Soop's warm and welcoming kitchen for kindly folk.

Jaxjacky I hope MrJ begins to feel better once the meds kick in.

Wishing you well GrannySomerset

Sinus problems are horrible Jax, hope it clears up soon. I wouldn’t be wearing my shorts if the boiler hadn’t been fixed . I get hot doing exercises. Good luck with the quiz.

Glad you had a good day with the boys grandmabatty

Busy day for you Brook, enjoy your shower and the lasagne.

Brook you are a very busy lady! Blossoming I'm glad you have a working boiler.

Charleygirl we are so happy we decided to have a cat (and ended up with two!) again. We hope we’ll be companions with each other for many years but should the worst happen, I know our two will be much loved by one of our children. In fact they might fight over who gets to inherit them!
Poor Mr J, Jax! I’ve only once had such an infection, back in 1977, but as you can tell by me remembering the exact year I had it, it left its mark. I thought my teeth and brain were going to fall out of my head, it was horrible. I hope Mr J is feeling much improved with the meds.
It’s good to hear that you’re much brighter now, Blossoming.

I am now the proud owner of a lawn rake, after advice from Kitcheners! It was all of £4.99 in Home Bargains. It wouldn’t be worth us getting an electric one, Brook as it’s a small garden. I shall be handing ownership over to Dh as it is he who will be doing the raking, not me. I don’t suppose a £5 rake will last long but it’ll do for now.

I finally got into the garden today, although not until late afternoon as I had various other jobs to do. I did a lot, planted some roses I was given, put in tubers and corms for this and that, planted lupins and a buddleia and potted up two containers for summer colour by the French doors. I also filled my bargain raised trough with soil ready to be planted when we’re back from our visit down south next week. I don’t have a a plan at all for the garden, I just want to see pretty things that make me feel happy.

Tomorrow I must get packed for our trip on Weds, which we’re looking forward to.

Sweet dreams, all! Xxx

Evening! I did the school run this morning, from preschool, through primary to sixth form, then came home to find the tree surgeons hard at work. The walnut tree has had a serious haircut!
Tomorrow is a Tesco delivery, a new gardener and a WI meeting. It’s a pretty busy week …. I am not looking forward to spending 2 hours outside with the gardener if it is as cold as today. 🥶
Sleep tight everyone 💤

Hope WI goes well Nannytopsy as it had you awake in the small hours the other day.

Good afternoon kitchen pals, I’m sat in the conservatory just waiting for the rain to stop … the weather is very changeable today I was out in the garden just half an hour ago and thinking I’d best get some sunscreen on my face
I’ve enjoyed my volunteering session this morning but now I was hoping to crack on with the fence painting - fingers crossed the rain stops soon although by then the fence might be a bit too wet to paint anyhow 🤷‍♀️
Hoping the new gardener is doing ok nannytopsy and you’re not too cold
Hoping Mr J is a bit better today Jax
Doing the raking is a really good workout SueD better than going to the gym! I’m the same as you with the garden, no real plans. When we first moved here 20+ years ago we bought lots of different things but with trial and error I think we’ve eventually realised what will survive up here and as a bonus look reasonably ok too

Good afternoon kitcheners. We have had solid sunshine here Brook. Dgs2 and I were in the garden this morning and he was busy 'halpin' Gramma water the flowers. He's been a bit tired and grumpy today but well manage to survive for another hour and a half before I take them both home. Dgs1 just wants to rest for a bit after a busy day at nursery. Gramma provides the water, ice lollies and crisps. The last of the gammon later for dinner with mashed potatoes, cabbage and peas. Enjoy your evening Kitcheners.

Dear You lovely lot, I apologise for seeming to ignore you.

The last few days have been particularly trying. Mr Soop decided that he would prefer to drive us to Oakham in Rutland for the much looked forward to family gathering. Ever since, I have been attempting to get a large refund for first class rail tickets. I was reaching the point of having a melt-down when a very sweet lady finally took charge and, after consulting her supervisor, informed me that we would have a full refund. After that, I've been attempting to access the Premier Inn refund site. I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating the task has been. I have yet to solve the problem of why the site is not functioning. Two lengthy phone calls were wasted on listening to canned music and being told...the quickest way to deal with refunds is to log on...I am at the end of my tether.

All morning, our builder friend has been ripping out the bath and re-tiling in readiness for a walk-in shower.

I am exhausted. The sun continues to shine. I send every one of you special Kitcheners my love and best wishes.

Oh soop no need to apologise, what a blummin hassle for you, so pleased the train refund is sorted now and hope you can get the accommodation refunded soon too …. and with building works going on too at the same time …
How’s the new en-suite getting along Jax? Hopefully not too much disruption
Pleased your little DGS was helping in the garden today grandmabatty never too young to start …
I got a bit more of the fence painted - I’m actually enjoying doing a bit more in the garden since I’ve stopped going to the gym, my next task is to tidy up and go through the rubbish accumulated in the shed whilst DH is at work and throw most of it away - he’ll never notice 😉

Hi all, rather late for me, funny you asked brook the tiler has just left, he’s working odd shifts. MrJ has yet to see the benefit of the antibiotics, he’s just about to take the fourth, hopefully tomorrow.
Hopefully on Thursday we can start dismantling the shed and a lot of the contents, a new one is due the same day, good luck with yours.
I hope you’ve succeeded on that website soop how frustrating for you.

Hello kitchen people.
Isn’t it annoying when things don’t go to plan Soop?
I’ve just got from an evening with friends. I took along a chocolate Guinness cake which I had made ages ago and frozen. It went down very well. It was good to have some cheer as one of our group has just received some shocking health news☹️
OH is out shooting but I think he’s now in the pub!

I wrote a post and lost it 🤨
How frustrating for you soop. It is so annoying to be put on hold. We have spent for too long on the phone in the last couple of weeks. I don’t advise anyone moving to them ! I hope your journey to Rutland is smooth.

The gardener let me down for the 4th time today as it was going to rain. It didn’t much. He may come next week.
Not impressed.
I hope you all have a good night.
God bless. X

Don’t move to EE I meant!

Frustrating times soop. Hope all sorted before we hear of a new satellite orbiting. 🤞

Apologies everyone. I’m so out of touch. There seems to be much garden tidying going on. We joined you last Saturday, in warm sunshine it was so good for the soul. I love being in our tiny outside space. Mr C is no gardener but will work to (careful!) instruction if kept well provided with coffee. Can’t ask for more. We’ve never had a painted fence brook. Just the faded, treated, wood look. Good luck with yours. Mr C does paint the sheds, all 3 of them, and enjoys it.

Hope those antibiotics kick in soon for your husband jax. It’s been too long for sure.

Best be off. Bus excursion today back to the eye hospital. I’m told a 4 hour appointment. Blimey. Mr C will bring a book and sit patiently while I fidget. We’re hoping we can persuade someone, anyone, to explain what’s going on in language we understand.

Take care everyone.

I really hope you get some answers today corner explaining what’s happened and what to expect in the future. Preferably in language and at a speed to can take in, fingers crossed.

Dear Soop....

So sorry you're having problems with Premier Inn........ I had a similar experience recently trying to cancel a booking... I ended up calling Customer Services who informed me they have changed their website and my booking reference was from the old site!! They did sort it out eventually........ Good luck x

Good afternoon dear Kitcheners. It’s been a lovely sunny day here, though the breeze is quite chilly. I have been for a short walk but the leg is quite wobbly so I didn’t go far.

MrB has been out on his newly repaired motor bike and discovered he is not as young as he used to be!

So we are now sat in the garden admiring the bluebells by the pond 😎

Big hug for you soop, what a trying time!

Hope today’s appointment is useful Corner.

Hope those antibiotics kick in soon Jax.

I will leave you with my bluebells 💙

Good evening Kitcheners. Blossoming such a lovely, colourful photo. It's been blue skies and sunshine all day here too. It makes things so much better. Although I can see the grime more easily 😱. I have pottered about the house and garden and achieved loads today and that makes me happy too. I have a housemaid's soul, I fear. So boeuf bourguinon for dinner shortly and a gentle evening. Enjoy your evening Kitcheners.

Hi kitchen pals, it’s been a lovely sunny day here in Inverness, warm in the sunshine too 😎
I’ve been at the volunteering centre this morning and then gardening this afternoon, a bit of weeding, lifting and shifting and one more fence panel done.
A change of plan here as DGD is staying tomorrow evening rather than tonight as her after school activities have changed. It suits us fine too
Gorgeous bluebells blossoming, ours are nowhere near that yet, just green shoots
Hoping all has gone ok today corner ❤️

Love the pic Blossoming of your bluebells in the sunshine. Sitting in your garden sounds delightful. 😊

Good evening all. It has been a lovely day here in Dunblane especially for DH’s birthday! It was the same 4yrs ago at the start of Covid which was his 70th and we couldn’t see anyone! We had a lovely lunch at the Italian restaurant at a golf club near Larbert. Guess where Grandmabatty. Both DS and DD visited after their work which was lovely. Hope your appointment went well Cornergran and everyone else with medical issues. Our bluebells aren’t out either yet Brook

We’ve bluebells here. They are such a cheering sight in the hedgerows. Those in the development planting are sadly the Spanish variety, it’s still hard not to smile when we see them.

The scans went well enough, a couple of bumps along the two hour way but nothing major. The dye left me a gentle shade of Minion. We escaped after three hours, had to wait for the cannula to be removed. No doctor today so frustratingly we’re no further forward in understanding. There should be a further appointment in three weeks with a consultant. In the meantime I’ll do my best to forget all about it! Thank you all for your kindness.

Hope soop has had some success today. As always my thoughts are with everyone struggling, no matter the reason.

Sleep well.

jaxj the antibiotics should begin to work on day 3 and hopefully Mr. J will start to notice a marked improvement.

corner another nightmare over and done with and I hope you are relaxing at home now.

You need to pack your bags and get away, but sadly, I am aware that that is not to be. There is to be a heatwave next week so sit in your garden and watch the weeds grow. That is what I will be doing.

soop you are having an awful time at present- not what retirement is about.

Pleased it’s all over corner hopefully not too long until you see the consultant

A very late Happy Birthday to your DH Scapal ! 🎂🎉🥂