Month: April 2024

I know I have started the past two weeks’ entries in saying that the week has been challenging, but this last week has really been the worst of times. I read somewhere that when times are so bad that you can’t see the future to simply take one minute at a time and this is advice I have tried to follow this week. There have been moments of quiet counting and breathing.

Despite all that has happened, there always needs to be sparkles and somehow I’ve managed to find five from this past week. They may be small but have been so valuable and needed in my week.

Firstly it is now less than 100 days to our cruise, never will a holiday have been so needed and wanted. Holiday shopping on Vinted continues to go well, although its always difficult to buy for a sunny season when its been so cold and wet for months now.

To add some colour to the grey days I bought my regular bunch of £2.49 tulips from Aldi, a little bonus when doing the long journey to pick up my daughter from her boyfriend’s house, which has a lovely Aldi en route. I really rate Aldi’s flowers and am looking forward to the upcoming peony season. Fresh flowers always bring me joy.

Another way of adding colour to my day was the pink parkrun cap I picked up on Vinted. It is only available in Australia so when I saw a new one in original packaging, worked out the Australian price conversion and realised it was a great price, I bought it. I got lots of admiration for it on Saturday’s parkrun, I know I will get a lot of wear out of it.

Blossom is a new word game I have discovered online. This week I have spent a lot of time in the A&E department of a hospital over two different days. As both were sudden visits, I didn’t have anything to keep me amused on the long waits so discovered this game online. I love a word quiz and this is my style of games, just needing to compete against myself. I have now packed my Kindle into my handbag so if I am in a similar situation again, I have something to read. I also made sure I had drinks with us before we went the second time as its so hot in the department.

My fifth thing of the week was a suggestion from this week’s Happier podcast, on writing your autobiography in 24 sensations. I had listened to the podcast and then the hours at the hospital gave me time to think of some strong memories and the senses they invoked. I then spent about half an hour jotting it down in my notebook, a lovely little exercise to remember family and friends over the years.

Its been another hard week, when so much that has happened will go unsaid on this entry. My motto is simply ‘that this too will pass’ and life will become happier and healthier for us all. I have felt blessed by friends checking in this week, kind words help you feel less alone and overwhelmed.

As a consequence of a funny old week, there are some quite random things in my 5 thing list, starting with chewing gum. I’m not a big gum eater, simply because I don’t really like mint flavouring nor the mess gum can cause. However, I have discovered biodegradable watermelon gum and its a game changer, I have driven many miles this week, around 400, so a little burst of watermelon has been nice.

On my many journeys I have been listening to the radio and podcasts, Marian Keyes is promoting her new book and has appeared a few times in my listening. I love Marian Keyes her voice has been a tonic and she is so engaging, witty and wise. I particularly enjoyed her appearance on Dish, which is such an entertaining podcast.

On Saturday, I completed a parkrun challenge with a friend, to do all the parkruns in Dorset. That’s 9 different parkruns, over quite a large area. Again I’ve been working out the miles and it was about 440 miles of travelling to visit all the parkruns. It was unusual yesterday to go to a place simply for the parkrun, its taken me nearly 5 years to do this challenge and generally the parkrun has been part of a family day out. However as no no one else fancied the very early start of 7.15am it was me and my neighbour who headed off to Bridport. It was the perfect parkrun day, gorgeous sunny weather, super friendly park runners and team and just a great atmosphere. It seemed the right place to celebrate our achievement. Bridport is a fabulous little town, it was market day and the town was bustling in the spring sunshine, the surprise of a steel band playing in the square provided a beautiful spring soundtrack.

Despite the heavier traffic, we were home for lunch and it was the first al fresco lunch of the year. I am such a summer person and after another wet week, the sunshine was very welcome.

As I write this I have the London marathon playing in the background, one of my favourite Sunday afternoon tv events of the year. I’m in awe of the elites, but the stories of the ‘mass’ are always so emotional and I am in bits, I have so much respect for those who run a marathon. As much as I love my running, I do think a half marathon is my limit.

Apart from the usual clubs and activities, it’s looking quiet next week, after this week I really am hoping for an uneventful, even boring week..