Soop's warm and welcoming kitchen for kindly folk...

Thanks, Susan, I’ve warned dd about that.

I’m glad your dd is on the mend, Gransmabatty.

Where are you getting your sofas from Brook? We don’t have anywhere much locally to go and try sofas out and I’m a bit paranoid about buying one without having a bounce on it first!

Important to try them out SueD - we have short legs and most are too big for us!
Night 2 of 3 with DGS & DGD. She has another nasty virus, so I expect we will be coughing by the weekend. Baby Fergus had his first solids yesterday and we were sent the funniest video of him lunging for each spoonful with his mouth wide open. He has soon got the idea!
Sleep tight everyone 💤

Nannytopsy they're like wee baby birds at that stage, aren't they? At fourteen months dgs2 has progressed to wanting to hold the spoon to feed himself. He was a very laid back baby and happy to be fed when smaller.

Hope you have all had a decent night’s sleep. High winds and lashing rain made it a noisy night here but I soon dropped off. I remember thinking what an awful night to be out at sea and I was glad to be safe and warm in my bed.

Blossoming my father always called nights like that lifeboat weather as his father was a member of an Orkney lifeboat crew and often got called out in storms. Looks a much calmer and brighter day today here in central Scotland and almost coffee time. Have the best day you can everyone.

Hello my darlings. The BT engineer has spent an age trying to upgrade our line. She has been going back and forth to the exchange in the village. All a tad disruptive. Both Mr Soop and I have several jobs to do before the end of the afternoon.

There is some better news from you lovely lot, together with more poorliness. Thank goodness that we are here for each other.

Last night son number three messaged to tell us that he, his partner and his son, Torben will be travelling to Scotland sometime over the Easter break. Torben will then be approaching his 13th birthday. Are we delighted? You bet.

We have been making a special card from one of my favourite sunset photographs. Inside of which we have written our happy memories of our friend's recently deceased mother. I have also been reframing a water colour painting of mine...bluebell time. We can then give our friend something of cheer to hang on the wall of what was her mother's "apartment".

Have managed a few catching-up jobs. Still chasing my own shadow. Sending my love and all good wishes to you. Until tomorrow.

Soop, what beautiful, thoughtful gifts for your bereaved friend, I am sure they will bring her comfort.
Afternoon greetings to all in the Kitchen, hoping today is a good one for everyone.

SueD, I'm glad they found out why your DS was so ill, I hope the new regime will be much gentler for him.

Grandmabatty, I hope your DD is improving day by day, with no recurrence of the gall bladder pain. Between that and her eardrum, she must have been demented, poor lassie. Enjoy your time with the wee boys, I know you appreciate it.

I'm glad to be involved with wee DGS2, I know it doesn't last forever because I see less of my older grandchildren now that they don't require regular childcare, although I'm enjoying having DGD (11) on strike days.

Nannytopsy, I can't believe Baby Fergus is on solids already, time flies! I hope you manage to avoid your GCs bug.

No childcare today, DDIL2's birthday so they are having a family day out at the farm park. We popped over yesterday to drop off gifts and play awhile with the Wee Boy.

So I had a nice day, morning Mass then Coffee morning, I had a delicious home made meringue, melted in the mouth! Then a gentle park walk with my sisters during DSis2's lunch hour, she's still working from home. We chatted about our memories of Brookside, which is returning to TV this week on STV player. It was amazing how many characters and stoeylines we could remember. We followed it all through the 80s... very memorable theme tune. 🎶

I've made chicken noodle soup, help yourselves!

TOYA🥰

Hello all. You are so talented Soop! Caring too. I spent a lot of time making cakes today (white chocolate and raspberry cake; chocolate, beer, cherry and porridge cake) and a whole lemon cake) … and just tiny bit of admin. OH went to a funeral. The deceased was 91 with no family whatsoever, but the crematorium was packed because he had so many friends. It is the WI committee meeting this evening so OH has to do the dinner Have a good evening all of you.

Good afternoon kitcheners. Yes, Grannmarie dd seems to be fine now and her ear is improving with antibiotics. I remember Brookside too and, as I said on another thread, I was at a workshop years ago, led by Phil Redmond, which was about teaching media. Brookside was the focus. Soop that's such a lovely thing to do. Ladyleftfieldlover your cakes sound very moreish.
Today I have been lazy to make up for the full on childcare ones. I'm quite happy being a lazygran at times a la Urms. My best friend,who is poorly, has made the brave decision not to have chemo but has opted for palliative care. I feel she's made the right decision and can take back some control over what has been a hellish time for her. It's very sad, however we knew that this would happen eventually, it's just a bit sooner than expected. I shall visit her on Friday. Chicken with something for dinner. Possibly in white wine and garlic. Have a good evening Kitcheners.

Hi 👋 to all kitchen pals, I’m just in and settled on the sofa after a good but busy day
I’m getting my sofa from Loaf SueD, I know exactly what you mean about a shortage of shops and trying them out first though. Luckily my DD1 who’s got the very nice house in Cambridge has the exact one that I’m after, so I’m just copying her really! I find her sofa so squashy and comfortable that I’ve really been spoilt when I’m there. I think I’m going for a duck egg blue velvet fabric but still tbc - I’ve not plucked up the courage to press the final button on the order now page yet …
I’m just going to get a chicken stir fry ready then I’ll be back later

‘Evening All’

Scapal you remind us all of just how brave these lifeboat crews are. Beyond brave.

I’m resisting opening a bottle of red. At this time of the day it calls to me but I shall throw a deaf one. I’ve been watching the film ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ on Netflix. Goodness, two and a half hours long! In my opinion the film needed some serious editing and disappointingly I didn’t engage with any of the characters. Unremitting scenes of blood, guts and trench warfare during WW1. I’m glad I didn’t go out to the cinema to watch it anyway.

Fish for us tea in about an hour then Himself will be watching Man. Utd +v+ Nottingham Forest in 2nd leg and as Man. Utd are 3-0 up he thinks Ten Hag will use the less pressured opportunity to give some of the squad a run out. Poor man (Himself, not Ten Hag) only has me to share his football knowledge with and ‘shh’ ... I’m not interested..

Afternoon all, I have done very little as the weather has been foul! I spent some time on the phone to my sister, she has a few health worries and at my insistence rang her doctor and got an appointment for this afternoon. The doctor did a thorough examination and has arranged for blood tests and an eye referral and another appointment in 3 weeks time to discuss results. I’m so glad she took my advice, it was obviously worrying her. The doctor doesn’t think it’s anything major and says they will get to the bottom of it.

I have made an appointment for bloods and annual health check on 14th February, no use dishing out advice if I’m not keeping on top of things myself!

TOYA, stay safe x

Hi kitcheners

DH is out so I can curl up on sofa with the remote control once I have sorted my dinner.

Have a peaceful evening all 🙋‍♀️

Urms, we had fish for tea and are also getting ready to watch the match - maybe not in such a positive frame of mind!!

DH has 2 sons and 2 daughters to talk to, thankfully!!

I'm having a weepy day today .. Not really sure why... I saw the doctor earlier and she said basically the last 2 years have caught up with me and my mind and body have just said enough. I told her that I had made the decision at New Year not to dwell on the pain of missing my daughters and Grandchildren but to just internalise it like it isn't happening. A good friend said she was getting the details of a group based in Bristol of Grandparents in the same situation.. they say it's like a living bereavement. I told the doctor this and she said that internalising it probably wasn't the way forward. I had to stop the tears flowing there and then. She has suggested I talk to someone professionally....in the past when it was suggested I told my doctor that I would just say what they wanted to hear. This time I'm thinking maybe I should.. I need to try and find a way to deal with days like today when it feels like my heart is breaking with the pain of missing them. Just writing that has set me off. I'm sorry to offload onto you all especially when so many of you have real heartache at the moment.

Dear Naughrtneine I also experience your heartache. I know how it feels to be removed from family. I believe that it is vitally important to "offload". Us lot are here for you. Please feel comfortable about sharing your sorrows. Life isn't all happy clappy.

Grannmarie You are a most kind and thoughtful lady. Bless you.

brook Your choice of sofa seems perfect in every sense.

Blossoming I am also pleased to hear that your sister has followed your advice. We all need a wee push in the right direction when needs be.

Thank you, Grandmabatty. Our friend has invited us to call in later this afternoon. Today she will have been organising her mother's funeral. We will give her our wee gift when we see her.

The gales have subsided. The sea appears to be much calmer and the ferry is operating.

I shall try to return before we visit our friend. If not, I shall be with you again tomorrow.

Afternoon kitcheners. I've attached my first art work in over two months. It's not finished but I'm happy with it so far. NaughtyN I have no contact with my son who cut us all off this time last year. The pain never leaves me. 💐 Soop you are a very kind lady. Brook I love the sound of your sofa. The blue will be stunning.
Art class was this morning. A new day and mostly new people to get to know. I drew for a while then reverted to pastels. I really want to experiment this year with mixed media and with oils. We'll see how it goes.
This afternoon I'm having a pottering day. The weather isn't great so no gardening for me. I'm a bit scunnered, truth be told, but I'm sure I'll perk up.

That’s a beautiful painting Batty! I have being doing WI admin, again, today. I also collected various medication for me and OH. He is currently trawling the local charity shops to see if they have any decent clothes. If they do, he won’t need to go clothes shopping in Oxford tomorrow. There are no words. I think I mentioned this in another thread, but I rang BUPA up today and cancelled my subscription. It is becoming ridiculously expensive. I’m off to a friend’s house after dinner so have a good evening everyone.

Haven't posted for a while so will miss a few things SueD hope your son is feeling better ,Soop sorry to hear your sad news,NaughtyN and all who have estrangement in their life's (((hugs))) can't imagine how you all must feel.Love the picture Grandmabatty. Best wishes to all.

Another great painting Grandmabatty.
Naughtynine thinking of you.🌹

D.H and I are having thoughts of moving house.We down sized to this house 21 years ago.It was a new build then,DH loved it but I took a long time to settle.If truth be told I don’t think I really ever have.It was always going to be our forever home but the main problem now is the stairs.I struggle and with psoriatic arthritis it can sometimes be difficult also DH gets a bit breathless.Don’t want a stairlift so we are thinking apartment or small bungalow.It’s a lot to think about and would definitely be our last move.🤔
Anyway thanks for reading.Have a good evening everyone.

Lots to weigh up Yia.
Sad to read of estrangements on here, hope your day has improved Naughty.
Dull day here and chilly out walking, the garden is slowly waking up, ready to be cold next week!
MrJ is still suffering with his infected cyst, the Dr is hoping it heals from the inside, so it’s permanently dressed with a seaweed fabric, showering not allowed.
Chicken and vegetable curry made for dinner.
Enjoy the rest of your day all.

‘Evening All’

Oh Naughtyneine no wonder you break down. I’m so sorry to hear that two daughters and their children are estranged from you. You must be heartbroken. ‘A living bereavement’ indeed. I didn’t know this about you. You always come across as so cheery and upbeat. You too Blossoming. And soop. This awful sadness does indeed seem more commonplace than I ever thought before joining GN. It must feel devastating. I can’t imagine the grief. 💐 for you all.

A glass of red has just been poured and passed to me. Yay! Dido songs are on Alexa (my friend can’t stand her, says she’s the Queen of Misery), chicken in the oven and we plan to eat in a couple of hours. I’ve set the table and it looks nice with a vase of colourful tulips. Better still soon with hot food on some plates.
😁

Hope you have as pleasant an evening as you can lovely kitcheners. I’m sad thinking of that poor missing lass in the Wyre area of Lancashire tonight. It’s just been on the news again.

Thank you, Soop, same to you!🥰

We visited our friend who had her leg amputated before Christmas. She is now in the local Nursing Home, having been transferred there to free up her surgical bed in the big hospital. She's enjoying the activities and an ensuite room. This afternoon we all enjoyed afternoon tea there, with beautiful vintage china crockery. She can now get herself up and dressed, so hopefully she'll get home soon, just awaiting her Care Package.

I was so disappointed to receive a phone call from the Cardiology Department at my local hospital, postponing my appointment to the Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic ( oh, the irony) from 13 Feb to 24 Feb. I'll just have to be a patient patient, keep taking the tablets and carrying the sublingual spray ...

So sorry to hear of family estrangements, I'm hoping and praying that these may be resolved in the not too distant future.
TOYA