#SoCS - 10/10/26

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “familiar.” 

Linda provides the prompts for these posts and the link up is here.

I'm sure we're all familiar with the idea of familiars if you've read the Philip Pullman books or anything similar.  Linda talked about naming a spider in her kitchen Mildred.  I followed that up with naming a spider in my spare bedroom Elsie.  

Well I'm not sure that Elsie actually exists.  I haven't seen her.  My son claims to have seen her while he was staying here but she's proved elusive to me.  To be fair I don't spend a lot of time in the spare bedroom so it's not surprising I haven't seen her.  She probably a bit lonely in there all on her own.  Unless she's brought some friends in to keep her company.  I do hope not!

Friday's Fave Five - 9/10/26

Susanne reminds us every Friday to look back on the week and write about the things we are grateful for.  Then we link up here.  Thanks Susanne.

1)  The smell of fresh Banana Bread.  I brought some bananas home from the Foodbank yesterday - we had lots that were not going to last until next Tuesday's session so volunteers were able to have some.  So of course I had to make banana bread with them.  

2)  The library.  I know I mention this one a lot but it does feature in my routine frequently.  This week I made a trip on Tuesday to pick up a couple of books I'd picked out for my 52 Book Club Challenge and then on Wednesday we had our afternoon book club meeting there where we discussed Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.  We had a really good discussion about it although personally I was not a fan of the book.  And while I was there I was also able to pick up another book I only ordered in last week.  

3)  My Hubby.  He's always got my back and you will know that he does most of the cooking in our house.  He's not so good at remembering other chores, like putting the dustbins out but this week he even remembered to do that.  After checking which bins had to go out of course. 

4)  Chocolate cake.  My daughter and DIL hosted DILs brothers and families for lunch last Sunday.  They had leftovers and I was able to go over for a cup of tea and chocolate cake to collect some.

5)  Getting back into routines and hobbies. I've definitely been blogging more and I do enjoy the interaction with other bloggers.  I've also made time for reading so that is becoming a habit again and this week I did some knitting (we had a Knit and Natter meet up on Wednesday) and I've finally finished knitting the jumper I started an age ago.  I just need to sew up the sleeve seams, tidy up ends etc and block it.  You might even get to see me model it!  (Don't hold your breath lol.)  

Have a good weekend all.

Read then Write - 8/10/26

Well this has been a much better week for reading - I managed to finish Before the Storm by Alex Gray which I enjoyed.  

I've read quite a few in this series and they don't disappoint. This one is set in the run up to Christmas in Glasgow with DSI Lorimer dealing with a suspected terrorism threat, under cover officers having their covers blown and then a couple of murders. He's his usual calm and measured self, taking advantage of the skills of Daniel Kohi, a former Zimbabwean police officer, who finds himself a refugee in Glasgow following personal tragedy. It was wrapped up perhaps a little too neatly but this was an easy read following a couple of heavy book group reads. I gave it 4 stars.

My next read was Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent.  This was the book for my evening book group this month but it also ticks a prompt on the 52 Book Club challenge so that was a bonus.

For the most part I felt it was a good book. With echoes of "The Room" it does contain child abduction, abuse etc that wouldn't be to everyone's taste but it started off really well following Sally after her attempt to put her dead Father "out with the bins" and the upheaval that causes in her previously sheltered life. (Not a spoiler - it's in the blurb on the cover!)

Then we're given a very alternative viewpoint and initially I was still enjoying the book. However, for me it felt like the author had run out of steam and original ideas and then everything was wrapped up quite quickly and not how I envisaged it would end.  I still rated it 4 stars though as it was a good page turner for me.

And then finally I managed to read one of my own choices for a 52 Book Club prompt - Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.

As is often the case, despite this being an award winning book, I wasn't that impressed.  About half way through this book I realised I'd watched the film version which is why the book was sounding familiar. But I really did not like the main character Eilis. There were times I wanted to shout at her or give her a good shake. So young and naive and so contrary. I did like Toibin's style of writing but I didn't enjoy the content. Only 2 stars from me.

I have another book club read to get through, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy but before I start that I'm squeezing in another book that ticks a prompt - Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter by Nicci French. I've read quite a few of theirs (it's a Husband and Wife partnership) including all of the Frieda Klein series and enjoyed them so I'm sure this one won't disappoint.  At least I hope not lol.

I'm rushing this post so no pictures as it's getting late and I want to do more reading!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 7/10/26

Joyce provides the questions each week. We compile our answers then the link up is here. Thanks Joyce.

1. Let's embrace it shall we? What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant?

Well my memory is probably definitely not quite as good as it used to be. One thing that I often forget is to check our HelloFresh subscription. (Meal delivery plan with recipes and ingredients.) We don't tend to have it delivered every week so I have to remember to go in and skip the weeks when we don't want the food and also pick the recipes we'd like. I'm usually ok with skipping weeks but we often get a surprise with regard to the meals as they're the company's choices and not ours. Makes me try different things though so not all bad.

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember.

I do rely on my phone a lot with reminders, alarms etc although I do have a calendar on the wall and a diary too. We have a small white board on our fridge for noting down things we need to buy and I take a photo of that before going shopping rather than writing out a list.

3. What's your favourite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad?

Hard to pick a favourite vegetable but I do like roasted veg and soups but not so much a salad once it turns colder.

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share.

Hmm that was Monday and a very ordinary day here. I did get my breakfast made for me but Hubby does that most days so he doesn't need a National Day to do something nice. That day needs to be repeated - daily!

5. Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year?

I probably don't as it can often be wet. It's raining as I'm writing this and I think that after the long hot summer we've had (often too hot to be outside) we're probably going to get a lot of days like this but I do try and get out and walk when I can especially if it is dry and sunny.

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate.

I would say no. When I'm out walking I probably do but during the day I'm either busy doing chores or if I'm relaxing it would be reading or another hobby keeping me occupied. Although I do enjoy seeing a colourful sunset through our kitchen window.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Thinking about the "Do something nice day" made me think about something we were often told when growing up - "If you don't have anything nice to say keep quiet!" I don't always remember that lol.