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

I choose passwords which are not in the dictionary, either full names or the first letter of a couple of places of work or old schools and then I stick a memorable number on the end.

Galen love your password post, that's exactly how difficult they are

soop Rory is in the best place having his every wish catered for. What all pets need somewhere safe and comfortable to rest with the family who love them ?

Hi Hattie glad to hear you've settled in well. You look very comfortable on that nice bed. If there was a bit more room I would come and join you as I could do with a nap too. Please tell your sleeping companion (stuffed) it is rude to point your bottom at the camera when having your photo taken. ?

I do hope you get to meet paw soon. I'm sure it would do him good to see you.
Take good care of maw and I'm pleased to hear she is letting you sleep at night and not disturbing you so much.?

Much better, thank you. Hattie is falling into Grace's old habit of resting her eyes most of the day. She has lovely brown soulful eyes.

Is this better Charleygirl?

Morning all !!

So sad to hear about Rory soop , he sounds contented enough so enjoy every second now.

That sounds like an improvement Tizliz . By the way in our house ironing is ALWAYS ignored until it becomes an Elf and Safety issue !!

Made me laugh Maw , I hate passwords and have to use phrases now because I can't remember the complex ones required now !

Cars are not doing well in your household are they Maw wait till I tell Jackson !!!! I feel a lecture coming your SiLs way , but I am glad to hear it is Coopers favourite car ( obviously ) !!

I love the sound of the send off Nonna . Our family throw riotous send offs which are equally fuelled by good food, memories, laughter and tears. Just the way I wish to be remembered ( with maybe a bouncy castle thrown in ).

My Mum used to make bramble jelly jam and to this day its the only jam my girls will eat. Mum used to strain it through old tights stretched over and upturned stool.... I hope they were washed but you never know !!

I agree on your theory Maw and its why , far flung or not , every year or two , for no good reason I spend a week with my brother, sisters and their other halves. We drink( far too much) reminisce , gossip, get silly and generally just enjoy each others company. Its my favourite thing.

Quiet day here , so sending peaceful thoughts to you all !

Hattie I am delighted to hear that you are settling down in that strange place. Good that your sleep was undisturbed- does not bode well for a good day if it is.

The little person irritating you yesterday is called Flynn. He is too young to understand that he must not pinch your treats and toys. He will become one of your best friends once you get to know and understand him.

I hope that the menu is halfway decent there. Silence and rolling your eyes at Maw will work wonders.

Make sure that you get lots of dog naps during the day because you must conserve your energy. Deciding where to have one's next nap does take it out of you. The flooring in that house looks to me to be a bit hard- feel free to try out a bed- much more comfortable and you can stretch out.
There would have been a riot in this kitchen if you were not staying.

practice

I think that's a good idea in principle Maw. In practise, for me, coming from a large family with a lot of members who are no longer here, it would mean a constant stream of "get togethers".

Given work demands and geography (far flung domiciles) plus costs and increasing age of the older remaining menbers, I can't see it working for us. So we have to make the most of funereal gatherings and hope it's not our turn next!

I have a theory about families coming together at funerals and while it was originally "formulated " at my mum's funeral, it could apply equally to anybody.
Here goes.
As a Mum, one of my greatest pleasures is having my "chicks" back in the nest, now with their menfolk and own chicks. If the extended family can be there too, that is a bonus.
So at a family funeral, everybody is there because of one person and while he or she may not be aware of it, the fact remains that the family has come together and there will be smiles as well as tears.
Job done.
Perhaps we could honour a memory though by coming together on the birthday of that person or the anniversary of their death.
Just a thought.

Morning Maw, Hattie and all kitcheners. Glad you had a good night Hattie.

I can relate so well to your post NonnaW as whatsapps have been flying around here too ready for next Thursday when we lay my dear BinL to rest. The family is far flung and travel arrangements are expensive plus accommodation in short supply at this peak holiday season. However we are sorted with all that now.

My sister has asked me to speak at the funeral as none of her four children can bring themselves to do so. I have found a lovely poem online on a "suggestions for funeral readings" site and have slightly amended it to make it relevant for our family.

We leave here on Wednesday and take two flights then my sister will meet us at the airport. In the evening we are having a "gathering of the clan" get together before the funeral on Thursday with a wake afterwards. We are coming back on Friday as it is DH's birthday on Saturday and we have plans for that!

One of my niece's said what a shame it was that we only have these gatherings for funerals and sometimes weddings. That's true but I suspect was ever thus. I can't help loking forward to seeing everyone even though it is on a sad occasion.

Good morning Kitcheners. Hattie here. I am glad to say Maw didn't disturb me at all last night and I had a jolly good sleep unti 7 o clock this morning.
I was tired though - there was a tiny human person here who was very friendly and provided me with some "interesting" sniffs but he pinched my homemade Norfolk biscuit from my bed
I took one of the toys Maw keeps for the tiny humans in exchange but it doesn't squeak - boring.
BTW Maw says I can stay ?

I have ended up in tears over passwords. We can hardly do anything without them these days.
It is impossible to remember them all. I have a list of those for general websites, shopping sites GN, garden forums etc. It's the financial stuff that really gets me.

NonnaW, I can manage blackberry sorbet in any weather so please, please bring it on!
Getting ready to go camping in France with DS1 and family - under orders to 'travel light' - moi? That must be some kind of alien concept! How to choose between a myriad Tee-shirts? Can't wait for a stroll round a Provencal market - only restrained by the massive drop in the exchange rate .
When my aunt became incapable of handling her own affairs,my uncle (usually the most competent of men) hadn't sorted out her PoA and had to deal with a lot of bureaucracy to get at her finances to pay for her care. So I got the message and had my PoA made out jointly and severally to my two DSs. So if I become incapable, hopefully their job will be relatively easy.They are also joint executors of my will.

Rory, I can sympathise. For some reason my Arthuritis has been playing up and it's summer
Doesn't seem fair, does it. And I only have two legs that are a bit painful, not four.

Oh dear MawBroon I always thought that the RAC were the superior service. They are Royal after all.

Here's a pot or two of bramble jelly, we seem to have an endless supply because DH keeps giving me blackberries. Enough, I cry, but they still keep appearing.
If someone else could make the scones I would be very grateful, have had enough of standing over a hot stove.
And the cream please.
Thank you.

Because funerals seem to be the only time the whole family gets together we made an effort two years ago and rented an old youth hostel for a long weekend and over 30 of us had a good time without feeling guilty. It was a lot of organising but worth it.

That sounds nice Nonna I get the feeling of a celebration of a life, rather than a funeral, and hopefully some smiles among the tears.

I've spent a bit of time in the kitchen today, after foraging in the garden. 2 jars of apple & rhubarb jelly made, some blackberry sorbet, and started on the makings of blackberry & apple jelly. Tomorrow I may make another chocolate cake with courgettes (might sound strange, but it works quite well!). So, if anyone wants some..... mind you it's pouring rain here at present so not quite sure I fancy sorbet!

WhatsApp has been going made today with messages flying between family members re order of service, and loads of great photos of DSIL to potentially be used. Also it has been decided that after the service (Monday week), it will be back to DH's niece for Cornish pasties and beer or fizz! DSIL loved Cornwall and pasties so another great thing in her memory.

I am sorry to hear Rory is a bit under the weather. Perhaps it is just that, if your weather has turned colder and wetter especially at night like ours down here, his rheumatics or"Arthuritis" might be playing up.
Poor DD and SIL have had a fraught day but it could have been a real nightmare. They drove up from London to visit Paw and took ages because of really heavy traffic. But in addition their car started making funny noises and they coaxed it to in front of our house where it stopped.
Stopped. And wouldn't start again.
SIL had a look at the warning lights and realised the coolant was low (or perhaps non-existent) and remembered that the service was overdue, ...and he has driven it to Sweden and back.....

I pointed out that is what he pays the RAC for so he tried to call them. Could he get through? He was on hold for nearly half an hour so DD and Flynn and I decided to swap the baby seat into my car and head over to the hospital. The RAC came out in due course and sort of fixed the immediate issue but said it wasn't safe to drive back to London but they would relay them home.
Fine
Only the breakdiwn van broke down on the way here (!) and a replacement couldn't be got till sometime in the middle of the night. However the RAC offered to pay for a cab to get them back. The Mini will be picked up tomorrow and SIL has it booked into the nearest Mini centre for Monday morning.
But just think if they had broken down on the motorway either on the way here or back with a hungry and almost certainly crying littlest fella in the back?
I do feel sorry for them as they only bought this car 4 or so months ago, a racing green Mini clubman and DD really loves it. If they have bu-**ered the engine they will be pushed to afford the repair if it needs a rebuild or replacement.
But at least they were here while they waited, Flynn could have his supper and they can relax while being driven home in a lovely smooth hybrid.
Also secretly relieved that despite a genuine offer on my part to drive them home, I didn't have to!

I do love this kitchen Where else could we get such shared understanding of happiness mixed with sadness, grief with unadulterated joy. advice, consolation and general blethering? I am privileged to have met you all.

I commiserate with those who have poorly loved ones - human or animal - and send best wishes to all embarking on new ventures. For those of us just plodding along, I hope that whatever is round the next corner is good news Cheers!

I may be acquiring two more grand-kittens.

I am sitting quietly in the corner, listening to the boring chit-chat and being happily bored.

Thank you all.

jollyg you have just given me an idea
think some require a unicorns hair, an Egyptian hieroglyph, seven upper case and six lower case letters, 12 numbers ( non repeated) under 10 and the blood of a virgin!
Galen that sounds like that quiz programme on BBC2 with Victoria Coren-Wotsit!
I did answer a question once - which the contestants didn't get. Clever, eh?

Passwords?
Easy
Grumpy , Dopey, Sneezy, Mickey, Donald, Minnie and Pittsburgh

In other words six characters and a capital.

soop as you are aware, the kitchen is twee and we are boring- just the way that we like it methinks.

Rory loves his home hence he knows he can have a good sleep without being disturbed with the knowledge that food is always available for a very goooood boy!

Tizliz We understand how each other feels. That's what I like about our kitchener Granspals, we share all manner of things.