Soop's pleasant (if boring) kitchen for friendly folk and precious pets.

ann for you and your dear granddaughter.

Gaga It's good to have you back with us. You deserve a proper holiday to help you recover. Airports are, we think, the most tiring of venues.

N&G Young Jackson has inborn style. He certainly enjoys the finer things in life. Good photos.
Like you, I accept people for who they are. A good hearted, fair-minded, decent individual, is my type of person...

granniequeenie Well said. I enjoyed reading your post. In fact, you lot have surpassed yourselves since I logged off yesterday. By George, (who's he?) you take some keeping up with.

Maw We're still rooting for Paw As for your rant...if it helps to combat stress, you have our permission to rant as often as you need to.

Deep breath...Rory's update is about to begin.
We believe that the pain killing tablets are to thank for his newly charged interest in life. He still wobbles as he walks but he moves more freely. He's taking his finely crushed tablets with the tastiest food we can afford. His appetite has increased three fold.
Last night, at 11:30 MacSporran called him to leave the cat cave and come into the house where his oversized feather cushion awaited. Rory refused to comply with Mac's wishes. We turned in for the night and at just after midnight, there was an almighty kafuffle outside. Much yowling alerted MacS who, attired in colourful pyjamas went to investigate. Rory had been attacked by some creature. It was NOT the tabby cat, she's a gentle soul. He had some fur matted on his back. Could it have been the wild mink? It was last seen in the back garden some months ago. They can be vicious and do serious damage to small animals. After much coaxing, Rory wandered into the house. He then demanded a second supper. He licked the platter clean washed himself and turned in for the rest of the night. He fell asleep immediately. We remained awake.

Oh dear, poor Rory, he should have listened to mum and dad because they know best. Typical that he is attacked when he is at his weakest- a good job that MacSporran went to investigate. At least one person in that house got a good night's sleep.

Soop glad that Rory is taking his meds like a trooper ! I wonder which hospital I would have been in , living in East-Kilbride at the time , evacuated to live with Mums parents . No one could visit except the Parish Priest and he never noticed my lack of hair
Someone asked about the Bridge in my picture , it is a canal bridge within walking distance of here , on the Newry Canal . sadly no boats on it now but a conservation group is doing sterling work and has renovated several locks Eldest GS was volunteering till they found out he was only 13 at the time and he can only go and work if an adult accompanies him , so he has sort of lost interest , such a pity

Charlieg We both know that cats will do as they wish.

aggie I didn't have a priest visit me. I cannot remember any person other than a lady in a starched uniform, mask and fob watch coming anywhere near me. My mother caught SF and so did my younger sister. The house was fumigated. No other folk in our village succumbed. It was thought that my father, who used to travel by train most days, was the "carrier".
I like your bridge painting very much. Are you, like me, self taught?

aggie My Nana's brother caught SF when he was a very small child. He lost his sight and, as an adult, became a piano tuner.

I'm logging off for another day. Hoping to goodness that Rory doesn't get into any scrapes. We've had enough excitement for one weekend.

Thank you Aggie for answering my query re the bridge, it does look remarkably like the Bridge over the Atlantic on the Isle of Seil, lovely painting. I`m posting a photo of it.
Soop, sorry to hear of Rory being attacked again, hopefully no ill effects.
I`m told that I had scarlet fever long ago, but don`t actually remember, fortunately, I was only 6 weeks old.

It was a serious disease back then , all my toys were burnt because no one knew how it was spread , no one in the house or school got it , I remember being stretchered into an ambulance and Mum handing me my Doll , she wasn't allowed to kiss me . My DD3 had SF when she was about 6 , a week of antibiotics cleared it .
I did Art at school and would have loved to go to Art College , but it wasn't possible , anyway my Teacher told me I was best in class but had a small talent !! , when I retired I started going to evening classes and still do go to classes , they are great fun , we have a lovely teacher

That bridge is very similar !

NandG I wrote a lovely post to you earlier about young Jackson and the cars- well I thought it was lovely anyway - but it seems to have been nicked by the GN Phantom! I love the photo where you can only see his hands on the steering wheel

Charleygirl when I read your post that started 'Jackson is one up on me re car knowledge' I thought it said 'ear' knowledge! Then I realised there was a tiny fly on my screen ... And that's with the horrible larger font

soop poor Rory! As if he hasn't enough to cope with at the moment, he gets attacked by an intruder! Grrr!

Hello [peeps cautiously round the kitchen door] anyone at home? Just popping in to say I am back on GN after a bit of an absence due to family demands. It will take me a while to get caught up with all your news and back into the swing. What happened to Rory, soop ?

Hello again Jud, how`s Georgie?

I too had Scarlet Fever as a child, but Mum resisted her neighbour's dire warnings about burning all my toys, books, bedding etc. The toys and bedding went through the washing machine and we just took our chances with the books. I think I was about 7.

Aggie I've been doing a bit of research. The hospital near East Kilbride, where SF cases were taken, was Stonehouse Hospital. Could that be where you were a patient?

Hello callgirl. Georgie was doing incredibly well although the incontinence is still a problem when she gets excited. However, a rabbit chasing episode ended up with her back legs collapsing and she was unable to walk normally for a while. Rest and more laser therapy has helped her get back on her feet again but we are now being cautious about how much exercise she gets. The long walks of before the accident are a thing of the past!

Oh dear.
Hattie seems to have a stomach upset. I did try to bribe her with a couple of cocktail sausages yesterday which might have been too rich , but anyway it started on last night's walk. She summoned me again around 1.30 to go out (good dog) BUT just before 4 I heard a scuffling outside the bedroom door and she had come to find me. So far so good, only it took attaching the lead to give her the courage to go DOWN stairs and thence to the garden.
But there was a lingering odour. So while she was outside I investigated.
Fortunately she had not made it into the study (Paws domain) or our bedroom, but eschewing the double spare (laminate floor and a washable bedside rug) she had instead gone into the little bedroom, ignoring the (washable) bedside rug and yes, left a runny "dump" on the carpet. Out with the Vanish, rubber gloves, poo bags, kitchen paper etc etc etc.
I did my best but will need to have another major go at it tomorrow and in the meantime have put a gate across the half landing and turtle mats downstairs in the event of more accidents.
She has been 100% reliable up till now, so that is a shame, all the more so as the memory seems to be "lingering on."
I just hope it is something she ate not a bug she may have picked up on a walk. No sign of blood in it but my lingering worry is because her vaccination certificates don't seem to exist, the kennels have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the ninth rate racing kennels in Ireland who neglected her, probably didn't bother. She is due to restart (or more accurately start) a new course from scratch on Wednesday but being me, I view any upset as grounds for worry.

Maw, many of my rescue or foster dogs have had upset tums in the early weeks. I suspect its a combination of lengthy neglect, anxiety and finding themselves no longer hungry, hurt or alone. I'm sure you follow the starve for 24 hours then add white fish or chicken. The advice was always with rice but I use pasta or potato these days, it seems much less likely to irritate an upset tum. Some swear by adding sweet potato. Hope she's soon well - pity how drawn dogs are to carpets!
I'm another who had scarlet fever, I was 4 and there was a new baby in the house. Mum refused to have me taken off to hospital, it was agreed she'd keep the new baby upstairs and I was moved into a downstairs room with a gran in attendance. We didn't burn books or toys.
Hello Jud x

Welcome back Jud you were missed as was Georgie.

Maw oh dear poor Hattie- it is amazing how they find their way to the least washable item in the house. Tara has bouts of sickness and makes her way to a rug in my bedroom or occasionally if she is caught when lying on my bed, on my duvet but normally she is moved so quickly she almost forgets what she had started.

I hope that Rory decided to spend the night indoors away from any intruders, but knowing him he would make his own decision.

Hope Hattie is OK this morning maw . We are in Melrose and planning a walk up the Eildon Hills today if the rains hold off.
Good to get an update about Georgie jud. Been wondering how she was doing. Poor old Rory being attacked- hope his tablets will help to fight off any infections.

OH , too, had SF as a child. He was taken to hospital but can't remember for how long though he says it was "too long" with no visitors allowed. He was quite a delicate child and used to have hospital sessions sitting in front of some sort of lamp to build him up. I have succeeded in doing that though!

I do love Melrose!!
Both my parents were in the BGH before they died and I used to spend a lot of time there. Burt's Hotel was a favourite place for Dad and I to have supper after visiting Mum. Nice shops too!!
Hope the rain holds off. Is the heather out?

On the subject of dogs, I saw something on a friends facebook page to say her family were getting a puppy next week. She's not a close friend and I'm loathe to get involved but it's a Siberian Husky, and she says how cute it is and how much she's going to love it. I feel that I should send a message to say do you realise how much exercise/grooming etc these dogs need, plus the fact they have little or no recall and their owner very much has to be 'pack leader'. I can just see the poor thing being in rescue at some point. I don't know her well enough to know if the family are experienced dog owners. I'm quite worried about it.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201708/medium-965790-20621765-10210885980731667-3856163013965325397-n.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201708/medium-655730-20638082-1572511856138603-3619722291105032042-n.jpg

Good afternoon my lovelies. A day of sunshine and brief showers.

Jud It's grand to have an update. Us lot have missed you and dear Georgie.

Maw Sorry to hear about Hattie's mishap. Bless her, she'll have done her best to alert you. Our friends dogs suffer from the runny tum syndrome from time to time. I'm afraid that cleaning up after pet's can be very unpleasant, especially in the early hours.

Oldgoat We're also lovers of Melrose. Continue to enjoy your break.

Iam64 Us lot who had Scarlet Fever, did well to survive. A select group of hardy individuals.

Rory is responding to the antibiotics and his mobility is certainly improving. When I told the vet that Rory wasn't in pain, he disagreed with me. The pain killers have given him a new lease of life. We are delighted for him. All we ask is that his final weeks/months are as peaceful and pleasant as we can make them.

Photo of six of our seven grandchildren to follow. Also a lovely portrait of our recently wedded granddaughter and her husband.

maw and soop We love Melrose too. The town won a Scotland in Bloom Gold award which was well-deserved. The place is full of beautiful hanging baskets of begonias and well-tended street planters.

We went part the way up the Eildon Hills this morning and yes, the hillsides are covered in purple heather. There are also lots of wild raspberries. Don't understand why other people don't pick them. They are delicious and sweet. Yum, yum.
Oscar got really muddy and had to go under the cold tap when we got back to the van.
Lovely photos of your grandchildren soop Is that the couple who are expecting a baby?

Afternoon all !

Sorry I'm late - no idea why I am ..time just flew past!
Soop !!! How very dare a strange thing attack Rory. Has the poor soul not got enough to put up with ????

I love the photo of your grandchildren too . What a lovely bunch !

Tegan she wont listen even if you tell her about the Husky> I totally agree with you, unsuitable family pet for most people. I really wish people would do all the research first ! I feel for you.

Poor Hattie Maw , Sam sends a doggy hug ( he suffers from a delicate tummy too ) . We always feel so sorry for him if he has an accident as he is as plainly horrified about it as we are .

Jud good to have news of Georgie . I'm amazed at her recovery thus far.

Swanny I agree, you can't see anything but his hands. The owner was so sweet to let him 'drive' . When he was smaller that would involve turning the wheel but now it means holding on and making what I can only describe as race car noises .

Babysitting duties tomorrow for Herbert and Sherbet who only have 3 days of quarantine left ( Thank god says their mum!!)

Have a good evening all x