Soop's welcoming and ever supportive kitchen,

Thankfully I ignored the weather forecast of frequent showers and hung out yesterday's washing to dry off + two machine loads today and everything is folded and dry. Not a drop of rain although it is grey and dull. I do not mind if it rains during the night but I would like dry weather again tomorrow to finish off the washing. I live on my own, I have no idea where it all comes from.
TOYA

Evening all. (Sorry Urms but I said it in the kitchen before you joined......I don’t have a photo though ?)
Had a quiet day today. Lazy read of the paper, church service online, walk round the local park with an ice cream. Early dinner and now the evening to play around on the iPad.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Synonymous I must have missed the bit where you mentioned your solar dome. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I am off to look it up in a minute but it sounds fun. Your concrete floor sounds as though it’s got a few footprints too. ?
Take care all ?

That’s okay Doodle. I realise as a latecomer I surely couldn’t be the first to use the phrase. It’s not trademarked.
??

Grandmabatty what’s the glorious shrub/bush/tree behind your garden bench please? Thanks

Evening , if Grandmabatty misses that, I must ask is it possibly a giant Mahonia?
I have never seen one that big but the flowers look similar.

JaxJacky the one with the orange flowers is a Berberis, I think. It is very jaggy and grows like a weed. Annsixty I don't think I have a Mahonia but I'll check.

Thank you Gb that’ll go on my list.

Yes you are right it is Berberis with thorns if I remember.
Mahonia flowers are yellow not orange.
As you can see I am not a gardener and never will be.

I didn’t realise the Berberis grew so big - the colour of the orange flowers is beautiful

Thank you all for commenting on my garden. I'm forever hacking bits of the Berberis as it's massive

soop and Hellogirl what a pity neither of you lives remotely close to me because I have a lot of cat food here. Admittedly it will not be the same quality that Fern is receiving but in her case, I doubt if she would bother because it fills a hole and she does not have to travel far to receive it.

Good luck for tomorrow Hellogirl Billy who is so handsome, will have landed on all four paws. No doubt with the love and cuddles he will receive he will settle down very quickly.
TOYA

It will be Billy's day tomorrow. Us lot will celebrate.

I like both Berberis and Mahonia. We would like a wee hedge of gorse and broom. The gorse grows profusely in the wild. Especially in this area. However, trying to purchase a decent sized shrub is nigh on impossible.

I have decided to tackle the ironing. I know that it is not a good idea...but...

We are hoping that Fern may honour us with a brief visit sometime soon. No matter. We will be here when she needs us. That's fair enough.

Good afternoon dear kitcheners from a wild and wet (atm) mid-Notts. It's one of those days when there's four seasons mixed into one!! Charleygirl I'm sure Duncan will pop along tomorrow to welcome Billy to the elite kitchen cat ? club. Corned beef hash on the menu tonight - made it this morning so ready for the oven whenever we are. Mr BA has just informed me there's 17 days to go... . Humour me if I'm getting a little giddy here!! Gentle virtual hugs to everyone in need of a little comfort and enjoy the rest if your day

You must be excited BladeAnnie. Such a happy time for you.Showery here. I'm unaccountably tired. I know I have the tiny dynamo but I'm having fits of yawning.

I'm SO sorry hellogirl - I know you are going to be Billy's mummy!! I told you I'm feeling a bit giddy.....

Grandmabatty I am really excited!!

Now BladeAnnie we have to think of the serious things in life when you and Mr. BA are frolicking off into the sunset. What will be happening to Duncan? I hope he is being cared for as he should and has not been forgotten!

Although I cannot be bothered cooking much, corned beef hash is not a dish I would contemplate eating so I will not be popping in this evening. You have the evening to yourselves, with Duncan of course but he will be resting his eyes if he has any sense.

Yes Duncan will be very well looked after at a lovely local cattery whilst we are away. Normally it would be DD1 popping to attend to his needs but obviously she's going to be away with us. She is going to collect him on the Sunday we get home so he is here to welcome us back, or complain about the service at the cattery!!

muse I think the frost has killed off so many flower buds. We seem to have much less blossom on the apple trees, some have none at all, while the damson was very thin and one of our morello cherry trees appears to have completely died. This year may not be such a good one for flowers or fruit harvests but your pretty flower is a hopeful sign.

Doodle the dome looks a bit like a (very) mini Eden project and hopefully will encourage Himself to get back to gardening even if he can only do it sitting in a wheelchair as things progress. No point leaving cash in the bank nowadays if you can use it to make life worthwhile. It took me a long time to persuade Himself that you can’t take it with you and he deserves something after all his pain and suffering. I am glad it’s now a “done deal” as his opposite hip is now causing problems so life is not a bed of roses for him. His gardening enthusiasm is slowly being rekindled and I am thrilled to bits. We will be getting more level paths relaid and making everything safe for wheelchair use and as low maintenance as possible so the garden will be a bit of a mess this year but hopefully by this time next year you may not be able to see the join as t’were!

It must be exciting BladeAnnie hope you can share lots of pics with us.
Very showery here, Boris grandpuppy has just gone home and I’m shattered.Easy dinner again tonight sausages and cauliflower and broccoli cheese.Milo and I will now relax?
Enjoy your evening.

BladeAnnie Your excitement is contagious.

Synonymous It all makes perfect sense. We two have decided to have uneven paving taken up and re-fixed. The shed has collapsed. We are about to order another. The suite that we ordered some time ago, will be delivered this month. After all our hard grafting over the years, us lot deserve to make our lives as pleasant and comfortable as possible.

The ironing almost "did me in". I then decided to sort out the airing cupboard so that unused bedding can be packed and recycled. That little job, finished me off good and proper. Mr Soop finds it difficult to part with stuff that has cluttered the shelves for yonks. Anyway, I'm now surrounded by bags of superfluous clutter that has been ear-marked for redistributing.

A blustery warm wind continues to gust outside the window. We've had rain. We've had sunshine. No complaints.

I shall return to our kitchen tomorrow. I'm hoping that there will be a photo of Billy.

Farewell until then. Continue to stay safe.

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Yey ....tomorrow is the day hellogirl such lovely news, and such excitement all around this evening with BA counting down the days! Things are definitely looking up!
This morning was sunny here in Inverness but the showers started around lunchtime just when I was out walking near the river in town. It was still beautiful though and I didn’t mind the rain at all..The river Ness is full and fast flowing and there were a group of brave people on stand up paddle boards - they made it look so easy but I bet it isn’t ! The pictures are of the blossom trees near Inverness Cathedral

Hi all, I’ve just finished my Monday voluntary phone job and although generally I don’t have a sweet tooth, the ice cream man came calling with his merry tune! So, we have BladeAnnie deservedly a bit ditsy for her forthcoming nuptials and the anticipation of Billy joining the fold, a jolly Monday.
This morning was the farm shop, before 8am, a wash on and a quick sweep of the kitchen floor.
Enjoy your evening kitcheners x

Wow that’s some ice cream jaxj enjoy! ?