Good morning Wednesday 25th January

Good morning from a misty and dull Black Country, where it is not as cold as yesterday,

MrJ has a blood test at 9am, luckily the hospital is a 10 minute walk from here. Then he has to go over to Telford regarding the house is is buying to rent out, to see that the jobs he asked to be done are now completed.

No real plans for me, may ring my friend to see if she fancies meeting up for coffee. She only lives 10 minute walk away.

Lovely looking cat Ashcombe I had one quite similar when I was a child, she lived until the age of 18! We called her Marshall, no idea why !

Wishing you all a lovely day

Spiders, Beech? Having been brought up in Mauritius, spiders don’t bother me, neither do large cockroaches, flies, mosquitos, moths, etc. what does faze me, though, are stick insects and praying mantises. Ugh!

Good morning from Durham where again, a glorious pink sunrise has been replaced by grey sky. Visited my rental house yesterday - I need 20 lightbulbs for various fitments before the estate agent can get in to take photographs!
Coffee this morning with a friend, then I need to make some decisions, having watched Martin Lewis on TV last night.
gM when DH died, we asked for donations (raised thousands) to a local charity - after 9 months, I queried if they’d got it. I got a curt reply and nothing since - very disappointed.
Must order some wallpaper later all online now.
Hope Maryd is still resting.
Best wishes to all. X

Good morning from a frosty -3 in S Hampshire. Shame DL didn’t get some manners with her new leg gMattie.
We have our Aberdonian friend coming for haggis tonight, we like it, he tolerates it!
The weighty tome of the latest Robert Galbraith book will be passed to a friend this afternoon, she’ll exchange with books she’s finished.
Best wishes to those struggling or suffering.
Have your best day🦩🦩

My Scottish stepfather doesn’t like haggis OR porridge (I love both) and I rib him about it. He does like whisky though! 😁

Good morning everyone from Inverness where it’s cloudy but still very mild at 6º. Yesterday it reached 13º - unheard of in January here!
Today I’m off to the gym for a couple of classes and then meeting my friend for a coffee and a chat this afternoon. That’ll take care of most of the day
Hope you’re enjoying your time away grandmadinosaur, I really like the little villages in North Wales but it’s ages since I’ve been there
A lovely photo of the new addition Ash
Hoping everyone finds something to enjoy today and take care all whatever the day brings 💐

Ah yes, it’s Burn’s Night harrigran. I remembered then forgot!

Good morning all from Polmont where it's currently 8° and wet. It looks like it's on for the day too.
Whitewave it all sounds rather too much to have to deal with. Ash a very pretty cat indeed. Beechnut aargh! I can deal with spiders but I wouldn't like one crawling on me.
Yesterday was another full on child care day. Dgs2 has discovered how to switch the table lamp on and off and was so proud of himself so did it a lot. He was so funny. It did get a bit wearing but it kept him occupied for ages. Dgs1 and I continued to paint his dinosaur once I'd picked him up from nursery. Then we made volcanoes, lizards and burgers out of playdough.
Today is a quiet day home. Hurrah! My friend is in hospital in Glasgow and it isn't easy to get to, so I will be supporting her via WhatsApp. I'll have to nip to Aldi for butter as I've run out completely and the haggis, neeps and tatties need butter in the mash. I'll say a Burn's poem to myself while preparing it. Have a good day all.

Morning all

Thank you grandMattie for opening up. I hope our dear Mick is enjoying his break away.

It’s -1° here and allegedly rising to 4° by midday, might get the t shirts out 🤣. DH has just walked the 7yr old to school all of 10metres, the little one had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast that should keep him going until lunchtime.

I am off to the gym this morning, then I have the last little bit of paperwork to sort. I shredded a full pink sacks worth yesterday, it was a job I have been putting off for months, sorting out my filing cupboard hopefully it will inspire DH to do the same.

Safe journey Urmstongran , sorry to hear of your sad news regarding another virtual friend

A beautiful photo of a very regal pussycat Ashcombe

(((Hugs))) to all in need

Have a good Wednesday folks 🙋‍♀️🦩

That should read 5,30 PM!!

Good morning from a dry NE where it is 7 degrees.
SIL coming this morning and we will do a supermarket shop, thinking maybe haggis on the list today.
Welcome to Leanetta, this is a lovely gentle thread.
Have a good day.

Good morning from Shropshire.

We had a dreadful journey home yesterday.A lot of fog and crazy drivers.

We are having the house valued today and then we will be having long discussions to decide if we stay or if we go.

Have the best day you can everyone🦩

Good morning everyone, it’s a clear sky and 3° outside and as the only room in the house that has heating is the bathroom, I’ve come back to bed with a cup of tea until DH is out of there.

I’ve got an optician’s appointment at 10.30 this morning, it will the first ime I’ve visited one for an exam in Portugal so will be interesting. I’d wanted to wait until I’d been back to the eye hospital again before getting new glasses but DH has an appointment and made one for me at the same time. There are so many places selling frames around but not so many doing actual prescriptions. I’m definitely going to have to seize the day today GM.

I’ll get back to reading your posts now, I’ve noticed a photo of a very pretty cat with its feet under the table.

Have a good day everyone.

Good morning all from a showery Glasgow, where its 9°C.
A day of doing absolutely nothing planned. However, Karmalady has prompted me to look at my craft stash, to see if Dollie would benefit from it.

Thank you for opening up GM. I can understand the angst of opening up and then duplicating the thread! Mick used to deputise, then he stopped doing that. That's when the confusion arose. 😁

Unfortunately, I have had another poor night, this time, it was a heat bag at 2.30am! I feel like a zombie this morning.
Two of the listed side effects of my new medication are insomnia and WEIGHT GAIN!! Nae luck, I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it. Grrr. 🤬

However, despite feeling rubbish yesterday, the day turned out much better than expected.
DH ran me to the surgery, where I had to pick up yet another script. I had specifically asked, that the surgery keep the script, rather than send it to the awful pharmacy.
The receptionist was laughing, when I said I had been praying the whole way there, that it hadn't been sent to the pharmacy in error.
She said that there had been numerous complaints about the pharmacy.
We then popped into the Asda pharmacy on the way home, where a very pleasant pharmacist dispensed it within half an hour. Of course I had to pass the time somehow in the clothes section. I was forced to buy a knitted dress, reduced to £9!
Totally stress free.
The only downside: last night I was watching a tv programme, where the murder used that same medication to kill the victim!! 🤣

Later, my PP popped in for a visit and updated me on all the parish gossip! He had said that he was missing me, as were others, which was a kind thing to say, as he is very circumspect and usually plays his cards close to his chest.

In the afternoon, I had a surprise chat, and gossip with my two friends across the road. It was long overdue, as everyone is so busy.
My friend's SIL has been just diagnosed, with MND, but is now in a wheelchair and has lost the power of speech. The deterioration has been so dramatic, made worse by the fact that he has two children, one a premmie and still quite poorly, a year on. My friend is on her knees trying to support her DD and needed to offload her worries.
Although I was exhausted and in my jammies by 5.30am (I'm usually a night owl), my spirit was much improved, as we have known each other for nearly forty years and there is no need to put on a face.

You seem to be well settled in France, Ash, may you enjoy your stay!
I will go back now and read the later threads, enjoy your day folks!

Good morning all from North Wales. It’s just getting light and appears to be dry.

Change of plan yesterday. DH remembered he should have sent some emails on Monday and took him a while to get through them. We went to Betws y Coed instead. Despite the time of year the car park was still pretty full but we got a space.
When we came back late afternoon we bought some supplies (cooked chicken,salad etc) from M &S for tea and went for a glass of wine or two at the nice gastro pub. We sat by the log burner - lovely.

We have plans for later - a pizza and cinema but DH still snoring so will see what we will do earlier in the day when he stirs. He does have a call late afternoon.

Shazza I hope you haven’t got up to any more mischief and that your arm is healing. BTW I can’t do poached eggs either. I make up for it when away which I did whilst we were in Liverpool.

Have a good day everyone.

Good Morning grandMattie and everyone from Hull. A top temperature of 9 degrees.

This morning it’s the gym for an hour for me. DH does walking football on a Wednesday morning. I may see my nephew and great niece for an hour or so later before I go and pick up my GS from school. I’ll do a hunters chicken for tea and son will enjoy some before taking GS home. Now GSs mum has moved out I’m noticing cleaning that needs doing like windowsills and skirting boards I don’t think Son notices them. I don’t want to interfere and suggest Son isn’t keeping it clean when he works full time. I go in to pick up GSs i Pad that’s how I know. I’ll ask if he would like some help but I expect he will say no. I’ll have a chat with him later over tea.

Have a lovely day everyone and hope those suffering illness and stress have a little respite today. 🌻🌻

Morning all from North Leicestershire where Alexa tells me it is warmer, dragonfly. It's a sizzling 3°.

Yesterday, I got most of my admin done and I feel a bit more in control of my life! The only thing outstanding is making a dental appointment. There have been changes at our practice and I want to know more before I book.

Today, I have a few phone calls to make and then a lovely neighbour is coming for a cup of tea, biscuits and gossip.

DS1 is coming for tea and to watch Forest on the telly.

Morning All from a murky corner of Somerset. The bonus seems to be no frost so must be a little milder.

A long if very enjoyable day yesterday. So much talking and an excellent lunch. We’re aiming to meet in Evesham next time, for a change.

Routine today. Dust removal and general faffing. No grocery delivery as we need little this week, an order to collect from Boots, we may call at a supermarket or indeed may not. I do need to phone our friend, she’s struggling with the reality of her husband living in a home. They are both incredibly unhappy.

Think you get todays bravery award beechnut. Those curtains sound fun ladylfl. I’ll have my fingers crossed for you whitewave, that’s a dire situation. Don’t worry too much about tidying grandmattie, you need to live in your home. The cat looks very comfortable ash. She/he has found a good home.

Take care everyone. Hope Wednesday is kind to us all.

Good morning from a gloomy W Kent. Off to local shopping centre today, haven’t been for months but need to start looking for DH birthday present, 80 soon. A new family have moved in over the road and we also have building work opposite it is as good as the theatre here
Best wishes to all

Here’s Matt.

Good morning everyone from Málaga. It’s still (no palm trees dancing) but dull this morning. Last night was very chilly. I think the forecast is for sunny warm weather on Saturday.

We have a tea time flight back to Manchester. My stepfather told me yesterday it’s not icy there now so that’s a plus for us.

I had my hair done yesterday and asked to go ‘more brown’ for the winter. I really like it as I have dark brown eyes I think it suits me. She did put in some caramel highlights though so it doesn’t look ‘blocky’. She’s very good. It cost me €90 with a trim too - so probably about £25 cheaper here Jax. And my weight hulahoop? Hmm. I’ve plateaued. I need to up my game I’ve had Christmas and a holiday with more alcohol. I go to see the nurse on Monday next. If I try hard I might be able to shift a pound or two by then. The nurse said as she gave me my prescription ‘I don’t expect you’ll have lost much by the time I next see you at the end of January!’. I need to be hard core now for the next six weeks until we fly back here.

I received the sad news of a bereavement last night by pm from a dear Scottish GNr. Perhaps she’ll be along later to share her sadness with us all and we can give her a virtual group hug. My heart goes out to her she has had so much to contend with over the years. Life can seem so unfair for some can’t it?

Regards that workman in La Sarthe Ash you ought to see the lack of H&S here! Workmen on La Carihuela last Friday are building a new chiringuita. Electric saws, drills, ladders, brick dust - not a hard hat, goggles, work boots (trainers!) or high-viz jacket between them! I think it’s mostly the UK with our Boy Scout ‘dib dib dib’ mentality that adhere to rules. Other countries seem to pick and chose!

Good morning all from chilly Harrogate
Hope Mick is rested after his break.
Thanks for opening GrandMattie.
Yesterday I went to my art club,where I persevered with watercolour, but am not happy with my attempt. Give me acrylics or oils any day! Went into town to check out trains in the afternoon.
Your little pussy cat is lovely and looks feminine, Ashcombe
Have the best day possible folks

Good morning from Oxfordshire where the temperature has risen to the giddy heights of -2! I know! Positively tropical….

Shopping delivery this morning, plus the dog will be here, I cancelled my trip out today with MissOops as I was a bit Asthmaticcy last night and had to keep using my inhaler. I also need to keep close to the phone as I will be having a stressful conversation with MzOops, not sure what time it will be though.

Have a good day everyone and hugs for those who aren’t feeling so chipper today, let’s hope the sun shines on us all.

Good morning from dark Leicestershire.
I hope it is warmer today, I am sick of my smart meter telling me I have exceeded my budget.

Pilates this morning then going to the garden centre this afternoon with friends. I fancy making an indoor garden.

Hoping everyone has a good day and those worried or in pain feel better especially Marydoll.

Good Morning everyone from dark Severnside.
I caught something out of the corner of my eye so looked down to see a long legged spider crawling over me. I saw him earlier over by the fireplace so I expect he is responsible for the webs I keep brushing away.

Off to do an early shop and run some errands before my visitors arrive tomorrow. My brother will call early afternoon to pick something up. In between times I’ve my bed to change and Hoover.

Have a good day all 🌺🦩

Good morning from a cold, dark Colchester. Another day of grey skies and near freezing temperatures.
DH has gone fishing and has requested beef stew to warm him up tonight. I'll need to pop into a supermarket on my way back from our ladies Wednesday coffee meetup. One of our number died suddenly over the weekend so we'll be raising a cuppa to her.
Love to all 🦩 x