Just Jot it January / One Liner Wednesday 31/1/24

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop." ~ Lewis Carroll

A big thank you to Linda for hosting this challenge through the month of January.  Find out more here.

Just Jot it January 2024 - 30/1/24 - Calendar

The penultimate day of the challenge!  The prompt today is Calendar and it's provided by our host Linda who blogs here.

I love a calendar.  I have a couple up in my house.  My cousin kindly sent me one with dogs on it - she and her hubby are very involved with a dog rescue centre where they live and the calendar is a fundraiser for them.  

I also received one from my daughter and her family this year which has photos of them on each month.

Too cute!

But of course I also use the calendar app on my phone.  I'd be lost without it.  I wrote yesterday about how many members there are in Hubby's extended family and all their birthday's are in my phone.  We also have a family WhatsApp group and on a birthday (which sometimes feels like every day!) there are messages after messages after messages!  Thankfully I worked out how to silence the "ping" every time a message arrives!

Setting up the paper version takes a while at the start of the year but at least once things are in the phone calendar they automatically repeat.

It might seem mad to have a paper and electronic calendar but I always have this dread of the phone failing somehow and losing all that info.  I know that's unlikely and, if the worst did happen, I could set it up from scratch.

Oh and I also have a journal type book that also contains calendars. 

This is all a bit time consuming and of course sometimes there are errors - like last week when I had lunch with one friend twice because I'd got the wrong date in my phone!  I turned up a day early and she kindly gave me tea and a sandwich and then I returned the following day with the rest of our Ladies Lunch group and was fed again!

Just Jot it January - 29/1/24 - Family

The prompt for JusJoJan January 29th, 2024 is “family.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Today’s prompt is courtesy of Kim who blogs here Kim’s blog.  For all the info on the challenge go here.

Regular readers here will know that I'm big on family.  Make that huge.

I only have 2 brothers myself who are both married and have 2 kids each and I have a niece and 2 nephews.

On Hubby's side there are:

7 siblings 

between us we have 7 partners so 15 in Hubby's generation

We have produced between us 23 children.

Of those 23, I think (hard to keep track of this) 16 have long term partners.

So that's 39 in that generation

And then there are also 18 little ones (well I say little ones, the eldest in that generation turned 15 this week!)

Bringing the grand total to 72.  Family gatherings now require a large outdoor space or a village hall!  But they're a lot of fun.

These are my family favourites:

Just Jot it January - 28/1/24 - Congregate

Today's Just Jot it January 2024 prompt comes to us from Fandango who blogs here Fandango’s blog.

The prompt is "Congregate"

To find out more about the challenge, rules etc go here to host Linda's site.

One of the things I've done since we moved to the new area we're in is to join a knitting group.  The organiser has actually set up 3 groups.  2 of these meet during the day but I attend a small group that meets in the evening.  It's a small group but everyone is very friendly.

Well today we congregated for our Yarn & Cake sale.  It was supposed to have been last Sunday but Storm Isha was threatening to dump a lot of rain and come through with very high winds.  It actually wasn't as bad as that here in London but today was a much better day.  It was quite chilly but it was sunny!

Our organiser had done a great job at gathering donations of yarn and getting people from all the groups to make cakes (myself included).  There had been several prep sessions including yesterday and the big event was today.

Despite having changed the date we had lots of people turn up - there was a queue waiting for the doors to open:

I spent most of the session on the the cake stall:

It was a fun event and we raised over £800 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

(And yes I did buy some wool even though I already have loads!)

#SoCS/Just Jot it January - 27/1/24 - Make the call

Day 27 today so we're nearly done.  I've missed a couple of days but I've definitely upped my blogging level.

Today being a Saturday Just Jot it January is combined with Stream of Consciousness Saturday, both of which are hosted by Linda here.  Check out her site for all the rules and more.

The prompt for #JusJoJan the 27th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “make the call.” Use it as an idiom or use it literally. Have fun!

Well I'm all into prompts at the moment.  I've signed up for a reading challenge this year known as the 52 book challenge - read 52 books over the year and match them with 52 prompts.

With me so far?  Good.  

It's well organised - there is a great website that explains EVERYTHING and gives detailed guidance on how to use the prompts and, very helpfully, links to Goodreads for lists of books that might meet the prompts.

I thought I'd give it a go and managed to match up quite a few books on my TBR  pile to various prompts.

And of course, as there is for most things, there is a Facebook group.  

Well, I think I'm either going to have to leave the group or at least snooze it for a while.  There are so many posts on there each day.  It's exhausting.  But... what really frustrates me is the number of posts questioning whether a book meets a particular prompt or not.

Now the organisers of the challenge are very clear.  It's your challenge, there are no rules.  If you determine a book fits a particular prompt then it does.  End of.  No need for debate.  It shouldn't be up for discussion.  

Can you tell I'm losing the will to live?  And.... when do these people even find time to read when they're spending so much time on FB?  Well some of them must have brilliant brains because they're reading loads.  Even listening to audio books at faster than the normal speed.  I can't get through an audio book without falling asleep and losing my place.  Yes it's probably not a good idea to listen in bed but I don't think listening in the car would be great or while trying to prepare dinner for example.  Could lead to all sorts of disasters.

But the debates over the prompts are driving me nuts.  It's very clear so people don't keep dithering over books and prompts, just make the call and get on with reading the book!

Thanks to Linda for keeping us on track here.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Friday's Fave Five - 26/1/24

It's Friday so time to look back on the week and remember the good things.  Like minded bloggers can be found here on host Susanne's site.

1)  Saturday was a quiet day but on Sunday we had my daughter and her family here for lunch.  Always good to have family time.

2)  Tuesday was a topsy turvy day - I had to be up early to take Grandson Nathan to school and then I thought I was having lunch with friends but I mixed my days up - it was actually arranged for Wednesday but our host Catherine was very kind and asked me still to go for a cup of tea and a sandwich. I was grateful for that because I was quite hungry by the time I got to her flat lol.

3)  A ladies lunch on Wednesday!  (Not sure how I'd mixed up the days but I returned to Catherine's again on Wednesday lol.) We hadn't been together for a while so it was good to catch up with them.  Catherine made a lovely Tuscan chicken dish and then, because it had been Mary's birthday at the weekend we had birthday cake for dessert.

4)  A good day at the Food Bank on Thursday - we had a Food Hygiene  inspection visit from the local authority and we passed with flying colours - we got the highest rating which is 5 and we all breathed a sigh of relief!   And the certificate is already on display.  (Any premises providing food has to display their certificate whatever their rating is.)

5)  I'm thankful for the ease in which we can communicate with one another so easily with social media, WhatsApp etc, especially with my son and his family who do not live that close to us.  They sent us this picture this week of a very proud Miles who had been tracing the letter of his name at nursery.  You can't see the smile but we know it's there lol.

So that sums up my week.  We managed to get through both storm Isha and Jocylyn this week too.  Other parts of the country were worst hit by these and it was quite wet and windy here but nothing too worrying.  However, following the very cold spell we had and then a much warmer week, there have been a few problems with burst water pipes and holes appearing in the roads locally.  This was in one road before it was repaired.  It's been dug out quite a bit so they could get to the water main but before they started the repairs one poor lady ended up with her car wheel stuck in the original pot hole. It caused chaos for a couple of days as the road had to be closed while the repair works were undertaken.

There was another hole like this on one of the main roads which caused the buses to be diverted!

Have a good weekend all.

Just Jot it January - 25/1/24 - Cheesy

Today's word for the twenty-fifth prompt for Just Jot it January 2024  comes from Yvensong. Click here to visit her blog.

For all the rules, details etc about the Just Jot it January challenge click here.

The prompt for JusJoJan January 25th, 2024 is “cheesy.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Well things got a little cheesy today at the Food bank that I volunteer at on Thursdays.

We had an inspection by the Food Hygiene Inspector from the local authority today.  These things are always a bit nerve wracking and although he initially appeared to be a bit particular he was actually quite pleasant and helpful.

I'm sure the members of the Management Committee who were around this morning were a bit nervous but actually everything went well and we have been given a rating of 5 - which is the highest.  Any premises providing food has to display their Food Hygiene rating certificate so it is a big deal, even though we are not charging for any of the food or drinks that are provided.

One of the things that was brought to our attention though was that anything we hand out that is not in its original wrapping has to be labelled listing any allergens included in the product.

We often get big blocks of cheese and these are cut into smaller portions and wrapped in clingfilm before being given out to the users of the food bank.  So now we will have to put labels on them stating that they include milk as an allergen.

(This will also apply to any cakes we slice into individual portions etc.)

Just something else to remember to do but it is actually important - and due to a fairly recent law introduced here in the UK in 2021 known as Natasha's Law.

In 2016 Natasha Ednan-Laperouse bought a packaged baguette from Pret-A-Manger at Heathrow Airport, shortly before she took a flight. The packaging did not state sesame seeds were an ingredient but they had been baked into the baguette and were not visible to the naked eye. Natasha, allergic to sesame seeds, suffered an anaphylactic reaction while on the plane and died later the same day. She was 15.

Her parents successfully campaigned to have the law changed hence the law being known as Natasha's Law.

I can't imagine how awful it must have been to lose their daughter in that way but hopefully their campaigning and the change to the law will help prevent other deaths.

Book Review - The Stranger - Harlan Coben

Start here The Stranger by Harlan Coben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A secret destroys a man's perfect life and sends him on a collision course with a deadly conspiracy in this shocking thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.

The stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot, or at the grocery store. Their identity is unknown. Their motives are unclear. Their information is undeniable. Then they whisper a few words in your ear and disappear, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world....

Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons, and all the trappings of the American dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life.

Then he runs into the stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her, and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all. Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne's deception, and realizes that if he doesn't make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he's stumbled into will not only ruin lives--it will end them.

Harlan Coben has a great way of luring you into a book and then keeping you hooked. This one was no exception. The plot wasn't straightforward but everything was credible and there wasn't a nice tidy ending. Now I just have to find time to watch the televised version.

View all my reviews

Book Review - The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She is the girl with the dragon tattoo—a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of the truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.

Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it . . .

The duo who captivated millions of readers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest join forces again in this adrenaline-charged, uniquely of-the-moment thriller.

This has been on my "TBR" list for ages as I really enjoyed the first 3 books in the series. I did wonder how this one would feel given that it's not written by the same author but I wasn't disappointed.

It was another fast paced book and it ticked the prompt of "futuristic technology" on the 52book challenge as it centred around the development of AI but there was also a lot about hacking and espionage and of course murder.

There are a lot of acronyms used in the book and sometimes it was tricky keeping track of all the various characters so not quite a 5* read for me.

View all my reviews

Just Jot it January 23/1/24 - Stoked

Our prompt today is  courtesy of Nicole.  She blogs here Nicole’s blog .

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 23rd, 2024 is “stoked.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun! - and for more participants, rules etc go here to host Linda's blog.

Well my understanding of the word stoked was:

"to add fuel to a large fire and move the fuel around with a stick so that it burns well and produces a lot of heat"

I haven't done a lot of that - we have central heating.

However, I have also discovered it can be used to mean "to be excited or very happy about something".

Well there have been lots of times like that in my life - wedding day, having kids, their wedding days, grandchildren, passing my driving test on my first attempt at 17 (minimum age in the UK) to name just a few.  Although I don't think I've ever said I was stoked!  Not sure at my age my kids would think it acceptable lol.

Just Jot it January - 22/1/24 - Mood

The prompt for today's Just Jot it January is "Mood" provided by Dar who blogs here.

As always more players and details can be found on our host Linda's blog here.

Well I'm in quite a good mood tonight.  I managed to get some chores done this morning then I took a break and did some reading before heading off to a session of the Diabetes Prevention Programme I've been attending.  When I got home Hubby had prepared the dinner and since then I've been relaxing in front of the TV on what I call Quiz Night Monday - there are several quiz programmes that I like to watch on Mondays.

I've also had some chocolate!

The only thing slightly spoiling the mood is the thought of having to be up early tomorrow morning (I don't like early mornings) as it's an office day for my daughter so I have a school run to do.  Hampered by the fact that there are a set of temporary traffic lights right outside her house at the moment which hopefully won't delay me too much.

The cold weather of last week has been followed by milder weather but 2 named storms back to back (Isha & now Jocelyn) have caused a lot of travel chaos (I wouldn't have wanted to be on some of the planes that attempted to land at Heathrow yesterday!) and locally we've had a number of holes open up in roads from leaking water pipes.  One poor driver got stuck in a hole this afternoon, on a residential road that leads to a school, causing problems at the end of the school day.

Hopefully my school run tomorrow won't be too troublesome.

But an early night is called for so that's my jot for the day.

Just Jot it January - 21/1/24 - Plants

Today's prompt for the JJJ challenge is "Plants" and provided by J-Dub who blogs here. The challenge is managed by Linda here.

I'm not great with plants.  I do have quite a few indoor plants - most of which are spider plants.  Even I can't seem to kill spider plants although they do get very straggly sometimes. 

Currently I also have a miniature rose plant that is not doing very well and a narcissus bulb plant.  It was a Christmas present last year - one of those kits where you have to plant the bulb, keep it in the dark until it shoots and then put it into the light and watch it grow.  Well I watched it grow last year - lots of shoots but no flowers.  It has sat on my windowsill all year and now it is producing shoots again.  Time will tell if it produces any flowers this year.  I'll not be holding my breath!

#SoCS / Just Jot it January - 20/1/24

It's Saturday so the prompt for Just Jot it January is the prompt for SoCS (Stream of Consciousness Saturday)  both of which are hosted by Linda.

For all the details and rules go here.  Oh and yes the prompt is "in a nutshell"

Well, in a nutshell our weather is a bit on the barmy side.  All this week it has been really cold - so cold that our local lake had frozen over.  And yet by Wednesday they are forecasting temperatures of 15 degrees C.

Positively balmy after the cold weather.   But before that we have to get through Storm Isha.

We never used to name storms in the way we do now but it's becoming a common thing.  Isha is predicted to bring us a lot of rain but also very high winds during the day tomorrow.

It's a bit annoying as the knitting group I attend were going to hold a yarn and cake sale tomorrow but, as the venue is quite small the plan was to put the yarn inside and have the cakes on sale outside, under a gazebo.

Gazebos and wind are not a good combination.  I could quite easily envisage the gazebo taking off into the air!  So no sale until next week when sunshine and warm temps are forecast.

Reminds me of the worst storm we encountered when camping in France.  We were actually hanging on the the tent during the night as we were convinced we were going to be blown away.  A tree did go down on the site - it was struck by lightning and some scaffolding that was on site also collapsed.  We had hail the size of golf balls - cars were damaged by them and yet the following day was beautiful.

Here it can definitely feel like we've had all four seasons in one day sometimes but I do like to experience the seasons, watching how the landscape changes and things coming into bloom.  As for the nutshells, hopefully the squirrels will find all their hiding places and I won't have trees springing up all over the garden! 

Friday's Fave Five - 19/1/24

It's Friday and time to look back on the week and find the good things and then share with other bloggers here.  Thanks to our host Susanne.

1)  Thanks firstly to Linda who has been hosting the Just Jot it January challenge. (To post something every day in January.)  Today's prompt for that was tenacious.  Well I haven't been as tenacious as I'd like because I missed 2 days of the challenge this week but I'm thankful that I can get over that.  I missed Monday because of a night out with Hubby and yesterday was a busy day so that was another day with no blog post.  But I have finished 2 books and posted reviews so I'm cutting myself some slack.

2)  Thankful for a night out with Hubby courtesy of my daughter and her wife.  We had a voucher for a meal out at Quaglino's in London's Mayfair.  It's a restaurant that also has live bands playing.  The food was really good and it's a lovely venue but we went on Monday and it was sooo quiet in there.  (Although there was a singer performing.)  It was also a very cold night so not lots of people out and about.  I'm sure it's more lively at the weekend but the voucher was only valid for use between Monday - Wednesday.  Anyway we still had a nice evening. (I was also glad that we are so close to central London and that the transport system gives us lots of options - our original route was subject to long delays but we were able to take another route that, although meant an extra change on the underground and a bit more walking, got us there on time for our reservation.)

3)  Quite a lot of time with Grandchildren again this week.  We babysat Nathan and Ella on Saturday and Wednesday evenings and managed to get them both to bed without too much hassle on both nights.  And once asleep they stayed asleep.  Last Sunday we had Rory and Vinny (and their parents) here for lunch.  And then yesterday I collected Nathan from school and had some 1:1 time with him here.

4)  Sunny weather - but very cold!  The lake has been frozen.  I walked through the park down to the lake just as the sun was setting today.

It's nice that the days are gradually getting longer again.  I don't mind the cold too much - I have a really warm coat plus hats, gloves etc and a pair of leggings that are fur lined.  I also wear quite a few layers and I walk quite fast lol.  Grateful too that all the cygnets from our lake have been relocated by the rescue team.

5)  I was grateful for those fur lined leggings on Tuesday as I had a funeral to attend.  (The mother of a former work colleague of mine.)  Waiting about outside the church it was really cold.  It was good to find a cafe afterwards with another friend for a hot drink and a catch up.  

So quite a busy week but a good one.

Have a good weekend all - we expecting storm Isha on Sunday so it's going to be very windy and wet, but warmer.

Book Review - The Stranger Diaries - Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Death lies between the lines.

A dark story has been brought to terrifying life. Can the ending be rewritten in time?

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year. Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body. The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case.

Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal. Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary. Writing that isn't hers...

This was a book subscription pick which I really enjoyed.

It's quite spooky in places and there is a story within a story. It's written in several POV too. I do enjoy a book that has depth to it and, although I probably should have worked out the identity of the killer I didn't.

This seems to be the first book featuring the detective Harbinder Kaur so I'll be looking out for other books she appears in.

View all my reviews

Book Review - The Murders at Fleat House - Lucinda Riley

The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Murders at Fleat House is a suspenseful and utterly compelling crime novel from the multi-million copy global bestseller, Lucinda Riley.

The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident.

But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine ‘Jazz’ Hunter to the force. Jazz has her own private reasons for stepping away from her police career in London, but reluctantly agrees to front the investigation as a favour to her old boss.

Reunited with her loyal sergeant Alastair Miles, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn.

Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully, and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the drugs he took daily to control his epilepsy.

As staff at the school close ranks, the disappearance of young pupil Rory Millar and the death of an elderly Classics master provide Jazz with important leads, but are destined to complicate the investigation further. As snow covers the landscape and another suspect goes missing, Jazz must also confront her personal demons . . .

Then, a particularly grim discovery at the school makes this the most challenging murder investigation of her career. Because Fleat House hides secrets darker than even Jazz could ever have imagined . . .

I'm familiar with the works of Lucinda Riley having read all but the last book in her "Seven Sisters" series. I was interested in how well she would write a murder mystery as it's a very different genre. It was also written back in 2006 but not published until 2022.

I wasn't disappointed. Following a sudden death of a schoolboy at a private boarding school in Norfolk, D.I. Jasmine "Jazz" Hunter is drawn back to work after leaving the Met police in London. The death which is at first suspicious quickly becomes a murder inquiry.

As expected from Riley the plot is complicated, involving lots of characters. It kept me turning the pages and I would have given the book 5 stars but there is a wrapping up of a loose end that I felt was unnecessary and a bit twee. Such a shame that Riley's life was cut short due to cancer. I'm sure a whole series could have been created around Jazz Hunter.

View all my reviews

Just Jot it January - 2 days in 1! (15 & 16/1/24)

I missed a day!

I am so cross with myself.  I saw the prompt for yesterday which was "craft" supplied by Astrid  and immediately had ideas for a post but then I whiled away the time during the day and we were out for the evening.  So no post!

We did have a nice evening though using a voucher Hubby had for his birthday last year from our daughter and her wife which was for a meal out at a venue in Mayfair - yes the posh part of London.  The venue also has live acts on.  I'll write about that in more detail later this week.

But back to crafting - I do enjoy crafting, particularly knitting and crochet.  Regular visitors will have followed my progress on making Maisie for my Granddaughter's birthday.

I'm not sure Ella was too impressed with Maisie initially but she has recently discovered that Maisie can be undressed.  And redressed.  And undressed.  I'm sure you get the picture.

Another project is still a WIP. 

I started this back in 2015!  Trying to use up odds and ends of wool.  When I posted this picture I reckoned I needed another 7 squares to have enough to start sewing it together.  Well I revisited it not long before Christmas and decided I still needed another 9!  Thankfully I have just started square #9 and then I will definitely be making it into a blanket.  I've already bought the yarn to make another knitted animal (a dog) but I'm determined to finish this blanket first.

But then I sign up for blogging challenges and book reading challenges and ......I'm sure you know what I mean.

Anyway, moving on to today.

The prompt is "variety" provided by John.

John is a prolific blogger and heavily involved with the A-Z challenge.  He is also very knowledgeable on music, adverts and a lot of other things.  Variety is a good word for John.

I think I need to put more variety into my blog but much as I tend to start crafting projects and then get distracted I seem to be the same with blogging.  I've had various things going on here on the blog over the years but they tend to fall by the wayside.

One of the things I used to post about for example was items in the news each week - I would bookmark items on various topics such as news, sport, entertainment etc and then write about them.  Now I hardly watch the news - particularly at the moment as it's too horrific.

But maybe I shouldn't switch it off.  We need to be informed and not just let it all wash over us.

Hmm food for thought!

Right I'm off to bed now - I have an early start tomorrow - taking Granddaughter Ella to nursery.  I might need an afternoon nap!

Just Jot it January - 14/1/24 - Writing

It's day 14 of the challenge and today's prompt is "Writing" provided by Joanne.  You can check out her blog here.  Or go here to find out more about the challenge on Linda's blog.

Oh crumbs, I think the writing's on the wall!  This is the second day in a row that I'm getting a post done and up in time by the skin of my teeth.

At least today's post has the badge on it, although some would say why isn't it the 10 year badge:

Yes the challenge is now in its 10th year but I haven't participated for that long so wasn't sure I should use the badge.

Anyway, well done to Linda, who not only writes novels, but also keeps this challenge going each year and One Liner Wednesday and #SoCS going every week!

And here's me struggling to write more than a few lines each day.  

I'm also trying to keep up with reading right now having signed up for a 52 books in a year challenge.  Except I'm probably spending as much time reading all the Facebook posts connected to that as I am actually reading.  And then there's all the other JJJ posts to go and read.

There aren't enough hours in the day!

We did have a nice few hours with our youngest son and his family today who were here for lunch.  Grandsons Rory and Vinny are always entertaining.

I'm waffling!  Time for bed.