for all morning! I offered to clean his glasses! He was affronted! It’s going to be a long four months! But we had a good laugh this afternoon, which fits in with the promise that we would try and laugh about something every day. Watch this space?.
In truth, I don’t feel well today. I am on antibiotics (again!) for a UTI I didn’t know I had (long story) and I think they’re upsetting my stomach. Ah well, people have worse things to contend with.
I will try and look in later. TOYA.

I went off T&M when a package they sent me was delivered by Yodel and left in the pouring rain on my back doorstep, despite directions to put it in a garden box beside the back door. I suggested that T&M should tell Yodel about my complaint but they were just dismissive about it.

Afternoon All. Bed changing, a walk and a couple of hours gardening has passed the day pleasantly enough. Bed clothes blowing on the line, what’s not to like?

I did send a short and direct email about the state of the cemetery, got that out of my system now, no point hanging on to it.

Haven’t looked elsewhere on GN charley so I don’t know what’s been said to tempt you to rattle cages. Seems safer here somehow.

The sun does make such a difference, agree n&g, we saw lots of smiley people on our walk.

TOYA, take care everyone. I’m off to help Mr C finish his jigsaw and foresee a fight for the last piece

anno thanks for the info, but I was actually feeling smug!! I always stock up on seeds for the coming season in late autumn so I've got all that I need. e-bay is good for a lot of seeds because the sellers tend to be more generous with the quantity. I opened a packet of T&M seeds yesterday which had 4 seeds in it-- please sow thinly!

Common sense on many threads has gone out of the window. I am trying very hard not to say what I really think or I may be banished from GN permanently!

The sun is out in NW London but it is a tad cold.

I am working my way through my freezer foodwise and tonight it will be sirloin steak with trimmings. It may be a little while before I come across some edible oddities. I do not label anything.

Love the cartoons, DS has been putting similar on our family WhatsApp, we have to keep our spirits up.

The conjunctivitis has cleared up thank you Carillion, it must be surreal seeing the army from your window. I'll take a muffin if I may as they sound rather good.
Sending love and virtual hugs, we need them and cake - this last week has been a long year. TOYA ?

I have ironing waiting for me. No worries. I like the job and will return when it's all finished and put away.