Category: Little Sparkles

There has been a real autumnal feel to this week, the colours, chill and events of the season are evident everywhere. We spent a lovely Sunday at the local nature reserve, walking through the woods among the crispy fallen leaves and looking out for deer and  today I’ve been to the children’s harvest festival hearing all the old harvest favourites with a few new songs added to the mix too. With my new phone there are few photos for this week’s post, lots are still on my old phone. However there should be enough to give a feel of the week.

READ

As well as the blogs I follow, the only reading I have done this week is my magazine, The Simple Things. I really like this magazine with its focus on seasonality and simplicity and quality writing and illustrations, its refreshing not to wade through pages of glossy designer clothes sections, tacky free gifts etc..

LISTENED

I very proudly listened to the children singing at their harvest festival. Little Man sang a number song about acorns and squirrels and Little Miss performed a rock and roll harvest, complete with sunglasses and hand jiving! The older children spoke about poverty in this country and their statistics were shocking, 20% of the school’s population could be affected by poverty. The food collection this year was for our local food bank, a sad indication of the state of our nation and the growing disparity between rich and poor.

Little Miss has also started guitar lessons and has been diligently practising so I have heard the tune Falling leaves many time s this week.

I have also listened to a beautiful song I wasn’t Expecting that by Jamie Lawson.  Its a real tear jerker of a song, with a heart breaking story running through it.  (Post script, I’ve just seen this video for the first time, so original and if possible even sadder than the song!)

WATCHED

I saw the final of the Great British Bake Off and loved that the winner was Nadiya, she was sassy, bright and extremely talented. Whilst I haven’t watched every episode this series, 8pm is a bit early to settle down and watch tv, I have been following it on Twitter and in the papers. It is such a quintessential British programme and a delight to watch. I also though Nadiya’s words following her win were brilliant.

On Saturday afternoon, whilst Mr S was painting the hallway, I cuddled up on the sofa with the children to watch the Book of Life, this film was fantastic, a great story with wonderful animations.

    

I have also watched the Jenny Maizel tutorial for her first module of #Sketchbookclub, a project on houses. It was very informative and inspiring and I have started the project, so far I have done the pencil drawing and am currently doing all the detailing with a fine liner pen. Next is the painting which I’m a little nervous about but I am loving doing something artistic, normally I’m a crafter so drawing is a new skill to develop.

MADE

Lots more home cooking this week, an autumn vegetable crumble, mushroom stroganoff, a variety of soups and a chestnut and vegetable pie. I love chestnuts but seem to use them simply in Christmas meals so it was a real treat to have them in this week’s shopping. I also made a lovely rich bread and butter pudding with left overs. My new meal planning and fortnightly shopping is having a really positive effect on our meals and cost.

WORE

The coats, hats and scarves have started to emerge this week. I’m very grateful for hats, I’m trying to keep off the hair dye until my next appointment to improve the condition of my hair but its getting very grey now. Part of me is liberated by not having the monthly hairdresser appointments to hide my roots and is tempted to reveal the real me the other part is feeling quite old and frumpy with the colour, its 12 days until my next appointment when hopefully we’ll be trying a more natural dye, the dilemma is to go light or back to my natural brown.

And lastly

I have had an odd week this week as my bank card was cloned and tried to be used fraudulently. My bank HSBC have been excellent, they noticed odd activity, contacted me and sorted it efficiently. They had declined all the fraudulent payments from my account so the only inconvenience was not having a bank card for two days. Since the incident, I have been busy updating security on my computer, but the bank don’t know how the card was cloned. I had a couple of odd experiences at the end of last week in a shop and at a cashpoint, so perhaps it happened here. However it is all sorted but was a cautionary tale of how easily fraud could have happened. One of the first apps on my iPhone was my bank app to keep a careful check on my account.

It’s been a nice and easy week, routines flowing smoothly and everyone where they should be at the right time. Magic! I’ve had a little potter in the big town and it’s been unseasonably sunny and warm all week, simple things make me happy.  Sunday saw a family trip out to a local museum which was excellent and with a fantastic gift shop, I really enjoyed the day.

READ 

I was quite relieved to read the Virgin London Marathon commiserations email this week. I only ever want to do one marathon and London is the dream. However as it will be my only marathon I want it to be the best experience ever. My running at the moment is purely recreational, three times a week with no real plans in place and if I had got a place I would have needed to devote everything to it. I’m not sure that in the next 6 months I would be able to do that, I would have if I had got a place but perhaps it’s time to get into the best possible shape and break the 2 hour half marathon before the ultimate challenge.

I also read and re read the Letterbox contact letters I wrote to the children’s birth family. Its an annual job but it doesn’t get any easier  trying to find the right tone and words.

LISTENED

Little Miss lost her first tooth this week and listening to her excitedly reading aloud her letter from the tooth fairy was priceless. The letter went to school and was read out to Grandma on the phone too. Little Miss’ reaction to the tooth fairy visit was just perfect.

I also listened to Stevie Wonder’s Songs on the Key of Life. It’s the perfect Summer album so on my journey to big town with the sun streaming through the window I played it at full blast, what a stunning album.

WATCHED

Strictly Come Dancing is my absolute favourite television programme and nothing makes me happier on television; the costumes, make up, dancing and atmosphere are perfect viewing. I was so excited for its return and it didn’t disappoint. My early favourites are Jay, Anita, Katie, Peter and Ainsley. I also caught up on the iPlayer with SCD It Takes Two, the perfect fanzine. I was particularly interested in the costume segment as I thought they were stunning.

MADE

Amazingly, I made risotto for the first time ever this week. I enjoy cooking and make a lot of rice dishes but have never made risotto. I’ve no idea why I’ve never tried it before, I think I was worried it was a little complicated but it was simple to make and delicious.

I also made a retirement card for my Dad. He retired on Wednesday after more than 50 years working, which is simply amazing. He has always had such a strong work ethic that it’ll be strange to see him pottering around at home. We phoned him on his last morning at work, the children said they would be looking forward to him being there to play with them when they come to visit, I’m looking forward to that too.

WORE

Whilst its not so much wearing I did try on lots of clothes on my shopping trip, the beauty of a child free trip gave me the time to experiment and put together different pieces. I’m trying to develop my look, it needs to be casual and fit in with my life style. I wear jeans for work but at other times am not really a trousers girl, my legs are a bit short so I tend to stick with skirts, tunics and dresses with leggings or thick tights. I ended up with a new White Stuff skirt and v neck black jumper to be paired with the obligatory leggings. I also bought a cute pair of Converse pumps, I love my winter boots but it’s nice to have something a little lighter too. I find it difficult to find a comfortable and flattering flat leather shoe so I’m hoping the pumps will be a winner.

I’ve also worn new make-up, buying a new foundation and lip stick from Benefit on the ‘big town’ shopping trip. I had booked a treatment at the Benefit salon and am well impressed by my eye brows.

It feels that this week has been sponsored by Bach Rescue Remedy but it definitely wasn’t designed to be! I was reminded of the quote this week that life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. I had organised my diary for the week and although I had added a few extras such as play dates to our routine as I had no big plans for my non work days it seemed a workable and sanity saving plan. That was until, we received notice at work of a mock Ofsted inspection by our School’s Improvement Partner and my free time fizzled away into a list of admin to do. This is what I hate about my job, the inspections and pressure on providing data to prove our strengths. I work with special needs students, success to us is not GCSE grades, its helping a child to communicate, supporting them to develop basic personal care, giving them the skills to stay safe and function in the adult world. What I love about my job is the work we do and the positive difference we can make. How can I put into figures the amazing work we do? It is sadly a necessity in this results driven culture and I spent my time not on the content of the lessons but on figures, graphs, predictions etc.. This is wrong, demoralising and irrelevant. Judge us by the passion and spark you see in the classroom, look at our curriculum, our extracurricular opportunities not figures and graphs. Of course, despite the extra work, I was not observed on the morning I was teaching during the 2 day inspection, too much time is spent analysing data and not in the classroom. We will receive feedback next week and I will reserve judgement until then…

Away from the additional stress from work, this week has been full of some lovely little sparkles all bathed in some periods of warm sunshine which helps to make us all a little happier.

READ

I really enjoyed the Saturday Times LFW edition of their magazine last Saturday. I got to sit in the sunshine watching the children play in the garden and read it in relative peace. There were two articles which were brilliant, interviews with the designer, Diana Von Furstenberg and the Vogue photographer, Grace Coddington both strong, determined and talented professionals. Both made comments I could really relate to, the first from DVF that she always knew the type of woman she wanted to be and the way she explains it is not the job she wanted to do, but the characteristics, attitude, lifestyle she wanted to have. Coddington argued about the danger of being attached to one’s phone and missing life, so true.

LISTENED

I do love Woman’s Hour but thought it was a standout programme on Thursday. A piece on fashion with Jane Shepherdson appealed it was not about high end fashion but on sustainable fashion. I loved the can you wear it 30 times rule? There was also an interview with JoJo Moyes on the sequel to Me Before You, which was a brilliant book and I’m looking forward to reading After You. There was also an informative piece on Nell Gwynne and then a brilliant cooking piece with Lorraine Pascal. Her enthusiasm was infectious and she made me smile trying to answer questions whilst nibbling on the mixture. Today’s episode was one where you would just love to join the women for lunch!

WATCHED

I watched the children have lots of fun in the late season sunshine. We returned to the Aquarium on Sunday, as when we went earlier in the summer we were given free return tickets for September. It was another great day out. The animals were quite animated, probably enjoying the sunshine too and we had lots of fun on the rides too. There is a great water flume there and we went on it lots of times, we shrieked a lot and got soaked but as we dried quickly in the sun, it was all in good humour.

There’s been lots of play in the garden too, the children are great at creating new games. Little Man’s play date was on a bright and warm afternoon so they played happily in the garden which creates less mess than indoors!

MADE

Our food shopping and menus have been frustrating me for a while. We have tended to do one big monthly shop complemented by weekly fresh pickups as needed. Mr S is often in charge of the food shop and I dislike the weighting of convenience foods to fresh ingredients. So, I have made a plan for fortnightly shops and have planned menus so we know what we are having and shop accordingly. This has been working well, Mr S has conceded that he is preferring our meals and the fresh food, I enjoy cooking and I think in the long term it will be more cost effective. This week’s menu has included a pie, stir fry, curry, omelette and casserole and herby dumplings all made from scratch. I have also been looking at the children’s tea choices, they have a hot meal at school but as the cold evenings draw in, I am looking at more soups, toasted snacks etc.. the challenge is to fit the food in around their busy schedules.

I also made my first Christmas order this week and wrote my first Christmas lists detailing presents bought and ideas.   I like being this organised it helps me enjoy Christmas and all the preparation.

WORE

Shorts and sunglasses, thanks to the sunshine. It’s a lovely feeling being able to wear my shorts so late in the year. Part of the culture of living at the seaside is that our clothing reflects our coastal lives and sunshine is beach time and appropriate clothes, eg shorts! I’m not sure if I wore shorts in an urban town that it would be so acceptable. I love my shorts and flip flops so am happy to extend summer as long as possible.

Next week the diary is looking organised and manageable and I’m hoping for a trip to ‘big’ town for some much needed shopping. I am also hoping to start the Sketchbook course created by Jennie Maizels , I’ve downloaded my first module on houses and am very inspired.

It’s been a good week this week. Working my normal hours with no overtime definitely makes me a more relaxed and happier Mum and wife, I’ve had my hair done, watched a film one afternoon, waited in for the gasman and spent a day pottering and organising.

READ

I finished Life After You, it was readable but not a book I would readily recommend. I have also started to read a Vintage clothing book which is well illustrated and interesting and providing some much needed inspiration. I tried to do a Next order this afternoon but nothing excited or inspired me in the catalogue, everything looked so dull and ordinary that I left the site without making a purchase.

WATCHED

I watched the British film Pride on one of my free afternoons and it was brilliant, one of the best films I have seen in ages. The true story of the lesbian and gay community and a welsh mining village set during the miners strike, stunning.

LISTENED

Lots in this category this week, some good runs with a blast of Miss Swift as my accompaniment, some excellent episodes of guest editors on Women’s Hour and some excellent political analysis of Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader.

I am delighted with the result, he has the opportunity to redefine not only Labour but party politics and whilst I don’t think he will ever be PM, sadly the press will ensure that, I think he could heavily influence the art and culture of politics in the coming years. Good luck to Corbyn, British politics needs a politician like him, I think we are all bored of the bland, anonymous politicians whom seem to blend into one regardless of party.

The last listen is jingle bells, last weekend was one of my favourite weekends of the year, Folk festival. It’s one of these odd weekends which always seems to be hot and sunny and there’s a fantastic atmosphere in town with hundreds of folk groups dancing and playing music. However as most folkies wear bells on their shoes, sticks and as part of their costumes there is always an echo of jingle bells around town this weekend.

MADE

A joint make this week from Little Man and I, his first homework of the year was to make a jointed puppet. It was a lovely activity and he talked about all the different parts of the body and added the heart and brain.

I have also made progress on a computer game, Inside Out’s Thought Bubbles. Normally I am indifferent to computer games, Tetris, Snakes etc.. all passed me by but this game which Little Miss chose for her tablet is addictive. It has taken me days and lots and lots of games to pass my nemesis of Level 23 but I’m zooming up the levels again. It’s a great distraction.

WORE

After over a year of trying to grow my hair longer and very little progress I took some professional advice and have chosen a shorter style. My hair has also been over coloured and is damaged so I have made the very difficult and challenging decision to leave off colour for another 6 weeks. I am now wearing a shorter hairstyle with a few silver highlights, it does make me self-conscious and a little uncomfortable, I am just hoping that its worth it over time!

This week saw a wet and miserable bank holiday, my return to school, the start of the children’s new school year and Mr S on holiday to help us with childcare and to join me in settling the children in their new classrooms. Mr S also came up with the inspired idea to go to the dogs on Tuesday night which was a superb way to end the holidays.

READ

With the start of the academic year, my reading this week has been work related, latest government guidelines, curriculum changes, new strategies, newsletters from education organisations, textbooks for a TA course I’m developing, research for my lesson planning. I do love my job so this is not as arduous as it may seem.

The only other thing I read was the programme for the greyhound meet.  I read the form and tips, but I do tend to choose my dogs by their name!

WATCHED

On Tuesday night, following Mr S’ suggestion, we went to the greyhounds for a meal and to watch the races to celebrate the end of the holiday, it was a brilliant idea to finish on a high. I only allowed the children to go as they would have a day to recover before school on Thursday, however I was out on a school night, what a rebel! The children loved the experience and it was great fun. Little Miss made some great predictions and after giving me her dog’s name or colour, I placed a £1 bet on each race for her, these bets won £23 and she was so excited watching her dogs win. So, she didn’t get taken by the betting bug, the winnings were shared between us all. Little Man was not so lucky, even with a namesake dog in one race, but he still managed to predict the winner from one race so left happy. This holiday has been full of new activities, the children are now at an age where they are able to do lots more with us and this has given lots of new experiences for the Summer.

LISTENED

Again, not much to report this week, no new music and I’ve not had much opportunity to listen to the radio. On Bank Holiday Monday when I was cleaning the kitchen cupboards ( what a rock’n’roll life I lead) I did listen to some of the Beatles / Elvis countdown on the radio, the Beatles did write some beautiful songs and it was a nice soundtrack to my job.

As a B side, this was not played on the show I listened to but it is one of my favourite Beatles tracks and I’ll take any excuse to show it.

MADE

Our produce in the garden is ripening now and this week I’ve been cooking with home grown ingredients. Our tomatoes have been used to enhance a ratatouille, in an omelette and Little Miss’ basil has added flavour too. We also made a caramel apple crumble using the fruit from our tree. I love using our home grown produce and I’m looking for new recipes to try to use our glut of tomatoes and apples.

WORE

With all the home cooking, I have been wearing my daisy pinny which I love for its colours and big pocket on the front. I’ve also worn a coconut face mask, my little treat today. After dropping off the children at school, I went for a run and then came back and had a warm bubble bath in peace with lots of little pampering treats.

Whilst we are back in the school routine now, September is a great month for local events and we’re looking forward to this weekend for a huge county show. It means an early start to avoid all the traffic but its worth it for the brilliant day out. The Summer holidays may be over but there are always opportunities to add a few sparkles to the days.

We’ve had a lovely week for the last full week of the holidays, a play date on Monday and then a road trip to Grandma and Granfer’s new house in Weston Super Mare. I have happy memories of Weston from childhood, we would often go there on a Sunday evening for a walk on the pier and hot doughnuts, so it’s nice to know that the children will get similar memories now that their grandparents are living there. They have already had their first walk down the pier and nibble of hot doughnuts! Now Mum and Dad are in Weston, they are much closer to a very old friend so we met up with her and her gorgeous boys on Thursday morning for a great time at a fort playground and water play area in the SUN!! When you add in the Shaun the sheep trail to our week too, it’s been a great week.

READ

Despite all the busyness, I did read a book this week. Early in the week it was pretty wet again so we all settled down to some reading one afternoon and then I couldn’t put the book down! It was finished in the same day and I’m not sure if I uttered more than a word to Mr S that evening. I learnt about the book #BossGirl from a review on a blog I read and I would definitely second the recommendation. It’s the autobiography of Sophia Amorusa who created a business empire in 10 years after dropping out of school. It’s brilliant and whilst I am very happy in my job and have no desire to have my own business, the themes of being creative, working hard and trusting yourself are universal to any work place. It’s a good read just before the new school year and has made me excited to be returning to work and a job I love.

HEARD

Little Miss is getting to an age where she enjoys pop music so for our long journey I downloaded Taylor Swift’s 1989. There is nothing I love more than a journey with a brilliant soundtrack to sing along too and Taylor Swift’s album does this perfectly.

WATCHED

This is not so much a watched but saw category this week. As well as looking for Shaun the Sheep, for which I have a separate blog entry, we also saw a stunning Whale model exhibited as part of a green campaign in Bristol. The waves in this image are made from discarded plastic drinks bottles and the campaign asks people to recycle and reuse their plastic drinks bottle. It’s a very effective strategy.

I also saw queues of people queuing for DismalLand, a Banksy exhibition in Weston Super Mare. Whilst it may be a parody, I’m not taken by the concept, a little too dark, bitter and sinister, we all need a little sparkle in our lives. I prefer Banksy’s witty, pertinent and effective wall art. Whilst he tries to remain anonymous, a gritty urban guerrilla, there are strong rumours Banksy is a white, middle class, privately educated man which does kind of ruin the image he tries to give.

MADE

More crafting this week as our play date took place on a very wet morning so I made hairbands with the girls. As you can see from the image, mine was customised as part of Colin the Caveman’s costume.

I’ve also made a couple of fresh soups, the weather has called for comfort food and I have red pepper and tomato soup simmering on the hob, ready for lunch. As the fridge has been playing up again, I’ve had to make a tropical rice pudding to use up the milk, it does smell rather lovely. The engineer has just finished another visit so I hope that it’s all fixed now.

WORE

At the beginning of the week, I finally gave up on my Cagoule which has served me well for years and bought a new rain coat. It’s from Joules and is lovely, the hood fits nicely and the jersey lining is cosy, best of all it’s definitely waterproof as I have put it through its paces this week. Thankfully we’ve had a bit of sunshine now so I’m hoping I can hang it up for a few weeks, how odd to buy something you hope you don’t need to wear!

This has been the final full week of the holiday. It’s Bank Holiday Monday next week and then I’m back to school on Inset on Tuesday and the children on Thursday. Mr S is spending the final days of the holidays with the children, he does like to do things with them so I’m sure he’ll have lots of plans of fun things to do. I’m still on a high from our fab week but can’t help but think it’ll be a little sad when the holidays finish on Monday, I love being with my family. Fortunately we have a nice few things coming up in September to look forward to and half term will be here before long.

So its our first week back after the holidays and I’ve been pottering around at home, unpacking, doing the holiday washing and trying to keep Little Miss and Little Man amused in the yucky weather, really what has happened to our Summer this year? I’m writing this waiting for an engineer to arrive, minutes before our big food shop was delivered on Wednesday, I realised that our newish fridge freezer was not working. Fortunately we have a spare freezer and some lovely neighbours who are storing the fresh food in their fridge, however it has made food preparation a little more awkward. Its a little inconvenience, friends’ circumstances this week have been really sad and my broken fridge freezer is laughingly pathetic in the bigger picture of life.

READ

This is a shocking confession but I really couldn’t get into Summertime despite trying hard, so I simply skim read to discover the murderer and read the last bit to find out what happened to the characters. Sadly, I remain unimpressed by the book.  I think I’m still pining for Ove and no other book will compare for a while.

I haven’t started any new books this week but have caught up on a lot of blog posts. There is a recurring theme of wellbeing and the need for simplicity in blogger’s lives, I think the holiday season has us all reflecting and trying to make positive changes.

WATCHED

On a wet Wednesday afternoon, we went to big town to watch the Disney / Pixar film Inside Out. By going to big town it made the day last a little longer, essential in miserable weather and then we popped into the big superstore next door for a bit of school stationery.

I was looking forward to the film and it didn’t disappoint, it is extremely well done in the way in which it explains emotions and how they work. I was particularly taken by their explanation that we need to experience a range of emotions and that you need sadness to allow you joy. Little Miss and Little Man did talk about it after they finished and told me the different lands thy have in their heads, Little Miss has Family Land, Friend Land, Horse Land and Gymnastic Land. Little Man has a Star Wars Land and Minion Land!! I think this film will be a timely reminder of our emotions when we are having testing times!

HEARD

Not much in this category this week, no additions to my IPod playlists and no stand out programmes on the radio. The best thing I have listened to this week is the children being imaginative on our walk to see Kim, the Antony Gormley sculpture, creating stories about the character and his life.

MADE

With my cupboards (but not fridge!) replenished its been lovely to be creative in the kitchen this week and to make an effort with our meals, that’s the beauty of the school holidays, I have the time to enjoy preparing the food, sometimes on my own or sometimes with the help of Little Miss and Little Man who still find it a novelty to help. Our holiday has given me lots of inspiration and we have enjoyed some really tasty meals. I’m looking forward to tonight’s homemade curry, the spices smell lovely and I do like coconut milk in a recipe. In addition to the main meals, which included a very special family meal for our 5^th anniversary we have made flapjacks and minion cakes. Baking is another useful activity on wet, miserable days.

WORE

There is a definite theme this week and after spending the last week in swimming costumes and shorts, its been a bit of a shock to have to layer my outfits with leggings and cardigans to counter the cold, wet weather. I’m hoping its temporary blip and that next week we’ll have Summer back, we’ll be doing the Shaun the Sheep trail and it would be nice to do it in dry weather.

This week it’s the Spanish version of Little Sparkles as we have spent the week at Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava. Its been a week full of family sparkles, holidays are the best for playing, laughing and making memories as a family. These are just a few of our sparkles and I  hope to write a post on the holiday itself soon.

READ

I finished A Man called Ove and it is an excellent read. I think I have my own Ove in my life, Mr S who ‘dances on the inside.’   This is a really delightful book and just reminds us how much experiences and tragedies can shape us. It is a tear jerker and I did have to dive into the pool to hide a few tears as I finished the book on my sun lounger.

I have also started Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye, it’s a good, solid read but not quite in the same league as Ove and The Harry Quebert Affair books that I’ve read from the book club this year.

WATCHED

This holiday we have shared our evenings with walks around Lloret de Mar and the entertainment at the hotel. The two stand out shows were dance shows, one showcasing flamenco dancing and the other a mix of salsa and acrobatics. I love the art of dancing, as someone as uncoordinated and clumsy as me I am just full of admiration of the dancers.

I have also been doing my favourite hobby of people watching. Holidays are remarkable experiences and it does make you realise all the good there is, our hotel really was full of happy families and everyone mixed brilliantly, regardless of nationality.

LISTENED

This is the song of the holidays, it was played in the daily Aquafit sessions, which were a sight to behold, the pool full (including the whole Sparkles family) dancing to Europop hits and it was also played at the end of the night’s entertainments. Its Euro cheesy pop at its best and I love it!

MADE

No makes this week as were fully inclusive in the hotel so I only had to decide what to eat, not what to make, the bliss of a holiday! I did use my time to make some plans. I like to have time to sit and think what my priorities will be for the coming months. I had a health scare shortly before the holidays which did frighten me and has made me think about my health, so some of my planning has focused on my health, not just diet but physical, spiritual and emotional well being too. I am always busy, fitting in as much as I can at work, at home and I have realised that I need a little time for me. As well as making plans, we also made new friends this week, I’ve never had holiday romances but friendships we have made on previous holidays have lasted for years and still continue to do so.

WORE

Its been a week of swimming costumes and cover ups. This year I have developed my collection of swimsuits. I have always been practical and stuck to Speedo costumes, buying for sport rather than sunbathing but I have bought two new costumes this year which are a little more structured and styled. They are so comfortable and I am rather taken by them, even when swimming they have not been too revealing. They have also brought a little colour into my swimming wardrobe! Sadly, I’m not sure how much more outdoor wear they’ll get now, but its been nice to wear them.

This week it’s been all about preparing for next week’s holiday to Spain, though not so easy with two children at home looking to be amused and entertained. The weather’s not been on our side either, this really has been a grey, dreary and wet summer holiday. However there have been some highlights this week, Saturday night en famille at the carnival was great and the sun came out for drinks at the quay on Thursday night with friends, a child free evening out.

READ

A Man called Ove by Frederick Backman

This is a beautiful read, it is so soothing and gentle to read, and you just want to read more of the book and simply wrap yourself in its warmth. I think all of us know an Ove and the delight in this story is discovering how he became the man he is and his developing relationships which begin at the start of the story. I haven’t finished yet but am thoroughly enjoying the book.

WATCHED

The Ashes 4^th Test on Sky Sports

I had a few things planned for Thursday morning so we did our jobs in town early so I could be back at home to listen to the cricket at 11am whilst doing a few chores. The cricket was unbelievable, the wickets were falling so quickly I needed to sit down and watch the history being played out. Little Man joined me too, alerted by my whoops of delight and we watched the best 90 minutes of cricket I have ever known. Later in the afternoon, Little Man and I played cricket, he was England and I was Australia.

On Saturday night, we also went into town to watch the fireworks and just potter around the carnival attractions, live music, fairground rides, the carnival bar and a chip supper. It was a lovely evening with a great atmosphere.

LISTENED

In addition to the cricket, which was simply outstanding, I listened to a couple of downloads this week. The first was a TED lecture presented by Linda Cliatt-Wayman on school leadership and the second was Desert Island Discs with Ruth Rogers of River Café fame. Both were excellent listens, I was humbled and inspired by the first and the second was a remarkable life story and the importance of seasonal food and simple dishes.

MADE

With the weather, there have been lots more craft activities. We have made a plant pot and flowers from felt and have been creative with pompoms. Little Miss recently got a pompom kit as a gift. When I was little we cut circles from cereal packets but this kit has a plastic magnetic, semi-circle prop to help wind the wool around. I was quite keen to see it work as I had seen a photo from the new Boden Christmas catalogue and liked their pompom hanging decorations, I think I may adapt it for our decorations this year.

I also had the sewing machine out this week and both children had a go sewing scraps once I had mended Little Man’s blanket. It is his most treasured possession and one of the few things he had when he came to live with us, it gives him so much security and comfort. However, it had a hole from wear and tear and needed repaired before it got worse.  As I got the sewing machine out I feel that this counts as a bit of a make to me!

I have also been creative in the kitchen as we try to use up all the ingredients in the kitchen before the holiday. I have been pleasantly surprised by our menu, the warm lentil salad was delicious and the gently spiced couscous was a nice alternative to potatoes.

WORE

The sun was out on Thursday evening, so I wore my favourite cherry red shorts with a sleeveless, floaty cream top for al fresco drinks. We were down on the quay, busy with holiday makers and coupled with the warm, sun filled evening it made it feel a little more special.

We are now ready for our holiday and are looking forward to some special family time in the next week.  I don’t switch my devices on during our holiday, some times need to be digital free and then I can look forward to logging back on.  I’m sure I’ll write a few posts or jot down a few ideas, my pad and pencil always come with me, I love the inspiration of a blank page and pretty pens.

We’re getting into the swing of the Summer holidays now and with the much improved weather, much of our time is being spent outside, especially with the sandy beach so close to home. Its been a busy week with carnival and I’ve celebrated my birthday too. With so much going on, I may try to update our bucket list in a new post, we’ve ticked more off this week and had lots of fun.

READ

This week I read an absolutely stunning book, Hope in a Shoe by Michaela dePrince. It is the harrowing and inspirational autobiography of the ballerina Michaela dePrince and her traumatic early life in Sierra Leone, her adoption by an American couple and her commitment and hard work to becoming a professional ballerina. It is an incredible story, both heartbreaking and inspiring and it is difficult to read in parts, Michaela witnessed unspeakable horrors and for much of the first part of the story, tears streamed down my face. This is a must read story, I finished it in less than a day and I would love to see Michaela in a ballet, a real story of triumph over adversity.

HEARD

As I’m running more, I’ve updated my play lists again and added some music from my Uni days. I found some digital recordings of one of my favourite bands of the time Pele on iTunes so they have been added to my iPod, I’ve been running with a little skip as I remember happy times.

Inspired by last week’s ballet, I also downloaded some ballet scores and have been listening to them in the evening.

I also heard a beautiful song on the Radio 2 breakfast show’s golden oldie segment today, The Special Years by Val Doonican. At the time, little Miss and I were getting breakfast ready and the words were so poignant

” From little girl to wife

And in between are the special years

You remember all of your life

The special years are filled

With sweet promises and pain

But love will never taste

Quite so wonderful again

So slow up, don’t rush to grow up

You’ll be a woman before long

So stay awhile in the special years “

And no I can’t believe it either that Val Doonican is my listening of the week!

WATCHED

 

 

Well with carnival there’s a lot to watch, as part of the carnival festivities I’ve watched It’s a Knockout, Titan the Robot, two nights of fireworks, a dog show, an acrobatic air display and the parade,  In carnival week, you need your programme to plan your time carefully.

Amazingly amongst all this I finally watched the film Jersey Boys which has been on my Sky + box for a while.  I love a good sound track and this film has a cracking play list.   Whilst I liked the film I imagine that I would like the musical far better, I think it would have more energy and vibe

MADE

With a busy week, I haven’t spent much time either in the house or kitchen this week. I made some peach tarts to use up some pastry and peaches on Sunday and then my other notable make is a salad so I could try my birthday gift of a food processor to slice the ingredients.  I am delighted by my present, it was very much my choice and although Mr S did hesitate to buy me something so practical I convinced him I really did want it.

WORE

After a few weeks of warmer clothes it was back to shorts and tee shirts this week, yippee.  I’m also wearing my new Essie nail varnish, another birthday gift, this time from my Father-in-Law.  He is always exceptionally kind and generous to me but asks me to choose my own gift.  I chose some new Essie nail varnishes and Benefit make up.