Soop’s always open and very welcoming kitchen.

It’s pretty cold in West Oxfordshire too! It is a 5 minute walk to my book group and I wore my thickest winter coat.

Sausage rolls and fruitcake on the buffet! I was on duty at the charity cafe this morning, so there are leftovers!
It’s really very chilly in Suffolk. I can only imagine how cold you were soops. I’m glad people looked after you.
I have finished the ironing!! Partly because the washing machine has broken down! We have some very wet and heavy bath sheets which got stuck in the machine. The engineer is not coming until Tuesday. 😱

And home. 😁

FGT, special memories of your Aunt teaching you to knit. It reminded me of my lovely Mum patiently repeating,
' In, over, through and off'
for the same process, until I got the hang of it! 💕
Well done, Jaxjacky, you're on your way!

Late tonight.Dear MrMrs Soop what a terrible experience you have had.Hope all is well now.
LLFL sorry to hear about your brother but good that you will be seeing him soon.
Hope you had better news today SueD.🌷
A very cold day here had my hair done this morning.Second time at new hairdresser and still very pleased.
Sleep well everyone.

soop

Greetings, weenanni59 and a warm welcome to the kitchen. Are you a bonnie Scot? Mr Soop and I consider ourselves to be "born again Scots". We were born and bred in the heart of the English Midlands. Now, we are proud of our twenty year connection with this beautiful land.

I am continuing to play catch-up. There is stuff to do in the house. The washing has piled up. The dust has settled. Life trundles on...

My good wishes to all our Kitcheners. I consider you lovely lot to be the best.

Greetings to you !
I am a Scot but not so Bonnie now lol .
I think Scotland is very beautiful and feel lucky to live here 😊

Hi to everyone...Soop...I hope things are slowly getting back to normal for you and Mr Soop. I'm glad that this time it looks as if the graft has taken better.... You now need to have some positive news about the hernia very soon. You have wonderful friends who obviously care very much about you both.

Llfl...I was sorry to read about your brother... You will be glad to get to Oz to see him I'm sure...and whatever form the celebration takes it will wonderful that you are there to share it too. Might it be a double celebration if the baby arrives too?

Nannytopsy... Why do they always break down when you have really heavy stuff in there? Mine sometimes won't spin if it's unevenly loaded with bath towels etc. I hope the engineers can fix it and quickly... No hanging around for parts.

SueD...hoping for some better news for your DH. X

The pain that manifested itself last Friday has remained...and then white watching Silent Witness on Tuesday ...life mimicked art when I from nowhere it seemed I had blood in my mouth....no obvious sign of where it was coming from...but it unnerved me enough to mention it to my friend who insisted I call my GP. Any way upshot is...a scan..blood tests..urine etc and something needing to be sent in a sealed container to Bristol and another to check for some sort of gastric ulcer Add this to the Gynae physio, hearing aid fitting and dentist all within 3 weeks and my cup overfloweth. I told the GP if this is what being 70 is like I'll definitely be 69 from now on.

It's DH's birthday on Tuesday and here's a couple of days off so we may take Henrietta Moho down to Wales....a walk on the beach at Tenby will do us the world of good. We are both really good at surmounting whatever life throws at us most of the time but I do think it takes it toll physically and mentally....Tenby is my go to place to rebalance ...on the beach with the dogs. I used to dream about doing it with someone I love and now I can.

‘Evening All’.

We’ve had a good day. Himself likes going to the MacMillan centre, me not so much. But I don’t say anything and join in now and again for him. I feel a bit emotional again tonight. I’ve had a few tears feeling sorry for myself. Ach. As you can imagine these feelings flare occasionally. I think it’s the mental anguish of juggling hope with grief which I’m sure many understand. It’s exhausting to be honest. It’ll pass 🤞

Sending you a huge hug, fgt2. You are so brave and positive.

Huge hugs for anyone else struggling with uncertainty at the moment.

We have enjoyed our Chinese takeaway (delivered not collected)

Now watching undemanding TV

FGT2 (((hugs)))

Hello kitchen people. I could have sworn I posted a long missive here, but obviously not!

I’m thinking of you FGT2.

Granddaughter is now tucked up in bed reading Harry Potter 5. I’m sitting in the slightly freezing lounge. I’ve put the heating on but it takes a while.

Elder son and his partner are in Scotland now and will stay in Fort William.

My new car did very well on its first long journey. Torrential rain and fog all the way from junction 14 to junction 2 on the M4.

I’d booked a table at Pizza Express so me and granddaughter enjoyed a tasty dinner. We will go to the V&A tomorrow.

Have a good evening everyone.

Thank you Kitcheners. It touches me greatly when people say kind things. I’ve cried a bit more but I think the quiet release of tears is what’s needed every now and again.
Cancer sucks.

grannmarie I’ll try your trick of surrounding myself with an invisible force next time I speak to my friend who always makes me feel inadequate!
sueD I hope you’ve had positive news about your DH’s treatment today.
neine I hope your hearing aid fitting and dentist visit are successful and that the rest of your tests etc don’t show up anything nasty! I hope that your trip to Tenby proves relaxing and restorative.
fgt those feelings are perfectly natural, life has thrown you some nasty surprises over the past few years.
I’ve had a quiet day today, intended to go for a walk, but didn’t fancy getting wet, so pottered indoors instead, threw away a few things but not enough that anyone would notice! I’ll try to go out tomorrow if it’s not raining.

Fgt2 it does indeed. Next week will be the 22nd anniversary of my cancer op. The worry is always in the back of your mind I know xx

It’s truly draining. It’s just always always with us.
I think I’ll make myself a mug of Horlicks and read my book in bed. I hate all this anxiety in my life but it has to be borne.

for FGT.
We have cleaned the utility room today, including all the cupboards. All very organised now. I had to clean before the washing machine engineer comes next week!
The 6 nations rugby has started so I have to go 😉

FGT it is exhausting, losing yourself in a book is a great idea x
An in and out day, village to join a book club, M&S to collect a top - it has dye marks, will go back, the pub to catch up with friends. There is karaoke tonight, we left speedily 🙂 it will be well attended, end of the month, payday.
Watching the rugby, a full weekend of sport, Mr J and I will be hoping for bragging rights tomorrow.

Thinking of you FGT I know how you feel.🌹

I hear you, FGT.

The news for Dh at the hospital was mixed. He cannot have any more immunotherapy because he’s likely to have the same reaction again or become even more seriously ill. However, the fact he did react so violently means that even that one round may have been of benefit, so we’re holding onto that thought.

Scans showed that his illness is currently stable and not doing anything so he’s decided to take a watch & wait approach, with regular scans for monitoring. This will give him time to rebuild his strength and fitness after the past two weeks and put him in a good position for possible chemo sometime in the future. It feels something like a truce for now and we want to get some normality back into our lives.

To that end, we had our GS today and that was fun. He’s really such an amiable child, he just potters about with us, chatting away and playing his games.

Our DS2 plans to come for the weekend in mid-February, which will be lovely. He’s now on the insurance for dh’s sports car so I expect they’ll go off and have some boys adventures!

It’s a quiet weekend for us, time to get our thoughts together and do some organising.

TOYA. Xx

FGT and SueD gentle hugs to you both ❤️❤️

FGT and SueD, I admire your bravery in facing your fears and hope tomorrow is a less difficult day.

SueD ❤️

SueD and FGT... Love to you both.

SueD and FGT My heart goes out to you. Yes, I agree that Cancer sucks. If only we could wish it away and lose the fear of the not knowing...as well as having to deal with the reality of the results of scans and subsequent therapies. My love to you and all those of our Kitcheners dealing with ill health.

I was given the number of the consultant who asked for a scan of the hernia. His secretary told me that the scan results are on his desk. I hope therefore to have an idea of whether or not he can help me within the next week or so.

As I type, there is a bloody noisy gale blowing outside. Please let the power lines remain intact. The thought of another blackout is unthinkable.

Stay warm and remain safe. Until I return to our meeting place I send you all a virtual, special hug.

Hello kitchen friends, we have an unexpected surprise DD’s sitter is poorly so we have The Imp and 9yr old here.

They are currently eating their dinner and singing along to ABBA which are on Channel 5. (The television is behind them so they are not watching and eating)

We will eat later, piri piri prawns, followed by pork schnitzels and sautéed potatoes, haven’t decided on veggies yet.

(Hugs) to all 😘