Wednesday Hodgepodge - 28/2/18

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at
From this side of the pond
Pop over there to see other posts and join in - the Linky List is at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

1. Are you currently operating at 100% capacity? If not, what % are you? What's keeping you there?
Probably 95%.  I’m not usually at 100% at this time of year during the shorter days, darker evening etc.  Bring on spring!
2.  Have you done your taxes? Planned/booked a summer holiday? Thought about or started your 'spring cleaning'? Besides what's listed here, tell us one task that needs doing before spring rolls around.
Don’t have to do taxes.  Not planning any holidays till the Grandbabies are here safely.  Spring cleaning is definitely on my mind but we have a couple of minor things to sort out first – including getting the kids into their new home.  No date for that yet though.
3. What's a favorite food from your part of the country?
London is so multicultural that we can access such a wide variety of food.  Traditional food would probably be pie and mash or fish and chips.  I like both but they’re not my favourites.
4. This isn't a leap year, but let's run with it anyway...look before you leap, a leap of faith, grow by leaps and bounds, leap to conclusions, leap at the opportunity...which phrase might best be applied to your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

Well I have leapt at the opportunity to look after my Grandson Nathan 2 days a week when Becca goes back to work in April.  This is probably a leap of faith too.  Hopefully I will rise to the challenge.
5. As the month draws to a close list five fun and/or fabulous things (large or small) you noticed or experienced in February.
A get together with all of hubby’s 7 siblings and their partners

A “ladies lunch” with friends

A catch up with former work colleagues

A quiz night with a difference (games were played between rounds)

Watching the Winter Olympics
6. Insert your own random thought here.

We have snow!  Lots of it by our standards.  We're in the throes of a spell of particularly bad weather blowing in from the East.

And it's cold!

Friday's Fave Five -23/2/18

Friday is time to look back on the week and find five things to be grateful for.  Drop in to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for full details and other participants.

Here are mine for this week:

1.  Getting my hair done.  My usual stylist is off at the moment recovering from an operation so I had another stylist for my appointment.  I dread having someone new doing my hair but this young woman was very competent and chatty so the time passed quickly and I was pleased with the result.

2.  Online shopping.  I thought I might have to get over to my daughter's yesterday as both she and Nathan had been unwell and was trying to work out how I'd fit in a necessary grocery shop when I decided to see if I could book a slot for this morning to get things delivered and I could.  I didn't end up going to Becca's in the end but it did save me some time.

3.  Friends for lunch.  I hosted our regular Ladies Lunch today - hence the need for a grocery shop!  We had a lovely catch up and I made a Moussaka followed by Tiramisu.  As usual I forgot to take photos so you'll have to take my word for it - both were delicious.

4.  Time - to do things I enjoy doing - like jigsaw puzzles.  I finished this one this week.

5.  Reading time - I've finished 3 books this week.  (Hubby and I both had colds last weekend so we stayed home and took things easy!)
Enjoy the weekend.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 21/2/18

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at
From this side of the pond 

Pop over there to see other posts and join in - the Linky List is at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

1. Where do you go when you need some inspiration?
I think that’s would depend on what I needed inspiration for.  Dinner – I’d pull out a cookery book, some things I’d go online for.  The home I’d check out the pile of Ideal Home magazines I have here.  Other things I might just go for a walk to clear my head and think.
2. What's under your bed?
Umm that could be an embarrassing question.  Dust?  Actually I have some storage boxes under my bed that I need to sort out when I get back to decluttering.  And there’s definitely dust!
3. Thursday, February 22nd is National Chili Day, National Margarita Day, and National Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Of the three which would you most like to celebrate? Is that likely?

Maybe a Sweet Potato but probably not likely.
4. What are you 'snowed under' with right now?
Stuff!  Going back to #2 – there is a lot of stuff in my house right now that shouldn’t be there – including my son and his wife.  Don’t take that the wrong way.  We have loved having them with us and will miss them when they’re gone but the purchase of their own flat seems to be taking forever – and it’s not their fault or something they have much control over.  But in the meantime they are acquiring things that will go to the flat.  Plus now they are also starting to gather things for the coming baby.  I want to sort out my own stuff but I can’t realistically do that until they move out.  I’m just hoping it’s before the baby arrives!
5. Tell us three to five things that make you feel balanced?
Oh that’s deep.  The family being in harmony, no bad feelings or disputes going on.  Give me that (which thankfully is usually the case) and I can usually cope with most things although #4 is beginning to drive me crazy.  Having a plan helps too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I can definitely be an up and down person and my glass is often half empty rather than half full but making a plan definitely works for me.  Doing a Hodgepodge post is on my weekly plan and today it’s on the daily list so this is a big tick for me!  Thanks Joyce for sticking with this every week.  Sometimes the questions are more challenging than others but I do love a challenge!

The A - Z is coming!

 

Regular followers of this blog will know that since 2015 I have participated in the A - Z Challenge that takes place in April each year.  Links to my posts are listed on their own tabs above (I need to collate the 2015 posts!) but for details of how the challenge works go here.

It's beginning to get exciting and these are the dates to watch out for:

• Pre-Challenge Survey* Closes   ---  March 3, 2018
• A to Z Challenge Sign Up   ---  March 5, 2018 
• Theme Reveal   ---  March 19, 2018
• "A" post   ---  April 1, 2018 (No fooling! 😁 )
•  After Challenge Survey  ---  May 3, 2018
• Reflections  ---  May 7, 2018

*The survey is aimed at gathering views from participants on how the challenge is run - there was a lot of controversy last year as there was no Linky List and each day you were required to post a link to your blog on the main blog post of the day.  

Posting to the main blog every day was tricky if, like me, you try and have posts prepared in advance and schedule them to post on the correct day.  This was my aim last year as I was supposed to be away on a cruise at the start of the challenge and didn't know what the internet service would be like.  As it turned out the extra early arrival of my Grandson almost scuppered the whole thing for me.  I did manage to get my posts published but I wasn't really able to interact with the challenge as I had done in previous years.

I'm hoping this year will be better.  I've got a theme worked out and I've got my first post prepared.  Only 29 to go! Sorry but that's all the info you're getting for now.  Come back on 19th March for the Theme Reveal.  (Come back before then if you want more of my waffle.)

We don't know yet if there will be a Linky List this year but, babies permitting (2 more Grandbabies due in June), I shall do my best to participate more, whatever linking system is in place.  Why not give it a go yourself?

SoCS - 17/2/18 His & Hers

Your prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “his/her(s).” Use one, use both, bonus points if you start your post with one and end with the other. Have fun!

For full details of how to play and links to other participants go here to Linda's site. 

His and hers has been a traditional way of referring to things belonging to a couple (although I often say that what's hubby's is mine and what's mine is my own) but over recent years it has become more common to have couples that would be him and him or her and her.  Fortunately the industries that produce cards and gifts have caught on to this so it's much easier to buy an appropriate card or gift for a same sex couple.

This is important for me as my daughter has a wife.  Finding a wedding card didn't prove difficult and last year when I decided to get all my kids (with their partners) a personalised calendar as part of their Christmas gifts I was able to get two "His and Her" calendars and a "Her and Hers" one.

Being a creature of habit I decided to replicate the gift this year with different designs.  I was able to do that for the boys and their wives but the "Her and Hers" was the same design as last year.  Fortunately I was able to remedy the problem - they now have a baby so I got a family calendar design showing their three names.  They seemed pleased with that even though there wasn't a mention or sight of her or hers.

Friday's Fave Five - 16/2/18

Friday is time to look back on the week and find five things to be grateful for.  Drop in to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for full details and other participants.

I've had a fairly quiet week but here are my five:

1.  Meeting up with former work colleagues.  Great to see them but it reinforces that I made the right decision to leave when I did.

2.  Milder weather.  We did have a hail storm on Sunday but since then it's been much less cold.  Note - less cold, not warm, not yet!

3.  Time to watch the Olympics.  Of course the time difference makes it tricky but I'm enjoying the action.

4. Almost finishing this:

It's a blanket for one of the grandbabies due in June.  I just need to cast it off and knit the edging.  Then I need to do it all over again!

5.  Spending time with the grandbaby already here.  I babysat for Becca and her wife on Valentine's Day so I had Nathan for 5 hours.  Probably the longest I've had him and he was fine for the first 4 hours.  Then he decided he wanted his Mums.  Nothing would pacify him.  I tried all the tricks in my experience but he was really upset.  Eventually, despite it being wet out I stuck him in his buggy and took him out for a walk.  He did fall asleep but woke soon after we got back in the house.  Fortunately he wasn't screaming when his Mummies came back but he was definitely pleased to see them.   He also enjoys his bath!

 

Have a good weekend everyone!