In the New this Week - 3/3/26

I don't even know where to start with the news this week.  I'm finding it hard to follow at the moment with so much going on.  I wasn't even aware that strikes had been launched on Iran and the subsequent fall out until one of our Foodbank volunteers messaged to say that she was ok but didn't know when she would be able to get out of Dubai!  Of course I was straight on to the internet and playing catch up on what was going on.

This is all so scary and I can't help wondering where it will all end.

I tried to find a cute animal story that might cheer us up but even that proved difficult - I found one about a Pug being named "UKs cutest dog" but the article was actually from 2020. (And, I'm sorry to all Pug owners, but in my opinion they are not cute.)

One article I found interesting in a ghoulish sort of way was this one about: Water cremation which explains how water cremation works.  This type of cremation has now been approved for use in Scotland and is said to be a greener form of cremation.  Who knew?

The news can be so confusing at times.  I spotted a headline about the YouTuber KS1 buying a minority stake in Barking & Dagenham.  To me Barking & Dagenham means a London borough near to where we used to live.  I was puzzled as to how that could happen only to find out that of course it meant the football club Barking & Dagenham.  Silly me!

But at least today was another sunny day.  That's definitely worth reporting.

A bit of Waffle on 2/3/26

It has been sunny today - all day!  And it was warm.  It felt like Spring.  I guess it is technically Spring now we're into March but we have had so many grey rainy days it's been hard to believe it was coming.

I even did a couple of bits in the garden - the lavender needed cutting back as did the rose tree in the front garden.  Both were jobs I should have done ages ago but at least they are done now.  I also gave the front doorstep a once over, another job that the weather hasn't helped with.

And then I went and got a couple of bits from Tesco so I've already met my 7500 step target and I haven't even been to the Foodbank yet!  Now I'll be going in the car as I don't need the walk to make up my steps.  I thought I might be doing a food pick up tonight as one of the volunteer drivers hadn't confirmed they were available but then they did at the last minute so one less thing to worry about.

So no more time for waffle.  Hope your start to the week has been good too.

Weekly Photos - 22/2/26 - 28/2/26

Not an inspiring batch of photos for this week but here goes:

Sunday morning I did a bit of cat sitting for my daughter.  Milo is very cute but as my daughter said "we're going to need a bigger boat!" He was almost falling off the top of that tree.

Sunday afternoon we managed a walk down to the lake to look at the progress made on the demolition of the scout buildings that were previously burnt out.  The site is well on the way to being cleared but no plans have been finalised yet as to what any rebuild will look like.

On Monday the pesky squirrel had found an easier way to get at the bird food.  Instead of hanging upside down to get the food, he'd managed to get the whole thing onto the ground!

I didn't take a picture on Tuesday!  But this was what I was reading.

This was what I was doing on Wednesday evening.  We had a lot of fun and raised a lot of money for the Foodbank. (£605)

Thursday was spent at the Foodbank as usual and I took these photos to show how we'd organised the crates of potatoes and red onions which we have in abundance at the moment.  And cabbages!  Lots of cabbages.

  

Friday I was doing well with my "Almost Done" list although of course it's never done as I just keep adding to it!

Saturday and it's finished!  Ella was very happy.

It's hard remembering every day to take a photo but I'm working on it.

Start here

#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.