A bit of Waffle on 2/3/26

It has been sunny today - all day!  And it was warm.  It felt like Spring.  I guess it is technically Spring now we're into March but we have had so many grey rainy days it's been hard to believe it was coming.

I even did a couple of bits in the garden - the lavender needed cutting back as did the rose tree in the front garden.  Both were jobs I should have done ages ago but at least they are done now.  I also gave the front doorstep a once over, another job that the weather hasn't helped with.

And then I went and got a couple of bits from Tesco so I've already met my 7500 step target and I haven't even been to the Foodbank yet!  Now I'll be going in the car as I don't need the walk to make up my steps.  I thought I might be doing a food pick up tonight as one of the volunteer drivers hadn't confirmed they were available but then they did at the last minute so one less thing to worry about.

So no more time for waffle.  Hope your start to the week has been good too.

Weekly Photos - 22/2/26 - 28/2/26

Not an inspiring batch of photos for this week but here goes:

Sunday morning I did a bit of cat sitting for my daughter.  Milo is very cute but as my daughter said "we're going to need a bigger boat!" He was almost falling off the top of that tree.

Sunday afternoon we managed a walk down to the lake to look at the progress made on the demolition of the scout buildings that were previously burnt out.  The site is well on the way to being cleared but no plans have been finalised yet as to what any rebuild will look like.

On Monday the pesky squirrel had found an easier way to get at the bird food.  Instead of hanging upside down to get the food, he'd managed to get the whole thing onto the ground!

I didn't take a picture on Tuesday!  But this was what I was reading.

This was what I was doing on Wednesday evening.  We had a lot of fun and raised a lot of money for the Foodbank. (£605)

Thursday was spent at the Foodbank as usual and I took these photos to show how we'd organised the crates of potatoes and red onions which we have in abundance at the moment.  And cabbages!  Lots of cabbages.

  

Friday I was doing well with my "Almost Done" list although of course it's never done as I just keep adding to it!

Saturday and it's finished!  Ella was very happy.

It's hard remembering every day to take a photo but I'm working on it.

Start here

#SoCS - 28/2/26 - Smooth

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “smooth.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Our host for #SoCS is Linda who blogs here.

Why is it that building works never seem to keep to plan and run smoothly?  Many of you will know that I volunteer at our local Foodbank which is actually held in a Church.  We run sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday, with a community cafe operating on Wednesdays but after the session on Thursday we have to clear all the food from the Church into a storage room.  

Well that was the start of the post I was in the process of doing when our landline rang.  It hardly ever rings and it's usually some sort of spam or scam but it was actually my eldest brother as I discovered when he started to leave a message on the answer machine.

Fortunately I intercepted his call before he hung up.  Unfortunately he was ringing to tell me that my SIL passed away peacefully this morning.  Not something I was expecting.  Life definitely isn't always smooth.

Friday's Fave Five - 27/2/26

Well I'm going with the Tulip picture this week as there are lots of tulips in the shops although they are more expensive than last year so I resisted the urge to buy some. 

But it's Friday, again, so time to pause and think about the blessings of the week.  As always we're prompted by Susanne who blogs here.

1)  A relaxing Sunday morning with my daughter's cat Milo.  They were away for the weekend so she asked me to pop round on Sunday morning to feed him and check he was ok.  Well I thought he might like some company for a bit so I spent a couple of hours there with my book and iPad.  And a cat to fuss.  

2)  A fun night out on Wednesday.  One of the local pubs had agreed to host a Bingo Night as a fundraiser for the Foodbank.  I haven't played Bingo in years but it's a nice pub and I got there early enough to have my dinner before it started (Chicken supreme which was very good.) There were quite a few volunteers and committee members there plus the pub usually has Bingo on Wednesdays so plenty of regulars too.  In total £605 was raised for the Foodbank.

3)  Less rain this week!  It's still been a bit drizzly some days but definitely more sunshine and I've managed to do a bit of walking each day.

4)  A Hubby who steps in when I need him to.  I was supposed to collect Grandson Nathan from school yesterday and take him home and wait for my DIL to get back with Ella after a ballet class but I was shattered after a hard session at the Foodbank but Hubby offered to step in without me having to ask.  I was very grateful to be able to sit down and relax and not have to go out again.

5)  An easy system of ordering repeat prescriptions.  I can order them on an App, the GP sends the prescription to the local chemist electronically, then they send me a text when it's ready to collect.  I was able to collect it on my way to the supermarket this afternoon which also gave me a reasonable step count again today.

I've also managed to finish 2 books this week so I'm back on track for my reading challenge!  Plus our DIL had leftover veggie lasagne that Nick brought back with him yesterday so an easy dinner!

Have a good weekend all.  We're babysitting for my daughter tomorrow evening.  Of course I love the grandkids to bits but they're not the best for going to bed but we're both going so we divide and conquer lol.

Read then Write - 26/2/26

Well I finally managed to finish "Grandad there's a Head on the Beach"! 

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well if this was ever made into a film it would be fast and furious and completely farcical. Which is a shame given that at the heart of the story is the awful way Burmese people are treated in Thailand and used as slaves in the fishing trade. But I just couldn’t get on board with it. It took me 10 days to read this book and it’s only just over 300 pages long! It probably wasn’t helped by it being the 2nd book in a series but I’m certainly not going to read the first or the last.

It will be interesting to see what other members of the book group think of it.

I've now moved on to this book:

This is the evening book group's choice.  I'm enjoying it so far although I was a bit on the fence about The Miniaturist by the same author.  But I need to fit more reading time in if I'm to meet my targets.  Doesn't help when you end up binge watching a series that's based on a book I haven't actually read.  I don't usually like reading books after I've seen a TV show or film but I might have to make an exception.  The series was Curfew based on a book by Jayne Cowie.  

Oops, I got so engrossed in the final episode that this post is slightly late lol.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 25/2/26

Joyce provides the questions, we provide the answers and we link up here to share.

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the 'historic triangle' which includes Jamestown-Willimasburg-Yorktown Virginia.

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year? Any plans to do so? What's one place in America you think everyone should see? If you're not American what's one place in the US you'd like to see?

We've been to Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C. over the years but our travels to the US these days focus on Vermont where our son and his family are currently living.  We're very familiar with Boston airport!

2. Three sounds you love to hear?

Children laughing.

Bird song

Choral singing

3. Three sounds you hate to hear?

Children crying - when they're upset and need comforting

Children screaming when they're in the middle of a tantrum

Sirens - emergency services rushing somewhere is never usually good

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day. Are you a fan? With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please? Do you like nachos? With what on top? Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

I'm not a big fan of tortilla chips but I don't mind them with cheese melted on top (nothing else) or with an onion and garlic dip.

5. We March into March with next week's Hodgepodge...what's one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile?

Our eldest Grandson will turn 9 at the end of March. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Two more things to look forward to in March - our eldest son has a birthday and the clocks go forward!  Can't wait for lighter evenings.

Have a good day all.

In the News this Week - 24/2/26

Hmm it's been an interesting week for news.

Of course the big news here in the UK was the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in connection with his role of UK Trade Envoy and his links to Jeffrey Epstein.  I've used his name in full here as that seems to be what all the reporters are using when talking about him on TV but it's a bit of a mouthful and some reporters were better at saying it than others.  This was followed today by the arrest of the former Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.  

There are now calls for Andrew to be removed from the line of succession to the throne. I personally don't see the need for this.  He's 8th in line currently.  He's unlikely to get anywhere near the throne which hardly justifies the time and cost that would be involved in passing an Act of Parliament to remove him.  Unless there's some sort of fast track route that could be used which I very much doubt.  We don't have executive orders here in the same way the US does but there is something known as the Royal Prerogative but even that doesn't allow the King to do just as he likes.

In INTERNATIONAL News the war in Ukraine enters it's 5th year following Russia's invasion and shows no sign of ending, certainly not while Putin remains in power. 

In SPORTS the Winter Olympics have come to an end and although Team GB only won 5 medals 3 of which were gold, that makes it our most successful games yet and there were definitely some exciting moments.  I watched the final of the Men's Team Curling competition on Saturday evening and it was nail biting stuff.  And of course very disappointing for our team who finished with silver medals.  I loved watching all the Ice Skating events and marvelled at the tricks and jumps that were done by both snow boarders and skiers.  It has definitely been entertaining.

In ENTERTAINMENT it was the BAFTA (British Academy Film and Television Awards) event here on Sunday.  Unfortunately, despite all the great films and shows etc that won awards, the event has been overshadowed by the BBC failing to edit out offensive language from John Davidson who has the condition Tourette's Syndrome.  Robert Aramayo won the Best Actor award for his role in the film "I Swear",  which is based on John Davidson.

It seems the live audience were warned about the possibility of outbursts due to involuntary tics but the comments were not edited from the show which was broadcast 2 hours later or removed from the I-player version until the following morning.  I have a feeling heads will roll.

And for MISCELLANEOUS I'm happy to report that the 2 cygnets on our lake were rescued at the weekend and taken to a nearby flock as their parents had finally decided it was time for them to find a new home and had been chasing them off the lake.  Hopefully the young ones will thrive in their new environment and the parents will nest again and produce a new brood in due course.  Particularly as there seems to be an outbreak of Avian Flu in the Dockland area not too far from us where many birds have died in the last few days.  Very sad.

But just to cheer you up here's a photo of my daughter's family cat Milo who I had to go and feed and fuss on Sunday as they were away.

A bit of Waffle - 23/2/26

And another day when we had rain.

But another day of blogging.  I think I'm falling into a bit of a rhythm here and having specific things on the days of the week is definitely helping.  Although I am conscious that I don't always have enough time to respond to comments and get around to everyone else's blogs that quickly.

And today there was a post about the upcoming A-Z blogging challenge which will be upon us before we know it.  In fact the dates for doing a Theme Reveal post and signing up etc were released today. (See here for details.) 

I actually started putting a plan together for this year's A-Z challenge last June.  I was feeling very organised.  I had my theme and I knew what needed to be done.  I even did a draft of my A post.  In August I managed to draft B & C.  And that's it!  So I have 23 more posts to do.  I'd like to have them all done before 1st April but that may or may not happen.  Some of my best posts have probably been done at the last moment but it does make it all a bit stressful and leaves less time to see what other bloggers are doing.  I've met quite a few of the bloggers I follow through the A-Z challenge but others have been through the various link ups I do too.  

I really enjoy being part of the blogging community even if my input is a load of waffle!  

Weekly Photos - 15th - 21st February 2026

I don't think I actually took a picture last Sunday but this was what I was reading and I'm still reading it!  It's not grabbing me at all.

                                    

Monday Granddaughter Ella was here and we had a fun time playing lots of games and watching The Sound of Music Live.

Tuesday was pancake day - the only evidence of which was this photo:

Wednesday was the day I finished this puzzle only to find it was missing a piece. I was so annoyed as although I bought it from a charity shop it was still sealed.

Despite trying to be organised and ahead of myself with the food I was planning to serve to my friends on Friday, on Thursday I had to make a late night dash to Tesco as I found we had no white wine in the house plus I was also missing sun dried tomato paste.

As you can see Friday's lunch was well received. Everyone was very complimentary about both the main course - which was potato, mushroom and spinach traybake in a yummy cheese sauce, followed by chocolate and raspberry trifle. (And of course there were no before photos!)

And yesterday (Saturday) the only photos I took were of the weekly quiz from Saturday's newspaper which we all the immediate family do. Plus of course the answers.

So far I'm ahead with 11/20 but my son and DIL in Nottingham have yet to respond and they usually do quite well.  Although there's often a lot of debate about their scoring with no half marks allowed lol.

I need to up my game and be more creative with my photos but I have taken some today and I think you'll like them but that's for next week's round up.

Hope you're having a good Sunday.  We had rain (again) this morning but it seems to be clearing up a bit now so maybe I might venture out for a walk.

#SoCS - 21/2/26 - Pre.......

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with ‘pre’.” Find a word that starts with “pre” and use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

The prompts are supplied each week by Linda who  blogs here.  Pop over to see who else is taking part.

Previously when doing a SoCS post I've often had some thought about it before I've started.  It's hard not to I find when we get the prompt the day preceding the day we're supposed to be posting.

Of course I could do the post on a Friday and schedule it to post on Saturday but I don't usually do that.  To me that would almost feel premature.  So now it's quite late on Saturday evening and I'm definitely winging it by trying to think of as many words starting with pre and fitting them into this post.  The presentation will probably suffer as I've also been watching the Men's Curling final on the TV and although the presenters did a good job, it's hard to stay upbeat when your team was playing well but then in the closing stages the advantage swings to the other team and Team GB ended up with the silver medal again.  It was hard to watch.  But so much of the Winter Olympics is for Team GB - we don't really have the conditions here in the UK and I know that many of the athletes end up training abroad.  Curling is probably one of the few sports that are done here in the UK although predominantly in Scotland.  

And now I'm stuck.  My mind is going blank.  Presumably it's trying to tell me I need some sleep.  I had an early start at the Foodbank this morning - I go to accept deliveries from another church on a Saturday and this morning the drivers bringing the deliveries were really early.  Fortunately I had pre-empted any disaster by being up and ready to go but I only just arrived in time and didn't keep them waiting.

Now it's time for bed.  My predetermined alarm has been reminding me for the previous half an hour that it's time.  The present needs to become the past.  Goodnight!

Friday's Fave Five - 20/2/26

Well it's still Friday - just so time to list the blessings of the week and then link up here.  Thank you to Susanne who reminds us every week to do this and hosts the link up.

It's been a busy week as it's been half-term break here in the UK.

1)  On Monday I had Granddaughter Ella here.  I'm thankful that she's now able to play more structured games and she's also less likely to mix all the playdoh up into a mess of colours.  Although she did make me laugh on Monday as she asked me how to make green.  I explained that you needed blue and yellow so she asked if she could make "just a little bit of green from the blue and yellow playdoh"  How could I refuse?  She actually did take just a tiny piece from each and made a blob of green.

2)  Tuesday it was Grandson Nathan's turn to be here and I'm thankful that we had a dry enough spell for Hubby to play a bit of football with him out in the garden.  He does love to get outside and let off steam sometimes.

3)  I'm grateful for online shopping and supermarkets that stay open late this week.  I'd ordered an online shop with most of the ingredients I needed for a meal I was planning to cook but of course there were things I'd forgotten but I was able to pop down to Tesco late yesterday evening so that I had everything ready for this morning.

4)  Ladies lunch today - with 3 of my former work colleagues.  It was my turn to host.  I had a pack of Chinese style starters - prawn toast, spring rolls etc in the freezer so we had those for starters.  The main course was a potato, spinach and mushroom bake with a lovely cheese sauce which I did with a green salad and fresh bread.  For dessert I'd made a chocolate and raspberry trifle.  Of course I forgot to take pictures at the right time but as you can see the main course went down really well and everyone liked the trifle - which Hubby and I will be eating for days to come - I always make too much food!

5)  I'm thankful that thanks to us both having good pensions I don't need to worry about money and can cook meals like this without having to worry about the costs involved.

Have a good weekend all.

Read then Write - 19/2/26

Well this has not been a good week for reading!

I've started one of the book club reads:

and despite the interesting sounding title it is not grabbing me.

It's set in Thailand and there was indeed a head on the beach.  I'm not quite sure where it's going yet.  I need to persevere.

I've probably spent more time looking at cookery books this week as I'm hosting our "Ladies Lunch" tomorrow.  (With former work colleagues.) I have my dessert already made.  The starter will cook in the air fryer and after a quick trip to Tesco this evening I now have all the ingredients I need for the main course.

I'll try and remember to take photos!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 18/2/26

Joyce asks the questions, we provide the answers and the link up is here.

Thanks Joyce.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Do you mark this season in some way? Will you be giving something up or adding something to your life in this Lenten season?

I'd like to say I was giving something up but I'm not very good at sticking to the plan.  I am aiming to try and get to bed earlier and do a bit more reading and less doom scrolling on my phone.

2. Pancakes...are you a fan? Syrup or no syrup? Plain, blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, or some other add in? Are pancakes on your menu this week?

I do like pancakes preferably with chocolate spread or syrup.  I don't usually make them but our grandson was here yesterday so I did make a few.  

3. Tell us about a time recently when you felt 'spread too thin'.

Sometimes it feels like that at the Foodbank where I volunteer.  We need quite a few people to run the session and sometimes we're a bit low in numbers on a Thursday which makes it hard work.  People are great though - we do often get Tuesday people step in when they can.

4. What's your favourite jewel or gemstone? In terms of your wardrobe would we find more gem tones, pastels, black and white, or primary colours? 

I don't really have a favourite gemstone.  I have a nice opal and sapphire ring that I used to wear a lot but the opal got chipped so I don't wear it now.  I'm more interested in the design of a piece than particular stones.

I have lots of colours in my wardrobe but blue is probably the dominant colour.

5. What responsibility do you think is hardest about being in charge?

I think it's keeping the balance between having a good relationship with those you're in charge of but being able to maintain authority when needed.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

How annoying is this?

Admittedly the puzzle came from a charity shop but it was new - still wrapped in cellophane. Plus I thought there was no picture of the puzzle, I only discovered that there was one on the bottom of the box after I'd finished it lol.

In the News this Week - 17/2/26

The LOCAL news story I spotted was one where a convicted criminal escaped from custody not once but twice while being removed from prison and taken to hospital for treatment.

I mean really?  It's bad enough to let a prisoner abscond once, but twice?

Thankfully he's serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit burglary and not murder.  

INTERNATIONAL news as usual is full of doom and gloom but I did spot that the Irish National Seamus Culleton, who is currently being held by ICE pending deportation has had his deportation paused for 10 business days.  It seems that although he has been in the US since 2009 and is married to an American citizen he arrived on a visa waiver and is only now about to finalise getting his green card and work permit.

I'm thankful that my son didn't travel to the US until he had got his VISA sorted and he has his Green card and work permit.  Hopefully he'll be granted citizenship in due course.

SPORT continues to be dominated by the Winter Olympics which has been quite exciting.  I mean what could be more scary that sliding down an ice track at speeds in excess of 70 mph on a thin tray?  Oh I know, get someone to lie on top of you while you do it! (Luge Doubles event.)

In ENTERTAINMENT news:(taken from the BBC website)

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER will be representing the United Kingdom at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria in May 2026.

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER is a multi-talented solo artist, experimental singer/songwriter, live electronics performer and composer, inventor of unique musical machines, and self-proclaimed Eurovision fan based in Kent.

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER says: “I find it completely bonkers to be jumping on this wonderful and wild journey. I have always been a massive Eurovision fan, and I love the magical joy it brings to millions of people every year, so getting to join that legacy and fly the flag for the UK is an absolute honour that I am taking very seriously. I’ve been working a long-time creating, writing, and producing my own visions from scratch, and documenting my process. I will be bringing every ounce of my creativity to my performances, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear and see what we’ve created. I hope Eurovision is ready to get synthesized!”

I hope he's prepared for the fact that we seem to get NIL Points at Eurovision.

And finally, 

Happy Chinese New Year - we're now in the Year of the Fire Horse.

It was also pancake day today and I actually made some as Grandson Nathan was here at lunchtime.  They weren't that great but he seemed to like them.  I didn't take any pictures apart from this one:

 As you can see, a lot of chocolate spread was involved!

A bit of Waffle - 16/2/26

Well it's only going to be a little bit of waffle tonight as it's now almost    11 pm and it's been a tiring day.

Granddaughter Ella was dropped off here just after 9 this morning and although she's quite easy to look after she does demand attention.  We played lots of games, according to the rules of Ella, and we also watched a more recent version of The Sound of Music.  Ella loves to sing and dance.

I gave her lunch and then my DIL, Hubby and Grandson Nathan arrived back from a morning of Top Golf.  They all stayed for a bit and then I took them home.  Thankfully they are only a 10-15 minute drive away from us so the round trip doesn't take much more than half an hour. (Temporary traffic lights excepted.)

Tonight I was at the Foodbank taking in deliveries from the local Tesco stores.  These are all their reduced items that are about to go out of date etc.  We could have opened a florist shop with all the flowers we got today.  Hardly food of course but it is nice for the people coming to the Foodbank to get something to brighten up their homes.  Hopefully they'll keep ok as we didn't have enough containers to put them all into water.  Nice to have 1st world problems.

Tomorrow it will be Nathan's turn to be here while Ella goes on a playdate with a school friend.  It's half term holiday this week so I'm glad to be able to give my DIL a break and my daughter has taken a bit of time off too.

Right I'm off to bed now and I might try to read a bit more of this book:

I'm finding it very hard going but it's one of my book club reads so I'll persevere.  Goodnight.

Weekly Photos 8th-14th February 2026

And I've managed another week of photos!

Top left (Sunday) is the bag for Ella - the main parts were finished on Sunday.  Since then I've also made the horns and ears so now I just have to sew it all together.

Middle top(Monday) is the chart I'm using to keep track of taking the collagen supplement I'm taking.  Too soon to see if it's making a difference but so far the chocolate flavour hasn't triggered any migraines and I think taking it in warm milk before bed is actually helping my sleep.

Top Right (Tuesday) is the book I was reading at the beginning of the week which I've since finished.

Middle left (Wednesday)  I took this when out walking. The local secondary school is being rebuilt and it looks like the demolition stage is almost complete.

Bottom left (Saturday)  Spot the difference!  The light doesn't make it easy and that's my excuse for pairing them incorrectly in the first place.  I have a nephew who delights in wearing odd socks but not me.

Bottom centre (Thursday) this is the next book for the evening reading group I'm in which I'd collected from the library.  I read The Miniaturist by the same author and wasn't as mad about it as the hype suggested I should be.  Hopefully I'll like this one more.

Bottom right (Friday)  I finally put my wool winder to use.  I bought the wool over a year ago and a pattern to make a jumper for me.  I just have to finish a (few) WIPs first but at least the wool is now ready to use.

I realised after I'd put the photos together that I'd got the layout slightly wrong - that's the problem with being retired I often have to check what day it is!

#SoCS - 14/2/26 - Love

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “love.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun, and happy Valentine’s Day!  To join in the fun go here.

Well of course Love is an appropriate word for today being St. Valentines Day.  

We don't make a big thing of it in our house.  I did get a card from Hubby - well he tried to sign it anonymously but it was a bit of a give away that it was left on the bed for me to find.  I don't need big displays of affection or expensive bouquets of flowers to know that he loves me.

I know that he does in the way that he supports me especially when things are difficult.  He's always there for me when I need him to be, holding my hand when the children arrived.  Helping me through loss when my Mum passed away.  Ready to listen when I need to talk but not pushing too hard.

Stepping up when he needs to.  (Although he might need a little reminder here or there lol)

He has never let me down.  And of course I love him for all of that and so much more.

He's great with the grandkids too! 😂

Friday's Fave Fives - 13/2/26

It's Friday so time to look back on the week and find the blessings.  Susanne hosts this blog hop here and keeps us on our toes each week.  Thank you Susanne. 

1)  Lots of family time last weekend with my daughter and her family.  They all ended up here for lunch on Saturday and then we went to them for a Sunday roast.  

2)  A few spells of sunshine this week.  We still didn't get a rain free day but just a glimpse of the sun always makes the day feel better.  On Wednesday the rain held off long enough for me to walk down to the library and walk back through the park.

3)  A good meet up on  of the evening book club I'm in.  7 people attended and we'd all read the book so there was a good discussion on that.

(Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris.)

4) Progress on the crochet bag for granddaughter Ella.  All the pieces are done.  I just need to put it all together.

5)  Appreciation at the Foodbank.  As volunteers we help out because we want to and we get satisfaction from knowing we're helping a lot of people in the local community.  But it's always nice when someone makes a point of saying thanks for doing a good job.

Have a good weekend all.

Read then Write - 12/2/26

Not a bad week for reading.  I finished The Names by Florence Knapp:

The Names by Florence Knapp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found the premise of this book interesting - how does the choice of a name affect our lives going forward? The book follows Cora's baby son who is named either Bear, his 9 year old sister's choice, Julian (Jules) his Mother's choice, or Gordon after his Father and Grandfather.

The story is told from those 3 POVs and moves forward in leaps of 7 years starting in 1987 and ending in 2022. It is beautifully written - the author definitely has a way with words. However it felt a little bit disjointed to me and although some things were covered in detail, others were not.

The name choice also isn't what really affects the life of the baby but rather the effect Cora's decision has on her marriage and the events that follow. It should be noted that the marriage is an abusive one for anyone who likes to steer clear of domestic violence.

Overall it's a good debut but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's great.

I also attended a Book Club meeting on Tuesday evening where we discussed The Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris.  It was a good evening as we had seven people there who had all read the book.  Most people liked it.  I was on the fence.  There were things in it I felt didn't quite gel together.  It was a bit slow too.

This week I've also managed to finish this book:

The Guardians by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a John Grisham book. Of course there are lots of similarities in many of them - based around the American legal system, often involving injustice and frequently drug cartels and conspiracies.

This one was a bit slow initially and there are several storylines to get your head around as we follow Cullen Post, an innocence lawyer and minister as he tries to prove the innocence of convicted criminals and get them exonerated.  The pace picked up and I really enjoyed it.

I now have 2 books to read for the book clubs:

 and 

I have the Cotterill one on my Kindle App and I have a physical copy of The Muse.  There's a few weeks before the clubs meet again so I have plenty of time to read them.  Hopefully I'll like The Muse more than I did The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.  I found that quite hard going.  I haven't read anything by Cotterill so that may or may not be interesting.

Of course I'm trying to match these Book Club reads to the 52 Book Club Challenge list of prompts wherever possible but I'm not sure where these will fit yet.  I'm sure I can fit them in somewhere but it may be at the expense of books from my TBR pile! Thankfully I've managed to not add any more books to that pile so far this year.  For anyone who missed it these are just some of those books:

I'm not going to check how many unread books there are on the Kindle App lol.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 11/2/26

Joyce provides the questions, we provide our answers and link up here.

1. What's something recent that had you 'tickled pink'? 

I actually can't think of anything.

2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has it's thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? 

Well I'm retired so I definitely have time to stop and smell the roses.

3. What makes you feel loved and appreciated? 

Little gestures.  A thank you, an acknowledgement.  An offer of help.

4. A box of chocolates or a bouquet of fresh flowers-what's your pleasure? Any special plans for Valentine's Day? 

Could I have both please?  Oh, only one then it would be the flowers - they'd last longer lol. No plans for Valentine's Day.

5. Share a favourite quote, scripture, or song lyric relating to love. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I managed a trip to the library today and a walk back through the park without getting wet!  The threat of rain is always there though as you can see in the pictures I took.  It's fun to photograph the trees without their leaves so you can the structure of the tree.