Month: June 2024

Finally this week, summer arrived and it has been a beautiful week. There is no better soundtrack to the summer days than Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life which has been on repeat in my car this week. It is my ultimate summer album.

With summer comes summer fruits and our fruit bowls have been frequently refilled over the week, as who can pass a bowl of cherries or berries without dipping in? There is something special about the taste of juicy summer fruits, I try to only buy seasonally as the taste of strawberries in winter just isn’t the same.

Another sign of summer were the bees in our garden, I took a few minutes to simply watch them darting in and out of the flowers. Nature is wonderful when you take the time to pause and look.

Its been a monumental week for our daughter, she finished her GCSEs and therefore school and celebrated her 16th birthday. As her birthday fell on a weekday there was little we could do en famille. However, she and a friend spent the day on the beach and I picked her up on my way home from work. We stopped at the fish and chip shop for a chip supper enjoying it and a platter of mini cakes, macarons, chocolate covered strawberries before all settling down to watch the football as England played Denmark. Today, I have taken her shopping to spend her birthday money. It was a very successful trip and she has some lovely clothes for our holiday. I also picked up a couple of things and I am loving my new lemon dress, I think its perfect for our on shore visits around the Mediterranean. The countdown is really on now, my reports are written and I have more time to focus on our holiday.

I have kept lots of what is going on in my life private recently and again this has been a really tough week for our family. I keep focusing on good times ahead and that this too shall pass.

In all of the darkness I needed something to look forward to so on Monday night I bought tickets for my son and I to go to Camp Bestival for my birthday. My husband isn’t a fan of big music events and my daughter doesn’t know her shifts yet, however she’ll be welcome to come with us too if she’s free. I’m really looking forward to seeing Sophie Ellis Bextor and Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra. I love his Ibiza classics albums, it’s the perfect running soundtrack as well as reminding me of happy, carefree days and nights. We live close to the site so we have day tickets and we get to sleep in the comfort of our own beds. It’s also during the school holidays so we can have a late night and the luxury of a lie in too. I’m very excited!

This week marks the 6 month anniversary of Mr S accident and his medical ban for driving was lifted this week following a successful medical with his GP and authorisation from the DVLA. I cannot express how lovely it was to be a passenger in the car yesterday. I drive so much and to be able to sit back and relax was wonderful.

So far this summer the weather has been very mixed. One morning I left a little earlier than normal and had time to stop at the beach to take such a gorgeous picture of the early morning. Most of the week has been grey, cold and windy but strangely everyday has started and finished with a little sunshine.

As our cruise becomes more imminent, 50 days to go, I am trying to eat more healthier to be comfortable in myself. These cherries were delicious, so juicy and fresh and nectarines are also in season at the moment, I do find healthy eating so much easier in the summer with all the delicious summer fruits.

On Friday the Euros started and I love a football tournament especially in the early days when there’s 3 matches a day. My son and I have spent lots of time watching football this weekend and are eagerly awaiting the England match later tonight. My son is such a football fan and knows so much he makes an excellent companion. With the election and Euros soon to be followed by the Olympics this is going to be a great summer, now if someone could just sort the weather out we would all be very grateful.

As I write this I am again in another hospital waiting room, a different local hospital. In the last 6 months I have been to 7 different hospitals in the region supporting members of my family. I’m a little disappointed not to have found a Costa cafe in this one, my loyalty card is full of beans earnt in hospital Costas. We came here as we thought it was going to be quick and had prebooked an appointment for an X-ray yesterday evening after going to our local hospital with an injury. There was no reference for that appointment when we arrived here so are sat in a very busy A&E waiting room, having had to start all the process all over again. I’m trying to be calm but do feel a little annoyed with my husband. It would have been much quicker to pick my son up from his school and take him to a big hospital yesterday rather than the two smaller hospitals he’s been to over the past two days. One undoubted fact about my tour of hospitals is that our beloved nhs is so underfunded and I hope that the upcoming General Election will see a change in funding and policy to support our health service.

The General Election campaigning continues this week with some televised debates which were quite shouty and full of sound bites rather than proper discussion. The conservative campaign does seem to go from disaster to disaster, mostly self made. from the pouring rain announcement, to planted councillors in factories posing as workers, bizarre new policies (national service for 18 year olds, really!) to the biggest error in the PM leaving the Dday commemoration early, missing an event with world leaders, to record an interview. I do think it’s the disrespect shown at Dday which has disappointed many and will haunt the rest of the campaign and his legacy. Roll on July 4th.

I am trying to do a daily beach walk this summer and on Thursday D-day, I walked up to the war memorial to read the plaque to the American servicemen who had left our town for the battle. It was such a beautiful evening and by chance, as I arrived a lone piper was playing a lament. I did feel emotional looking out to the sea and imagining what happened 80 years ago. Later in the evening, I saw the beacon burning and again reflected on the sacrifices of my grandparents’ generation.

On Sunday’s walk I popped into an art gallery as part of an arts fortnight in our local area. I know one of the artists and was keen to see her new work. She is an amazingly talented textile artist and stitches maps of local areas. I would love to have an original but I think my budget is more of that of a print. I do want to buy one it’s just finding the best map for the spot I’ve chosen.

My final picture made me laugh on my walk, one of the ice cream stalls has new owners, Moody Cow ice creams and this is the sign on the hut. Definitely an image to have ready when I’m feeling tetchy.

It is unusual for us not to be on a family holiday at the May half term but being in the midst of GCSE exams, Mr S ongoing recovery and our big summer holiday, we decided not to book a May holiday this year. However thanks to our families living in the West Country we spent some days away from home giving us all a break.

Our break was very relaxed, we all felt a little poorly at some point but the only thing we did cancel due to all feeling a little rough was a shopping trip. My daughter wasn’t too upset, I think she’s already bookmarked most of the Shein website. It does make me shudder a little but my encouragement to have a look on Vinted has not succeeded so far.

On our first evening, we took a walk in Weston Super Mare to see the knife angel in the Italian Gardens. The angel is part of a charity project to educate against knife crime. It is an incredible sculpture, made from 100000 knives , many confiscated by police forces and some had been used in crimes. It is huge and really makes an impact, I felt very moved by it. The face is so expressive and sorrowful, showing the pain caused by knife crime. The sculpture spends a month in a different British town and is a hugely important project.

The big highlight of the week was watching the touring production of Hamilton at the Bristol Hippodrome with my mum and daughter. I don’t have the superlatives to express how unbelievably good this show is and all generations were equally wowed. The songs are great and of course I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on repeat ever since our visit. However the production is so much more than simply the songs, it is so clever in its choreography, movement, lighting, use of the stage, it was innovative and outstanding in every aspect and an absolute privilege to be part of the audience.

I do like to make special events like a show an occasion, so we dressed up and went out for cocktails before the show. I find that having a pre theatre meal can be a little fraught, always watching the clock so we had a delicious late lunch at home, giving us lots of time to sample the mocktails as none of us were drinking. The bar had a terrific range of mocktails, all beautifully presented. I had also done a personalised box of chocolates for the show, special events need treats! One unexpected pleasure was driving home on a warm, still night on the high of an amazing show and seeing the Bristol Suspension Bridge all lit up, sparkling in the dark sky, gorgeous.

I did buy my first bunch of peonies this week, sadly not for me but my mum as a thank you. It was a lovely bunch of flowers with lilac stocks too and I was super impressed how quickly they blossomed. For me at home it’s always tulips in the spring and peonies in the summer, bringing the sunshine inside.

Next week we begin the final half term of the year and my daughter’s final few GCSE exams before school is out forever. It’s an emotional time and one definitely showing the passing of time.