Seaside Sparkles

January is not my favourite month of the year. Dark, wet and cold days, none of the pretty lights of December and so little in the diary. This week was typical January and so little to write about.

I miss my pretty Christmas lights and every January I try to fill the house with flowers to brighten the house. Tulips are my favourite flowers and coupled with my funky new vase, it’s a perfect pop of colour on my bureau. My classroom looks bare too so I’ve been popping £1 bunches of daffodils around the room, a perfect little pick me up.

On the classroom theme, I was interested in the neurodivergent Barbie released last week. Whilst there has been a mixed reaction, personally I love to see a doll with a communication aid, twiddles etc.. Representation matters.

After last week’s schedule was paused due to icy weather and football, this week I was able to start my half marathon training properly. I’ve added a new speed session which I did for the first time and wow whilst it was a much shorter run than normal at just over 20 minutes it was tough. My long run was lovely and social as by chance, I bumped into friends I hadn’t seen for ages en route and it would have been rude not to stop and have a quick chat.

This week I got my new nails done and it’s one of my favourite colours ever and so not my usual. I did fancy something different and the deep maroon, brown, grey colour is stunning.

Whilst I had considered doing a fortnightly catch up because of the lack of content, I also wanted to highlight that some weeks are ordinary in nature and that’s okay.

Whilst many people start the new year with resolutions and fresh starts, I opted this year for a week of transitioning into the next year. I knew my diary was full and that I needed to pace myself for an exciting adventure at the weekend. The winter weather with days of freezing temperatures and storms also didn’t inspire new routines.

However this week was an epic week of football. My son loves his football and normally he and my husband attend the games together. However since his brain injury my husband finds it hard to do night matches and the journey on Saturday would have been too much for him so I accompanied my son to two games this week.

The first was Wednesday night and the final game for a much loved player, Antoine Semenyo who moved to Man City the next day for a club record transfer fee. We have loved Semenyo not simply for his football skill, enthusiasm and passion but for his commitment and dedication to the club. He always came across as a kind, humble and genuine person, a perfect role model. The match was our farewell to him and when he scored the winner in injury time, the atmosphere was unreal, the fairytale ending. It was one of those nights that you will always remember.

As if Wednesday wasn’t memorable enough, I also got to fulfil a footballing wish on Saturday by going to St James park in Newcastle to see a game. I have been a football fan since I was young and have been to hundreds of matches both home and away, albeit among the lower leagues. When the FA cup draw was made and it was confirmed as a Saturday afternoon kick off, everything seemed to align. It was the first week back at school so a quieter week and it felt if I was going to go this was my chance. We went on the supporters coach as I wasn’t going to drive the near 800 mile return trip. As seen by the photos above, we left at 3.35am on Saturday and returned at 3.18am the next day. In the few days beforehand I had jitters about the weather conditions for the drive, especially getting from our rural location to the Bournemouth stadium, an hour’s drive on country roads. Amazingly despite weather warnings about storm Goretti we were relatively unscathed, a few branches on the roads but no snow or ice. The wild deer were definitely more of a worry. However, it was astonishing to see the heavy snow in the Midlands as we passed through, with conditions improving as we headed north.

The stadium was as awesome as I had hoped. We walked around the ground and I got to see the statues of Sir Bobby, Shearer and Milburn. We took lots of photos from all areas of the ground and the view from our high seats was spectacular. We got to savour the atmosphere and it was lovely to see Kevin Keegan’s Tifo. Both Sir Bobby and Kevin Keegan are two of my footballing heroes and it was fitting to see them both celebrated at Newcastle. As much as I was excited by St James I was there to cheer on the opposition and what a game it was, 2-2 at full time, 3-3 after extra time and then sadly Bournemouth lost on penalties 7-6. I don’t often go to the games but gosh did I see two special matches this week. One of my resolutions this year was to have mini adventures and I feel I have made an excellent start on this.

After such a busy week, it was good to have a lazy Sunday, although I did take my son to football training in the afternoon. I also got ready to start my half marathon training, look at nutrition etc.. I do have plans I just needed to wait to start them.

This week’s title comes from last week’s puzzle when I wrote week 52’s entry with 3 days of the year still remaining. This week has been a busy one. We spent a few days in Bristol and then back home for extra parkruns and football. It’s back to work tomorrow and I don’t feel that I’ve had the time to be lazy and relax this holiday. It’s a feeling I often find at Christmas and rather than a full on January full of resolutions, I’ll be kind and gentle to myself, a season of wintering.

Our time in Bristol was fun but really full. For logistical reasons, my daughter and I were booked into a local hotel and the boys slept at Grandad’s. On the first night we weren’t back in our room to well gone 10, but the second night we got back around 8ish and bought ourselves a little hotel picnic and had a very nice girlie night. It was nothing extraordinary, simply trying out some new make up and face care and cosying up under the covers to watch some television with tasty nibbles and fancy drinks. The previous evening we had gone sale shopping at Cribbs Causeway, I naively thought that an early evening trip would mean it would be quieter and more relaxed … it wasn’t! I was a little disappointed with the sales and apart from some picky bits from M&S and my moisturiser which needed replacing, we came back without any new purchases. My daughter did make up for this the next day when she did manage to spend her Christmas tokens on a nice outfit. When you have children who are nearly adults it’s more difficult to find activities for them to do during the day as soft play, swimming etc. don’t hit the mark like they used to do. We ended up at Air Hop a trampoline centre which fitted the brief well. They particularly enjoyed the basketball and Gladiator style games. I think next time I may join them, my motto for the new year is to live the bigger life. I did enjoy photographing them and like the slam dunk shots. I received a photo note book for Christmas so am choosing those to print and I hope it will develop my artistic skills in the coming year.

We returned home on New Year’s Eve, dropping our daughter en route at her friend’s for a night out. NYE just isn’t my jam, so I had an early night, which was much needed after lots of driving and 3 days away from home. New Year’s Day saw the first NYD parkrun of my home run and I was up early to volunteer pre run. I loved the little NYD design on my watch. It was a stunning morning, sunshine and blue skies but oh so cold. We had a great crowd and it was nice to be local on NYD. I had one day’s rest and then it was Saturday and another volunteer and run day. I didn’t realise it was possible, but it was even colder on Saturday than NYD, here’s hoping for warmer parkrun days to come.

Somewhere in between all the comings and goings I’ve started to plan my year ahead. I love a little plan and of course have given it a byline.. getting my kicks in 26. I have also been drafting some ideas for my #26in26, an idea inspired by Gretchen Rubin and that I’ve done ever since #18in18. I also need to review my #25in25. I did remember to tally my steps on NYE to be able to tick off one of my 25 list. My aim was to improve on my daily average steps of 9.6k in 2024, a very challenging year where I was caring a lot for my husband as he recovered from his ABI. I was chuffed with my 2025 average of 14.5k steps a day, probably due to a lot of running and training for a half marathon.

I am reading a very pertinent book at this time of year, Less by Patrick Grant. I often feel uneasy at our over consumption, especially at Christmas and this is helping me to think and focus on my needs rather than wants.

It’s back to work tomorrow and the return of routine and structure in our household. I do have a busy week and am embarking on my first mini adventure of the year. This is on my #26for26 list. I will reveal all next week, but I need to be up at 2.50am next Saturday to start the adventure!

And so to the final entry of the year, although today, Sunday is the 28th so I’ve gone wrong somewhere over the year!

Whilst Christmas is the big event, it’s a personal experience for our little family. We had a lovely family day, everyone loved their presents and we enjoyed a quiet day at home. The photo for Christmas Day is my table set up, simple but fun, what’s Christmas without a crocheted Christmas pudding / Lindt chocolate, a Lottery scratch card and a Santa pocket to hold your cutlery?

In the evenings preceding Christmas, my daughter and I watched some classic Christmas films. There is something magical about sitting in front of the tv with the lights on low, twinkling tree lights and nibbling on the Christmas snacks. We watched Love Actually which I haven’t see for years, it’s funny how a film suddenly feels of its time. It is still thoroughly enjoyable and is a who’s who of the ‘Brit pack’ in the early 2000s and yes Emma Thompson’s scene with the Joni Mitchell CD remains heartbreaking. Emma Thompson was in our Christmas Eve film too, Last Christmas. Another film tinged with sadness due to its George Michael soundtrack. The film is pretty sad too although as I had seen it before I was ready for the twist which I never saw coming the first time when I watched it in disbelief.

We normally try to fit in a trip to the cinema around Christmas and although we had found a film, we couldn’t fit it into our schedule. Instead when the boys went to London on a football away trip, my daughter and I went to Bournemouth for the lights and ice skating. It was a great time to see the lights, the evening was mild and dry and the mad pre Christmas crowds had disappeared. I got some great photos this time. The ice skating was so much fun, and I did progress from hanging onto the edges to being able to skate around the rink independently. My daughter twirled and looked graceful on the ice, the ballet lessons paid off!

I like to read a warm, cosy book over Christmas and the new Charlie Macksey book, Always Remember fitted the bill perfectly. It’s a beautifully written and illustrated book to cherish and keep for the tough times. It’s like a little pep talk with pretty pictures. My other read has been the absolute opposite of Always Remember but equally an excellent read. Nesting is the story of a woman and her young children trying to escape a coercive relationship, it’s a story which will haunt you.

Finally I’ve been putting a few figures to my parkrunning this year. I’m very proud to have done 51 runs, 40 volunteers and to have gotten a new PB. Saturday’s run was stunning to finish the year, bright blue skies, warm sunshine and a winter chill in the air. I ran comfortably and look forward to new adventures in 2026.

And so to the penultimate week of the year. It’s been a funny week, there were so many Christmas events last week but far fewer this week and it was a strange mix of Christmas and everyday life.

It is always a week to carefully balance life in a school. Christmas isn’t the same for all children and it’s trying to offer a little festive magic but not hyping it up too much. We did simple Christmas activities, sensory stories, Christmas songs, crafts, jigsaws and on the wet play day showed a Christmas film. As staff we did our Secret Santas after school and they were all top gifts. I got a tote bag saying obsessed with Vinted, my team know me well. The image of me above was part of our team’s Christmas card, AI was very kind and definitely glammed us all up!

At home, I had all of Christmas pretty much wrapped up last week so I spent some time just adding the nice little touches, for example creating our hot chocolate station to the more mundane of replacing batteries in some of my lights and retiming the timers. I may be a bit of a perfectionist in my Christmas decorations. I was delighted to finally find a lovely wreath for my gate. I’ve been looking at my usual favourite shops but none had anything, real, stylish and natural. By total chance, I visited a parkrun this weekend and the allocated parking was a B&M car park. As I had a little time I popped into the shop and got some amazing buys, more extras for the hot chocolate station and a wreath I loved and fitting all my criteria reduced down to £5, I was very happy.

I was at a new parkrun on Saturday morning as on Friday evening I travelled to see my parents in the West Country straight from work. My daughter and I enjoyed a Christmas dinner with them and lots of Christmas treats before they jetted off in the morning for a hot and sunny Christmas holiday. It was a quick visit but my only chance to spend time with them this festive season. As luck would have it, a new parkrun has recently started near them in Bridgwater so I popped there on Saturday to finally achieve my Gold Obsessive badge, my 50th parkrun of the year. I was so close last year with 48 runs and thanks to careful holiday timings and no injuries I did it this year. I feel that’s taken the pressure off and I know it won’t be repeated next year as I already have 4 weekends away booked with no parkruns available.

Another achievement this week was 1000 Wordle games recorded. I have played many more games but it took me a while to register, however I am very pleased to have hit the milestone.

The final picture is a hand drawn picture of our neighbour’s dog by my daughter. It has been framed now and is a work from the heart for his Christmas present. We all miss his wife so much and her dog was everything to her so we hope and know that this personal present will be very welcomed.

I have had the most lovely, lazy day today. The first day in months when I’ve been able to simply rest and potter at home, no driving! I did go for a long run this morning before the heavy rain started. It’s definitely been a day to hunker down and we’ve opened the Christmas chocolates and had a fancy mince pie. Christmas is here.

The German word vorfreude is perfect to describe this time of year, the joy of the anticipation of happy times. It’s been a lovely festive week, I’ve sung and signed Christmas songs in performances with our school choir, enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with my class and team and made a gingerbread house from scratch. I’ve also pottered around our town’s Christmas market before heading over to see the lights in Bournemouth. All the festive feels ..

This week I’ve finished putting up all our decorations. We did the tree last Sunday and I added my new decoration, a robin from the Eden Project. I love to have a new decoration from our year and this is from our wonderful break in Cornwall at Easter. It was a memorable purchase as I bought it as I walked through the gift shop having finished the parkrun there, one of my favourite ever runs, such a stunning location.

I put a lot of time and effort into my little tableaux over the house, the rainbow tree and disco lights in the kitchen, my gingerbread village in the lounge, my bay window lights and snowflakes and a nativity window with simple lights too. It took a couple of evenings but I am happy with the results, the house feels Christmassy, warm and welcoming. My energy levels are way higher than last week, I’ve been buzzing and doing lots of things to prepare for the season. I got a final few things in the Christmas market yesterday and am now ready, presents are wrapped and those needed have been posted today. It’s a lovely feeling, I can totally embrace the season now.

Among all the busyness this week, I had my Christmas nails done. It does not show well in the photo but they’ve been painted with a beautiful sea green opaque and are perfect for the season.

For parkrun, I went to my old home parkrun, to celebrate my friend who was doing his 250th run there. It did get me thinking that for those of us who started pre pandemic, milestones will take a lot longer. On current timings, mine will be due in early ‘27. This also made me reflect on the last and first parkruns around the Covid pause which I ran at this venue and remembering the atmosphere. The venue also got me reminiscing on the old route, running through streams on wet days, my daughter running her first parkrun, a crazy New Year’s Day run as part of the now defunct NYD double. It is a stunning course and one I really should do more often, it was a lovely, warm and friendly morning.

Saturday was full of Christmas cheer and we finished it in Bournemouth for the lights and Christmas market. It was a different setup to previous years and the traditional tree lights have gone with more futuristic designs instead. It was lovely but I did prefer the more traditional lighting of previous years. Surprisingly we didn’t have our spectacular, but v pricey, hot chocolate but ended the evening in a cosy pub instead. There was more Christmas fun today when coming home from a football tournament we saw many decorated tractors ready for the annual Christmas drive this afternoon. It’s all these little local traditions that make this season special.

I find this is a strange time of year, the anticipation of Christmas and early prep but against the hub of everyday life. The weather has been very mixed and although I was planning an early visit to the Christmas lights in our neighbouring ‘big’ town, we postponed it due to the storms . Many of the attractions ended up being closed due to flooding and high winds. Fortunately there’s lots of time to visit so we’ll get there eventually. There has been some wicked storms recently. On another Saturday I had planned a little mooch for Christmas inspiration in town but the heavy rain meant a super quick 20 minute trip to do the essentials. Despite the storms there has also been the opportunity to wear my fav winter combo of woolly hat and sunglasses on some days and I have also managed two lovely long sunny runs. The weather really is random.

My Christmas shopping is progressing well. I was very well prepared for Black Friday and with the children’s wish lists. They’re at the age when they tend to want named products now, Uggs etc.. so in advance I had bookmarked the items and price checked and was able to get some good deals. I do find that Black Friday now seems to be a month of deals and I am dubious of the true value but I did get discounts on the items I needed. I didn’t really look for any other deals if the items weren’t on my list I wasn’t buying them. Apart from the big items I do try to buy lots from independent shops and Etsy types sellers. This is where I get really lovely presents. I do pride myself in my present buying and I would rather a good quality gift over quantity. On one of the wet Saturday afternoons when the boys were at football I made a decent start on wrapping and hiding the presents. I didn’t do it to a Christmas film but watched Brooklyn as I had seen a clip on social media and wanted to see the full film. It’s an excellent film and the perfect background to wrapping presents. Now the Black Friday presents are arriving, I’ll do this again in the coming days and will be pretty much ready on the presents. Christmas is too short for stress, I would prefer to be out and enjoying events than thinking about presents.

My recent audio book on my commute has been Gareth Southgate’s Lessons in Leadership. It’s a really interesting read particularly about culture and national identity and one of my favourite reads of the year. The England job is an impossible job but I feel Southgate’s values and drive make him one of the best we’ve had.

In the past few weeks it has been the first anniversary of my very good friend’s sudden and unexpected death. I still find it hard to believe she’s not next door and so many times over the past year I’ve imagined myself popping over to tell her something, finding a great recipe, book or film recommendation or local news (gossip) to share and then the very sad realisation she’s not there. Her husband shared that he had put up lights at her stables for the anniversary so on the evening I walked down to spend some time there. Now whilst the stables are close to home and in daylight a quick ten minute walk it wasn’t so simple on an extremely dark night down unmade tracks. However the sight was truly stunning. The stables were beautifully lit and the dark cloudless sky was shining with so many stars. My friend loved Coldplay and their song Sky full of stars was played at her funeral, so the setting was perfect. I felt so sad but strangely peaceful at the stables, the place where she had died and always her happiest place. I had a proper good cry and remembered such wonderful moments with her. I miss her.