Category: Simple Pleasures

 
My formative years for music were the 80s, so of all Bowie’s hits the ‘pop’ songs were those of my era and it was not until later in my teens I discovered his back catalogue via the CD pictured above, Changes.   Don’t judge me on the compilation greatest hits album I was a sixth form student so money was tight but I loved this CD.  It came with me to Uni, my year in France and in all my adult years. It’s one of those rare CDs I still play in the car, though I have now added a few of his albums to my iTunes account.  The soundtrack to my year in France is David Bowie and Lenny Kravitz on a CD Walkman. It was also in France where I met a lovely friend who was a huge Bowie fan and with whom much time was spent listening to his music and swooning over DB. She was the first person I  thought of  yesterday as the news was announced, she adored him.  I do believe Bowie was one of the cultural icons of the 20th century and listening to his music last night was moving, his talent was immeasurable.  Thank you David Bowie for the music, style, Labybrinth and all your wit, wisdom and fun.

 
I’m a little demob happy this afternoon as I started my two week half term today!  As a Special Needs school we appreciate that 7 weeks’ Summer holidays can be really tough for our students and their parents and carers so we shortened ours and added another week to half term.  I think this works really well for all parties and would like to see other schools do similar.  For my little ones, we’ve a lot to fit in to their one holiday week and a few extra days would be more relaxing.  It’s been a long tough half term for my children and in the holidays they need time to relax, have fun and be refreshed for an even busier half term.  I’m not sure one week is sufficient for this.

However for the present, I have a week of me time, well between the hours of 9 and 3!  I am going on a work conference on Tuesday but it’s on something I’m really interested in and have waited for ages to find the right course content.  I have chosen time in lieu so perhaps I can creatively use my day off later in the year.  The rest of the week is devoted to little jobs, creative projects and coffee and lunch with friends, real adult conversations in child free environments!   I sometimes think that when I meet with friends our chats are like machine gun fire, fast, short bursts of news before we get interrupted by a child.  I’m looking forward to relaxed and measured conversation!

I have always loved half term in October, we have lots of family birthdays and as a child it was always spent with grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins in Scotland.  It’s a holiday of Hallowe’en fun, crisp, bright walks, the novelty of dark nights and wearing hats and scarves but without the pressures and busyness of Christmas.  It’s one of my favourite holidays of the year and the two week break is perfect timing.  Vive les vacances!

Today, I have finally become the owner of an iPhone. Whilst this probably makes me sound like a real luddite, I should say I am very digital savvy and coordinate ICT at work so have the skills and knowledge.  However I do feel like I’m one of the last people on earth to have an iPhone, even my parents have them and my old phone gets me some disbelieving looks.

I think the reasons for not having an iPhone have been twofold, firstly financial, I did not feel I could justify the monthly price plan as for me the mobile phone had the simple functions of making and receiving calls and texting. And secondly, a reaction to the hype and power of the iPhone, I didn’t want to be overly attached to my phone, it is a device. Over the lifetime of my past contract, I have noticed how much more I have used the phone, it’s been my key means of using email and Twitter and perhaps most important as a camera. I love to take photos and a phone is so accessible, albeit with a few technical compromises. One of my main motivations for choosing the iPhone was the camera and the apps which are more accessible to work with the photos. I have taken a more expensive contract for the benefits of the iPhone and after just an afternoon of playing and personalising my phone I am blown away by its features and ease of use. I am accepting that a phone is simply not for calls and texts but my life hub. It was special today to make my first Face Time call to my dad so Little Man could sing him Happy Birthday and show him his blue tongue from the sweetie he was eating. I could highlight so many little details I am loving about the phone I really think it could simplify my life, of course I just need to stop getting distracted by its other features, it is a phone which will be in my bag rather than in my hands. However tonight, I am very excited and pleased with my new purchase!

This is me on a Thursday morning, it’s my time and something I cherish. I rarely have time on my own and often it’s the time I use to have a run. But I love having a list of things to do and organise and today I have that opportunity to do it. It’s a bright, autumnal morning outside and I feel invigorated by the school run, normally it’s a walk but the children have earnt a wheelie reward in golden time today so they rode on their scooters as I power walked / skipped / jogged along balancing school bags too! After the drop off I got to catch up with a few friends and met one’s gorgeous new born baby, scrumptious beyond words. When your day starts like that it can only be a good day.

I am now settled for my admin, I caught the last few songs of the local radio station’s golden hour and guessed correctly and now it’s time for Women’s Hour, I often catch up later so it’s nice to hear it live! I am definitely more a radio girl than daytime tv. My washing is in the machine and I have nice jobs today, the Autumn chill has triggered the necessity to buy some new Autumn clothes for the children and I need a few bits for me so it’s time for a bit of online shopping as I can’t get to ‘big town’ for a few weeks. I also need to order a few birthday cards and then go through this year’s photos to find a nice photo to send to the children’s birth family as its Letterbox contact time again. I am also planning on making a few plans for the coming months, there is a very special big birthday in our family, my Dad’s retirement and Christmas and I want to get as organised as possible. It’s me who adds the special touches to events, so I need to try and wow with some little sparkles.

So the necessities for my morning

1. My diary and pen
2. My notebook, full of mind maps of different events
3. Next and Boden catalogues
4. Toast and tea!
5. My Notebook, easy links to Pinterest, WordPress and my current favourite, Inside Out Thought bubbles game.  All which will happily distract me from my list today!

This for me is precious time and being organised and prepared makes me happy, my Thursday morning is one of simple pleasures.

Its holidays tomorrow and as I have written earlier, I love the planning and organisation of a trip. It’s me in my element. Everything is now ready for tomorrow, its simply the last minute things which need to be packed, my make-up bag, a drink etc.. and of course these are on a list stuck on my case.

This is my hand luggage for tomorrow. I love this bag, it’s a perfect size and I also can fit in a small handbag which holds my purse and phone. All the contents are carefully chosen to make the journey as smooth as possible.

1.  My Kindle.  As well as books, there are some games for the children on this with a few new ones for the journey as a surprise.  My favourite, Scrabble is on here too.  Mr S has some programmes and films downloaded onto his iPad so we just keep the Kindle for books and games.  By having the Kindle and iPad in our hand luggage, both children have access to a device for the journey.  This is the only time of the holiday when the children use the devices, holidays are not for screen time.
2. Activity Books and pencils.  These are a great size activity book and we have lovely, new pencils in the pencil case so lots of choice for colouring in.
3. Ipod.  We have our holiday playlist on the iPod ready for its first listen.  There’s been some great Summer hits so far in 2015, so Little Mix, LunchBox Lewis, Ellie Goulding and others are on this playlist.  With a nod to our Spanish destination, I’ve added a little Enrique but did resist the temptation to add Y Viva l’Espana.
4. Wet Wipes.  An essential for any trip for so many reasons.
5. Toiletries Bag.  Whilst we are restricted by security, this contains the essentials which we cannot survive without on holiday, inhalers and eczema cream, painkillers, travel sickness tablets, mini tube of sun cream etc..
6. Neals Yard Remedies Travel Roller.  I travel badly, so in addition to travel sickness tablets and ginger sweets, I also wear this aromatherapy blend to help. Car travel is my worse form of transport and thankfully it’s a short journey tomorrow to our local airport.
7. Books.  Little Miss and I have reading books ready to be enjoyed.  I always remember having new books for holidays.
8. Rainbow Notebook.  This is my planning book for my blog and life.  When I am relaxed, I get inspired so it’s nice to be able to jot down my ideas, draw a mind map etc.
9. A Camera.  It seems a bit old school now, but I have a digital camera in my bag.  I don’t want to always have a phone in my hand and I can do a few more things with the camera.  I love taking photos and catching special moments.
10. Playing Cards.  In Corfu, we enjoyed our evening card games so as well as a pack of playing cards I’ve added Uno for this holiday.  I loved Uno when I was younger, it’s addictive!
11. Hats and sunglasses.  As we’re arriving mid-afternoon, we’ve packed these essentials so we can start playing in the sun as soon as we arrive.
12. Charger for phone, Kindle and camera.
13. Little Dolly. Little Dolly and Little Man’s blanket are essentials to help them settle at night and give comfort and security.
14. Travel Documents.  These are a photocopy of all our travel documents and tickets, for those just in case moments.

This bag worked well on the last holiday and is similar to what I have taken before children, particularly for long haul flights, minus the toys. I find it difficult to relax by doing nothing and like a bag of tricks to keep me amused. For me, the most two important things in this list are the music and notepad as each one inspires my creativity.

Today has been one of those ordinary days brimming with special happy moments.  Its the little things that make life special and whilst I have no photos, I was too busy in the moment to capture images on my phone, I have lots of happy memories of today ….

1.  An early morning run in warm sunshine through the fields and woods looking out to the calm sea.

2.  A potter down town with Little Miss, our hands held tightly together and happy chatter as we walked.

3. Chatting with other customers in the busy bakery as we queued for our freshly baked bread.

4.  Signing up for a reading challenge in the library and choosing new books.

5. Admiring a new window display in the Art Gallery window and falling in love with a piece which thanks to my upcoming birthday will be a much loved and valued present.

6.  A lovely piece of post, the Shaun the Sheep trails sent through by my parents in anticipation of our visit in the Summer holidays.

7.  A delicious lunch, bread, cheese, hummus and crudites with fresh juicy peaches as dessert.  Sunshine food.

8.  An afternoon on the beach, playing and paddling and trying to find the different shells from a poster.  The Jazz festival was taking place in the field behind so we got to enjoy some beautiful music.

9.  Watching Little Miss watering and pottering around the garden, she is Mr S very keen and knowledgeable garden helper.

10. An England win in the first Ashes Test match, not just for the result but for the spirit, skill and team ethic.

11.  An email with photos of my friend’s very grown up son celebrating his 12th birthday, he’s such a lovely boy and a bit of a hero to my two.

Such happy moments today mean that I am feeling very content and blessed this evening relaxing with Mr S and watching the cricket highlights.  I do believe in the quote

“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realise they were the big things”

This week has been busy with the final rehearsals and performances of the Girl Guiding show which Little Miss has been involved with.  She has loved the show and has been singing and dancing around the house in preparation.  I was looking forward to the show but it affected me far more deeply than I imagined.  On Friday night, at the dress rehearsal I was helping as a chaperone so got to see and hear some of the show early.   When I saw some of the brownies and guides dressed up in the uniforms I used to wear the happy memories just flooded back and when I heard Brownie bells from the side of the stage, such a warm, happy feeling flooded through me. At the show on Saturday it really reaffirmed to me what a valuable organisation Girl Guides is and that it as just as relevant today as a century ago, as the programme notes said ..

When I saw the older guides on stage, I would be so proud if Little Miss could have their confidence, kindness, spirit and joie de vivre as a teenager.  The Guides instil the values, aspirations and opportunities that we all wish for our children.

As Little Miss will be moving up to Brownies soon,  this afternoon we looked at some of my old photos and I shared some of my memories of Brownies and Guides.  Its exciting to think of all the things she has to look forward to.

My certificate and Brownie Camp, Summer 1983

Postscript – June 8th 2015

So 30 years on from my last badge I received my latest guiding badge when I took Little Miss to Rainbows tonight for my help as a chaperone at the show.  I am so made up and delighted, I wish I still had my guide blanket to add my latest award.  I was more than happy to volunteer but to get a badge has made me ridiculously happy.

I have recently got a Fitbit charge and I love it!  It is very motivating and addictive and I am definitely looking for ways to add more steps into my routine.  As my recovery from my leg injury is slow and running is still unattainable its a good measure of fitness.  I have read that 10000 steps a day shows an active lifestyle and over 12500 a very active lifestyle so am aiming for 10000 as a minimum.  This week’s log shows a holiday week so I will be keen to see if I can maintain the steps: I am able to walk them easily but its the pressure of time during the school week which means I jump into the car.  My sister-in-law is my challenger, we were busy sharing our strategies at the weekend, although our husbands simply didn’t get the attraction of the device.  As well as the competition, I love the little badges, they appeal to the teacher in me!  The time, stunning weather led to a strong week, the challenge is to continue this performance!

The Summer of 2014 will long be remembered for the gorgeous, sunny weather and despite a lull in August that weather is continuing through September.  I thought last weekend may have been our last rays of sunshine but the brilliant weather has continued all week and today has been blessed with blue skies and bright sunshine.  Its regatta and marathon weekend so hopefully conditions will stay good for all those visiting for these sporting celebrations.

Today’s title refers to what I presume was some type of kite flying in the sky this afternoon.  It reminded me of the furry snakes you get on a stick but on a much bigger scale.  The photos don’t reflect the scale of the kite, it did look like two giant snake slithering in the sky.  It was also beautifully coloured and against the perfect blue sky was stunning.  I have done a quick search on Twitter and the web but have not found any reference to it, I am intrigued so will keep searching!

This weekend we have a visit from Grandad so all of us went to pick up the children at school, it was lovely to see the children’s excitement at spotting Grandad and running up to give him big cuddles and kisses.  Needless to say two little children were clutching his hands on the walk home.  With such a delightful afternoon, we spent it in the garden, playing on the swings and slide and lots of cricket practice.  Little man adores cricket and is happy to play for hours, bowling, batting and fielding.  He did hit some lovely shots tonight, although is very dramatic in his diving catches.  Mr S decided to spice things up by pouring water on the slide thus speeding up the journey down to squeals and excited cries.  Daddy is always fun Daddy in the garden and it invariably involves water, lots of it and very wet but happy children.  Today was no different and a great way to end the first school week of the year.

Last evening on his return home from work my lovely husband offered me a carrier bag and wished me a Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, given its 2 months since my birthday and 3 months until Christmas it was interesting timing!  Inside the bag was a new computer, although these days there is nothing as simple as a computer.  On the box its called a Transformer Book, a screen which separates from the keyboard to become a Tablet but a device which gives you flexibility to use it as a laptop too.  I was over whelmed by the gesture, I realised that even when I don’t think he’s listening to me, my husband does.  Over the past few months, I’ve had technical problems with our family laptop and my Kindle Fire meaning I’ve had to do lots on my Smartphone which isn’t always the easiest or effective solution.  I was coming to the conclusion that a new laptop was the only solution and was trying to work out how I could afford it, so for a perfect little model to arrive at home was fantastic. 

Whilst my family have always done presents and made a big fuss of birthdays and Christmas, my husband doesn’t show the same enthusiasm and preparation for such events.  At first I found this difficult but over the years I’ve grown accustomed to it, although this hasn’t stopped me doing celebrations for which he indulges my excitement.  I know that my husband is a very generous, kind and thoughtful man and though this isn’t always shown on birthdays, its the other 364 days of the year which count.  I would also hate him to think I was materialistic I would prefer nothing than something I didn’t need or want.  Its a compromise that we live with comfortably and which has afforded me special moments like the totally unexpected but much appreciated new computer yesterday.  Such gestures remind me how lucky I am to be married to a such a kind man, not for the gift but the thoughtfulness in recognising and addressing my need.