#SoCS - 28/2/26 - Smooth

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

Our host for #SoCS is Linda who blogs here.

Why is it that building works never seem to keep to plan and run smoothly?  Many of you will know that I volunteer at our local Foodbank which is actually held in a Church.  We run sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday, with a community cafe operating on Wednesdays but after the session on Thursday we have to clear all the food from the Church into a storage room.  

Well that was the start of the post I was in the process of doing when our landline rang.  It hardly ever rings and it's usually some sort of spam or scam but it was actually my eldest brother as I discovered when he started to leave a message on the answer machine.

Fortunately I intercepted his call before he hung up.  Unfortunately he was ringing to tell me that my SIL passed away peacefully this morning.  Not something I was expecting.  Life definitely isn't always smooth.

Friday's Fave Five - 27/2/26

Well I'm going with the Tulip picture this week as there are lots of tulips in the shops although they are more expensive than last year so I resisted the urge to buy some. 

But it's Friday, again, so time to pause and think about the blessings of the week.  As always we're prompted by Susanne who blogs here.

1)  A relaxing Sunday morning with my daughter's cat Milo.  They were away for the weekend so she asked me to pop round on Sunday morning to feed him and check he was ok.  Well I thought he might like some company for a bit so I spent a couple of hours there with my book and iPad.  And a cat to fuss.  

2)  A fun night out on Wednesday.  One of the local pubs had agreed to host a Bingo Night as a fundraiser for the Foodbank.  I haven't played Bingo in years but it's a nice pub and I got there early enough to have my dinner before it started (Chicken supreme which was very good.) There were quite a few volunteers and committee members there plus the pub usually has Bingo on Wednesdays so plenty of regulars too.  In total £605 was raised for the Foodbank.

3)  Less rain this week!  It's still been a bit drizzly some days but definitely more sunshine and I've managed to do a bit of walking each day.

4)  A Hubby who steps in when I need him to.  I was supposed to collect Grandson Nathan from school yesterday and take him home and wait for my DIL to get back with Ella after a ballet class but I was shattered after a hard session at the Foodbank but Hubby offered to step in without me having to ask.  I was very grateful to be able to sit down and relax and not have to go out again.

5)  An easy system of ordering repeat prescriptions.  I can order them on an App, the GP sends the prescription to the local chemist electronically, then they send me a text when it's ready to collect.  I was able to collect it on my way to the supermarket this afternoon which also gave me a reasonable step count again today.

I've also managed to finish 2 books this week so I'm back on track for my reading challenge!  Plus our DIL had leftover veggie lasagne that Nick brought back with him yesterday so an easy dinner!

Have a good weekend all.  We're babysitting for my daughter tomorrow evening.  Of course I love the grandkids to bits but they're not the best for going to bed but we're both going so we divide and conquer lol.

Read then Write - 26/2/26

Well I finally managed to finish "Grandad there's a Head on the Beach"! 

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well if this was ever made into a film it would be fast and furious and completely farcical. Which is a shame given that at the heart of the story is the awful way Burmese people are treated in Thailand and used as slaves in the fishing trade. But I just couldn’t get on board with it. It took me 10 days to read this book and it’s only just over 300 pages long! It probably wasn’t helped by it being the 2nd book in a series but I’m certainly not going to read the first or the last.

It will be interesting to see what other members of the book group think of it.

I've now moved on to this book:

This is the evening book group's choice.  I'm enjoying it so far although I was a bit on the fence about The Miniaturist by the same author.  But I need to fit more reading time in if I'm to meet my targets.  Doesn't help when you end up binge watching a series that's based on a book I haven't actually read.  I don't usually like reading books after I've seen a TV show or film but I might have to make an exception.  The series was Curfew based on a book by Jayne Cowie.  

Oops, I got so engrossed in the final episode that this post is slightly late lol.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 25/2/26

Joyce provides the questions, we provide the answers and we link up here to share.

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the 'historic triangle' which includes Jamestown-Willimasburg-Yorktown Virginia.

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year? Any plans to do so? What's one place in America you think everyone should see? If you're not American what's one place in the US you'd like to see?

We've been to Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C. over the years but our travels to the US these days focus on Vermont where our son and his family are currently living.  We're very familiar with Boston airport!

2. Three sounds you love to hear?

Children laughing.

Bird song

Choral singing

3. Three sounds you hate to hear?

Children crying - when they're upset and need comforting

Children screaming when they're in the middle of a tantrum

Sirens - emergency services rushing somewhere is never usually good

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day. Are you a fan? With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please? Do you like nachos? With what on top? Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

I'm not a big fan of tortilla chips but I don't mind them with cheese melted on top (nothing else) or with an onion and garlic dip.

5. We March into March with next week's Hodgepodge...what's one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile?

Our eldest Grandson will turn 9 at the end of March. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Two more things to look forward to in March - our eldest son has a birthday and the clocks go forward!  Can't wait for lighter evenings.

Have a good day all.