I’m writing for a couple of weeks as I’ve been fighting a cough and cold for much of the past two weeks and not too much has happened. It’s been that sort of illness where I’ve been in work everyday but have needed quiet evenings and early nights, and have definitely been powered by Lemsip. Fortunately, it has finally lifted now and I’m feeling so much better and full of energy, as we skip towards spring. Below are some of the highlights of the past few weeks.

1. Pancake day. Whilst I love pancakes it is something that I really struggle to make (honestly I pride itself myself on my cooking skills and I love to cook, but pancakes are for some reason my Achilles heal.) After last year’s disastrous attempts, both at work and home, I delegated chef duties this year. My son has proven to be a very skilled pancake chef so that’s his job going forward and one of my TAs helped make amazing pancakes too. With the successful cooking I had a lovely Shrove Tuesday and everyone enjoyed tasty pancakes, phew 😮‍💨
2. World Book day. Sometimes in the school calendar, timings are poor and this year having pancake day and World Book day on the same week was hard work, with lots of excited children! At my school, we all dress up and our class team had chosen The Wizard of Oz. My team excelled again in their costumes and we always make the children costumes too, so no child is left out and we show how creative we can be with the resources available. I was the Tim man and purchased a sequin dress and silver leggings from leggings from Vinted. The dress (£2) is gorgeous and such a beautiful fit, although purchased as fancy dress it needs to be promoted to my fancy clothes, it’s amazing what you can get on Vinted. The very sparkling silver leggings were spot on but they definitely are going in the fancy dress pile! I also bought silver face and body paint which really set the outfit off, along with my oil can and filter hat which I spray painted at home. I do enjoy making the effort to make the occasion special and of course we’re already thinking of book costumes for next year.
3. Football stadiums. My son and husband are enjoying visiting new away grounds with their team. Last week they went to the new Spurs stadium and sent me lots of photos of their day out. It was a very early start as I needed to drop them off in ‘big town’ for 7.15 so that was a 6.30am departure. Over dinner the next night they told me of a funny story involving some lads in front. By coincidence the next day at school one of our TAs was telling me the exact same story, a quick look at the photos the boys had sent me through and there he was in the photos only 3 rows in front. It’s a small world!
4. I was looking forward to my day home alone whilst the boys were in London, but the combination of jobs and the ongoing cold meant that it wasn’t quite as restful as it should have been. I did pop into the gym on the way home for a workout and then went upstairs for a leisurely coffee and Sunday papers. It’s so rare to read the Sunday papers, they’re often not in cafes and the glossy sections are always a treat to read. At home, after popping into the supermarket for a healthy lunch and lots of flowers, I tackled my son’s new (used) cadet uniform which needed some repairs. It’s been a while since I got the sewing machine out but it did inspire me to some more projects. I’ve lots of squares so need to think how to work with them.
5. This weekend I’ve been at my parents with my daughter. Of course Saturday morning meant parkrun and I went to a new venue at Burnham. I’ve now done a big chunk of the M5 west corridor. I’ve been to the park before, I met up with a friend who lives there in Covid times when we could only meet outside. The park is lovely with a big lake to run around, the course then left the park and went to the seafront. I got my best time of the year so a successful run for my 150th parkrun and two more venues to go to become an ‘official’ tourist on the 5k app challenges.
6. Whilst I did my parkrun alone, my daughter was up and ready for our day out when I returned. We first went for a coffee and wander around Weston super Mare, I love the street art as you walk around town, it’s a feature and offers surprising views. We then went to have our nails done. This is my daughter’s favourite thing to have done and we had done our research on our phones the night before, saving our favourite designs. I learnt that this is a thing to do and that I needed to show my favourite to the nail technician. We went to a really good salon where it was brilliantly organised and fast! Unusually for me, as I’m a gel polish kind of girl, I decided, following advice from my daughter, to have some acrylics. I think the only ever time I’ve had them before was for my wedding which was over 20 years ago. I can’t stop looking at them, I am impressed and love that my hands look pretty. ‘Do pretty’ was one of my #25for25 so I feel I’m achieving this. I think I could be a convert but will reserve judgement until I’ve worn them for a few weeks and seen how well they last and adapt to my daily life. My daughter due to her college placement had a French polish acrylic set, she loves long nails but was willing to try the short nails to stay in the dress code.

As I write this we’ve had a lovely bright weekend, let’s hope this continues and that this is spring and all the light, warmth and colour it brings.