Month: June 2022

Well I am so grateful for a quiet weekend as this week has been mad. My highlights today (apart from parkrun) were a walk along the quay and riverside of a local town and an ice cream and then buying a bunch of peonies at the market, some of life’s simple pleasures. At around this time of year I get the perfect storm of family celebrations, end of term treats at school and clubs and the humdrum of everyday life. It can be a little overwhelming and this week I did something I have never done in my 27 years of owning a car, I forgot my MOT. Fortunately I realised this on its due date, but phoning around I discovered there was no chance of getting a MOT for around 10 days in our town, so had to reorganise my week so I could go to the ‘big’ town after work and get it done at Halfords. It was a nervy drive over as I wasn’t sure where I stood on my insurance but I got over safely and I was very impressed by Halfords, I was in and out within the hour with a pass and no recommendations. Fortunately, I don’t use my car much during my working week and walk to work so not having a car made no real difference to my day.

Last Sunday was Fathers day and another family celebration, so we went to see the new Jurassic Park film. I have to admit the franchise is not really my style and I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, but those who chose it enjoyed it and I had a comfy seat for a few hours. We came home to cakes and bakes needed for the week ahead so it was busy Sunday night.

Unusually for me, I found myself out on both Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday was for a drink on a seafront bar, the bar was on the seafront and the view was soothing and beautiful. On Tuesday, my daughter and I went to see a production at the local theatre funded through a Platinum Jubilee grant called Swim. Sea swimming has become a huge thing in our community and there are big numbers of mainly women who pop into the sea everyday of the year (not me, I run by and wave) The production was brilliant, so empowering and joyful. The production started in the theatre with a presentation of what wild swimming meant to the swimmers and there were some lovely and very thoughtful comments. Then the audience went outside where around 50 women did some choreography on the beach and in the sea, accompanied by the best summer songs, bright and gorgeous costumes and props and a huge crowd clapping and singing, it was so uplifting.

Wednesday evening was my emergency MOT so I found myself walking in the sunshine whilst I waited, listening to the latest edition of the running podcast, With Me Now, featuring a profile of my home parkrun. It was a brilliant episode and totally caught the spirit of our parkrun. I did parkrun this morning (before a quick dash to an opticians appointment) and achieved a rare groundhog day where you do exactly the same time on the same course in consecutive weeks. I never run to a watch so had not planned to do this but am chuffed to have done so!

On Thursday, I popped over to my new school to hand in some documentation and sign some forms. I am so excited about my new job and can’t wait to start, its definitely the right time for a new start professionally. At the school, there are a number of people I have worked with before, SEN is a small world, so it will be nice to see friendly faces come September. I have a new notepad and already have ideas …

I’ve not watched much tv this week, but I have been reading just before bed. The book A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning-Wroe may not appear to have the most appealing plotline, Aberfan tragedy, an embalmer as the protagonist but it is a lovely read and one I am finding every spare moment to read.

Again its an entry for a little longer than a week but lots has been happening. Hopefully normal service will return soonish, although for our family the next 6 weeks is full of all the celebrations and special occasions.

Firstly my big news is that after nearly 18 years at my school, I have resigned, having secured a new job for September. I’ll be working again with my work bestie / job share partner of the past 12 years and I am so excited for my new role. Its a big change, but the right one at the right time. On the work front, I’ve been working really hard on some transitions for our older students and I felt humbled to receive some lovely thank you cards and gifts this week after successful placements were secured.

We had a really busy weekend last week. On Saturday, we had an away cricket game a long distance away, a 6am start on a Saturday for us all was a little tough! However it was a lovely, friendly club and the weather perfect so all was good. On the way back we stopped halfway for lunch, unbeknown to us it was the town’s folk festival and there was a fantastic atmosphere with huge crowds of people. It really felt quite joyful, a reminder of life pre pandemic. On Sunday it was another early start so my daughter and I could go shopping in Southampton, it has the best shops for a style conscious teenager. We had a very successful trip, a delicious lunch al fresco, lots of fun trying on clothes and a lovely potter along the nice make up and perfume counters in John Lewis. I also was able to buy gifts for lots of events coming up so am feeling pretty organised.

The weekdays passed without any particular notable events. I am listening to the audio book, This Is Not a Pity Memoir and thoroughly recommend it. We also finished the series The Staircase again based on a true story. There were parts I really enjoyed but felt only indifference to the protagonist. A much better watch was the new series All I know about Love, based on the book by Dolly Alderton which I really rated.

Today, I was due to go to be cricket mum again, but the match was cancelled last night as the opposition couldn’t raise a team. I was delighted that this freed me up to go to my local parkrun which was being visited and profiled by the podcast I listen to weekly. Having listened to everyone of the 206 episodes it was great to say hello to the presenter and I’m looking forward to hearing his thoughts on our parkrun next week. I also met a VI guide who is doing a ten parkrun challenge, he was so interesting and was interviewed by the local radio for broadcast next Tuesday so I’ll try and catch it on our local radio station. You meet the loveliest people at parkrun. This afternoon, I’ve been down town with the children, its rowing regatta so another busy event which creates a lovely buzz in the town.

One of the more random experiences of the week was getting papped, as a large group of people have been gathering outside our house for a few nights. It was quite intimidating on the first night and we went out to ask why there was a crowd outside our house with long lenses. It turns out that there wasrare bird in our garden and that was the object of their visit.

Tomorrow we’re off to see the new Jurassic park film as requested by the children. After a week of heatwaves and sunshine, the weather forecast is poor so it seems a good idea. Its also Father’s day so a nice way to do something together.

This was such a well needed holiday for us all after a few tough weeks. You could feel the stress just dissolve as we drove off and the sound of laughter filled the car. We were fortunate that the journey wasn’t too far, around a 2.5 hour drive so we arrived at lunchtime and went to one of the village’s local pubs for lunch before checking in, such a nice and relaxed way to start the week.

Our caravan was amazing, we think we had been upgraded as since we booked the company have rebranded the caravan categories and I think we sneaked into the higher band. It was a real luxury caravan and the perfect base. One of my simple pleasures on a caravan holiday is sitting on the decking with a book and drink in the sunshine and I managed this daily on holiday. The caravan was in Pagham, West Sussex, a charming, quintessential English village, with Bognor and Chichester both close by. We visited Bognor to go to the cinema to see Top Gun, Maverick and Chichester to wander around the town and have lunch. I love an early morning run on holiday and loved exploring the village and neighbouring nature reserve. I think running is one of the best ways to get to know you local environment.

The campsite had lots of activities to enjoy, we all went swimming at least once a day, the children normally twice. I still am really appreciating being able to swim in a pool after the lockdowns, when I swim, I always feel its something I should do more of. There were pools both inside and out and with the good weather we were able to enjoy both. The children also enjoyed the Go Karts and playgrounds where we were able to give them a little more freedom. They also continue to enjoy their £1 treat money for the minimart. During the week, the boys did target shooting and the girls went to an art session where we painted some gnomes, they were great sessions. We went to bingo on a couple of occasions too, classic holiday fun.

We were all keen to see the new Top Gun movie so we booked tickets and went to the cinema in Bognor and it did not disappoint, it was spectacular. I’m so pleased we got to see it in a cinema first as the big screen experience really made it, the amazing air scenes, the sound and the general buzz of the audience in the cinema. The cinema continues to be a magical place.

Whilst we had been to Bognor previously as we have stayed at Butlins, we had never been to Chichester and what a lovely little city it is. We started the day with a trip to the local trampoline centre which the children loved. We did a two hour session and for the first hour they shared it with only two other children, they all got individual help from the staff and lots of go’s on all the different features. After the session, we headed into the town centre, Chichester which was beautiful. It had some gorgeous decorations for the jubilee, the photo above does not do justice to the display in the florists as it was stunning. I also enjoyed walking around the town, from the beautiful gardens of the cathedral to the side streets and spotting the street art. We stopped for lunch in Chichester at Bill’s and it was one of the best lunches out I’ve had, buzzing atmosphere, stylish and funky decor and an outstanding menu. I had what was essentially a Greek salad, but it was so fresh with a few twists on the traditional recipe and was one of the most delicious salads I’ve had. My daughter felt similar about her salad, grilled halloumi, hummus, flatbreads etc.. whilst my son couldn’t believe he was allowed bacon, pancakes and maple syrup for lunch!

This was such a lovely, relaxing holiday full of simple pleasures just what was needed for all the family. We have another week booked at the same site in August as part of our two week holiday and look forward to returning for more happy, family times.