Super special news. The remaining young cat has a home. He should be going to it within the next day or so. I shall sleep so much better tonight.
On that very HAPPY note, I shall wish you all a very good evening. Please stay warm. Back with you in our kitchen tomorrow.

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Soop's warm and welcoming kitchen...
(1000 Posts)Here we are again...
happy as can be...
All good pals and jolly good company.
WELCOME!
Lovely to see you here Izabella, I’d missed you and hoped you were ok, you still retain your gift with words, thanks for sharing them with us. I almost hope you did forget where you might wander onto... it’s dog eat dog out there... it ensures I resist the urge to stray! Talking of which I hope you’re ok maw after your cold etc.
Lovely photos greyduster, you’re a better woman than I am at experimenting with your camera settings! Please don’t remind me of those anxiety provoking sleepless nights when I vainly tried and spectacularly failed to monitor the comings and goings of various teenage daughters. Thankfully they all turned out alright in the end and I’m now watching them do the same with their youngsters!
Syn no wonder you had a wobbly moment you’ve coped with such a lot over the last while that it’s bound to catch up with you from time to time. It’s just not possible to go through all that with no chance to allow yourself experience your own feelings. I guess like us all you work hard to protect those you love from your own emotions. Not sure that makes sense now I see it written down? But I know what I mean, hopefully you do too!
n&g fret not, after all what’s a lb here or there by comparison to a fabulous celebration for your lovely birthday girl? Says the woman who’s failing to lose so much as an ounce over that last few weeks the gp who is keen to prescribe statins will not be pleased and oh heck now Christmas is coming, that’ll really not help!
Right I must be off to sort out a few bits and pieces. There was an unfortunate red wine incident last night, maybe it serves us right for opening a bottle in a “school night”! A carpet cleaning man is required and let’s just say the old boy isn’t complaining that he will have to alter his plans tomorrow to accommodate the clean up! I haven’t seen him this subdued since the hot iron/carpet incident a few years back!!
I’ll leave you with a couple of sunny day photos from my walk with dd4 at Harlow Carr yesterday.
What wonderful photographs we have today.
They really do gladden the heart, thank you all.
I hope dragonfly is coping today after her chemo, it is just something to be endured to get well again.
My GD is back on the ward and can be picked up at 8:30 this evening.
She is obviously ok.
Have a good evening everyone.
Glad to see your GD will soon be back with you annsixty
ann - so far so good. I hope she is comfortable tonight and benefiting from your TLC.
Lovely photographs from Grey and Queenie (great bullfinch!) . It was the first real frost of the winter. When I look out of the window and see that the shed roof has turned white, it's my signal to go back to bed for another half hour until the house warms up!
Thank you for your good wishes Ann I am pleased your GD is recovering. Struggled today so will catch up with you all when the energy levels rise.
Lovely autumnal pictures from GD and GQ.
Glad your GD is ok ann. Like you I get very anxious about anaesthetics
I just can’t get to sleep! Too long a nap during the political debates perhaps? The view is from our local surgery after a visit to the vampire - I have a massive bruise.
I hope you are feeling better maw & Dragonfly and best wishes to your DGD Ann.
We spent the afternoon pottering in the garden - I had a great time but came in frozen.
I trust you are all fast asleep and that soop isn’t dreaming about cats tonight ?.
Pleased to report my GD is fine today, none of the problems the first Hospital Dr said may happen because of her cleft.
She is making the most of it though and has just had 2 slices of toast, buttered while still warm so it wasn’t crunchy.
I have just had a phone call from my surgery with the results of the x-ray I had 2 weeks ago.
The outcome is that I am being referred to an Orthopaedic surgeon to consider a hip replacement.
I had the hip x-rayed two years ago and there is considerable degeneration.
I need to discuss this with regard to my age and impact on my lifestyle, a lot to think about.
I hope everyone else is okay today and making as much as they can of today.
Glorious photos. Thank you for cheering us greatly.
Ann Bravo! Your granddaughter is a star. She seems to be already well on the way to recovery. Bless her.
I've had both hips replaced. Thankful for the new lease of life the procedures gave me.
dragonfly Yet another comforting hug and 
Back to the painting of a dog called Daisy. 
I'm more than cross. Spent ages on a post plus photos which promptly disappeared. Grumble, grumble.
I think something to do with the photos, will try to attach them to this and then write a proper message separately.
So, if at first I don't succeed. Mess it up again as Mr C is fond of saying 
There have been so many beautiful images on here recently that I thought I'd share some from our NT wander yesterday. We joined a behind the scenes tour, very interesting, I love to see the (often scruffy) parts not usually on show.
I'm ashamed to say I have no chance of getting from auto mode on the camera greyd, no patience to learn. I'm delighted Mr GD survived the experience, he was living dangerously that's for sure.
A virus of any kind is not good news soop, pleased you prevailed. I'm even more pleased that the young cat has found a home, your feline friends mean a lot to you.
How's the carpet grannyq? You reminded me of my horror when I discovered the brightly coloured candle wax I had spilled on our virtually new carpet couldn't be cleaned off. It was in a very obvious place and fortunately the insurance company replaced the carpet for us but I was oh so embarrassed.
I hope you're tucked up indoors dragonfly, I'm sorry you're struggling but it's a good day for a rest, the energy will come back in the meantime be kind to yourself. Same message to you and your husband synonymous, its been a long haul and bound to catch up with you both at times.
Good news about your granddaughter ann, I can understand your concern about a potential hip replacement but it could certainly help you be more comfortable. See what you think of the surgeon and the advice you get about surgery and decide then.
I've bound to have forgotten something and someone so apologies. Hopefully this will post, if not I suspect I'll give up for today as I need to return a jumper I bought yesterday. Love the colour but its huge, apparently a relaxed fit means it will go around me twice.
.
TOYA, take care everyone.
corner My favourite photo is the one of the golden leaves. Stunning!
Pussy cat trapped and taken to his/her new home. It was thought that just one cat (neutered recently) and black was to be re-homed. It seems that the black cat is still avoiding capture. Anyway, the lady who has adopted this new cat is very happy. AND she'll also have the black cat when he decides to play ball. So far, four young cats adopted. It was "our Brodie" who was discovered dead in one of the sheep pens. He had lived a long life. The trip to the vet and surgery may have been too much for him.
Hello the kitchen. May I come in and find a comfy chair as I have a serious case of M&S back!! DH and I have been temporarily unseparated at the hip today, so I took myself off to buy some new trousers with a gift voucher I was given. Either Marks have added a couple of inches onto their “short” length trousers, or I am in serious trouble and destined to have shrunk to about three feet tall by the time my seventy fifth birthday comes around! They used to sit nicely on top of my footwear, but now the end of the legs concertina into a heap instead. I tried on seven pairs and found only one that fitted properly, so I decided to buy them, looked for the gift card - not there! I had only been in one other shop so I went back there and asked if anyone had found it, as I may have pulled it out with my purse. No. Then, as I turned round to come out of the shop I spotted it on the floor! How fortunate was that? Teach me to be more careful in future. So, the trouser buying future looks bleak for me as M&S used to be my go to.
I love all the photos! I had better look to my laurels and practice a bit more! Aren’t the autumn colours wonderful, though?
Sorry to hear about your carpet, Gq. This is why we have wooden floors - we have a bad record with spillages! Me, mostly, I have to say, and GS who is apt to be a bit cavalier with strawberry milkshake.
Corner we did the attics tour at Hardwick Hall (cost an extra pound!) and poked about among all their stored items from way back when. It was fascinating. A bit like an upmarket junkerama.
Ann I’m very pleased your GD is back home and doing well (and eating toast! Brave girl! It was ice cream in my day!). I’m sure your consultant will lay out all the best options available with regard to your hip and won’t put pressure on you to decide straight away. If it reduces your pain and increases your mobility it can only be a good thing, but it is a lot to think about.
Well I had better shuffle off and prep some food ready to cook when His Nibs gets back from his travels. He’s taken the train today - something of a novelty for him. Don’t think he’ll be making a habit of it though! He bought his ticket and said “Blimey! I could get half a tank of petrol for that!!”?
Have a pleasant evening, folks!
greyduster
Thank goodness it’s not just me!
I ordered trousers in regular and they concertined on my shoes.
The same length 2/52 ago fitted perfectly
TOYA
Grey Take the weight off your feet and breathe. So pleased that you found the gift voucher. You were lucky. As for trousers...I have shrunk at least 2" since last year. I always need to shorten or, with some jeans, roll up the hem. Funky!
I may be needed for ironing duty tomorrow. Awaiting a phone call. My pal has had a week away. The washing machine will be working extra hard right now. On top of which, her mother has been in respite care. That means an extra load when she returns home. Not complaining. It's a wee bit of pocket money for the box in the knicker drawer. Every little helps.
TOYA (moon]
Oh wow Soop,another lovely painting?
Some gorgeous photos the last couple of days,Izabella’s beautifully descriptive post and soops lovely painting,what a talented bunch you ladies are??????
Ann,am so glad your granddaughter is doing well and hope you have a positive consultation re your hip.My mother in law had a hip replacement at the grand old age of 87 and although she found the initial recovery slightly difficult it has made an amazing difference to her.
My mum and I were discussing the m and S trouser length,we knew she had shrunk but the trousers were crazily long!She will be pleased to know it’s not her!!
Dragonfly hope you are feeling ok after your treatment and soop hope you are not overdoing it.x
Panache,sending love to you and yours.x
TOYA
Soop you’re a marvel! Smashing painting!
Love the painting ! I can’t paint animals at all , I stick to scenery .
Good morning everyone. It is a lovely morning here, with a frost. It was jolly cold last night as we waited in the middle of the village for the AA man. The car broke down right in the middle of the junction! Only the battery, which he replaced. Modern batteries, which don’t need the topping up of old, seem to just die. It is the second we have had do this.
Off to the Christmas Fair in Bury St Edmunds today. I am ashamed to say that this is our first trip into town since we moved in September.
YOYA and have a good day.
I love the painting Soop! Again you have captured that “look” in her eyes.
As for the shrinking legs! Well are we surprised? We walk on them day in day out, of course they get worn down. Wish the same applied to the hips though.
I have decided I shall probably live after all although I am still ???
What worried me was the groaning/wheezing sound coming from my throat, (not chest, but larynx) so maybe a sort of laryngitis. Anyway booking an appointment at the Dr did the trick (which I have now of course been able to cancel) isn’t our NHS wonderful? All you have to do is threaten the bugs!
Catch up with you all later.
Maw
So glad you are a bit better! You come over as much more settled now and have given some really helpful advice here and there, hope everything is so much better for you now. 
I would also agree that our NHS is wonderful; throughout all our traumas over the last years not one staff member has been anything but kind and caring as well as doing their level best in the circumstances. One would much rather not have to access those services but they are such a blessing to us all.
soop that portrait is amazing! You have a real talent for capturing the special furry members of our families. So pleased to hear that yet another pusscat has a good home. I hope they all settle really well. Smokie's mum was feral and all her kittens are well settled in comfy homes and mum now lives in a stables complex and has settled well since she has the best of both worlds. She sleeps with one of the horses, in the office or even the kitchen sometimes.
As for me in the painting talent department I can barely paint the skirting boards - as that was all I was allowed to do once upon a time. I can remember being told that it was because they were nearer for me!
Nowadays gravity would get me down there but there I would have to stay! Ho hum!
Ann you sound as if you are getting on better - so pleased if that is so. It is lovely that your DGD is with you - and is recovering well. Nice to have company!
Izabella I do love your way with words and think about you and your CH often when you disappear from time to time. Hoping that all is well with you both.
Thank you everyone for such lovely photos. The autumn this year has been very beautiful and we have a lovely sunny day here and not so cold.
Hip, hip, hooray! Himself has been managing to wear his leg for the last couple of days albeit briefly but without too much discomfort. Still a couple of issues which will need attention next week when we get to the big smoke for 'servicing'! 
This morning he quietly disappeared into his workshop at the back of the garage to do a small job which has been waiting for ages. So pleased for him that he can 'escape' and do it!
I am timing him though so that he doesn't overdo it and find himself back at square one. This afternoon I am planning to overcome any disappointment with a walk (with wheelhair) by the river on a good solid path and then tea and cake in a nearby farm cafe so that should distract nicely.
TOYA as I just can't mention all you lovely lot - not enough energy!

GrannyGravy I am green with
. Lucky, lucky, lucky you.
Synonymous Thank you for a lovely post. Big hugs for Mr Syn and xxx too.
Latest update ref the feral feline family. The dear cat adopted yesterday, showed signs of stress during the evening. The couple who have been managing the re-homing project went to assist. The dear lady who had adopted said cat, had placed him close to a heater with a pile of blankets. Pussy had always been feral and lived previously in a bitterly cold barn. Couple transported him to home of another lady who had re-homed one of the siblings. The cat recovered almost immediately. Couple returned to discover black cat in the trap. That amounts to a total of seven. Motored it to the lady who was in charge of two of the family. She now has three. The two will stay with her until they aclimatise...in due course, the latest two will return to the dear lady who would have possibly "killed them with kindness".
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