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

We do think about you too Baggs, thank you for the update.

Neine you do make me laugh. Don’t ever change, just be yourself.

It must be something about April 28th and clearing dog hair, this just came up on my time hop from 5 years ago. Luckily we've moved in the past year in case you think I only do clean once every 5 years..

I think I've just frightened the Lowri Beck meter reader to death...Having spent 5 hours cleaning (I can't think why my dogs are not bald the amount of hair they shed. ..I even had furry kickboards in the kitchen. ..new trend? Possibly not)....anyway with 4 Belgian students arriving at 7pm and probably all wanting showers. . I'd taken a quick shower. .well sort of quick as my legs resembled the kick boards so I'd grabbed a razor for a swift removal. ..shame I didn't check the blade first...how can one small nick bleed so much?....anyway furious that my spotless shower was beginning to look like an abattoir. .I grabbed a towel.. stuffed a piece of tissue on the cut and proceeded to put my make up on....as I finished the doorbell went. ..checking out the window I realise it's Nao and Pete, I grab a much loved but tatty and shrunk dressing gown and run down to open the door....wide...to see a smiley small round person that wasn't Nao or Pete...'.Come to read your....I think he was trying to say 'meter' but it sort of got trapped. Not daring to look down to see which part or parts of my anatomy had escaped...I opened the door wider whilst standing sort of behind it and managed to clutch as much material as I could...now the electricity meter is easy to access..it's in a cupboard at eye level....the gas however is on the floor in the cupboard under the stairs...its been on my 'to do' list for weeks as it needs booting shut everytime I throw another Aldi bag for Life in there which is most weekends..I could hardly expect him to start clearing the debris so I dropped to my knees ( well one knee really as I can't bend the other one properly after the fall 2 weeks ago)... hoping that I had enough of a grip on the front of the dressing gown and offering all sorts of promises to God if he would just let there be enough material at the back too...I read the numbers to him.... Finally back on my feet and congratulating myself mentally for not exposing anything....I realise he is staring at the blood soaked tissue stuck to my calf....laughing almost manically by now I muttered something like...'Just another exciting Saturday afternoon'.....For a small round person he could certainly move fast....and did..he was out the door and down the drive like a bat out of hell. They'll probably just phone for a reading next time.......

Afternoon kitcheners. Thank you all again for such lovely mentions. Soop I hope things are well with you. NaughtyN you make me laugh. Jaxjacky, Blossoming Cornergran and Brook, you have been very kind. And I know I have missed people out for which I apologise. I have had a better day today and I think it's all behind me now. I have done the washing, changed the bedding and cleaned the house. I even went into the bathroom with cotton buds and bleach. I have a tesco delivery due in a while and I'm about to wrestle with the new duvet cover. Then I'm going to clean the front of the kitchen cupboards. There's no stopping me! Have a good evening Kitcheners.

That’s good news Grandmabatty. You sound so much better.
Thanks for the update Baggs.💐
You cheer us all Neine keep it up.
Hope your o.k Soop and Ann thinking of you.

Well Kitcheners we are down to 2 options had second viewing on apartment overlooking the river,now waiting for second viewing on a ground floor apartment with own garden.All beautifully done.I like the ground floor one while DH is keen on the river view.🤔
Have a pleasant evening everyone.

Good afternoon kitchen pals - Friday evening at last so that bottle of wine can now safely be opened!
Good to hear from you baggs and catch up on your family news, your DD seems to be an amazing lady and mini baggs doing well too. You must be so proud of them all 💐
I’m just in from the hairdressers so feeling a lot better now my hair is done
Pleased to hear you’re much better grandmabatty but take it easy with all that cleaning!
Fingers crossed Yia - almost there now!

Yiayia fingers crossed that you get the one with the garden 🤞

Baggs it was remiss of me not to mention your very stoic daughter. She must take after her mum. I wish her all the best.

So much to read on here! ❤️

Neine I misread your ‘memory’ post and thought you had four Belgian ^shepherds* coming for a shower!

Baggs, words escape me at your family’s extraordinary resilience at your DD’s illness. Long may it continue.

Since I last wrote my Dh has had his birthday along with our ‘down south’ GD who was six on the same day. I’ve also done my granny duties with my local GC. The 18mo tried to go up to his cot for a nap still wearing his wellies this afternoon! . My GD informed me the other day that my house was ‘messy and untidy’ so that prompted a bit of a tidy-up yesterday, haha! Her mother commented that GD had been very rude and with the state her own bedroom was in, she was in no position to criticise. 😂

My roses have arrived! This weekend’s task is to buy some containers and soil for them then I hope they’ll be up and running. The lily of the valley a friend gave me also seems to be doing well in a pot and I think I’ll have flowers soon.

It’s still been very cold and wet until today when the thermometer went up to 15deg. I hope I can finally put away the winter coat until the autumn now.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Xx

Hi all, you do sound better Grandmabatty a whirlwind of energy.
Your daughter is admirable Baggs, what an attitude.
I need to get a rambling rose brook I’ll have a look at David Austin’s and control my finger on the iPad.
Sunny eventually here today, 17, washing mostly dried, we’ve just visited our local and caught up with a few people, it was busy.
Enjoy your evening all.

Jax I was a David Austin girl but now live close to Peter Beales. They have some good roses too!

Missed you Yia I’m pleased all your hard work has produced two options, I too would go for the garden!

Suedonim grandchildren can be very blunt! They have no filter. I'm going to wait for another week before I start buying plants for the garden. I bought a mini greenhouse from Aldi and sil needs to help putting it together.

Pleased your better grandmab. If you’ve any of that energy to spare I’ll send my address .

Thank you for the update baggs, love to you all

Must be off. The grandson was awake at 5.30. He’s sharing a room with his parents. I say no more about levels of grumbling. The question of the day us how to stop the excited lad waking his teenage cousins who I fear would be even less understanding than his grumpy parents . I do love it all though .

Suedonim, the story of your 18mo GC going for a nap in his wellies reminded me of a story about my younger sister. Dad was on bath duty and my wee sis screamed as he put her in the bath. "What's the matter?" he said, "It's not too hot."
She still had her lace up boots on.

Cornergran I'll bet you are tired later! More cleaning today. I'm going to tackle the fronts of the kitchen cupboards as they are looking grubby. I've got a towel wash on at the moment. Enjoy the chaos!

I’m sitting up with my first coffee before a shower etc. I was dreaming a lot last night and woke DH by pushing and shoving him. I thought I was emptying a cupboard 🤣
It’s a lovely morning in Suffolk but we are off to Leamington Spa so no gardening again! I do hope next week is dry …
Enjoy the Bank Holiday everyone. Best wishes to soop

Ooh an early start in the kitchen today, I’ve just got up from the bed and moved onto the sofa so far… I’m going to put a wash load on and then get ready for the day ..
Hope your DH wasn’t too grumpy when you woke him nannytopsy 🤣

Hello kitchen people. I thought I’d pop in quickly to see how you all are. I’ve just got back from Oxford where I looked at a new bed for the spare room. OH is setting up his beehives. He had to make up a syrup containing 5 lbs of sugar. I’ve just heard from number 2 niece that her wedding in France is confirmed for September! I’ve already booked flights for number 3 niece’s wedding in Australia in August. I’m not sure whether we’re going to fly to Toulouse and hire a car or get a series of trains and then hire a car. The wedding is taking place in a small village near Toulouse. I hope you’re all having a good weekend.

Ladyleftfieldlover a busy social time ahead for you! I've just had an unexpected visit from dd and the boys which was lovely and chaotic. My breakfast tomorrow has been postponed til next Sunday but I have my friend's birthday present bought so that's good. I'm off to clean the kitchen cupboard faces now. They are so grubby! Have a good afternoon kitcheners

Goodness Baggs - thank you for the update - you should be so proud of both your daughters, they sound like wonderful people. Fondest love to you all

Dear Baggs Bless you and your lovely family.

I have been absent without leave for what seems like an eternity. The bloody long-winded business of dealing with various issues of late has drained me. I apologise. You lovely lot deserve better.

It seems possible that, after the weekend, I shall be back on track. I have missed popping into our kitchen for daily updates. Goodness me, I am so out of touch. A group hug would be wonderful.

I love those group hugs that you plan for all in your friendly kitchen, soop. Just what we need these days, thank you.

Warm wishes to you all, especially those feeling below par, themselves, & their families.
for annsixty.

Baggs your family sound very strong minded how you all are coping is amazing.
Can I join group hug please ?
Just had a unexpected visit from son and 14 yr old grandson out for a ride on motorbike brought back memories of oh taking said son on his bike when he was a teenager . I don't know if anyone remembers son getting burnt on his face I'm pleased to say not looking too bad now think he will always have. some scarring though. Best wishes to all .

Hulahoop I'm glad to hear that your son is making a good recovery from such a terrible incident. I'm happy to have a group hug too Soop. Kitchen cupboards cleaned (just the doors) and floors washed. I'm having a rest as I'm quite tired.

When we opted to exchange the first Rollator (because it wasn't man enough for rough pavements in our village) and bought a replacement that cost a good bit more, I was foolish enough to think......I shall empty the wardrobes of "stuff" that I've been cherishing for umpteen years and advertise on eBay. Hours and hours of photographing, measuring and describing every item in detail has almost driven me to the brink of insanity. I managed to make a right mess of a few listings. I then had to cancel those listings and start over. Buggerations galore! The group hug has breathed new life into this old girl. Thank you. X