Weekly photos 1/3/26 - 7/3/26

Well I did not do a good job with photos this week - the report card would say "must try harder"

No photo for last Sunday but I did remember on Monday when I was cutting back my lavender - it was a lovely sunny day and quite warm for this time of year.

Tuesday I finally finished this blanket which has now been returned to my daughter. (She made the granny squares, I put it all together.)

This book was finished on Wednesday.

I started this on Thursday.  Goodness only knows when I'll get it finished.  It will hopefully be a jumper for me.

 Friday - Screen shots count as photos right?  A night out to look forward to next month - another wine tasting quiz event at the Foodbank.

Saturday - Hmm this is even more of a cheat - taken from Goodreads - the book I finished yesterday.

As you can see I did a lot of reading and crafting over the last week.  I should probably try and get out more to find more interesting things to photograph!

Have a good week all.

#SoCS - 7/3/26 - Distance

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “distance.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

The prompts for #SoCS are provided by Linda who blogs here.  Pop over to her site to find out more and see who is joining in.

I am really trying to go the distance here with my blog.  Apart from a couple of late night posts which just slipped over the midnight mark I think I've managed to post something everyday this year.

Of course the Just Jot it January challenge helped.  (Also hosted by Linda - Thanks!) and now I've got into a bit of routine with the various types of posts I'm doing on regular days.  #SoCS is of course the regular Saturday post but it's probably one of the easier ones because the prompts are random and the very nature of the posts suits my waffling tendency.

But some days are easier than others.  Especially when you have other things to be done too.  A reading challenge for example.  Which requires 52 books over the year.  Again I'm doing ok so far, even slightly ahead of myself but some books are easier than others to read.  And there are the two IRL reading groups I'm in through my local library.  I really enjoy those because I've met new people through them and as we moved to an area where I knew no one that's a definite bonus for me.

I also joined a knitting group for the same reason - to meet people, but of course that means I have to do some knitting.  Oh and attend the group meetings.  At least this group only meets fortnightly and the book groups are monthly.

Then there is the keep fit group that meets weekly which is vital - I need to keep in shape!  Although the shifting of crates of food at the foodbank is probably as good a workout as going to a gym.

Don't have time for a gym!

Throw in babysitting and keeping the house clean and tidy and the weeks go by in a blink of the eye.  Especially when I'm also keeping an eye on the steps/distance I walk.  Distance today: 2.06 miles.

I'm so glad I'm retired.

Friday's Fave Five - 6/3/26

Susanne kindly reminds us each week to think about the good things that have happened and things we're thankful for.  Then we link up here.

1)  Lots of reading time this week.  I finished these three books and I've already started another.

2)Lots of crafting time too:

Ella's bag is finished and she loved it.

The blanket of granny squares is now finished and that has gone to my daughter. (She made the squares, I sewed them together and then did an edging plus I wove lots of ends in!)

Now I've started on a jumper for me!  This is the first of two panels that form the top of the shoulder and sleeve.  It looks a bit complicated but hopefully my Knit and Natter friends will be able to help me if I get stuck.

3) A Knit and Natter session on Wednesday.  We hadn't met for a month so it was good to catch up with people.

4) Spring weather!  We had a few days of nice sunny and warm weather.  I've even got a couple of jobs done in the garden.

5)  Extra help at the Foodbank.  Sally who usually helps me in the store room wasn't in this week but another volunteer came in and brought her husband with her.  They were both a great help to me in particular.

Our babysitting last Saturday went ok - we managed between us to get both children asleep and this evening I managed to do that on my own.  Thankfully Nathan was happy to sit in his bedroom with his iPad while I got Ella to sleep and then I sat with him until he was asleep.  Neither of them like going to sleep on their own but they went to bed without any fuss.  Their Mummies were glad of some grown up time and I'm glad to help out when I can.

Have a good weekend all.  I'm pressing publish just before I hit midnight!

Read then Write - 5/3/26

Since last Thursday I have managed to finish The Muse by Jessie Burton plus two other books.

I really enjoyed The Muse. Moving between two timelines it charts the journey of a painting, created in Spain and ending up in England.

The earlier part of the book (set in 1936) focuses on Olive Schloss and her relationships with her family and Isaac Robles and his half-sister Teresa, who come to help out at the house she is staying in. Olive is a painter but her father, a renowned art dealer would never recognise her as such. But Olive manages to create several art works before the family are forced to return to England due to the Spanish Civil War.  But the paintings are accredited to Isaac.  

Jumping forward to 1967, Odelle Bastien starts work at the Skelton gallery in London and becomes involved in discovering the truth behind a painting that has been brought to them and finding out more about her boss, Marjorie Quick.

I enjoyed this book more than The Miniaturist by the same author but, although there was a lot mentioned about the fighting in Spain during the earlier periods in the book, I don't feel I really got to understand it very well, hence a 4 star rating not 5.

I moved on to Aunt Bessie Assumes by Diana Xarissa next.  A nice easy read for A Sunday afternoon and into Monday. Definitely fits the description of cosy crime. 3 stars.

And finally I read this one:

This was another of what I would call a "cozy" read but this was a romantic one.  It was quite long at 456 pages (it was originally a series of 4 books that have now been combined into 1) but it was a quick easy read.

"Beth is running away. With her young son Leo to protect, Willow Cottage is the lifeline she so desperately needs. Overlooking the village green in a beautiful Cotswolds idyll, Beth sees a warm, caring and safe place for little Leo.

When she finally uncovers the cottage from underneath the boughs of a weeping willow tree, Beth realises this is far more of a project than she bargained for and the locals are more than a little eccentric! A chance encounter with gruff Jack, who appears to be the only male in the village under thirty, leaves the two of them at odds but it’s not long before Beth realises that Jack has hidden talents that could help her repair more than just Willow Cottage.

Over the course of four seasons, Beth realises that broken hearts can be mended, and sometimes love can be right under your nose…" 

3 stars from me.

I also managed to fit all 3 of these books to prompts for the 52 book club challenge and I'm now 1 book ahead of schedule and I've already started this one:

This is #5 in a series I'm gradually working my way through and again it works for another prompt.  I do love a crime thriller.