WORDS FOR YOUR FUTURE BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good evening Bloggets. Just sat down for the first time today. Out this morning in between dealing with loads of phone calls and emails. Cooking all afternoon and then a bit of gardening. When I say gardening, I mean watering as it wasn’t sunny and some tidying up. Each time I go out there, I find something new to discover.

It’s cool today, warm but not dangerously burning hot. Hub in from work he looks shattered. BW been out all day with Shamrock. I feel sorry for her as BW is in one heck of a bad mood. I’m keeping away. They went for a picnic. Very nice, right? You would think.

My totally annoying friend came around today. I was inches off screaming at her. The thing is, she means well. But she is trying to take over my life. Overpowering is what she is. Oh, and annoying. Bossy too, but, she means well. I think. I have been wrong before.

I have written a review about the person who fitted our kitchen so I hope no one else will be let down by him. I still have my Diary about my kitchen to finish I just have not had time this week at all and tomorrow, I’m out in the morning then out with our friend at night. Gosh, how do I feel about that? Apprehensive, I will let you know why, on my return.

Watching a program whilst I’m writing to you about a man who got engaged to keep his family happy. Been there bought the t shirt. My first marriage! And, as I have said before he was the best Son in Law ever. I was talking with a friend the other day about arranged marriages. Gosh I would love to arrange my Sons marriage. Find him the perfect wife. Haha it’s a laugh, with my workman’s history. What would she be like?
Tall about 5 ft. 8
Very curvy with perfect long legs
Natural blonde with blue eyes and peach skin. Perfect white teeth and naturally beautiful. Happy, understanding, caring, worships our Son. Puts him first, because I know he would put her, first. Very intelligent but not patronising or condescending. Full of fun and always happy to do something new but just as happy staying in watching TV. Likes the same things as BW and enjoys what she wants to watch too. Healthy, fit and into looking after herself. Enjoys sports too. With a hard-working family. Good manners and will be a perfect loving Mum with morals. Has lots in common with BW and gets on well with us, his Mum and Dad.
Loves animals and in fact is a vegetarian.
Haha, I’m not asking for much, am I?

A spark joy and just seeing him happy. I don’t think though that a parent can find the perfect partner for their child because there has to be more than a perfect picture. You have to touch souls with your love and only our Son can tell us if he has done that with the person he will marry. Take Prince Charles. He was married to a very beautiful lady with Princess Di, and right through their marriage, he was having an affair with someone. People, not me, just others described her as a horse.
I love horses…
He ended up with a person who’s features represented a swishing tailed creature. And is still with her and is so happy now.

I feel so bad for Sham today they went for a lovely picnic and BW was carrying things back to the car and has lost her flask. I have a deep problem where I hate people I care about losing things. I remember where I used to live, when I could see, a lady I knew leant her neighbour something and the person she leant it to, wouldn’t give her it back so I went knocked on her door and said I would wait as long as it took before I would leave, as I was going to leave with the item to take back to my friend’s house… All very honourable. Only when she produced the item it dawned on me how on earth was I going to carry through the streets,
A 6-foot wooden ladder?

Tell you what though, I blooming did. When I got it to my friends, she said?
“Oh, you didn’t need to do that, I have wanted rid of that for years. Hahahaha
Well, why had she been going on for three weeks about how the person has her ladder still?

I’m not hungry, my Son has an ap on his phone which counts calories and tells you how well or not you have done throughout the day. It tells you how much protein you have had and sugar as well as much more. In calories, it was shocking to me as I thought I had a lot more but turned out I didn’t have that many, but my carb intake is over the hill. Triple what Boy Wonder has. I guess what I have said for the past few months, it’s not how much you eat it’s what you eat and of course how much you move around. If I move any slower, I will stop or meet myself coming home.

If I walk fast outside, I fall fast. Our friend said the other day he can’t believe just how fast I walk and never stumble, really? Has he been watching me?

In fairness, out of over a hundred times I’m out, I don’t trip up even a tiny bit, but over two hundred, I do.

I haven’t had dinner tonight. Just wasn’t in the mood for eating. I have had a day of life going on. Eating wasn’t on my mind. I made the family home made shepherd’s pie. Hub said he loved it and it was the best he has ever tasted. I really think that was because he was so hungry as it was nothing special.

Right, the kids are here so I shall go for now. Just some words before I go.
The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author, The Brothers Karamazov)

If you feel like you are in a rut, then the only way out of it is to be told and lead, shown the way, directed, instructed as you are too weak to move forward and being weak isn’t bad, it doesn’t define you as a person, just decides on your future. So if you don’t want tomorrow, what you had yesterday, then pretend you are two people. No, not a personality disorder, just your way of self-helping! So, how to do this? Send yourself emails to remind you to do something, leave things laying around to get you to do whatever you need to do. Set reminders write a diary even. Tick off what you have done off a list. Just do this for three days, and see how you feel after the three days. It’s not difficult, but what is hard is actually doing this procedure.

Always have something to look forward to. It can be something so small.
It’s written that if you set a date for something enjoyable in your life, it raises endorphin levels in your brain by 27%.

Wherever you are right now, know you mean so much to someone, even though you may not know that person. Someone special is waiting for you to enter their life. As I always say, you never know what is around the corner, no matter of your age. And, because you are reading this, you are one of my very important Bloggets. X







WORDS FOR YOUR FUTURE BY FIONA CUMMINGS

THE STILL OF THE NIGHT BY FIONA CUMMINGS

THE STILL OF THE NIGHT BY FIONA CUMMINGS
In the still of the night
Where the bats are in flight
The owls tweet their tunes
The spicy fragrance of sleepy blooms
In the cobalt, dusky evening
The stars form a pattern
As if they are leading
Animals to their paddocks
The geese are grieving
As they sing their mournful song
The doves are chasing habits
As they fly along
Hunting for their supper
And sleeping ducks lay still
In a cooling river
A breeze blows a chill
as the night becomes so still
all houses are in darkness
not even candles flicker
a gentle draught whispers
as the night closes its curtains
there is one thing certain
the sky shall kiss the stars
and no matter how far
we will see the magic of the night
a red sky, shepherds delight
how blessed those are
to whitness the still of the night

© Fiona Cummings

FATHER'S DAY DIARY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good afternoon. You have joined the website BoilledLobster.com Seriously, I’m burning so red and I’m not at all attractive.

Yesterday Hub and I were sorting out our garage and just by doing that, walking from the garage to the drive, and back, I got so sunburned. I’m so cross with myself. How stupid am I? I know I burn easily but didn’t think I was out long enough yesterday to make a difference. It’s a proper heatwave here in the UK. The sun is so hot it’s the equivalent to being in Spain. As if burning irons have been put on my skin. I have used gallons, well, almost a bottle of after sun, but I should have used before sun. I didn’t put any protection on my skin yesterday and today, I feel as if I have put my head in the grill and arms in the oven. Even my eyelids are so painful. My son said I looked really dreadful yesterday. Dangerously burned. Silly silly me. My hub tans he is so dark he looks as if he is Spanish. My Son is very sensible he makes sure he wears cream. His Mum not so sensible. Oh, our garage was in such a mess. Now it’s looking so much better. And we have only one big box to empty then we are all done. Then we can start to be normal again. I have learned so much over the past nine weeks. More on that in my Diary of our kitchen later.

Our Son is at work now but has told his Dad he will be seeing him with a card and gift later bless him. It’s Father’s Day today. A Happy Father’s Day to all good Fathers out there whether you are a Dad by blood, adoption, foster, a Father figure to someone or you care for a pet, you are their Dad and as important to your pet as what you would be to a human. Our pets need loving and looking after.

Only a few days to go then we are off to a concert. It’s for Hub really, as the group we are going to see isn’t at all my kind of music. More on that later on in the week. Hub did go to see Bruno Mars with me some time back and he wasn’t at all looking forward to it as that isn’t his kind of music, but, he came away loving him almost, not quite, but almost as much as I do. It was the most amazing concert full of energy and his singing live, is as good as on his albums.

My lovely neighbour cuts our grass. He told me today he ran over my lights that are on a shrub of mine. Well I am not meant to have lights on that shrub as two years ago, the gardener was trimming the hedge and he cut through the wire of the old lights I had on the shrub. I bought more, and now our neighbour has cut through them, last year, he ran our new conifer over and flattened it. I told him, he has dodgy lamps. Haha. Bad sight. I also pointed out our seven feet tall apple tree and asked him if he can see it? He said yes, just… It surprises me just how bad peoples sight is considering they are supposed to be fully sighted. The last workman we had his sight was shocking. He made so many errors so it had to be down to his sight, surely? Unless he was just clumsy. But I think it was his sight. I have said before, sometimes the blind see better than those with vision

Our friend came to look at our new kitchen. We have found a new joiner to finish off the job and do some work we need. I am going to write my kitchen Diary now in full and I hope to publish that tomorrow if I can get our Son to take a photograph.

It’s so good being able to have everything in one room rather than go to the garage for the dryer and freezer

Today we washed our dogs. Little Waggatail was fine, but the Little Fella, wasn’t too keen to let his Dad hose him down. We tied them up and left them outside with a dish of water and they were dry within forty minutes. Now they are in the house, the coolest place. LF isn’t his Daddy’s friend and the Wagging one is what we say, out for the count. Flat out asleep. They both feel so soft. My little Waggatail is like a shiny seal and LF, is like a big cuddly bear.

In our news, today
So sorry to Portugal who have lost 62 people in forest fires. Most people died in their cars. Four children have been among them. So, sad.
A Spanish bullfighter has died after stabbing a poor bull in France. The 36-year-old caught his feet in his cloak then the bull gored him. I just hope to God they didn’t kill the bull. After all, when the sick bullfighters stab at the poor bulls, do they then kill the bullfighters? No, I don’t think so. It’s a barbaric excuse for a sport.

In our TV news, they are hinting that a major character is going to be killed off in Dr. Who. Personally, I can’t stand that show, but I know a lot of Bloggets like it so there you go, one of the actors is going to go forever.
(Shame the program isn’t) smile.

Well I’m off to wash some strawberries and there is some lovely ice cream in our freezer which will partner very nicely with the red berries. Whilst I have been talking with you all, my beautiful Hub has been ironing. I don’t know how he is doing it in this heat. I’m going to do his work shirts as that is one thing he can’t iron, but I’m dreading it. Hub puts his cricket on and just gets on with it but the heat kills me. I can’t move anything other than my fingers that type words to you all.

With love.

RUSSIAN SHASHLIK ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER BY FIONA CUMMINGS

It’s a sunny day. We are going to have three more days like this. Gosh, our summer. Four days in a row. How lovely it would be to live in a country that had months of beautiful weather, mind you, Spain is 40° I would seriously melt. But to know that for the next few months, even weeks is going to be lovely weather you can plan things. We, could have rain in a few days, strong winds that are cold too.

When I used to go to Moscow, in the winters it was bitterly cold like nothing I have ever known in England. A different kind of cold though, dry. Whereas our winters are damp. There was little wind in Moscow very still thick snow which used to add to the atmosphere of the secrecy that used to be a daily occurrence back then. If I ever saw a man in a fur hat accompanied by a long leather coat, I knew they were KGB. They had something about them just to look at them you knew. Their expression their steely stare, which left you shivering, wondering what was about to happen.

As I used to stand at the top of Lenin’s hills, looking down past the ski lift, you just knew that you were being watched. Now whether it was because at the time I had high profile and they knew the world was watching me through the press, I don’t know, but I suspect that everyone in those days was being watched.

I have written before about when we used to enter any public building, we would be expected to remove our coats. We would be given a large plastic number to carry with us until we were ready to vacate the building, then handed over the number for our coats in return with a solemn look from the porter who wore a dark uniform with yellow stripes. Usually ex-army. Sometimes you got the ladies, who were not always, well, ladies. We always got our coats back though. Smile.

In the summer, it was a total different ambience. I loved Moscow in the summer. It was always really sunny. In public parks, people played with their families and in general the joys of summer came to most as a great relief after such harsh winters.

People went to their Dacha’s in the countryside. Often a wooden shack basically. Where the tap, a, tap, was outside in the garden and the toilet a bucket with a wooden seat was at the bottom of the garden in a hut that you got to by climbing up steps… I naively asked one day why did they have to have steps to the building? Of course, it was so the toilet could work as best as possible. Pretty grim really no sink or water to wash your hands in and certainly no plush toilet paper. I can only describe the toilet paper in those days as the equivalent to greaseproof paper on a roll.

But they were good days. Simple and everyone was so friendly, the normal people anyway, even one year though back in winter, I went skiing with a really sweet friendly man. He was a friend of a friend. It was later after he took me as a ten-year-old child, to the Moscow children’s puppet theatre and though I had been many times before, this time was to be extra special. I was to operate one of the puppets the lion. It was a live show, I didn’t have a clue what to do. The staff didn’t speak English. My Russian was fine, if I wanted to order food, drinks at the coffee bar or tell the taxi driver where we needed to be, and extra brilliant Russian when I was telling my nurse at the hospital I didn’t want her nasty needles and basically where she could stick them… But as far as a children’s puppet show? Instructions were given to me and I did panic. What if I were to get this wrong, you didn’t do wrong in Russia. Also, the size of the puppets? Oh, my they were huge. Great big heavy sticks that you had to lift above your head.

It was an honour that day, and it was because of the friend of a friend. The nice man who took me skiing.
He was the boss of the KGB!
I almost died in fright when I learned of this. As did my Mum. But that explained why the puppet theatre was so different that day. The fear of being sent to Siberia was injected into my veins, little did I know just how much I would grow to hate that place some years later.

The summers in Russia were really lovely days I will never forget. I had the excruciating pain of the needles which were inserted into my flesh every day. My eyes were blood red with the painful pins that were far from sharp, so blunt it made the incisions more torturous. But after treatments it was free time, as free as one could be in Moscow in the 70s and 80s.

Time to spend with friends on the banks of the river Moscow, with open fires cooking shashlik! Sitting among grasses that hadn’t seen a grass cutter and being eaten alive by furry faced creatures. But we laughed. I loved it and felt surprisingly safe. They were dreaded days but followed by happy hours.

My summers now days are so very different. Winters too. In fact, my life now is so far from those days. Sometimes years can pass before you think back and realise just what a life you had. As a child, my life was so very different to my friends. I guess that lifestyle has made me the person I am now, but sometimes I do feel like I had to get to early forties before I realised just who I was. Who I am. Back then, I was not me, I was who people wanted me to be. I continued that way through my young adult life. The way I am now, is a good place to be. X

AMAZING GRACE BY FIONA CUMMINGS

AMAZING GRACE
BY FIONA CUMMINGS
she saw the ambers
she tried to clamber
but she ate the fog before her
she left her hell
her body a shell
as her soul was lifted from her
all she could do was watch from a high
like a dove in the sky
sitting on a cloud
Couldn’t believe what was below her
Lost in the crowd
She tried to shout out loud
No one could hear her
Her voice was silenced by an invisible hand
It was time to enter her new land
But what was she leaving behind her
A tiny shoe
A blanket blue
A cradle no longer rocking
As her home, her world was smoking
Smothered in flames
She was helpless
Her singed dress
Was replaced by feathers
Chaos
So much loss
What a mess
Caused by human errors
As she held out her hand
There was nothing there
She was scared
What to do
Fly to help those trapped?
But she had no wings yet
A circle of love surrounded her
Like a scarf made from fur
But this scarf was like no other
It was magical
A miracle
Because she knew she had been saved
Just not to stay
On this land called earth
But to be given another chance
Where angels would dance
And flowers would forever grow
Where the pure white snow
Would fall each winter
And butterflies would hover
In summer
Gardens would bloom
There would always be room
For those who are good like her
As a tear froze down her cheek
She had no words to speak
In the arms of a hero her baby lay
As the nation, along with her, did pray
And thank God, her child had been saved
She had to be brave
And continue on her journey
Knowing that one day when time was right
Her baby would once again be with her
And she could hold him tight
Read his bedtime story at night
She would laugh with him
Just it was her turn to travel
To a perfect place
And she would be called
Amazing Grace

© Fiona Cummings

DIARY OF DID YOU KNOW? BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good day Bloggets. I’m in our garden right now. It’s windy but sunny. It’s so noisy. Grass cutters, strimmer’s, drills and of course the motorway next to our house. I had to get out of the house. I have just spoken to a rather obnoxious man on the telephone. I’m so angry right now. To say I have been let down is an understatement! What a pompous old man he was. I remained very polite and calm. Then after half an hour, I let rip on him. I am calm, like a bottle of champagne, shook too much and I will pop.

I’m not sure how long I can stand out here but just some air was needed. The smells are beautiful. I’m alive, as are, the people in my life I love. This is the most important thing. Think positive Fifi.

Right now, I wish I could just get in a car drive and go to the coast. But I’m trapped behind these stupid eyes that refuse to be able to do that.

I took delivery of a new bed today for Boy Wonder. It’s beautiful. So, big and comfortable. His old one is on our drive. Very attractive. It will be there until our collection comes next week. We have so much rubbish and boxes to get rid of after our kitchen. Most were kindly taken away by the joiner but there are loads more to go. We only have three boxes now to empty. And all our glasses? Oh my. What will happen to them? I must have hundreds when my Mum and I used to go to Russia, we bought them. They were so cheap in those days. The odd thing was, when Hub and I got together, he brought with him some Chrystal glasses that were his. And, the pattern on his, were identical to mine. I have my Mums crystal too, and more I have bought from England over the past years. So, a lot of glasses and right now, we don’t have a place for them. They are all over our office. Hub wanted something the other day but we dare not go in there. It was something that was on his desk. I need our summer bedding out of the blanket box, again, the lid has so many glasses on top. My conservatory is looking great again. Our living room is almost back to normal but I have loads of cleaning to do on the landing and downstairs hallway. Just dust that has gathered with all the work. I stopped working last night, or this morning, at quarter past 12. Then at half past, I heard BW leave the house. Shamrock was still here. He came back at ten to one this morning. I asked him where had he been? To get a garlic bread for him and Sham. Just unbelievable. Poor Hub had to get up for work at half six. Anyway, at least Shamrock left at one. If I had not have said anything though, it would have been so much later and BW has work today as well. Kids have no respect for anyone other than themselves. No shame either.

I, got up early to prepare for his bed. I tried to get him out of bed saying that he needed to put his mattress out to make way for the men coming. Luckily after a lot of persuasion last night he brought the frame downstairs. Hub helped him. He wanted to throw it out of the window. Oh my God. A wooden frame, just thrown out of the window? It’s a double bed and heavy and our drive was expensive and quite new. Also, he forgets, his car is out there. If we hadn’t have been here, he would have done that. Now how he would have fit it through our narrow windows is another issue.

So today he said he would wait for the bell to ring then get up. I said, no, you can’t keep them waiting. I said you have to strip your mattress too. Well, long and short of it is, I came down stairs blood pressure higher than I would like, started to prepare dinner for tonight. Then tidied up a little then made BW some breakfast. I thought, this is one way I can get him to come downstairs out of bed. It worked. Then he left for work after carrying his mattress down and as I said now making the avenue of all sorts look really lovely….

After my morning, yesterday in America with the dreadful shooting and our London, the world is really going mad. I wish our maker would intervene now, sort us all out.

For our dinner tonight, I will have to untangle my insides to enjoy it. Not sure what time Boy Wonder is finishing work. I would guess at eight. So, we will eat outside and let him have his when he comes home. I made lots of different dishes. One has sliced tomatoes in with freshly cut basil. Another sliced cucumber with spring onions. Another grated cheese, grated carrot and grated radish. Another has egg mayonnaise I made today. I will chop some beetroot and I’m going to prepare some baby new potatoes by boiling them and then putting them in a hot oven with butter then add chives. My family will have thickly cut ham and I will have some Quorn turkey. I am not sure how I feel about eating Quorn as it’s not exactly natural, but, the amount of times I eat it, I’m sure I will be OK. I had a very healthy lunch at my friend’s house yesterday. No mayonnaise or anything that represented fat faced foods. My friend is very lean and active. She runs twice a week and always is watching what she eats. I do too. I never take my eyes off my plate. Haha. I wish. Well, I must get back to healthy eating as because of the past couple of months I have not been able to do what I need to in my kitchen.

My Bloggets want pictures/photographs of before and afterwards. They will come with my diary in full. I hope soon. Right now, my heart is hurting and I need a break. Nowhere to go so will have to try and use my imagination. Smile. Perhaps we should all have a Fifi holiday in our minds. Let’s see what fun we can have? Looking forward to seeing our pals back home in a few weeks. And next week is Hub and my Anniversary of our wedding day. Nothing planned for that, just to continue loving each other. That’s easy.

I need to get off my lap top and do some work. Not involving a phone call to a conceited pompous old man either. He spoke as if he were my old GP, I say old GP because now the Doctors are really nice, Especially mine. Though I still hate going and will only do so if I think I’m dying….

The Doctors in Russia were always so lovely. They were like your favourite uncle, not that I have a favourite uncle, hang on, I don’t have an uncle. Or an Aunt, or a cousin. No Grandparents or parents.

One lonely goose is flying over my house right now crying. I used to think they made that sound as they flew but I was then told that when you hear a goose, it’s because they are upset. Or they have left a dead or dying goose. Sad. We have had two ducks flying by our gardens this week too. One of our neighbours told us and we heard one of them too. We have loads of wood pigeons. Or as I like to believe. Doves… Smile.

Looking up on some news with regards my eye disease today, this is what I read.
Scientists have identified a brain chemical in Zebrafish, that could hold the key to how some fish are able to regrow retina’s, which could be translated into human treatments.

This is my frustration. We are still looking into tiny creatures and animals. We are still spending so much money on wires and chips. Then there are other studies like in Japan I read last year they managed to grow an eye in the lab this will speed up the research for us as they can use a real human eye rather than start on the poor animals. So many countries so many people thank god looking for treatment, but if only everyone would get together and work as one? Pull all their ideas into one room. No race, just grace!

It’s Father’s Day this Sunday in the UK. BW has his Dad a lovely gift. Hopefully we will get chance to talk with my Father in law. He’s always busy in the morning in his garden shop, then he goes for a drink, so we need to try to catch him at some point of the day.

He has amazed me just how well he is coping without my lovely Mother in law. In a couple of days, it’s her anniversary to when she died. Six years. I miss her so much.
I thought he would crumble when his wife died, and then when his favourite Son and best friend went to live in Australia. But he still stayed strong bless him. My other brother in law doesn’t see him too much he is really busy working normally away from home too. Then there is it. A child he created, well, child? That is a matter of opinion. Child or monster. I guess one poisoned apple out of five isn’t bad going.

My brother in law and his loving partner, are very happy with their new life, sadly for them, his Sister is threatening to follow him. May be OK, as he gets on with her I just hope that her badness doesn’t spoil their time out there.

Words before I go.
Did you know 10 % of people are left handed?
Did you know August has the highest percentage of births?
Did you know that unless food is mixed with saliva, you can’t taste it?
Do you know that the average person falls asleep in seven minutes? (Really? I’m far from average)
Did you know a bare has 42 teeth?
Did you know that rabbits like liquorice?
Did you know that the Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters?
Later gators.

DIARY FOR TODAY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good evening Bloggets. It’s ten in the evening. I have sat down for some time to talk with you then work continues. Today I woke, did three hours housework then went to my lovely friend’s house. Geordie and I had as ever a great catch up. We sat in her peaceful garden, gosh, the sound of the birds and no traffic was a delight. I had a look around her garden with all the lovely flowers and trees. We had lunch and lots of tea. A cake and our mouths didn’t stop for a minute either eating or talking. We have so much in common, we have almost mirrored each other’s life and, we are both the same age. Though we only met five years ago, it’s really funny just how we met and why? I believe people meet for a reason. Some because they need a guide or a push or even a tip on what to do next in life, some hang around for a while and some are for life. I hope Geordie and I are friends for life.

Her Son came home from school. Gosh he is growing up. I don’t envy her for a minute, knowing what she has to face over the next few years. Parenting is the most difficult job in the world.

Hub cooked dinner as I was late. I didn’t have anything as I was still full from lunch, he made sausage sandwiches.
First time he has cooked with our oven.
He burned them. Hahahahahahahah. He is a brilliant cook, but I will keep reminding him, how he cremated his first meal in our new oven.

Tomorrow I will have to make a meal, I always feel bad if the family have rubbish to eat so tomorrow an effort will have to be made. I love my new cooker but still hate cooking.

The heat is intense today. Red hot. All our windows are open tonight in the house but there is no air coming in. This is when we need air conditioning. Something that isn’t common in England.

I guess you will have heard more sad news for the UK today? In London, a high story block of flats have burned down and fire fighters could only get to the 20th floor last time I heard there may have been another update since. There were 24 floors.

12 people have died so far. There are parents still looking for their children. One poor Mum through her baby out of the window and no one seems to know what happened to her. Again, I think, the baby survived as someone caught the little sweetheart. Imagine that responsibility?

Great news, well, semi good news, I have teeny weeny apples on my, well, apple tree. Remember it is the tree my Son planted when we first moved here but had to be transplanted because it was too close to the wall. So, I am pleased to say it’s still alive. The fragrances in our front garden are so sweet.

Well, I guess I best get back to work. Vacuuming to do as Hub and I have moved the large unit from the sitting room into the kitchen. Sadly, as expected, it hasn’t covered the hole in our new floor. So, sad about that. I have put the china back in the unit it’s really difficult trying to match the sets. I have four in there. Three of them are very precious to me as they were my Mums and Grandmothers. So now I need to clean the sitting room floor push the sofa back then I’m going to get a bucket and wash the paint work in the hall. With all the work we have had done, the dust is awful.

I have to be up very early tomorrow, more on that in my next blog. Stay safe and smile knowing your loved ones are safe and happy.

TRUST BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Who can we trust
How do we know who we can trust?
We think we know someone trust them believe every word they say and then they let us down so badly with a bang to the ground.

At first, we are in shock. How could they, do that to us? Why would they do it? Not them, they wouldn’t.
Oh, hang on they just did.

What did we do to deserve such actions? We are not bad people, out of all people, we trusted them. But just like others, they let us down.

And then we are so stupid. We trust again, another person. And it happens to us again. So, some time passes and again, we put our trust in someone else. We have known them for a while and they have never done any harm. They are good honest people. Always straight with us. Then one day, we learn that they have pulled a very dirty trick. Surely there must be an excuse why they have done this to us? We begin to make excuses for them. May be this and that. But at the end of the day, there are no excuses and moreover, no apologies from them to us.

That’s it, the last time we will ever trust anyone. Until the next time?

Why on earth do we punish ourselves by letting our guard down? Now we are hurting and wishing that we would be stronger and never ever trust another person as long as we are alive.

People hurt us who we thought cared. We believed in them. We thought they would be in our lives forever.

So, how do we deal with this? Walk away, trust only one selves. And even then, from time to time, ask questions.

DIARY OF NEWS VIEWS AND MORE BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good morning Bloggets. I’m waiting for our joiner to come. He was due yesterday I was sure something awful had happened as he is never late, I waited from half eight as most times he comes then, other times is ten. By half ten I called him and he didn’t answer, oh you know what a worrier I am, but by half twelve, he texts to say he got stuck on another job, so thankfully he was fine. Today is, his last day… Our kitchen is looking really lovely now it’s all finished just the conservatory to do as the last builders made such a mess of it, there is just skirting board to fit. Because of one wall of mess they, created, all four skirts on all four walls have to be done.

We have at last got the window fixed they messed up, but more on that in my last, kitchen diary, last ever I hope. My next house will be a brand-new house so there will be nothing to do. Seriously this house we thought was perfect when we moved in, you have no idea how much it has cost us since? On the surface it looked perfect, well, apart from the large hole in the shower room sink, and the fir growing up the shower, between the shower and the wall. Oh, and the leak in the other bathroom sink. The gas was condemned, blue flames jumped out from the fire, the gas cooker hob was too close to the wooden cupboards and the carpets had no underlay. The electrics stopped working and the boiler broke within days of moving in. Since then, we have learned that he did all his electrics, the guy before us, and wires in the walls were tied together with bread ties. Lights didn’t work as he did those as well and most of the light switches were not on straight. His lovely kitchen doors, were just paper covered, where as to look at, they looked like wood.

His lovely new and it was new, front door, well, in the winter if you stood in the hall, your hair blew in the wind. Hahaha.

My house smells so lovely, I’m burning oil it’s lemon fragrance and it’s really lovely and fresh. There is nothing nicer than the smell of lemons and the sun shining through your window. I can’t see it, but I can feel it.

Oh, oddly I just got a flash back of our much loved Canary, he was Irish you know? I miss him so much. If I wasn’t opposed to caged birds, I would get another. I don’t like the poor things being in a cage though. Ours was massive, we were told it was for up to ten birds, no way, gosh, it wasn’t even big enough or one in my opinion as the sky is the only size fit for them.

My friend and one of our Bloggets sent me a message before our election. I would call it a premonition, but I can see it being a message too from our maker. She predicted that our Prime Minister Mrs May, would be realected, but there would be a black cloud above the new crops and four angels would be facing each direction, North, South, East and West. As the black cloud came closer to the lovely new crops, blackbirds flew from the dark cloud and the angels went fast towards the cloud to I would imagine fight it. The black cloud was the devil. Well, bless Theresa May, she certainly has a black cloud above her head. I feel angry and bad for her. Angry towards her because she was popular and she blew it. She should have never called for an election. I said it then and I will say it now, it was a huge mistake, fact is, she won the most seats and votes, just not my enough to run the Government on her own. She now has to get help from Northern Irelands Conservative party. Some people are saying that this will be the end of the peace process between Northern Ireland and the IRA, I pray not, who wants to bring back those days? Most of those people are old now, the people who were involved in those dark days. If Mrs. May doesn’t make it, it will be bad news for Northern Ireland if they cause trouble with Southern Ireland. I hope we can live all together in this lovely land we have been given.

Mrs May will meet with French President, Emmanuel Macron later to talk about anti-terrorist measures. I wasn’t sure of him before, but I think he is going to have a calming effect and if so, then in my opinion, America England and France have collectively the best three leaders for a long time. I just hope our Government and people leave her to do her job. And I hope she doesn’t make any silly errors, but again, she was very badly advised and now her advisers have gone, let’s hope for a new start. We will go through that black cloud for a while we can’t expect to be cured overnight. We are a hurt and damaged country that needs a long stay in a place where we can be peaceful, positive and experience a retreat where we can breathe. Sadly, we live in a nation of want now, won’t wait. Well, we need to chill and just let the experts in to put us right. I hate the way in which our Government have jumped on Mrs May, it’s schoolground childish behaviour I will tell you something too, the BBC, despise May. They should be neutral but they are not. Same as they weren’t over the US elections, well, that was the right outcome, it was between two, she, was the equivalent of Corbin. If we are allowed to do what MRS. May wants for our country, America will be allowed to do what they want, and France what they want, we will all heal then I hope the rest of the troubled world can follow. All I wish for is world peace and no, I am far from Miss world. Haha.

What else has been going on in our news?

Beautiful Germany, a Policewoman has been shot in the head at a train station in Munich after a black clouded person grabbed a police gun. Thank God, she isn’t dead but obviously is critical.

Lesbos, a Greek Island has been struck by an earthquake. Sadly, killing one person. My Husband has been in a few quakes when he used to travel. He said in Japan once it was terrifying as it happened during the night. He was in his hotel room he got up they say stand under the frame of the bathroom door. It’s the safest place. He said the whole room rocked side to side. Being sighted is awful in a quake but imagine being blind? Where to run and how? In a hotel room, he didn’t know of his surroundings. Thank God, he was OK and got home safely to me.

Saudi King to meet with Iraqi PM to try to heal a rift. See, that black cloud again? Please let this all work out, I hope this black cloud is lifted and we can live in peace with hope in our heart and possibly we can go back to times when innocence was a part of our daily lifestyle. Only this time, because there has been such a strong connection between earth and our maker, there will be no wars nowhere. What is the point of them?

In Scotland, a 19 year old fantasized about kidnapping and raping babies has been given five years in jail. Five years? What is wrong with this world. He should be locked up for life. Okay, do gooders, he can be counselled. Yeah, and what if he can’t? If you have that in you, there is no cure. He will be on the streets and he will be 24. Personally, I would put him in a pit and make sure he can’t get out.
A plane passenger filmed having sex in flight, was cheating on his pregnant girlfriend back home. What kind of people do this? Low life’s. Again, I can’t keep my mouth closed. I am very opinionated. But, seriously?

In the entertainment section of the news today, there was a report on our lovely Princes Diana. Well the report I will not write about as it’s sad and I for one would not call it entertainment.

Neuroscientists have used a classic branch of maths in a totally new way to peer into the structure of our brains. They have discovered that the brain is full of multi-dimensional geometrical structures operating in as many as eleven dimensions.
“Well, there you go Bloggets, translate that one as you like…

Astronauts are growing crystals on the International space station 250 miles away, to help to create new drugs on earth. OK, firstly, why do they have to travel 400 kilometres to do this? Is the rental of labs so expensive now?
It’s written that we are 10 to 15 years away from discovering if we are alone in the Universe. Well, how on earth can we put a number on that and if they ask me, I will tell them we are not alone. I wouldn’t charge for that answer, they can buy me a nice bag of chips for the effort.

Shocking in America a university have given their vegetables seductive names and the students are eating more of them. What is wrong with these people? Really, I thought students of universities were supposed to be clever but it looks as if we are just cloning sheep who follow.

They say that going vegetarian is good for the planet, but now they are saying it’s also great to lose weight. Hmm. No one has told my waistline that one. Mind you, if I ate vegetarian food and not bread or crisps or chocolate, then I guess I would have a chance but as I said, it’s not always what you eat, it’s how you eat it and eliminating certain foods that your body is saying no to. Only you yourself can learn what food reacts in bad ways with you, then it’s the hard bit of not eating that. Also moving. Keep moving. And if you can stop eating meat, well done. Every time you go to buy it, look into your mind and see that beautiful creature that hasn’t done anything to you. Feed a baby lamb. That was my final straw. I bottle fed a lamb and no way since then I could eat meat. That was about 22 years ago. Previous to that I dabbled with eating meat not eating it.

One of Britain’s most premature babies has survived being born after only 22 weeks weighing less than half a bag of sugar. Only 1lb 4oz. 400g.



OK, on that note, I have a date with a duster then a poem to write for a wedding and then some calls to make. Tonight, for dinner? Not sure yet, it was great last night though as I was able to make chicken pie, mash potato, cauliflower, carrots and Peas all with my wonderful new cooker. To be able to just turn on a hob ring was brilliant, thank goodness, I have got rid of that awful hob top where at most I could use one ring if I was lucky to be able to turn it on. #ILoveDials

DIARY OF A GRUMPY MONDAY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good day Bloggets. Right now, my heart is in my mouth. Why? Laters. It was a lovely weekend. As I wrote in an earlier blog, we went out with friends and it wasn’t planned. Just kind of a random request our friends called us and off we went. What is planned though, is our trip to see our friends in Northumberland. Once I’m there I’m fine, getting there is a bit challenging. But coming back? I’m dreading. The station we are travelling from is unmanned. So, this means we are on the platform waiting for our train, the trains to London fly by at such speed. I have a huge fear of falling onto the track. Then the train pulls in, is it ours? Where’s the door? Once on, finding our seats that are booked? There will be four of us, all blind and we have done this before, but I’m like a scared kitten. The other three are, our besties and my Hub, who take it in their stride. Of course, they won’t be totally relaxed about it, but nothing like me. Already I have palpitations. Making sure Waggatail and the Little Fella are safe too and don’t fall down the gap between the platform and the train. In Japan, their trains are amazing, there is no gap and there is a fence all the way apart from where the doors are. For people who are blind, Japan is amazing. They have tactile paths leading to different helpful things like for example bank card machines and their crossings have different sounds, so you can learn where you are by listening. So much is in Braille too. I can’t wait for us to have things like that. I know there are paving slabs out but not in the UK yet, where when you walk on them, they tell you what shop you are outside. There is work going on where you where an earpiece and it’s somehow linked up with your iPhone and that will give you instructions where you are. But again, we are waiting for that to be approved or paid for… Better still, let’s find a cure for blindness? Please?

After doing lots of research, I really am getting more and more disillusioned with our eye care. Everything is so very slow. I do wonder if I will ever see in my life time. I think if you are in your twenties, perhaps but not forties, or am I just having a down day?

Each night I look in the mirror in our bathroom and see nothing. I feel so sad. After twenty years of being blind, I still look, hope it’s all been a dreadful misunderstanding and I did go blind, but it’s my mind that now can’t see. My sight is there, but my brain is telling my eyes I can’t see. After all, our eyes are just windows to our soul, our brain is the battery that activates sight, hearing walking talking and so on!

Last night I had a meltdown. Everything just got on top of me. I’m so tired now of the kitchen and not being able to get everything done. The furniture is still in the middle of the floor in our conservatory waiting for the skirting boards to be fitted. We still have a few boxes upstairs and all our crystal is all over the office I need to get the house right, so I can walk without being in fear of breaking something.

I have an object in my hand, firstly, what is it? Secondly, where does it go? Finding cupboards to accommodate everything and then remembering where they are and what is in them. I know I will learn and I know it’s so much better more organised and we have electrics now that we can work without stress. Oh, a funny thing, I took a Braille sheet of Hubs and on it, I knew it had the instructions for the kitchen appliances. Well I can read basic Braille, but not contracted Braille, that’s like in sighted terms, joint up/cursive writing. I have no chance in reading that, so I decided so it wouldn’t get lost, I would tape it to the door of our cleaning cupboard. Great idea, right? Until Hub comes along as I show him my latest brainstorm. He said in his serious way.
“Right, yes, that would be fine love. If you didn’t stick it upside down!””

Oh well. What’s wrong with him, where’s his sense of adventure? Has he never done handstands?

Today our kitchen was to be finished. But it’s not.
My joiner was due this morning and he isn’t here and it’s after mid-day. It’s so not like him not to turn up and his phone is switched off too. I fear something awful has happened to him.

It’s Boy Wonders first day at work for a week. He is kind of looking forward to it. He is sad that his old boss has been moved onto another area. He got on so well with him, but he received a lovely message from him, saying so many nice things about BW.

Not long now before BW goes on his course, hopefully will lead to better things. He went to his girlfriend’s Mothers surprise birthday party at the weekend. They got there for half seven and came back at half two in the morning. Shamrocks Mother stayed way beyond that time. Gosh, where did she get that energy from? We were so proud of our Son, as he only had two drinks all night and as Shams family are Irish, they like their drink. So, pleased he didn’t go with the flow and do the same as the majority.

The next day, Hub took BW to buy a new bed. BW’s bed is only a year old, but it was a cheap one and really, it’s awful. The springs are sticking right out. So, now we need to get rid of the bed and mattress as well as so much more rubbish we have accumulated over the past few months. I can’t even get into our garage now. It’s so bad. I’m really fed up with it all.

Our joiner has been taking loads away with him but there are things he can’t take.

Well, I shall go and lock the gate and doors now, as it looks like there won’t be any work done today. Sad and grumpy. I have loads of ironing to do and some dusting also going to make a chicken dinner for the family tonight, though my Son won’t be in until rather late.

Have you heard of the saying turn a setback into a comeback? Well, my question is, how? I guess every problem has a solution. Turn those obstacles into stepping stones, to get to where we need to be. We learn from our mistakes I guess. We perceive problems as another vital lesson. Just I’m tired of being educated. Kids get holidays a break from school. My teacher will not relent.
Cicero said. “Where there is hope, there is life.””
Time to live. Smile.

A GOOD NIGHT BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good evening Bloggets. It’s almost eleven in the evening we have just got in from a lovely time with friends. A last-minute arrangement to go out. The normal of trying to find clothes that match. Putting on makeup. Hoping I have done an okay job. I wore a new skirt that showed more than I hoped for. If I’m covered shoulder to ankles, I’m happy, but this new skirt wasn’t quite to my expectations.

It’s so easy if you are a man. Hub wore a new shirt I bought for him last week. To me he looked lovely. My skirt I bought a year ago but have not worn it yet. It’s suede to my knees and has a zip from the waist to just above my knees and then there is kind of a split but a square split. So, it’s rather open at the front which I can cope with, just, until I sat down. Then it was a bit too draughty! Gone the days when I had it going on.

We met and enjoyed a great atmosphere in a lovely pub a traditional pub something that are rare in this part of the UK. Really friendly people staff and customers. You can’t use a card, you have to pay by cash. Again, rare. It’s £1 for half a pint of beer and £2 for a pint. It’s on average £4 for a pint in most pubs here. I had an orange juice. My friend had a alcoholic drink of some kind and Hub and our other friend had beer. We stayed for half an hour then went for a meal. It was great, lovely company, we laughed and just enjoyed life for three hours.

The air outside is fresh and fragrant. With all the rain of late but now it’s stopped and is calm. The pungent roses in the air are so reflective of summers past and present and makes you feel so good about life.

Our Son is out at his girlfriend’s Mothers birthday party. We were invited kindly, but it’s not our kind of thing. We are too quiet we are happy in a small group of people we know well and we are not party animals. I hope BW doesn’t feel compelled to drink to keep up with them or he will be so ill tomorrow.

Her Mum thinks she is going out to town for a meal, but when she gets there they have hired out a room in a restaurant. They are having a three-course meal then they are playing party games… There will be 36 people there.

Our dogs had a great free run today on a nearby field. Our dog lady June came for them and I felt so sorry for her because she had to get her poor dog put to sleep today. She was devastated, but still came out to walk our dogs. I told her she should have just stayed at home but she said she was too upset to be in the house alone, bless her.

Our kitchen continues. I will publish my kitchen Diary on Monday, we have found out some news about it last night. More on that in a couple of days.

Right now, we have the TV on and are watching a recording of some music from the 60’s and 80’s. Gosh in the 60’s how innocent was that music? 80’s? a little riskier, but still nothing like these days. What will music be like in twenty years’ time from now?

Hub has a lovely gift for BW coming up. He is so kind to BW. I’m grateful to have such a loving Husband. Lucky to have lovely friends and blessed to have such loyal Bloggets like, you. Words before I go.

“If a fellow isn’t grateful for what he has got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he is going to get.
Frank A Clark
Gratitude is a currency we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.
Fred D Witt

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt

If you stand in the same place every day all day, the sun will leave you in a shadow
Fiona Cummings

Peace and love. X

DIARY OF THE CHOCOLATE BALLOT BY FIONA CUMMINGS

A short blog from me today. Our election. Yesterday Hub and I went to vote. Still, you would think that blind people had not been seen in some parts of our society. I read that one person I know of who is blind had a great experience, well the people at the polling station were lovely, just odd. Firstly, they didn’t want to talk to us. Everyone in the queue before us they were fine, when it came to our turn? Oh, it was like you deal with these, no, you do it. And when we asked for a Braille device which is a hard-plastic sheet with holes in it with Braille on the sides, you put it over the paper, well someone does from the polling station and then they read to you for example, Conservatives is number one, the Green party number two and so on.

They place the ballot paper down on the shelf in the booth and place the tactile sheet over the top, then read to you the choices you have. Gosh last night was so confusing as there were something like six choices of parties but 12 holes to cross. I was sweating in case I did the wrong one.

The reaction though from the staff was so historic. They were all really elderly ladies and I did wonder if they have spent their life in a library as it was a library we went to, to vote.

The atmosphere was really earie. Like a funeral. It was as if people were afraid. Perhaps they really didn’t know just why or who they were voting for?

Enough on elections now. I only hope and pray that Mrs May stays in power and gets us through the next stage to bring back our country. She is the only person capable of it.
People just need to give her a chance.

I felt really strange yesterday voting as I have said before all of my life I voted Labour, but not a chance I could bare that man in power, he is so dangerous. My blog I wrote called Corbyn will explain why I believe this.

Here we are it’s the weekend again. I have had the pleasure of my Son being home most of the day apart from when he went to the gym and then the shop. He is putting his TV on the wall… Oh my. We have knocked down enough walls in this house over the past few months.

I just hope he knows what he is doing, but I can imagine holes being put in the wall and if they are not strong enough to support the TV, then the telly will fall, break and crash into or onto his lovely three guitars. It’s not that I don’t have confidence in his ability, it’s just he has never done this kind of thing before and I would believe that it is something you have to be taught? I only hope too, he won’t go through a wire.

Today I met our joiner’s daughter. What a cutie. She is so lovely a delight. My kitchen continues I thought it would be finished yesterday, but no it’s Monday now but most work is done and it’s a pleasure to be in there right now. I love it. On Monday, I will publish my full kitchen Diary but that is a lot of reading. There are over seventy pages.

It’s rained again today, it’s windy and sunny. Very odd. It’s forecast to rain tomorrow and Sunday too.

I think Hub and I will be finishing off emptying boxes then we will need to start and clear some rubbish away. Do you know that the bin men came around yesterday and they wouldn’t take a large cardboard box? It was recycling day and they wouldn’t put it in the van. Now, whether it’s because their machine on the back of the van won’t deal with that size, I’m not sure, but I do believe that at Christmas, we did put a large box out and they took that.

I don’t think I will be seeing much of Boy Wonder this weekend. He has a bit to do. He brought us some delicious bottles of liqueurs from his holiday. For me, white chocolate, oh my, it’s delicious. Scary, but after the smallest of glasses, the size of an egg cup I am talking like three quarters full, I felt a bit tipsy. It doesn’t take much. Hub got hazel nut flavour. Oh, they are really lovely. He went to a chocolatier he said the full back wall of the shop was covered in chocolate and it was melting chocolate imagine that? The whole wall full of melting chocolate? Oh my. If I worked there, I would be sacked after two hours.

OK, I’m going to try to assist him in his DIY. God help us.

Have a lovely weekend, won’t you.

CORBYN

I have been up until after midnight watching our election then we went to bed with the sounds of our radio keeping check on the election results. As I lay in bed my insides were getting tighter and anxiety was kicking in, heart pulsating and my mouth was dry. I honestly couldn’t live in this country if that stupid man Corbyn had got elected. I just don’t understand how close he got to number 10. He was full of false promises that people naively believed. He is very connected with terrorists believing in trying to talk with people who have no interest in speaking, as they are beyond that. He has stood on stage with the IRA after all they did to our country. In the 80’s and 90’s, he supported the IRA, and opposed the Northern Ireland peace process. He has been paid £20,000 to appear five times on the totalitarian Iranian regime’s propaganda channel, which was banned in the UK for its role in filming the tortured forced confession of Iranian liberal journalist Maziar Bahari.

The Iranian regime executes people who are gay and orders the rapes of female prisoners.

Corbyn has said that Salahis a very honoured citizen Salah is far from a dangerous man.
Who is Sala’s? an Islamist who has been accused of spreading the blood libel an old anti-Semitic conspiracy that Jews used the blood of gentile children to make their bread.
Salah has also been charged with inciting racial hatred violence and has claimed that the Jews were behind 9/11
Corbyn has said that he looks forward to giving Salah tea on the terrace and is a voice we should listen to. Really?
Corbyn invited Hamas to Parliament and called them his friends.
He believes that the Falkland Islands should be shared with Argentina even though 99 per cent of the islanders voted to remain.

He has been shown up where in interview he hasn’t got a clue about his facts and figures, he has even said he can’t name one mistake he has made as he has made that many.
At the launch of LBGT history month, He said “People choose to be gay””

He complained that he couldn’t get a seat on a Virgin train an yet he was filmed walking past empty seats before having to sit on the floor, as if he would? CCTV also showed after he filmed himself, he then went and sat in a seat on the train.

172 Labour MP’s, voted that they had no confidence in him. He has promised 500 billion pounds in spending an yet refuses to say where the money will come from.
On a live radio interview, he was asked a question about a major policy that he announced and he couldn’t answer how much it would cost. He looked a total fool, in my opinion that isn’t difficult. He is onto wife number three as well by the way, very loyal.

But there is one good thing about him. He is a vegetarian.

EXCITED BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good day Bloggets. Well I hope you enjoyed my blog I wrote this morning and remember if you have any stories to tell us, please do so and I will write about them. I’m all mixed up today, anxious, feelings of dread and totally excited.

Anxious because I had a meeting today with a man I will write about in another blog, how did it go? Hmm. I don’t know that answer yet, but I put my point across very well. My Husband did all the technical stuff and I did the talking.
I’m good at that. Smile.
We will earn if we have been successful next week.

Dreading tonight because we are going to vote. And that will be a story for tomorrow if I am pleased with the outcome, if not, then Canada here I come. Smile. Well, either there or Italy but I think Hub will have more success finding a job in Canada than Italy because of the language.
I won’t want to live here if we get the wrong PM.

Excited? Oh yes, I am. The return of Boy Wonder! He has been on holiday for the past five days. Gosh, wow, he has had an amazing time. He has been to my favourite country. Italy. I love the lakes not the cities, but BW is a city kind of guy. For his age, he is very cultural. He loves architecture and art galleries. He also appreciates natural beauty though. He enjoys lively places but only with the knowledge that he can get away from it all and enjoy peace.

I’m sure he has eaten the most delicious food and drank the best wine. The weather has been beautiful for him. He of course went with his girlfriend Shamrock. She sent me a text saying she was having the best time ever. I’m so pleased for them. Making good memories. As long as that’s all there making!!!

So, where has he been?
Rome. Beautiful people, food, culture, weather and sites.

I’m so proud of him. We are parents who are blind, and I’m sure there have been people in our past who do, wonder if blind people should bring up children? Well, our Son has made us very proud over the years. Things we see he is struggling with, we try to help him with rather than giving up. Sometimes we have pulled our hair out, the secret is to try to make it as if it’s his idea and by doing this, one day it will be, he will decide on his own. And he has over the past few years holidays is just one example. Others include his jobs and education but old Bloggets will recall how we were challenged with him over home work of course we can’t sit with him and look at his paperwork or take a look at what he has written, though some occasions, he was able to type his work then he sent us it by email and once on our computer, the software kicks in and we can then read his work.

Things like fixing his own car and taking it to the garage to do things like MOT and so on. He acts like a person in his late thirties.

From the age of 15, he has had the confidents to go for job interviews and be very successful as well as join new groups and a school without any difficulties or worries. I want our boy to be better than I ever was and reach the top of his tree with the hard effort of having to lift himself, up, not be lifted. But we will be there to give instructions on how to hang on to those branches and use his feet wisely, but catch him if he falls.

Taking him to Japan was a great idea. Hub and him went when BW was fifteen. What he did there was amazing. I’m truly grateful to Hub for arranging this.

Well he booked his holiday on his own. It was a gift from him to his girlfriend. He drove to our airport which is about forty five minutes away. It was during the night. He had been up the day before since 6.a.m and it was 4 a.m. when he left. I just prayed he got there safely and thankfully he did. He arranged to have his car parked for him. And got to his destination safely. He had a heck of a time from the airport, but from what I can gather, he did so well. Left the airport and had to walk to a bus stop which was nine minutes’ walk in which direction? He has never been there before.

The bus journey was over half an hour. How did he know where to get off? I think he used his IPhone.

Then to catch another bus, again, which bus, what number? He planned his route before he left. Found his hotel which sounds like a beautiful one. I envy him.

He visited the Spanish steps sat down with some pear juice and crapes and enjoyed the live music.
He visited the National art museum and went to a park where there was a boy and girl playing a Grand piano, he and Sham drunk orange juice and ate grapes. By night they sat around the fountain, where he said was so quiet at nights it is all lit up with a building in the background under lights. He visited the Vatican where he skipped the queues as we told them before they left to book tickets on line as they could be waiting in a queue for up to two hours. He loved the Chapple and the Amphitheatre, known as the Colosseum. The pantheon which I believe stands at 43 m, The Roman forum, Trevi fountain, gosh I remember that fountain so well. When my Mum was taking me around the world to try to find treatment for my eyesight, so many photographs were taken by the press, of me throwing coins into the fountain, as it’s a traditional legend that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they will return. Well, I have been back to Italy, but not Rome. Yet.
He visited The Leonardo da Vinci Museum, went on a bus tour and went for delicious meals.

He has certainly packed in a full few days. He has a busy couple of days planned when he get’s home then back to work for him.

So, that is my news so far. Talk later. X

SHAME EMBARRASSING? LIFE AND LAUGHS BY FIONA CUMMINGS

After my blog, yesterday with the toilet incident, a lovely friend and Blogget of mine, told me of a story that made me chuckle, especially because I know her and, because there is something immature about me that laughs at toilet stories. She had broken her leg, Okay, I’m not that sick, I wasn’t laughing at that, but, she was in a wheelchair at the hospital and needed the toilet. She went to the disabled toilet and she is partially sighted, she wheeled herself into the loo, when to her horror, there was a man sitting on the toilet, pants around his ankles, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Imagine, she’s in a wheelchair, so she can’t just turn on her heel? She said she wasn’t sure who was more embarrassed, him, or her. So, here’s me yesterday feeling ever so slightly bad about walking into the toilet thinking I was walking into the hall of the building, when a lady was still in there, but at least she was on her way out, hahaha. My friend did one better than that, the poor guy was still in the process.

Another lovely lady told me of a friend of hers who can’t see was walking along minding his own business when suddenly, he fell down a hole in the street. He wasn’t aware that there was work going on that day. Not only did he fall down there, but he fell on top of other workmen hahahhahahahahaha. Oh my. Too funny. I’m laughing with him as he told the story to my friend and our Blogget and he was also laughing. This is what I mean when I said yesterday we go through different stages where we are mortified about every little thing and then over the years it’s like whatever! Even when I started to use my white cane. The ground could have swallowed me up. Now, it’s as if it’s my right arm. I’m proud of myself for being able to get from A, to B, without well, falling down holes. Oh, I just fall onto roads, that was awful, but, I was with my dog, having said that, she wasn’t on harness. I was linking my friends arm.

So, some of my Bloggets who have been here for a while will know some of these stories, but this prompted me to tell you some of the things that really did make me die in shame. If I were to do them now? I would feel differently about it. Probably laugh but then, oh, gosh.

So, I did my first day at a high school. I was 22 and had a very successful day in class teaching adult students. One of my colleagues who I didn’t really know as I was brand new there, said he would come with me to the taxi to take me home. Long and short, I was married so he had no chance, but he was interested in me more than I wanted him to be. Well, there I was in my high heels thinking I was the next best thing to Charlotte Bronte, and my absolute hero who I believed was the most beautiful lady Olivia Newton-John, who by the way, I wish so much love and hope for her right now as she faces again breast cancer.

Speaking and acting all professionally throughout that day, I left the school to go to the car park when a black cab was waiting you know, a big car, one of those high ones? Well, I was aware that I had to step up high to get in the vehicle. Gosh, this step was higher than I first thought. Well, one foot in, just leaving the other to follow, right? My head crashed into the roof of the car. Oh, heck, as my backside followed I then realised that my feet were the same level as my bottom. No, I hadn’t stood on the floor, in fact, I was climbing on the back seat and it wasn’t a black cab, but a normal taxi.


Oh heck. There I was sprawled out on the back seat, whilst the guy from school was telling the driver of my address.

They went a bit quiet, I didn’t know how to get out of this situation without looking more of a fool.

So, how do I do this? Do I pretend it was meant to be? No, how could I?

I just pulled down my skirt which by this point was around my thighs and placed my feet firmly on the floor, placed my seatbelt on and tried to act normal.

There was no need for blusher that day.

Well, as the driver, well, drove. I tried to pass polite conversation with him. Oddly enough, he wasn’t wanting to interact. I think he was scared.

Best bit was, and remember in those days I could see very well once everything was still, but not in a moving and, not by someone pointing. I didn’t have a guide dog or a white cane, this man/driver didn’t know I couldn’t see. He pulled up and said his first words.
“Is this your house?””
Well, without thinking, I said.
I don’t know!
It went very quiet. Hahahhaaha. I asked him what colour was the door? He looked at me. Turning over his shoulder. I looked at him straight in the eye whilst asking. He obviously wondered what the heck I was on about? Was I taking the Michael?

Strangely he never picked me up again.

I could write so many stories about things I have done because of my eyesight. Running from college to get into my boyfriend’s car, putting on my belt he was picking me up to go for dinner. As I wondered why he hadn’t greeted me with a kiss. I turned to him, and, you’ve guessed it.
It wasn’t him!

Clothes shopping. I felt the material of a coat and said to my ex. “Oh my goodness. Who would buy such tatty material? It’s hideous””
Then the feeling of dread. As the heat from the coat warmed my groping fingers.
And, it began to move.
With a Granny attached to it.

I welcomed a lady to my house that I was selling so showing her around but in the meanwhile, closed the door on her Husband. I didn’t know he was there but what made it worse, was I thought the doormat was stuck in it so I opened it slightly, then closed it again and again, each time, shutting it harder. I mean, who wants to buy a house where you can’t shut the front door, right?

It took three hard slams and jams, before he groaned. Oh. Oops!

Another time I have written about, I was swimming with my youngest Niece with my ex who had disappeared for ages. I asked my Niece where her Uncle was? She pointed. I went to him joking but showing him I wasn’t impressed with him leaving us so long. I widened my eyes like a mad person and gritted my teeth. I dug my nails into his rather voluptuous chest, saying kill. Kill.
voluptuous? My ex? Naha.
I began to push him underwater, and, you’ve guessed it.
It wasn’t him.

As I have written before,, the guy left the pool probably is still receiving counselling.

Shoes again, panicking I was on a bus, it was dark the night caught me up. It was the day’s again I could see. But, not in the dark. It was late autumn. I had been to college translating for them. I realised I had passed my stop. It was the days before mobile phones. If I waited one more stop, that would have been worse because the next stop was two miles away. I ran down the bus, shouting stop, stop. Clunk clicking with again my high heels I would say about 4 inches. Over 10cm high. The driver grumbled as he had to stop and not at a bus stop. I almost jumped off the bus I was so embarrassed. The driver pulled away grumpy old bugger.
As I put my foot to the ground.
It was wet and cold.
My shoe? On its way, two miles down the road. Two miles is 3.22km

Well, I had to walk all the way home up. Down. Up. Down! Clunk, silence, clunk, silence!

I could go on and on and on. I shall leave it for today. Keep coming with your funny stories, even if you can see and you have a funny story to tell me. I won’t give your names. Just as I haven’t with the above stories from Sarah and Laura.

Hahaha. Joking, that isn’t their names.
There really called Julie and Debbie….

Kidding. Right join me later with more stories. X

BURSTING BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good evening Bloggets. Well, in ten hours we can start to vote. Personally, speaking I wish our PM hadn’t called for this election. I think she has took such a risk, but my Husband said it shows how confident she is and if she wins, then she knows Britain is for her as she wasn’t voted in, remember our last PM quit leaving her to take over. She is strong and will guide Britain back to where it was when it was known as Great, when people had respect for us. In time, our country will be stronger and money will be spent wisely rather than thrown away to hopeless causes.

I have voted Labour all of my life, as has my Husband, but we have had enough now and Labour isn’t what it used to be. Their leader is so fake not half as intelligent as our Mrs. May and to be honest, Jeremy Corbin, abroad, representing our country would be a total embarrassment.

Today has been fun. Firstly, I went out got caught on one of those dreaded shrubs right now they are just a threat but come another month, their huge thorns will grab onto my hair, clothes and flesh as they do every summer. Another huge branch prevented me from walking with ease. As I stopped and tried to snap the branch, it wasn’t having any of it. Wagga did try bless her and guide me away from it, but she was too close to the road for my liking so I just pushed by the trees that tease, every year at this time. They see me coming and laugh, let’s grab the blind girl. Smile. See, sighted people won’t even notice, subconsciously they will move out of the way not giving it a second thought I bet they will get to where they need to be and not even know that they have avoided trees. If they were soft blooms or leaves I would be fine, unless it had been raining of course, there is only one thing worse than being slapped in the face by a wet leaf and that is being bitten by branches with attitude.

We were out of the house fifty minutes doing what we had to do. Wagga was great, apart from one rather odd moment, but it surprised me just how I felt about the incidence afterwards and, during. We went to pick up a letter for Hub, it’s a large building, we got through the two lots of doors and found the reception no trouble, it’s the doors coming out that I always struggle with. So, giving Waggatail the command to find the door. She was great she found the door. I knew we were in the right direction so putting that together with the Wagging one finding the door, perfect, right?
Em, not quite.

As a person opened the door kindly standing to one side obviously holding it open for us? Lady, gent? Not sure until she, spoke.
“Hello Dear”” I thanked her, I stepped into the hall to go out. Only this hall didn’t sound like the hall I knew, it was a lot smaller, oh my goodness. Where was I? Wait for this one Bloggets… Be prepared to be amused.
As I walked in three steps, I had to ask the lady. “Is this the hall?”” She replied.
“No, Dear, it’s the lady’s toilet…..

Oh! I turned on my heal, apologising to the lady as poor love hadn’t even got chance to get out of the disabled toilet, and I had joined her. Hahahahahahahahahaha.

I didn’t even go red. This time a year ago that would have killed me. I would have been so ashamed but I think as a blind person, we go through different stages and I have been where I feel so bad I don’t want to leave the house. Now I’m not saying that I will never feel ashamed again or embarrassed, but today I didn’t. I just felt so bad for that poor lady, but she was a darling.

Waggatail did so good there was a huge delivery van parked right across the path where we cross, she did an off kerb and followed my instructions. But I don’t like doing that because we had to go half way into the road to cross anything could have been coming along but the enormous van prevented other cars and so on seeing me. Thing is, we can’t just cross elsewhere, we learn a route, as do our dogs we can’t just run across some grass or squeeze in between other smaller cars to be seen, we have to stick to the same way.

Called to post a couple of letters then off to the chemist for some Optrex. Hmm. The staff there are so lovely, apart from one man, I don’t like him and I think he is a very arrogant man not only with me but others too. Anyway, I asked for these drops and you can get them for dry eyes, itchy eyes, tired eyes and so on, you used to be able to get original Optrex but not now. The man took it upon himself to tell the lady who was serving me, just to give me dry eyes drops. I intervened the patronising prat, just because I can’t see, doesn’t mean I have dry eyes… So, I said to the girl, just give me itchy eye drops please. I thought, tell your colleague to put that in his beaker and get back to his Bunsen burner.

Tomorrow is a biggy for lots of reasons. A visit from a man and I think that will be a challenging meeting. One I’m not looking forward to. Our joiner is coming too, our skirting boards are getting put on and the work top after the post holding it will I hope be corrected. Then all done. The plumber has done a great job of our sink. Our kitchen is really looking great now.

Then tomorrow night? Oh I’m excited. More tomorrow. Take care, won’t you? Xx

DIARY OF ALL IN A DAY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

My kitchen diary is on hold. I know that feeling, I am writing it, but keeping it until my kitchen is finished, then I shall publish all 70 pages. Someone asked the other day, how many words do I write per day? Good question, it would be lovely to know but when I do what I am meant to do with my screen reader, I lose my talking software. So, I can tell you how many characters I write, but not words. I would say though per day I can easily spend eight hours writing. I tend to not write so much at weekends. I just love to write. To me it’s like breathing. I need to do it to live and it’s as easy as counting to ten to me.

It’s rained for two days solid though I was reading that we are going to have a boiling July. Really? Yesterday I had to turn on the heating.

I have lots to tell you but will wait until Thursday to tell you that news.

Hub was late for work today, well, by saying late, I mean he would be in for 9, rather than twenty to nine. He commuted with a man called Skidder today.
You wouldn’t mess with him, would you?

I’m trying to write this and I can hardly hear my little man in my lap top. I can’t get to our office because of all the boxes in there. My fingers are typing like crazy, I just hope I’m making sense. There are different sounds coming from our kitchen today.

We are off to see our friends from school in a couple of weeks that will be the break I really need. It will only be for the day, but it will be a good one. Our friend has the kind of house that is so homely. I love to visit her. We are also meant to visit our besties but when? Right now, we don’t have time to turn around.

A lovely lady from FaceBook sent me something so special. She is from America and I didn’t know what the gift was until it arrived. I must say it was packed so very well, and so professionally. I learned that it was Anointing oil from Israel. The fragrance is of Frankincense and Myrrh. I have never smelt this before. It’s beautiful. I had no words to say to the lady, it is such a thoughtful gift. With it came words that she kindly sent for me in a format I could read.

Well I started to write this blog at eight this morning, but the house has been like a train station with comings and goings. I said comings, not Cummings…

So, here I am it’s eight in the evening. I’m so cold again. It’s rained for two days none stop. It’s also really windy, the poor blossoms on the trees will be blown off, along with the leaves. My hanging basket is looking rather sad bowing their little heads, the flowers are soaked through. Our roses smell so beautiful, so sweet mixed with the raindrops, it’s a fresh smell I love.

Hub is in the bath. Then we are going to watch a drama. I got his coffee percolator from upstairs and for the first time in eight weeks, we have our water boiler in our kitchen on a work top. Oh, my house is once again becoming like my home. So, my beautiful kitchen, and a guy came today and said, I like your radiator.. No joking. Never mind the units or the beautiful work tops, or the lovely huge cooker, even the floor it’s a good job. No, he liked our radiator. Mind you it is lovely. Our joiner collected it for us. It’s kind of flat with about four lines going left to right. I’m so happy with our new sink. Life is for sure getting easier. I was able to cook Hub a decent dinner tonight. Though there were workmen coming in and out during it, but they were nice and I learned that our gas is safe, this is a good thing.

To appreciate a cup of coffee or tea, hot beverages especially when it’s like winter outside.

We have two days left before election day and I have to say I am rather anxious. I can’t say which way this will go. I know if it goes one way, the way I don’t want it, then we as a country are down the toilet.

I have a busy day tomorrow. For the first time in ages I don’t have workmen so I have a lot of jobs to do out and about. I have to go to our shop, then the Doctors for a letter for Hub, then the chemist and passing the post box for two poems I have written for a couple of people.

I just hope it’s not going to rain like the past couple of days. My little Waggatail works well in the rain, my last guide dog really didn’t like the rain she was so funny around puddles, she would do her best to avoid walking through them, normally leading me right through them. I swear she had a smile on her beautiful face as she did it. The funny thing is, she loved swimming. She swam so well, whereas my Waggatail will not swim. Just dips her feet. She has been going jogging with Boy Wonder and loving it, but last time she was naughty, she ran to play with another dog, there was BW trying to jog as he is training for something that sounds exciting, but kind of crazy at the same time, when he has to go and get naughty Waggs. She jogs for a while then off she goes again. Last time BW through a plastic bottle of his water he drank in the river to try to get her to swim. She wouldn’t she stood on the bank and waited for it to come to her. But the last time he through it she refused to even wait and ran off to play with a puppy. So, BW went to get her and the jogging began again. Next thing, he looks she is going for it, in the other direction. She remembered, her bottle, so went all the way back to see if it had come to the river bank for her to collect. Haha.

He is doing something in a few weeks called Mud Mother. It’s 12 miles, 19.3 Km
It’s running, then creating a human tower the strongest on the bottom, then another and so on so the top person can climb over a very high wall. They have to go under barb wire fences and over high slippy climbing frames with water pouring down. There are loads of other things he has to do for his challenge, but 12 miles? It will kill him as he is very strong, but I wouldn’t say fit. So hence the jogging.

Our Waggatail was so good the first couple of weeks, but now it’s like, jogging Shmogging, done that bro, bought the t/shirt and it shrunk.
Now, where’s that pup?

Right are you ready for a Fi’s fact? Whisky is one of the oldest products on your supermarket shelves. Did you know that?

Every 17 seconds, a can of Heinz baked beans are sold in the UK. Did you know that they cook the beans after they are in the tins/cans?

My heart is hurting again for Paris Especially the Police man’s family. A man attacked a Police man with a tool, saying this is for Syria.

Elsewhere in the news, this makes me sick and I really can’t put into words just how bad this is, a live donkey in Eastern China was thrown into a tiger’s cage at a zoo. Awful. Sinful.

More than 130 Imams in Britain, have refused to bury the terrorists who were shot after Saturdays terrorist attack in London.

Power to them. Right off now to watch a drama. I’m going to have a hot chocolate first, hey, this is summer. X

THE KITCHEN DIARY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Good evening Bloggets. Still cold. It’s still raining. It’s only eight in the evening but my love has gone to bed. He is so fed up with the latest in our kitchen. I think he is going through what I went through with our last builders. It’s been a long couple of months, he expected to walk in from work today and see our lovely work tops and know we are so close to being finished. Instead, he was given the news that there was more work needed doing. It was a close call today; the guys would not be able to continue or start the work unless our joiner came out to see what needed to be done. Well thankfully our joiner did come back, though he had some work to do for himself, to face being told he had to shave some wood as the work top at the back of the kitchen was rocking, so they couldn’t fix the work top until the post was up or shaved down. They have left the work top but it is rocking so something has to be adjusted. The men left the backs of the work tops too just the one. He even left a bottle of silicone I hate that stuff. Whereas where they have fitted the other work tops, they are perfect no silicon in sight, but one bench has to be fixed as the wood needs changing underneath. With blooming awful silicone.

The glass splashback had to be removed and taken away to a safe room. So again, that will need putting back on the wall. I’m just waiting for that to break. It’s been on and off the wall a couple of times but this time, the guys said that it was on wrong. They said it was too far to the right. Great, more holes in our walls, more paint work? Or do we leave it and just put up with it? The glass splash back was too far the other way and to get the work tops perfect
they need the things on the wall to be right too. It’s the back work top that is really bothering us as now it looks like the work top has to come off, the bit in the middle that really was perfect now has to have a haircut as it’s too tall, so this is why the work top rocks. Our joiner said he will do it all on Thursday. I just hope it will be OK as he will be on his own so who will hold it whilst he screws it into the wall? Who will lift the heavy quartz to repair the wood that will be supporting the work top?

Hub had a take away Pizza as I couldn’t face cooking again without water from the kitchen. No way I was going to eat a nasty Pizza. So, I haven’t eaten. I may find some fruit in the fridge. All day I have been starving for fried onions. Not sure what that is all about.

The plumber didn’t come, he said he needed a pint. Haha. I know that feeling. I don’t think he was talking about blood, either.

The plumber said he will be here tomorrow morning at eight. I hope so. Then the work starts again by our joiner on Thursday. Please God, let everything to do with our sink be there in the box?

Another day where we haven’t received our bits of glass, well that is what they look like. In fact, they are small clips that keep the glass shelves up. Again, something else missing. We asked for them on Thursday.

If I was to give advice, I would say, don’t get a new kitchen. Put new handles on your old one. Put a new work top or tops if you can, change the floor even your cooker, but never do what we have done. Though my friend has had no trouble with hers, we just gather lots of bother for others.

Silly things that really stop progress like missing brackets. Screws, pins or whatever you call them…
And in our case, missing doors. Two. And not small doors, oh no, the big tall full size 7 foot doors, so in metres, 2.13, just for my lovely new friend Milton who has been converting my measurements into modern ways, I still talk in feet and inches. It’s English. I’m old fashioned. I still talk of lbs too when it comes to buying meat and so on.

When I say my measurements, I’m not talking 36, 24, 36.
Haha, those were the days.
I think I was that for about seven months.

I mean, how can you lose two doors? Who checks these things before leaving the Wearhouse?

If you do want to buy a new kitchen, then go to B&Q. Buy it yourself never buy from somewhere who promises you there is no waiting time then takes two weeks to send doors out and goodness knows how long to send a tiny pack of screws and so on.

I feel for Hub; the stress is getting him down. I should go and see if he is OK, but I am on the edge too with it all. And in a couple of days I will tell you of something else that is going on so this is making it worse. But that won’t be in this Diary but my normal blogs. If you can call my blogs normal. Smile.

So where are we now? Well, the splash back is off again, needs putting on. More dust and shaving to do in the kitchen as things get adjusted. Sadly, our perfect work tops that are in will look lovely but same time stupid against one work top that will be filled in by silicon. And then, will it work? I think the guys were hoping that our joiner would do the wood today whilst they were here, but the fact is, he has his own work to do moving workshops and he has to be out by a date that has already expired, so he is on borrowed time. He has paid the young lad who is the plumbers Son so won’t want to work here when he sees his money wasted whilst the lad stands around doing nothing at his end. So now it’s a waiting game. As for the cooker hood being on too far to the right, not sure what will be done about that. The guys who came to fit the work tops noticed it from the top end of the kitchen. I must say, BW noticed something to do with the hood last week, but I didn’t want to know. The good news is, we have a windowsill. The bad news is, Hub hates it. I love it as no more paint. It’s plastic. The work tops that are in well, are, in well, and look amazing. I will try to put pictures on here next week. The kitchen is looking so lovely apart from the knowledge that things are a little off set. I would say we are about 90% done. I hope by Thursday, 100% then we have our first normalish weekend. We may even go out… I think our joiner will be pleased to see the back of our job, having said that, he then has a huge bathroom job to do and he said that will be for three months. Oh my, imagine that? 12 weeks of work done to your house? I think he may age by then as he needs to get his guys to turn up to do the work.

Though it’s been so cold, I need our summer bedding on. Guess where it is? In our lovely blanket box our joiner made for us.
Guess what’s on top of the box? About forty odd crystal glasses.
Guess who has nowhere to put the glasses?
Fifi.
Our joiner said he was going to make us a cabinet for our glasses.

Hub said we have fifteen boxes to empty. To be fair, most of the boxes have big things in them. Hub brought downstairs some plates yesterday. I took them and went to put them in our lovely deep cupboard. There were eight of them
Oh, no, wrong set, they are our posh new set that Hub bought me for Christmas. The ones I wanted are about eight years old and only come out at Christmas, now they will move on to being our everyday set. How did I know I had my new set? Because Hub said there were eight plates. My Christmas set as I call it, has seven plates. Boy Wonder as a child, my Teen in fact, dropped a plate full of dinner years ago. Smile. On Christmas day, full of, well, Christmas dinner.

To feel the plates, they feel the same. Imagine if I started to use them thinking all was OK. Then find out ten months down the line, my £6 per plate were in fact my Denby plates at £15 per plate.

Well I’m going to try to boil some water, sadly from our bathroom, then to wrest the boiler as it’s not a kettle, on top of our gas cooker as I can’t put anything on our work tops until tomorrow. So, boiling water on top of a gas hob? Wobbly? Boiling, equals dangerous Fifi. Hey this blind girl Leeds life on the edge.

THE KITCHEN DIARY BY FIONA CUMMINGS

It’s raining hard and it’s really cold. I have had to put our heating on. Yes, in June. Outside it is 11°, inside, I don’t care, I have short sleeves on and I am so cold, so go and put long sleeves on? I kind of want to believe it’s summer.

I’m so hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat and won’t until six tonight as the men are coming to put our work tops in our kitchen this afternoon and won’t be finished till quarter to four. I pray the plumber will come and fit the sink. I don’t think I can stand the thought of using water from the downstairs bathroom again. I hope he will come because he only lives around the corner, but I have a feeling he won’t.

We bought a new wall light, because ours got broken with the work going on. Sadly, the electrician put it on the wall but the bulb has gone missing. So, does the light work? Not sure. Where has the bulb gone? I don’t know, I know there was a bulb with it as I took it from the box to look then put it back in with care along with the light, but we have a ghost so along with toothpaste, they obviously like bulbs too.

Our Joiner has done a great job, it’s going to be beautiful in there. He suggested that we painted the door, as in the wooden one that leads into the kitchen, but right now, I just want the kitchen finished. I contacted the painter but haven’t heard anything yet. To be honest I still would rather just stain it darker, but our plumber said it would look awful. It needs to be white gloss. All my doors are stained the same colour that is why I am reluctant to paint the kitchen one. Hub is very against it. We are trying to avoid paint work I know you have to get them stained, but not as much as you do when paint is involved. So, we may just go for a darker wood look. Right now, they are really light. The joiner said to paint it white as there shouldn’t be more than three colours in a kitchen. We have cream units and floor and whatever colour I have put on my walls, as well as white windowsill and skirting boards. The door will make it four colours.

Our new door won’t lock. Our lovely Joiner came to fix it today but it’s still broken. He also fitted a new windowsill. It looks great. Our kitchen is almost finished after the work tops and the sink, there are two small jobs to do. Finish off a trim Hub found that was missing, put clips in our glass unit because the company hadn’t sent enough out and then there is all the skirting boards to do in the kitchen and, the conservatory again, because of a bad job that the old builders did of our original job.

I put my brand-new towel out at the weekend. On our posh radiator. Luckily, I went to it today and found it was absolutely soaked. The plumbers Son obviously used it when he removed our sink we were sent for by the kitchen company. It’s out now, and my new towel is in the washing machine. He is the young lad who is a good worker bless him. Let’s hope his Dad doesn’t let the side down tonight? Smile.

Eight weeks tomorrow our work started. It will be totally finished by Thursday. All weekend Hub and I worked again, mainly to get the dirt from our conservatory. My poor sofa was full of not only dust but grit, tiny stones. Everything from planks of wood to tools and what was on the floor was placed on that I am shocked that it has no rips or marks on it. Our conservatory seams so much bigger because we don’t have a huge fridge in it now. As well as doors from cupboards and dishwashers. Well, a, dish washer.

At one time in there was our old fridge, our small freezer, our new tall built in fridge and then the freezer and our new washing machine, dryer, dishwasher and huge cooker. As well as the furniture from the conservatory. Oh, and the bin from the kitchen and a rack oh, gosh, and a tall wide dresser. My goodness, it really will look different now.

Our joiner said that we had plaster on the plastic frames in there, so I cleaned it, I just hope it has come off.

Hub and I tried to find things to put in our cupboards this weekend. My man is strong. Bless him. The boxes he carried downstairs was unreal. It’s kind of daunting when you are blind to have a huge box in your arms and feeling with your foot, where the start of the stairs is? Then trying to find the hole in the wall, the door, when you can’t use your hands? Not to mention what surprise our dogs have left us in toy form at the bottom of the stairs!

Our joiner is making us a cabinet to put our crystal in. It will be good when all that’s away. But let’s get the kitchen totally finished first.

The guys have just called me to let me know they are on their way to fit the work tops so I best go and unlock the gate and doors. They said it will take them two hours. I hope they will saw outside not in my conservatory? Though bless, it is raining.

Still waiting for things that were not in the box from our kitchen supplier. The company we used are called Wren Kitchens. They have a beautiful homely showroom. The meter and greeter are lovely giving you tea coffee juice if you want it and providing entertainment for the kids whilst you spend. But the after care is shocking. You have to be on the phone for ages. The first guy was going to send us a white door for our unit though it is stated clearly cream gloss, it took two weeks for those doors to arrive and the factory is an hour away. On Thursday morning, we requested some shelf pins hooks whatever you call them. They are clear though so don’t stick out a mile once in the cupboard with the glass display windows.
Today is Monday, we are still waiting.
After you are on hold for about half an hour waiting for them to answer and try to order you the correct items. We have had missing brackets, hooks whatever you call them and doors as well as handles. But, we are getting there, though I have aged at least seven years and three and a half months, in the past eight weeks.

Note to oneself. Remember to remove your little finger when closing the fridge door.
My left hand closed the fridge whilst my right hand was in the way. My little finger wasn’t happy. I put some ice on as soon as I did it.

Gosh, we sold our last item. Our old, very old freezer. It’s seven years old. It’s been in the garage for the past six years. Our last house it was in the kitchen but then found its way to the garage when we moved. Oh my. We sold it on eBay and my fear happened when he asked if he could collect it today. I don’t like people coming to the house I don’t know. I looked up his address he lives in a bit of a rough area. So, I was dreading it more. It’s half an hour’s drive from here. The name he has on eBay, is rather well, doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you would want to meet in a dark alley. So, the snob is coming out in me? He is the second English person to have bought our items. The rest have been with a strong accent from various countries. It’s been like the United Nations. But they have all been so lovely, so polite one didn’t speak English at all, but we still managed to communicate. This guy was English, broad speaking and I wasn’t keen. Oh my, the rest of the people said thank you, apart from the person who couldn’t speak English, and they took the items away they went. Heard nothing since so all Okay. This one? Well, I said it was in the garage, I opened the door it was already on wheels to make it easier for him to wheel to his car or whatever he came in. There was no thanks for that, where as other people were so polite and thanked us for making their lives easier. Apart from the one and only other English person who watched our Son carry the item to the car, put it in and didn’t even acknowledge the fact he didn’t need to lift a finger.

Well, the man today rang my bell…. Yep, Bloggets, someone rang my bell didn’t tickle our front door and run. I opened it, he grunted.
“Freezer!””
He wanted to know if it worked. I said yes, we were using it until a couple of days ago. He asked if he could plug it in? I didn’t want him in my garage, so I told him there was an outside plug. He grumbled. Where. I said there and pointed. It was right next to him.

He asked where the button was to fast frees it? I thought heck, what does he want, his dinner cooked for him?

I told him inside at the top were all the buttons. Well, he opened the door, closed it and opened it again.
“Sure, it’s working?””
100%.
“Why is it warm then?””
We defrosted it so you wouldn’t have water everywhere when you put it in your vehicle. Then he said.
“I pushed the fast frees button and it hasn’t frozen, Bloggets, really, we are talking about two and a half minutes by this stage. I said it takes a while for the freezer to frees. Well, he said it needs a clean on the outside, I said yes, it’s been in our garage and we have had workmen so there has been a lot of dust with them coming and going from the garage also the first lot of builders were in there sawing. I mean, seriously, it was clean, jut not immaculate, he was just a grumpy pumpy pants. No way I was getting buckets of hot soapy water out, not for a fiver. That’s what we got for it.

Well, he then went on his grumbling way and half an hour later, I received a text from him. Oh gosh. What now? He wanted to know how old it was? I told him coming up to seven years. I hope I won’t hear again from him. What on earth does he expect for £5? New, it was almost £500

Well since I started to write this, we have had yet more problems. The men came very nice to do our work tops. Forty minutes into the job, there is a problem. Long and short of it is, our joiner has come out thank God, he has as if not we would have to pay a fortune for these guys to come back out and we wouldn’t have got finished today again.

So now my splash back is off again. It scares me as it’s enormous about 3 ft long by almost that in height. Our lovely perfect corner bit has to be cut and they are leaving a line of work top to be stuck down by our joiner as he hasn’t time to wait as he has work to do himself today. Thankfully he will do it on Thursday, but why can’t anything go right? There isn’t one part of this job that has gone smoothly apart from the fact the electrics work. Touch wood.

I did smile when I noticed the guys voice change when he told me he will need a signature. Haha. Pass me that pen young man, I will do a smiley face if you like?

Did I tell you the other night Boy Wonder drew a picture on a box in the kitchen one the workers would be in the next day? So, I joined in and drew some pictures. BW can’t believe my pictures, he thinks it’s so funny that his blind Mum can draw. I drew a flower, a heart and a cat, well, I chickened out with the cat so the poor thing didn’t have features, but hey, you should have seen its tail?

Loads to tell you about BW in a few days. His latest adventures and more.

Meanwhile I shall go for now. I’m weary. Hungry for really really fried onions. But for now, my kitchen Diary continues.