Soop's X Special Kitcheners

Soop What is happening with regard to MacSporrans health issues. I have not heard much lately. How is he doing?

A sense of humour in such matters is a must.

Soutra is it your birthday today? I thought that it was this coming weekend. Anyway...HAPPY birthday whenever it is. I would so love to hear that you have been pampered. You so deserve to be. A big hug from me to you and all our lovely Granspals. and lots of

Patience of a saint would help, and I imagine any is in danger of ending up with spitting out splintered teeth too.......

Happy Birthday Soutra!
Galen, that promotes a wonderful image, one that I could quite happily recreate sometimes! The nurse said this afternoon that at midnight last night it was so quiet in there, everyone asleep, or so she thought, when all of a sudden there was a Bzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzz, she went to check it out, my hubby had reached across to his table and got hold of the new electric shaver..............and was having a shave, at MIDNIGHT!!! In ICU! Talk about being shown up! Tomorrow I`m having a day off, he doesn`t know yet, he`d only have carried on.
Soop, as Nellie asked, how is MacSporran these days?

I did love him! Honest!
But men in hospital! They're really charming to the nurses, who say what lovely men they are!
But, when we come to visit? Grrrr!

Sorry I missed your birthday Soutra - hope you had a lovely day! . Have a super weekend!

It is so chilly outside our cosy home. We went for our daily stroll and by the time we reached the shop our eyes and noses were streaming. I can see that the wind direction has changed. Yesterday was lovely. Today...brr!

number What a man is Mr number...I do think that you must have a day off. You've had enough undeserved flack recently.

MacSporran's lymphoma is being monitored. It is grade 4 because the cancer cells are in multiple sights and have affected his bone marrow. Providing he doesn't pick up another nasty infection (shades of last summer) he can continue to enjoy his life. Because all form of cancers behave differently, each new patient needs to be monitored to establish rate of change/deterioration. Bloods are taken monthly. His next appointment with the haematologist isn't until the beginning of June. He continues to wait for the appointment to have the bulge in his aorta dealt with. In spirits, MacSporran* is absolutely first rate. He sends to his many Gransnet lady friends.

soop and macS and large
Soutra Happy belated? birthday, hope you're having a lovely weekend too!

I've come for a peaceful cuppa and a sit down, and possibly a . After what seemed like the longest week ever, my ds and dil have decided to draw a line under the past and start their marriage afresh!
I am feeling drained to say the least. My ds has confided in me and asked my opinion on absolutely everything, far, far too much! In the end, I snapped and applied some 'tough love', which has worked, thank goodness!

I really don't need any more drama in my life for a long time.

Very much thinking of you both soop and MacSporran, fingers and toes firmly crossed for you both and all GNs with poorly DHs.

Lona it's utterly emotionally draining being a sounding board for family troubles, isn't it? You deserve a quiet time enjoying the peace and quiet here, take care and I hope they spoil you rotten tomorrow!

Armfuls of to you all x

Thank you for the flowers Lona and loopylou

You have done your very best, Lona in a very difficult/tricky family matter. I'm extremely pleased to hear that common sense appears to prevail. Relax!

Thinking of Bella and Soutra and number...I shall return tomorrow.

Scotland v England Rugby at five this afternoon.

I am feeling very pleased with myself today, I managed to get a whole day of building raised beds out of DBH, although it was more exhausting for me than for him, as in order to keep him from wandering off to take photos of bees instead of getting on with the job I had to keep talking while I worked nearby, to distract him. It felt like getting a 5 year old to eat a lunch that he wasn't particularly interested in. I even lied about seeing a bee to stop him following one that was taking him further and further away from his task. I shall never go to heaven! But as I had to haul him back from 'quick wee' s that seemed to be taking 45 mins each, when I would find him back up at the house on his laptop, more than a few times I'm sure you would have understood if I had clobbered him with a frying pan.

But I bet some of you have OHs like mine. 'I'll finish it off next week', but Next Week never comes. On the plus side, I cleaned out the veg patch shed and the tomato and cucumber greenhouse while he was faffing about. And the forecast rain never happened, so obviously God was on my side!

Best wishes to all of your OHs, with hopes for the best treatments they can possibly obtain.

Sounds exhausting just reading that janer !
I no longer believe in 'Next Week' either, I just say 'ok' and if if happens then am dutifully grateful
DH has the attention span of a gnat, he starts one thing, wanders off and is fiddling with something else, and so on......
You're not the only one, I'm sure, whose hands itch to clobber them with something!

He's a bit tired and sulky today, again just like the 5 year old I think he really is, but it was worth it to see those beds finished - We Shall Have Veg!!!

I remember DD saying once, when looking at him after a strop, 'Are you 5 or 50?'

We all collapsed with laughter - he was only 40!

jane and loopylou You have me smile.

It is a beautiful day. Sun shining from a powder blue sky. Wind still on the chilly side and tiny wavelets on the water. Rory has found a sunny patch in the sitting room. He's lolling...as only cats can.

My eldest son has such a droll sense of humour, and whenever he phones, I shriek with laughter. He told me of a recent visit to a building that he thought he knew well. However, he got lost and found himself wandering along an unfamiliar tunnel. A friendly person asked him was he lost. Son nodded. The helpful man then commented on the fact that the new building works were somewhat confusing. He offered to accompany my son up a flight of stairs and along an even longer corridor...at the end of which was a door. He opened the door and said...there you go...have a good day. Son finds himself outside the building, a short distance from the entrance through which he walked some 20 mins earlier.

At least he eventually knew where he was....he could have been found a long time later as a gibbering, long haired dishevelled wreck!

That happened to us in Izmir many years ago. We were lost, 40 years ago, near the camel market. A man saw us looking undecided and said he would take us where we wanted to go. My father explained where... He led us around in a circle, taking us to all his relatives' shops en route - he hadn't understood a word, he was an unofficial guide! So two hours later we were back where we started. I have no recollection of how we got back to where we needed to be, I think I was convinced we were all going to be sold by then.

When in his mid 20s my son went on holiday in France with a big group of friends and decided to try out the bike that was in the house.
I had a phone call out of the blue asking me if he had given me the address of where he was staying. (no luck.)

He had got himself completely lost and had to ask a local woman who encountered him looking sorry for himself at a road junction, to let him use her phone to ring me.

He had no idea of the name of the place where he was staying. He did eventually find his way back and it was not very far away at all, but the daft beggar obviously had not thought through this escapade and he is considered to be an intelligent lad.

DBH often books places as surprises, I hate it because if something were to happen to him and we were abroad, I would have no idea where we were booked to stay that night, and no means of finding out, as we keep our passwords private in just about everything. I've started making him print out that sort of thing, and I give a copy to one of the DCs.

Surely mobile phones have solved that problem though. Our DDs know that we will always have our mobiles with us in case they have to get in touch with us in an emergency when we are abroad.

On an occasion several years ago, I said goodnight to my son and his pal in Edinburgh. We'd been to the theatre. I boarded a bus that I imagined would be travelling past the guest house in which I was staying for the night, having arrived the previous day. A moment of shock/horror when I realised that I was on the wrong route. It was very dark and I wandered along a deserted road thinking how on earth will I get back to (I'd forgotten the name of the guest house) and there was not a soul in sight. I happened across a taxi in which the driver was napping. I tapped on his window and he awoke with a start. I then told him that I was "lost" but was able to describe the appearance of the guest house but not the name. Anyway, after a process of round-about-the houses elimination he said, would it be so and so. Yes! I almost hugged him with relief. I was not too far away as it happens. The roads were adjacent to each other. On reflection, I feel greatly relieved that the taxi driver was a decent man. What if he had been an unsavoury character.

Getting lost late at night without a penny, in the pouring rain - as a furiner in London in 1970- is how I met my DH. He took me home by taxi- and the rest is history. What indeed if he had been a dodgy character! Was on the wrong train going to Twickenham instead of Isleworth - train having split at Clapham Junction.

granjura I have lost count of the number of times phones haven't been on in emergencies, or have run out of power. Or are lost. Is thatjust my family? DD aged 15 was lost in Lincs once - her first day at a new school, we had just moved the week before, I had driven her the length of the route so she knew where to get off. Her school was 15 miles one way from the house but only came to ten miles away on the bus rote, DS was 15 miles away in the other direction, no bus. We luved in the middle of nowhere.

I collected him at 4, drove to meet her bus at 5, the bus came - no DD. I was frantic, tried her phone - nothing. I drove at breakneck speed - well, 90mph (it was during the time of the petrol strikes and lorry barricades and I met no-one) around the lanes back to her school office in a panic. She wasn't there. I drove to another village, thinking she must have caught the wrong bus. No sign. Tried her phone again. Phoned her school - they hadn't seen her since I was in the office. Phoned DBH who left his school early t drive around on other routes. Took a deep breath and phoned the bus station and asked for their exact route, drove back to her school and followed it. I found her sitting in the middle of a road on a large roundabout, doing her homework. She looked up an said 'Hello! I knew you'd find me eventually.'

'Why didn't you answer your phone?'
'Oh, I didn't bring it with me today. I didn't want any interruptions.'

I said nothing, I was shaking too much. She had got out a stop too early, and tried to walk towards where she thought I would be coming from. So many things were going through my mind. Phones can be helpful, but I never rely on them.

granjura how romantic

Just checking in with the latest news from here. Still taking the cat for injections, tomorrow will be two weeks and I've been every day including Sundays. It's getting me down as DH is still in hospital and not doing too well. They are talking of a blood transfusion tomorrow so he's feeling quite down and depressed. I rather think our trip to UK is not going to happen

Having dear son in law has also been somewhat difficult as DGD wants Nana and throws horrendous meltdowns when Daddy tries to do something for her. Her mother has been keeping out of the way and I do feel a bit affronted at being left to cope with everything.

My ironing pile has reached the ceiling, and the house looks as though burglars have ransacked it, but never mind. This too shall pass.

Bella Such as pity you live so far away because it sounds as though you could do with some practical help. It appears that you are getting very little practical or emotional help from your DS. Could he not take the cat to the vet at least once to give you a rest? Where is his wife?

Would it be possible for you to employ somebody to sort out the pile of ironing and and weave a hoover around once to get you up to date?

Sorry to hear that your DH maybe having a blood transfusion tomorrow. Life is not easy in your house at present.

It never rains but it pours dear Bella I can only send you love and hugs.
My life is difficult, yours is nigh on impossible to cope with,but you do.