Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 6

Just a little post to highlight the things that have made me smile this week. But first an apology if I didn't get to visit you last week. The days are flying past so fast, and last Friday my utility room was finally finished so my weekend was spent unpacking more items to go in the new cupboards, and also working through a backlog of washing. I must say having my own working washing machine again is really something to smile about. The same , to perhaps a lesser degree, can be said for the dishwasher. So here are a couple photos of the room before I fill it up and make it untidy again!. You can see the dishwasher on the left of the sink, and opposite it is the dishwasher , less obvious because it is built in so it matches the cupboards.

The room does of course, match the kitchen with the same floor and wall tiles and cupboard doors. Both in here and in the kitchen there are still several plain plastered walls awaiting a lick of paint, but we will let the dust settle before we worry about that. I feel so blessed to have these lovely rooms to work in now.

I am trying to put a little fresh food out for the birds each day rather than filling a bird table. This is partly because every morning crows, jackdaws and pigeons, and the occasional seagull, all swoop over our house to settle in the park for a breakfast of worms etc that appear after the rain, and I don't want to encourage them to stop in the garden. So I put a small dish of dried fruit, suet pellets and dried mealworms, one at the back and one in the front garden, every morning. And the birds do appreciate it. Mrs blackbird was the first to come for breakfast yesterday.

I also put fat balls with berries and seeds in a holder on the wall at the back. I can't hang it yet as there is still a lot of builders rubbish in the garden - hopefully to go in a skip at the end of next week. So I sit it on the wall, sheltered by a small fence and the sparrows and blue tits come to this. Amazingly they can eat one of these in a day or two so I only put one out at a time. The sparrows were quick to come to this one,...

...while this little chap sat above them waiting for his turn.

Chris and I both had our second shingles injection this morning. Fortunately neither of us hardly felt it and apparently have no side effects, so that's another good thing out of the way.

We will be up early tomorrow as our son Mike is picking us up on his way to work, to take us to Shrewsbury station. Then we will have a short train ride to Telford, and another bus to the hospital there, for Chris to undergo another test. It is days such as this that we do miss having a car, though most days one is totally unneccesary, but the boys are very good at helping out when their work allows.

And finally I had a surprise this week when my latest bunch of daffodils opened to show bright orange frilly trumpets. They are quite diferent from the ones I have had so far, and I love the variety in the narccisi family.

I saw crocus buds showing mauve in the park today. Spring flowers are so uplifting. And we have really noticed the days getting longer now too. It will be nice to have a break from these grey, misty days.

I will try to do better at visiting this week, but that is all for now.

Friday Smiles 2026# Week 5

Well we have had a chilly and rather damp week but I am still smiling, not least because we now have a warm and cosy house to shut ourselves away in when the weather makes me think it is not worth going out. That said, I do try to pop across the park to the shops most days to get a few steps in. This week, instead of going to the shops I went over to my son's house and spent the morning with this little cutie and her mum.. Niamh is three months old now and still very placid. She smiles at everyone, and has started sleeping through the night which pleases mum, Ella. I had lots of cuddles before it was time to go home.

Our son Ben came down from Cheshire on Friday afternoon. He came to socialise with a friend who has just lost his father, but he did spend Saturday with us which was nice.

The utility is taking longer than I expected but it was partly delayed because the original sink would not fit around the cupboards, (more down to the designer than us), and the new one took a long time to arrive. But the builder has just received the message that it is now at the showroom, so he is off to collect it. He thinks the rest will be done tomorrow, and I am hoping he is right. It is looking good so far, and the lighter colour of the cupboards make the space look a lot bigger.

So by the weekend I will finally have my own washing machine. No more trips to the laundrette I am pleased to say. But with the weather not being very suitable to hang washing outside, I have bought a heated rail clothes airer for big items like sheets and shower towels. But for most things I have bought what I call a washing dolly. Amazon calls it a "lath pulley clothes airer". I had one years ago and it was so good for drying things. My new one is now hanging above the utility sink so I will be trying it out at the weekend.

It looks a bit losided because the rope is pulled back and ties to the window catch. When the side wall is tiled, the cleat to old it will go there, and then it will hang straight.

Every morning I put out two little dishes of food for the birds; one in the front garden under the hedge, and one at the back. The front one is mainly for the little robin who is never far away. I make a mixture of a few raisins chopped up, some dried mealworms and suet pellets, both of which I can buy at the local pet shop. When I took the dish out first thing Monday morning, the robin was sitting waiting for me! As soon as I put it down he hopped on and grabbed a mealworm. I might have him eating from my hand by the end of the winter.

The back one is always empty in the morning too but I wasn't sure who was eating it. Then I saw a blackbird flying up from it and I think he likes the raisins. He has stripped the cotoneaster of all its berries so he needs something else. There is also a robin out at the back but I don't see him so often. But the last couple of days the blackbird has also been waiting for me. He won't come to eat until I go away, but he sits on the wall and doesn't fly away when I go up close and talk to him. I have seen a female in the garden too so maybe the food will encourage them to stay and raise a family nearby. We rarely see a cat in the garden so they are fairly safe.

And finally a picture I took from my daughter-in-law's social media, of my son, the vicar, presenting the haggis at their church's Burns night celebration. He is not the most traditional of vicars, and although he wears the appropriate vestments for leading services, he does love to wear colourful shirts and it has warmed him to the ethnic  diversity in his congregation. His curate is a little more reserved and has chosen to wear black.

Yesterday we had a beautiful day with non-stop sunshine, but it did get off to a rather grey, cloudy start. The day before was cold and wet, but strangely itstarted with a beautiful sunrise. So here is another park picture because it was too good to miss.

And that is it for my ramblings this week.