Quick Update.

 Just to reassure everyone me included Ian arrived early afternoon and took everything out of the top of the airing cupboard and cleaned out the pump and we now have heating and hot water, Thank you Ian. as usual he opened a bottle for me as my wrists are a bit weaker now, his first words were which bottle wants opening as I always get workmen, grandson or anyone else whos about to do the honors. This time I also got him to hang my kitchen clock up  after it had had the hour put back by me.

Oh and we  did have dumplings with the second casserole so I warmed up nicely!! 

Went to get Poppy in the other day and discovered another black cat sitting in my bottom garden border, Poppy was sitting by the back door waiting for me to do something. I don't think either knew what to do but I did, I  shouted shoo and clapped my hands and it shot up the fence and disappeared, since then she peers out of the garden door to check if everything is ok  and so do I***

Time to close the blinds on this wet horrible day. Bye

 A Bit of a Week

This week we had two birthdays and a visit to Gosport plus all my usual things like a morning with my best friend  Pat who doesn't get out much now my Zumba class which as usual was great fun plus a birthday meal cooked by my grandson for both the birthdays girls Faye and Libby, more presents to find!!

Early Saturday morning(6 am) it's very early for me I got up to find NO heating or hot water, Oh Oh Oh . couldn't do anything about it as we left before 8am to go to Gosport . The journey was fairly smooth and we made it from Suffolk in 3 hours. where we found not only Sharon Dave and the children but a new member had arrived the previous day a Maltese terrier only 9 weeks old and just like a toy puppy dog, His name is Gordon and we all had lots of cuddles After a walk to The Range to buy him some toys etc. we all had a lovely family day Sharon had made homemade soup for lunch and we all had afternoon tea as a late birthday tea, both Dawn and Sharon were born in August (but not the same year !!) Sharon had found a tiered cake stand in the shape of a Dalek Dawn is a massive Dr. Who  fan and grandson Charlie had put it together. It really finished our day off . It was raining heavily all way home in the dark with puddles on the A3 M25 & the A12 creating aquaplaning hazards, I was so pleased that it was Dawn driving not me. Of course no heating and no hot water awaited us so Poppie and I sat near my gas fire wrapped up with a hot water bottle, hot chocolate and Dreamies to finish what had been a lovely day.

Sunday we did a bit in the garden a couple of loads of washing and drying and watched football on tv after I had a half an hour walk. I had made a turkey casserole in my slow cooker and added dumplings to it to warm me up haven't had dumplings for several years and they hit the spot  How one misses central heating when you haven't got it.

I am expecting the heating engineer today   and will have the rest of the casserole for my main meal , Shall I have dumpling again, I'll let you know  xx

It,s Friday again.

 This week seems like all the other weeks with not that much happening. I like to get out most days except at the weekend as there are more people about and I can go everywhere during the week when it is quieter. On Monday I drove to Felixstowe and went to the Seamens mission on the docks with knitted hats which I do when watching  TV. I had quite a lot as this is the first time I have been since lockdown started. then I drove to the Viewing Area where you can see ships in the dock and also Harwich and Shotley on the other banks, No pictures as I have not yet mastered getting them onto the blog!! I treated myself to a hot chocolate and cheese on toast as an early lunch and it was lovely . The cafe was spread out well and several people were out on the verandah with their food. Dogs are allowed there so it is usually popular. I then parked by the prom and walked along a calm sea front with quite a few people doing the same thing. The amusements and machines were open on the pier but the thought of all those people plus several children running about yelling put me off. No chance of social distancing so I walked about half an hour back to the car. Popped into Lidle as I hadn't been in one for months and picked up a few things then went home where  Poppy & I had a quiet session reading the local paper. Wednesday was Zumba afternoon and a trip to the library and today I have been getting stuff for Christmas presents as my daughter D is taking me next week for  a days visit to my daughter S in Gosport whom I Have not seen since the summer and if we get locked in again we might not see her before Christmas. I am going to spend the weekend wrapping the parcels,  planting pansies in my front garden pots, will have to sneak out while Poppy is snoozing as she isn't used to the front yet and watching ITFC live on my computer on Saturday afternoon.

Think I need a coffee now so goodbye from Poppy and Me

Food

  We both seem to be obsessed by food this week, I have put on some weight during lockdown so have made the hard decision to try and lose some weight, Meals are fine except for Thursday when a friend brings me pensioner s special fish and chips at lunchtime, I am going to find that very difficult to give up so have decided to work round that if I can!!! Evenings are the worst as I crave chocolate and crisps neither of which I had for the last 2 years when I lost quite a lot of weight, I was proud of myself for doing that and must not let that fat get back on or I will have to buy bigger clothes, No No No. 

Poppy is playing up over her food, she ate Whiskers and biscuits when she arrived but during the last week has licked off the jelly on the wet food but not eaten the meat. She is still eating the biscuit and wants to eat especially if I give her some of my food (I know I should not feed her ) She is fine in herself and goes out on her own now, loves her treats but I wonder if she is getting hooked on them just as I an with chocolate !!  I might try cat soup but it is expensive Any suggestions please?

progress

 I don't know why I took a long time blocking up all the exits from the garden as Poppy discovered the quickest way out was to climb the side gate , hop onto the conservatory roof and disappear on the bungalow roof !! I was scared she would not come back so I stayed in the garden, did a bit of cutting back and then sat with a coffee and my book, She strolled back about 20 mins later and accepted a Dreamie for being a good girl and coming home. We then went indoors and I breathed a sigh of relief. Since then she has gone out on her own with me leaving the conservatory door open for her and leaving her to it, she spends some time out and comes in and waits by the kitchen door to come in. We have had a lot of rain in Suffolk this last week and she's not keen on getting wet so comes in quite quickly. 

I have been very lazy this last week and apart from my Zumba class have not done much in the way of exercise or gardening(blame the rain again) so am determined to make this next week a bit more active. My fitbit watch went wrong but no excuses now as I was at my family meal last night and F reset it for me  It's so nice spending time with them all all 6 of us and we had a lovely evening playing board games with lots of laughing and a Chinese takeaway to celebrate my daughters early retirement. 

It' raining again today so now I am going to do yootube exercise Walk a mile in 15 mins, wish me luck 

Poppy is snoozing now   Goodbye