Friday's Fave Five - 24/2/23

Well it's been 2 weeks without a post so thanks to Susanne for reminding us on Fridays to look back on our week (or two in my case) for the good things.  You can join in over here.

1)  Lots of family time in the last couple of weeks.  We did grandsitting on the weekend before last - Rory and Vinny on the Saturday and Nathan and Ella on the Sunday.  Then on Wednesday of last week my eldest son and his family arrived from Nottingham.

They stayed until last Sunday so there was lots of cousin time and on the Friday we had them all here for lunch.

We even managed to get a picture of all of them together.

They are growing up so quickly.

2)  Quick delivery from local stores - I ordered some new games for the older grandsons to play and got next day delivery.  This gave them something to focus on rather than just running laps around the house when they were all here on the Friday.

3)  A catch up with former work colleagues last week - we usually get together during the holiday breaks and the usual 4 of us made it plus another old colleague who I hadn't seen for ages so it was good to catch up with her.  We met in the afternoon in a pub and ate there too and then I was able to get home before it got too late.

4)  A trip to the library with Grandson Noah.  It was lovely to have some 1:1 time with just him as we don't see him and brother Miles as much as the others. 

5)  Work on Maisie continues.  She now has a dress and I've started her cardigan.

Hopefully I'll get the sleeves worked out - will be knitting on 4 needles which is a first for me.

We've also got decorators here at the moment working on some of the downstairs room so good to see progress on the house too.

Have a good weekend all - I think ours will be quiet after the last two busy ones!

Friday's Fave Five - 10/2/23

Goodness it's Friday again - this week seems to have flown by.  Thankfully Susanne reminds us every week to take a breath and think back on the good things of the week.  Find out more here.

These are mine:

1)  A meal out with Hubby.  We tried out a Chinese restaurant in town which had been recommended.  It was ok but I wouldn't rate it as highly as the people who recommended it.  But it was nice to eat out just the two of us.

2)  An outing with all our local Grandkids and their parents on Sunday.  We met up in Wanstead Park for a walk first and then into Wanstead itself for lunch at a family friendly pizza restaurant.

The Grandkids love getting together and they all enjoyed their desserts!

3)  A day with Vinny yesterday - his nursery was closed.  He is such good company and he's become such a chatterbox.

There were no tears or tantrums and he even went down for a nap with no bother which was a welcome break in the middle of the day.

4)  A Knit and Natter session on Wednesday - it shouldn't have been until next week but that's half term and lots of people are away so we had one this week instead.  There were less of us there than last week but two of the new people came again so that was good.  I managed to make a start on Maisie's dress.

5)  A flying visit from our elder son.   He recently started a new job and although he's still based in Nottingham where he lives it will involve a bit of travel at times.  On Thursday he was due in London to meet some of his new colleagues so he travelled down Wednesday and stayed with us.  We didn't see much of him as he arrived quite late and left fairly early but I'm thankful that we have space to be able to offer a bed for the night when needed.

So that's my week. 

We have a busy weekend lined up - grandsitting on both days.

Have a good weekend all. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 8/2/23

For details on the Hodgepodge and to join in, visit Joyce's blog here.

1. Something you've done recently that might be considered a labour of love? 

Well I'm in the middle of a labour of love - making Maisie the Pig for our only granddaughter.  

2. What's one thing you love about being the age you are now? 

Not having the responsibilities of work and children.  Being able to do what I want when I want within reason.

3. What do you value more: careful planning or the freedom to be spontaneous? Elaborate.

Anxiety and the way it presents means I'm definitely a careful planner.  I would love to be spontaneous and of course now that we're both retired we can be, but I'm always making a plan before we put spontaneity to the test. 

4. A home cooked meal or a fancy restaurant? pink or red? watch the sunrise or watch the sunset? wine and cheese or champagne and chocolate? 

Oh difficult choices.  I do like to go out to eat but a nice meal at home can be just as enjoyable.  Pink unless we're talking alcohol then it would be red wine.  The sunset for me - I'm not an early bird.  I'll have the wine, cheese and then chocolate please.  Not a big fan of champagne.

5. What's your definition of romance? Are you a 'romantic'? 

Romance to me is being in love and showing your partner that you love them with thoughtful gestures and words.  I don't think I'm overly romantic but I do enjoy a good RomCom or romantic book.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Currently watching the final series of Happy Valley which is far from a happy place or romantic lol.

Poor Maisie - 7/2/23

This is where I'm currently at with Maisie,

She's in bits but once the blocked pieces are dry I can begin to start assembling her.

I thought while I was waiting for it to dry I'd get started on her clothes.  But.....despite having lots and lots of knitting needles, I did not have the size needed for her cardigan.  I thought I might get away using double pointed needles but realised there would be too many stitches to fit on them.  

So a trip to Hobbycraft tomorrow for me.

I didn't get out for a walk today but this was the view from the back of our house.  Red sky night at night, shepherd's delight.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another sunny day. 

Update on Maisie - 5/2/23

She's in bits!  Good bits.  I've managed to finish knitting all the parts of her body.

Now comes the fun bit of sewing her together and getting her stuffed.

Then I'll have to try and make her cute clothes.  I am very grateful for YouTube videos on knitting stitches.  I'm sure I'll be checking more out when doing the clothes - they're knitted in the round on circular and double pointed needles.  Techniques I've never done before.

Wish me luck.

#SoCS - 4/2/23 - Perfection

Your  prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “perfection.'” Use it any way you like. Enjoy!

Linda supplies these prompts and we can join in here.  

Perfection is a bit of a fantasy I think.  Lots of people strive for it, the perfect looks, perfect bodies, perfect homes, jobs etc but does it really exist?  It can become an obsession.  

I'm happy to settle for imperfection.

Short and sweet today.  

Friday's Fave Five - 3/2/23

And another post!  I'm on a roll.  But on Friday's it's good to link up with Susanne and other like minded bloggers and look back on the week and list our five favourite things to be grateful for.

Join in here.

Mine for this week are:

1)  Family time - we had my younger son and his family here for dinner last Sunday.  It's always lovely to see them.

2)  A relatively easy babysit of Granddaughter Ella on Monday.  Understandably, as she's had several visits to hospital over the last couple of months including overnight stays, Ella is very clingy with her Mummies.  She had one Mummy here working so she was happy to play and watch the TV, even when Mummy went upstairs to take a zoom call.  I managed to get her to eat quite a good lunch, even if it wasn't in the high chair at the table lol.  She also then allowed me to get her ready to go out for a walk in the buggy and I managed to get her to sleep.  She got a bit upset when I woke her from her nap and neither Mummy was in sight and then when her other Mummy got back from her appointment she wouldn't let her out of her sight but overall it was easier than I'd anticipated.

3)  A good Knit and Natter meeting on Wednesday - we had 12 people there which is probably about the limit for the room we use.  4 people were completely new but hopefully they'll come again.  And I made progress on Maisie.  She now has a head! Just a snout, ears and tail to do before I try to put her together.

Maisie bottom left

Oh and then of course she'll need some clothes.

4)  Better weather.  It's been dry most of this week and today it actually felt a bit warmer.  I took a walk down through the park and then on to the library as I had a book to pick up.

5)  A catch up with my best friend.  Only by phone but it was good to catch up on each other's news and hopefully we'll get together in person in a couple of weeks time.

Nothing startling or exciting there but that's how I like my weeks.  Oh except I finally got my hair trimmed - it's got really long which I like but it did need a trim.

Have a good weekend all.

Still here - 2/2/23

Well the January challenge is over but I'm determined to keep blogging regularly if I can.

Today has been quite a productive day despite not getting up that early.  I've done most of the chores I wanted to get done and I also did some tidying in the garden.  We're having a dry spell at the moment although it's still chilly.  

I did have getting out for a walk on my to do list today but I clocked up quite a few steps just doing the chores and the garden work, plus I was out in the fresh air for a bit so I gave myself some leeway on the walking front.

I haven't managed any knitting yet today but Maisie does now have a head!  Next up is to make her snout then that just leaves her ears and tail.  Knitting the body pieces will be the easy part, stitching them together will be a bit more tricky.

Right, off to knit now.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 1/2/23

The Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce over at From this side of the pond  Pop over there to see who else is playing and to join in the fun.

1. Tell us anything you want about your January. 

It's been a quiet month and wet and chilly so not a month for getting out and about very much.  Gave me plenty of time for blogging so I was able to complete the Just Jot it January challenge and post something every day.

2. Lake Superior State University posts a list each year of words they think should be banished from the Queen's English for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. The 2023 list includes GOAT, inflection point, quiet quitting, gaslighting, moving forward, amazing, Does that make sense?, irregardless, absolutely, and it is what it is.

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly? Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word/phrase not on the list you'd like to add? 

I think the only one of those I use with any regularity is absolutely.  I had to look up GOAT (greatest of all time) and really?  If we all start talking using words like we'll have real problems with communication.

3. February 2nd is Groundhog Day. What's something that feels repeated in your life right now? 

Not a lot actually apart from housework and chores which always seem to need doing oh and replenishing the bird feeders in the garden.  The birds are very hungry.

4. What's a food you love that's named after a place?

Oh that's a tricky one.  Beef Wellington?  First thing that came to mind although not something we have very often.

5. What's the best season of the year to visit your city or your part of the country? Tell us why. 

Spring probably or maybe autumn because winters are often wet and miserable and summer can get too hot.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It's nice to have the Hodgepodge back again especially as, having blogged every day in January this was a good way of keeping the momentum going now we're into February.  

Thanks Joyce