Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 9

I ended last week saying I had a busy weekend ahead and it was. Our youngest son Ben came over on Saturday, because Sunday was his birthday. (My baby will be forty next year. How did that happen?!) I had huge potatoes baking in the oven when he arrived with mounds of grated cheese, beans and coleslaw. Comfort food for us and for him!

I wanted a small gift for him so I did some real 'old school' crafting and made this rainbow spiral, nail and thread art. I had a big picture made in this way back in the seventies. I like the way it turned out and Ben loved it so that was good.

Late afternoon  we walked across to 'Festival Square', a small patio in the centre of town, to see the Lantern parade. This was an arts and crafts workshop for the end of half-term, where the children could all make a simple lantern on a stick.  Then they assembled on the square for an anouncement by the Town Crier, and led by the Snow queen, they set off for a parade through the park up to the market square for a fire show. There was quite a lot of them though their lanterns don't show in my photo.

In the back of the Town Crier photo you can see two of my sons, Jonathan's wife and her sister, and my smallest grand-daughter tucked snuggly in her pram. Her older sister was already running off with her lantern, making sure she wasn't left behind. I would have done the parade with them, but we had arranged to meet up with other family members to have a drink with Ben, so we went straight to the bar, and had a lovely evening of lively chatter. I always enjoy a family meet-up, for any reason.

It was a weekend of birthdays because on Saturday my sister Dorothy was 91. She lives down on the south coast so her daughter drove down and took her out for the day. They went to Longleate House and fed the giraffes. I gather it was an amazing experience which they both enjoyed. What a fun way to spend your birthday!

Living on the England/Welsh border we expect to see daffodils growing everywhere, and they are just opening in all the gardens in time for St.David's Day on Sunday. These ones are in the park, fighting for a space among the crocus, but they are on every patch of soil, in gardens, and along the roads, all with buds at bursting point.

My little tete-a-tete ones in the front tubs are looking so good with the last of the winter pansies adding a little lilac colouring.

Another of my finds as I walk through the park is this tree. I am not sure what it is until the new leaves come in Spring, but all winter it had grown lichen, I think, on all the thicker branches, leaving a perfect camuflage pattern. I love it, and I am going to use these photos to make some background paper for a scrapbook page.

I am trying to get back into crafting, and making a few cards. I needed two for last weekend anyway. So this week I have done some stamping, cutting, printing and colouring, so I have a few elements ready to turn into cards soon.

I have also dug out the jacket I was making back when we first arrived in England and were staying with our son in London. I finished all the squares a while ago, but then they got stored away. So yesterday I layed out the ones for the 'body', i.e. the back and fronts, following a scheme that came with the pattern. Now they are tacked and pinned together and I have the task of crocheting them all together. Then I will need to work a border all the way round the bottom, fronts and neck, and some mock rib on the sleeves. 

This is the wool I used. It is a lovely combination of greens and purples, with a touch of gold and blue, but it actually looks much greener in real life than it does in my pictures.

Needless to say, I have a new project in mind and am waiting for the yarn to arrive in the post. I wanted a smaller piece to occupy me when I am going to the hospital on the bus each day. It is only just over a week until Chris' operation now, and I shall be visiting him each day if possible.

And finally, I bit the bullet and had my hair cut really short yesterday. It feels strange but I am happy with what she did. I have taken a photo to use as my new profile.