Good morning Saturday

[Diflower]

Afternoon
Mostly nice here, sun on and off, a lot of cloud but no rain, and lovely and warm

Glad it went well yesterday Kaz
Jen you poor things, it sounds never ending. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but still xx
We had a lovely day yesterday, cousin M and his wife came for the day (yes another one, I do have a lot of cousins!). Another excuse for lunch out, sitting in the garden at the Chequers down the lane And an excuse for cake when we got back

Friend who has the house at Barton drives me/us round the bend though! We both love her to bits, but however many times we tell her it's really better if she lets us know when she's coming...she doesn't
She's been telling us for ages that she'd be down 'in July', but last week she said she wasn't sure.
This morning she phoned to say she's there, with a friend, and 'thought we could meet for dinner tonight'.
Yes we can. but more notice would've been nice, then we could have gone somewhere nice, instead of the place she's already booked...ho hum, it'll be fine
x

[molly]

down the lane And an excuse for cake when we got back

Friend who has the house at Barton drives me/us round the bend though! We both love her to bits, but however many times we tell her it's really better if she lets us know when she's coming...she doesn't

x

Oh, Di, we have friends like that only they just live up the road. The came to the door on Thursday night, Friday morning, just after midnight. I had, for some reason, probably had my hands full of stuff to go upstairs, left the living room lights on when I went up to bed so they assumed we were still up and knocked on the door. That started the dog barking so woke my daughter up. I hung out of the bedroom window and asked them politely to go. What I was saying in my head was not so polite!! They turned up at one in the morning once, I was in the living room that time, but I ignored them knocking on the door so what did they do……..they phoned…….and woke the whole household up. My eldest was staying with us then and as she knows what they are like she came down, looking very sleepy, though in fact she had been wide awake, and complained to them that with phone going at that time of night, she assumed something really bad had happened to someone. They had done that before but they haven't done it since.

We are seeing them this evening so words will be said.

[Ally]

Flippin heck Molly - they sound a right pain!

[Kaz]

Oh Di, that would be a bit aggravating> Still, hope you have a lovely evening anyway - we are out with the inlaws tomorrow night, who are coming up from Somerset

I wonder if you have as many cousins as me? I have 22 Nine on Dad's side and thirteen on mums Two are long lost however - Mum's oldest sister lost custody of her two girls, and nobody in the family has seen them since.

Molly!!

[Suff]

Suff, it's called a Rachlette Grill. it's an electric thing, with a stone and a hot plate on top, the grill is underneath and dishes are supplied with it for that.

Phew, we have one of those without a stone, just a metal top... I've seen stones where you can heat them with burning wood and then use them for cooking. I was having dark thoughts of having to build a fire pit in and we already have a portable one of those in the first courtyard...

Molly I think I would be having words too. Some people are totally inconsiderate.

[Ally]

Oh Di, that would be a bit aggravating> Still, hope you have a lovely evening anyway - we are out with the inlaws tomorrow night, who are coming up from Somerset

I wonder if you have as many cousins as me? I have 22 Nine on Dad's side and thirteen on mums Two are long lost however - Mum's oldest sister lost custody of her two girls, and nobody in the family has seen them since.

Molly!!

I've just sat and listed my cousins Kaz (took me a wee while) as I have 26!

[Kaz]

[Diflower]

Gosh Molly she's not as bad as that! I'd only expect that on New year's eve
She's too old to change now, but it's annoying.
We've missed her altogether before, simply because she turned up when we were out but got home 5 minutes later - but she'd forgotten to charge her mobile so then couldn't phone

I have left a message on her phone saying, we did mean to go to that Thai restaurant next time you were down didn't we, but don't know if she'll notice the message

Kaz I definitely have more than 22 lol, I used to know but will have a go tomorrow.
Is that just first cousins? x

[JoM]

I need to work out how many I have, there were a lot of us though
As a child, whenever I visited my Nan there would be other cousins there to play with. Whatever the age difference we all used to mix in, for instance my cousin Ann who is 15 years older than me taught me to ride a bike on the cul de sac outside our Nan's bungalow. Ann and other older cousins introduced me to so many bands and singers from an early age too. We used to go on a great big family holiday every Summer.

I always think it's sad that Tom and Joe don't have a relationship like that with their cousins. They only have three and they live a three hour drive away so seeing them is a rare occurrence.

John's Mom used to turn up at silly times when she lived around here. It'd usually be when her brother in law and his wife were visiting from Norwich, they'd go out for a pub meal and she'd think it a good idea to drop in on the way home at, say, 10.30pm. Several times her brother in law walked in, picked up the TV remote and chose something to watch.

[Kaz]

Yes those are first cousins Di, second cousins must run into the dozens as well, as many of those cousins have children and grandchildren

Jo our cousins were regular playmates, and we often went on holidays with them as well Not the same for my three, sadly. Chris only has my sister's two who are much younger, and although B and H have more on their dad's side they are much younger as well They know my sister's two quite well though, Hannah and Phillip, but we've never lived near enough for them to be playmates.