Two weeks of widowhood.

Losing a partner
1726

7 pairs of scissors in the kitchen and at least another 7 in the sewing room and more in the shower room and bathroom too. Plus similar numbers in France I’d think! Hm - how many actually still cut anything? Must be 75 pens and pencils!

Lizzy, I’m going to be selling Mary’s sewing machines and all her huge quantity of parts she had for them. If it fitted her machines, she’d have one (or two) - Mrs Gadget! It’ll be hard but it has to happen. And I do, and still will use a butter knife when w - I - have guests. Good luck with the painting. If it’s not shown online that maybe because it’s not known about. So make sure you check. I’ve a couple of things like that. One by a fairly famous artist, which isn’t mentioned anywhere and one by another who I’m trying to find out about. Most of the art in my house are done by my dad - quite a well known artist in East Anglia and Sussex. He taught Vera Lynn to paint!

Debsie, we always labelled everything we put in the freezer, and logged it on a shopping app. I need to update the list as it’s not been updated since November but it does help to know what’s there!

Kt, Mary felt the GP must be saying “oh no, here comes that woman again” she was there so often. But she was actually thought of quite highly and the GP was most complementary to me about how much he liked her. He said the same about her to my daughter as well. So don’t worry about what you feel, it’s probably just you thinking that.

Now come on Kt - I’m married to Mrs Gadget! I’ve a soup maker in both houses, two air fryers in each, two Instant Pots in each, Kenwood mixers with attachments in both, and enough herbs and spices to start a shop as well. I REALLY don’t need any more gadgets - just to learn how to actually use them! :rofl: :rofl: Thanks for the info about the Mozzarella - I’ll do that next time. In France I have to not only label everything in the freezer, but use vacuum bags on everything before coming home. That’s in case the power goes off and I lose the lot. I don’t want any more freezers to have to clean out!

Thank you all for your encouragement about grave visiting. It was really helpful and I will change things based on what you’ve said - this week. In fact today!

Much love to you all. Nigel xxx

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1727

@KtG
Are you on blood thinners? They always seem to cause bruising for no obvious reason.

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1728

That’s very true Sarie. I’d forgotten that I now bruise very easily since I was put on that after a TIA!

Nigel xxx

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Ktg, Honestly GPs are getting worse, when I was going through treatment the hospital told me not to go to my GP, I had to call my consultant. The treatment I got was first class, I couldn’t complain about the NHS. The last time I got a phone appointment, with the GP was a waste of time, I suffered with a swollen hand and I was out in a rash. What on earth was he going to do over the phone. Eventually after my 10 minutes were up, he said I think I have to see you, can you come down to the surgery. He took one look at my hand and said he is putting an urgent referral to see the rheumatologist that I’m a patient of. He thought the two things were linked. I was put on steroids. My husband had a physiotherapy appointment over the phone, honestly what a joke, she couldn’t help him and referred him back to his GP.
Well I had to change my plans today, I needed to go into the man cave to find a Stanley knife and look for sealant to try and fix my leaky sink. Well, I counted 12 tubes of the stuff, all the same, what on earth did he need that amount for?. Took a while to figure out how to fix the gun onto them, not sure if I did it right but managed to get some round the pipe. Will check it later. Filled 2 bags to go to dump, put them in my car then went back into man cave to find a hammer to put my clock back on wall. I took a wee dizzy spell so decided not to go up in loft this afternoon. Think I maybe bent down and got up too quickly. Decided to paint instead, did skirting and back door and radiator. Pleased with my efforts, it really did need it. While I have the paint out I’m going to do two cupboards in the hall as I think they could do with being spruced up. Having a coffee break then will start. It’s too cold and also pouring outside, will wait till my car is full before I go to the dump. I found a grout reviver, so going to try and spruce my tiles in kitchen. Looked at my landline phone today, not had a call for weeks on it. It’s not working, doesn’t seem to be charging. But strange thing is it keeps flashing and there are no messages on it. Strange one ?.Sink must be fixed, this is the next thing that’s broken. I don’t use it so not too bothered, it’s only doctors that seem to use it and my husbands friend, I won’t be bothering about him either. Will get these doors done and that might do me for today.
Good on you for going back to your old house and getting stuff done. Soup makers are great, so easy to use.

Nigel, can you beat 12 tubes of silicon sealant, also in same container were gorilla stuff and hard as nails, maybe about 5 of them, and quite a few other things in it. I dumped the ones that were open but most were new.

Coffee finished, back to work again. I wonder if I could get away with just doing the outside of these cupboards, no one will open the doors :thinking: (I hope) xxx

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1730

Sounds like you’ve done well Lizzy. I hope the leak is fixed OK. No I can’t beat 12 tubes of silicone sealant, at least not here - maybe in France? Probably right to dump the open ones, as they dry out if they’re not used for a while. At the moment I’ve got phones, iPads, laptops and kindles all over the place. It looks like a drug dealers den! And they all work too. I can’t really do anything with them until I’ve taken off anything important - job for boring evenings in France I think.

Nigel xxx

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Nigel, I’m finished for the night, these doors were torture, we had planned renewing them, it was next thing on our list, they are 1970s Louvre doors. Finished the big double one in hallway but have another small one in there as well. Couldn’t face it. First on the list tomorrow. My husbands phone was newer than mine, I will probably use it in the future. His iPad I will keep as a spare, can’t understand why this phone not working, it keeps flashing but nothing coming on the screen and answer machine still working. Phone ringing if I phone it but can’t answer on it or dial from it. Changed the batteries in case it was that, didn’t even know they had batteries in it. It’s fairly new but I bet it’s just out of guarantee. I definitely have gremlins in my house, too many things going wrong. :thinking:

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1732

Oh Lizzy - Louvre doors are so hard to do. Bet it looks good though? Definitely time for a rest now Lizzy. I hope you get your phone sorted. Strange it’s not working. I’ve checked and I bought the two last phones and iPads, when I retired, so they actually belong to me and I don’t have to account for them in the estate. Same with the laptops too.

I didn’t go to the grave today! And don’t feel guilty either. Result. I’m really busy on Wednesday so may go tomorrow then Thursday or Friday this week.

Just about to cook some turkey mince - a 750 gm slab - to make some Mexican Quesadillas. It’s meant to be beef but there wasn’t any in the freezer. That’s enough meat for about 6 meals, so it’s getting frozen in small batches once it’s seasoned and cooked. It turned out OK last time so know it’ll be ok.

Hope you have a good evening and sleep well.

Much love, Nigel xxx

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Nigel, it’s great you are cooking lovely meals, sounds great.
I think I’ve found out what’s wrong with the phone, I googled a troubleshooting page and I think it is the batteries, I did change them but then read it has to be rechargeable ones. I have no idea if we have anything to recharge them I put them in a battery checker and they were dead. Ordered some off Amazon so will find out if it works when they arrive. I wonder what will go wrong tomorrow ? Take care xxx

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1734

Boiling some chicken quarters for The Beast and the overflow of chicken fat caught fire on the cooktop early this am. Great way to start the week, hope it is not a omen of things to come. All’s well, it went out when I turned the burner off.

CPA has filed an extension for me and is coming to the house on Thursday afternoon! My tummy can stop cramping now. Whew!

Ha! I will bet that none of you had 31 fish filet knives in your collections. I did! I gave them out like candy at Halloween. I will never skin and filet a fish - ever. Eww.

Slept well, 6.5 hours and didn’t move an inch. For those of you tossing and turning, I would suggest a 4 inch foam mattress topper. Mine is fabulous and made our old mattress feel like a bit of Heaven on Earth. Even my husband remarked that he was sleeping better and not tossing around which of course, I noticed. My husband was a wild sleeper, always flailing his arms (got knocked in the head a few times) and legs constantly moving, well at least every 10 seconds - I counted. It was hard for me to get to sleep with all that movement going on but after the new topper - zzzzz. Get one.

Sometime this week I will get the SUV jump started and drive it to the shop. Just need to arrange a ride home.

Marnee, you are putting me to shame with all that cooking.

My slow cooker, air fryer, and soup maker are all one in the same - a stainless steel pot. I’ve never found a gadget that made cooking easier, or my food taste better. If they come up with one, I will surely get it.

My sweet and dear friend left a gift on my porch this am. It is a tennis ball shooter! The Beast and I will be having a good time on the Bayou tonight.

‘Goodbye, Joe,
Me gotta go,
Me-o, my-o,
Me gotta go on a pirogue
down the bayou.’

Little Cajun song for your day.

Feeling hopeful again.

Love

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My witness is coming tomorrow afternoon! I will be ready to file the succession and be on my way to the courthouse by 1:30p.

Fingers crossed that there will be a judge in the building please.

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I really do enjoy cooking Lizzy, as long as it’s not too complex. I’ve got to eat, so I may as well do something that I like doing at the same time. I must get to learn these gadgets of Mary’s though. I’m sure they’re not that difficult! All the kids have got the Instant pots and they use them all the time. Can’t be beaten by my kids! Maybe I can do some slow cooking in France so that it’s cooked when I’ve done with DIY for the day?

Hope you sort out the charger for the phone - and it works OK!

With love, Nigel xxx

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KtG you could have a point there cot sides would maybe be the answer, if that wasn’t just a one off :rofl:

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Peaches - you need to be careful, please, you could have had serious burns, or worse, set the house on fire! Glad nothing serious did happen.

At last - things are beginning to move for you -
Here comes the judge,
here comes the judge,
everyone knows that
he is the judge.

That mattress topper sounds good - but do I need yet more bedding? AAARRRGGGHHH Nooooo!

I had some bad dreams a while ago and ended up punching Mary several times - she was not amused!

I did laugh at your three items in one! An instant pot is about 12 I think!

Tomorrow night’s choice is either Chicken Katsu Curry or Crispy Chilli Beef. Not sure which one yet, but if it’s beef I need to go shopping - so depends on the weather.

Hope you’re still in one piece after the games with ‘The Beast’!

Take care - with love. Nigel xxx

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KtG funny you mentioned a soup maker I was looking at one online yesterday and wondered about buying one, but also wondered if it would be another thing to stick in a cupboard and never use again !

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This is what it looked like. Filled with Turkey mince, onions, tomatoes, black beans and cheese. With guacamole and spicy BBQ soured cream dipping sauce. Dead easy!

IMG_3195
IMG_31953986×2715 2.73 MB

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Georgi, Mary used hers fairly often, the benefit is that it’s all done in one pot, so a cream soup or a thick chunky one is decided by the settings. No additional liquidiser or cooking pots needed as they’re all part of the unit and integral. Downside - takes a bit of cleaning I think - and for me everything should be able to go in the dishwasher! Is it worth it for one? Only if you batch cook and freeze it I think.

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Nigel you don’t think I should get one then ?
Guess I have made it in a big soup pot all my married life why change now xx

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Peaches would you believe I do have a thick mattress topper lol xxx

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Wow, you all seem to be cooks. Cheese omelette and chips for me tonight. I’m out tomorrow but plan on beans on toast for Wednesday. I can’t be bothered with the faff. I love baking but since the children left home I rarely bothered for just us two.

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Peaches, you win on the knives, I only have one, it was my husbands pride and joy. Good luck for tomorrow, I honestly can’t imagine mine all getting completed, it worries me everyday.

Nigel, my slow cooker is my fave gadget in our apartment in Turkey, we put it on in the morning and it’s all done by the time we get home at night. It’s too hot to cook so it’s ideal.
I used to love cooking, . When I was out with the family on Saturday, my brother and sister in laws kept telling me they missed my cooking, especially the sweets I made. It was so nice catching up with them. I found it hard cooking for my family in December, I did get a bit of help serving and tidying up but it just wasn’t the same. I hope one day I will enjoy cooking again but for now it’s just a chore, I’m eating to exist. I didn’t do too bad tonight, took a small portion of beef casserole out the freezer and actually enjoyed it. I’m almost out of biscuits again, I need to do a shop soon. Almost bedtime again, I hope it’s not another long night, maybe when I move I will get a topper like Peaches. Take care everyone xxx

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