Five Friday Favourites

Hi friends its time to share five favourites on this sunny Friday. Thanks so much for stopping by!

One

I really love sitting out the front of our house to drink my coffee or any other beverage. But until this week, we didn’t have anywhere to sit. The chairs we’d had there for years went out with the council clean-up about six months ago, and we hadn’t got around to replacing them, so I was using the front steps.

This week, we finally got a small three-piece set, and it fits perfectly. Now we have somewhere comfortable to sit, drink, read, and enjoy. Sure beats the steps, which weren’t very comfy!

Two

You know you’re a full-grown adult when you get genuinely excited about a shiny, clean shower screen, right? About five years ago, my husband got a Karcher Window Vac for his birthday, and I think he used it once. I pulled it out this week and thought, why not try it on the ensuite shower screen? Bingo, what an aaahh moment, and I’m never going back. That Karcher Window Vac is all mine now.

Three

The other day, it was my turn to pick a movie, actually, it’s always my turn, which is totally okay with me–hehe. A couple of weeks ago, I picked a real dud called A House of Dynamite, so this time I had to regain my top movie-picker status.

I chose Everybody’s Fine with Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, and Kate Beckinsale. Some of my favourite actors, and the movie was so good! I won’t spoil it, but it’s about a man whose wife has died and who wants to reconnect with his grown-up kids.

I think it really hit me because of where we are in life. One of our boys flew the nest years ago, and the other, while he has no plans to go anywhere, I know the day will come. The movie had me sobbing at the end. I haven’t cried this much since I watched Titanic!

I don’t usually like films that make me sad, but this wasn’t a bad sad. It was a heartfelt sad. Maybe I could relate because it feels like only a minute ago our kids were little, and now they’re not.

Watch it. I’m sure you’ll love it.

Four

We walked up to a local Japanese restaurant for dinner on Tuesday night. I’d been there before with a friend and had told my husband how good it was. Since we’d just booked our trip to Singapore and Japan on Sunday, we were both excited to enjoy some Japanese food. A little pre-trip treat before the real experience. Only 80 days to go! The countdown is officially on. Yikes!

It’s the holidays. Well, I’m still on holidays, so we’re doing things we wouldn’t normally do. Like going to a dessert bar for a sundae as big as my head.

It had half a waffle, brownies, and little crunchy things. It was delicious, but I would never go back again. Big desserts scare me, and I was glad we shared.

Five

This week, my husband and I had a lovely couple of days away in Gosford for our 36th wedding anniversary. Whoa, that’s a lot of years. We had a fun time eating our way around town, and it was great to enjoy a change of scenery. Funny enough, on our way home, I saw something on Instagram that really stuck with me. Someone said the highest form of love is friendship, and that felt so true.

Steve and I actually started as friends all those years ago when we met at church. We’re still good friends, and I’m pretty sure that friendship is what carried us through the inevitable bumpy times.

Having a good sense of humour has helped too. I love to laugh, and I love people with a good sense of humour—it’s just easier, isn’t it? One of my very first memories of Steve is that the day I met him, he made me laugh a lot, so that was a big win. He will argue that he’s funnier than me, but he’s wrong. Obviously 😉

We stayed at the Hotel Gosford, the same place we stayed a couple of years ago. It’s an old pub that has been renovated, but they’ve kept the original lift that you have to operate yourself. I love that they’ve preserved this historical feature, even though it freaked us out a bit every time. You have to operate the doors by hand, turn the room key, and press the button. So much coordination!

The first night we had steak for dinner, and it was so tender. The menu said tender, but they don’t always tell the truth. This restaurant did, and I was so happy. Chewy steak is not my favourite.

I had the crème brûlée, and Steve had the cheesecake. They looked so pretty!

The next night, we shared a cob loaf and salt and pepper squid as an entree.

Steve had the fish for mains, and I had the prawn linguini. It was so delicious I couldn’t stop moaning as I ate, and Steve was grateful there weren’t many diners around.

The friendly waitress asked if we were celebrating anything special, and we told her it was our anniversary. She kindly surprised us with a complimentary dessert, dark ale pudding with ice cream. It even came out with a sparkler! What a lovely touch.

And that’s a wrap for this week. It’s been a long time since we’ve eaten out at so many different places! It’s my last week of the school holidays, and I can’t believe how quickly the weeks have flown by. They always do during the holidays, Ugh.

Anyway, I’m not going to think about it now. I’m going to enjoy the last of it before term one starts. Oh my goodness, I’m really hoping for a better year than last year. The trauma is real!

Enjoy your weekend, friends. See you Monday!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika