ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 30TH OF 2026

     Evening can you believe we are on the 30th Rocking post of the year already, time to clock the silver linings and positive moments from the last 7 days as it is time for

I know I mentioned my d-in-law making a cake for my niece but there were no photos of the cake, so I've managed to get one albeit taken from the side, it was a lemon cake and was beautiful. 

So last Friday we had a very busy day, the house that backs onto ours had had a tree poorly cut recently, he'd mentioned he wanted to get it resolved and so hubby had offered to sort.  So on Thursday he chopped the tree and on Friday we cut up the piece and got them taken to the tip, leaving some of the trunk that we can season and use on the outdoor fire, the light levels in the house have improved dramatically so I'm glad that is finally sorted, our gardens are simply not big enough to cope with trees if I'm honest, shrubs yes but trees absolutely not, so now when I'm stood at the kitchen I can see the blue skies, so that is definitely a positive.  

Saturday was supposed to be a day where we went in search of some of the lions that are dotted around the area to raise money for Sheffield Children's Hospital.  

We found the final two at the Meadowhall this was the first

and this was the second which was actually a lioness

then we headed to the arena and found these two 

this one was called Puck and was in the ice hockey team colours (hence his boots at the back)

We were hoping to carry on and find a few more near Ice Sheffield and the Institute of Sport but there was a music festival called Bassfest on and we didn't fancy fighting through the crowds. 

On Sunday I went to catch up with school friends.  We worked out that we all met in 1984 so that means we've been friends for 42 years and none of us could work out how that had happened if I'm absolutely honest.  We are spread far and wide throughout the UK, so opportunities to catch up are few and far between, but genuinely when we get together it is like we were on the school bus yesterday, we laughed, had a good catch up, talked all things menopause and put the world to rights it was a wonderful afternoon. 

I've also been on with some crochet.  I bought this pattern an age ago and to be honest I didn't have a clue how to 'read' it, I've persevered with other beginners patterns and all of a sudden the gobble-de-gook that I was reading suddenly became more understandable.  So I set too having a go however the squares are making up larger due to the size of the wool but as it isn't a garment it doesn't really matter. 

I know they could have done with being put on a board to get them square, but the one hubby has bought me is 13 inches square and these are bigger and I was too giddy trying to get them crocheted together, it is a join as you go pattern which is proving interesting. 

This is just to show the size of them, they should have been 12" x 12".  

Now the hassle I've had this week is that I've run out of the outer colour and I'm only 14 squares in (of 20), so a big silver lining was after 4 attempts at getting another ball of this wool is that I've finally managed to get hold of one. 

Monday and I was having to attend a court case in Sheffield as a witness, which I wasn't looking forward to, so why make my rocking post you may ask, firstly I got to find a few more lions. 

this is the one for the Sheffield band 'Bring me the Horizon' 

and the other reason for clocking this is that my evidence was agreed and I was stood down as a witness so no need to go in the witness box which was definitely a win win. 

I had my first harvest of tomatoes, these were a cherry tomato and very flavoursome they were too, I'm very proud of them as they've been grown from seed.  

This beautiful moon on Wednesday night, the photo doesn't do it justice. 

Thursday we had a wood order delivered.  It might seem like a strange time of year for this because we definitely don't need the wood burner at the moment, but there is something therapeutic knowing that we have stores in in readiness. 

So that my lovely people is my silver linings for the week, I hope yours has been similarly awesome too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 26TH OF 2026

 Morning apologies, let's just pretend that its Friday 

So last Friday I had a lovely day visiting my cousin, she doesn't live far and we have children (albeit they are now adults) of a similar age, she has always been an absolute rock for me at times when life has been challenging and I hope I have for her in turn helped when life has been difficult.  She lives in a beautiful home with an utterly gorgeous garden and we whiled away hours chatting about life the universe and everything, we had tea made by her lovely hubby and caught up, the downside no photos, you'll just have to take it from me that it was a wonderful catch up. 

On Saturday my sister came over and we made mid-summer wreaths together.  We had collected some oak leaves and mod-podged them to retain their colour it will be interesting to see how long they last, we also gathered some rosemary and some lavender, so it smells lovely.  I bought the grapevine wreath and had ample ribbons to add to it with the colours of midsummer.  The jangling bells rattle when we come through the door which is lovely and it made me feel happy.  

My sister was equally happy with hers albeit that it looks very different.  

Outside I noted the beauty of the courgette flowers

and the pinkness of the sky 

hubby fancied something 'sweet' one evening which is a rarity so I created this apple and sultana muffins, we had little in the way of oil so I substituted apple sauce and reduced down the sugar content. 

On Sunday it was Father's day we met our son, daughter-in-law and grandson at YSP for a lovely walk we didn't take many photos as trying to be present in the moment, but I did get these two of my grandson being very giddy with his new toy

When we got home we ordered in Dominoes as a Father's day treat, so no one had to cook (plus it was mighty warm). 

When it arrived we served up and this sequence of photos had us all giggling. 

We had ordered a little garlic bread for our grandson, he's teething so chewing on the crust was much appreciated. 

The look on his face

and then he had us all giggling, he couldn't work out which bit was food and which bit wasn't, and I'll be honest with a UPF tea, we feel the same quite often. 

Hubby got a cup on Father's day from Grandson which goes nicely with mine from Mother's day 

and this from our son

I bought him this which amused him

and this was the goodies from son and daughter-in-law which were much appreciated but far too much, including a few beers which he's enjoyed this week. 

Monday I was back to work as normal, with meetings with the auditors which added to the to do list, so I was busy and it was a long day but making progress which is always good. 

Tuesday our son, d-i-law, and grandson came for tea as normal.  Our Grandson has been struggling with what is potentially a summer cold so he was off his food and it was way too warm for all of us.  They didn't stay too long had their tea and then headed home which I thought was sensible, I also sent them with our second fan which can have water and freezer blocks in it, to help at home, thankfully our grandson is apparently much better. 

Wednesday night and we headed to Cast at Doncaster to see the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) by the Reduced Shakespeare Company which was a really good evening. 

We saw three of the cubs inside the theatre as part of the Pride of Lions trail for Sheffield Children's Hospital 

the set was simple but with a touring show and the subject matter it wasn't surprising

Selfie of the two of us. 

then on the way out we photographed two more lions

We have yet to do a full day looking for lions but are enjoying finding the odd one on our travels. 

I'm going to leave our weekend (and the reason I was late) until next week's post. 

I hope you've had a wonderful week and that you've managed in the crazy temperatures if you are UK based.

Hugs