Soop's special kitchen for like-minded folk and treasured pets

Took Minibaggs along to the head of the loch this morning shortly after six. A friend's dad is taking her and friend to Edinburgh uni open day. Another friend came here late last night after her after-school evening shift at work and was going to go too but she got off the bus round to us too soon (pitch dark and no street lighting—life in the sticks!) so had to walk a bit and got rained on. Her clothes were still damp this morning and she didn't feel well so she stayed behind. Presumably she'll stay in bed most of the day. She will probably know sooner than I do when Minibaggs is due home.

Anyway, parenting of teenagers aside, I couldn't remember how to switch on the headlights' high beam ☹️??? until after depositing Minibaggs! OMG! Bad sign, huh? Or was it just early morning brain fog?

Can only be early morning brain fog baggs, that was a very early morning . Hope your lodger recovers from her walk. Why don't teenagers possess raincoats? One of life's mysteries .

Nellie I have eaten the seeds but never the flowers. Perhaps if I start eating it, it will slow down its remarkable capacity for growth. Last year we dug out a shrubbery where it is planted and found a long lost compost bin, the contents of which we dug into the exposed ground. Must be all the nutrients that have benefitted its growth spurt!
Baggs on the odd occasions I have driven our cars at night I have fretted about how to turn on the lights or whether I have turned on the right ones, or how to change to full beam. I'm sure with you it was early morning brain fog and that these things are usually second nature to you. Our present car turns them on and off itself, and changes the beam when necessary. I need all the help I can get! As for teenagers, corner is right - they don't seem to know what a coat or a mac is! We have a real struggle to get GS to wear any kind of coat in the silliest of weathers. He must have been a Spartan in another life! I remember the first time we set eyes on his daddy, he had brought DD home at some unearthly hour of the morning in mid November when all public transport had stopped, and stood shivering in his thin shirt sleeves outside our front door. He came in for a hot drink and I let him sleep on the sofa (I slept with one eye open!). That would be about twenty five years ago this coming November......

Good Morning all !!

Thank you all for your kind congratulations on our imminent move. Luckily , the house we wanted was still available so we snapped it up and are set to move in 2 weeks. I have a tiny concern that we are still taking far too much stuff with us still but I guess we can weed it out when we arrive.

Sorry to hear you're feeling down Corner and totally understand your wish to keep the little ones from any nastiness. Jackson has been struggling a bit with children using words like 'idiot' and 'stupid' as those aren't words we have encouraged him to use in regard to people. Its hard to know what to teach him to respond , we've settled on' Those are unkind words and they hurt my feelings' . Difficult though as not all parents/grandparents feel the same obviously.

Glad the chair was what you wanted ann , now you can enjoy it !

Gosh anno that is a last minute request and a half. We have opted to have the removal company do all the packing ! Except for my unmentionables of course !! I shall be packing that sort of stuff myself .

You never need to apologise for unburdening soop , we're always here for you. I'm sorry to hear that your heart misses Rory so much. I know its blasphemy but you wouldn't consider a new cat would you?

Well, time I got my skates on ( I wish !!)

Happy Saturday one and all !!

Saturday afternoon greetings to one and all. It's grey and wet and we're coughing in tune with each other.

Baggs and Greyduster Whenever I hear of someone say that they fret over car lights, I feel strangely comforted.

corner Teenagers cope admirably well most of the time. When in his teens my youngest son first went on a long haul flight, he did so with all his personal stuff rammed into a splitting Tesco carrier bag. They believe that they are invincible.

N&G I know that you had your heart set on the house of your dreams. I couldn't be happier for you.

N&G you realise I hope that us lot will be on your doorstep the day after moving because we must see it asap.

You hang around for months but all of a sudden there are 50 million tasks to do. I agree, I have always got the fellows to pack for me. I have also packed my own underwear etc + another readily accessible bag with tea, coffee etc.

I also put the pillows, duvet etc in my car because by that method all I had to do was put a fresh sheet on the bed and I did not have to faff around putting on clean duvet covers etc., there is enough to do. Hopefully you will be living close enough to shops to order a takeaway.

What is happening to Sam? Is he staying with the family until you are sorted?

Hopefully you will not have to do too much to the house- I am delighted that it is the one you had your eye on.

soop I think it is just me who frets over car stuff - i can't imagine Baggs fretting over anything much. She seems thoroughly grounded!?
Charley we could get up a Kitcheners coach trip to see N&G's new house. Someone would have to hypnotise the address out of her first, though!
Isn't it odd how you plan an afternoon of doing b****r all apart from murdering a bit of Bach in the piano and then all of sudden you have been press-ganged into helping to clean out the garage! How did that happen?? There was a large plastic bin bag of "stuff" hanging on the wall that was intended, many moons ago, to be for GS's junk modelling when he was into that sort of thing. I have just kept adding to it, so Himself ordered me to put it in the recycling. There was a plethora of yoghurt pots, kitchen foil tubes, egg boxes and plastic bits and pieces, and I can't understand for the life of me why it proved so hard to throw some of it away! Why do I have an overwhelming urge to keep kitchen foil tubes, a see through plastic dome shaped box, and two sheets of thin polystyrene? Anyway, in the end, I whittled it down to two very small cardboard boxes and a pretty drum shaped box that had had Charbonnel and Walker champagne truffles in. DH just sighed and shook his head.

Would one coach be enough because we have to consider the animals. Sam is laid back and will have to be I think to accept the motley collection arriving.

I have the tidiest shed for miles around I think. In his wisdom, I think he was bored, one of the builders decided that my shed needed a good tidy so now it is almost empty and stuff can be found for once.

N&G Jackson to me looks a very bright young man- why are other children picking on him? I bet he could run rings around them with his knowledge of expensive cars.

Greyduster You've made me laugh.

The sun is shining. That's a bonus. MacSporran has cleaned the windows. Yet another bonus. I've been uploading images into what will become a keepsake book for we two. One hundred pages of memorable moments. I shall say this only once - I started at coffee time. I've just this minute finished. Some would say that's far too long to be slaving and cursing over a hot computer. I agree!

Time to say farewell until I catch up with you all tomorrow.

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We’ve had a lovely day here. DD1 popped down from Birmingham for lunch and a couple of hours (sadly minus the DGCs, but much easier all round) and she had barely gone when 2 very good friends appeared and stayed for another couple of hours. All,of which made for a much more interesting afternoon than usual for Paw
It is SILs2 and 3 ‘s birthdays this weekend (!) and Flynn is in Paris with his Mummy and Daddy.
They went to visit BIL’s ex wife and her husband and their little girl Gaëlle - does this not look like the Start-Rite ad from years ago ?

kitty sorry about your DGS's disapointment. Hard when his friends are picked and he isn't. Hope he feels better about it soon. We never stop worrying do we corner? I don't remember there being so much bullying and nastiness when I was young but perhaps that's rose coloured glasses for you.

Hope you all have a good weekend. N&G fantastic news about your move. So pleased for you. We can have a kitcheners house warming, don't forget the

Crafting you can book a place on the coach- the day after moving seems as good a time as any. There will be baked cakes, scones and all sorts of goodies waiting for us.

All sort of busyness going in this kitchen, from window cleaning and garage tidying and creative making to pre- removal downsizing, visiting family and lots more besides. It’s been grey skies but a pleasantly idle sort of day here which I have to say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. It finished off with a rather tasty harvest supper meal at our church - oh I do so enjoy eating food other kind folk have slaved over a hot stove to produce! As I say that I realise that’s my old boy’s experience just about every day!
Can I please book a seat on that coach trip to visit n&g’s new home? Just imagine what the neighbours would say if us —rowdy— lot turned up. You’d best get that new kitchen of yours set up quickly for all that baking you’ll be doing for us coming!
soop if you’ve managed a whole book in a day I salute you. I slaved for several days over a rather large one a few weeks ago, it was intended as a gift for my brother in law and his wife who’re both coping with huge health challenges. I proof read it a hundred times, then my old boy checked it over some more but —woe us me— when it arrived I found 2 small but annoying typos. It was a 2 for 1 deal, I had planned 1 to give away and 1 to keep but when they arrived one was marked, only slightly but not good enough for a gift. They agreed to replace it but then sent 2 more! We now have an abundance of these books, sadly of course each containing the same blinking typos .
Sounds like you’ve had an enjoyable day maw with folk who care about you both coming and going. Love those images, old and new.
It’s so sad to hear about perfectly lovely youngsters having a hard time with “friends” who prove to be far from friendly. We just want to scoop them up and protect them from such happenings, but sadly we can’t and it can be a tough old world out there compared to the safe environs of home.
Well bedtime for me, there was a bottle of prosecco on our table tonight that no one other person seemed to want to share. It was a tough job but someone had to try .....hic! Sleep well lovely people x

Morning all !

Have a thought for my daughter this morning- she went to a concert last night, got home at 1am and got up at 4:30am to go to a boot sale ! Self inflicted of course but as the Mum of two young boys sleep is precious to her !! I hope she makes some money and doesn't fritter it all away on bacon sandwiches and coffee !!

I shall arrange charabanc ( now there's a word you don't hear these days) for after we have arrived so that you can all come and help clean visit !!

Good idea about the beddingCharley especially as most stuff will be packed the day before with just the beds going in on the Friday morning. Sam will be coming with us, we have his cage so he has a familiar place but suspect he will spend the first morning strutting round the garden claiming his territory !!

There are a few things to do in the new house, the bathroom being the most urgent as it has a shower over the bath which is a bit of a death trap for me these days. But we will manage.

Exciting news ( well for me anyway) as we are going from 4-3 bedrooms I was going to use the 3rd room as a combination visitors /craft room. But we have decided that isn't practical as I have lots of sharp or sticky stuff and our small visitors are always curious. So I am getting a purpose built studio in the garden !!! It will take a few months but I am very excited to have my own space.

I think its just that not all children are brought up the same way Charley , Jackson is a kind little lad and hates to think you might have hurt feelings, other children's parents are less concerned with words hurting ( I think sometimes that's what happened to some of the Grans on GN ) !

Lovely picture of the littlies maw .

I love the idea of the book soop what a lovely memory to pass on.

I guess maybe you have some ready made Christmas presents Grannie with the extras you have .

Have a happy sunday one and all xxx

G&N I think that Jackson and I would get along like a house on fire as we are both sensitive souls.

I agree with the shower over the bath- not a good idea. Hopefully you will be able to get that sorted fairly soon after moving.

Queenie excuse me but we are a refained lot and certainly not rowdy so maybe you should make alternative arrangements to visit?!

At least a dog like Sam will enjoy the experience- Tara would hate it until she was well settled and that would take a few weeks.

Good morning!
There is much minor grumping about so it is refreshing to see that the kitchen is as warm and welcoming as ever.
Exciting times N&G but just to put you right, that is not just a a “garden room” it is an “estate cottage”
DD had a studio built in their garden in London as an alternative to renting studio space and she loves it. It coukd also function as an (adults only) spare room at a pinch providing you have a key to the house for nocturnal visits!
It is a lovely sunny morning and I wish you all a pleasant day!

Maw I do hope that you are getting a better night's sleep. I need not ask about Harriet, I know the answer already!

I slept well last night but I did have 2+ glasses of wine, for medicinal purposes only of course. Naturally my 4 legged alarm clock was at my face just after 7am, a tad too early but she was not listening.

My large beautiful glass dining room table and white chairs are going to a good home in under 2 hours from now. They have to bring a decent sized van and two strong henchmen as the table is very heavy. I will be pleased to get the space back but sorry to see it go.

An estate cottage ....oh Maw I love that !!

Our new bungalow is called ‘The White House’ so that will work beautifully!!

You could call the studio The West Wing!!

Now Grampy actually laughed out loud at that !!!

The West Wing it is !!

Perfect name- such a pity that it does not have en suite facilities or otherwise us lot could have stayed for a day or two. I think we have too far to travel and then expected to return home the same day.

Not if we use broom sticks, Charley

We have just returned from watching The Boy play footie and spent an hour at DD's before coming home. There was a lot of co-ordinating of diaries going on and it makes me wonder, with all the stuff that goes on in their lives, how they manage to find time to just chill out and watch the world go by! It made me tired just listening to it all.
I thought about your boys on the way home, N&G as we fetched up behind this Maserati Ghibli. I said to DH "when we go around the corner, see if you can come alongside him." He said "And if we manage to clip his paintwork in so doing, you would be quite happy to sell this car to pay for the repairs would you?" Yes, well, maybe not then, so rear view only! It was a noisy beast though! I'm sorry Jackson is experiencing some bad behaviour from people at school, and I hope the school has a handle on it. My GS is a lad who only wants to see the good in people too. We have just returned from watching The Boy play footie and spent an hour at DD's before coming home. There was a lot of co-ordinating of diaries going on and it makes me wonder, with all the stuff that goes on in their lives, how they manage to find time to just chill out and watch the world go by! It made me tired just listening to it all.
I thought about Jackson on the way home, N&G as we fetched up behind this Maserati Ghibli. I said to DH "when we go around the corner, see if you can come alongside him." He said "And if we manage to clip his paintwork in so doing, you would be quite happy to sell this car to pay for the repairs would you?" Yes, well, maybe not then! I'm sad to hear that Jackson is experiencing some poor behaviour from people at school, and I hope that the school have a handle on it. My GS is also a lad who likes to see the good in everyone. I hope he never loses that, but I worry about him too.

Well, that went well! We seem to have two posts in one I wondered why there was a hiatus in proceedings while I was previewing. You'll just have to sort it out for yourselves!!