🦞 Locked down no longer but still firm friends 🦞

Flouncing, as complete post has disappeared.😡

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202406/medium-487689-1000014891.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202406/medium-645408-1000014890.jpg

Well, shoulders yes but not head. 🤣😂

I wonder what DH would think of my plans to build a house. Would he think I was crazy, as the DC do, or join in with the plans.
I hope the latter.

More bits of ceiling had landed on the floor when I came home. But the roof has had some repairs. We're going to need some more rain to test it.
Sorry 😞 folks.

Here are some pictures I took at Borglum Kloster (sp)
There's Halle's comet

Evening all.
Ixion, Yes we all had a toast to DH last night for his birthday. Today I’ve been cleaning the balcony and doing a few household chores. Been lovely and sunny.
Cherry we had a nice meal thank you. Service was awful. All new staff but fortunately the food was good,
Hope you had a better day today. The extra sleep probably did you good.
Kaimoana I used to give my sons fish fingers but haven’t had them for years. Sorry the meal wasn’t so good but your mustang man sounds nice and you had a good time which is the important thing.
Nfk is it really nearly a year. It doesn’t seem that long. You have coped well and I’m glad you still make use of the camperbubble. Having Keira as your companion must be a comfort too but nothing quite compares does it. It would have been our 54th anniversary would be next month.
That made me laugh, I did think you were describing your son 🤣
Your garden looks fantastic. Really pretty. Wish I was close enough to visit.
Grammaretto glad you had a wonderful trip I bet your DB was so pleased you made it.
My SILs family had a summerhouse too and they used to go swimming in the sea every day. Don’t know how you spell it but it was in a place that sounds like Malts.
No I didn’t know Normans were Nothmen. Always learning stuff on this thread
ixion sorry your post has vanished into the ether. So annoying. Feel free to flounce as much as you want 🤣

I was trying to find out how to spell the name of the place in Denmark that starts with M. Google came up with Middlefart 😮

He would definitely join in with the plans. I love a good plan. They won't admit it but I bet your DC are proud that you're a little crazy.

I hope your roof is ok now and no more ceiling falls down. You need to sell your house to build your dream.*

Are you really going to build a new house Grammaretto?

In my 30's I designed a house and whilst it wasn't built, it did received an "Excellence in Innovation" award (sounds much posher than it was )

An enclosed pentagon round a central garden could actually be a hexagon or any gon as it was a clip-on sort of design, the rooms being made into whatever was needed... a corridor connecting all.
The glass/perspex roof included solar panels; rainwater run off was a clear central spiral, the water cascading into an undeground tank for recycling (when recycling wasn't even fashionable yet).
It had all sorts of innovative designs including state-of-the-art security glass in all rooms and a sliding panel on the outside of the front door so it didn't look like a door

Goodness knows what it would have cost to build but imagination rather than cost was part of the brief.

It was for a small company owned by a man called John Charles Auger, so I called the house 'Auger's Well'.
What fun I had in those days when I thought I was going to be a designer.

Nfk I laughed at your dog story, poor old thing

Cherry sorry the idea didn't work - obviously the person I got it from had no idea Montbretia was salf-proof, is it a coastal plant then?

Mammismo That region is famouse for its roaming wolf packs. Farmers hate them but they are a protected species. Good job Aoife is safe at home.

Good morning! Trying again to cobble together a post which does not disappear, unlike that which was carefully crafted last night.

Such lovely photos - beautiful garden, Nfk, and lots of kulcher from Grammaretto, Mamissimo and Kaimoana --putting Bradford on the map--!

Your Tuscan travels brought back memories of yesteryear, when we used to rent a huge farmhouse in the hills near Lucca. Two families, eight children, four adults: swimming, reading, badminton, jigsaws and board games, no tv, total peace and quiet. We adults used to take it in turns for away days à deux, babysitting all the children in exchange alternately. Thus we were able to enjoy the walks around Lucca and the majestic beauty of San Gimignano without needing to crisscross between pizzeria and gelateria to keep the troops rallied.
Latterly, in the eyes of some of our young group, the regular arrival of the bronzed young man who tended the pool was more eagerly awaited than the promise of a day trip to sample more of Tuscany's architectural delights. 🙄

I am impressed that, as a mum, Kaimoana, you have never had the need to serve fish fingers to hungry small people. ✊. But perhaps you had already moved away at junior tea times?
I had a friend, met at ante natal classes and living close by, who made her own fish fingers😳 and insisted the poor child had home made tomato ketchup. Needless to say, said child slathered anything going in Heinz sauce when let off the leash. Actually, it was very sad as Mum experienced severe mental health issues, becoming unduly protective of the toddler which led to prolonged periods of enforced separation.

Enough wittering, off to await the weekly Sainsbury's food delivery, guaranteed to shatter the peace and calm of the sleeping neighbourhood. I once ordered for a slot between 9 and 10, but then felt the need to opt for an hour later, as I was mortified at the clatter and trundling involved.

Hoping Doodle gets to feel the sun on her face today and Cherry remains in one piece. Enjoy your day, all.

Perhaps we could club together and acquire a mustang for Jeeves since Kaimoana's df is busy taking her out.

Ixion is clever at researching these things so we could leave the finding to her. Sorted!

I actually saw a mustang in Denmark and thought of you all 🤩

Kaimoana, I was in my garden one day and realised I would miss it more than i would miss the house so have enlisted an architect, who thinks along the same lines as me, to build a small kit house for me in the garden and to find a developer who would take on the house without destroying it but convert it into flats and build low-rise eco houses beside it. Access is the main obstacle oh and money or rather lack of it

My wise and sensible DC say it's much easier to find a ready-made house to move to. boring
I am keeping all options open.

Your visionary house plans sound amazing! Mine will be modest and probably come flat-packed from Germany . A passiv-house.

I hope Mamissimo doesn't run into any wolves. I am sure she's sensible enough to stay safely in monasteries and restaurants.

I hope the sunshine we are promised chases away all our aches and pains.

Kaimoana, many moons ago, at a previous address, we were invited for a meal by a neighbour to welcome us to the area. Isn't that lovely we thought. He served us fish fingers with macaroni cheese 🤢. To add insult to injury, unlike your df, he was a bit of a braggart too 🥱.
Your house design sounds very innovative, oddly enough there is a new build house not far from us that, from the outside, appears very similar. I dont think it has all your amazing and environmentally friendly features though.
Yes it's a shame the idea to eradicate the Montbretia didn't work. Indigenously, it comes from the grasslands of East Africa I believe but in the UK it does seem to thrive in coastal areas.

You have a beautiful garden Nfk. As Grammaretto says, your DH would, indeed, be proud of you 😊.
I thought the other day that it might have been coming up to a year since your DH died, I remember it being around the time of my birthday. You've done remarkably well I think 💐

I'm pleased you had such a wonderful time in Denmark Grammaretto 😊. It must have been great to see that reproduction of the Beyeux Tapestry, it looks amazing.
Your ceiling, 😬. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the roof repairs are good.
I see there are options you are keeping open with the house and build ... you do seem intent to ignore your wise and sensible DC though ... and why not. You do seem have a good idea of what you want I think and if you can have that I'll be really pleased for you 😊.

ixion, it's so infuriating to lose a post isn't it 😤.
The family holidays you used to have in Lucca sound lovely, have you and Mr I ever gone back and holidayed on you own?
What a thoughtful neighbour you are with your grocery deliveries --it's the late night ones around here that make a clatter--😁.

You had a productive day yesterday Doodle 🙂. I hope you have a decent day today, the sun is shining here so I hope you have it too.

We joined a couple of neighbours for a barbecue yesterday evening, good company, lovely evening and great food. I'm a bit of a cricket widow today so am sitting in the garden with a cup of tea trying desperately to ignore yet another clump of Crocosmia 😬. No good, I'd better try to tackle it 🙄.

When my son moved to America he bought a besutiful red Mustang convertible...

A couple of years later it was crushed by a huge tree in his own parking lot. The tree virtually chopped it in half from front to back separating the driver's side from the passenger's side.
He wasn't in it. He had decided not to go out because whilst he was getting ready to leave a sudden massive storm (and then tornado) developed.

It was a lovely car but a lucky escape.
🙏

I have been looking through my photos but sadly it is lost.

Kaimoana I love the sound of your house design. No wonder it won an award.
* I’ve been watching a series on Tv called Outrageous homes (I think 🤔) . The first one I saw was based on a pirate theme with a pool in the middle and palm trees and boat wheel (my minds gone to mush I can’t think what you call it ….not a steering wheel) *
ixion what an interesting post. Hmm are you sure it wasn’t you who stayed to watch the bronzed pool attendant 🤣
Its been warm here. I did pop out to Waitrose for a quick food shop, other than that I’ve been filling up the car with things to take to the charity shop. A number of keep fit items which never got used again after the novelty wore off.
Grammaretto what exciting plans you have. Your garden must be very big to accommodate all these plans. I can understand you would find it hard to leave it behind.
those flat pack houses are amazing to watch being assembled. What a clever idea. Aren’t any of your children keen on the idea?
Cherry I used to quite like fish fingers years ago but with macaroni cheese 🤢. Oh no.
so it’s your birthday soon. Have I missed it? Many happy returns anyway. 21 again 😊
Sounds like a nice time with the neighbours. Does your WP love fiddling with a BBQ. My sons got one and is in his element flipping steaks and sausages.
*Notspaghetti goodness what a lucky escape your son had. Such a shame about his lovely car though. Does he still live in America? Do you get to see him often?

Grammaretto Jeeves has informed me he doesn’t drive so a mustang is out of the question. He did however offer to pick you up on his bicycle 🚲 😊

*My son was born there and has gone back as an adult. He has been there quite a while now - 10 or maybe 12 years Doodle.

He initially moved over to be with a young American he met in Oxford - that relationship fizzled out but he decided to stay.

He loves the West Coast and is very happy there. He then met a really lovely lady and they married here in the UK last autumn. They are living between Southern California and the Philippines (where her family has a business that she is a part of).

I probably see him once a year - though this year, because of the wedding and a business trip here I've seen him more. Unfortunately because time is always short and he wants to "get round" lots of people, it's always brief.... but WhatsApp is our friend - and I am really grateful that he has found a kind and generous person to love him.
We all want our loved ones to be happy - that is the main thing

What lovely funny posts you all write.
I hope Jeeves bike is a cargo bike full of all our orders.

It has been very warm today. My Swedish df 's party was held in her beautiful garden where her plants grow sky high. We were served cold table and a magnificent cake called a Princess Torte made by her DH.

How shocking about your son's car NotSpag! It must have been such a relief to know he could so easily have been in it but wasn't.

The men do seem to love barbecues.
* sorry about the stereotyping *
My "boys" do too as does SiL who hides there so he doesn't need to talk to people my friends

My garden is big but a lot of it is on a slope and covered in trees. I think my family see me as a SKI parent.
Stands for spending the kid's inheritance though they would never admit it. 🤣😂

Bedtime tea for me Jeeves.

Very interesting posts today.

Cherry I suppose there are many reasons why people think processed foods are acceptable, when we feel they are not. Look how people crowd to MacDonalds - and buy shelves full of supermarket cakes.

When DS2 was in Primary School, many of his friends stayed to school dinners; my son came home but very much wanted to stay.
So one day I gave in. Later I asked him what he'd had for lunch. 'Long orange things with bits all over them.'
'Were they nice?'
'Not bad, they tasted of fish.'

ixion We never did have processed food, even when I was a working Mum. I grew up on fresh food (as did we all) and just carried on - being a keen cook and baker helped.

Our one very occasional lapse was fish & chips from the local cafe. We lived in Cornwall then and the food was lovely.
Mum had always served fresh haddock or cod poached in milk (Dad had an ulcer) with the liquid then made into parsley sauce.
Served with fresh veg and mash, there's no substitute

DS2 follows the trend but he's into real cuisine, far more adventurous than I.

Now, with poor eyesight I'm a bit restricted but still make all my own meals and soups and the famous shortbread but baking is mostly too hard now.

Today, Karen and I were tempted to some local home-made, Indian goodies in the fruit shop fridge: vegetable samosas and a spinach & feta pie. Verdict later

Yawhirimatea had added fog to his cold and wet weather. K said no flight in and out earlier and motorways closed but there's a wee peep of sun now at 2.30.

I've decided not to go to that violent movie after all.
It means sacrificing the whol deal - posh Morning Tea & Lunch, reclining seats and complimentary ice cream as well as a day with my friends but I'm really not up to that sort of 90 minute barrage, cultural or not.
I'm an old curmudgeon.

I think I maybe getting somewhere with your mission, Grammaretto, to find a Mustang and driver for hire. Trouble is, I had to say it was for a Hen Night. Are we up for this?🤞

Ever since seeing a very early episode of Grand Designs, where a couple in their 70s demolished the family home, decluttered completely and had built a Huf Haus, I have been hooked. A beautiful glass and steel 5 bedder, all constructed on site within days. Even the sockets came in situ, pre-planned. As someone who has seen our home evolve over the decades, the idea of something arriving fit for purpose, wired, plumbed and everything working before the chaps leave certainly gets my vote. Basically -FINISHED😆.

Yes, Cherry, we have returned to Italy for holidays. Our first trip was prompted while on our honeymoon😍🥰. We took his the beloved E-type to Yugoslavia, as jt was then, ambling through Europe. It certainly turned heads (it, not me), especially on the return trip out of Yugoslavia, back into Italy at, IIRC, Trieste.
We were waved aside at the border to be confronted by a gaggle of Customs officials. Trouble was, that despite the spivvy car, we were newly weds and skint.

They loomed over us, looking, methought, threatening.
Litro? Litro? they kept asking. No wine, no bottles, no money, we kept insisting.
Then the lira penny dropped. We held up 12 fingers. Ah, they smiled, and gestured. Could we open the bonnet so they might look at the engine with its 12 cylinders?🤦‍♀️

I have been making Barney a summer weight day bed. This necessitated purchasing a Large dog cushion and cutting it down to make a Medium one. (He is a large boy now).

Couldn't he just curl up likes a normal cat? Mr. I asked.

😡

quoth ixion
"I had to say it was for a Hen Night. Are we up for this?🤞"

Sounds good - just a few teeny-tiny provisos....

Non-alcoholic booze for me - the real stuff aches my bones.
Gluten free goodies - ditto
Sugar free - ditto
Lots of kaimoana, including lobsters. 🦞
No music just chatter and laughter.

Absolutely NO arrogant, posturing, oiled blokes in pouches. Yuk.

And most important...

REAL HENS

Ah yes Doodle, those keep fit items invariably at least any I've ever owned end up going to the charity shop 🤭.
Yes, we did have a nice time with our neighbours. Oddly enough, my WP isn't overly keen on the cooking side of barbecues although he doesn't mind cooking indoors. He does like fiddling with the coals and keeping it alive though, he loves outdoor fires
No, you haven't missed my birthday, it's not for a couple of weeks yet.

Snap Grammaretto, a lot of our garden is on a slope too, at least the back garden is. Gardening on a slope is hard work and we have thought of making it tiered but, of course, we couldn't do it ourselves - I can't see myself operating a digger 🤣.
I must say I hadn't seen Jeeves' bicycle before, I like it 😆.

What's the verdict on the Indian goodies then Kaimoana? Did you enjoy them? I love a freshly cooked samosa if it's done right but I don't like the ones from supermarkets.
Shame that you'll miss out on the posh Morning Tea and Lunch et al but from what you say about the type of film that'll be shown then I get it, I think I might make the same choice as you.

Eke NotSpaghetti 😬, Glad your DS wasn't in the mustang!
Years ago a family member by marriage pressed his key to unlock his jaguar and the engine caught fire in front of him 😱. He was fine, the car was toast.

With the change in the weather I've been sorting out my summer clothes today - our summer will probably last until Thursdayso I've heard 🤣.

Notspaghetti despite mobile phones, face time and Skype etc it still must be hard not to see your son that often. It lovely he’s happy there but you must miss him. It’s nice he’s found someone to be with though.
Gramaretto your tea in the garden sounds very pleasant. I’ll have to look that cake up. I can understand you wanting a smaller home. Something you don’t have to keep looking after and spending money on. I think your idea of building in the garden is a good idea if you’re loath to leave your garden behind.
Kaimoana processed food is the easy choice for busy mums. I must admit mine had fish fingers too. A quick meal in the middle of the week. It was the only fish they’d eat then.
My mum always used to poach my fish in milk so I did eat it as a child but always had a big fear of fish bones
Sorry you’ll miss out on a nice tea but I’m sure you know what suits you best
I was planning on going to a talk about the local area tomorrow afternoon. Not sure if I’ll go. It’s been so hot today and I don’t cope with heat well. If the rooms not air conditioned (which is likely) the. I’ll melt.
Ooh Ixion, I’m in. Nothing too risqué mind (no visits to the Argy or Pigstrotter Alley - sorry link to another thread there 😊)
Dh loved an E Type. It was his dream car. Must have been a wonderful trip
Barney is spoilt. Will he have summer and winter duvets too?
Cherry does your WP have a fire pit? My DS2 used to have one that he cooked on before he got his all singing and dancing BBQ
We had a garden on a slope in two of our houses
I used to cut the front lawn with a Flymo attatched to a piece of rope. Throw it down the slope and then pull it back up again
Ive been really busy today. Quick trip to the charity shop to get rid of some clutter then bought some more to bring home with me again🤣

I too have a big "charity bag" Doodle... it must go tomorrow!

Re you have never had the need to serve fish fingers to hungry small people - no, I haven't as we have been vegetarian since the 1970s - but we did get stuck once in (very) rural Ireland and had to get the car pulled out of a deep ditch by a friendly farmer. We had knocked on the door of the nearest farm and the lovely mum there immediately cooked about 4 dozen fish fingers for our brood.

It was a bit awkward but I "force-fed" the smallest three of our 5 children (who didn't know what they were), ate a massive number myself (when the mum wasn't looking) and the oldest 2 said they weren't hungry (but ate half a loaf of bread and butter). I will never forget her kindness as we waited for her husband to come home from work with the tractor.. I wish I'd made a note of her address as she was so warm and loving.

Every mention of fish fingers brings that day back to me and reminds me of her warmth and hospitality. There are lovely kind people in this world.

Once the car was out of the ditch and her own family were home we shared two huge apple pies and her own dairy cream... I didn't ask if she used lard for the pastry!

My mother-in-law has had her pretty steep garden terraced and she is able to use it.
I'd say "go for it" if you can get someone to do the work.

Cherry the best home-made samosas I've ever had. Deliciously crispy pastry and although spicy veg inside, not too hot.
I'll be back for more. I've yet to try the other stuff as I went to my elders group today where the table was, as always, groaning beneath its load of home-made goodies.
I came home with quite a lot of them too!

Grammaretto Just a few metres up the road, the Marae runs courses for young people who want to become builders. They learn the craft by turning out Tiny Houses.
They are lovely, with one or two storeys and a veranda and apparently don't need the same planning permissions as a giant house.
They sell like hot cakes (though with less calories) .

Doodle I laughed at your post - you and your Flymo

NotS
A strict vegetarian friend once told me there were two kinds. Those who went vegie for the health of the animla and those who did it for their own.
I wish I could claim to be the first but actually, though I was 4 years a total vegetarian, it was for myself

Now I eat very little meat and prefer vegetables but, as today, if I am given a dish to bring home which contains meat, I'll accept it. Can't really afford not to and don't stress about it.

Got caught in the rain today but instead of rushing to the car as my friends did, I paused to enjoy it, thinking of the old hymn, "....the breezes and the sunshine and soft refreshing rain."
It was a lovely feeling.
Even if I did get soaked to the skin

It was worth it.

Kaimoana2 - I think I'm the 3rd kind of vegetarian then - I've never liked meat since being a child. I think it was partly the texture and partly the smell of it cooking - which I still find quite unpleasant.

I did like fish but gradually went off that too.

I honestly don't think I'd have been able to eat a plate of sausages - but fish fingers are very heavily disguised fish I think!
Our oldest 2 children were horrified nevertheless!

These days I have neighbours who barbecue fairly often in the summer and I hate having to come indoors with the smell of it. I think it's unreasonable to complain at their fun but am glad when it's over!