Soops Kitchen, a friendly place of refuge

Thanks Charleygirl. I was cold today too. I never used to feel the cold but I have this winter

Just got home from a lovely meal with dd1 and D-son-out-law to celebrate dh birthday yesterday and mine two weeks ago.
Congratulations on your new car, Grandmabatty.

Thank you dear Kitcheners for your words of encouragement. They do help me immensely. I have felt tearful a couple of times today. Seeing some handwritten notes from Himself in a drawer just undid me. Then I dwell awhile and cry at how brave he was.

On a brighter note, I joined a yoga class this morning. It’s just downstairs in the square below, in the library. A nice large sunny room, welcoming smiles from some of the regulars helped me feel comfortable joining in. My muscles ache tonight! I was surprised to discover how rubbish I am at maintaining balance in some of the poses. I plan to persevere in the hope of seeing some improvement in the following weeks, 😊

A woman locally has opened a Pilates class but is charging £40 an hour. I know this is London, and I am Scottish, but I feel the teacher may be on her own.

Please look after yourselves. Bed and my TV are calling.

Hello everyone. Not been in for a few days so I’ve just tried to catch up. I’m sorry so many are dealing with sadness and other challenges, hugs all round.

Today’s sunshine lifted spirits here. We had what I call a holiday day, sat on a pier with coffee watching the waves then wandered further for lunch and a look at a shopping mall where I found nothing on my ‘I would like’ list, or indeed anything that wasn’t on it. No matter, we enjoyed the day. Came home to line dried laundry. So much fresher. The bedding will be out there tomorrow as more blue sky is forecast. Wonderful. We’re so often under cloud, a real treat.

Our hope is we won’t need to change our car grandmab, if we did we’d be with you and look for petrol or at the most a self charging hybrid. We can’t charge at home and the public chargers around here are notoriously unreliable. I’m a
not convinced of the benefits of electric. We also tend to buy cars on the spur of the moment, I hate the process so much it’s best to just get it over with!

I’m on countdown for our friends arriving on Sunday. There is a plan - I do like a plan. Yesterday was cooking for meals to produce from the freezer. Pleased I got that one out of the way. Tomorrow will be a non perishable grocery shop and a garden tidy. Friday after volunteering we’ll shop for the rest of the groceries. Saturday is sanitise the bungalow day. They’re good friends and don’t go looking for dust or fuss about food, I just like to have things sorted when they arrive. After that? What will be will be 😊. They will be on their way home next Thursday. We’ll miss them, they’re good company.

Time I tried for sleep. As ever love and a hug go to the soops.

Night night everyone, sleep tight.

Hi kitchen pals, it’s been a lovely sunny day here, even warm too as there’s no cold wind. I’ve been happy pottering in the garden this morning and then a quick volunteering session this afternoon. Not much planned for this evening except to find something to watch on TV and put my feet up on the sofa
Sounds like a lovely day yesterday Corner just what’s needed
So pleased you found a suitable place with arms Jax a definite big step forward getting out and about, well done 👍
Thinking of our friends in the quiet corner, take care all x

I’ve spent the day at one of my favourite places - I’m off in a minute to meet younger son for an early dinner. He works in Westminster so there’s a direct tube. For him not me!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202603/medium-bjag86-img-2268.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202603/medium-68q226-img-2275.jpeg

It’s been a beautiful day here. We have spent the afternoon wandering by the river and watching the work going on in the boatyard. Easter weekend always sees lots of boats heading out to sea after being laid up and worked on in winter. It’s lovely to see so many spring flowers too. Have a lovely evening everyone xx

Hi all, another sunny day and a river walk, now tired, but a good tired.
I’ll refine my Tesco list for tomorrow’s delivery in a minute, it is rather tedious every week!
Booked MrJ’s car in for MOT as well today and checked dates for insurance and tax on both cars.
What lovely friends to have visiting corner.
👋👋 quiet corner.

Good evening!
It must be evening, DH just brought me a sherry 🤣.
We spent a couple of hours at Lakenheath Fen today but after about 300 yards I started to struggle, so we took it very slowly with lots of sitting down. We didn’t see huge numbers of birds but there were lots of reed buntings.
We saw more than 100 plane spotters as we passed RAF Lakenheath. They were armed with huge cameras and even step ladders to photograph the planes. I had to laugh - they were ALL men, except for one lady who was sunbathing on the grass verge with her book. 🤣
We then did a big Tesco shop on the way home and I am very tired now.

An earlier ‘evening all’ from me.

I’ve been over on the bus to see my 93 year old stepfather this afternoon. We enjoyed some fine Speyside malt whisky and I admired the beautiful camellia in his garden, which also set us off laughing because there, he has his washing line strung permanently across his garden and we remembered years ago when L’il Miss, about 5y, saw it asked her mummy “is that a zip wire for grandpa?” 😂

Oh the very thought!

Good evening kitchen folk. FGT that made me chuckle too.
I picked up my new car today at 12 and was very excited
So much so that I forgot to put on my seat belt! Fortunately I sorted it before joining the traffic. I had to fix the driver's seat position and the rear view mirror too as I'm a short person. The car is lovely. There's a wee blemish on the roof which the salesman pointed out and it will be fixed when I want to take it back in. After that, I drove to Stirling for art class. It was incredibly busy- her film has encouraged newbies- but I had a profitable 2 hours. I'm really happy with the painting so far. Greer praised it a lot too. Then home and a calamity. I lifted my reading glasses from my bag and they split in two. I'm rather cross as they were very expensive. Fortunately I have a spare pair which will have to do me just now. I've had chilli and pitta bread for dinner and I intend to read through the car handbook. Enjoy your evening kitchen folk

Another glorious day here.
A friend picked me up at lunchtime and we went to a garden centre where we had a light lunch and enjoyed a long chat.
Her H died a few weeks ago but she is fine.
Second marriage for both and….he was very demanding.
She is a very social being and making the most of her time after being confined to the house looking after him for a long time, she has my sympathy and my approval.
I have only just put a ligh, on the latest so far this year.
I look forward to the long evenings.

Hi kitchen friends, the 11yr old is here for his weekly sleepover, currently demolishing a plate of pulled pork, hash browns and coleslaw (weird, but his choice)

It’s been a beautiful day here, visited the farm shop, finally got round to the handwashing

DH and I have steak for dinner (his with chips mine with salad)

Enjoy your car *Grandmabatty^ I love that new car smell.

Grannygravy, that new car smell is lovely. Sadly, it won't last too long but I will enjoy it while it's there

fgt that made me giggle! My 81 years old friend wants to go on the zip wire in North Wales I think it’s across a slate quarry?
Well done for getting your new car grandmabatty and for reading the handbook. What a nuisance about your glasses, could they be repaired as they were expensive?
You are doing well now jaxjacky, good that you are able to get out for a walk now.
It’s been a lovely day again today, but I didn’t do any more gardening in case I upset my back. I did wash the bathroom floor though and emptied the ironing basket, so two things ticked off my to do list.
A flurry of WhatsApp messages this evening with my nieces and daughters with photos of my late sister in law cuddling my DGDs when they were babies. We’ve all got hundreds of photos on our phones and laptops so it’s taken a while to find a photo of one of the DGDs. She and her cousin were born four months apart and it’s not always obvious which one is which, especially as neither of them had much hair at that time!

Night night everyone, sleep well.

Grandmabatty it was new car day here as well. Lots of fussing about to sync up with an app. I stayed out the way and let Dh carry on. Fortunately it’s very like the last one so I’m sure I’ll be fine driving. We had a lovely weekend away with the family although the weather could have been better. It was just great spending so much time with dgd.

Castle I had the app downloaded too and it seemed to take ages. However its all sorted. Redcar no, the frames split into two. The lenses were inserted into existing frames which would now be 3 years old, so there's no point. The optician would charge a fortune (Boots)

Hi kitchen pals, it’s been another lovely sunny day here, so nice to see the sunshine. After volunteering this morning and then a couple of dance classes at the gym I walked into town along the side of the River Ness, it was such a lovely walk with the spring bulbs all along the banks of the river. I called into my favourite place and enjoyed a lovely coffee at the window seat. There’s lots of tourists about all making the most of the weather. . Got the bus home ok too. Tomorrow we’re off out and about and staying over at a country hotel in Aberdeenshire, we’re looking forward to a change of scenery and a weekend away.
Hope you’re enjoying your new car grandmabatty and you too Castle, hope you’re both getting used to them ok
Hope everyone in the quiet corner is doing ok, take care all x

Have a lovely time Brook. Yes, I'm getting used to the new car. All the buttons take some working out! It's been such a lovely day, warm and sunny.

Thank you grandmabatty, we’re just doing some route planning now, looking for somewhere to stop en route for a nice lunch!

Hi all, a sunny day again, slightly cooler and I was taking it easy, muscles twinging a little and I’ll be back out tomorrow, MrJ got my seed potatoes in.
Enjoy your cars Grandmabatty and Castle I must admit there may well be functions in my car I haven’t explored after six years🤫.
Have a thoroughly lovely weekend brook and I hope the weather holds for you.
We’ll be watching Red Nose events tonight (well done Greg James).
Have a gentle evening all.

Thank you Jax and very well done with your walking progress, it sounds like you’re doing really well 👏

It brightened up as the day went on, but it was a chilly day today. I got two loads of washing dried on the line and the house is clean and tidy ready for visitors tomorrow. We are now settled with a glass of wine, my knitting and the rugby. A classic Friday evening - we lead exciting lives 🤣.
Glad your car is successful Grandmabatty. We have features on our that have not been used too!
Enjoy your evening everyone and sleep tight 😴

A shame about your glasses grandmabatty. I’m glad you’re getting to grips with your new car. I have to refer to the manual to change the clock twice a year - I’ve only had it 14 years!
Grey here this morning but a bit brighter this afternoon.I didn’t do any more gardening though as my back is very painful today. Tomorrow I intend to transplant a skimmia from one pot to a larger one, very slowly and carefully!

brook have a lovely weekend away, enjoy the change of scenery.

Enjoy the rest of the evening everyone.