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

Hurray. I have stayed up very late again and finally been rewarded with a delivery slot from a four lettered supermarket. Such a relief and I will be able to do my neighbours’ shopping too as there is no item limit. I am not in the shielding category but fall into vulnerable so am being very careful.
I was very upset today as my neighbours and many others in our village are completely in denial (why?) about the virus and cannot understand why am I not accepting invitations to their houses? They think I am being fussy and antisocial. Ah well. I have consoled myself by ordering a LOT of treats. No flour of course but plenty of chocolate and something special for the weekend ?. My other neighbours, who are all young and full of energy do lots of waving and leaving of seedlings on my doorstep. I am very lucky.
Since I have no flour I have left chocolate crispies on the side - normally for children but we are all young at heart here. Off to sleep now dreaming of filling the fridge with goodies at the weekend.
??? to all

Have been better Bellanonna, but could still BE better, thank you for asking. Going to try to get some sleep now, not had much lately.

Lovely to see you ‘Callgirl*. How are you?

Well, I`m back, but still trying to plough through what I`ve missed, so hopefully will post tomorrow. So humbling to be missed, thank you all for missing me and wishing me well.
TOYA xxx

Well how on Earth am I going to catch up with all the goings on in the kitchen. So many lovely people popping in.

izabella lovely to hear from you. I misread your post and thought you said you were clearing up DHs latest trail of crumbs to the lavatory. I thought perhaps this was a new memory aid to help you find your way there. This dyslexia of mine does bring about its comic moments ?. Hope your wrist feels better soon.
smileless so sorry to hear about your dog. What a shock that must have been. Hope she’s ok.
TOYA ?

Evening all! Nearly there with the cupboards - does that entitle me to sherry trifle? Pleeeeze? Its my favourite.
Charlie cat got a tick in his ear today - welcome to the country! I think we got the horrible thing off cleanly.
Good work on the crocosmia Soop. We could do with a few here.
for Panache.
TOYA

Good afternoon, Good evening Kitcheners. I'm late for both and all of a doo dah today. Not sure why, possibly too much excitement/anxiety about the beginning of the end of our jail sentence ! We were let out today. It poured with rain. I went nowhere. End of excitement. Plenty of time tomorrow for all of that.

So painful, Izabella, I have an ankle like that. Old injuries can come back to haunt us and usually do. Please keep it warm with a glove, like Anno recommended. Warmth does make a difference, I think.

Lots of clearing up going on cornergran you sound as if you are pretty much in control of your busy environment. Mr Mac, less so - making regular visits to his stash of elderly paperwork which is so hard to be resolute with! Silverlining. Oh no....not the precious photos. How can you even begin to choose what to throw away ? All those little bits of life, no wonder you spent so long looking at your past lives. Someone might just treasure those one day, as soop suggests.

Cherry you're definitely a brave girlie, whatever you say. I can imagine you are well used to all that random Tigger-bouncing, but we must hope that you're right and you won't sustain any really unpleasant injuries. It's not really acceptable to break any bits of you at any time!

Years ago, I did a stint as Secretary for the local Guide Dogs for the Blind. We raised money for the charity to be used to choose and train young dogs so that their new owners would benefit. A considerable sum for all of that. I should imagine that Epilepsy dogs would not come cheap!

You say that MacS has a "special area in which they (the dreaded corms) are stored..." Well, I certainly hope that it's not the loft, soop or that poor man will be up there indefinitely. So sorry about his poor hand. You're so right about a lovely terrace. There comes a time when it's just the most perfect thing to sit somewhere well-tended, filled with comfy chairs, pots and perfumed plants - none of which are demanding energy and attention. A place just to be! I know it's not the traditional and beautiful English (or Scottish) garden but they would never exist without far too much work. After years and years of tending such a beast, it's sometimes good to stop and become immersed in low maintenance.

Smileless How horrible for you and your little dog. It would seem that a lot of things came together all at once to create that nasty situation and I expect you were all shaken up by it. From what you say, your innocent little dogs were controlled, on leads, standing with Daddy and well behaved. Unfortunately, it seems you arrived at a time when the farm dog was totally hyper and fixated on working with the cattle, doing his job, guarding his space, and obviously in the mood to over-react. Was it a Colley? The Farmer owner was fully occupied moving his herd and your dogs were on leads. So the farm dog decided to try to control your dogs, as well as the cattle, by flying at them. Far from ideal and it was fortunate that your dog wasn't injured. Dogs on leads are normally fine, dogs off leads are hopefully fine, but with one on and one off, there is always potential for a punch-up. You weren't anywhere where they could have been off the lead and the other working dog decided to put them in their place. They were sitting targets. I would have been more than annoyed - it just ruins a walk doesn't it ? Hope that your dogs are none the worse for the adventure and you were able to go home, sit down and calm down.

Have a peaceful evening, everyone. Stay very safe. x

I do believe that you very kindly offered to be my PA Smileless......and free of charge so quite frankly I have no excuses not to visit the kitchen!!

Whilst while you tempt me with my own corner chair and its tartan cover Soop it would be churlish of me not to pop by and say thanks!!

Trouble is on reading all your newsy and interesting posts I feel I have so little to offer but at the same time nothing will halt me from joining in with the reading!

We were expecting this northerly blast and true enough the temperatures have turned chilly and there is a real breeze that goes through your bones,yet yesterday in beautiful azure blue skies and warm sunshine we managed a short time sitting in our favourite garden corner surrounded only by ancient trees that could tell a tale if only they could speak!!! plus beautiful bird song.
Again today we managed 2 short strolls but though a cloudless sky the breeze sent us indoors.

We have been admiring the abundance of daisies in our lawns,it looked like a wild flower meadow and many remarked on it.First thing this morning the mowers arrived and in its place we have a very well trimmed lawn,but quite frankly we missed our little spell of nature doing its best to cheer us up.

I still find Callgirl missing from the roll call and sincerely hope she is not too unwell as indeed the last few posts she wrote made for worrying reading.

I could do with some of that high octane I feel some of you are enjoying!!!

Enjoy a peaceful evening all,and stay safe.

anno Snap! My joints are giving me jip right now. Three hours spent bending and scrabbling and clawing the corms out. Dear MacS used the man fork and dug up massive clumps. We've agreed that, when we reach a happy compromise, we'll settle for that which remains. We are using the same 'route map' - apparently.

CherryC Fear ye not. I am never fully updated with the happenings of this lovely lot. They all run on high octane energy.
Please don't go falling down concrete steps. No matter how well you do such a thing, you are bound to do yourself some serious damage.

silverlining Please hold on to your photographs. Some day, in the distant future, a member of your family will consider them to be precious.

Smileless The attack on your wee dog will have shaken her. I can imagine how your husband felt. Thank goodness that she had the harness to protect her from a vicious bite. The farm dog was possibly being ultra protective. Farm animals can also be dangerous creatures. Steer well clear of cattle. I hope that she recovers her composure very soon.

Away to wash and brush up and have a lovely cup of tea. Oooh, and a dish of that delicious sherry trifle. I last had such a treat many, many years ago. The temptation is too great for me to resist, Smileless.

Love to you all.

Threats have been issued and the paintbrush has been downed for the day soop . Paperwork safely stowed I’ve decided I need to re-shape my system. I do wonder about my sanity at times .

TOYA, stay safe everyone.

corner I gather that you are acting foreperson. In which case, you call the tune. As for 'important' pieces of paper - please accompany MacS into the loft when you have a free decade. He swears that he's continuing to sort through his importantpaperwork that he brought with us to Scotland some 17 years ago.

Oh and I didn’t get very far, everything is as it was and I need to put it all back. Not entirely a waste of a day as it did take me back through the years

Thanks Soop, have been spending most days in the garden as the weather here has been so good ..but not today.
Happy to do a bit of ironing, you reminded me i have some of my own to do too. Pop it in and I will see what I can do.

Have spent all day sorting through old photo albums with the intention of throwing a lot out and putting others in a box to save space. So have idled the hours away, but it was nice seeing dh and myself as young things ....as we were once upon a very long time ago.

That's a shame Smileless, I'll see if I can sneak my WP's pair out of his grooming set and bring them into the kitchen in case you haven't got yours with you next time we're in here at the same time ?

Grandmafrench, an epilepsy support dog takes a lot of specialist training, approximately 13-15 months of it. That's why it's so expensive to have one, those costs have to be paid for by the recipient usually. The upkeep is another matter. Nevermind, my WP is well trained in supportive techniques ?

Afternoon ladies. I've been catching up with everyone's posts and for a change I'm leaving a sherry trifle for you all to share.

Lashings of fresh cream and just enough sherry to give a little 'kick' so make sure you have some soop or I'll have to work even harder on my 'temptress' skills.

Poor Henry I hope he's had a better couple of days since Saturday Susan.

We must compare notes Cherry I've missed the last few days from the kitchen too. Now if I'd known you were going to be here this afternoon I'd have bought my scissors!!

My poor baby girl cockapoo was attacked on Saturday afternoon by a farmers dog. She's OK but was rather shaken up as was Mr. S. and the farmer who owns the dog no doubt because he saw the murderous look on Mr. S.'s when he intervened.

Mr. S. had both on their leads and was stood well back as the farmer was moving about 30 bullocks from one field to another when the dog rushed at her and bit her on the back.

Luckily the harness she wears goes two thirds of the way down her back and took the force of the bite so no skin was broken. I do wonder if it's our fault they're both such a couple of softies because they're ever so slightly spoiled.

Hello kitcheners. I tried posting yesterday but my internet went down after a couple of early posts and came back just before bedtime. Typical! I really can't wait for the "engineer" (a laughable description) to come out on the 18th. I've had problems for months! We should switch but we've got a package and atm not sure ?.

I've missed so many comings and goings here in this lovely place that I don't think I can catch up. I have noticed goodies aplenty though. The WI ain't got nothing on this place ?
Purplepixie, I hope I manage to nap a bit of your ? shortcake before it all gets eaten ?

I seem to miss so many days in the kitchen that I don't know how we're going to make arrangements for you to cut my hair Smileless, perhaps I'm just going to have to have a pair of bunches ?

Izabella, I keep some of that Deep Freeze spray, it's not perfect but it does help me. Don't know whether you could use that? I broke my left thumb (I'm left handed) when I was a teenager, in quite peculiar, some would say funny, circumstances and in recent years I have had problems with it most of the time. It's also worth "bracing" it a little as well as resting it. I hope it's not your dominant hand and it eases quickly.

*soop, I read your post from a couple of days ago saying you hoped I wouldn't fall down a flight of stairs. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt as they say ?. I fell down the concrete steps leading down from the back of my house one day before we were due to go on holiday. I managed to get away with ripped jeans, bruises and a damaged muscle in my right cheek, along with a very badly bruised face. We still went on holiday though ? . The only lasting damage means that I can not puff that cheek out ?. Hardly a biggy. I've fallen down our stairs at home plenty of times and sustained worse injuries than that but luckily we have a split staircase and had a small extension built to house a downstairs toilet so I don't have to go upstairs too often. It's been a godsend. One surprising thing about epilepsy though is apparently, in general, when people fall due to a seizure it is very rare that the person will break any bones. That has been my experience ?

Today's big event: the arrival of the window cleaner whom I hadn't seen since before the lock-down. I can't say that the windows were specially dirty. I think the lack of pollution makes a difference, especially to the front ones which are close to the road.
Izebella, sorry to hear that an old injury is causing you trouble. The colder weather must be to blame. If my hands and wrists are sore, I have woolly half-gloves which keep them cosy.
soop, I have great admiration for your campaign against those corms. My DiL has been doing something similar to grape hyacinths - pretty enough until they become invasive.
In my case, I would love to dig up all the bluebells that seem to grab more space in my garden every year. But, all my joints are a bit dodgy at the moment. Well, that's my excuse.

It’s blowing a gale in our corner of Somerset, really cold wind. Anything outdoors requires a winter coat.

Mr C has recommenced decorating. So far so good. My task is to - finally - clear the spare bedroom of ‘important’ pieces of paper huddling there On the bed waiting to be put away. Favourite job? Well, what do you think? Half way there it’s lunch break time. Must finish as tomorrow we have units to empty and move to allow painting behind them so the bedroom will be needed for temporary storage.

Keep your wrist warm izabella, you don’t need achey bones. Careful with corm excavation soop, your garden safety history seems variable .

Time to persuade the demon decorator to stop for lunch. Stay safe everyone.

It's lovely to see you in the kitchen, silverlining. It seems some time since you last came in for a blether.
Would you care to do my ironing? I thought not. The heap has never teetered so high. I blame the dratted, never ending demands (on myself) to toil in the garden. The spell may break sometime soon. Hey ho!

Nannytopsy Clearing cupboards is a therapeutic exercise. I have made a promise to myself to do likewise. I'm waiting for a long period of rain in which to start the job. Right now, the sun continues to shine and I'm on a corm removing mission from the rockery. Some clusters are larger than my fist. I spent fifteen minutes excavating an enormous clump embedded between rocks. The bucket, after an afternoon of vigorous digging with a claw-like gubbins, is too heavy for me to lift. MacSporran has a special area in which they are stored until we decide what to do with them.
You could say, it keeps me out of mischief.

Purplepixie Lentil soup sounds perfect. I would enjoy a steaming bowl of it right this minute.

Izabella You are such an upbeat lady.
Any injury to bones can cause buggerations long after the event. The weather seems to trigger certain aches and pains.
Today's wind is a bitter one. Best if hunker down and keep warm.

It’s a bitter wind out there today, so will check on my ‘things to do’ list which doesn’t appear to be reducing probably because I keep adding to it. I will pick something which needs doing indoors. What a difference a day makes.

Sorry you hand is hurting Izabella and Mr Soop too has a poorly hand. Wishing both a speedy recovery.

Purplepixie I so enjoy your virtual hot toddies. We thought about lighting the log fire last night. Didn't need to. It wasn't chilly in our cosy home. I did fling a thick tartan rug across my knees.

Grandmafrench I very much like the original Village People.
I have had three queries regarding the corms. I've stressed that they are totally unsuitable for gardens. All I really yearn for is a lovely paved terrace with a variety of interesting pots and tubs containing wee shrubs and manageable flowers. Some place to sit and drink in the beautiful view.
Neither MacSporran nor I yearn for Caribbean hols. What would give us both enormous pleasure is an entire week spent in our favourite hotel in the Highlands. We've thus far managed several long weekends. Never a week's worth of our heart's desire.
MacSporran's hand continues to heal. He was given several special dressings that permit the skin to breathe. He certainly made a mess of the hand. It's what men do.

Morning everyone from a rather draughty Shire. A cutting but persistant breese, little birdsong and scurrying grey clouds. There is still beauty out there, but this is not a day for tarrying. Just in from de-fleecing the more tender of our nursery beds and now to more mundane things. The washing machine is swishing away, CH is trying out a spanking new magnification aid, and I am about to clear up his latest trail of crumbs and the lavatory.

kittylester you will be pleased to hear that the Living Well with Dementia course has now been put online for us so we have homework!! PP that soup sounds wonderful. Any spare?

The hand/wrist that was smashed during my unplanned cycle dismount eons ago has decided to ache and throb this morning. I blame to colder weather. However, a minor buggeration in the grand scale of things.

It is lovely to read all the posts and see (sometimes ) familiar names. I do get in a pickle trying to remember what has been written or relating names to prior posts. I think so many of us a grateful for this refuge where posts are rarely, if ever, misconstrued or treated with distain. A post it note reminded me that annesixty was rather upset recently re: post elsewhere. I hope you are feeling a bit steadier now?

Take care everyone.

Hi all in this warm and wonderful kitchen.

I’ve quickly dropped by on way out for my walk in this cold and breezy (windy) weather.

Lentil soup for tea tonight with some part baked bread. I made naan breads last night for the first time ever and they came out great. Oh and I’ll drop some cherry shortbread off later.

Have the best day that you can. X

Morning all! Its windy today and I hate gardening in the wind, so it’s cupboard sorting. We piled them full of stuff to get it out of sight, so now that stuff is all over the upstairs, being reorganised and even thrown away!