Friday Smiles 2026 # Week12

Well I hope your week has been as good as mine. Here at least, we have enjoyed some beautiful sunny days, making even a mundane trip to the shops a real pleasure.

Of course Sunday was special for many of us as it was Mothering Sunday. As is traditional in many churches, all the ladies who attended this Sunday were given a litle posy of flowers. This was mine, some daffodils and a sprig of forcythia from someone's garden. They have sat on my mantle all week and all have opened beautifully.

I was also given a bunch of hyacinths by one of my boys. I would never have thought of them as cut flowers, but by Monday they were all sitting up straight, and they still are. I know some folk find their scent a bit overpowering but I love it, and it is still filling the whole house.

Our son Michael invited us for dinner at his house, and as usual he cooked enough food to feed a small army. It was all delicious. His partner Lucy also had invited her mum along, and there were Lucy's two brothers, and one of their partners, plus Lucy's two boys, (Mike's son had gone to his mum's). Then with one of the visitor's lovely dog, a chocolate labrador, along with Mike and Lucy's own dog and two cats, we were quite a crowd.

This photo was taken after dinner had been enjoyed by all, and while we were waiting not very patiently for Mike to clear some of it away and serve desserts.

My contribution was a large strawberry and avocado cheese-cake. It is a combination that works well. The cheese part is a pretty shade of green, and the base is half biscuit crumb and half crushed nuts, held together with coconut oil. It is just a little bit different for a special occasion.

Our son Tom was arriving Sunday evening so Mike dropped us home with a plated roast dinner for him, which he also appreciated.

I spoke to my other boys on Sunday and last night we walked over to Jonathan's house so Tom could meet his newest niece, little Niamh. It was passed her bed time but she was happy to be held and bounced on Uncle Tom's knees, and she is such a smiley little soul, it is always good to have a cuddle. And when she wasn't sure about a new face, daddy soon got her smiling again.

Craftwise this week, the blue hot air balloon is now assembled and is a better shape than the red one. I am still at stage one with the green one, so maybe next week they will all be finished.

I also managed to finish off my scrambled square jacket. It took a while to crochet the sleeve ribbings and the edging all the way round, but I had plenty of wool to do it. I got some reasonable buttons from Amazon and I am pleased with the result.

The rest of my smiles are from the garden. The first sunny morning brought open my first tulips down by the front gate. I planted spring bulbs randomly around the garden, but I realise now that the tulips should have been planted in a group for maximum effect. But they look good and hopefully that will increase over time.

The garden is a learning curve as I slowly discover what is there. I knew one 'clump' was a heather. My dad loved heathers and I thought seeing as I have my Peace rose for mum, I should keep the heather for dad, and I am glad I did. It is suddenly in full flower and makes a lovely mound of purple.

There is a bush in the front garden that has stayed deep red with very small leaves all winter. It now has little buds forming all over it and google lens says it is a berberis.

This one made me smile. It is a bit straggley but has held its leaves all winter and they are veriegated green and cream with purple ones at the end of each stem. I now lnow this is a hebe and it has the wonderful name 'rhubarb and custard'. I think it will benefit from being cut right back and left to reform in a bushier shape.

Tom is now packing his bags ready for a train early this evening. He is staying at his older brother Jim's house in London tonight, and tomorrow he is off on a train to Amsterdam for a work conference. Then back home to Denmark next Thursday. He sure does get around.

Chris's operation is now scheduled for next Thursday so I may not get to post next week, or I may need something to keep me busy! But I won't be far away and I will post again as soon as I can.

 Thank you to all who visited me last week.

Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 11

It is one of those weeks when I have very little news, though a few things have made me smile.... Some lovely sunny days; chats with folk in the park; friends who really stepped up for me when I asked for help, discovering more flowers in my neglected garden; success in getting a few projects finished.

Today, I thought I would talk you through a new project that I attempted for fun. Paper Weaving. My son Tom knows I like trying new things, so at Christmas he gave me a set of three kits to make hot air balloons, one red, one blue and one green. Tom lives in Denmark and apparently paper weaving is a popular hobby there.

They have sat on my desk nagging me to have a go but they looked a bit daunting. You get eight sheets of pre-cut paper 'snakes' which you pop out and sort.

Next you pair them up and twist each pair together to make stripey snakes.

As you can see they form a sort of an 'S' shape, and six of each colour curl to the right and six to the left.

I decided to watch the video suggested for the next bit and that's where it became confusing. I had six of each colour curling right and six curling left, while the demonstrator on the video had all twelve of one colour curling right, and all of the second colour curling left. So having watched it through a few times I had to more or less do my own thing. 

The first round was fairly easy and I soon had this 'star-fish' shape.

The second round was much more difficult but I got there eventually. If you look closely you may see that some of my legs are overlapping the wrong way so I need to sort that out before I begin to weave them.

My first attempt was the red balloon and it is not very well done. As you weave each pair of strips you hold them with a paper clip, but they didn't hold well and sometimes my weaving lost tension so the pattern isn't perfect, but it is not bad for a first attempt. I am hoping the blue one turns out better and by the time I get to the green one I should be a pro!

My only other achievement was buying a clock mechanism and fitting it, with Chris' help, to the clock I made last week. It is now installed above the mantle piece mirror. I would like it to be a little bit bigger but I am confined by the size of wood I can buy, and the size of my machine. The kit came with gold hands so I sprayed them black to make them show up better.

Now I shall have another go at the blue balloon and then tidy my room a bit because Tom is coming over for a few days, and the bed sette is in here. He has tickets for the big rugby match in Bristol on Saturday and then he is coming to us on Sunday and staying until Thursday.

For a week when I have little news, I have managed to ramble on for quite a while haven't I? So that is it for this week. Thank you to all who came to visit me last week. I do appreciate your comments.