A Weighty Waffle - 18/8/26

Well I am way behind in my posts, again!  Let's see, the last time I posted was the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  It's been a busy week.

Thursday was taken up with the Foodbank as usual, then on Friday evening my son and his family arrived from Nottingham for the weekend.  They were out during the day on Saturday, catching up with friends but we had Nick's sister Helen and her husband Bill here for lunch so Helen and I could discuss shopping needed for our upcoming family holiday.

On Sunday we had my daughter and her family here for lunch with the others so it's been hectic.

Yesterday I was at the Foodbank in the evening so as well as not posting on my own blog, I've not had time to read other blogs either.  But I have been doing some reading.

I finished this one just in time for the meet up at the library last week.

It got a mixed response.  I quite enjoyed it.  It certainly showcases Atwood's talent and her imagination.  

This is our next read:

This is the same author as "Americanah" which we read recently and I struggled to get through so I wasn't looking forward to this one much.  However I've found it easier to get into so hopefully I'll get it finished before the next meeting.  It's another long one!

I didn't even get to post my 5 things to be grateful for on Friday even though I had plenty to be grateful for.  The main one being running water.  I included that as a blessing a few weeks ago as some areas had been without water while burst water mains were fixed.  It was even more relevant this week as we had no water overnight on Saturday - it went off sometime after midnight but, thankfully, by the morning our supply had been restored.  Over 7000 people weren't so lucky as they had more than a few days without water while a major supply main was being repaired.  The response from the water authority was far from satisfactory too with the distribution of bottled water being chaotic.

We seem to be having burst main, after burst main with water gushing out all over the place and yet we have a hosepipe ban!

And of course there have been cases of fires around the country - the hot weather continues, but tonight and tomorrow we may get some rain.  The fires have caused such concern that on Friday evening the Government sent an emergency alert to mobile phones urging everyone to be careful not to set off fires.  The sale of disposable BBQs have also been suspended.  The alert was really loud and not like most of the tones we usually hear on our phones!

Anyway....that's me caught up. Now I'm off to check out the questions for tomorrow's Hodgepodge!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 12/826

It's Wednesday so it's the Hodgepodge.  Questions are provided by Joyce at From this side of the pond.  Thank you Joyce.  We prepare our answers and then the link up is here.  Why not join in the fun?

1. I saw a meme on Instagram that went like this-'The movie Dirty Dancing came out in 1987 and was set in 1963, so if remade in 2026 it would be set in 2002. Now I need a little lie down in a dark room for a while." 

Time is crazy isn't it? So...what were you up to in the year 2002? 

Ha initially I was going to say I was chasing around after a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old then I redid the maths and realised the kids would have been 16, 14 and 12 so I was still probably chasing around after then with my Mum cab.  I was also back working full time so life was busy.

2. "Me? I'm scared of everything..." What's something that scares you that you'd like to try anyway? 

If something is scary I'm probably walking away lol.

3. Watermelon-yay or nay? Which melon is your favourite-watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. Of the watermelon food/beverages listed which would you say yes to...

watermelon salsa~watermelon feta salad~watermelon sorbet~

a watermelon Jolly Rancher~a watermelon margarita 

My favourite would be cantaloupe.  I'm not a great fan of watermelon but it is refreshing, especially in this hot summer we're having.  We tend not to do anything fancy with it other than work out the best way to cut and serve it.

4. August 12th is National Middle Child Day. Are you a middle child? If not, where do you fall in the birth order in your family of origin? Do you think this has influenced your personality? Elaborate. 

I am the youngest of 3 (2 older brothers) but there are big age gaps between us so I grew up feeling more like an only child.  I think this left me quiet and introverted.

5. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time, or have a significant conversation with two people? Explain. 

Do I have to do either lol.  (See above.)  Crowded parties are often not the best place for conversations so probably I'd just chat to people for a short time and then move on.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The heat wave continues.  I feel like I'm melting most of the time.

Friday's Fave Five - 7/8/26

Well it is still just about Friday here in the UK so I'm trying to type fast to get this post done on before the stroke of midnight.

Yes I'm up late.  It's been a busy week so even more important to stop and remember the good things.  Thankfully our host Susanne reminds us each week and we link up here.

1) My knees seem to be improving.  I've had problems with them in the past and I've found going up and down stairs can aggravate them.  This week however I've been at the Foodbank several times and the back entrance which we use for bringing in deliveries is down a flight of 6 steps.  Twice this week I've had to shift the empty food crates from outside the back door, i.e. at the bottom of the steps, up to the gate for the delivery van to collect them.  That's involved going up and down the steps quite a few times and I noticed that my knees were not protesting at all.  I'm assuming this has been helped by the collagen supplement I've been taking.  

2)  An abundance of food again at the Foodbank.  We've even been able to bring pizzas home as volunteers this week.  We had so many and no freezer space for them which was lucky on Thursday as Hubby had texted me to say he hadn't got anything out of the freezer for dinner. I was able to tell him dinner was sorted.

3)  A Hubby that cooks.  Even in the heat we've been having he's still just got on and cooked dinner every day.  Of course I get all the clearing up but I've been leaving that until it's started to cool down a bit in the evening.

4)  An active local community.  There are plans being put forward to develop the area right by our station.  The developers are proposing 5 blocks of studio apartments that will be 6-7 storeys high and will be for rental.  This will house about 360 single people.  There was a consultation meeting at the library last Saturday and there was a good turn out from local people.  It was clear that most people do not want this sort of development as it will really change the area.  I'm sure when the formal planning application is submitted there are going to be a lot of objections.

5)  A cooler day today but still warm enough to dry all the washing outside!

Have a good weekend all.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 5/8/26

Joyce provides the questions and we share our answers here.   Why not join in the fun?

1. What's something on your August calendar you're looking forward to? Or dreading if that's easier to answer. 

Our annual family get together at the end of the month.  Definitely something to look forward to but I do dread organising the shopping lists!

2. August 5th is National Oyster Day...do you partake? How do you feel about pearls? 

I do not partake of oysters.   Never have.  I'm not sure about a pearl necklace - something I associate with an older generation, even though I'm probably that generation now lol.  I do like pearl earrings though.

3. Tell us about a time when you felt like 'the world was your oyster'. 

Probably since we've both been retired, although we're not exactly world travellers.  Prior to that there was always some sort of commitment, e.g. work, kids, elderly parents etc that meant we couldn't be totally carefree.

4. Trip Advisor lists seven islands in the US that require no passport (for US citizens). If you're answering today from outside the US you'll still need to produce yours. An-y-way, have you been to any of the seven? Let's pretend you get an all expense paid trip to one this month...which one do you choose and why? 

Catalina Island California~Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts~Mackinac Island Michigan~Key West Florida~South Padre Island Texas~or Kauai Hawaii

I have no idea which of these I'd prefer.  I've never been to any of them.

5. Sylvia Plath is credited with the following- 

"August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time."

Agree or disagree? In other words, how do you feel about this month? 

I think I disagree.  August still feels very much like summer, especially here in the UK where the kids do not go back to school until September.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The temperature has been a comfortable 24-25 C today.  So much nicer than the high temps we've had.  No sign of any rain though. We're now subject to a hose pipe ban.