Friday Smiles

Here we are again, and it is becoming clichéd to say how fast the time has flown, but it is hard to believe that Friday is here already. So what has been rocking in my world this week? Not as much as usual. As the temperature rises, our activities diminish, so there is less to write about, but still plenty to make me smile. I apologise that my posts are quite long and rather more detailed that some, but this blog was started primarily as a new letter for friends and family back home, which it is why I use a larger font size (for older family members!) and more description. It is lovely to see more friends popping in to read my Friday smiles, so Thank you for persevering to the end.

1. Tuesday was a good day when the postman delivered not one - but three parcels for me. The first was just something practical. I bought a 12"x12" D-ring album for my Project Life because I knew there would be 50+ pages in it, but to keep the bill down a bit I only bought half of the page protectors. But when I came to buy the rest I found they were very scarce. I eventually tracked some down from a smallish company that I haven't used before. The invoice inside was topped by a personally written message and the two were clipped together with a paper flower and brad. Isn't that a nice touch! It brings a smile to the opening of even a mundane parcel.

2. I was just one of the many who regretted not buying the Couture Creations 'Tied together' embossing folder when it came out. They only do one release of each folder so when they are gone, they are gone. However Crafts-Too have now brought out a similar one, that is a very good alternative, and my dear friend Di sent me one. Isn't that kind? I shall get so much more pleasure out of using it, knowing where it came from. So that was my second parcel, which also contained a lovely hand-made card.

3. The third parcel was from another blog-land friend Jo,who made me a beautiful tag book. The cover is a delight, (made from recycled cereal boxes and backing paper, with her lovely stamping in the top), and inside there is room for several ATCs. I have put some special ones in it so you can just glimpse some from my WOYWW friends from our anniversary swap, my first ever ATC from my sister, one made for me by my then 12 year old grandson, and one of mine that won a national competition a few years back. The parcel also contained a pile of silk scarves, hand-dyed by Jo. There was one for each of my friends who had made a LillyBo quilt for her project. What lovely friends I have made on the internet. They are such a blessing.

4. In the summer we like to have a quick dip in the pool to cool us down, just before we go to bed. it always looks so inviting as the underwater light turns it all to a pale turquoise. So we were disappointed when the light failed this week. We thought we would have to drain a lot of the water away to change the light, but after a chat with a pool maintenance man it turned out that the light is a secure unit that unscrews and lifts out for replacement. So here is Chris removing ours. It only has a short cable so it was a real fiddle to do and in the end I jumped in to help him from below. It was really difficult to get it back in but we have light again now, so that gave us a sense of satisfaction. (It is a 300w bulb that gets very hot, so you can only turn it on when it is under the water, with fingers crossed that it will work and you won't have to remove it all again!)

5. That night we switched it on, but couldn't have our swim because there was a sudden and intense electric storm. I dashed out to catch the first drops bouncing in the pool, but then it came down really heavy. We were glad to see the rain though, especially when it falls at night.

6. The down side to the storm was that lightening started three wildfires in the area, but the positive side to this is the brave men who fight them, including the helicopter pilots who make endless circuits, dipping the big leather buckets into agricultural reservoirs etc and carrying the water to drop onto the fire. They always fill me with admiration. They had the fires under control by the morning and this man was just damping down the remnants to prevent another flare-up. It is a poor picture because I took it from a moving car and it was a long way off by the time I could focus on it!

7. One of my Wednesday sewing group friends celebrated her 70th birthday this week, so what better excuse for a lunch together. Good food, and good company, then home for a siesta to sleep it off!

8. And finally my beautiful hisbiscus is in flower again. During the storms of September last year, the water filtered the red from the center up through the petals and the whole flower turned orange! I am so glad it has returned to its original colour now. Just look at the detail in its beautiful stamens. I love it.

9. And Finally, finally! My lovely grandson has arrived

to experience first-hand, our fiesta this week. He has just got out of bed in time for me to add his photo here. And 'Yes, That is water melon for breakfast!' I knew he loves them so I made sure one of last week's was safely stored in the bottom of the fridge for him.

Right, I just have to link these up now to Virginia at Celtic House and Annie for her Friday smiles. And whenever I can fit it in around fiesta and visitor this week, I will visit you to see what is keep you smiling.