Friday's Fave Five - 24/4/26

Friday's Fave Five is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  Each week she reminds us to look back and find the things we were grateful for during the week.  It's good to be grateful.  Why not join us?

1)  Well firstly I am grateful for my Hubby.  He had a birthday last Saturday and we celebrated by attending a fund raising evening organised by a friend of his doing what he loves best - singing and playing his guitar.  He was one of several acts that performed at a nearby church and although I don't usually go to watch him play I couldn't miss out on his birthday.  We'll have been married for 42 years in June.  Definitely a keeper.

2)  The quiz night I mentioned last week raised £3967 for the Foodbank which is amazing!  

3)  Spring weather.  It's been sunny all week and although not that hot yet I was still able to get all my washing done and a lot of it dry on the line outside. (I still tumble dry things like underwear and t shirts to cut down on the ironing.) 

4)  Postal votes.  We have elections for councillors next month but our postal votes came yesterday.  I'm grateful not to have to get to the polling station on the day.  Usually it's fine but one less hassle to deal with.

5)  A good meet up for the evening book club on Wednesday.  There were only 5 of us but we had a good discussion about the book and lots of other things too.  We all agreed that we didn't like the book:

Hopefully the next one will be better:

And the jumper is nearly done.  I just need to do a few more rows and then the decorative bottom.  Oh and all the tedious sewing in of ends and seams to do.  Don't hold your breath for a picture of me modelling it!

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 17/4/26

Time to look back on the week and find the blessings.  Susanne is our host for this and you can find her blog here.

1)  Thankful for a quiet weekend last week.  It had been quite busy here the week before with family visiting etc so it was nice just to have some down time particularly as I was fighting a cold.

2)  Thankful that the cold has now gone and I'm feeling much more my usual self and less sleep disruptions.

3)  A Knit and Natter session on Tuesday this week.  We've also changed venue to the upstairs room of the local pub.  It means we have more space and can natter over a glass of wine.

4)  A good library book club meet up on Wednesday.  We had a new member and all the regulars were there so 8 of us in total.  

5)  A fun evening last night at the Foodbank - another wine tasting and quiz evening organised by the local wine bar.  It was a sell out with 120 tickets sold.  Hopefully it will have raised a lot of money for the Foodbank.  It was a long day for me though as I was there at 9 am for the usual foodbank session until 1.30 then we had 2 of Hubby's sisters and their husbands for dinner as they joined us to make up a team for the quiz.  We didn't get home until around 11 pm.  Thankfully nothing was planned for today.

And as a bonus it's definitely spring time now - I got washing dry outside during the week!

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 10th April 2026

It's Friday again so time to link up with Susanne here to share the things we're grateful for over this past week.

1)  Firstly I'm grateful for Susanne for providing this link up each week, even when things aren't always going smoothly for her, setting us all a good example and making us think.

2)  A meal out with my daughter and her family last Saturday.  

It's nice now they're that bit older and the restaurant is quite child friendly.

3)  Our son and his family were here from Sunday until yesterday so having grandchildren around is definitely a fave.

4)  Automatic machines that make life easier - the dishwasher was on the go a lot this week and I've got through a lot of washing today and I haven't even started on the bedding and towels yet.

5)  A very lazy day today.  I've got some sort of cold virus going on and haven't felt great since yesterday.  Today I've taken advantage of having a quiet house to ourselves and spent most of the day reading this:

I'd started it a couple of days ago and finished it today. I'm going to have an early night and recharge my batteries.

Have a good weekend all.  I'll try and get around to your blogs tomorrow.

Friday's Fave Five - 3/4/26

It's Friday so time to reflect on the week and link up here on Susanne's site with other like minded bloggers.  

Trying to do the A-Z Challenge and keep up with regular blogging posts is not easy but these Friday posts are important as they make me stop and think about what I need to be grateful for - there is always something.  This week these are the highlights:

1)  Our clocks went forward last weekend and although that meant an hour less sleep, the days are now lighter and seem longer.  

2)  We had a big donation from our neighbouring parish last Saturday and from a local business during the week so we had enough Easter eggs to give out at the Foodbank for all the families we support.  

3)  Grateful that we were able to attend my SIL's funeral yesterday and catch up with both my brothers, my other SIL and my niece and nephew.  It was a long drive up to the funeral but we made it in time.  The roads in Lincolnshire require concentration!  It was a lovely cremation service and my brother seems to be coping well.

4)  Rather than coming straight home from the funeral we decided to stay overnight at our son's in Nottingham.  Although cutting across country to him took us nearly as long as it would have done to get home!  Not really but it was over 2 hours.  Worth it though to catch up with him and our 2 grandsons.  Our DIL was at a friend's overnight but came back this morning so we had time with all of them and played a lot of games.  

5)  A knit and natter meet up on Wednesday evening - this time at the local pub.  Nice to enjoy a glass of wine while getting some knitting done and catch up with friends.

Happy Easter everyone.

Friday's Fave Five - 27/3/26

Thanks to Susanne for reminding us each Friday to count our blessings and then share them here.

I'm still using the Tulip picture even though Spring seems to be a bit undecided this week.  My tulips are beginning to droop a bit too but there's still plenty to be thankful for:

1)  We did have enough sunshine on Tuesday to do some tidying in the garden.  I put up some fairy lights too and I've ordered a couple of tree shrubs and a couple of lavender plants to fill a gap.

2)  Rubbish to the tip.  Hubby did this on Wednesday - there wasn't much but it was making the garden look untidy!

3)  Wardrobe clear out - I did this on Monday and hopefully a charity will pick up the bags of things I cleared out today.  Various charities do roadside collections so I put my 3 bags out this morning.  One bag has already disappeared!

4)  Efficient library service.  The evening book group picked out 3 books at our last meeting to hopefully give us reads for the next couple of months and the library already has copies of all of them.  Plus a book I reserved was also there for me to collect this week.  I love my library.

5)  One of our nephews has just announced that he and his wife are expecting a baby in October.   The tribe doesn't stop growing!

Today is feeling quite wintry again - low temperature and quite cloudy.  I wish Spring would make up its mind!

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 20/3/26

Susanne reminds us each week to look back on our blessings and then we link up here.  Thank you Susanne.

1) Last Sunday was Mother's Day here in the UK.  We had a lovely afternoon with my daughter and her family.  We were supposed to go to them but we ended up here.  They brought the ingredients for an English style cream tea which we all enjoyed.

2)  We found out this week that one of our nieces is expecting her first baby later this year.  A baby is always something to be thankful for.

3)  Hubby and I sat through a TV series together this week. We don't often want to watch the same thing so it was nice to sit down together and we did binge watch it a bit over a couple of days.  (Series was "Gone" aired by ITV one of the main UK channels.)

4)  Flowers from the Foodbank - we had so many donated to us on Monday evening we didn't have enough buckets to put them in so we all brought some home.

 5) Our eldest son celebrated his birthday yesterday - he was working during the day but he and his family had dinner out at their local Nandos.

And for a bonus - I was able to hang some washing to dry outside today!  Spring is definitely here.

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 13/3/26

Each Friday Susanne reminds us to look back on the week and remember the things that have made us grateful.  Then we join up here to share.  Thank you Susanne.

1)  A chat with my best friend yesterday by phone.  I'm going to visit her next week to properly catch up - she's currently recovering from a fractured pelvis - fortunately it's only on one side so no surgery was required but it's still been a difficult few weeks for her but she's doing better.

2)  A long phone chat with my closest cousin today.  We don't see each other often but when we do or when we get on the phone we just pick up from where we left off.

3) 2 good book group meetings on Wednesday.  (Afternoon and evening.)  Both were well attended and we had some good discussions.

4)  Hubby mowed the lawn today without having to be asked!  Mowing the lawn is definitely one of his jobs but I often have to remind him it needs doing.

5)  Our neighbour's cherry blossom tree is in full bloom and that's a very pretty view from my kitchen window.  Just a shame that it is already losing the blossom.  It is so short lived.  But we've also had some sunshine too this week.

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 6/3/26

Susanne kindly reminds us each week to think about the good things that have happened and things we're thankful for.  Then we link up here.

1)  Lots of reading time this week.  I finished these three books and I've already started another.

2)Lots of crafting time too:

Ella's bag is finished and she loved it.

The blanket of granny squares is now finished and that has gone to my daughter. (She made the squares, I sewed them together and then did an edging plus I wove lots of ends in!)

Now I've started on a jumper for me!  This is the first of two panels that form the top of the shoulder and sleeve.  It looks a bit complicated but hopefully my Knit and Natter friends will be able to help me if I get stuck.

3) A Knit and Natter session on Wednesday.  We hadn't met for a month so it was good to catch up with people.

4) Spring weather!  We had a few days of nice sunny and warm weather.  I've even got a couple of jobs done in the garden.

5)  Extra help at the Foodbank.  Sally who usually helps me in the store room wasn't in this week but another volunteer came in and brought her husband with her.  They were both a great help to me in particular.

Our babysitting last Saturday went ok - we managed between us to get both children asleep and this evening I managed to do that on my own.  Thankfully Nathan was happy to sit in his bedroom with his iPad while I got Ella to sleep and then I sat with him until he was asleep.  Neither of them like going to sleep on their own but they went to bed without any fuss.  Their Mummies were glad of some grown up time and I'm glad to help out when I can.

Have a good weekend all.  I'm pressing publish just before I hit midnight!

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.

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.

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.

Friday's Fave Five - 6/2/26

Yes it's Friday again (how?) so time to look back on the blessings of the week and then link up at Living to Tell the Story with other like minded bloggers.  Susanne is the one who keeps us on our toes.  Thanks Susanne.

1)  A lazy weekend.  It was good to just be able to quietly relax at home with no commitments etc.

2)  I made it to my keep fit class on Tuesday despite waking up feeling really lazy and my back wasn't great.  Glad that I did because of course it helps with my back and I get to socialise with former work colleagues.

3)  A good book club session on Wednesday - this was with the afternoon group that meets at the local library.  There were only 4 of us but 2 were new members who both seemed to enjoy themselves and we had a good discussion on the book we'd read - The Power by Naomi Alderman.

4)  A Knit and Natter session on Wednesday evening.  I'm making good progress with the little bag for Ella.  I've done the main bag and cover.  I've started the strap so then it will just be the ears and horns to do.  Need to brush up on doing a magic loop for those.  It's a long time since I did any crochet apart from granny squares!

5) 

Happy birthday to our younger son.  He is such a great Dad to these two and he's settled well into life in the US - he even got a promotion in his job recently.  He probably gave us the most grief when they were growing up, particularly as a teen, but so proud of the man he is today.

And a bonus - I applied to renew my passport earlier this week - it was really easy to do online but they won't start on the process until they receive your old one which I posted off as instructed.  Well I heard today that they've already printed my new one and it will soon be on its way to me!

Have a good weekend all!  Wet and dreary here but I have more daffodils in the house and spring is coming!

Fridays Fave Five - 30/1/26 (And JJJ - Cinnamon)

It's Friday and time to look back on the week and find the blessings.  Susanne keeps us on our toes and you can find her blog and all the details here.

It's been a fairly uneventful week here but there are always good things going on

1)  It's been incredibly wet over the month of January but I did manage a walk around the lake on Monday despite it being incredibly muddy so thankful for my wellies.

2)  Tuesday I did my keep fit class and then had coffee (well tea for me) with friends who also attend the class.  Always good to have a catch up.

3)  We spent time with grandchildren Nathan and Ella on Sunday.  Ella who is only 5 is getting much better at playing games but we also had a long spell playing with the Playdoh. (And the colours didn't get mixed!)

4)  Yesterday was Foodbank day and as always it was very busy.  We had two visits from schools.  The first one was a group of older students who are studying Charity and Money Management as part of their course so they were very interested to hear how the Foodbank operates etc.  Some of them brought donations and several wanted to know how they could volunteer.  We often have students who are doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards spending time at the Hub so there are opportunities for them.

The second visit was from a primary school group of Year 6 pupils who had done a week of collecting for the Foodbank and they brought in a huge donation of canned and dried goods which we're always grateful for.

We also had an unannounced visit from the Hygiene team from the local council and we retained our 5 star rating!  

It was such a busy morning that Sally (who usually works with me in the stockroom) and I didn't even have time for a cup of tea or in my case a chocolate croissant or in Sally's case a cinnamon pastry.

(Just slipping in today's Just Jot it January prompt there lol.)

5)  I've decided to give a collagen supplement a go.  The order was delivered earlier this week and thankfully the chocolate flavour I ordered is delicious.  So I'm thankful that it shouldn't be too difficult to fit it into the daily routine and that I didn't have to think about the cost either.

I also got a delivery of garden bird and swan/duck food this week.  Again I'm thankful that we're in a position to be able to do these things now that we're retired.

Now I'm off to try and get a walk in before the rain returns.

Have a good weekend all.

(The Just Jot it January prompt was from Tessa K who blogs  HERE.  The Just Jot it challenge is hosted by Linda HERE.)

Friday's Fave Five - 23/1/26 (and JJJ - Altruism)

It's Friday so time to look back on the week to find the good things and then share them HERE on Susanne's blog.  Thanks for the weekly reminder Susanne.

1.  Well firstly I'm thankful that we don't have winter weather like Susanne has - lots of snow and cold temperatures.  It's been a very wet week here but temperatures have been okay.  Quite chilly, but hey it's still winter and we have warm clothes, can afford to keep the heating on so we're ok.

2.  YouTube!  I posted earlier in the week about getting this kit at the yarn sale I went to last week.

This was beyond my crochet expertise - I've done lots of Granny Squares and lacy doilies but I've never done tapestry crochet.  Thankfully I found a great tutorial on YouTube and I've made a start and it seems to be going ok so far.

3.  Hubby had a follow up appointment this week for his eyes and he's been discharged from the hospital.  They advised having an annual check up at his optician (who spotted the problem in the first instance) but no more visits to the hospital/clinic required.

4.  Thankful that my daughter and her family are close to us so that when help is needed we can be there for them.  Our DIL wasn't feeling great on Wednesday so I was able to collect Nathan and Ella from school and have them here until after they'd eaten.  I'm also thankful that both my sons have good in-laws nearby too.  

5.  Fitting in my Just Jot it January challenge word of the day here which is "Altruism".  I'm glad that I can help out at the Foodbank each week and that so many other volunteers do too.  It's hard work sometime, particularly on the Thursday sessions - I get home and often just sit (might even catch a nap lol) but knowing we're helping so many people is very satisfying.

And a bonus mention for my library!  One of the prompts for the reading challenge I'm doing is a book which uses "Deus ex Machina" which, for those of you like me had no clue is:

a plot device in which a seemingly unsolvable problem is abruptly solved by an unexpected and unlikely event.

Thankfully the challenge has a great guide on what the prompts mean and also a list of books which work for a particular prompt.  Apparently this book works for Deus ex Machina

and it was shown as available at my library so I went and checked it out today.  I can't start it yet as I have this one to finish first:

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 16/1/26

It's Friday so time to look back on the blessings of the week and blog about them here and then share with other like minded bloggers on our host Susanne's site HERE.

1. Another sociable week.  On Sunday our daughter and daughter-in-law invited us to dinner so it was nice to catch up with them and the Grandkids.  I tried this but after a couple of songs I was worn out lol.

Image of grandchildren playing a video game

2. Tuesday I got back to my keep fit class and had coffee with friends afterwards. It was good to be doing some exercise after the Christmas break.

3.  Wednesday I caught up with a couple of friends I used to work with.  One of them has not long completed treatment for cancer and she's looking well.

4.  Today the local lunch group met up here for lunch.

It's a really nice cafe in Chingford and judging by how busy it was it's clearly popular and doing well.  Thankfully we had booked in advance as they were turning people away.

5.  Some admin tasks dealt with - the boiler was serviced on Wednesday and the car passed its annual MOT test today.

So a busy week, with a couple of Foodbank sessions in there too but I've also managed to keep up with blogging and did some knitting and reading and I made a Banana Loaf which the grandkids love.

I'd like to say I can spend the weekend catching up on chores and laundry but the weekend's looking pretty busy too.  Housework is so overrated lol.

Have a good weekend all.

Fridays Fave Five - 9/1/26

Still going with the snowflakes - it's been cold again this week and we had a dusting of snow on Tuesday and the lake was frozen over.

Fortunately it didn't amount to much and we've had plenty of rain since washing it away!

It's Friday already so time to look back on the week and find the good things and then hop over to Susanne's blog where like minded bloggers share their lists.  Thanks Susanne for hosting and keeping us all on track.

1)  All my Christmas decorations, tree etc are down and put away until next year.  

2)  Several social events this week - a daytime book group meeting on Wednesday, plus a Knit and Natter session in the evening and then a coffee meet up this morning with another group set up through the library.  This one is for people who are retired or available during the day to meet up for coffee or lunch, very much on an ad hoc basis.  It's been a good way of meeting new people.

3)  I had a phone call from my eldest brother earlier with the good news that he is now in remission from his cancer.  This means he's been put on a maintenance regime with regard to treatment which is less aggressive.  Hopefully that will keep him in remission.

4)  I've managed to blog everyday so far in January and I'm enjoying being back in the swing of it.

5)  Unexpected help at the Foodbank yesterday.  We were short of a few regular volunteers and I was in the stockroom on my own initially dealing with a large delivery but then one of the main Tuesday organisers turned up with "I can spare you an hour".  Well that hour turned into 2 and between us we managed to get the delivery sorted and the stock room ready for the shut down procedure at the end of the session.  It was still hard work though!

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five - 2/1/26

Is anyone else having trouble keeping track of what day it is during this holiday period?  Thankfully Susanne reminds us every Friday to be thankful for the blessings in the past week and then like minded bloggers join up on her site which you can find here.  Thank you Susanne.

1)  Well firstly I'm thankful for a lovely Christmas holiday spent with family.  We had my son and his family here for 8 days and of course my daughter and her family joined us for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  Plus we caught up with the extended family on the 27th.

2)  The run up to Christmas was busy, especially with sessions at the Foodbank so it's been nice to have a 2 week break from that and also for some quiet moments when the kids were out of the house and I could just sit and gather my thoughts.

3)  Hubby seems to be almost over whatever virus he had before and during Christmas.  

4)  A warm house.  It is really cold here in the UK at the moment.  We've had a lot of frosty mornings and some areas have had snow.  The weekend is predicted to be very cold (for us) so it's nice to be able to snuggle down in the warm.

5)  Despite the cold weather I've made a couple of walks down to the lake this week and managed to snap this pair of Mandarin Ducks.

The colourful one is the male and the plainer one is the female.

Have a good weekend all.  We still have our tree and decorations up but I'll probably taken them down over the weekend.  Then I can catch up on some housework.  Hmm maybe I won't rush to take them down.....

Out of interest I checked how many Friday Fave Fives I did in 2025 and it was 39 so 75%.  Must try harder lol.