Good Morning Thursday 29th January 2026

Good morning from slightly frosty South Lanarkshire.

How very sad Bellasnana.

Yesterday’s drive to Edinburgh took an hour longer than the normal ninety minutes, so frustrating, a broken down lorry causing chaos.

I spent ages preparing a meal following a new recipe, shouldn’t have bothered, it really wasn’t worth the effort.

A day off today and nothing planned so I’ll just see where it goes.

Thinking of fgt.

Have the best day possible everyone.

Good morning from Suffolk where it is dry as it was yesterday. The early morning frost had disappeared by mid morning and travelling along the lanes was fine after that.

I popped in to see my dear friend who was ill and she continues to do so well. She has has carers going in 4 times a day and this was scheduled for 6 weeks to ‘ enable’ her to be able to live safely in her home. After just a week she is’enabled’ and has reduced her care to just once a day, the 7am call which usually isn’t till nearly 10am.

I’m off to my stretch class in about an hour and then DH and I might pop out for coffee and cake to a local cafe whilst the weather is ok.

Hope all have a positive day especially those not feeling at their best.

Morning from a dry S Hants, for now, rain due this evening.
Son called in yesterday, he’s getting established in his own place, good to see him.
I’ll update Tesco list for tomorrow later, MrJ is doing some odd jobs for a friend.
How very sad bellasnana.
FGT
🦩🦩

Good morning from misty Leicestershire.
So sad to read your news Bellasnana.

I have a coat (fourth time lucky) to pick up in Next so will also pop into Marks after DH and I have coffee. I am finding the Blue Badge very useful if a little bewildering. Yesterday I was told if we parked in the disabled bay we had 3 hours but in the unmarked bay with a badge we could stay all day!

I recently bought a tumble dryer Greyduster. After much research I got a heat pump AEG. Not the most expensive one and I love it finding it very reasonable to run.

Thinking of those not posting.
Hoping everyone has the best day possible.

Good morning everyone from a very.grey and cloudy Northampton - Alexa told me it was clear skies, so she is completely wrong. Yesterday turned out lovely and sunny.

An eventful day yesterday; a morning of cleaning and vacuuming and a Sainsbury's delivery, then after lunch got ready for book club.
Glad I checked my emails.before I left, as there was one from our hostess's son to say that she was ill in hospital, and he would update us when he had news. I emailed back sending my good wishes.

Then my new cat carrier arrived, (in huge packaging) so thought I would assemble it; it seemed quite sturdy except it was so fiddly to put together and it didn't really do what I wanted, which was to be able to easily lift the top off at the vets - it would have been far too complicated. So I repackaged it and went online to do a return, and then found that home pick-up wasn't available and I would have to get it to a drop-off point myself. I will now have to ask family for a lift to the Post office. At least I easily managed to print off the returns label and attach it to the package. I have until the end of February to return it.

After that it was time to sit down, finish reading the paper and tidy up my emails, which included re-registering online for my rugby club, and buying a ticket for an important European match.
I also ordered a completely different style of cat carrier which comes ready assembled!

A gentler morning today, then to the cinema after lunch to see 'H is.for Hawk'.

Hoping that today goes well for all.

Good morning from West Sussex where it is currently dry and bright. We travelled back from Scotland on the train(s) yesterday and, though our Edinburgh to London train was. 15 minutes late in at King’s Cross, we made our connection.
I have brought the family cold back with me 🙁. It is my lovely friend and neighbour’s funeral today. I will have to distance from others there and not stay long afterwards.

Ladyleftfieldlover, I love anything marmalade. Waitrose used to stock a marmalade ice cream by Heston Blumenthal, I think.

Hope the day goes well for you all.

Good morning all from the Scottish Borders.
I'm very tired today and although I'm up washed and fed, I am back in bed.

I slept badly but no dreams of DH sadly, Holly 😢

There's plenty on my agenda including a trip to the theatre this evening. I must leave plenty of time to get into Edinburgh. Thanks for the warning Baubles

The prospect of flooding must be a worry for those in low lying areas. That's one advantage of living in a 200yr old house on high ground. It may be the only one 😄

So very sad Bella .

I'm glad the day centre was a success for your mum NJan My DMiL used to really look forward to her 2 days a week.

Hope everyone has something nice today to look forward to.

Good morning all from Glasgow, where it is 1°C.

So please to hear yesterday went went, Nannyjan and what a wonderful grandson you have, Greyduster,

Yesterday was a mixture of sorry and joy, DIL is very unwell, partly due to non co-operation with the medical staff.
She wants to lie in bed and wallow, but needs to be moving about. Umpteen clinicians have been into see her and are not happy with her progress.
She is reluctant to get out of bed and move about, so staff are becoming very frustrated. Also, she is back to nil by mouth. It is a long road. We've just heard, she had had a nasal tube re-inserted during the night. 😪
She has always been fragile and I am afraid for her mental health.
I have begged DH to take me so see her today to give her a talking too. 😪
There is no way I can go out on my own and I am still too lightheaded to drive.

On a lighter note, DH noticed yesterday's hairdressing appointment in the diary and asked if I would like him to take me and bring me back.
Of course I did, my hairy badly needed washed and I needed advice on my folliculitis, which has returned.
He couldn't get parked near the door, so I had to walk a little bit.
I did a perfect impersonation of an inebriated old lady! 🤣

I was the only person in the hairdresser's, which was great. Then the door opened and I heard a voice saying, Where have you been, we thought you must be dying.
It was a parishioner, who was actually a former teacher of my children and a colleague in the other parochial school.

Many times, we took joint parties of children, along with the village school children (my sister in law's school) to Castle Toward on the Cowal Peninsula.
The three of us were bad cop, bad cop and bad cop, while the young teachers were softness itself. It was the only way we could keep over one hundred children safe in an old castle.
My SIL and I look very alike, adding to much confusion among the children.
A child once got a telling off, only to say he had been told to do so, by one of those MDs, He didn't know which one, because they both looked the same..🤣
My ex colleague and I had such a giggle laughing about the things we got up to, when the children were away on activities.
We had so nany adventures and a few mishaps, I loved it there.

While we were chatting, through the window I spotted the Parish Priest out on his daily walk. It's the Monsignor, I squeaked. He thinks I'm dying, he will be contacting Rome to record a miracle..
There was so much hilarity, as the the rather large hairdresser and my friend positioned themselves, so that he couldn't see me.

Just at that, another parishioner came in, she is nearly ninety and dying of cancer, but still works about the church.
More hilarity, when we told her about the P.P.
We also discussed the whereabouts of the missing Chief Sacristan.
I received a WhatsApp from him, saying he had had an emergency procedure in hospital.
No-one has any idea, what is wrong. There are all sorts of bizarre rumours flying about the reason.
However, his wife a rather scary and controlling woman uses my hairdresser, so the hairdresser is on the case. 😉

I sat for a while, till I felt well enough to go home. While sitting, I spied a workman, who was refurbishing a house across the street. I said it looked like my nephew. The reason was, my nephew is 6ft 6in and built like a Sherman tank. However, my nephew is blonde, so it couldn't be him.
As I came out of the salon, a voice roared, AUNTIE MD!!
It was him, except he had grey hair and a long beard. At the point, the drunken old lady had returned and I explained I was trying to walk to the corner to wait for DH.
He took my arm and said, I will take you.,
Across the road, his colleagues were bemused at the sight of their boss, linking arms with this wee, old lady.

I was so happy to see him, for the last time I saw him was at DS's wedding four years ago. He was brought up, with my own children, his own parents were rather feckless.
DH didn't recognise him, thinking it was one of my former pupils, as is always the case.
My nephew always saw my husband as a father figure.
The encounter gave me such a boost.♥️

I'm going to get up, hope the dizziness is minimal and get dressed and get to the hospital.

Have a good day folks.

P.S. What do you call a post, which is neither a novella, nor a novel, but half way between?😉

Good morning Mick and all GN's on a still, slightly rainy morning in North Yorkshire. Well what a poor start to my day I am having. Slept badly and was awake from about 3am until past 5am and then of course fell asleep and didnt wake up until about 7am, feeling very rough. Usual aches and pains but also my chest is hurting rather, probably with all the coughing I was doing. So it was a very slow start, but made an effort to get the bedding off so that it could wash whilst I was sorting out other things. Ha! Went to reach new bottle of washing liquid and it was something else. Usually I keep in at least one spare and if there is a special offer sometimes two.

So bad beginning, means that once I have got my brain in working order, I will need to get out and get some , and a few other bits. Have already given up on the thought of going to the meeting today, as I need to catch up on many things. Fingers crossed that the cleaners come today, as besides all the usual things I need Jess to open some beetroot and disinfectant etc etc. She is very good at opening things and even with one of those supposed opener things I am not being successful with them.

Next major shock, when I looked at my emails, was a reply from my insurance broker, as I couldnt find my contents insurance letter in my files, and he told me that for reasons I cant understand at the moment, they couldnt get hold of me , and that my insurance had lapsed last April!!! Good job that I hadnt needed to claim, but today I must find out more and get myself insured asap.

It has been very unsettling, as my father was an insurance broker and I have always kept myself insured appropriately and made notes of dates due etc. So not only do I need to sort this out, but I am going to go through my files again today, and make notes on the calendar of renewal dates etc etc. But it shakes you up, when you find something like this out and makes you worry that you might have missed something else. Not my best beginning to a day!

Yesterday I took it steady, after my trip to York. The weather was cold and misty, but the mist kept coming in odd ways. It would begin to thin out and then close in again. When I looked out of the window, sometimes I could hardly see a chimney through the mist and then it would clear. I had washed a load of clothes and wanted to put them out, but the weather never cleared all day so they had to stay inside. It was very cold, and although I had planned to go for some shopping and bits, everytime I stuck my nose out it was so cold that I decided I could manage with what I had got already. It was market day so would have needed to go on the buggy and that was also a disincentive, so was quite happy to remain indoors , but was pleased that I had had the day in York, or cabin fever would have been too much!

So for once, all washing up done and kitchen tidied, and then a steady plod through various jobs with the radio on for company, and a bit of cooking. I enjoyed my first new rhubarb, which is always a little treat. Then I got myself organised and off to whist. A slow misty journey there, and a few people missing from the usual crowd. One family are away on holiday, but think the weather put off some of the others as there was snow further north and the A66 was closed from Bowes.

As usual it was a very nice evening , but had some very weird hands and was nowhere near any winning score. However getting my brain working and having the company, which also helps me to ignore the pain to a certain extent , is worth it in itself. To win something is a bonus. Although at the moment Ted , who is the organiser is having a bit of a difficulty sorting us out. Right now, I just cant move round, and would hold up the whole game, whilst I slowly got up and moved to the next table. So we have a gentleman , who is over 90, who stays at one table, and now have a newer lady who is in a wheelchair who also stays at one table , and now he has to add me to the list of people who sit at one place. Anyway with a bit of moving people round he sorted it and a pleasant evening was had by all. Home in a pleasant mood, and went to bed, so no idea why I was awake for so long.

So, the aim today is to get myself sorted out, and check files and things so that I can reassure myself that I have not let anything else slip through my fingers. Rather a shock , when you think you are good at such things. Well on the little course I did on the smart phones, she also showed me how to use the calendar bit too, so I still want it all written on a calendar or in my desk diary, which I put all appointments, especially things like hospital or drs things etc., but I might also now get round to putting things about a week in advance on the phone, to remind me to deal with them.

Ah well today must improve (must it?) from this crummy beginning. Mick hope you have a good trip to Bicester. You are the opposite to most of us, trying not to eat too many calories, so you can eye up lovely things to eat and enjoy them I hope.GrandMattie hope you have an enjoyable tai chi lesson today. Bellasnana, How very sad about the young girl drowning, but it is good that they found her body, rather than never finding her. I see you are another early waker today. Hope your tea revives you and gets you ready to face the day. Looks like a day indoors is most likely.

Well it is time for me to reclaim my day, and try and catch up on the missing hours. It still looks damp out there but not actually raining, so have the consolation that even if I had put the washing on already it is unlikely to be able to go on the line today. Wishing everyone a good day, with some missions accomplished and something pleasurable to enjoy too.

Thank you for such a lovely amusing post, Marydoll! It's set me up for the day!

Good Morning from a clear sky on the south coast. Yesterday was glorious and the light and air felt as if it had a touch of spring in it. Loved it.

DH's new ebike arrived at 6.45pm last night and whilst I was at choir, he managed to unpack it (huge amounts of cardboard and protective wrapping). He tells me that at 10am he will go to the bike shed ( aka the garage) and start assembling it.

Choir was again lacking attenders including our MD. The funeral of her close relative is next Tuesday - he died at Christmas - so our lovely stand-in came and took us through our paces again. I am not enjoying some of the pieces on the programme including one with no actual words but a lot of " da da di di" type sounds. Much prefer singing real words!

Late up this morning so decided to have breakfast before posting and then had to read through the thread to see what news there is today.

Kind thoughts to all strugglers and hoping for a calm and peaceful day for us all.

Good morning all from the Black country rain overnight after a lovely sunny day.
Glad to hear your mum enjoyed herself NannyJan.
If it stays dry I would like to have a tidy up in the garden, I can see many weeds that need removing and some of the solar lights need batteries replacing.
First I need to make a visit to the building society have emptied some piggy banks of their coins.
Friends coming later so we shall go over to the club this evening.
Have the best day you can everyone whatever your plans.
Thinking of the Fgts💐

Marydoll. 😂

Marydoll

Good morning all from Glasgow, where it is 1°C.

So please to hear yesterday went went, Nannyjan and what a wonderful grandson you have, Greyduster,

Yesterday was a mixture of sorry and joy, DIL is very unwell, partly due to non co-operation with the medical staff.
She wants to lie in bed and wallow, but needs to be moving about. Umpteen clinicians have been into see her and are not happy with her progress.
She is reluctant to get out of bed and move about, so staff are becoming very frustrated. Also, she is back to nil by mouth. It is a long road. We've just heard, she had had a nasal tube re-inserted during the night. 😪
She has always been fragile and I am afraid for her mental health.
I have begged DH to take me so see her today to give her a talking too. 😪
There is no way I can go out on my own and I am still too lightheaded to drive.

On a lighter note, DH noticed yesterday's hairdressing appointment in the diary and asked if I would like him to take me and bring me back.
Of course I did, my hairy badly needed washed and I needed advice on my folliculitis, which has returned.
He couldn't get parked near the door, so I had to walk a little bit.
I did a perfect impersonation of an inebriated old lady! 🤣

I was the only person in the hairdresser's, which was great. Then the door opened and I heard a voice saying, Where have you been, we thought you must be dying.
It was a parishioner, who was actually a former teacher of my children and a colleague in the other parochial school.

Many times, we took joint parties of children, along with the village school children (my sister in law's school) to Castle Toward on the Cowal Peninsula.
The three of us were bad cop, bad cop and bad cop, while the young teachers were softness itself. It was the only way we could keep over one hundred children safe in an old castle.
My SIL and I look very alike, adding to much confusion among the children.
A child once got a telling off, only to say he had been told to do so, by one of those MDs, He didn't know which one, because they both looked the same..🤣
My ex colleague and I had such a giggle laughing about the things we got up to, when the children were away on activities.
We had so nany adventures and a few mishaps, I loved it there.

While we were chatting, through the window I spotted the Parish Priest out on his daily walk. It's the Monsignor, I squeaked. He thinks I'm dying, he will be contacting Rome to record a miracle..
There was so much hilarity, as the the rather large hairdresser and my friend positioned themselves, so that he couldn't see me.

Just at that, another parishioner came in, she is nearly ninety and dying of cancer, but still works about the church.
More hilarity, when we told her about the P.P.
We also discussed the whereabouts of the missing Chief Sacristan.
I received a WhatsApp from him, saying he had had an emergency procedure in hospital.
No-one has any idea, what is wrong. There are all sorts of bizarre rumours flying about the reason.
However, his wife a rather scary and controlling woman uses my hairdresser, so the hairdresser is on the case. 😉

I sat for a while, till I felt well enough to go home. While sitting, I spied a workman, who was refurbishing a house across the street. I said it looked like my nephew. The reason was, my nephew is 6ft 6in and built like a Sherman tank. However, my nephew is blonde, so it couldn't be him.
As I came out of the salon, a voice roared, AUNTIE MD!!
It was him, except he had grey hair and a long beard. At the point, the drunken old lady had returned and I explained I was trying to walk to the corner to wait for DH.
He took my arm and said, I will take you.,
Across the road, his colleagues were bemused at the sight of their boss, linking arms with this wee, old lady.

I was so happy to see him, for the last time I saw him was at DS's wedding four years ago. He was brought up, with my own children, his own parents were rather feckless.
DH didn't recognise him, thinking it was one of my former pupils, as is always the case.
My nephew always saw my husband as a father figure.
The encounter gave me such a boost.♥️

I'm going to get up, hope the dizziness is minimal and get dressed and get to the hospital.

Have a good day folks.

P.S. What do you call a post, which is neither a novella, nor a novel, but half way between?😉

A short story?

Good morning everyone from overcast Lancashire.

I have been unwell for some days with the cold from hell. I felt lousy but it seems to be on the run now. I was up and about early for a phlebotomist appointment. All done now so I’m having a cup of tea and a couple of digestive biscuits. MrB has not fully shaken off the cold but he assures me he’s feeling better and is off out to visit his sister in Cheshire for lunch.

Best wishes to all who are struggling with life at the moment.

Wishing you all a good day, whatever you’re doing.

Marydoll I think you could call it a novelette?
I hope you are able to persuade your DIL to help herself.

Book group arriving shortly and am wondering how we can discuss Alexander Frater’s “Tales from the Torrid Zone” which has been an entertaining read but impossible to pin down, and the person who suggested it has given up being a member of the group. Today’s minor problem I think.

Sunny at the moment but more rain in the forecast so lots of roads round us will be at risk of flooding. I feel so sorry for the people suffering from the effects of it, but we continue to build on flood plains even though we know the risks.

Good morning everyone from a gloomy East Coast.

Yesterday I had a lovely walk in the sunshine and started my mindful colouring after picking up the colouring pens. The two times I sat with a cuppa I did a little while listening to my audiobook my DH was very impressed. Note to self keep them out of reach of DGDs.
My DD messaged to ask if I would help on a school trip with GD1s school in February as she is at work. I don’t mind so said I would.

After picking up GS and hearing he’d had a good day my heart lifted until the last half hour at ours when the back support fell off the I pad and he threw it. Then slammed the bathroom door resulting in a cracked door frame and then self injurious behaviour ensued when he saw how he’d cracked the frame. I told my son he’d had a good day at school but not the rest. I just smiled. Today after picking him up there will be his favourite cake in the oven so that makes him happy fingers crossed.

I am going to the gym when I get ready and then home to make the cake.

I am determined there will be sparks of joy in my day today and I hope there will be in all yours too. 🌼

Marydoll, a mini series?

Md, whatever it’s called, please keep it up. 😂
Thoughts with Fgt and others with worries.

Good morning from a cold bright Co Armagh,
Good intentions , I meant to post before I went out to Mass , I got there , candles lit for all ,
Coming out after the Mass I was asked to my friends house for coffee , our local cafe closed before Christmas , anyway nearly 2 hours later I’m home
All. Remembered