If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
Come on in it is nice to sit and have a chat after all the hustle and bustle of the past few days. I can still entertain you all with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: Okay let’s start with Mother in Law known from here on in as MIL. Well so far this week we have had her over twice , the hubby has been over to her place and taken her to the hospital. Tuesday MIL starts her Chemo. I have absolutely no idea how this will pan out but fingers crossed.
Today is really busy as we have two of our son’s, daughter in law , Newbie and MIL over for dinner! So it is all hands to the pump or at least the oven!
If we were having coffee: I would tell you it has been a quiet week because my knee is still playing up. I have not done much this week apart from housework, washing ironing and blogging!
Talking of bloging we are into the last week of Love Is In Da Blog…. where on earth did February go?
Last week this week
Wednesday my friend L and I did manage to escape and go off to Windsor on the bus and and have a cup of coffee and a toasted teacake and a long natter to set the world to rights! Unfortunately we could not walk too far , again because of my knee!
Guess who is back among us ! The one, the only Mr Paul Curran. I have not received a post from him yet but as soon as I do it will be posted up on here!! Welcome home Paul you have been missed!
Cake anyone…sorry I am forgetting my manners!
Yum Yum.
I had physio again this week but to no avail if anything my knee is feeling worse. In fact after hubby said he thought I was wasting my time and money I have cancelled my next and all visits to the the physio. I hope the wait to see the specialist is not too long!
If we were having coffee : I would have to apologize now as I really must go now as I have so much to do and so little time!!
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
Come on in it is nice to sit and have a chat after all the hustle and bustle of the past few days. I can still entertain you all with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we are having coffee : Okay I shall have to start by apologizing for being late this week. But it has not been a good day, or a brilliant week for that matter. Today I am afraid you will all have to get yourselves comfy and help yourselves to a drink and while you are at it could someone get me a strong black coffee.
You see I am holed up here on the sofa with my leg up, with an ice pack! … Why I hear you ask, an ice pack? Well if you are all in possession of a hot drink and something to eat I shall explain!
I have a very painful knee, I am waiting for physiotherapy on the NHS to treat it but the pain has got so bad that right now I am in the middle of private treatment because I am desperate. I had my first appointment Tuesday, the physio after asking loads of questions investigated my knee, found the pain OUCH! pulled me about for a while after which she used some ultra sound on the knee, then strapped me up and asked me to RICE = Rest, ice, compress and elevate until Thursday…. all of which I did. I had to return on Thursday when she removed the strapping, gave me some more ultra sound treatment and she also gave me some exercises to do .I have to carry on with the rice and return again next Thursday !
If we are having coffee : I would ask you if you need anything else? What else have we done this week, we have been very busy this week visiting the MIL( Mother in law) and also having her over here to visit. Friday we took her to see the Hematologist, Oncologist. Well as we already knew the Lymphoma was back but the good news is that the cancer has not spread and is just in one place from the neck to the shoulder. The Dr. offered two options no treatment prognosis approximately 6 months to live or Antibodies and Chemo. Antibodies and Chemo is best option so she has gone for that. The Dr seemed positive that treatment would slow the cancer down and could give her a couple more years of quality life she explained this would be a milder treatment to avoid nasty side effects, considering MIL will be 96 years old in two months we think that that is a very positive outcome. The MIL was very pleased with the prognosis though now she is very up and down with emotions. I am not surprised with all the worry of the last few weeks she is bound to be so!
If we were having coffee: I would tell that as I have had to rest my knee we have not really done much this weekend! so there is nothing really to report!
OH! Yes we have finally got our new Fridge freezer into the cupboard made just for it in our new kitchen! Now we have the work tops sorted, the plinth heater and fridge freezer in place I think we can say we are finally done it has only taken us since the beginning of October!!
I have been busy keeping up with Love Is In Da Bog organised by Just fooling around with Bee Imagine a whole fortnight done already!
If we were having Coffee: I would have to say we are all sill waiting patiently for our dear Paul Curran to rejoin us here at the coffee share but until he is well enough and up and running again we shall have to bide our time!
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
Come on in it is nice to sit and have a chat after all the hustle and bustle of the past few days. I can still entertain you all with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
So, If we were having coffee : I am not sure where to start I would say I wish I was in my pajamas ….. but I am not like most things lately I don’t get what I want. I get what is good for me instead, or even worse what others think is good for me! Every man/woman and his dog thinks they know better than me. From wrapping me in cotton wool to nagging me to death!
If we were having coffee: I would tell you that on Monday Hubby and I went off to a little town about thirty miles away from where we live just to get out and have a break from the stresses of Mother in law being ill. We also took hubby’s car along to have it serviced at a specialist garage there.
We walked along the canal and looked at the beautiful cottages and Narrow Boats! We found the Parish Church called St Lawrence, and spent a lovely hour looking around inside and finding out how old and steeped in history it was! We even met a lady who was also “Just visiting” and she told us she lived in Devon now but had originally lived just three miles up the road from where we live now! Well what are the chances of that!
Some photos of our day.
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After more walking we found a lovely coffee shop and had a cuppa and slice of cake! We both had a wonderful time and we popped in to see Mother in law on our way home, she is still doing well!! Though very concerned about her Lymphoma!
If we were having coffee : Tuesday I was at the gym but I had decided not to go early so I missed my gym buddy! Then after that we went over to see Mother in law ( hereafter to be known as MIL ) . Wednesday L, my gym buddy and great friend , and I went to our Pilates class which was hard work as ever then we had coffee and a long catch up! Then again over to check out MIL.
Thursday I had to go and see a specialist , I have been having a lot of stomach troubles and I am now being sick a lot. I have had all types of exams and finally I had an ultrasound scan which showed that I have a lot of debris in my gallbladder ………. I was hoping that they might remove my gallbladder well after three minutes of prodding I was told that the gallbladder was not bad enough to remove……… What? do Drs have Xray enabled fingers …how did he know from poking and prodding me?? Apparently all the pain and sickness and discomfort is referred pain from my back! ( spine now curved after breaking back )…….. Yes okay so I suppose I just have to get used to that all too now! Hey Ho! In the evening we had MIL over to us for dinner .
If we were having coffee : I would tell you that on Friday nothing much happened , apart from washing , ironing and cooking. Saturday core class and then over to see MIL with middle son!
Today, Sunday we Have MIL over for dinner again. As you can see it has been a MIL week.
If we were having coffee : I would have to apologize and ask where my manners are can I get you more coffee, tea, something to eat or an alcoholic drink?
Well Having finish JuJoJan organised by Linda G Hill at Life in Progress February has brought us Love Is In Da Bog organised by Just fooling around with Bee Imaagine a whole week done already!
I must dash now loads to do. Sorry if I am not commenting as much but my like does mean a lot I promise. I shall be back to normal as and when.
If we were having Coffee: I would have to say we are all sill waiting patiently for our dear Paul Curran to rejoin us here at the coffee share but until he is well enough and up and running again we shall have to bide our time!
If we were having coffee:The weather is getting distinctly wintry, fogs, rain, frost and cold so lets all go inside and be comfy by the fire. I can still entertain you all with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
If we were having coffee: I would have to say sorry I have still had no word from Paul and none of his other blog hosts have heard from him either. Please Paul if you are out there know we are praying for you each in our own ways!
If we were having coffee: I would have to say that this week has been busy and I really don’t know where the time has gone! This aside I have still not been very well still so not much to report this week!
I went shopping with my friend on Wednesday, Christmas shopping….. not my favourite pastime but it had to be done!
Friday evening we had friends round for drinks and nibbles and lots of laughs. Saturday we had the mother in law round for a Chinese meal in the evening. The on Sunday we had some really good and wonderful friends round for dinner and low and behold the Newbie and his Dad came for a visit and we had a lovely afternoon.
If we were having coffee : I would tell you I am so tired and have a headache that I cannot do this post properly so I shall have to apologize and say I hope to do better next week!
Hello everyone I am sorry to announce that out dear friend Paul Curran is not well enough this week to host his own If we were having Coffee get together. I am sure you will join me in wishing him well and a speedy recovery. Now all of you are very welcome to join my gathering. I cannot offer you exciting and inspirational stories or the funny antidotes he comes up with, mined from his rich and amazing life. I can however off you coffee cakes and more and a warm welcome and chit chat.
If we were having coffee:The weather is getting distinctly wintry, fogs, rain, frost and cold so lets all go inside and be comfy by the fire. Paul and I can still entertain you all with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
Do join in
If we were having coffee : I would tell you it has been a very busy week full of funeral and floral arrangements, my sister M’s Funeral is this coming Tuesday. It has been a very sad time full of lovely emails and phone calls from all types of people who’s lives she had touched.
If we were having coffee : I would ask you what I can get you to drink or eat, and say lets change the subject. As I was saying it has been a busy week but I did manage to take Thursday off and go into the nearest town with my friend L , we a bus ride, and a coffee and cake and a long chat setting the world to rights. We also went to the gym twice this week and on Friday I went back to my Pilates class, I have missed two weeks ( since M died I just could not get on with the normal ) Slowly I am getting there!
If we were having coffee : It was Halloween this weekend and I can tell you now that it is getting really big business over here. Suddenly it is very popular and everyone was busy celebrating it ! Here are some amazing photos from one of my neighbour’ s garden!
Scary in the dark!Witches to greet youInviting you to lunch!I think they have been waiting a long timeThe warthogs look better fedDon’t recommend the service here!OH! the witch is off!!
On an other more serious note , some of the costumes being sold for children to wear are extremely dangerous and children have been seriously burned. So there are campaigns for safer costumes that are fire retardant. Read here and especially here . Not nice so be careful out there!
If we were having Coffee: I would have to say that I really have to go now as today has been a mish mash of looking after unwell cats, and my friend who is having problems with her daughter. If you remember I have written about her problems and the hospital she has been in and out of . All I can do is listen and just be there for them when I can.
Welcome to Willow’s weekly coffee and tea garden. First of all I would like to offer my condolences and prayers to Willow and her family at the passing of her sister this week.My name is Paul; I’ll be your barista today. I’m happy to see you have come for a cuppa and a chat. I am delighted to be back at Willow’s serving you, our treasured readers, a cuppa and sweets while we chat. Please come into the garden and make yourself comfortable. Willow fluffed the cushions on the chairs and set the tables in the garden so we can have a cuppa and chat as we soak up the sun and enjoy the beautiful plants. She has also brought out the heaters so we can stretch our outside tea time further into the fall. As usual, I’d be pleased to bring a pot of whatever beverage you prefer – we have a wide range of teas and coffees to satisfy our world-wide readership. Also available is a large selection of spirits for addition to your cuppa or in its place. We can relax amongst the flowers while we discuss the affairs of the week both personal and/or worldwide. How has your week been? My week was pretty rough but improving, thank you. Last week I told a story here of the last time I was in the terminal where I spent so many years coming and going. I found it to be a sort of fun piece, however from the readers’ reactions it came across as a rough story of screw or be screwed. To a certain extent that is true and it is one of the reasons why I eventually got out of long-haul trucking – I dislike myself when I am always anticipating the worst of people, even though that is what is takes to succeed. That said, there have been some times when I felt good about the role I played in helping people. I’d like to tell such a story here today, with your permission, of course. Perhaps it will help balance the negativity of last week’s story.
This happened many years later when I was driving regional for a gas tanker company, hauling Super-B’s as pictured above. It was a good job but because people drove most on holidays – we always had to work. The pay was excellent – double time and a half on holidays – and the heaviest thing we lifted was one end of a hose. Besides the Super B’s were fun to drive at 80 feet long, 30 wheels on the ground, two trailers, weighing 140,000 pounds when loaded- that’s about the weight of two small houses. We could legally haul about 58,000 liters of gas (a little over 15,000 US gallons – or if you used 10 gallons a week, enough for 28 years). It was a scorching hot 100 degrees F at 7 pm when I finished loading at Suncor’s distribution center in Toronto and pulled out of the loading racks. The sun was just starting to lower itself in the sky on this July 1 Canada Day weekend. Standing in the air conditioned driver’s room signing my bills of lading fresh off the printer, I contemplated my log hours. I could see the heat waves rolling off the tanker outside the window, and unseen, the 58,000 liters of gas inside. I had lots of fuel aboard so I didn’t have to stop for that on the way to Ottawa but I would need coffee and cigarettes and a sandwich about the half way mark – perhaps Kingston. The service plaza off the 401 just before Kingston had all that and was easy to access with the truck.
I swung up into the cab and noticed the A/C was starting to cool the air after being parked for an hour loading. Updating my log book, filling out paperwork and filing load sheets, I then pulled to the exit gate and waited for it to open, spitting my truck and me out onto the mean city streets. Winding the truck through the street lights and intersections, I eventually turned onto the Eastbound 401 highway entrance ramp. Accelerating up to the speed limit, I engaged the cruise control and relaxed in the air ride captain’s chair. The next time I slowed would be to stop for a break and a coffee at the Kingston service plaza three hours from now. The huge Super B was at its best in this world – moving 100,000pounds of gas along at 60 mph smoothly and steadily. Inertia was its best friend. I was along for the ride, just making sure nothing got in the truck’s way. The Jake Brake- an engine brake on large diesels- was even keyed into the cruise, making sure that the weight didn’t push the speed too high running off the hills.
Would you like another cuppa? Perhaps a sweet or two? So, three hours later the service plaza exit signs came into sight in the dark. 10:15 pm now and traffic was horrendous. Even out here on the big road (trucker slang for multi-lane divided highways) all three eastbound lanes were solid with traffic –although it was still moving at speed. The service plaza had a separate area for tractor-trailers in the rear and I took the ramp leading me down. There were only a handful of trucks parked in an area that could easily accommodate 100 tractor-trailers- it being a long holiday weekend. As I glanced over at the car fueling area, it looked unusual – taped off with barricades and lines of cars. Snapping on the parking brakes, I left the truck running for the A/C and stepped out, locking it up behind me. The air was still sizzling at over 90 F as I hurried to the convenience store in the center block of the fuel islands. Here there were sandwiches to go and cigarettes and drinks. A crowd surrounded the cashiers and I could hear loud and angry voices. Keeping one ear peeled, I poured myself a large coffee and picked up two wrapped chicken sandwiches to go and made my way to the cashier for smokes and to pay. One cash was open and running through non-gas purchases. I could hear the conversations at the other cashes: “I’m sorry but our computers are down and we can’t pump any gas.” Angrily: “What the hell am I supposed to do with no gas?!” “I’m sorry sir, we are having them fixed as fast as possible but it may be tomorrow before we can pump any gas.” “I don’t have enough to get into Kingston, what the hell do you expect me to do?!” Yikes, the busiest day of the year on Canada’s busiest highway on a holiday and their fuel pumps were down? Wow, sure was glad that I wasn’t that station manager. I glanced out the store windows and realized there were literally hundreds of cars outside waiting. Well, time for me to skedaddle.
As I started for the door, my attention was caught by a young woman who had pushed her way through to the front of the crowd. I paused for a minute to see what she was going to say and after she had been told there was no gas she asked if any Kingston stations could bring some out to her as she was almost out. The manager told her they had tried that earlier but because it was a holiday none of the in-town stations could spare anyone to come out. She looked crushed and tears welled in her eyes. She asked what she should do and the manager just shrugged – the crowd ignored her. She turned dejectedly with wet cheeks and walked slowly out the door. No one paid her any attention and my heart went out to her, so I followed at a discrete distance to see if she was with anyone. Had she been with a group or even another person, I would just go about my business. If she was alone, I didn’t know what I was going to do but I couldn’t leave her stranded here in this crowd all by herself. She opened the door on a compact older Toyota that was clean but had obviously seen some years of life. Once I saw she had no one to help her, I approached.
“Hi there. I’m Paul. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation in the store. You’re short of gas?” Not sure what to make of this she replied simply: “Yes, I’m almost out and I don’t have enough to get into Kingston (about 20 miles) to get more.” As she spoke she was wringing her hands with nervousness. “I can give you enough gas so you can get into the city for more.” I had no idea I was going to say that until it came out of my mouth – apparently I had a plan but had not informed myself. Her eyes lit up and she said loudly with excitement: “You can?” “Shhh! It would not be good if anyone overhears us.” “Oh, sorry,” she whispered. Ha! I hadn’t really meant to come across as so conspiratorial, just for her to keep her voice down. “Look there is an emergency cross over into the truck parking right there,” as I pointed, “Take that and you’ll see a tanker truck parked halfway down. Pull up in front of the truck so the headlights are pointing at the side of your car with the fuel tank. I’ll meet you there.”
The truck area was not well lit and I found myself thinking how brave she was to park in the dark where there was little help. By the time I had walked over she had parked as requested and I unlocked the idling truck, turning on the headlights. There were a few other trucks between us and the car area, so we were not visible to anyone else in the service plaza – thank God. I unscrewed her gas cap and looked inside with my flashlight – sure enough there was a spring loaded safety flap inside the neck of the fill pipe. I told her to stay beside her car while I opened the truck valve compartment and the storage compartment. I pulled out a new large red safety cone that had a hole in the small end – it would do for a funnel.. Putting on gloves I grabbed one of the 5 gallon steel drip pails we used under the valves when delivering, and filled it ¾ with high test gas – if I was going to give away gas, it might as well be the best. That would give her about 4 gallons of gas, plenty to get to town. Bringing the pail, a ground strap, a drip cloth, a new pair of gloves and the safety cone, I walked over to her car. I had also grabbed a big wire tie we used to secure connections when pumping. I stuck the wire tie in the tank neck to hold the safety open, placed the drip cloth on the ground and set the pail down while I clipped the ground strap (to stop any static sparks from igniting the gas when pouring it) to her car and the pail. Getting her to put on the gloves, I instructed her to hold the safety cone like a funnel, and I slowly poured the gas into her car. When we were done, we checked her gas gauge, which now showed ¼ full, removed the wire tie, replaced her gas cap, wiped the few drops from her car with the drip cloth and threw the equipment back into my storage compartment. She was quite amazed and asked how much she owed me. I told her it was free – I just asked that in the future if she found someone who could use help and she felt safe helping them that I would ask her to pay it forward. She commented that I could make a fortune here at this service plaza tonight – I told her to keep quiet, I could just envision a mob. And so we parted ways and I continued on to Ottawa not ever even having known her name or where she was going. As I drove I worried. Basically, I had stolen product from our customer – the gas was not mine to give away. Regardless of the reason or use, it was still stealing and I do not like that. Pondering this for the remaining three hour drive to Ottawa, I came up with a solution. When I pulled into the station to which I was delivering, it was 1:30 am and the site was open but with no customers. I grabbed the drip pail and ground strap and went over to the high test pump. I put the same amount of fuel into the pail from a pump and then went inside the station. I explained to the manager what I had done and told him I wanted to pay for the gas with my debit card, which I did, keeping the receipt. Then I took the pail of gas back over to the station’s fill pipes where I was delivering their gas, and again using the safety cone as a funnel, poured the gas I had paid for back into their storage tank. This effectively paid for the gas I had given the young woman in Kingston. I felt much better.
Finishing up the delivery I returned to the terminal and closed off my shift. After the holiday I was off for three days and I dropped by the office to see terminal manager. I explained what had happened and that I couldn’t leave the young woman stranded and how I had paid for the gas I had given her in the parking lot. I showed him the receipt. My biggest concern was that someone may have seen us and thought I was stealing gas and giving it to friends. I assured my boss that was not the case. It was the only time I had ever done this. He just nodded – I could tell he was split in that it was dangerous to take a few gallons from a tanker (it is called splash loading and is illegal here – because the gas coming from the valve splashes into the gas already in the pail and creates static and potentially an explosion). On the other hand he had a young wife and sisters who were often getting into problems like running out of gas and he appreciated the fact that I helped such a person. He just thanked me for telling him and left it at that –no official positive reinforcement for stealing and breaking the rules but no remonstration for stealing and breaking the rules either. It was as I expected, which was fine.
Epilogue: Two months later I received a letter in my company mail – it congratulated me on being chosen the Sunoco driver of the month and said I could pickup my leather jacket and gift certificates from the manager. No reason was ever given for my selection. On that note, that’s about all we have room for this week, so it’s time to settle in with another cuppa and enjoy the garden. Sweets anyone? I hope you didn’t mind the story today, and that you found it a bit more positive than last week’s story. Please join me in thanking Willow for her invitation to tea. We are all happy that Willow is back and honored that you all dropped by today to visit. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and the conversation and please look around at Willow’s other posts while you’re here. Willow is over there serving her guests and chatting it up. Let’s go see how she is today. Have a great week. We look forward to seeing you back here for sweets and beverages of your choice again next week.
Welcome everyone this week is a little different we are having coffee today somewhere in France. Don’t worry everything is as it always is with tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would ask you what has been going on in your world this week, has anything deeply affected you, have you need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on or just needed someone to make you laugh! If yes feel free to talk it out here with us. We will all help if we can.
Lets join everyone here and all the other “IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEES”
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
If we were having coffee: You can either sit inside this beautifully converted barn, it is so comfortable and beautifully equipped or we can sit outside in the huge garden with wonderful views of the countryside, so verdant and lush, or again you can sit on the farmyard side and see the farm buildings and the orchard, the chickens and the Dove Cote which dates from 1539 there has been a working farm here ever since that date when Francis 1st of France was on the throne and Henry V111 was on the throne of England. In fact they met in France and the event was so colourful with each king showing how rich he was that it was called The Field of Cloth of Gold .
If we were having coffee: I would tell you that we have just come in from a wonderful four mile walk, from the farm through fields some crops and some with cows in to a wonderful forest and it was a real forest not a wood or a copse. There were signs up saying beware traps ( signs in french) and we had to walk through a gate in an electric fence.
View from a picnic table of the lake.
There are deer in the forest , sadly we did not see any …mind you they are big and the males have huge antlers… and they are very nervous ! Well we almost got lost but eventually we found a lake and we sat for a while and took in the view. Then we wandered back and when we got back we had tea coffee and cake of course!
If we were having coffee: Last week we were in Normandy and the weather was amazing we went out every day visiting Cathedrals and towns and villages and some wonderful Botanical Gardens. I lost my phone, I had placed it on the boot of the car ( the trunk if you are an American) and then jumped in the car forgetting about the phone…… bye bye phone. I did not realize until we got back to where we were staying that it had gone… so we had to ring up and block the phone and have the sim killed!! Hassle but it had to be done! Hence my poem about the Lost phone.
Here are some photos of our trip so far.
Botanical SurprisesFlowers by a gate
Evening lakeEarly morning farmView from the window above the sink
If we were having Coffee: I have to say now that after 4hrs travelling across France in at points torrential rain and the walk this morning I am exhausted and need a rest so I shall love you and leave you all to enjoy I am putting my feet up now and taking in the view so come and join me or wander over to see Paul who is over at Mark Bialczak in Syracuse this week and all this month. Let us see what they are all discussing ! It has been lovely as always to have you all here and I hope, as does Paul that you will all join us here and at Mark Bialczak ‘s again next week.
Hello everyone welcome to the garden we have a marquee and heaters, all the garden furniture has been washed and I have put out cushions for your comfort.
Well what do you think shall we chance it . Now as always we have tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would ask you what has been going on in your world this week, has anything deeply affected you, have you need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on or just needed someone to make you laugh! If yes feel free to talk it out here with us. We will all help if we can.
Lets join everyone here and all the other “IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEES”
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
If we were having coffee: I would say it has been a very busy week Monday and Tuesday we were away at a music festival with friends followed by a visit to a house owned by the Rothchild’s, two lovely days indeed even though the weather on the Bank Holiday Monday was awful…… it did not stop raining we still have lots of fun!!
The rest of the week has been a busy blur too!
The Newbie has been away with his mum, dad and maternal grandparents, and by all reports he has had a wonderful time. He has been very happy, he loved digging at the beach, having dad chase him around the airport. I am very proud to say that he behaved very well on the plane journey out and the return home too! Partly I suspect that Dad wore him out before both flights!
Well now if we were having coffee : I will be asking you about now, if you would like another drink or some cake, or sweets as Paul calls them.
If we were having coffee: I would be congratulating Deborah at Container Chronicles who is celebrating the birth of her new Grandson Jack! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! for Deborah!
Come on Sheri I am waiting for a chat and to see what delights you have brought for us this week!
Now don’t forget that Paul my usual guest “If we were having Coffee” poster is over over at the Itty Bitty in Syracuse with Mark, Karen and Ellie B, shall we go and see what they are up to?
You can all breath easy as I have not got time or the wear with all to share any garden news this month , yes I can hear you all sighing a sigh of relief! Just incase any of you are suffering withdrawal effects here is a piccy just for you!
Okay relax I am only joking! But joking aside I have to be off now so:
If we were having coffee : I would ask if I can fill up your cup, or glass or get you anything else to eat it is all calorie free!
Let us go and Join Paul and the gang they are all over at Mark Bialczak this week and all this month. Let us see what they are all discussing ! It has been lovely as always to have you all here and I hope, as does Paul that you will all join us here and at Mark Bialczak ‘s again next week.
Hello everyone welcome to the garden we have a marquee and heaters, all the garden furniture has been washed and I have put out cushions for your comfort.
Well what do you think shall we chance it . Now as always we have tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would ask you what has been going on in your world this week, has anything deeply affected you, have you need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on or just needed someone to make you laugh! If yes feel free to talk it out here with us. We will all help if we can.
Lets join everyone here and all the other “IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEES”
Join in !
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
self harm
If we were having coffee : I would have to admit that I have been preoccupied with the plight of my friend’s daughter who has been in and out of a psychiatric unit like a yoyo in the past fortnight. It has been a roller coaster for my friend, her other daughter and for the husband and myself. Trips to and from the unit, not being allowed to see the patient or even call without express permission from the patient . Even my friend could not get any information about her daughter unless she had allowed it first.
My friend has two daughters both beautiful bright young women and I have known them since they were little girls of about 6yrs and 8yrs repectively. So it has been a an awful and deep shock to see the younger daughter now 21yrs fall apart, in what looks like a fortnight. It was even worse for her mum who also had no idea there were any problems.
The sad facts are that she has been suffering for a long time, she has been self harming and covering her misery for ages. None of us knew none of us had any idea.
If we were having coffee : I would tell you that I have had my second eldest sister on my mind too. She has been in hospital since 24th April , she went in to have a heart operation, a double bypass and double valve replacement . Well since then she has developed an infection in the wound in her leg from where they took the veins use in the operation and somehow she has a bone infection in her chest, there has been a long catalogue of setbacks that have befallen her but the fact remains she is still very unwell and any prayers you may have to say for her would be appreciated.
If we were having coffee : I would ask if you would like more tea, coffee and cake? We have plenty and all is calorie free!
If we were having coffee : I feel I should lighten the tone of this post so lets see? Monday the husband and I went into town to do some shopping ( clothes shopping ) well we parked a 15min walk from the shops. Not a problem it was a warm day ….. well we only had 2hr parking so half an hour would be walking to and from the shops, leaving an hour and a half to pick, try on and pay for the goods. We accomplished that …. rather rushed but done. On the way back to the car the heavens opened up and boy did it rain. We got soaked to the skin!
Tuesday back at the gym then housework , ironing and trip to hospital with my friend , mentioned above. She and her daughter stayed for dinner.
Wednesday Core Lesson at the gym, then take friend’s daughter back to hospital, in the afternoon I met my gym buddy for a coffee and a chat, we arranged to go into town the next day ….. so I could change most of the clothes I had so hastily bought on the Monday!
Thursday after the gym my buddy and I caught the bus into town and took our time I changed my hastily picked goods for more suitable and better fitting ones, she also bought some tops and three pairs of shoes. Then it started to rain and we got soaked …. for me again! We went and had a cuppa and a cake in a department store, by then we had dried out and so had the weather so we carried on to the Apple store where my friend had some queries to sort out! After which we caught the bus home.
Soaked twice in one week, not very fair! So Friday I had the new drive again to the Pilates class, which I found with no problem at all I did not get even slightly lost in either direction and really enjoyed the class. Busy afternoon and evening.
Today was special because the Newbie and his Daddy came for lunch and we had a lovely time with lots of giggling and fun!!
If we were having coffee : I wowuld say it is time for garden round up!
Toms
More toms
Green beans
Yet more toms
and now for from veg to flowers!
HoneysuckleLollypop Holly BushWhite RoseRed hot PokersView through the Fuscias
Okay well that is about all there is time for this week so
If we were having coffee : I would ask if I can fill up your cup, or glass or get you anything else to eat it is all calorie free!
Let us go and Join Paul and the gang and see what they are all discussing this week! It has been lovely as always to have you all here and I hope, as does Paul that you will all join us here again next week.
Hello everyone welcome to the garden we have a marquee and heaters, all the garden furniture has been washed and I have put out cushions for your comfort.
Well what do you think shall we chance it . Now as always we have tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.
If we were having Coffee: I would ask you what has been going on in your world this week, has anything deeply affected you, have you need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on or just needed someone to make you laugh! If yes feel free to talk it out here with us. We will all help if we can.
Lets join everyone here and all the other “IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEES”
Join in !
If we were having Coffee: I would remind you that there are lots of other coffee mornings all shared and organized By Diana and Gene’O over at,Part time monster
Well you will have to excuse me if I am dashing around and out of breath! So lets sit down here in the easy chairs! I have been busy again this week and to be honest it all seem a bit of a blurrrrrrrr!! Monday was housework, gym, more housework and I had to escape early evening and just go for a walk ! It was a lovely evening and I just wandered the long way around the local area and surveyed gardens and fileds!
Table chair and treesit a while
If we were having Coffee: Tuesday the hubby and I were invited over to his Mum’s and we also picked up my honourary sister ( ex sister in law and great friend since I was thirteen ) and her grandaughter on the way over. This is one of the mother in laws great great gandchildren, she also has great, great, great, grandchildren!! Well she is 95yrs….. when the Newbie arrived she was pleased but not as enthusiastic as I was. She informed me she was used to it as she had so many!……
Well we all had a lovely day I was surpised it was warm and sunny and we had a pizza and salad lunch followed by strawberries, meringues and cream! We played a game where we had a name put on our forhead and we asked questions untill we worked out who we were! I was Queen Victoria.
If we were having Coffee: The sunflowers I bought last Saturday are looking amazing! they are adorning the conservatory right now, so far they have been in the kitchen and the living room. Travelling sunshine, a movable feast. Friday the husband was up in London all day out for lunch with other retired collegues of his. I dropped him off to catch his bus then set off on a magical mystery tour! My Pilates teacher has moved fro my local gym to another one ( same chain) but not to far. It was somewhere I had never had reason to vist so it was a bit of an adventure! The hubby had been over the route with me but I did manage to get lost twice!! ( on ,off then on again the motorway!!) but that said I just kept calm and did not panic and I found it in the end!!
The lessen was great and I drove home feeling relaxed and fit!
If we were having Coffee: Our middle son is on holiday abroad with friends right now and even though he is a grown man of 40yrs I was uneasy until he rang to say he had arrived! …you never let them go as my friend at socialbridge will attest in her lovely blog here
Would you like more tea or coffee or some cake? do help yourselves it is all calorie free!
Guess what sheridegrom – From the literary and legislative trenches ( well worth a visit) is here and has offered to make a homemade batch of chocolate scones (the old fashioned way) and bring along a couple of her favorite US wines. Now isn’t that kind, thanks Sheri!
If we were having coffee : I would ask Tangental what he thought of the cricket and did he enjoy it or did he blink!! We actually thrashed the Australians and boy are they upset! read here! and here Rejoice Geoffle!!
I would also say HI! to MarkBialczak do vist his blog he has been enchanting us with his blogs of family reunions! ….See Mark today I have mentioned more of the family than just the Newbie!! 🙂
We have dinner guest arriving soon so please enjoy yourselves stay as long as you like, come in and join us if you would like there is plenty for all! But for now I must away and do some final touches! Paul’s blog will be up tomorrow I promise!
If we were having coffee : I would ask if I can fill up your cup, or glass or get you anything else to eat it is all calorie free!
I do hope you have not found my idle chitter chatter to boring but as I said Paul’s blog is very thought provking again this week! So with that said I must love you and leave you !
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If we were having Coffee: I would ask you what has been going on in your world this week, has anything deeply affected you, have you need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on or just needed someone to make you laugh! If yes feel free to talk it out here with us. We will all help if we can.
![IMG_20150911_134055692 [104437]](https://willowdot21.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_20150911_134055692-104437.jpg)
![IMG_20150911_134250633 [104438]](https://willowdot21.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_20150911_134250633-104438.jpg)
![IMG_20150831_120148186 [233440]](https://willowdot21.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_20150831_120148186-233440.jpg)
Tuesday back at the gym then housework , ironing and trip to hospital with my friend , mentioned above. She and her daughter stayed for dinner.
willowdot21 
