Posted on

A busy week

Pic of the week 24/3/24

Its been a busy week, definitely compounded by not having a day off last Sunday due to football house matches, and I feel I’ve just been grinding out the days at work until I’ve reached the weekend.  With Easter being early this year, thankfully the week to come is short – 3 and a half days, seeing us finish on Thursday lunchtime – a nice birthday present for me!  Work has been busy with numerous different challenges, but I think I’ve just about got on top of them.  I have a busy teaching day tomorrow (4 out of 5 lessons, and meetings at break and lunch time) but I’m hopeful that it will be my last big day of the term, and I can then begin to cruise towards the end of term.

Today has seen the sun shine, although a strong wind has kept it feeling “fresh”. I’ve been busy in the garden, clearing the growth on the top of the shed and filling the brown bin with cuttings, then I’ve been building IKEA furniture (desk and a set of drawers) for Becky. The trugg out front has looked magnificent, with the red tulips coming into bloom (although curiously, only on the side nearest the door, on the other side they are poking up, but not yet flowering) but did take a bit of a battering on Friday and Saturday in some strong winds. But signs of life everywhere – trees greening up, celandines beginning to flower in the lawn, although the temperatures could be higher, and the threat of (yet more) rain is always just around the corner, spring does feel like it has arrived, making everything seem better.

On Thursday, EasyJet opened their December flights and we bagged two seats to Madeira for the Christmas hols.  Seems like a long time away (it is – we’ve got summer to enjoy first) but looking forward to it already.

Posted on

Jesus Christ, Superstar

Pic of the week 17/3/24

On Friday evening Becky and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Bristol Hippodrome. I enjoyed it, a good bit of musical drama, probably helped that the story was familiar (!) And, on an old man note, it was super convenient, being able to sit, and then still be home before 11pm were all bonuses.

Julian Clary had a guest/cameo role as Herod and was, no surprise, excellent, as were all the cast.

It has been a busy weekend – I use that term a little loosely, Friday evening through to Sunday is the weekend, but they are not days off work for me. On Saturday night I had the Year 10 social (Formal Dinner), which went well, and then this afternoon I have had House Football from 1pm to 4pm.  At least the sun came out and I felt some warmth (unlike refereeing yesterday when it was normal Kingweston cold) but I I don’t feel like I’ve had a break this weekend (and my legs ache !)  At least it should be downhill from here, a little over a week and a half until the Easter hols – that is an encouraging thought!

In the garden, it is also encouraging to see things poking up and greening up. The Magnolia is pretty over (I always think they are an overrated flash in the pan) but out the front the bushes are going green, the tulips coming up in the front trugg, and in the back today I noticed the first forget-me-not flowers and the hostas are beginning to poke up through the soil in their pots – both signs of better days to come.

Posted on

Mothers Day

Pic of the week 10/3/24

Today’s is Mother’s day – Becky’s first not working Mother’s Day for seven years!  At lunch time we had a family Insta chat which was nice , the bambinos had sent their cards, and had instructed me to get some flowers, which I did on Wednesday.

Today has been quite chilled – we’ve not done a lot, I think Becky is enjoying her new job in the gallery, but is also then enjoying doing not a lot on Sunday, having worked on Saturday.

The weather has been dryer this week, but I wouldn’t say its (yet) been a warm March, it has been chilly in the mornings and nights, and the days plagued by a brisk wind. But the extra light makes a huge difference; this week we have seen some sun and the fact that it is still light as we approach six o’clock just makes everything feel better. Daffodils are in bloom, bushes are greening up and this last week we do seem to have – at last-  emerged from the grey grimness that descended in late October. Whilst its not been a cold winter, it has been a wet one, and that means the skies have often been leaden grey and oppressive. But I think, at last, Spring is here, or coming soon at the very least and one’s mood has lightened like the sky this last week.

The Magnolia is in full bloom – in fact, it is already starting to shed some flower petals (I often think the Magnolia is overrated – fantastic for five minutes, but lacking in the staying power to really earn its keep.) Its been a busy week, but a good week. Another busy one to come, I think …

Posted on

Leaping into Spring

Pic of the week 3/3/24

Thursday was Feb 29th – making this a leap year – and Friday, 1st of March, was the first day of metrological spring …

Thursday night into Friday into poured with rain. It has been a wet February, one of the wettest on record, although (supposedly) warm. March began damp and grey, yesterday I did the line for the 1st XI and I’ve never known pitch one so wet. But by the time we kicked off it had, thankfully, stopped raining and one the couple of occasions the sun came out it actually felt quite pleasant.

This morning we woke to a frost, and it was cold as I went for my run (7K) but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the air was still; it has been a beautiful day and I have spent quite a bit of it outside doing some garden jobs.  I cut the Miscanthus back – the swishy swashy brown stems and seed heads have been a boon in the barren winter landscape, but everything is now starting to green up, so it was time to cut it back and look forward to lush green growth in spring and summer.

The daffodils in the lawns and pots look magnificent, bursts of yellow that brighten the day and generate a sense of optimism whenever you see them. The magnolia tree out the front is in flower, the days are longer, it just makes everything so much better.

I have performed major surgery on the big box bush out front – in late August Maureen told us that she had lost a number of plants to box blight, and feared ours had succumbed too. It did look to have taken hold and I began cutting out some of the affected stems. But then it started raining, and whilst rain stopped play I did some research and Monty (Don – the BBC gardening guru) suggested that you might be better waiting until the new growing season to cut it back, so that’s what I did.  The other day, walking home, I noticed some new green tips on the plant, today I had a good look: a mixed bag – some areas pretty badly infected, but plenty of new green shoots. So today I took out quite a bit of the plant – hopefully the increased light and air will mean the good will win out over the bad … We’ll just have to wait and see.