Month: September 2024

Five things this week ..

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Life is quietly ticking along and after some very difficult months, I am very grateful for the rhythm of daily life.

This gentle approach means this week’s 5 things are very homely. I’m really appreciating the little things in life bringing simple joy.

I have now been doing Wordle since the pandemic and it is the first thing I do when I wake up. It’s the perfect little mental challenge to start the day, I have also incorporated it into my daily tutorial with my class. After many hundreds of games, and I reckon I may even top 1000 games played, I have a strategy to my game and use the same two starter words daily, teach and pious. They have all the vowels and contain some good digraphs. Pious was the wordle a few months ago but last Sunday, teach always my first choice was the word and I got it in one! I was ecstatic, and many members of my class teams over the past few years also messaged me on the Sunday with their excitement at their success in Wordle. I had to screenshot my result and genuinely think it will make it to our photo book of the year, I was so amused and chuffed. Old habits die hard though and I am still using my two favourite starters although both have now been done. I need a new strategy!

I’ve been making the house cosy for autumn, there is a chill in the air in evenings so my blanket is out as I can’t put the heating on til October and will hopefully last out until half term. The knitted pumpkins are from our local craft shop and the wooden mushrooms from another local shop. I haven’t finished my display yet but it’s coming together, I just need to source a few other bits and pieces to bring it all together.

This year with Mr S still needing lots of rest and early nights post accident, I have been switching off the tv in the evenings and listening to music and reading (and a bit of scrolling) . My latest read, Faking Friends by Jane Fallon was a brilliant story, funny with a perfect twist of revenge. I’ve never been disappointed by a Jane Fallon novel, she is a very good writer and it’s always a treat to read her latest book.

I remain a huge fan of Vinted and after getting the sparkly Converse pumps I wanted for a very reasonable price these pink velvet Converses also popped up, a snip at £6 for pumps in mint condition. Vinted is becoming my go to now for clothes, and it’s benefitting me on so many levels, but especially for financial and environmental reasons.

It’s time to say goodbye to September, my new year and welcome October, the month of spookiness and birthdays.

Five things this week or so …

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So much of life is unwritten at present. I don’t feel this is the medium to write about the challenges of our children. However they are needing so much support at present and away from work I spend so much energy fighting a broken system, too many agencies talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. CAHMS has been the biggest disappointment of all the agencies involved in our case and I am very angry. Not angry for myself but for our child who has been so let down.

However this blog is for sparkles in daily life and somehow in all of this there have been lovely moments.

The ‘what if I fall’ poster was an image I posted to my child this week who has been taking baby steps to good health. It’s so hard to say the right words sometimes, too easily taken out of context or misunderstood but this quote from Erin Hanson said beautifully the words of encouragement and trust I wanted to share.

This week Saturday was a day full of nice things but also incredibly busy. My organisation skills were tip top and amazingly everything fell neatly into place. The day started at parkrun as most Saturdays do but this week I travelled to ‘big’ town so I could fit in an eye test too. My parkrun buddy joined me at the parkrun, where we both got our fastest times of the year and best age gradings in our groupings. Unsurprisingly it’s a pancake flat course as opposed to our v tough home course. It did feel nice to simply run and not have to worry about upcoming hills, just the 5 in our normal run! It is a beautiful course around a park and lake and the weather was gorgeous and it really started the day positively. One of the reasons for doing this parkrun is there is a sports centre on the edge of the park whom allow you to shower post run and with a busy day this was definitely needed.

I went to Boots for my eye test and I have been going here for my last 3 biannual tests. I am so impressed by the quality of the test and the clear information I have been given. Unlike other opticians I do not feel it is about sales but eye health. They picked up something on my first test with them for which I now have 6 monthly checkups at the eye hospital. As expected I needed a new prescription for my reading glasses and I quickly chose a pair and will have them shortly. I was given a QR code for feedback which I will do as great performance deserves recognition.

After a very busy day. I was home in time for the start of Strictly, my ultimate comfort tv with Bake Off which returns next week too (yay) I loved that they started with Earth Wind and Fires’s September. I knew the relevance and had listened to the song on my parkrun , what else would you be doing on September 21st? This is one of my favourite songs and in my make believe world where I appear on Desert Island Discs it’s definitely one of my eight choices. Such a happy, uplifting tune.

Hopefully I have a quiet week coming up, I would love an ordinary week, simply about work and family. Fingers crossed 🤞

The summer of 2024

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I don’t think I’ve ever gone as long without writing a post on my blog. This summer has been one of extremes, some joyful, blissful moments and other darker, awful times. My way of getting through everything has simply to focus on each day and recognise what I can and cannot control. I also find compartmentalising problems has helped too, I only have so much thinking space so try to focus on one thing at a time, whether it be work, family life etc.. Nothing is resolved at present, more appointments and consultations are needed before decisions are made. The stories are not mine to tell, I am simply trying to keep it all together.

Within all the chaos of our summer there have been some wonderful moments.

I took my son to his first ever festival at Bestival which also doubled up as my birthday treat. It was amazing, such a hot, sunny day and we loved the sets from Craig Charles, Sophie Ellis Bextor, the Smyths and the stunning Pete Tong and Jules Buckley orchestra playing Ibiza classics, a real delight. My son was so chuffed to meet a girl from school whom he really likes and they danced and held hands aloft to Pete Tong, a very happy boy. And of course there was glitter!

The week which followed was carnival and lots of fun. We headed out on Weds night to fireworks and the traditional bag of chips .

The week after Bestival we set off on our cruise. This was preceded by a very difficult week and we left for our holiday as a trio rather than the special family holiday we had planned. Our daughter chose not to come with us and we are indebted to my parents for coming to live in our home so we could go on holiday. The cruise was amazing and we’re already planning another next year. We travelled on the Arvia, such a gorgeous ship and I was so pleased not to have any motion sickness which I had been worried about. I had an inside cabin on a middle floor in the middle of the ship and I think this definitely helped counter the movement. I did have a few qualms about an inside cabin but I only slept or showered and dressed in the room and it was perfect. I also slept brilliantly. I actually think my preference is now for an inside cabin on future cruises. On our cruise we went to the Mediterranean. Our first port was La Coruna where my son and I went white water rafting which was epic and so much fun. This was followed by Valencia, a stunning city and a tour of the football stadium. We continued to Barcelona which was an excellent day. I did an organised Gaudi tour, visiting Park Güell and Sagrada Familia which was outstanding, whilst the boys were to a water park. In Marseille we visited the football stadium ( a bit of a theme here ..) and walked around the city spotting the Olympic signs. The sailing and football had taken place in the city during the Games and as it was the last day it felt appropriate to be looking out for the rings. I also impressed my son with my French, ordering in cafes, chatting to a taxi driver, navigating the metro etc.. I was just relieved to still have my language skills as a French graduate nearly 30 years ago! Our next stop was Alicante where my son and I did a day sea kayaking and a brief time on a SUP. The kayaking route took us in a group to a deserted beach for a swim in the beautiful warm, blue sea. In both the rafting and kayaking I was super impressed by my son’s skills. Our last port was Cádiz which was another beautiful city and so easy to walk around and just enjoy the sights, I loved the flower square and had a delicious fresh paella. Our days at sea were full of activities, you simply couldn’t do everything on offer. I loved the thermal spa and gym, the shows and sitting outside in the sunshine reading my book. Life is full of simple pleasures. The food was amazing too.

After the cruise we had a few days out to end the summer holidays. I went to a sculpture park I had heard so much about and it was as amazing as promised. We also headed to the air festival on another hot and sunny day, we didn’t have many of these during the 6 week holiday but luckily they fell on the days we needed great weather. On one of the less favourable weather days I took my son to his first 15 film at the cinema, Deadpool and Wolverine, it had a great soundtrack and lots of celebrity cameos. The football season has also begun and I did watch a cracking match which also coincided with the celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the club.

We are now back at school. I’ve a lovely little class and team so am looking forward to the school year. I’ve been at my new school for a couple of years now and finally feel a little more settled and established.

Hopefully the writing routine will be resumed now and I’m pleased to have a record of my summer.