Good Morning Saturday 22nd January 2022

Good morning Mick
Did you manage to sort out your ear? Hope that it’s okay.

A very good morning to everyone else too

Morning Mick and all who follow- not sure why I’m up so early but I don’t like to fidget in bed whilst Mr PG is impersonating a foghorn..?

A trot to the newsagents this morning will clear the cobwebs and a coffee and cake in Betty’s will sweeten the exercise pill!

Will sort and burn my old NI/Paye hoard now that SP is landing in my account every four weeks - it might’ve been late but it was worth the wait?

Will pop back later but hope all have a good day x

Good morning from a dry, chilly, moonlit E Kent. As it’s only 1deg., it’ll be frosty when we go out.
Have you had your ear re-dressed, Mick?
Marmalade for me today. I stopped at the farm shop for some eggs on my way home from the retirement home yesterday and they had some oranges. They are HUGE! Normally, I get about 7 per kg., these are 4 per kg. I got enough to make me about 35 pots. No more my semi-industrial quantities of marmalade. Before we moved to this house, I used to make about 800 pots. I was registered as a “small manufacturer”…. I made about 12 pots of orange and cranberry marmalade last night with some berries left in the fridge from Christmas. It is very popular.
Love and hugs to the poorly and sad. Carpe diem. ????☀️?

Good morning, all, from a less cold Torbay so no frost this morning, thankfully.

Yesterday, I didn’t venture out until mid morning when I visited our local, smaller Lidl, which I found to be very quiet. I think the chilliness was keeping folk indoors. There didn’t appear to be any shortages and I didn’t notice any great increase in prices, I'm pleased to say. I treated myself to a cosy sweater and some more clogs which I find very comfortable to wear indoors. They seem to support my arthritic joints well. One often sees medical staff wearing them here and in France.

I hope Mick has sorted out his ear dressing.

Another project, grandMattie! I am in awe of your energy levels. The orange and cranberry combination sounds delicious! You certainly abide by your motto of Carpe diem!

DGD is well but still testing positive after more than a week. DD is about the same but stronger medication is helping to ease the pain. I’m relieved her DH and DS are back now.

Have a good weekend, everyone! ?????

Good Morning everyone from a slightly milder south coast (3.8c). Dry and a cloud layer which kept the frost at bay.

Busy day ahead for us when DH is wakened by Alexa shortly. We are off to get the click and collect, then home for our usual breakfast treat of croissants for himself and baguette for me.
We are invited for coffee at his cycling chum's this morning, after he drops his e-bike in at a specialist e-bike shop to try and diagnose why it's not working.
Later, I want to try and make the vegan stuffed butternut squash which DD made as part of our Christmas meal and which was delicious.

Sounds as if you will be busy, Mattie, with your marmalade making. Will you sell some, donate some or eat it all yourselves?

Hope the day is a good one for us all.

Ash, my days are normally - get up, have breakfast etc., sit. Lunch, a nap, make dinner, sit….
It’s nice to have something to do. I’m short of mojo at present, and have no great desire to do anything…

Gaga, I used to sell it in our church and raise up to £3,000 p.a. with the jams. It was enough to pay the annual heating bills.
Now, DH eats it, I don’t care for jams and marmalade, and I give a lot away. If there is a fete, I’ll volunteer a few pots though these days the piccalilli is more popular. (Another thing I don’t like.)

Ps. I use a pressure cooker for the marmalade, so it takes very little time to cook the oranges.

Morning Mick, morning All. Our corner of Somerset is less cold, goodness yesterday was more than chilly.

Can relax about our neighbour now as her daughter arrived yesterday morning to, in her words, sort her out. Ward staffing difficulties meant discharge was 24 hours before her covid delayed arrival. It will be many weeks before she is independently mobile. A usually very active woman I foresee much grumpiness ahead

Same with our granddaughters Mum ash: still testing positive after 8 days. Our son is still struggling three weeks on. Flipping virus. Hope your daughter improves soon.

I love marmalade grandMattie, Mr C never eats it. Totally agree with you about piccalilli, not to my taste. Hope all goes to plan today.

A sorting and faffing day ahead here today after venturing forth to try out a new to us park and ride bus yesterday. It was oh so cold whuch encouraged an unplanned and very good lunch stop.

Take care everyone. Thinking of those finding life hard. Hope Saturday is kind to us all.

Good morning all and it doesn’t seem quite as cold as yesterday. ?

As the sun was shining we decided to visit Hyde Hall (RHS) . Wrapped up for the Arctic but it wasn’t too bad. The winter gardens are stunning with the Cornus in all different colours . Daffodils peeking up everywhere and lots of clumps of snowdrops. We were amazed how many people were there and the cafe was bursting. We didn’t bother to stay for coffee as we were meeting our a Friday gang for a drink and lunch at a nearby pub.

I will take little DGD to her ballet class this morning, then scoop up Dd and bring them back here for the rest of the day.

I think I’ll make bread with gd - I don’t think she’s tried that yet. I bought a Lakeland bread maker. It’s just a sillicone bowl really but works beautifully.

My Dh is a marmalade freak. I can take it or leave it but he gets through a jar in no time! Middle name is Paddington.

Hoping you all have a good day. ?

Here’s Matt.

Good morning everyone from Malaga where the sun is up. A warmer day ahead it seems. Mind you, in a sheltered spot (like my little balcony) it’s a sun trap. I was sat there yesterday in shorts and a vest tee! Blimey. January eh? I’m getting a tan.

We will go out somewhere but are walking locally as Renfe trains are much less frequent. From 3 an hour to one every 90 minutes at certain times of the day. Himself thinks it’s because there are track renovations over at Torremolinos station. I thought it might be because of Covid with less passengers. I must look it up on El Pais website out of curiosity later. Anyway we’ve decided to leave trips out to Fuengirola until we next come over in March.

Isn’t it wonderful having your SP Pantsglas? Like you, I had to wait until aged 66y but it’s still a joy when I see it drop into my bank every 4 weeks. I then spend it and share it. I’ve never been a saver.

Ooh grandMattie I ❤️ marmalade and also piccalilli! I wish I lived next door ...

Hope Saturday is good to us all. x

P.s. My stepfather and I chat every day. He was telling me that yesterday a tsunami of Christmas cards dropped through his letterbox - a dozen in all! 3 were posted in the West Highlands on 4 December.

Good morning all from a chilly North Leicestershire.

Not much on today. I have to make brunch for DH so he has the strength to watch his team's football derby - against Derby.

Also, I need to go and buy a condolence card for a lovely friend whose Mum has just died.

Good morning from a clear, cold south Cornwall, where I'm in my Dry Robe on my patio swing seat with a mug of coffee, listening to the town waking up. Must look out my stash of polystyrene for my four year old grandson who will whizz in this afternoon. He saws and nails it and makes figures from it.

Someone on here - Ash? - mentioned Men At The Barre on the BBC and I caught it on iPlayer. What a gorgeous programme. So rare to see an emphasis on male ballet dancers. Thank you!

Have the best day you can everyone.

Good morning everyone from a grey Northampton, no frost today. Just done a test this morning while the tea was brewing, negative thank goodness; needed to check I was ok before taking the cats to the vet later.

Apart from that no other plans for today other than the papers and will probably watch rugby on tv this afternoon.

Had a nice outing yesterday on the bus to local little retail park; didn't really need anything but I needed to get out of the house. Came back with conditioner, tennis balls, rawl-plugs, sausage rolls, chocolate and daffodils! The tennis balls are to go in the tumble dryer when I wash some pillows- apparently they help to fluff the pillows up and redistribute the filling.

Spent the rest of the day reading, and have finished another book. Then started one that's been sitting on my Kindle for months. The cats got into the cupboard under the stairs last night and into my wool stash - luckily only one ball of wool vandalised!

Enjoy your marmalade-making, grandMattie. Sounds delicious.

Have a pleasant Saturday everyone. By the way I got today's Wordle in 2, lucky guess I think!

Good morning all from our corner of the S Welsh coast, it feels a lot milder.
Our DS and his lovely partner are the proud parents of a beautiful little daughter born on Thursday, she weighed 8 lbs. Mum and baby came home last night and we are going to see them later today, can't wait for a cuddle.
Mr Lins is fine following his cataract operation yesterday, he has just taken the dressing off and says everything is very bright.
My late father loved picallilli grandMattie but shop bought jars don't taste the same anymore.
Will read all the posts later. Hope Susan had a good journey to West Wales yesterday.
Stay safe everyone.

Good morning from just near kitty.

We have to go out today as DH wants to play with his new car. I need to pick up a prescription so will combine the two. DH spent 3 hours reading the manual - why do they make things so complicated. Apparently it can park itself but I am not willing to try!

I hope all those poorly DDs feel better soon and Chrissielou yours is enjoying the few days respite.

Good morning from Rutland, where it’s +1 and dawning rosy pink. A better sleep, only just opened the curtains and now watching silhouetted squirrels jumping through trees at the end of the garden. Wish they’d stay there and not strip my bird feeders! The morning slipped away yesterday when our builder arrived. Hopefully a long standing leak in the garage has been fixed, as he found something that could have been causing the problem.

So looking forward to seeing DD1 and DGD1 later. Her music teacher is just along our road and they pop in then. Missed last week due to DGDs illness. SIL2s visa now through. Was hoping quarantine time would be shortened on arrival in Australia but they are still strict, straight to hotel for 14 days, so that will/ delay him trying to sort things out. I am looking forward to being with DD2 and 3DGS soon.

Good luck with those oranges grandMattie. I’ve never made marmalade in a pressure cooker. Nowadays, I only do chutney when I have an excess of rhubarb on the allotment - rhubarb and ginger is very popular when I give the odd jar away!

Wishing you all the best day possible and those with ills and worries . And thank you to the GNer I exchanged PMs with yesterday, I will keep going for a bit longer!

Many congratulations Lins a new life is such a miracle. Enjoy your cuddles.

Good morning Mick and all his followers. There’s a hard frost in Suffolk this morning but it’s worth it for the clear blue sky.
DS, SiL & granddog are still asleep so we are sitting quietly with our coffee.
There is talk of setting up a craft group in the village Craft and Chat happens nearby, Knit and Natter means you would have to keep saying “it includes any craft” and my daughter’s suggestion of Stitch and Bitch wasn’t helpful! The village is Hepworth. Any suggestions from you inventive folk?
I hope the day is kind to everyone.

I think I’m quite near kitty and dragonfly too!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Lins on the safe arrival of a baby granddaughter ‼️ ?

Congratulations to Lins & BlueSapphire, for very different reasons! How did you do it in 2 Blue ?
It took me 4!
Only 3 months until I get my SP! On the downside, it will tip me over the tax limit so HMCR will have their take!

Good morning from West Wales.

Thank you Lins.We had a good journey down.Stopped for a picnic at the Sugar Loaf which DH also climbed.It was really icy and I couldn’t watch him slipping and sliding his way down.
We will go for a walk along the coastal path after breakfast then lunch with MIL before the drive home.

Glad Mr Lins operation went well.Enjoy your cuddles with your precious granddaughter later.

Grandmattie, when I was pregnant with DD1 I craved piccalilli,ate jars of the stuff.Have never eaten it before or since?

Take care and stay safe everyone??

Congratulations Lins on the birth of your granddaughter !