Z for the end of the Alphabet

HUGE THANK YOU to all the people who left a note yesterday of where they were reading from - all around the world again - it's amazing when you stop to think about it. Just one old woman in a bungalow in a village in Mid Suffolk, writing nothing exciting but  being read by so many! Although I was right in saying there would be fewer comments than 2022 as 'only ' 166 this time!! Lots of people said they had been reading for a long time, thank you all again.

So it's the end of another November A-Z although I can't help thinking it was a silly idea to try and find 26 more A-Z things to write about after 2022 and 2023. It sort of fiZZled out at the end and maybe I won't try it again! 

November had lots of driZZley days and some very, very wet days - thankfully no snow in Suffolk.

During the month I got another jigsaw puZZle done. All pieces present and correct.

December posts around blogland are often Christmassy - I'm hopeful about getting some sorted. And I'm looking forward to reading Mary's (Trundling Through Life) posts. When I wrote about doing the A-Z through November, she said she had  A-Z Christmas blog posts already planned for December.

What wasn't Christmassy was staying at home all weekend instead of going to anymore village Christmas fayre/ fairs, the car had developed a crunching sound at every bump in the road so I called in to see my friends at the repair place and Ashley said "bushes". Now that's a word I heard in the past from Colin - when he did all our car repairs - it's a suspension thing so as it had been getting worse I thought it best not to drive anywhere yesterday or today. Hopefully it will be fixed on Wednesday as there are dentist appointments for a filling and hygienist coming up.

Tomorrow I'll open day 1 of my Coffee Advent calendar and swap the seasonal display on the top of the bookshelves from Autumn to Winter.

Rushing Through The Month As Usual

Autumn colours. 

We don't get the huge range of oranges and reds that can be seen in the US, usually just yellows and browns as the leaves change but here and there the odd tree stands out. This one below I think I've photographed before as it's at the edge of the Asda car park in Stowmarket.

Outside under the kitchen window is this patch of Michaelmas Daisies that has gradually spread from nothing over my years here. There is another plant with much darker flowers by the path too.

The weather this week has been dull and cloudy, drizzly and murky in Mid-Suffolk, no rain to speak of but no dry out for the washing or for getting the grass cut - it's still not stopped growing.

I've finished the October jigsaw puzzle, all pieces present and correct, thank goodness, after thinking there was a piece missing right to the end.

It's definitely Colin in his blue overalls in the workshop!- we even had a grey Ferguson tractor and a Collie dog although we didn't have the lovely stone building and all the other bits of machinery.

And now we are past halfway through another month, it's another weekend and racing to November. 

Have a good one, I'll be back Monday.

And Into October

No sooner had I written about the named storms that might arrive this year and Storm Amy blew into Northern Ireland, Scotland and Northern England, forecast to bring rain and strong winds yesterday and today. As usual not so bad here in Suffolk, just a very, very wet Friday, with rain all day. I didn't even step outside the door .

Instead I got the first jigsaw out of the cupboard and got started on the edges.

I've added the pumpkins onto the top of the bookshelves for October. The white one is a new find - car boot sale of course. It should light up but the light won't stay on but as it was only 50p it doesn't really matter.

At last Saturdays car boot sale  I picked up the box to turn over to see what 'gifts' (junk!) were included inside the Christmas Crackers. The crackers themselves weren't very appealing. But when the lady said 20p -  they had to be bought!

I think it will be me providing the crackers for all our family get togethers this Christmas as there are some previous boot sale finds in the cupboard already. 

Finally had part one of the shingles vaccination and I must make a note in the new diary to organise part two for next April as the health centre can't make appointments that far ahead. 

The garden waste bin had settled so I was able to squash in all the dead climbing bean haulm and get the canes into the greenhouse before we get wet weather. I'm drying some of the pods for the seeds, I don't know what variety they were as the plants came from a boot-sale after my failed sowing, but they were really good and didn't get tough at all. 

The bin gets emptied on Monday and then I start  filling it all over again - too much Buddleia!

Have a good weekend - stay safe if you are up north in the rough weather. There are garage/yard sales in a nearby village here to look round - after the boot sale of course and if it stops raining.

Back Monday

4th Jigsaw -That's enough!

 Well, this was a good find. This is a jigsaw that I'd looked at online and thought it would be a good one to do and there it was at a midweek boot-sale last month for £2.

Four in the cupboard is plenty enough for Autumn and Winter.

Since this find I've been to three more boot sales and found............Absolutely Nothing.

Back Soon

Third Jigsaw Puzzle for Autumn/Winter

 I'm nearly sorted for autumn and winter with the finding of jigsaw puzzle number 3, from a charity shop this time. Another House of Puzzles jigsaw that I'd seen online and thought it would be a good one to do. Hope the rough seas aren't too difficult.

I just need to find one more  then I'll have one each for October, November, January and February. That's enough or I'll never have time for reading!

It's handy that they are easy to spot in Charity shops because of  the box size and the small illustration on each side of the boxes. I'm looking out for a couple that I've only seen on line -( there are hundreds on ebay to look through but I'll try to find locally to save postage)- one is the signalman and the inside of an old fashioned railway signal box, with steam trains passing by and another of farm buildings with someone repairing a tractor.

 There are several from House of Puzzles  that I wouldn't want to attempt - one called Frosty Morning is all snow, sky, trees and sheep - all much the same colours and there's another of an old fashioned shop with dozens of small packets on the shelves - that looks difficult to sort the pieces and a Christmas one just has lots of similar looking and similar colour Christmas cards.  Those need more patience than I have!

Back Soon

A Jigsaw for Autumn

 The Saturday car-boot sale was Huge, the weather was good and it seemed like the world and his wife were there looking for bargains.

As usual there was a ton of tat, toys, clothes and probably enough ornaments for everyone in the country to have one! 

I found a jigsaw to pop in the cupboard for Autumn. This is another one from House of Puzzles that I'd looked at on-line and decided it would be a good one to do.

Have to hope the lady selling it was telling the truth about it being complete.

The other things I bought were a pair of socks in a box that will be a lightweight gift to post for Xmas. 3 cards - all for ladies unfortunately - as I really need some for men, and the small aluminium scoop, which I will use for flour, and hopefully not spill so much. ( You know what a mess it makes when you gently tip the flour bag onto the scales and it goes 'kerlumph' and comes out all at once- well, it will never happen here again!).

 I spent £5 in total, a good walk round and home for breakfast.

Back Soon

Sue

Saturday 22nd

Thank you everyone for comments yesterday. I've been to 114 churches in Suffolk now, small and large. Framlingham is one of the largest but it's not one of my favourites - it's a bit too 'posh' for me!

There was snow last Saturday evening, which was a surprise. It was mostly gone by Sunday morning.

Then, thank goodness, some sunshine for a few hours this week - it was so exciting! Also a degree or two warmer but it quickly went back to grey and dismal again on Thursday. Temperatures are set to fall back to cold and frosty next week - no sign of spring yet and the daffodils on the edge of the churchyard have been in bud stage for weeks. <<<<sigh>>>>!

February jigsaw finished, all present and correct. It was a good one to do.

I've sealed it up, labelled it 'Complete Feb 2025' and just need to decide if I'll do a car-boot sale or donate it. That's the last puzzle I'll do until next October. Car boots sales on the horizon and gardening too and I want to get my scrapbooks out onto the table now. 

During the week my cousin phoned to tell me his Mum, my 100 year old Aunt - had died. The last of the older generation of the family, she had outlived my Mum, the next eldest of 6 children by 26 years. She'd lived at home until a couple of years ago but was in a care home but still very 'with it' right until the end. 

So I must gear myself up to go to a funeral, which will be the first I've been to since Colin's in 2018. BiL seems to go to funerals every other month - he knows so many people.

Spot Wellbeing, the CIC (Community Interest Company) who started our Keep Moving Exercise Group over 2 years ago are running a six week course in a nearby village, so I went along with a list of the exercises we do to check they are all OK. John, who is one of the physios said it all sounded good and has promised to come along next week to give us a look. That will be helpful.

All in all a very quiet week waiting for spring.

Back Next Week 

Sue

Half of February Gone - Thank Goodness

 When did a Railway Station become a Train Station? When did Going Shopping become a Shopping Haul? Why is the tag line to TV adverts for Magnum ice creams "True to Pleasure" and what on earth does it mean?

These are questions that need answering........................or not!

But while you are pondering..........................

It's been such a cold and grey ol' week in Mid Suffolk, everyone I've spoken to - which was really only the people  at the Keep Moving Group -have been saying how dismal it is. 18 ladies there this week - which is really good - means we cover our costs (hall hire, coffee and biscuits) with our £1.50s, and build up enough to have more free weeks. One lady who hadn't been for a few weeks wondered where all the new people had suddenly come from - she didn't know that I'd put the info on Facebook Village groups.

The February jigsaw is almost done, I'm at the point of thinking there must be pieces missing - but hoping there aren't.

I finished one more book for my Reading-the-Seasons-not-really-a-challenge thing. It was by a new to me author. The story was OK but I thought some of the writing, especially dialogue, was a bit odd and clunky. 

Christmas has arrived in Cumbria, and wedding bells are ringing. As the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, DI James Walker receives a phone call that puts paid to his Christmas break. During the wedding of the year at a lakeside hotel, the bride's sister has vanished. When Rachel left the wedding breakfast before her speech, newly-wed Libby was furious. But as the night went on with no sign of her maid-of-honour, Libby started to realise something was very, very wrong. Before the wedding night is out, the lake is being searched for a body. One guest is a killer. 

I hope these two weather sayings for yesterday are correct............

                                           St Valentine Breaks the Back of Winter

                                         To Saint Valentine the spring is a neighbour

Last piece of news for the week is that BiL came over yesterday afternoon with his motor mower and cut the grass for me. It was still a bit wet and clogged up now and again but it's done....... thankfully. I should be able to keep on top of it now. With the last of the Buddliea and now the grass cuttings the garden waste bin is full again, so I can't do any more clearing for while. I've had to stop using my dalek compost bins - Rats!

I'm hoping a lady gardener who advertised on the local facebook group is going to come sometime and get the two big borders back to some sort of tidy too, then I'll be able to cope with them again. She likes to be paid in cash for one-off jobs like this, so I must organise that. It sounds as if she is very busy locally. The person who volunteered to help me last autumn lost his driving licence before Christmas, for being over the alcohol limit -twice- and hasn't been heard of since!

Back Next week

Sue

First Week of February and I'm Still Puzzling and Puzzled

 I think the weather has been better this week, at least in parts, I remember putting towels out on the whirly on Tuesday and getting them half dry, apart from that I've forgotten! although I've done some bits of garden clearing so it must have been mostly dry. The garden waste bin is full of Buddleia again and the wheelbarrow the same - waiting for the bin to be emptied on Monday.

We now have 7 new people at the Keep Moving group and most have been for the last 3 weeks, some other regulars returned so we had 16 there this week which is very good news. It's only half an hour working through a sequence of exercises but I'm sure it does us good physically and then socially when we have coffee afterwards. Three of the new folk are people I knew from way, way back, when we lived in the area through the 1980s. They've not moved, while I've been halfway round Suffolk and back.

Middle Grandson had his 5th birthday this week, I went round for Pizza and Cake - his request for tea after school on his birthday - I'm not going on Saturday when he has 4 friends round to play! 

Thank you to everyone for comments this week - I'm glad I'm not the only person who doesn't like strong scents, random book gifts and only doing jigsaw puzzles I like the look of. The comments were split on finding the edges already separated of the February jigsaw, some people agreed that it was good to find while others said they would miss searching for them. It wasn't a new puzzle so would have been repackaged like that by the person who did it last. I'm very strongly in the first camp - it was a treat!

Here's how I'm getting on with it..........slowly.

My Bad Blogger post a couple of weeks back wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously but since then  I've been ever so good and have checked the comments spam section everyday (well almost everyday!). Nothing in it most days which is good news, perhaps blogger is behaving itself, although I won't bank on it.

But I'm still puzzling over one comment that was left on the Bad Blogger post

Lizzy D21 January 2025 at 15:14

I comment often on your blog and rarely are they posted by you. I have become discouraged. I never know if the were removed for moderation bec you didn't like my [innocuous] comments or if they're lost in spam and you never look there. I found it ironic a week or so ago that you asked people to comment, please....Maybe they like me are lost in Blogger ether.

PS I see above my position is unpopular--to clarify, I don't mind if you don't answer! But if my comments are never posted, I will stop commenting, not just your blog but in general.

I don't have comment moderation switched on  and never have (except for the odd day, like after Colin died, or to get addresses for giveaways) so all comments should pop up straight away , so I looked back pre January and can't find any other comments by Lizzy D. I wonder if there is another place comments can go to that none of us know about!

However,  there are 66,000+ comments that Have been published - blimey no wonder I've not answered all of them!

Back Next Week

Sue

The February Jigsaw Puzzle.

 With visitors gone and the house sorted the February Jigsaw is out onto the table .

It's House of Puzzles again and another cheapie from ebay that I wanted to do (and yes I know about libraries and jigsaws but I wanted to do THIS one!) 

Choosing a puzzle for me is a bit like choosing a book . Can't do any old puzzle same as I can't read just any book. Hence the problem when someone gives me a book saying " I've bought you a book because  I know you like reading"..

And yes I realise that I'm just plain awkward!

Anyway, there was a nice surprise when I opened it, as the outside edge had been separated already - handy.

Back Soon

Sue

That Spot the Difference Jigsaw Again

 If you had the patience or could be bothered to go back and forward over the two pictures on Tuesday's post then you might have spotted the 15 differences in the puzzle that's now - very handily in Just-Stay-In-January - filled two blog posts!!

The Differences that I found

1. The puzzle has 3 extra rosehips
2. Different Inn Sign
3. Girl holding spade instead of bucket
4. Boy has different coloured trousers
5. The gate has changed colour
6. The chimney on the main house is shorter
7. The white dog is different
8. The Great Tit changed to a Long Tailed Tit
9. Man on sledge has different hat
10. Wheelbarrow facing opposite way
11. Door on house closed instead of open
12. Different church steeple and cross
13. Bus radiator and grill and lights different
14. Pot by house porch different colourway
15. Snowman's scarf is striped

Back Tomorrow if I can think of something to write!

Sue

Spot The Difference Jigsaw

 The January Jigsaw is finished. There are 15 difference between the box lid and the actual jigsaw, how many can you spot?

Most are spot-able despite the size of the finished puzzle picture

Box Lid Picture

The actual puzzle completed.

A couple of close-ups to help

 I'll do a list on Thursday.

Now I can get the puzzle away and table empty because I need it for sorting out the 2024 paperwork folder, filing the things to keep and chucking what isn't needed. I won't be starting another puzzle until the end of January when the Surrey family have been and gone.

Back Tomorrow

Sue.

A Winter Book, a Snow Jigsaw, Keep Moving and Apple Crumble

 The short stories in this book were weird but I got to the end. It's only the second book with winter in the title so I thought I'd better finish it and it needs to go back to the library anyway.

The jigsaw puzzle is coming along and I'm way past how far I got with the other snow jigsaw before I gave up, this one has more colour and less snow and sky. This is a 'Spot the Difference' puzzle but I won't tell you what they are as I'll make it into a blog post when it's done.

I put a note on some of the local face book groups to tell people about the Keep Moving Group and we had 2 new ladies come along, which is good. Numbers have dropped from a high of 16 down to eight or nine due to illness, being busy elsewhere and winter colds and flu. We only had two weeks off over Christmas and New Year but we all felt so unfit! (or maybe that was just me!) Personally I feel Fat! need to get moving more so I came home and booked a swim. It's a pain going swimming in winter with so many layers to take off and put on but needs must. I'm hopeful that the Stradbroke pool will be quieter as the next nearest pool along the Norfolk/Suffolk border at Diss is reopening after being shut for a nearly two year re-build.

This apple crumble will do nothing for the weight but was delicious and next year I'd like to find more free cooking apples to put in the freezer. I don't keep ice cream in the freezer all the time  but got some in as a just-in-case thing at Christmas and didn't use it but I'll save most for the end of the month when the Surrey boys are here

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Just Stay In January

 There was No Spend November which worked well. Decadent December which involved coffee and cheese scones in various cafes and eating too many nice things at Christmas. Now it's 'Just Stay in January!'

This seems a good plan and means using up things left from Christmas, no unnecessary shopping, not going far - so not needing much diesel, and generally hibernating in my warm bungalow,(fingers crossed that hasn't jinxed the boiler which has been behaving nicely for several months now). 

Here's what I'm planning.................

This is the page a day art book that I picked up from the Jumble Sale last year........  better get started. I'm using the Inktense colouring pencils to start with. They came from a boot-sale about 3 years ago, but I've not let the grandchildren loose with them as they are rather nice!

Masters Snooker starts January 12th on BBC and Silent Witness is back next week too.

The new series of The Good Ship Murder starts on the 10th . I've become a fan of Shayne Ward.....can't think why!

The freezer is full of meals that are "ones I've prepared earlier" plus some food bought before Christmas that I'll be using up this month.

I think Eldest daughter and the boys might be up from Surrey to visit. They were away in Thailand for Christmas so haven't had their presents yet.

I've still got several library books unread and there are 6 more arriving for me next week - yikes.

I need to finish transferring info from my old diary into the new one.

This was one of two snowy puzzles that I got from charity shop/boot sale in November and  passed on to DiL as I decided it might have too much annoying snow - like the other which I tried and got cross with. Son and DiL finished  it and said it wasn't too bad so I have it back again to tackle. 

(Son to me - "Mother, surely jigsaws aren't meant to be easy or they wouldn't be called puzzles!") He always calls me 'Mother' when I'm being told off!

There will be just a few outings for fresh food shopping, Keep Moving Group and hope to meet up with my friend from Grammar School days for coffee, perhaps a trip over to the coast to see YD and EGD and take them out for lunch - weather permitting.

Should keep me busy and entertained -whatever the weather throws at us.

Thank you again for all the comments on Wednesday, there were even more added to it yesterday. It's lovely to know that many people enjoy reading. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Monday Morning, Writing About Last week

 Some weeks I only get to chat to people at the Keep Moving Exercise group - it doesn't bother me, I'm happy at home alone anyway. But last week I had a visit from my Essex friends on Thursday and BiL called in on Friday on his way back from an eye test  to pick up some cheese scones I'd made for him as a thank you for cleaning the patio. He stayed for a cuppa. A 'busy' talking week!

The Christmas Fairs I visited on Saturday were not very exciting. The first one had a beautiful dolls house as a Big Raffle prize so I bought some tickets but no phone call came and the only other thing I got there was this old book for 50p.

What's left of The Middy is at the museum across the field from where I was at Clay Cottage. The railway ran out of money and closed in the 50's way before Dr Beeching shut down so many other branch railways in the 1960's. I don't think I've seen this book before and I can donate it to the Middy Railway Shop after I've looked at it.

The second Fayre, in Stowmarket town centre was smaller than usual and I found nothing and got cross with myself for going as there's a road closed in town that means a detour 'round the houses' to get to the Asda carpark. 

 I'd taken the cold-box to get a nice frozen dessert for Sunday visitors and being at Asda means having to buy £5 worth of shopping to get car-park charges back, so I got some of the Chinese/Indian party food bits while I was there. These go, a few at a time, with my veggie curries and veggie stir fries.

In the afternoon I dithered about going out again but went anyway in the hope of visiting a church in the same village.....  

This third Christmas Fayre of the day was a very 'posh'  craft fair held at a Huge nursing home. Some of the items for sale were lovely but very expensive, however I did find another jigsaw and bought it as it was £2.50 which is much less than charity shop prices. I've now got three to do, one each for December, January and February and that is ENOUGH!

Despite the village Church website telling me it was open on Saturdays, I found it locked but called in at another that was open on my way home.

Once home again I caught up with the final of  Taskmaster and of course Strictly was on later. Then I turned over to see the second semi final of the Champion of Champions Snooker which I'd been following on and off all week. 

Yesterday Son, DiL and the grandchildren came over bringing most of the makings of a roast dinner for us all which is always lovely. 

That was another week gone and much more talking than usual - this week it will probably be back to just the Keep Moving Group!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Back To Jigsaw Puzzles

 The 500 piece jigsaw puzzle I picked up from the church jumble sale in September with the idea of getting back to jigsaw puzzling for autumn and winter was a fail. The pieces were so tiny it was impossible to see what was on them. 

But I'd got the idea in my head so a couple of weeks ago I did a tour round the charity shops, first in Stowmarket then in Diss, looking for a House of Puzzles jigsaw as they have decent size pieces and good pictures (I'm fussy about the picture!) Couldn't find anything so I came out of Ipswich after the dentist via where we lived for a year, where there are 3 charity shops in one road and found .....................nothing.

 I gave in and looked on ebay, which I'd not used since lockdown, and had a nice find with this- the gypsy caravans really appealed, so much so that I didn't really notice the amount of sky or tree!.

 Not brand new although the bag of pieces inside was still sealed and it was actually less than what some charity shops charge now..... they were £4.50 in the RSPCA shop in Stow - which is quite a lot for a donated item with no guarantee that it's complete. 

Had to look back in the labels on the blog to see when I last did puzzles and it was way back in the winter of 2019/20 and I seem to have gone right off the idea in September 2020 when I gave some away without doing them.

None since then........ no idea why....moving?......unsettled?....getting settled?. 

I thought as I was back into it I'd better look for another for later and this time it was a charity shop find for £3.50.

I'm going to keep a look out for a House of Puzzles 'Spot The Difference' puzzle as the one I did back in Jan 2019 was quite fun to do .............and made a Spot The Difference Blog Post. 

Must remember not to get another one with too much sky or snow and I'll stick to these reliable H.O.P 1,000 piece. Although I see between 2019 and now The Works do their own brand called "Corner Piece". No idea how tough they are to do. Rachel in Norfolk looks for Ravensburger puzzles. I've had  Gibson jigsaws before but one back in 2019 was too annoying. Another maker I've had in the past is Falcon. The 500 piece one with tiny pieces was a WH Smith puzzle so I'll avoid them, .

Back Soon

Sue

Saturday Once More

Notes from the week....................

Wanted.......... someone with a strong boot to dig out 4 dead-ish rose bushes. They were here when I came and despite regular dead-heading are now more dead than alive. Either they are bushes that  should have been cut right back or they've just come to the end of their natural life. I don't really know much about roses, not something I ever choose to grow in any of the 7 homes so have only inherited them in various gardens. But as it's a dedicated rose garden, edged with bricks and has obviously been there a long time it would be nice to add some new bushes after I've remove the old, dug over the rock hard bed and added some soil improver. Just have no idea how to get the darn things out - might have to wait for a big down pour and a strong man!

It's sad when some things change..............it's nothing serious, just my next door but one neighbours putting their beautiful home up for sale, they are such a lovely young couple, Suffolk people who've lived there since they built it mostly themselves 6 years ago on the site of an old cottage.
Who will afford it - it's very expensive but costs nothing to run as it has every energy saving feature you can think of.  I will miss them and their two daughters. It means I'll have lived up the lane longer than everyone else yet I've only been here 3½ years.

Here's another change......... making me feel old................my eldest grandson down in Surrey has started school as he'll be 5 next May. Eldest daughter sent me a lovely photo of him looking so grown up in his uniform,which I'll be able to print out and pop in my 4 space photo frame.

On Thursday it was the regular every-three-years Boob Squashing! Just a quick trip up to Eye and the mobile unit. Thank goodness for this service, I shall await the results and hope all is OK. Still don't understand people who refuse to go for this easy check up. Although there is one thing I was invited for this week............ my first flu-jab -  that I'm not sure about having it at all. I've heard some folk get a bad reaction and other people don't and as I spend very little time mixing with people other than family indoors and even less this winter plus we'll all be wearing masks when out, maybe it's better to avoid the jab.

These are the last of the aubergines, less than egg sized egg-plants!. Too late now for them to get much bigger so I brought them all in, even the ones no bigger than a large grape and turned them into a batch of aubergine, pepper, tomato and onion sauce for pasta. Nothing going to waste here.

 

 

 Clearing stuff out.

The last mention of clearing things out was at the end of February before everything came to a standstill. But now I can get started again. So....................

•  5 Jigsaw puzzles have gone to my sister ( I decided I'd rather read or write than do a jigsaw - I really only like them when they are finished!)
• A large cardboard box full of old wrapping paper and bubble wrap that's been stood in the corner of the garage for 3 years has been sorted and chucked or kept for sending parcels.
• Bag of books to charity shop
• 2 Bookcases are on their way to Son and DiL when they can fetch them

 This week I'm grateful for...........

1.  The Lifeguard at the pool seeing sense last Monday - when there were only two of us in half the pool she wanted us to go round and round - we objected and told her that all the other lifeguards let people swim up and down if there were only 2 people swimming. She had to radio the"boss" who agreed with us two ladies in the pool! It's much easier to swim up and down than to try and swim round corners. Of course if more than 2 people then we do have to follow pool lane-protocol. 
2. No hills in Suffolk like the men cycling in the Tour De France have to cope with!
   

Lovely weather forecast for the next few days - a burst of summer to cheer us in September.

Hope everyone has a good weekend

Back Monday

Sue

Flowers, Books and Puzzles

The Flower Festival at Crowfield church had a very unusual but clever theme......Charities. With most of the arrangements were leaflets or information about each charity.....what a good idea.

This is the paper with the charities and the flower arrangers, too small to read - apologies, the organisers haven't made the print big enough for strange people who take photos and share things on their blog!

Some of the charities named are RNIB, Cancer Research, British Lung Foundation, M.S. Alzheimers Society, Cats Protection and lots more.

Stupidly I forgot my camera so had to resort to the phone  - never as good and some were too blurred to share.

The gazebo full of second hand books didn't turn up any exciting finds.... I just picked up this....an author often heard about but never read.

But the jigsaw puzzle stall resulted in me getting carried away with how many puzzles I might do this autumn and winter. I'm sticking to jigsaws from the House of Puzzles as their pictures are specially done for jigsaws and easier than some other companies (can't be bothered to struggle!)

Autumn and winter puzzles.............................

 Plus 2 for in between

And I had two already to do................will I really do 6 puzzles?

And even though I could have been home in 15 minutes I decided on a coffee and cake, it would have been rude not to!

 Home again and the rest of Saturday was spent in the cool of the living room with windows open and curtains closed. It's funny that in May if the sun is shining then I'm straight outside to enjoy it but by August I've finished with sitting out and prefer to keep indoors.

Change of plan for Sunday as it was too hot for a trek all the way down to Clare to spend a couple of hours walking around........ especially too hot for a pregnant mum, a toddler and a Nana! So Son, DiL and Willow came to mine instead and I went and collected a Chinese takeaway. Willow has discovered she likes noodles!


Back Tomorrow
Sue

Jolly Jumble

Before charity shops were the norm jumble sales were the only place for finding secondhand children's books and clothes, so bringing up 2 and then 3 children on a low income I was always in the queue at all the jumble sales around Cotton and Bacton where we used to live.

Now a jolly old jumble sale is a rare treat, so I was very excited to see the signs for a Scout Jumble Sale because our Scout jumbles when I was a Cub Scout leader were always some of the best.

There was a good queue waiting and we all rushed in to look when the doors opened.

I found another House Of Puzzles jigsaw. This will be the last one I do at the moment because the gardening and growing season is fast approaching.

There were loads of books at 3 for  £1 and I got several for the grandchildren and also picked up a few  non fiction in the hope they would be wanted by Ziffit and luckily one was wanted for £1.62 and another for £1.82. Another they didn't want but I'll keep it for a while. Also spotted this Shirley Hughes book which I knew about but hadn't  seen before.

I didn't plough through the tons of clothes, no need to find clothes for grandchildren as they get given loads. I cast an eye over the china and other household stuff but nothing caught my eye.

Hope Eye Scout Group have a Jumble sale in January every year.

Hello and welcome to some more new followers, I still love to see the numbers creeping up and thank you for comments yesterday.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

A Doughnut in Diss

Having been all round the 10 charity shops in Stowmarket without finding a single jigsaw puzzle that appealed to me, a trip elsewhere was needed. (And here I need to apologise to two people who have given me jigsaw puzzles recently that were just too complicated for me to consider in my present "lack of patience" mode)
So a trip North to Diss which has just as many charity shops as Stowmarket and maybe even more. I know Diss fairly well - even though it's in Norfolk! because whenever Col was inspecting bridges in the villages of north Suffolk he would drop me off there for a look round and pick me up later.
Into every charity shop  - even found one I didn't know about before -  and at last found a puzzle that looked OK, another by House of Puzzles but not a spot the difference .

But there was a problem, because while searching for a puzzle I needed a coffee and snack in Greggs

 looking out over The Mere. People feed the ducks which attracts every pigeon for miles!

I hadn't ever wondered how the Mere got there so thought I'd better look it up and this is what I found...............


"The six acre mere - or lake - is a favourite destination for anglers fishing for carp, crucian carp and tench. It was once used as a reservoir and drain by the residents of the market town, but today it's a pleasant place to feed the ducks.
The mere is up to 60 feet deep in places, with forty feet of mud. This natural water feature dates back about 12,000 years to the end of the Ice Age."


And while searching for a puzzle I kept getting side tracked and came home with a haul

 OK, OK...... yes there is another jug (99p) but I haven't bought a jug for months and I said no more craft stuff (25p)but this is a bloke card kit and cards for men are the hardest and of course there are always grandchildren books(3 for £1) and a Bertie Bus (£1)....Willow needs some boys toys I reckon. But why oh why was I tempted by that book.(2.99) Just because of reading C.J. Sansom's Tombland and getting interested in the period again. What I should have done was noted down the title and borrowed it from the library. The only totally sensible buys were another good length tunic top for £3.75 and the jigsaw for £2

Ho Hum

It WAS a good morning out until I got within 2 miles from home and might have been going too fast past a B* speed detector van AGAIN. The B* thing was facing the wrong way(checking cars heading out of the 30 mph limit rather than those coming in) just a few metres inside the bit where 50mph goes down to 30mph while going downhill, where it's difficult to slow down without jamming on the brakes. I shall await the postman with fear AGAIN for another 2 weeks.


Back Tomorrow
Sue 
PS  Took a jug I like less than the new one and 2 books to the charity shop...... See the halo! 😇