Soop's Kindly Kitcheners

alea does Grace ever get this excited

* Cornergran* you are cordially invited to share our tea party !! In fact tea parties improve with more guests- I am assured by my brother this will be no tea party of lightweights !!

There will be cake, and Pimms and more cake but I am not averse to sampling your lemon and almond cake !!

I'm lucky I have a brother and 2 sisters and although we are at all corners of the UK we do get together at least once a year where we revert to children and our husbands and wife look on fondly as we squabble !!

Thank you for your good wishes all for our granddaughter , she is just going into fight and her Sensei sent me this picture.... what happened to my girlie princess !!

Well the grass is cut, though I watched with envy as our neighbour whizzed round the shared area with his sit on mower. At least no midges. Getting too old for this but we did have a discussion on how we would have to rearrange the garden to use a sit on mower - too many shrubs at the moment.

soop good luck with your sale.

Too tired to type more ?

Good morning lovely Kitcheners - the cloud is breaking. The air is fresher. The midges are not being a pain in the backside...yet.

We've been watching some footage of the return to earth of Tim Peake. It was a moving moment when the parachute became visible as the capsule broke through the cloud. In fact, I had tears in my eyes. Tim was quoted at one time as saying...it will be the ride of my life. Welcome home.

NanaandGrampy Your granddaughter's score was excellent. Very well done, young lady. I can visualise you having an indoor picnic. cornergran's lemon and almond cake should feed a multitude of Kitcheners. My plate is ready and waiting.

GandTea Lovely to wander into the kitchen and find you here (with a smile on your face). The Rumba, when danced by professionals, must be one of the most expressive dances. Lots of hip swaying...bet you're good at such manoeuvres.

Lona Please take photos of your new apartment for us lot to enjoy. It sounds perfect for your needs.

Charleyg I've a very busy day ahead. At midday we set up our stall at the boot sale. I shall probably miss some of Andy's match. I'm also anxious to work on the flower painting.

Alea Your beautiful mother had a smile to lift the down-most of spirits.

cornergran Enjoy the busy week ahead. I hope that the sun shines for you. Have fun.

Jalima The Care Home walls looked amazing. Gone was the magnolia and in came a riot of colour, all thanks to the enthusiasm of young children. The residents were delighted to have the rooms festooned with bunting. Smiles all round.

Galen Yes, you will be feeling sad now that your cruise with Bella is over. You'll have some special memories. Us lot would like to hear all about the good times that you shared.

number Heck! Swans together with their cygnets can get awfully faffy. You were lucky that didn't barge into your caravan. What with midges and irate swans...as my late Nana was known to say - "that'll learn ya..."

kitty all the loveliest and most colourful. Just for you.

ann it would appear that I do, I have no idea where it comes from!

I am certain it stems back to my boarding school days where we wore a blouse for a week to give you an idea and do not mention underwear. My mother used to moan when I brought home the sheets at the end of the school year and mine were a light grey.

The first thing I did arriving home after my knee replacement was to put on the washing machine. It was difficult hanging everything because I was using crutches, had little strength but who else was going to do it?

I cannot remember the last time I used my iron.

Charleygirl do you take in washing?
You seem to be at it everyday, and do you iron it all?
Too much like hard work for me.

Good luck for your granddaughter, n&g. It's just struck me that one disadvantage of being an only child is not having a sibling to share things like a tea party for a loved Mum. DH loved my Mum, but there's no one now to share anything from childhood with. Goodness, isn't getting older complex? I've left a lemon and almond cake, the only sort I make these days really, gluten free but it does taste like cake . There are also just three croissants - DH ate the rest - no fighting now .

I have so much to wash today and it looks as though it may tip down any minute. Naturally the washing is "heavy", towels and bedding- ah well no doubt I will cope.

Tara allowed me to have a lie in until 9am today- she is learning although a bit late.

I will be switching between our Andy at Queens Club and Northern Ireland playing Belgium. There is not a lot on later- Endeavor is a repeat but with my birdbrain I will have forgotten it.

Good morning all !

Alea what a lovely picture and memory, It would have been my Mums birthday on the 24th June and we are celebrating her life with a tea party at my brothers. My Mum loved a good cuppa

That sounds wonderful gandt. I adore my grandchildren and have a good relationship with them all but when I read stories of estrangement or where grandchildren are not allowed to build a relationship with their grandparents it breaks my heart. There's so much to be gained on both sides. Ah ...crazy world eh?

Well, we shall be spending the day watching the live feed from Dublin. Its Kumite ( fighting) today. Something that does not come easily to our granddaughter who does not have an aggressive bone in her body. She has been having extra lessons from her Sensei so we are hoping they pay off !

As its a grey old day , we will have a carpet picnic I think and pretend we're still on holiday while watching.

Happy Saturdays everyone ( ps there is a dearth of cake in here lately ...hint hint !!)

Said goodbye to Bella now at Rome airport waiting to fly home!

Really enjoyed our dance last night, though we could not remember how to start the quickstep DOH!
But it was lovely to watch our dance teacher, who is probably in his late 70's dancing the rumba with his granddaughter. They are both dance champions and danced beautifully together, quite moving. The rumba is a dance of love, this was the love of a GF for his GD.

Alea That's a happy photo and you look very like your mum

alea , your Mum looks very happy in the photo. A difficult day. I lost my Mum 25 years ago, her birthday still makes me sad.

Today was my Mum's birthday - but sadly I lost her in 1996. I came across this pic of her when I was looking for something to post on FB.
Gerda Hanna Thomson ( née Röhrich) born 17 June 1919.
Miss you Mutti

NanaandGrampy Your dgd did really well
Charley, it's a first floor flat and although I've got the keys I'm still waiting to exchange on my house. Should be at the end of next week, so I'm still on pins!

Lona pleased to hear that you have the keys for the flat- the sooner you move the better and you will not be mopping water out there I hope. I am assuming that you will be living on the ground floor.

Alea you can now sit down and relax, with Grace at your feet. Glad to hear that she has been doing doggy duties such as keeping the floor clean. Tara does that when I drop her dry food on the floor accidentally- it happens during the night. (She does not have "wet" food).

Kitty that news was awful.

N&G that score was really, really good. I will keep my fingers crossed that she wins a medal tomorrow.

soop I also loved the children's art- they are talented. Good to see Andy win again today but Kyle did try to give him a run for his money.

Kittylester A big (((hug)))

kitty so sorry for your bad news, can understand the memories being triggered, and a hug for you and your DD. n&g congratulations to your granddaughter, quite an accomplishment. More than happy to share in a celebration. . Pippa is delightful alea, should think you need a major rest now. Hope your DH is stronger today. Been thinking about you, lona, water ingress is never fun. We've had some heavy downpours but so far the water has stayed outside, fingers crossed here that t remains in its proper place for us all. Plan to go to an air show tomorrow so hoping for no rain and high enough cloud to be able to see the planes. Not much fun just listening to them. . Lots of child care responsibility in the next week so may not drop in very much. Hope to get back by Tuesday. Take care everyone.

Evening !!

Sorry to hear your sad news Kitty , your daughter must have been shocked, and you too.

Anno I am happy to volunteer as your secretary. I love a good shred and file !

Alea I think grace is well named , she does look graceful against your rug especially( which I covet by the way !!)

Well day one is over and we were able to watch our Grandaughter . She scored 16.2 from a possible 18 . So did her very best. Tomorrow she will take part in the Team Kata , synchronised Karate .

I would love her to be in the medals but she is the youngest in her team and this is only her second international event.

I think we might crack open a bottle of something to celebrate - can I offer anyone a virtual glass!! ???

Kittyl that is dreadful news and just tragic. Young people should not be faced with their own mortality. His poor poor parents.

Now Charleygirl Grace does not have a jealous bone in her body but has just looked so hard done by as she only wants to be where her pack leaders are (DH and me) and I keep her out of the sitting room while Pippa was playing on the floor.
However, the upside of having little people to visit is that they have been known to drop bits off their high chair and it's a dog's job to keep the floor clean isn't it?
They have gone now and I too have adopted a Gracelike (graceful?) position but on the sofa, not the floor.

Sorry Alea, meant to say, lovely pictures.

Kitty, so sorry to her about your daughter`s friend, it must have been a terrible shock.
N&G, best wishes for your granddaughter`s progress.
Soop, lovely childrens` art. Yes, Luss is a beautiful spot, and we were pitched right on the shore of the loch, just a pity about the midgees. One day, we saw a pair of adult swans with 5 half grown youngsters come ashore from the loch and start to approach our caravan. We opened the door, foolish because of the midges, and hastily cobbled together a load of bread for the swans. We fed them for quite a while from inside the caravan door, but when the bread ran out and they realised they weren`t getting any more, they turned quite nasty, which we really should have expected, shoving their necks through the door, trying to peck at us, but we were unable to shut the door immediately for fear of catching them and causing them to be hurt.
G&T, I presume you are a gentleman and lift your feet for your good lady to vacuum under them? My husband stays put, so I have to vacuum around him, so his bit in front of his chair isn`t as clean as the rest, but not my fault!

and hope you are all mopped up Lona
we've had a thunderstorm here this afternoon and heavy rain (still raining)

Cheeer up GandTea at least you must have a nice clean carpet beneath your feet

So sorry to hear about your DD's friend kitty. It is always such a shock when someone goes before their time, especially when it is so sudden like that and reminding you of when you nearly lost your DS.

I love the artwork soop, children are always so enthusiastic and willing to join in celebrations!

Good luck to N&G's DGD, how proud you must be

Alea love the pictures

GandTea Then get it back PDQ. Us lot look forward to your cheerful presence. Big, soppy (((hugs))) from your devoted Kitchener pals.