Friday's Fave Five - 1/5/26

It's Friday so time to look back on the blessings of the week and then share them over here at Susanne's site.  Thank you Susanne for keeping us on track.

1)  Time with Grandkids Nathan and Ella.  We had them here last Saturday overnight.  This was the first time we'd had them overnight so it was a bit of a challenge.  They were actually quite good playing together during the afternoon and Nathan went to bed quite easily.  Ella is another story - she is not good at settling down to sleep but, thankfully, once she is asleep she tends to sleep right through to the morning.  Nathan on the other hand was obviously a bit anxious and woke during the night so I ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor between their beds so not the best night's sleep!  But it enabled my daughter to celebrate her upcoming birthday without having to worry about the kids.  Her birthday isn't for another week or so but it's hard to find venues and co-ordinate dates.

2)  Sunshine!  We've had a lot of it this week.  Really improves the mood.

3)  A walk round the lake on Wednesday - and the mud has dried up.  The pathways are still quite rutted from where we had all the mud but it was nice to just pull my trainers on for the walk.  And the swan is nesting so hopefully there will be cygnets soon.  Daddy swan is definitely in protective mode though.

The pigeons were trying very hard to grab the food in the water near the edge even though it was too big for them really.

Look at those wings!

4)  Bluebells!  On Tuesday after my keep fit class I took a trip down memory lane and visited Wanstead Park which is an area where we used to go for walks before we moved.  It has an area called Chalet Wood that is famous for its bluebells.

My phone camera doesn't really do them justice although they were probably past their best - I should have gone last week.

5)  Hubby and I took a walk on Monday to our nearby Larkswood.  No bluebells this time but we did discover this structure:

It's huge!

So grateful to have such nice places nearby to spend time in the fresh air and get some exercise.

Have a good weekend all.

Gratitude Log - 20/11/25

Today I'm grateful that we can afford to keep our house warm - it's very cold outside!

Gratitude log - 18/11/25

Today I’m grateful for a haircut!

Gratitude Log - 17/11/25

Today I am grateful for our Granddaughter Ella, who today turned 5!

Determined not to smile!

Of course I'm grateful for all our grandchildren but Ella is the only one with a birthday during November.  She was the last to arrive after 5 grandsons so I'm very grateful to have a granddaughter and she takes no prisoners as the expression goes.  She may be the youngest and the only girl but she holds her own lol.

The photos aren't great but we did have a nice afternoon with her and Nathan after school.

Oops, where did Friday go? 15/11/25

I'm a day late but it's good to look back over the week and find blessings I haven't already included in my November Gratitude log posts.  Susanne keeps us on our toes with this, reminding us every Friday to do a post and then link up here.  Thank you Susanne.

1)  Well I'm keeping the autumn picture because there are still a lot of leaves around, although a lot more on the ground than on the trees now.  It's also been quite mild this week but we have had quite a bit of rain.  I'm thankful that's it's not got really cold yet.

2)  Leftovers!  Our DIL made a veggie Lasagne earlier in the week and as usual made too much so our Daughter brought it with her when she worked from "home" here.  It was delicious and saved us having to prepare a meal.

3)  A good meet up of the afternoon book club.  There were only 4 of us but we had good discussions about the book we'd read and sorted out choices for the next 2 reads so we won't be waiting around for the library to get books ordered in.  They also had my library card at the library.  I'd managed to leave it behind (probably on the self-service machine) again!

4)  A good training day at The Hub yesterday on Mental Health awareness.  It was really interesting and helpful.

5)  Cuddle time with my daughter's kitten.

I got an SOS on Thursday - my daughter and family had been out a lot longer than they intended and were stuck in traffic - could I possibly go and check on the kitten.  As you can see Milo did not think the laptop should be on my lap - that was where he wanted to be.  It was nice to actually give in and relax with the kitten - Thursday had been a busy day!

Well that's me caught up with what should have been posted yesterday.

Today I'm grateful for time this afternoon to catch up with other bloggers and get myself up to date again and now a quiet evening in with Strictly Come Dancing to watch.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend all.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 12/11/25

Joyce provides the questions (thank you Joyce) and we provide the answers and then join in the fun here.

1. What does patriotism mean to you? 

To me it means loving your country and being proud of its traditions and culture.

2. September-October-November...your favourite fall month? Tell us why. If you live in the southern hemisphere use these months but sub spring for the word fall. 

Definitely September as it's still light into the evening and the weather is usually good.  And after the summer breaks it's good to get back into routines.

3. A song you love with the word thanks (or some form of that word)  in the title or lyrics?

Well I am usually useless at remembering songs and lyrics but the one that came to mind when I read this question was "Thank you for the Music" by Abba.

4. November is National Peanut Butter Month. Are you a fan? What's the last peanut butter bite you had? Fill in the blank: peanut butter and _____________________ . 

No thanks!  I am not a fan of peanut butter in any form but Hubby will often have peanut butter and apple but some of the grandkids will have peanut butter and jam!

Oh, and you can't say jelly. 

5. This week's gratitude question-What event from this past year are you most grateful for? 

Several weddings and 2 new babies in our extended family.  It continues to grow!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Another thing I'm grateful for is the guy on the next check out machine to me at the supermarket today who allowed me to use my loyalty card on his shopping.  He will probably have benefitted from some lower prices but I gained the loyalty points.  Win win.

November Gratitude Log - 11/11/25

Today I'm grateful for a mission accomplished.

I needed to get a birthday present for Granddaughter Ella.  This required driving to Westfield, a huge Mall not too far from us.  I try and avoid going there too often.  It's always busy, the car parks are a challenge and I often do not find it a pleasurable experience.

Anyway today went smoothly.  The traffic wasn't too bad.  I found a parking space ok and Hubby and I headed to John Lewis a department store.

We found the perfect dress for Ella,

Hopefully she will agree but we also got her a couple of Lego sets.  She is starting to enjoy Lego and she loves a unicorn plus Gabby from Gabby's Dolls House so I'm sure the Lego sets will meet with her approval.  We even found a Granddaughter card with a unicorn on and the shop sold numbers so we got a 5 to go on the card.  Can't believe she's going to be 5!

Mission accomplished we decided to quit while we were ahead and made our way home.

November Gratitude Log - 10/11/25

My daughter has a new addition to her family - meet Milo.

Milo is very cute.  He's a Ragdoll cat and is 14 weeks old.  He is going to be a big cat.

Today I'm grateful that I was able to babysit Ella for a short time after school but also that I was able to cope with Milo.  I'll spare everyone the details but the litter tray featured in the situation! 😹

November Gratitude Log - 9/11/25

Today I'm grateful for a quiet start to the day.  I was first up and I made myself a cup of tea which I had with a couple of biscuits while I caught up with updating book reviews and reading the newspaper.  

Plus watching the parakeets squabbling over the bird feeders - we have a lot of parakeets in our area and there were lots trying to get food this morning.  The local squirrel was also doing his usual contortion of hanging upside down while prising out sunflower seeds from the low hanging feeder.

I love being up first and enjoying my first cup of tea when the house is quiet and the birds are busy.

November Gratitude Log - 8/11/25

Day 8 and today I'm grateful for the volunteers that collect the donations from the parishioners of another local church and bring them to our Foodbank each Saturday and also for the ones that collect the items that are placed in the donation crate at our local Tesco supermarket.  We are very fortunate to have a big group of volunteers, in various capacities that help with the running of the Foodbank - it's not just about giving out the food each week.

And to all the members of the public that put tokens into the charity box at Tesco.  We collected the most tokens last month and will receive £1500 from Tesco.  Makes a huge difference!

Friday's Fave Five - 7/11/25

Friday's is the day to look back on the previous week and find the good things.  Susanne reminds us to do this each week and provides a link up space here.  Thank you Susanne.

Well I have been trying to keep a gratitude log this month - inspired by Linda who blogs here so that ties in nicely with the Friday's Fave Five.

1)  Yesterday I briefly mentioned being grateful for the lovely community here in Highams Park where I live.  We had been to a Quiz Night combined with a wine tasting event organised by the owner of our local wine bar but held in the church where we run the Food Bank with proceeds going to the Food Bank.  It was a great event and it was sold out.  The Church was FULL.  It was a really fun event - we had 3 wines to taste with questions on them - most of our answers were probably guesses lol.  Plus there was a trivia round and a music round.  I went with my Hubby, 3 other volunteers and one of their friends and I think we all had a good time. I certainly did.  It was lovely to see so many people supporting The Hub.

2)  Time with my son and his family last weekend.  It was quite brief - I collected them from the airport after their holiday at around 6.30 pm so by the time we got back it was time for the grandkids to go to bed and my son and DIL didn't stay up too late either but we had some time with them on Sunday before they headed off for home and to collect their dog from kennels.

3)  A Knit and Natter session on Wednesday.  My WIP (which is actually finishing my daughter's project) is almost done.  I'm working on a border and then there are just the ends to sew in.  JUST the ends lol. (Crafters will understand.)

4)  Progress on an extended family matter.  I spent the day on Wednesday with 2 of my SILs which was nice and we did make some progress.  Still a long way to go but every little helps.

5)  A supportive Hubby.  He usually cooks breakfast most days and the main meal and is happy to work around our timetables which is a great help to me and when I was out on Wednesday he cut the grass and cleared up leaves in the garden - without needing a reminder lol.

Have a good weekend all.

November Gratitude Log - 6/11/25

Inspired by Linda who blogs here I'm trying to keep a gratitude log during November.

Well this is a day late but yesterday I was glad of the wonderful community we have here in Highams Park.  I'll elaborate more in my Friday's Fave Five post.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 5/11/25

Joyce provides these questions each week and we write down our answers and then we link up here.

Why not join in the fun?

1. Besides Thanksgiving, something on your November calendar you're looking forward to? 

We're going to a Quiz night tomorrow night, sponsored by our local wine bar in aid of the Foodbank so there will be wine tasting involved to.  Looks like a fun evening.

2. Dictionary.com's word of the year is '6-7'. Huh? 

Is it even a word??? I had to consult the internet to find out it's meaning because apparently I'm old and this particular slang is not part of my vocabulary. Is it part of yours? According to the article I read, it's a viral term, more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning driven by social media.

Definitely not part of my vocabulary.  I hadn't even heard of it.

What do you think? 

Dictionary. com says it's selection each year is a 'linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events, but they also admitted to being confused by '6-7'. Some say it means so-so and is sometimes accompanied by the up and down hand motion we associate with the phrase so-so.

Well I suppose we might say I'm at "sixes and sevens" but of course that means confused or in a bit of a mess, definitely nothing to do with so-so.  And I would have thought 5-6 would be a better number equivalent for s0-s0.

What word do you think would have made a better choice? 

I have absolutely no idea lol.

3. What's a food, trend, activity, or thing people love but you think is just so-so? 

Well having spotted the next question I'm going with Bubble Tea although to be honest I've never tried it and I'd probably rate it as a no-no rather than so-so.

4. Are you a tea drinker? Hot or cold? How do you like yours and at what time of day? Do you like flavoured teas or teas billed as calming, energizing, healing, etc? 

I am definitely a tea drinker but ordinary tea which has to be hot.  (Although my cups often get cold before I finish them.)  I like it at any time of the day but I have to have one first thing in the morning or else I'm like this.

• I'm not a fan of flavoured or calming teas.  They are a whole different type of drink as far as I'm concerned.  My only concession is to decaffeinated tea after around 3pm in the afternoon so that I'm not kept awake at night.

5. The November Hodgepodge has always included a weekly gratitude question. Here's the question for today-what are three things that make your heart sing? 

• Catching up with the Grandkids, especially the ones that live further away.
• Taking a walk around the lake or through the forest.
• Losing myself in a good book.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Well I'm trying to make a note of something I'm grateful for each day in November so today I'm grateful to Joyce and all the other bloggers that post memes like this that keep the blogging world turning.

Thank you.

November Gratitude Log - 4/11/25

Today I'm grateful for our window cleaner Quinn.  

When we first moved here I kept my eye out for a window cleaner but it was quite a while before I spotted one cleaning the windows of a neighbour across the road.  I think his name was Tony.

Anyway I approached him and he agreed to add us to his round.  He cleaned the windows and said he'd be back in about a month.  Great I thought.

Except he wasn't back within a month, or two, or even three.  I can't remember how long the gap was before I spotted him again, cleaning our neighbours windows.  I was prepared to give him another chance so I waited to hear him cleaning our windows, but he didn't.  Next time I looked out there was no sign of him.  He'd vanished, again.

Some time later I spotted another window cleaner cleaning a different neighbours windows so I approached him - Quinn and he cleaned our windows, front and back, for a reasonable price and said he'd be around each month.  

I didn't hold my breath but he has been roughly once a month ever since.  He uses a water spraying system which means he doesn't use ladders.  It's probably not such a thorough method but at least I'm not going to find him lying on the ground having fallen from a ladder. 

Well Quinn was here today so my windows are clean and I'm grateful.

November Gratitude Log - 3/11/25

Inspired by Linda who blogs here I'm trying to keep a gratitude log during November.

Today I'm grateful for my DIL Vicky - it was her birthday today and my daughter and Vicky recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.  

November's gratitude log, Days 1 & 2.

Well this is an idea I've copied from Linda who blogs here.

I'm a day late but here goes:

Yesterday I was grateful to be able to collect my son and his family from the airport after their holiday.  It was lovely to see the grandkids and they had all had a great time away.

Today I'm grateful for pushing myself to get out for a walk.  It's wellington boot time again for walking around the lake as we've had a lot of rain this past week.  I think I might need to invest in some ear muffs too.  It didn't feel cold enough for a hat but my ears were really cold!

I'm also grateful that we can afford to buy things like bird food.  There were a lot of birds on the lake today - we seem to have gained a flock of Canada Geese since I was last there.  All the birds were hungry so it was good to be able to give them food.