Soops Kitchen is now open again - Mods shut the last one.

Good morning from a very bright sunny morning here in Stockport after a very chilly start.
I was supposed to be out at lunchtime with a young friend but woke up with awful acid reflux, so bad I was sick so I had to cancel.
I don’t get out much so it was disappointing but I have had to learn to be sensible.
I have arranged to go to see my G and GC for a few days at half term so that is something to look forward to.
I read on Good morning that Blossoming is making some progress, showering alone, so that is good news, onwards and upwards now.
I hope kitty is also doing well.
I have just contacted a friend for her braised red cabbage recipe which I have misplaced, hers is particularly good so as soon as I get it I will do some for the freezer, I have become domesticated recently.
To all you lucky people planning holidays I send envious greetings.
I have given up now on proper holiday, my passport has lapsed and I am not renewing it.
It is too much effort now to plan and get ready, and when I think about the cost of insurance it certainly puts me off.
I hope you all have a good day and make the most of the sunshine.

A very Happy Birthday for yesterday Charleygirl, sorry it’s late but I hope you enjoyed your special day 💐🎂❤️

It’s been quite a sunny afternoon here in Inverness, some warmth in the sunshine but cool in the shade
I’ve been volunteering most of the day, I think they’re short of volunteers at the moment so we’re quite busy just now. I enjoy it though both working with the medical students and the social side with the other volunteers does me good
Lemon broccoli chicken for dinner - it’s a new recipe that we’re trying out as at the weekend we decided it’s time to try a few new things as otherwise I’d just live on homemade soups during the winter months.
I hope the little cat is ok granmarie poor thing
Hope you’re feeling a bit better now uttb
Gentle hugs to all in the quiet corner, take care all x

Sorry I missed it Charleygirl many happy belated returns 🥳🎂.
Hope you feel better now utbb, reflux is horrible, good you have a break to look forward to, any chance you could send some domesticity this way 🙂
Your garden would shame ours Redcar climber to cut back and now seeded nigella to take out, then we’ll (I’m using the royal we), before composting and finally bark.
Lovely sunny day, but cool, I was out and about, cashpoint and much to MrJ’s horror I bought a festive jumper in the charity shop!
You must be happy to be home kitty go gently and I am also chuffed Blossoming is back and recovering.
Good plan brook trying new dishes, it’s so easy to be on repeat.

Good evening dear Kitcheners, it’s been a tiring day. I’ve been moved into my new room, there had been a problem in the bathroom of another room when I arrived so they had to sort that out and I was in another room for a couple of nights. We were kept fully informed so it wasn’t a problem.

The new room is a little larger, so I will have some room to do my exercises, and I am getting used to the new layout.

Hi Blossoming good to hear from you and hope you’re settling well into your new room, take care and rest x

I hope you’ll be comfortable in your new room blossoming, well done for doing your exercises!
jaxjacky my garden needs a lot more attention than I can give it unfortunately. I made the mistake of putting some home made compost onto some bare earth under a tree, and spent a while today hoeing the weeds up from it. I had hoped the little green shoots might be self seeded nigella, but definitely not! I did manage to dig a hole and planted a witch hazel that DD2 had given me. If my back is ok, I’ll plant some bulbs tomorrow. Still a few straggly shrubs to deal with too.

utbb what a shame you had to cancel your lunch out, but acid reflux is very unpleasant. I hope it’s eased now.

Have a good night’s sleep everyone.

cornergran, I’m so sorry you’ve lost a dear friend.
Reflux/indigestion, whatever we call it, can be so agonising, UTBB, as you know. I hope your tummy settles down now. I also hope your son gets some help dealing with his issues - it’s very hard on you.
Enjoy your holiday, Yia! 🏖️
I’ve missed news of Kitty but I hope you’re feeling much better at home.
Happy birthday, Charlie. 🎂
I hope the wee cat was ok, Granmarie xx

We’ve had glorious weather today, sunshine from dawn to dusk and it was almost 17deg, though not at night! I’m putting the electric blanket on sometimes if I wake up chilly. My car has been cleaned inside and out by a valeting company and looks all shiny bright again. That’s only until tomorrow when my GD will no doubt deposit mud, crumbs, glitter, hair bobbles and goodness knows what else in it.

I’ve done a little in the garden. We have the motherlode of rhubarb growing and I pulled and cooked some of it yesterday. It needs quite a dose of sugar to make it palatable but it was otherwise fine. There’s still so much in the garden, though. I bought a new yogurt maker last week so have made a batch of Greek yogurt. We had some with the rhubarb, so it was a home grown pudding.

GD duties tomorrow but I hope to get a bit more garden work done as well. I’ve bought a few bulbs but need some more so must order those. The trees we planted seem to be doing ok, they have new growth on them and last week I noticed that there are now quite a lot tomatoes on my three plants. We’ve eaten a couple and more are ripening on the window sill, looking forward to having those. They’ve done better than I expected.

That’s all for now, sweet dreams, everyone. Xxx

Quick update, brook and SueD, the wee cat is OK, thanks, some kidney issues but he's got medication and a follow up next week.

NNGB

Had a chat with our friends daughter this morning, good to hear her voice even through her upset. The funeral is a few weeks away to allow for family holiday. All being well we will go, an overnight stay will support the travelling. I tell folk we’re like fine wine now. We don’t travel well. Not quite so, we just have to travel in a way that suits us.

Good news granmarie.

Hope you’ve settled in and are comfortable blossoming.

You’ve been busier than I have sued. I did plant a few bulbs at the weekend and removed a weed or two, other than pulling out spent summer annuals from troughs that’s all I’ve managed.

Enjoyed an excellent lunch and afternoon wander with friends today. It was a reminder that the things we take for granted in our locality are of real interest to those from further afield.

We’re trying to decide if we need or want new sofas. So much easier to keep the Ines we have although one is less than ideally comfortable now. I’m not sure what we’ll do, a decision will be made - one day .

Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight.

‘Evening All’.

I can’t believe I’m first in the kitchen tonight.

I went to see my stepfather on the bus at lunchtime. He’s in good fettle just sad at our family situation. He will be 93 next week I’m going to try and see him on the day but can never promise. I took him some shopping and he’s well stocked up.

He showed me a letter from a tv company “dear Resident we would be interested to use your house to film an episode of “Waterloo Road” in November as you have a car port with an adjacent front door. If you might be interested please call on the number shown. Of course an agreed payment will be made.”

I thought it sounded fun! Anyway, he’s interested and said he’d give them a call. 😁

Coo FGT that sounds exciting!
We had a new connected water meter fitted while we were in France. Delighted to say it registered 250 - 330 litres each day while we were away. It’s not our neighbour - he showers when he gets home from work and does two loads of washing at the weekend. Hmm
Anglian Water at its best!
It has been a glorious day today but a bit chilly! I hope you have all had good days. X

Hi all, bedding out first thing then off to the seaside, I was showing MrJ where my granny lived, many a happy summer spent there, the Isle of Wight seems so close, but isn’t.
Sounds great with more space Blossoming.
What a great age FGT and fame!
Have a pleasant evening everything.

Good evening dear Kitcheners. I am currently lying on my bed in my room at Marina View looking across to where my home and my beloved are 😍. Neither of us likes being separated but this is the best solution for our current situation. The stairlift man is calling in again tomorrow, fingers crossed they can give us a start date as we really want that doing before I am home again. MrB has taken me for a lovely walk around the river and the Marina today, I enjoyed the fresh air and am full of lovely food now and sooooo sleepy!
Wishing you all a good night, I’ll leave you with this photo I took today xx

fgt how exciting for your stepfather! I hope you are able to see him on his birthday next week.
nannytopsy it sounds like you might have a problem already with your new water meter. Mine is halfway along my drive and I can’t see what it says, but Anglian water aren’t asking for more money so fingers crossed it’s working properly.
blossoming that’s a lovely photo. You must be very frustrated if you can see your house from your room! But comforting to be so close to home and your DH. I hope you can get the stairlift installed soon.

I got the 10.5 tog duvet out of its bag today and put a cover on it, ready to go on the bed soon. I think it’s too early at the moment, even if I’ve got the 7.0 tog duvet on the bed with a fleece throw on top of it.
No gardening today as my back is very stiff and achy due to the fight with the duvet cover! And possibly the stress of worrying about my godmother, she’d be horrified if she knew I’m worried about her!
Enjoy the evening everyone, sleep well!

That’s such good news Blossoming so pleased you got out for some fresh air today and enjoyed the different scenery. I hope the stair lift can be fitted soon for you
Sounds like a good day Jax, I too got all my bedding dried outside today. I like revisiting previous homes and places with special memories but as those childhood places are such a long distance away now we can’t really do it - it’d be nice to though
I’ve enjoyed today, a class at the gym, coffee with a pal, online volunteering and then a short walk with DH this afternoon. Pretty whacked now so ready for an early night
Good on your stepfather fgt it’ll be interesting watching the filming, hope you’re all doing ok today
Not sure about the water meter nannytopsy, we don’t have them here but it sounds like a lot of water! Could there be a leak somewhere?
I’ve exactly the same predicament cornergran, I’d really like a change of sofas but can’t really find what I want and tba can’t be bothered spending ages looking. It’s a long story but we did get new sofas a little while ago, not cheap ones but quite expensive- anyhow we ended up sending them back and got a full refund. It’s sort of put me off looking again as we’re back to square one!
Hoping our dearest Soop is getting on ok
Hoping everyone sleeps well tonight, take care all x

7.5 here redcar and just warm enough for now!

brook the 7.0 plus fleece blanket is just about enough for now. It’s still only September and I don’t want to put the heavier duvet on yet! Maybe be next week!

Exciting times for your dear stepfather FGT2

Mixed day here at Gravy Grange, no hot water first thing, now sorted.

I m struggling with the dust and smells, asthma and migraines not a good combination, but we are in the midst of the building storm, so out the other side soon.

Thinking of our dear soop I hope she is comfortable and being spoilt by mr,soop

Nightie night 🙋‍♀️

10:5 tog duvet on here and it really is too warm but I only have. 4:5 one and I’m not putting that back on. My difficult friend came this afternoon and she lived up to her name.
She “ really didn’t feel up to coming ,but didn’t want to let me down and she really wanted to get out of her house”
Well thanks for that!!
I have had acid reflux very badly for several days now, it is so troublesome day and night.
A friend has it also and her GP quoted 6/7 months for an endoscopy, she is going down the private route and has paid £275 for the initial consultation and is having the procedure in a couple of weeks, projected cost £2000+
I hope I don’t get to that stage but it really is bad at present, 24 hours a day
I hope all the rest of you are coping with whatever life is dealing at the moment.

I think one of our friends must be the twin of your friend utbb. Frustrating isn’t it?

That sounds fun fgt, hope it all works out.

That’s quite a view blossoming. The change of room definitely a good plan. I hope the stair lift is in at home soon.

My eyes are closing now, a very good sign so I’ll wish you all a restful night and send apologies to those I’ve not mentioned. Sleep well everyone.

A quick pop in... I'm having a iffy week. I injured my leg ( well I didn't the dogs did) and it's very uncomfortable to walk as it's on my calf and pulls every time. Those of you with delicate dispositions don't look. I've got to go back to the doctor's today for it to be checked and the dressing changed. I could actually do the dressing myself but they want to check the wound. I'm not looking forward to that.
The dogs didn't mean to do it. They spied a cat outside Henrietta MoHo and took off scruff my legs and took a chunk with them. The skin is so thin. ( Sun damage and mature skin methinks).
I know a lot of you have followed my story and the pain of not seeing my DDs and GC and my recent decision not to feel anger and resentment any more but to replace those negative feelings with love once more, it's meant I can pray for their happiness and health and also if it be Gods/their will that we get back in contact. Well DD3 did on Saturday night but only to ask if their Father could have the Victorian organ back, I'm not sure at this stage if they expected me to react badly and it would therefore start a protracted period of unpleasantness again and I think the fact that I replied 'Of course he can I am very happy it's going to him' may have come as a big surprise as since then I have heard nothing more. They will have to arrange collection and I don't know whether I should ask for someone independent to collect it or just wait and see what is suggested if in fact it does actually go ahead. A year ago I would have been in bits by this but my change of heart has seen me more able to cope and deeper acceptance.
I hope this wasn't all too boring.

See what I mean...

Blimey NN. That looks painful.

neine ouch!! I had one like that on my arm, it took about 3 weeks to heal because of my fragile skin (like yours). It’s good that your doctor wants to keep an eye on the wound. I hope it heals quickly.