Free as a bird.

Free to do what I want, when I want to.

Free to wander from room to room without having to consider that someone might be busy working and need privacy.

Free to add lashings of garlic/ginger/spices to the meals without taking anyone's taste in account.

Free to spend as much time in the bathroom as I care to. Not that I am inclined to spend longer than necessary there. Shower, hair wash and out in 5 is my thing.

Free to sing as loud as I like to MY choice of music. Not that I can carry a tune.

We are 4 again and the dogs are loving all the sofa space.

The family have departed to pastures new and the silence is deafening, and I love it. That is the one part of living in a large household that I am very happy to miss. 
I grew up in a busy, noisy environment and until 2004 was accustomed to living in a busy home. Lots of our friends and our son's mates passing through (and sometimes putting down roots for a few nights). 
Then there was work, busy, noisy and very sociable, that kept me in the zone till retirement. 
I took a while to adjust to the peace and quiet but soon came to love it. Now I am not comfortable in busy and noisy places, in fact I do my best to avoid them when possible.

Now for the nitty gritty.

The tooth fairy waved her wand and i t seems that it could be 4 months or so before all is sorted. Luckily I am in no pain or even mild discomfort, speech is still a problem at times. I tend to lisp a great deal and am very conscious that my front teeth are very damaged. My saliva output is hit and miss so my mouth is either awash or as dry as the Kalahari desert, neither of which leads to coherent speech.

I have added more texture to my diet and it is going well. I can not bite into an apple or pear, but cut up and there is no problem. The main change that I had to make was to increase the cooking time when making a stir fry, strips of hard carrot and peppers are beyond me.

That's it. Moan over.

I am happy to say that my freedom has given me hours in the garden, sorting out pots, getting lots of bulbs in, pegging out strawberry runners and all the early autumn jobs. My miniature apple trees are loaded with fruit, Katy in particular has done us proud. I have picked pounds of fruit, it does not sit in the fruit bowl well for more than a few days so the neighbours have helped out. I have also cooked loads with a squeeze of lemon juice and a shake of cinnamon, these are now safely tucked away in the freezer. 
The Red Windsor fruit is weighing down the branches so crook sticks have been used to prevent breakage, I will be starting to harvest them soon. 
James Grieve has fruited well, just not as heavily, but they are later to ripen. 
Howgate Wonder and the Bramley have both done very well, although I did thin the fruit out after the June drop as it is their first year.

My first Victoria plum gave us a reasonable harvest, the second tree, the Damson and the Czar did not fruit at all. They are a year behind so fingers crossed I will have a crop next year.

I am considering a Peach and/or Nectarine later this year.

The courgette plants surpassed all expectations and we have become very inventive at getting them into lots of recipes. I even had a go at courgette crisps, not a total success but still very tasty and went down well.

The Rhubarb has kept the SO well supplied with crumbles, there is also a stash in the freezer, some cooked with Victoria plums, for the winter. I have a heap of home made compost ready to cover the beds with once the leaves and stems have gone. They are hungry plants and as well as feeding this will protect them from extreme weather, fingers crossed that will not be essential.

I have taken a break from sock knitting and am working on a WIP, there are still a few lurking around, but will be back with my 2.25 circulars and 4 ply yarn soon. I want to start a new tradition this Christmas  ( no apologies for using that word) of 7 pairs of socks each for Fran and the SO. At least one pair will be seasonal, just think of the excitement level, they both love their hand knitted socks.
Fran has a Chunky or Aran weight sweater for her birthday every year, that is done, wrapped and ready to go. This year there are mittens to match and I have enough yarn for a hat.
There is a Carbeth for Christmas, with a hat, along with a quilt and various sewn gifts. 
She does have a thing about Christmas and is childlike when it comes to a mountain of brightly wrapped parcels. The homemade ones are the stars of the show in her eyes though, it is not about money spent but the love that is stitched and knitted in.

That is enough, I seem to have been tapping away for hours. It is time that I got out into the garden for a while.

I do want to thank you all for your comments and well wishes I appreciate every single one. So many bloggers, and you tubers, say the same, the level of support in out community is second to none. There are simply not enough superlatives to use to express my gratitude. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

                     TTFN                                    Pam