New year's Eve..

What a truly grey day it is too. A bit misty and very grey everywhere. We dicided to stay in today since we got a lot of the weekend things yesterday. i bet the shops are heaving today too, they were bad enough yesterday.
I did all the ironing this morning while VT did his recycling and attended to the little ginger cat next door. It flew out of the door when he went in, but by lunchtime it was sitting on the pharmacy wall over the road from us. he says it knows his voice, and when he went up to get changed at lunchtime he looked out of the window and it came over to him. He said she sat on the front garden and miaowed when he opened to door, so he went and let it in to their house. Aaaah! It is a lovely little cat, but it really needs a cat flap. I suppose it is difficult when it is a rented house you can't just go putting cat flaps in.
Very sad case in the news all over Christmas of a landscape architect from Bristol who went missing on Dec 19th. Her distraught parents on the television and boyfriend who had been in Sheffield but came back to find her missing. Body found on Christmas Day and they have now arrested the landlord of the builoding. We await the resusts of that. Such a terrible thing to happen and dreadful for the parents friends and family. There is a picture that they use qyuite a lot of her holding her cat Bernardd...just a lovely normal girl smiling and happy. Dreadful.

Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers
Mixed veg for moi and mushy peas for VT
Chips..a treat..200 grms.

And a Happy New Year to Everyone..

Busy busy...

gOSH, i THINK HE WORLD AND HIS WIFE WAS OUT TODAY! wE HAD TO GO OUT TO GET SOME VEGETABLES FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS, AND OUR WEEKEND THINGS TOO. sO, WE WENT INTO fORMBY TO THE wAITROSE.rEALLY LUCKILY, AS WE WERE DRIVING INTO THE CAR PARK, A CAR WAS PULLING OUT SO WE PARKED VERY EASILY IN THE END. hAD A BIT OF A WALK INTO THE VILLAGE AND vt WENT TO A COUPLE OF THE CHARITY SHOPS TO LOOK AT BOOKS, WHILE i WENT INTO sUPERDRUG.Just noticed that I have used capitals to type all this so far..but I can't be bothered to change it all so am leaving it. The reason is that little Rusty had jumped on my knee, and I was typing round her which is incredibly difficult. So it's Rusty's fault.
When we went into Waitrose it was heaving today. Usually it is a quietish sort of shop and you can get round easily, but today it was so different. I said to VT I'll treat you to a cup of coffee, I knew that if I said Do you want a coffee he would say, No it's too expensive. So he had no choice. He came back with a Cafetiere for two which was really nice actually, I got a good cup and he got two out of it, so he was well pleased. Had a good look round and got a lot of things for the weekend.
Came home to two little cats eagerly awaiting their chicken they aint soft.
The little ginger girl from next door he let out earlier this morning...it runs out as soon as he opens the door and then sits on various walls and comes round the back of the house as well. he has just gone to let it in again now actually, it can be a little bit naughty, and plays games. It didn't go out much while the snow was bad though, so she is probably suffering from cabin fever.
The surgery rang before lunch to say that the blood test that I had yesterday was bettera, and I am to have another one next week. They are on the ball there..i am very impressed.
Tonight we are having:
Pasta with a spinach and ricotta sauce.
Asparagus and carrots and broccoli.

Back to Normal...

Everyone seems to be back to their normal routines today. All the shops are open, and the Pharmacy over the road, and the dentist next door but one. Even the little bus that serves the village is up and running again. That had been stopped when the great snows fell, it was too dangerous to run in the icy conditions.
All the snow has all but gone now, just bits lying around on the garden edges and thefields. Still icy patches on the pavements though, I had an early appointment over at the new surgery for a blood test and it was qquite slippery over there. Blood pressure has gone down thoughso that is good news anyway, the new tablets must be doing something.
Had a telephone conversation with a girl from Hotter shoes, just as we were about to go out of the door. I ordered a pair of short boots from them before the end of November and they were dispatched on the 7th Dec aopparently. She was most apologetic, and said that they would send another pair out straight away. What a good firm that is, never had any trouble with them, and their shoes are terrific. Pity the boots didn't arrive before the snows though, but that isn't their fault..blame the Post Office.
Another telephone consultation with a nurse from Aintree this morning too, bang on time as well, the letter said 10.45 and she rang up dead on time. Went through what the problem was and said she would contact me further.
VT is a busy boy today,looking after the little ginger girl next door, who does not have a name by the way, he opened the door, and he said that she flew aout of the door past him. She must be suffering from cabin fever and wanting to get some fresh air. He had some of his errands to do round and about and by mid afternoon it was in the front garden waiting to go in again. It knows which side of the bread is buttered that one!
Our two are still not going out much, and prefer to stay in the warm..smart animals cats are.
Tonight we are having:
Freezer fodder..
Tomato and Mozzarella escalopes
Potato Croquettes
a small tin of spaghetti hoops.

Snow Gone!!

We woke up yesterday morning to find that the snow was thawing quite rapidly. it was d5ripping down from the roofs and bushes and the back garden was showing signs of the pats etc., The pavements are still a bit slippy because of the icy chunks and people are still walking in the middle of the road for preference because that is clear. Trouble is, everywhere looks dirty and brown and drab now and it looks awful. The snow does make everywhere look so pretty. At least I can see my Buddah in the garden now with his lovely smiling face, he has been totally covered in snow for about nine days now.
VT has been looking after the little ginger girl cat next door since Christmas Eve, and she has not moved from the house at all. he said she won't come down but was eating ok. She has been sitting on their bedroom windowsill..must be warm up there.
Christmas and Boxing days were quiet as usual in our house, We had a nice Christmas dinner of a Chicken style roast with all of the trimmi ngs, and my Hazelnut gateau in lieu of a Christmas pudding.
Boxing day we had a Dr Ottker pizza with our salads followed by another slice of gateau. Will put pictures up when VT loads them onto the site. There are some lovely ones of the cats with their presents, a new collar each and a new tag. Bobby was very interested in the wrapping paper...just l;ike children!! I think VT liked his earphones...but it is difficult to tell with him.
We decidid to go out this morning over to the garden centre in Ince. The added attraction was the free December coffee, and I wanted to have a look at the Christmas things suspecting they were on sale. They were everything half price, so I got some beautiful boxed cards , then we had our coffee. Vt wanted another look for candles so we had another browse later. he got a lovely large Colony candle, Mulberry and clove which smells really nice, and I saw some dangly Christmas ornaments that will be great for next year's parcels. Really pleased with them.
VT had gone next door ear;ier when he went for the papers, and he said as soon as he opened the door the little ginger girl ran out. This is the first time she has been out since the went away. However, when we were going out he saw her in the other side's garden, and it came running to him, so he went and opened the door and it ran in. Had enough I think..smart animal that one.
Tonight we are having:
A nice normal tea...
Toad in the hole with quorn cumberland sausages,
Rumbledethumps
Gravy..

Happy Christmas Day Everyone... Friends Family and all little cats everywhere!

Christmas Day dawned with no sign of the snow melting at all. It is still stuck fast to the shrubs and hedges and trees and isn't shifting at all. but there we go it is a White Christmas after all.
Bit of a disaster day in the end. The Dr from the new surgery rang yesterday and told me to stop one tablet altogether, and take fouble of anotherone. So I did that this morning...big mistake..Light headed like you wouldn't believe and ringing in the ears.. started about half an hour after taking the new tablet which is a blood pressure one.
I had our hazelnut meringue cake to do and the meal things to get sorted. VT came up trumps againg.. I gave him instructions and he did them.This is our Christmas pudding so had to be done and he was really good, did everything right too. Made a very good job of it. For our Christmas meal we had:
Chicken style roast with gravy , stuffing and cranberry sauce,
Carrots roasted with honey and cranberries
parsnipos glazed with maple syrup
Sweet chestnuts with a shallot butter..cheated with these they were Waitrose and reduced.
Roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary,Bread sauce..
And a lovely meal it was too..
I will post some pictures when VT puts them on the site.

Twas The Night before Christmas...

Well if we haven't got it now we will never have it..
We have a freezer full, and a fridge with all we need,and a box upstairs with treats in it. Probably enough to last till Easter..No I'm only kidding!
The surgery rang up this morning yet again.. Gosh they are on the ball over there. I still have a high potassium level..whatever that does, so have to stop one drug. and take double of another one. one day my son they will get it right!
Next doors have gone away, and VT is looking after Ginger Girl who must be suffering from cabin fever by now poor little thing. This is a cat that is used to being put out in the morning and sometimes comes in at night, but with our terrible snow it has been holed up indoors. At least they have left their heating on low so she will be warm.
Neighbours the other side have just come back from Avimore...must be mad..they could have had the snow here! and one of them has come bck to a cold house because their boiler has broken. Christmas Eve..wouldn't you know it. I think they are programmed..I do..
Tonight we are having:
Veggie sausage roklls
Spaghetti
Chips...a real treat..200 grms.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE ON THE NET XXXXXXXXXXXX

Eve Before Christmas Eve...

VT ventured out this morning using his new travel pass. He went on the train to Southport, which is quite a good place to go actually, since the train drops you off in the middle of the town and there is an entrance to M&S right on the station. So that alleviates the need to park anywhere which is always good at this time of the year. He said it was very busy, but you could get round, and he managed to get everything we wanted, mostly salady stuff. The Holland and Barratt that used to be around the corner has moved..couldn't believe that because it has been there for years. It has gone onto Chapel Street to a bigger storem and he said it was really good. Will have to go after Christmas.
He did go into Wilkinsons to get the cats their new collars. We wrap these and then they have something to open on Christmas Day. They will look very smart this year because we have new round tags for them as well.
We all stayed in while the hunter and gatherer went out foraging for provisions..He came back with two big bags anyway so didn't he do well. I think we have everything now so won't need to go anywhere tomorrow.
our neighbour rang the bell to say they were going away, after all. he has been quite ill recently and they have discovered a cancer of the bladder. they usually go away every year to some friends down south, so we didn't think they would this year. But she said that their son was hurubg a car and driving up to get them and take them down there. What a lovely boy.. going to all that trouble for his Mum and Dad. Anyway they leave their keys with us, and VT looks after their Ginger Girl. She is normally out ALL the time but she said it had been staying in...very wise.
Our two haven't moved from the house at all really, both find nice warm spots and stay there. Not soft are they. At the moment they are both asleep within a foot of each other on the end of Jane's bed. This is quite unusual because they don't normally sleep very near to each other.


Rusty has been using this shelf to perch on very comfortably while the gas heater is on. It is a lovely warm spot for her and she sits for hours just looking out of the window.Presently at a very pretty snow covered back garden.

Doorbell went this morning and by the time I got downstairs the postman was just getting into the van to drive away. I opened the door quickly to find a great big brown box on the doorstep. It was from Amazon...I thought it was my Hotter \boots which I have been waiting for for a couple of weeks now. Why such a big box? It was a Thomas Kinkade calendar I had sent for about a week ago. Huge big box full of brown wrapping/packaging. What a waste. Mind you the cats both loved the empty box!
Tonight we are having:
Cauliflower and broccoli with a small amount of cheese sauce,
Quorn chicken style pie
A few sliced and sauteed potatoes.

I'm Dreaming of a white Christmas....Not any mor I'm not!!

Up earlyish this morning, I had yet another appointment in Netherton to have ablood test. Since this is a bit away we set off to be on time. However the traffic and the roads conspired against us. The road through Ince Woods which is a by-pass road was absolutely chocker with traffic. We crawled along, for what seemed like an age, and then we noticed some cars turning off at the Jospice so we went that way and it cuts off a corner, which saved us loads of time. The roads are still dreadful, even the main roads aren't too good. Turned into the car park of the Health Centre and I had put some boots on that I had draggeed out from the back of the wardrobe. Forgotten how worn they were!! so I slipped and slid everywhere. I ordered a pair of boots from Hotter a couple of weeks ago. Wish they would hurry up! They will probably come when the weather picks up again.
The girl doing the blood test opened the door to call my name, and the door let out a terrible moan..it was really funny, then again on the way out. Maybe it has seen enough of mne! I apologised for being a bit late, and she said that she was late herself this morning, but had about four cancellations so it didn't matter.
Just had time to come home and had a mouthful of coffee and had to go over to the new surgery for a Diabetic Review. Nice nurse, but didn't do much, but had a look at my feet, and asked me if I had been born with nine toes. No said I it was a skin melanoma, which she said she had never heard of on a toe-nail.
While I was waiting to see her the Dr came out to say that the consultant had rung her about my test yesterday and that I had to have a course of antibiotics. Yet another pill! my list is now nearly as long as my arm, She gave me a script which VT took over to the pharmacy while he was waiting for me..and was given the straightaway. Not bad service eh!
So...that's it for a bit, till the middle of January anyway.
Post when we got back..gas bill £25..I bet the next one will be more. and some more cards. We don't seem to have as many this year, maybe people are thinking about the cost of the stamps more.
Came out of our house this morning to a row of icicles on the eaves of our roof and the bay window. I certainly don't remember that before. Must get VT to take a picture for posterity..or is this going to be the norm now?
Tonight we are having:
A vegetable moussaka with Quorn mince,
^oz of potatoes and a stew pack. Then I do a cheese sauce on the top with two eggs in it to make it rise.

I'm Dreaming of a white Christmas....Not any mor I'm not!!

Well We Got There!

I had an appointment at the Nephrology clinic this morning at 10.40. Bearing in mind that the weather is still atrocious, and that there is very littkle traffic moving actually, I was a bit undecided to go at all. the only trouble is that if you cancel you then have to wait months for the next appointment, so intrepid VT set out to go at about nine thirty. He kept to the main roads, since the roads out of Hightown are pretty bad, but once he got onto the bypass it wasn't too bad.The traffic was slow but steadily moving. He didn't go our usual way which is quite quick, but went via the Motorway and took the Kirkby slip road. That was fine and the road was good. Problem with the car park at the hospital though. he went round and round and couldn't find a space anywhere, so he pulled into one of the disabled spots for a moment and put me on the walkway over to the new elective care centre...very posh name.. God knows what it means. Then he went back to park the car in a proper space, whil;e I waited in the clinic. It seems that the clinic I had to go to was shared with dermatology also so it was quite busy. After I had the bits and pieces done VT was there, he had eventually managed to park the car and had come to find me. Waited for a bit then went in to see the Dr., Apparently the cocktail of drugs that I am on is ok for the moment, but the potassium levels are still a bit high. He suggested a blood test monthly, and my GP will sort out a treatment for an infection. Not another pill!!!!!!!
We left there, and then had to decide where to go for some veggies. VT didn't want to go to Sainsburys in Crosby because he nearly got stuck there last January, so we dicided on Tesco in Formby since it isn't far from the main road. The car park was DREADFUL!!!snow and slippy slush everywhere. We parked miles away from the front so he could get out easily. It was heavibng!!
people and kids everywhere..so we whizzed round and got everything on VT's list. I think we now have all our requirements for our Christmas dinner anyway. Bought a carton of tomato and mascarpone soup Covent Garden for our lunch which was lovely and warming when we got in. Also bought a load of frozen goods like vegetables and potatoes that will put us on if we are stuck. So..although it was TESCAW it was a good shop.
I think VT did really well today..all that way to Fazackerley Hospital, and never a moan..Bless Him..what a star!
Noticed icicles on the front of our house this morning..all along the eaves, and under the window. Don't remember that in a long long time.
Tonight we are having:
Chicken style pie,
Sliced sauteed potatoes
Carrots and peas.

Snow and More Snow...

Still the white stuff is sticking around. Very pretty but not a lot moving. VT saw a snow plough going through the village this morning, so maybe that will help a bit. People are tending to walk along the middle of the road at the moment, easier than the pavements I suppose. We didn't go out today like we usually do on a Monday and I stopped in and did a load of ironing, and VT did all the neighbours Christmas cards, and took them out later.
He went out to do bits and pieces to his car, and have a walk around, and bumped into all sorts of people. Some friends had a hospital appointment yesterday, and it cost them £40 for a return trip to Ormskirk!by taxi. Theyoung mum at the end house was trying to get her car going, so he helped her dig it out and get going.
He kept coming back saying it was really freezing, and there is more snow forecast. He was talking to Mike from the Post |Office who he had bumped into yesterday on the railway station. He was going into Liverpool shopping. Well this morning he said he got on the train eventually, then the train stopped and didn't move, so he never went, and came home.

This is a really busy rail line with trains every twenty minutes, and nothing moved yesterday, but some today.
I have an appointment at the renal clinic tomorrow, so we shall have to see what the roads are like in the morning.
Tonight we are having:
Something out of the freezer, We have lots of things in that and some
pootato croquettes
peas and sweetcorn.

Let it Snow..Let it Snow..Let it Snow...

couple of photos to show the snowfall we have had since Friday night. It came down really quickly, and has stuck properly this time. I was only saying the other day that we didn't get much snow on this coast..wow..
My goodness I haven't seen snow like that in countless years, when it does snow here we generally get a few inches and that is it. Not this time. Nothing was moving yesterday, and there were no trains on the Liverpool Southport line at all, but they are today, and cars are gingerly moving as are the people of the village. The little shop at the end of our road is doing a roaring trade!
Poor little cats don't know what to make of it at all. Bobby is much better today and is really perky again and playing a bit too, so the tooth must have made her better. Rusty went out, and came back in very very quickly at about eighty miles an hour.. don't know what she thought it was at all. Very funny to watch. Did our usual crosswords this afternoon, but have left the big Christmas one for later in the week for a change..no rush to do that.

Opened my Secret Santa this morning too, from my friend on the Delia Smith forum. We do it each year, and it is always a nice surprise.

Tonight we are having
Pizza with our home made base and tomato sauce
Roast vegetables, mozzarella cheese and portobello mushrooms.
Potato and egg salad and potato salad for me and celery and nut for VT.

Christmas Hustle and Bustle..

What a lovely phrase, hustle and bustle is. We went out on our usual Friday trip to get our weekend things, and were really lucky to get parked outside ASDA. Right by the front door, I had thought we would have had to go round for ever,, judging by the traffic entering and leaving. luck was with us today.
We went round and actually got everything on our list, plus and plus..our cupboards are now full. If we have a siege we will be fine. All I have to get next week is fresh vegetables and cream and something for the main course. I was looking for something different but there really isn't much in the vegetarian line, especially if you don't go along the nut roast route. Got an ASDA magazine today with the shopping, and their suggestion is a spinach and ricotta roulade!!!!!! No thanks. What you want is something you can have so that you can have all the nice accompaniments to go with.
Lovely cup of coffee in the car park..in the further regions where people don't park, sitting with the sun blazing in on the car, and nice and warm, and very cheap of course too!
Little Bobby seems ok today we have bought her some kitten food in case her mouth is still sore. The things you do for your cats! Aah but she is a lovely little thing, and such good company.

She did venture out a bit this afternoon, but soon came back in, too cold I think.
Tonight we are having:
Pasties from Waitrose,
Gravy and a few carrots
Rice pudding for a treat.

Ding Dong...

One of those days today... First, the doorbell went, and it was the gas man. Poor man arrived in the middle of a blizzard of snow, which hasn't lasted long fortunately. Then a bit later, and it was the postman with a parcel that wouldn't go through the letterbox. Then a bit later after that the doorbell went again, and it was a man with a large dog, who was looking for someone called Bullens. No-one along here called Bullen, but there is someone called Bullock, so VT dispatched him along to the cottages at the end of the road.
Biggest trauma today was taking little Bobby to the Vets. She had to have her booster injection, and the vet started to examine her, and touched one of her teeth, which really made her screech, which she never does. Poor Bobby had a bad tooth, so he took her off into a back room to remove it, and we had to wait for her in the waiting room. The vet Chris was very tall, and not what you would expect at all..had very long hair tied in a pony tail, and looked more like a rock star.
So poor Bobby has had a real day of it..she miaowed all the way there, and looked very sorry for herself on the way back.

She is now in her basket in the middle room all curled up...healing. So they have both had their boosters, and that is it for the year for them now.
Poor VT, all he does is ferry me and the animals round to appointments. What a saint he is.
Tonight we are having:
Pasta..maybe a sort of mac and cheese,
A few carrots to go with
A little bit of garlic bread.

Lifes Turns ....

Last night we got engrossed in watching a programme on one of the sattelite channels called "True Stories". Basically, it was about a family who were travelling to Las Vegas for work, and to make a better life for themselves. They were a husband, wife and three beautifully mannered and behaved children. They spent the first part of the programme sleeping in their car outside the airport, and travelling round during the day looking for work. The husband found that he was only being offered jobs at $10 or $7 an hour and that wasn't enoug for him. So they carried on sleeping in their van. The wife /mother was amazing..a real tough strong woman, the husband not so..it wasn't long before he turned to drugs and left them. No idea how they turned out, we recorded the end of it to watch later to see what happened to them. It struck us that at no time did they consider a benefit system, it doesn't seem to what they do there. There is a work ethic, and that is it.
Christmas cards are now fluttering on to the doormat, and I haven't yet done mine. No excuse really, just haven't got round to it. The box of cards is now downstairs, and I will make a start tonight probably. We..VT and me were having a conversation about the "Round Robin" type letters that we get from some people in their cards. One in particular, sends us one that we laugh at every year. They always have to have the best of everything, their kids always do better than anyone elses, and their jobs always have to be the top ones. She is a college friend who is now a Head os a school, so the OFSTED inspection has to be Outstandingly excellent. We were saying it makes you depressed because you think that your own life is lacking. of course it isn't, but it seems that way. I think we should be like the family in Las Vegas, and be grateful for what we have.
We went out to get some petrol this morning..gosh that is getting dear! Iremember the days when it cost 3/6pence a gallon!!!! Now I'm feeling older. I think you would just get a drip for that now.
Then we went to Dobbies for our coffee, had a bit of a look round, and the only thing we got was an advent candle for next year, because they were %50 off.. Anything for a bargain us!!
Tonight we are having:
Maybe a sort of Hot-Pot with lamb style gtills, a few potatoes, carrots and a tin of tomatoes.
Steamed and sauteed cabbage to go with it.

Doesn't it go Dark Early?

Typing this at about a quarter past four, and it is already going dark, too dark to see outside really. The little cats are dead to the world and both asleep in the middle room where the computer is, all curled up and blissfully unaware of anything going on. The radio and television don't seem to bother them at all, unless Rusty hears whizzy fireworks which do bother her.
We went out to Formby this morning mainly to get some things from Superdrug, and see if the new Holland and Barratt had a Chicken style roast for our main course. It looks like they didn't but it might be in a different box without the tray, another change to a product. I got my make up which was on a 3 for 2 offer, so ended up buying three. I now have enough to last for a few years!!!Went round to M&S mainly because VT had a voucher for £1 and ended up spending a lot more than that..isn't that the way!Waitrose to finish with to get the frozen raspberries for the Christmas pudding. I do a hazelnut Gateaux every year which is a bit of a tradition now, and sometimes raspberries are hard to get hold of round Christmas time.

It is our real treat, naughty but very nice...
VT wanted a small Christmas pudding so we got some of the tiny ones which were on offer in M&S. Amazing how an offer catches your eye. We got one classic, one luxury and one gluten free, on a 3 for 2, so worked out quite reasonable.
Diabetic review tomorrow over at the new surgery good job it is before Christmas eh!!! Also yet another blood test at Netherton to check bicarbonate levels and potassium levels.
Tonight we are having:
A tray of sweet chestnuts and shallot butter from Waitrose (reduced) well they looked nice.
Escalope with cheese and leek,
Little sliced and fry lighted potatoes
Mushrooms.

Christmas is a Rolling in!!

Two weeks and it will be all over. It seems to have come round so quickly this year. We have all the decorations up, and bits and pieces for the dinner, but haven't really decidid what to have for the main course yet. Being vegetarian, and having been so for around thirty years, the bird thing doesn't concern us. However, we don't go along the nut roast route, and we have had a variety of things over the years, some have worked, some haven't. Last year we had a Quorn lemon and black pepper escalope, which was ok, but not really that special. Might see if we can get a Chicken style roast from Holland and Barratt again this year. We used to have those when Jane was here, because she liked the end bits! and you can have the full dinner with all the trimmings.
Weekend quite normal, not a lot happening here. The weather has eased up a lot, and while it is cold, it isn't frosty or snowy, but apparently the weather forecasters say it will be cold again at the end of the week. I ordered a new pair of boots from Hotter last week..wouldn't you know the weather would clear up!
http://www.hottershoes.com/en/Womens-Shoes/New-Arrivals/New-Arrivals-Boots/36133_garland
Maybe we will get another spell of bad weather to wear them in...
Went off to Sainsbury's this morning to get our week stuff, and whizzed round there on the 1/2 hour free parking, surprising how quickly you can get round when you have a time limit.
Tonight we are havving:
Cheesey kievs
Mixed vegetables,
Little baked potatoes
mushroom sauce.

Up at the crack of....

Dawn...or it seems like it. I can't believe I had years and years of getting up at seven o'clock in the morning to get to school! We had to get up very early this morning because I had yet another fasting blood test at eight. My goodness, we have had more dealings with this new surgery in the last few days than I have had in the last year at the old one! The nice friendly nurse who I saw yesterday for the new patient review, wanted a complete blood work done, and she said she was on holiday next week, so she would squeeze me in at eight this morning. VT came out of his review very pleased..he is good and healthy, and has a good weight and BM so he was well chuffed. Had another phone call later this morning from them over there to say that I needed a weekly blood test done, and to add bicarbonate to the bottom of the form. VT went over to the pharmacist who we now know by name..Ellis and Fleur...and came back with a big bag of medicines, including a new tablet that I now have to take, instead of the double dose of one of Irbesartan, now on one of those. Can you imagine the cost of all this if we lived in the States?
Since we were up so earkly we decided to go over to Ormskirk for our Friday things and have a bit of a mooch around too. VT went one way, and I went to my usual shops. Bought a nice new top from Bon Marche on sale..purple of course!! and some things from Superdrug...never go into Boots any more these days..loike Superdrug much better, more friendly. Struck us yesterday when we went to Birkdale village what a lovely little place that was. Real, proper little interesting shops, staffed by friendly people and interesting things in their windows.
Had coffee at our usual little cafe, and VT had said he had seen some Agatha Raisin books in a Cancer shop around the corner..Bless him..so we then went there to have a look. They had quite a few, most of which I had read, but two that I hadn't, so got those for £1.20 each. Lovely, I like those at bed time, they are good fun to read. Then I noticed a little gifty shop opposite the charity shop, so went in to have a look see. I had spotted a silver NOEL sign in the window, but couldn't see one in the shop. They had PEACE and JOY but it was the NOEL one that caught my eye, so the lady got it out of the window for me..I love things like that, you can put them up year after year, and they always look good.

This is our fireplace, all up, and awaiting |Christmas cards.
We have in the hall, a beautiful hand painted Merry Christmas sign on wood, that we bought in America some years ago, and it always makes me feel Christmassy when that goes up. Then to M&S for our salads, and we were rtunning out of time since we only had two hours parking. So we raced round Morrisons for our weekend things and home just on time.
Jane rang up at lunch time to say she had received a report and they are now offering money for her accident..after such a long time, and countless visits for tests and consultations etc., there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel in the end. She has exams next week, and has been off work for about a month now, so maybe that will cheer her up a bit.
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers,
Mushy peas for VT and green beans for moi
Chips!!! a real treat..but 200grms between us.
A baked tomato.

All Gone!!

The snow...all gone. We woke up this morning to a normal world here. No sign of any snow, or frost or anything at all. Amazing really, the change in the weather in a few hours.
VT was downstairs getting our coffees, and the man who delivers the Aranesp injections that I take was over the road. When he knocked he said there had been a problem because the boxes were all wet, one of the ice packs had leaked, so he had to ring his depot to check they were safe to deliver. Then his phone died on him, so VT lent him a phone charger..ever resourseful VT he has everything!
Then a phone call from the pharmacist to check on a prescription, and a phone call from the new GP to say that the Dr, another one was still concerned about the potassium levels and she was going to ring my consultant. We went out then...out of the way!!!!!
Had a lovely trip to Dobbies to get our free coffee,had a look round, and bought a few treats for Christmas, including a jar of pickled walnut chutney for VT, and some of their mint crisps which are lovely.. We aren't greedy pigs, we just have one each night with our late little tiny cup of after dinner coffee. Then we made a little bit of a detour, mainly because we had seen an advert for a little pet shop in Birkdale village, and VT had rung them up to see if they sold pet tags that we like.

We have tried so many pet shops over the years, and the only ones we could find are the cylinder ones, but these ones are far more visible. When little Rusty was lost four years ago, I am sure people say the tag and pecognised her. They have had these tags for donkey's years, so guess what their Christmas present is thisYear!

This afternoon VT and I had our "New Patient" check ups with the practice nurse over the line at the new surgery. She proved to be very nice, did the usual, height, weight, for which we got a print out in glorious black and white, blood pressure, family history, and medical details. I have to have another..yet another blood test..which she said she will do at 8O'Clock tomorrow morning, which was nice of her, and went and got another prescription for me to take. I now officially have a list of tablets as long as your arm!!!!
Then VT went in. He came out looking quite pleased, everything was normal, and his weight and BM were good. Well done VT...
Tonight we are having:
Red onion and cheese plait,
Mashed potato
Carrots and beans.

Bits and Bobs...

What a lovely phrase that is..it perfectly describes the sort of day we have had today. A lot of to and froing and communication problems.
yesterday I had my first appointment with the new surgery "Over the line". our village is cut in two by the railway, and the posh houses are all over the line. it is the way we have al;ways described them in the village. The surgery isw in what used to be the old grocers shop that was there for ever, until it became a sort of mini market but didn't really catch on. So, now it is a GP's practice.
My appointment was for 10.25, but they rang up to say the Dr had rung up sick..so could I go at 4.25 instead! VT drove me round since it was dark and icy, and I don't do dark, and I met a Dr who didn't introduce himself so I have no idea who he was. VT had given me a list, very clearly printed with all my medications on and ticks beside the ones I needed repeated. He said the blood test showed a lower renal function and a high potassium level. but since I had an appointment at the renal clinic in two weeks to leave that! Then he gave me a script for one of the drugs I am on and he doubled the dose of that!!! which I certainly didn't need. So VT went over and wsorted that out this morning. Then the Pharmacist..who is really excellent by the way, rang up and said they had a script for insulin filled pens!! which I haven't had before, and they had doubled the dose of another drug from 1/2 a tablet once a day to 1/2 a tablet twice a day!!!
what have we got ourselves into I wonder. VT says he will sort them out..and he will. He is like having a private secretary.
He said he knew I wasn't going to be happy when I went in, and I do have to say that I wasn't impressed by the fact that I was seated on a white plastic patio chair!!!! For goodness sake..is this the 21st century or what.
We had planned to go out this morning, but when VT came back with the papers he said it was bitterly cold, so we didn't. at least we can decide what we want to do in that way.
Tonight I am doing something warming:
Toad in the hole with meatfree sausages,
Mushroom gravy
Mixed green vegetables.

Christmassy...

There is a real Christmas feel to the air today. Outside is very white and frosty, like everything is covered with icing sugar. Quite beautiful actually, and very pretty.
VT put aboput three layers of heavy clothing on, and went down to the shed to get the two trees that are stored there. We have three trees, one in the front room to shine through the front window, one in the middle roon for our benefit, and one in the extension to make that look festivce. VT has everything stored away, with lists of what goes where, but they do take ages to get set up, and put together. I have some really pretty decorations on the front room tree which is small but the best tree really. Things like a set of tiny little wooden decorations I got from Liberty in London years ago and paid £3.50 for them which was a fortune in those days!!. We have built up some lovely decorations over the years, ggood ones, like porcelain ones and little pottery ones. So we are looking festive now.
Got a phone call from the new surgery today, to make an appointment to discuss the results of my last blood test.. They are at it now as well!!
Tonight we are having:
Gruyere cheese escalopes,
Little baked potatoes
Mixed vegetables
Mushrooms.

Bitterly Cold..

Wow it is really cold today. The frost lies everywhere, but it seems that we are having it easy compared to other areas of the country, some of which are closed down and knee deep in snowfalls. So we can't complain really.
Little Rusty has taken up almost a permanent place on the shelf over the heater, they know which side their bread is buttered on.
We took my money off to Sainsbury's in Walton this morning. It is a twenty minute trek, but it gives us a bit of variety, and you can park easily. After VT's fiasco last week trying to park inWaitrose, parking is becoming a nightmare round here now, especially in Formby. We did a bit of stocking up today, things like long life milk and coffee etc..,and got a few things for the Christmas box upstairs. I got a lovely little tub of tiny white chocolate stars for the Christmas Hazelnut Meringue cake that I always make on Christmas Day. I was looking for something to decorate it with last year but didn't spot anything, and these will look really pretty I think.
This is our once a year very dcadent treat and well worth it.

One thing about Sainsbury's today was that the chilled foods aisle was absolutely FREEZING.. you needed thermals just to walk up and down them. To add to the cold there were fans overhead which were blasting out cold air too, no wonder you don't linger.
Our first posted Christmas card arrived today, the same one who always sends them before anyone else. it is a little nudge to get ours done soon. The christmas songs were playing in the shops too, and the tree on the village green lit yesterday. We need to put our decorations up soon
, I love doing that, iit makes the house look lovely.
Tonight we are having:
Cheese and onion pasties (Cornish Style) from Waitrose,
Rice pudding.

Good Job We looked!!

When we got up this morning to yet another day of cold and frost, I asked VT to check the calendar to see what time my appointment was. I had it firmly in my mind that it was one o'clock. It turns out it was twelve o'clock, so it was a good job he looked, and a very good job we put all the appointments on the calendar too.
We got to the Netherton clinic at about a quarter to twelve, waited about five minutes and went straight in for my blood test. I have no idea why there is a two/three week waiting list to get an appointment they weren't exactly heaving, and there was only one woman waiting after me. I left VT talking to her, and he said he has a nice conversatuion about our cat.. where you ring up , are asked what time would you like! get the blood test done, and the results the next morning with a personal call from the vet!!
I have now changed the surgeries so God knows where the results will end up, or what they will make of them. It is supposed to check the potassium levels which were too high!
This afternoon, I was coming up to use the computer, and VT followed me up the stairs..then he said "Go into the bedroom", and lo and behold through the window opposite our house there has suddenly appeared " Santa's grotto" it's a big trailer thingy all draped with a sort of white fabric to look like snow I thing. They are switching the lights on the village green Christmas tree tonight, to be done by a local celebrity Billy Butler who is quite well known on local radio. I hope they don't get too cold, and Santa has his thermals on. Well they haven't had a grotto before, that's a first.
We had to nip into Sainsbury's this morning to get the cats their chicken. This started out as a treat one day, years ago. We spotted some reduced chicken breasts in ASDA and bought them, and that was it! Every day the two little furries gather in the kitchen at one thirty for their daily dose of chicken breast cut up very small. If we run out we feel guilty!! i ask you..talk about getting us trained, and it costs a fortune too, especially if it comes from Waitrose!!!

Poor little Buddah, sitting in the snow..he has a cap of frosty snow on his head, he needs a little wooly haat!
Tonight we are having:
Pasta with a pea and asparagus sauce,
mushrooms and butternut squash and asparagus,
A bit of garlic bread.

Hares and Rabbits...

Hasn't december come around quickly? can't believe it is the Christmas Month already.
Still very frosty and bitterly cold, although we do seem to have had it easy compared to some areas of the country.

This is our little Rusty, who definitely has the best spot in the house!! She is sitting on a shelf that VT put up to protect the cats from the gas heater that is on the wall below our dining room/extension window.She spent hours on here this morning just looking outside. i thought it was such a lovely picture, VT took it on the spur of the moment.
I started the day with a pile of the weekend ironing which has been looking at me for days, and since we weren't going anywhere today I did that. VT did a bit of clearing, he finally moved his 60th birthday card! they have been on the mantlepiece for weeks. AAh.
I had a dental appointment at 3 O'Clock not exactly a long way, they are only two doors down, and he redid my filling and i was back within ten minutes. £16.50 for that.
Coal delivery this afternoon too, 6 bags of a smokeless fuel which is proving to be very good, gives out a gorgeous glow and makes the fire look like a gas one!! The bunker is absolutely full now VT says, so we are stocked up if we do get really bad weather. At least VT doesn't have to go out in his car to garages in search of bags of fuel like he did last year.

A year ago last July 18th VT bought me an orchid for my birthday, from Waitrose. It was instead of a bunch of flowers, and the flower lasted for weeks and weeks before they died down. I got onto a website I use, and some of the girls on there suggested that it be repotted, and kept sprayed and watered and it would flower again. I didn't really believe them, but VT has nurtured it with tender loving care, and guess what! it has flowered!
Over the last few days little buds have appeared, and this morning there is a full bloom! Well done VT. I was expecting it to flower last July a year after the last blossoming but it has decided to wait till the First of December!! poor little orchid. it is jus6t beautiful.


There isn't it lovely...
Tonight we are going to have:
A hot pot..done with a stew pack, and some Quorn lamb grills.
That should warm the kitchen up!! and us!!

Just a Light Flurry...

I love that word flurry..it conjures up nice thoughts of warmth not what it really is which is cold. We awoke this morning to a light dusting of snow on everything..not at all usual for November. This is what we expect in January. It makes everyehere look very pretty, and the back garden looks really nice..with all the weeds covered up! My poor little Buddah has a topping of snow, which has not cleared up at all today, it is too cold.
Called in at the dentist this morning to get an appointment for my filling to be done, and got one for next Wednesday, i asked Judith if there were any cancellations could I be slotted in, and luckily she rang up at lunchtime to say they have one tomorrow at 3O'Clock, so that is good. We have a calendar which we put all our appointments on..(mainly mine) and it is a right mess..with all the altered ones, and cancelled ones there is writing all over. So VT got his labels and pens and redid it beautifully. Bless him..what a treasure.
We went out to Dobbies this morning for a bit of a look round. There were a few things we wanted to get, and we needed to use up our free coffee vouchers for November. I treated myself to two little very pretty tea light holders for the Christmas table. We have a beautiful hand made glass tea light holder we bought a number of years ago, and these will look gorgeous one either side in the middle of our small table. VT bought some fruits for cheese which he loves, and I got a packet of bread sauce and a pack of ginger shortbreads. Very partial to a shortbread biscuit!!
Home to the little cats awaiting their chicken!! lovely greeting, every day about half past one they have a bit of chicken breast cut up very small and put onto a plate each..spoiled brats!! Aaah but they are worth it!
Tonight we are having:
Quorn fillets in a sauce with mushroom
1/2 a pack of rice
Vegetables mixed. Carrots beans and peas

Snowy Britain...

Reports of snow all over the country today, some of it quite bad and roads closed and likewise schools.Any excuse these days for closing schools it seems, and then they wonder why standards fall. Here on North Merseyside, we live in a micro climate, and we actually get very little snow, the weather has to be very bad for us to get snow. We did get some back in January like everywhere else, but apart from waking up this morning to a white frost no signs of the heavy stuff. It is extremely cold though,VT has ordered another delivery of coal for next week of six bags. We now use the smokeless fuel which is excellent, and keeps athe radiators warm and heats the water too. At least the heating allowance helps with that.
We nipped out to Formby to the Waitrose that VT couldn't get near on Friday. Parking was fine today, no problem at all and the shop was fairly quiet. We got our veggies, and stocked up on a few things for Christmas and were home in time for our coffees.
VT got John and Anns parcel ready for posting just after lunch. There is nothing breakable but he wrapped everything up in a carrier bag to stop things being jolted. We got them : A little book of Christmas customs, A book about early Liverpool in pictures and words, A butler and Wilson poodle key ring in a really nice box, A reindeer soft toy decoration as company for the one we sent last year, and A DVD of Downton Abbey which I am sure they will enjoy. All wrapped and tagged, and put into a huge Jiffy bag, Then he took it down to the Post Office... £16.77p!!!!! I have never spent so much on a parcel before in my life..but they are worth it. Only hope they like the things after all that.
Tonight we are having:
broccoli and Cheese escalope
Squashed potatoes baked in the oven
Carrots and green beans
Mushroom sauce.

The Winter Winds do Blow...

Not exactly windy but very cold nevertheless. VT decided to stay in today so we had a day of doing bits and pieces. We wrapped all of John and Ann's presents and got them in a big Jiffy bag ready for posting tomorrow. God knows what it will cost since it is quite heavy. I think there are some nice things. The only thing is that the post to Australia does seem to be good (Touch Wood!). I sent a secret Santa parcel off to Spain..Madrid about two weeks ago, and that has only just got there, but VT was saying someone in the Post Office was saying the post to Europe was slow.
The little cats haven't venturedd far today, both of them have stayed in and around the heaters..not soft those two!. Next doors Ginger Girl has been wandering around looking like it wants to go inside to them, but it has no way of getting in poor little thing. They don't have a cat flap so rely on them opening the door to let her in, which they don't always do. Such a shame, it is a beautiful little cat, and sometimes she is left out all night, in this weather. When they go away at Christmas, they leave their keys with VT and he looks after it. he feeds her, and lets her in and out and gets it into a lovely routine, then they come back and it's all back to square one again.
VT coloured my hair this morning, he does a wonderful job of it actually, we had a nice conversation about holidays and the X Factor!!!! Ha Ha Ha.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with our new batch of tomato sauce
Portobello mushrooms, Mozzarella, pineapple and meatfree sausage.
potato salad for me and Florida salad for VT.

Normal Service resumed...

Didn't do a blog yesterday because I had a spell of one of those one/two day bug things that started on Wednesday night. Knew something was happening after tea on Wednesday because I started shivering and couldn't stop. Even with the electric blanket on still cold, so poor VT who is a true saint had a very distyrbed night as well. He says he can't rest for wondering what is going on. I had a dentist appointment yesterday too so had to cancel that, it was to put back a filling that had come out the other day. Luckily he was fine about it and said he would slot me in whenever.
Got a letter yesterday cancelling my appointment in January at Aintree..follow up appointment after the test that I had last month. Instead I am to have a telephone consultation with a benign disease nurse on 29th December and would I make sure that I am in on that date and time!!!!! Never had one of those before. is this what the NHS is getting to?
VT took my money off to Waitrose this morning and ended up in Tescaw..He rang up and said that he had gone round the car park in Waitrose three times, and ended up in the end going over the bypass to Tescaw. Not keen on my money going to Tescaw..but needs must. He goes out with a list, and that's it..that's what he gets nothing more nothing less. I just buy what I see, terrible impulse shopper me.
The DVD of Downton Abbey came yesterday from Amazon, so that means we can get our parcel off to Perth now. When I looked up the DVD on the Amazon site it said that it covered region2, now this is Europe and not Australia. There was a conversation on the Delia Smith Forum that I go on, and one of the blokes Ja,es had said that he had the DVD and it had said regions 2,4 and 5 so it did cover Australia after all. I'm sure they will enjoy that..it's a good buy, three discs and extra scenes for 143.99 free delivery. Pity it isn't their winter though, I think it is a lovely wintery programme to watch, I just can't imagine a Christmas in soaring heat.
Seems increasingly likely that we will have a snowy Christmas this year, there is already snow about, and it said on the news for people to put warm clothing and blankets in the car if they are going on a long journet. i would need a lot more than that..feel the cold me.
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers,
A few chips 200grms
Mushy peas for VT and green beans for moi.

Wintery Frosts ...

Got up this morning to a wintery frost all over. The cars at the front of the house were covered, and the top of the shed roof was totally white. Already the papers are talking about a cold Winter, with snow on the way. Gosh, where did the summer and the Autumn go. We did have a bit of the frost the other week, but it was full on stuff today.
We decided to go and fet a bit of fresh air today, so nipped over to Ormskirk since we haven't been for a while. VT went about his mooching, and I went in my usual shops. Bought a lovely fleecy nightshirt..if the colder weather is coming..I'm going to be warm!! Purple of course..everything I buy is purple these days..I've decidid it's my favourite colour. Got %15 off it tooso well pleased. Why is it so difficult to but nightwear that is bright decent colours? They are horriblke pastels, pale pinks, lilacs o5r lemons..Ugh..horrible. You can buy lovely pyjamas in tartans with long sleeves..but I've never been a pj person..much prefer nightshirts. i did get some super ones from America some years ago, but they are getting worn and need replacing. Come on manufacturers..get designing some in great colours at good prices.
Got our replenishments at Holland and Barratt, and our coffee at our usual little coffee. notice there wasn't anyone sitting outside Costa Coffee today..much too cold!
Wentto Morrisons then to get our car parking fee back, and topped up on a few things whiole we were there. Covent Garden soup half price, so got a Broccoli and Stilton for our lunch, very nice too it was. While we were waiting at the checkout I was perusing the chocolate bars on sale...as you do. I spotted a Crunchie bar..I did used to love those..and haven't had one for Donkey's years. Then the shock!!!! 57p!!!! I just couldn't believe it. 57p for a Crunchie bar..good grief.. I remember when a ten shilling note was a fantastic treat in a birthday card or at Christmas..now it wouldn't even buy you a Crunchie bar. That would be 11/6 in old money. My goodnessme..I am shocked. I wonder how much pocket money kids get these days?
All the time I have been typing this little Rusty has been standing on my knee often with her nose pressed to the computer screen. It makes for very difficult typing!

Tonight we are having:
Pasta bake maybe with meatless meatballs..
A little bit of garlic bread,
Mixed green vegetables.

Papa VT's Dolmio pizza House!!

Today since we stayed in decided to make a batch of pizza sauce for our Sunday Pizzas. The recipe is very much a bit of this and a bit of that, but the ingredients are still the same.
Today we used...
5 tins of chopped tomatoes
A good spoonful of Italian Herb seasoning mix
Seasoning..salt and pepper
A medium finely chopped onion
A really good squirt of garlic puree and more of tomato puree,
A tsp of vegetable bouillon powder.
We put the mixture on at about 10.45 and it was simmering away for hours, we turned it off at about 1.45 when it had gone really thick. These were good tomatoes today. VT spotted them in Home and Bargain..Princes, four tins for £1.39. Last time we made a batch of sauce we used some value tomatoes, and they were terrible, far too wartery and took forever to go thick. I 6think you get what you pay for. Value isn't always a good bargain.
Last night lost a filling from a very old and decrepit tooth at the back, so had to go and make an appointment at the Dentist. No hardship..he is only two doors down! The girl said Monday at 9.30, then I said haven't you got any cancellations because I'm only two doors down, and she said Oh we have one on Thursday at 10.30. So won't have to keep playing with the hole for too long! !
We also wrapped the things for John and Anns parcel this morning. VT does the wrapping he is the most perfect present wrapper. When Jane was small he used to always do her big presents and I used to do the ones that didn't matter much. It always seems a shame to tear of the wrappings, some of them are beautifully done. I was hoping that their dvd of Downton Abbey would have come today, but it didn't so we will have to wait to send their parcel a little longer.
Tonight we are having:
A chicken style pie
Baby baked potatoes 8oz
Mixed vegetables
Mushroom gravy.

Christmas is a Rolling in...

Didn't do a blog over the weekend, mainly because i usually do it on a Sunday afternoon, and we were late doing the crosswords. This meant that by the time we had finished it was time to get the tea on, so ran out of blog time.Just a normal weekend anyway, with our usual evening offerings.
I was checking the Secret Santa arrivals on the Delia forum site, but it appears that mine hasn't yet arrived in Madrid. I wonder what the post is like over there? and how long it takes parcels to arrive at their destination in Spain. Our post at the moment is terrible, todays post for example arrived at three o'clock!! what sort of service is that? I only got one letter, and I was expecting a dvd from Amazon with the Downtoin Abbey in it. But that hasn't come yet. The letter I got was from my bank, with a personal profile of all my money transactions for the year! never had one of these before. It shows exactly, month by month where the money goes. It shows how most months I pay out more than I am getting in...but I still have loads of money over so how can that be? The most telling page was the use of my debit card..showing all the expenditure on it for the year... Top of the list is Sainsbury's!!! with QVC a close second!!! I didn't realise what a good customer I was to them. Mind you one of the payments was for a netbook for VT so that was quite big.Most of my debits go to Supermarkets which is no surprise really,we do go twice a week and vary where we go Sainsburys being our nearest.
This is where we went this morning. VT wanted to get some things from Home and Bargains, and also went over to the Drs to collect my blood test form. He said it was packed in there, and the receptionist said she used to work in the Hightown surgery, and it was very good there. Wonder why she left then?
We went from there to the Garden Centre at Ince Blundell for our free coffees for the month. Also had a look round there, the garden centres these days are surprisingly good for gifts and Christmas things. I bought some crackers..Tom Smiths and they were only 3.99 for twelve really nice looking crackers. They seem to have an enormous amount of stock.. should be good in the January sales!
Tonight we are having:
Mozzarella and pesto escalope..BOGOF from Sainsbury..
Little hasselback potatoes
Mixed vegetables
Mushroom sauce with portobello mushroom.

Busy Busy..

What is going on everywhere today? We went to Tescos first to get a dvd for VT. It was a free offer about the war years he is interested in so he wanted just to call in. I didn't want to do my shopping there simply because I hate tescaws..don't like their ethics or the way they have taken over the shopping industry. The car park was really busy as well which meant that the store would have been heaving so we left there and went to Waitrose in the village. However, there were cars everywhere there too, and we ended up going round the block twice before we spotted a parking space. There seemed to be a big funeral in the church next door, and when that happens they tend to use the Waitrose car park while they go to the service.
We only had a few things on the list, but still came out having spent £56!! The trouble is, all the impulse buys, and i did get some things for the Christmas box. It is a terribly expensive shop, but they do have nice things in there.
I wanted to get some Christmas Wrapping paper , but it was £3.50 a roll! which I think is a bit steep. I'll wait and get some from M&S next week, they very often have offers.
The GP's surgery rang me last night, with the result of the blood test, which showed the renal as stable, but a raised potassium level, so I need another blood test! I'm afraid I rather tore into the receptionist, and said we weren't happy about being removed from their lists. She said it was to do with the out of hours visits, and the fact that they wouldn't come out to Hightown. Bearing in mind that our house is 2.5 miles away from the surgery..not altogether sure that is fair. But that is it, nothing more to be done. i rang the clinic this morning for another blood test, and was offered one in the middle of December! but the girl did look at other clinics and eventually found one in Netherton which could do it on dec the 2nd. What a performance.You would think these days that surgeries could do their own blood tests!
Tonight we are having:
Vegetable pasty from waitrose as a treat,
Rice pudding as another treat.. being naughty tonight.

New beginnings....

Well we were going to go out over to the garden centre this morning to have a look at their Christmas stock, but when we woke up neither of us felt the urge so to speak, so we didn't. Vt had bits and pireces to do, and we filled in the forms for registering at the GPs over the road. Not happy about it but there we are. Nothing we can do. 64 years in one practice counts for nothing it seems. VT took them over, and came back to say we had a new patient appointment at 3O'Clock on the 5th december. Gives them time to get our records from crosby. So a new start beckons.
Got an email from Lynn in Scotland yesterday to say the flakes have arrived, the last lot went missing for some reason, but these are there now, so hope she can understand the instructions. The important thing to remember with Sourdough bread is that you don't knead it, you fold it then leave it for a while between each folding. It's a strange bread to do, but well worth the effort.

I hope all the other post arrives safely. We have yet to do the parcel for John and Ann, will wait till the dvd of Downton Abbey arrivees and send it all off then, I think they should enjoy that, they seem to like what we like, and they get a lot of English television over there in Australia.
Tonight we are having:
Spaghetti. with
Spinach and Ricotta sauce and
mixed green vegetables and
A little bit of garlic bread.

Blustery and Blowy and a Royal Wedding..

Today dawned really blustery, windy and dark too. There have been reports of flooding in Cornwall and high winds on bridges. Not a good day to be travelling, glad we weren't going anywhere. Traffic news just on the radio, a lot of ferries cancelled and bridges closed to high sided vehicles..doesn't look good today at all.
Actually i had a blood test at twenty to one in the clinic. Three week wait for the appointment, and two weeks for the results. Rusty had hers arranged in two days and the Vet rang us up this morning with the results. Apparently she is spot on and doing very well..Bless her..so all VTs efforts keeping her up to date with the tablets twice a day have paid off. Well done VT.
Funny thing today, I had just put a little saucer of milk in the microwave for Bobby which had just pinged and VT said I'm sure that was the doorbell. It was with our post..very unusual to get post mid morning these days. It was our letters plus two parcels for me. Good job we were in.
VT went into Formby first to get some petrol. He was going to get some yesterday but there was a problem with the card machine at Tesco and he said there was a massive queue, so he didn't bother. I gave him the money for his petrol since he ferries me around so much and he got a couple of things at Tesco as well. Back in a few minutes. He's a really quick shopper..no browsing, just a list and away he goes.
Blood test for me at Thornton. Don't know why there is such a long wait for appointments, I went straight in and out within a couple of minutes. Wouldn't exactly say they were busy. Came out to find VT in the middle of cleaning the inside of his car with wet wipes..nice to see the taxi being kept spotless for moi.
Nipped to Sainsburys just up the road to get a loaf for me. I like the Gluten free bread from there, the Genius one..is very tasty for a sandwich.
Royal Wedding announced yesterday, so today the papers are full of the speculation about it all. She was filmed last night wearing Princess Diana's engagement ring. I thought it was a nice touch actually, and it is a beautiful sapphire. She seeems to be a charming girl with a level head obn her shoulders, hope she is happier than her late mother in law. I am sure Princess Di would approve.

Tonight we are having:
Sausages in a mushroom gravy
Mashed potato 8oz
Mixed vegetables or maybe cabbage and leed stir fried.

Up Early and a tale of two tests...

I woke up at five o'clock this morning convinced it was seven and time to get up to take Rusty to the vetsfor eight.
Couldn't get back to sleep again, too many things going round my brain, just silly things but stopped me from sleeping. So we didn't sleep in anyway.
Tale of two tests..as VT says..
One.. A blood sample is taken..followed by a urine test, ears dewaxed, temperature,weight and heart tested. All in a quarter of an hour.results of blood test back within a day.Prescription given and thyroid tablets obtained.
Two..Blood test taken at a separate clinic after a two week wait for an appointment. results back within two weeks.
Difference..One was done on our cat.. the other done on me!!!
Maybe we should all enrol at a vets surgery!
Further to the problem outlined yesterday with our GP's surgery. it transpires that our next door neighbours have had the same letter, so it must be everyone from Hightown.VT has been over to the surgery in the village which actually is just a short walk away and got a practice leaflet and could have filled in forms straight away, but we will think about it a bit first. Probablu end up there in the end though. No room for sentimentality in the present NHS these days.
Gosh it's been a liong day today with getting up early. Do have to say I'm not a morning person at all, don't really do mornings!
Tonight we are having:
Stilton and pear chutney tarts
A small pack of green mixed vegetables
Squashed baked potatoes with salt and rosemary.

Another week dawns..

Don't the mondays come round quickly, it always seem that there are two in a week. it looks like being a busy week this week, since little Rusty has to go to the vets tomorrow for a blood test, and I have to go for one on Wednesday. Rusty is on thyroid tablets, and every few months she has her blood done to make sure the levels are right. We take her in the morning early and we generally get the results that night..talk about good service!
Mine takes about two weeks.
We had a bit of a shock this morning when we came back from our shopping. the post had arrived, and both VT and myself had received letters from our GPs surgery to notify us that our address had fallen outside the area covered by the practice!! So we have to find a new GP, and our names will be removed from the practice register within 30 days!!!! i am furious actually. I have been with this practice all of my life..64 years, and we are now being cast aside!! disgraceful, and no real reason given either. I was with this surgery when it was Dr Brenner who delivered me, Dr Holland who moved the surgery to its present location, Dr Stone who took over from him when he retired, and the present Dr's Milford and Aylward. Not to mention the interim locum stage when there wasn't a resident Dr at all but a series of locums.!!
Now we are being told to go... Is this the NHS where we have choices?? At least it isn't Gordon Browns fault! There is a Surgery in Hightown, but that is beside the point really, where is the loyalty in all of this..64 years is a long time to be with one practice, doesn't that count for anything. Don't know what can be done about it either.
Took my money to Sainsburys this morning, and called in at Aldi on the way home. I wanted some of their baking paper which is really excellent, so we had a bit of a look round too. Got a few things that caught our eyes, but wouldn't do a big shop there, they simply don't have the variety.
Tonight we are having:Mozarella and pesto escalope,
Mixed vegetables
Mushroom sauce and sliced fried potatoes. Done in fry light.

Rememberance Sunday...

Today it is rememberance Sunday, and while we don't go round to the war memorial, we generally do watch the march past on the BBC. it is always moving to see the soldiers march so proudly past the cenotaph, and now the younger ones marching alongside them too. One interview was done with a young mother and her son who were marching in memory of their husband and father, and were wearing his medals with such pride. You cannot fail to be moved really.
Quite a drizzly day today with a few bright spells, so while we did the bedding it wasn't put out on the line. So the tumble drier has been on most of the day today. And, a pile of ironing for later on in the week.
VT photocopied the instructions again for the starter flakes, so we will get those off tomorrow, hoping this time that they will get there. I must look up the address now and make sure it is the right one. Got some good flakes ready hope these don't go missing.
Did our crosswords today fairly easily, VT said his was quite hard, mine was interrupted because Jame rang up from the bus stop. She is having a lot of trouble with her shoulder, and sauys she is in a lot of pain with it. She had some injections done some time ago, and needs more but hasn't been referred by the hospital yet. She needs to get sorted out or she will be in trouble over her course and her job as well.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with mushrooms, tomato sauce which we need to make some more of, pineapple and meatfree pepperoni.
Salad with egg and potato
Potato salad for me and pasta salad for VT.

Gale Force!!!

What a night, poor VT was kept awake by the wind last night. One advantage to being deaf, is that I take my hearing aids out, and then I am dead to the world..don't hear nothing as they say. VT said this morning you're lucky you didn't hear it all. I said would you swap the advantage of not hearing the gales for a lifetime of deafness..don't think so. He is incredibly patient with me though, and it is much appreciated. It can't be easy repeating yourself so often God love him.
The village was talking about the death of one of the parish councillors yesterday..who died in his sleep the night before. he was a founder member of "The Searchers" Needles and pins..Tony West, and used to walk past the house quite a lot with his little dog.Shame.
We seem to have been lucky with the gales last night, nothing wrong in the garden except my Buddah had blown over, but VT went and put him straight this morning.

I got him when I retired from school almost ten years ago now and he always looks lovely and smiley in the garden whatever the weather.
our next door neighbours roof aerial has blown off last night so he borrowed VTs ladders to go and mend it..I wouldn't let VT go up in this weather!! Anyway they are down now so he must have repaired it. A neighbour a couple of doors down also told us that a trampoline had appeared in his neighbours garden. Since she is well into her nineties, I don't think she will be using it any time soon.
With it being Friday, we had planned to go toOrmskirk, but that is on a hill and breezy at the best of times, so we took my money off to Waitrose in Formby instead. We said we would just get the minimum, but still ended up with a trolley full and spent more than I intend to. But who cares..we bought a few things for the Christmas box.
Sent my Secret Santa parcel off to Spain today, cost £7.30 !! that makes it expensive,hope she enjoys the things in it.
Today we are having:
fishless fingers,
Mushy peas for VT and carrots for moi,
Chips 200grms
Tartare sauce, if we have any, just remembered we forgot to get some!

Blow the Wind Southerly...

As the song goes. it's blowing a gale today, the trees at the back of the house are going like mad. There is a house way over at the back which has a row of extremely tall and horrible conifers, and they are practically bending in the wind. A nice day to be in today.We didn't need to go anywhere so we didn't. Lovely to be able to have the choice.
We spent the morning getting a few things sorted for parcels for Christmas. i have a Secret Santa one to send to Spain, so have been collecting lightish things so they don't weigh too much. Got those wrapped, and luckily they have all gone in a big Jiffy Bag for onward posting tomorrow. It is quite difficult buyibng for someone you don't know, and this year we didn't have any hints or guidelines either. i bought a :
pair of Oven Gloves Christmassy ones and a set of two tea towels in the same pattern,
A silicone ice cube tray with a star pattern,
A dangly reindeer ornament from M&S with magnets in its arms and legs,
A book of Christmas Cupcakes
A tub of vanilla bean paste from Waitrose,
And a partridge in a pear tree..Not!
Hope she likes them..
I have been doing the Sourdough starter flakes too for Lynn in Scotland, and they are ready to post when VT does the photocopying of the instructions. I sent some off weeks and weeks ago and didn't hear anything from her, so just thought she was rude! No..didn't reallyf. Then she said that nothing had arrived. there must be an awful lot of lost post somewhere in this country!.I hope this lot arrives, then she can make some nice Sourdough bread in the Winter.Like This...

I have got John and Ann a few things too..A book about old Liverpool they might find interesting, A poodle key ring from Butlert and |Wilson. a little book about christmas customs and a couple of other things. Again trying to keep things light since postage is such a lot these days. Once I have finished their letter, that can go off early next week. You take your life in your hands these days sending things by mail, you can never be certain it will arrive. Our post today came a t a quarter to four in the afternoon!! That's a good service eh!
Tonight we are having:
Tivall chicken style drumsticks
Little roast potatoes
Carrots and butternut squash
Bread sauce.

Up and At Em...

Was intending to get up early this morning, but even with the alarm call and the clockj going off neither of us wanted to move, so got up later. We were intending to go over to the big M&S at Aintree, and get there early, but we went anyway.
Parking is getting more difficult there, it is certainly getting a lot busier than it used to be. had a good look round, i wanted to get a few things for my Christmas parcels. I send one to John and Ann in Australia. and also my Secret Santa one too, and have been gathering bits for ages now. I pretty much have what I wanted so will get them packed in the next few days.
We had a look at the foodie things, but were a bit disappointed, couldn't really find what I wanted. Did get a nice jar of Peaches in Brandy though, we get one every year, but it generally gets left till Easter!!! Jars of a nice looking cranberry and Port sauce were on offer at 3 for 2 so got them. We can always use those up.
Still not sure what to do for the Christmas Dinner this year..was toying with the idea of doing a Quorn fillet en croute but not sure. maybe the Vegetarian magazine will have an idea for us. Not really keen on the nut roast route..always find them dry, and the shop ones usually are terrible. We shall have to see.
Lovely bright day today though, the sun was dazzling me as we came out of M&S and I ended up putting my sunshades on.
Tonight we are having:
Almost cheeseless pasta bake..taken from 101 Cookbooks site.
it has butternut squash and penne pasta, spinach, greek yoghurt and feta cheese.
Garlic bread to go with.

The Garden Beckons...

Not to me...too many spiders at this time of the year..well any time actually! The weather is nice today, just a bit blowy but no rain as yet anyway. VT has been our clearing leaves and cutting down some plants today, and generally getting the summer stuff cleared away. He is ggod in the garden and gets it looking good whatever the season. We have noticed this year that a lot of the plants have somewhat overgrown this summer particularly in the front garden. The barrel was especially bad for that. We had planted a little fuschia in the middle of the dwarf geraniums and cineraria aand it was practically dwarfed itself. Well the spring bulbs are in now so we shall see when they come up.
Sent my Bauble swap this morning off to Maidenhead Berks. Wonder when that will arrive. Got mine yesterday a nice little set of six ornaments for the tree. At least they arrived in one piece, my last years bauble arrived in about a thousand bits, completely shattered.
Jane rang up a bit ago a bit worried about a couple of her friends who didn't pass their exams and have been told they can't continue with their course. Seems a shame to give up a year of your time to do a course then fail part way through. Jane passed all hers though, ands she was worried about them too. She should have more confidence in herself though, she is a clever girl.
Tonight we are having:
Steak and Mushroom pie Quorn ones
Mashed potato
Green vegetables.
Mushroom gravy

Winter is Setting In!!

It seems that it is setting in with a vengeance. Today it is cold wet and blowy and the skies are darkening fast tonight too.
We took my money off 6to Crosby this morning, because we needed to get the veggies for the week. VT volunteered to go and get my blood test form while I got started, and it seemed like I was only a few minutes and he was back. He can't half move that lad! I got my first pack of casserole veggies so will do a casserole one day this week. Got a good selection of greenery and a few other things we were running out of, and made our way home fairly quickly. You get 1/2 hour free parking there so that limitys the buying and the browsing.
Got a bit annoyed with Jane yesterday because I wanted to send her a message on Facebook and found that I was blocked!!! What!! she blocks her own Mother!! So I send her a humnourous message on her email to her phone and got a quick reply a few minutes later, to say she has blocked everybody because she was getting tired of everyone calling her. So that explains it..maybe I won't leave my money to the Cats Home then!!
Very sorry that the series of Downton Abbey has finished last night. What a great series that has been, terrific acting and beautifully filmed. i wanted to get the dvd to send to John and Ann in Australia, but unfortunately it is only in region 2 which is europe. Shame that.
Tonight we are having:
Asda mushroom and garlic bakes which we haven't had before,
Baby new potatoes fried
Mixed vegetables with a hollandaise sauce.

Weekend..

Funny thing is , when you are not working you don't really appreciate the weekend. they are just other days to be got through
, but with better papers! I do love the Sunday ones, the magazines are good and the crosswords make them more enjoyable too.
I was reading an article which reported that a Princess Eugenie..a Sarah Ferguson daughter, had said if she were Queen, she would add Mondays to the weekend. But, wouldn't that simply make people want tuesday off as well and so on ad infinitum...
The crosswords today were fairly easy, mine had a Beatles theme again, I'm sure there was a beatles theme a few weeks ago..maybe not. Anyway, once that was done it was easy.
Last night we had:
Tacos with the accompaniments, cheese, creme fraiche salsa and guacemole and lettuce, very tasty too. We do a chilli mix with Quorn mince and it tastes just like the real thing.

Tonight we are having our:
Pizza with our home made base, and tomato sauce
Mushrooms,
pineapple and meatfree pepperoni.
potato salad for moi and pasta salad for VT
Egg and potato salad to go with.

Bonfire Night...

So November the fifth is here again. I only hope there arent too many fireworks to scare the little cats. Actually Bobby isn't too bad with them , but little Rusty doesn't like them at all and runs under the low table in the corner of the middle room and doesn't come out for ages. She tends not to like them on the television either, and the ones they set off at new Year always terrify her. Such a shame, she is such a sweet little thing. There is a hotel at the front of our house and they have for the last few years had an organised display, which tends to be very loud and very explosive. the ones that tend to frighten the are the rockets that go up with a big squeal. Oh dear. trouble is it can go on for a couple of days too because some of the houses nearby have them as well.
We took my money to Sainsburys in Walton this morning. The journey was remarkable for the Autumn colourswhich are gorgeous this year. The little village of Little Crosby has some lovely trees at the moment, and everywhere is looking really pretty.
It has been a late Autumn this year, but all the better for that. We got our usual things and some others that we can't get anywhere else. VT had a look in the store next door, and i went int the Next shop, but didn't see anything |I wanted. their clothes are awful I always think. Terrible quality, not like they used to be .
Home later for lunch because we stopped for our coffee. Take our own and really enjoy that.
Tonight we are having:
Vegetable pasties from Waitrose,
Rice pudding from the same.
Simple tonight!

Browsing...

VT wanted to get a few plants for the hanging basket at the front of the house for the winter, so we decided to take our free coffee vouchers and go to Dobbies, It was clear but very blowy when we got there and we had a good look round first. I wanted to look at the Christmas things to see if there was anything for my parcels, and VT went out to look at the plants. Then we had our coffees,very nice too. We cheat a bit and take our own biscuits so even better!!
He then went to get his plants and i bought the things i wanted,a pair of Christmassy oven gloves and tea towels and a little book all about christmas customs. The thing that we really wanted was a pack of their mint crisps which are lovely and they didn't have any....typical!
Post arrived well after lunch today..as is the norm these days. terrible service at the moment.Mostly wet as well. One letter we got was posted on the 29th october from quite local, and a letter from John and Ann in Australia posted on the 1st November !!!! What is all that about? Lovely long letter with some beautiful phhotographs, and a tale about a spider. VT started tickling my leg..horrible man. I don't think I could holiday there actually, i could barely hold the page the tale was written on!! of course VT had to look the thing up on his netbook..it is called a Huntsman..don't thi k I shall be looking that up either!!Uuuugh!!!!
Just as I was typing this little Rusty brushed up against my legs..she is at it now too..VT probably sent her up!
Tonight we are having:
Pasta 4oz
Roasted butternut squash
Tomato and mascarpone sauce
A bit of garlic bread.

Deliveries...

The old song, beloved of Children's favourites on a Saturday morning was "Twas on a Monday Morning the Gas man came to call...." Well today for us it was the coal man.
We have aqlways had a coal fire in this house which is our main source of heat in the Winter. It heats the water up and heats up about six small radiators when it is going. That is a new thing, my mum and dad used to just have it as a fire, didn't bother with the namby pamby idea of heating up other rooms. We have burned beautiful logs in it for a long time, but a few years ago we had a nasty chimney fire so we went over to smokeless fuel. VT used to bring it in from Homebase or garages etc by the small sack load,but the other week he noticed a coal delivery firm over the road so he arranged for a load to be delivered today, and he came, bang on time with six big bags which has filled the coal bunker for £105. Seems a lot, but like VT says the bunker is full, and we still have last years heating allowance so have used that..Thankyou Mr Brown!!
So we are stocked up for the Winter now, and whatever the weather throws at us.
Then the postman came with a big load of mail. Something strange going on with the post because we didn't get any on Saturday, or Monday or Tuesday but a lot today!! Got a lovely lovely card from Jane, just to say thankyou for the money i gave her last week for her rent. Now that is special, because Jaane doesn't really do cards as a rule,it's a proper card too, not one from the cheap shop. Bless her..she is such a good kid..What a blessing to have a kid these days who isn't involved in anything horrible. I hope she does well in her exams.
beautiful bath this afternoon with my candles and L'Occitane bath foam..fantastic stuff, quite expensive but so worth it.
Cleared out the freezer this morning too, so got rid of a lot of out of date things, and ends of bread loaves etc, so tonight we are having:
Escalope,
Sliced fried potatoes
Mixed vegetables.