*Soop's* ever welcoming kitchen for kindly folk.

Guess what I intend doing this afternoon? Umpire chair ready and I shall make a very large pot of tea and sup it in a lady-lie fashion from a real china cup.

Lady-like.

Enjoy the tennis Soop. I'm feeling a bit annoyed at my neighbour who seems to think it's my responsibility to cut our joint hedge on her side. And my cost. However I shall rise above it. Have a good afternoon all.

Thankyou soop. Baking is in the oven. Sure there will be some to spare. Having a visitor at least distracts me from missing my 2 lovely grandchildren who used to live 30 minutes away and we looked after every week, and who moved a long drive away 5 weeks ago! A good move for the family but it has certainly taken some getting used to!

Blossoming I am planning a wardrobe purge soon! Any tips? I have done purges before but I think my wardrobe must have a facility for growing more things when I am not looking!!!

Please may I pop my head round the kitchen door again after a long absence? I come bearing fresh raspberries from the garden and ice cream,the kind that will stay frozen until you want to eat jt.would be véy.
Things have been a bit fraught of late in the chicken coop and some friendly kitchen company would be very welcome.

Pop

Mr Rooster has not been too well of late having developed heart failure,but the various pills have brought a major improvement. However he doesn't seem to want to take any responsibility for his own health and so I now seem to have been cast in the role of nanny/carer___and I didn't sign up for that. I really miss the company of my close friends.We used to meet up every week to share our good times and bad, and gave each other moral support, but they are both vulnerable and are still being very careful about meet ups.

To add to the stress we live in an isolated area on the edge of a village and our next door house is an abandoned mansion, constantly broken into and vandalised ,an
d two days ago ,arsonists set it on fire in the middle of the night so at 3am we were woken the

Sorry, something weird happened there!

We were woken by the noise of a roaring blaze and had to rush to call the fire brigade. They came in 10 minutes but the house was ablaze from end to end and the roof already collapsing by then. We have had fire crews here on and off for two days,damping down and now we have local youths sightseeing and daring each other to enter the very dangerous ruins,taking ,selfies and refusing to leave.All very stressful,

Never mind,worse things happen at sea,as my old mum would have said.

I do hope your UTI has settled down by now soop.I used to get them every few weeks but"cured" them by changing to a vegan diet.

Best wishes to all the kitcheners.

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Afternoon All,

Welcome back Chicken , you do sound like you have a lot on your plate right now. We kitcheners are happy to stand in as a listening ear whilst others are in short supply.

Are you enjoying the tennis Soop? I am not into any sport so have managed to avoid it all. :-) ( including the football !! but I do hope they win )

No other news here but I'll leave you with a couple of pictures that have arrived after the long awaited and much postponed photo shoot. It turned out very well but oh how my littlies have grown !!

Happy Day all.

Lovely pictures N&G what lovely boys.

Sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations chicken. How awful to be woken up in the night by the fire.
Pleased the medication is helping your DH - maybe when he gets his head round his diagnosis he will be better.

It is an exciting match on Centre Court I hope soop is enjoying it.
Getting ready for the match tonight if my nerves can stand it.

Welcome back to the kitchen, chicken. Is it any wonder that you feel stressed? I feel so sorry for you. Please don't stray too far. Us lot will endeavour to support you albeit virtually.

N&G The seated on the grass portrait is marvellous. I would have it framed.

dragonfly I am rooting for the handsome Italian. It was a super opening set. I've since had to take a series of "breathers". I very much doubt that my man will win. However...

That's a lovely family portrait Nannandgrampy.

Lovely photos N and G?

Chicken, I am sorry you are having such a tough time.The situation you have with the house next door is awful.I am sorry Mr Rooster is unwell,glad the medication is helping but sorry you are having. To act as his nanny.Maybe once the shock of the diagnosis settles he will take some responsibility for himself??and ?for you.

Hope all you ladies have enjoyed the tennis.Many years ago,pre children I would take a weeks annual leave for the second week of Wimbledon.Fast forward to this year and I haven’t watched any.

Grandmabatty,my daughter and son in law have a similar issue with their neighbours.This year they have just cut the hedge on their side?the only trouble is the neighbours don’t seem bothered?

We had a lovely day with Matilda yesterday.Den building,making perfume with rose petals and dancing to old disco classics??????Today has been a #lazygran day!

TOYA

I have to say congratulations to Novak. A first class champion. However, I look forward to seeing Matteo back in future. A most entertaining afternoon. All that cheering has left me utterly exhausted. Wimbles coming to a close. It has been a wonderful fortnight and Mr Soop is a star for being extraordinarily patient. I suppose that I shall need to shift some dust tomorrow.

My youngest son is 47 today. My eldest will be 60 tomorrow. Celebrations ahead.

Bye for now. Tomorrow, I shall return to spend time with my favourite peoples.

Susan When I was little, like Matilda, I loved making perfume from rose petals. A very sweet memory of mine.

Pictures to be treasured N&G. Sorry to hear of your problems chicken may they soon be resolved ?.
I’m fidgeting, just over an hour before we wander, through the rain, to the local, I’m wearing the same as I’ve worn for the last two games, it has been washed! MrJ looks a tad festive as I barred him from beard tidying ‘it’s bad luck’ until tomorrow. Right, I’ll be off to faff for a while; if you’re going to watch, enjoy the game, if not, enjoy whatever you’re doing ?????????????????????.

Hello again chicken, goodness life’s hard going at times. I’m sorry you have so much stress to manage. Think your Rooster has a clone here, Mr C could win prizes for unhelpfully ignoring issues around his health just now,

Those photos are superb n&g, those children aren’t so little now for sure.

That sounds a fun day with Matilda susan. I miss the perfume making and other such things now our girls are too grown up to even consider it. Our boy is the right age, but he makes - a mess .

A happy birthday to your sons soop

Hope the football goes our way. We’ll not be watching, just the score at the end. If you’ll be watching enjoy it all. If it’s not your thing enjoy whatever else you decide to do. Have a good evening everyone.

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Thanks for the welcoming messages and sorry for all the glitches___I' m struggling with a new tablet and it's not easy at my age,85 next week.

Two photos attached,one of the aftermath of the fire,the other of Baker. I don't know if some of you remember when he was desperately ill last year and the vets had given up hope that he would recover. Well,here he is enjoying a snooze away from the football!

Susan,I well remember those jam jars of rose"perfume" festering on the kitchen window sill!

Come on England, not long to go now.

No idea what happened to the photos*___they were there in the preview.

chicken, what a very dramatic event! I'm sure you could have done without the excitement of a big fire next door. Sorry about Mr Rooster's illness, but sad for you that you're having to carry the burden so to speak.
I learnt, this weekend, that my senior DGD had contracted Covid from her partner who picked it up watching football in the pub with his mates. She is vulnerable and had her vaxes early on because of her ME. It is a salutary warning to all of us who are feeling smug because we're double vaxed. I won't be giving up my masks for a long while yet. I spoke to DGD yesterday and she wasn't sounding too ill. Her cough has subsided but she has headache and fever - and no sense of smell/taste. Her partner has been quite poorly as he is asthmatic and had only had his first jab. If he and his mates are anything to go by, I predict many cases in that generation in the coming weeks. My DS1 lives close by and is keeping them supplied.
Yesterday, while enjoying the women's singles final, I fell asleep and missed the last set! Not today though. I expected that Djokovic would get his 20th title, as he did, but was impressed with Berrettini - what an attractive young man he is, and a powerful player. I expect he will have a scrum of young women in pursuit next year when they're allowed to sign autographs.
Football now in progress but so is rather a good concert on BBC4. Now, how can I possibly choose?

PS. My DGD has MS - not ME - slip of the fingers!

Lovely photos N&G, my, they`re growing up fast!
Nice to see you again Chicken, hope your problems soon subside.
Anyone watching football, I hope you`re having fun, I`m doing my very best to avoid it.
Soop, Happy Birthday to your sons.
TOYA

Good evening Kitcheners, I think I overdid it as I can hardly move today! I’m eating some of my lovely birthday chocs as they are medicinal. My tips for successful wardrobe purging are dump everything in a heap, then be ruthless and keep going until you have the 3 keep - bin - donate piles! Mr. B has done a Sterling job carting things off to the charity shop or the recycling centre as directed by me. I do have to watch that he doesn’t pick up a wrong bag though! Have a lovely evening all x

Evening everyone! It’s a bit tense here and beginning to look like penalties.
Lovely to see you Panache and I wish you peace.
It was the weekend for my family get together in Leamington Spa. We were about 20, from 7 to 75. Lots of lovely food, plenty of wine and chatter.
Back to the football now ….

Think we need to hold hands Topsy.

Good morning all.
Please may I find a little corner of a sofa to have a little weep.
Everyone on here is so understanding that I hope you don’t mind.
It is my birthday today, I am so down as I feel it could be my last.
Monday is actually the day I was born and a Monday birthday seems so “blah”.
My GD went to watch the football with friends and is still in bed, rather the worse for wear I guess.
It was certainly the early hours when she came in.
My D and her C sent parcels which arrived over the weekend, I don’t know when I last saw them on my birthday.
My S has just txt Happy Birthday, that is probably it from him.
My other GC who live with his “sometime partner “ don’t even know it is my birthday, very long story.
I am missing my H so much today, he never ever made a fuss, it wasn’t his way but he would have made an effort to make the day different, and it is raining.

Right, that is it, moan over, I will get my big girl pants on now.
I have lots to do today. I am going away for three nights tomorrow to stay with a very old and dear friend, she lives in Nottingham and I must put a few things in a case.
While I am away I am having new windows and a new front door fitted, my GD will supervise and hopefully clear up any mess.
When she rises from her bed we have to move furniture away from the windows although I am sure the fitters, local lads, will do what we can’t .
I wish you all a pleasant day with more sunshine than I foresee we will have.

Oh Ann Happy Birthday and better days and good health to you!
Of course you’re missing him - no one will replace him.
But gripping those big girl pants, try not to think about the “whys”. People are often thoughtless or just totally wrapped up in themselves. They probably don’t mean to be. My DH insists that our children should carry a Government Health Warning!

You’re off for some happy times with a friend. Make that special. This is NOT going to be your last Birthday - you just feel hurt that it’s Monday, nothing’s happening and you feel forgotten. Well, you’re not. We’ll all raise a glass to you - and how you’ve been so brave, done so well. Don’t stop now just look forward.

Take care on your trip, start packing and ignore the rain. Sunbeams will shine down on you before you know it! ??‍♀️x