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Life lately 2026 4/52. The week with the floods

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Sometimes the big things in your week are the ones you could never have expected. This time last week I was fed up with the rain but never imagined the chaos it would cause. I went to bed on Monday night aware that there was a storm due called Storm Chandra. As it was during the night and I’m a good sleeper I didn’t really give it a second thought and set off on Tuesday morning to my early gym session, near my workplace, at 6.10am. The roads were fine until I got to a local village where cones were being put up to close the road as it was impassable there and further down the road too. Whilst only feeling inconvenienced at this time, I turned around and headed towards the only other way out of our town on the ferry. At this point I was trying to decide if I would have time for the gym or it would be straight to work. When I got to the ferry it was closed due to dangerously high waves. After a quick chat with my husband who confirmed that there were problems everywhere and there was no way to work at present I returned home having given up on the gym session and had a shower and got ready for work. By this time, my son had already been given the day off as his taxi driver couldn’t get through. Whilst the flooding was my side of the county I knew that many of my students would be in school and I had a few urgent tasks to do so really wanted to get in. I followed social media and found that the ferry was due to restart soon after the worst of the high tide and I was able to take it to work, albeit a little later than my usual start time. The crossing was so rough and I felt very queasy when I got to work.

The rest of the week has been checking weather and social media to get to and from work safely. My son had another day off on Friday as the council cancelled all transport on Thursday in anticipation of more bad weather. However it didn’t come to fruition so most secondary students and staff got a bonus day off in the sunshine. I work in a different council who didn’t cancel transport and all schools were open.

The weather also provided an extra layer of stress for Saturday plans with a high high tide at the time we would be leaving to get over to the other sound of the county for football and parkrun plans. Amazingly the predicted rain stayed away to the afternoon which meant that all the things went smoothly. Phew …

My husband and son were off to Moulineux to see the football. I went to Uni in Wolverhampton so during the week I had looked for old photos especially those of our leavers ball which was held at the stadium to show them. It was a real trip down memory lane and some nice reminiscences of happy times. A family friend made my gorgeous ball gown which I still have safely stored away, although sadly I’ve never had the opportunity to wear such a beautiful dress again. I loved the pearls which I borrowed from my mum, despite it being 1995 I still think the classic look would work today.

I dropped the boys at the football stadium to get the coach and my parkrun buddy, who had joined us in the car, and I went to the new parkrun to regain our Dor’set’ at Highcliffe. It was a wonderful course, a wild beauty, along the beach, with the path being a mix of sand, stones and pebbles and tarmac and a cheeky small hill leading from the lower to upper paths. The views are stunning and the photos don’t show the true beauty of the area. After the parkrun we had a lovely breakfast and made it back home just before lunchtime.

With the focus on hibernating at home, we’ve added a few nice things this week to our food shop and the strawberry and clotted cream hot cross buns were divine. I wasn’t sure of the flavour but they really are incredible. I’m sure we’ll try other variations too before Easter but strawberry and clotted cream is the flavour I never knew I needed!

Life lately 2026 3/52 A near perfect Saturday afternoon

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And so it continues, the dark, dreary, wet days of January are becoming somewhat tedious now. I feel like I’m in my hibernation era and am really looking forward to spring days.

With the exception of Saturday I haven’t been out and about much this week save for work and my twice weekly gym visits. In this weather I’m grateful to be able to stay warm and cosy cuddled up on the sofa in the evenings, surprisingly not watching The Traitors, the nation’s current obsession, I’m more a music than tv person. I have used as much time as I could listening to the audiobook of The Housemaid. My daughter recommended the film but it’s not showing at the local cinemas so I decided to listen to it on my commutes. As soon as I had started it, I needed to check my Good Reads record as the tone and style seemed very familiar and yes it was the same author as The Teacher a book I had read a few months ago. This familiarity made me more aware of the style and possibly meant that I had a good inkling where the story was going. It was a strong story and I was hooked but I’m not sure I’ll read any more of McFadden’s work for a while to make it more fresh.

January’s weather has been dismal and on Saturday morning I found myself volunteering pre parkrun in a biting wind and according to my weather app, the wind chill meant it felt like -6 degrees. It was so cold. 🥶 The photo doesn’t show how many layers I had on thermal running top, t shirt, teddy hoodie, woolly hat and my Beast of the East coat designed for exceptionally low temperatures. I don’t often wear the coat as it is so heavy but was very much needed. After volunteering I then ran the 5k. The conditions were rough and whilst the waves were mesmerising to watch en route, it was a parkrun to simply tick off.

Fortunately the day really improved, albeit the weather didn’t and the only imperfection of my Saturday afternoon was getting caught in wicked rain when I came out of the cinema. Rain where I had to peel my clothes off when I got home.

My plans for Saturday afternoon were changed on Friday and rather than another session on the sofa, I chanced upon that Hamnet was the Saturday matinee at the cinema in the next town. As the boys were at football and it definitely wasn’t their type of film I booked a single ticket and went along to watch the film. It was excellent, historical period dramas are not really my genre of choice but this was so much more. A story of love and grief. I had tears trickling down my face at the end and as the credits rolled you could hear the quiet sobbing all around the sold out cinema. I love this cinema it is proper old fashioned with red velvet seats and curtains and the cinema has many original fittings. An afternoon matinee seems a real throw back to olden times and it gives a real sense of nostalgia and warmth.

I went over a little earlier to the cinema and as the weather was cold and miserable I managed to get a parking space in the nearby village and was able to pop into some of their lovely little shops. The National Trust shop had some beautiful locally produced items and I also found the book Painting Calm. It’s a beautiful book and although I flicked through it and put it down there was something about it which pulled me back and I treated myself. I’ve been looking through it today and am looking forward to some of the projects. After parking in the neighbouring town I had half hour free and pottered around some of the charity shops and a pre loved shop which is a hidden gem. I found a beautiful tan Radley bag in here at a good price. It was exactly what I’ve been looking for so an unexpected bonus to my trip.

The afternoon finished perfectly with the boys’ team winning with an injury time winner. They sent great footage of the end and came back very happy.

Life lately 49/52 Champagne Memories

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This week was one in which I was really out of sorts. There was lots in the diary so I knew I would be busy both at home and work, however normally I thrive on this busyness. This week I couldn’t sleep properly and my body ached so much that I had to take painkillers most days, which is most unlike me. As the week ends and I’ve had a day to relax I am feeling more me but it’s been a hard week.

The week started with a new month, December. I had such a lovely and unexpected treat from my friend who had bought me a tea advent calendar, I am taking half an hour each evening to sit and enjoy my tea, a perfect bit of self care. The advent calendars I bought have been a hit too, Candy Kittens for my daughter, Cadburys’ Heroes for my son and although my husband insisted he didn’t want one he’s happily munching through his Milky Bar calendar.

Tuesday was a wild day, both weather wise and for the amount of planning required to be everywhere at the correct time on a ridiculously packed day. I did skip my gym session as being out of home from 6am to midnight seemed too daunting. It was an important day at work but that went smoothly and then I had to pick up my son ready to go to football for a midweek home game against Everton. Unfortunately we lost, I’m not a good charm this year as they’ve lost both games I’ve seen. Fortunately Mr S was back on football duty this Saturday and it was a draw against a strong team. I do like the evening out with my son, relaxed chatting, Premier league football and football banter. He was excited to watch the World cup draw on Friday and plan his summer. It was an awful spectacle but at least we have the dates and times. Personally I’m relieved there are no England games on our daughter’s 18th birthday celebration weekend as that would have needed some careful negotiation with our football mad son.

As usual, I’ve been busy listening to my audiobook on my commute and finished my 40th book of the year Some Bright Nowhere. The plot sounds sad and depressing, as a woman lives through the final months of her terminal cancer diagnosis, yet it is anything but and makes you consider a ‘good’ death and the power of love and kindness in all relationships. It’s such a good book and the inevitable ending is handled beautifully.

I needed a homely day on Saturday and after a dry and breezy parkrun I settled down to present wrapping and a Christmas film, Champagne Problems. I loved this film, France looked so beautiful and magical, there’s lots of spoken French and it’s a lovely little story. Fun fact is that I spent a year living in the Champagne region of France when I was 20 and as a result, whilst I am nearly tee total I do enjoy a little sip of champagne. The film brought back many happy memories and inspired me to search out my old photo albums to reminisce. I look so happy and carefree in the photos from the year in France and yes there are plenty of photos with friends visiting the different Champagne houses and enjoying a glass of champagne. Most of the photos are in black and white, I must have been going through an arty phase. For balance, I should add there are quite a few Malibu bottles featured in our photos from weekends in Paris too! I deliberately chose a language degree as I knew it would make me spend time abroad and it was one of my best life decisions. Back to the film, Champagne Problems was a delight and definitely one to rewatch on future Christmases. Although I loved it, it still doesn’t replace A Muppet Christmas Carol as my favourite Christmas film, the perfect Christmas tale.

Life lately weeks 36&37/52

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I feel that these words from Murphy’s Sketches (an excellent Instagram account) sum up the past few weeks, some days you are eeking out the last days of summer and other days you’re cuddling under the blanket watching Bake Off! It seems that you simply don’t know what day you’re going to get!

These past weeks have all been about new beginnings which have gone smoothly and so much better than we could have hoped for. It was good to actually live the life we have been anticipating and preparing for over the summer. Our son had the biggest changes with a new college, new class mates and even a new football club. He has taken it all in his stride and is appreciating the more adult environment. He also coped remarkably well when a tree branch crashed onto the taxi he was travelling in. Fortunately neither him or the driver were injured and when you see the images it’s unbelievable they both walked away unharmed.

We have tried to keep things simple at home over the past few weeks to ease ourselves into autumn. The first weekend was the traditional end of season folk festival in our town. I always like this weekend it has that special feel and with gorgeous weather it was a lovely event. I, of course, perused the craft tent and picked up some locally designed Christmas cards. They are lovely and the scenes make it easy to pick for friends. We also ended up in the pub to watch the international football, the match was a bit dull but the bar snacks were a good distraction!

The start of the school year sees both new and familiar routines. I love my Tuesday evenings watching Bake Off. My Monday nights are hectic with mum taxi duties til late so Tuesdays on the sofa always seems a little luxury. I don’t watch much tv but Bake Off and Strictly are my favourites and my tv viewing hours definitely increases in the autumn. I have also watched a 3 part series on a special school on BBC. As a SEN teacher it gave a great insight into our sector and I felt honestly reflected life in a special school, they are magical, safe places.

As it’s back to the daily commute, and it seems a route now peppered with different roadworks, I am enjoying my podcasts and audiobooks on my journeys, they keep me sane. I have listened to the Names and it is an exceptional book. I was savouring every moment to listen to it. It’s a great story about the life of a young boy according to the name he was given with 3 different versions, a sliding doors plot line. The ending is excellent but I really appreciated the attention to detail, the author’s notes on the meanings of the names of all characters, the art and culture references etc.. it’s a well researched and very clever book.

We have planned for a quiet September so we’re enjoying simply being in the season. Work and college keep us busy and the football season is in full swing, both watching our local team and for our son to play in his new team. He was at a tournament yesterday and had a great debut, he was so happy. Sometimes it’s good to simply pause and appreciate the moment.

La dolce vita, Summer 2025

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This summer has been a very special one. It’s been a summer of sunshine and heatwaves and lots of adventures. One which we will look back on and remember fondly forever.

Summer 2025 was

  • Our ‘dolce vita’ with visits to some beautiful, historic Italian cities, Rome, Genoa, Pisa and Florence.
  • The elegance and charm of Cannes, observed from La Grande Roue.
  • The Nou camp in Barcelona, a magnet for all football fans.
  • The picturesque port of Palma, simply stunning in the sunshine.
  • Fun, football and family times in Liverpool, what a fantastic city.
  • Cars, stunning grounds and sculptures at Beaulieu.
  • Bristol, the Gromit trail, girlie shopping and mooching.

We celebrated birthdays and anniversaries

  • SUP boarding and a Thai birthday meal.
  • Barbecue and birthday platters.
  • A beach hut day and fish and chips.
  • A Roman meal and a visit to the Trevi fountain and Spanish steps, places with lovely memories of our wedding.

We had adventures

  • Segways around old Genoa
  • Zip wire across the ship

We travelled by

  • Planes, ships and boats, underground, bus, coach, taxi, trains and car.
  • I ran lots, parkruns, home and away, a 5k Lighthouse loop race, half marathon training.

At home, we

  • Grew salad and vegetables, with a bumper yield of potatoes
  • Declutterred and tidied (I like being organised)
  • Admired our booming garden.
  • Got dressed up for prom and celebrated at the leaving assembly.
  • Packed away school books and memory books and said good bye to school for our children.

Our summer was really special, a transition from childhood to young adulthood in the most gorgeous sunshine and warmth with new adventures and experiences. Thank you summer 25, you rocked.

A catch up on weeks 20,21 & 22/2025

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The last three weeks have been busy so it’s a quick resume of life lately. As a family it was the end of the football season and straight into summer sports. My husband’s sport is a summer one so it definitely is ‘if it’s not on the calendar it’s not happening’ as we try to coordinate diaries with fixtures.

For my son, he’s enjoying the build up to finishing his school and going to a new SEN sixth form college. He had a residential to Center parks just before half term so the weekend before we had a shopping trip and hair cut to ensure he was prepped and looking good. The shopping list now includes powder and sea salt spray for the hair. He had a great residential although the house was very quiet. However, I didn’t quite get the benefit of child free evenings as my class were on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition on the same dates and I stayed to help with the evening activities. I didn’t camp as with the high level of medical need, I really needed to be on top form during the day and thus needed a good night’s sleep. I had a very impressive step count for this week with two days walking in expedition. Our route included some of the half marathon course I’m doing in October so it was a good recce and of course we eagerly spotted more mermaid tails. The mermaid trail finishes tomorrow and I’ve found a few extras last week so have finished with 2/3 of the collection. It was a nice little activity over the past two months.

May has been a good month for my running, I became the first woman to run 100 parkruns of my home parkrun and received a lovely little memento. Yesterday we had a really fun dinosaur themed parkrun. I’ve also been increasing my mileage in preparation of half marathon training. My official training plan starts during our holiday and as we’re on a cruise I’ll have limited opportunities to run, so my new plan is to start a week earlier, enjoy the cruise and focus on the training after. I’ve been creating running routes and am looking forward to the challenge.

Half term was quite tricky on family matters but we did enjoy a session at a water park and golf driving range. As the rest of the week didn’t go as planned, I used the time to plan for the upcoming birthdays, prom etc.. It’s a busy seven weeks til our holiday. I like to use my school holidays to plan as it helps me feel more organised and in control.

One of the half term highlights, was a check up at the nhs dentist. I haven’t had a nhs dentist for over 25 years so when our local dentist started accepting nhs we all signed up. I was relieved that despite not having been to the dentist in the last decade I only need a clean with the hygienist and a filling.

I do like the seasonal vegetables so have been doing lots of simple recipes with the most delicious fresh ingredients. Nothing beats the taste of a Greek salad with fresh, juicy tomatoes or an asparagus risotto. My husband has been busy in the garden and we have freshly harvested rosso lettuce too. My beautiful rose has been in bloom this week. I love this rose and it is very special as it was a 50th birthday gift from my wonderful neighbour. I miss her lots.

Hopefully that’s a sufficient catch up and fingers crossed next week it’s back to normal service.

Five Cornish Places this week 15/25

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This week saw an Easter getaway to Cornwall. We booked this simply for a chance to go away, relax and rest. Given how early in the season it was, our expectations for decent weather were low and we had planned for swimming, indoor activities etc.. However, we were so lucky and got the best weather we’ve ever had on our Cornish breaks, most of which have been in August. It was interesting to look back on photos in the same place and compare the weather, bright blue skies in April, grey, cloudy skies in August!

  1. St Minver and Wadebridge. We had booked a caravan on the Parkdean St Minver park, to be used as a base for exploring around the area. The site was lovely, small and friendly but with an excellent pool and impressive sauna. It was safe for the children to be out on their own, our son always managed to find someone to play football with and as night fell around 9pm, they were back for snacks and tv / Nintendo at a reasonable time. It was a country park rather than a beach park, but as we live about 100 metres from a beach, we enjoyed the difference and our walks through the woods and fields. Our local town was Wadebridge, which I though was a lovely little town, we had dinner here a couple of evenings and enjoyed walking around.
  2. Padstow. We went to Padstow twice on our break. On our first trip we went to explore the area and then on to have a pasty and some fudge as an ‘enticement’ for some for the walk Padstow is such a gorgeous town and it had a picture perfect bookshop. It was the sort of ivy lined bookshop which you imagine being the setting for a Cornish Romcom. We then returned to Padstow later in the week for dinner. We had an excellent dinner at Embers, my baked goats cheese salad was amazing. However we found a new delicacy in Padstow too, deep fried creme eggs in a fish and chip shop. The children couldn’t resist and tried them, the reviews were very favourable, ‘banging’
  3. Newquay. Newquay was a place we visited several times on our trip. There is a fantastic pool with slides, Oasis, near the town and we had two great trips there over the week. The children’s holiday request was for surfing lessons and we booked them into the Fistral Beach surf school for a morning. They had a brilliant time, our daughter was a natural and it was a joy to see her so full of life and joyful after her lesson. She was able to stand on her board, our son was also equally enthusiastic although a little more tired after the experience. We also had a girls / boys afternoon in Newquay. The girls went for very nice lunch in a cafe and then a potter around the shops. I’m not quite sure what the boys did although it involved pick and mix sweets and a Wetherspoons!
  4. Bude. We had never been to Bude before and although the furthest trip from our base, it was a great town to discover on a sunny afternoon, definitely a place to return to.
  5. The Eden Project. I love Eden, this was our third trip and it was even more spectacular than before. I was thinking of my favourite places I’ve visited and this easily makes the list, it is so special to me. We took our favourite photo shots, in the same places as the previous visits and its stunning to see how Eden has changed over the years, our first visit was in 2002, the next in 2017 and now in 2025. This time not only did we get to do the rope bridge but also the panoramic hanging viewpoint at the top of the tropical biodome, on which you are looking down on a rainforest, what an experience. The weather as it had been for the week was stunning and the colours from the bright blue skies to the vibrant flowers and greenery, truly gorgeous. Whilst it was eight years since my last Eden trip, I returned less than 24 hours later to do the parkrun. I can’t believe I have a hobby that lets me visit and run in amazing places for free. It was as brilliant as I had hoped, a challenging course with the zigzags up and down but run in the most amazing surroundings. I felt so blessed to be there and it was a very special morning.

Our Cornish Easter holiday was so good in so many different ways, a time of connection, fun, beauty and sunshine. A very special holiday to remember for a long time.

Five things this week .. 9/25

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It felt that in this week we transitioned from winter to spring. The week started cold and very wet yet by the end sunny, warm days had returned as we entered March. Here’s hoping it wasn’t a blip and spring is here after a very grey, cold and wet winter. It was a busy but productive week and here’s my five things of the week.

  1. Some things are never quite as simple as they could be and this was the case with selling my car. Now, we know for certain Mr S will never drive again following his ABU, we made the decision to sell one of our cars, I can only drive one at a time! We started this process during half term on what we expected to be a morning job. Instead after two visits and IT problem after IT problem with a v well known used car sales website, we finally sold it to the main car dealer, my patience will only last so long. I photographed the wall painting, be bright, be happy, be you on my walk back to the bus station to get home after the sale and the sentiment just sang to me.
  2. Whilst World Book day is not until next week, I’ve been busy planning my costume this week. My class team are dressing as characters from the Wizard of Oz and I’m the tin man. Vinted has been amazing for my costume and I’ve been able to source my costume very reasonably. I love WBD, it was one of my favourite days when the children were at primary school and I’m pretty proud of our home made creations over the years.
  3. The rain.. the photo of the plant is from my classroom and I swapped the photo with my daughter whose view was quite different as she was spending a week in Morocco with my parents. Morocco looked lovely and well worth a little visit.
  4. The sun .. this was from Saturday morning where I had a great morning. My running progress continued, it must have been my new trail shoes and then I had a really enjoyable coffee in the cafe. It was a morning full of feel good vibes.
  5. Such feel good vibes continued into the afternoon. As the boys were at football I decided to take myself to the next town and go to watch the new Bridget Jones as a Saturday matinee. I love the old cinema, entirely run by volunteers and with a brilliant old fashioned atmosphere. It was full and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It made me realise that I have grown up with Bridget Jones and how life has changed since the publication of the first diary book when I was in my early 20s. It was the best of the film adaptions, full of humour, sadness and life, well worth a watch.

Word of the Month, February

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It was difficult to find a word for February, suggestions included progress, energy and steps but I finally chose fun. February is not normally a fun month, the weather is unpredictable and not much happens. However with half term and a weekend with our daughter we wanted to have some fun. If anything positive has come out of the last year it is to be and enjoy time with those you love. Our fun came in many guises, sweet nibbles and a film cuddled up on the sofa, a trip to indoor crazy golf at Mulligans, a London break for football stadiums, art and shopping etc.. For me, I had fun dressing up for our school’s Valentines disco and dancing with my class. My weekly parkrun times are improving and I’m really enjoying my running, even with a challenge there’s fun to be had! Even though I’ve chosen fun for this month’s word, I’m pretty certain that this won’t be the most fun month of the year, but it’s given the start of the year a buzz and fun is quite contagious, the more you have, the more you seek it!

Five things this week 7/25

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This week is a half and half post, I write Monday to Sunday so the school week is included and the first part of our little break. To be honest, the weekdays aren’t that exciting so I always need my weekends to brighten up the post!

  1. A new wall. Finally after years of deliberation, months of finding a carpenter and weeks of waiting for our slot we have a new dividing glass wall between our lounge and hallway. Our main aim was to create a cosier room whilst maintaining the light. We cannot believe the immediate effect it has had on the space, the lounge is toasty now, previously being a very cold room as it was so large. We haven’t really lost any space as it wasn’t used as an extension of the room and I have a few ideas about creating a more pleasing and functional hallway. My next job is to decide on the decor, we want to differentiate the rooms as they were decorated the same. We’re looking at a feature wallpapered section and complementary paint colours in the lounge and then colours to move upstairs to the large hallway there too. I feel a Pinterest board is needed. I love a new project.
  2. Valentine’s Day. My husband and I are not big Valentine day fans. TW, this was our baby son’s due date and it always feels so sad and empty. No matter how hard I try to distract myself, I always find myself wondering what he would be like, this year would have been his 16th birthday. I did have a little cry on my way home from work, just taking the time to remember him on this special day is still very important to me. Despite the sadness, I did make a little Valentine’s Day table scene and we all had a chocolate heart on our placemats at breakfast. At work we had a Valentines disco. I did embrace it and was dressed up in pink and red and wore my heart glasses we bought for ABBA voyage. It was a lot of fun and a lovely distraction.
  3. A weekend break. Our weekend was affected by rail works but rather than be frustrated and annoyed we changed our plans and added a night in Southampton en route. The bus replacement service was rather luxurious and went direct to the airport where we were staying in a hotel overnight. In the afternoon we went into Southampton and West Quay for a little browse and coffee and then went out for tea. A very pleasant day and I even managed to fit in a parkrun before we left.
  4. Wembley. We had very carefully planned our break in London and chose to stay at Wembley on Sunday night because of its proximity to the stadium and then planned to travel into central London the next morning. Wembley has changed so much since I was last there in 2008. It was a brilliant place to be on Sunday, so many attractions, bars, cafes and restaurants and pretty much pedestrianised everywhere . I loved the vibe of the area. When we got into our hotel room and opened the curtains we could not believe our view. There was the Wembley arch in all its glory, spectacular!
  5. Wembley stadium tour. For the boys, the trip to London was to tick off some more football stadiums on their new quest to visit as many as possible. The Wembley tour is brilliant and well worth the money. It was so interesting to see the history and then to learn about the new stadium structure. Wembley is mighty impressive. The tour included a trip to the changing rooms, the Royal box, onto the pitch etc.. There were also posters and memorabilia from other events. I totted up that I had been to Wembley, five times, I attended mass celebrated by the Pope in 1982, Reading FC in 1988, Bon Jovi in 1995 and Bristol City in 2000 and 2008. The Bon Jovi in concert is up there as one of the best night’s of my life, I will ‘always’ love Bon Jovi and their music.

There will be more of our London trip next week. I loved having a little mini adventure in the school holidays.