Soop's Kitcheners

Grrrr! Lift snapped shut on my crutches and snapped the cuff.
Cunard are trying to get a new cuff delivered to Malaga (next port) at my expense! Their bloody lift!
They're carbon fibre crutches. I remembered they were made in Spain and got Cunard to contact them and order a replacement cuff to be delivered to Malaga! It's only about $40 but I really think they ought to pay!
AIBU?

Soop I'll bring you back rock from 'The Rock of Gibralter'

Yes Galen, they SHOULD pay, it was their equipment that did the damage!

No, Galen, not in the least unreasonable. It sounds as if they should be liable for the damage and surely as a good will gesture you'd think they would give you the replacement free of charge. Mean lot!

Galen Cunard cannot possibly expect you to pay for the cuff replacement. Bloody cheek! Tell them from me that they need to brush up on their customer service skills.

number I met Beni [the dog] in the flesh and fur so to speak just this morning. Now is the time when niggles and doubts creep in. The photo was taken using flash. All of a sudden I'm questioning certain highlighted areas... I shall need to mull the matter over.

A hugely blustery day. Big gunmetal grey waves. I've finished my pal's ironing for the week. Next job to do for her, here at home, is lots of silver cleaning. That can wait. I'm going to enjoy my coffee and a quiet moment well away from the three noisy dogs.

Hello kitcheners, hi soop
I've cracked more walnuts than I care for this season, so I've bought a basket full for the kitchen. Plenty of nut crackers - so help yourselves.
They're good for fire-lighters too, at a pinch.
Been a busy day so far, so I'm happy to sit awhile.

I thought of you soop when I saw the lunchtime weather forecast. It looks as if you are in the firing line for this big storm that's threatening, so I am sure you will both be battening down the hatches. Are you on the Atlantic side of Kintyre? The predicted monster waves will surely be spectacular there. Take good care and don't get blown away... please.

Hello ffinnchio walnuts top my list of favourite nuts. Brazils come a close second. You are a dear.

I'm about to include a photo of Beni's portrait (taken with flash) in my album. The actual painting measure 8"x10". I shall offer it to my pal and I shall be sure to tell her that I'm more than happy to have another attempt using a different photo. MacSporran says that I'd be mad to do so. He thinks that the painting is the spitting image of the dog. Artistic temperament is a weird thing...

Hello anno...the storm certainly is gathering momentum.

Winter arrived here last night- very late for us this year- and just about 2 inches of snow- but we are ready for it. Stay safe soop.

Will do granjura...we're hoping that the weather will ease before we need to drive to Oban hospital for MacS's appointment early next week.

I have made several attempts at uploading the portrait pic. The image that has turned out best, refuses to be added. Hence there is a different pic in the number two spot. Talk about kerfuffle!

All fingers crossed on both counts. Do you have a good car for cold weather? Where we live, a 4x4 with snow tyres is a must for survival.

If not, is there anyone who has you could have as back up, just in case. Thinking of you, and hope all will be well.

Wrap up warm soop

I've been wrapping gifts and the room looks very much like a demolition site. No one that I know of gets into such a pickle. Some people seem to maintain a semblance of order...some people can find the sellotape, scissors and such without having to wade through a mountain of scrunched-up paper and discarded stuff. I'm such a mess... Give me fifteen minutes and all will be ship-shape and Bristol-fashion.

Must away and wish you all a cosy and safe evening. The wind is howling outside the window. The waves, when I last looked, were ginormous!

Sharing the same weather as you soop Had to go,out in it though as DD1 and I were going to her two DDs Carol Concert.

It was lovely seeing both girls singing their hearts out but when GD1 sang 'O Holy Night', I was done for. She knows it is Granny's favourite, and kept it as a surprise until I heard her on stage. Oh.......I'm off again.

Looks as if we are in for even worse weather tomorrow. I am going nowhere!

Agus Grannies are allowed to be soft-hearted. I know how you must have felt. (hug)

We were eating our supper, when an almighty crash sent us running to investigate. At first, we assumed that the bird cherry tree ( a little unstable in windy weather) had finally smashed through the bedroom window. It was not the tree. The top glass shelf in the bathroom had exploded and showered fragments of safety glass all over the bathroom. We have been diligently collecting up the trillions of fragments. Had one of us been in the bath...well, I dread to think what injuries we'd have sustained. The bath is badly scratched and a favourite wee ornament of mine, precious, 'though very inexpensive, has snapped in half. MacS believes that it can be repaired.

Right! Back to finishing our meal. Rory almost jumped out of his skin with fright. Poor little pussy cat.

We've candles at the ready. If we should lose power I may be unable to say hello to you lot in the morning. I hope that all will be well. I miss you when there's a hitch for whatever reason.

My goodness Soop I would think that Benji would be more than happy with that portrait. What a handsome chap he is.
Hope you are safe indoors tonight. I think a wee dram (for medicinal purposes of course!) would be in order to recover from the shock of the exploding glass shelf.

I can't belive Cunard are expecting you to pay for your replacement crutch parts Galen. What a cheek. Hope you are still managing to get about and it doesn't spoil the rest of your cruise.

ffinnochio I love walnuts thank you.

Agus I'm just like you with children singing. I hope you had enough tissues with you

Blooming heck soop - looks like you've had a lucky escape! I wonder what on earth caused the glass to shatter like that? Good old MacS and his trusty glue.

I'm sure you have the hatches all battened down for the 'weather bomb' - stay safe and warm.

Sounds like a night for battening down the hatches!
I have come up to Birmingham to see DGS2 in his Christmas "jingle". He was an elf in "the night before Christmas" and looked profoundly uncomfortable at the whole "acting" thing! But at least he didn't burst into tears, run to mummy in the audience or sabotage the whole thing like a couple of others. It was lovely!! As an ex secondary teacher I take my hat off to the nursery staff who somehow managed to involve 60 children aged from 6 months to 4 years without total mayhem! I couldn't have done it with 25 teenagers!

What a strange thing to happen soop. Thankfully no one was hurt although I'm sure all three of you could have done without the fright.

Even more so when listening to your own Crafing. From experience, tissues always at the ready

I'm hoping Cunard sort this out ASAP Galen enabling you to enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Oh crikey; I hope you've got all the glass up soop. A few years ago I washed the glass oven door and put it on the hob to dry. Somehow I must have turned one of the hobs on; how it happened I've no idea. A while later I walked into the kitchen as the whole thing shattered sideways all over the room. I still have nightmares thinking how I could have been blinded. I think I may have used a soft broom to sweep it all up and may have shone a torch around the room when it was dark to see if any slivers showed up.

Galen I think that Cunard are taking the p* expecting you to pay. It is not the money- it is the principle. Not the way to keep customers happy. and you have been a very good client.

soop that must have been terrifying but luckily nobody was injured. I read recently about glass tables suddenly shattering and guess who has a dining room one!!!

Poor Rory, he would not understand what was going on in his normally peaceful house.

Agus I suspect that you were the proudest Gran in the hall!!!

Morning soop and everyone. I hope the storm is leaving you alone up there and that you had a reasonable night.

A little while ago I asked advice about my ex-husband who had advanced liver failure- whether I should go to the funeral if and when that happens. DD2 went to see him at the weekend and he was very frail but admitted to hospital again yesterday with encephalopathy - basically the toxins which are not being cleared by the liver are on his brain. DD2 is so sad and her little boy aged 10 found her crying. I told her that isn't a bad thing for him to know about supporting her as well and that Grandpa is very very ill. Would you have said that? I suppose I am very selfish to hope that this doesn't spoil Christmas for he as she is so excited and has made lots of plans. We will be staying with her for the first time at Xmas but I can soon change that to all having Xmas here. The complication is travel - she lives in Warrington - her Father lives in Clacton on sea - we are somewhere in the middle. any words of advice would be very welcome. Thank you.

Dear Teetime Bless you, you are betwixt a rock and a hard place. You did the right thing. Children need to learn that sometimes bad, sad happenings make people cry (even at Christmastime). It appears that the plans you've made for sharing Christmas can, if necessary, be adapted. You will need to have a contingency plan that suits both you and your daughter. Think "flexible" and be assured that you will indeed be together and being so will be of the most comfort to your daughter. I shall return later.

Popped in very swiftly to say...Oh what a night it was..it really was. Hail, thunder and lightening, winds that sounded much like an express train going through a tunnel...waves as high as an elephant's eye...all very dramatic.

The top glass shelf in the bathroom had a wee chip in one corner, very close to the metal fittings. MacS had looked at it recently. He tightened the wee nut and bolt. He supposes that the stress caused the shelf to shatter. It took an age to sweep up the glass. As it happens, we do not take baths as such...we use the shower. Had the shelf exploded during a shower we would have been hit by glass but the fitting would have fallen in the opposite end and not on my/MacS's head.

Soutra Well done to the nursery staff.

Power has been off in the Western Isles due to lightning, now back on in most places map of lightning strikes on this page

The wind speed at Machrihanish on the Kintyre peninsula was recorded at 73mph and wind and wave warnings are in place in the west and the Highlands and Islands.

Hope our western posters are all OK!