Awake and up all night

Love that expression. Hope you gave Ryder some of your pork scratchings.

Hope you're feeling better. xxx

Delighted to hear that Pat is doing well Soc. xxx

Hello Daisy (Daisy53) 

He's a good lad and we have a packet each - and as our corner is near to the door he gets plenty of fuss, the odd dog treat and yesterday some beef crisps too!

Kind regards - Brian x

If it helps you to talk about your problems don't hesitate to talk on here about them.  A problem shared is a problem halved and all that.

I used to get told off by mum for making dams out of mashed potato on my plate. It kept the gravy where I wanted it but she classed it as 'playing with my food,' a criminal offence according to her strict upbringing.

I don't mind gravy provided that I can rescue the Yorkshire pudding before it gets drowned. Onion gravy is my favourite.

I hope you are recovering from the heat. It must be difficult to administer care when you are feeling 'off.' Paracetamols do help a lot. 

I had a scheduled urethral catheter change on 24th June. The procedure itself was fine but since then I have had a few bouts of rosé almost every day. It delayed me from going to bed last night. I eventually turned in at 5-45am. I was ok overnight then after lunch my tube turned strongly red for 10cm, followed by a large clot then more rosé. By 3pm things had settled back to normal but I still felt unsettled. These events are not uncommon with me. I'm still good at engaging the 'what if' drive to deepen my concerns but can control the mood swings a bit better these days. Bloody cancer in any form is no fun.  I laughed at Millibob's post the other day regarding 'coffin dodgers corner' in his local ale house. A half of Hook Norton bitter would slip down well whilst scowling from the retired domino players corner in our local . Ray xxx 

Thanks so much Daisy53 

Hello Ray (RayMK ) 

I have been into Real Ale since I started drinking in 1971 starting with the local brew Oldham Brewery best Bitter. Living in Greater Manchester the choice of Real Ale is still pretty good but for the last 48 years my local has sold J W Lees's finest bitter and I rather like it. I don't mind a pint or 2 of "Old Hooky" as the odd pub in Manchester sells it.

As for Dominoes - yes I love a game (although confused last year when I came across a set of 9's at a pub in the Lake District - that was mentally challenging).

We are a card playing family, all my children and partners can play Crib, 9 Card Don (a northern game) Dam and Blast, Canasta, and Solo. I can also play Bridge.

As we have a place in Turkey we also all play Okey which is the local game played with numbered tiles.

Sign of a mis-spent life, never mind a mis-spent youth - but happy days.

Kind regards - Brian.

thank you so much daisy.xxx

We were dedicated crib players in our local pub, The Melrose, in Westcliff on Sea (then the "posher" end of Southend) from 1979 to 1984 where we bought our first house when working in London.

There were always 3 or 4 tables of 4 going Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and a grand tournament a couple of times a year which was great fun. Don't get much opportunity to play nowadays.