The Lockdown Gang - still chatting ?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prt876dcHCw
Kaimoana your link as requested.
Those young children must have had such a lovely time camping with you and listening to your stories,
Hope you get a cheese pie that you enjoy.
Boadicea I think it’s lovely that you and Kaimoana have developed such a nice bond.
Ooh la la French fashion. Was it a fun meeting?
I’m glad you all enjoyed The Highwayman. I don’t remember it but I enjoyed listening to the Dean read it.
I could listen to him reading stories every day.
Grammaretto, like you, one mention of Wensleydale and I am instantly in the land of Wallace and Grommet.
I loved those films. My favourite character was poor little Shaun the sheep whose knees knocked as he shivered after his fleece had been cut.
I bet you enjoyed having the little people around as much as they enjoyed having you with them.
I remember them gathering the wool on their last visit and now they are washing and spinning it. What a lovely and unusual thing for them to do. A happy memory for them to have.
No I don’t know about salt cellar fortune tellers. What are they?
I am ok. Don’t seem to have done any damage. As I said…well protected. ?
I can’t believe your sister read all of the Lord of the Rings books to you. How wonderful. I used to read so much when I was younger. Now I tend to fall asleep when I read more than a few chapters.
DH had his cataract op today. All went well and the Pirate and I are back home again. The patch has to stay on till tomorrow. Hope he can see ok when it comes off.
We are both tired tonight so expect it will be an early night.

Oh, and I very rudely forgot to mention Kaimoana's incredibly generous gift of RATs in her parcel of bounty. So very useful with our hospital visits and my going to Adelaide shortly. Thank you, my dear friend. x

We learned The Highwayman in Year 7. It was astonishingly exciting when read by our teacher, Mr Gilbert, in his melodic Welsh voice. Actually, I'm surprised that it would be allowed in this woke world - crime, firearms, violence, bloodshed, eroticism, sexual abuse, suicide.

Hello Gang,
Wensleydale makes me think of Wallace and Grommit Kaimoana . Delicious cheese. When DH had his shop a favourite cheese was
Grimbister, a lightly smoked cheese from Orkney. He would order a whole cheese.
Now I'm on my own I am lax and have even resorted to buying ready grated cheddar
I'm in the Highlands staying with DD. Yesterday I had the small people all to myself. I had brought my carders and had washed the wool which they had gathered from fence and field. "This is really fun" said DGD on spindle spinning a longish length.
We also made salt cellars fortune tellers. You remember those?
I slept well. I will deliver the bairn to nursery and return home. Perhaps Sparky will have made progress in my absence?
I hope you are not black and blue still Doodle . Thanks for the link to the Dean and the Highwayman.
My Dsis used to read to me from her bunk to mine when we were children. She read Lord of the Rings aloud to me - all volumes!
DGD is reading the BFG Roald Dahl which is making her giggle.

How can NZ possibly compare with this:

www.cheesemonthclub.com/wensleydale

It has its own artisan cheeses of course and they are amazing.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202205/medium-106496-img-1688.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202205/medium-936251-highman.jpg

Daily Prayer was particularly lovely wasn't it Doodle thanks for posting the link. Could you do that every day please, as trying to find it on YouTube doesn't always work for me.

When I was teaching, we took a group of 10-11 year olds to camp. I was the cook and my bedroom, handily adjacent to the kitchen, had 3 sets of 3 tier bunkbed. At night, the students would gravitate to the sanctuary and perch like little birds on these tiers. I'd read poems to them, or tell stories about my early life in Yorkshire, with horses and carts and mangle and a rag and bone men.
An unimaginable world to those lovely children.

The Highwayman was one of their most favourite poems.

The boys found the brave, daring thief appealing; the girls sighed over Bess - and they were all suitably shocked when she made The Sacrifice.

The spooky ending was particularly appreciated, especially because they had to cross a broad stretch of unlit lawn to get from my room to their barracks
I must have read that poem every night of the camp!

On another school theme, I've been trying to duplicate the kind of Cheese Pie we used to have on Fridays when I was about 13. It came in massive, rectangular metal trays and had very short, buttery pastry and sharp local cheese, so strong it almost bit back.

Today, although I came a bit closer, I realised I was never going to succeed. I'm in a different country and as L P Hartley said, 'they do things differently there.'
Though I can, I think, remember the deliciousness of the various ingredients, I don't have English cheese, or the eye-watering onions of my teenaged years.
The wheat is grown here so not the same and who know what else the school cooks added which I can no longer taste?

However, I am re-learning how to cook, though, not 'by eye' as I have for 60+ years but by meticulously measuring everything on my LED illuminated scale. It's given me a little more time to do what I love.

BJ Let me know if you need more RAT; it may be wise to make sure you and DH are clear when you are visting hospital so often.

Friday 13th coming up.....Grammaretto don't walk under any of Sparky's ladders

And, Doodle, thank you for the link to the Dean. What a beautiful setting, and what a lovely man.

Doodle - what was so particularly lovely was that dear Kaimoana sent us some covid supplies - masks and handwash, of which we use a lot with MrJ's medical adventures. Back to the hospital in 2 weeks' time for a different issue.
Hope the bruises haven't come out en masse!
Today we are discussing fashion!

Hello all. I’m including a link to todays Dean’s service from his garden for any who might be interested. He reads the poem of The Highwayman which I didn’t know but really enjoyed and also talks about planting trees and gardeners. If anyone wants to watch and scroll through to those bits.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPTFc9pU0TQ

Kaimoana I seem to be fine, just an odd twinge now and again. Totally my own fault cutting corners (literally) instead of doing the job properly.
I miss Cherry and her Tigger tail too. If you’re reading Cherry hope you are doing well.
Skinks!! Dear little things….I prefer soft and fluffy creatures …… like cats and dogs.
Bush crickets in your bed…….I wouldn’t like that either but I would think it preferable to a dead (or live) lizard.
How lovely you got some help today. Your lady sounds nice. Will she come again do you think?
Boadicea your delivery sounds delicious. What a nice thing to do. And socks for a certain young lady too. How nice.
Hope MrBJ is careful and doesn’t undo his surgery.
Have fun at French tomorrow. Have you a conversation in mind for them this week. Some romantic liaisons for example.
Grammaretto it becomes difficult when someone you are paying to do jobs seems to take ages getting on with it. If it’s someone new it’s not so bad but difficult with someone you’ve known a while. Does he have far to travel to get to you? Is that his reason?
Hope you are almost ready for your studio opening and you have a successful time.
At home for us today. DH is having his cataract done tomorrow so we are just pottering about a bit.

Kaimoana Tomorrow you shall go to the ball. Well, you will have some organic mandarins, limes and chilis. That is, if the courier doesn't take 5 days for the overnight delivery specified. And Missy will have fancy socks. Sorry, forgot to include the plumbago, so will post again with more produce in a couple of days. Felt a bit flustered owing to trying to send some things to DS1's littlies, mandarins to DS2, warm coats to DGC in Adelaide, get MrJ to his haircut and pick up his library books, all the while worrying that he will overdo it and burst his stitches.
I so appreciate your parcel of Covid essentials-thank you!
Excellent news about your new lady! Anything about Karen?
And yes, Grammaretto - Kaimoana's ideas about a heart-to-heart with Sparky sound good...however can you be expected to go on without a proper kitchen? I hope you're coping alright.
Doodle I do hope you haven't done yourself a serious mischief with that fall. How very sad about the Dean's last few days...6 million viewers is quite a number. I'm sure his words, his garden and his animals have meant a lot to so many at a difficult time.
Tomorrow to MrJ's check-up, then a quick tidy-up before the troops arrive for French. A beautiful day today, and hopefully tomorrow. Chilly nights though - down to 10 deg last night!!

Oh Doodle that's no good. I hope you're not too sore xxxx

I wonder how dear Cherry is doing. That poor lassie must have been covered in bruises. I miss her cheeriness very much.

Grammaretto Would a down to earth, no nonsense, heart to heart with Sparky help? Does he know how long you've waited for this kitchen and cooking facilities?
He sound a hard-working enough chap so surely that means he's conscientious? Perhaps he's just badly organised

I often find skinks in my house too BJ, they sometimes get under the fridge where I can't rescue them .

They are such dear little things and, if it gets cold, easy to capture and return to the wild.

They don't get into my bed though, that seems to be the favourite place of Bush Crickets!

A lovely support lady arrived at 1pm, happy to do 1 hour of the 3 I've been allotted (I wonder if VW claim for the whole 3?) before collecting her grandchildren from kindy.

I now have fresh milk, 3 bananas and a cauliflower. Yipee

Boadicea I am so sorry for your friend. One of our dogs had to have a major op while very young and had to spend a week in a specialist veterinarian hospital. I was so worried that I wasn’t with her. She came home on my birthday. It was a job to decide who was more pleased. Her me or her big sister.
Oh my goodness a lizard (even a dead one) would have thrown me into an absolute panic. It’s a good job you’re made of sterner stuff than me. I would be having firm words with Dottie if I were you and the threat of the naughty step if that occurs again.
Kaimoana the agency don’t seem to be doing a very good job.
I hope you’re coping ok. Not sure I’d like to see an urn centre stage of a funeral, somehow that seems really strange.
Sorry for your friend Phil. I’m glad his prognosis is good but he’s obviously feeling really bad.
Grammaretto did you pay Sparky for the whole job or just what he’d done so far? Perhaps you could invite him round for a slap up meal but tell him he only gets it when everything works including the cooker.
When is the open studio? Will it be others work as well as your own. Wish I could come and see it but you’re a bit far away.
I love visiting churches. I will look up your link.
Next Monday is the Deans last day I think. I feel quite sad at the prospect of not hearing him talking every day or looking at his beautiful garden with the streams, ponds, bird life and lovely flowers and trees. I think many of the 6 million other viewers to the site will feel the same.
Had a lovely walk this evening so warm. I fell over the lead from my vacuum cleaner earlier on and fell onto the corner of the sideboard. I think I’m going to have a big bruise on my stomach…..just as well there’s lots of padding there. ?

Hello Gang,

What a strange send off for your neighbour Kaimoana unusual anyway. I have been to some quirky funerals in my time but never filing past an urn..

I have given up any expectation that Sparky will finish the job this side of Christmas.
However I am refusing to let it get me down.
I have open studios soon so will have to negotiate a passageway midst saw bench/ tools/paraphernalia/detritus.
I like the bag Doodle it looks very sensible and pretty as BJ says . I may well order one. Although I am determined to buy nothing new until I have rehomed my heaps of clothes.

Our U3A trip yesterday included a visit to an old church, now used as a wedding venue. It has a Laird's Loft where the high and mighty could separate themselves from the plebs. I hope things have changed a bit since then.
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2174457

Sorry to hear about your neighbour Doodle and to hear that your German friend is in such distress BJ.

As might be expected, no word from the agency and, of course, no home support. Thank goodness I have dried milk powder and tins in the house.

All the neighbours went to Mike's funeral today; the first I've ever seen where an urn was the centrepiece.

At the end, everyone in the church went to the front to file past and say 'goodbye'.

I'm sorry to say it felt macabre and darkly humorous, saying farewell to a brass pot.
I didn't follow the crowd.

Phone call from Phil who now has two lots of chemo behind him and is feeling very grim indeed. His prognosis is good but in the interim, the poor guy is suffering.

All this has made me think not having a support person comes into the category of First World problem. I'm a lucky duck really.

Luscious-sounding lunch, Kaimoana...and I agree with the family-you can never have too much crumble. I hope all is well with Karen and the agency has had a bit of the proverbial.
Doodle - would that I were reclining as per your imagination...sadly, no...but I did have the rest of the soup for lunch, when I got in from my history group, and the coriander had developed beautifully. Your new bag is just lovely - so sensible and useful. Pretty too. I am sorry to hear about your friend - such a shock when it is unexpected. My lovely German friend came back from her birthday treat trip to the Cook Islands, to find that their dearly loved little fox terrier had died at the kennels while they were away. She's inconsolable just now, with no other family, other than her DH in this country.
Grammaretto - I'm afraid that a dark basement in Edinburgh sounds a bit grim, but then, if she's with family, it makes a huge difference. Makes you think that maybe a Marigold Hotel is not such a bad idea!
Today, as I changed the bedding and flicked the duvet back on to the bed, a dead lizard flew through the air and landed on the pillows. Dottie must have secreted it there last night as her antidote for night starvation...she plays hard all day and sleeps very soundly all night on the bed - so soundly indeed that she forgot about her snack. At least it wasn't a mouse this time. Or a rat, like the one that someone has left outside the full-length window, at the perfect angle for visitors to enjoy.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PN7RMZP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o04_s00?th=1&tag=gransnetforum-21&ie=UTF8

Y Kaimoana your dinner sounds lovely. No wonder it’s a family favorite.
Ooh DH would be over like a shot. Black Forest Gâteux is his all time favourite too.
Oh dear, what a shame about Karen. I hope she’s ok. The agency don’t seem to do their job very well.
Hope you are ok for food etc. Will they send anyone else soon?
Boadicea for some reason, I don’t know why, but I have a vision of your draped elegantly on a chaise longue sipping your nectar/ambrosia soup while someone wafts a big palm over you. ?
Grammaretto getting proper care is so difficult to arrange isn’t it. My brother was very fortunate to get one lady who went above and beyond and was a good friend to my dear SIL.
I can understand your concern about your MIL. I wouldn’t have thought the basement would be a good place for her but as you say the decision is hers.
I am very pleased with my new little bag. It’s lightweight and holds my phone, credit card and has a nice soft pouch bit inside for my glasses. I often take them off and it’s useful to have somewhere to out them.
I’ll post a link to show it to you.
Did you enjoy the film?
When ever will your kitchen be finished, do you have any idea?

A sad day here today. Our neighbour died last night suddenly and unexpectedly. It’s been a big shock for us all and her family.

The neglect you are suffering is shocking Kaimoana
Something very wonky in the system.
I remember when DM was dependent on carers and sometimes was forgotten altogether. My Dsis , who lived nearer and called frequently, kicked up a fuss, but despite apologies, things were never perfect and this was before Brexit and covid - heaven only knows how people manage now.
I can understand why my inlaws do not want DMiL to end up in a care home or even to have new carers coming in so their plan is to have her move into DBiL's flat in Edinburgh. This sounds good but it would mean exchanging her sunny, adapted house for a damp, dark basement. She doesn't seem to mind so I guess it's up to her. It would be much further for me to visit but since that is all I do and take her for occasional drives so be it.

Advice about phone and alarms taken Doodle! Did you order me one of those bags?

Your menagerie is endlessly entertaining BJ , thanks. BTW my Gaelic is not good at all. The only things I vaguely understand are the Gaelic children's programmes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GOj3Kj_74c

The movie last night was Sound of Metal about a troubled musician who suddenly loses his hearing - permanently.
www.imdb.com/title/tt5363618/

I must get some food in. You make my mouth water with tales of crumble KM I hope you realise that. and as for fresh coriander....
I wish I had a kitchen......

Ohhh Kaimoana! That's terrible! What ARE they thinking of?? How is poor Karen? Have they given you some guidance as to when you will have support? Have they checked that you actually have food in the house? Someone needs a good talking-to. I really hope that you will be able to get out toot sweet.

I've just made a bowl of nectar and/or ambrosia (can never remember which is which)...carrot and coriander soup, made with my own coriander. Not my own carrots. Because the birds, despite cats and nets, ate them all. Gorgeous.

No marketing, library or Karen.

Of course the agency didn't let me know she was sick, or find a replacement - until I rang them later. How these people keep their jobs I'll never know.

I did the cooking Doodle, although my DS took over to finish off: assemble everything and serve.

It was a dish I learned how to make when I stayed in Château-d'Œx, Switzerland. It's basically chicken and rice in a buttery garlic sauce, the rice cooked in the herby chicken stock first.
It's much requested so a safe bet with the usual assortment of vegetables to accompany.
An apricot and apple crumble was dessert.

I said it felt very 'samey' to make crumble each time, as I like to make sure, if we have a high carb main, to serve a lighter pud.

I was told very firmly that crumble was No.1 on everyone's list of favourites and if I wanted to introduce something different, fine - but could they please have crumble as well? Collapse of stout party.

I'm going to make a Black Forest Gateau for my dil one day as she's a choc and cherryholic.

Grammaretto thank you for the cowslip, it's beautiful. I've pinched it as wallpaper. Is that all right?
As I am discovering, it's folly to leave the alarm bracelet on a table or indeed anywhere but the wrist. Falls, by their very nature, happen unexpectedly.

Oh BJ what a hoot, your birds and felines are a regular music hall act!

Off to do the Monday morning marketing, library and much else with Karen, who seemed very cheerful last time I saw her. I hope it continues; she's very dear.

Evening all. I’ve had a lazy day today (no change there then ?) . Started reading my book and then just carried on.
Two Amazon deliveries. A lovely little small bag for my phone and credit card and keys when I go for a walk and a couple of small USB nightlights which we are going to use in the bedroom so DH can see a bit more when he gets up and hopefully not fall over something.
Kaimoana the cowslip fairy sounds a happy soul.
I’m sure Gubbins will keep her daddy on his toes. It’s such a delight to see young ones as they start to explore the world.
So when you want a taxi it doesn’t come and when you don’t want one it does ?
Nice to have the family over. Did you or your DGS do the cooking?
Mamissimo I must confess I am a bit like MrM and take a portable pharmacy with me when I go on holiday. I even have a container labelled ‘The just in case bag’ ?. I tend to leave it in the suitcase from one trip to the next. I also have a dental kit bag and a first aid bag. ….. perhaps MrM and I should compare lists.
I love the sound of your trip. How exciting to plan it yourselves and choose exactly where you go. I’d like to hear more about it when you get back.
Grammaretto my dear SIL, when on her own, had one of those health call button things installed. One day we were sitting in the garden chatting and she said can you hear someone talking. We stopped to listen and sure enough there was a disembodied voice in the background. Getting up from the chair I could hear a voice in the distance saying are you there are you ok. I realised it was coming from the phone connection. My SIL had accidentally put her call gadget on the chair and sat on it. Fortunately the lady on the other end had a good sense of humour.
Hope you had a good time at the cinema. What did you see?
Boadicea I have been laughing at the antics or Doreen and Janey cat. The little bird had a lucky escape. I bet Doreen went back to the hen house and was bragging about how she put the little cat in her place. ?
Glad MrBJ is on the mend. Yes, keeping moving is important. Enjoy your history and Hope the check up goes well Thursday.

Grammaretto! I am SO impressed by your Gaelic knowledge! Looking at the way the words are written, and knowing that they actually sound nothing like that, is what brings me out in flutters. I did start to teach myself Gaelic once, but found the pronunciation such a mystery. And that phrase is one that is bound to be very useful. How lovely to see a cowslip! I remember Little Grey Rabbit making cowslip balls for the baby rabbits to play with, as they waited for Moldy Warp to return from his visit to Badger. My favourite childhood book, and now that of my DGC. Your jaunt to look at ancestral homes with MiL sounds so interesting, and your Girls’ Night Out like a bundle of laughs. Hope the cinema went well. You DD is a talented young lady – the artistic gene is evidently a dominant one! I do hope you’ve recovered from your shaking up among the wild garlic – maybe a phone in future? Doodle’s eminently sensible solution sounds perfect.

Mamissimo - what a great itinerary! So much beauty and history. Good thinking on MrM's part to have something for midgies.

Kaimoana - what bad luck that your outing was cancelled. And that you had yet another contretemps with the taxi firm. But how lovely to have the family over for Mothers’ Day and to have all that fun with the little ones. Has Gubbins started to sleep better, with all her gymnastic exertions? Did DGS win his match? Don’t forget to email me that address!

Doodle - I like your idea of having your car washed while you sit and drink coffee. Magic. Wish I could get that done here! The wild birds that I feed have no idea of good manners – they are very happy to eat the seeds I put out for them, and then go and leave a mass of offerings on the little car under the wisteria frame. Speaking of birds, Doodle, I had the funniest thing happen outside the glass door yesterday...well, it wasn’t funny for the poor little waxeye which flew into the glass, and was momentarily stunned. Little Janey Cat leapt up to catch it, but as she did so, Doreen assumed she was being attacked and flapped her wings at Janey, So the incident ended with the waxeye flying away, Janey running from the scene like, well, like a scalded cat, with Doreen in hot pursuit, drunk on the power of being able to terrorise a cat. You had to be there, maybe, but the choreography of the incident was perfection.

MrJ is slowly recovering, and trying to cut down on the painkillers, which make him dopey. I have to keep reminding him to walk up and down the house, and to get out in the garden for a stroll. We got in some firewood, which I stacked behind the garage, but didn’t realise that the stuff at the bottom was horrible-damp and covered in black mould. To which I’m very allergic. Unpleasant reaction. Going to have a bit of a grizzle at the firewood man, kick him for touch, and get in some dry redgum from a more reliable supplier.

A busy week coming up – history today, Wed and Fri. French on Thurs pm, MrJ for checkup Thurs a,m, . The Girls are looming at the window, expecting breakfast. Still 4 beautiful brown eggs every morning, I can deny them nothing.

Hello Gang and lovely to see you all again
and hear of your antics.
I will take your advice Doodle and keep my phone with me even in my own garden.
Here is a cowslip.
I took MiL on another jaunt today to see more ancestral homes.
Cinema tonight. I'll see you later

Good morning ?

Doodle we don't set out for our holiday till next Monday but as we will be on tour the planning and stuffing packing is a real production. Mr M seems to think that Scotland has no pharmacies and wishes to be prepared for everything from a midge bite and indigestion to emergency dental repairs and typhoid!

We are doing a luxury tour of Scotland that we put together ourselves. We start at Luss, then meander to Oban for a couple of days. On to Kyle and Skye, Torridon, then Achiltibuie, Durness, Tongue, Forss, Orkney, Cragellachie and finally Pitlochry.

It's all based on scenery, crustaceans, comfort, art galleries and distilleries.....what's not to like? Mr M is prob wise to pack the indigestion remedies.

This is a trip that was postponed during covid and has been much anticipated.

Today we will apply weed and feed to the main lawn and erect the bean poles for the running beans.....a job which always causes a spat as we have different wigwam design ideals and apparently my arms are too short and I don't have a clue how to tie a proper knot....?