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

The sun is peeping through here- I had cleaned my cooker before 8am- I need a lie down now I think.

Tara has decided that the great outdoors is not for her this morning so she has retired to bed. She may change her mind because I have a new cleaner starting this am and she does not like noise.

Thinking of Maw as she starts another stressful day.
I hope you slept ok Maw.
My day has got off to a grumpy start as H decided to make his own bed up after I had stripped it for washing.
He took several pillowcases out of the chest of drawers on the landing and then stuffed several of them back all crumpled and unfolded. I am afraid I "raised my voice".
He then threw the duvet and cover on the floor saying ,you will have to do this, no change there then!!
Little things like this when they are daily just start my day off badly.
A neighbour rang yesterday to invite me for a cup of tea this afternoon along with another neighbour, hooray.

As I typed he went back upstairs and is struggling with the duvet cover. He has no sense anymore of decisions he made 30 seconds ago. I will be taking it off and refitting it soon.

ann enjoy your time out this afternoon. Make it a long one!

Ann ?. Hope you have a happy afternoon, and maybe cake!

Oh dear ann - at least you have a pleasant afternoon to which to look forward. I freely admit that I would be doing time.

Thank you. I will be ok after a cup of coffee as I haven't had one yet. I do not intend to entertain/ bore you with the saga of the lawn mower which has taken up most of the morning.
I will try to post a picture if my boots for those not familiar yet with Reiker.
Sorry a new tablet and I can't use it properly yet.
(Yet another b'day present to myself)

Enjoy your afternoon ann !!

'You lot' are gifted with a good sense of humour. A little like the carers in the care home. When I was visiting this morning I thought, how on earth do they get up, go to work and remain sane. I cannot think of a more stressful job. Today, some residents had large bees in their bonnets. M was bristling with disapproval. K was being "spikey". R was moaning that he had to wait to be attended to. Two dear male residents were past caring.
I started to ask M about her time in the WAAF. She told me that she continues to maintain the aircraft. I said, I thought that she had retired (she's 95) and she replied that she hadn't even considered retiring.

Galen These days, I have awful trouble releasing the catch on necklaces. Don't get me started on zips. I remember long ago, when I was a young lady, returning home alone from a party and having to go to bed in a dress. Those were the days.

The photo of your delightful grandsons is very special, Nellie.

I love milk puddings. Always have. I would gladly polish off tapioca or sago when I was at school. A creamy rice pudding with stewed fruit and a dollop of jam is one of my favourite puds. Easily pleased!

Nana&G Your son-in-law must have done serious damage to his back. It seems an age since he sustained the injury. What was it that caused the problem? Was he shifting a heavy weight?

I'm also thinking of Maw and Paw, hopefully there will be better news sometime soon.

Last night's colourful sunset for you all...

soop It makes me almost physically sick thinking of the days when I had milky puddings such as rice and tapioca shoved down my throat. I am not a fan of milk which did not help.

How is that beautiful boy? I mean Rory.

I must read my gas and electricity meters. The company is supposed to do it for me at least twice a year because of my partial sight but zilch has happened. Ah well- a good job that I am almost computer literate.

The trouble with a lot of zips is no hole in them for the string. Also I still have to undo it!
There was a shop with a load of reduced Reiker shoes as well.

Don't worry Galen, I shall be happy to zip/unzip your dresses. I might have to ask you to help me with mine, too!

If there is no hole for the string, I do not know what to say. To undo it, it is a reverse process if there is a hole. One would think that manufacturers would have given this problem some thought because we do not all have the manual dexterity when we were in our 20's. I also would struggle. I no longer wear dresses so the problem does not arise.

At least "Galen" you will be okay on this cruise and you will not be asking any of the crew members to help!

Popped in as I too was wondering how things are with maw and paw
We've had a day out with two gds, we're well ready for a sit down, in fact I notice that the old boy has dozed off on the sofa crossword in hand. The girls on the other hand are still full of beans maybe shouldn't have bought them those garish coloured ice lollies so I've chucked them out in the garden suggested they play quietly pigs may fly outside for a bit, I can only take so much of their giddy
giggling! It'll be teatime before I know it, these girls can eat for Britain. The old boy is off to football this evening, I'll be flying solo for bedtime so am hoping for an uneventful one!
Ann your days must be SO frustrating, I hope you enjoyed your coffee and chat with friends.
Will everyone please stop tempting me with pictures and descriptions of desirable shoes, I'm not exactly an addict.... but it's very close!
Beautiful photo soop, if I lived where you do I'd get nothing done, I'd always be looking for photo opportunities.
Right then time to sort out some pizzas for tea!

granniequeenie You've made me chuckle. Thank you.

Charleyg Rory appears to have been given a brand new lease of life. He yells for his food (no pathetic mewing) and then he does a circuit of the garden (his idea of neighbourhood watch) and returns to his cat cave (after I've shaken the rug) to prepare for the next session. We are continuing to give him one daily painkilling tablet. He still has a little hind quarter lameness but...he's coping and he's happy.

I had a nice afternoon thank you.
I have known these two for nearly 50 years, we have all aged together.
I am taking them out for lunch on Tuesday for my birthday. Have you noticed how much I am spreading it out. It is 5 weeks ago now.

Well I think I may have glimpsed a corner! Whether we can turn it remains to be seen. Paw was actually mostly coherent today able to eat his lunch unaided (after I had cut up a huge piece of gammon for him) but very confused as to how many days he has "lost". I have just told him he passed out on Sunday morning and I found him and had him bluelighted to MKH. He doesn't need to know the rest.
Drs are looking at reasons for collapse - chest or urinary infection, sepsis, heart episode, testing/scanning for all. May try another ascitic drain (fluid in abdomen -liver disease) but all in all things are going to be done. He is in a nice quiet side Ward of a (horribly noisy mostly geriatric) general medical ward pending a bed back in the gastro ward.
I feel the urge for chocolate. Is that a good sign??
And breathe
PS that's scuppered Galens cunning plan to have handsome ships' officers help with her zip! ! As I remember it's the sort of thing the femme fatale in a film would get the hero to do ? ? ?

whew ! Maw , that sounds hopful xxxx

Urge for chocolate completely normal Maw.
It does sound hopeful, fingers crossed for you both.

I keep forgetting to say to soop how happy I am to hear about her prospective GGCs . I was going to say "congratulate" but that doesn't sound quite right somehow. Will these be the first great DGCs soop?

Better news Maw, hope it continues x
Soop, lovely news of Rory`s progress. I can`t afford your shoes at £20 more than the other sizes, it`s NOT FAIR! Love the sunset.

Oh Maw I've been looking out for your news and things do sound better. Eating is a good sign. Thinking of you and paw and hoping the medics come up with a reason for the fall and paw's unwellbeing. Glad he's in a side ward. It makes all the difference.
Auguroni etc.

Yes soop that's good news about Rory

I had to pop in yet again, hoping for news of Paw. Yay! Bless him, he's a tough cookie. You too, Maw Chocolate all round sounds a good plan.

callgirl The shoes were a gift. I couldn't have afforded them without a generous voucher. That is pathetic...asking £20 for a size 6...what a buggeration!

ann Your birthday celebrations can last as long as your heart desires. You sound much more cheerful. Keep on finding reasons to celebrate. You deserve treats a plenty. 'Us lot' say so.

dustyangel Thank you. Yes...first great grandchild is due in January. The second in February.

Bellanonna That cat is amazing. He appears to be asleep (outside) in his cat cave but can detect the slightest movement in the area of his food cupboard. And that is the signal to break into a trot and investigate.

Hello again, aggie. I'm about to log off. Ironing duties tomorrow morning. I shall do my best to catch up with the latest happenings when I return.

Post just disappeared. Just to say hope Paw continues to improve. You are very stalwart Maw.
I said a lot more about geriatric wards but won't bother to repeat it.