Good Morning Monday 21st September 2025

Good morning from a dry Bristol. Today is the autumn equinox - we are sliding towards winter - the temperature is 5C atm.
We didn’t get the forecast rain yesterday, although the sky was black between sunny spells. It was fairly mild.
I had a very quiet day yesterday, a long nap in the afternoon; just pottered through the day. The baby quilt is getting on well; nearly there.
Today, I’ve got to get a whole load of stuff in Tesco as my “London” friend is giving me loads of Bramleys. I shall make mincemeat for myself but wondered whether to make some to sell in the church. Would you buy a 1lb jar of homemade mincemeat for £3? That is what customers are paying for marmalade.
I’m supposed to have a visit from an electrician to see about my malfunctioning heater. This is the second visit planned. The first never happened so I’m not holding my breath. However with the coming winter, it would be good for it to be replaced - it was put in 1988 when the flat was built…
May this week bring only good things for everyone. Hugs for those with difficulties.
Carpe diem 🦩🦩🦩🦩

Good morning, Michael and all GNs. Still dark in South Yorkshire but we are promised a wall to wall sunshiny day! Yesterday largely involved moving more small items out of the rooms to be decorated and finding space to put them all. We have a large conservatory which is rapidly filling up with stuff. DD and SiL came over to take down the curtains and move the piano so that I could clean behind it. It hasn’t been moved for nine years and there was a huge piece of grey fluff in a corner that SiL tried to convince DD was a dead mouse - it wasn’t! We had roast chicken and apple pie for dinner and then they went home.
Today I’ll go to the gym and then see how the day unfolds. I have emails to write and will make some soup with the remains of the chicken.
Have the best day you can, folks.

Good morning from Malta where we expect a sunny day with a high of 30°C. No sign of autumn here just yet.

DD3 is back at school but the boys don’t start until Friday so I will be enjoying the next few days with them.

I believe it is the 22nd today Mick. Oops!

Last week was a sad one, first seeing DD1 returning to the US and then the sudden death of a friend last Saturday, her funeral was on Thursday. Only 55.😞 I can’t get over it. She had a tear in her heart.

Sorry for all the birthdays I’ve missed, just didn’t feel up to posting.

Wishing you all the best, love and hugs to all who need them.☀️

Good morning fr MS. Forecast is 30 & sunny. Bellasnana: That sounds like a very hard week you've just had...💐
All this week I have to really focus on finishing items that have a "coming up much too fast" deadline! I hope everyone has a very good start to the week!

Morning all from West Oxfordshire.

I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such heartache Bellasnana.

We had a good weekend. It was lovely having elder son and granddaughter to stay.

Usual Monday - Waitrose and laundry. I also have a pile of ironing. I will pop into our local mobile phone shop. I bought a new charging cable not too long ago and it disintegrated yesterday. Annoyingly I don’t have the receipt so I’ll just see what they say.

It feels decidedly autumnal today but I’ll just put on a thicker cardigan.

Have a good day.

Good morning from Torbay where the sky holds promise of a fine day as it lightens.

Condolences on the loss of your friend, Bellasnana. Having the boys will be a welcome distraction, especially now your DD1 has gone home.

I rang a recently bereaved friend yesterday whom I try to contact fortnightly as he is in a Care Home and has Parkinson's. He sounds remarkably cheerful but I’m sure he has private moments of sadness.

Early Lidl shop is planned for us! Have a good week!🦩🥰🦩💐🦩

Good morning everyone from a still dark Northampton; a good forecast today, bright and sunny all day. I'm earlier this morning as I have no usual lift to yoga and will have to get an early bus.

Yesterday was also glorious and I got two loads of washing done and dried on the line. In the afternoon I watched the England /France rugby semi-final which I had recorded in Saturday.

Had a lovely roast chicken for dinner - now I have to decide what to do with the remains, chicken sandwich for lunch and maybe easy-peasy chicken and chips for dinner. That will be easy as I am planning on cutting the back grass this afternoon.

Nice to see you back Bellasnana..
Thinking of Marydoll and her hospital visit today.

Wishing all a pleasant day.

Good morning Mick and all GN's on a very dark and chilly morning in North Yorkshire. Another rubbish night means I am hobbling about,hoping that painkillers will let me get moving about a bit soon. Right now I am glad that my hands still work reasonably well. Whilst I am sat writing on here I can kid myself that I am not so bad.

Of course yesterday was quite bright and sunny but a chill wind, which would have been great for the kite flying. well hope they had a good day anyway. I could have gone to the last day of the autumn flower show, but knew I couldnt manage to walk round, so settled for starting to clear up here.

I was slow to start but eventually was quite pleased with my progress in general , as I slowly managed to return quite a lot of things to their proper place, got washed up, the casserole finished off etc, and was girding my loins for another afternoon tackling either ironing or more dresser jobs, when a friend called and so that put paid to either ! Not that I cared apart from looking a bit like a bag lady with all the unfinished dresser stuff waiting for my attention. So that was the end of work plans, but very nice to catch up, have coffee and looked at the flowers that I have not yet got planted. They actually must be a priority, as some of them are quite small and need to be in the ground before it gets much colder. They are much more vunerable still sat in pots, but I have been waiting for a time I could do it myself. Now I have to be more pragmatic and if necessary need to get someone else in to do them. So frustrating, when I long to do it myself, but I cant even be sure of being able to do any this week , the way I am. Well I shall think of it a bit later when hopefully my brain will be working better.

So todays agenda is , get myself showered dressed and a bit more organised. Then down to hopefully get my prescription and a couple of bits from town. I still have plenty of casserole left, love shin beef in casserole lovely gravy, and so a jacket potato and cauliflower will complete the effort needed for that and then make some effort probably doing the ironing for a while. It feels as though it is going to be a colder day today, and so far have resisted putting any heating on, relying on warm clothes and my fleece blanket to wrap round me. The white quilted full length gilet thing, bought in a charity shop, is coming out to start its autumn wearing. It has a hood too, and is very good to just put on over my clothes, for keeping warm in the flat, without putting heating on. Cannot say it looks good on me, and not a colour I would have chosen but it works. That is the main thing.

At the moment I plan to go to the cinema at Thirsk tonight as I can see Downton Abbey this evening there. It is on for another week I think, but my very busy diary with board games and whist evenings means that tonight will be the best available time to see it. Also gives me something nice to think about this afternoon and should encourage a swift effort on the ironing board. Ah who knows what may alter today? It has just lightened enough to see the tree against the background and it looks still and dry out there right now. Hopefully we might have a bit drier day after the torrents and local small floods we have had. The ground was so dry that in some places the rain just did not penetrate the ground and ran off into floods and deep puddles. Anyway it will have helped to dampen the surfaces so that the next rain we get will soak in and begin to really do some good for the soil

Hope your day goes well Mick, there has been quite a bit of cycling on the tv , which I hope you are enjoying.GrandMattie, I am afraid I am no help re cost of mincemeat. I used to make my own and had the most extravagant high calorie special mince pie recipe. I used it for a special chirstmas treat both for the family, but also I was doing hospital car then and used to have several patients that I saw regularly, who all lived on their own. So I used to be quite a good pastry cook and then made some very good flaky pastry sausage rolls, then these mince pies where the pastry was made with butter and orange juice and the mincemeat had a spoonfull of a rich cottage cheese with sugar mixed in, cant remember the name and then pastry on top. Very delicious and no doubt hundreds of calories , but 2 sasage rolls and 2 mince pies with a few little embellishments put on a paper plate and clingfilm wrapped, made a nice little homemade gift, which were well received. So not doing that anymore and being diabetic I just dont make any, nor christmas cake . So am out of the loop in the sweet baking line these days. But I think £3 does sound ok. Can you look and see what the shop decent mincemeat prices are and compare that? Hope your heating gets sorted out today and glad you have been able to have a quiet day to gather yourself together and get a little rest before this weeks exertions . Greyduster, sounds as though you had a satisfying day getting things moved and sorted out. Hope you can have a steady day before the onslaught of decorating takes over . Hope it keeps dry for you and you are able to get things done.

Wishing everyone a decent day, where something , however small gets accomplished. That is a wish for myself as well!! Enjoy your day

Good morning, it’s only 4° here with clear skies, a chilly spot in south Glos.
Sending you hugs Bellasnana 🤗
Yesterday we did a lovely meandering walk with the dogs in glorious sunshine, far reaching views to the edge of Salisbury plain and meeting several other dog walkers en route.
I love sunny autumn days, mellow sunshine and the changing countryside.
Today I have a morning gardening at the school then I really must do some housework 🙄, I haven’t felt like it for a few days and if I don’t do it then nobody does!
A dog walkers first, that’ll set me up nicely, I do enjoy the early exercise.
I hope today goes well for you all 🌹

Good morning from the Essex coast. It feels chilly at the moment but bright and no rain.
It's actually the 22nd today. We are flying off to Turkey at lunchtime for some sun. The cases are packed and DH'S daughter is taking us to the airport.
I hope you all have a pleasant day, best wishes to all xx

Good morning, no idea what the weather has in store for us here.

I am going with DD for a private tour of the 10yr olds preferred senior school
at 9am. Then it’s the gym and hopefully finally ironing the mountain of bedding.

My condolences Bellasnana 💐

Thinking of our poorlies 🌸

Ooh that’s come round quickly Sar53 enjoy Turkey, safe journey, it’s so quick and easy (as you know) from the local airport 😘

Good morning all from Glasgow, where it is 0°C, brrrr!

I had a slightly better night's sleep, last night, but still not great.

BlueSapphire, thank you, but my procedure is next week, I wish it was today.

I am going to try and go to the funeral of an elderly parishioner today, however I will have to decide at the last moment, as I'm not doing too well.

Enjoy your days, whatever your plans and best wishes for all the poorlies.

Morning Mick, morning All from a chilly corner of Somerset. Sunshine forecast 🤞

A reflective day yesterday reminiscing about our friend. 39 years of laughter, BBQ’s in the rain, shared celebrations and support through life’s challenges. Friendships are amazing aren’t they? We were very different people, but somehow the four of us gelled.

Today we’re off over the bridge. A cemetery visit, a stop at a huge furniture store and a catch up with another old friend (of 56 years for me, 63 years for Mr C) who is far from well and without family support. Not sure where all that time went. There will be many coffee stops along the way.

Best get a wriggle on. Mr C is stirring and we want a fairly early start.

Hope Monday is gentle with us all.

Good morning everyone from mid Essex. It’s a lovely clear morning, but a very chilly 6 degrees outside. I’ll need a coat for my morning walk! A quiet day yesterday, did a little gardening pulling out some hollyhock roots, ready to plant a witch hazel that DD2 gave me earlier this year. I’ll try and get it planted today. Must also do some housework, shamed by a house proud friend who cleans throughout every day!
bellasnana sorry to hear about your friend, a sad week for you. I hope your grandsons cheer you up this week.

grandmattie I would pay £3 for a jar of homemade mincemeat. I used to make my own, but didn’t always use it so don’t bother now.

I hope all those with medical appointments today have good news to celebrate and that those who are anxious or sad find some comfort today.

Have the best day you can everyone.

Good morning all from North Leicester.

I may be homeward bound today.

Have the best day possible everyone.

I wish you a speedy recovery Kitty.💐

Good Morning from Cheshire. I quite enjoyed my drive here from Durham yesterday. The M6 traffic was heavy, but moving - speed restrictions due to congestion, so pick a lane and stick to it, as instructed.
Taxi booked for 11.30 - Cyprus here we come!

💐Bellasnana - that was no age.
I hope everyone finds a ray of peace today.

Best wishes to all. X

Good morning from s somerset, we are expecting sun all day but cooler

Bellasnana

I woke up twice with horrible tooth pain and do think it is because my mouth opened during the night, a dry mouth increases sensitivity. Tonight I am putting my humidifier on which will help me to nose-breathe. I came down with ibuprofen in my pocket and may well take those shortly, I need to break the pain cycle, again

Yesterday was very busy all day, outside all day and the allotment first. The forecast for here is potentially 3 degrees at night, too close to ground frost for me, so I brought the remaining squashes home to cure in my mini greenhouse and sowed winter green manure seed on 3 beds which I cleared. I spoke with 3 people and each time got raging toothache, so it was the cold dry air did it

I started to potter in my garden and saw a large imperfect cooking apple fall and then noticed that most of my howgate wonder apples have been pecked by jackdaws. They are all off now, some on the workbench in the garage and some in the kitchen, not too many to cope with.

I wanted to eat an apple and thought I would try one from my eating apple tree, which was laden. It is a lovely apple called christmas pippin, so sweet and the pips were brown. Result was me taking all those apples off very carefully and examining each one, now laid carefully, all apart, on slatted wooden trays in my wooden apple storage unit in my garage. They will last until march and most on that tree were perfect, unspoilt. I am estimating but I filled 7.5 drawers so maybe 15 kg. The spoilt apples all went into a compost bin. I cancelled my weekly apples from my organic box.

I will be a bit busy today and I shall be staying indoors. I want to prep the kitchen apples for the freezer and I have taken braising steak and hm bone stock out to make a casserole. Then starting today, I need to pack away my summer clothes and hunt for any layering clothes I might have tucked away

First and tentatively, a nice big mug of tea. Then I will decide whether to take my pain killer, depends on how long that expected sensitivity lasts

Have a good day

Good morning from a bright WKent. Early visit to the GP and then my cleaner should be sorting out the kitchen and hoovering through
Hope you do get home kitty
Sorry to read about your friend Bella
Best wishes

Good morning everyone from Inverness where we’ve a dry bright start to the day
Sorry to hear about your friend Bellas so sad
Yesterday ended up busier than planned as DD2 asked me out for lunch and a chat, wasn’t home until tea time. Today I’ve a bit of shopping to do and the usual housework but nothing else planned, hopefully some gardening if the sun comes out
Enjoy your holiday Sar and safe travels
Thinking of everyone with worries and struggles, hope today is gentle and take care all whatever the day brings 💐

Good morning all from the Scottish Borders. A touch of frost so the leaves will be falling soon.

Yesterday was very warm as a group of us pressed tons of apples outside our community store. I met my new neighbours who seem a nice young family. They have moved from the city.

Today I catch an early bus for a physio appointment and then on to Edinburgh to meet a French friend who is visiting with her small son.

Then home to housework and preparations for my next guests who are due on Friday.

I send best of wishes to all those unwell especially thinking of Marydoll

Good morning all from Polmont where it's currently 5° and sunny. We've had the first frost here as the cars are quite covered still. Bellasnana I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. The boys will keep you busy and distracted, I hope. GrandMattie I would pay that for homemade mincemeat.
Yesterday was a reasonable day. I didn't achieve much but I had the boys for a couple of hours. They were so good. Dgs2 wanted me to read books to him and I happily obliged then dgs1 wanted in on the act so I read one to him too. Both boys cooried in, one on each side of me. This bonhomie lasted until five minutes before their mummy arrived when they turned into puppies and had an attack of the zoomies, is the only way I can describe it! I am sure dd thinks I feed them constantly on sugar but that wasn't the case(yesterday). After they left I prepared dinner and had a lie down.
Last night I wasn't in quite as much pain as the previous one but up a lot to the loo. Today I'm taking the car to the garage to get the exhaust fixed, so no early childcare. If I get it back early enough I'll pick the boys up from school. So a day in the house for me. I might do the ironing and make lentil soup. Have a good day all.

Oh o have my fingers crossed kitty 🤞🏻

Hope you get home, and remember to rest, rest and then rest some more 🌸