This week has been one of those in-between weeks, it’s not quite Christmas yet but it is tantalisingly close to festive celebrations.

The weather this week has been really grey, wet and miserable (but surprisingly warm at 14 degrees) so there has been lots of cosy nights in. It has also seen the start of the football World Cup in Qatar, so football is dominating the tv schedules. I do love my football but have such an uneasy feeling about this world cup, Qatar’s appalling human rights records are overshadowing the tournament and we are missing the buzz and excitement of a summer world cup. I didn’t watch the first England game which they won 6-2 as I was at work, and whilst some of my pupils had chosen to watch it, I took the others out for our normal shopping trip, with the bonus of a quiet supermarket. I did watch the goalless draw against the USA on Friday night which sadly wasn’t the most entertaining of games, and all eyes are now on the England Wales match on Tuesday. As well as the football, I’ve been busy reading every evening. I have really enjoyed The Girls who Disappeared. A thriller is not my normal genre of choice, but it was Kindle daily deal and as the blurb looked interesting, I took a chance. It is an excellent read and once started I couldn’t put it down. I appreciated the ending too which neatly tied up all the loose ends properly.

Despite the weather, there are times when you do need to get outside, so on Saturday morning, my daughter and I were off to volunteer at parkrun. I had a beautiful marshalling spot, sheltered from the wind with a view of the sea and woods, whilst my daughter who was giving out tokens was in a more exposed spot and definitely felt the cold more. After the parkrun, we met the boys and headed to a local village for a bracing walk. There is something mesmerising about watching the waves crash on onto the cliffs and there were caves to explore too. There was an ultra-marathon on the route we were walking, and those runners had my full respect, it was really muddy, and the hills were tough to ascend even with the help of a walking stick. Later in the afternoon, my son and I were back in our home town and saw the runners coming in to finish along the beach.

Fortunately, today has been a lazy Sunday, there were a few household jobs to do, bathrooms, washing the car, a trip to the dump etc… Once the chores had been done, my son and I practiced icing a cake, ready for Christmas and then we all settled to watch the first Christmas film of the year, No Sleep ’til Christmas. Our day finished with a proper roast with all the trimmings a perfect way to finish the day.