Soop's comfortable and friendly kitchen...

Oh, that’s great news ann. The six week block will be very restorative for you.
Good luck with the viewing Panache. Hope the heat isn’t too overwhelming.

Excellent news Ann I hope the prospect of imminent respite will help you through the intervening time.
Of course nothing is a cure but your own health is paramount at the moment.
I feel I have fallen behind on Kitchen news, just been too darned hot and tired to bother with much. Keep falling asleep following Hattie’s excellent example.
What a pair!

Brilliant news, ann. So glad you will be able to enjoy having time to yourself and get up to date with friends and family. xxx

Ann that really is good news- things are definitely looking up. Six weeks is a decent time to get your mental and physical act together again.

Maw please may I remind you that Hattie needs all of the rest that she can get!!!!!! It is exhausting walking from the living room to the kitchen to find a few morsels of food!

You are becoming like me, sitting down with a cup of coffee and the next thing I am asleep.

Too right Auntie Charleygirl !

Great news ann. Is it a 6 week block or 3 lots of 2 weeks? Either way, a relief for you.

She really is gorgeous- what a pity Tara would hate her on sight because Hattie is always welcome here. She would have plenty of cool spots on the floors, laminate and ceramic but I think that she would like my sofa although she would be more comfortable on my bed.

ann such good news about the 6 weeks respite, and the 6 hours weekly. Do you have to take the 6 weeks in 1 block or can you stagger it through the year .

Woop Woop!! That's in response to Ann's new deal. Now, I'm beginning to think that things are getting sorted and I'm truly chuffed for our dear friend.

callgirl1 Wee Max isn't so wee. Since we last saw him he's doubled in size. He has a glorious head of hair. I think that he's like his daddy. Daddy has your good looks, callgirl1
Said hello to David this morning. It's baking hot in Kintyre. The camp site is full and folk are soaking up the sunshine. Some, I'm sorry to say, may regret baking their bodies to a crisp.

Hello to all our lovely regulars and newcomers. It's good to share your company. I wouldn't complain if a few of you put your feet up for the remains of the day. That would give me a chance to catch up.

Maw Hattie knows the secret of how to "chill" and look tip-top elegant at the same time. We should all follow suit,

Here is a pic taken in the garden together with some foxgloves. There are dozens scattered around the garden this year. We didn't see one last year.

Two sad happenings today. We heard that a friend's wife died very suddenly a few days ago. Have just heard from another friend who returned home to find her elderly cat dead in the kitchen.

Goodbye for now. Hugs for you and best wishes for a peaceful evening.

I’m so sorry. soop, sad news indeed.

ann I’m so delighted for you, wonderful news.

One last thing before I run off - charley - eat, please.

That is very sad Soop, life is so precious and the older I get the less I take it for granted

Sorry for your sad news soop. Such a shock for all concerned. Nice photo of you in the garden.

Thrilled at your good news ann hopefully this will give you a bit of a boost.

Lovely photo callgirl my what a head of hair Max has ?

Psst Hattie any space on the floor next to you? You look so comfy and I could do with a nap instead of getting dinner ready. Budge up a bit

I have returned in semi one piece from our viewing at the Sheltered Housing Complex,firstly I am just about caving in with this relentless sun,secondly although the flat was a real winner, even down to a newly fitted kitchen with great appliances to carpets etc in perfect order..............with sitting room leading out to a sizeable south facing patio...........just one problem............it was a one bedder and we had specifically asked for 2.

A very unpleasant incident on the short drive home..........we were stuck in two lanes of heavy traffic,my DH took a gulp of water .....................and he nearly choked there before my very eyes.
I think it was the scariest moment of my.,...........and his life.
Thankfully he is now recovered, but believe you me,it sobered us up sharply.

Whilst I have only had a quick read through thus far, but must say I am "over the moon" with your good news Ann........yes its been a long time coming but at least your voice has been heard and you really have some proper planning to do now ........whilst you know your H will still be well cared for.Great news.

I am forwarding a Melin Gwynt woollen rug to you Charley we just can`t have you being cold.

Now who on erath is this "Dolly Bird" that keeps arriving on these pages? ........I might have known it was our Soop and you look as lovely as the foxgloves behind you!!

Whilst Maw .......of course it is only good manners to take a leaf out of Hattie`s book and have forty winks!!She is gorgeous and growing.......she will be soon eating you out of house and home!

soop........I have again sobered up on hearing the sad news of your friend`s wife sudden death,and then another finding her cat dead.......most unpleasant.

After my own scare for my DH............ I am still shaking myself.......so please forgive my rather garbled message ..........I hope to be in better shape tomorrow. ..........

Take care everyone........hope your evening will be pleasant.

I have had a very nice fruit platter for brunch courtesy of Morrisons. Amazingly I do not feel like having anything else but the moaners are starting again!

I am not familiar with Welsh wool, but if it keeps me warm- I will try anything. I am sitting here with a thick jacket on because it is cold, or at least I feel cold.

Evening all,

Just a quick pop in as we are away all weekend to our SiLs 50th party!

Lovely photo as always soop .

Thrilled at your news ann .

I shall return late Sunday for a proper catch up !

What a lovely weekend you have to look forward to *N&G.
Such times passed us by as my D and Si Lwere separated by her 50th and he hadn't reached his .
I sometimes feel very low by the way my life has panned out.
I haven't spoken to my S, or rather he hasn't spoken to me for over a month.
If it were not for my GD , his D, I would feel abandoned.
My D is getting on with her rather troubled life and that takes priority with her.
All of you with loving, attentive and caring families, I hope you cherish them and realise how blessed you are.
I am not usually so critical and open but today has not been good.
I am grateful to SS that things may get easier , I don't know yet.
I wish a good weekend to you all. Make the most of it, this is the best summer I remember here in the NW since 1976.
We moved into this house then and it was so, so hot.
I am already in bed playing on the tablet, last night H was in bed at 9pm having watched the football and was up, looking for his clothes at 10 pm.
He has no sense of day and night, he did get back to bed but was up before 4am and that was it, although I didn't go down I was awake and he came upstairs several times.

Please, please ignore my post.
I was feeling so sorry for myself after a good morning went so wrong.
I was hot and tired and worried about another family matter.
My daughter rang me later and we had a long chat.
I am very guilty of not burdening anyone with how I really feel with the exception of my GD who sees the situation at first hand for herself
Unfortunately she is not well herself, she has a throat infection and dreadful hay fever,compounded by unsympathetic employers giving her a hard time about being off work.
I hope today is a better day for all of us, and a happy one for family gatherings.

annesixty I don't think anyone would wish to ignore your last post. You obviously needed to unburden yourself and that is fine. I was pleased to read about the respite which is good news indeed. However that does not do away with unrelenting pressures meanwhile, so I think we all understand that post. The act of writing something down can sometimes be cathartic and I hope it helped.

soop sorry to hear you sad news too. I am about to bake fresh bread for the kitchen and then preparing a Chinese meal for friends this evening. Time to put into practice some of the recipes from the course I did in China some time ago. Nothing like the Chinese food we buy over here so I shall spend a rewarding day preparing.

In between times - enjoying the sunshine and weeding on our new allotment.

Can I tell all of my new mothers that I had a cheese omelette for supper last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I cannot quite manage potatoes and vegetables but at least I am eating something and I am even feeling mildly hungry now. The plus side is I have had very little chocolate and biscuits so I have lost 4 kilos and with luck the weight will continue to drop.

I do not recommend a knee replacement for weight loss- there has to be easier ways.

Just a quickie my kitchen friends,............heartily disturbed by your distressing posts Ann.......and no apologies because I too know by experience, it is far better for the soul to unwind and "let it all out"
We all have these off days,some extreme ones............but still we only have a mere inkling into your days,which are quite unbearable and so naturally you feel the immense weight.
Sincerely hoping that you feel a tad better and ready to meet a new day.

I am still reeling from what might well have been my DH`s death yesterday,he virtually choked right there..... stuck in our car in amidst fast moving traffic..........with me looking on rather helplessly.........I know he has a serious illness but this came "just out of the blue"
Thankfully he is back more his smiling self this morning.......and I breathe afresh......but badly shaken believe me.

No luck yesterday with our own viewing, so I wonder what our own viewers..........this afternoon and tomorrow morning will have to say........

Good on you Charley just keep up the good work.

Wishing you all a peaceful day and plenty of cool drinks and shade from what seems to be unrelenting heat............

Sorry about your H Panache I know how I felt when my H had his stroke, it is so terrifying.
I am pleased he is back on form today.
Good luck with the viewings, I am never going through that again ( she hopes).
Charleygirl I lost over a stone in 6 weeks when I had my TKR and now admit to putting it all back on again
It seems hotter than ever here today, H has been asleep most of the morning.

Ann at least H has football to watch this afternoon and evening so with luck he will sit quietly watching whatever game is on and with luck he will sleep well.

A stone is a lot to lose in 6 weeks but I do appreciate how easy it is for it to creep back on again.

I am feeling cold so I must hang out my washing and sit in the sunshine for a while drinking a cup of coffee while I contemplate what to have for brunch.

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, earlier this morning, as I sat outside on the patio in the sunshine (in my PJs) with a cup of real coffee, Hattie asleep on the grass at my feet and my new magazine which had just come through the letterbox (gift subscription from sister in law) listening to the silence and looking forward to seeing DD2, SIL and Flynn later today, I thought “Life is not bad is it?”
OK all that would have made it perfect would have been to know that Paw (perhaps before he got too poorly, maybe 3 years or so ago,) was reading the newspaper in bed, on his second or third cup of tea.
But 5/6 is not to be sneezed at, is it? ?