Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 44

It has been a mixed week but there is still plenty to smile about. We are both a bit bogged down with bad colds, but we had to get to another hospital appointment on Monday which was almost another full day out. But since then we have mostly stayed at home so I have had lots of time to play with my new 'toy' that Chris bought me as a combined birthday and Christmas present. I said I would show it this week so here it is.

Yes it is another laser cutter engraver. I know there wasn't a lot wrong with the one I  had but it did have some limitations. This one takes up a lot less space, it is entirely enclosed with its own air assist and extractor fan, so there are less cables and extras like a pump to clutter up the work space. And most importantly, this one includes a printer module which is a new asset. The laser module in the photo (the little grey box) is held in place by magnets, so it is easy to exchange it for the inkjet module, print an image, then change it back and cut it out. That is a real game-changer. Also the bar coming out across the lid is a camera that enables you to position the cut line exactly over the printed image, and also to work accurately on small pieces of wood etc. It is advertised as being safe to cut paper and card which I was always hesitant to even try on my other machine as there is a risk of it catching fire! This one incorporates a fire alarm which is a bonus though you are told to never leave it unattended when in use.

So this week I have tried printing on paper, with one pass and then with two passes, printed on wood though they advise coating the wood first so that the ink doesn't seep into the grain and as yet I have not got the right medium for this, cutting out wood and paper which both worked beautifully once I got the settings right! I tried some intricate cutting with paper and wood, and also engraved a robin and then cut it out on plywood, and also a flat engraving on a small wood slice that I bought from The Works, just to try the positioning tool on small items. As you can see, I didn't always get it right, but I am certainly more confident to use it now and I am pleased with the results so far. It uses different software, so it is a bit of a learning curve, but I am getting there.

The print on paper which I cut right, (top left photo), and two others I did later, have all been used on Christmas cards.

A few weeks ago I showed you some poppies I had crochet for a Remebrance day project. The ladies organising it are now stitching all the poppies onto the net which will be draped from the top floor office of the Guild Hall in the market square, right down to the front wall. I like to think that 12 of these are the ones I made. Our sewing group promised to contribute a hundred flowers and we did make at least that many. They have sewed on 2,000 so far with many more to go. I think it will look really good.

Last week Angela metioned that they had an unusual number of magpies around them. Well we don't see many magpies but we have loads of jackdaws. They are omnivores eating both insects and berries etc, but after the rain they flock to the park and appear to be hunting for worms. Of course when I approach to take a photo of them, they all fly off, but are soon back again. (Our house is the one on the back right of the photo so you can see what a great view of the park we have, even without venturing outside).

This morning I needed to go across to the pharmacy to collect my prescription, so I arranged to meet my grand-daughter Emma on Red Square for a cup of tea. She had my grandson Reuben with her as it is half-term holiday here. There are four cafés on the square each with their own area of indoor and outdoor seating, and it is a popular spot for meeting up with friends and family. As we sat chatting my daughter-in-law Ella came past with her two little girls Aisling and Niamh, so she joined us for a chat.

While we chatted Reuben and Aisling amused themselves collecting ladybirds which seemed to like the black bollards around the square, then they discoverd sycamore seeds and made helicopters, and finally they had a climb on the statue of the shepherd which my own boys climbed on when it was first put there many years ago. (Aisling is wearing a dress she had just borrowed from the cloths rail at the library).

Although Reuben's mum Emma, and Aisling are actually cousins, the two little ones are growing up together. The generations get a bit muddled in our family. (e.g. There is a twelve year gap between Emma's dad and Ella's husband even though they are brothers). But I love having these impromtu meet up between family members, and it is one of the best things about returning to UK.

And that is enough rambling for one day. Have a good week everyone.

Friday Smiles 2026 #Week 43

Well, following on from last weeks post about Fin's travelling send-off and my birthday high tea treat, we have had a very busy time, and then a few 'basic' days for us to catch our breath and return to our usual routine. Hence I did some very late visiting to you, but hopefully all will be back to normal now. 

As I suggested last week, all five of our boys came together to celebrate our birthdays with us on Thursday. This was actually Chris' 80th birthday. Tom arrived from Denmark at lunchtime, and Jim and Jo came up on the train from London the day before and were staying in a local B&B. They popped over to see us that afternoon as we guessed (rightly) that there wouldn't be much opportunity for real chat once we all got together.

Mike had booked us in at the Indian restaurant for early evening, and Ben and Ant drove over from Leominster to meet us there. The boys helped me order as I have not been to many Indian restaurants am not familiar with all the dishes.

Anyway we had an excellent meal and then all walked up to a nearby bar - which I also hadn't visited for nigh on twenty five years. It was an open mike night and the front bar was full of singers and their friends, but there was a cosy back room that we took over. I had to get my obligitory photo of our six boys. I like to update it each time we all get together.

Then Chris and I were roped in and Ant took more photos for us. It was a great evening.I love that all my boys are such good friends as well as brothers, and that they all do their best to get together to make a special day for us.

On Friday I had a blood test early morning, and then we both had our Covid vaccinations. (We had flu ones at the start of the week). In the evening I went to choir practice and Tom and dad walked into town to meet Mike and one of Tom's school friends in a local bar. (Dad and Mike used to run this bar a good few years ago).When we first moved to Oswestry it had the highest number of bars per capita of population , in the country. Many have now closed, but there are still plenty to choose from! I met them there after choir but we didn't stay late.

Saturday was bright and sunny so again Tom had us walking into town with him and we went to a café at the front of the market where they sell German sausages and chips. He had arranged to see Mike there and his partner Lucy was with him. So we sat there and chatted for a while and then Chris and I went home, but it was nice to be able to sit outside in the sun for an hour or so.

Later that afternoon Tom came home and brought our grand-daughter Emma home. They were both grinning and the reason soon became clear when Mike, (who is Emma's dad), came in with a little birthday cake with several lit candles on it. Saturday was actually my birthday so they came to me first to blow out the candles while they sang Happy Birthday to me. Then they were all lit and we sang again to Chris, and then lit a third time so we sang to Tom who's birthday was on Monday. (Photo from Tom's family chat group post). Tom had bought lots of snacky foods that he doesn't get in Denmark, so we helped him eat them all for our tea. 

Finally Jonathan's wife Ella and little Aisling came to the door on Sunday with flowers and a card for me. So we somehow managed to make our birthdays last for over a week, and had lots of great family time through out it all.

Tom left us Sunday lunchtime to get a train to Manchester, and then a plane back home. So gradually we have settled down and enjoyed a quiet week with lots of reading, crochet time and TV. 

I have a very excititng birthday and Christmas combined present, but I think this post is long enough so I will tell you all about that next week.

Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 42

 I already have a lot to smile about this week so I am writing this on Thursday morning. The rest will be in next week's post.

Why is this a special week? Because it is a week of celebrations. Today is my husband Chris' 80th birthday. My 79th is on Saturday and our son Tom's is next Monday. So today all five of our boys are coming to Oswestry,Including Tom who is flying in from his home in Denmark this morning, and we will be going out for a meal together this evening.

But first we had a party at son Mike's house on Saturday afternoon because his son, our grandson Finlay, is off on his travels. He has worked hard all summer in the mobile shop that goes to many of the main music festivals around the country. It is long hours, lots of tavelling and lots of heavy lifting, but also mad rush hours serving in the shop, and hours of few customers, but it pays well and he does have time to listen to some of the music. Now he is spending his hard earned cash by going with a group of mates to explore parts of S.E.Asia for three months. So we sent him off with a  barbeque for family and friends. 

The young lads did a good job cooking the meat while we at around chatting or phone-scrolling! 

Then of course, they all stood around the fire pit and burned all of last year's Christmas tree as Lucy cut it up for them. And those with a sweet tooth made smores, (for anyone not in the know, smores are marshmallows melted on a stick over the fire, and sandwiched between two digestive biscuits - preferably chocolate ones!).

All afternoon Fin's younger cousins jumped on the Trampoline. Oh to have a fraction of their energy. 

The youngest one, our grandson Reuben, amused himself with washing his cars. These are kept in a box at Grandad's house, and Reuben was so excited to find that they changed colour in hot water, so he ran a car-wash all afternoon.

Of course we took a photo of us, with Mike and his daughter and two of his sons.

We didn't stay too late because we had a Sainsburys delivery at 8.00 - the only time slot we could get.

Yesterday was another great day because our son Jonathan and his wife Ella, took me for a high tea at the Ironworks for my birthday. Chris did not come to this as it is not his sort of thing, but I did take a box of goodies home for his tea. Once we were seated they brought out tea on a three tier stand with a firework shooting flames from one of my cakes. They also gave me a glass of prosecco becuse Ella had put 'birthday' on the order.

There was so much food including a cup of chips each, various sandwiches, huge slices of cake, enormous scones with butter, jam and pots of cream, and delicious brownies. No-way could we have eaten all of it, and they know that and automatically give each family boxes to take some home. It was a lovely treat. My youngest grand-daughter was with us and she sat in a high-chair happily chewing on the crusts of our sandwiches, and was so good. (Her older sister was at school, but they took her home some cake so I expect she was happy with that).

Last time we went to the irnon works I was disappointed because the 'Knife angel' was off on its travels, so I was happy to see that it had returned home and was once again on display. This is the information board alongside it. I hope you can click on it and read it. If not, there ae links at the bottom that you could use.

You can see in the photos how all the body is made from the knife handles and the wings are all shapes and sized of blades. It is an amazing display and tells an important story.

I am loving all the autumn colours starting to show in the park. This is one of my favourite trees. It is stunning right now but at the first sign of frost these leaves will fall.

I bought a little plant that I spotted in the green grocers this week. When we moved to Oswestry the first time, our garden was full of little cyclamen, and they all flowered just as everything else was dying off. But there was only one small plant in this garden, so when I saw this one I thought it was so pretty, and it is now tucked just below our holly hedge in the front garden.

And I am going to stop there as this post is quite long enough for one week.

Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 41

 I am writing a quick post tonight as I have been out most of the day and am now tired. I had an appointment at Shrewsbury hospital this morning but it turned out to be a bit of a marathon, because when we came out we had just missed a bus back to Oswestry and they are only one an hour so we had a long wait. Then it turned out that on its way from Oswestry the bus had broken down so we had to wait for a replacement to be sent. We left home at 10.15 and didn't get back until 4.00pm. However I did have a very thorough and helpful discussion with my dermatologist so I guess it was worth it. 

Last Saturday I went up to the market because it was a special day known as the Apple Festival. The aim is to encourage folk to eat some of the less known varieties of fruit. There were several stalls with baskets of apples, plus a few pears and I saw one lot of quince. 

I chatted to some of the stall holders and tried tasters of several apple varieties. I bought a kilo of the red ones in the central box which are called Jupiter and they are crisp and very tasty.

There were also stalls selling items made with apples such as pies and crumbles plus jams and chutneys. I bought a jar of apple butter though, if I am honest, it is not as nice as the one I used to make when I had a very prolific apple tree in my garden. I also picked up a little booklet of apple recipes.

Then I walked to the end of the street and at the cross roads there was a very colourful group of men and women. The men started playing instruments such as accordions and fiddles and the ladies started a folk dance.

When they finished I was quite surprised when it was all change. The ladies took over the instruments and the men did Morris dancing. It was fun and a good crowd gathered to watch them.

Sunday was Harvest festival at our church. I do miss the harvest services I went to years ago when the church smelled wonderfully of all the produce that had been given. I remember making up little boxes for my boys to take, which were later given to local elderly people. But times have changed and there are more needy folk than ever it seems, of all ages too, So now we are asked to donate tinned goods which can be handed to the food bank to distribute. But there were still beautiful flower arrangements on pedestals around the church. I particularly liked this one because it had sunflowers in it!

The rest of the week has hurried past. I have had a few video calls with our son who is trying to arrange a family day soon. So I am looking forward to that.

I have also made some birthday cards and put inserts into all my Christmas cards. I usually do that when I make them but this year I was just hurrying to catch up with the making so didn't stop to put inserts in. But they are all done now and I think I have almost enough cards ready to write.

And that is about it for this week.

Friday Smiles 2026 # Week 40

I can finally say that I am more or less back to normal, so this week I have  managed a couple of trips into town. In fact last Friday evening I walked the furthest I have been in over a month. Back at the start of the summer I saw an advert about a new choir that was going to start in Oswestry  come the Autumn. It sounded a bit like the one I was a part of in Spain, singing mostly music from the shows and films. It sounded very laid back - no  need to read music, no auditions etc - and the deciding factor for me was that rehearsals would be at the Memorial Hall; just five minutes walk from home. So I signed up for the two free sessions they were offering for anyone who wanted to learn more, and the first of these was last Friday evening. Unfortunately on Thursday I received a message to say that the response had far outdone their expectations so they had moved to a larger premises which are a half hour walk from here. This is not ideal for walking home at 9.00 at night but I decided to go along anyway, so Chris walked with me and came back to walk me home.

The choir tuned out to be great fun and I am definitely going again, and already I have sorted out a lift each way which makes it possible. A young woman called Amy is leading us and she says there were 80 of us at the first meeting. She took this photo of us to go on our Facebook page.

I also went back to church this week as I thought I could get through a service without coughing too much, and as I walked through the park on my way there I saw some big brown clumps on the ground. I wondered whether the strong winds the night before had blown down a squirrel's drey but when i got closer i could see it was fungi. There were three of these, two just emerging from the ground and one at the base of a newly planted young tree. According to google lens they are Meripilus giganteus and there have been several sightings of them this year with people remarking on their huge size.

We have also had some lovely sunny days this week so as I was walking to choir I had to stop to take photos of this glorious sunset.

I mentioned to Chris that I wanted to have some practice at using a touch pad on a lap-top. I have never mastered this, being far more at home on a PC and using a mouse. But he has lent me his Chrome book and I have been using it this week and managing quite well. He has set it up as a Windows remote desktop so it is synced to my computer and I can do everything down here without going up to the top floor - unless I want to use one of my cutters or the printer of course. I do keep trying to use it like a touch screen but  I am getting there.

And  that is it for this week.  It is October now and getting cooler so I am happy to be able to work down here. Hopefuly I will find it easier to visit you all now.