Friday's Fave Fives - 16/8/24

Susanne keeps us on track reminding us every Friday to think about our blessings from the week.  You can find out more/join in/read posts from others taking part here.  Thanks Susanne.

It's hard to watch the news these days with all the troubles we've had here recently but these seem minor when compared with what people in some countries are facing every day so I'm going back to basics this week:

1)  I'm thankful Hubby and I are in good health.  We may have our aches and pains and I'm having to be more aware of his hearing difficulties but they are all minor - plus we have good healthcare facilities should we need them.

2)  We have a roof over our heads and even if it should spring a leak we would be able to fix it.

3)  We can put food on the table and don't have to stress about when the next meal might be.

4)  We can cool ourselves down if it gets hot and keep ourselves warm when it turns cold.

5)  And on days when you receive upsetting news I can take myself for a walk around the lake and spot these two Egyptian geese in a tree!

Or check Mummy swan still has all 8 cygnets 

Not the best pictures but there are definitely still 8 cygnets!

And, apparently, according to my Fitbit I can even walk on water!

Have a good weekend all.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 14/8/24

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce at "From this side of the pond".  Pop over to see who else is joining in the fun.

Well it's been a while since I did one of these but the weather is so hot here at the moment that blogging is preferable to trying to tick off anything on the to do list of chores etc.  So here we go:

1.What was the best (or one of the best) summers of your life? Tell us why. 

The summer of 1984 which was the year we got married.  Our wedding was in June and we had a lovely hot sunny day.  We took a honeymoon in Austria and then we started really getting to know one another - annoying habits and all lol.  That was 40 years ago now.

2. When you have a trip coming up do you make a list and check it twice to ensure you don't forget anything? Or are you a 'throw whatever you can think of into the suitcase at the last minute' kind of packer? When returning from a trip do you unpack immediately or leave the suitcase right where it lands? 

Definitely a list maker on a trip anywhere new but less so if I'm going anywhere familiar.  Although despite the list I can still be a bit of a last minute packer.  As for unpacking that probably depends on what time we get back and how long we've been travelling for.  Unpacking isn't something I stress over but I do like to do it sooner rather than later.

3. What's your favourite food or beverage made with lemons? Is that a flavour you enjoy? 

Favourite food - Lemon drizzle cake. 

I'm not a fan of lemon beverages - don't even think about putting it in tea!  Of course I drink lemonade but the sort we get from the supermarket here bears no resemblance to home made lemonade.

4. When was the last time you had to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking I mean? 

I've never made lemonade and I'm trying to think of a figurative example - probably when hosting a "ladies lunch" here and my glass casserole dish broke into pieces and I definitely had to improvise although I can't remember what we ended up eating.

5. Did you like school growing up? Why or why not? 

I did like school but not sure I loved it.  I was a shy child with a few close friends and always tried to please.  Thankfully I was never bullied though.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The question on packing has reminded me that I need to make a list!  We're going away soon for our annual big family get together.

Book Review - Sing you Home - Jodie Picoult

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Apologies for a bit of a spoiler here.

This book is about Zoe and her quest to become a mother. Due to her own infertility issues and those of her husband, Max, they have struggled to have a child. Following successful IVF treatment they are finally looking forward to having a child when disaster strikes at 28 weeks and the baby is stillborn.

Max's response is to request a divorce.

After the divorce Zoe falls in love again, with Ness, a woman. They get married and plan to use 3 frozen embryos from Zoe's final IVF cycle to try for a baby. In the meantime Max has become a born again Christian and, greatly influenced by his Church, decides to contest this, planning to give the embryos to his brother and sister-in-law who have also had fertility problems.

A law suit follows.

I love how Picoult's books address a difficult issue and try to portray both sides of the debate. They usually seem well researched and have depth. Even a few twists along the way. This book has all of that and whilst I would feel confident on talking on one side of this debate (same sex marriage and children) I certainly don't have enough experience of the other side portrayed in the book (devout Christians) to say whether Picoult's portrayal of them is accurate. Because of that, and the time frame of some events I couldn't give it 5 stars.

The book was written in 2011. Hopefully the situation is better for same sex couples now but I fear it is not.

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Book Review - The Exchange - John Grisham

The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country?

The answer is in The Exchange, the sequel to The Firm, the blockbuster thriller that launched John Grisham's career.

It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications—and once again endangers his colleagues, friends, and family. Mitch has become a master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhere to hide.

I usually enjoy Grisham's books and I particularly enjoyed "The Firm" so I was bound to enjoy this sequel wasn't I? Well I did enjoy the fast pace of the book, the complexities. It's definitely a thriller. But....it could have been written with any main characters. The linking back to events in "The Firm" were superfluous in my opinion and I was waiting for a big twist tying the two stories together which never happened.

You also need to accept that some of the events in the book defy reality and be prepared for some graphic descriptions of executions. Having said that I gave it 3 stars as I stayed up late into the night to finish it.

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In the news again - 10/8/24

Walthamstow (the town next to Highams Park where I live) was in the news again yesterday because of this:

Apparently it's by the artist Banksy.

He has done several works over the past few days.  Find out more here.

Friday's Fave Five - 9/8/24

Goodness, it's Friday again already.  Time to look back on the week and be thankful.  Susanne keeps us on track with this here.

It's been a fairly quiet week here but there are always things to be thankful for such as:

1)  Good weather.  It's been hot and sunny most days although we have had a shower or two but bright sunshine is always a mood lifter.

2)  Books and more books.  I got a couple from the library this week, then the monthly subscription book I was gifted arrived and Hubby has just arrived home with one from our local "Little Free Library".  Trouble is there are not enough hours in the day to read them all lol.

3)  Friendly volunteers at the Food bank.  They are such a great bunch of people and I really enjoy my Thursday sessions there.

4)  Knit and natter group met this week.  We were debating what to do because there was the possibility of unrest in a nearby area.  There have been some very upsetting scenes in various places in the UK recently with far right demonstrators protesting about immigration and refugees which has led to a lot of violence.

There was information that suggested a nearby refugee centre was going to be targeted and a massive counter protest was organised.  Thankfully the threat of far right protestors turning up didn't materialise but the turn out of people showing their support for refugees and immigrants was huge!  It made the national news.

I'm thankful I live in an area where people support one another and will stand up to racism and fascism.

This was an aerial shot of the area.  There were hundreds of people there.

5)  A Hubby who doesn't mind shopping.  I sat down to finalise my online shop last night for my regular Friday morning delivery only to find that I hadn't booked a delivery and by then it was too late to get one.  Consequently we had to go shopping today.  He also helped me take some paper and cardboard recycling to our nearest recycling centre.  This was from the Food bank - we used to have two commercial sized bins for general waste and recycling that were funded by the council but apparently the funding has run out and the bins have been taken away.  Hopefully we will be able to source alternative funding for them but in the meantime we're having to make other arrangements.  We get a lot of cardboard from the packaging of the food that we receive.  

Well that's me done for another week.  Have a good weekend all.

Book Review - The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own.

This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.

Christos Tsiolkas examines the impact of this apparently minor domestic incident through the eyes of eight of those who witness it.  The result is an unflinching interrogation of the modern family, a deeply thought-provoking novel of boundaries and their limits.

At 485 pages this is quite a long book given it all relates to "The Slap" that takes place during an afternoon barbecue for friends and family. (Not a spoiler - that's quoted in the blurb - see above.) What follows is the story of subsequent events as seen through the eyes of 8 of the people who witnessed "The Slap". Time moves forward as we are given insights into the lives of each of these 8 people.

Clearly Tsiolkas has a good understanding of people but I found the style of interspersing actual speech with the thoughts of the person annoying. I had to check for quotation marks on many occasions to separate one from the other. And the characters were horrible. The timeframe spanned is also very vague. I nearly gave up after about a third of the book but I really hate to DNF and this was a book earmarked for a challenge choice so I made it to the end, just. I think it's fair to say that the idea of "the slap" being a catalyst for an interesting book did not deliver.

It also contains lots of swearing, sexual scenes and racism.

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Friday's Fave Five (A little late!) 3/8/24

Well I'm a little late but I'm sure I'll be forgiven.  Susanne reminds us every week to look back and remember the things we're thankful for.  You can find out more and check out other posts by going here.

1)  Summer weather.  In fact it's been very hot here this week.  We've had a couple of showers but in between it's been sunny and HOT!

2)  Despite the heat I did manage a couple of walks to the lake - I waited until early evening so it wasn't too hot.  Good to see the swans' brood of cygnets (8) are all doing well and getting quite big.

3)  Lunch with friends.  It was my turn to host our "Ladies Lunch" this week.  There were 5 of us as Catherine's sister was visiting from Holland.  I was told she had no allergies but couldn't bear fresh coriander.  Easy to please then, as are the others.  I just put out some olives and nibbles for when they arrived.  For the main I made a salmon quiche with a green salad plus homemade coleslaw and potato salad.  Followed by Tiramisu for dessert.  I like to do things I can prepare ahead so I'm not panicking on the day.  

4)  A regular in my list here but I'm thankful for a Hubby that cooks.  I find cooking everyday a bit of a chore but I guess preparing food every day does meet the definition of a chore lol.  I much prefer doing what I call "entertaining" cooking, even when it's something fairly simple.

5)  Time with Grandkids Nathan and Ella this week.  Plus a video chat with Rory and Vinny.

As usual I'm useless at remembering to take photos.

Have a good weekend all.