Seaside Sparkles

A very quick recap as it’s nearly time to write my next post. I prepared the collage last week and then I’ve been busy each evening since so haven’t written it up. It’s this time of year when not much seems to be happening. I’ve a busy time during half term and some lovely plans for the weekends after so plenty to look forward to but for now we’re just doing some jobs around the house. Of course what started as let’s paint the bedroom has developed into more of a project with furnishings and a new bed purchased and I’m now searching local shops for a vintage wardrobe. Thankfully it’s our daughter’s room and as she is away at present we have been able to work in it in a more relaxed approach. As well as the nice jobs of choosing colours and looks, it’s been quite physical too, we have had to chop up her old bed and wardrobe which were both well beyond donation. Her wardrobe was one of the first pieces of furniture we bought for our first house in 2000, so there was a little bit of nostalgia when we were getting rid of it, remembering the lovely excited feeling of buying it originally.

The week did start with Monday night football. The logistics of this are complicated but somehow we managed to coordinate it all, even with the added ‘surprise’ of my son’s school taxi breaking down en route home. I was able to make a quick detour so our plans weren’t too badly affected. The game was entertaining and a good win for our team, however it was a really late night, getting home around 11.40pm ( the reality of rural life ) and there were a few tired days following. It does say something about the Premier League when the first Saturday home game of the season kicking off at the traditional 3pm is not until November.

After a busy Monday, I really needed a quiet week and spent a few nights on the sofa, snuggled up under my blanket reading a few magazines on the Libby app. I love this free app through my library and it saves me a fortune in glossy magazines.

I’ve also been doing some school work in the evenings. I like the creativity of my job and made some sensory activities to accompany a story. The felt carrots are buried in green rice and the task is to harvest the carrots using tweezers for fine motor skills. After working in leadership for many years, I am relishing the fun of being in the classroom.

On my daily commute I have been listening to the audiobook Frankie via my Spotify account. It’s a book by Graham Norton and I don’t often go for a celebrity fiction writer. But he is so good and I loved the story of Frankie, who you are rooting for throughout this book, she really deserves a happy ending. No spoilers but this book was excellent and brightened up my journeys.

Finally it was parkrun’s 20th birthday on Saturday. I celebrated at our home run and was treated to a beautiful sunny run and a morning with all the vibes. I did like the car with the registration plate RUN 5K, obviously a very big fan of parkrun.

So that’s me up to date now. Not long til the next post is due.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m so behind in my blog entries, just the annual July combination of birthdays, end of term events and daily life … oh and an England Euros final. Sadly it wasn’t to be this year, but we had a great night in the pub and fun memories were made, followed by the despair, and the eternal hope that the team is young and one day ‘football’s coming home.’ I did really enjoy the Euros, it felt like the first real tournament post pandemic, with huge crowds and a great atmosphere coming through the television and social media. I love football so tried to catch as many games as I could and there’s not many matches that I didn’t watch a little bit of (except the final group games which are played simultaneously)

These first few weeks of July have been also fantastic for my political geekiness and I have read in depth the analysis of the election and looked with pride and satisfaction on the appointments, priorities and drive of the new government.

I have read a few books, Seven Summers was a fun, YA book which had me hooked and happy, a light read which I needed in such a busy time. I chose Barcelona, a series of short stories, as I am off to the city in a few weeks. I knew it was fiction, but I wanted a story to reflect the ambiance and culture of the city. What I got was a very strange collection of stories with an underlying theme of dissatisfaction and animal cruelty. I did keep on reading thinking it may get better, but not a collection to recommend.

Despite a busy diary I have maintained my parkrunning and have attained my Volunteer 50 award. In all the hustle and bustle, Saturday from 8 – 10am is my special time which I cherish, even if I have to run a lot of hills to get this ‘me’ time!

Finally this week, summer arrived and it has been a beautiful week. There is no better soundtrack to the summer days than Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life which has been on repeat in my car this week. It is my ultimate summer album.

With summer comes summer fruits and our fruit bowls have been frequently refilled over the week, as who can pass a bowl of cherries or berries without dipping in? There is something special about the taste of juicy summer fruits, I try to only buy seasonally as the taste of strawberries in winter just isn’t the same.

Another sign of summer were the bees in our garden, I took a few minutes to simply watch them darting in and out of the flowers. Nature is wonderful when you take the time to pause and look.

Its been a monumental week for our daughter, she finished her GCSEs and therefore school and celebrated her 16th birthday. As her birthday fell on a weekday there was little we could do en famille. However, she and a friend spent the day on the beach and I picked her up on my way home from work. We stopped at the fish and chip shop for a chip supper enjoying it and a platter of mini cakes, macarons, chocolate covered strawberries before all settling down to watch the football as England played Denmark. Today, I have taken her shopping to spend her birthday money. It was a very successful trip and she has some lovely clothes for our holiday. I also picked up a couple of things and I am loving my new lemon dress, I think its perfect for our on shore visits around the Mediterranean. The countdown is really on now, my reports are written and I have more time to focus on our holiday.

I have kept lots of what is going on in my life private recently and again this has been a really tough week for our family. I keep focusing on good times ahead and that this too shall pass.

In all of the darkness I needed something to look forward to so on Monday night I bought tickets for my son and I to go to Camp Bestival for my birthday. My husband isn’t a fan of big music events and my daughter doesn’t know her shifts yet, however she’ll be welcome to come with us too if she’s free. I’m really looking forward to seeing Sophie Ellis Bextor and Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra. I love his Ibiza classics albums, it’s the perfect running soundtrack as well as reminding me of happy, carefree days and nights. We live close to the site so we have day tickets and we get to sleep in the comfort of our own beds. It’s also during the school holidays so we can have a late night and the luxury of a lie in too. I’m very excited!

This week marks the 6 month anniversary of Mr S accident and his medical ban for driving was lifted this week following a successful medical with his GP and authorisation from the DVLA. I cannot express how lovely it was to be a passenger in the car yesterday. I drive so much and to be able to sit back and relax was wonderful.

So far this summer the weather has been very mixed. One morning I left a little earlier than normal and had time to stop at the beach to take such a gorgeous picture of the early morning. Most of the week has been grey, cold and windy but strangely everyday has started and finished with a little sunshine.

As our cruise becomes more imminent, 50 days to go, I am trying to eat more healthier to be comfortable in myself. These cherries were delicious, so juicy and fresh and nectarines are also in season at the moment, I do find healthy eating so much easier in the summer with all the delicious summer fruits.

On Friday the Euros started and I love a football tournament especially in the early days when there’s 3 matches a day. My son and I have spent lots of time watching football this weekend and are eagerly awaiting the England match later tonight. My son is such a football fan and knows so much he makes an excellent companion. With the election and Euros soon to be followed by the Olympics this is going to be a great summer, now if someone could just sort the weather out we would all be very grateful.

As I write this I am again in another hospital waiting room, a different local hospital. In the last 6 months I have been to 7 different hospitals in the region supporting members of my family. I’m a little disappointed not to have found a Costa cafe in this one, my loyalty card is full of beans earnt in hospital Costas. We came here as we thought it was going to be quick and had prebooked an appointment for an X-ray yesterday evening after going to our local hospital with an injury. There was no reference for that appointment when we arrived here so are sat in a very busy A&E waiting room, having had to start all the process all over again. I’m trying to be calm but do feel a little annoyed with my husband. It would have been much quicker to pick my son up from his school and take him to a big hospital yesterday rather than the two smaller hospitals he’s been to over the past two days. One undoubted fact about my tour of hospitals is that our beloved nhs is so underfunded and I hope that the upcoming General Election will see a change in funding and policy to support our health service.

The General Election campaigning continues this week with some televised debates which were quite shouty and full of sound bites rather than proper discussion. The conservative campaign does seem to go from disaster to disaster, mostly self made. from the pouring rain announcement, to planted councillors in factories posing as workers, bizarre new policies (national service for 18 year olds, really!) to the biggest error in the PM leaving the Dday commemoration early, missing an event with world leaders, to record an interview. I do think it’s the disrespect shown at Dday which has disappointed many and will haunt the rest of the campaign and his legacy. Roll on July 4th.

I am trying to do a daily beach walk this summer and on Thursday D-day, I walked up to the war memorial to read the plaque to the American servicemen who had left our town for the battle. It was such a beautiful evening and by chance, as I arrived a lone piper was playing a lament. I did feel emotional looking out to the sea and imagining what happened 80 years ago. Later in the evening, I saw the beacon burning and again reflected on the sacrifices of my grandparents’ generation.

On Sunday’s walk I popped into an art gallery as part of an arts fortnight in our local area. I know one of the artists and was keen to see her new work. She is an amazingly talented textile artist and stitches maps of local areas. I would love to have an original but I think my budget is more of that of a print. I do want to buy one it’s just finding the best map for the spot I’ve chosen.

My final picture made me laugh on my walk, one of the ice cream stalls has new owners, Moody Cow ice creams and this is the sign on the hut. Definitely an image to have ready when I’m feeling tetchy.

It is unusual for us not to be on a family holiday at the May half term but being in the midst of GCSE exams, Mr S ongoing recovery and our big summer holiday, we decided not to book a May holiday this year. However thanks to our families living in the West Country we spent some days away from home giving us all a break.

Our break was very relaxed, we all felt a little poorly at some point but the only thing we did cancel due to all feeling a little rough was a shopping trip. My daughter wasn’t too upset, I think she’s already bookmarked most of the Shein website. It does make me shudder a little but my encouragement to have a look on Vinted has not succeeded so far.

On our first evening, we took a walk in Weston Super Mare to see the knife angel in the Italian Gardens. The angel is part of a charity project to educate against knife crime. It is an incredible sculpture, made from 100000 knives , many confiscated by police forces and some had been used in crimes. It is huge and really makes an impact, I felt very moved by it. The face is so expressive and sorrowful, showing the pain caused by knife crime. The sculpture spends a month in a different British town and is a hugely important project.

The big highlight of the week was watching the touring production of Hamilton at the Bristol Hippodrome with my mum and daughter. I don’t have the superlatives to express how unbelievably good this show is and all generations were equally wowed. The songs are great and of course I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on repeat ever since our visit. However the production is so much more than simply the songs, it is so clever in its choreography, movement, lighting, use of the stage, it was innovative and outstanding in every aspect and an absolute privilege to be part of the audience.

I do like to make special events like a show an occasion, so we dressed up and went out for cocktails before the show. I find that having a pre theatre meal can be a little fraught, always watching the clock so we had a delicious late lunch at home, giving us lots of time to sample the mocktails as none of us were drinking. The bar had a terrific range of mocktails, all beautifully presented. I had also done a personalised box of chocolates for the show, special events need treats! One unexpected pleasure was driving home on a warm, still night on the high of an amazing show and seeing the Bristol Suspension Bridge all lit up, sparkling in the dark sky, gorgeous.

I did buy my first bunch of peonies this week, sadly not for me but my mum as a thank you. It was a lovely bunch of flowers with lilac stocks too and I was super impressed how quickly they blossomed. For me at home it’s always tulips in the spring and peonies in the summer, bringing the sunshine inside.

Next week we begin the final half term of the year and my daughter’s final few GCSE exams before school is out forever. It’s an emotional time and one definitely showing the passing of time.

This has been a busy pre half term week with lots of school related activities. Our son was on a school residential to Center parks. I’m pretty impressed by the setting for a school trip, much more sophisticated than I ever had, when I was in his year we had two nights camping in Cheddar! He did have an amazing time and I’m so happy he has such great memories. I did hide a few treats in his bag for a midnight feast, an essential of any school trip.

Whilst our son was at Center parks, I was helping out at our school’s Duke of Edinburgh award expedition. As a special school we have the award slightly adapted to our needs, but I am really impressed how the organisation make this a fully inclusive scheme. I had such a lovely evening, helping to make dinner with the students and then a campfire with songs and toasted marshmallows. It’s the little things which bring such joy. I’ve added another school item to this collection of 5, our new little gnome guarding our vegetable patch. We go shopping each week and my class took a real liking to the gnomes on display. This week they were half price so I added one to our trolley and he now proudly sits in our vegetable patch.

Every evening Mr S and I make a real effort to sit down together for an hour to watch a programme. His injury means that he still is very fatigued and is in bed at 7.30 each night. Our current watch is The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It’s a harrowing watch but also an important watch. I have had quiet evenings after watching it, music and a little time to reflect on the horrors of the holocaust and the parallels with today.

Finally, to everyone’s surprise a general election was called on Wednesday. It was due this year but with the assumption that it would be an autumn poll. As a politics graduate this is my time, my political geekiness is at its highest! The announcement itself was pure satire. It was made outside in the pouring rain which just got worse and worse, and Sunak was soaked and then from loudspeakers at the gates of Downing Street, a protester played D-reams Things can only get better, Labour’s anthem from 1997 drowning out his speech. The campaign has only deteriorated since much to a lot of people’s amusement. I think I’m going to enjoy this campaign.