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

Sorry, Soop I meant to say how much I enjoyed the lovely photographs of your grandchildren. I hope I get to see mine become a young adult!

N&G I remember those Summers too, in a haze of my imagination. And every winter we had sixteen feet of snow (or it seemed like sixteen feet when you were only little!).
GQ loved the last para of your post - never a truer word said.
Maw I am pleased that there is the prospect of Paw coming home. I hope for a good outcome for him.
Ann hope your lunch is lovely - let us know what you have to eat!
The weather here is absolutely dire, and no sign of it stopping. We are waiting in for yet another delivery, so nothing lost I suppose. I have been making quiches to pass the time - one for us with smoked bacon and onion in, and one for DD with onion, tomato and red pepper, which I will put in her freezer for when they come back from holiday at the weekend. At least in the kitchen with the oven on it is warm!
DH came to show me something on his phone this morning to the effect that Morrisons are now to produce a foot-long version of their sausage roll, which they will sell for a pound. Though he doesn't get to eat them often, he is fond of their sausage rolls and in truth, they are the only thing I can be persuaded to put a fishing rod down in order to eat, when food is not high on my agenda. But a foot long? Really! I said it was over the top. He said "we could have one between us - you could start at one end and me at the other and we could meet in the middle!" I said he would have to make it worth my while to meet him in the middle, or he could forget it!?

Isn't it frustrating when a (long) post disappears?
I was agreeing with annsixty about life not necessarily being "easier" when paw is home, but I hope we can work out a sort of modus vivendi, a routine which can somehow suit both of us. My sister in law has already offered to come on Mondays so that I can continue with my Monday afternoon Art History classes -a lifeline, not just because they are interesting but also because everybody is so nice and it is "me time".
I also posted a pic of Hattie enjoying "All Creatures Grunt and Smell" as it is known here (I love it!) when she was perplexed by some squealing piglets. Looked everywhere and couldn't find the darn things!
How would she cope with Crufts!!

But just to be clear here, NOT aged 66!

Happy Birthday to you dear soop ! I've made some chocolate cookies in celebration so do help yourselves everyone.
I had a young friend visiting this morning with her 2 lovely but rather high maintenance tots. Poor girl is a bit frazzled with it all, between the pair of them she never gets a minutes peace. She was thinking they would settle for a long nap st home later, it's a miserable wet day so I hope she's right! It's tempting to remember my time as a young mum as happy days full of fun and laughter. Chatting with this lass today reminded me of the grim reality of many of those days!
Snot on my shoulder, never able to wee in private, cooking with one hand a toddler in my arms, and another trampling on my toes, watching said meal being spat out and rejected, never finishing a sentence let alone a conversation and all on next to no sleep! Would I do it all again? You bet I would

Happy Birthday Soop and many happy returns. x

A Happy Birthday from me too soop - hope you have a happy day and many more to come.

I am so glad that Rory has rallied a bit and is still our kitchen cat. He's such a gooooooooood boy! We await the daily health bulletins on his progress, sometimes with trepidation and always with relief when the report is a good one.

I have brought a mega-sized lemon drizzle cake for you soop so there is plenty available for any visitors who call in the kitchen with birthday wishes.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear soooop
Happy birthday to you!

A very Happy Birthday soop and many more to come.
So pleased to hear Paw is improving and may be home soon, although I suspect, Maw, life will be no easier for you!!
I am out for lunch today with ex Dil and her family, this is the final jolly connected to my birthday.
I have to say it has been far more eventful than I ever expected.

Have a very Happy Birthday, Soop. I was going to say I hope McS will spoil you rotten but I'm sure he does that every day anyway, the dear man! ?????
Many Happy Returns to any other GNs with a birthday today!
Off back into the garage now where I have just been chased out by an enormous spider!! I'll give him time to find a new home so that we don't have to look at each other! (I think DH is thinking exactly the same about me this morning!).

Happy birthday soop please put your feet up today, you deserve it. Hopefully Rory is a little stronger and still enjoying his lovely food.

MawB I think that you need a day to yourself, doing zilch as you must be exhausted with running backwards and forwards to the hospital x3 a day as well as looking after Hattie who must know the routine, day and night by now and be more settled. I hope that her tum has settled down.

A bit dull here but that is marginally better than thunderstorms and heavy rain.

It looks as though a bomb has hit this house and that is only my doing. Tara has left the country I think. She woke me before 7am and she was out soon after.

Am I right in thinking this is a very special day for our dear Soop??
Happy happy birthday and a wee dram xx
And also to OldGreyMare should she pop in to say hello!
Hope there's enough cake to go round

Morning all !

Well that bit of sunshine was short-lived ! I have realised I have reached the age where I remember the summers of my childhood as always sunny day after day !!

I am so glad to hear the pills are making a difference soop . Am I right in thinking today is your birthday? In which case have a wonderful day !!

I'm glad the funeral went well Nonna , its important that it does I think as a fitting end to a chapter.

Great news about Paw Maw - what good news.

We have been working hard with Sam and yesterday we reached the 10 minute mark in the car with no whining!! That's huge for us , as the god awful noise used to start before we even got in the car .

We have a way to go but it was money well spent in my opinion as we hope to be able to take Sam with us as a matter of course in the future.

Have a great day everyone !

I read 'blush' as 'bluish' assuming that is what the air in the car is like at times...good to hear that Paw is on the mend. Does he know about his slipper, though?

Wonderful news about Paw.

A definite step forward Paw now has a walking frame by his bed with his name on it and labelled "to go home".
I am assured he wil get a second one so that we can keep one upstairs and one downstairs and I have to ring the OT person tomorrow for a "house assessment " (better tidy up!)
I have also been promised a chat with the ward sister for any medical advice I feel I need such as what to look out for., what NOT to panic about (and maybe WHEN to panic!) so it looks very much, barring the unforeseen like Paw should be home by the end of the week.
Is that the current funerals behind us? It is heartening when it goes well, a life is celebrated and a family comes together.
Draining though.
This summer has simply disappeared in a cloud of illness and hospitals, I feel strangely discombobulated.
I am very very tired though and on a short fuse especially when driving -good thing the DGC aren't in the car blush]

Jud, thanks for the update on Georgie, sorry about her latest set back, but I`m sure she`ll overcome it, brave girl that she is.
Maw, I hope that Hattie`s tum has settled down by now, bless her.
My eldest son and his wife have 2 Siberian huskies, a dog and a bitch. They`re lovely dogs, but extremely boisterous, probably because they don`t get enough exercise. And the hair!!! I`m sure they could stuff a couple of cushions a week, but Sharon collects it and leaves it out in the garden for the birds to line their nests with it. The oldest, the dog, has settled down a lot now, he was terrible at one time for jumping up all the time, but the bitch, which they got about a year after the dog, is more timid than I`ve ever seen any dog to be. She`s OK with them, but she runs and hides if anyone else approaches her, nobody else can get near her, and they`ve had her for about 5 years now.
Soop, I`m so pleased to read your daily reports on Rory, the amazing boy that he is!

Aggie I used to get the belt too, but it was always for talking.

Well the funeral went well today. DSIL's sons did her proud, with organising and doing the intro, eulogy and commital between them. DH's rendition of 'Misty' went well despite him having a slight wobble as he was about to start and thinking he couldn't do it. It was just a lovely service and a beautiful send off for a lovely lady. A few tears, but a lot more smiles.

I offered to drive home, and typically, it poured rain and we got stuck in traffic! However, DH ran me a bath when we got back and let me have a soak. He is a treasure.

marydoll that was probably where I was , I was in for three weeks and kept in at home for another few weeks , by the time I got back to school the rest of the class had learnt tables up to 12 , I never got past my 5 times tables ! I just got slapped with the tawse for not knowing them lol
soop it is good to hear of Rorys continued improvement and I hope the intruder comes to a bad end

Thanks for that tizliz ! Well, I did say they were very tasty.

oldgoat you should see how high my dog can pee?

Tegan - you are as others have said, so right about the Husky pup. This type of dog isn't really suitable as a family pet. The wolf looking types have become over popular, never a good thing for any breed. The dog rescue shelters in our area have a disproportionate amount of wolf types and staffie crosses. The specific breed charity I volunteer for has an endless supply of young dogs that people chose because of their looks but without researching their characteristics. My vet told me he dreads the sled type dogs as they're often difficult to handle. He's a genius with dogs.
Good to hear the pain relief is helping Rory.
Pets and grandchildren seem to feature large in our kitchen. More cake please.

Tegan2 You are right to be concerned about the Husky pup. We've friends in the village with this breed of dog. The grooming takes an awful long time. She shows her dogs at Crufts. There is little you can do. Hearts have been won over. There's bound to be a steep learning curve. I wish both the family and the puppy well.

Oldgoat The heather is glorious this year. Purple mountains sums up the scene. Oscar will be loving every minute of the adventure. Bless his curly socks.
Yes, the granddaughter in the photo, is expecting our first great grandchild.

Hello NanaandGrampa Rory is showing signs of improvement. This time last week we thought that he was terminally ill. He still stumbles around but behaves much like his usual self.
Enjoy time spent with Herbert and Sherbert...you are the tonic that they need to get themselves feeling truly on the mend.

Bye for now.