Soop’s kitchen, filled with kindness, understanding and some damn fine cake ! Come on in.

You can ask anno which doesn't mean I will tell you but 2 years ago I had 80 candles ,so do the sums yourself.
I have never been precious about my age.
Just grateful I have got this far.

I won't ask how many candles you had on your cake this morning, ann. I hope someone will bring candles along to the kitchen to lend a festive atmosphere to the occasion.

Happy Birthday annsixty even though it will most likely be tinged with understandable sadness. x

HAPPY birthday, dear Ann. Your meeting with a distant relative sounds about nigh on perfect. And now you have a celebratory evening with a good friend. Us lot will raise a glass of cheer in your honour...^and help to demolish the many cakes that seem to be mounting up in the kitchen. It would be a great shame to waste any.

Welcome back, Gaga. Our kitchen caters for all manner of sharings...some joyful, some humorous, some not so. That's life! We're in it together. Knowing that one is not totally alone during any worrying episode, can make a positive difference.

A certain match is about to begin. Gulp! I shall peel myself away from the computer and return a little later.

Have just played Happy Birthday to you, on Soop's piano, Ann - with variations on a theme. Hope it reached you in Stockport! My nephew and his wife live in Bredbury but I have never been there. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

I was at WI this morning and we had a talk by a former Met. Police Officer about scams and fraudsters. Very interesting but a bit scary hearing what some of their techniques are. He made us all laugh but got the message across in a memorable way. We are beset with those trying to extract money from us it seems!

Happy Birthday ann, albeit a day tinged with sadnesss. Enjoy your evening.

Thankyou all for your good wishes.
Full of coffee and delicious chocolate cake.
Now saving myself for tonight.
A cocktail will be part of the evening.??

Happy Birthday Ann?

Happy birthday Ann! ???. I am on a train and hate typing on my phone but just had to say that. I’ll look in later.

Many happy returns, annsixty. Hope you won’t feel too sad, but I do understand only too well.xxx

Happy birthday Ann
I wanted to be an archaeologist as well after hearing Animal, Vegetable Oe Mineral.
Apparently I informed my headmistress of this at my interview, then followed it up my saying
‘ I don’t think there’ll be enough money in it though, so, I’ll probably be a doctor instead’
I say I was pragmatic rather than mercenary.

That feeble emoji is meant to be a cake - I think. Hope you can do better than that today!

Happy birthday, Ann. Make it a good one. ?

Happy Birthday Ann

Delighted you day worked out well ann. Sending love on your birthday. Can't manage a birthday cake but there is a whole lemon and almond cake that didn't get eaten yesterday. Why? Because I forgot to get it out of the tin . Oh well, no one starved.

TOYA and be good everyone.

Happy Birthday Ann I will crack open the bubbly in honour of you this evening. So pleased you had a good day. Last year I met up with a cousin and an uncle I hadn't seen for 50 years and it was amazing how easy it was.

Realising how hard it is for others I try hard not to bring problems to the kitchen. I realise they are my problems and I try and sort them as well as I can.

That first birthday is hard annsixty - sending you love.
I was so dreading mine that I opened any cards which had arrived the night before determined to downplay it.
It as a “big” one too so the Ds made a fuss, but this year’s?
Can’t even remember it

Morning all,

Happy Birthday Ann , let us spoil you here in the kitchen today a bit--- there will be an enormous birthday cake and we might as well crack open the bubbly early !!! ( Never too early for that !!)

Welcome back gagagran I can absolutely understand why you felt the need to retreat and regroup . Whilst this IS the place to bring your cares and woes sometimes the sadness mountain is a tough hill to climb. For myself, I felt I was being shown a vision of my potential future - about like Christmas future and it overwhelmed me. But I'm glad you have found your balance again....can you play that piano??? :-)

Sounds like it was the last straw syn , Im sure you will both find your new normal but in the meantime it sounds totally draining. Any chance of some help from friends and family in the short term?

All is reasonably quiet here and long may that last!!

I shall pop in later to catch up.

Good morning all.
A dreadful night so I feel like a zombie this morning but welcome back * Gagagran* , I know just how you feel but those of us with our problems do feel the kitchen is a good place to unload our feelings and are very grateful for the support we receive and the genuine friendship we all feel in this very special place.
Please forgive me if I mention more sadness but today is my birthday, the first without my H, if I am very honest he was a very undemonstrative man and no fuss would have been made so I don't miss that , just miss him .

Well yesterdsy was lovely, none of the emotion Maw must have felt meeting her brother but meeting someone however distantly related was a bit special.
I was an only child and although my mother had 5 siblings also the only GC.
Very close to them all but of couse they are all long gone.

Graham was a really nice ,interesting man, but he knew nothing of my family so no secrets were revealed.
In his early days he had met 2 elderly relatives, mother and daughter, who I had also met but that was as far as it went.
I think that in the very early days of the last century, whole families moved away in sesrch of work and lack of communication and lack of money meant they were all lost to each other.
This seemed to happen in our case, in my mothers family they were the ones who stayed put.
There is now another branch who moved to Rotherham, we have no idea about.
We talked non stop through coffee ,lunch and the station for 4 hours.
We had no trouble bonding, not a single silent moment.

I now hope to meet his wife, he has two children but I don't feel they will be interested in an old lady about whom they know nothing.

We I must be up and about.
Coffee (and cake) with a friend and out for an Italian meal this evening.
Have a good day, TOYA.

Good to see you again gagagran. Chocolate cake is my favourite, many thanks. Looking forward to hearing from you later ann, delighted all went well.

Lovely to welcome you back Gagagran I hope all is well with you .
Cake forming one of my 5-a day? What’s not to like

Hello everyone - I am back after my sabbatical from GN.

Despite being a glass-half-full sort, I felt myself being gradually overwhelmed with all the ill health, sadness and worries that I was reading about every day on GN and decided I needed a break.

I have been keeping up with the Kitchen and Good Morning threads and think I am ready to come back inside and sit in the corner near the piano again. Might even play a few tunes later.

I come bearing cake - this one is a chocolate cake made with beetroot and is totally calorie free and is moist (hate that word!) and delicious.

Lovely to see you in the kitchen syn. Take care!

Cant wait for an update, ann. I had a lovely afternoon having tea with 3 other gners.

synonymous so good to hear from you. Others have expressed it far better than I can but please try and care for yourself. Maybe DH needs a gentle talking to.

So pleased you had a good day Ann.

ann delighted to hear you had a good day. I do hope that you will sleep well tonight.

Tara and I are also going to have an early night although I will read for ages.