Soop's Kindly Kitcheners

millymouge Your birthday treats did you proud. The champagne tea for two sounds really "posh". I bet that the sandwiches will be wafer-thin and the to die for. Will you wear a pretty dress? Take photos, please. Us lot are awfully nosy.

Alea
cornergran's message says it all...
Tomorrow, I shall be thinking of you and your husband. My wish is for him to be well enough to enjoy being back home with you. I cannot bear to think of you being so stressed and completely washed out with the effort of coping as best you can without support.

Bellasnana It was bound to be difficult for you to return to an unfinished home, having spent a memorable cruise with our Galen. You have the additional treat of a wedding in Edinburgh to enjoy. Companionship is what you need. The mind can focus on sadness and rob one of the ability to look forward to better times. I truly believe that, having coped with so much sorrow and upheaval, you will find inner peace. I admire you.

number We can tell the time of day, thanks to the regular passing of the ferry. Mind you, in extreme weather conditions, it is cancelled.

oldgoat The people who attend such festivals are hardy folk. I would not enjoy the crowds, the loud music, the mud and, I would dislike needing to share the portable loos. Glastonbury versus The Proms. The latter wins.

Jalima I love hard-centred chocs. Especially those containing caramel or nuts.

anno Anyone for tennis? I shall take myself off to my arm chair very soon. I love the coming fortnight.

That sounds like a good birthday milly, the champagne tea to come should ensure your DH is very kind to you. . Oh alea, you do sound worried and, yes, fed up. You have shared so much of your support of your husband in his illness that I wonder how you manage to sound as cheerful as you do for most of the time. A down period is certainly allowed, please don't give yourself a hard time. Hope the ice cream is helping and he will get stronger very soon. Take care. and and . I wonder why there is no emoticon for chocolate on GN? Not sure if this one will work. ? But it's worth a try. Look after yourself and thank you for updating us.

Oh thank goodness for soops kitcheners I have just been trolling through some of the other threads and I didn't realise people could be so unpleasant to each other. Soooo glad to be on here. Anyway have had a lovely day today for my birthday, family all over, lots to eat and nothing to do but sit back and enjoy pleasant company. One of my presents is a champagne tea do two at a very nice venue in Colchester, so have told DH if he is very good will take him with me. Anyway all you kitcheners just be grateful that you have a thread like this where people can be nice to each other and enjoy things and have a laugh and a smile. Off to bed now, it's another day tomorrow.

I am afraid I must confess to having been responsible for tipping Alea off about Waitrose choc ices and in particular the salted caramel variety. However, I have never encountered a honeycomb Magnum....yet.

DH should finish his week of IV antibiotics tomorrow so may be out on Tuesday. His 2. Units of blood should be helping him, but he still looks very weary and (to my mind) dehydrated .
I know things could be much worse but I am pretty fed up. One bright light was that DD3 and SIL popped up from London yesterday. They and I had a quick pub lunch near the hospital before going to visit him, which I think cheered us both up a bit.
Need to snap out of it (maybe a choc ice???)

Jalima I am ultra fussy and although I love white chocolate I only like icecream or bars of chocolate. I do not like soft centres.

Charleygirl I will save all the white chocs in my Thorntons box for you

Cheers Bellasnana, so glad you had a lovely time, back to the grindstone now! Are you handy with a screwdriver? Oh no, off again I notice, have a lovely time

It's raining here and Diane Abbott is shrieking away on tv (sorry, no politics on here, ignore, but the two seem to go together, rain and Diane)

Bellasnana it sounds as though you will soon be needing to go on another cruise. Silly me thought that the majority of work had been done.

numberplease oh dear, I hope that at least the towels stop dripping before rain falls. Certainly here it is dark all of a sudden but you maybe luckier. Is your washing machine repairable or do you think or will it be a new one?

oldgoat I can think of no worse place to be. I am fond of my creature comforts, a decent shower and not queuing for the loo being two.

soop I am amazed that Rory has eaten the same food for so long without complaining- you are lucky. When Tara ate wet food it cost me a fortune because it was one sniff and most of the time she walked away. She loves her prescription dry diet which never changes although I give her the odd tiny portion of cream which she loves.

I am waiting for her to come home so that I can batten down the hatches for the evening.

Just watching people splodging about in the mud at Glastonbury. I bet their tents smell like the contents of your washing machine numberplease . I've never been to a music festival. Looks like fun!

Hubby has finally jemmied the washing machine open so I could rescue my towels. But oh the PONG! They needed another wash through, by hand, then hanging out on the line dripping wet and weighing what felt like a ton.
Soop, I didn`t realise tat the Kennacraig to Islay ferry passed so close to you, which is why I thought it was the Gigha ferry.
I don`t like the full size Magnums, too much for me, but the mini ones are nice.

Good evening, kitcheners. My feet have barely touched the ground since returning from the wonderful two weeks with Galen. Lots of buggerations regarding my still-not-finished kitchen, lots of mess from having air conditioning put in, missing DGD who has gone off to spend the summer with her daddy, and still boxes everywhere and no sign of being able to unpack them.

Never mind, on Thurs DD3 and I are off to Edinburgh for my great-niece's wedding. Lots of Canadian family coming over for the nuptials, so it will be a lovely reunion.

Thinking of you all, commiserations to those of you who are feeling less than cheerful, for whatever reason, I raise a lonely glass of white wine to you. Cheers!

I am very fond of white chocolate in general and Magnums in particular. Yummy but not everybody likes them.

Not a lot on TV tonight- I think that Endeavor is a repeat.

I am meeting up with 3 GNs tomorrow who live locally for a cup of coffee. We have been meeting for nearly 2 years now. A new person is joining us tomorrow so hopefully she will enjoy the repartee. We get on very well and doubt if we will be giving the other subject more than a passing thought. I enjoy our monthly meetups.

Tizliz I'm very thankful that us lot are able to agree to disagree when we need to. There is no need for nastiness of any kind. Our kitchen is a place where we do our utmost to understand each other...support those in need of comfort and laugh and be playful whenever the mood takes us. In all the time that the kitchen has been open, I've never once regretted our willingness not to enter into an argument that causes another Granspal to feel unhappy/uneasy/unwelcome. We'll keep it that way.

Off to pour a G&T. I shall raise a glass of cheer to each and every one of you.

soop I am not surprised how many people are in the kitchen - we are hiding from politics, I gave up on Facebook and I only have family and close friends on there. I refuse to discuss which way I voted.

bags I hadn't realised that Magnum came in such an array of varieties. I fancy sampling the almond one. Our wee shop stocks white and double choc.

I've tried discussing the economy with Rory. He doesn't appear to be concerned. As long as MacSporran continues to stock his (R's) favourite brands of gold star pouches of upper-crust cat food...he has "no comment".

Minibags likes white magnums so I leave those ones for her. I haven't tried the honeycomb ones yet. They are on next week's shopping list. I like the pink ones, the almond ones, and the caramelly ones.

At the moment in my kitchen, MrB is explaining the credit crunch and how the economy works to Minibags. She is nodding occasionally and looking wise

Do you realise that, within the space of fourteen days, we've reached the half way stage to needing another kitchen extension.

Jalima My vote goes to...Magnum double choc. I like the dark chocolate best of all.

^You lot* make me chortle. I shall graciously accept a little of all the good things that you're willing to share.

Alea how sensible of you. Do you have any idea when your husband may be returning home? I'm trusting that the medical staff won't discharge him until he is well on the mend. You cannot be expected to run yourself ragged only to have him re-admitted.

Does anyone like white Magnums? (really and truly I mean)

We were in Waitrose yesterday but they would have melted by the time we got home.
I suppose I could have managed to eat 3 instead of 2
Waitrose ready meals are OK Alea (keep up your strength!). We had the Indian meal yesterday.

Oh dear, have I started something?
Waitrose are doing 3 for 2 on all ice creams including magnums, their own brand very good lookalikes and ice cream in general.
Not advertising or anything, just confessing
My "consolation" for the afternoons I am spending with DH in hospital and because I really can't be bothered to cook for one

Ireland did so well in the first half and I felt that they played their heart out in the second but being reduced to 10 men did not help.

If England beat Iceland tomorrow, France will be next on the list I believe.Iceland have nothing to lose so will go for it.

I do not see why Sainsburys cannot stock the honeycomb Magnums. I liked it because it was not sickly sweet. They are expensive at full price- Alea was lucky to get 25% off- I was not so fortunate.

That appears to be today's TV excitement over and done with- I have to think of something for supper.

Local shop don't have any honeycomb Magnums, just classic and white (yuk). Is it just Waitrose that sell them? We don't have W here. Might try Sainsbury's later.

Ireland started well but not looking so good now.

The rain seems to be easing at last. Dog says her walk is long overdue.

I had my first honeycomb Magnum about 2 hours ago and it was delicious unfortunately.

I have been watching Ireland playing France and poor old Ireland must be wishing for an early end.

I find myself doing food shopping on a Sunday, again going back to my working days. Difficult to forget the old habits.

Yeah cornergran!