Support and friendship for those whose lives have been affected by estrangement.

Too early for Xmas

Looking sunny and dry this morning, meeting friend at another park for walkies, she is looking after her GS doggies, we will then stop for coffee or maybe lunch. DD&GDs over for dinner later, after first week back to school and work, so no doubt lots of stories to tell.

Allsorts it's possibly still there as Whiff has said.

Have a nice day and weekend all xx

Yogin cross stitch is a slow craft even a small design can take me a day or 2 depends on the change of colours and back stitch so I have to start early . Have already brought my son in law the face wash and shower gel he likes but won't buy it himself. They where on offer at Boots to good a bargain to miss.
Hope you had a lovely dinner with your family .

Good morning everyone.

I'm sitting here and casting my mind back 45 years to the hive of activity at my mum's as were getting ready for our wedding. In some ways it doesn't seem possible for us to have been married for 45 years, but if we hadn't been, how could we have fitted everything in!!!

I distinctly remember practising kneeling on the bottom stair as I was worried about catching a heel in my dress when I stood up again. Did that several times just to be sure.

Really looking forward to going away tomorrow as this will be the first time we've gone away specifically to celebrate our anniversary and despite our lives not exactly going to plan, there's still much to raise a glass too.

Checked the forecast and no rain while we're away which is great because the hotel grounds are supposed to be beautiful, and we're looking forward to walking around with our dogs who, as luck would have it were groomed on Thursday, so will be looking particularly gorgeous for their little holiday .

Mr. S. is so romantic . Yesterday he was rummaging in a kitchen drawer, came out empty handed and asked me if I'd seen his reading glasses. I hadn't, but when he'd finished I went to the drawer and within seconds had spotted them. I asked him what he would do without me and his response was 'lose things'!!! I told him I'd be sharing that little gem with you all here and he said he expected nothing less.

You have to go away with people who have dogs if you're taking your own Yogin, or people who love your dog as much as you do. We can only be happy if they are.

Your craft work is so lovely Whiff, it's always nice to see pictures of what you've done.

It's so frustrating when that happens isn't it Allsorts, and it's always the long ones we lose if we're going to lose one.

Hope all is well with Mr. B. Babs.

Nice to see your post Bridie

We've had a VIP invitation to an open weekend from the owners of our site so are going to have a look at new models for 2026; no doubles so Mr. S's wallet is quite safe.

We've all had one and bearing in mind we all bought just a year ago it's extremely unlikely that anyone would want to buy another one but we do like to look around new ones.

Have a great weekend everyone xx

Happy anniversary Smiles and Mr S.. 45 years is something to celebrate. I am worse than Mr S I lost my reading glasses so went to put my distance glasses to find them only to find I wearing them . Trouble is I have done this more than once . 🤦.

Always nice to have a nose at a new lodge or show home .

I didn't practice before my wedding day wish I had as I wobbled as I stood up . Things could have ended in disaster that day so many things went wrong . But luckily it was a good day and people had fun.

Have a wonderful time when you go away tomorrow.
🥂🍾

Happy Anniverssary Smileless and Mr S! 🥂🍹🍸💐

There will be an emergency alert sounded on your phones and vibrate at 3pm if you or family are effected by sound make sure you are safe .

Morning everyone.

Well my 'phone didn't receive an alarm and neither did Mr. S's. so that's not much good is it .

Arrived yesterday and it's really lovely, so lovely that we'll be coming again next year and will bring swimming costumes because there's a hot tub which we didn't know about.

Have been through the iconic revolving door and will go to the restaurant this evening. Booked tickets for Alnwick Castle tomorrow and are going to the gardens with the dogs this morning before exploring the town.

Apart from the Olympic dining room, the hotel is dog friendly and because our dogs sleep in and are secured in travel pens when we go out, we're able to leave them here unattended which makes life so much easier when we're away .

Well, you must be back from your fabulous weekend away Smiles. How did it all go?

I went to the 'Old Leigh Regatta on Saturday; it was really good.

Got a phone call Sunday evening from my friend saying Quick, get down to the beach, there's a group watching of the eclipse of the moon. Bombed down there and it was a 'Fire Circle' gathering of Shamans. So good, big fire pit in the centre, all very mystical & magical.

Upstairs neighbour put their gigantic trampoline up yesterday, High activity all morning and into the afternoon, luckily, I was out for most of it, but it's hideous! Almost the width of their garden. I fear it's taken about 20K off the price of my property and will make it harder to sell. So, the view from my kitchen window has gone from a lovely shaped conifer to a hideous trampoline! Blinds down .

My GDs will love it, when they see it, though

Only arrived yesterday Yogin and go home on Wednesday.

Didn't get into the gardens as they only allow them in on Sundays and Thursdays. Note to self read everything on the website, so we had a walk around the town and found a 'Harry Potter' shop. Mr. S. bought me a lovely 'owl' quill pen to go with Harry Potter collection. I'm really pleased with the Dobby he bought me a couple of years ago; much nicer than the ones we saw today.

The trampoline sounds awful, what a shame they managed to get it assembled. The 'Fire Circle' gathering of Shamas sounds great, were you tempted to dance around the fire pit?

Oh dear Yogi that trampoline sounds like a blot on your landscape, in time the kids will tire of it and it will just sit there with a mucky puddle gathering in the centre.
Trouble is they are so bloomin high that the kids can look straight at you, there is no privacy.
Glad you got that quill Smiles, sounds like a lovely collection you are getting there.
Hope the weather is good, we are getting nice weather here but is cooler when the sun goes in which am actually quite happy about, I love autumn but not so keen on the temps we had in Summer.
Mr B has been to Bart’s in London and his heart procedure to prevent another stroke will probs take place next month or the month after. Apparently only two such ops take place a month, is quite a rare procedure pioneered by Bart’s. We met a lovely surgeon and consultant who took the time to explain everything, so are feeling quietly confident. Mr B fared really well but got a bit tired and shaky when eating sone pasta in a pot one of daughters brought for us to eat whilst waiting to do bloods, and he spilled it all down himself and on the floor. A kind woman sitting near us gave us some wipes and went to get Mr B a cup of water because he looked shaken up.
So all in all was a positive experience and Mr B got pizza when we went back to our daughters house in an Uber.
Take care all xxx

What a rotten shame Smiles, would you have altered your stay date if you had known? Sure, you will still have a great time. Enjoy it all. No, no dancing I'm glad to say, find that all a bit weird. What is a Dobby, is it for planting new flowers?

Babs They are all back to school now and I'm not even sure they had a bounce on it when it was first assembled. My little dog is as good as gold with them now, when they're in their garden anyway, so I can leave my patio doors open and he doesn't rush out barking. As you say; come winter it will be filled with leaves etc. It's really lovely our gardens are full of trees, my DD said it's like living in some woods, but the down side is when the leaves drop, too many! and the bird's poo, it all makes quite a mess.

Good to read Mr.B is being booked in for an op to stop the strokes, it must have been a long tiring day for him after all he has been through. You can now just relax and wait for your date for the op. Good luck xx

Morning all

Lovely and sunny at the mo. but predicted to rain for the next few days, non-stop it looks like! I was therefore, out in the garden at 7.30am this morning; mowing, all done, had a shower & now doing my nails; again! My nails need doing every few days, thinking of getting them done professionally, so they stay nice for longer.

I've booked a rare day off my Sunday Yoga; all covered, so I can go to an all-day Yoga festival; it sounds great, went to one a couple of years back, but as it was on a Saturday I didn't need to book time off. But now; looking at the weather forecast it's said to rain all day, do hope it doesn't, as it's all outside.

When my son got in from work last night, I said In your opinion; could upstairs get anything more into their garden?
He answered "No", which was incorrect as her M&D brought round a slide! . So that's crammed in now. I've never seen such a transformation of a garden; it's hideous!

Yogi, whatever happened to children making up their own games or just kicking a ball or using a skipping rope?
It is as if parents want to insert a play park in their back garden no matter the size.
Is just nuts 🌰🤨

Morning everyone.

It's a lovely morning here but it's not forecast to last. We were lucky with the weather while we were away and had a lovely time so much so, we'll be going back next year.

The Olympic Suite restaurant was lovely. We had the best table for two, in a corner on a slightly raised platform screened on two sides but unfortunately the food didn't live up to our expectations.

It was OK but we were expecting 'fine dining' and TBH it was mediocre. When we got back to the cottage Mr. S. looked at online reviews and the general consensus was the restaurant was amazing, staff excellent but food disappointing. We sent back the bottle of Rioja we ordered, because it was cold!!!

We cancelled our booking for the following evening and went to a lovely Italian restaurant instead.

Alnwick Castle was amazing, I've never seen anything like it. It's been owned by the Percy family for more than 700 years and remains one of their homes from October to March; what a place to live.

Good news that Mr. B's appointment with the surgeon went well Babs and fingers crossed that he has the procedure asap.

Hopefully the organisers will have plans in place if it rains on Sunday Yogin and you'll be able to enjoy it. Applying a clear top coat to nails helps them to look good for longer. Mine are long and I only do them once a week with a good quality nail varnish.

Hopefully your neighbours wont have room for anything else in the garden now they've added a slide. I can't think of anything worse than filling a garden with children's play equipment, especially as at some point the novelty will wear off and it will just be left there.

That was a shame about the food Smiles quite often something lets the side down but looks like you and Mr S made the most of it anyway.
Xx

Yogin sorry to hear about the trampoline next door. I might be tempted to put on loud classical music when they are outside on it.

Smileless I hope you both enjoyed your 45th anniversary holiday in spite of the food disappointment

Babs Hope your husbands preventative treatment has gone well.

Whiff love your crafts and pictures. And your SIL felt work.

Christmas is coming, am I allowed to say Christmas?

Good to read you had a lovely holiday, maybe it was a different chief to the normal that had good reviews, but good you enjoyed your Italian the next day Smiles. I do put topcoat on and get a good quality nail varnish, said to last a week, but still chips off after a couple of days.

Only one green plant left in their garden, a very big cordyline at the back, really hope they don't cut that down as well as we will then be overlooked by the house at the back of us. So their garden is now all bright pink plastic and metal, really hard on the eye. I purchased some privacy film for my kitchen windows as it's so unpleasant to look out on their garden.

Sparkly . He likes 'head hanging' music and when she is in the garden, she brings the radio and puts it on loud. They were both out there yesterday for a couple of hours, I was looking forward to seeing it all tided up, but doesn't look much better, tons of rubbish going out this morning though, not sure it's all come from the garden though.

Yogin they frankly just sound like nightmarish neighbours. My sympathies.

Sparkly with a name prefaced by Sparkly I imagine you would mention Christmas, and why not?
Hope your darling cats are doing ok, pics please, they always cheer me up.

Yoginimeisje

Good to read you had a lovely holiday, maybe it was a different chief to the normal that had good reviews, but good you enjoyed your Italian the next day Smiles. I do put topcoat on and get a good quality nail varnish, said to last a week, but still chips off after a couple of days.

Only one green plant left in their garden, a very big cordyline at the back, really hope they don't cut that down as well as we will then be overlooked by the house at the back of us. So their garden is now all bright pink plastic and metal, really hard on the eye. I purchased some privacy film for my kitchen windows as it's so unpleasant to look out on their garden.

Oh Yogi, that garden sounds awful. You need good neighbours my friend. This lot sound dreadful 🤨

Babs. Glad things are moving well for your husband’s proposed procedure. 🤞
Yogin, Your neighbours sound dreadful, they won't change. You never know who is going to move in next door.
Whiff, enjoy your holiday, you will have something planned each day I am sure.

Morning all

Sunny and dry at the mo; was raining heavy when I got up at 6.15am. Planed an afternoon of gardening, going to get some Laurel hedging plants and put them in today, they grow fast and high .

I can't label my up stairs neighbours as a nightmare really, just opposite to me in many ways as they are a young family, very loving to their children, but those C have an 11hr day; leaving at 7.30am back at 6.30pm. The m&d were off all last week, C had the same 11hr day, this morning, with the C off for w/e, she left for work at 6.15am . I reckon that's why the giant trampoline; compensation. At least they keep the same hours as me and it's quiet all through the night 10-6.30ish. I've just realised why 'pot' is also known as 'Skunk' the smell is faul .

My son's just pointed out that it's also known as 'dope'; dopy, didn't realise that either, and he is really dopy. When they first moved in I was watching the removal men in high activity unloading, except for one who was very slowly carring a small box to the end of the van and then back for another, not leaving the van at all. I thought 'that man shouldn't be at work, he's clearly ill', but it was actually 'him upstairs'.

When they were putting the giant trampoline up, he disppeared for about an hour, with her struggling on, on her own, when he came back she asked; where have you been all this time? That's how it is, on the rare occasion he is helping her, you can see her beavering away with him in the background leaning on a broom, fag hanging out of mouth . Effects of the Skunk I would say.