Month: May 2015

This week’s edition comes from Corfu, well it was written and planned in Corfu but for me holidays are a digital detox so is being typed up at home.  Our holiday was wonderful, a stunning resort, gorgeous weather (apart from a spectacular storm on Wednesday afternoon) and really special family times.  I have drafted another post about the holiday so I’ll just do Little Sparkles here.

READ

Whilst I think my Kindle has many attributes nothing beats a new paperback to go on holiday.  This choice was an impulse buy, I had read no reviews or press and simply chose it because it was in the charts at half price and as it was written by a French author and translated into English it appealed to the Francophile in me.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough, I finished it 2 days ago and am still thinking and reflecting on it.  Its been described as a love story, mystery and crime story, though to me it could easily be a tragedy.  The characterisations are brilliant and the plot twists are intelligent, believable and all add to the story which has a highly satisfactory uncontrived ending, some characters will continue to haunt me.

As with the most loved books, it is now dog eared, splashed with water and sprayed with sun tan lotion but that just makes it even more special and I am sure I will dip into it again, there are some beautiful quotes and language in it that just encourage it to be re read.

WATCHED

Whilst I have been busy watching the children in the pools, I love people watching on holiday from behind my sunglasses on the sun lounger.  I observe the fashions, family dynamics, guess the nationalities, people are so interesting.

LISTENED

On holiday it is lovely to sit back and simply listen to people enjoying themselves, the shrieks from the pool, the encouragement of parents, the laughter and applause as a family member descends a slide, happy times.  I have also listened nightly to the childrens’ disco songs, a European mix of cheesie classics,  Agadoo, the Birdie song in French and other Euro tunes designed to satisfy all the nationalities at the resort.  The childrens’ disco is a lovely example of how children can communicate despite language differences and all enjoy dancing and playing together,

MADE

One morning at the Children’s club, Little Miss and I decorated this t-shirt, I really enjoyed our time simply painting and talking.  She chose very carefully the words for her t-shirt and added all our names.

I have also made my family laugh a lot this week.  Once by accident when I hoped a rather undignified but spectacular fall from a rubber ring into the pool would have gone un noticed until I saw the boys laughing hysterically and using hand signals to illustrate the fall.  Then, I had a go at lots of scary slides at the resort, with names such as Double Twister, Extreme and the Black Hole they only encouraged me to ham up my performance with lots of girlie screams which had my audience laughing rather than applauding my performances!

WORE

I got to wear my new Summer clothes this week!  During the day it was swimming costumes and cover ups and in the evening a simple dress or shorts with a fancy top.  My buy of the season has to be my cherry red shorts from Next, so comfortable and stylish.  I’ve also worn those Summer essentials, sun tan lotion, sunglasses and a straw hat

As I write this I am buzzing with the excitement of our holiday tomorrow, I’ve had a lovely week getting ready for the holiday, all is ready and packed and I have pretty nails, nice hair and am smooth all over!!

Read

I have started the book, All Day Long by Joanna Biggs. It was a book I picked up at the library and it contains accounts of people’s working days. I’m finding it really interesting and am reflecting on many aspects of it, the way our working lives are changing, the type of work we are doing and the way we work. It has also made me appreciate how much I love my job!

Listened

This week I have been creating the Holiday Mix Tape (see earlier post) so have been searching and listening to lots of different music. It’s amazing how one song can lead to a recommendation and a whole musical journey develops. I’m looking forward to hearing our Play list in full, there are some cracking tunes on it!

I also tuned in to Test Match Special (TMS) today as the first Test match of the Summer started. It is such a delightful broadcast, it captures the spirit of cricket and is a witty and relaxed accompaniment to the day.

Watched

More on the cricket theme as on Sunday afternoon, whilst Mr S and his Dad watched the football play offs at home, I took the children to the cricket club to watch a fun cricket  tournament featuring local clubs and companies in a short format of the game.  I was there particularly to cheer on my running friends and the ladies finished as sporting runner ups. It was a lovely atmosphere, bright sunshine, relaxed conversation and of course a legendary cricket tea.

Made

This week, a national newspaper has been giving away Lego kits. Despite it being a paper I despise, as a good Mummy I have been every day to buy it and get the Lego. Therefore this week’s make is a Lego model because whilst Mr S is the Lego King I was challenged to make a model and couldn’t resist, I made the car and am proud of my efforts!

Worn

In the week of a holiday it’s not about what you wear but what you’re not allowed to wear as everything is washed, ironed and packed away for the holiday.  Whilst my wardrobe has been rather plain and simple, I have worn sparkly nail varnish on my toes since my pedicure on Wednesday and I have also worn my hair straight since my Keratin treatment too.  For someone whose hair grows out rather than down , the treatment has been a revelation and after years of a frizzy mess I am loving smooth, longer hair.

After the tension of the General Election, its been a quiet week, so quiet that some of my links may be quite tenuous this week!   Mr S was busy at work this weekend on a big project so I was on my own with the children, it certainly made me appreciate what a wonderful Dad he is to our children and how involved he is in their lives.  Whilst I enjoyed our time, I missed our family day on Sunday and felt a little lonely without Mr S.

READ

Our library is brilliant in so many ways, the librarians are wonderful they know all the local children’s names, run book activities for all age groups, have lots of subject  knowledge and are so helpful.  One of their inspirational ideas is downstairs in the children’s library where they have a rack of adult books so busy Mums like me can help the children choose their books and get a book themselves too.  I chose this book last Saturday and had finished it by Tuesday night.  Jane Green was one of the original Chick Lit authors, its a term that sometimes is deemed quite derogatory but there are times when you need a light, fluffy story you can lose yourself in.    Saving Grace fitted this need perfectly this week and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

HEARD

I really need to update my IPod with some new music, I love my music but its all a bit nostalgic at present and I need something new.  This song has been played lots on the radio this week and I love its groove.  My favourite songs are those I can sing and dance loudly to in the kitchen.

WATCHED

I was rather proud of my plans for the weekend, determined to spend quality time with the children I had planned trips to the library and playground, walks among the blue bells etc..  yet I think the time the children enjoyed the most this weekend was unscripted, making a bug hotel in our garden.   I watched as for nearly two hours Little Miss and Little Man created a Bug hotel from the bricks and stones in the garden, they found a few snails to be their guests and then found food too.  I loved their cooperation, communication and ideas, they were so imaginative and creative in making their simple idea a reality.

MADE

I made a presentation at work this week to a key team of education leaders on creating a professional development program for our education staff.  Its something I have been developing for a while and am genuinely enthusiastic about our ideas.  The presentation went well but now its the hard work of writing and delivering, an exciting challenge.

WORE

Model from Wallis pages, though I have a very similar pair of shoes

Well the weather has taken a cold turn, its hard to imagine that this time a month ago I was wearing shorts and t shirt.  This week I’ve been wearing my new Wallis cropped trousers.  They are so comfortable and the cut, material and design are perfect.  They have been layered with long sleeves and jumpers but will look equally good with my Summer tops (soon)

I’m a day later for the post I try to do on a Thursday, I wrote my General Election post yesterday and intended to write the Little Sparkles post later in the day, possibly whilst up all night and watching the election results (I know how to rock ‘n’ roll)  However there was far too much discussion, analysis and intrigue in the Election to allow for distractions.  So here I am on Friday, tired, a little sad and beginning to put everything into perspective so am writing this as a happy distraction.  Its been a busy week for me personally, but also a week of national events, the new Royal baby, Princess Charlotte, a bank holiday weekend, a General Election and VE commemorations today.

READ

In the last few days I have been reading lots of political analysis and comment in the broadsheet newspapers.  On Wednesday morning I spent a lovely hour or so in a comfy chair in a café, sun streaming through and enjoying a coffee and the papers, a perfect little luxury.  I have also been reading lots and lots of Tweets, Twitter was a fantastic companion to the Election Results night and prior to the results I found the hashtag #Ivoted really quite inspiring and moving to read.

I downloaded a new book to my Kindle this week, Stuffocation by James Wallman.  Its main premise is that happiness is more likely to come from the enjoyment of experiences rather than the accumulation of ‘stuff’  Its an ideal that I agree with, you don’t remember many things you buy but the memories you created doing things you love, delight and comfort you.  I suppose this blog is a record to help me remember those experiences when I am old.  The book came highly recommended and its a very easy and pertinent read.

HEARD

A tough category this week as I’ve not been listening to as much music as usual instead I have been tuned into Radio 4 for their news and current affairs broadcasts this week.  As you can see there is a very strong political theme to this post.  However there were some songs from my time in the Brownies and Guides sung at the show on Saturday night and I enjoyed hearing them again and joining in during the audience singalong.  .

Whilst I watched most of my election coverage, I did hear the news that the Shadow Chancellor and Labour MP, Ed Balls had lost his seat whilst driving to work and listening to Today on Radio 4.  James Naughtie is my voice for election night and morning, his passion, enthusiasm, knowledge and wit are mesmerising and nothing beats Radio 4 for atmosphere and comment.

WATCHED

Just a quick mention of the Girl guiding show on Saturday as I wrote a blog on it earlier this week, but it was a thoroughly entertaining evening.

On Sunday evening, I watched a TV drama The C Word, the true life story of a breast cancer patient, Lisa Lynch and her inspiring story which started as a blog and developed into a leading advice book.  It was an absolutely stunning drama and one of the most remarkable dramas I have watched in a long time.  Sheridan Smith was exceptional in the leading role.

Finally, I watched the Election Results and for someone who normally doesn’t watch much TV its certainly a marathon!  I thought the BBC coverage was poor they seemed to have lots of technical problems, missed declarations and their obsession with their graphics and toys spoilt  the experience. I preferred the Sky production, although often had the sound low and radio on!

MADE

In this busy week, there has not been much opportunity to be creative.  However I got some lovely fresh and in season British asparagus which I used in a number of simple recipes.  It was also my turn again to bake cakes for the school cake sale, an unfortunate rota meant the children’s classes were on successive weeks.  I’m afraid it was the same recipe and decoration as last week, just a little bit busy this week to source ingredients for new recipes.

WORN

In this week of special national events, I have been wearing lots of red, white and blue.  This is simply coincidence rather than a patriotic attempt!  For the trip to the theatre on Saturday night I wore a bright red geometric print 50s style skirt with a white broderie blouse.    I rather like twirling in the skirt and seeing it swirl.  Little things …