Soops kitchen, a place of reflection, refuge and at times revelry.

It’s very quiet in here today. Matches my mood.

I’m concerned about my stepfather and will be phoning his GP surgery tomorrow. Had a falling out with my eldest daughter which made me furious at first, then sad. I rang a friend who offered sound advice and bit the bullet and offered an olive branch which she (possibly gratefully) accepted.

Watched the very last episode of Clarkson’s Farm before my free trial with Amazon Video expires at midnight. That bit of my day was enjoyable.

All in all an emotionally draining day.

Oh fgt a tough day, sending hugs 🥰

I hope you have a better day tomorrow FGT. 🌷

Thank you both. I’m feeling pretty drained tonight.

What an unsettling day FGT good luck tomorrow.

A cooler day, most welcome, not that I’ve done much, couple of phone calls, my son called in, my daughter is recovering from birthday celebrations mk2 in Bournemouth.

Pressed too soon!
I hope your husband has had a more comfortable day Nannytopsy and you’ve had a rest.
Similarly your daughter is not too bad Grandmabatty.
MrJ will be back tomorrow 🙂.
This football game isn’t as good as the last one 🥳 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Sorry you’ve had such a difficult day fgt. I hope your stepfather isn’t too poorly.

grandmabatty I hope your DD feels better soon, horrible to be ill as soon as you come back from holiday.

nannytopsy your poor DH. I hope you managed to get him upstairs last night and that he is in less pain today. I hope your asthma hasn’t been too troublesome today. The heat and dust probably haven’t done it any good.

DD2 is on holiday in Italy in a very small village up a very steep hill. Apparently their hire car couldn’t get up the hill with Dd and her two small DGDs in it. They had to get out and her DH then managed to persuade the car to climb the hill! Dd weighs about 7 stone and the DGDs are both small!

DD1 came over this morning, I hadn’t seen her for two weeks, so good to catch up.

Fingers crossed my gardener will be back at work this week, not sure what he can do in the desert that’s my garden at the moment. I’m planning what to plant in the autumn for next year, I think there will be some serious spending on shrubs and perennials.

Thinking of those in the quiet corner.

Night night everyone.

fgt hope you have a better day tomorrow and your stepfather is better soon. Take care dear lady

Sorry that you have had a sad day FGT and I hope tomorrow is better for you. DH got upstairs last night (phew!) and he has gradually loosened up during the day, as long as he doesn’t make any sudden moves. It’s the power of the kitchen behind him! He’ll be on the phone to an osteopath tomorrow.
We have watched the end of the football and we’re glad to see Spain win.
Sleep well everyone

FGT sending a hug.

What a day you had fgt. Sending love a hug and a hope your stepfather is steadier.

It’s been cooler here, more a usual summer feel. Wonderful. Not that it prompted me to do much. Very lazy.

Pleased your husband managed the stairs and is in less discomfort now nannyt. An osteopath sounds a good plan.

How is your daughter now grandmab? Always something for sure.

Your description of the car made me smile redcar. What a kerfuffle though. Hope they don’t encounter too many steep hills or indeed do a lot of heavy shopping.

I’m back to my book now. Sleep is elusive, again.

Hope everyone is sleeping soundly.

Fgt I'm sorry you had such a hard day yesterday. I hope you are feeling better about things today. NannyTopsy your poor husband. Lots of tlc required. Redcar dd is still unwell and off work today. She's probably picked up something on the flight home. Hopefully no-one else comes down with it. Cornergran I hope you managed to sleep.

Fgt, sorry you had a bad day but pleased to hear you are back on good terms with your DD. Let us know what you decide about your stepfather.

Glad your DH is progressing well Topsy. Hope an osteopath accelerates his recovery.

I’ve had a much nicer day today dear Kitcheners. Brunch with the Boy Wonder just us two and a lovely conversation for an hour with a (just) 14y old and no phones out. A definite plus!

The doctor did a house call this afternoon to my stepfather and hugely reassured him after a very thorough check up. My stepfather said “I’ve never seen this doctor before but he was a lovely chap”. Upshot is he thinks it’s post viral fatigue and told my stepfather it may take another 3 weeks or so before he feels more himself. I could tell my stepfather was relieved and I said “just lean into it now and let your body decide how much sleep it needs to get well again”.

And the icing on the cake was a lovely chatty happy phone call from my Yorkshire Lass today. I think grieving for her father on the other side of the Pennines has her missing us over on this side and perhaps has felt ‘a bit left out’. Understandable. I intend to make a bit more of a fuss of her this summer in a supportive way.

Just back from dinner with the nearly 18yr old GS, I am biased but he is emerging into a wonderful young man (high functioning autistic, badly bullied at school). Good food and lots of chat. His brother stood us up in favour of his girlfriend. We had words 🤷‍♀️

Tomorrow it’s the beach near their house, with DD and her boys. They are joining us

A much better day FGT.
MrJ home at lunchtime to open birthday cards and presents, he had a great weekend.
I’ve got an appointment with orthopaedics next Monday for my buggeration of a hip, it’s really getting me down now.

Oh Jax you must be so fed up. It’s been one thing after another with that hip.

I am FGT let’s see what next week brings.

Hope you get some answers and a solution Jaxjacky

fgt I’m so pleased you’ve had a better day today. You must be relieved that your stepfather isn’t suffering from anything too serious, and that taking life easy for a few weeks will help him feel better. My DH had shingles some years ago, it took three visits to the doctors to be diagnosed as it was only on one side of his face and two of the doctors didn’t recognise it. He felt so ill that he let me drive his car down to see my godmother- she nearly fainted with the shock of seeing me driving! It took several weeks before he felt 100%.

grannygravy good to have your DGS to yourself for a while. Enjoy your day at the beach tomorrow.

jaxjacky I hope that orthopaedics can sort out your hip problem quickly and without further surgery.

I’m tired this evening, had a walk first thing, then dusted and vacuumed the hall, stairs, landing and my bedroom. After lunch I deadheaded a large rose bush, which is again resting on the grass with the weight of flowers. The gardener is coming tomorrow (at last) and I’ll have to stop him cutting it down! I’ll prune it later in the year.

It feels pleasantly cool outside this evening, I needed a fleece on when I watered the front garden.

Night night everyone.

Jax how frustrating for you, I hope next week brings some reassurance and improvement with your hip. A late Happy Birthday to your DH too, nice to have him home
Pleased you've had a much better day fgt and your stepfather has been checked over
Really good that your GS is doing so well GG, of course you can be biased
I’m just home from my line dancing class, really enjoyable and I only went wrong a couple of times 😂

cornergran I need to give you some lessons in the sleep depart,ment. I could sleep on a clothes line.

fgt so pleased it will just take time for your stepfather to start to feel better. He will feel relieved.

Topsy stairs are a real buggeration if one of you has problems negotiating them.

Jax is there anything specific wrong with that hip now or do you feel it may dislocate again. At least you will be seen soon. Write a list of questions so you don't forget anything and if you are there for longer than the supposed 10 minutes, tough.

My apologies for leaving anybody out but as usual this is my mini book

A normal summer's day. That is because I have bought a new fan. Heavy rain was forecast but zilch here in NW London.

Jaxjacky I hope the consultant can help with your hip.

Good luck with the hip jax. You’ve had a tough time.

Sleep lessons welcome charley, managed a whole three hours last night. It’s just not enough for sensible functioning. I’m dafter than usual.

Off to meet a friend today, it’s an hour and a traffic variable bit on the bus. At least the driver will wake me when he checks the bus at the bus station if I nod off. .

That’s better news all round fgt. Hope you’re less worried about your stepfather now.

You’re allowed to be biased and rightly proud grannyg.

Off now to try to wake up properly. Take care everyone.

Good evening kitchen folk. It's been another warm, sunny day in Central Scotland. Dd took today off and slept so she feels better. I dropped off dgs1 at football then took dgs2 to soft play in Linlithgow. It was very quiet (unusual) but he found a little girl to play with. I was really pleased because he doesnt make friends easily. After a couple of hours, home we went. He drew and played with bluey toys until it was time to pick up dgs1. He was raging because we had gone to soft play without him. He doesnt like soft play!
Anyway, they've been really good today. I've dropped them at home and I have my feet up for five minutes. Enjoy your evening kitchen folk