Read then Write - 11/6/26

Well I have managed to finish Heartburn by Nora Ephron.  It was ok but I wasn't overwhelmed by it and as someone who's just completed 42 years of marriage it's hard to empathise with someone who's going through a marriage break up.

The afternoon book club met this week to discuss Three Things About Elsie.  Someone had brought along a set of questions for us to work through but that was a bit hard going, especially as one member hated the book lol.

Our next read will be this one:

The evening group will be discussing Heartburn next week but we'll be away so I will miss that.  We've already chosen the next book though and it's this one:

But....at the weekend we browsed some charity shops and I came home with these:

There are not enough reading hours in the day!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 10/6/26

Joyce provides the questions each week and we prepare our answers and then the link up is here.

Thank you Joyce.

1.  How would you define 'the good life'? 

The good life to me means being happy with my lot and having enough of the things I need.  I have "the good life".

2.  What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)? 

Well before I checked I would have said WhatsApp and I would be okay with that because that's how I keep in touch with family and friends.

When I checked, the NYT games app was top.  I usually start my day with Wordle (we have a WhatsApp group for those of us that do it daily) and then work through the various games on the app.  So it's probably not that surprising it came out on top.  

WhatsApp was 3rd on my list last week as apparently I used Facebook slightly more.  I didn't think Facebook would be that high as although I do usually browse it to see what people are up to I'm not very active on it.  However it is easy to go down rabbit holes on it.

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain. 

Probably everything's coming up roses as we just celebrated our 42nd anniversary and next week we're off to visit my son and his family in Vermont.    The rose bush at the front of the house is also in full bloom

4. How do you feel about floral flavourings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)? 

Not a big fan although I do like an apple and elderflower juice that we buy.

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else? 

What to cook for dinner!  Even though Hubby now does most of the cooking I still do a lot of the organising of what we're going to eat.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It feels like we're back in April - the weather is much cooler and we've had some heavy downpours today - even thunder and lightening.  Can we have summer back please.

In the News this Week - 9/6/26

                        

London couple survive 42 years of marriage.  The secret?  Give him a guitar and teach her to knit.

We went out for our anniversary to a new to us Italian restaurant just one stop away by train.

We shared a starter - fried calamari, prawns, arancini, mushrooms, courgettes and broccoli which was huge.

For mains Hubby had Tagliata:

And I had Porchetta

Both were delicious but we couldn't finish them after such a big starter so we skipped dessert.

I did consider getting a portion of Tiramisu to go but decided against it.  We were both full.

If we go again we need to make sure we're extra hungry!

A Windy Waffle - 8/6/26

We had a lovely weekend.  Hubby and I got together with all 6 of his remaining siblings and their partners (14 in total) at the youngest sister's house in Brighton which is on the south coast of England and a typical seaside town, complete with pier.

Parking in Brighton is really difficult and limited, especially if staying overnight so 8 of us took a coach from Stratford right through to Brighton Station and then it's about a 20 minute walk.  The coach ride was smooth and we didn't hit any traffic so we arrived on time.  It took 2 1/2 hours and it was nice to just sit back and relax.

We all gathered at our host Sarah's house joined by the remaining two couples, one who had travelled from France.  It was the first time we'd all been together in a while so lots of catching up to do.  Friday's evening meal was fish and chips.  We had planned to sit on the beach and eat it but by the time we'd all arrived and settled it was a bit late and therefore a bit too chilly to do that.

Saturday dawned dry and sunny so we all took a walk into town.  We walked around the Royal Pavilion and through the Lanes area before finding a pub with enough outdoor space for us all.  At that time it was still sunny and warm.

Look at the blue sky!

But as they had forecast the clouds rolled in together with 50mph winds.

We got caught in the downpour but all managed to make our way to here for lunch.

This is the appropriately named Shelter Hall and that picture is from the web because those umbrellas would not have stayed up in the wind on Saturday.  It is a large space inside with various street food vendors serving food.  There was lots of choice including Mexican, Portuguese, Thai, Burgers and Pizzas.  We managed to get 2 big tables to accommodate us all.  There were a lot of people taking advantage of being inside, including at least one Hen party and one Stag party.  Brighton is a popular destination for these.

After we'd eaten a few of us went back to Sarah's by Uber while others braved the rain and did more exploring, although that may have been the inside of a pub lol.

Saturday evening Sarah and her partner Grace laid on a lovely meal for us all.  One of the reasons we'd planned the gathering was to celebrate another sister's (Kate) 60th birthday.  Her birthday was actually back in January but we decided to wait until the weather was better to celebrate and also it was a bit of a house warming for Sarah and Grace.  Sarah bought the house back in September and has been gradually furnishing it and decorating.  They split their time between the Brighton house and Grace's home in London.  

We had a gnocchi, green bean and asparagus starter, followed by fish pie and then strawberries, shortcake and cream dessert.  It was all really good.

On Sunday morning we took a walk along the beach away from the centre of Brighton towards Black Rock where you can board the Volks Electric Railway service that runs from there to the Aquarium along the beach.  It's the oldest working electric railway in the world and opened in 1883.

One of the electric trains

This stretch of the beach has a boarded walkway which makes it so much easier to walk on as the beach is actually very stony.

After our walk we headed back to the house where we had more food before setting off for home at 5.30 pm.

One huge feature of the Brighton house is that there is a huge garden between a square of properties and only 3 of those home owners have the right to use the garden and Sarah is one of them!

Here we are in the garden.  The two white arched windows on the right are Sarah's house and the gap in the greenery you can see below is a gateway into her own private small courtyard area.  We were lucky enough to get some sunshine in the afternoon so we could sit outside and enjoy our lunch.

The journey home on the coach was just as smooth and we arrived back at Stratford by 8.30 pm so we were home by about 9.45.  We all had a really good time and believe it or not we all get on really well.

Friday's Fave Five - 5/6/26

It's Friday so time to look back on the blessings of the week then link up here with Susanne and the gang.  

1)  Grateful for Hubby's family.  We're all getting together this weekend - 7 siblings and partners.  His youngest sister recently bought a house in Brighton which is on the south coast of England and is a vibrant seaside destination.  The weather isn't looking too good but I'm sure that won't stop us having fun.

2)  New glasses!  I tried to take a selfie but it wasn't very flattering so I gave up.  Glad that we can afford things like decent glasses - they're so expensive when you need varifocals and like them to react to the light etc.

3)  A quieter week.  It was lovely having family here last week but it's also nice not to have such early starts etc.

4)  Rain and cooler weather.  We needed the rain and the beginning of last week was a heatwave.

5)  Lots of volunteers on Thursday at the Foodbank.  Many hands make light work.

Have a good weekend all.  

Read then Write - 4/6/26

Since my last book post I have managed to finish Three Things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon.  A re-read for me but it was the afternoon book club pick and I couldn't really remember all that happened in the book so it was a good reminder.

I really enjoyed it.

I've also managed to finish Welcome to the Neighbourhood by Jane Fallon.

This was a slow burner for me at first but then I found myself wanting to find out what the various characters were going to do.

Kitty moves to London after the break up of her long term relationship. She thinks the move will improve her life but is initially disappointed. Then she gets new neighbours, Sian and Rich and suddenly she has a new friend in Sian and her life seems better.

But then she spots a mysterious woman leaving their house and the plot thickens. The saying "oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" springs to mind as there is a lot of deception going on and at some points it's tricky to keep track of. Some of it is a little far fetched but I did find myself sucked in during the second half of the book. The subtitle on the book was "Good neighbours or bad people?" and there's a good mix of both.

It also ticks a prompt on the 52 Book Club prompt.

I've now moved on to this one:

This is the choice of the evening book club and although I won't be attending the meeting when it will be discussed I thought I'd read it anyway as it's not too long (just short of 200 pages).  

Ephron is the screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle so it sounded promising.  However it is written in the first person and very much in a Stream of Consciousness style. The blurb says it will make you laugh.  I think I'm missing my sense of humour so far.  

Blogger issues? 3/6/26

Is anyone else having problems with their reading list?

Despite refreshing it, some of the blogs I follow, who I know have posted new posts, are not showing up in my reading list.  Annoying!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 3/6/26

Joyce provides the questions, we prepare our answers then the link up is here.  Have fun.

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Making small talk.  I hate going into situations where I don't know anyone and starting up conversations.  Although I think there might be quite a lot of people who agree with me so how about keeping houseplants alive.  I'm not too good at that either.

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

I think Spring makes me feel more like that than summer.

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favourite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

Some I like others no thank you.  I like pickled onions and cheese just has to have pickle with it.

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favourite movie wedding? 

I'm a June bride!  Will be celebrating 42 years next week.  We're invited to a wedding in September so almost the summer.

Four weddings and a funeral.  

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

Joyce deserves a medal for turning up every week and keeping this Hodgepodge community together.  Thank you Joyce.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have rain and much cooler temps!  Last week's heatwave was unbearable so it's lovely being cooler and we needed some rain.  Just wish the weekend forecast was looking a little better.

In the News this Week - 2/6/26

As usual the news is not very cheerful.  The saga relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as American Ambassador rumbles on and Kier Starmer's position becomes ever more precarious.

The other scandalous story in the news today is how Peter Murrell the former SNP Chief (Scottish Nationalist Party) managed to embezzle £400k from the party's funds over a 12 year period.  He has now pleaded guilty and details of what he spent the money on are emerging.  

They range from things like gardening equipment and electronic equipment purchased from Amazon to expensive watches, but the biggest expenses seem to have been for a Jaguar car and a deluxe Motor Home costing £124,550 that was driven only 4 miles to his Mother's house where it remained until confiscated.

More details can be found here.

What I find puzzling in all of this is that Murrell's wife (now estranged) is Nicola Sturgeon who was the First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023 and she is claiming she was unaware of what was going on despite many of the Amazon purchases being delivered to her home.

Really?  I don't think so.

A late bit of Waffle - 2/6/26

And just like that it is Tuesday!

I was busy yesterday morning doing chores and then I did relax and finish a book I was reading in the afternoon.  I was going to fit a walk in but that didn't happen so I walked up to the Foodbank for my Monday evening slot rather than drive.  And yes it is mainly uphill.

I fully intended to blog after I got home.  I'm usually home by 10 and it's nice to wind down a bit before going to bed.  Except best laid plans and all that.  I didn't get home until gone 11 as one of the stores had problems with their scanners.  All the food they donate to us is the already reduced in price stuff that has to go because of sell by dates etc.  They have to scan it all though for their records.  The store was the one at Ponders End which is a huge Tesco.  We probably get as much stuff from there as we do from all the other stores together.  So it's worth waiting for.  But we waited and waited!  Plus the poor guy doing the collection was on his own last night so that didn't help.  Anyway he finally arrived and our team of 3 set to work at getting the stuff sorted and put away in the fridges/freezers as quickly as we could.  Thankfully one of my colleagues lives just around the corner from me so she gave me a lift home.  Walking home at that time wouldn't have bothered me, it's only a 10 minute walk, but I was really tired by then.

So I got home to see that Hubby obviously hadn't seen my message about putting out the dustbins.  He was too busy playing his guitar.  I don't like putting them out that late as it's hard to do it quietly but doing it in the morning isn't an option as the one bin is collected as early as 6 am most weeks. 

I definitely needed winding down time before going to bed after that.

And I've overslept this morning so no exercise class for me today.  I might join friends for coffee afterwards.  I'm waiting to here what the plan is.

As yet I have no plan! Oh except I have to make an appointment to pick up my new glasses.  

Weekly photos 31/5/26

It's been a while since I just did a photo post and quite a few pictures that I've taken have already appeared on posts so here are a few that haven't already made it to the blog.

The pigeons spotted me taking this photo and they actually stayed really still for what seemed like ages.

Not brilliantly clear from this photo but most of the feeders are quite empty - again!  I only filled them 2 days before I took this picture.  The birds and squirrels seem very hungry at the moment.

Cousins!

These were taken back at the Highams Park Spring Fair.  They were sculpted with a chainsaw.  There is a whole trail around Highams Park featuring animals carved by the same artist which I blogged about here.

Progress on the cinema site.  The front of the original cinema is being retained and the redevelopment will include a 2 screen cinema and flats.  The site had stood empty for so long that it's good to see works finally taking place.

And say hello to the new cygnets.  There are 6 this year and they're just over 2 weeks old.

#SoCS - 30/5/26 - Impress

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “impress” Use it as a verb, use it as a noun, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Well one thing that does impress me is the people who blog regularly, some even every day, and come up with prompts for challenges like Linda who blogs here and comes up with our #SoCS prompt every week.  She also does a One Liner Wednesday and is behind the Just Jot it January challenge which is a huge undertaking.

I also take part in the Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by Joyce here and I try not to miss Friday's Fave Fives which Susanne hosts here.

Of course there are lots of blog hops that it's quite easy to find one for every day of the week but I do like to be a little bit original if I can.  One of the reasons I love the A-Z challenge that takes place in April is that it makes me blog every day but also allows me to come up with my own posts.  The team behind that challenge, which has been running since 2010 are very impressive.

Blogging every day is sometimes a challenge too far for me though.  I have done better this year, trying to have a blog hop or a theme running for every day of the week.  I had a think about what sort of posts I wanted to do and how the week would look and came up with the following:

Sunday would be looking back on the photos I'd taken in the previous week.

Monday would just be me waffling on like I usually do, probably with a weekend recap or something that I hoped readers might find worth reading.

Tuesday is the News day - trying to pick out interesting pieces of news locally, internationally, items relating to sports and entertainment and then either a feel good story or something quirky.

Wednesday is Hodgepodge Day

Thursday is something book related

Friday is the Fave Five of the week and then

Saturday is of course #SoCS.

Yep, something for every day.  Sounds impressive.  The reality is somewhat less.  For starters I am rubbish at taking photos.  Not when I actually take them - I usually try to get a decent photo.  No the problem is remembering to take them.  Things happen and I think I should have taken a photo of that but then the moment is gone.  Of course I could just take a picture of my dinner every day like a lot of Instagrammers seem to do but as my only input to that would be the eating of said meal (Hubby does the cooking here) that didn't seem right.  I do try and think of a good pic now and again but I definitely haven't made that habit stick, yet!

As for the news, well that has been quite depressing for such a long time really so some weeks it's been hard to find stories that are a bit more uplifting.

The other days have been a bit easier but I don't always do well on the #SoCS front.  The problem I find with #SoCS is that there are a lot of authors and poets who take part and they write impressive posts and I look at mine and think that's a bit trite so I don't always link them to Linda's page.  

And then of course throw in a visit from my son and his family, down from Nottingham for a few days, which then involves my daughter and her family coming here too and blogging gets put on the back burner.  I was AWOL for a whole week!

Still I'm here today and I will link to Linda's site as I think I've used the prompt word a few times at least.

Happy weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 29/5/26

Phew it's been a week!  Yep a week since I last posted but Friday means looking back on the good things in the week and then sharing with others here at our host Susanne's site.

1)  Firstly lots of family time this week - our son and his family arrived late last Friday and stayed until Wednesday - the kids were on half-term break.  That also meant we saw a lot of my daughter and her family - the cousins do love to get together.

2)  Afternoon tea at the Oblix restaurant which is on the 32nd floor of The Shard building in central London.  My DIL Amy couldn't make it to my daughter's 40th birthday party so the three of us had our own little celebration last Saturday.

The birthday girl.

This building is Chapter London Bridge which houses student accommodation, complete with a rooftop bar and a sky garden.  It's right next to London Bridge station with excellent transport options.

The Shard.  We were a long way up!  With great views.

We had sandwiches to start and then warm scones that were so light.  Of course we had the usual jam or cream first debate. (Cream for Rebecca and me, Jam for Amy.)  And then those lovely little cakes.  And of course lots of choices for tea.  It was all very filling!

3)  Sunday lunch with all of us together at The Royal Forest Hotel in Chingford.

4)  Today it has been cooler.  Still in the high 20s C but much more comfortable than the temperatures we had at the weekend.  We went from below average temps for the time of year to record breaking temps on Monday, which was a holiday here.  The previous record was 32.8C but the new high recorded on Monday was 35.1C.  It felt too hot to do anything other than sit by a fan and wish we had air conditioning.  Today though with it being a bit cooler I managed to catch up on some housework and washing.  Much needed after having family here.

5)  Thankful that we can afford to keep the bird feeders topped up.  Like everything else the food is more expensive but I do enjoy watching the birds on the feeders and the two cheeky squirrels that really like the sunflower hearts and pumpkin seeds.  Actually the pumpkin seeds were a bonus from the Foodbank.  We get all sorts of odd things in our deliveries sometimes, including recently boxes of small packets of pumpkin seeds.  Not a lot of demand for those from our beneficiaries so volunteers were invited to take some.  The squirrels emptied the feeder in no time!

Looking forward to a quieter weekend now.  It's lovely having the grandchildren and family here but with early starts and disturbed sleep with the heat  I'm ready for a rest!  Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 22/5/26

Friday means taking a pause and finding the good things in the previous week and then linking up here on our host Susanne's site.

1)  Firstly I'm extremely thankful that our car didn't get stolen last night as Hubby had left the keys in the car!  He was obviously in the process of locking the steering lock because that's where the keys were and he must have got distracted.  Anyway thankfully no harm done.

2) A couple of get togethers this week - Knit and Natter on Tuesday and the evening book group on Wednesday.  Always nice to get out and socialise with other people.

3)  Dry weather last Sunday for the Highams Park Spring Festival.  It clouded over at one point and was quite blustery but the rain held off until the early evening and it was a good day for the local community.  We also raised over £400 for the Foodbank.

4)  For the last few weeks we've had 3 or 4 students helping out at the Foodbank from a nearby Special Ed school.  They are all between 16-18 and each one has a member of staff with them and I think they've all enjoyed their time with us.  I'm grateful that we can give schools the opportunity to visit and help out at the Foodbank.  Also grateful for a local group that stepped in with a donation to replace one of our freezers that had stopped working last week.  The new one arrived on Tuesday and we were up and running with it by Thursday.

5) Dry, sunny and very hot weather forecast for this weekend which is a bank holiday weekend (no work on Monday for most people).  In fact they're forecasting that the temperature may be record breaking - it will be over 30 degrees.  (The record is 32.8° C.)  The washing is on the line and the garden furniture uncovered and ready to use.  My son and his family are arriving tonight for a few days.  All good here.

Have a good weekend all.

Read then Write - 21/5/26

Well I think I need to speed up my reading - I'm still ahead of schedule but I don't think I've been reading as much and the books are piling up!

I finished this last week and I was impressed with it as a debut novel. 

"When teenager Nora Sheehan fatally shoots her brother Nico in their family home one evening, her parents’ lives are left shattered. Nico had been diagnosed with a terminal illness – was what Nora did an act of mercy, or something far darker? And what will happen to her now, alone in a juvenile detention centre awaiting trial, unable or unwilling to speak?"

The book follows Nora and her family as they navigate the US legal system and deal with their grief.  Angie and David feel like they have lost both their children as Nora is facing the prospect of a long jail term.  Initially they rely on a local lawyer, Martine Dumont but she calls on her son Julian to take on the case as he is a high powered defence lawyer working in New York.  He is also the ex-partner of Angie and their parting was far from amicable.

Additionally, there are lots of secrets between the characters, some which are revealed early on, others later.

The story is well told and the focus is definitely more on the aftermath of the shooting, and the history between Angie and Julian rather than why Nora shot her brother.  Personally I would have liked to have had more insight into what was going on inside Nora's head leading up to the shooting.  But the lack of that didn't spoil it for me. 4 stars for me.

I'm currently reading:

This was the choice of the afternoon book club and it's a re-read for me, although it was a long time ago so I don't remember it that well, other than that I liked it first time around.

On my bedside table I also have this one:

which I picked because it was a magazine recommendation and it ticked the "published in 2026" prompt on the 52 Book Club challenge but Penitence ticks that box too so I might have to get a bit creative.

I also need to pick up this one from the library as it's the next pick for the evening book group:

I'm not sure I can fit this one to a prompt but maybe when I've read it I'll be able to work it in somewhere.

After this one we're going to read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell which feels fairly recent to be on the library list but then I checked and found it was first published in 2020.  Time is going too fast!