*Soop's kitcheners*

Nfk, I know what you mean about the weather, wet and cold here in Boston as well.

Went to Slimbridge wetlands trust today with DGDs and darling daughter the place was crowded with obvious grandparents and their DGC.
Suspect it was because of the teachers strike and emergency child care!

Hot? Not in Norfolk. I've just put a fleece on and dug out my winter slippers! Luckily we're heading for Shropshire tomorrow - I just hope this horrible weather doesn't follow us. (It's pelting down with rain now and the wind is strong enough to knock the walnuts of the tree.)

anno Big for you.

kitty Long ago, I went to a Polish thanksgiving party [I was very youthful at the time] I was offered Polish vodka in teeny weeny thimbleful glasses...lots and lots and lots of them. At midnight I was dancing some sort of mad reel and simply fell on to the floor. With a chappie holding me under the armpits and another supporting my legs I was placed [gently] into a taxi and sent home to my Nana's house. At the time, I was living with her. I honestly cannot remember getting out of the taxi...or opening her door...or much thereafter. Two days later, I surfaced.

POGS Just half an hour ago, I picked the remains of the chicken [for you know who]...I did it as quietly as I could. From out of nowhere, a big, black, noisy cat dashed into the kitchen and sat whinging at my feet. He had a very early high tea. Honest to goodness, he misses nowt.

moomin and kitty...I would love to sit under a striped parasol and partake of homemade lemonade and a massive small slice of carrot cake. Is there the remotest chance of that happening? Nah!

Hot in Cheshire too. Now that I've had the garden mostly cleared, it's time for me to pick some new plants. I will go to Fryer's Roses at Knutsford and may even make up my mind! Got an email from DiL with GCs' school reports. Well, would she have sent them if they hadn't been bordering on perfection!

Soop

Today's tale of Rory makes me think we were twins in a previous life

I would love to be regressed I think it is fascinating. A bit like saying you have seen a ghost, only you would know if you were telling the truth.

Xx

Hot and sunny here in Northumberland, hotter than I thought for poor hound who lay down in the shade on our post-lunch walk which is unheard of as a rule!

Now she's agitating to go outside to bake in the garden!

Charleygirl Rory was awake just long enough to eat breakfast. He slept all morning. Awoke to have a light lunch. Asleep in the shade of an otherwise sunny garden. His personal body-clock will alert him when it's almost time for high tea. What a lovely life!

Galen Chilled fresh orange juice is the perfect beverage when the day is hot. At the moment, there is a scattering of cotton wool clouds in the brightest of blue skies. Barely a ripple on the sea.

If I'm able, I shall attempt to add the latest photo of the wee man at the school sports day. I've just seen it on FB. May take a wee while.

With apologies for the surfeit of reallies!

Really Galen on is really bad for you. Drink something healthy like vodka!

Very hot here. I'm trying to read my papers for Mondays. Tribunal, but had to come in to cool down. I'm drinking (sh! Don't tell) fresh orange juice!

Very dull here but no rain- yet. Tara was up for a whole 10 minutes this morning and retired to bed again. I doubt if I will see her before 7pm this evening. She comes to life when I am watching TV or at least trying to do so.

Right! Done the ironing. Had a wee look on Facebook. Drinking hot strong coffee. No biccies and wondering where you lot are. It isn't much fun without you. I shall return a little later. from bonnie Scotland. x

Granny23 I agree with Agus. This must be such a stressful time for all the family. However, if your husband is putting all he has into "getting better" then it cannot hurt him to continue. If indeed the diagnosis (once confirmed) is one that you feel unable to keep a secret, then that is possibly the right time to be truthful. I feel so sad for you. Your friends are here for you. I wish that I could offer you proper comfort.

As for that jings...you're a rascal. Whatever you do, don't change...as if.

I'm so very sorry to hear you are going through this Granny23 but if I were in your shoes. I would follow the advice of the medics for the reason that the mind is an amazing tool and people can actually think themselves ill or well. Also as your DH is already saying maybe it's better not to know what lies ahead, I think until you have a full diagnosis, it could take away some of his fight and should the diagnosis be wrong, which I sincerely hope is the case, he will have had undue stress and worry which would be detrimental to his health. When the final diagnosis is clear, I think that is then the point for your DH to know what he is dealing with.

I hope you don't feel I have spoken out of turn and no one knows your DH better than you. I am only going by how my own DH and I would deal with this plus my experience as a nurse. It is so important to stay positive and keep that fighting spirit which will benefit your DH as he tries to,regain his fitness levels.

I wish you all the best

It is a dilemma, G23. I can only say that I would rather know what I was being tested for, then should it be confirmed it would not be such a sudden shock. DH always said the same.

You know him better than anyone, your own instinct is the best guide. I do hope that the tests prove negative, whatever they were for, but then that would just leave it unresolved for longer.

Best wishes for this, whatever the ouitcome.

I've had to retire indoors as it is much too hot out in the garden. Far too hot to tackle the ironing as well so here I am on Gransnet. I was on my way here to Soop's kitchen with a huge bowl of freshly picked (still warm) gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries when I got side-tracked onto the YES, NO thread for another rant (Why can I not leave it alone????) and have, whilst thus distracted, eaten most of the berries myself, for which sin I will probably endure retribution via my stomach later.

I wanted to run this dilemma past y'all while DH, is off having a nap because he completely exhausted himself yesterday performing ALL 20 of his (pick 5 different ones to do each day) schedule of exercises. 10 days ago we (DDs and I) were given a tentative diagnosis of what ails DH. Further tests and passage of time will determine if this diagnosis is correct. BUT we were advised not to tell him until the diagnosis is confirmed!!! because the medics think it might set back his progress and discourage him from his valiant attempts to get back on his feet if he knew that he would never get back to his previous levels of fitness again.

I am very uncomfortable with this situation. Firstly, because for fifty years I have discussed all issues, fully and frankly with my other half - we have no secrets and secondly, I feel he is being treated like a child, manipulated and discussed behind his back. I did not and would not treat my own DDs and DGC like that. One DD thinks that it would be cruel to tell him/upset him if it turns out the diagnosis is wrong, the other DD, who is of the opinion that the diagnosis is probably correct feels he has the right to know what he is dealing with. As for DH, himself, when discussing his condition with me he has said both 'I wish someone could put a name to what is wrong with me' and 'perhaps it is best not to know what lies ahead'. Any thoughts, friends?

But the perfume did stink of rotten rose petals didn't it?

(sorry )

Yet again, it's a lovely sunny day. The air is really fresh and sweet. We took our usual stroll through the village and stopped to blether along the way. Every day we pass a bush of wild roses. Every day I stop to breathe in the fabulous perfume. As a child I liked to make rose petal perfume (I was easily amused). Finish the walk and enter the shop with pollen on the end of my nose.

As I'm to carry out the ironing duties for my pal tomorrow, not yesterday, I'm all of a muddle. Today, I have some important jobs to attend to. Rory couldn't care less which day it is, because as long as he's fed, has a freshly shaken blanket on which to loll, and a doorperson at the ready when he chooses to take a stroll, he's a very satisfied pussy cat.

Much love to you all.

Aw, thank you Soop. I had made a wee bed for it too

I'm sure I've had a certain look from our various animals over the years when I would say to them, "and don't give me that look!

One of those occasions when you wish you had a cam corder at the ready Kitty

Aren't cats funny creatures. MacS maintains that he can read Rory's expression. Rory possesses just the one expression. I'm told that there are telling variations based on^ that look^. I do believe that MacS is almost [not quite] as daft as I am.

We sat and watch our cat, Kiwi, sit mesmerised by a mouse sitting on its haunches 'boxing' at the cat - very Tom and Jerry like, before coming to its senses and running off into the undergrowth, hotly followed by the cat.

The last time that minx Tara caught a bird, I managed to rescue the bird which was half dead. I placed it under a bush and within a few minutes it flew away with Tara watching from indoors, cursing me, no doubt.

Now I'm chortling. You lot are so funny. Rory is most certainly not blind. His eyes were following the mice throughout their escapades. I do believe that he simply isn't hungry enough, and without a shadow of doubt, he's fully retired from all the cat stuff for which he earned his fearless reputation. He was known to walk for miles on end...seen regularly tramping past our home, heading for the nearest village, some three and a bit miles away...only to do what he went there for, turn around, and return some hours later.

Agus you did what you thought was best for the wee fledgling. Someone told me once upon a time to leave the bird on the ground. Mother bird knew where to find it. We've had a couple fly into the window pane and stun themselves. Have watched for some time whilst the bird appeared to be as good as dead. And then, hey ho, it recovered and scampered into the undergrowth. for you. x

it's a lesson learned Roses. Now I know what to do in future