Seaside Sparkles

County Fair

Published on September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 by seasidesparkles1 Comment

Today was an early start to attend the county show. It’s a brilliant day out and when I was asked to describe it to a friend yesterday the best I could manage was its like Glastonbury without the live music, a little town which pops up in country fields for a week and is a stunning heritage day out. Many people camp onsite, approx. 25k a day, but it’s a very popular day visit too, hence our early morning start to avoid the heavy traffic. We’ve become regular visitors over the years and it’s a real treat for the beginning of September. There are a few events coming up in the next few weeks which are quite special for locals, after the hard work for many in the summer holidays, prime tourist time, it’s a little holiday in a weekend.

The site of the show is huge and it’s impossible to visit every attraction in the one day. Today we watched some of the horse shows, saw some livestock, visited vintage vehicles of all kinds, mooched around the craft tents, sampled local produce in the food tents, watched stunt shows in the main arena, relived the trenches of World War 1 in a centenary exhibition, did some rides in the fairground, watched traditional crafts and walked miles just browsing and looking at all on offer. Needless to say we’re all rather tired tonight.

I love the show for inspiration, my favourites today were some of the vintage caravans, pastel coloured with pretty bunting and complementary accessories. In my dreams I could have one in our garden and use it as my little den. A girl has got to have dreams, as in the words of Captain Sensible, ‘you’ve got to have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?

How beautiful is this caravan, perfect as a little den for me!

Its been a great day out and a real treat after everyone’s first few days back at school, one of those days out to extend Summer a little bit longer.

Little Sparkles

Published on September 3, 2015February 6, 2016 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

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.

Haunted

Published on September 3, 2015September 5, 2015 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

This is not my typical blog post but I want to write about this issue as I am so ashamed and haunted by images I have seen today. Little Man and Little Miss, it is your duty to treat everyone with respect and value every human life.

This morning our house was full of excitement at the start of the new school year. A family breakfast, putting on new uniforms, smiles and poses for the first day of school photos and a happy walk to school. Our children have the safe home, education and security which all children deserve and something I take for granted. However images I have seen today have made my heart ache for those parents who risk everything to give their children a safe home.

When I was in the newsagents today, I browsed the headlines of the national papers as I normally do. The photos in today’s papers just stopped me and I actually heard myself gasp and cry in the shop at the photo of a 3 year old refugee from Syria washed up on a Turkish beach, drowned. This little boy has haunted me today, his 5 year old brother and mother were also discovered dead. There is a crisis with refugees fleeing Syria and other countries to escape IS horrors, yet it is one we seem unwilling to address. The news is full of stories of refugees desperately trying to escape, thousands have drowned, hundreds have been found dead in lorries and others are being turned away or arrested at borders. There is another sickening photo today of a police officer writing numbers on people to identify them, these are people not numbers and this has scary reflections of the holocaust. I am seeing these images and I find it hard to understand why more is not being done to help these poor, desperate people. Politicians may talk of capping immigration but this is different this is a humanitarian crisis and we must act to help. Surely there is a way in which the developed nations can help these poor displaced people, you do not pack your worldly goods in one bag and take your family on a dangerous potentially deadly journey unless you are desperate. This is such a tragic event and I cannot help but be reminded of the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller, we must do something to help these victims.

I cannot share the image from today’s headlines, Aylan should not be remembered as a corpse but as an amazing little 3 year old. Here he is on the left with his brother in a wonderful picture of two beautiful children in peaceful, happy times and may it remind us to love and support all our fellow citizens. Aylan and Ghalib may you rest in peace.

POSTSCRIPT

I have signed the following petition to enable the issue to be considered for discussion in parliament, I can only trust our government will show moral responsibility and positive action to support the refugees.

Summer 2015 Our Bucket (and Spade) List – The Verdict

Published on September 2, 2015February 6, 2016 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

As I sit here typing away there is a little sadness to this post, our summer is over and a new school year awaits for the little ones tomorrow. To me the sadness is the passing of time, summer is my favourite time of the year, I’m a summer baby and it’s always been a time of celebration, birthdays, relaxed time with family and friends and new experiences. It ends with the new school year which before our family signalled a new start professionally and now only emphasises how quickly my amazing children are growing up. I read we only have 18 summers with our children, we lost some before our little ones came to live with us, so that’s nearly half of Little Miss’ family summers gone and that does make me sad. I have so enjoyed our summer holidays together, nearly seven weeks of just being together and having fun. The weather has been pants but it hasn’t spoilt our time, we’ve just changed our plans to suit the day. My favourite activities of the holidays are actually some of the simplest. The wild, wet and windy walk along the beach to see the Antony Gormley sculpture was brilliant. It was exciting and exhilarating and we really laughed, imagined and played. My other favourite was doing the Shaun the Sheep trail with Grandma, again a free activity but one which had us exploring Bristol and allowed us to just spend time talking and being together. Both prove that it’s not expensive experiences which create memories but special people and precious times.

The summer has been brilliant and full of fun activities. Spain was fantastic and thankfully a hot and sunny break in an otherwise very wet and miserable summer, our best times are the four of us relaxing and playing together. The bucket list was a great idea and one I’ll definitely repeat next year. We didn’t achieve everything but I’m content with what we managed and there’s no reason why we can’t finish off the last few items in the coming weeks.

: ( Go horse riding – The weather was so unpredictable that I was reluctant to book in advance for the holiday club, hopefully the weather will improve in the next few months and then we’ll book a weekend trip.
: ) Watch the ballet at the theatre – Little Miss and I loved the ballet, Sleeping Beauty, in her words it was “twirling, elegant and smooth”
: ) Play putting – this was a family treat on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Mr S’ golf skills shone through but we all found it fun.
: ) Go to Grandma and Granfer’s –This was lovely. Once my parents moved we got to visit and stay in their new house which is so nice and welcoming, a real family hub. One evening, we went on the pier and had hot doughnuts and played air hockey and the machines, magic.
: ) Find Shaun the Sheep in Bristol – Stunning, one of my favourite things of the holiday
: ) Play on the beach – whilst we’ve not had the best weather we’ve been on the beach as soon as the sun has shone.
: ) Have a picnic on a long walk – This was the Gormley sculpture walk and a picnic in the car as the winds and rain whipped around us.
: ) Go to the farm– This is a local farm and outdoor play area, the children loved their day here. It’s a place they have always loved and we have many photos from over the years. It was brilliant but it was bitter sweet, they are getting to an age where they are growing out of the attraction and it may be one of our final visits.
: ) Do a bike ride – Little Man has made brilliant progress with his bike, we’ve not ridden on roads abut have cycled around our local park.
: ) Do the library reading challenge – Done and the medals have been awarded.
: ) Get the paddling pool out – On the first glimpse of a sunny day we had the pool out and made as much of a splash as we could, we managed three hours before the weather turned.
: ( Make real lemonade – not quite managed this but we have made some great hot chocolates.
: ) Discover dinosaurs – this was a brilliant afternoon last Thursday at a local country park led by a highly enthusiastic and passionate guide. We did some crafts but handled real fossils, dug for fossils in the sand and made dino footprints.
: ) Watch Inside Out at the cinema – I did like this film and it was a good wet afternoon activity.
: ) Watch the Minions at the cinema – this was the first thing ticked off the list when Mr S took the children to the cinema when I was still at work in the first days of their holiday. They loved it!
: ) Play with our birthday presents and toys – with the rough weather we’ve done lots of crafts and playing inside so another ticked off.
: ( Sit down on the grass and sketch – another one to do, although we have done a lot of pictures and other art work inside.
: ( Do messy play, play with gloop – I have the ingredients we may save this until half term and do some spooky fun.

Little Sparkles

Published on August 28, 2015February 6, 2016 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

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.

Shaun in the City

Published on August 28, 2015August 28, 2015 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

This week, we were finally able to do the one activity on our summer bucket list that I have been really looking forward to, the Shaun the Sheep trail in Bristol. Two years ago, there was a similar Gromit trail where Gromit figures, painted in all different designs by artists, were placed all over Bristol and you tried to visit as many as possible. This trail and merchandising, app purchases and auction raised nearly £5million for the Bristol Children’s hospital, so has been repeated this summer with Shaun the Sheep. The Aardmaan Animations connection being the company started and continues to thrive in Bristol. There are 70 Shauns in Bristol this year and with just the one opportunity to do so, we were realistic that we would not be able to do the full flock, however this year it was split into different themed trails and we did the Harbourside Trail with a few extras.

It was the amazing experience I had hoped it would be, our first Shaun was Isambaaard, after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, any Bristol school child knows IKB very well and to find the statue at the Suspension Bridge was a perfect spot. Sadly, I have no single shots of this Shaun, but have lots of family photos, Shaun and the Bridge is a fitting setting. We then drove into the City centre to continue the hunt on foot. The harbour side is an area which has really developed and the atmosphere was sparkling, it was a rare, dry day and the area was brimming with families, hunting Shauns and enjoying the Aquarium, @Bristol etc.. It felt very jolly with a real holiday atmosphere. The lovely thing about the trail is the number of people doing it, you spot so many people studying the trail maps and Smartphones and lots of children running around and excitedly finding the Shauns. Little Man was brilliant at finding Shauns and even in the car on the way home he had his eyes peeled. It is also all inclusive, young and old, singles, couples and families were all shepherding the flock. Our little group was myself, my Mum, my nephew and Little Miss and Little Man and it was one of those very special times I’ll fondly remember.

The Shauns are brilliant and the designs thoughtful and innovative. There are so many fantastic designs it’s difficult to choose a favourite. I loved Isambaaard, I used to love history at school and the real IKB was a character and absolute genius and I thought the location was perfect. However, at St Nick’s market, a favourite hangout as a teenager, was Woolly Wonderland, a knitted Shaun, it took 500 hours to knit its outfit and it is amazing, Mum and I loved this and appreciated the hours of work. Little Man’s favourite Shauns were the King (King Arthur of Lambelot) and Pirate Captain whilst for Little Miss her best was Shaun bean, a shiny, silver Shaun.

I loved our day on the Shaun trail, it was very special and a wonderful way to explore Bristol, a perfect little adventure.

Little Sparkles

Published on August 21, 2015August 25, 2015 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

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.

Antony Gormley – LAND

Published on August 20, 2015February 6, 2016 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

The wet and grim weather has exhausted my enthusiasm and resources for crafting this holiday, so following the adage that there is no such thing as bad weather just poor clothing, we ventured out today, carefully dressed to complete one of our Bucket List activities. We chose the picnic and walk and went to a local beach to see one of the five Anthony Gormley sculptures around the U.K. which make up the LAND project. The iron sculpture was erected in May 2015 and is due to stand in position for one year. I do hope to be able to visit the statue on a number of occasions to gain different perspectives of the work.

Our walk was wet, windy and muddy but quite exhilarating and fun, the children ran around and discovered the bay, we climbed rocks, walked to the tower up a very steep flight of steps and explored the local marine centre. As the weather was so bad, we were the only ones at the sculpture and we got to scramble over the rocks and really look at the work. The children were quite taken by the sculpture, we nicknamed him Kim and they became statues themselves, posing by looking out to sea near him. They were really imaginative about the things he might see or do and I did feel they appreciated the art. I was really impressed when we came home and they made up their own ‘Kim’ from Lego.

Despite our enthusiasm to walk in the rain, by the time we had finished we were muddy and wet so the picnic was taken in the car with the hot air blasting through the car to warm us up. Another bucket list activity successfully ticked off.

Our 5th Anniversary as the Sparkles Family

Published on August 20, 2015August 18, 2015 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

Today is a very special day for the Sparkles family, five years ago we became a family when Little Miss and Little Man came to live with us permanently. After a week of introductions with their foster family, the children came home to us, making it the most exciting and scariest day. We could scarcely believe what was happening, after all the heartbreak and waiting, we became a family of four. We celebrate this day, as it’s our special day, no one else knows the significance of the date. I always feel birthdays and special holidays are tinged with sadness. I have no memory of the days the children were born and I know their birth mother will always be thinking of them and her memories of the day, likewise with Christmas and other celebrations. I love the children’s’ birthdays and we do celebrate big time but it’s not my day, today is our day.

The last five years have been the best of my life, I have never felt happier, more fulfilled or excited about life. All I ever wanted in my life was to be a Mum and every day I am so grateful to have my little family who bring me so much love and joy.

Today we will celebrate with a family meal and special family time and I’m sure there will be cake! It’s a day to celebrate our amazing, beautiful and loving family. Mr S, Little Miss and Little Man I love you all so much xx

Lloret de Mar

Published on August 18, 2015February 6, 2016 by seasidesparklesLeave a comment

It’s taken a long time to write about her holiday in Lloret de Mar in the Costa Brava, Spain which took place in August and its now October! (I’m posting it in August to keep the blog chronological!) The reluctance is possibly due to the photos being on the digital camera and the inconvenience of downloading the photos, but also there is a little sadness on the return from holidays and writing only seems to deepen those feelings. Holidays are those magic times when the only thing on the schedule is to relax and have fun and the time spent as just our little of family of four is so precious.

We really liked the resort of Lloret de Mar, it was just the right size for us small but lively. We were in a family hotel at the family end of the resort but it was fun in the evenings to walk into the town and see all the twenty somethings partying, oh the memories of being young and carefree. It was a really convenient resort to stay at, we left our house at 9.30 am, flew from our local airport and were in the hotel pool just after 3pm, English time. The facilities at the hotel were excellent, there was a large family pool, 2 smaller outdoor pools, an indoor pool and 5 different slides. The children loved the pools and slides and Little Man was particularly made up by the huge water play pirate ship in one of the pools. We all spent a lot of time playing in the pools from the daily Aquafit sessions, splashing down the slides and the continuous water fights, a perfect way to cool down. There were lots of children and our little duo made friends quickly so had lots of children to play with, allowing Mr S and I a little time to relax. We did go to the beach in the town one day but it is a manmade beach. This meant that the sand was tiny stones unsuitable for sand castles and the drop from beach to the sea was a little steep and dangerous, however I did go for a swim, you can’t go on holiday without a dip in the sea. For us living at the seaside, the beach isn’t as big a draw as it may be for some, our home town’s beach is so good, little else lives up to it! The pools around the hotel were so good and along with the children’s club, the best entertainment was at the hotel. We tended to be around the pool from 9am – 1pm, have lunch and a walk along the prom and around the town and then back to the pools between 3 and 6pm, before dining at the hotel and then enjoying a walk into town or the children’s disco and entertainment. I love going into town on a hot summer’s night, just pottering and enjoying the warmth and holiday atmosphere. On several evenings we stopped at an open air café for a mocktail or ice cream sundae and enjoyed watching the world go by.

It was a simple holiday but full of so much quality family time. We didn’t do any visits out of the town but spent every day playing and being with each other. These are such precious times, we create the memories which will last a lifetime.

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