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Sunshine in the garden reading a book (finished it too)

Lunch at The Pear Tree Creperie - delicious! 

Boy smiles - Jude made us smile suggesting someone might be taking a leap year before going to Uni. We knew what he meant! 

Cycling smiles - Cav won the final stage of Tour of California - but only just as he celebrated as he approached the line and was nearly caught. And Wiggo won the whole thing. 

Shopping smiles - a SeaSalt sale shop proved too exciting to resist although I wish I'd found it before my size was virtually sold out - or that I could fit in an 8! 

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A meeting of mobility scooters made me smile - I met Mum coming in the opposite direction and we caused a few raised eyebrows (mine newly threaded) as we had a chat. 

A jet lagged John trying to help me clothes shop from the other side of the world via Whatsapp also amused me. 

And conquering (well beginning to conquer!) writing reports on SPTO made me smile. It's a teacher thing!

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Well I didn't have a smiley morning - simmering cabin fever exploded - but I did have a smiley afternoon. 

Wheelchair handling skills have improved although it helped that it had handrails so I could push myself as well! 

The garden centre was full of an assortment of people who caused us amusement as we people watched. 

And I bought two new items of clothing. 

Yummy dinner with Rösti and Grüner Vertliner. 

Oh and I'm going to Switzerland in 3
weeks and so is my 'other half' :)

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Thanks to my Mum, I can get out and about fairly independently on her mobility scooter. It's quite a sight and I do get some double takes as I'm not your average mobility scooter operator! 

Today I went out and passed the local infant school where there were two teachers and ten children lined up. One of the children shouted "I know her!" As I crossed the zebra crossing. I asked if they were doing a traffic survey and they said yes. So I asked if I counted and they said 'oh yes! We've taken your picture!'

That made me smile all the way to the shops and back. 

Other smiles included people jumping out of my way in case I ran them over, a lady putting my shopping on the belt for me in Aldi, sitting in the sunshine eating lunch and finishing a good book. 

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I love how my family make me laugh. Saturday lunchtime is usually a good time for giggles and the rugby gave us plenty of 'humour fodder' today, particularly when I started talking about Billy Sixtrees, unintentionally halving the size of the aforementioned gentleman's wood into a small copse. Incidentally I discovered when checking Wikipedia that Billy's dad is a tree surgeon. You couldn't really do much else with a name like that!

Fun also ensued in Marks and Spencer as John collected evidence of "M&S going downhill"

"This is why #m&s has lost the plot #hurtsmyeyes http://t.co/yvMDunvZFG"

...and Jude making amusing observations about the posters. 

"Woman in M&S annoyed about dropping her ice cream. http://t.co/pvWryKgsc3"

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I have finally won a game of Ruzzle! In fact, I've won 4 times since this. 

Looking forward to the arrival of a new pair of boots on Tuesday. Ordering them made me smile. 

More skiing carnage at the Winter Olympics amused me - very well timed to fit with half term!

And the boys once more made me laugh with a hastily rewritten pop song at bedtime. 

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A lie in makes the world seem better (even if your alarm clock goes off at 6am and needs hitting before you go back to sleep!)

A fun shopping trip and quite tasty lunch.

Splash final and lots of time for (catching up on) blogging.

It's the little things!

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I love laminating.

And I love The Bridge. 

Two reasons to be smiling on a Saturday night!

I had to smile when I retweeted something implying England had beaten France a moment too soon as France scored a try. 

I bought new pink and green biros after I laundered the old ones. New stationery always makes me smile!

PS The ending of The Bridge did NOT make me smile. 

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This made me laugh!

Half price iced ring doughnuts in Sainsbury this evening made me smile; not quite a Donut as the icing wasn't sticky enough but I guess that's because it's usually hot in Spain when I eat them!

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New shoes!

The squeals as we went over a hump backed bridge.

Giggles at the toilet humour you only get from teenage boys.

The ridiculous amount of clothing that Isaac was wearing for our shopping trip to Touchwood. He's been poorly, bless him!

Funny FB messages in other languages.

And it's The Bridge night. Saga's coming out with some great lines:

"I want to have sex"

'But my Mum's just through there'

"We can have sex here"

“I do like kids; I just don‘t like them just because they are kids” '

Do you like me?'

"I don't know you enough to know"  

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Smiles today came in all my classes at some point. Some funny answers, some very good questions, and some mangling of the Spanish language that led my native speaking Y6 and I to swiftly choose between wry smiling over crying in despair!

Coming home on a Thursday always makes me smile - no school on Fridays!

And the ball pit episode of TBBT is guaranteed to make the tiredest person giggle!

Today's photo is from this time last year. I miss Swiss shop displays. So amusing and quirky.

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This made me smile, in fact positively beam! I love it! Thank you @Ideas_Factory - you are so clever and very kind! All because I admired some other spoof stamps he'd made and said I'd like one of them(meaning the stamps he'd made not my own!)  Not sure about a legend but I try my best! 

It's been a busy day with trips to fetch parcels, have coffee and visit the optician amongst other things. A new top in the Debenhams sale made me happy, as did a tasty toasted teacake. Finally submitting a form over which I've been slaving elicited a huge smile. Jude parading in his new PJs was very funny, as were Mr Mitchell and Mr Steer on Pointless (thank heavens they won!)

And I'm now rather engrossed in The Bridge which, although not making me smile at the content, is pleasing as I miss Borgen!

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It always makes me smile when kids at school bring me things, and the smile is always a bit broader if it's Spanish so I was really chuffed when one of Year5 at WPS gave me some work she'd been doing at home after last week's lesson.

This follows two lots of beautifully presented work from a Year 4 at WCPS over the last two weeks of lessons. And lots of Día de Muertos calacas too!

Further smiles as I mountaineered up the shelves in Sainsbury to ensure the best Innocent Smoothie woolly hats for the mini cuddlies. Chichi Monchichi is particularly pleased with her raspberry bonnet with silver button detail!

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I have a new 'gadget' - my last birthday present has finally arrived! So I've spent the day obsessed with how many steps I've done, and amused by how much sleep I apparently had last night (not much of it deep according to UP) I've exceeded my target by over 80% at last count (not difficult as I went for a run this morning and that got me up to 75%!) We'll see how it goes - certainly don't have time to chart ALL my food and drink intake when it's not half term!

And Jude found a new friend in Solihull. Shame he couldn't come home with us!

Reading through my university notes and essays this afternoon and I was struck by several things;

I had really neat handwriting once upon a time.

I typed them all, but before I did that, I wrote them by hand then literally cut and pasted them (Or stapled them to save glue/paper!)

My English lecturer was a plonker!

I miss Professor Heathcote et al - they were great times and I loved reading and studying when I had all my time to do it.

I must read some of these books again, especially the Golden Age ones.

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A trip out today - and the first time we've driven past Spitfire Island and the Jaguar Works since we got back - good to see the statue/sculpture is still in the middle of the roundabout and loved the car on the side of the factory!

Home again, I managed to get nearly to the bottom of the garden, not helped by the tenants deciding to turn part of the path into a gravel beach...?!? Still, good to see that part of the garden albeit somewhat in need of a prune and tidy! There are apples on the tree although I won't be up the ladder this year to pick them! Now, where is that long fruit picker doofer with the net on the end....?

Smiles as FC Bayern München equalise in the final minute of extra time, just for the look on Mourinho's face!
Only Connect champions the Crossworders slaughtered the Masterminders (all did well in Mastermind and thought they could take them on...) in a special episode.
And I remembered to take a picture!!

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Today's smile is the display in the door of Franz Karl Weber - pigs!  And this story about a horse in McDonalds. Both seem appropriate as the Pickups left today - safe journey back to Darwen and your Aga :o)

 

And this window display is for Jude - he's not getting the real dog so a picture will have to do!

Other smiles today? Some serious recycling, the card the boys chose for their cousin's birthday (I hope he finds it funny!!) and completing a pile of ironing. And walking through lovely Winti in the sunshine.

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Great marketing ploy, especially if you have a child in tow - pig walks/rabbit hops into your path with a balloon giving price! Not so good if they get stuck in a corner as they make a very annoying noise!

Franz Karl Weber in Zürich is great fun with a slide into the basement (although not sure about the separate floors for girls and boys toys!) 

We also visited Orell Füssli where I had to smile at Jude's horror when looking at the price of English books. Books are expensive here anyway but English ones are even worse. It also sells 'ex-pat food' and that prompted an outburst 

"This Peppermint Aero is marked £1 but costs 4.90CHF!"

Hotdog by the Limmat soon calmed things down...

But then indignation reappeared as we spotted the Frauenbad

"What! Is there one just for men then? That's not fair!"

My boys do make me smile! 

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Thanks to Doug for sharing today's smile!

A beautiful day, a new pair of Camper shoes and a trumpet concert over the phone by Jude for Grandpa Ray's birthday also made me smile today! Also being asked if I invented Rock paper scissor lizard Spock - if only!

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I made this a while ago in response to the looks of bewilderment I frequently  draw when I walk around smiling. I think there are people who fear I am a few sandwiches short of a picnic but I'm not bothered. 

My preferred picture for today would be if my little sleeping beauty who returned from a sleepover and promptly fell asleep on the sofa for three hours. However I promised not to post pictures and that's ok. 

The sun made me smile as did a rather tasty Butterkeks ice cream. And I've started writing a 'shopping list' for one of my new jobs - always a joy, never a chore!

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Isaac decided that the melon and cucumber looked like an orb and sceptre so Jude took it one step further and donned a helmet!
My boys make me laugh!

Those who know me well know that I am very partial to dungarees and always have been. So when i saw this article in 20Minuten I felt I had to share. And then I was sent a link to an article in The Guardian by someone who has known me for over 20 years and has always been very amused by my love of the 'overalls' as they call them in America! Long or short, dungarees are utterly wonderful and I don't care if they're in fashion or not - I like them!

Say cheese in other languages
One way of getting people to smile for a photo in French is to say Ouisitii! which means marmoset