Soop's welcoming kitchen!

Hello soop (and all the regular 'kitchen stars')
I'm back from my jaunt in Spain, where the sun was shining (very hot) and the food was fabulous!
We had a dish of tiny, baby broad beans (no skins) and baby peas, all picked locally, cooked with onions and bacon, which was one of the tastiest starters I've ever had, it was heavenly.

Torben is getting to be even more handsome (if that's possible).

Bellasnana, for your sister, I hope the scan doesn't bring any more bad news for you all.

Off out now to see my little dgd and dgs. Yippee!

Welcome home, Lona. Thanks for the flowers. Glad to hear you had such a lovely time in Spain. It's good to have you back.

I have some celebratory fizzy left - so help yourselves. I need to keep a clear head for Zumba tomorrow!

Glad you had such a good trip Lona.

Had a nice time with Minibags today. We went looking for new jodphurs. The horsey shop didn't have her size but said they'd try and get some. Then we went to a nearby garden centre and had a snackeroo and back home via some shops looking for jeans (no luck), summer school shoes cos she's been wearing furry boots all winter (no luck), and socks (got socks!).

Lovely spring day so the washing was dry and I sat drinking tea and reading my new book ("The Yorkshire Shepherdess" by Amanda Owen) with bare feet in the sun [contented sigh]

I arrived back from Didcot at lunchtime and immediately went out to our creative writing group which dragged on a bit and I was almost dropping off. I have been in charge of two young tearaways for some of the week. Each of the boys is fine on his own but together... One winds up the other, the latter retaliates and lands up with all the blame. I took them to the cinema twice. Rio II was rather a good animation with a 'save the rainforest' message. I was surprised how taken they were with the Muppet movie which was not bad at all, with plenty of gags for adults and children. In both cases I had a pleasant little nap. On Thursday I had a with AlieOxon which I enjoyed. Yesterday we went, en famille to Kew Gardens. I'd never been there before. It was a perfect day for it and I really loved the experience. The children and parents went to a 'Willie Wonka' chocolate event while I explored the Palm House. The treetop walk was fun, with great views over the gardens. It was one way of seeing the Temperate House, which is currently, to my disappointment, closed for restoration.

Where's soop?

soop is visiting family down south.

Thank you, bags.

Oh, I bet she is having a sooper time!

Enjoy every second soop and MacSporran

I was wondering where soop had gone to, but then quite a few threads seem to have disappeared.

Have a lovely time with your family, soop.

I'm completely sure soop is having a wonderful time roseq

Just popped in to throw open all the windows as it's a fabulous spring morning full of fresh air and sunshine. Plonked a vibrant orange geranium on the windowsill for a bit of cheer.

Ah well. Windows now closed. I leave it for soop to reappear. Have a good Easter weekend everyone

Ta-dah!!! ...thank you for all your kindnesses.

It's so nice to go travelling [well over 600 miles each way] and it's oh so nice to be home with umpteen happy memories of three days spent in the company of a four year old wee man.

I've spent all morning playing catch-up. How can there be so much washing ...

We attended Torben's fourth birthday party. Such hilarity...so much noise...so much taking advantage of being allowed sweets because it was a special occasion. Thank goodness for the "sick bag"...as on nearing daddy's home [a two hour drive out of London] Torben whispered...Nana, I'm going to be sick. Well, like a true champ, I managed to hold the bag whilst all the goodies returned in some style.

Daddy's birthday gift was an enormous Lego City Fire Station set. From 6am on Monday we started the construction and made the fire station, helicopter pad, engine and fire tender and helicopter. Torben officiated, Torben did his utmost to confuse assist in the fiddly construction. Lost count of the number of times we said..."a piece is missing..." only to find that Torben had it in his hand.

We walked a lot. Visited a nearby farm with ducks, hens and two donkeys. One donkey attempted to eat my jacket. MacSporran came to the rescue. Torben was well impressed. When he returned to Mummy on the day we departed, his first words were...a horse tried to take Nana's coat off her back and GpJ rescued her.

We travelled on the Bluebell steam train. The ticket was very costly but well worth it, as we had such fun.

Ball games were high on T's list of how to expend untapped energy. My legs felt like lead at the end of each day. I thanked Torben for the game and he replied...you're very welcome...

His vocabulary is amazing. We walked over dried cracked mud on the farm and he informed me that it was because of volcanic eruptions lots and lots of years ago.

When it came to bath time, he announced that it had to be short because there wasn't a lot of hot water to spare.

I could go on and on. It's what we grannies do. About to look at photos and will upload a few later.

Welcome back, soop! We missed you. So glad to hear you had such a joyous time with your lovely grandson. It sounds like lots of fun. Many happy memories to treasure.

It sounds as though you both had an amazing time and were educated as usual by Torben. He is a bright young chap. Such a pity that it was for such a short time as the distance is horrendous.

I do hope that Rory has not ignored the pair of you since your return. He will appreciate more cuddles again and food served when he wants it.

Hello Bellasnana and Charleygirl it's good to be back in the kitchen. In a moment I shall upload a few photos. Rory refused to eat for the first two days. We were so upset and hardly slept when our friend told us. However, when we walked through the door last night...what a reception. Rory leapt from the rug on his chaise and meowed very loudly. Tail went into WELCOME home mode...ram-rod straight and he fussed around us both for ages. He hasn't let us out of sight since. He also has a very hearty appetite. Must have been outside for at least two whole minutes before rushing back indoors to check that we're still here. MacSporran had a tear in his eye when he cuddled Rory before bedtime.

Have uploaded a few photos. Will return tomorrow to catch up with Granspals news. Big warm hug for each and every one of you.

Welcome back, soop

I had left some bananas to go a bit too ripe so I've made a banana chocolate cake. Help yourselves, folks.

Taking Cubs to see the local mountain rescue centre this evening.

Doc thinks MrB may have shingles (but he wasn't sure). He is a bit better than he was a couple of days ago and has a course of anti-viral pills.

Good afternoon dear bags ...rushed back to the kitchen when I caught the delightful aroma of banana chocolate cake fresh from the oven. I cannot resist...even though I've thrown all caution to the wind over the last few days and have regained all the weight I lost prior to visit to see Torben. I blame the ice creams and such...

Enjoy your evening with the cubs. We enjoy watching Highland Rescue on television.

I trust that MrB will benefit from his anti-viral pills. I've had shingles just the once. It was painful. Apparently connected with having had chicken pox as a child.

Isn't Torben a big boy now! I can't believe he's four already. You may not be able to call him 'the wee man' much longer! What a great time you've had with him soop. I was with my two tearaways last week and have now almost recovered.

Welcome back soop, you've been very much missed.
It sounds as though you all had a lovely time, including the donkey!

I've still got the handsome Torben earmarked for my gorgeous dgd Savannah. They will make a very happy couple I'm sure

and banana cake is just what the doctor ordered, so I'll recline for a while in front of the Aga (we do have an Aga don't we? ) if I may?

Lovely to have you back in the fold Soop, but your time with your family, especially Torben, must have seemed all too short. Hopefully it won`t be too long before you see them all again.

Evening all, hope you don't mind me coming in, I've wiped my feet.

Having a bit of what I call a "Jack Moment" , didn't want to start a thread, just sort of wanted to be able to have a space, not sure what to call it really!

Mr P will be going away (only Mon to Fri) to start a new contract on April 28th, which financially is great! But this time of the year is a bit tricky for me, as my dear boy would have been 25 on the 29th. (Left us aged 19, December 2008) I wasn't able to have as much input as I wanted to the funeral arrangements, but would have liked this song (and this version, can't stand that bloody Celine Dion version!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mup_lyZ50XI

phoenix

Just popped my head around the door. Family coming is weekend plus some old friends so I haven't had time to browse GN much lately. I thought I'd leave these for Phoenix. (I agree whole heartedly re Celine)