Friday's Fave Five - 19/12/25

Time to look back on the week's blessings again as prompted by our host Susanne.  You can find out more/join in etc here.  

Here are mine for this week:

1)  Firstly I'm thankful to Susanne for taking the time to remind us each week to be thankful and the lovely bloggers who take part.  It's good to take a breath and be grateful - for the big and little things.

2)  Lots of support for the Foodbank this week.  On Tuesday we took part in a quiz evening at our Town Hall that was organised by the Mayor.  The Mayor is a big supporter of the Foodbank and we are one of his nominated charities for his year in office.  The quiz was a really good night out and very well attended.  I gathered a table of 8 together, with other volunteers and my Hubby and although we didn't reach the top 5 we didn't disgrace ourselves and we all enjoyed ourselves.  The event raised about £1000 and the Foodbank will get half of that.  

Today we had lots of extra volunteers in from a local estate agency, the local Waste Authority and a recruitment agency.  We also had a local author in giving out signed copies of his children's books.  There was a really nice atmosphere and the extra hands are always appreciated especially as some regular volunteers were missing today for various reasons.

3)  My back is much better and I managed to get to my keep fit class on Tuesday followed by coffee with friends. 

4)  Christmas shopping is almost done!  I'm still waiting on one item to be delivered but hopefully that will arrive in time!  On tomorrow's To Do list is wrapping!

5)  On line shopping - I'm preparing this post on Thursday evening and I've just put together a grocery order to be delivered tomorrow morning.  My son and his wife and 2 boys will be arriving Saturday night and staying until the following Sunday so I needed to stock up on quite a few things.  I've also got an order being delivered on the 23rd with the Christmas dinner items on it.  Gives me time to get out for anything that doesn't arrive!

I had a real wobble over Christmas about a week ago when I didn't feel on top of things.  I'm very good at procrastinating.  But since then I've managed to get a lot done and lists made so I'm feeling more in control.  (I'm listening to Christmas songs on the radio as I'm doing this so I must be in a good mood!)

So I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have a good time over the holiday season.  

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 17/12/25

Time for the Wednesday Hodgepodge which is hosted here by Joyce.

1. What's one thing on your to-do list that you want to get done, need to get done, or that must get done before the year ends? 

I have 2 books to read to complete a reading challenge for the year.  Hopefully there's still time!

2.  December 17th is National Maple Syrup Day...are you a fan? Do you like maple flavour in other food items such as candy, cookies, donuts, oatmeal, hot toddies, coffee? 

I don't dislike Maple syrup but it's not my favourite thing.  I'll use it on pancakes or in porridge.

3. Time magazine names a person of the year every year.  The tradition started back in 1927 with a 'man of the year' but has since changed to recognize not only an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement, or idea that most influenced the year. The selection is not always someone or something good (think Hitler in 1938 and Stalin twice). 

This year they've named The AI Architects as their 'person of the year'. What say you? Is this a good choice, an obvious choice, a logical choice? Who do you think should have been named person of the year? le

I think it's a logical choice given how the use of AI has increased this year but I'm sure there were more worthy people.  I think  AI is a double edged sword.  Yes it can be useful for making some tasks easier but it's a dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

4. What's a city, state, or country you've visited that you never care to visit again? Tell us why. 

I'm not sure there's anywhere I wouldn't go again but given there are so many places we haven't visited we're unlikely to revisit any place.  Apart from Vermont of course!  That's definitely on the repeat list.

5. Next Sunday (December 21st) marks the first day of winter (or the opposite if you're living down under). What's one thing you love about this new season? 

The cold weather is a good excuse for snuggling up indoors and not doing very much lol.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'm waiting for one item to be delivered and then I think I'm done with sorting out presents.  Now I just have to find make time to wrap them. 

Hope everyone's having a good week.  And if not hopefully this will make you smile:

Grandson Miles loved his Christmas Cracker clip on moustache so much he wore it for 36 hours (apart from when asleep) including a day at school.

Sunday - 14/12/25

I managed to get out for a walk this afternoon just before it started to get dark.  Despite having had a couple of dry days around the lake is still sooo muddy.

The swan family were having a good preening session.

This is a new swan pair on the lake this year so it will be interesting to see if they chase their cygnets off now that they are almost fully grown.  Time will tell.  (The previous swan pair on the lake always chased off their cygnets once they were grown.)

It was good to get out in the fresh air and stop stressing about Christmas for a while.  I feel that I'm way behind with preparations this year but I have managed to get the tree and decorations up and my cards written and sent.  I actually did some e-cards this year for people I had e-mail addresses for.  I used a site where you can make a donation to charity in lieu of the cost of cards and postage so that felt like a good thing to do.

I have a few things ordered which hopefully will arrive on time but I still need to get some bits and pieces and I need to get my head around the shopping list.  I'm planning to get out early tomorrow and get the final present bits and then I'll be able to concentrate on the food prep. 

I need to get ahead as my son and his family are arriving at the weekend and next week I have a couple of days of Foodbank sessions - Monday we will be packing hampers and on Tuesday we will be delivering them.

It's a busy time of year!

Friday's Fave Five - 12/12/25

Oh goodness, I think I need a December theme to keep me blogging more often.  The November Gratitude log kept me posting most days but I've gone a week again with no posts.  Thankfully Susanne reminds us on Fridays to look back on the week and find the blessings and things we're thankful for so here we go.

1)  A good weekend for the Foodbank.  We do a big campaign early in December at our local Tesco supermarket to collect items for the Christmas hampers we prepare for our beneficiaries.  Despite times being harder for a lot of people and things being more expensive we still had a great response from the local community with goods and money being donated.  It's a good time to dust off the Santa hat and Christmas jumper!

2)  My Christmas tree is up!  I'd hoped to do it at the weekend but it was eventually started on Monday and finally finished on Tuesday.  It looks pretty much the same as always (it's artificial not real) but it works for me.  I have a few other bits and pieces out around our living space but I don't go overboard with decorations.  I've also managed to get my Christmas cards written and in the post today.  Still a few presents to buy but I'm making progress.  If we go to Vermont again next year I need to try and get things done before we go lol!  I also need to finalise the shopping delivery order that's coming on the 23rd.  So far I only have a turkey and a joint of beef in my trolley!

3)  I hosted the evening library book club group here on Monday and 4 people came so better than the previous meet up where only 1 person turned up.  We had a good time discussing lots of things, including the book! (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - by Taylor Jenkins Reid.)

4)  Hubby has finished the eye drop regime following his laser treatment last week and all seems to be good.  

5)  I didn't get to my keep fit session this week as my back has not been great since we got back from Vermont but I did meet up with my "Ladies Lunch" group afterwards for coffee.  It was good to catch up with them.

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