Wednesday Hodgepodge - 11/2/26

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

1. What's something recent that had you 'tickled pink'? 

I actually can't think of anything.

2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has it's thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? 

Well I'm retired so I definitely have time to stop and smell the roses.

3. What makes you feel loved and appreciated? 

Little gestures.  A thank you, an acknowledgement.  An offer of help.

4. A box of chocolates or a bouquet of fresh flowers-what's your pleasure? Any special plans for Valentine's Day? 

Could I have both please?  Oh, only one then it would be the flowers - they'd last longer lol. No plans for Valentine's Day.

5. Share a favourite quote, scripture, or song lyric relating to love. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I managed a trip to the library today and a walk back through the park without getting wet!  The threat of rain is always there though as you can see in the pictures I took.  It's fun to photograph the trees without their leaves so you can the structure of the tree.

In the News this Week - 10/2/26

Locally it seems that Kier Starmer's days as Prime Minister may be numbered, particularly given that he appointed Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the USA, but Starmer's Chief of Staff seems to have taken the fall for that one.  However with Mandelson's homes being searched at the weekend that may not be enough to keep Starmer in office despite his Cabinet members rallying behind him.  

I know I've been guilty of moaning about the amount of rain we've had - it's miserable again today - but at least we don't face the prospect of the flooding that's happened in some areas.  Please say Spring is on the way.

It's difficult to find an International news story that isn't likely to upset someone.  I did manage to find this uplifting story of how a 13 year old Australian managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm after his family were swept out to sea.

In Sport of course the big story is the Winter Olympics.  I've enjoyed watching the Ice Skating and the Curling has been worth a watch as our mixed pair started off well but lost in the semi finals so now they are competing for Bronze.  One of the big upsets though was Lindsey Vonn crashing out of the Downhill Skiing events.  Personally I can't imagine why she even wanted to attempt the downhill run with ruptured ligaments but competing in the Olympics means so much to some athletes that they are prepared to take big risks.  The fall Lindsey sustained has led to a really bad injury to her leg which will require multiple surgeries and a long recovery period.  But she has no regrets as stated in this article.

In Entertainment news the release of the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has received mixed reviews. I've struggled to read the book - I've started it twice but have yet to finish it.  I do prefer to read before I watch so I won't be rushing to watch this version.

And for Miscellaneous I have worked out why the Foodbank is getting such huge donations of potatoes from the charity Felix.  (Felix takes surplus food that would be destined for waste and either makes meals from it or passes it on to Foodbanks.)  Anyway according to an article I read in the paper at the weekend, farmers estimate that demand for potatoes is down by as much as 10% and they blame this on the rapid increase in people taking weight loss drugs who are eating less and avoiding snacks which include potatoes as well as frozen chips and starchy foods.  It's estimated that between 1.5 and 1.6 million people in the UK have used weight loss jabs in the past year.  Well their weight loss is our gain as we are being given crates of potatoes each week.  The trouble is we're finding it hard to pass them on - our demand seems to have dropped too.  Beneficiaries are still enjoying the jacket potatoes we provide each week though.

And finally, Glasgow's Tree of the Year will now be competing against trees from Europe to be named best in Europe.  Personally I wouldn't want it right outside my window!

A bit more Waffle - 9/2/26

Waffle Cartoon by Vecteezy

It's been a weekend full of grandchildren Ella and Nathan.  I had to pick Ella up from school on Friday as Nathan was off, then on Saturday my daughter popped in with Ella while Nathan was at a golf lesson. 

They all ended up here afterwards for lunch.

Yesterday they returned the favour by having us to a lovely Sunday roast dinner.  

Hubby did another school pick up today, dropping Nathan and our DIL to another golf lesson and then bringing Ella here while that was going on.  Ella is easy to entertain but she does have her own unique way of playing games lol.

Tonight I've been at the Foodbank taking in deliveries so now I'm off to bed.  I had good intentions of getting lots of chores done today but....tomorrow. (Maybe😉 - there's lots of Olympics to watch.)

Weekly Photos - 1st - 7th February 2026

Here we go:

Sunday - top photo - sorting out my TBR pile of books for the 52Book Club challenge.

Middle row:

Confirmation my passport application had been submitted correctly.

The outside temperature of 4℃ on Tuesday morning - it comes up on my dashboard with an audible sound that is the same as a fault sound so it's a bit alarming until you realise it's just a warning about possible ice.

Morning feeding time for the birds on Wednesday. (Spot the squirrel!)

Bottom row:

Thursday My current read which I finished in the early hours of this morning. (The Names by Florence Knapp.)

Friday my "baby" who turned 36 on Friday.

Saturday - my passport arrived!  Can't fault that turnaround time.