A bit of Waffle - 27/4/26

Phew - I've scheduled all the remaining A-Z posts.  That's a relief.  It's been hard work keeping up with everything and, as usual, I haven't been great at visiting other bloggers that are taking part so I'm trying to do more of that now.

Even responding to comments has been tricky.  I hope none of my regular followers feel neglected.

I didn't do a photos post yesterday as I hadn't done a full week of photos but these are the photos that I did take last week:

A couple of things I bought for my Hubby's birthday - unfortunately the mug has already been broken.  Not sure what happened but he was pouring coffee into it and it just cracked around the bottom!  Very annoying.

This was a photo I took to remind me of when I parked in a restricted road on Tuesday.

The next book for the evening Book Group.

Progress on the jumper I'm knitting.

And at the weekend we had grandchildren Ella and Nathan sleeping over on Saturday night.

I didn't take a photo yesterday so not the best start to this week but I have taken some today.  Hopefully I'll continue over this week.

Hubby and I had an outing together today - we went to the nearby Larkswood and then for lunch in one of the many Highams Park cafes.

Tonight I'm on duty at the Foodbank for deliveries but it's looking like I will also have to do a collection as one of our drivers has now left to start training as a fire fighter.  Hopefully we'll recruit some more driver volunteers but until then I might be busier than usual!

Have a good week all.

W is for Waal - (A-Z Challenge 2026) 27/4/26

The A-Z home page can be found here.

My theme this year is authors that I've read. More about the books I've read than the authors themselves.

I'm an avid reader. I'm a member of 2 in person reading groups through my local library. I'm gradually working my way through an old BBC reading list of 100 books (I'm about half way through) and I'm taking part in the online 52 Book Club Challenge for the third time this year where the challenge is to read 52 books over the year based on 52 different prompts. You can also find me on Goodreads here.

The W authors I've read are:

• Waal Kit de
• Wake Jules
• Ward Sarah
• Ware Ruth
• Watson S J
• Weaver Tim
• Webb Debra
• Weiner Jennifer
• Weisberger Lauren
• Wetmore Elizabeth
• Wiggs Susan
• Wilde Oscar
• Williams Julia
• Wilson Jacqueline
• Wilson Mairi
• Winman Sarah
• Wood Simon
• Wood Val
• Woodman Cathy
• Worth Jennifer
• Wyndham John

 Well quite a few W authors.  The prize for most read author goes to Cathy Woodman with 6 books.  I read a whole series by her all relating to a veterinary practice in the English countryside.  The Goodreads blurb is "Cathy Woodman, a fresh new voice in women's fiction, has written a warm, breezy romantic comedy that makes for the perfect relaxing cozy read".  The books definitely fit that description and I must have been in the mood for that type of book at the time which was back in 2018.

Jacqueline Wilson makes the list as the two I've read by her (The Story of Tracy Beaker and Double Act) were on the BBC list.  As was Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray which also ticks a classic box. I didn't enjoy it though, only giving it 2 stars.

Funny how some books stay with you and others don't, even by the same author.  I have reasonably clear memories of The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham but I just had to look up The Chrysalids to see what it was about.  Both dystopian of course.  It probably helped that I've seen a film version of the Day of the Triffids.

I read all the books in Jennifer Worth's trilogy on which the excellent series "Call the Midwife" is based.  But of course there are my usual choice of thrillers on there as well.  Ruth Ware for one and Tim Weaver for another.  Weaver's The Missing Family was a 5 star read for me.  

Another piece of trivia for you.  I really enjoyed Kit de Waal's book My name is Leon.  Set in the 1980s it tells the story of 9 year old Leon who has a difficult start in life. The book follows Leon's struggle with being in foster care and losing his brother. I concluded my review of that by saying, "The ending is quite open ended.  It will be interesting to see if the author writes a sequel."  I just googled this and apparently the author has expressed plans to write a sequel based on when Leon is 43.  I also discovered the original book had been televised.  Another one to add to the watchlist!

Do you have a watchlist of books you've read that have either been made into a film or televised?

V is fr Vincenzi (A-Z Challenge 2026) 25/4/26

The A-Z home page can be found here.

My theme this year is authors that I've read. More about the books I've read than the authors themselves.

I'm an avid reader. I'm a member of 2 in person reading groups through my local library. I'm gradually working my way through an old BBC reading list of 100 books (I'm about half way through) and I'm taking part in the online 52 Book Club Challenge for the third time this year where the challenge is to read 52 books over the year based on 52 different prompts. You can also find me on Goodreads here.

The V authors I've read are:

• Vincenzi Penny

Well another short list!  And only 1 book by the author - The Dilemma which I read so long ago it doesn't even have a rating let alone a review on my Goodreads page.  I don't really remember anything about it either, even though it's over 800 pages long.

Perhaps I should have added another few authors to this list to have more to say.  I don't have any V authors in my pile of To be Read books.  Any recommendations?

Friday's Fave Five - 24/4/26

Friday's Fave Five is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  Each week she reminds us to look back and find the things we were grateful for during the week.  It's good to be grateful.  Why not join us?

1)  Well firstly I am grateful for my Hubby.  He had a birthday last Saturday and we celebrated by attending a fund raising evening organised by a friend of his doing what he loves best - singing and playing his guitar.  He was one of several acts that performed at a nearby church and although I don't usually go to watch him play I couldn't miss out on his birthday.  We'll have been married for 42 years in June.  Definitely a keeper.

2)  The quiz night I mentioned last week raised £3967 for the Foodbank which is amazing!  

3)  Spring weather.  It's been sunny all week and although not that hot yet I was still able to get all my washing done and a lot of it dry on the line outside. (I still tumble dry things like underwear and t shirts to cut down on the ironing.) 

4)  Postal votes.  We have elections for councillors next month but our postal votes came yesterday.  I'm grateful not to have to get to the polling station on the day.  Usually it's fine but one less hassle to deal with.

5)  A good meet up for the evening book club on Wednesday.  There were only 5 of us but we had a good discussion about the book and lots of other things too.  We all agreed that we didn't like the book:

Hopefully the next one will be better:

And the jumper is nearly done.  I just need to do a few more rows and then the decorative bottom.  Oh and all the tedious sewing in of ends and seams to do.  Don't hold your breath for a picture of me modelling it!

Have a good weekend all.