In the News this Week - 17/2/26

The LOCAL news story I spotted was one where a convicted criminal escaped from custody not once but twice while being removed from prison and taken to hospital for treatment.

I mean really?  It's bad enough to let a prisoner abscond once, but twice?

Thankfully he's serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit burglary and not murder.  

INTERNATIONAL news as usual is full of doom and gloom but I did spot that the Irish National Seamus Culleton, who is currently being held by ICE pending deportation has had his deportation paused for 10 business days.  It seems that although he has been in the US since 2009 and is married to an American citizen he arrived on a visa waiver and is only now about to finalise getting his green card and work permit.

I'm thankful that my son didn't travel to the US until he had got his VISA sorted and he has his Green card and work permit.  Hopefully he'll be granted citizenship in due course.

SPORT continues to be dominated by the Winter Olympics which has been quite exciting.  I mean what could be more scary that sliding down an ice track at speeds in excess of 70 mph on a thin tray?  Oh I know, get someone to lie on top of you while you do it! (Luge Doubles event.)

In ENTERTAINMENT news:(taken from the BBC website)

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER will be representing the United Kingdom at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria in May 2026.

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER is a multi-talented solo artist, experimental singer/songwriter, live electronics performer and composer, inventor of unique musical machines, and self-proclaimed Eurovision fan based in Kent.

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER says: “I find it completely bonkers to be jumping on this wonderful and wild journey. I have always been a massive Eurovision fan, and I love the magical joy it brings to millions of people every year, so getting to join that legacy and fly the flag for the UK is an absolute honour that I am taking very seriously. I’ve been working a long-time creating, writing, and producing my own visions from scratch, and documenting my process. I will be bringing every ounce of my creativity to my performances, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear and see what we’ve created. I hope Eurovision is ready to get synthesized!”

I hope he's prepared for the fact that we seem to get NIL Points at Eurovision.

And finally, 

Happy Chinese New Year - we're now in the Year of the Fire Horse.

It was also pancake day today and I actually made some as Grandson Nathan was here at lunchtime.  They weren't that great but he seemed to like them.  I didn't take any pictures apart from this one:

 As you can see, a lot of chocolate spread was involved!

A bit of Waffle - 16/2/26

Well it's only going to be a little bit of waffle tonight as it's now almost    11 pm and it's been a tiring day.

Granddaughter Ella was dropped off here just after 9 this morning and although she's quite easy to look after she does demand attention.  We played lots of games, according to the rules of Ella, and we also watched a more recent version of The Sound of Music.  Ella loves to sing and dance.

I gave her lunch and then my DIL, Hubby and Grandson Nathan arrived back from a morning of Top Golf.  They all stayed for a bit and then I took them home.  Thankfully they are only a 10-15 minute drive away from us so the round trip doesn't take much more than half an hour. (Temporary traffic lights excepted.)

Tonight I was at the Foodbank taking in deliveries from the local Tesco stores.  These are all their reduced items that are about to go out of date etc.  We could have opened a florist shop with all the flowers we got today.  Hardly food of course but it is nice for the people coming to the Foodbank to get something to brighten up their homes.  Hopefully they'll keep ok as we didn't have enough containers to put them all into water.  Nice to have 1st world problems.

Tomorrow it will be Nathan's turn to be here while Ella goes on a playdate with a school friend.  It's half term holiday this week so I'm glad to be able to give my DIL a break and my daughter has taken a bit of time off too.

Right I'm off to bed now and I might try to read a bit more of this book:

I'm finding it very hard going but it's one of my book club reads so I'll persevere.  Goodnight.

Weekly Photos 8th-14th February 2026

And I've managed another week of photos!

Top left (Sunday) is the bag for Ella - the main parts were finished on Sunday.  Since then I've also made the horns and ears so now I just have to sew it all together.

Middle top(Monday) is the chart I'm using to keep track of taking the collagen supplement I'm taking.  Too soon to see if it's making a difference but so far the chocolate flavour hasn't triggered any migraines and I think taking it in warm milk before bed is actually helping my sleep.

Top Right (Tuesday) is the book I was reading at the beginning of the week which I've since finished.

Middle left (Wednesday)  I took this when out walking. The local secondary school is being rebuilt and it looks like the demolition stage is almost complete.

Bottom left (Saturday)  Spot the difference!  The light doesn't make it easy and that's my excuse for pairing them incorrectly in the first place.  I have a nephew who delights in wearing odd socks but not me.

Bottom centre (Thursday) this is the next book for the evening reading group I'm in which I'd collected from the library.  I read The Miniaturist by the same author and wasn't as mad about it as the hype suggested I should be.  Hopefully I'll like this one more.

Bottom right (Friday)  I finally put my wool winder to use.  I bought the wool over a year ago and a pattern to make a jumper for me.  I just have to finish a (few) WIPs first but at least the wool is now ready to use.

I realised after I'd put the photos together that I'd got the layout slightly wrong - that's the problem with being retired I often have to check what day it is!

#SoCS - 14/2/26 - Love

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “love.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun, and happy Valentine’s Day!  To join in the fun go here.

Well of course Love is an appropriate word for today being St. Valentines Day.  

We don't make a big thing of it in our house.  I did get a card from Hubby - well he tried to sign it anonymously but it was a bit of a give away that it was left on the bed for me to find.  I don't need big displays of affection or expensive bouquets of flowers to know that he loves me.

I know that he does in the way that he supports me especially when things are difficult.  He's always there for me when I need him to be, holding my hand when the children arrived.  Helping me through loss when my Mum passed away.  Ready to listen when I need to talk but not pushing too hard.

Stepping up when he needs to.  (Although he might need a little reminder here or there lol)

He has never let me down.  And of course I love him for all of that and so much more.

He's great with the grandkids too! 😂