Soop's warm and welcoming kitchen for friendship...

Hope all goes well for your DIL Cornergran.💐
Please post a picture of your pumpkin*Grandmabatty.*I’m sure it’s excellent.

All holiday washing done and summer clothes put away.Was a struggle but pleased it’s done.I now have a cleaner,she comes every two weeks and I find her a great help at the moment.
I have managed to get an appointment with my rheumatologist on Tuesday.Not sure what the next step is but I have a lot of faith in him.
It rained most of last night and set to be colder this weekend.This year is flying past.

Enjoy your afternoon and evening Kitcheners.

Blossoming 😊 sadly I expect the calories will whoosh right back into the air fryer! Cornergran I'm heartily glad Mr C is recovering well and doing more. It'll help his confidence, no doubt. But I'm sorry to hear about all the other health worries surrounding you. Take care of yourself too

I’m late again! Glad to see everyone getting their injections. There is a surge in cases round here.
It’s been a busy couple of days but tomorrow is a free day! ( Apart from a man to be let in to church, to finish fixing the clock!)
I had my first appointment with a consultant on Tuesday re my arthritic knee and he put me on the list for a TKR. I waited 10 months for this appointment and it will be about a year’s wait, which is better than I expected. It gives me time to lose some weight! It’s all I can think about at the moment but that will pass.
Have a peaceful night everyone
NNGB

Good to hear you’re feeling better blossoming. It’s not been easy for you

Sunshine? None here today. Gloomy with that fine rain that seems to soak.

It’s been a home focused couple of days. I was wiped yesterday after my flu jab on Tuesday. Not much better this morning, it had passed by mid afternoon though. First time I’ve had a reaction to any of the jabs, not bad as these things go.

We’ve changed some curtains (usually swap in Spring and Autumn) and installed new cushions in the living room. Soft furnishings are all ready for colder weather. Mr C was happy to change curtains, he really is so much stronger. Wonderful to see. I’m very grateful.

Apologies, I’m about to vent. Need to let go of a burden or two.

I’m twitchy this evening. Our much loved daughter in law is in hospital waiting surgery tomorrow. Amongst other things a heart valve to be replaced. It is expected she’ll be in theatre for most of the day. This will be her second new heart valve. Told to expect 14 days as an inpatient she’s very worried about her son coping. Her little lad is autistic. There’s tight support around him but yes, it will have an impact.

It feels constant health issues. An old friend who finds talking difficult has shared she has breast cancer, there are four tumours. I’m so sorry for her situation. Her husband is steadily declining in a home, having recently moved area to be closer to her daughter she has no local network. Too far from me for a day visit, phone will have to do and while better than nothing it feels inadequate. Her daughter is in regular contact seeking support for herself, poor woman has lost her Dad to dementia and now worries she’s losing her Mum. I do my best.

I’m also quietly despairing about our widowed friend over the bridge who is on week four post covid, still very unwell but refusing to seek medical advice. I’m worried and finding it harder and harder not to be very cross with her. That feels so wrong.

The last straw this evening was our toilet flush (we just have the one) deciding it wanted to be a waterfall, it’s not shutting off. We could fix the old fashioned sort, not the modern cylinder types. Tomorrows first job will be to try to find someone who can replace the cylinder. Our usual plumber has taken himself off on holiday. How unreasonable is that? He repaired it once, time for a replacement.

Oh dear, a right misery am I. Apologies everyone. Just needed to vent.

Tomorrow things will look better I’m sure. Time to settle to read for a while, I’m too edgy for sleep yet so may as well read in the comfort of my bed.

Goodnight all. Apologies for being a misery.

Good evening dear Kitcheners. I’m feeling good today, it’s been glorious sunshine after a cold start. The heating has actually been on for the first time and I was able to do some laundry and hang it outside. I am taking it slowly, have been doing balance exercises. Little and often is the best way and I’m not pushing it when I’m tired. I’ll get there eventually. It’s at times like this my little pedal exerciser comes in handy. We have had beans on toast for tea, quick and tasty.

Grannmarie I don’t know how I missed your news about your DH’s rescheduled appointment. I hope it goes ahead in November.

Jax I have been wearing my gloves today, hope you are not suffering too badly now the weather is turning.

Hope your rotten cold is gone soon Ladyleftfieldlover. Love the photo of your dining room, looking forward to seeing the next room.

It is a well known fact that air fryers suck out the calories but leave the deliciousness Grandmabatty. Glad your mum was on good form.

Goodnight lovely people, TOYA ❤️

Snap Charleygirl, mine is all white too, oh apart from one aqua wall in the kitchen.

I think it’s probably more the norm here than in UK though. It is much easier for repainting and in fact I was wondering just this morning whether it would feel too cold to have plain white walls in England.

Good evening Kitcheners. Art class today where I produced a pastel of a pumpkin which I was pleased with. It's framed and up for autumn. I visited mum tonight and what a turn around! She was chatty and laughing etc. I'll take it while it lasts. I'm just about to have a caff dinner - chips, egg and beans done mainly in the air fryer. Does that count as low calorie? Charliegirl take care. Brook your risotto sounds very tasty.

LLFL you would hate mine, the kitchen and loos are tiled but the rest are all painted white.

Apparently we are expecting heavy storms and flooding in London.

Had my Covid jab 2 weeks ago and the flu jab tomorrow then I can retire to bed until next spring.
TOYA

Hello kitchen people
Apart from preparing my breakfast and making a sandwich for lunch, I have been on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket reading ‘The Reading List’ for my book group.
My cold is much better but I still feel very weary so will be in bed by 9 am.
The decorators are coming on Monday to do our downstairs bedroom/study. I need to find the energy to help OH clear the room out. Hopefully we can fit a bed, desk, filing cabinet, bookcase and a multitude of books in the conservatory.
Once again we are having something quite bright! I’ll post pictures next week.
Have a good evening.
Here’s a photo of our multi patterned dining room. My house isn’t soothing.

Hi all, you may be a wee bit older GrannySomerset certainly not past it, you've just made a yummy cake!
Nothing as productive here, neither of us are sweet toothed particularly, we can safely stash Christmas goodies with no fear of tampering.
I’ve been to M&S to collect ordered goods, much easier going to the food hall than the big store, roadworks a pain though. Went for a walk through a half hearted drizzle, no scrunchy leaves today, lots of rain tomorrow.
MrJ is at bowls, he enjoys it, I don’t, probably as I’m pretty rubbish at it. I’ll have to find something vaguely entertaining to watch until he gets home and I hear a blow by blow account, until 9, when I’ll be shushing for All Creatures..
Hope all jabs are now a distant memory with no after effects and everyone is well, including annsixty who is missed.
Enjoy your evening.

Good afternoon kitchen pals, hope everyone is doing ok
Well done with making the Christmas cake grannysomerset, I’m sure it’ll work out a treat.
A busy day here, took DGD swimming this morning and then dropped her home at lunchtime. Then straight round to my volunteering session. I didn’t have time to go back home and felt a bit disheveled after an early start with DGD and then the swimming but hopefully it didn’t matter. I really enjoyed the face to face session, completely different than the virtual clinics I’d done on zoom before as you felt much more involved.
Going to make a butternut squash and goats cheese risotto soon, it’s only my second attempt with this recipe so hope it turns out ok.
Hoping you’re feeling ok today blossoming
Take care all x

I made the C cake this afternoon (DH’s great grandmother’s recipe - she was cook in a large household (think Mrs Bridges)) and it is now smelling wonderful, but I found it very tiring and hard work. Am I now an officially old person and past it? Probably, is the answer! I am not a great cake maker but this recipe works a treat so I am cautiously optimistic. I always used to do this at half term so the children were involved. Next week will see the mincemeat made; it keeps for several years so is worth making 10 lbs at a go provided there are enough jars. Must check!

soop that was a beautiful photo of the deer and as we all know, the grass is always greener on the other side!

I have not switched on the heating yet but that day is close now that the mini heatwave has gone.

Urms that was really good news.

TOYA

Hello again kitchen pals, lovely to catch up on all your news about your DHs hospital appointment grannmarie I hope things aren’t too bad in the meantime.
Well done with the quiz Jax , sorry to hear the cold weather is on it’s way to you, wasn’t me who sent it down honest!
Good to hear you’ve had a better day Blossoming, hope you get a good sleep tonight
Sounds like a lovely day with your DGD SueD. Hope your arms aren’t too sore after the vaccines. Your DGS sounds so adorable and you’re so right, it’s amazing when they put all their trust in you to make things better. My heart also melted this evening when DGD said ‘what would I do if you weren’t my nanna’ to me 💕💕
Hope you feel,a bit better tomorrow grandmabatty and you enjoy your art class. Not long until Saturday now

Good evening dear Kitcheners. Just a quick visit as I had a glasses check this afternoon and my eyes are very tired now. I’m feeling much better apart from wobbling.

There are roadworks outside the optician and MrB had to walk from the car with me as although it’s only a short distance it involves negotiating a cobbled passageway and it’s very uneven.

Children are so precious SueD, love seeing my little great nephews and nieces. They are astounded to know I babysat their parents

Hope MrSoop is feeling better after his treatment.

Goodnight, TOYA

It’s good to hear you’re feeling brighter, Blossoming.

Soop what sort of deer are those? The black stripe down the back looks unusual! I hope MrS’s head is comfortable.

Granmarie I was only making Xmas stuff now because I want to take some to the US next week when we go to visit our son. I shall ignore the rest of the upcoming season for a while yet.

It’s been a busy week again, culminating today in us having GD from 9-6. She’s really very good but it’s still quite tiring! She helped me put compost into the raised beds and around some lavender bushes and then we went to a garden centre after lunch. I bumped into an old friend and GD was amazed that this friend had known her mummy when mummy was a baby! Then she accompanied me to get my Covid and flu vaccines. The nurse was very patient and answered all GD’s many questions 🤦‍♀️ then suggested I deserved two paracetamol and a glass of wine when I got home, haha!

I took GD home and popped in for a few minutes. 2yo GS had an upset about something minor and came rushing over to me to make it all better. Isn’t it just so special when a little person puts all their trust in you? ❤️❤️❤️. Of course, he’d forgotten all about it in two seconds and scrambled down to go off and play again - all mended!

A quiet evening for me now, and let my body get on with making lots of nice antibodies or whatever it is vaccines do to you. TOYA. Xxx

Hello 👋 Jaxjacky, crossed posts! Well done on your Quiz. I wore a thermal top today, for the first time this autumn, it's definitely getting colder.

Good evening, Soop and lovely Kitchen people. I've made my pot of ham and lentil soup, plenty for the kitchen, crusy bread on the side!

Beautiful photo of the young deer, Soop, I'm glad MrSoop was able to persuade them back to safety. I hope he is feeling ok now after that painful procedure.

Happy days, Nannytopsy and Brook, enjoy your time with the grandchildren. We're not needed so much for childcare now, so we see the DGC on visits and days out, but it's not quite the same as having them to ourselves. Ages and stages, I suppose.

Grandmabatty, it's only natural that you are missing your wee family, you are so close and such an important part of their lives. I'm glad you've had a few lazy days .
I panicked the other day when I read that you and SueD had started the Christmas baking and cooking!

I've been quite tired since we came home, I've dozed off the past two afternoons. This is not getting the work done! I've got winter bedding still to be planted before it gets too cold. I took my friend to Mass and Coffee Morning, we enjoyed that, so at least I can still get up and out in the morning.

DH'S long awaited hospital appointment has been cancelled at short notice and rescheduled for November...

Hope you've had a good day, Blossoming. Thinking of you, and all feeling under the weather.

Hope everyone has a peaceful Wednesday evening. TOYA, NNGB.

Lots of fun with grandchildren on here, a joy to see.
Beautiful animals soop
Couple of days pootling, we came second in Monday’s quiz and I’ve started emptying out the tubs. It is turning very cold at the weekend Grandmabatty possible frost down south Sunday night. Thermals and gloves will be fished out, plus a warm coat, electric blanket on.
Have a pleasant evening all.

Good evening kitchen pals, so lovely to see the gorgeous picture of the deer soop. We’re lucky too in so far as we often see them at the bottom of the garden munching the grass on the other side of the wire fence. So good to see but like you say they’ve very little road sense!
I’ve had a busy day, a quick trip to the gym, a lovely lunch with my gym pal and now we’ve DGD here for a sleepover. It’s so lovely that she asks to stay over and I’m very lucky. I hope your DGSs are enjoying their holidays grandmabatty but like you say you’ll be missing them so much 💕 I’ll be the same next week as mine will be away, they’re staying in an Airbnb not far from you near Stirling and have lots of lovely days out planned.
I hope everyone has a lovely evening and take care all x

Soop* what a beautiful photo. I hope they are safely ensconced in the copse. Blossoming I think of you often and I'm glad you feel better. Brook I hope you are surviving the onslaught of grandchildren!
I have had a few very lazy days which I have enjoyed immensely, but I'm getting bored. It's much colder here and the temperature is to drop a lot by the weekend,so some gardening will be on the cards. Today I was at the library and hoovered and washed floors. Tomorrow I have art class then I'll finally get round to making the Christmas cake. I have a bit of a tight chest so I'll test in the morning if it's still here. I don't feel unwell, just quite tired. I miss my wee family and I look forward to their return on Saturday evening. Homemade steak pie for dinner. Have a good evening Kitcheners

Blossoming You are most certainly deserving of all the love that is coming your way.

I am heartened to discover so many new Kitcheners. It is lovely to have your company.

Mr Soop has returned from having the long term sun damage on his scalp "zapped". He confessed to "flinching" and repeatedly apologised to the GP. Bless.

Our neighbour has Covid. Her husband recovered from his bout a few weeks ago.

Do look after yourselves. You are all very precious.

The deer jumped over the garden fence earlier today. A photo coming up. Mr Soop had to gently persuade them to return to the copse. We would be horrified if they decided to explore the roadside.

Hi to all kitchen pals, it’s so good to see so many new posters, welcome all. A busy day here, lots going on with the DGC but I also enjoyed a couple of hours gardening this afternoon - my happy place in all weathers
Pleased to hear you’re feeling much better today Blossoming ❤️
Happy times nannytopsy
Hoping Mr &Mrs Urms sleep well tonight

Thank you Urms .

What a lovely announcement! 🥂to the Urms .
We have just had lots of giggles floating downstairs as DGS2 (14 months) and DGGS were sharing a bath!