Good Morning Friday 10th October 2025

Good morning all and it’s cool and cloudy here in Essex.

This week has been full on with meetings and appointments.
7 in all with todays ear clearing (Dh) and FA this afternoon. Also phone calls that needed attention. My head is 🤯. Dh used to deal with all this but since his stroke he can’t really cope with the stress and his concentration span is short.

Rosesandlilac and Redcar , back pain is awful and so debilitating. It will ease eventually, just takes time and patience. Take care .

Jaxjacky we had swede mashed with carrot last evening. A sign that winter is approaching.

Lovely pick Kitty . We’re 55 years next July.

A sad day for you Bellasnanna, but lots of happy memories of life with your beloved sister. How sad she died on her son’s birthday. 🥀.

I hope all poorly grans are feeling a little better today. 🌻

Morning all from West Oxfordshire.

We aren’t doing much today apart from having lunch in a small riverside town about 20 minutes away. We will have a wander around the town afterwards - there are interesting antique shops.

There seems to be a lot of sadness and difficulty this morning, I hope there are better times ahead.

ginny I hope things aren't as bad as you fear with your Dsils. Susan the same with you. Kittylester a very happy anniversary to you both.
The hedge men were here at a quarter to eight and have started work. I hope my neighbours weren't having a long lie!

Good morning from a dull W Kent. There seem to be so much illness and worry today, sending best wishes to all.
At art group yesterday 3 of the ladies spent most of the time discussing their husbands who have different kinds of dementia, it is such a difficult time for many. DH and I decided to go to our happy garden, have a snack and sit in the sun. The upshot was we both slept a little longer. Today is shopping and seeing DGS5 and DD2 later.

Good morning all.
I started to post a few weeks ago but then decided to revert to just reading.
However this morning I just had to say what a sad time some people are having and how much I sympathise and feel so sorry for them and their families.
I can’t help in any way but just say they are in my thoughts.
Perhaps things will improve, I hope so.

Good morning all from a cloudy Glasgow, where it is 12°C,

Safe journey, GM, I hope you love Malta as much we do.

Yesterday morning I had a telephone consultation with a GP, my own one at last!
I was feeling quite unwell and doubled up with stomach pain.
Has this problem just been since the procedure on Monday?, he asked. 😡
My response was rather sharp and I could sense he was surprised at my tone,
This is why I am in the state I am in, I thought to myself.
I asked if my scan and xray results were back. What scans? ^Who organised them? No joy there, either.
He did issue a prescription, but no antibiotics, because (quote) I am already on prophylactic antibiotics for COPD and so much medication, that it would not be advisable to prescribe them.
Only if I get any worse (!!!!!) Will he prescribe them. I didn't think I could feel worse. 😪
His parting words, It is a particularly nasty disease, I inderstand how awful, you must be feeling. 😲 No you don't!!!

Things took a more positive turn, when DIL popped in, after checking her parents' house next door. It was good to talk to her, but her spoiled and obnoxious sister (her parents' favourite) has come out of the woodwork, causing trouble again and she was visibly upset.

I also received an email from the company, who sent me the wrong order,
They offered to let me keep the coat (obviously more expensive than the gilet) and refunded the missing item. I will keep the coat, it is so cosy! 😉
The only downside, Babydoll's dinosaur umbrella is sold out, however there is a shark one, complete with fin.😂

Yesterday, I found a rare photo of my mother and myself at the same age and sent it to the family chat.
They were shocked. Babydoll is my double, down to the expression on my face and hair falling over my eye. 😍

DH surprised me, by putting my boxes of summer clothes up the loft and bringing down my winter ones, without being asked or nagged. I was downstairs, sorting my meds and couldn't understand what the racket was,
It was a pleasant surprise,
He was confused by how few winter clothes, he had to bring down and had been searching the loft for the missing items..
There were none, for I had done a cull at the end of last winter.😂

He continued to confuse me, by dismantling the huge patio heater, I've had in the corner of the conservatory for years.
We have two large radiators, but I use it, when the heating is not on.
I had been planning to dispose of it and buy a small heater, but couldn't be bothered.
At lunch time, a mysterious box was delivered. It contained a state of the art heater, which also had a fan for the summer. Even better, it was trimmed in teal to match my colour scheme.😁
DH said that he realised, that my failing health meant, that I would probably be spending more time in the conservatory, so he wanted me to be comfortable. 😍-- and the patio heater was costing a fortune in electricity-- 😂.

Today, I have an early appointments to have my B12 and iron levels checked, after a course of medication,
The phlebotomist will be lucky to find a vein. Numerous areas of my body are bruised, including my whole hand, after the recent procdures.
Normally afterwards, I would be doing my usual trawl of the retail. Park and TKMaxx, but that won't be happening.

I wish you all a pleasant day and hugs for my fellow mountaineers. X

Good morning from an overcast but mild S E Essex.

I am allowed back in my kitchen, yippee! Still waiting for the glass splash backs and flooring, but I can cook and sit at my island to have lunch/coffee etc. which is brilliant. I feel as if the light is on at the end of the tunnel.

Off to the gym first thing, then I need to peruse my wardrobe for an outfit to wear to our friend’s surprise 70th birthday party this evening. It will be lovely to see her face (she likes surprises). All our AC and the younger GC are going as they have grown up alongside our friends children and are close.

Wishing relief for those in pain and struggling.

Enjoy Malta gM

Happy Anniversary kitty 🍾🥂

Good morning from s somerset, dry today

Up late after a good sleep, I had to concentrate on my knitting last night, found a pattern mistake 30 rows down, undid neckband, shoulder joins and went down 30 rows. Luckily the wool is quite sticky and I did not have to go stitch by stitch except for the last pick-up row. I expect that is why I slept well, no tv

There is a worried sad aura here today

I am hoping that life gets an uptick for those who need it

Good morning from dull Wiltshire. We really seem to be hurtling towards Winter.

Tomorrow is D2’s birthday and we have GD3 and GS2 overnight while she and her H go for a rare night out. I’ll take a birthday cake round for her when we collect them the kids.

Made a lot of progress clearing old plants away and planting pots of spring bulbs. Haven’t touched the dahlias as they are still going strong.

Dragonfly Thoughts with both you and your DH. A worrying time for you both.
MD so pleased you have not got worrying intestinal issues.
🤞for Himself FGTs and that the new round of chemo really does help.
BlueSapphire Your dinner last night was identical to ours. Including the 🍷.
Bellasnana 💐

Have a good day everyone.

A late good morning from Suffolk where,after 2 poor nights’ sleep,I woke about an hour later than my usual time.

I enjoyed a long chatty lunch with my 3 friends yesterday and we had a drink in the garden before going inside to our table.

Not much on today but if it warms up,I might wash a couple of cashmere jumpers before I put them into new supposedly moth proof bags. DH has found small moth holes in 2 of his jumpers in spite of the plastic bag they are in so I’m trying a different kind.

Thinking of those finding life difficult at present.

Good morning from a cloudy but dry NE.
Yesterday was a quiet day, just did two loads of laundry and watched TV while they were on. Got everything dried and ironed by late afternoon.
Today I am going out for lunch with my friend, it is 6 weeks since I last saw her. We have both had a lot of family things going on.
Happy holiday grandMattie.
Bellasnana 💐
Marydoll 💐

Worrying ginny I hope they both have a better outcome than predicted 🤞
Happy Anniversary kitty 🥂🥳 a gentle celebration.
That’s progress GG13 the first chink of normality!

A bright day here in the East Midlands. Pilates this afternoon then meeting up with a couple of GN friends which I am looking forward to.

Happy Anniversary kitty.

Good morning everyone from a bright and sunny 🌞.Northampton. Slept later this morning, and shall soon have to start getting ready for my dance classes.

A busy day at home yesterday, getting lots of those niggling little jobs done, plus a Waitrose delivery and a load of washing.

I cut the back grass in the afternoon and was just finishing when DS arrived to pick up his old guitar which I had said I was getting rid of as it had been sitting unloved in the dining room since he went to university - 28 years ago! We bought it for him for Christmas one year when he was in his early teens. He is now 46! It will be added to his already large collection of various guitars! Apparently DGD2 is showing an interest and this beginner one will suit her better. He stayed for a while, we had a nice catch-up and he admired the new carpet in his old bedroom. News about DGD1 - she had been sitting her Oxbridge entrance exams yesterday, a big day for her.

A visit to the shops after dance classes today; can't go tomorrow as I have another busy day ahead.

Wishing all a pleasant day.

Good morning everyone, Safe travels for all who are on the move. Sending Positive healing energy to everyone healing.🩷
Made it to the hairdressers yesterday. Stay safe all GN's. and have a positive day. Peaceful one for all healing.
Still haven't posted a thread however, reading previous posts has been helpful. Such a caring bunch.

Oldies’ coffee morning and bridge practice this afternoon so need to feel rather more with it than I do at present. So sorry to read of such anxiety and health worries this morning and will keep the usual suspects as well as the newer ones in mind. At least it’s not raining!

I’m so sorry you have a bad back Roses. It is utterly miserable when it happens. It can be impossible to work out what one did to cause it. I think a heat pack from a chemist may help in the short term. Perhaps your DH could get a few for you?

💐 for Ginny.

Happy Anniversary to you both Kitty. Always nice to see a wedding photo posted.

Good morning from Cloudy Chambers northwest coast. Just a quiet day yesterday after a busy Wednesday. FaceTime with DD and sister in the south.
Today I will carry on note bashing for the next concert and my DS brings my car back after borrowing it for a gig in Yorkshire.

Bon voyage GM kitty🥂*bella*💐and I hope you feel better soon Roses🌺

A later good morning Mick and all GN's on a still , dry morning with a hint of sunshine coming out but definitely much cooler day. Good and bad reasons for being slow this morning. Not a good night and to add to usual aches and pains somewhat of a sniffle and probably getting a cold. However I did manage to go back to sleep after about 5.30am, which means that at least I have had more sleep and hopefully this can mean I am getting out of this horrible pattern of rotten nights, but it was at the cost of missing Bach before 7.

So up and just about ready to sally forth to get some basics, and remember to get a little pork pie from the good shop, and check the fruit I have, ready for my trip tomorrow to meet my family. Hope the weather is dry and good then, but we are meeting at the service station, which is convenient for us, but we just buy a drink there, never eat their expensive food, which is rarely to our liking anyway, but it does make a sensible and practical meeting up point for us all. So we just have a drink and a catch up of news and views, and then they have to be off, so I shall hopefully have some good weather where I can choose , to either carry on to the Lake district for the afternoon, as havent been across there for a while , cost of fuel etc, or go to Kirby Lonsdale for a wander around, see if the army/navy kind of shop has been rebuilt, and then if my back is kind I can walk along the path through from the church above the river Lune, where hopefully there will be some lovely autumn colours to enjoy. Well, will enjoy any of the countryside in its lovely autumn colours.

Yesterday my plans for planting little pots out didnt come to fruition, so perhaps this afternoon I might get a chance to do a bit. However I did have quite a successful day with some planned things sorted out. I am afraid that I still make lists of things to do thinking the timetable would be from when I could rush about, and dont allow the slow snail pace that I travel at now to be given extra timing. However, I took all 4 pairs of glasses and went on the yellow peril, got the bread, and then looked over at the opticians, looked busy so went off to a couple of charity shops in search of a pepper mill. No luck , annoyingly it fell off the counter and broke the bottom bit and I cant mend it , but have just recently bought a new container of peppercorns, and hence charity shop hunting for another one. So another little plan completed but did spend an extravagetn £1.50 on a hard back copy of Levy Roots cookery book in pristine condition. So it looks in such a good condition with not a stain on any page, that I guess it was a present to someone who never used it. I shall save it for a time when my back is bad, when I shall be able to browse through it and see what I fancy trying out. Now I am on my own and dont really do any dinner parties etc I find that I am getting rather boring and too likely to fall back on tried and tested recipes, but of course I also have to think what I can stand up and do and my lack of freezer space is frustrating.

So then went back to the opticions , which was quite empty, so parked the yellow peril and went in with all the 4 pairs of glasses and explained how the reading glasses didnt seem to be correct in the right eye etc, and could they look and check the prescription etc. Fortunately for me, a customer had not turned up on time and the young lady checked up on the prescription, pronouncing it correct and then did various other checks and eventually slightly altered the angle and shape of the glasses. I tried them on and they were still warm, a good idea for cold winter mornings on the buggy!! Anyway I am now trying them out for a week and will go back if necessary.

I then rewarded myself with a coffee at Cafe Nero's where I met two very pleasant Polish young women , who have lived here for nearly 20 years and were meeting up. One of them is an engineer in Leeming bar and has an injury so not at work so they were making the most of a catch up. So we chatted and the engineer was keen to ask my views on the political situation. She is worried, because she has lived here, worked all the time, claimed no benefits, pays her taxes and has a house here, but with the appalling posturing from the politicians, worries that they will say she has to leave etc etc.

I did my best to reassure her that a lot of it is just posturing, and that the tory party thinks that our memories are very short, and they can say what they will do next time in a jam tomorrow and jam yesterday but never jam today, and we wont look at the last 14 years where all these promises were not kept. Anyway, in my view, what politicians say is far more about how to get into power than what they actually do if and when they get there. Personally, although sadly those who shout loudest get more attention, the majority of people I know and speak to , are not against people who live and work and are part of the community. I was able to tell them about Upfront and the womens groups and one that is in the evening, which was something they did not know about and so hope that was helpful to them. We talked about countries and places we have visited and they told me of a good quality polish deli, that I shall go and visit soon, and we said we would look out for each other , and of course with the yellow peril just outside I could tell them that wherever they saw that I would be nearby. Then had to dash off as needed milk and it was time when the cleaner would be coming.

I am happy to fit in with Jessy and sometimes she puts me in before someone and sometimes after so not a rigid timing, but suits us both. I got home and shot down to the washing line to grab my now dry washing before I came inside. Then it was sorting and folding and adding to the ironing pile, which I really am going to be tackling this pm at some point, and then she came and so now I am proud to be sitting in clean clothes in a clean and tidy(ish) flat. She turned the mattress over for me and made the bed up and then the job for the day that I really needed doing was to get all my store cupboard out and sorted with newer dates put to the back and older stuff brought to be used first. Things put together so now I can see exactly how many of this and that I have and it ranges from a need to get a new jar of beetroot - other one has disappeared somewhere - to finding that I have four bottles of oil and probably no need for a new one until half way through next year!! So it is cheering to see a little order coming about, even though I have had to ask someone else to do the actual sorting. Now I need to look for a sort of puller /grabber thing that I can have at an angle, to be able to grab something from the back of the shelf. Think I shall have to look for something suitable in a charity shop, or look in a catalogue to think what will work for me. As it is below the counter level a straight grabber wont work for this. Well some inspiration will arrive at some point. So by the time Jess went , I was pleased but very weary and although it was still quite nice and I could have had a go at some planting, just too weary to begin and so did very little after that, studiously ignoring the ironing pile .

Today I need the D@S to see what the weekend holds for us, one or two bits, and then back and into scruff to hopefully do a bit in the garden, as it was very chilly this morning and it is quite likely that we shall get a morning or evening frost soon. Cannot let the weather take away plants I have paid for!! Have a quite large salvia in a pot that I need to look up about and see if it is safe to either split in two and plant or plant as one decent one, and not stress it out. If it is near the house wall I think I can risk planting it out. Do wish I had a cold frame to overwinter things. Anyway it has been a week of getting a bit done and that is very cheering and boosting to look back on when I have a rotten day and dont get anything done. So long as I can remember having a good week I can manage. When all I can look back on is frustration and painful times it can be very depressing. So onward and upward (I hope!)

Mick by now you are probably on your way to Bicester and hope you have a good day. I have never done fish and chips in my airfrier, need to look it up and see how to do it! GrandMattie, hope you have had a good trip to the airport and are now winging your way to Malta for a lovely holiday.
Bellasnana, it is a sad day remembering, especially as sisters know us more than anyone else, but you have good memories of her to look back on and her son to treasure. Pantglas, I never see myself as someone who does a lot, on the contrary, am constantly frustrated by my slowness and lack of getting things done!! RoseandLilac you have my sympathies and do hope that things improve soon. If you have a good old hot water bottle, I find putting them to warm you as you sit down is a help. Or a more modern thing would be these little pillow things that you can heat in the microwave and smell of lavendar to cheer you a little. Congratulations Kittylester on your anniversary and thanks for the photo, so now have an idea of what you look like, though accept you might have changed a little by now! Susan56, hope you get good news and that the doctors is just a check up on something. Georgesgran, hope you are able to get the house sold quickly and at least it will take a lot of constant thoughts and worries from you. Hope you are successful finding a suitable car too at a reasonable price.

Hoping the day goes well for everyone, here promised sunshine seems to have left and a bit grey now but still dry

Good morning all.

kitty wishing you and Mrkitty a very Happy Anniversary 🥂

ginny and Susan56💐

kittylester

Morning all from a misty North Leicestershire.

Today is our 55th wedding anniversary but, as I am still in recovery mode, we will not be going gallivanting.

Have the best day possible everyone.

Oh kittylester, I'm so glad that you have at least enjoyed a gallivant!
Most of my gallivanting was done when I was riding my horse. MrIlovedogs is not known for his gallavanting, alas!

Gallivant and gallivanting are great words. DD and I once stayed in a hotel called The Gallivant….and drank lots of gin 🥂

Good morning from cloudy grey Lancashire. MrB and I have been out for a long walk along the river. I am ready for a nap now!
Wishing everyone the best day possible.