Val's Cafe

bosh

Hi Kathleen how was Christmas day? I’m not Too bad thanks family is doing okay at the moment my mum is recovering from her cataract surgery she’s feeling better now , I think the whole thing was a bit of a shock for her initially, seeing baby R and LA were a good medicine for her. Bye for now, Tc. Xx.

bosh

Hi Joan How are you and Sue? are having a nice Boxing day? I’m not too bad thanks same with the family I saw LA and his brother yesterday which was lovely mainly just relaxing at home today hope you are feeling more or less well? take care, Reshmi. Xx.

barbara12

Evening all

Sorry didn't get in yesterday ..we had a lovely day ..all family took test and we had dinner here made by our eldest son and gds

Toni I'm happy to year all went well for you Christmas day ..Paul home safe ..hiw lovely but also sad to be able to see P from your window seat bless her ..

Niamh came today she had Christmas day with mum ..xx

Joan yes Mr B the 10th..hopefully soon after that his op ..love to all of you xx

Kath you gave a good rest from the comp we are always here xx

Toady how lovely to hear from you ..don't you worry about searchng or Reading back ..just pop in whenever you feel like it xx

Mike I agree the TV has been worse than ever ..Vixen disappeared did she return for her salmon xx

Reshmi I had to laugh at you wishing dad would meet someone and gi off with them...I hear he did meet a nice Irish lady ..glad the family gathering went well feet up now xx

Love to all

Xxxxxx

toady

Hello again & thanks for the xmas welcome & kind words 😊 nice to see everyone - thank you frog, and Joan & Sue, I am doing ok, all things considered etc -

waves at Barbara - yes I found the font size, finally! -

& hello bosh. Glad to see Cuddles hasn't changed at all, phew! Lovely and warm she is too, on a horrid day like this. Not v festive is it, even if some places there is snow I believe.

I have actually brought contributions today unlike yesterday when I just came in on the scrounge. I notice that viewed on my phone the drinks emoji looks much more like a proper cup, frogmorton (on here, more like a bowl & plate) so that's better. (Then again my little birdie goes from red to blue, which is most unsettling.)

Anyway, tea! Over Christmas I had a stint of (over)buying lots of new tea & coffee for my cupboard, I get like that sometimes & go a bit shopping mad for something, so I have brought in plenty of everything and if you want a particular type of fancy tea I've probably got it haha. Also I offer up 'my' gluten free blueberry muffin recipe, one of the very few things I make, & so easy - it's just 100g caster sugar, 1 egg, 2tbsp yogurt (I use plain greek from Tesco), and 50g oil (about 54ml) & beat together well. then add 150g SR gluten free flour, stir in 100g blueberries & divide into 6 cases: 20-25 mins at 190. I sometimes make more smaller ones out of the same mix, anyway it's very tolerable even if you mess with the quantities slightly etc they always come out ok for me. I rewarm them as well.

Here is my winter flowering clematis (which I bought in Sept & should presumably be out somewhere by now but isn't) - it has kindly flowered for me indoors. 😍

bosh

Hi Barbara thanks for your nice message I’m glad you had a nice Christmas dinner made by your eldest son, where do you stand on sprouts by the way? Toni and I love them but I know that not everybody does, lol. Yes that was funny about my dad thanks, lol, yes it was nice to relax hope you had a relaxing one too take care have a nice night.xx

bosh

Hi again Toni I am okay thank you well considering that I’ve just had methotrexate that is, how are you? It was lovely To see the nephews thanks but LA was being very naughty at times and dad gave him a parsnip to eat first thing I’m not sure why and then he didn’t like it and put him off all the veg it seems he had too many Yorkshire pudding pieces and had a bit of a indigestion afterwards unfortunately but he’s okay now. Yes sprouts are great things indeed Toni I agree The boys are very loveable indeed but I’m glad in some ways I don’t have the job of looking after them full time. Yesterday was Bill‘s birthday as well so there was a chocolate cake situation but it was a small one which I declined in favour of sorbet and ice cream but it’s extremely rare I eat either of those things so it felt justified, lol. Dad made a bit of a situation on the way back I think he needs his eyes checked at the optician anyway we got there in the end it’s a whole thing I may have mentioned it before carsickness and dad’s arrogance but anyway at least we got back before late night time. Im glad you had an okay day 😄, SodaStream I remember those, my friend had one when I was at school no idea how it works though, lol. That’s So lovely that you can see P’s plot from your window, thought I’d mention LA has been learning Christmas carols, well he’s been making his own versions of them anyway, lol, The latest one is, “good tidies to you and your kids”, so maybe that means he’s going to clean his room? Or maybe that Means he’s going to continue making a mess, don’t mention cake by the way, LA says he loves it more than anything else sometimes that includes baby R, oh dear I’m sure he doesn’t mean that just give the boy some sprouts, Great mood enhancer and no need of sugar don’t you think Toni? That’s me signing off for now I need to try and get some sleep on this yucky methotrexate today, lol. Take care. Xx

frogmorton

Oh Poor poor Reshmi! My Dad used to make me travel sick too (paul did as well until he changed his van to automatic. There really isn't much worse and then MTX on top of that meaning feeling more queasy🤢 ((())) I am doing the mouth ulcers part well just two small ones so ok really. I hate being travel sick men eh? Present company excepted i am sure Mike was always a very considerate driver. Night driving (well in the dark it being dark at 4pm atm🙄) can be tricky but i think there are specs which can help.

If he takes his permanent trip across the chanel he'd better do it in daylight hours🤓

I have done something to my knee, Mr Google says it's 'runners knee' as it's on the side😂 I don't think so do you? Will stick some tubi-grip on to remind me to make no false moves. Good job BIL hasn't got it, runners knee, on top of his chronic sneeze-disease I mean he'd never be on his feet again! Your poor sister does sound as though she does the bulk of it all bless her no wonder she is exhausted. I suspect she still thinks it's worth it to see her boys' happy faces. How much does Baby R love Lord A? Bless him to call everyone by his name?🤗 Except of course Muuum!

I'm glad the emojis look normal to you since the upgrade to windows 11 they look more cartoony from here.

I think Lord A has better words for 'We wish you a merry Christmas'😁 That will be his own experience of life bless him. He'll never have heard of tididngs or kin will he?💜Kids are just sooooo entertaining!

How is your neck? Ok I hope you managed to keep up your physio in spite of all the visiting?

I am very lucky I have a window seat too so could sit there and see P even if it's raining or snowing. I must ask her daughter whether she'd like us to remove the funeral wreaths for her they are looking a bit tatty now sadly.

Morning Joan jumpers matching I suspect? Perfect as I would expect.👍️ Yes I can see P and chat to her if i want to too. Very good that they are going into people's house to jab them whatever it takes. Have a good day both of you ((())) xxx

Kitty Me duck if you come in did you enjoy seeing Roy? They only decent thing to happen on Coronation street for months seeing him!

and of course 'Call the Midwife' although that finished too soon and I love 'Death in Paradise'. I don't know whether I ever said we have been on that island? It was lovely. I do have photos somewhere....

Sending love and my cat over to see you. She is going to start watering your amaryllis soon....if you knew you had one???

Mike I hope all is well with you and the fluffy Vixen? The 'treat bell' I have got for my puss is starting to work - she can pop her paw forwards for a treat and sometimes touches the side of the bell. Mind when she gets the hang of it I will be called into the room for treats every five minutes 🤔

Crinkly I love your winter flowering clematis it looks lovely. Next year it should reward you with even more 🌸 flowers!

Well thank you very much for all those fancy pants teas! Lovely they are now I have placed them in the 'tea cupboard' and will write them on the specials board:

in my bestest handwriting. Reshmi will be pleased she has a large stock of posh teapots...

The gluten free blueberry muffins will go on too if I can work out how much egg replacer i might make them for my friend who is a vegan who is also coeliac.

I rather think ciddles will stay the same indefinitely!

Barbara everyone came and did their lateral flows first excellent! 'Flow before you go!' That is the new rule. I presume as he did some of the cooking that your eldest son is really much better now after that pneumonia?

I am sorry Niamh wasn't there, but Boxing day will do bless her. What did she have for Christmas? II hope everything she wanted.💗

Absolutely Toady mustn't worry about reading back and hopefully neither will our Kitty-Kath once she has had her rest.

January the 10th will soon be here and so will 24th!!! Help! Now I am waiting to hear what Boris announces....so we know what will happen for the wedding.

Take care everyone!

sorry Reshmi but remember no calories!

Kitty

Morning all, well thank goodness that’s over for another year! Bah humbug!,,

we didn’t watch much TV , just Corrie and a double episode of the two Ronnie, a cracking film with Michael Rennie on Talking Pictures. The rest of the time I slept. We saw Holly’s nestlings playing out. Esmae has one of those e-scooters, child version and I had an unexpected present. A PCR test delivered on Boxing Day. Not to be opened unless I have symptoms. I already have a load of Lateral Flow tests. So that was my sort of Christmas. Oh, I rang dad and Anita was there to cook his dinner. So I had a chat with both of them. So, we await NYD and drunken revelries. We won”t bother with that though. I had a smashing visit from Sleek and a couple of BBS and a bowl of early Crocus bulbs. Love to everyone. Xxx

🙏🏽.

XXXXXXXXXX

dachshund

Good morning everyone

Kath ((())) I hope you are having a good rest love to everyone ((()))

Barbara ((())) love to everyone thinking of you ((()))

Toni ((())) have a good day love to everyone we have rain here

Reshmi ((())) love to everyone ((()))

Love to Carol ((())) and Mike ((())) and vixen

bosh

Hi Toni how are you today? this day after Boxing Day? Perhaps We should invent a name for it? Best I can come up with his dinosaur storybook reading recovery day which is not catchy at all I know, lol, but fairly accurate for me really because LA made me read and read until my eyes couldn’t take anymore, lol, well, more or less, lol. I actually had the methotrexate a bit later on but yes it was nasty the carsickness and that would’ve been a terrible combination thanks. Yes ulcers are very annoying aren’t they? I’ve also run of my special mouthwash that isn’t available everywhere oh well, I’ll sort it out as soon as I can. Toni I have read all your points but I don’t think I’m going to manage to answer them all today because of the non-excess family chaos that has just erupted 🌋here in House Vesuvius, lol, I find that if spend very little time on the Internet and reading et cetera that even if I don’t do the neck physio my neck still feels okay generally speaking though of course I do try and do it most days unless I’m too tired or busy, I think I didn’t do neck physio on Christmas Day as it was quite a busy day but I did it yesterday as far as I remember thanks. I’d better Go for now take care. Xx

bosh

Hi Kathleen Joan and Barbara Hope you’re all okay today? enjoy the afternoon take care, Reshmi xx

bosh

Hi Toni I did actually just remember one thing I really wanted to say oh yes, calorie free marshmallows is that what you’re saying, lol? A bit like the Carbohydrate- free potatoes LA and the dinosaurs seem to be consuming? okay that’s it for now, lol. bye take care. Xx

barbara12

Evening all

Toni you are right about corrie,Roy saved the day love that man and Nina what a match ..

Niamh has gone home now ,bless she wouldn't come till mum had dine a test and then she wanted ine here..she is such a worrier, she was linking Grandad helping him to walk ..you take care if that knee my xrays showed a loose bit if bone..but its fine now xx

Was it Crinkly with the teas thought it was Toady...anyway thankyou for the large text ..I love to try different teas but have it very weak xx

Joan thankyou hope all is has well as can be fir you all..xx

Reshmi I ysed to have terrible travel sickness..I still do if I have to sit in the back..so Lord A was naughty abd dad spoiled his dinner..🙄 hope you feel a little better after your meds xx

Kath glad you have had some sleep ..like you say next is new year any excuse for some ..I do love watching children out with there new presents xx

Love to all

Xxxxxx

crinkly

Woops - I can't lay claim to a winter-flowering clematis, which sounds amazing. Sadly it isn't mine!

We have bought one or two shrubs for our new garden, also invested in a pot-grown Nordic spruce Christmas tree that will hopefully grow on to mark the coming years in our new home. As soon as the ground dries out our younger son will help his dad assemble a greenhouse ready for transforming our clover-patch into a a productive garden. Lots to look forward to.

Had a wonderful early Christmas thanks to our elder son and family finally being able to get back to the UK from Dubai. How the two girls (8 & 11) have grown since August 2019! Daughter and two teenagers managed the long drive north from Cornwall too. For the first time in many years we had all but our eldest grand-daughter (who was working) round the same table on 18th and most of the family around us in the preceding week. They then all moved on to the respective other grandparents for 25th and the Dubai gang fly back to the desert today - 28th.

Hopefully they will return to their usual pattern of summer leave in 2022 but one can take nothing for granted. We have great Christmas 2021 memories of our three families to sustain us until we meet again so have much for which to be thankful after the restrictions of a year ago.

Hoping your Christmas has been even half as happy as ours and wishing you all the very best for the coming year.

Crinkly 🎅

frogmorton

Morning everyone

Boris isn't doing anything?????

Ah Crinkly that is just lovely really lovely being able to see everyone like that. Must have been absolutely amazing and very generous of you to give up Christmas day to the in-laws❤️You are so very right to count your blessings like that how very very lucky are we to be able to to our families again? In fact l well-up just thinking about it😕

Did I get names mixed up again? I do that all the time here I call my sister by my eldest's name and vice versa sometimes a couple of other names too (not rude!).

Your garden will be lovely I am sure - ours was 'sorted out' this year and I hope will look lovely in a year or so once all the plants and cuttings purloined from the villagers and friends come along a bit. I bet you cannot wait to get that greenhouse up! The spruce will soon grow.

Thank you we had a very good Christmas here all three of our girls working over the festive period but saw them all one way or another!

Kitty me duck!! Lovely to see you. You sound worn out still though? Sleek has made you up one of Tosca's Ton-icks could be nice alternatively it could be iffy either way it should give you some energy 🐾 crossed

That's a good idea having a prophylactic PCR test in the house ready.

Good to hear Dad was ok and that Anita did his dinner so he wasn't on his own too much bless him.

Gosh yes telly was rubbish wasn't it? Nothing at all on worth watching🙄 lovely though to see the children playing outside that is what life is all about 😊

Morning Joan how are you doing? that fog came back last night and is still here along with yet more ☔ rain! I must check in with my neighbours soon I think their son is still there yet though. ((())) xxx for you and Sue

Barbara Niamh is quite right 'flow before you go'! I firmly agree we should all test before seeing each other it is the best thing we can do apart from opening windows which isn't great in December is it?

I can imagine Niamh helping her Grandad to walk she can nurse him too after his op along with Sleek...

Corrie needs Roy Cropper! Honestly it's just not up to scratch at the moment I am still trying to watch it, but it's not holding my attention as it usually does. As for your knee.

Will that bit of bone ever move again and cause trouble? That really isn't a good thought is it?

Reshmi I hope you are all well and house-vesuvius has settled back down to just gentle splutters of lava no massive eruptions today.

I bet physios are dealing with so many bad necks and shoulders upper backs and probably thumbs due to our over-use of phones tablets and laptops🙄You have proved it by not using yousr much and not doing the physio, but.....I think you are wise to do them anyway.

The 🦕 books sound great as do carb-free spuds! I am sure your sister (and maybe BIL - maybe maybe not) were very happy to have some time off of reading to dearest Lord A. Hope your voice box has recovered by now though.

Yesterday for me was a 'do jigsaw- a load of washing - have a walk - and moan about the telly' day😳🤪

Mike I hope you are doing ok and Vixen too? How is the WW2 plane coming along? 😸

healthy breakfast I've eaten too much rubbish

bosh

Hi Toni I will answer properly a bit later but I just wanted to say sorry I forgot to comment about your knee because I was going to look up tubi grip on web as I’m not sure quite sure what it is, then I forgot, is this is a type of bandage? How is your knee today? It’s so annoying when knees act up , I know, runners knee I see maybe it just means it’s a particular kind you get after you’ve been exercising / walking? I need to do a few things done before the lava seepages start, ok take care. X

Mike1

Mike I hope you are doing ok and Vixen too? How is the WW2 plane coming along?

Morning. Vixen and I survived xmas thanks!! The supposed special dinner that my baby sister and I had bought turned out to be a disaster. Mine was delivered frozen solid on the Tuesday, hers was supposed to be delivered on the Thursday but did not arrive till Friday and was totally defrosted, needless to say she would not eat it. She contacted the company who merely replied that they had had trouble with about 500 orders and they would contact her about a refund when they return to work in the New Year!! I offered her mine but she said she had enough in her own freezer. When I got around to slapping mine in the oven I discovered that there were no cooking instructions on anything, the veg tray was not as described in the advert and the "turkey" turned out to be a small slice of stuffed turkey role that ended up as tough as old boots and even Vixen would not touch it. Anyway most of it ended up in the bin. Good job I had choccie biscuits in the fridge! Next day started out well when Vixen managed to be sick outside the loo door and I didn't notice until I had opened the door a spread it around! Yuk. TV diabolical all weekend and not much on today either so am getting a bit wound up. Gale force winds down here today so Vixen is getting wound up as well as she can handle rain but not wind and seems to blame me for the weather! Only another week to go and the "festive" season will be over. Oh, it was not a plane that I was making, it was a WW2 pilot scrambling with his dog running alongside. Tis finished now and sat in the display cabinet. Have a good day y'all.

dachshund

Good morning everyone

Kath ((())) are you feeling a bit better the winter is so dreary and wet. Have a good day love to Chris ((())) Anita ((())) and Val ((())) and Emily ((())) and your Dad ((()))

Barbara ((())) it will soon be the 10'th I bet Mr B will be pleased when it comes ((())) sorry about your knee ((())) love to your son ((())) and Niamh ((())) and your brother ((())) and his girlfriend ((())) and your niece ((())) and her fiancé (((()))

Toni ((())) yes I think Boris is in is own dream world he needs to wake up. That's nice you could see everyone on Christmas day ((())) not long to the wedding ((())) love to Paul ((())) Charley ((())) and Annie ((())) and the carers (((())) and Lucy ((())) and Tia ((())) and Kari ((())) and your lovely neighbours ((()))

Crinkly ((()))it's lovely seeing you and your nice tree take care (())) love to your big family ((()))

Reshmi you have a big family take care love to your mu ((()))

Mike ((())) vixen kept you busy as well

Carol ((())) love to Mr T ((()))

Kitty

Good morning everybody, and Crinkly. What a pleasure to see you. I won't mention Corrue much, as Abbie is up to her usual trics against Kelly GIVE HER A BREAK! and no I don't mean her neck! But it's lovely to see Roy back with Nina. It's also lovely to see a bit of brightness. I'm fed up with living in pea soup, because everything looks like it's smothered in sludge with these cataracts. Moan, moan, whinge whine.

Mike, frozen Christmas dinner - yuk.

Barbara, I coul sleep for England, Scotland and Wales. I have trouble waking and feel as though I've just come rounf from a coma.

Reshmi, I hope you, LA and Baby R are all well.

Joan, I am fairly well rested thank you and my new inhaler is making a difference.

Antoinette, I have just knocked back two of Rosca's ton-icks to keep my eyes open for half an hour. and had 2 bowls of your healthy breakfast. I could eat for Nottingham, and always feel hungry. I think I must have worms. Does Madame Sleekipus have a spare worming tablet in Matron's medical bag? After all, I am half cat you know. BTW I have adopted 'Kitty' as my official forum name and would like to change it on here. The film I watched was Fangerous Crossing. Black and white films are so atmospheric.

Healthy muffins

50 Minutes Makes 12Easy

Bursting with banana and pineapple, and gently spiced with cardamom and cinnamon, these vegan crumble muffins make for a moreish afternoon snack

By Nadine Brown from Olive magazine

ngredients

• wholemeal plain flour 275g
• traditional oats 100g
• flaked coconut 30g
• maple syrup 70ml
• ground flaxseeds 1 tbsp
• bananas 2 ripe
• coconut milk 150ml
• baking powder 2 tsp
• bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp
• ground cardamom ¼ tsp
• ground cinnamon ½ tsp
• pineapple in juice 250g tin, drained and chopped

Method

• STEP 1
• Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with muffin cases. Tip 25g of the flour, 20g of the oats and all the coconut flakes into a large bowl and stir together with a pinch of salt. Add half the maple syrup and stir with a fork until combined. Set aside – this is your topping.
• STEP 2
• To make the flax egg, combine the flaxseeds with 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until thickened. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl and whisk in the flax egg, coconut milk and the remaining maple syrup.
• STEP 3
• Whisk together the remaining flour and oats in a large bowl with the baking powder, bicarb, cardamom and cinnamon with a pinch of salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until just combined. Fold in the pineapple.
• STEP 4
• Divide the batter between the muffin cases, then top the muffins with the crumble mixture. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffins comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ellen

@kathleenT (Kitty) I have a feeling I can edit your username for you if you really want it done?

Let me know if you'd like me, or one of the other mods if I am not moderating, to change it for you.

Best wishes

Ellen

Kitty

Yes please Ellen, that would be lovely.

bosh

Hi Barbara thanks for your nice message yes you’re quite right about LA and my dad, lol.oh that’s Interesting I didn’t know that you get Carsick as well, I was in the back as well, I never used to get carsick this badly it’s a bit odd but never mind at least it’s over now, I’m feeling a bit generally speaking thanks. I hope You’re having a nice day Bye for now. Xx

bosh

Hi Toni yes H - V just about settled down thank you, lol, as you quite rightly say not 100% dormant but dormant enough, lol. I think you’re Absolutely right there about tablets and physio et cetera i’m not an expert on different types of pain or arthritis by any means of course, but I do know some people who have completely given up the physio and then the pains came back so I try and be fairly careful to do the neck physio, as that’s obviously a bad area for me pain wise I also Just try and be aware also if any other joints or areas are acting up a bit of gentle physio can’t Do any harm, the neck Physio is gentle in general terms, but it’s a bit hard on the back that’s the only problem with it.I’m glad that you seem to have had a not too bad day, do you sometimes watch sky Netflix that kind of thing? I know what you mean the best telly never seems to be around when you need it, also we spend so much time watching telly these days compare to before I think one of the main things that it has to recommend is that watching it doesn’t make my neck stiff, lol, on that note I will go for now. Tc xx

bosh

Hi Joan How are you and Sue today? yes big extended family but siblings just me and my sister unfortunately, did you enjoy the Christmas period?

hi Kathleen hello baby R, LA and I are all well thank you so is my mum, my dad has a bit of a stomach problem at the moment but I think it’s just a case of too many sausage rolls, lol, he told me that eating pastry is good for his physical health, a case of very controlled silence from myself, lol, glad your new inhaler is helping that recipe looks great I love oats. Tc. Xx

bosh

hi again Toni how are you? I am getting slightly confused because I know I’ve been replying to messages in quite a disorganised way so forgive me if I’m repeating myself, I just wanted to say you’ve got a good point there L.A.’s mum and dad had a break from storytelling indeed my sister told me that after I left LA made her read ALL the new story books that he got from Santa oh dear but I remember when he was only a tiny baby, he was already fascinated by books, I think that when he when he listens to the stories these days, it’s one of the few times when he’s not being naughty, lol, he also told me that I know more nursery rhymes than some of his friends, so maybe I’ll have to hand in my megabrain application after all only joking lol,, have a nice night Toni. Xx