Month: August 2020

So, we have had our final week all together as Little Man and I prepare to return to school next week, whilst Little Miss has an extra few days at home to enjoy. We have had 23 weeks together at home and this week was similar to the others, long walks, home baking, the skate park, Nintendo Switch, family games etc.. However , you can always find something special in the ordinary and here are our highlights from Week 23 of lockdown!

I have read (and listened) ..

Desert Islands Discs is not being broadcast at present but on my Sounds app, they are highlighting previous episodes. This week’s guest was the poet, Wendy Cope, someone I’ve always admired for her work. I still have my original well thumbed copies of Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis and Serious Concerns from my uni days, inscribed with my maiden name and in the beautiful Faber and Faber print. After listening to the episode, I ordered Family Values and have loved reading it. There is something hauntingly simple and honest about her work and her poems do stay with you. In Desert Island Discs her childhood was discussed and the sadness of it is reflected in some very personal pieces, Daily Help was a beautiful read. I also loved Christmas Ornaments, as I am that person who likes to pick up a new decoration on our summer holiday so our Christmas tree reflects happy times and memories. Sadly with this year’s cancelled holidays there are no new decorations yet, although I will definitely be buying a rainbow inspired decoration for 2020.

I have played ..

On Monday, Little Miss and Mr S went to visit Granddad again. They had planned to do some more gardening work for him but the weather was pretty poor so they simply enjoyed some time with him. This left little Man and I with a day together to plan. I asked him what did he want to do together and his wish was to teach me how to play Minecraft, something totally out of my comfort zone. However, I gave it a go and learnt a few moves and strategies. Little Man was a patient teacher, even when I knocked down part of his house in my enthusiasm but I think he prefers playing with his sister.

This week we have also had a few games of Monopoly on the wet afternoons, its a really good game for all of us to enjoy together. Lockdown has presented us with the time to do these long games on wet afternoons without feeling the need to be doing something more productive. Lockdown has taught us its okay to be in the moment.

I have made ..

Its been harvest time Chez Sparkles, as my gardening squad have been harvesting and tidying their garden patch, our neighbours and Grandad have also been harvesting so we’ve had a glut of home grown produce (and freshly lain eggs) Little Man and I baked a ginger and plum upside down cake, it was delicious, the flavours went very well together. Little Miss made stewed plums, which have become a favourite with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I made a fresh tomato sauce for a pasta dish and have been recommended a beetroot pasta sauce by a neighbour. I love experimenting in the kitchen and we all know that home grown produce tastes so much better than any shop bought produce!

And finally

There is one more thing I would like to do before the holidays end. In previous school years, the children and I would always go down to the ice cream parlour after the first school day of school as our little treat. This year, both are taking school transport and will be home later so this won’t be possible :(. However my plan is to do this on the last day of the holidays instead. There is a new ice cream treat in town this year, ice cream waffle cones, who could resist?

Have a happy week.

So what is a famiversary? Its our little family’s word for the day on which the children came to live with us, a day special to only us. The birth family don’t know the exact date of when the children left care to be welcomed into our family, so I feel its our exclusive day to celebrate. It also isn’t the day of the legal adoption which was a very uneventful day in our lives six months later, as the hearing is done in a closed court case. We did have a court appearance where we met the Judge who presided over the case and met up with our social workers and this was our celebration day, a month later. Our day in August is just for us and as it normally lands on holidays we always have a special little treat. As it was 10 years this year, I had started to make some plans at the beginning of the year, options included afternoon tea at the Ritz or a trip to Harry Potter world but sadly these have all been put on hold temporarily. Perhaps 11 is the new 10 for celebrating!

This week it did feel like we all had all seasons in a week, we went from a wet, stormy day to a hot day on the beach bathed in sunshine. Here are some of the things we did this week.

We celebrated our famiversary ..

On the day of our 10th famiversary, we went to the beach. It was the place we took the children on their first weekend with us (I remember a cold, damp day) but this year with bright sunshine it was the best place to go. Our bay is normally calm and gentle, but on this visit, the waves were incredible and they were definitely the highest we’ve ever played in, the children loved it! After a morning at the beach, we then chilled for the remainder of the day before enjoying a takeaway of everyone’s choice, an Indian for tea. A simple day, perhaps not quite what we had imagined, but it was spent together as our little family and that is all that matters.

We helped to celebrate a big birthday ..

My lovely cousin celebrated a big birthday on the same day as our famiversary. She is a special person in our family and has always been so kind and caring to us all so we were keen to join her in her celebration at the weekend. It was a very well organised with guests coming at different times of the day and Covid secure. We joined her for morning coffee and cake at the local airfield, which was a great spot and kept the children interested as the adults chatted. We took a picnic on the day too and then went to a local beauty spot along a river to eat and play, making it a lovely, relaxed day.

We played games ..

Wednesday was a very wet and miserable day and we had a little mini games tournament. Little Man bankrupted me and Little Miss and thrashed Mr S. in Monopoly, he was so chuffed! We also played my favourite Qwirkl, but again I was beaten by one of my children, they’re good at strategy! I am competitve when we play so for them, success is all the sweeter.

We spent a lot of time the skate park.

Little Man has become obsessed with his scooter and tricks this holiday and we have spent a lot of time at the local skate park, this week we even did two trips in one day! He’s seen the poster for a ‘jam’ next week, organised by a local charity and is practising very hard. He’s now at the age, when we’re not willing to leave him at the skate park alone, but he wants others to think he’s independent. Our compromise is that I sit on the grass opposite the ramps and read or walk around the park where I can keep eyes on him at all times. Its a compromise which is working well so far.

We bought school shoes.

I dread buying school shoes any year but this year the thought of a busy town centre, queues, wearing masks was just too much, however I came up with a plan. Little Man’s new school is in a small town which has a small Clark’s shoe shop. I decided to use the trip to time the journey from home to school so booked an appointment in advance on the website for 9am. The plan worked perfectly and we were the only customers in at 9am and were out with the purchased shoes before 9.15am. The organisation in the shop was seamless and its a plan I’ll definitely use again.

And finally

For Little Man, next week is the final week of the school holidays, as he goes back a week before our daughter (same local authority) and the same week as me. We are all ready and even though its a new school, he seems genuinely excited by the return to school. There will be a few final treats next week, it seems that it is simply not just the end of the summer holidays but also the end of a strange period of our lives as we’ve been home together since March 20th. Its been hard at times, but I think I’ll remember this period with fondness for the time we got to be together.

This week has an outdoorsy theme, with superb weather, its been a good week to explore. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten outside so much as this year, if we’re not out with a picnic, we’re in the garden for lunch or dinner. Whilst its been a heatwave, we’ve avoided the beach as it is so busy here at present, even busier than a ‘normal’ high season. However I do get up early and run along the beach to get my ‘vitamin sea’ and a little peace. Here are some of our adventures from our week.

I learnt how to survive in the wild.

On Monday, Little Miss and Mr S went to see Grandad so Little Man and I had a day out together. It was another activity in the local council’s summer scheme (which I still know little about) and this time was about surviving in the wild. With the weather forecast, I was worried about surviving in the heat, but whilst it was warm, the clouds made it bearable and it was perfect conditions for the day, spent at a lovely outdoor centre. By the time we got home, the clouds had broken and we enjoyed an incredibly hot spell in the paddling pool too. During the day we learnt how to make a fire, some local history, orienteering and map reading and building dens. We were in very small bubbles to help make the day Covid safe and Little Man made a new friend, both were well into the day and it was good to see him so happy and involved. We were able to get into another activity day on Thursday and Little Man’s new friend was there too.

I walked and ran a lot of miles.

On Wednesday with the whole family back together we took the bikes out. Its only the children who have bikes so we took them to the local forestry and we walked, as they cycled ahead, looped us etc.. We ended up with a 6 mile round route which we had found online, it was a lovely route and perfect for the morning’s ride. Fortunately a lot of the ride was under the shade of the trees so we managed to keep cool’ish’ in the heat and it kept us all quiet and resting in the afternoon.

I’ve also upped my running mileage this week, with an extra run and extra miles. I signed up for a 500 miles in a year challenge and had thought that it was now unachievable due to losing a few months in lockdown when we were only allowed out once a day to exercise and I did this with the children in the form of walks. However when I started to calculate my miles for the year, I realised that with a few extra weekly miles to what I’m doing at present (4 runs) I could achieve the 500 and am now focused on this. I have a Fitbit and this week I did my highest weekly number of steps.

I heard a lot of thunder

On Thursday, Little Man did another summer course, Mr S took him to it, whilst Little Miss and I tagged along to visit the local town. The town has a beautiful river and park, so we planned a walk and a little potter. I was also keen to see where the parkrun course was so I can run it one day. Thursdays was one of those days where a big storm seemed to be brewing and our walk was one of those really eerie journeys, the heat was stifling, but the sky was pretty dark and we kept hearing deep rumbling thunder without the heavy rain. It was so strange that there wasn’t an end to the weather with a big storm, just the stuttering’s of a start.

I had my eyebrows shaped.

Of all things, eye brow shaping was one of the last services to be allowed to reopen in beauty salons and with the announcement on Friday that they could be done again, I was quickly on the phone for an appointment on day 1. I tried plucking and waxing during lockdown but nothing beats an expert doing it. Its one of those little things which just make me feel neat and tidy.

I laughed at Fortunately

I do love a good podcast and with doing lots of miles this week, I’ve been listening to lots. Fortunately was on top form this week and a description of a lockdown rucksack had me giggling. When the podcast finished it went straight to the latest I hadn’t listened to, which started with a description of a trip to Ikea. I was listening to it in quiet disbelief, it was only part way through that I realised that I was listening to a 2 year old episode and just showed how much our lives have changed in the past 6 months.

And finally

We are living in this strange limbo of lockdown, more and more is opening and life feels it is getting back to normal and then suddenly people returning from some European countries are put in quarantine for two weeks. Our decision to cancel our holiday is a relief and we are probably having our most healthy and fittest summer holiday ever. However, I do miss those lazy days on a sun lounger with a cocktail and a good book.