Soop's welcoming kitchen for the sharing of...

Good afternoon everyone. Washing dried and calling out for ironing which I shall start in a minute!
We can hear our lovely next door neighbour packing a van at the moment. They have only been here a few months but there are problems so she is moving out. I am so very sad for them.
Toad in the hole for tea after it was mentioned on GN, with onion gravy of course.
Hope you are making the most of the weather before we get our much needed rain.

I am about to slip into my gardening gear: well worn and well grubby jeans; tatty top well-snagged by brambles; thick socks and heavy duty chunky boots. Hey ho...away I go. Will return later this afternoon.

In the meantime...stay safe, and do a little of something that eases any stress that you are wanting rid of.

anno Very wise of you. The pollen count is high at the moment. It's no laughing matter.

Galen A toddy of whatsover you fancy does you a power of good.

Another lovely sunset, Soop. Only in the West of Scotland! Last night, when I went out to join the clapping, the sun was just going down - a ball of bright red fire and an amethyst sky. Am full of admiration for the cooks and bakers on here. I have no-one else to bake and cook for, so my efforts are sporadic at best. However, today I am aiming to make some oatcakes - the Scottish kind - so watch this space. I am hoping to find local honey which, I am told, counteracts the effects of local pollens which are really annoying me at the moment, so much so that yesterday I donned a mask to go out to hang out the washing. Stop laughing!

After several nights of little or no sleep, I finally slept well last night . At least 6 hours, wonderful!
All this talk of hot toddy s made me envious, so, today my ordered bottle of Jura arrived. I shall be enjoying one tonight with local honey and hot water.
Some may say that a single malt is wasted in a toddy but I really don’t like the other whiskies.
TOYA

Susan Little Henry is a trooper, that's for sure. x

Smileless Mention of your estrangement from your son and grandson for such a long time, made me feel so sad for you.

Dreamkeeper The best that I can do for you right now, is remind you that you are precious.

Carillion 'The Kiss' is the perfect gift, no matter in which form it is given.

Grandmafrench Monty Don is my pin-up boy. He has it all. Good looks, a perfectly natural manner and a serious gift for gardening. Not forgetting his faithful companions/helpers Nigel and Nel. He always makes "stuff" looks so easy...

Soop,Henry seems to be taking one step forward and two steps back at the moment.He had a bad reaction yesterday,stabilised with his medicine and then fine for the rest of the day.Think it is going to be trial and error until it is safe for him to go to hospital for the tests they want to do.
Just wish we were able to go and help them.The dr warned that in most babies,the medicine will make them sleepy.Guess who’s the exception??despite all these issues he is happy Henry most of the time.
Thank you all for your support and thinking of you all.

Afternoon ladies. Just put this week's shopping away having been to Aldi; glad that's over with.

Well you're not a fraudster Dreamkeeper it's hard not to let our worries and fears get on top of us. We've been estranged from our youngest son and only GC, for 7.5 years and in the beginning, when the pain was almost too much to deal with, I used to imagine it was a huge wave washing over me.

Sometimes it's better to 'go with' feelings of sadness and worry until they've past, rather than try to shake them off.

That's a shame Carillion I hope there are plenty of poppies of Sunday and you'll share another lovely photo. They were my gran's favourite flower and when I see them, I'm always reminded of her.

Sounds like you've been busy GrannyGravy. I blitzed our kitchen before the lock down and wished I'd known what was coming as it would have given me something to do.

MacS certainly is a "kind soul" soop, what a lovely resting place for the dove.

The priorities on your shopping list are very much like mine Nannytopsy although I prefer the rhubarb in the gin!

The sun is shining but it's a bit chilly here today, enjoy the rest of your day TOYA x

soop Nothing wrong with healthy exercise/manual labour as long as you don't suffer more than the usual aches and pains afterwards. For so many people and certainly so many on this thread the garden is such a wonderful place to be...the things you can see, the peace, the pleasure of watching things grow after the winter, the scents and smells and the birds. Wonderful. Then of course there's the pleasure of seeing the effect of all your efforts. So sad about the little collar dove - birds are so fragile. I'm a great believer in the Monty Don attitude towards gardening - he is such a massive fan and he has clung to it to see him through endless dark times of depression and a stroke - and helped him recover. It's a beautiful place to be and if it's not beautiful it can be fun to make it so.

When I'm outside in my little plot I sometimes think of the first little poem I saw on a metal sign in a garden for the blind when I was really small. There amongst the wallflowers it said 'The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth". It sounds a bit trite (Patience Strong) but I still maintain there's a real truth in it. I feel so sad for those without any outside space.

Wishing you in that wonderful place more beautiful sunsets, positive thoughts about the end of this tragedy and many cheeky little G & T's. Good weekend to you and to everyone in this Kitchen, which is the nearest thing to dropping around to friends for a coffee and cake. I'm off to make Banoffee pie for my lovely man's birthday tomorrow. It's be a weird one but as long as we're healthy and together who cares. Leftovers will be left on the side in the kitchen for Sunday. Hugs from French France.

Hearing how each one of you are "battling on" despite your various own or/and family issues makes me feel a real fraudster.
I just cannot shake off these feelings of gloom much as I have tried.My dear man on the other hand, the forever optimistic one, smiles and copes,even though his condition is evidently on this downward slope.
Thinking of you all and I only wish I had that magic ingredient to uplift and shake off all your wordly worries,instead I merely send loving blessings.

Urmston I hope you had a comfortable night. When things bother you at nightime sleep takes much longer to come.
Dragonfly I am hoping your recovery is going well, I have been trying to follow your progress and send love. X

Smileless, guess what happened overnight with a bit of blustery rain...no poppies today but by Sunday we might have less wind, a bit more sun and I think, a lot of poppies! So glad however, that you liked them.

Dear soop, I was sad that you were so tired yesterday and hope you are not doing too much.xxx

I'm so glad so many of us love the Klimt picture... 'The Kiss'.

It means so much because whatever happens in life and whatever trials and tribulations dear significant others might have, there is always the kiss. That's why I wanted my DH to have it for his birthday.
Sending love to everyone in the kitchen. Xxxxxx

Purplepixie and Grannygravy Thank you. (((hugs))) and

mbmb Had I been in the shop when that woman commented on travelling hundreds of miles "to be safe", I would have lost my cool. Such a thing rarely happens. I'm not one for confrontation. BUT...there is a limit. I would have shocked myself.

Nannytopsy - Gin, biscuits and rhubarb. You have your priorities spot on. Cheers!

kitty You are a star. x

Grandmafrench Our long spell of good weather will eventually break. When it does, our home will have a blitz. Until then, I feel compelled to carry on gardening. It feels as if I've been hypnotised into putting myself through the business of hard labour. I shall be 80 next year. I've promised MacSporran that I shall almost certainly not be repeating the exercise next year. In the meantime, it is rewarding to stand back and see the difference that three hourly daily shifts over the course of three weeks have made. What's more, I feel a good deal fitter. My best wishes to you for a peaceful weekend.

Here is last night's setting sun. Photo taken in the garden.

Urmastongran - sending you a hot whisky toddy tonight, do take care during these horrible times. Xxx

Hi Soop and all in this wonderful kitchen. What would we do without the warmth that it emits?

So far today I have made a fruit loaf with left over stuff that I found in the cupboard so god knows what state this thing will be after baking! I just hope I dont poison everyone. Sorry in advance. Also I am making some Leek and Potato soup for tea with part baked bread to go with it. I’ll leave you all some in the kitchen later. Don’t forget to pop by for some whisky toddies tonight.
This afternoon I am helping one of my grandchildren to do some more family tree stuff via text on the phones and our computers. She has got really into it and has found stuff that I struggled with it. At 12 she is so good with computers and much better than me! Which wouldn’t be hard!

Have the best day you can all and please stay safe. Lots of love to you all. X

Hello Kitcheners I have just “blitzed” the kitchen and when the dishwasher is finished everything from the range which is removable shall be going into it!!!

I have this overwhelming feeling of guilt if I am not doing anything, sitting around in the morning is an anathema to me.

I managed to secure a grocery delivery for Sunday week from Tesco’s yippee ? It’s not a shop that I would normally use (I am a Waitrose/M & S and local butchers and farm shop sort of girl) but having tried everywhere else I jumped at the slot!!?

Virtual hugs and good wishes for those who are wobblying (emotionally ?)

Fruit, croissants (warm) and honey left on the side ??????????

A bright sunny good morning greeting to you wonderful peoples.

The dove was taken to a peaceful resting place close to where the burn flows into the sea. MacS is a kindly soul. He thought that it was a befitting resting place for a wild creature.

Urmstongran There is some sadness here in our kitchen. Perfectly understandable, given the exceptional circumstances. We will all have down-days...followed by renewed resolve and optimism.

Many of us who have nurtured animals and have enjoyed their companionship, know only too well how it feels when they become sick, go missing and worse. We've loved all the cats that we've adopted. Many of which, being feral, adopted us. We miss them all.
Dear dragonfly you have a hard task to perform. (hugs)

Susan Little Henry's condition has, I trust, stabilised. We all wish him well. A celebration of some kind awaits when we have positive news.

Carillion One of my favourite paintings. Your husband must be delighted. I have a large book devoted to all of Gustav Klimt's artwork. The Kiss is on the front cover.
I envy you the poppies. I haven't yet managed to grow them from seed.

We have a multitude of wild yellow iris about to come into flower. When they do, I shall share a photo with you.

Glad you've got the essentials sorted topsy. We have a Sainsbury's click and collect today too and I'm ashamed to say I have stocked up in case we never get another one.

I think we all have immaculate taste urmston we also have the Klimt above out bed. Mine was a competition win on GN.

I had a stressful day yesterday - a combination of a new laptop and trying to log on to do some Alzheimer's Society training so I can do companionship phone calls. I can talk on the phone without training!

We went OUT today !!!
All the way to the click and collect! First time ever and it’s only taken 4 weeks to book one.
We now have gin, biscuits and rhubarb!
We went out and clapped at 8pm and could hear people around the village.
Chin up Urmstongran - I hope tomorrow is a better day.
TOYA

Soop do hope you are ready for your bed after all that manual labour ?

Sleep well everyone - and you've had a bad day, Urmston, so tomorrow change of mood, positive thoughts and no stresses. Hope the sun is up early and you have a totally wobble-free day. Nighty Night

Sweet dreams Urmstongran

Thank you so much for caring lovely ladies.
Today was a ‘jitterbug’ day for me.

Ah well, an hour ahead here and don’t you find anxiety makes you more tired? I’ll finish this cuppa and get myself off to bed in the hope I sleep myself right. Nanight.

Carillion we have the same Klimt poster up in our bedroom at home. Love it.

soop - you must have been incandescent to hear that woman up from the south of England.
urmston - poor you, having a rotten day. You've coped so well and I wish you a better night's sleep and a more settled day tomorrow.
I seem to have drifted and dallied through the day, yet again. I caught up on a bit of housework and then chatted on the phone to several friends. I sometimes think that just getting through the day is an achievement in these challenging times.