Soop's warm and welcoming kitchen...

Syn excuse me but I am a paragon of virtue!

Hopefully just to amuse you! On Sunday a friend was querying why Himself was not wearing his leg and why it was all taking so long to heal so my dear man looked him in the eye and said ,"You do realise that it was a very deep cut, it went right the way through you know" Needless to say we all fell about laughing! Sometimes people do say the daftest things and I thought Himself was very quickwitted.

Charley I never thought otherwise!

So many posts I would love to reply to but I just can't manage it at all (totally jiggered) so I will just say how much I appreciate the lovely thoughts, beautiful photos, thoughtful comments and will leave you some gingerbread on the side - made by DD - and will say truthfully TOYA xx

Panache am hoping that your house sale can be completed soon,it really is nit picking from the purchasers solicitor and you really don’t need this at a time when you want to be totally focused on your dear husband.
Carillion and Synonomous,I have such admiration for how you have dealt with/are dealing with your husbands operations and recovery.My own husband is having surgery next week,nothing as major as you have both been through but will have a two month recovery.I take inspiration from you both.We are currently trying to get a step ahead with everything before his enforced rest.Gardens now sorted,tip tomorrow and store cupboards as full as they can be.
Soop,take it easy with all the ironing,you need to keep your strength up with the amount of travelling you and macs have to do to get to your appointments.
I am TOYA and send love and good wishes to all who are unwell or suffering any kind of buggeration.
Lins,hope you are starting to feel better and that the back brace is helping with the pain you have been in.

panache never be afraid to tell it how it is. You and MrP have been through so much. What a lovely thing for your friends to do in having a nice picture of your dear man. I do hope the house contracts are signed soon. It is one worry you could do without. Hope your DH gets a better nights sleep with the new drugs and he feels better in the morning.
carillion glad you finally got to see the surgeon. Having a positive attitude will help your DH I am sure. I realise it’s a big procedure but hopefully it will help him and be worth it.
We will all be wishing him well in January.
izabella I love your sense of humour. The toothless gallery really made me smile ? (p.s. I do have some teeth myself)
charley I have a problem keeping up too. So many lovely Kitcheners ?
synonymous don’t forget to take care of yourself too. Glad your DD is on hand to help a bit - and to provide us with gingerbread of course. Yummy ?
susan another husband having an op. Hope all goes well for you both.
Hello to soop, ann, lins and all of you. TOYA ?

By the way soop, if you have contact with Baggs you could tell her that her DD is now famous. I read in the paper this morning, that the very latest fashion trend is Minibaggs (well mini bags actually. Tiny handbags worn across the chest on a strap) ?

Good evening to you all. Panache our buyers solicitor saved all the questions until weeks into the process. It is so frustrating having to wait on them but I am sure you will get there in the end.
I have just had a message from the bank to tell me to log on to my account as there is an important message for me regarding my credit card. Panic, dash downstairs to the computer in my nightie and - nothing! Phone call in the morning methinks.
TOYA and sleep well everyone.

Nannytopsy please be careful, there are a lot of bank scams being tried, certainly around here, at present.

Syn people can be totally stupid. Who would have thought he would have such a large wound?!

Goodmorning kitcheners, I have now got four large Christmas puddings on the range steaming for the next eight hours. So as I am housebound for the day, I have jobs aplenty, might even start on the Christmas cards!!!!

Gg you put us to shame! I think I need to get my fruit etc and start on Christmas puds and cards.
My urgent message was to tell me I had changed a direct debit - I know, I changed it!! It did make me wonder about a scam for a while though.
DH has a horrid cold and I am doing admin from my bed but I suppose we should think about getting up soon . Have a good day everyone.

Hello the kitchen! I can’t remember when I posted last. I have been a little under the weather. I have been reading but you are still all going too fast for me! I have, though, been thoroughly charmed by all the photos of our little people, who are all growing at a rate of knots!

Panache if your house sale is anything like ours was, it will drag along interminably with many niggles, and then there will be a mad gallop at the end, so be prepared for that. It will be a great relief to you to have it all done with, though.

Syn I hope your DH’s driving lesson goes well today. Driving is one of the things men are the most reluctant to do. We had a friend who was extremely ill with pulmonary fibrosis and almost to the end of his life he was reluctant to let anyone drive him, or to think about giving up his car. It was the last tenuous thread to his independence. We knew someone who lost a leg and was a brilliant driver in his adapted car.

Carillion I’m sure your DH will be in the best of hands when the time comes for his surgery. I wish him well every step of the way.

Soop what is it with you and ironing? Can I send mine round?? Shall we have a “my ironing mountain is bigger than yours” competition with a bottle of Oban as a prize? Seriously, don’t overdo it - I gather you have been under the weather recently, and we don’t want any setbacks!

I am going to have a little motherly boast if I may be permitted. My daughter ran the Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday - her first full marathon - and finished in four hours forty five minutes. She took a day’s holiday from work yesterday and got a message of congratulations from a friend who said a male work colleague of hers had also run it in a longer time than DD and was taking a week off to recover! Mind you, after seeing her yesterday I think she could have done with a bit longer. I don’t think she is planning to do another! The man who ran the original marathon all those thousands of years ago dropped down dead at the end I seem to remember..... he certainly started something, though!

I have to go. I am getting glared at for not seizing the day! I will look in later. To all I have not caught up with, TOYA.

We'll be leaving very soon for the flu "jags". I shall return a little later.

Nannytopsy We had a call this morning from the bank (not) to say that a transaction had taken place using our credit card for £600. A major mini scare that proved to be a scam. Why do folk do such things? It beggars belief that someone is prepared to spend their time "trying it on". I'm afraid that my language is indecent when I get to speak to a real person who is obviously a fraudster. It's indecent enough to make MacSporran

That is a major scam that was reported in the press just yesterday soop
We must all be on our toes.
I have had 2 very convincing ones recently.

I wonder why they pick on £600 as the sum? Weve had a couple of those.

DH also had an email saying that he was due £327.68 from HMRC. As he had just claimed a sum not unlike that, I had great difficulty stopping him pressing the reply button.

ann and kitty We've also had a call informing us that our internet and phone was to be cut off later that day. Before the conversation ended, I slammed the phone down. Nothing untoward happened that day. The thing is...a very elderly person, living alone, may well become totally unnerved by such incidents. What is the answer? Do any of you know?

Synonymous I appreciate your dear husband's witty sense of humour. He's right to tell it as it is. Thank you for the gingerbread. A great favourite of mine.

Susan It's very wise to be well prepared for your husband's convalescence. My best wishes for his speedy recovery. Please keep us lot updated.

A lovely post from dear Doodle

GrannyGravy Are you super-charged? Please spare me a helping of your boundless energy.

Greyduster Of course you may have a motherly boast. Your daughter did amazingly well. Just thinking of her achievement makes me feel light-headed and go weak-kneed.

I had my dates mixed up good and proper. My appointments with Oncology in Glasgow are next week...not this. I realised my mistake over the weekend.

The care home visit had it's moments. Originally I visited a group of half a dozen ladies with whom I exchanged merry banter and sing songs. All but one of that group remains. T is becoming more befuddled and it takes her some time to recognise me. A new lady with a ready smile joined us. I asked her name. She couldn't remember. She told me that she has a boyfriend who truly loves her. I asked his name. She cannot remember. She told me that she has a very busy day ahead. She's going into the loft. Thing is, she is cheerful. That counts for a lot.

I apologise if I've overlooked any of your latest messages. I do care. I believe that know as much.

I shall log off for today. Apparently my pal does need me to do her ironing for her tomorrow. I thought that she "hadn't enough" to keep me busy all morning. Hey ho! I shall be with you all again early afternoon.

TOYA

soop I am definitely not supercharged, but we are in Africa most of November visiting eldest AC so need to be super organised this year.

Wishing all kitcheners and families well

TOYA

If feeling down in spirit or overloaded with life`s miseries, please just hot foot it into our Soop`s kitchen!!!!
I myself hesitated long enough before entering but probably it ranks of one of my better moments when I took the plunge and hopped in...........and staying put.
What lovely caring hearts combined here, and quite frankly I do believe this kind of tonic should be available on prescription!!!!!

I was deeply touched by comments made by you GG13 and dear Doodle,whilst each one of you truly reach out with such feeling,it makes entering this kitchen such a real treat.

Another dear man heading for an operation it seems Susan and I trust he comes sailing through on the same lines as hopefully Carillion`s man does, and Synonymous`s husbands has already done..
It also helps greatly having a good sense of humour eh Synonymous
Hopefully his next stage "behind the wheel" proves yet another wholehearted success.

Not only is my man slowly improving...... though looking so very peaky yet,however our Solicitor has just left and would you believe all documents are duly signed and the new people could be moving in as early as ........ tomorrow!!!
They have certainly ensured it was a very bumpy ride.
So my friends, there will be no further fretting about clearing up those leaves!!

Congrats to your daughter GreyD on that first of many victories I bet.Of course you are more than allowed to have a little "boast".

As for your sense of humour Izabella I pray that stays as sharp as ever,your way with words is such a treat,they often make my day special.

A very peacefdul night planned,hopefully making up for last night`s sleepless one.........and then we can now start concentrating on life......together......here.

Sending blessings to you all lovely people,xxx

These bank scams are so cruel. A very dear friend and her frail 90 year old husband were conned into visiting their bank last week to draw out money " to trap a dishonest employee who had been stealing money from their account". They would then have been told to put the cash into a "safe account"--i.e. the con-man's. Luckily, the bank cashier guessed that something was wrong and explained it all to them and even accompanied them home and called the police for them. Wonderful service. They were really shaken and distressed.

My heart goes out to all of those who are suffering upsets right now. I can never hope to remember all individually--my brain is much too ancient! however ,I do think of you all.

Panache Brilliant news on your house exchange

Hopefully you can now rest a little more easily, take care both of you.

TOYA

My goodness Panache miracles do happen. You need never worry about cleaning that house, cutting the grass or removing leaves. It is now the responsibility of the new owners.

Enjoy your stay at your present residence and I would be inclined to open a bottle of wine to celebrate-it has taken long enough.

soop at least you realised the mistake before you appeared on the doorstep on the wrong date.

Where does that lady find so much to be ironed? I have not picked up an iron for well over 3 years now.

Tara came home really early tonight so as for me there is zilch on TV we will be retiring to bed very early so that I can read and she can be stroked.
TOYA

Panache that is wonderful news! So glad that you can now relax ?

Excellent news panache, it must be hard to actually believe it, a weight lifted that’s for sure.

Ironing happens here too charley, can’t bear creases in clothes and love ironed bed linen. Mr C and I share the load, quite enjoy it really.

How was the driving experience synonymous? A big day for your husband. Positive thoughts to you and your husbands carillion and Susan, also to dragonfly and all with health and other burdens. How are you now soop? I’m struggling to keep up with the kitchen so as ever apologies for missing folk and not noticing as much as I could.

We were off with a friend yesterday (you may remember the saga of a broken neck 3 years ago now) who is very down at the moment, it’s a bad time of year for her. As we were having lunch up popped a message to say the friend recovering from a brain bleed was being blue lighted to hospital with chest pains. Good news came last night that she was on her way home, will hear more of the detail later. It got me thinking about how lucky Mr C and I really are. Yes, we have frustrations health wise but such little to manage by comparison.

I’m looking forward to today as I’m off for coffee and lunch with a GN friend. The time always flies past as we put the world to rights.

Best be off so TOYA and take care everyone.