Soop's Kindly Kitcheners

A sunny Monday greeting to all our lovely Granspals...

kitty You have made a good point in that it does seem awfully difficult to have a meaningful conversation when sitting with a patient in a hospital bed.
You will be happy to have your carpets professionally cleaned. There is something rather uplifting in seeing the colour of the carpet restored. I wish now that we had wood floors throughout our home. We only have carpet in the bedroom and computer room but it rarely looks truly fresh. Rory does shed his fur freely.

number do tell us about your recent holiday please. How is your husband? Was he able to relax and enjoy himself?

Alea Any news regarding your husband's most recent setback? I hope to goodness that the cause of the anaemia has been detected and he can begin a new regime of medication that won't do further harm.

dustyangel A Champagne toast in memory of happy times seems most fitting.

We called in with our pal's Sunday paper yesterday. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a well diluted glass of whisky. His condition is deteriorating. Dementia has to be one of the most cruel afflictions that can befall anyone of us.

Who ever said anything about meaningful conversations at the best of times!
DH and I only talk spasmodically when he is in hospital, we do the crossword, or he does the sudoku , or I read my kindle and he reads his book. Pretty much like at home really!
Yesterday I had great fun disrupting the ward because DH's bed was too close to the clearly fragile but very grumpy chap next to him and DH couldn't walk down the side of his bed with his drip stand to go to the loo without bumping into him. So while DH was out, I found the brakes, moved the locker from the other side and moved the bed 2ft the other way. I also managed to accidentally summon a nurse as I had pulled out the call button and knocked the notes holder off the end of the bed with a clatter. But you can't make an omelette etc!
Anybody else like me to feng shui their sleeping arrangements?

Alea

When I was last in hospital overnight OH arrived at visiting time and just launched into a long tale about how difficult he had found it to park.

I was feeling very rough indeed after a GA and being shackled to the pump for the anti embolism stockings. That pump vibrated the whole bed and made me feel really sick. I also had a drip in one arm.

I don't think I even got a "how are you feeling "Nelliemoser". He was probably worrying about whether or not I would be able to cook his dinner next day or if he would have to do it himself.

I was, to say the least, unimpressed with his patient visiting skills.

Alea there is definitely a part time job for you at that hospital because beds are forever being moved. I do hope that your DH is feeling better today having had another blood transfusion yesterday. Hopefully they will sort out the cause of his problems today.

Nellie that really was very inconsiderate of you to have spent a night in hospital and please do not think that surgery will ever be on the cards because how would your DH cope? Does he know where the local supermarket is and would he manage if you drew him a map of where the kitchen is at home?

Dusty it is an awful time for you at present.

Hello! Anyone in the kitchen this afternoon? I've just had my and a delicious (from Lidl - too lazy to bake and it's too hot to have the oven on) but there are plenty more if anyone fancies one.

I've had an offer on the house but 25,000 euro less than the asking price. I think it's too low so have suggested a slightly higher figure. Now I'm worrying whether I've done the right thing. Wish DH were here to discuss it with.

Had a busy day taking the dog to the vet, whilst entertaining little DGD all day. She pretty much lives here at the moment, which I love, but when she starts school next week she will have to stay at her mother's. Nana has no intention of getting up at dawn's crack to do the walk to school, although I shall be picking her up every day at 2 pm.

Well, do not wish to count my but DH had an endoscopy this morning which showed no further signs of bleeding so we are very much hoping he will be out later this afternoon.
Slightly unnerve by the arrival of a new patient in the bed opposite handcuffed to 2 burly prison officers. Will be glad to get him home.

That sounds good if DH is maybe being discharged.

One wonders what on earth the fellow opposite had done to deserve a prison sentence. I wonder if he is violent or more likely to abscond- the latter being my choice. Patients like that are normally found a single room.

The sun is still shining but I am feeling really cold.

He looks calm enough, but is still chained to the prison officer, so perhaps to stop him legging it? "Earwigging" - they are talking of possible Hepatitis C, so I am thinking drug abuse in prison perhaps? Either way, given that DH is on immunosuppressants, the further away he is from any possible infection, the happier I am.

Alea, is your husband going home today then?
Yes, we had our holiday, returned nearly 6 weeks ago. It was lovely, but would have liked a bit longer, greedy, aren`t I? I`m off to meet up again with Angiebaby in Milton Keynes on October 31st, I`m getting there by coach, on an MK shopping trip, but don`t think I`ll be doing much shopping.
As for my holiday Soop, the weather was glorious, apart from one day, but hubby would insist on going out in jumper and coat, "in case it turns cold", when everybody else, including me, was in their summery clobber. Then on the one rainy day, instead of wearing his waterproof jacket (we bought one each, different colours), he wore his big heavy coat, then omplained that he was soaked through, whereas I was dry as a bone inside my little jacket! Silly men!!

This was taken on an absolutely scorching hot afternoon, see what I mean?

Bella I think that you are right not to accept the offer. Better to do as you've already done. We went through many such low offers during the time when we were considering moving in order to build a smaller house. Not that this house isn't small. The sums didn't add up in our favour. We therefore stayed put. I do feel for you. It must be really difficult for you to have to cope with such a major change without your husband to advise you.
You're also right not to be rising at the crack of dawn in order to take your wee granddaughter to school. Picking her up will be a bonus for you both. She is obviously extremely fond of you.

Alea Some welcome news at last. You may well be helping him to pack his home-going bag right this minute. If so, us lot are chuffed for you both.

Nelliem You've made me hoot with laughter. I can well imagine how delighted you were to hear that parking the car had posed a problem. I would have wanted to hit someone over the head with a bedpan.

Early afternoon I was sitting at the computer...and then, for no good reason, I got it into my head to clear and clean all the kitchen cupboards. What a to-do. The bottom drawer (on a runner) in which we keep vegetables came right out. I then discovered that I couldn't get it back on track. At the very back of that drawer was a vegetable that had grown a fluffy green coat. Goodness only knows how long it had lurked there. I lost count of empty bags that had lodged in larger bags and then found a home in a dustbin liner. Worse still...a tin of Bird's custard powder use by date November 2008! Disgraceful!

However, a lousy three and a half hours has, thanks to much harrumphing, made me feel a whole lot better.

Tomorrow, I shall be visiting the care home. I shall pop into our kitchen to catch up with the latest happenings just as soon as I return.

number he is dressed for January!

number I must have been adding my message at the same time you posted your news. I do know what you mean about wearing something additional "just in case..." MacS is inclined to think along the same lines.

...although Mr number appears to have dressed for mid-winter chill. Bless him. A very good photograph. Did you ask him to say "cheese"?

If I had, Soop, it would probably been a very grumpy Gorgonzola!!

number

Does anyone like fresh pomegranates? I've just put a bowl of them on this table. DH was telling our portuguese neighbours here (the ones that own the ruin next door.) about our recent bereavements and almost as soon as he'd come back inside she came back with her arms full of pomegranates for us. Wasn't that kind? None of us understand each other very well as they have very broad accents, maybe they think we have, but we get the essentials across.

Pomegranate vodka is a very acceptable use for them. I heard the recipe on the Food Programme last winter and made loads for Christmas!

In once gave pomegranates as a parting party gift after a DD party when she was little - boy did that go down badly! I was not Mother of the Month!

When I went into hosp for a hysterectomy, OH (a GP) sent 5 minutes with me then the rest of the time with a patient of his. I reasoned that this probably meant that he did not think I was going to die! - it's called positive spin. Offended -moi?

Hospital visits are a trial - impossible to act normally and hard to think of what to say. I once visited a friend in a single room and a bedpan with a steaming poo in it was residing on the locker! Hmm.

That was most unfortunate Luckygirl... at such times one would welcome a nosegay.

number I also thought...Gorgonzola! Great minds... An exceedingly tasty cheese (in small quantities). We have taken a liking to Mull of Kintyre extra strong.

Pomegranate...I last had a taste of one several years ago. I liked it a lot. I do buy Pomegranate juice from time to time. It is supposed to help with cystitis. I like the idea of Pomegranate vodka, Alea You do present us lot with some interesting ideas

That was a very kind gesture of your neighbours dustyangel. Sometimes one has no need of the right words...the gift came from the heart. Generosity of spirit is extraordinarily comforting.

The Care Home four were all in fine fettle this morning. I mentioned to M (my favourite lady) that I intended visiting her on Saturday as it will be her birthday. She gasped...Is it really my birthday? Yes, I said, you'll be 95. That old! She exclaimed. Doesn't time fly...

I would say that people love to have visitors, but not for too long. You should arrive bearing gifts, assure the patient that you will go out and buy whatever they want or need, give them a big hug, ask if there's anything they can sort out with the nurses on your behalf - then clear off. Anyone telling a sick person in hospital about their own worries is being selfish because they will just feel helpless. Maybe all patients should have a little poster above their beds telling visitors how to behave!

Back to Dr's for me this afternoon, still coughing my lungs up. If I should end up in hospital, I shall make up my own list of instructions for DBH after reading this!

Hope your OH is well enough to be at home alea, and so sorry, dusty.

Bella I have moved so many times I have lost count. Hang out for the price you want, all buyers try it on now, it makes them feel good to get a bargain. If anything, I think I would always set my house at a higher price than I really want, just so that the buyers can feel that they have got one over me.

Also - because they will only try to knock you down again just before completion. The solicitors always, but always, come back with a complaint, wanting £10,000 knocked off. In which case you have to say, 'sorry, can't otherwise the whole sale will fall through as then I won't be able to afford what I want to buy'. Maybe it's a bit different where you are, but sadly that is how it is here.

Had some fresh pomegranate juice in Israel, yuk!

janer That cough has gone on for far too long. Even so, your sense of humour is buoyant. Please keep us lot updated.

Galen Pomegranate juice has a "dryness" about it. Do you know what I mean? No! Ah well...

You forgot to add the vodka Galen !