Soop's welcoming and ever supportive kitchen,

Just popping in the kitchen to say a quick good afternoon before we have the weekly visit to my mum's with her shopping. Hope everyone is having better weather than the downpour we are currently having - the gardens need it I hear you all cry!! Have a pleasant afternoon and stay safe

No we’re having a share of your weather BladeAnnie ?‍♀️
The very bright sunshine between showers is lovely.
Garden birds are singing away so I think it suits them. And it is definitely suiting the garden ??
I crammed all my jobs into this morning so that I can be a sloth this afternoon. I am thinking up which summer plants will go in which pots very soon when I have sent DH on a little errand to get bags of compost. They are too heavy for me.
Good to hear from you Grandmafrench . Love your exotic “Madam”. Of course she is going to be a diva with a name like that ?.

And soop regarding the lovely Fern. I think you know the terms and conditions for her companionship. It involves a dry bed - and a LOT of top notch nosh ?

One light shower here and the sun has been shining. I have a large bush at the front of my house- I have no idea what it is but it knows how to grow. I have had to cut it back today because it has been interfering with my new security system. I have more to do but I needed a cup of coffee.

3 breakfasts- that minx will eat you out of house and home. She has the best of both worlds- no need to think about a hot meal- she knows where plenty of food will be provided and she is not fussy- she eats whatever is put in front of her.

Billie has arrived! A nice man called Mick delivered him. My, but he`s a big `un!! Mia weighed 3.6kg thec night before she disappeared, the vet said she should be between 4 and 4.5, but this lad weighs 5.11 kg. and he aint half heavy. He`s beautiful, he spent half an hour investigating every bit of the living room, periodically coming over to be stroked. then he asked for the door to the stairs opening, he looked around the front room/Lynne`s bedroom, then he tickled off upstairs, haven`t seen him since. No doubt he`ll reappear when he`s hungry.
Grandmafrench, lovely to see you back.

You lovely lot have summed up "Sweetie Pie" Fern wonderfully well. This is the new name that Mr Soop has given to her.

The sun is shining and the sky is blue.
The builder is mixing cement for the base to the shed.
The company who were to have collected our old mattress (charge £40) have informed us that it's not a post code that they visit. It has stood outside the house for over a week. We're getting a refund plus £20 extra for the inconvenience. Our builder has offered to take the mattress (for free) to the recycling centre.
Buggerations aplenty!

As I was typing this morning's message, my mouth filled with water and I had to rush to the bathroom to be sick. The GP knows. He's increased the proton pump inhibitor meds. Hey ho!

I am feeling excited for Hellogirl and Billy. Longing to see a photo.

Hellogirl So sorry, I should have said Billie. Our posts crossed. Billie sounds like a "proper big boy". I loved reading about his arrival and the wonderful way he has already started to call your home, his home.

A very warm welcome to "our" Billie boy.

Welcome Billie!
Well I was going to the allotment, put shoes on, rain, not a spot all day until now. The man helping out had to give up this morning, bees in the nearby hive are aggressive. I’m waiting to hear back from the keeper, believe that the hive is queenless at the moment, not sure if that’s why the bees are unhappy.
My book from the club I’ve joined was delivered earlier, The Shadow Man by Helen Fields, I’ll have to curb my speed reading when I get to it.
Pleased to see you back Grandmafrench we have a friend working on a boat on the Riviera, he’s been besieged by heavy rain and strong winds.
I’ll catch up later kitcheners,

Welcome, Billie, to the Family!
Enjoy your evening - lots of exploring, cuddles and laps, I feel sure.
Hopefully, a bulletin from Mum tomorrow too!

Just read your post soop I take metoclopromide, just for nausea (hernia, reflux).

Grandmafrench I love your humorous take on the ‘man clear out’ but I did shudder when I got to the taking home of another man’s so called treasures found at the tip. Fortunately we have to book a slot and are not allowed to touch anything!

As for having a cat dear Galen there is no reason why you shouldn’t if you do it differently. Smokie is now an indoor cat and only goes out wearing a harness and lead for a short time now and then and by way of recompense we play with him a fair bit. He has litter trays and scratching posts here and there. He is fed on his own table where his water fountain also lives and it is at a height I can manage. He has been sick only one time and not at all since I stopped letting him out. I keep him in because he was behaving like “six dinner Sid” and ate whatever he could find! My cleaner lives just round the corner and will pop in to deal with emergencies if I phone her but it has not been necessary just yet. I wouldn’t be without Smokie now, they have a way of creeping into your heart! You need to work out a way that will work for you. If they have never been out they will not miss it.

Welcome Billy enjoy your new home.?

Jaxjacky Snap! Do you have almighty long, loud burping sessions? Not much fun, is it?

I thank my lucky stars that I have a truly supportive husband.

Mr Soop has gone to collect the car from an eye-wateringly expensive session with the garage. We've had it a very long time. It was not new when we bought it. At lunchtime he asked for my opinion...should we release more equity and purchase a car that he's seen with just 9000 miles on the clock? We know the garage manager well. He's well respected. He sold the car earlier this year to a local gentleman who has since died. Upshot is, I always trust Mr Soop's judgement. His heart doesn't tend to over rule his head. He considers matters carefully. We're to visit the garage together tomorrow lunchtime. I shall update you after the test run.

Log off time has arrived. I'm looking forward to catching up further with my Granspals tomorrow. I must say, I am missing 'The Repair Shop'. Do we know if there's to be another series? I hope so. It is quite the best programme on the television.

Welcome to Billie. Are you sure he isn't a tiger? Today has been challenging. Dgs is going through something, teething, growth spurt, you name it. His emotions are all over the place. Today he wouldn't eat his soup, cried, asked for a sausage - I didn't have any- cried again, asked for his yoghurt - didn't want it and cried again, asked for an egg - I didn't have any left so tears again. There was lots of distraction techniques applied to a lesser effect. He cried at home too so it's not just bad grandma ,and he had a tantrum. He was hard work this afternoon. I may* have a gin and tonic soon.
* Definitely will.
Anyway I'm off for a haircut tomorrow morning. There will be no photos! Take care all from a puggled (exhausted) Grandma B.

Welcome Billie.
It’s an exciting day for you and Billie Hellogirl. Sounds like you’ll need to stock up on plenty of that Big Boy’s food ?

Just popping in to wish everyone a good evening, been a busy day here. Goodnight Soop, looking forward to a chat in the kitchen tomorrow.

Galen I absolutely love Burmese cats and have had several, but I would think hard about getting a kitten! They are little dervishes and need a lot of time and energy. Perhaps an older cat might be better. Rex cats don’t shed so might be better for someone with an allergy.

My mistake, it`s Billy, not Billie! He`s now had his name changed on the microchip, he`s Billy Boston now.
I hope you`re feeling less nauseous tomorrow Soop. £40 is a lot to take a mattress away, was that with the council? Here we get 3 items taken for just under that amount.
We`ve had lots of sunshine today, interspersed with really heavy downpours. As soon as it dries up, down it comes again.
Lynne`s had a call to say the nurse is coming to give her jab number 2 tomorrow. That`s only a month since her first one, I had to wait over 11 weeks. I think that`s only youngest son hasn`t been vaccinated at all yet, and 1 son-in-law waiting for his 2nd, then we`ll all have been done.
Grandmabatty, hope you`re pleased with your hair tomorrow. Why no photo?

Hellogirl I don't want to scare you all or traumatise you!!

‘Evening All’.

A nice sunny day here and the grey menacing clouds at one stage didn’t actually generate any kind of performance. I’ve enjoyed lunching with 4 ladies from my book club. It was nice to chat without once talking about what we were reading!

Himself has taken the boy wonder to his football practice in the field round the corner at the local grammar school. So far the rain has held off and only half an hour to go!

Pizza for tea. Himself will give the landline 2 rings when he’s actually on his way home. I will slide the fresh pizza in a hot oven for 12 minutes and put a pretty pink ribbon in my hair awaiting his return. Not.

Wishing everyone a peaceful night ahead. x

Definitely pour yourself a well deserved gin & tonic Grandmabatty! Funny how littlies get so genuinely upset over things isn’t it? Aw.

soop, £40 to take away a mattress! That's a bit steep, to put it mildly. If you like the car and your mechanic recommends it, I'd say go for it, particularly if yours is costing more in repairs than it's going to be worth. I was forced into that decision a few months ago. If you miss a good deal now, you might find yourselves regretting it. You need to have a reliable car for all those trips to and from one hospital or another.
Billy has made himself the boss very quickly, Hellogirl. He does sound a big fellow, very like one of my late grand-cats who was about twice the size of his twin sister who had a perfectly normal figure.
It got incredibly dark around 5pm and I expected a thunderstorm, but now the sky is almost cloudless. What capricious weather. I get worried if there's a lot of heavy rain, having had my garden flooded twice in the past five years, due to the street drains being unable to cope.