Friday Smiles 2022: Week 8

Hello again on a lovely sunny Thursday morning. As I am preparing this post to publish tomorrow I took a break to hang out a line of washing. I try to do the laundry at the weekends when the electricity is cheaper, but we have rain forecast everyday from tomorrow until next Thursday, so today's sunshine was too good an opportunity to miss. I have no indoor washing line and cannot justify having a tumble drier when I only get half a dozen weeks a year when I cannot dry everything outside.  It actually makes me happy to see the sheets blowing on the line in our back yard, or a line of coloured clothes shining in the sun. Today it is the sheets and they will be dry, aired and back on the bed by tonight!

Rain or shine, Spring is definitely on the way. As I walked around the front garden this morning I saw lots of new buds on the hydrangea...

...and on the climbing rose. The Mandevilla, which we planted on the trellis with the rose, I was told was not very hardy and doesn't usually survive the winter, but mine is looking quite healthy still.

And the orange hibiscus has its first flower bud.

We had some fun on Monday. While feeding the dogs at the side of the house, I heard some banging around and van doors shutting, and when I went out the front to see what was going on (i.e.to be nosey!), I found a huge parcel on our front porch. It was the new TV stand we ordered a while ago that had been delayed en route. Amazon had offered to send a replacement but we think this was the original, so maybe they just told the courier to get it sorted. Anyway we were surprised to find they had left it without ringing the doorbell to see if anyone was in, but we were glad to have it and soon brought it indoors and unpacked it. Of course it needed to be assembled, but as soon as we unpacked it we could see the quality was good and it was well packed, so we were hopeful it would also go together without too much trouble. And really it did. There was a strip of plastic in the box, divided into little compartments each clearly labelled with a code, and each containing a different set of screws, bolts, washers etc, which saved a lot of sorting out. Chris did the main work and I was his 'woman Friday', handing him tools and the right pieces of wood, bolts etc. 

A few screws were difficult because they were in tight corners and neither of us have very nimble hands these days, but by lunch time it was up and in place, and the TV was mounted on the bracket that came with it. It is now a much better height for watching, and we are loving the bigger, clear screen. (The jumble of wires beside it were no longer needed and have all been taken away now).

I did another small crochet project and made last week's dolly a little teddy bear. He is made to the same pattern as the doll but with thinner yarn and a smaller hook. They will be parcelled up this week ready to send to my grand-daughter.

This week Tuesday was quite a special day. Its date, written as 22.02.2022 is a palindrome meaning it reads the same forwards and backwards. Written in square digital numbers it is also an ambigram which means it is the same upside down. But for our family it was a special day as it was our youngest son, Ben's, 35th birthday. You may remember that he is a keen musician and especially likes singing and playing the piano. This is the card I made for him.

I went to town on the inside using a card I had seen on Youtube for inspiration. My Silhouette Cameo, cutting machine did a great job of cutting the pop-up section and all the script, notes etc from glossy vinyl. I was pleased with it and he loved it, which is what matters.

You can see the details of how it was made on my craft blog.

On Saturday he went down to a bar near where his brother lives, on the border with Wales, and some family members and his old school friends (we also used to live near there), came to celebrate with him. Of course there were several photos taken but I particularly like this one. In the centre is our second son Mike, and on his left are the oldest and youngest of his sons. On his other side is his daughter, my first grandchild, who is soon to give us our third great-grandson, and on the end is Ben. They all look so happy together, and that makes me happy too.

And that is how my week whizzed by as usual. So I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and see what everyone else has been up to.