Soop's Kitcheners...

Bring plenty of woollens!
Hope all is still on for Dec 2? Really looking forward to it.
Where are you thinking of moving to if your house is for sale?

Yes, Galen, we are looking forward to Dec 2nd very much
We need to move somewhere smaller , but still in Malta. Don't think I could live anywhere cold again

I'm actually going to try and make grape jelly. Has anyone ever made it?

No Galen but I'll happily sample it!!

i have made it but it didn't really gel very well. Tasted good though

I posted a long and no doubt rambling missive last night full of empathy for being let down by cars and gadgets and the complications of having to try to use the bus service in a village where basically we have one bus an hour in each direction! Anyway, my --not very--smart phone clearly decided it was a load of tosh and it hasn't posted, so that was a waste of time!
I have twisted DH's arm to come to London with me this evening for a private view of SIL's sculptures at a gallery in Islington. DH is very fond of him and I suspect that DD is his favourite (but shhhh) but he tires easily, or at least thinks he does so he was unwilling at first. I have arranged mobility assistance at Euston, which wil see us to the taxis and we will get a taxi back to Euston afterwards. I think it is important not to wimp out of things or people will stop even thinking of including us! The organisation has taken up much of today and it will be an expensive trip but as I said it is important not to just moulder in our rural backwater and take the easy way out!!!
(Hope it is worth it)

We have lots of wine-making grapes this year, DH may make some wine but perhaps I will try some jelly as well. My gooseberry jelly didn't set very well, so I tipped it all out and reboiled it with some pectin. It is fairly solid now (hacksaw job) but very tasty.

Good luck with the house-selling, Bellasnana - and bring your woolly vests with you when you come over.

Alie, DGD2 was a November breech baby and absolutely refused to turn so it was a caesarian birth; however, DIL seemed to recover fairly quickly and DGD2 was absolutely fine. DGD2 is nearly 3 now and still has a mind of her own. However, I hope your expected DGC listens when told to turn around unlike ours!

soop I saw in the paper that Devon County Council are encouraging the general public to mend their own potholes. Perhaps you could arrange for your local Council to bring round some buckets of tarmac and a shovel so that you can get started? Seriously, it is no fun at all if you hit one and sometimes they can't be seen when they are full of water.

As I am trying to lose the weight I gained on holiday I have brought some as I cannot watch all of you scoffing eating and not have any. It's not any good for you anyway (said very virtuously, shining halo).

Soutra well done! It is so easy to sit still and watch those walls closing in, so I think you are doing exactly the right thing for you both. Organising that trip sounds such a big and expensive enterprise, but 'Money's made round to go round' as my friend used to say. Hope you both have a lovely time.

Hello...I'm home again. The ironing went smoothly. The dogs were very good and spent most of the afternoon chasing each other around the garden (together with the hens and ducks)

Bella It is good to hear from you. You must be terribly busy at the moment and we all miss you. It is cold here in bonnie Kintyre but sunny with it. In fact we have the lion's share of the pleasant weather at present. I wish you wall to wall when you visit your sister in Kent. Our neighbour has stopped having chemo therapy. She has lung cancer. The treatment made her feel ghastly [unable to get out of bed] and she now maintains that enough is enough.

Galen We are all wanting to taste your grape jelly. You really must go ahead and give it a whirl. As for the wretched potholes - your little story put a smile on my face. How dare those men even consider leaving the job outside your residence unfinished! Obviously they knew that you were not to be fobbed off with feeble excuses.

Soutra The forthcoming evening event sounds super. Your son in law must be very gifted. It will do you and your husband good to attend and well worth all the business of arranging the necessary assistance. I think that the customer support system at railway stations/airports is first class.

rosequartz keep up the good work with your diet. I'm afraid that I am still endeavouring to get myself back into the daily routine of pedalling away for twenty minutes on my exercise bike. I managed the exercise yesterday. Today...I'm not so sure that I want to be bothered. I tell myself that an afternoon ironing was, maybe, enough to be going on with. We also took our daily walk after breakfast.

Goodbye for now. I shall return in the morning.

Hello everyone, just popping for a sit and a cuppa. I have been painting all day (no, not artistic, walls!) and definitely need a sit and a warm. I like the fix your own pothole idea, what will they come up with next - and what are they spending the council tax on I wonder? Soop can you send some sunshine down South please?

Well we're back. DH clsims he is exhausted but I am not taking any notice!! (as I did all the work!) It involved a 30 mile round trip to collect DH from his philosophy class and (at times) 70 mph dash to get the train (plus of course finding parking) then taxi to Islington. It was all very arty farty but we knew or had met a lot of DD s arty friends from over the years and SIL's parents were there too plus youngest DD's husband (she is currently in midair en route to Hong Kong) so it was good fun.
Anyway I am especially glad DH made it as DD and SIL whispered a secret to us as they saw us out to get a taxi which, all being well I hope to be in a position to share with you all in a couple of weeks' time.

Soutra I'm delighted that your painstaking plans worked remarkably well. You deserve a large bouquet of
jamsidedown and lots of love.

It is a little dampish today. The sky over the Hebridean Islands of Islay and Jura is becoming bluer by the minute.

I ought to be making:-
1 chutney
2 grape jelly
3 starter for sourdough bread.
4 clearing out end wardrobe

What am I doing?:-
Sitting with my feet up reading a trashy novel.

Galen you keep forgetting that you are retired, you live alone and can do what you want, when you want!!!! There is always tomorrow.

TheGalen all of those things, including the trashy novel, sound great! I am still painting - will it never end? Yes it will, but we don't like the colour we have chosen for our bedroom so may have to start again - I can see me calling in later for a lie down on a comfy sofa and some .

Thank you for the soop, sadly only virtual at the moment!

Got two tribunals at the end of the month!
Not completely retired.

I've been very energetic and made up the sourdough starter. Exhausted now! Need a lie down

Can't do the others until after my groceries arrive

A dear friend of ours, aged just fifty, died yesterday after only six weeks of illness. We are in shock, he was always out walking and sailing and the last photo we have of him was taken on a yacht two months ago. Sometimes life can be cruel so I have come to the kitchen to be comforted.

What a nasty shock for you! {{hugs}} we're all here for you, I'm sure

That's very sad harrigran and shocking for those who were close to him. Makes us grateful for what we have.

Oh dear harrigran...much sympathy.

I should be going to my singing group, but I'm not.
Meanwhile I have managed to mess up my email and now it isn't working...not a great day!

However hopefully I should (depending on weather) have my shed roof sorted tomorrow....starting rather early.........

Bella glad to hear your DH is feeling better. Hope he is able to have his chemo soon. When we were selling our house I did a manic clear up. Couldn't put things in cupboards because viewers might look in them so we ended up putting as much as we could in the car and hiding it away (I am not naturally a very tidy person). Can't imagine what I would do if open to scrutiny by TV cameras Hope it helps you find a buyer though.
Glad you are making it over to see your sister. Wrap up warmly, it's quite chilly here now. Lots of ((huggs)) and .

Galen, put down that trashy novel and get on with our grape jelly. We are looking forward to sampling it soon (actually the thought of you reading a trashy novel makes me see you in a whole new light!

Soutra so glad you made your trip to London. It sounds quite a special event. Can't wait to hear your secret. I wonder what it could be?

harrigran so sorry about your friend. We lost a dear friend recently quite unexpectedly and as you say it is such a shock (hug)

Alie any news on whether or not your DD has manged to get the baby turned round?

jam let me know when you've finished the painting and I'll join you for a glass of .

Soop thanks for sending the down south. Was it one of the energy saving varieties as it's still quite dim at the moment

Dear harrigran I am so sorry to hear the sad news. My goodness, it must surely be a tremendous shock when a close friend (who not so long ago) seemed to be very fit and full of life, suddenly becomes ill and dies. and (((gentle))) hugs.

We are about to take a stroll in the sunshine. When I return, I shall catch up with my Granspals.

soop First of all, sorry I haven't visited for such a long time. I would love your view. About fifteen years ago (golly is it that long), DH and I made a very hair-raising journey to Jura, on what appeared to have been the windiest day of the year, to look at the shop and the house that went with it as the owners were selling up. It was a good proposition, and we were all for it, but couldn't sell our house. By the time we were in a position to proceed they had taken the shop off the market and decided to stay. Needless to say we were very disappointed, and never found another business that we liked well enough. DH stayed with the Co-op and I continued Nursing. We both thought that our lives were a little poorer for not having the opportunity to live in such a beautiful place.
DD and family currently live on the Rosneath peninsular. If they are still there in 19months DH and I will sell up and join them, as that is when he retires.

Crafting I read it inbetween 3 magazines on history and archaeology. You can have too much culture you know!